Episode 52 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

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

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

And challenging our resident quiz champions today are Minted,

from Kendal.

Taking their name from the famous mint cake from their home town, they normally quiz against one another

at the Eagle and Child Pub. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Andrew, I'm 52, and I'm an optical retailer.

Hi, I'm Graham, I'm 22, and I'm a fresh food manager.

Hello, I'm Janice. I'm 64 and I'm a company secretary.

Hello, I'm Helen, I'm 69, and I'm a retired primary school teacher.

Hi, I'm Avril, I'm 71, and I'm retired.

Nice team name, straightforward. Do you partake of the mint cake?

-Or is it for tourists?

-Local people do partake of it and it's very, very good?

-Are there different people who make it?

-There's at least three firms, but they're all very similar.

They fight over the trade and all seem to do very well.

-Very good up the mountains.

-Yes, but a little bit high in sugar.

To be taken in moderation!

Tell me about the quizzing. The Eagle and Child pub. That's scary. What's the symbol outside?

-An eagle and a child.

-Carrying away a child?

-Yeah, a baby.

-Is this Greek mythology or something?

-Biblical, isn't it?

-Do you know, guys?

-No, I don't know how it was named, but we go on a Thursday night

and we quiz and enjoy ourselves. Not only me, but we decided between us we'd have a go

to try to beat these good people.

Best of luck, Minted. Let's hope you're minted after this.

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

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over.

The Eggheads have won the last 13 games,

so that means £14,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Your first head to head, your first attempt to knock one out, comes in Arts and Books.

It's not my favourite subject, but I will have a shot at it.

-Helen.

-Helen, OK. Helen.

-Who would you like to go against?

-You can have any Egghead you like.

-Try Chris?

-What do you think?

-Yeah.

-Shall we play against Chris?

-Helen and Chris.

Let's have Helen and Chris into the Question Room, please.

-Helen, would you like to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first.

Best of luck. First question. In the popular children's story books by Dick Bruna,

what type of creature is Miffy?

Well, these are books that are fairly familiar to me. I know it's not a giraffe.

-Miffy is a rabbit.

-Did you have the books in the school?

-We did, yes.

-Miffy the rabbit. Well done, right answer.

Chris, the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Arts, founded in 1870, is located in which city?

-That's in New York, Dermot.

-It's the right answer, yes.

Helen,

as well as being a writer, the Russian Anton Chekhov had a parallel career as what?

Mm. That's something I have never heard about.

I can't imagine he was a diplomat. I don't know why, but...

-I think I'll go for architect.

-Architect, Chekhov. He had a parallel career

and was also qualified as a doctor.

The other one you were thinking of because you ruled out diplomat.

But you didn't get it.

Let's see how Chris does. When We Are Married, first performed in 1938, is a play by which writer?

Oh, that's a fairly broad northern piece. It's by JB Priestley.

It is, yes. JB Priestley. So you have the lead.

Helen, you have to get this.

In which year was art's Turner Prize not awarded

as the American investment company who sponsored it went bankrupt?

Ohh... Right.

I've never even heard of them, the sponsors.

It's going to be a complete guess.

I'm going to say 1988.

I know it's a guess, but it's the wrong one. It's the middle one.

It's 1990 when it wasn't awarded. A real toughie, that.

It means we end the round because Chris has got two correct

and you can't match that even with another question.

So it means Chris will play in the final round. Helen won't.

Both please rejoin your teams.

First blow to the Eggheads. It means Minted have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there. We'll move on to our second category. This is Geography.

Who'd like to play this?

-That'll be me.

-It's Andrew.

-OK, Andrew.

And who would you like to play?

- Who do you think? - Do you think Daphne?

He fancies you, Daphne.

-Oh. Fancy Daphne?

-So they tell me. Sorry, Daphne.

-Andrew and Daphne, then,

are heading for the Question Room right now.

-Now let's play this round. First or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

OK, Andrew, good luck. Sutton Coldfield is part of which city?

I've been once or twice to watch car rallying there.

It's not Manchester or Nottingham. It's Birmingham.

Been there, seen it, seen the cars. Yes, it's the right answer.

Daphne, what name is given to the tidal phenomenon

where the incoming tide forms a wave up a river against the direction of the current?

Well, I live not far from the Severn

and you always see the Severn bore on the news, so it's bore.

-Bore.

-Yes.

-People surf on it, don't they?

-Yes.

-It's not very large!

-It happens quite often, more than once a year?

-Is it on equinoxes?

-I think so.

-Spring tides.

-Yeah. The Severn bore amongst the bores.

Back to you, Andrew.

Incheon is a port city 25 miles from which capital city?

I'm going to rule Ankara out because it doesn't sound

that kind of a language derivative, so it's either Seoul or Taipei.

-I don't know. I'll guess Seoul.

-South Korea, right answer. Well done, Seoul.

Daphne, you were at the Olympics.

Yes, and the Incheon landings took place during the Korean War.

OK. But not your question.

Here is your second question. Which arm of the Mediterranean Sea is immediately north of Corsica?

I don't know where Corsica is.

The one I associate with being at the top is...

the Ligurian?

It's either that or Tyrrhenian.

I'm going for Ligurian.

Ligurian Sea. North of Corsica. Other Eggheads?

-Absolutely.

-It's the right answer.

-Yes.

-Oh!

-OK, two each.

Andrew's going really well.

Merthyr Tydfil lies just to the south of which national park?

It's in the south of Wales, so not Snowdonia.

It's not out on the coast, so it must be the Brecon Beacons.

-Once you identified it in the south, south of the Pembrokeshire coast would be underwater!

-Probably.

So you got it. Well done. Brecon Beacons.

Right. Daphne, yes.

Gnaw those nails! See if you get this. In which country is the city of Medicine Hat located?

Oh! Canada.

-Canada?

-Yes.

-Have you been there on your world travels?

No, but we were going to Canada once and I did look at the map.

Medicine Hat is in Canada. Right.

All square. Sudden death looms.

The first question is to Andrew. You won't see any more choices.

The King Fahd Causeway connects Saudi Arabia to which island kingdom?

Em...

-I don't really know, but I'll guess Bahrain.

-Good guess.

Right answer, yes. Bahrain.

A chance of getting through to the final round, then.

The River Crouch flows entirely through which English county?

Oh, dear.

I think this is, "Bye-bye, Daphne".

I have not heard of it.

I'm trying to think if I can think of anything with Crouch. Crouch End.

Crouch... No.

I don't know. Essex.

Give me strength! It's the right answer, yes.

-I'm really...

-Any idea why you chose that?

-I have absolutely no idea, honestly.

-Well, well, well.

-All I can do is apologise.

-I thought you were going out.

-So did I.

-No, no, no.

Another classic Daphne guess.

OK, Andrew, on it goes.

Home to a vast array of wildlife, the Selous game reserve is in which African country?

Again I don't know, Dermot, but I would guess Uganda.

Uganda.

Very close, but it's not Uganda. It is... Other Eggheads?

Daphne we'll ask first.

-Tanzania?

-I gave you a clue. Yes, it's Tanzania.

Daphne,

which French city on the Isere river in the Rhone Alp region is known for its high-tech industry

and is home to a series of laboratories including the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility?

Grenoble?

It's the right answer, yes.

Grenoble is correct. What a round of quizzing there! Apologise now, Daphne.

I'm really sorry!

-Andrew is really good at this. You did fantastically.

-Thank you.

But you ran into Daphne on spectacular form here.

Bad luck, Andrew. You'll not be in the final round.

Both please rejoin your teams.

As it stands, Minted have lost two brains from the final round. All the Eggheads are still there.

Two head to heads coming up, so two Eggheads could go.

Our next category is Film and TV.

Who'd like to play this one?

-Graham, Janice or Avril?

-Graham.

-Graham, you fancy it?

-Yep.

-OK, who would you like to play? Let's work up the line there.

-Barry, Pat or Judith?

-Judith?

-Yes.

-Judith, please.

OK, it's decided. Graham and Judith to play Film and Television.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

Graham, your dad tried his best there. Let's see if you can go one better.

-Let's get you in the final. First or second?

-Can I go first, please?

Good luck, Graham.

First question. What is the surname of Freddy,

the main recurring character in the Nightmare On Elm Street films?

Well, Myers is the surname in, I think, Halloween.

I'm not sure where Thorn's from,

-but I'll go for Krueger.

-Sounds like you've seen a few!

-Yeah.

-It's the right answer. Freddy Krueger.

First question to Judith. What is the name of the Doctor's assistant played by Karen Gillan,

who first appeared in Doctor Who in 2010?

I love the alternatives.

-But she was Amy Pond.

-Yeah, I like Libby Ocean.

Amy Pond is correct, yeah.

Graham,

Isla Nublar, a fictional island off the coast of Costa Rica is the setting for much of the action

in which 1993 blockbuster film?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is in Germany and things like that,

so it's not that. Cliffhanger I haven't seen,

but Jurassic Park was 1993. Jurassic Park.

-You sound like you like your films.

-I do, yeah.

-Got lots of DVDs?

-A lot, yeah.

-Movie channels?

-Yeah.

-Jurassic Park is correct.

Two film questions there to start for Graham really suiting him.

Another film question going now to Judith. What type of creature is the title character

in the 1957 Disney film Old Yeller?

Well, I think you can have horses called "yeller horses".

American horses are sometimes called "yeller horses".

So I'm going to say "horse".

-OK, Old Yeller is a horse, you think?

-Yeah.

Barry is disagreeing violently.

-Not violently, but it's a dog.

-A dog.

-It's a dog?

-You've seen the film?

-I have.

-Good and wholesome?

-Yes.

-A tear-jerker.

-A 1957 Disney film about a dog. That's looking good

for you, Graham, but let's not count chickens.

Get this and you're guaranteed a place in the final round.

Which English actor joined the cast of Coronation Street in 2009 as Lewis Archer, a male escort?

Unfortunately, Coronation Street is not really my thing,

so I'm going to have to guess

at Nigel Havers.

Guess at Nigel Havers, OK.

You should see the look on the faces of your team-mates.

You don't know what that look is.

Let me tell you it is a look of unalloyed joy and celebration.

-You are through to the final round.

-APPLAUSE

No other questions for Judith. You've put her out already.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

That's positively perked you all up, that victory by Graham.

It's like a tired rambler biting into the Kendal Mint Cake. A shot of adrenaline and sugar.

The Eggheads have lost their first brain from the final round. Minted have lost two brains.

But it can be all square in that final round if you win our last head-to-head.

And this one is Sport. Who'd like to play this?

-Janice or Avril.

-I should do it.

You'll probably know more than I do.

-So it's Janice?

-Yes, it's me.

-Who are we going to play?

Pat or Barry.

-What a good choice!

-You choose.

-Um...

-I'd go with Barry.

-Yeah? Barry, please.

OK, Janice and Barry into the question room, please.

OK then, Janice, let's try and even it up in that final round.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Best of luck. Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson have represented Australia in which sport?

Well, I go to Australia plenty,

but I'm sure I've never heard of these two.

But I don't think I've heard of them in cricket or tennis,

so I'll have to go for rugby union.

Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson

-have played for Australia in the cricket team.

-Oh, dear.

Not rugby union. Let's see how Barry does with his first one.

In which sport can a competitor score a victory using a technique known as oshidashi?

"Oshidashi" sounds very Japanese, so the answer has to be sumo wrestling.

Would you care to demonstrate the technique?

I think it's when you sidestep your opponent out of the ring.

-It's when you grab his underpants.

-Something like that.

-Those nappies?

-Mawashi.

-Oshidashi is in sumo. That's the right answer.

OK, right, Janice...

The Augusta National Golf Club which hosts the Masters is in which US state?

Right, well, um...

Montana's too high up, so it's either Illinois or Georgia.

And I am going to go for Georgia.

Good on you. Right answer, yes, Georgia.

OK, Barry...

The British athlete Jessica Ennis became a member of which athletics club in 1997?

She's our fantastic heptathlete.

Hopefully, she will win a gold in the Olympics.

I think it's the City of Sheffield Athletics Club.

-South Yorkshire?

-I'm hoping so.

-Ah!

A Yorkshire lass, a Yorkshire club. That's right.

City of Sheffield is correct.

It now means that you need

-to get this one right, Janice.

-OK.

For which club did Zinedine Zidane play from 2001 to 2006 before retiring from professional football?

I don't think it's Bordeaux.

When you say that, it's usually the one you should pick.

I'm not going to go for Juventus. I'm going to go for Real Madrid.

Very good. It's the right answer.

Well worked out, Janice. He didn't cover himself in glory

because the World Cup Final was his last game in 2006

and he got the early bath.

He head-butted Materazzi, I think.

Yeah, head-butted Marco Materazzi of Italy.

-He was very rude to him.

-And got sent off. Well, there we are.

Keeping yourself in it, Janice, but Barry, let's see if he administers the coup de grace here.

Olympic-sized swimming pools must be 50 metres long and how many metres wide?

-That's a good question.

-Yeah, it is good, isn't it?

-Let me think.

There's eight lanes in an Olympic swimming pool,

so how many metres would you want for a lane?

20... 20 sounds too little

and 30 sounds too big.

-I'll go down the middle at 25.

-Middle lane swimming, eh?

Middle lane, it's the right answer.

Yes, 25, he's worked it out, you Egghead, you! Bad luck, Janice.

You got into your stride, but it was too late

after tripping up on question one. But a big smile on your face.

I know you're wishing Avril and Graham all the best there in that final round.

Would you both please come and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards - the final round which, as always, is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads can't take part,

so Andrew, Janice and Helen from Minted and Judith from the Eggheads, would you leave the studio now?

Well, Graham and Avril, you are playing to win Minted £14,000.

Daphne, Chris, Barry and Pat, you're playing for something money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation. You were wondering!

I'll ask each team three questions in turn, all general knowledge, and you are allowed to confer.

Graham and Avril, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First?

-First, please.

Good luck. All general knowledge. Let's see how it goes for you.

Khoisan languages, with their characteristic clicking consonants,

come from which continent?

-It's a real tongue-twister. You say that quickly!

-I haven't got a clue.

"Khoisan" is K-H-O-I-S-A-N.

I don't think it's Australia or Asia. I think Africa.

-Asia is more soft.

-Yeah.

-I don't think it's Asia. Go Africa then.

Well, we're not 100% sure, as you realise,

-but we think it's Africa.

-Africa...

Clicking, seen it on documentaries. It's the right answer. Well done.

Africa - Khoisan languages.

And Eggheads, what name is given to the priests in pre-Roman Gaul

who, according to Pliny the Elder, worshipped in groves and cut mistletoe

from oak trees with golden sickles?

They were druids, Dermot.

Do you put the old sheet on and go down to Stonehenge?

-Not as often as I'd like.

-My granddad was a druid.

-Did he know Ken Barlow?

-LAUGHTER

Apparently, it used to be just an excuse for a drinking club.

OK, "druids" is the right answer.

A good start from Minted there, Graham and Avril. Keep it up.

Second question. The rood is an old British unit for a quarter of a what?

The rood... R-O-O-D is how it's spelt.

The rood is an old British unit for a quarter of a what?

I'm fairly sure it's a measure of distance.

I don't think it's a liquid or weight.

-So it would have to be an acre, wouldn't it?

-Go for it.

-Acre?

-A quarter of an acre is a rood...?

It's the right answer. Yeah, well done. A rood.

-40 square poles make a rood.

-How many?

-40 square poles.

-40 square poles make a rood and a rood is a quarter of an acre. All gone now.

-Oh, yeah.

Eggheads, what name did US pilots during World War Two give to unidentified flying objects?

Used as a name for a rock band, Dave Grohl's rock band.

-They were the Foo Fighters.

-Hats off there to the question setter.

-Yeah.

Nicely couched there, those options, Foo Fighters, Metallicas or AC/DCs.

All bands there and Foo Fighters...

Do we know why they call them Foo Fighters - F-O-O?

-Well...

-UFO.

-UFO?

-Yeah.

No, UFO came later. It was from "feu", the French for "fire".

They appeared as balls of fire

-that would appear and disappear.

-OK.

Well, Foo Fighters is correct

and it stays all square after the second question.

Third question for you, Minted.

A correct answer here puts you closer to winning the £14,000.

Queen Alia International Airport is an important transport hub in which Middle Eastern country?

Queen Alia - A-L-I-A.

Queen Alia International Airport is an important transport hub

in which Middle Eastern country?

-Jordan has a king, hasn't it?

-Mm-hm.

Has it always had a king?

It's had a king for as long as I can remember,

-which is quite a long time.

-A very long time.

So I'm leaning towards Jordan.

You are leaning towards Jordan, even though it's had kings?

-It's had kings, which means they've got a queen.

-Yeah, good point.

-Rather than sheikhs or...

-Yeah.

I honestly don't have a clue, so go on - Jordan.

Again we're not sure, but we're going to go for Jordan.

Jordan. I heard you, Avril, doing that on a very Egghead-like basis,

just working on a royal family.

Got a queen, got a king - that's Jordan. It's the right answer, yes.

Well done.

And well...getting closer to the £14,000. Eggheads, you must get this correct.

What type of architectural feature is a baldachin?

What type of architectural feature is a baldachin?

B-A-L-D-A-C-H-I-N. Baldachin.

-The famous one is in St Peter's.

-Yeah.

It's a canopy. There's a very famous one in St Peter's.

So it's a canopy above an altar or above a tomb or something like that.

-In St Peter's in Rome?

-It's a very famous one.

-It's the right answer.

Yes, it's all square again and we go to sudden death.

You've got a fight on your hands with Minted, Graham and Avril really working those answers.

But we'll take away some of that raw material you've been using.

In sudden death, there are no choices.

So what name from the Italian for "undertaking" is given to a person

who manages a band or theatre company or who organises and finances plays and concerts?

-An undertaking? A maestro?

-I don't know.

That's the only word I can think of for a...

-That's Italian, yeah.

-Shall we...?

-Can you think of anything else?

-I don't think I can.

Maestro is more of a perfectionist, though, on something.

-They're quite often conductors of orchestras.

-Yeah.

Which, I suppose, is undertaking a job.

Go on then.

We're guessing our way through this, but we're going to go for "maestro".

Maestro, OK. Certainly Italian there. Italian for "undertaking"...

-It's not the right answer. Do you know, Eggheads?

-Impresario.

An impresario. If we'd had the choices, I'm sure you would have got that.

It's so much harder in sudden death.

Eggheads, you need to get this if you are to win the game.

"Hafiz" is the title given to someone who has committed the whole of which book to memory?

"Hafiz" is the title given to someone who has committed the whole of which book to memory?

It's the Koran. Scholars memorise it as an act of devotion.

The Koran...is the correct answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Bad luck. It was so good to have you here

and to see that one member of each of those quiz teams came together.

There was some great quizzing in those head-to-heads.

We must get up there to see The Eagle And Child pub and find out about the origin of that name.

Thank you for playing the Eggheads.

But those Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with the £14,000 which 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.

£15,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2011

Email [email protected]