Episode 148 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.

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

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our quiz Goliaths today

are The Italian Mob. In this team, siblings Antonio,

Fabio and Elisabetta

form the Italian part of the quintet.

Claire and Andy make up the mob. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Antonio, I'm 43 and I'm an English and media-studies teacher.

Hi, I'm Fabio, I'm 38 and I'm a freelance photographer.

I'm Claire, I'm 37 and I'm an art lecturer.

Hi, I'm Elisabetta, I'm 48 and I'm a clerical assistant.

I'm Andy, I'm 49 and I'm a business-development manager.

Great to see you. Great Italian heritage in your family -

what did your parents do?

Well, after they came over from Italy,

they opened the first Italian takeaway in Preston, our home town.

My dad is Antonio, he imaginatively named me the same and the takeaway

was called Tony's Takeaway and we've all worked in it

at some point, though it's no longer in the family.

-And Italian Mob obviously a play on Italian Job?

-It's a very weak pun,

but it also kind of captures some of the nature of our family.

Italian families tend to be noisy and I think we conform

-to that stereotype, definitely.

-OK. Well, good luck.

Every day, there is £1,000 cash up for grabs,

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

So, the Eggheads have won the last two games,

which means £3,000 says you can't beat them today. Let's get cracking.

First head-to-head battle is on geography. Who would like geography?

-We did have a plan for this.

-We did. Was that Fabio?

It's you. I think it's Fabio. >

Fabio, OK.

He's been around the world a few times, so he's up for it.

Against which Egghead, Fabio?

OK. I think we should take on...

Barry? Did you say definitely? Barry.

-All right, we'll take on Barry.

-Fabio from The Italian Mob

versus Barry from the Eggheads. To ensure there's no conferring,

please go to our question room.

OK, good luck. It's geography.

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

I think I'd like to go first.

Here we go. The Blackwall Tunnel passes under which English river?

The Blackwall Tunnel is, I think, in London, I think.

It's not... It's not the Trent.

Definitely not the Trent.

Um...

-I'm going to say Thames.

-Thames is the right answer. Well done.

First point to you.

How are you feeling, Barry?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Got through the crisis?

-I hope so.

We won't talk about it! In which Asian country

is the city of Jodhpur located?

Er, Jodhpur... I think it might be nicknamed the Pink City,

but it's in India.

-Or is that Jaipur? It's in India anyway.

-India is right. Well done.

OK. Your question, Fabio. The towns of Petersfield and Midhurst

are located in which National Park?

Ooh. I've not heard of those places.

Erm... Petersfield.

Sounds... Sounds Scottish.

I'm going to say Cairngorms.

Cairngorms is actually the wrong answer.

It's the South Downs.

Barry, your chance to take the lead. What name is given by geologists

to the ancient landmass which now lies under the North Sea

that once connected Britain and continental Europe?

Oh. What a lovely question.

I've never heard this.

Under the North Sea that connected us to continental Europe...

Is there a clue in there?

Viking is the furthest north of all those sea areas,

so I can't imagine that would connect us to continental Europe.

Fisherland might be by German Bight, which seems a bit far away.

I'll go for Doggerland.

Nicely done, you're right, Barry. OK, Fabio, your question.

Got to get this one right.

What is the capital of the French region of Brittany?

Brittany being north, I'm going to say Rennes.

You've got it right, well done. Barry, get this right,

you're in the final round.

Which country shares land borders with Austria, Hungary,

Croatia and Italy?

It's not... I don't think it's Serbia.

I don't think Serbia has a common border with Italy,

so it's Slovakia or Slovenia.

I think it's Slovenia.

-Slovenia, which once was part of Yugoslavia, is right.

-Ooh!

And you are through to the final round. Is that a relief?

-It is indeed.

-Fabio, bad luck,

you've been knocked out by our Egghead.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

The challengers have lost a brain.

The Eggheads have not lost one.

The next subject is music. Who would like music?

-What was the plan?

-I think I'll...

-I'll go with music.

-Definitely.

-I'll go with music.

-Antonio steps forward. Against which Egghead?

It can't be Barry.

-Did we think Chris?

-Yes.

-We'll take Chris, please.

-Chris on music.

Molto bene! Ciao ragazzi!

OK, Chris on music. Antonio against Chris.

Please go to the question room.

-So, music, Antonio.

-Yes. Yes.

-Any favourite periods?

-Well, if we could keep it narrow,

maybe between 1977 and 1983-84 really.

-That is the best period.

-That would be my ideal.

-Fancy that, Chris?

-Shall we stick to that?

-If you like. I'll get me coat!

-Three questions,

-Antonio, first or second set?

-I'll take the first set, please.

Here we go. "Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before,

"Just what the truth is, I can't say any more" are lines from which song?

OK. Well, it's not Bohemian Rhapsody.

Erm... I think... I hope it is, anyway,

slightly early for my era, but it's Nights In White Satin.

It is indeed Nights In White Satin. Well done.

I always feel like I should sing...

I'm not going to, but...

-You should sing it.

-# Beauty I'd always missed... #

OK, Chris. The X Factor Finalists 2010

had a UK number 1 single with a cover of which David Bowie song?

Eeh...

The X Factor winners 2010...

Er, plural. A group. Was that JLS?

I think they did a hatchet job on Heroes.

Yeah, it was left bleeding on the ground. It's been in casualty since.

Heroes is the right answer. Hope to make a full recovery.

But it wasn't JLS,

-it was all the finalists.

-Yeah, JLS it wasn't.

-So it was the entire cast?

-It was the last 12 or something.

OK. Antonio. What nationality was the composer Gustav Mahler?

I don't think he was Norwegian.

I'm not sure about this, classical isn't really my area of expertise.

I'm going for Austrian.

Austrian is quite right. Mahler was Austrian.

Chris,

how many UK number 1 singles did Slade have during the 1970s?

HE MUTTERS

Yeah, well, a lot of their stuff didn't make number 1.

-In medio tutissime ibis - go down the middle. 6.

-Your answer is 6.

And it's correct.

Antonio. The American musician Gary Burton, born in 1943,

became famous as a virtuoso

on which instrument?

Gary Burton. Is that B-U-R?

-B-U-R-T-O-N.

-Well, I don't know this. I've not heard of Gary Burton.

1943...

I am going to go... with banjo.

-Anyone here know?

-No. I don't, myself.

Everyone's drawing a blank. It's vibraphone.

Chris, for a place in the final - in the song Seventy-Six Trombones

from the musical The Music Man

110 types of which instrument are close at hand

to the trombones?

It's 110 corn-ets.

Now you say it like that, I remember. It was on my record player

when I was little. You're right and you have taken the round.

Sorry, Antonio, you will not be in the final round and Chris will.

Please come back and rejoin your team-mates.

OK, the challengers have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost none. The next subject is arts and books.

Who would like this?

-Do you want it?

-I don't mind.

-It's which way...

-Want me to do it?

It's up to you.

-Do you want to do it?

-Mm.

Elisabetta. OK.

Which Egghead would you like? It can't be Barry or Chris.

None of them really!

-I think I'll go for CJ.

-OK.

Elisabetta versus CJ. Please go to the question room now.

-CJ, you must be reading something at the moment.

-I'm still reading

my interminable tome, The Penguin History Of The World.

Which century are you on now?

-I've just left the Romans, so about 6th century AD.

-OK!

-Have you written your autobiography?

-I haven't been paid enough yet.

-How do you think it'll end?

-Tragically, I hope.

-Take everyone with me!

-OK.

Three questions each on arts and books. Elisabetta,

first or second set?

I think I'll stick with the Italian Mob tradition and go first, please.

In the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar,

what is the first thing the caterpillar eats?

Oh, my goodness.

Well, it's a long time

since I've read this as my children are grown up now.

So this actually is going to be a bit of a guess.

-I'm going to guess at apple.

-Brilliantly done,

because it's a hard question.

Apple is right. Well done.

CJ, your question.

Before moving to the South Bank,

where was the National Theatre based?

I think the National Theatre was at the Barbican.

-I think it was at the Old Vic.

-Yeah.

-Old Vic is the answer.

So, Elisabetta,

you take the lead with an apple.

The plot of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well

is derived from a story found in which earlier work?

Oh, dear. Again, it's one of the Shakespeare works I haven't read.

I can't think it was from The Divine Comedy though

and I don't know The Decameron, so I'll go for The Canterbury Tales.

Who's our literary person here? Daphne, you'll know.

I'd have gone for The Decameron.

-It is The Decameron.

-Oh, well.

-Got it wrong.

CJ, to catch up.

Which painter, who died in 1906, is quoted as saying

"I will astonish Paris with an apple"?

Well, Picasso certainly didn't die in 1906.

Erm...

Cezanne was more famous for his still lifes,

where Degas had very specific subject matters

and I think Degas was longer lived, so I'll try Paul Cezanne.

That is right. And he did paint a lot of apples.

I don't know if that's relevant.

A lot of apples in this round. The question writer's hungry.

OK, your question, Elisabetta.

Who wrote the plays The Father and The Dance Of Death?

Erm...

I don't know a lot about Strindberg.

Erm... But I think my answer is going to be Ibsen.

It's not Ibsen. It's the one you didn't have the knowledge of -

Strindberg is the right answer.

So you're equal.

CJ has to get this one right.

Which Algerian city is the setting for the novel

The Plague by Albert Camus?

I don't know. I knew which country it was, but that's it.

I've...

got absolutely nothing to go on. Erm...

This is a guess. I'll go for Algiers.

Wrong, it's Oran. So you're equal,

with a point each. We go to sudden death. It gets a bit harder,

-I don't give you alternatives.

-Excellent.

-Here we go.

The 1963 painting Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car 1)

is part of which artist's

Death And Disaster series?

OK. I can't even think of any artists from that era

except for Andy Warhol. So my answer is Warhol.

Warhol is the right answer. Well done.

CJ, get this wrong, you're out.

Who wrote the legal suspense thriller

entitled The King Of Torts that was published in 2003?

Mm, dear. Well, I haven't heard of it,

so we go to our default answer for legal thrillers - John Grisham.

John Grisham is correct.

Sorry, Elisabetta. Here's your next question.

The title Edda was historically given to two collections

of ancient literature written down in which country?

Oh, dear, this is going to be a guess,

but I'll try not to pass if I can.

Erm, I'm going to say

-Greece.

-Not Greece, it's Iceland actually. CJ, get this one right,

you're in the final round.

Which gallery in Florence is the permanent home

of the paintings the Venus Of Urbino by Titian and Bacchus by Caravaggio?

Do we go for the most famous or for one of the secondary ones?

I don't think they're in the Uffizi,

but if they're not, where else are they going to be?

I know both the works.

I don't think they're here, but I'll try the Uffizi.

The Uffizi is right. CJ, you take the round. Sorry, Elisabetta!

-And he thought it was wrong!

-Well, I knew that answer.

So you're not in the final and CJ is.

Come back to us for the next round.

So the challengers have lost three brains.

The Eggheads have lost no brains and the last subject

is film and television.

Who would like this?

-Claire.

-Yeah, I'll take it.

Claire, OK. Against which Egghead?

I'm going for Kevin, I think.

Claire from The Italian Mob against Kevin on film and television.

To make sure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

I'll ask each of you three questions on film and television.

-Claire, you can choose - first or second set?

-I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first set.

Which TV personality presented a 2010 TV series

about the Age Of The Do-Gooders?

Oh, OK. I don't think it's Stephen Fry.

I think it's either Clive Anderson or Ian Hislop.

Erm... I think

I'm going to go for...

Ian Hislop.

And you got it right, it is Ian Hislop.

Kevin, in the Hancock episode The Blood Donor,

first transmitted in 1961,

how does Tony Hancock describe a pint of blood?

You probably need Chris to do the voice. It's "very nearly an armful".

That is the right answer. Chris?

A pint? Are you mad?! That's very nearly an armful!

THEY LAUGH

Claire, your question.

Who directed the 2010 film The American starring George Clooney

as an assassin undertaking one last assignment?

Um...

Huge George Clooney fan, but I haven't seen this one!

I think...

I don't know why I'm going for this, but it's Christopher Nolan.

He's a brilliant director, but it's not Christopher Nolan.

It's the guy who did Control, the film about Ian Curtis.

Anton Corbijn, who's a professional photographer most of the time.

Kevin, Elspeth Ballantyne played a character called Meg

in 669 episodes of which TV series?

Mmm.

This may be simpler than it looks, but I don't remember the name.

Could there possibly have been 669 episodes of...

Prisoner: Cell Block H? It did run for a long time.

Crossroads

ran and ran and ran, so you would...

You would think...

And she does... I'm going to go for Crossroads.

-No, Crossroads is wrong.

-It was Prisoner: Cell Block H.

-It was. There was a Meg in Crossroads.

-Yes, Meg Mortimer.

Somebody was being a bit smart there with the question. OK, Claire.

Get this, you take the lead.

Which 2006 film starred Julie Christie

as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease?

Again, it's not a film I've seen.

It's not Finding Neverland.

Erm... I think

it's Away From Her.

Yeah, I'll go with Away From Her.

-Away From Her.

-A guess.

-Well done, you got it right.

Kevin's on the ropes now. If you don't get this right, you are out.

Which British film company was founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda

and made films such as The Private Life Of Henry VIII

and The Third Man?

Oh, dear.

Well, it wasn't... I'm pretty sure it wasn't Rank.

Gaumont-British would be an offshoot of the French Gaumont company

so I think it's London Films.

You're right. London Films it is. So you're equal

and it's sudden death again.

It's not multiple choice, you have to give me the answer. Ready?

-Yeah.

-Who became the presenter of the TV quiz show

Telly Addicts in 1985?

Oh, that was...

I've... Noel Edmonds just sprung into my head and I don't know why.

I'm going to go with Noel Edmonds, I don't know.

Noel Edmonds is the right answer.

Kevin, if you get this wrong, you're out.

Who hosted the first series

of the TV dating show Take Me Out in 2010?

Not a clue.

No, I know nothing about it at all,

so not a clue.

Erm, I don't know whether it's male, female - anything.

Nothing whatsoever to go on.

No, I'll fall on my sword. Erm...

I don't know. Tess Daly. I've got not the faintest idea.

So The Italian Mob have knocked out the Godfather.

The answer is Paddy McGuinness. Kevin, you got it wrong.

Claire, you've knocked out Kevin. Maybe the tide is turning

for your team. Come back to us,

we'll play the final round.

This is it - the final round, which, as always, is general knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads cannot take part.

Antonio, Fabio and Elisabetta from The Italian Mob

and Kevin from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

Claire and Andy, you're playing to win The Italian Mob £3,000.

CJ, Daphne, Chris and Barry

are playing for what money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I will ask each team three questions -

the questions are all general knowledge and you can confer.

Italian Mob, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Claire and Andy,

-do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Good luck to you in the final round.

What flower is traditionally used

as an emblem of England?

It's Rose. Rose.

I used to have a bit of an allotment

so I'm quite good on the gardening.

I can't see it being a daisy, because they're tiny. Violets...

A good, iconic flower would be the rose. So we'll go for rose.

English rose. You're right. Well done.

Eggheads, what name is given to the casing

in which vanilla seeds are housed?

-The pod.

-Pod.

Vanilla seeds are in pods.

They are indeed. We're in the garden for this one.

Like whales.

-Whales are in pods?

-Yes. A group of whales is a pod.

We try and teach him something,

-he's just not interested.

-OK. Don't let them put you off.

They only do this when they're panicking.

Your question. The 1954 football World Cup, won by West Germany,

was held in which European country?

I'm not very good with football. Where's Fabio?!

He'd be the expert. I don't think...

I think it's Switzerland.

Netherlands and Switzerland are quite small countries,

they would probably do joint bids.

So I'm drawn to a country that's got quite a big football heritage -

Italy. I would've thought so. Goes with the theme.

It might be an own goal,

but I think we'll go for Italy. You happy? Yeah.

-Italy.

-I'm looking at Fabio...

-What's he doing?!

-He's not looking happy.

Oh, no...

-The three Italians are in there!

-Absolutely!

It's Switzerland.

-Oh!

-Switzerland.

-Sorry, guys.

Second question, Eggheads.

To which order of reptiles do snakes and lizards belong?

Squamata. Squamata.

They are the... squamata.

You did know it instantly and you are right. OK.

You need this one, Italian Mob.

During the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution,

the noyades were the drownings

of thousands of supposed enemies of the Revolution.

In which French town?

Well... What do you think?

I don't know. I suppose...

I don't think it's Nice, but I don't know why.

Nice is on the south coast... Yeah, but there's a sea.

Erm, is Nantes... Is that on a major...

I think Nimes is on a major river - that's where denim's from.

It's also twinned with Preston.

Erm...

Go straight down the middle? Straight down the middle.

We'll do a Daphne. Nimes.

Nimes. OK. Do our Eggheads know?

-I would've gone for Nantes.

-It's on the Loire estuary,

so there's water.

The answer is Nantes. Congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

A lot of continental stuff in there!

There was, yes.

Sorry, you just didn't get there. Commiserations to you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and they still reign.

You won't be going home with £3,000, so the money rolls over.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team can beat the Eggheads.

£4,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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