Episode 130 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads,

the show where a team of five quiz challengers

attempt to beat possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Their quiz pedigree is well known as they have won

some of the toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

Taking on the awesome might of the Eggheads today are Eric's Pickles.

This team of friends and family share a connection

through team captain Eric

and they joke that every now and again,

being a very social bunch,

they like to get maybe just a little bit pickled.

Let's meet them.

Hiya, I'm Eric, I'm 56 and I'm a teacher.

Hello, I'm Dave, I'm 64 and I'm a delivery-van driver.

Hello, I'm Colin, I'm 48 and I'm a civil servant.

Hi, I'm Simon, I'm 42, and I'm an associate accountant.

Hello, I'm David, I'm 51 and I'm an information officer.

So Eric and friends, welcome to you. Thanks for coming in.

ALL: Hello.

You two, as we mentioned, are brothers.

Eric, you met David through something else.

I met Dave in Cardiff, when I lived in Cardiff,

and we were learning guitar.

Learning guitar? Can you both now play guitar?

-Neither of us...

-Very badly.

-..can play hardly at all.

OK, have you got quizzing pedigree? Do you quiz?

Yes, we all quiz, although we've rarely quizzed together as a team.

But we've met up hopefully to take on the might of the Eggheads today.

And you see there, without CJ, without Daphne.

-Does that make it easier or harder?

-Um, we'll soon find out.

To be honest, it's never easy, that's the bottom line.

Every day, there is £1,000 of cash up for grabs for our challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Eric's Pickles, I can tell you the Eggheads have won

the last five games, which means £6,000 says you can't beat them.

First head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film and TV.

Who would like this? Choose a player.

I think me? I'll have a go. Yes?

I'll have a go.

Colin. OK. Right in the middle.

On Film and TV against which Egghead?

-What do you think?

-Chris?

-Yes. Chris, please.

Colin from Eric's Pickles against Chris.

To ensure no conferring, please go to the question room now.

Colin, three multiple-choice questions.

The subject is Film and TV and you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

OK. Here is your first question. Good luck.

In 2005, who took on the role of Michael Scott

in the American TV version of The Office?

I think the only one to play him so far is Steve Carell.

Steve Carell is the correct answer.

OK, Chris, here's your first question.

The Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire is set in which country?

It's set in India.

Mumbai to be precise.

India is the right answer.

Colin, which Disney film features a scene in which

the central characters share of bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?

Hm.

I've seen all those, but quite a long time ago.

Um...

Erm...

It's going to have to be a guess, I'm afraid. I'll say

Lady And The Tramp.

Well done. Lady And The Tramp is absolutely right.

Ooh. That was lucky.

Chris, here's your next question.

Which actor was married to the actress Leslie Manville

in the late 1980s?

HE SIGHS

Ray Winstone came from my neck of the woods.

I think he was married before that.

Er...

Tim Roth or Gary Oldman.

Down the middle, Tim Roth.

Not Tim Roth. Gary Oldman is the answer.

Colin, this is good, if you get this right you've taken the round.

Fingers crossed.

Which actor who went on to win an Oscar was

one of the stars of the 1980s US sitcom Bosom Buddies,

in which he disguised himself as a woman in order to remain

living in an all-female building?

HE SIGHS

EXHALES SHARPLY I've never seen it, to be honest.

Hm.

I'd say...

It'll have to be a guess again. I'll go for Sean Penn.

It's not Sean Penn. It's Tom Hanks.

Chris, get this wrong, you're out.

Rita Simons joined the cast of EastEnders in 2007

to play which character?

Roxy Mitchell is Sam Janus, surely.

Um...

I've never watched EastEnders in my life,

having lived for over 40 years in a not dissimilar area.

Um...

Whitney Dean... Danielle Jones.

She's not playing Danielle Jones, she's playing...Roxy Mitchell.

Chris, you're out. Colin, you're in the final.

Good start for your team.

Very effective start for the challengers.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the challengers have not lost

a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost a brain. And the next subject is Music.

Which of you would like Music?

-I'll take music.

-David, OK.

Against? Where's the Egghead? Which one would you like in your sights?

Barry, I think.

So, David from Eric's Pickles on music against Barry,

from the Eggheads, and to make sure there's no conferring,

please take your positions.

So the round is Music, David. Three questions, would you like the first,

-or second set?

-I'll have the first, please.

Here we go, David, who released the 2010 album Messy Little Raindrops?

Um...

I'm not sure.

Um... I'll go for Cheryl Cole.

Cheryl Cole is correct. Well done.

Barry, in 2010, which radio station hosted the BBC's Electric Proms,

which featured performances by Elton John, Neil Diamond and Robert Plant?

I didn't hear this. The word "proms" suggests Radio 4.

So I'm going to try -

I know it's surprising to hear those people on Radio 4,

but I'll go for Radio 4.

You must be doing this to spite me. It's Radio 2.

That's the station with quite a lot of good music on it, Barry,

-if you want to listen in.

-I might try that one day.

David, I gave him a hospital pass there,

-and I've got you in the lead.

-Great. Yes.

Your question.

Which American singer had UK hits in the 1950s

with the songs Poor Little Fool, Someday and It's Late?

Again, I don't know.

I don't think it's Jim Reeves. I'll...

I'll go for Ricky Nelson.

Well done. Ricky Nelson's absolutely right.

So, Barry, if you get this wrong you are out.

Which boy band's 2000 album No Strings Attached

sold a record 2.42 million copies

in its first week of release in the United States?

Haven't a clue. Haven't a clue.

The year 2000 might be a clue so I'll go for *NSYNC.

Why is 2000 a clue?

Because I think they were big at that time.

You're right. They were and it was them. *NSYNC is the answer.

David, back to you for the round.

Which composer's Violin Sonata No 9

is also known as the Kreutzer Sonata?

Um...

Again, I am not entirely sure. I don't think it's Liszt.

Um...

I'm really not sure between Bach and Beethoven.

Er...

I'll go for Beethoven.

Beethoven. You'll know this, Barry.

-He's right.

-You're right, you've knocked Barry out.

Beethoven's the right answer.

Barry, you're not in the final round, David, you are.

Your team is playing well, I must say.

Do both of you come back to us here.

So an interesting contest.

The challengers have lost no brains from the final rounds so far.

The Eggheads have lost two brains.

The next subject is History. Who would like this?

-Me, is it? ALL:

-Yes.

-Dave, history. OK.

-And I'll play Judith, please.

-Judith, you love history, don't you?

-Yes. But I hardly dare say so.

It's Dave from Eric's Pickles against Judith on history.

To ensure no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

Judith, I looked up your record on history.

You're just about to jinx it.

-You've won 26 in a row.

-Have I? I wish you hadn't.

That probably goes back goodness knows how many years.

I hardly ever get it, actually.

You're almost unable to get a question wrong in this round, that's what's amazing.

-You're kind to say so. But I think...well, let's see.

-OK.

All right, three questions on history

and Dave, you can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Your team are playing brilliantly. Good luck.

Which English monarch was the father of Henry III,

who became king of England in 1216?

That was John.

Spot on. It was John. Well done.

Judith, during World War I, in which country

did the 1917 Battle of Cambrai take place?

I think Cambrai was in Belgium.

-Your answer is Belgium?

-Mm.

You've got it wrong.

-Oh! I knew it!

-Is that my fault?

-Yes, it is. I knew it would happen.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I'm so sorry! I was building you up there.

-I wish you just wouldn't!

-France is the right answer, Judith.

-That is annoying.

-I'm so sorry. I wish I hadn't gone down that road.

Yes, so do I.

Dave, here's your question.

In which year did Gaiseric lead the Vandals in a sack of Rome?

Well, 855 and 1255 are much too late.

It was 455.

455 is the correct answer.

You're playing very well.

OK, Judith, your question. The so-called Star Chamber,

a court of law which was abolished in the 17th century,

primarily sat at which venue?

-Um...

-CLEARS THROAT

I think it sat in the Tower of London.

-Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-ALL: Palace of Westminster.

You see, Jeremy, I told you.

26 in a row, for heaven's sake. That's it.

Gosh!

Well, Dave, there we are,

you've taken Judith apart somewhat after 26 wins.

-I won't ever mention your history record again.

-No, please don't.

Credit to you. You were unswerving in your choice of the right answers.

Well done. You are in the final. Please both come back.

So the challengers have lost no brains -

I keep saying that - from the final round.

The Eggheads have now lost three brains.

The last subject before what could well be an exciting final

is Arts and Books. So who would like this?

-I'll take that one.

-Eric, OK. Against?

Either Pat or Kevin.

Um... I'd like to take on Kevin, please.

-TEAM:

-Ooh!

-A murmur goes up from the team.

OK, Eric from the Pickles against our Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to the question room now.

Eric, you've taken on a serious Egghead. It's Arts and Books.

Three multiple-choice questions and do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

All the best to you. Your team playing for £6,000.

Washington Irving's short story The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

is set in which part of the world?

Um, by the title of it, I don't think it would be North Yorkshire.

Um, I'm leaning towards Nova Scotia.

I'm going to pick Nova Scotia.

-Let's ask an Egghead.

-New York state.

New York state is where it was set.

OK, Kevin, your question, the island of Blefuscu appears in which novel?

It's one of the many places visited by Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels.

Gulliver's Travels is the right answer.

Back to you, Eric.

In George Eliot's novel Adam Bede, what is Adam Bede's occupation?

It's not a book that I've read.

Um... I'm going to have to take a guess on this one.

I will guess carpenter.

Carpenter is the right answer, well done.

Kevin, in the children's book series Basil Of Baker Street by Eve Titus,

what type of creature is Basil?

Well, I didn't... It may be completely unconnected,

but there is, I think, an animated film

called Basil The Great Mouse Detective.

I haven't heard of the books but I'll have to assume

the film was possibly based on the books.

So I'll go for mouse.

Great quizzing. Mouse is correct. Well done.

OK, Eric, if you get this wrong, you're out.

Tigerware, a type of 16th and 17th century stoneware

with a mottled, brown glaze, is strongly associated with which city?

I'm just thinking of the name tigerware,

where that would be from.

Again, it's going to have to be a guess.

Um, I'm going to go with the German connection of Cologne.

Cologne is correct.

You've got two points. You need to hope that Kevin slips up now.

Kevin, which Spanish king was so pleased

with the 1623 portrait of him, painted by Diego Velazquez,

that the artist was appointed as a court painter?

I'm pretty sure that Velazquez was court painter to Philip IV.

Philip IV is right. Well done, you're in the final round.

Sorry, Eric, he is a hard egg to crack, so you've been knocked out.

If you come back to us, we will play the final.

So, this is what we've been playing towards. Very exciting today.

Time for the final round.

I'm afraid those who lost your head-to-heads won't be allowed to

take part in this round. So that is Eric, from Eric's Pickles,

and also Judith and Chris and Barry from the Eggheads.

Would you all please leave the studio.

Well, this is going to be interesting.

There's a bit of firepower, even though they're reduced to two guns.

Just a bit! LAUGHTER

So, Dave, Colin, Simon and David, there are £6,000 to win.

Pat and Kevin, you're playing for something money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are general knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Eric's Pickles,

the question is are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

All the best to you. Good luck.

Here's your first question.

Drayton Manor is a theme park in which English county?

-Staffordshire.

-Norfolk.

No, it's Staffordshire.

SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER

We think the answer is Staffordshire, Jeremy.

-Staffordshire is the right answer, well done.

-Well done.

OK, so they have taken the lead. Eggheads.

Tony Blair spent a few years of his childhood in which country?

S-s-s-s-s...somewhere, I don't know,

I may be entirely off beam, somewhere in the back of my mind,

Canada, maybe.

I don't know. Is it...? Nothing, nothing surfacing at all.

I haven't heard of his happy Australian or Egyptian years,

or his Canadian years.

-I don't know.

-I would guess Canada, but for no good reason.

-We'll have to do that?

-Yeah, we'll have to.

We have no idea, Jeremy, and we are reduced to guessing,

and we are going to guess Canada.

Your answer is Canada. In the '50s,

just about three or four years, his family were in Adelaide.

So the answer is Australia.

-I would have put that third.

-So the big guns are misfiring.

Next question is for Eric's Pickles.

In ancient Greece, the Pythian Games

were held every four years in honour of which deity?

-Poseidon.

-The Greek god.

-Was Poseidon a Greek god?

-Yeah.

-Poseidon is the sea god.

-Hera, I've never heard of.

-Zeus's wife.

-I'd go between Apollo and Poseidon.

I would go for Apollo, I'm not sure.

It's ringing a bell, Apollo.

Would it be in honour of a woman, do you think? Rather than a man?

Which would make it Hera.

Yeah. You think...?

-Shall we go?

-Yeah.

If it's a woman, it's Hera.

-Are you thinking Hera?

-It could be in honour of a woman.

-Shall we say that then?

-What do you think?

-Dave?

Go with Hera.

We'd like to go for Hera, please.

-Your answer is Hera. Eggheads, do you know?

-It's Apollo.

Apollo. You were all set to tell me Apollo.

Something happened. You let 'em back in.

The next question is for the Eggheads.

In which European country is Ulm Minster,

a church which has the tallest steeple in the world?

-Bavaria?

-I've been up it.

So, yes, Germany.

It's in Bavaria, on the River Danube, and it's in Germany.

Germany is the right answer.

One each and we're on to the third question.

Who did the England football team knock out in the semi-finals

of the 1966 World Cup?

Bobby Charlton...

TALK OVER EACH OTHER

I don't know, so go with that.

It's Portugal, Jeremy.

Portugal is correct, well done. Eggheads,

if you get this one wrong, they've taken the money, £6,000.

Get it right, we go to Sudden Death. Here is your question.

In 2010, the Indian tennis player Sania Mirza

married which Pakistani cricketer?

-My first thought is Shoaib Malik.

-Me too.

Let's have a think.

I feel it is Shoaib Malik. I could be wrong.

-Well, it was my instinct, as well.

-We'll have to go for it.

-Shoaib Malik?

-Yes.

We're going to go for Shoaib Malik.

The correct answer is Shoaib Malik. You got it.

So you're equal after three questions and we go to Sudden Death.

-Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives. Are you ready?

-Yes.

The Australian state of Queensland was so named

during the reign of which British Queen?

History expert, I think.

Is it Queen, or...?

Victoria is named after Victoria.

Yes.

When was Australia settled?

1700s. Byron, was it?

-But they...

-James Cook.

The settlers were only going over mainly from the 1850s onwards

and Victoria was on the throne then.

-I think it's Queen Victoria.

-You think it's Queen Victoria?

Yes. Shall we go with that?

-I'm not 100%.

-I thought Queen Anne first.

-Queen Anne is too early.

-Yes. Go for Victoria?

-Yeah.

We'll go for Queen Victoria.

She had the state of Victoria named after her,

but, yes, Queensland as well.

-Well done.

-Queen Victoria.

If they get this wrong you've won the £6,000. We're on Sudden Death.

Great contest today.

Eggheads, which Australian won the Tony award for best leading actor

in a musical in 2004 for his role in The Boy From Oz?

-Tonys are Broadway.

-Yes, yes, yes.

The Boy From Oz.

Um...

-Have we any candidates? Jason Donovan did musicals.

-Yeah.

Craig McLachlan?

2004. Hm.

Australian.

If it's The Boy From Oz, it implies somebody presumably a bit younger.

Um, so Jason Donovan wouldn't seem to be a likely candidate,

particularly.

Australians. Hugo Weaving.

No.

Hugh Jackman.

Another actor, Australian actors.

Brian Brown's far too old, you'd think.

Hugh Jackman has done musicals. He sings and he's done musicals.

And that sort of thing.

Although he was already in films before that...

I simply have no idea.

I'm having trouble coming up with candidates.

He seems like a reasonable candidate to me.

Hugh Jackman? We don't know. We're mystified.

But we are going to try Hugh Jackman.

The correct answer is Hugh Jackman.

ALL: Oh!

And that is why they are so good.

All right, back to you, Eric's Pickles.

Which influential businessman reportedly said,

"History is more or less bunk?"

Henry Ford.

-Yes?

-ALL: Yeah.

-You think so?

-Yes.

It's Henry Ford,

-the answer, Jeremy.

-Very good. It is Henry Ford.

You're still alive in Sudden Death. It's not very sudden, is it?

Eggheads, get this wrong, it is over.

All teams playing brilliantly. £6,000 on the table.

Here's your question.

Which British modernist, or brutalist, architect

designed the University of East Anglia in the 1960s?

Get this wrong, it's over.

-Denys Lasdun, I'm thinking.

-Yes, I think so.

I think it's Lasdun,

but I'm running through some others.

Stirling wasn't brutalist, anyway.

I think we have to go with Denys.

-I think we have to...

-Denys Lasdun?

Well, certainly, Denys Lasdun, yes.

We'll go for Sir Denys Lasdun.

Denys Lasdun is correct.

They do not get shaken off

that easily, but you are in a clash of Titans. It's brilliant.

OK, £6,000. Sudden Death, final round.

Your question, Eric's Pickles.

Which American writer invented the word factoid for something

repeated by the media and accepted as true, although it may not be?

Factoid.

An American author?

It could be a modern one. I don't know.

It's going to be somebody like John Updike or William Faulkner.

I don't know.

-That's what I would go for.

-What do you think, Dave?

I don't know.

-I don't know the answer.

-THEY CONFER INDISTINCTLY

We're not sure on this one, Jeremy,

but we think the answer is William Faulkner.

William Faulkner is wrong. It's Norman Mailer.

So, Eggheads, if you get this right, you've taken the contest

and what a contest it has been. Here's your question.

Which French writer's two-part novel L'Eau Des Collines

was adapted for the screen as the 1980s films Jean De Florette

and Manon Des Source?

You get this right and you take the contest.

The films were directed by Claude Berri.

Were they from books from Marcel Pagnol?

Just an idea.

KEVIN SIGHS

He was more of a playwright, but, um...

For some reason, I link him with those films. I may not be correct.

If you can, if you can dig a bit.

I... Hm.

The films are definitely directed by Claude Berri.

-I associate Marcel Pagnol with them.

-OK.

That's fine. If you've got an inkling.

-I wouldn't stick a pile of money on. It's a decent hunch.

-That's fine.

We're going to go with Marcel Pagnol.

Your answer is Marcel Pagnol.

If you have got it right, the contest is over.

If it's wrong, we play on. What do you think?

I think they're right.

Marcel Pagnol is the correct answer. Congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

And brilliantly played.

I can't remember the last game

where we had a team play as well as you played,

notwithstanding the fact that you've been beaten.

Sometimes teams win, but they haven't got your quiz ability.

-Extraordinary.

-ALL: Thank you.

Did we get the best out of you?

I think so! LAUGHTER

Well, you've really, pound for pound, matched them

and had them on the ropes a couple of times

and, in the end, they just found the right punch.

-Thank you so much for taking part.

-ALL: Thank you.

Commiserations to our challengers.

The Eggheads have done what we normally say comes naturally,

but they had to struggle today.

I'm afraid it means you're not going home with £6,000.

The money rolls over to our next game.

So, Eggheads, very well done.

We saw you at your best today

and maybe sometimes at your weakest as well.

Who will beat you, I wonder?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£7,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd