Episode 49 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 may recognise them. They've won some of Britain's toughest quizzes.

They are the Eggheads.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are the Lawn Rangers.

This team from Liverpool all know one another

through the Lawnmower Museum in Southport. Let's meet them.

Hello, my name's Ian, I'm 51

and I'm a researcher at the British Lawnmower Museum.

Hello, my name's Robin, I'm 74

and I'm a retired master locksmith.

I'm George, I'm 64 and I'm a football stadium announcer.

My name is Phil, I'm 56 and I work in IT support.

Hi, my name's Chris, I'm 46 years old

and I'm a nurse manager in a hospice.

Welcome, Lawn Rangers. I'm glad to hear there is a lawnmower museum.

Tell me about it. There must be so many different kinds of lawnmowers.

Well, the lawnmower was invented many years ago

by a gentleman called Edwin Beard Budding

and we've tried to capture English mechanical engineering history

by showing and restoring these lawnmowers.

-So what's the oldest one you've got?

-Well, it's a little mower

that was made in the time of Custer's last stand

and it's designed to cut round gravestones, funnily enough

and made by Greene's.

-So it's an American model, is it?

-No, no, it's a British lawnmower.

-OK.

-But it's made by a company in London, Greene's.

-I see.

-So they're all British lawnmowers?

-Yes.

-It is a British invention?

-Absolutely. Yeah.

-Goodness.

So where is it? I know it's in Southport. How do I find it?

I've got a million questions about lawnmowers,

not really from me, but our producer's keen on lawnmowing

-so I'm sure he wants to get up there.

-In Southport.

It's quite close to the main shopping street in Southport, Lord Street.

-It's about half a mile away.

-Do you ever demonstrate any of them?

Take them out to a nice patch of lawn?

We don't like to. We spend a lot of time over the winter months

restoring them and we spend a lot of time and money

getting them back to where they were when they were new,

-so we don't really like to take them out.

-OK, let's play the game!

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

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

The Eggheads have won the last ten games.

That means £11,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-That would buy a few lawnmowers!

-One or two.

OK, our first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & Television.

Any one of you can play this opening round. Film & TV.

-George?

-I think that was George.

-George is the man.

All right, George. And which Egghead would you like to mow down?

-I think it's got to be CJ.

-It's got to be CJ. Sorry, CJ.

CJ. Try and cut him down to size.

I could go on all day with these puns.

Let's have George and CJ into the question room, please.

George, I keep mentioning our producer here,

but he's a crazy Liverpool fan and look who we have,

you're the football stadium announcer. Can you pretend

it's Liverpool and Arsenal and you're welcoming the teams?

Yes. Good afternoon. Please welcome today's two teams,

Arsenal and Liverpool.

Ah, lovely. OK. It must be a lot of fun, though.

You must have met so many of the great players over the years.

Yes. I've got a lifetime of happy memories

and some of the experiences are quite surreal, like today.

You find yourself talking to people who once were your heroes

and probably still are.

And people forget, although I've worked there for a long time,

I'm still a fan, so it's still a buzz going through the front door

-every match day.

-As I say, you'll be a very familiar voice

to hundreds of thousands of people who've regularly attended Anfield.

So, right, let's play Film & Television. First or second, George?

I'll go first please, Dermot.

Right, George, first question. Geoffrey Hughes,

who played Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances

and Twiggy in The Royale Family,

played which character in Coronation Street?

I'm not a Coronation Street fan,

but being geriatric, I can remember when he was playing this character

and I believe that was Eddie Yeats.

Eddie Yeats, yeah. Big mate of Stan Ogden in those days.

It's the right answer, yes. Eddie Yeats.

And your first question, CJ.

Who wrote and directed the 2010 comedy film Cemetery Junction?

I'm afraid it got absolutely slaughtered by the critics.

They hated it. But it was Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

Is the right answer, yes. Well done, CJ.

Normally a sure-fire winner coming from those two. Didn't do too well.

Right. One apiece, then. And back to you, George.

In which film was the actor Jim Broadbent

required to perform the Madonna hit Live A Virgin?

This is a tough one. I've not seen... Well, I've seen them on TV.

I didn't see them at the cinema. I'm sure it's not Iris.

And I think in Little Voice, he didn't sing, he was the MC.

So that leaves me with one choice. I think it was Moulin Rouge!

Ah, going the elimination route. Got the right answer. Well done.

Two to you, George. CJ.

Who played the title character in the 1997 film George Of The Jungle?

This is one of those actors who's always confused me.

He had one of the great burgeoning careers in Hollywood,

appeared in some wonderful films like Gods And Monsters,

and then in the last few years, has done nothing but absolutely dross,

like Inkheart and the third Mummy film.

They should've just left it at the first two. It was Brendan Fraser.

-I'm was trying to picture him. So he's in the Mummy films?

-Yeah.

OK. It's the right answer. George Of The Jungle, Brendan Fraser.

So two apiece, all square.

George, Ladybird Ladybird is a 1994 film by which director?

This is ringing absolutely no bells whatsoever.

I'm going to have to make an educated guess.

Based on the premise that that was the time

when Mike Leigh was at his peak,

-I'm going to say Mike Leigh.

-OK, Mike Leigh for Ladybird Ladybird.

It's not, George. Do you know, CJ? It's only one out of two.

-I would've gone for Winterbottom.

-No, it's Ken Loach.

Ken Loach, Ladybird Ladybird. OK.

Well, nothing there for George and therefore a chance for CJ.

Who played Eve in the 1950 film All About Eve?

Well, Bette Davis is in it and she's usually the leading character

and if the film's all about her, hopefully she was Eve,

-so I'll try Bette Davis.

-OK. All about Eve. Is it, Eggheads?

-ALL: Anne Baxter.

-They chorus Anne Baxter.

-Oh, well.

-Who am I to disagree? It stays all square.

We go to sudden death in the first round.

We may get into sudden death in the next rounds.

Just to explain, we remove those choices

and I've just got to hear the answer from you.

So here's your question. Which English comedian

played Simon Garden, the title character,

in the 2001 film The Parole Officer?

There's some very old brain cells springing into life in my head.

Lee Evans.

Lee Evans.

Good guess, but it's not the right answer. No.

-2001. CJ, do you know?

-Steve Coogan.

-Steve Coogan.

Talking about comedians and films that didn't do too well,

we had Cemetery Junction, was this another? A lot of us don't know it.

Yeah. It had quite a nice idea for the script

but he was doing quite a lot of films at that time,

-most of which were less than successful.

-OK. Very diplomatic.

In case you ever run into Steve Coogan.

So, a chance again for CJ.

Which TV entertainer began his career

with an act called Boy Bruce The Mighty Atom?

I can't think of anything else, so I'll try Bruce Forsyth.

-Bruce Forsyth?

-Yes.

It's the right answer, CJ. Yes. Boy Bruce The Mighty Atom.

Which means you've taken the round, just, CJ. Bad luck, George.

Doing very well there until you ran into The Parole Officer

and you would've been an asset to the team for any sporting questions.

But you're not playing the final round. Please rejoin your teams.

As it stands, after the first round, the Eggheads are all there.

The challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

Our next subject is Politics. Who'd like to play this?

Politics. Can't be George, of course.

It's going to have to be, I think... I think Robin's on this one.

OK. Right. So, Robin, who's it to be?

I suggest Daphne.

Daphne, please.

OK, Robin and Daphne, into the question room, then.

OK, let's play the round. Robin,

-would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

OK, first question, Robin, and it's Politics, of course.

Which term is used to describe a situation

in which a state is governed by immediate divine guidance

or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided?

I really don't know the answer to this

so we've just got to look at the words.

And theocracy connects with theology

so I'm going to go for theocracy.

Well worked out. Yes, that's going the right way. One to you.

Good start. Daphne, who was the British prime minister

at the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1950?

I think that was probably Clement Attlee.

Attlee is correct, yes.

Robin, the British prime minister born Archibald Philip Primrose

is generally referred to by which title?

Again, I've no idea.

Purely because of Primrose, I'm going to go for Earl of Rosebery,

because there's rose in the name.

-OK. It's the right answer.

-THEY LAUGH

I think it's a coincidence rather than any link. But, hey, why not?

Yes, Archibald Primrose became the Earl of Rosebery.

And your second question, Daphne.

Jadranka Kosor

became which country's first woman premier in 2009?

Oh, dear. Could you spell the surname?

K-O-S-O-R.

Eeny-meeny-miney-mo again, I think.

Erm...

Slovakia.

-It's not the right answer, no.

-No?

-Eggheads?

-Croatia.

-Croatia. Jadranka Kosor became

the first female premier of Croatia in 2009. That's good for Robin.

You've already got two, which might be enough to take you through,

but this seals the deal if you get it. In the 20th century,

there were 11 Republican presidents of the United States

compared to how many from the Democrat Party?

No idea again.

-I'm going to go for the middle. Six.

-OK, six Democrats.

Let me check with our presidential correspondent, CJ De Mooi.

Both Kevin and I were counting them and we both came up with six

-so we hope he's right.

-Seven.

-Oh, dear.

-Seven. You've left one out. So there we are.

A chance going begging there for Robin and, as I say,

still got a chance to take the round if Daphne gets this wrong,

but she takes us into sudden death if she get it correct.

In which year was the Life Peerages Act passed,

allowing women peers to sit in the House Of Lords for the first time?

1958.

'58 is the right answer. We're into sudden death.

So, Robin. Civil servant Clive Ponting was prosecuted in the 1980s

after being accused of leaking information about which conflict?

I really don't know, but obviously, I'm going to try and make a guess.

The...

..first Israeli war, if you know what I mean.

OK. A conflict in Israel is incorrect.

No. It is, Daphne?

-The Falklands.

-The Falklands War.

-Of course. Going back to 1980s,

Clive Ponting. OK.

Well, a turnaround has taken place.

Daphne has an opportunity here to win the round now

rather than just save herself. Daphne, the joint heads of state

of which independent country are the French president

and the Bishop of Seu d'Urgell in Spain?

Andorra.

-Sorry.

-Andorra, tucked away there in the Pyrenees.

-Yes.

Between France and Spain. It's the right answer, yes.

What a comeback that was! Staring ejection in the face,

but instead it's Robin who goes out. Please rejoin your teams.

Lawn Rangers, getting a bit of a scragging so far.

Two gone from the final round

and no Eggheads missing. Let's see if you can knock one out

with our third head-to-head today. This subject is Music.

Who'd like to play this one. It can't be Robin or George.

-I think it's got to be Phil.

-Our music expert.

-Right.

-Who do you want?

-So it's...

-You've got Chris, Kevin or Judith.

-Let's go for Chris.

-OK. Chris.

-I'm going for Chris.

-OK, Chris. Phil and Chris playing this one.

Please take your positions in the question room.

All right, Phil, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Phil, first question. What were the first names

of the American duo Hall & Oates

who had a series of UK top 40 singles in the 1980s?

I'm glad to see this one cos I actually know the answer.

That's Daryl and John.

OK, Daryl and John is the correct answer.

Eggheads, which was which?

-Daryl Hall.

-And John Oats.

-OK. So it's in that order, then.

DERMOT LAUGHS

Right. And first question, Chris.

Telephone was a 2010 UK number one single

for Lady Gaga featuring which other singer?

Hm. I don't see it being Britney Spears somehow.

Or Beyonce. I've an idea it was Alicia Keys.

Alicia Keys singing on Telephone with Lady Gaga. Other Eggheads?

-It was Beyonce.

-It is Beyonce.

-Oh.

-Beyonce, not Alicia Keys.

So an instant lead for Phil.

And let's see it get bigger, hopefully, here.

Gary Lightbody came to fame as the lead singer of which band?

I'm going to rule out Elbow, cos I know it's not that one.

I have no idea on the other two.

I will go for Ash.

Ash. OK.

No. But you're right about Elbow. It's Snow Patrol.

Gary Lightbody. OK, Chris.

Which Rodgers and Hammerstein musical

features the song We Kiss In A Shadow?

Not The King And I, cos I don't think they ever get it together

to that extent.

And I don't think it's Oklahoma,

which is upbeat about the founding of the state of Oklahoma,

but Carousel is quite a dark tale about death and resurrection

and redemption, so I'll go with Carousel.

That's not the right answer. Daphne, you were looking very distraught.

-The King And I.

-It is. Which, in a low-scoring round,

is good news for Phil. You win this round with a correct answer here.

Which Russian composer

created an opera based on the Pushkin work Eugene Onegin?

It's not a strong subject for me,

but, erm...

..given the choices there,

-I will go for Tchaikovsky.

-Tchaikovsky.

An attempt to get into the final round.

That attempt is successful! It's the correct answer.

You've mown one of them down. Chris is out. Please rejoin your teams.

The Lawn Rangers looking a lot perkier after that victory.

It's like reseeding a bald patch on your lawn or something.

You're back in it. You've knocked an Egghead out. Two of you gone.

It could be all square in the final round if you win this head-to-head.

This one is Arts & Books. Two of you can play this. Ian or Chris.

-Chris, I think.

-Do you want me to take that?

I'm obviously the last one, so I will take Arts & Books.

OK, Chris. And who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

-You can play Kevin or Judith.

-What do you think?

-Judith.

-Yeah, I think Judith.

I think we'll take Judith, please.

OK, let's have Chris and Judith both into the question room, please.

Now, Chris, Arts & Books, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, please.

Good luck and here we go.

In books by Enid Blyton,

what's the name of the oldest boy in the gang known as the Famous Five?

Oh, this is taking me back to books I read obviously as a child.

And I don't really remember the answer to this so I will guess at,

erm,

-Frederick.

-OK. Frederick, the eldest of the Famous Five.

You read them as a child, CJ is still reading them.

He hasn't finished the first one yet, but...

I'm still trying to colour in, but I think it's Julian.

It is Julian. Julian of the Famous Five.

Right. We did Waltons in a previous game,

can we do all The Famous Five, Eggheads?

-Julian, George, Timmy...

-Wasn't Timmy the dog?

-Timmy's the dog. Dick, Anne.

-It counted as one of the Five?

-He was one of the Five, yeah.

-Dick and Anne.

-Dick and Anne.

-Dick and Anne.

-OK. Thank you very much, Eggheads.

First question to you, Judith. In which country was the writer

Bernard Cornwell born in 1944?

I really don't know, erm...

But I imagine it would be England.

-Doesn't that seem a bit obvious?

-Well, it's the first question.

-OK.

And it's meant to be easy, the first question.

We don't normally do this, but do you want to change it?

-No, I want to stick with it!

-It's the right answer.

-THEY LAUGH

-It's the right answer, yes.

Bernard Cornwell, born in England. And, er, right, well,

to have any hopes of winning this round, Chris, you need this one.

Who wrote the collection of love poems Sonnets from the Portuguese?

This is not a strong point for me at all.

I think you can guess that by I was the past person chosen.

I will guess at

Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

-Good guess! It's right.

-Yay!

OK.

Judith, the 1841 play London Assurance,

revived at the National Theatre in 2010, is by which Irish playwright?

I saw it the other day. Erm, it was wonderful, so funny.

It's Dion Boucicault.

Dion Boucicault is the right answer.

That's the problem with Eggheads, they get out and about.

Pleasure or research? You're a keen theatre-goer.

-I love going to the theatre, yes.

-OK, right up your street, then.

Boucicault is correct. And it means you must get this, Chris.

Who wrote the novel The L-Shaped Room,

upon which the 1962 film starring Leslie Caron and Tom Bell is based?

Again, another guess, I'm afraid. Erm...

-I will go for Muriel Spark.

-Muriel Spark for The L-Shaped Room.

Judith?

-It's Lynne Reid Banks.

-It's Lynne Reid Banks,

which means your hopes of playing in that final round

have been dashed. I'm sorry, Chris, you won't be there. Judith will be.

Would you both please come back and join your teams.

So this is what we've been playing towards. It's the final round,

which as always is General Knowledge.

Those who lost your head-to-heads

won't be taking part in this round.

So, Robin, George and Chris, from the Lawn Rangers,

and Chris from the Eggheads, will you leave the studio now, please.

So, Ian and Phil, you're playing to win the Lawn Rangers £11,000.

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

money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

And 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, Ian and Phil,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Ian and Phil, would you like to go first or second?

-I think first.

Let's see if you can mow the Eggheads down.

First question is, what name is given to an animal-shaped spirit

such as a black cat, which serves as an attendant to a witch?

Well, I think this is a pretty easy one.

-If you think it's easy.

-I think we have to say familiar.

-It's got to be familiar.

-It's not vernacular.

It's not vernacular or regular. We'll go for familiar.

-Daphne, is it?

-Why are you asking me?

-Of course it is.

-Because CJ was about to.

It is the right answer. Look, trying to get yourself off the hook, CJ.

Familiar is correct, yes.

First question, Eggheads. Particle physicist Professor Brian Cox

was the keyboard player for which chart-topping band

before working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN?

He was a member of D:Ream.

-Things can only get better.

-Apparently.

It's the right answer, yes, D:Ream.

OK, Lawn Rangers.

Solid start. Let's see if you can get the second one.

In which English county is the village of Piltdown,

the site of one of the most infamous archaeological hoaxes

of the 20th century?

Sadly we are from the north so...

Any idea where Piltdown Man lived?

Mm. I remember reading about Piltdown man and his, er...

I'm thinking Dorset.

It does sound right, Piltdown in Dorset.

-I should know this.

-Do you want to take a chance on Dorset?

-Yeah. Go for Dorset.

-OK.

-Dorset.

Dorset for Piltdown.

You identified there the hoax, Piltdown Man.

It's a question that gets easier the closer you get to the county.

Viewers watching in this county are going, "How don't they know that?"

It's not the right answer. It is, Eggheads?

-ALL: East Sussex.

-East Sussex, Piltdown.

The guys mentioned Piltdown Man. This was a kind of

so-called discovery of a missing link?

Yes. That's what it was passed off as. Charles Dawson, yeah.

What did they do? They faked-up these bones, these fossils?

A lot of it was teeth. Teeth and bones and buried it.

-Not very convincingly.

-No. Then dug it up and it was quite a bit later

that it was re-examined scientifically and someone said,

"Hang on. That's come from a baboon and that's come from..."

He went out one day and of a sudden, every day he had a new find.

OK. Piltdown man. Piltdown is in East Sussex, not in Dorset.

So a chance for the lead for the Eggheads.

In which decade did Edmond Halley

observe the comet that's now named after him?

-It's the decade where he was alive.

-Yeah. The 1680s.

-That was in the 1680s.

-1680s.

OK. And how often does it come past the earth?

-Isn't it 76 years?

-76 years.

So we can work it out but we haven't got the time.

I'm sure you know when it's next appearing.

-Around 2050. Something like that.

-Well, you have the lead, Eggheads.

And it means you've got to get this one, Ian and Phil, to stay in it.

Which African country's national football team

has the nickname the Super Eagles?

The Super Eagles. I wouldn't think it was Ethiopia.

I don't think it's those guys. It's more like, erm...

-It's either...

-Cote D'Ivoire is quite small.

-Yeah.

-Nigeria, probably.

-I think Nigeria sounds the one.

-Plausible.

-Yeah. I think we're going to go with Nigeria.

-Nigeria.

-The Super Eagles, you say,

are the national football team of Nigeria and you're correct.

Yes! You're still in it.

But a slip up on Piltdown

gives the Eggheads a chance to pinch the game.

Eggheads, Pi is what number letter of the Greek alphabet?

Pi is what number letter of the Greek alphabet?

-I think it's the 16th.

-There's only 24.

-Yeah. I think it's 16th.

I think it's the 16th.

-It was the 16th.

-How many letters in the Greek alphabet?

-24.

-I'm not going to bother listing them all.

THEY LAUGH

Pi is the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet.

It's the right answer. Eggheads, you've won!

Well, it's the kind of question that is difficult for mere mortals,

such as us, but Eggheads gobble them up. It's how it fell for them there.

Thanks very much, Lawn Rangers, not to be on the day,

but great fun having you here. But the Eggheads have done

what comes naturally to them. Their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £11,000.

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. £12,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]

.