Episode 155 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!

And challenging our quiz Goliaths today

are All The King's Men.

This team of friends all attend King's College, London,

and take their name from the university's a cappella singing group.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Cameron, I'm 19 and I'm a law student.

Hello, I'm Flo, I'm 20 and I'm a law student.

Hello, I'm Alex, I'm 20 and I'm a history student.

Hello, I'm Chris, I'm 19 and I'm a politics student.

Hello, I'm Tom, I'm 20 and I study dentistry.

-Cameron and team, welcome.

-Hi.

-And a cappella means without accompaniment.

-Yes, that's right.

And you sing, then, along with your studies, do you?

Yeah, well, I mean, most of us study other subjects apart from music,

and we sing the a cappella along with our studies, so we rehearse about three times a week.

Usually, we have concerts and gigs at various points in the country.

One of the great treats for all of us is when we have music groups competing,

so if you can show us what you do, we'd love that.

THEY START

# I've been really trying, baby

# Trying to hold back this feeling

# For so long

# And if you feel like I feel, sugar

# Come on, oh, come on

# Let's get it on

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# Let's get it on

# If you believe in love

# Let's get it on! #

Great! Wonderful.

Yeah! Well, shall we get it on, then?

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

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

I feel I'm lowering the tone by starting the quiz after that beautiful piece of music,

but I can tell All The King's Men that the Eggheads have won the last five games.

So £6,000 says you can't beat them today. You want to try?

Go for it!

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Politics.

-Who wants this?

-Chris?

-It's got to be him.

-Our politics student.

Fantastic! You've got a politics student. Against which Egghead?

-What do we think?

-That's a tough one.

-I don't know.

Do you have any ideas?

Do we...?

I don't know. I quite fancy the look of Daphne.

-OK.

-What do you think?

-Yeah, why not?

-Daphne would be lovely.

Daphne on Politics. What era of politics is your speciality, Daphne?

Er...

-Pre-war?

-I don't really like politics at all!

-And I'm no good at American politics.

-Sounds ideal, doesn't she?

-Let's hope!

-So, Chris from All The King's Men against Daphne from the Eggheads on Politics.

And just to ensure there's no conferring, would you take your positions in the Question Room?

Chris, I can't help but notice you're all wearing the same T-shirt.

We are indeed. It's our T-shirt... We just came off a USA tour.

We were going up the East Coast and it's our T-shirt from there.

And the significance of Humpty Dumpty having banged his head there?

Well, we're All The King's Men,

and of course all the king's horses and all the king's men... Humpty Dumpty...

-he fell off the wall, he's our mascot.

-Of course.

I feel silly now, having asked. I understand.

OK, Politics, three multiple-choice questions for you.

If you win the round, you're in the final. If you lose, you are not. Simple as that!

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

Good luck, Chris, here we go.

Banff and Buchan and Airdrie and Shotts are parliamentary constituencies

in which country of the UK?

So one is called Banff and Buchan and the other is Airdrie and Shotts.

Well, they don't sound like Welsh names...

I don't think.

Banff and Buchan, Airdrie and Shotts...

I don't know. They don't strike me as Scottish names...

I don't think, I'm thinking sort of Dunfermline and things like that

are more Scottish. I'm going to have to go with Northern Ireland.

-No, it's not Northern Ireland. It's Scotland.

-Ah!

Sorry, you got that wrong.

OK, Daphne, what name was given to the military tactics employed by American forces

during the Iraq War of 2003?

That was Shock and Awe.

Shock and Awe is right.

So, all right, Chris,

we've found ourselves in a difficult spot

after one question.

-She has stolen a march on you.

-I'm on the back foot here.

Here's your question. Who was US President at the time of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations

in June 1977?

I'm no good... no good on US Presidents.

I'm no good on the order of US Presidents.

I'm just going to have to take a guess, I think...

So...

I'm going to have to take a guess and say...

Nixon, Richard Nixon.

Now, Nixon fell in Watergate,

and, Daphne, although you don't like your American Presidents,

you can tell us what year he resigned?

'73.

'74, I think.

It's Ronald Reagan.

No, no, it's not. Because Gerald Ford takes over from Nixon,

'76, Carter beats Ford in the election.

Jimmy Carter is the right answer.

-No way!

-If it's any consolation, Daphne would have got that wrong.

So, Reagan in '77, Daphne!

My goodness, we've discovered a gap in your knowledge.

I wasn't thinking properly.

You were too busy in 1977 listening to the Sex Pistols!

Oh, yes, yes.

Here's your question.

In a Budget speech, which Chancellor likened himself to Desert Orchid saying,

"We are both greys, vast sums of money are riding on our performance,

"the opposition hopes we shall fall at the first fence

"and we are both carrying too much weight."

Oh!

Well, it could apply to all three of them.

Er...

who would be...?

Norman Lamont.

How did you get to that?

I just thought he was a bit wittier than Geoffrey Howe.

Goodness me, that's a race of slow horses, isn't it?

To continue the analogy...

-Norman Lamont is the right answer. Well done.

-Oh!

So it does suggest Norman Lamont. Daphne, after two questions,

you have got 2 points, and, Chris, I'm sorry, you got none, so there's no way back.

-So you've been knocked out by Miss Marple over here!

-No-one lovelier to be knocked out by.

That's certainly true. Please, both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

Daphne, you've knocked out a brilliant singer.

He is! It's wonderful. When they started, the hairs on the back on my neck stood up, it was that good.

-Thank you.

-That's the trouble. They show no mercy. She praises the music and then knocks you out.

The Eggheads have lost no brains, you've lost one. And the next subject is Music.

This has to be good, guys.

-What about you, Flo?

-You know what? I will go for it.

-I will try my best.

-Flo, against which Egghead, Flo?

-I don't know...

-Kevin?

-I don't know.

-I reckon...because he's quite strong in general. Maybe this can be a weak link.

-Do you think?

-I think that'll be a good move.

-Tactical play.

-OK?

-Take Kevin.

-Kevin?

-Kevin.

-Wow, right.

Flo against Kevin.

This could be a clash, because they've got music in their fingertips.

As long as it stays there and not in their brain, I'll be all right!

That's fair enough.

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

-So what are you studying, Flo?

-I study law.

So the music is a hobby?

I think the plan is to be a barrister by day and a singer by night.

All right. Good plan. So three questions, multiple-choice, the subject Music.

Flo, you can choose the first or second set.

Can I have the second set, please?

You can. So we go to Kevin with the first question.

What is the title of the 1966 UK hit single for Cilla Black

that begins with the line "What's it all about?"?

Various people covered this from the film Alfie with Michael Caine.

It's Alfie.

Alfie is correct.

Flo, your question.

Brass In Pocket was a UK number one single in 1980 for which group?

Right...

Brass In Pocket was a hit...

I cannot lie. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.

Er...but for some reason it just seems to me

that it wouldn't be Blondie.

So I feel like it's between Hot Chocolate and the Pretenders.

Er...and I'm going to go with the Pretenders.

I'm so glad you did, because you're right. Well done.

You haven't heard that song?

I don't think I have,

-or maybe I have subliminally.

-Before your time.

Yes, a bit before I was born.

So 1 point each. Kevin, back to you.

Willow who had a UK top ten hit at the age of 10 with Whip My Hair is the daughter of which actor?

Mmm...yes. I'm not going to say anything.

-She's the daughter of Will Smith.

-Can you hum this one, Whip My Hair?

-No.

-Will Smith is the right answer.

OK, Flo, he's good on Music even though I don't know... Can you play any instruments, Kevin, or not?

No, when I was a kid at the age of about 7 or 8, I did have piano lessons.

I was told at the time I wasn't too bad, but I didn't keep it up.

So it's one of those regrets. I think they've done surveys

where probably the one thing that most people who don't do it, regret

-is not being able to play a musical instrument.

-I'm with you on that.

Flo, Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Jonathan JB Gill and Oritse Williams

are the four original members of which band, Flo?

I happen to know this question,

simply because I very much love this band.

And, in fact, one of them did go to King's

and one of them went very close to my own school at home,

and the answer is JLS.

Well done! JLS it is. Good stuff. Third question, Kevin.

Which musical features the songs Movies Were Movies and I Won't Send Roses?

Mmm...

I'm having a... I've got an obvious answer, but I'm just trying to...

Movies Were Movies and I Won't Send Roses?

They don't sound at all Rocky Horrorish...

My first thought was Mack And Mabel

which is one that I have actually seen but not for a long, long time.

But it's possible they could be from Chicago.

Movies Were Movies... No, I'm going...

Mack Sennett was a film-maker, Mabel Normand was a film star,

I'm going to go for Mack And Mabel.

-Daphne will know this.

-Yes, my favourite all-time musical.

-Is it?

-Yes.

-I didn't know that.

-Who's it by again?

-Jerry Herman.

-Jerry Herman.

-Yes.

Mack And Mabel is the right answer, Kevin.

OK, Flo,

you've got to get this one right.

What nickname is given to Beethoven's Piano Trio in B Flat Major

after the man to whom it is dedicated?

Er...

once again, I must confess, I do not actually know the answer.

Er...

but I feel like Viscount Trio rings some sort of bell.

So I think I will go with that.

Viscount Trio... Anyone in your side know? Are you musicians?

I think it's Archduke.

Archduke is the right answer, Flo, after the Archduke of Austria...

-Right.

-Rudolf of Austria, his name was.

I'm sorry about that.

I had really great hopes you were going to take him to Sudden Death, but it hasn't happened.

Kevin is in the final and you're not.

Please, come back and rejoin your teams.

Bad luck, Flo. As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains from the final round.

Eggheads have lost no brains so far. The next subject is Science.

-Our dentist, Tom.

-That's our scientist there.

Against whom, Tom?

Which Egghead looks rocky?

-I'd feel quite comfortable with that.

-Sorry?

-I'd feel quite comfortable with...

-Who, sorry?

-Barry.

Barry, we'll take Barry.

-Barry, at the end, keeping your own counsel a bit.

-That makes a change for me.

So Tom from All The King's Men versus Barry from the Eggheads.

Take your positions in the Question Room.

Tom, you're studying dentistry but you sing as well.

Yeah, it's something I've been doing since I was really young.

-The good thing with dentistry is it gave me the opportunity to stick with what I love doing.

-OK.

-You can sing if you win this round.

-OK.

-You're up against Barry.

Barry, you're pretty good on Science. Three questions, multiple-choice,

-and, Tom, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

-I'll go second, please.

Barry, your first question. What name is given to the part of vision

that detects objects outside the direct line of vision?

Well, objects on the outside of vision are on the sides

and that's peripheral.

Peripheral is the right answer.

Over to you, Tom.

Smelting is a process used in the extraction of what?

I definitely know it's not water.

It rings bells with GCSE and A-level.

I can't remember if it's iron or aluminium.

Don't think it's oil. I'm going to go with metal.

Metal is right. Well done.

-A bit of dentistry application there probably?

-Well, sort of.

Barry...

if something is described as being vitreous, what substance does it resemble?

It's certainly not wax or muscle,

but vitreous is the term often used to describe glassy objects,

so the answer is glass.

Glass is right.

Tom, which creatures belong to the order Coleoptera?

I don't...I don't know... but I don't think it's owls.

I don't know much about beetles,

so I'm just going to go for a complete guess and go with deer.

-Anyone on your side know?

-I think it might be beetles.

-It is beetles, Tom. Sorry.

-Yeah.

So, Barry, if you get this one right, you're in the final as well.

Phylloquinone is another name for which vitamin?

Mmm...that's an interesting one. It's not vitamin A1.

I believe that is retinol.

And I don't think it's D1.

I think it's vitamin K1.

Eggheads playing well. You've got it right.

Vitamin K1 it is, so you're in the final too.

Have you Eggheads got a question wrong yet? You're playing very well.

Barry, you're in the final.

-Tom, you've been knocked out.

-Yeah.

-Can't please both of you. Come back to us and we'll play the next round.

-Cameron, what happens now?

-Alex and I have both got similar knowledge,

but Alex is quite a strong sports mind as such, so we're hoping for Sport.

-Other ones may be a bit tricky, but we'll give it a go.

-OK, last round now before the final.

Sport! How about that?

I'll take that!

-Wonderful!

-CJ, did we say...? CJ, please.

Right, Alex on Sport from All The King's Men

against CJ! He always loves to be picked, from the Eggheads.

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

So you wanted Sport and you got it, Alex.

I know. Lucky man! I'm quite happy about that. We'll see how it goes.

Your strongest areas?

Mainly sort of team sports. I'm quite into sort of football, rugby, that kind of thing.

I'm not so hot on boxing. That's my one real fear. Don't want boxing to come up.

-CJ, how are you on boxing?

-Fairly useless, but the same as pretty much every other sport!

-But you're good on snooker and tennis.

-And that's it!

-You ever seen a good tennis match?

-I've never been to a tennis match.

Oh! For a second, I thought you actually followed the sport.

I follow it, but I don't go and watch it.

OK.

It's not normal, that's the thing, all of that quizzy stuff, it's not normal life.

Alex, do you want to go first or second?

Can I go second, please?

OK, CJ, here is your first question.

For what does the letter M stand in the name of the cricket ground known as the MCG?

I think the MCG is the Melbourne Cricket Ground

so I'll go for Melbourne.

Melbourne is quite right.

You got it.

Now, Alex, your question.

In which country was the footballer Carlos Tevez born?

Argentina.

You didn't even need any time to think about it.

Yeah, I knew before the answers came up,

so pretty pleased when Argentina came up.

-OK. Be funny if it wasn't right, wouldn't it?

-I'd be not happy!

Argentina is right, of course.

Well done. 1 point each. See if we can get you in the final here, Alex.

All right, CJ.

To the nearest second, what is Sebastian Coe's personal best time for the 800 metres?

Well, not 1 52, that's too slow.

I mean, it should be 1 42. Er...

1 32 is two laps in about 45, 46 seconds which is fast.

I think the world record is about 43 seconds for the 400 metres,

so he can't do two laps in just over that time, surely?

And they're fairly slow when they set off.

So I'll go for 1 minute 42 seconds.

Very impressive. You're quite right. 1981 it was. 1 minute 42 seconds

for Sebastian, now Lord Coe.

OK, Alex... see how you do with this one.

The tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was victorious in the ladies singles tournament

at the French Open and which other Grand Slam event?

Well, er...

I honestly have absolutely no idea.

Er...

if she won the French Open, that's clay,

so obviously fairly mobile.

I'm just going to go shot in the dark, the middle one,

-Australian Open.

-CJ, what do you think?

I don't know. It's certainly not Wimbledon. Er...

I knew she won the French. I don't know this. I'd guess the US.

Well, she won the French in 1989, 1994 and 1998.

And in 1994 she won, as CJ says, the US Open, Alex!

Oh, dearie me!

You've fallen behind and Cameron is going to be all alone if CJ gets this one right.

Which Rugby Union player scored a hat-trick of tries on his debut for England

in a 1989 match against Romania?

I don't know.

I've got absolutely no idea.

One of them is jumping out and suggesting itself

but I've no idea why.

But I'm wondering if that's something he did in the World Cup. Er...

'89...

That could be about the time Will Carling started.

I mean, Jeremy Guscott's the name that's jumping out at me,

but I'm just wondering

if that's because I've heard his name in a quiz question,

something to do with the World Cup....

Actually, maybe '89's a little late for Will Carling...

maybe he was earlier. I don't know. I'll try Jeremy Guscott.

You Eggheads are not getting anything wrong at the moment.

Jeremy Guscott is the right answer, so 3 out of 3 again! Alex, sorry.

You slipped up, you're not in the final either!

You've been knocked out. If you both come back to the studio, we will play the final round.

Well, the Eggheads have not got a question wrong today so far.

That is quite unusual even for them. So you've been caught in a bit of a perfect storm here, guys.

This is what we've been playing towards. It is time for the final round which 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, Flo, Alex, Chris and Tom, all from All The King's Men,

would you please now leave the studio?

Cameron, you are playing to win All The King's Men £6,000.

Kevin, CJ, Daphne, Chris and Barry, 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. You are allowed to confer.

So, Cameron, the question is, is your one brain capable of defeating the Eggheads' five?

And it can be done. Good luck to you.

-Thank you.

-Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first.

Cameron, your question.

The region once known as Bactria is on which continent?

-Is it possible to ask how you spell that?

-Of course it is. B-A-C-T-R-I-A.

Well, I mean, I studied Spanish for a while

and wouldn't say it's particularly Hispanic.

Er...

I...

I don't think it sounds Asian.

Er...so I think I'll go with Africa.

-Whereabouts, Eggheads?

-Afghanistan.

Afghanistan. Asia. Asia is the answer. OK, Eggheads,

so far you have not got a question wrong. It's getting a bit annoying.

What is the chief setting for the 1930s British film comedy Oh, Mr Porter?

-I think we all know this one, don't we?

-We do.

-We do indeed.

It's Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Moore Marriot...

It's set on the Southern Railway of Northern Ireland,

which is completely fictional, a station called Buggleskelly,

it's a railway station.

Railway station is right. Another correct question.

Not all teams have to contend with this,

with them on this sizzling form, you know. You've been rather unlucky today. Here's your question.

The CSP is the professional body and trade union for which professionals in the UK?

I honestly don't know.

I'm not very good at these acronyms.

I wouldn't have said it's paediatricians

because I'd have said that they fall under

a sort of greater body like the BMA or some such.

Plumbers seems to quite a big entity as it were in the UK...

the same, I think physiotherapists might fall under...

a greater sort of title of kind of sports therapy as well.

So I think I'll go with plumbers.

It's the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists.

-Oh, that is embarrassing.

-No, it's not. It's a difficult one to guess.

-I worked as a physiotherapist for a bit.

-You worked as a physiotherapist?

-It's embarrassing.

-I see that now.

All right, Eggheads, if you get this right... Why am I saying if?

If you get this right, you've taken the contest. If you get it wrong, we'll have a moment of joy.

For which invention did Peter Durand receive a patent in 1810?

It's not sliced bread.

Sliced bread is supposed to have been invented in the 1920s.

The zip fastener was either Gideon Sundback

or Whitcomb Judson, depending on which story you believe,

-so of those...

-The name rings a bell with me with tin can.

There was tinned food around in the later Napoleonic period.

The one who's often cited as being the inventor of the tin can

was Nicholas Appert, but he probably didn't get a patent for it.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

I think I have read this somewhere that Durand was the tin can.

-I don't think it's either of the others.

-The date is right.

-It is, the date's right.

-Cos they used lead solder

and a lot of people got lead poisoning.

-We going on tin can?

-Yeah.

It's the tin can, Jeremy.

Your answer is tin can.

Just reflecting on the fact that this wonderful team came,

and they gave us beautiful music

and you've responded with a tin can.

Amazingly, you have got every single question right in this programme.

Tin can is the correct answer. No way back for you, Cameron.

I'm sorry. The Eggheads have won.

Well, it's hot stuff there, you know. It's very hard to beat them at the best of times,

-but I don't think it's possible when they're like this.

-Definitely.

-I hope this hasn't traumatised your team.

-No, I think we'll just have to stick to music instead!

Maybe just stay away from the pub quizzes!

-OK.

-Just go and entertain the people in the pub instead! We'll go and sing to them.

You played a great game. It's very hard to win in this studio against this team,

particularly when they do that!

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

and their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £6,000 so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations! Every single answer correct.

Who will beat you? Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads. £7,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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