Episode 133 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 pedigree is well-known as they won some of the country's toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our quiz champions today are the Foxy Foxes.

This team of friends quiz together each Sunday

at the Fox and Hounds in the village of Bredon in Worcestershire.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Rob, I'm 65, and I'm a retired geologist.

Hello, I'm Margaret, I'm 63, I'm a retired teacher.

Hi, I'm Bob, I'm 63, I'm an assistant librarian.

Hello, I'm Joyce, I'm 58, I'm a housewife.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 48, and I'm a retail manager.

-Rob and team, good to have you with us.

-Thank you.

And you quiz together?

-Yes, we do.

-Tough quiz?

Mediocre. Apparently, it's taken from one of the daily newspapers

that our publican quizmaster reads out to us each Sunday night.

50 questions, good fun.

-I know you're all into travel and going places.

-Yes.

Tell us about the themed dinner parties.

Well, since we've got to know each other, we've decided to hold

different events at different times of the year commemorating, say,

the Chinese New Years, birthday parties,

and we even celebrated Burns Night.

And you then arrive at each other's houses dressed in

the national dress of China or whatever?

We try to.

I gather our coolie hats were a sensation

at the Chinese dinner party.

OK, well, good luck taking on these Eggheads.

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

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads the prize money rolls over.

So, Foxy Foxes, the Eggheads have won the last eight games,

which means £9,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Would you like to try?

-TEAM: Yes.

OK, first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Science.

Who would like this? Whose subject is this?

-Well...

-It could be Rob.

-It should be me, but I...

Shall I go for Science?

-That might be an idea.

-Yes.

We'll go with you, and hope there's a lot of biological questions.

-All right.

-We can do, yes.

-This is for me. I'd like to take Science.

OK, Margaret on Science.

-Very determined there.

-Yes.

And which Egghead? You got the classic line-up here.

Shall I take Judith? I think Judith's looking good today.

Her Science has been improving but, yes, go on.

-Judith looks good every day!

-Are you a retired science teacher?

-No.

-Oh!

-Well, what was the biological reference there, then?

-I studied biology for a little while.

-OK.

So Margaret on Science against Judith from the Eggheads.

Already beginning to look slightly worried.

To ensure there's no conferring, take your positions in the Question Room.

So Margaret, you and Rob are married?

-Yes.

-And were introduced by...?

We were introduced by John Motson,

but it was a long time ago before he was famous.

And Rob, my now husband,

was on holiday, and I was a waitress at a hotel,

and I needed a pen to write a postcard,

and it was John and Rob, who, I don't know,

there was some elbow-nudging went on and the rest is history.

-Do you think John Motson would remember that?

-I don't know!

-He might do.

-He's got a brilliant brain for detail, hasn't he?

-He might do, you're right.

-Yes.

-Good luck in this round.

-Thank you.

We're on Science, and three multiple choice questions in turn.

And Margaret, you can choose the first or the second set.

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

Here we go.

A medical condition with a name that ends with the suffix "itis"

is characterised by what?

That's an interesting question.

It's certainly not thirst,

so the question is whether it's inflammation or spots.

I would say that the answer for this question

is spots.

Spots is wrong.

It's inflammation.

Inflammation is the right answer. Judith's chance to score a point.

Which chemical term is derived from a Greek word meaning indivisible?

I think that is atom.

-You went there straight away.

-Hmm.

Atom is right. It is atom.

OK, Margaret, back to you.

Which planet was first observed by spacecraft

when Voyager 2 flew past it on 25th August, 1989?

Voyager 2, 1989.

Let me work this one out.

Jupiter is further in in the planetary system.

That was well discovered.

Saturn.

Um...

The answer to that question, I believe, is Neptune.

Neptune is the right answer, Margaret, well done.

Judith,

of what is kinesiology the study?

Well, kinetic is to do with movement.

So, I think it must be human movement.

Human movement is right.

So Margaret, you need this one, otherwise she's knocked you out.

The disease known as chytridiomycosis

has contributed to a worldwide decline in numbers

of which creatures?

I'm wondering whether that word has something to do with the skin?

Chitin.

I would give monkeys for my answer for that, Jeremy.

-Amphibians is the answer, Margaret.

-Oh, dear!

-Amphibians.

Judith, you triumphed, you're in the final round.

-Sorry, Margaret, she's knocked you out!

-Yes.

-Bad luck!

Do, both of you, please come back and rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands,

the challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains. The next subject is Politics.

-Who would like that?

-You, Tim?

-I think that's going to be Tim.

Tim, on the end, OK. Against which Egghead, Tim?

-Can't be Judith.

-Who do we think?

Take Daphne?

-Daphne, yes.

-Daphne makes sense.

-Yes, yes.

-Daphne, please, Jeremy.

-OK, so Tim from the Foxy Foxes versus Daphne.

To ensure you don't confer, please go to the Question Room.

Tim, you're in retail, I gather?

That's right, yes.

Selling what kind of thing?

Food, food retail.

-OK, one-off shop or a chain or what?

-For a chain.

I manage at one of the stores in Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire.

Is the job fun?

It is, it's very varied. No two days ever the same.

Do you enjoy your weekly shop, Daphne?

It's got to be done, but, yeah...

No, not too keen on shopping at all, apart from books.

Books, yeah, well, straight onto the subject in hand.

Politics is what we're doing this round on,

and Tim, you can choose to go first or the second.

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

Here's your question.

On television, which political figure famously said to Rula Lenska,

"Would you like me to be the cat?"

First of all, well, I'm not too sure on that one.

It's not one I can remember coming across.

Let's have a think.

Rula Lenska.

Can't think of anything she's famous for other than an actress,

but I'll try George Galloway.

George Galloway's correct. Well done.

Daphne,

at Westminster what name is given to a small committee

set up to deal with subjects

within the remit of a particular government department?

That sounds like a Select Committee.

Select Committee is the right answer.

Back to you, Tim.

The Schengen Agreement, signed by France, West Germany

and the Benelux countries in 1985

was designed to do away with what between the signatories?

There's a lot of work been done on breaking down the borders

within the EU. So my answer is going to be Border Controls.

And you've got it spot on. Border Controls it is. Well done.

Daphne, your question.

Constance Markievicz,

the first woman to be elected to the House Of Commons

was a candidate for which party?

That was Sinn Fein.

-That's a classic quizzers fact, isn't it?

-Yes.

-What year was that out of interest? Anyone know?

-1918.

1918... Sinn Fein was the answer.

Third question to you, Tim,

playing well so far.

The civil servant who heads the Intellectual Property Office

is known by what title?

Again, I'm not 100% sure on this one.

The only one that rings any bells is the Auditor Advocate.

That's going to be my answer, Jeremy.

Auditor Advocate is wrong, though, it's Comptroller General.

Daphne, your third question. If you get this right, you're in the final.

Which former majority leader of the US House Of Representatives

was convicted of money laundering in 2010?

Oh, dear...

Well, the only one I've heard of

as a leader of the House Of Representatives is Newt Gingrich.

So that's my answer.

-You think it's Newt Gingrich?

-I haven't got a clue.

-It wasn't him. Anyone know?

-It was Tom Delay.

-Tom Delay is the answer.

We go to Sudden Death and it gets harder.

-I don't give you alternative answers. Are you ready?

-Yeah.

In which decade did George Thomas,

later Viscount Tonypandy, become speaker of the House Of Commons?

It's certainly pre-Betty Boothroyd. I will go for the 1970s, Jeremy.

It was 1976 so you're absolutely right.

Daphne, to stay in it.

What was the real first name of US President Lyndon B Johnson's wife,

commonly known as Ladybird?

-Claudia.

-Claudia is correct.

Her nickname, Ladybird, came from her childhood nurse,

who said she was as pretty as a ladybird.

Which members of the British House Of Commons

are traditionally addressed as Right Honourable?

I'll just have to think about this one.

Um... They would be members of the Cabinet.

-That's incorrect. Anyone know here?

-Privy Council.

-Privy Councillors...

Daphne, if you get this right,

you're in the final.

Mary Jo Kopechne was drowned when she was a passenger in a car

driven by which political figure?

Edward Kennedy.

Edward or Teddy Kennedy is the right answer.

Well done, you're in the final round.

Sorry, Tim, she's knocked you out there.

You played well, though.

Do, both of you, please come back and we'll play the next round.

So, Rob, any change of strategy?

Not really, I think it's gone fairly well to plan

apart from no-one winning yet!

THEY LAUGH

Wasn't that a Kevin Keegan line?

The game went the way we thought it would go,

it's just they scored the goals we thought they would score.

That was Keegan. OK, there's plenty of time to turn it around.

You've got to get someone in that final.

The Challengers have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject is Sport. Which of you would like Sport?

Bob...

OK, who do you want me to take on, captain?

-Um...

-CJ or Chris?

-Chris.

-Chris.

Could I take on Chris, please?

-OK, Bob on Sport. Oh, dear, that's put you in a bad mood.

-Oh, dear!

Chris reacting well to being chosen for Sport from the Eggheads.

Do please, both of you, go to the question room now.

-Bob, you've travelled a bit?

-Yes, indeed.

I've been fortunate that my jobs have always demanded a degree of travel

and I've been travelling the world for 40 years plus.

You started with some experience of the Cod War,

so you're over in the colder parts of near Iceland and all that,

and then you decided you wanted some sun?

Yes, I was in the Royal Navy in the '70s

and I was up in the Cod War and got a touch of frostbite.

After which I decided to switch from the minus 30 degrees of Iceland

to the plus 30 degrees of the Tropics.

And you worked for a fragrance company for how long?

About 28 years in USA, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Well, that's a life, and, Chris, you're doing Sport.

Yeah, well, it's just this learning and trivia and I don't swing that way, baby.

THEY LAUGH

I'll ask each of you three questions on Sport in turn.

Bob, first or second set?

I'd like to bat first please, Jeremy.

OK, Bob, see if you can take Chris apart here.

Which jockey won the 2010 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year?

Right, well, I know all three of those names.

Um, but I think it was the first one, Tony McCoy.

Quite right, Tony McCoy.

Chris, in Test cricket, what can a captain require the opposition to do

if they fail to get within 200 runs of his team's first innings score?

Mmm... Well, short of setting about the entire team with a bat,

they wouldn't have to retire hurt. They can't be forced to declare.

That's called enforcing the follow on. It's follow on.

-So you know a bit about cricket, anyway.

-No!

Follow on is the right answer.

Over to you, Bob.

At which sport did the husband and wife team Ludmila Belousova

and Oleg Protopopov represent the Soviet Union?

I think this was some time ago and I seem to remember those names.

They're very distinctive.

I think it was figure skating.

You're quite right, figure skating it was.

OK, Chris...

In which industry was Sir Alex Ferguson a shop steward

in the 1950s?

Well, Alex Ferguson's a Glaswegian Scot.

Although there were coal mines around in central Scotland,

he's more likely to have been in ship-building,

so that's what I'll go with, ship-building.

Presumably you know what he's doing now?

He's managing some bunch of overpaid mercenaries somewhere, yeah.

Ship-building is the right answer.

Bob, keep the pressure on, your third question.

With which partner did Frew McMillan

win three men's doubles titles at Wimbledon?

I don't think it was Ilie Nastase. I don't think he won a Wimbledon.

Roy Emerson was very good in singles.

He followed on from Rod Laver as an Australian champion at singles.

I think it was Bob Hewitt.

Bob Hewitt is the right answer.

Chris, if you get this wrong,

-you will have been knocked out on Sport.

-Quelle surprise!

It does happen!

Which Australian swimmer retired in 2004,

but made a comeback at the 2010 Commonwealth Games,

having lost around 45 kgs?

Oh...

Not a remotest glimmer of a clue, Jeremy.

I'll have to perm one from three.

None of the names are ringing any bells.

Is Leisel Jones a girl?

Not that you're going to tell me.

That's who I'll go with, Leisel Jones.

-I said Lie-sel, you say Lee-sel.

-Yeah.

-It's wrong, anyway.

-Yeah.

-The answer's Geoff Huegill.

-Mm-hm.

I think he won gold medals for the 100 metres butterfly

and, off the top of my head, the 4 x 100 metres medley.

He got silver in the 50 metres butterfly.

45 kilos he lost, and, I'm sorry, you've lost too, Chris.

You're not in the final round.

Well done, Bob, you are. Please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

Nice work, Bob, you've got him on sport.

Yes, the last question was very difficult that Chris had.

-Did you know that one?

-No.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost two brains

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost one.

Our last subject before the final is Music.

Which of you would like to take Music?

-Margaret, this was you, wasn't it?

-This was me.

-I guess it's going to be me.

-Well done, Joyce.

-OK...

-No choice.

Joyce from the Foxy Foxes, who would you like to take on?

Who looks like they are discordant today?

-Kevin or CJ?

-Try Kevin.

-Do we think, Kevin?

Oh, I think I'd like to play against Kevin, please.

Kevin, OK.

So Joyce from the Foxy Foxes against Kevin from the Eggheads on Music.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Kevin, British quiz champion eight times,

European quiz champion five times,

World quiz champion, four times,

winner of Brain Of Britain and Mastermind.

-You're quite well qualified for this show.

-Apparently.

How's your music?

Um, variable, depending on category, really.

Some things I'm more interested in than others, like everybody.

Do you find you're better at knowing stuff you love,

or do you know it anyway?

It's always true that those subjects you're particularly interested in,

or have some kind of interest in, will stick more readily in the mind

and stay in the memory for longer.

Other stuff, you can force it in there,

but it probably won't hang around for as long,

it'll need to be refreshed.

If you go home, what CDs are you playing?

Various, it depends on the mood as much as anything.

It's more likely to be classical or folk or world, maybe,

than pop and rock.

-I'm not really a pop and rock person.

-OK.

-Well, good luck, Joyce.

-Thank you.

I didn't mean to make him sound more intimidating.

I'm not sure where he is on music. He knows a lot about it.

Multiple choice, Joyce, you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go first, please.

Good luck. Here we go.

Who released a 2010 album called Men In Scarlet?

Well, music is not my chosen category here.

I'll just have to take a chance.

Um...

I will go for The Soldiers.

It's actually The Chelsea Pensioners who did that.

Kevin, your question.

In the lyrics of a 1969 song,

who did Kenny Rogers ask not to take her love to town?

That was... He sang about all of them at one time.

It was Ruby who he asked not to do that.

Ruby, don't take your love to town, is the right answer. Well done.

Over to you, Joyce.

If I Were A Bell is a song from which musical?

Right, I don't recognise If I Were A Bell from My Fair Lady.

I'll say West Side Story.

Daphne loves her musicals. Daphne?

-Guys And Dolls.

-Guys And Dolls, Joyce.

It goes ding, dong, ding, dong, ding.

-Ding, dong, ding, dong, ding?

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

That's how it goes?

-Thanks for that.

-Do it again.

Ding, dong, what?

-If I were a bell I could ding, dong, ding, dong, ding!

-Good!

-Lovely.

-Sorry.

-No, it's OK. And what's the tune?

Oh, don't ask me, I can't carry a tune.

Kevin, if you get this one right,

you are through to the final round.

In the 1970s, which band released the albums

How Dare You and the Original Soundtrack?

I'm not sure about this.

I'm not... I'm going to go for 10cc.

Your answer is 10cc?

That is correct. Kevin, you won the round.

Sorry, Joyce, you've been knocked out by the maestro.

No shame in that. Do please rejoin your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards.

It is time for the final round, which is General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

can't take part in this round.

So, Margaret, Joyce and Tim from the Foxy Foxes

and Chris, from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio?

-So, it's Rob and Bob in the final.

-Yep.

You are both Rob and Bob.

You're not being Rob and Bob so that we can tell you apart?

-I've always been Bob.

-I've always been Rob.

Any reason for preferring Rob over Bob?

No. It's just what people call me, I've never been called Bob.

What about you, you've always been a Bob?

It's always been Bob.

-You don't get any choice, it just happens.

-Yes.

Good luck, Rob and Bob.

You are playing to win the Foxy Foxes £9,000.

Judith, Kevin, CJ and Daphne,

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 all general knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Foxy Foxes, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Would you like to go first or second, Rob and Bob?

-First, please.

Good luck to you both.

The television star Derrick Errol Evans became famous by what name?

I've heard of Motivator. I haven't heard of Terminator.

-I think Terminator you associate with Arnie Schwarzennegger.

-Yes.

-Mr Detonator...

-I haven't heard of that at all.

-Sounds contrived.

-I would go with Mr Motivator.

-Yes.

-Shall we go for that?

-Yes.

We'll go for Mr Motivator, Jeremy.

Got it, Motivator is right. Well done!

Your question, Eggheads.

Where are the administrative headquarters of Lancashire?

Preston?

-Are you happy with Preston?

-Mm-hm.

We think, we're almost 101% sure they're in Preston.

The right answer is Preston, so you're equal.

Keep the pressure on them, Foxy Foxes.

Which Algerian-born French designer

created the jacket known as Le Smoking?

-I know all three names.

-Yes, so do I.

-Er, Pierre Cardin was predominantly men's fashion.

-Yes.

Christian Dior is predominantly ladies' fashion.

-Yves St Laurent? I would say more ladies than men.

-Ladies, yes.

-Pierre Cardin.

-Pierre Cardin is men's fashions.

-He did lighters and, er...

-Well, smoking...

Smoking. And he did ordinary jackets.

Well, there's a lot of designer stuff associated with menswear.

Yes, Jeremy, we'll go for Pierre Cardin.

Pierre Cardin is your answer.

-See whether the Eggheads know this one.

-Yves St Laurent.

Yves St Laurent it is!

Your question, Eggheads,

to take the lead.

Which American comedian co-starred in the film Superman III?

-Richard Pryor?

-Yeah.

He plays somebody who appears to be a natural born computer genius.

It's Richard Pryor.

That's right. The Eggheads are in the lead,

you've got to get this one right.

Which philosopher,

born in Rega, was awarded the Order Of Merit in 1971?

-Isaiah Berlin?

-In Rega.

I don't think so. I haven't heard of anyone of that name.

It's AJ Ayer or Karl Popper.

Karl...

-Isaiah Berlin sounds slightly Jewish, doesn't it?

-Very.

-AJ Ayer doesn't sound...

-No.

-Shall we go for Karl Popper?

-Yeah.

-Ayer is... It's too British, isn't it?

-Mmm.

-Yeah. It could be.

-Karl Popper's a Germanic connotation.

-Shall we go with that?

-Yeah.

-Karl Popper, Jeremy.

-Karl Popper is your answer.

-The correct answer is Isaiah Berlin, who you ruled out.

-Yes.

There is no way back after those three questions.

We have to say, congratulations Eggheads, you have won.

Commiserations to you, Rob and Bob, and the team.

-Any logic take you to Isaiah Berlin from Rega?

-Not particularly.

He was from a Jewish background so the name's not a clue.

Rega is in which country, Latvia?

It's the capital of Latvia.

That's one where you either know he was born in that area, or not.

Popper was German or Austrian

and AJ Ayer, English.

No, you'd have to know that, I think.

-Bad luck, was it fun?

-Yes, a very enjoyable day, actually.

Thanks and commiserations

because the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid that means you don't go home with the £9,000.

The money rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, well done to you.

Who's going to beat you, I wonder?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£10,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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