Episode 153 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.

Taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths

are the Cotton Buddies. This team are all part

of the Cotton Town Chorus,

a championship-winning barbershop harmony club in Bolton.

Let's meet them.

Hi. My name's Scott. I'm 34, and I'm a student paramedic.

Hello. I'm Brendan. I'm 68,

and I'm a director of a management training company.

Hello. My name's Simon. I'm 41, and I'm a solicitor.

Hello. I'm Nick. I'm 64, and I'm a music retailer.

Hello. I'm Gary. I'm 54, and I'm a senior software developer.

-Scott and team, great to see you.

-Thank you.

So you sing those traditional barbershop harmonies?

That's right. We've got, basically, four parts that we sing.

We've got a lead, baritone, bass, and a tenor.

They make up the quartet, or the "chord", if you like.

Why was it called "barbershop"? Was it the States?

It was originally formed in the States.

Basically, you'd get a group of guys,

literally sat in a barbershop, waiting for their haircut.

They'd just sing together,

and eventually, they'd make a chord, and it would be like,

"Ah, that's great!" Write it down, and just sort of record it.

And it grew from there, really.

-Days before radio.

-That's right.

We would love them to launch the contest with a song, wouldn't we?

Yup.

HARMONICA PLAYS

# Come fly with me

# Let's float down to Peru

# In llama land There's a one-man band

# And he'll toot his flute for you

# Come fly with me Let's take off in the blue. #

Beautiful! Thank you so much!

I can't remember anything as perfectly-pitched as that

happening in this studio.

Certainly nothing from THIS side.

THEY LAUGH

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

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, the Cotton Buddies, the Eggheads have won the last three games.

Which means £4,000 says you can't beat them today.

Shall we get cracking?

Here we go. The first head-to-head battle is on Politics.

Which of you would like this? Is that good?

I think it's you, Simon.

OK, Simon, on Politics. Against which Egghead?

Pat. Cos he's a foreigner.

THEY LAUGH

OK, we'll do that, then.

So Simon, from the Cotton Buddies,

against Pat from the Eggheads.

To ensure no conferring, please take your positions in the Question Room.

This is the Politics round.

Simon, as you know, it's multiple choice questions.

Whoever wins is in the final. The other person gets knocked out.

You can chose the first or second set of questions.

I might as well go first.

Here we go. What name is commonly given

to the extent of change in voter support,

from one party to another,

especially at an election?

I have visions of Peter Snow, and others, with their swingometer,

so I think it's swing.

Swing is the right answer. Well done!

Peter Snow, and others.

That's one of the most fun things.

OK, Pat. Your question.

George Washington served as president of the USA

until which year?

I think he was inaugurated as first US president in 1789.

He served two terms, and then chose to step down,

before perishing just before the turn of the century.

So, I think the answer is 1797.

1797 is correct.

Second question to you, Simon.

Immediately prior to standing down as an MP, in 2008,

to fight a by-election on civil liberty issues,

what position did the politician, David Davis, hold?

Ooh. Tricky. I'm pretty sure he wasn't Shadow Chancellor.

Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary?

I have an inkling it's Shadow Home Secretary. I'm not 100 percent,

but I'll go for that.

Quite right. Well done!

You take the lead. Pat's question, now.

What phrase was written on the brooch worn by Hazel Blears,

on the day in June, 2009,

that she announced her resignation from the cabinet?

I think she had a brooch

which said something like "Rocking The Boat".

The right answer!

You both have two right. Simon, back to you.

After the Division Bell rings in the House of Commons,

how long do MPS have to register their votes,

before the Division Lobby doors are locked?

That is tough.

I just have a slight feeling

it's a really short time,

so I'm going to say eight minutes.

Let's ask the Eggheads. Eggheads?

It is eight minutes.

Spot on, Simon. Well down. Three out of three!

Very good play on Politics.

I thought this wasn't your strongest round?

Pat. In 2011, who took over from Nancy Pelosi

as Speaker of the US House Of Representatives?

I think he's from an east coast maritime state.

Somewhere like Virginia,

or Maryland.

One of those areas. I think it's John Boehner.

The right answer.

This is a cracking round. Three points each to both of you.

Gets a bit harder now, Simon.

It's not multiple choice any more, it's Sudden Death.

-Are you ready for your question?

-Go for it.

Which Prime Minister was MP for Huyton, from 1950 to 1983?

I'm going to have to guess. Harold Wilson.

The right answer! You're playing well.

Pat, you're being pushed here.

Let's see if you can come through,

or get knocked out.

Who was Chancellor of the Exchequer

in Winston Churchill's Conservative government of 1951-55?

My first thought is Stafford Cripps.

Also, Rab Butler was a very senior chap.

I'm unsure.

I'll have to go for Stafford Cripps.

Let's see if our Eggheads know.

-Rab Butler.

-Rab Butler?

Rab Butler is the answer.

"Rab", because he was Richard Austin Butler.

Stafford Cripps is wrong, Pat.

Simon, well done. You've just knocked out an Egghead.

Good first step for our Cotton Buddies.

Please both come back here, and rejoin your team-mates.

The challengers have lost no brains from the final round so far,

the Eggheads HAVE lost a brain.

The next subject is Film & Television.

Who would like this?

I would do it, but I've just done one!

THEY CONFER

Just the Film option, Scott.

No problem. I'll do it.

Scott, from the Cotton Buddies,

against which Egghead? Obviously can't be Pat.

I'd like to say CJ, please.

What's happening, CJ? Suddenly, it's your favourite subject.

I haven't played this category for about a year.

-And now two shows in a row!

-Incredible!

Scott against CJ, from the Eggheads.

It IS his favourite territory,

but it's more fun to beat him, isn't it?

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

So, Scott, you're in a barbershop tradition, in your family?

That's right.

My dad has done it for 27/28 years.

Tried to get me and my brother into it when we were 13/14.

Wasn't quite cool then.

But now, as you get a bit older,

it becomes a little bit more cool.

You ever done it, CJ?

I've never done barbershop.

I sing, but barbershop's something that's eluded me, so far.

What sort of voice do you have?

I've got a high baritone.

It's pretty much perfect, I imagine?

Like everything else about me, yes.

I'll ask you three questions on Film & Television, in turn.

Whoever answers the most correctly goes through to the final.

Scott, would you like the first or second set?

I'd like the first set, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck.

The comedian Rob Brydon was born in which city?

I know Rob Brydon is Welsh.

So I wouldn't think it was Manchester, or Dundee.

I'll go for Swansea.

The right answer. Well done.

CJ.

Which anniversary did American children's programme,

Sesame Street, celebrate in 2009?

It's not 50th. It's not that old.

I remember being surprised,

because the chap who plays Big Bird had played it the entire time.

I think it's 40th.

The right answer. Well done.

So, one point each. Back to you, Scott.

Who provides the voice for the title character

in the film Yogi Bear,

released in the UK in 2011?

I'm not so sure.

If I was going to go for any of them.,

I'd possibly go for Steve Martin.

Yeah, I'll go for Steve Martin, please, Jeremy.

Steve Martin is the wrong answer, I'm afraid. It's Dan Aykroyd.

CJ, to take the lead.

Which actor from the cast of Friends appears as himself in the TV sitcom

Episodes, first broadcast in 2011?

That is Matt LeBlanc.

Matt LeBlanc is correct.

It's really funny, that programme. Anyone seen it?

No. Not so far, no.

Of course, I forgot you don't take interest in the world outside.

All right, he's in the lead, Scott.

You need to strike back.

I certainly do.

Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band

appeared as a segment on which children's TV show?

I'm barely old enough to remember Button Moon.

Bagpuss, yeah, slightly remember it, but Bod, I'm not so sure on.

I don't really remember Bod.

I'll probably go for Bagpuss, actually, out of the three. Yeah.

-I'll go for Bagpuss.

-CJ, do you know?

I'd go for Bagpuss.

No. Bod.

Bod is the answer.

So there's no way back for you, Scott, I'm sorry.

You've fallen on the whatever that is that CJ is wielding there.

CJ has triumphed on Film and TV, and Scott, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out.

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

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost one brain from the final round

and the Eggheads have also lost a brain.

The next subject, you'll like this, is Music.

I thought you were going to go "Yay-hey!"

The fellow who runs a music shop.

You do it.

I think if you run a music shop, Nick, you're not going to be able to get out of this one.

OK, before you go, Nick, choose an Egghead.

I'd actually challenge Kevin on Music.

Yeah, all right. I'll take Kevin, please.

Nick, from the music shop, on Music against Kevin from the Eggheads,

-and not from the music shop.

-Definitely not from the music shop.

Please take your positions in the Question Room, now.

Do you want the first or the second set of questions, Nick?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. The Final Countdown was a UK number one single in 1986

for which group?

Berlin, Europe or Chicago.

Difficult.

I think I remember, but I don't remember who the group was.

I think I'm going to go with Berlin.

Do you know the song, who plays the song at all?

-Very famous sort of riff.

-No.

JEREMY HUMS FINAL COUNTDOWN TUNE

We'll audition you for the chorus, Jeremy.

I think I'm already out!

It's Europe. It's Europe. It's Europe.

That's the thing. So Kevin, your chance to take the lead.

In which decade did Whitney Houston release her debut album?

Well, I think, I mean, certainly she had her first number ones

back in the 1980s.

I think she'd probably have been too young to be releasing

her first album back in the '70s.

I think she was born about '63, I think that's right.

But I'm assuming it must be the 1980s.

1980s is quite right, Kevin.

He's in the lead, Nick, see if you can come back.

Who co-produced Donna Summer's 1977 UK number one single I Feel Love?

It is very much a guess, this one.

I think I'm going to go with Giorgio Moroder.

Giorgio Moroder is the right answer. Very good.

Was that just a complete guess?

About 99.9% guess, yes.

Kevin, who wrote the song There's No Business Like Show Business?

I think the song featured in Annie Get Your Gun.

And that was Irving Berlin.

Irving Berlin is correct.

So, you need to get this one right now, Nick. Your third question.

Which title character in an opera by Wagner rides in a boat

drawn by a swan?

Funny, we sell these operas in the shop,

but I can't always remember what's what.

I think it's Lohengrin.

Lohengrin is right.

Good play.

So you have now got two points.

You need to hope that Kevin trips up here.

While writing his first opera The Maid of Pskov,

which composer shared a room and a piano with Modest Mussorgsky

as the latter wrote Boris Godunov?

No, I don't think it's Tchaikovsky, so it's between the other two.

I mean, Borodin and Mussorgsky

were both members of the group known as the Five or the Mighty Handful.

I'm hoping that The Maid of Pskov is ringing a bell as Rimsky-Korsakov,

so I'm going for Rimsky-Korsakov.

And you have got it right, Kevin. It is Rimsky-Korsakov.

So you've taken the round with three correct answers.

Sorry, Nick! Despite the music shop, you got knocked out there.

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

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains now

from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost a brain themselves.

The last subject before the final is Arts & Books.

Who would like Arts & Books?

Gary or Brendan?

-I think it should be you.

-Yeah.

Arts and books is one of my specialisms.

Oh, good! Excellent, Brendan.

As of 10 seconds ago.

So, Brendan, against which Egghead? It can be one of the ladies.

-Daphne, please.

-So, Brendan from the Cotton Buddies against Daphne

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

I'll ask each of you three questions on Arts & Books in turn,

and Brendan, would you like the first or the second set?

I'd like the first set, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. A diluted layer of watercolour spread on a painting

is known as a what?

I don't know anything at all about arty stuff,

but I believe the answer to this one is wash.

I thought you were the art specialist on the team?

Yes, but it's a very short-lived specialism, Jeremy!

They've fitted you up, have they? Wash is the right answer, well done.

Nothing wrong with that.

Daphne, your question.

Which playwright is known as the Bard of Avon?

Um...

I think that might be William Shakespeare.

It would be a very unusual day for you to get that wrong.

William Shakespeare is the right answer.

OK, Brendan.

Who is the narrator of Ken Kesey's novel

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest?

It's set in an institution of some kind, isn't it?

So that leads me towards either...

Doctor Spivey or Chief Bromden.

I will go for Dr Spivey, Jeremy.

Chief Bromden is the answer, Brendan. I'm sorry.

Daphne.

Who painted the 1856 portrait entitled Madame Moitessier

which is part of the collection of the National Gallery in London?

1856.

Well, it's not Vermeer,

and I didn't know that Monet did portraits,

so I'll go for Ingres.

It is the right answer, Daphne. Well done.

Here is your question, Brendan.

See if you can catch up, you need to get this one right.

Thomas Hobbes' book Behemoth is an investigation into the causes

of which historical episode?

Causes, plural.

Because of the plurality, I'm ruling out Great Fire of London.

And I'm going to go for English civil wars.

And you're quite right.

Nicely done. It's very much how the Eggheads play when they don't know.

They just rootle around in the question till something comes up.

Daphne, this for the round.

The 1914 book of prose poems entitled Tender Buttons

is a work by which writer?

Well...

I have never heard of it.

I wasn't aware that Virginia Woolf wrote poetry.

I suppose the only real poet that I know there is Hilda Doolittle,

so that's my answer.

Ah, but it's not Hilda Doolittle.

-It is Gertrude Stein.

-Oh, the other one.

Is she a poet as well as a travel writer and all that?

-Well, these weren't really poetry, were they?

-Right.

-They sound like prose poems.

-Prose poems.

-Yeah, that's it.

-Prose poems, Daphne.

-OK.

So, it's two points each after three questions.

They were multiple-choice, now we go to Sudden Death, Brendan,

and it gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

Here's your question.

Which artist was given the nickname Avida Dollars,

an anagram of his name?

Could you spell that please, Jeremy?

A-V-I-D-A D-O-L-L-A-R-S.

Avida leads me to suppose David.

And Dollars leads me to suppose I have no idea.

(Dollars.)

Jeremy, I have no idea.

So it's a pass.

Oh, that's so painful, isn't it, cos it's right there in front of you.

Avida Dollars. Go on, Daphne.

Salvador Dali.

Salvador Dali. But it's the David. I know exactly your logic.

I understand. You're thinking it's David somebody, David who?

Daphne, if you get this right you've got the round.

In 2004, Sam Taylor-Wood's filmed portrait David

showed which footballer sleeping?

That was David Beckham.

-It wasn't Salvador Dali by any chance?

-No!

David Beckham is the right answer, well done.

You've taken the round on Sudden Death, Daphne.

Sorry, Brendan, you are knocked out. Thanks for being such a sport.

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

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

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

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

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

So Scott, Brendan and Nick from the Cotton Buddies,

and Pat from the Eggheads, would you all please leave the studio?

Simon and Gary, you're playing to win the Cotton Buddies £4,000.

Judith, Kevin, CJ and Daphne, you're playing for something that 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, Cotton Buddies, the question is are your two brains better

than the Eggheads' four?

Simon and Gary, would you like first or second?

-Shall we go first?

-Yeah, we'll go first, Jeremy.

Good luck to you. Here we go. £4,000 you're playing for.

In the standard notation for the card game bridge,

for what does the abbreviation NT stand?

A long, long time ago I used to play bridge

for just a couple of years, and I do remember bidding in no trumps,

so I think no trumps is the answer.

No trumps is the right answer, well done.

Back to you, Eggheads.

What type of creature is the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn?

-That'll be a rooster.

-That'll be a rooster.

It's a rooster.

A rooster is the right answer.

One point each.

Keep the pressure up here.

How many dots are there in the Morse code for SOS?

It's got dot, dot, dot in the S.

-Yeah.

-And it's the long ones and then it's dot, dot, dot,

so it's got to be more than six, hasn't it?

So eight has to be the only...

I thought it was three in the middle.

No, because it's dot, dot, dot, da, da, da, so it's three dots.

Three dashes, three dots.

-So it should be nine. That's not an option.

-No, I know.

We'll go for six.

You're lucky nine wasn't up there.

Six is the right answer.

OK, Eggheads, you're going to be on the brink again. Let's see.

Camelopard is an archaic name for which creature?

-EGGHEADS:

-Giraffe.

A camel leopard, a camel leopard.

It's a giraffe.

Camelopard is indeed a giraffe.

You all know that.

So, two points each, your third question.

Get this one right, they can slip up.

How many Grand Prix races did David Coulthard win

during his Formula 1 career?

He was good and successful

but I don't think he ever won the World Championship.

And I'd have fought it he'd won 43 he'd have been maybe more successful

-than he was. That's a large number.

-Sounds like a reasonable approach.

So I reckon 28 or 13. I have a feeling it's 13, but I don't know.

-Shall we guess 13?

-Grand Prix is not my strength.

No. Shall we guess 13?

-I have a feeling it's that.

-I'm happy with that.

-OK.

I trust you. Yeah.

We'll go with 13, Jeremy.

13 is your answer and you got there pretty quickly as well.

-Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Yep, 13.

13 is the right answer, well done.

Three out of three in the final round.

Your team are very pleased by that.

If the Eggheads get this wrong, you will collect the £4,000.

You don't need to do any more work. Eggheads, your question.

If you get this wrong, it's over.

What is the term for the worship of one God

while conceding that other gods exist too?

Well...

-I mean, hype, hypo...

-Hypo is sort of underperforming, isn't it?

-Yeah, I mean it means under, like hypodermic, under the skin.

-Exactly.

Well, we know the term pantheism,

so is panentheism just an extension of that?

Meaning, you know there are lots of gods but you just worship one.

-Yeah, I mean, cos, um...

-It's what henotheism means.

-Maybe the hen just means "the one amongst many."

-Yeah.

It could do. It's my favourite of the three but I have nothing to...

Well, I think... I was thinking henotheism.

Have you got an instinct for henotheism?

I...

I just felt in the back of my mind that I'd heard

something like that beginning with H, but of course you've got two Hs.

I'm inclined for henotheism if Daphne's got the slightest inkling.

Yeah, we'll have to go for hen, I think.

It's up to you.

I would go for the other one. Never mind.

The majority of us think henotheism.

-Well, well done, Daphne, you got it right.

-Well done, Daphne!

Just! The little grey cell in there.

Henotheism is the right answer.

All right, so you're level after three questions.

They're making heavy work of it, though. We go to Sudden Death.

So it's not alternative options now.

Here is your first Sudden Death question, Cotton Buddies.

Which Olympic sport is governed by the ISSF?

That's International, Internationale Society of something.

-So it's got to be the last two...

-Yeah.

-Either the last or the last two letters.

-Yeah.

It's not...

athletics, clearly.

It's not rowing.

I'm trying to think of S and F.

Then you've got things like fencing.

Fencing is possible, yeah.

Well, let's think of others. Could be...

Something like shooting? I wonder if it's two sports together, maybe?

Yeah.

Got things like archery, shooting of the rifles and handguns

and clay pigeons and everything.

-Fencing's my guess, but it's a guess.

-I'm happy with that.

OK, shall we try it?

We are really not that sure, but we'll go with fencing.

Well, it's the International something Sport Federation.

-Ah!

-Ah!

And you said the word a couple of times.

Shooting is the answer.

Shooting.

Eggheads, you have a chance to take the contest now.

Here is your question.

Which English city is home to the Belgrade Theatre

which was opened in 1958?

-EGGHEADS:

-Coventry.

The Belgrade Theatre?

The Belgrade Theatre.

Yeah, it's Coventry.

That is Coventry.

The correct answer is Coventry.

Congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

And commiserations to you. It was a great game.

I thought you had them there on the henotheism.

-We were close, we were close.

-But no cigar.

-No, no.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and they reign supreme over quiz land.

I'm afraid that means you won't be going home with the £4,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. The jackpot up to 5,000 next time.

Well, well, new territory. Who will beat you?

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

to defeat the Eggheads.

£5,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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