Episode 143 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, where five quiz challengers attempt to beat possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Their quiz pedigree is well-known. They've won the toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our quiz champions

are the Yorkshire Puddings. They all work in IT

for Sheffield or Calderdale Council. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Ralph, I'm 47 and I'm a solutions architect.

Hi. I'm Mary, I'm 56 and an IT projects officer.

I'm Brendan, I'm 25 and an information systems officer.

Hi, I'm Joelle, I'm 31 and an information management officer.

Hi, I'm Keith, I'm 52 and I'm the lead information systems officer.

Ralph and team, welcome. You are quizzers, are you?

We like to quiz. We all like to quiz. We like nothing better.

You are as enthusiastic as IT people can be about quizzing.

Tell us why you called yourselves the Yorkshire Puddings.

A couple of colleagues came up with that. Keith's mum, actually, and Joelle claimed it as well.

There was a team on about a year ago called what?

-The Lancashire Hotpots.

-And you needed a Yorkshire equivalent.

-We couldn't let that lie.

-Do we remember them?

-I think they beat us!

-They won.

-One against five of us.

-One against five, was it?

-Yes.

-Could that be an omen?

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

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

So the Eggheads won just the last game, which means £2,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Would you like to try?

-Certainly.

The first head-to-head battle is History.

Who would like this?

-All right...

-We knew we'd get a stinker!

- Keith? - I have no... Fine.

A slightly reluctant Keith. Which Egghead would you like? No Kevin, which may help you.

- How's about Pat? - OK, Pat, please.

-Keith from the Yorkshire Puddings. Pat, on history. Which is your best period?

-It's all the same to me.

-Just one thing after another.

-Don't be taken in by that.

Pat from the Eggheads, please go to the Question Room now.

-So Keith, you're doing the IT stuff at the moment?

-Yes.

-But previously in the army for a long time.

-Yes. 25 years.

-Wow. And travelled a lot.

-Quite extensively, luckily.

-Tell us where.

-Italy was a highlight, some Arab countries -

Bahrain, Oman,

-Tajikistan was unusual.

-And you decided at some point to settle down a bit, did you?

Yeah, take it a little easier.

OK, well, good luck. It's History. Pat, it's all the same to you?

It's just one damn thing after another, isn't it, history?

And you remember all the dates. OK, each of you gets three multiple choice questions.

Win and go through to the final.

-Keith, choose the first or second set of questions.

-First, please.

Keith, at which royal residence did Queen Victoria die in January, 1901?

I don't know the answer to this, but I'm drawn towards Balmoral.

I haven't heard of Osborne House, I don't think it was Sandringham, so my answer is Balmoral Castle.

Balmoral Castle. Chris will know.

-Osborne.

-Isle of Wight. It's tucked away there,

one of those, which she died in. OK, so Pat,

your question. Nathuram Godse was executed after being found guilty

Of assassinating which figure?

Poor old Aldo Moro, I don't know if the individual who killed him has been identified.

He was kidnapped. Martin Luther King was

James Earl Ray. And Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi is the right answer.

So, Keith, get this right and catch up.

The explorer David Livingstone lost partial use of his left arm due to an encounter with what creature?

I think a lion would have done more damage than one arm.

Giraffes are quite difficult to encounter, so my answer would probably be elephant.

I can see the logic, but it's wrong. The answer is lion.

Get this right, Pat, and you win.

In which city was George Washington inaugurated as President in 1789?

I find this a little bit tricky

just because in the early days of the United States, they hopped about a bit, capital-wise,

before settling on Washington, DC.

I think New York had a fleeting spell as the main city.

And Philadelphia was at the heart of drawing up of the constitution and various things like that.

I don't think it was Boston, so I'll have to pick between New York and Philadelphia.

1789. So that's the first... the first term, first President.

I'll go for Philadelphia.

-Anyone know here?

-I think it's New York.

-It is.

Daphne's got it right. Philadelphia is incorrect. A chance for Keith,

if you can get this one right.

Matyas Rakosi was seen as a Soviet puppet dictator of which country

in the post-WWII era?

M-A-T-Y-A-S

and then R-A-K-O-S-I.

And all the As have an acute accent on them.

I'm drawn to Yugoslavia.

For no other reason than I like the answer Yugoslavia, I'll choose Yugoslavia, please.

It's not Yugoslavia. Was that the Tito era?

-Yeah, Tito.

-He went all that time up until the civil war?

-Yeah.

So it is Hungary, Keith, which means you can't come back against Pat.

He'll be in the final. I'm afraid to say you've been knocked out.

Please both come back to the studio.

The challengers have lost one brain from the final round. The Eggheads have not lost one so far.

Next subject is Film and TV.

Who would like this?

- OK... - I'll go for it.

-Just take it, Brendan.

-OK. Right into the breach. Well done.

And against which Egghead? It can't be Pat, for whom History was a blur.

-Chris?

-Yeah?

- Good choice. - Chris.

OK, Brendan against Chris. Film and TV?

I'm OK on TV. Old films I'm OK on.

Kids' TV for some reason.

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

OK, Film and TV and you have three multiple choice questions.

-Brendan, the first or second set?

-First, please.

Here we go. Good luck. Which role in the 1978 film Grease is played by Stockard Channing?

See, I'm not really a fan of musicals, if I'm honest.

I don't know why, but I'm drawn to Frenchie, so I'll go with that one.

-Frenchie was in Grease, wasn't she? Were they all in Grease?

-Yep.

-Which one was it, Eggheads?

-Rizzo.

-Rizzo is the right answer.

1978. Oh, my goodness.

That's a long time ago. The TV game show Takeshi's Castle was originally produced in which country?

That is... Oh, it's one of those weird Japanese things. Japan.

Japan is the right answer.

Back to you, Brendan.

Who played the policeman Charlie Barlow in the TV shows Z-Cars, Softly Softly and Barlow At Large?

Again, I'm afraid this is going to have to be a guess.

Em...

I think I'm... I don't know again, I don't know why,

I'm just drawn to this one. I'll go with Frank Windsor.

I'm really sorry. It's wrong. It is before your time.

Stratford Johns. Stratford Johns is the answer.

Chris, get this right and you are in the final round. Jez Quigley, played by Lee Boardman,

was a character in which TV soap?

He was a very nasty drug dealer that Steve McDonald fell foul of in Coronation Street.

Coronation Street is the right answer. So after two questions no way back for you, Brendan.

Chris has taken the round and will be in the final.

Both please come back and rejoin your teammates.

Ralph, don't worry. The last team to win were down to two in the final.

But any thought about possibly changing direction?

No, I think we will plough ahead regardless.

The war isn't lost yet.

We'll be here 'til the bitter end.

And the Lancashire Hotpots had some of the same phrases and won

-with one against five?

-It was one, yes.

-So...

you're obviously seeking to model yourselves very precisely on them.

You've lost two brains, the Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

The next subject is Geography. Who'd like this one?

I'll go for it if you want me.

-Joelle or Mary?

-I'm rubbish at geography.

-So am I!

-- I could take it. - Go for it.

-I'll volunteer. I can't do any worse than anybody else.

I don't know.

What do you want to do, team?

-I'll try it.

-Go for it.

-Mary?

-Go on, then.

-Mary will take it.

-Which Egghead?

-Judith's good on geography.

-They're all good.

-They're all better than me!

-I'd never take Daphne on. Leaves Barry.

-What do we think?

-Well, we could ask if we could take Jeremy on...

You'd definitely win!

-Do we think Barry, maybe?

-Whichever.

-For Mary.

-OK. So Mary from the Yorkshire Puddings against the man in pink,

Barry from the Eggheads.

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

-Mary, you weren't too keen.

-Not really!

I struggle to find my way home.

-Are you not much travelled or...?

-Oh, I've travelled quite a bit,

-but I don't remember where places are.

-If it's any consolation, I need someone else navigating.

-Do you have a north, south, east, west thing in your head?

-I have to hold maps the right way up

-in the direction I am travelling.

-Yes, and walk along them.

I know exactly what you mean. Barry, have you a sense of direction?

It's hopeless.

There's a family joke that whichever direction I say, we always go the opposite way!

All right, let's see how you cope. Three questions, multiple choice.

-Mary, first or second set?

-I might as well carry on and go first.

Good luck. The Italian port of Brindisi is located on which body of water?

Well, it might help if I knew which side of Italy it was on.

Em...

I'm going to have to run with the team here. It'll be a guess.

Em, I'll go for Adriatic, for no particular reason.

Adriatic is the right answer!

Barry,

in square miles, what is the approximate area of Singapore?

It's certainly not 2,740. Singapore...

That's a tough one, is that. It's a city state so that would put me towards the lower number,

but is it as high as 274?

It's across the Straits of Johor from Malaysia.

I'm not sure how big it is.

27...

I'm really not sure.

274 sounds too many. I'll go for 27.

27 miles? I thought you were going to go down the middle there.

To be 27 miles square area, you'd have to be what?

-Five by five?

-Nine by three miles.

OK, you're wrong.

274.

Well, there we are, Mary.

You're ahead. Let's just savour this moment.

And Barry's had a difficult run recently as well,

so knock him off balance now.

The village of Pluckley, often described as the most haunted village in England,

is in which county?

Oh, dear. I don't know it. I don't think I've ever heard of it.

I think I will go straight down the middle and go for Norfolk.

-Anyone on your team know?

-Kent?

-Kent is the answer.

Kent, Mary. OK, Barry, your chance to catch up then.

In which European country is the Freetown of Christiania

which was set up as a commune in the early 1970s

and has since developed semi-legal status?

The moment you said Christiania, I was thinking of Norway

as that was the old name for Oslo.

If it was set up as a commune,

that tends to suggest an ex-communist country, so I'll go for Poland.

Poland?! OK...

You started with the Oslo thing

and I thought you'd give us Denmark which is the right answer.

-Oh, I am having some fun(!)

-You are.

So you're still ahead, Mary. This is your chance to take the round.

Denmark was the answer, not Poland.

We're going to have a big cheer if you get this, Mary.

Gasherbrum is the name given to a group of peaks in which mountain range?

Gasher... G-A-S-H-E-R-B-R-U-M.

Gasherbrum.

I wish spelling it would have helped.

I can't really make anything out of the name and what language it is.

Again I'll go straight down the middle for the Caucasus.

The only clue, as somebody who also doesn't know the answer,

is a "brum" in the question and a "rum" in the answer.

It's Karakorum. I don't know if they are by any chance related.

Not Caucasus. Karakorum is the answer.

So Barry has a chance to draw level in a moment of stunning drama.

The group of islands known as the Recherche Archipelago lies off the coast of which country?

Goodness me! Could you spell that, please?

"Recherche" is R-E-C-H-E-R-C-H-E.

Recherche Archipelago.

Well, "Recherche" sounds very French to me.

As a large chunk of Canada was once owned by France, I'll go for Canada.

-Oh, Barry, how long since you got three wrong in a row?

-On Geography?

It's wrong. It's wrong. It's Australia. Well done, Mary.

Here come The Yorkshire Puddings, Eggheads. Are you ready?

Mary, you'll be in the final. Brilliantly played.

Barry, you're a goner. We thought that jinx had gone.

I was just kicking myself over Christiania.

All the kings of Denmark were Frederick or Christian, so it had to be Denmark.

Please, both of you, come back and we will play the next round.

So, Mary, how does it feel to beat the Egghead?

I'm stunned.

-So am I.

-The challengers have lost two brains, but the Eggheads have now lost a brain.

Look how cross Barry is! It will be Music now, our last subject before the final.

Who would like this?

-That's obviously me now.

-It's got to be you.

-Joelle on Music.

You're saving Ralph for the final round?

-I said this was my strongest subject, so I've got a lot to live up to, I think.

-OK, Joelle.

Which Egghead would you like to take on? It can be Daphne or Judith.

-It's got to be Judith, hasn't it?

-Or Daphne?

-Go for it.

-Yeah.

-I'd prefer Judith.

-Go for Judith then.

-I'll take Judith then, please.

-Joelle from The Yorkshire Puddings against Judith...

-In a musical mood, I think?

-I hope so.

-..from the Eggheads.

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

-So, Joelle, you are also in information management?

-Yeah, that's right.

-It is part of your job to play the recorder with your nose?

-No, not at all.

I used to play the recorder when I was younger

and I saw someone do it on television years ago and I thought, "I'll try that."

I have been known to play the recorder with my nose, yeah.

-Have you brought one with you?

-No.

-How have we missed that opportunity?

-What kind of music do you like?

-A bit of a variety. As long as it's not classical. Cross fingers!

OK, Judith, where are you in your music education at the moment?

At the bottom of it. I mean, very poor.

You're not into JLS or Slipknot?

-No. Frankly!

-OK, three questions on Music.

Joelle, you can choose the first or the second set. Good luck.

I might as well follow the team and take the first set, please.

Here we go. First Music question.

Which group had UK hit singles in the 1980s with Jump (For My Love), Automatic and I'm So Excited?

I'm glad we've got multiple choice.

I know that Girls Aloud did a re-make of Jump

and I believe it was The Pointer Sisters.

Nicely done. It was The Pointer Sisters.

Would you have known that, Judith?

-No.

-You're not saying much today.

-Are you cross?

-Not at all. Just rather tense cos I find Music rather difficult.

-Here's your question.

Keith Flint and Liam Howlett became famous as members of which group

that had two UK No.1 singles in 1996?

I really don't know.

-The Chemical Brothers.

-That's not the right answer. Do you know, Joelle?

I would've said The Chemical Brothers, so maybe it's The Prodigy.

The Prodigy is the right answer, Judith.

Joelle, in the musical Les Miserables,

the song On My Own is a solo for which character?

I'll be totally honest. I have not got a clue.

So I'm going to have to have a guess

and I will go for...

Eponine.

I heard the... What was that, the laugh of "she's got it right"?

-Yes.

-Well done. You have, Joelle. Eponine is the right answer.

It's about time one of your team's guesses went to the right answer.

Well done.

-Judith, if you don't get this right, you'll be knocked out.

-Yeah.

Dancing With Tears In My Eyes was a UK top ten single in 1984 for which group?

Well, my guessing will have to come up trumps now.

I've no idea. Eurythmics.

Judith, you're wrong. It was Ultravox. Well done, Joelle.

There's no way back for our Egghead.

Judith, you've been knocked out on Music. Joelle, you're in the final.

Please, both of you, come back to us and we will play that final round.

This is an unusual one. So far, only three correct answers from the Eggheads in the whole show.

You've matched them pound for pound, so let's see how you do.

It's time for the final round which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads can't take part,

so Brendan and Keith from The Yorkshire Puddings and Barry and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

So, Ralph and Mary, you are husband and wife?

-We are.

-And Joelle, you work with...?

-I work with Ralph.

OK, so you're playing to win The Yorkshire Puddings £2,000.

Daphne, Chris and Pat, you are playing for something money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

Although after today's performance, I don't know about that!

I will ask each team three questions in turn on General Knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

Yorkshire Puddings, the question is, are your three brains able to beat the Eggheads' three?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first.

Good luck. It's been an exciting contest. Here we go.

Jose Mourinho worked as an assistant and interpreter

for which English football manager in Spain and Portugal in the 1990s?

You look like you know this.

As a lifelong Newcastle supporter, I know that is Bobby Robson.

Bobby Robson is the right answer.

Bless him!

OK, your question, Eggheads.

Who wrote the children's classic The Owl Service, basing it on traditional Welsh legends?

Alan Garner.

-Alan Garner?

-Definitely.

-OK.

That is Alan Garner.

Alan Garner is the right answer. Now they've unleashed Daphne.

So will that change things? Here is your question.

Which novel by Ben Elton was adapted by him into a play

which won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy?

Crikey!

Obviously, he wrote all three of them.

-They're all Ben Elton.

-They're all Ben Elton.

-Ben Elton, authored by.

Oh, dear. Which one?

1999...

Dead Famous is more recent than that, so it's Stark or Popcorn.

We're going to rule out Dead Famous because we think that's more recent.

-So now we're into educated guessing.

-Yeah.

-Popcorn?

-My gut says Popcorn.

-OK.

-Not that I know it.

We're by no means certain, but we'll try Popcorn.

Popcorn is the right answer.

Well done. Playing a little bit more sure-footedly, Yorkshire Puddings.

Let's see what happens to the Eggheads.

Will they slip up on a pudding?

Who became President of the Woodland Trust in 2004?

-Clive Anderson.

-I think so.

-He's always going on about it.

-He's put some trees in Argyll, I think.

-Yeah. It's Clive Anderson.

Clive Anderson.

Clive Anderson is the right answer.

Two each.

Third question. If you get this right, then they're under pressure.

If not, they have the contest in their hands.

Which vegetable is the principal ingredient of Saxe-Coburg soup?

-I think I've heard this somewhere before.

-Have you? Saxe-Coburg...

I'm sure I've heard this somewhere before.

I can't imagine a Brussels sprout soup.

-I was thinking parsnip.

-Parsnip or carrot?

It's one of them things I have heard before.

I would say "parsnip", but I'm not 100% sure.

It's just something I've heard.

OK, we're trusting to luck here.

We're not certain, but we're going to try "parsnip".

Let me see if the Eggheads know. Saxe-Coburg soup?

-Daphne?

-I'd have gone for Brussels sprouts, but I don't know why.

You are mystical in your guessing. Brussels sprout is right.

I don't know why. Daphne, I don't know how you do it.

So, two out of three to you.

If they get three out of three, they've won. Here is your question.

In which US state did John Harvey Kellogg run the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium,

a centre for dietary reform?

-It's Michigan.

-Yeah.

Sorry. It's Michigan.

The Battle Creek Sanitarium was indeed in Michigan.

You've got it right. Congratulations. You have won.

I thought that was to be, I thought you were going to get it there.

Your fortunes turned so dramatically halfway through the game.

Yes, it was just a little bit unlucky to get that question at the very end.

They would've gone Brussels sprout, I think. We don't know how Daphne's guessing works.

If you can ever get into that particular bit of IT, you can market it.

Well done, Eggheads, on pulling it out of the bag there with Michigan.

Commiserations, challengers. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They reign supreme over quizland.

You won't be going home with the £2,000, so the money rolls over.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£3,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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