Episode 41 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

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

You might recognise them as they've won

some of Britain's toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Leithal Thinkers. This team of colleagues

all work for the same advertising agency in Leith. Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Andrew, I'm 24 and I'm an assistant project manager.

Hi, my name's Neil, I'm 44 and I'm an account planner.

Hi, my name's Kenny, I'm 31 and I'm a senior advertising planner.

Hi, my name's Chris, I'm 25 and I'm an art director.

Hello, I'm David, I'm 29 and I'm a copy writer.

Welcome, Leithal Thinkers. That team name I'm loving.

It shows why you're in advertising! It's what you're paid for!

How long did it take you to think that up? 30, 40 seconds?

-Less than that. About ten.

-Very nice indeed.

A play on Leith there. But are you in the creative end of it?

Some of you must be. You're given a brief.

How do you then go about thinking up...

They want something novel, something innovative.

-Do you kick a few ideas around?

-It's a dark art, isn't it?

I don't know if we want to give away all of our secrets.

I think Chris and David, they are the creative team

so they come up with the ideas.

We just sit around drinking tea all day

and then something will pop up out of nowhere and that's it.

OK, then, let's play the Eggheads today.

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

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, that rolls over to the next show.

Leithal Thinkers, the Eggheads have won just the last two games.

That means £3,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head battle today is on the subject of Geography.

Who'd like to play this?

It's the opening round, so anyone can play.

-What do you think?

-Resident geographer?

I did do a geography degree, so...

-Yes.

-..I think I'll take them on.

-David has a degree in geography, so...

-It's human geography, so...

Very good. Bit of pressure though, David.

-Who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

-Erm...

Allegedly, CJ isn't very good at geography.

-I've heard he's good at American geography.

-Yeah.

Hopefully there's no American geography questions. I'll take CJ.

OK, David playing CJ in this opening round. Geography it is.

Could I ask you both to take your positions in the question room

to make sure you can't confer?

-So, David, you're a copy writer.

-I am, yes.

-You come up with the words.

So should we hold you responsible for this team title?

Erm, probably not, no.

It actually comes from... There's a planning part of the agency

and I think they came up with it themselves

-so you can blame the planners for that one.

-And what about geography?

There are many different kinds of geography.

-You got a degree in it.

-A long time ago.

Yeah, I was one of these people, I didn't know what I wanted to do,

so I just fell into geography and fell back out of it after uni.

-And into advertising.

-Yeah. A few years down the line.

OK. Try to remember some of that teenage geography.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Good luck, David. First question. What type of geographical feature

is the tourist destination of Ko Samui in Thailand?

Erm, well, I've never been to Thailand, but I've been to Malaysia

and I think Ko Samui is an island. So I'll go for island.

OK. That's the right answer. Well done.

CJ, Patagonia is a region of South America

covering part of Argentina and which other country?

I think it covers part of Chile, as well.

It does. Chile is correct. Good start for you both.

And David, second question.

Which body of water is closest to the Muslim holy city of Mecca?

Erm, I have to say, I'm not too sure about this one.

Erm... Mecca. Hm.

I think... I have to say, it's going to be a complete guess,

but I'm going to go for the Persian Gulf

just cos of where I think it might be in the world.

OK, Persian Gulf for Mecca, the body of water closest to Mecca.

-It's not, you know? CJ will know.

-I'll go for the Red Sea.

Yes. We narrowed it down, but I'm sure you would've gone for Red Sea.

A chance for the lead with this one, CJ.

Which county in the Republic of Ireland is the furthest south?

It's Cork.

-It's not England, so it's Cork.

-Ah, yes, OK. Getting close to the UK,

-Pat?

-Yes.

-Of course it is.

Cork furthest south in the Republic of Ireland.

So you have that lead, and it means you need to get this, David.

The US state of Ohio

shares much of its northern border with which of the great lakes?

Erm... Hm.

-This is one CJ would've enjoyed.

-He likes his American geography.

Erm, Ohio. I know Ohio is not too far from Chicago,

or Illinois,

and I think Lake Michigan, Chicago is on the banks of Lake Michigan,

-so I'm going to plump for Lake Michigan.

-OK.

Ohio and Illinois, beside each other

and you're going for Lake Michigan. It's not, no.

-CJ will tell us.

-I'd have gone for Erie.

-It is Lake Erie.

Of the five questions we asked, CJ knew five of the answers.

You didn't know the ones that were necessary, David.

It means the round is over. CJ is in the final round.

Please come back and join your teams.

So, as it stands, Leithal Thinkers have lost one brain

from the final round. The Eggheads are all there.

Our next head-to-head coming up is History.

-Who'd like to play this?

-That's a difficult one.

I don't know. You did say history.

-I did say history.

-You're going to have to do it.

-OK, I'll have to take it on myself.

-Holding you to your word!

This was a discussion you had earlier.

It was a bad decision to pick history.

You're trying to forget it but they wouldn't.

Andrew's going to play. Pick an Egghead. Can't be CJ.

-Who do you reckon?

-Erm...

-Pot luck.

They all look like they've got a bit of history.

-Pat maybe?

-What do you think? Lucky dip.

-I'll go for Pat.

Pat on history. OK. Never lost.

Good. There's always a first. THEY LAUGH

Let's have Andrew and Pat into the question room, please.

OK, Andrew, history.

You were talking big before the round with your team mates.

Why did you think you might be good at history?

I was quite strong in school.

Almost decided to study it at university, but chose advertising.

To be honest, I think this was what they call taking one for the team.

-We'll see how it goes.

-We will. OK, playing Pat.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I think I'll go first.

All right, Andrew, your first question.

What is the name of the financial exchange system

put into operation in Britain in 1821

and from which the country finally withdrew 110 years later?

Er... I'm not really sure, to be honest.

Unsurprisingly.

I think it's more going to be a stab in the dark. I'll try Gold Standard.

Gold Standard. It is Gold Standard, yes. Well done.

And Pat, Gold Standard was like an exchange rate mechanism, really.

They tied the value of the currency strictly to reserves of bullion.

I think Winston Churchill suffered a major reverse.

I think he championed the Gold Standard

and it sort of backfired on him.

Well, got it there, Andrew. You're off the mark. Pat, your question.

Which country granted Tunisia a full independence in 1956?

Well, I don't think Spain had a big interest in North Africa.

Italy were certainly nearby.

But Tunisia retains a French feel and I think it's France.

France is the right answer, yes.

Other Eggheads, we all know about the bitter war

with Algeria for independence. Was there are similar violent campaign

-or was it relatively peaceful?

-Relatively peaceful

in Tunisia, as it was in Morocco, as well.

Algeria was the one where things really went pear-shaped

and it turned into an eight-year war.

OK. France granted Tunisia full independence in 1956

and a tick each on our Eggheads score board.

Andrew, your second question.

Where did Sir Walter Raleigh spend the years 1603 to 1616?

Erm...

Not knowing much about this kind of period,

er, I think...

I think I'm going to try the Tower of London.

There's not much reasoning behind it.

-But I think we'll go for the Tower of London.

-OK, Tower of London,

1603 to 1616, Sir Walter Raleigh, that's correct.

And Pat will tell us the reasons why. You talked about this recently,

Sir Walter Raleigh falling foul of the authorities

-and ending up in the Tower.

-Yes, he fell from grace

-and he wrote The History Of The World which incarcerated.

-Hm.

OK, your next question, Pat. The Stamp Act of 1765

was an attempt by Britain to raise much-needed revenue

by imposing a tax on its commonest printed material

in what part of the world?

Well, I'm sure the British government would've been keen

to raise revenue from every scrap of its far-flung empire.

But I think the Stamp Act was one of the intolerable acts

which caused such aggravation in the North American colonies

and led to the Boston Tea Party. So I'll go for North America.

North America and those taxes.

Boston Tea Party, War of Independence. Yes, it is.

It was stupid, because the only people who really cared about it

were the wealthy, the educated, the newspaper editors,

those who read them, and who did it hit the most?

The newspaper editors. So obviously they rebelled against it

and, as Pat said, mainly in Boston where it all started.

Turned them all against them. All square. Going well, Andrew.

Get another one here and who knows what might happen?

Operation Fork was the name given to the British invasion

on the morning of 10th May 1940 of where?

Well, in history, I consider that period to be my strong point.

Erm...

However, I'm a bit unsure on this.

I've got an inkling with Sardinia.

But, again, I'm only 60 percent sure,

but I think I'll go with Sardinia.

OK, Sardinia for Operation Fork. Pat?

I have a faint recollection that there was an opportunist chap

took power in Iceland and perhaps the British went in there.

It is Iceland, yeah. On the date there, 10th May 1940,

it was one of the earlier actions of the war.

Yeah, it was just because of North Atlantic convoys,

to deny that territory to the Germans.

Coincidentally, that was exactly the same day

-that the Germans invaded Holland, Belgium and France.

-Uh-huh.

Operation Fork there, the British invasion of Iceland.

So a chance for Pat. The War of the Triple Alliance, which was waged

from 1864 to 1870

saw Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay unite to fight which country?

Well, just thought of geographically,

Paraguay fits the bill because it borders all three countries

and neighbours are more prone to having domestics.

And I think Paraguay has an unfortunate history

of getting involved in enormously disadvantageous wars.

So I'm not certain of this,

but I have a feeling it's Paraguay, one of their rather lunatic wars.

OK, going for Paraguay. Other Eggheads?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Yeah? OK, well, Paraguay is the right answer

and it means you've just been denied a place in the final round, Andrew.

Please come back and join your teams.

The challengers have now lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there. Next is Film and Television.

This might suit one of you. Neil, Kenny or Chris?

-Film and Television.

-I am very happy to do that one.

-Chris put himself forward, so Chris, you up for it?

-Yep.

Which Eggheads do you want? Daphne, Kevin or Judith?

-What do you think?

-Right.

-Does Daphne look nervous? No.

-Never!

-THEY LAUGH

-I think she winked.

-I think we'll go for Daphne.

-OK.

It's going to be Daphne and Chris, then, playing Film and Television.

Please make your way to the question room.

Chris, let's hope this round goes to plan for you.

We need to get one of you through. Will it be you?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-Erm, first, I think.

Well, it's happening now. Here you go, first question.

Which TV series started in 2001

with Sarah Beeny as its presenter?

Hm. Right, OK.

By process of elimination, I think Grand Designs was Kevin McCloud.

Location, Location is Kirsty and someone else. I can't remember.

-I think it's Property Ladder. I'm going to go with that.

-OK.

The elimination route and got the right answer.

Yes, Property Ladder. OK, Daphne.

"Protecting the earth from the scum of the universe"

is the tagline to which film starring Will Smith?

I think it can only be Men In Black.

-Yeah. Good tagline, that.

-Yeah.

It's the right answer. Men In Black. Right.

Chris, second question.

Which 1990 science fiction film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

is based on a Philip K Dick short story

entitled We Can Remember It For You Wholesale?

I'm not entirely sure.

I mean, my first instinct is to match the word "remember"

in the title of the short story to "recall" in Total Recall.

Erm... Remember, recall.

I don't...

I think it's got the most complex plot to it,

which is something which draws me to it, as well.

Erm, I'm going to go with Total Recall.

OK, the remember and the recall and the plot. It's the right answer.

Total Recall. Let's see if Daphne has that with this one.

What was the title of the pop music programme

hosted by Frenchman Antoine de Caunes and shown on BBC2

from 1989 to 1992?

No idea!

I haven't heard of any of them.

Erm...

Oh, dear! I can't even pick up a clue.

Erm...

Redondo.

-No?

-CJ looks a bit upset.

-CJ?

-It's Rapido.

-Rapido.

-Well, I told you I didn't know.

Normally you say that and get it, but this time not.

And a real chance now for the Leithal Thinkers.

Chris, you go through to the final round with a correct answer here.

Which singer-songwriter had a cameo role as Tony Lacey

in the 1977 film Annie Hall?

Hm.

That's a Woody Allen film.

See, I've seen music videos for all three of them

and I think Paul Simon and Billy Joel are a bit more animated in them

so would maybe be suited to acting.

So I'm going to eliminate Neil Sedaka straight away.

Er...

It's 50/50 for the other two.

I'm going to go with Paul Simon.

OK. Creating his own 50/50 there.

Were you right to not think about Neil Sedaka? Yes, you were.

Of the other two, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, you've got it.

Paul Simon playing Tony Lacey a small cameo in Annie Hall.

Well, you're in the final round, Chris. No place for you, Daphne.

Please come back and join your teams.

It's looking a bit rosier for the Leithal Thinkers.

They've knocked an Egghead out but two members have been eliminated.

Our last subject before the final round is Music.

Who'd like to play this? It's Neil or Kenny.

-Kenny likes singing.

-What?

-Yeah, Kenny likes his music.

-Would we like it?

-Tactically, for the last round, we want to keep Neil.

He's the strongest. So we'll go with Kenny.

Kenny, you've got Judith or Kevin to choose from.

I'm going to go for Kevin, try and take him out for the final.

All right! You must be good at this. Kenny and Kevin,

into the question room, please.

Kenny, let's see if you can emulate Chris and get to the final round.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

OK, first music question coming up. On a musical score, what symbol,

placed just to the right of a note, extends its length by a half?

I'm not sure about this one. I don't read music.

But I'm going to go with a process of elimination.

I don't think it's an exclamation mark,

cos I don't ever remember seeing that on a music sheet.

I think I'm going to go with a star.

OK, a star. It's not.

It's a dot. You're right about exclamation mark,

but picked out the wrong one of the other two. So, Kevin.

In which year did Adam and the Ants

have a UK number one single with Stand And Deliver?

Well, they popped up around the turn of the 80s. '77 is too early

and '86 is too late, so 1981.

1981 is the right answer, Kevin.

OK, well, Kenny, see if you like this one.

"One dream, one soul, one prize, one goal"

are words from which song by the rock group Queen?

I'm trying to play back those song lyrics in my head now.

-You can sing them if you like.

-No, you wouldn't appreciate it.

We've had worse. We've had plenty from Chris over the years.

Erm, I don't think it's Radio Gaga.

And I don't think it's We Are The Champions.

So I'm going to go with A Kind Of Magic.

A Kind Of Magic, OK. It's the right answer. Worked that one out.

OK, Kevin.

The theme tune to the 1950s and 60s US TV detective show Peter Gunn,

a hit for Duane Eddy, was written by which composer?

Not Jerry Goldsmith. And Lalo Schifrin did Mission Impossible

and various others. I'm pretty sure this was Henry Mancini.

And the answer is Henry Mancini.

That is correct. So you need to get this, Kenny.

Another Green World, which was used as the signature tune

for the BBC's arts programme Arena, is a piece by which musician?

Erm, I don't know this one at all.

I'm not very into my arts programmes.

-So I'm going to have a complete guess and go with Kevin Godley.

-OK.

Kevin Godley, Another Green World? It's Brian Eno.

Not Kevin Godley.

And we close the round here. Kevin's got two, you've got two wrong.

You won't be in the final round. Please rejoin your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round, which is general knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads won't take part

in this round, so Andrew, Kenny and David from Leithal Thinkers

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

Neil and Chris, you're playing to win the Leithal Thinkers £3,000.

Pat, Judith, Kevin and CJ, you're playing for something

which money cannot buy, no amount of it. It is the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, they're all general knowledge and you can confer.

That's the big difference. So, Neil and Chris,

the question is, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Leithal Thinkers, do you want to go first or second?

-I think...

-We've gone first so far.

-We'll go first, please.

OK. The first final round question.

At the start of a standard game of chess,

which pieces occupy the four corners of the board?

-It's the wee castles, isn't it?

-It's the castles,

which in chess you'd call the rooks.

Going for rooks, castles. Yep, it's the right answer.

Off you go with a tick on the board. Eggheads, which football club plays

its home games at the Britannia Stadium?

-Stoke.

-Stoke.

-It's you, Judith.

-Yeah, it's me.

-That would be Stoke City.

-It is the right answer,

Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. Both teams getting a tick on the board.

And Leithal Thinkers, your second question.

In which Spanish city might you visit the Reina Sofia Museum?

-I've been to Madrid and it's not there.

-Yeah.

-The Prado's the famous gallery...

-Yep.

Barcelona I've been to, but I'm not sure I went to many museums.

We went to the cathedral, but...

So it's either Valencia or Barcelona.

-I would go for Barcelona.

-Yeah.

-That would be my gut feeling.

I think so, too. Just a complete hunch, but we'll go for Barcelona.

Barcelona for the Reina Sofia Museum.

-Eggheads?

-ALL: Madrid.

It is in Madrid. You mentioned the Prado, as well.

Chock full of museums, Madrid, and Reina Sofia one of the large ones.

OK, a chance for the Eggheads to take the lead.

In which decade was the Sizewell A

nuclear power station in Suffolk opened?

-Do you know?

-Not as such, no.

-My instinct was early 60s.

-Oh, was it?

-What was yours?

-70s.

Er... But I have nothing.

Sizewell B's inquiry dragged on for years and years and years

-and Sizewell A was probably well in there.

-Yeah, that's true.

Erm... No, I simply don't know.

I think, on balance, if we're talking about good old percentages,

I think, on balance, the 60s seems the most likely.

I don't know why, I just thought 70s when it came up

but that could've been the beginning of the Sizewell B inquiry.

-Shall we just go for 60s?

-I think so.

I think, on balance, it's the percentage one.

Well, Leithal Thinkers, clearly some confusion amongst the Eggheads.

But I need an answer, Eggheads.

-We'll have to go for 60s.

-What are you going for?

-We don't really know

so we're going to go and hope for the best for the 1960s.

OK, Sizewell A nuclear power station opened in...

..19...67. It's the right answer, Eggheads.

Played the percentages there.

So you need to get this, Leithal Thinkers.

Which architect's practice was responsible for

the design of Heathrow's Terminal 5 building?

-I think Zaha Hidid's a bit abstract.

-Yeah.

And I haven't heard of David Adjaye,

although I'm sure he's quite a famous architect.

It is extremely modern architecture. It's big...

-Richard Rogers sounds familiar to me.

-Yeah.

I think Richard... I'm trying to think what else...

I don't know if he's the one who did the Lloyds building.

He's certainly famous for a lot of these giant projects,

Hong Kong airport or whatever, so I think it would be an educated guess,

-but are we going to go for it?

-Yeah, let's do it.

-OK.

We're going to make a slightly educated guess

-of Richard Rogers.

-OK.

It's one you must get to keep your hopes alive.

The practice responsible for Heathrow's Terminal 5,

Richard Rogers. It's correct. You're still in it.

Let's see for how long, though.

Eggheads, under what surname did the French author Francoise Quoirez

write a number of novels and plays from the 1950s onwards?

-It's Francoise Sagan.

-Francoise Dorleac was a singer.

-Dorleac was an actress and singer and Hardy was a singer.

-Exactly.

-So it is Francoise Sagan.

-Yep.

-That's Francoise Sagan.

-OK.

It is. It's the correct answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Bad luck Leithal Thinkers, getting that Spanish question wrong,

the Madrid question wrong, always chasing the game after that.

The Eggheads on good form again. Knocked Daphne out, though.

Maybe you could recruit her to the agency. She's the right demographic.

Maybe think up a marketing slogan for the Eggheads.

"Can they be beaten?" Could do with a bit of refreshing on that one.

But thank you for playing the Eggheads today, Leithal Thinkers.

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

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £3,000.

That means the money rolls over to the next show.

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

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