Episode 69 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 the country's toughest quiz shows,

they are the Eggheads!

And challenging our resident quiz champions today

are Money For Nothing. This team of colleagues all work together

in the Revenues Office of Falkirk Council.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Kat, I'm 26 and I'm a revenues assistant.

Hi, I'm Malcolm, I'm 42, I'm a finance manager.

Hi, I'm Paul, I'm 38 and I'm a revenues manager.

Hi, I'm Alan, I'm 30 and I'm a finance manager.

Hi, I'm Emma, I'm 23 and I'm a revenues assistant.

Welcome to you, Money For Nothing. What you're trying to do here is win the Eggheads' money.

Have you done any quizzing in the past?

-Do you work together as a team?

-We work together in various offices throughout the area,

but we've not done a huge amount of quizzing.

-We did one at a local primary school which was questionable.

-OK, right, we'll leave it at that.

-So how have you prepared for this? Watching Eggheads, thinking who you might play...?

-A lot!

-Yeah.

Put that plan into operation right now, then. I'll tell you what's happened.

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

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

So, Money For Nothing, the Eggheads have won the last two games.

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

Our first Head-To-Head today is Music.

-Who'd like to play this one?

-Everyone.

-They're nodding at me.

-Right, back to you, then, Kat.

-And, Kat, you choose an Egghead, then, any of those five.

-CJ?

-Yeah.

-Can I go against CJ, then, please?

-OK.

Kat and CJ, into the Question Room, please, just to make sure you can't confer.

So, Kat, tell me about SMUT?

-I'm not being rude!

-It's a ukulele band that we formed as a bit of joke two years ago.

It's an acronym. It stands for Scottish Multicoloured Ukulele Troupe.

Scottish Multicoloured Ukulele Troupe?

Is it multicoloured because of what you wear or because of the ukuleles?

It started off because we bought really cheap ukuleles that were all bright colours.

Unfortunately now a lot of them have bought fancy ones that are just plain wood,

so we just tend to wear bright colours.

Do you play any other instruments, Kat?

I play the clarinet as well.

-At the same time?

-No. No, I've not grown that extra arm yet, unfortunately.

Would you like to go first or second in this?

I'll go first, please.

All right, Kat. Good luck, Kat. What's the title of the Beach Boys' hit single

that starts with the line "Well, East Coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear"?

I'll be in trouble for not knowing this Beach Boys one, I'm afraid!

I don't think it's California Girls.

That's Katy Perry. If it's East Coast,

I'd take my guesses that it's probably Florida Girls.

So I'll cross my fingers and go for that one, I think.

All right. Seeing you have Florida Girls being on the East,

but it's the East Coast girls who visited the West Coast

for the California Girls...is the song there, the Beach Boys number.

OK, CJ...

what was the name of the animated creature created to front the 1989 chart-topping single Swing The Mood?

That was Jive Bunny.

Jive Bunny is correct.

Kat,

the pop star Robyn who had a UK Top Ten single in 1998

with Show Me Love was born in which country?

I don't actually remember the song, to tell the truth.

So it's going to be another guess...

I don't remember a huge amount of music

coming out of Switzerland particularly...or Sri Lanka.

So again it's a complete guess, but I'll go for Sweden.

Sweden, that's correct, Kat, yes.

Got one there. OK, CJ...

Bill Evans, born in 1929, was one of the most influential jazz musicians

of the 20th century on which instrument?

I know less than nothing about jazz.

Well, if it was piano, maybe I would have heard of him.

The name's not even ringing a bell, so I really have nothing to work on.

Er...

Clarinet or trumpet, they're the two...

I'm going to choose between.

Maybe he was a huge influence on Kat and he plays the clarinet.

I was going to say we've got a clarinettist in that Question Room.

-Clarinet or trumpet? Neither of those, it was the piano...

-OK.

..Piano...Bill Evans played. OK...

That's great news, Kat. It's all square still and you get the lead if you get this right.

Which composer wrote operas entitled Alfonso Und Estrella and Fierrabras,

neither of which were performed during his lifetime?

I would think... they sound kind of German, so...

-probably go for Schubert...

-OK.

-I think.

You've gone for Schubert, and you've got it right. Well done, Kat!

Well, this is quite a recovery

from getting the first one wrong.

OK, CJ. Kwasi Danquah is the real name of which artist

who had a UK Top Ten single in 2009 with Take Me Back?

Well, I don't know this, but simply going on the name,

Chipmunk as far as I know is English.

Tinchy Stryder, I think, is English as well.

Er... Tinie Tempah I've just never heard of.

Take Me Back...

I do not recognise the name, so I'll try Tinie Tempah

cos I've never heard of him.

OK, Tinie Tempah. It's Tinchy Stryder.

It is Tinchy Stryder. Which means, Kat, what a revival!

You didn't get the Beach Boys, it doesn't matter now. You're surfing into the final round.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, Kat's never-say-die attitude carrying her into the final round.

It means the Eggheads are missing at least one brain from that final round.

Our next Head-To-Head is going to be on the subject of Sport. Who'd like to play this one?

-Do you want to do it?

-Malcolm?

-I'd say you should do it, Malcolm.

-I'll do it, then.

-OK, Malcolm, and choose an Egghead. It can't be CJ, he's just played, of course.

-Judith?

-Judith.

-OK, I'll play Judith, please.

-OK.

It's going to be Malcolm and Judith playing Sport.

Would you both, please, take your positions in the Question Room?

Malcolm, would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

Good luck, Malcolm. Here you go.

In tennis, when both sides have reached deuce, the next point is known by which term?

That would be advantage there.

It certainly would be. Advantage you!

Judith,

which position is most associated with the footballer Steven Gerrard?

Well, he's not a goalkeeper.

So he's one of the others, and he scores goals, I think,

so he's a midfielder.

Very good, Judith.

Have you been studying...? Of course you watched the World Cup.

-I did, yes, bits of it.

-Yeah.

-He scored in that, didn't he? Can you remember?

-No...

-I can't remember that.

-One of the two goals they did score.

Yeah, it was the first goal England scored, the first of two,

against the USA, early on.

And, Malcolm, twin brothers, Michael and Richard Hills,

followed their father Barry Hills into top-level competition in which sport?

Unfortunately, it's going to be a complete and utter guess...

and...

..I think my guess will go down the line of rallying, please.

Rallying for the Hills family. Twins Michael and Richard

and Barry all involved in... Do you know, Judith? Is it rallying?

-It's racing.

-Yeah, it's horseracing, that's right.

Horseracing, not rallying.

So, Judith,

chance for the lead. Golf's 2010 US Open was held at which course?

It is Pebble Beach.

Yes, it is. OK, correct then.

Judith, going well in this!

-With pure luck, I can tell you.

-2 there, and means you've got to get this, Malcolm.

In 2009 the most valuable player award at the NBA finals

was named in honour of which former basketball player for the Boston Celtics?

Unfortunately basketball is definitely not my strongest subject!

And on the basis that I have actually heard the name

-I will say Larry Bird.

-Larry Bird.

Has that gone through the hoop for you?

It's not Larry Bird. Do you know, Judith?

-Robert Parish?

-No.

Anyone else? It's Bill Russell.

And that means, Judith, you've won the round.

Another strong performance there.

A lot of people pick you to play Sport,

but they're finding out you're good at it.

It's purely... I don't tread on the lines as I go to the Question Room.

Oh, is that what it is, don't tread on the cracks? And guess successfully.

There was more than guessing in that performance. It means Judith's in the final round,

and no place for you, Malcolm. Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, a finely balanced game at the moment. Both teams have lost one brain from the final round.

And our next subject today is Science.

Who'd like to play Science?

-Alan!

-Paul, Alan or Emma?

-I think it'll probably be myself, Dermot.

-OK, Alan.

And your Egghead... it's either Daphne, Kevin or Pat.

-I think it's got to be Daphne.

-Got to be Daphne.

-It's got to be Daphne.

-Why's that?

You've always wanted to play her?

I once said, after watching Eggheads, how much I liked Daphne's quizzing ability.

She seems to never know the answer when she's guessing and always picks the right one!

How does it happen? Well, you're going to see it up close and personal there in the Question Room.

That's where you both must head, please, Alan and Daphne.

Well, Alan, in your enthusiasm to play Daphne, have you picked the right subject for you?

-Do you enjoy Science? Have you got a scientific background?

-I do enjoy watching science programmes,

-but I also studied maths and physics at university.

-OK. Right, well qualified to play it, then.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-Can I go first, please, Dermot?

OK, first question. Alan, good luck.

In laser printers and photocopiers, what is the fine, electrically charged powdered ink

that forms the image by fusing to paper?

Having to order this at work quite a lot for the photocopier,

hopefully, I'm ordering the right stuff,

and usually it's toner that I ask for.

I'm sure it'll come out all right if you do that. Toner is correct.

Daphne,

what type of medical condition does the term myalgia describe?

That would be muscle pain.

You get that in your left elbow

when you're clattering CJ every now and again?

Muscle pain, correct.

OK, Alan, what's the chemical symbol for the metallic element hafnium?

What I would say... H is usually hydrogen.

So I'm left with a choice of Ha or Hf.

Between the other two, I'm really not sure,

but I think I'm going to trump straight down the middle

and go for Ha, please.

-Ha for hafnium. Daphne, what do you think?

-Hf.

-It's Hf.

Hf. OK...

Chance for Daphne to take the lead, then.

Which mammal has a North American species called the castor canadensis

and a European species known as the castor fiber?

Well, I always associate castor with beavers.

So that's what I'll go for.

OK, beaver's the right answer.

Yes, correct there, worked out the castor bit.

OK, means you need to get this, Alan.

The Sphinx Observatory, which is the highest space observatory in Europe, is in which country?

Right, er...

I'm really not sure about this one, either...

but, given that it's going to be the highest, er...

I'm not aware of Spain or Slovenia

having that kind of height of mountain ranges...

whereas Switzerland obviously does.

So in that case I'm going to go with Switzerland, please.

-OK, going for Switzerland because of the Alps?

-Yeah.

Right answer. Yes, well done.

Back on track, but is it too late? Here's Daphne's third question.

Which Arctic-dwelling whale is also known as the Greenland Right whale?

I really don't know.

SHE SIGHS

-The fin.

-The fin?

Now, Alan, you wanted to observe this up close and personal?

We've had the "I don't know", the sigh, that's crucial...

and then the guess. And...

usually it goes green, but do you know what? This time it isn't!

-I knew it was wrong.

-It is bowhead.

-Maybe the fact you've rumbled her has put her off, Alan!

-Hopefully!

So all square. All square and into Sudden Death.

Alan, I think, getting stronger there.

So can you tell me this, Alan? What is the common name

for the objects which can form in the body and cause extreme pain

that doctors refer to as renal calculi?

Er...I'm really not sure on this one either,

but I would maybe go with the gallstones.

-Is that your answer?

-Yeah.

-Gallstones.

It's close, Alan, I can't accept it, it's not correct.

Kidney stones. Kidney, renal in renal and the kidney.

And calculus, Eggheads,

Daphne, calculus being the Latin for...?

-Stone.

-Stone or pebble. Renal calculi. Very, very close, Alan, but not the right answer.

Another chance for Daphne.

In which decade did GM food first go on sale in British supermarkets?

Er...1990s?

It's the right answer, Daphne!

-That was another guess there, wasn't it?

-Yes, it was.

-There you are, you saw it.

We didn't have the choices, so we didn't get the full gamut of sighing

and "I don't know" and "Could it be this or that?"

1990s, GM food. 1996, it first appeared

on supermarket shelves, if you're interested.

Bad luck, Alan, but at least you got to see your quizzing hero there at work,

at her very fine work in the Question Room. No place for you in the final round, though.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, after Kat's victory, the Eggheads nudge into the lead now.

Two members of Money For Nothing missing from the final round, one Egghead, of course, gone.

So let's play our last Head-To-Head before the final round, and this is Politics. Who have we got left?

Paul or Emma? Paul or Emma

to play Politics?

-I better wait till the next round, if possible.

-OK.

I'll go for it for a deduction.

OK, Emma going for it, rather reluctantly, I think, Emma!

Pat or Kevin there? Pat or Kevin?

-Kevin?

-Kevin.

-Who are you thinking?

-Kevin.

-Kevin?

-Right, Kevin.

-Kevin, the World Quiz champion. Obviously going to be easy.

Let's have Emma and Kevin into the Question Room, please.

OK, let's see if you can knock that Kevin out and even it up in the final round.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll try going first.

First question. The constitutional regime

that started in France in 1958 is referred to by what name?

Empire doesn't sound to me like being connected to France at all.

Er...or kingdom.

So very limited political knowledge,

so even knowing what the terms mean, and deducting it from that...

I'll just go the one in the middle. The Republic.

-The Republic? You're right.

-Oh!

-The answer's the Republic.

-That's a Daphne guess!

-It's certainly not a kingdom.

That's all you needed to know. Well done.

OK, Kevin, the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs

has the specific responsibility for looking after former members of which type of organisation?

They look after the welfare of military veterans, so armed forces.

Correct. OK, Emma...

At the State Opening of Parliament,

where does the Monarch address the members of both Houses?

There's a clue in the question. There's the two Houses

and there's two answers with House in it,

-er... I'll try the House of Lords.

-Try the House of Lords.

-It's the right answer.

-Oh!

Because, of course, the Queen, as the monarch, is not allowed

in the House of Commons. That's why she sends Black Rod along for her

to knock on the door and summon the MPs

who all troop along into the House of Lords where she reads the Queen's Speech.

OK. Your question, Kevin, the annual salary of a Westminster MP was set on 1 April 2010 as what?

I really don't know between those.

They're not really so very far apart.

I'm going to go for the 65. I've no confidence whatsoever.

It could be any of the three, frankly.

The basic salary is, as set on 1 April 2010, anyway,

is £65,738. It's the right answer, Kevin.

You just got that. Well, Emma...

look at that! He really wobbled there. Get this and who knows what might happen.

Emma, what name is given to the Moscow building that houses the Russian government?

OK... Not the White House.

I'm going to go by the one that's got a Russian name.

The one in the middle. I'm not going to repeat the name.

Mikhail Gorbachev. Mikhail Gorbachev Building...

it's not. It is the White House, funnily enough.

The White House.

So there may be a turnaround in prospect here.

Kevin wins if he gets this.

In May 2010 to what was the German Government Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble referring when he said,

"If you want to drain a swamp, you don't ask the frogs for an objective assessment of the situation"?

Well, I vaguely remember the quote and him being controversial.

I mean, he's not known for his diplomacy at times, Schaeuble...

And I think this has got to be in relation to the situation with Greece

and the economic difficulties, I'm assuming.

International banking.

Is the right answer. You've got it, international banking,

which means you have won the round.

But what a moment there when we thought you were going to get that MPs' salary one wrong.

-Very close, Emma. Did you do a lot better than you expected?

-Definitely!

Very close to knocking him out. He's only ever lost once in the entirety of Eggheads on this subject.

You've played 20 time, by the way, Kevin. Only lost once.

Well, it means no place for you in the final round, Emma.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

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

But I'm afraid those of you who lost those Head-To-Heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Malcolm, Alan and Emma, from Money For Nothing, and CJ from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

So, Captain Paul, you're playing to win Money For Nothing £3,000.

Pat, Judith, Kevin and Daphne, you are playing for something which money can't buy

and that is the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn. This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer in this round!

And, Captain Paul, the question therefore is, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Captain Paul, do you want go first or second?

We'll try first. It's worked well so far. We'll try first yet again.

OK, right, have a go at this one.

Which hat is traditionally worn by a bishop?

-Any idea at all?

-I have no idea.

Er...

-The second one, the middle one. Is it mitre or "metre"?

-Mitre.

-Mitre.

-Does that ring a bell?

-I've seen it written down, yeah.

-I'm not sure it's a hat,

-but I have heard of it. Er...

-Er...

I've not heard of the other two, so on that basis...

-On that basis we'll go for it?

-Yes.

Despite the fact we're not sure it's a hat, I think we'll go for mitre.

OK, mitre. They're all hats. And mitre is correct, yes.

Well done. A bishop's hat.

First question for the Eggheads, then.

Which American-born writer became president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England in 2007?

-Bryson?

-Yeah.

He's from Des Moines, Iowa, and he's Bill Bryson.

He said, "I'm from Des Moines, Iowa, Someone has to be."

And it is Bill Bryson. And a good job he made of it too, OK...

Well, a good start there by Kat and Paul.

Let's build on it. And your second question...

The supermodel Linda Evangelista was born in 1965 in which country?

-You should know!

-My sort of era!

I'm fairly certain she's not Norwegian.

I've no recollection of her being from New Zealand.

-So my guess would be Canada.

-Canada? I'm happy with Canada.

On the basis that we don't know yet again, we'll go for Canada.

Canada. I'll tell you what...

not knowing seems to suit you. It's the right answer.

-These are educated guesses, aren't they?

-Very!

-Of course!

They are educated. You have 2.

Eggheads...

singing hinnies are a type of fried scone that are local to which part of England?

Singing hinnies are a type of fried scone

that are local to which part of England?

North-East, yeah.

-They're from the North-East.

-North-East?

OK, it's the right answer, Eggheads. OK, it's all square.

Third question for each team.

This one for Kat and Paul.

Which novelist adapted Lynn Barber's memoir An Education for the big screen?

I don't think it was Nick Hornby,

because he did High Fidelity and About A Boy, and that sort of thing.

Er...

-It doesn't sound like Ian McEwan.

-No. Ian McEwan's the only one...

other one I kind of know vaguely.

-What was your gut?

-My gut was Martin Amis.

-Go for that, then.

I'll take full blame for this one, Dermot, if it's wrong.

My guess is Martin Amis.

OK. Martin Amis. Toss-up there between Martin Amis and Ian McEwan.

The answer is...Nick Hornby!

So you don't need to take any blame. Both of you didn't think it was him.

Gives the Eggheads a chance, though.

If they don't get it, we go to Sudden Death. Eggheads...

which footballer accumulated 100 caps for two different teams,

49 with East Germany and 51 with the unified German team?

It's got to be around it. So Unification was in 1990,

and it's got to be around that time. So that's too late for Jupp Heynkes.

I think Ulf Kirsten... Ulf Kirsten, I'm sure, played for East Germany.

And again, I may be completely wrong, but I think he's back in the '70s,

that sort of time. He may even have been the guy...

when East Germany played West Germany in the '74 World Cup.

he possibly may have been the guy who scored the goal

that gave Easy Germany a shock win. So I think...by a process...

and Klaus Fischer, I think, was about the right sort of time.

I don't know, but of the three I would say Klaus Fischer.

-OK.

-But I, you know, I may be wrong.

-Completely accepted.

-Kevin has done some digging.

We're not completely confident, but we're going for Klaus Fischer.

Klaus Fischer, 49 games with East Germany, 51 with the unified team...

It's Ulf Kirsten.

Sorry.

But great news for Money For Nothing.

It means you live to fight another day.

And you fight it in the territory of Sudden Death now.

We're removing the options. Couple of guesses there, I know, on your way to Sudden Death.

So if you do need to guess, it's going to be a lot more difficult.

Here's your question. In Greek mythology, which character rejected the nymph Echo,

causing her to fade away until only her voice was left?

I honestly don't have a clue.

Er... I'm trying to think who it would have... I don't think Ulysses. He wouldn't do anything like that.

I was thinking of Heracles or someone like that.

Aye. Go for it.

We don't know a great deal of Greek characters, and we're not even sure this is one,

-but we'll try Heracles.

-Heracles...

for the character that rejected Echo. Is it Heracles? Eggheads, do you know?

-Narcissus.

-It's Narcissus.

-Oh!

Narcissus, not Heracles.

So a chance for the Eggheads again.

Which of the Queen's children became Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew

on her accession in 1952?

-It's Prince Charles.

-Well, it's certainly not Anne. She only had the two at the time.

They're in Scotland.

-Camilla's the Duchess of Rothesay.

-Exactly.

-It's the Prince of Wales.

-In 1952, she only had Charles and Anne, and it's not Anne.

-So it's Charles, yeah.

-Definitely.

-We're going for Charles, Dermot.

Charles, Prince Charles. It's the right answer, Eggheads.

You've won!

Well, bad luck, you two.

-That was a really, really good round. I hope you enjoyed it. We certainly did.

-Yes.

You really did well there. Kat, thinking back to your Head-To-Head, that was fantastic.

Started badly, came back at the Eggheads, and those other Head-To-Heads were really close.

Emma's round sticks in the mind as well. Thought she didn't have a chance against Mr Brainbox,

but he had his wobble in there. So thank you very much indeed

for playing the Eggheads today. Really enjoyed it.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them, and they still reign supreme over Quizland.

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

and 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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