Episode 59 Eggheads

These people are among 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 the show where a team of 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 - the Eggheads.

Challenging our quiz champions today are...

the Hopviners from Lancashire.

They regularly quiz together at the Hop Vine pub in Burscough. Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Mike. I'm 36 and I'm a builder's labourer.

Hi. I'm Gemma. I'm 25 and I'm a journalist.

Hi. I'm Ahmed. I'm 55 and I'm an IT user support analyst.

Hi. I'm Ray. I'm 38 years old and I'm a contracts administrator.

Hi. I'm Phil. I'm 44 years old and I'm a university lecturer.

-Welcome to you, Hopviners. Is that the name of the quiz team when you're playing at the Hop Vine?

-No.

We generally take a collective of who's turned up on the day and make up the name as we go along.

-The Hop Vine is the name of the pub.

-Sure, and how competitive is it?

-Oh, extremely.

-Very.

-Extremely competitive. We sometimes win it.

-Which is quite...

-Only when I'm there, though!

That's what I like to hear, Gemma.

What subjects do you enjoy most? You've got a mix on the team.

-I enjoy the sport questions.

-GEMMA: Music, entertainment, TV.

-AHMED: Science and history.

-Geography.

-OK. And Phil?

-General knowledge, science.

Got all the talents here. Let's put them to the test.

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

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

Hopviners, the Eggheads have won the last 20 games.

£21,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first subject - kind of know who's playing this - Arts & Books.

Who wants to play this?

Who did we decide?

-Well, I suppose.

-GEMMA: Are you gonna go for it, Ray?

-I will do.

-You wanted to be first.

-Yeah.

-Who would you like to play?

-I would say either Judith or Chris.

-Yeah.

Um, I'll go for...Judith.

Judith, decision is made. It's Ray and Judith playing Arts & Books.

Could I ask you both, please, to go to the question room to make sure you can't confer?

Ray, you're a big Liverpool fan. You follow them over Europe!

-Yes.

-To the great European cities. Do you take in the museums and galleries when you're there?

-Um, I generally...

-Or the pubs?

-Well, the pubs of course!

It's the churches I like to see.

I just love looking around the churches.

So I've been to the Sagrada in Barcelona and places like that.

I'm glad to hear that, because there's the stereotype that I played into.

The football fans go abroad and all they do is jump into a lot of beer.

It's an opportunity to look around cities you wouldn't normally go to.

-It's a bit of a waste if you spend all day in a pub.

-Got to spend some time there if you win!

-Oh, yes.

-OK, Ray.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first please.

Good luck, Ray.

Arts & Books, first question.

The painter Henri Matisse was born in which country?

The painter Henri Matisse was born in which country?

Um... I'm pretty certain he was born in France.

So I'm going to go for France.

Matisse, French, is the right answer. Good start.

Judith.

According to Thomas Gray's Ode On A Distant Prospect Of Eton College,

"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be..." what?

Well, I think it must be wise, cos it's the opposite.

Yeah, "'tis folly to be wise".

Understand that now, Eggheads?

-DERMOT CHUCKLES

-It's all square.

Ray, in the Leonardo sketch commonly known as the Vitruvian Man,

that displays the proportions of the human figure, how many arms are shown?

I'm pretty certain that it's three per side.

He's got two arms held out. I'm certain he's got one above.

And one below. One straight out, one above, one below. So...

-I'm going to go for six.

-Six. Vitruvian Man.

-It's four!

-Oh, right.

-Do you know what?

If I didn't have the right answer, I'd agree with you. It's only four.

Vitruvian Man.

Judith, whose Ode On Indolence was written in 1819,

but was published posthumously in 1848?

I don't think Tennyson was posthumous in 1848. I'm not sure.

-I have a feeling it must be Keats.

-Keats.

Who died shortly after 1819, I think.

You've been getting a lot of odes! Second ode in a row.

-Second correct answer.

-Can we have a bit of variety?

You're doing well on them. Keats gives you two.

You need this, Ray. Whose 1757 work entitled

A Philosophical Enquiry Into The Origin Of Our Ideas Of The Sublime And Beautiful

put forward a theory that divided the sublime from mere beauty?

I've got no idea.

I think Samuel Johnson... was around later than that.

I thought he'd be around in the 1800s but...

I'm not so sure about that either.

This is a complete guess.

I'm going to go for Thomas Paine.

-It's not, though, Ray.

-Right.

-Do you know, Judith, of the other two?

Edmund Burke's a political writer.

I thought it was Samuel Johnson but I'm not sure because of the dates.

-He was a philosopher as well, Burke, and it was he that wrote it.

-Oh.

But it doesn't matter. You've won the round anyway.

You got those two correct.

Two incorrect from Ray means you won't be in the final round.

Please come back and join your teams.

After the first round, the Eggheads have the upper hand.

The Hopviners have lost one brain. Our second round today is Geography. Who'd like to play this one?

It can't be you, Ray.

Oh, no!

-We decided, didn't we, before.

-Yeah. Ray WAS going to do Geography.

But we decided if Geography came up after, Ahmed was going to do it.

Yeah. Good luck, Dad.

You can play anyone, apart from Judith.

I'd take my pick from either Chris or Daphne.

-Would you?

-Or Barry.

LAUGHTER

So, no Pat then!

-That's narrowed it down(!)

-I'll play against Daphne, I think.

So it's going to be Ahmed and Daphne playing Geography.

Into the question room, please.

Ahmed, interest in geography? Travelled quite a lot, have you?

Not really, Dermot. It's my third favourite subject.

Stepping into the breach! You have to adapt these game plans.

It's just the way the questions came out.

Well, you have adapted and taken this on.

Do you want to start or let her begin?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

The best of luck. Which coastal feature occurs

where air and water are forced through a vertical shaft leading from a sea cave to the surface?

Well, I don't think it's a pothole, because that's where cavers go down.

A sinkhole, that sounds more like a river goes down a hole.

I'm going to go for blow-hole.

Blow-hole. Yeah, does what it says on the tin! It's the right answer.

Daphne, Haverfordwest is in which part of the United Kingdom?

I think it's Wales, Dermot.

-You had to think a minute there.

-Yes. I did.

It is in Wales. Correct.

The Australian territory, the Cocos Islands, is in which ocean?

I know it's definitely not the Atlantic.

At least, I think it's not the Atlantic.

It sounds like it could be the Pacific.

The Indian's a bit further away.

-I'm going to go for the Pacific.

-Pacific?

-Yes.

It's certainly surrounding Australia but it is the Indian.

The Indian Ocean, the Cocos Islands. Second question, Daphne.

The Pantanal region, mainly located in Brazil,

is often described as the world's largest area of which land type?

I've not heard of it, so it's going to be a complete guess.

I will go for, um...

-Wetland.

-Wetland. Why?

Well, I don't think it's coniferous forest, but I've got no idea.

-It's either that or grassland.

-Yeah.

-Wetland is the right answer.

-Oh!

Amazonian based, is it?

It drains into the Amazon.

It's a huge swamp, hundreds of miles in any direction.

Ahmed, you need to get this.

Which mountain that forms the forefinger

of the Range of the Awful Hand, is the highest point in Scotland's Southern Uplands?

Not really sure about this, Dermot. It's going to be a complete guess.

I've not heard of any of them.

I'm going to go for...

-Black Hag.

-Black Hag.

The Range of the Awful Hand, what a fantastic name!

In the Southern Uplands. It is Merrick.

Merrick, not Black Hag. More or less the same pattern...

It IS the same pattern as the last round. We end it there. You won't be in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

The Hopviners have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are all there, but early days!

Plenty more quizzing to come. Our next subject is Film & Television.

Who'd like to play this?

-Gemma, Mike or Phil?

-AHMED: We know who's doing this.

-I think it's going to be me.

-OK, Gemma.

-Yeah.

Daphne and Judith have played. One of the boys - Pat, Barry or Chris.

The boys! Ha ha!

I'd be tempted to go for Barry.

-I would think so.

-OK, then.

You are the team captain.

-The decision's yours!

-I will play against Barry, please.

It's going to be Gemma and Barry contesting Film & Television.

Could I ask you both to go to the question room?

Gemma, you're a busy journalist. Do you watch much film and television?

-Yes. Quite a lot.

-Good.

My DVD collection's extensive.

-So, yes.

-And what favourite films?

-There's just too many.

-What type?

I love fast-paced ones you can really get your teeth into.

The Bourne films, I really enjoy them. Matt Damon's quite a hottie.

We had a few questions about him in the last few Eggheads.

-See if any more come up. Would you like to go first or second?

-I'm going to go first please.

Good luck, Gemma. The TV drama series Playing The Field,

first shown in 1998, concerned a women's team in which sport?

I vaguely remember watching this.

But, er...

I know the answer is football.

It was basically about women pushing the barriers and playing football.

-My answer's football.

-It's the correct answer. Well done.

Barry, Fay Ripley played

a character called Jenny Gifford in which TV series?

I really loved this series, especially Fay Ripley's performance.

-She was in Cold Feet.

-Cold Feet. Must get her autograph for you.

Ooh, yes please!

That'd warm your feet up! Cold Feet is right. Yeah.

Gemma, who presented the TV series Adventures In Architecture and Around The World In 80 Treasures?

I watch Kevin McCloud on Grand Designs.

Um... And it's architecture and treasures.

I don't think it's David Dimbleby.

I'm going to guess at Kevin McCloud.

Kevin McCloud, architecture and 80 treasures.

All well-qualified to do such shows, but it's Dan Cruickshank.

Dan Cruickshank on Adventures In Architecture.

Well, see how Barry does with his second one.

Who directed the 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause?

Ah, that was Marlon Brando.

Had one of the most wonderful lines in screen history.

"What are you rebelling against?" He says, "What have you got?"

I think it was Fred Zinnemann.

Completely wrong, Barry!

-Just wrong from start to finish in everything you said.

-Everything?

It's Nicholas Ray and the Eggheads will tell me and I'll tell you...

James Dean!

-..was in Rebel Without A Cause.

-Oh, gosh!

-I got completely the wrong film!

-Yeah. Wrong film, wrong actor.

-On The Waterfront he was thinking of?

-No, the Wild One.

Of course!

Rebel Without A Cause. James Dean.

Directed by Nicholas Ray. Great news for you, Gemma.

Your third question.

Who starred as a US marine ship-wrecked with a nun played by Deborah Karr in the 1957 film

Heaven Knows, Mr Allison?

-I think that's WAY before my time!

-You might have the DVD!

Oh, no! Now I wish I'd watched those black and white films with my mum!

John Wayne, he was in westerns, so I'm going to exclude him.

I'm going to go for... Burt Lancaster.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Karr in Heaven Knows, Mr Allison?

-You're right about John Wayne, but it is Robert Mitchum.

-Oh, no!

You CAN win the round...

I should deduct points, by the way, for the last answer.

I can't, so you have the chance to win the round with this.

Which TV character was created by the writer and producer GF Newman?

I don't think it was Lovejoy.

-GF Newman. I think it was Judge John Deed.

-Judge John Deed.

Deals in justice, and INjustice has been done. You've won.

Bad luck, Gemma. It's not fair.

I'm afraid it's the rules.

You're meant to be an Egghead! You won't be in the final round, Gemma.

Please come back and join your teams.

Well, three Hopviners gone. No Eggheads after that round.

Can the Hopviners stop a clean sweep here from the Eggheads with our next category?

Our last head-to-head is History. Mike or Phil?

History. What are you like?

No good. I'll give it a go but I'm poor.

Have you decided, Phil? Yeah. Go on. I'll do it.

-Give it a go, Phil?

-Yeah.

-You've got Chris or Pat to play.

-I'll take Chris.

-Chris, OK.

It's Phil and Chris, then, taking on History. Into the question room, please.

-Phil, do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, Dermot.

It's History, first question.

D-Day, in which Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy,

occurred on which date in June 1944?

Um, right, not really sure about this one at all.

Simply because it was the 6th month, I'll go for the 6th.

I see. OK. 6th of the 6th. It's the right answer.

Not sure if they just wanted the 6th of the 6th.

It was all to do with moons and tides and weather conditions.

Foul weather. They were delayed by weeks.

-So it would have been May?

-Yeah.

6th June 1944,

the Normandy landings identified by Phil.

Which city in northern England did the Romans make the capital

of a new province of Lower Britain in the third century?

Neither Liverpool nor Bradford existed in any recognisable form.

It was Eboracum, York.

Right, OK. York is the correct answer. Well done.

Old Noll was a nickname of which historical figure?

Old Noll, N-O-L-L, was a nickname of which historical figure?

Old Noll.

Right, um...

Don't think it's Bonnie Prince Charlie. Um...

Old Noll.

Don't think it's Cromwell. I'll go for Thomas Wolsey.

OK. Wolsey.

It's not. Old Noll is...

-Chris?

-Oliver Cromwell.

Oliver Cromwell. Not your question, though.

Where did British forces under Sir Eyre Coote

defeat the French under the Comte de Lally at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760?

Hm.

There were wars in North America then against the French over Canada.

It wasn't Ireland. The French were trying to muscle in on India.

-It's India.

-India.

What great names. Sir Eyre Coote!

The Comte de Lally. The Battle of Wandiwash in India.

It's the right answer. You have two.

Phil, you need to get this.

In which role did Hanna Reitsch become famous in Nazi Germany?

In which role did Hanna Reitsch become famous in Nazi Germany?

It's Hanna R-E-I-T-S-C-H. Hanna Reitsch.

Don't think she's a pilot. I'll discount that one.

Photographer or athlete? Hanna Reitsch?

Nazi Germany?

They liked their athletes, that Aryan supremacy.

But I'm going to plump for a photographer.

Photographer, Hanna Reitsch. Chris?

No, she was a very good pilot.

She test flew a V-1 pilotless bomb!

Originally, the V-1s didn't have a guidance system, they had a pilot.

They lost two or three, all former jockeys.

She volunteered to fly one and found out what the problem was.

She landed it safely and allowed them to develop the V-1 doodlebug.

She was a pilot.

She also flew in and out of Berlin in the last days of the Reich.

-Right.

-Pilot.

-A definitive answer there from Chris, Phil.

It is pilot, obviously, the answer, not photographer.

You won't be in the final round. Please come and join your teams.

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

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

won't be allowed to take part.

Gemma, Ahmed, Ray and Phil from the Hopviners, would you leave the studio, please?

Mike, you're playing to win the Hopviners £21,000.

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn. The questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

The question is, is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-Um...

Considering how badly the rest of the team's done going first, I'll go second.

-Your team hasn't had the luck. Maybe you're storing it all up.

-Could be.

-For where it counts.

Eggheads, first question. Mike's put you in.

Kersey is a type of what?

K-E-R-S-E-Y.

Kersey is a type of what?

That's a cloth, Dermot.

-What kind of cloth?

-I'll have to defer to Daphne.

-It's sort of woollen.

-Woollen?

-Yes.

Kersey is a type of cloth. It's the right answer. Mike...

Which X Factor singer reached the top of the UK singles chart in April 2010 with Once?

Which X Factor singer reached the top of the UK singles chart

in April 2010 with Once?

This is the sort of time that I wish that Gemma had got through.

-I don't watch X Factor.

-Ah! I was going to ask you that!

-Gemma with her TV watching would.

-Yes.

I try and stay at the golf club so it's finished when I get home.

Stacey Solomon had a very high-pitched squeaky voice.

Can't imagine that she's got to Number One.

Don't know who Lucie Jones is. I'm going for Diana Vickers.

Diana Vickers for Once.

Gemma's very happy. It's the right answer. Well done.

Didn't watch the X Factor

so that was a tough one for Mike.

Steve McNamara was named as the new coach of which England national team in April 2010?

Steve McNamara was named as the new coach

of which England national team in April 2010?

-Oh, I don't know!

-DAPHNE: I'd go for rugby league.

-I think there has been some turnover in the managers.

-Yes.

Um...

Yeah, in the last 12 months they have had a change of manager

-in the rugby league.

-It's only a guess.

I don't think it'd be swimming. It's too technical.

Rugby league has a much higher profile than hockey.

-JUDITH: Absolutely no idea.

-We're reduced to a hunch, a guess.

We don't know, Dermot. We're going to try rugby league.

-On a hunch?

-There's been a change in manager in the last 12 months.

It's not really solid evidence.

-Rugby league.

-Certainly isn't. Steve McNamara...

became the new coach of the England...

rugby league side in April 2010. It's the right answer.

Combined Eggheads working it out.

Bit of hunch. Bit of inkling. Bit of guess. There you go. Five of them, that's the problem.

Dealing with it successfully in that first question was Mike.

He's got to do it with his second question.

What French word is given to a collar or ring on a candlestick or chandelier,

used to catch wax drippings?

What French word is given to a collar

or ring on a candlestick or chandelier,

used to catch wax drippings?

I wasn't very good at French.

I don't really have a clue.

Let me try and work out if any of those words mean anything to me.

Sometimes I get a bit of an inkling,

but I've got nothing here at the moment, so...

I'm going to take a complete guess.

And go for... I still don't know which one I'm going to guess at!

-Passoire.

-Passoire.

Catching wax and drippings, stuff that passes by. I don't know.

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

-It might be bobeche.

-It is bobeche.

A bobeche is the collar on the candlestick.

Good effort, but not the right answer. So, Eggheads,

you win the game if you get this.

Which Cornish town is famous for its traditional celebration Obby Oss Day held at the beginning of May?

Which Cornish town is famous for its traditional celebration Obby Oss Day

held at the beginning of May?

We think that's Padstow, Dermot.

Definitely Padstow. I used to live quite near Padstow.

What do they get up to? Obby Oss? Hobby horse?

They dress up in this extraordinary black get-up, a big circle,

with skirts, and the man inside it dances round the town.

-They have a horse involved?

-That is the horse, the obby oss.

CHRIS: Weird black oilskin creation, disc thing.

Great pointed hat. < Yeah.

Sounds, er, great fun.

At the beginning of May, it's held in Padstow.

Eggheads, you've won.

Mike, it really was bad luck. You never really got going. It's the way the questions fell.

Good players in those head-to-heads and they got one or two dodgy old questions and bang!

The wheels came well and truly off!

-I hope you enjoyed the experience.

-Fantastic.

-Good to see the pros in action, up close and personal.

-Excellent.

Thank you very much indeed.

Those Eggheads have done what comes naturally. Their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with £21,000. The money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us to see if a new team of challengers has the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£22,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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