Episode 62 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.

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 as they've won some of the toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads. Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today:

This friends and family team are Darlington Football Club fans.

As well as sitting together in Block 18 of the football stadium, they quiz together at their local pub,

The Pennyweight. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Vince. I'm 66 and a retired civil servant.

Hello. I'm Mark. I'm 47 and I'm a person-centred plan facilitator.

Hello. I'm Gavin. I'm 49 and I'm a taxi driver.

Hi. I'm Sue. I'm 33 and I'm an activities organiser.

Hi, I'm Katy. I'm 30 and I'm a design technology teacher.

Welcome to you, Block 18.

Tell me about Darlington's ground. Isn't it a new stadium you moved to recently?

-In 2003, I think.

-Yes.

-We moved from Feethams, our old ground

up to the new ground, built by George Reynolds.

-So it's very plush? What's the capacity there now?

-25,000.

-Lovely.

-We only get, if we're lucky, 2,500 people in!

So a bitter space, should the Eggheads want to muscle in! Any room in Block 18?

Not at the moment because they've closed that down and we're moved to Block 17!

OK, you're Block 17/18!

Where is it located? Are you on the halfway line or behind the goal?

We're just behind the goal because we like to see all the goals, obviously.

But we haven't seen many recently!

Too many from the other lot?

-That's right, yes.

-What about quizzing at the Pennyweight?

-How good are you?

-We do quite well. We're normally in the first three.

-And we win quite often.

-OK. You're guaranteed to be in the first two here.

But you need to finish first to get the money. Let's play. Every day,

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

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

Block 18, the Eggheads have won the last 23 games

and that means £24,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head is History.

-Who wants to play this one?

-Kate?

-You want me to do this?

-I think it's Katy.

-Yes?

Who would you like to play, Katy?

Who am I going to play?

I would say...CJ?

-CJ. I'll play CJ.

-OK.

It's decided. Katy and CJ are playing this history round.

Please both take your positions in the Question Room so you can't confer.

Let's give it a go. First or second?

I think I'll go first.

First question coming your way.

Which country was ruled by the Zhou dynasty? Z-H-O-U.

For approximately 800 years?

I don't really know, but taking from the spelling, I'd guess at China.

China. Right answer and a good start.

Which English king was born in 1491?

-Henry VIII.

-Yes, indeed.

Both successfully negotiating their first questions.

Katy, which company manufactured the Halifax heavy bomber in the Second World War?

I'm afraid I haven't got a clue!

I'm going to go with an Eggheads' way of answering the question.

I'm going for the middle option, Handley Page.

Is that what you reckon the Eggheads do?

You know, you've landed it! Handley Page.

Manufactured the Halifax.

CJ, the medieval text book called the Malleus Maleficarum

specifically referred to the identification and punishment of which type of people?

Yes, it's quite an interesting rambling text.

I've read some of it.

It goes on how to identify, by very spurious methods, to put it loosely,

-witches.

-Witches. Is this all about ducking them and...

-Basically, yes.

But some of it's very obscure and not very pleasant.

Horrible stuff. It is witches. Well identified, CJ.

OK. Going really well here, Katy.

This might get you into the final round. In which ancient city

did the Queen called Zenobia have her capital?

Again I haven't really got a clue!

Since I haven't got a clue, I don't think it will be the middle one.

So I'm going for Sardis.

Wrong side! It's Palmyra!

Bad luck! Not in the middle, you're right about that!

OK. See what CJ does.

At the Congress of Vienna that followed the Napoleonic Wars,

Count Nesselrode, N-E-S-S-E-L-R-O-D-E, all one word,

was the representative of which European power?

I'm afraid I haven't heard of the gentleman,

but the spelling of the word is Germanic.

I haven't heard of him but going on the spelling and the language

I'll say Austria.

For Nesselrode. It is Russia.

So a let-off, Katy.

It's all square and we go to Sudden Death.

No more of those options to look at.

What's the name of the battle that took place

on 25 June 1876 in present-day Montana,

when some 260 men of the US Cavalry met their deaths

at the hands of a much larger Native American force?

As part of my GCSE course, we did history of the American West.

But I don't think that's going to help me much!

I'm going to say Battle of Little Big Horn, cos that's all I can remember from my GCSE history!

It's the right answer, yes. Little Big Horn.

And a certain general featuring in that, CJ?

-Armstrong Custer.

-Yes.

Custer's last stand.

That means CJ needs to get this. In 1548, at the age of five,

which queen was sent to France to be brought up by her future in-laws, and ten years later,

married the Dauphin?

It should be Mary, Queen of Scots, but let me check.

I'm fairly sure she married the Dauphin.

Yes, Mary, Queen of Scots.

Is the right answer. Well done, CJ. Being careful there.

Katy, another question. Going well.

Which part of the Royal Navy was described by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson

as "underhand, underwater and damned un-English"

when it first became operational in 1901?

I really don't know. I'd assume it's got something to do with submarines

due to the underwater reference.

But I don't really know.

So I'm just going to say something to do... Submarines.

But I don't know!

I accept it. Right answer. Submarine service.

I'll accept it. Well done.

"Damned un-English!"

I like that! Because it was a bit sneaky!

-Yes!

-OK.

Well done, Katy. Two Sudden Death questions right. Pressure's back on CJ.

From 1964 to 1973,

Constantine II was king of which country?

(Greece.) Greece!

I hardly heard it. Right answer. King Constantine of Greece

identified by CJ.

Katy going fabulously. Another question.

In the 12th century BC,

which people settled in Palestine and established a league of five city states -

Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza?

The only thing that's coming to mind, because of Palestine, is the Israelites.

-So I'll say the Israelites.

-The Israelites.

I'm not going to accept that. It's not the Israelites.

It is Philistines.

The Philistines.

OK, let's see what CJ does. It's not over, Katy.

Which South American city was first established

by the Spanish explorer Pedro de Mendoza in 1536?

I don't know this. Mendoza is mostly associated with Argentina.

There's a city Mendoza in Argentina.

So I'll have a wild guess and go for the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires. Too much knowledge there. It's the right answer.

And just got through to the final round. Good performance, Katy. Bad luck.

You won't be in the final. I think you'd have been an asset to Block 18 if you had been.

But please come back and join your teams.

A real quality first round in which the Egghead just gained the upper hand.

That was CJ, so all five Eggheads are still there

and one member of Block 18 will be missing from the final.

Our next subject, then, is Sport.

I bet you like this, Block 18. Who wants to play it?

-Gavin.

-Gavin.

-Definitely Gavin.

OK, Gavin. Which Egghead? Can't be CJ.

-Kevin, please.

-Give Kevin a go.

Give him a bit of an outing!

Gavin and Kevin playing Sport, please into the Question Room.

Gavin. Sport. You're very much into sport, football. Would you like to go first or second?

First, Dermot, please.

First question is a football question. Which football team

won the 2009/10 Premier League?

Darlington doesn't seem to be on the list!

We're a few leagues below that, Dermot,

-at the moment!

-Not for long!

But the team that won the Premiership is Chelsea.

Chelsea. Yes, the answer's Chelsea.

OK.

Kevin,

what role did Graham Thorpe perform for the England cricket team?

He wasn't a bowler.

No, he was a batsman. Batsman.

Batsman is correct. Off the mark there too.

Back to Gavin.

In which year did the tennis player Billie Jean King first win the Ladies Singles at Wimbledon?

I seem to remember she went on well into the '70s

possibly the early '80s.

But I've just got a feeling that she did win one title very early.

I've got a feeling it might have been 1966.

OK. '66. World Cup year for England and Billie Jean King won her first title at Wimbledon. Yep!

Kevin, which golfer won the Open four times

between 1868 and 1872?

The other two were much later. This was Tom Morris Jr.

There were lots of Juniors and Seniors at that time.

But he's the one who fits the dates.

Yes, it's the right answer. Tom Morris Jr.

OK, Gavin.

Which rugby union club did Nick Abendanon, Matt Banahan and Shontayne Hape represent

during the 2009/10 season?

Unfortunately, I'm not a big rugby fan.

I don't think it'll be middle again.

It's a pure guess. I'll go for Leicester Tigers.

OK. Leicester Tigers. Trying the placing technique!

It's entirely random. It's Bath Rugby.

Bath Rugby.

They represent.

A chance for Kevin to take the round.

Who collected 3 million in prize money after his horse, Dar Re Mi, triumphed

at the 2010 Dubai Sheema Classic?

I'm not... I've simply not heard this, so it could be any of them.

I haven't heard of Elton John having any racing connection.

As between the others, I may be entirely wrong,

but as between the other two,

it could be either but I'll go for Andrew Lloyd Webber.

It is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The lord. Right answer.

The lord of quizzing goes through to the final round.

Bad luck, Gavin.

Just caught out on the last question.

The rugby question you didn't like.

Would you both please come back and join your teams.

Well, in football terms, the Eggheads have popped two goals into the net.

Something you'd be familiar with, watching Darlington!

But the comeback starts now.

Two brains missing from the final in Block 18.

All the Eggheads there. Our third head-to-head is Film & Television.

Who'd like to play this? Sue, Mark or Vince?

-Yes, I'll do it.

-OK. Who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Daphne, Judith or Pat?

I'll play Judith, please.

Let's have Sue and Judith playing this. Film & Television.

You need to go to the Question Room, I believe.

Your comeback starts here!

Sue, they're all supporting you through this round.

-Will you go first or second?

-First, please, Dermot.

In March 2010, it was announced that which US drama

was to end after eight series?

Um, well, I've not actually watched any of these.

I don't think it's House.

And I don't think it's FlashForward. So I think it's 24.

24. Yes, you're right.

Judith,

in which year was the TV comedy show

Shooting Stars first broadcast?

Um, I think it's something that was on a long time ago

so maybe it's 1983.

'93, it started. 1993.

That's what we wanted, Block 18.

A slip-up by an Egghead. Right. Sue,

what is the name of the villain played by Michael Lonsdale

in the James Bond film Moonraker?

Ooh, now then, I've got to think.

I don't think it's Max Zorin.

And I don't think it's Hugo Drax.

-I'm going to go for Francisco Scaramanga.

-Scaramanga.

In Moonraker. It's not right.

CJ will enlighten us. Scaramanga. Is that Man with the Golden Gun?

Yes, that's Christopher Lee. Max Zorin is Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill.

-Hugo Drax is Moonraker.

-Hugo Drax, Sue.

Hugo Drax in Moonraker played by Michael Lonsdale.

You're still in the lead, though.

See what Judith does with this one.

Maggie Smith received the sixth Oscar nomination of her career

for her performance in which 2001 film?

It's which film was in 2001. I don't think it's Ladies in Lavender.

I would imagine it's more likely to be Tea With Mussolini.

No, it's Gosford Park.

Gosford Park. So...

Sue, that slip-up on the second one didn't matter.

You go through to the final round if you get a right answer here.

Who wrote the screenplay for, and played the leading role in

the 1980s film Give My Regards to Broad Street?

Ooh, now then.

I'm not sure on this one.

It's going to have to be a bit of a guess, I think.

I'm going to say...

..Roger Daltrey.

Roger Daltrey, Give My Regards to Broad Street.

They've all done a bit of acting in their time.

But it's not Roger Daltrey.

It's Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney in Give My Regards to Broad Street.

So, a chance for Judith

to take us into Sudden Death. You still might win it if Judith gets this wrong.

Which actor has appeared in the films Kick Ass,

Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood?

I've never heard of any of them.

I don't know. I'm going to go down my lucky side and say Stephen Graham.

Stephen Graham. Your lucky side isn't this time!

It's the other side, Mark Strong.

-The international superstar, Mark Strong.

-What? He's not that much...

He's very well known. Mark Strong.

I want to look at that scoreboard again.

Let's leave it on screen for a while.

Oh, shut up, Dermot!

-Don't be so mean!

-No, I'm bigging up Sue.

Just how important that first answer was.

It's got you through into the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams.

I knew the fight-back would start there. Two-one.

You're missing two brains from the final, the Eggheads missing one.

Our last head-to-head coming up is Geography.

Vince or Mark, can you knock an Egghead out on Geography?

Yeah, that's me. Yep.

I'm the sacrificial lamb.

OK, Vince. Who would you like to play? Who's left? Pat or Daphne.

Daphne, please.

Daphne.

Vince and Daphne playing this Geography round.

Into the Question Room, please.

Vince, do you go to Darlington away games as well?

Only a few, now.

I did, a couple of seasons ago, go to quite a few.

But because of the poor results I decided to knock it on the head!

That's good for the geographical knowledge of the UK.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please, Dermot.

First question. Oman is bordered to the south by which sea?

It could be all three, actually, As far as I'm concerned!

But I think I'll go for the Arabian Sea.

Arabian Sea, yes, the right answer. Oman bordered by the Arabian Sea.

Daphne,

what is the official monetary unit of Hong Kong?

The last time I was there, it was the dollar.

Hong Kong dollar is the right answer, yes.

Vince,

the popular tourist destination of Lamu

is an island in the Indian Ocean administered as part of which country?

This is interesting.

I'm not sure about this at all.

I think I'll go for an educated guess and say...

-..Mozambique.

-Mozambique for Lamu.

It's not, Vince. No.

Do you know, Daphne? Tanzania or Kenya?

-I would have guessed at Tanzania.

-Interesting.

-It's Kenya.

-Kenya.

I like the way you try and get it in there!

Nothing there for Vince.

This is your question, Daphne.

Milford Sound, a fjord described by Rudyard Kipling

as the eighth Wonder of the World, is located in which country?

I've heard the quotation. I think it's New Zealand.

New Zealand is the right answer. Yes.

-I didn't know Kipling made it to New Zealand.

-I didn't, either.

That's why I remembered the quotation!

I see.

OK. Milford Sound is in New Zealand.

That means you've got to get this, Vince.

Paris is the capital of which French region?

I haven't got the foggiest idea!

I'm not very good at French geography.

I think I'll go for Auvergne.

OK.

No, it's not. That's quite a way out. Daphne?

-Ile-de-France.

-It is the Ile-de-France.

Which means, Vince, the round is over.

Daphne's got enough to clinch it already.

Both please come back and join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards, the final round.

General knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be taking part.

So, Vince, Gavin and Katy from Block 18 and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

Mark and Sue, you're playing to win Block 18 £24,000.

Pat, Kevin, CJ and Daphne,

you're playing for something money can't buy, the Eggheads' very reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The questions are all general knowledge and you may confer. Mark and Sue,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, please, Dermot.

Let's see if you can get £24,000.

First question. On a Spanish tapas menu,

what food is referred to as gambas?

We know it's not potatoes.

We know it's not ham.

We just came back from Spain last week.

So we think it's prawns.

Did you have any gambas?

We did!

And you got prawns. Right answer. Well done.

All right. Eggheads, Owl City

spent three weeks at the top of the UK singles chart in early 2010

with which song?

Fireflies.

I think it's a song about his insomnia. Fireflies.

-Is that what it's about?

-I think so.

-Correct.

Block 18, Mark and Sue. Good start.

Second question. What is the cube root of 512?

-Ooh, maths!

-Quite difficult.

Neither of us are very good at maths, are we?

No. Cube root.

Shall we go...

-What do you think?

-12 12s is 144.

12 12s is 144. I know that much.

Cube root. No, I don't know.

We'll have to take a guess.

-Which one are we going to guess at?

-Middle?

-Yes?

-Yeah.

We haven't got a clue. Not very good at maths.

So we're going for the middle. 12.

-12 is the wrong answer. It's eight.

-Right.

-Eight is the answer.

Eggheads, what colour is the top stripe of the national flag of the Netherlands?

-I think...

-Blue's at the top.

The Netherlands flag and the Luxembourg flag are much the same

other than the shade of blue. It's red, white, blue.

I think it's in that order from top to bottom.

Yeah, the blue...

Let me just think, to make double-sure.

I'm doubting it now.

Yes, so am I, actually.

Yeah, I'm getting mixed up.

I'm getting mixed up. Did I say the shade of blue was different?

It's actually the shade of red, isn't it?

-The Dutch one was originally based on orange.

-Yes.

So I think it's blue at the top.

-So it's blue.

-The more I think about it...

-Blue at the top.

The red doesn't...

If you put blue at the top, it seems more prominent.

Yeah, it's blue at the top.

You were thinking blue as well?

I wasn't very comfortable, but I'd say blue.

-I've changed my mind. I think it's blue.

-I agree with you.

-We've had quite a bit of discussion.

-You bet!

-We think it's blue.

-Blue.

Too much discussion - you talked yourself out of red!

Which is the right answer.

-You'd stared at it too long and turned it upside-down!

-Yeah.

Great news, Block 18. All square. Everything to play for.

£24,000 still well within your grasp.

A correct answer here would get you closer to it.

Here you go. A Percheron is a breed of which creature?

-I don't know.

-I've never heard of a Percheron.

-Neither have I.

I think we've have heard it if it was a type of horse.

-I don't know!

-Maybe it's a type of cow.

Shall we go for the middle?

Or do you think it's a type of cow?

-Yeah, we'll go for cow.

-Right, we'll go for cow.

-Yeah.

-We don't know, but we'll go for cow, Dermot.

-OK.

A Percheron. Is it a cow, Eggheads?

A horse.

A horse.

Well, horse not identified by Block 18. They went for the cow.

It means the Eggheads have a chance in spite of that second question.

Eggheads, which author wrote

the 2010 novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner?

-Can we just check, Bree is B-R-E-E?

-Yes.

Stepenie Meyer.

It's a kind of offshoot of the Twilight stories.

She's in the Twilight series.

That's Stephenie Meyer.

It's the right answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Bad luck, Block 18. Just couldn't get going in that round.

With the Eggheads getting one wrong, I thought something might go right for you.

Unfortunately, it didn't, as in the head-to-heads.

But yours, Sue, was a memorable victory over Judith.

Get that first question right and you never know.

Thank you for coming to tell us about Darlington Football Club.

Best of luck for the future. The only way is up!

Yes!

Keep the faith, as they say.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

I'm afraid you won't go home with the £24,000.

The money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£25,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye!

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