Episode 141 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've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Blackpool Rockers. Everyone on this team

works for the same family-run confectionary business,

which, for 67 years, has been specialising in the production of...

you guessed it, Blackpool rock. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Geoff. I'm 66 years of age, and I'm the managing director

of a confectionary company.

Hi, I'm Margaret.

I'm 63, and I'm a company director.

Hi, I'm Bob. I'm 58, and I'm also a company director.

Hi, I'm Heather. I'm 40, and I'm a managing director.

Hi, I'm John. I'm 45, and I'm a Blackpool rock maker.

So, Geoff and team, welcome to you.

-Thank you.

-Hello.

So, Blackpool rock, Geoff?

How is demand for Blackpool rock?

There's still a big demand for it,

but it's a seasonal business,

and we tend to sell more in the summer,

and produce stock during the winter.

You've brought some in for us, which is very good of you.

-Let's have a little look at this.

-This is one we made earlier.

It's a bit special. Show us.

We've made it especially for the occasion.

It's got the Eggheads logo on it.

What's it got running through it?

We've got, in the middle of it, "The Eggheads".

How do you actually put the word through, like that?

It's a handmade process.

In effect, we produce one giant stick, which weighs about 50 kilos.

The letters are all handmade,

and assembled inside the giant stick of rock,

which is quite soft.

It's gone into a machine, which keeps it going round and round.

It's pulled out to whatever length of rock we want it to be,

onto a long slab, where it's rolled by hand,

until it goes brittle.

And then they can cut it up.

If they win, shall we give them the rock?

We've got some more at the back.

Fantastic. Maybe I'll get some.

Every day, there's £1,000 worth 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, Blackpool Rockers, the Eggheads have won the last 16 games.

ALL: Whoa! Wow!

So it's worth playing hard for.

£17,000 says you can't beat them today. Would you like to try?

ALL: Certainly!

First head-to-head battle is on the subject of Films & Television.

Which one of you would like this?

-Is it you?

-Are you sure it's not you?

-No, I think it's you.

-Heather.

-Heather?

-Good luck.

OK. Films & TV.

Which Egghead would you like to take on, Heather?

-I think Chris. Margaret, what do you think?

-Yeah.

-I think Chris.

-Chris, please.

-OK.

I sense you're familiar with the programme. I can tell.

Heather, from the Blackpool Rockers,

and Chris, from the Eggheads. We are doing Film & Television.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

Film & Television is the subject.

Three multiple choice questions you get, Heather.

If you win the round, you go through to the final. If you don't,

you get knocked out.

Would you like the first or second set of questions?

I'll go second, please.

Here we go with Film & Television.

Which former England Rugby Union international

became a regular team captain on the TV show A Question Of Sport

in 2004?

Mm.

I thought you were going to come up with Bill Beaumont, there,

but it's later than that.

It's not Lawrence Dallaglio, I don't think.

And Austin Healey's a sports car,

so I think it's got to be Matt Dawson.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I think Austin Healey is probably a human being, as well.

But it IS Matt Dawson. Well done.

Heather, over to you.

Mavis Wilton was a long-running character in which TV soap?

I've not watched it for some time, but I think it was Coronation Street.

Coronation Street is right.

Over to you, Chris.

In which film from the early 1960s

did David Niven play a character called

Sir Charles Lytton?

He is the international jewel thief in The Pink Panther.

He is, indeed, in The Pink Panther. Well done.

So, back to you.

He's proving a little bit tricky here, Chris. He's not cracking yet.

Heather, who plays Pinky, the lead character,

in the 2011 film version of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock?

What a question for you!

I'm drawn to Sam Riley, and I don't know why.

I did read about this the other week.

I actually haven't heard of any of those.

So, I'm going to have to go for Sam Riley.

Blackpool rock on Brighton Rock. Have you got it right?

Sam Riley is correct.

ALL: Yes!

That question was meant to be, wasn't it?

That's amazing.

OK.

Chris, your third question. You're both playing really well.

What was the title of the US TV series,

in which Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver

starred as a pair of crooks

trying to blend in with a community in the Deep South?

Ah!

Now, Weeds was about a suburban housewife growing cannabis.

Was the name of the couple played by Izzard and Driver the Riches?

If they were the Riches, that's the right answer.

I don't think it would be Breaking Bad. I'll go with The Riches.

Three out of three, Chris. Well done. The Riches is correct.

OK, Heather.

As you went second, the pressure is on.

You have to get this right or you're not in the final.

Which celebrity traced their family tree in the very first episode

of Who Do You Think You Are?,

broadcast on the 12th October 2004?

I never saw that, so I don't know.

I don't think it was Bill Oddie.

And I don't think Jeremy Clarkson's ever done it.

I'm going to go with Moira Stuart.

Let's see what your team-mates think.

-Do you know?

-We would have gone for that.

I thought it might have been Bill Oddie.

Bill Oddie is the right answer.

So, bad luck. You've been knocked out by Chris.

It was tight, though. You won't be in the final round, and he will.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

So, the challengers have lost one brain

from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

The next subject for you is Music. Who would like this?

-I'm up for that one.

-You are the music fan, John?

-I'm the music man.

-OK, John. Who do you want to take on?

What do you think? Barry?

-Barry, perhaps.

-Barry, please.

OK, John, from the Blackpool Rockers.

You been practising your music, Barry?

I've been listening to a lot more.

-The stuff you don't like, as well as the stuff you do?

-Yes, indeed.

Versus Barry, from the Eggheads.

So there's no conferring, please take your positions.

John, we're the same age, you and me.

-Is that right, Jeremy?

-45.

Were you born in '65, yeah?

'66. January.

OK. So you're a bit younger.

Do we like the same kind of music?

I like punk, indie, grunge, trance,

dance, hip hop, techno.

You name it, I like it.

Blimey, you've got out a bit more than I have!

I've got about 1,000 LPs all together.

Really?! So, you really love your music?

Various formats. The old cassettes, LPs, CDs. I like lots.

Don't you think the music that was going on between 1977 and 1982

was the best music EVER made?

I'd have to agree with you there, Jeremy, I must say.

-No one else seems to agree with us.

-Absolutely loved it.

Good luck in this round. I hope you get lots of Angelic Upstarts

and Buzzcocks and all that.

Oh, aye. The Damned, The Clash, and all them.

-That's right.

-Nice one.

Barry against John, on Music.

Three questions. You can choose the first or the second set, John.

I'll go first, please.

Good luck. Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop

is a number from which musical?

I don't think it's The Sound of Music.

I don't think it's The Producers.

I'll have to guess and say Cabaret, Jeremy.

I wish it was right. It's The Producers.

Oh! What a bad question for a punk rocker, eh?

-I know.

-Just terrible, isn't it?

-It's not the punk question.

-No good, is it?

OK, Barry.

You're going to get the punk question now.

"We've come so far and we've reached so high

"and we've looked each day and night in the eye"

are lyrics from which Take That song?

Oh, gosh.

The thing about Take That songs, to me, is that they all sound the same!

They all sound wonderful, I must admit,

but I never really listened to the lyrics.

It talks about "sky", so I shall go for Pray.

No, you're wrong. It's Never Forget.

I did, though, didn't I?

John, here's your question.

Ian Gillan joined which band

as lead vocalist in 1969?

I don't think it's Iron Maiden.

Not sure who the lead singer is,

but I think the lead singer of Def Leppard's Joe Elliott.

I seem to remember it's Deep Purple,

so I'll go with Deep Purple, Jeremy.

-Well done, John. Deep Purple is the correct answer.

-Yes!

Well done!

OK, Barry, your question.

What is the title of Susan Boyle's second album,

released in November 2010?

I think The Promise was Cheryl Cole. I think it's The Gift.

Brought out in time for Christmas, it is indeed The Gift.

And, for the second year running, it sold 3.7 million copies,

and, for the second year running, Susan Boyle was the most successful

British artist selling overseas.

OK, John. We're rooting for you here.

I am, anyway.

His'N'Hers and We Love Life

are albums by which pop group?

I don't know this one, so I'm going to have to guess.

Not really my type of music.

I'll just take a stab in the dark, and say Pulp.

-You've got it absolutely right.

-Yes! Come on down!

-Pulp, it is.

We need this level of passion from you, Barry, now.

The singer Mercedes Sosa, who died in 2009,

was born in which country?

Get this wrong and you're out, Barry.

I'm sorry to say I've never heard of her.

Mercedes Sosa

does have a kind of Spanish ring to it, so I shall go for Argentina.

And you've got it right. It IS Argentina.

Two points each. John, you've taken him to sudden death.

It gets harder now. I don't give you alternatives, OK?

Oh, aye. I know.

In 1989, John,

with whom did Marc Almond have a UK single,

with Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart?

Um...

I think it was Gene Pitney, wasn't it? I think.

Gene Pitney?

-Gene Pitney is the right answer!

-Yes! Come on!

-OK!

Barry,

you're on the edge, here.

"The Old Groaner"

was an affectionate nickname of which singer,

who died in 1977?

I think "The Old Groaner" was Frank Sinatra.

-Oh, no!

-Oh, Barry!

Died in 1977.

We've taken your answer, but the Eggheads can tell us?

ALL: Bing Crosby!

-Bing Crosby.

-Oh!

When did Sinatra die?

'98.

Sinatra lived for another two decades after that.

Yes! Come on, Johnny Boy!

You've crushed him, John. Well done!

Yes!

-So, you are through to the final, John.

-YES!

And, Barry, you've been knocked out.

Both of you please come back and rejoin your team-mates.

As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain

from the final round.

-The Eggheads have lost a brain, too. Well done, John.

-Cheers, mate!

-A bit of progress for your team now?

-ALL: Yes!

The next subject is History.

Which of you would like this?

Margaret, straightaway.

-That's me.

-Straightaway.

-Who do you want to take on, Margaret?

-Kevin, please.

OK, So, Margaret, from the Blackpool Rockers,

taking on Kevin, on History.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room now.

OK, Margaret.

So, three multiple choice questions on History, in turn,

-and you can choose the first or the second set.

-I'll go first.

Good luck to you.

During World War II, the term "wolf pack"

was used to describe what type of German vessels,

travelling in a group?

I think the most sensible answer

would be submarines.

Submarines is correct. Well done.

Kevin, in 1963,

Kenya achieved its independence from which country?

Well, it had been a British colony previously, so United Kingdom.

United Kingdom is the right answer. Well done.

Back to you, Margaret.

The act of defiance known as the Tennis Court Oath

took place at the beginning of which historical episode?

Well, I may be completely wrong, but if it's the game of tennis,

I'm going to guess the American Civil War,

because that's the most recent.

We have a tennis specialist with us. Let's see. CJ?

French Revolution.

French Revolution is the answer, Margaret.

CJ, what's the significance?

It's just where the revolutionaries met

and declared what they were going to do to start off their defiance.

Kevin, here's your question.

From 1923-1934,

what type of state entity was the Soviet Union's OGPU?

That's O-G-P-U.

Yeah, it was one of the predecessors of the KGB.

It was secret police.

Secret police is correct. So Kevin has taken the lead.

Margaret, back to you. You've got to get this one right.

Between the years 1795-1806,

which country was known as the Batavian Republic?

Erm...

I don't know, but I'm going to take a guess at Poland.

Let's see if Kevin knows. Kevin?

No, Batavia was one of the ancient names in Roman times,

thereabouts, for the area that's now the Netherlands.

So when... As a result of the French coming in and taking over,

they set up a puppet regime there.

They decided to go back to this ancient title.

So it's the Netherlands.

It is the Netherlands. Margaret, sorry.

You've been knocked out by Kevin there.

He is formidable, particularly on History. Kevin, you're in the final.

Please, both of you, rejoin us here.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost two brains

from the final round and the Eggheads have lost one brain.

Our last subject before the final is Arts and Books.

THEY DISCUSS

It's got to be Bob. Bob or Geoff?

-It'll be me.

-OK, Bob against which Egghead?

I'd like to take on Daphne, please.

Bob from the Blackpool Rockers against our Daphne

from the Eggheads on Arts and Books.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Bob, you're another rock maker?

I am indeed, Jeremy, yes. Done it all my life.

But other stuff as well?

Yeah, we have quite a wide range of products,

but I do make, allegedly, the world's largest edible cowpats.

-Oh, really, do you?

-Yes.

Are they sold in wrappers or just posted?

They're actually sold in like a pizza box, with artificial grass around.

-Very, very popular!

-Really? Made out of chocolate?

-Toffee.

-Toffee?!

-Yeah.

Good luck with Arts and Books.

Three questions, Bob, you can choose the first or the second set.

I'll have first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, good luck.

Which fictional gang went to Finniston Farm,

Billycock Hill and Kirrin Island during their adventures?

I would think, the only one I can really remember from my childhood

that sounds familiar is the Famous Five, please, Jeremy.

-Well done, the Famous Five is the right answer.

-Yes!

Very competitive these Blackpool Rockers.

This is good! Daphne, your question.

Memoirs Of A Fruitcake is a volume of which celebrity's autobiography?

Hmm, yes. He knows how to choose his titles.

Chris Evans.

Chris Evans is the right answer.

My Radio 2 colleague.

Bob, in the novel Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis,

Jim Dixon is a lecturer on what subject?

Right, I'm trying to think that perhaps computer science is...

If it's a book that's just recently been written, obviously,

computers might come into it.

But I'm drawn to Russian politics,

so I'd like you to take that as my answer, please.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Eggs?

-EGGHEADS:

-Medieval history.

Medieval history is the answer.

Daphne, your question to take the lead.

The poet Les Murray,

recipient of the 1998 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry,

and winner of the 1996 TS Eliot prize,

was born in which country?

Nope.

Doesn't ring a bell.

Les.

Sounds Australian to me, so, Australia?

Australia is the right answer.

Bob, sorry about that! That was just Daphne being Daphne.

-So you need to get this question right.

-Right.

Which actor had a hit with his 1956 play Romanoff and Juliet?

Right, well, Peter Ustinov is quite humorous.

Erm... Anthony Quayle, I don't really recognise

and Dirk Bogarde, I've heard of.

I'm going to go for Peter Ustinov.

-You've got it absolutely right. Peter Ustinov.

-Come on!

A good two out of three there, you've done well.

Let's see if Daphne is going to win the round.

If you get this right, you will win it and be in the final.

Who's Afraid Of Red, Yellow and Blue?

is a series of paintings

from the late 1960s by which abstract painter?

I'm trying to see if anything, erm...

SHE SIGHS

Barnett Newman.

Where did you get that from?

-An inkle?

-An inkle, so it was one less than an inkling?

-Yes.

Barnett Newman is the right answer. Your inkle served you well, Daphne.

-You are in the final round. Sorry, Bob.

-No problem.

You've been beaten by an Egghead, but it does happen.

If you both come back, we'll play the final round.

This is what we've been playing towards, it's the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Margaret, Bob and Heather from the Blackpool Rockers

and Barry, from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio.

Geoff and John, you're playing to win the Blackpool Rockers £17,000.

Kevin, CJ, Daphne and Chris, 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, Blackpool Rockers, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Do you want to go first or second?

-First?

-First, yeah.

-First, please.

Here we go... Best of luck, Geoff and John.

What term is used to refer to the support allowance

that an individual pays to his or her former spouse

as part of a divorce settlement?

-Right...

-Er...

-Alimony?

-I think we've got it.

We'll say alimony.

-Your answer is alimony?

-Mm-hm.

-Quite right.

-Yes, come on.

-Well done.

Got the first one right. OK, Eggheads.

Which UK Eurovision Song Contest winning group

was fronted by an American?

-Katrina And The Waves?

-Mm-hm.

That was '97, I think it was, Katrina And The Waves.

-Do you know the song?

-Sunshine, something.

Sunshine In My Heart, or something.

Walking On Sunshine was the famous pop hit, but that wasn't it.

-Love Shine A Light.

-Oh...

-Love Shine A Light.

So they've got theirs right, but don't panic yet.

Here's your question.

What is the literal translation of "Dies Irae,"

the name of part of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass?

I'll spell it for you, OK.

Dies is D-I-E-S and Irae is I-RA-E.

-Dies Irae?

-Day Of Wrath?

-Day Of Wrath.

Dies is day.

-Your thought is Day Of Wrath?

-I would guess.

We'll go for Day Of Wrath.

-Day Of Wrath is the right answer.

-Yes! Come on!

Two out of two.

£17,000 to play for.

Let's see what happens with these Eggheads.

The Australian kelpie is a breed of which domestic creature?

-Dog?

-It's like a sheepdog. It's a sheepdog.

It's a dog.

Dog is the right answer.

They are not mucking around, the Eggheads.

Get this one right and they can panic, I've been it happen.

In 2010 Thierry Henry left Barcelona

to join which Major League soccer team?

-I think I know this one.

-Who was it? Who was it?

-Thierry Henry left Barcelona. I think I know it.

-Go on.

I don't think it's Chicago Fire.

I don't think it's Houston Dynamo.

Straightaway I thought it was New York Red Bulls.

-Straightaway.

-OK.

-We'll say that.

We'll go for New York Red Bulls, please.

-The last one, you were certain, Geoff.

-But not about this one.

Well, Dies Irae, but the last one, you were.

John, this time you're certain. You're playing well.

-New York Red Bulls is correct.

-Yes!

-Well done.

-You've got three out of three.

-Come on.

You've left it perched in a very interesting place here,

because, this third question if they get it wrong, you've won £17,000.

You don't need to do another stroke of work today.

That sounds all right to me.

Here is your question, Eggheads.

-Norrin Radd...

-Yes!

-..is the alter ego, you don't know what I'm going to ask yet.

-Sorry.

Norrin Radd is the alter ego of which comic book super hero?

-Silver Surfer.

-Silver Surfer, isn't it?

THEY LAUGH

How do you know it's the Silver Surfer?

CJ, how do you know it with such conviction?

Because I've wasted my life with comic books.

You read them a lot, do you?

I like them and I watch the films, as well.

This is not learning lists, this is you reading something for enjoyment?

-For enjoyment, yeah.

-This is you as a real person, CJ?

I wouldn't go that far!

The correct answer is Silver Surfer.

So, they got three out of three.

You're foiled slightly, but you're not out, not by any means.

£17,000 we're playing for and we go to Sudden Death.

It's not multiple choice now. I need the answer from you.

In the lyrics of a famous song, by Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin,

that became popular during World War II,

in which London square did a nightingale sing?

-Berkeley Square?

-Berkeley, yeah.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

-Berkeley Square.

-Berkeley Square is the right answer.

-Yes, come on, come on.

Eggheads, you get this wrong and they've won £17,000

and your winning streak is over. In 2009,

Sir John Sawers was appointed head of which intelligence organisation?

I think he's the one whose wife put the pictures on the internet.

Yes it was, and I think that's...

Can you just spell Sawers for us, please.

S-A-W-ERS.

I can't remember which one it is.

No, is it MI5 or MI6?

CHRIS: Well, MI5's internal, and MI6 is abroad, isn't it?

MI5 is the one, if it's not,

can we think of an alternative name of who is head of MI5?

Not at the moment, no.

-If I have an inkling it's towards six.

-Mmm.

But, erm...

That maybe, well...

I'm inclined to go for... I don't know.

-I'd go for five.

-You'd go for five?

-CHRIS: Yeah, I'd go for five, yeah.

CHRIS: It's higher profile than six.

Don't do it on the basis of what I think.

-Do you want to go for five?

-CHRIS: I'll go for five.

-Do you want to go for five?

-Yeah.

We don't know, MI5, we'll try.

OK, your answer is MI5. If you've got it wrong, you don't have to do any more.

Do you know the answer, by the way?

-MI6.

-You think it's MI6?

-Oh, yes.

That was a brilliantly shared session, there, CJ,

where you gave more weight to the opinions of people who didn't know the answer.

You should have listened to Kevin's inkling, but he's too modest.

It's MI6.

Congratulations, Challengers, you have won!

Yes! Come on!

How about that, I'm so pleased for you. Congratulations.

Jeremy, my flat burnt down a couple of months ago

and I've been homeless for a while, so that is going to help me.

I've just moved into a new house, so, brilliant.

I'm so chuffed for you.

The fact that you knew the last answer as well

is particularly heartening.

I would have been with you guys, MI5 or MI6, which is it?

It's very difficult.

Congratulations, Challengers, you've ended their winning streak.

You've won £17,000 on Eggheads and you are officially

cleverer than the Eggheads here.

You've proved that they certainly can be beaten.

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

will be just as successful.

Until then, after a brilliant game, goodbye.

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