Episode 74 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.

They are the Eggheads. Challenging our champions today are...

Aside from Donald, Scott's dad,

this team met at Stirling University and quiz together at the Admiral pub in Glasgow. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Alexander. I'm 24 and I'm an economics student.

Hi. I'm Kirsty. I'm 24 and I'm an optical assistant.

Hello. I'm Helen. I'm 24 and I'm a modern languages teacher.

Hi. I'm Scott. I'm 24 and I'm a retail assistant.

Hello. I'm Donald. I'm 52 and I'm a psychiatrist.

Welcome, Quiz Me Hardy. You quiz at the Admiral.

-With the team name, is that Admiral Nelson?

-Yes.

Play on the... Did he actually say it, by the way, "Kiss me, Hardy"?

-There are theories that he said something else.

-He might have said kismet, "fate".

-He might have said "Quiz me".

-He might have wanted to be on Eggheads.

Tell me, Quiz Me Hardy, how does the quizzing go at the Admiral?

Yeah. It's quite good.

We came second last week.

-Won 12 or 13 times this year, so far.

-Crikey! That's a pretty good strike rate!

Let's see if you can go one better than last week. Second isn't good enough to win the money.

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

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

The Eggheads have won just the last game,

which means £2,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

Let's select our first head-to-head. The subject is Science.

Who'd like to play this?

-Are you in, doctor?

-Is that me, or...?

In case Sport comes up, anyone want to do Science?

No. I do not want to do Science! I'll do Science.

-We'll risk it.

-Hopefully, Sport won't come up.

-In you go, Donald.

Which Egghead would you like to take into the Question Room?

Pat, perhaps? Well, we don't know anything about Pat and Barry.

That's OUR problem.

-Not their problem!

-I'll take Pat, then.

You think he's an unknown quantity on Science. You'll soon find out.

In the Question Room, Pat and Donald.

So, Donald, how did you come to be on the team?

Forgive me for saying, you're not in the same age range.

-Your university years were a bit earlier!

-Slightly earlier, yes.

When there was heavy snow in Glasgow, I couldn't get home so I wandered into the pub.

There they all were, so I joined in and we seem to do well as a team.

-Act of nature brought you together. Do you want to go first or second?

-First please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Donald.

Which word follows "bank", "field" and "water" in the common names of three creatures found in Britain?

Well, it's not likely to be weasel.

Cos I don't think weasel is associated with banks or water.

So that leaves toad and vole.

I've heard of a water vole. I'm not sure I've heard of a water toad.

I think... I'll go for vole, Dermot.

Field vole, water vole, bank vole. It is vole, yes.

That's the right answer.

First question for you, then, Pat.

Found in the Pacific, the blue-ringed variety of which mollusc is roughly six inches in size,

but possesses venom that can be fatal to humans?

I think it's one of the hundreds of deadly creatures

that pick off Australians now and again.

The blue-ringed octopus.

It's the right answer.

The medical technique known as EEG

monitors and investigates the activity of which part of the body?

I'd have to hand back my psychiatry exam results if I got this wrong.

EEG stands for electroencephalogram and it's to measure brain activity.

It's the right answer, of course it is. Well done, Donald.

Hanging on to your qualification!

Pat, WPA and WEP are protocols in which aspect of a home computer system?

I think they're two of the popular protocols

for encrypting your wireless network transmissions.

It's wireless security.

Wireless security is correct, Pat.

Donald, third question.

Which unit of measurement was named after a scientist born in Salford in 1818?

Um... I have absolutely no idea.

Joule and Ohm don't sound as if they'd have been born in Salford.

Henry does, and maybe that's a bit too obvious.

I'm going to guess and say it was Joule.

It's the right answer. Well done. Well picked out, Donald.

-BARRY:

-There's a lovely story about James Joule.

On his honeymoon, he went up into the mountains

and spent nearly all the time trying to work out the thermal energy of a waterfall.

-I don't think his wife was very impressed.

-Presumably he brought some instruments with him.

-Probably.

Joule, born in Salford in 1818. Means you need to get this, Pat.

Which Egyptian based 11th-century scientist, a pioneer of optics,

feigned madness to escape execution

when he could not control the flooding of the Nile?

I haven't heard about this chap.

I've heard of Avicenna,

but not in any Egyptian or Nile related context.

Alhazen and Alkindus both sound eminently Egyptian names.

I'll go for Alhazen.

It's the right answer, Pat.

Logic and a bit of guesswork got the right answer.

Taking us, first round, first Sudden Death.

Means, Donald, we remove the choices you've seen.

It's a lot harder. If you need to guess, have to make up your own options.

Which metal makes up around 90% of the alloy Nordic gold,

which is used in the production of the ten, 20 and 50 cent euro coins?

Wild guess and say...nickel.

Nickel, 90% of Nordic gold.

-It's the other one you were thinking of. It's copper.

-Ah!

Pat can win the round if he gets this.

Kalium is the Latin name for which element, found in the alkali metal group of the periodic table?

I think the clue was in the symbol for the element K from kalium.

I think it's potassium.

It's the right answer. They know their periodic tables, these Eggheads.

Which means Donald,

a big loss to Quiz Me Hardy, you won't be playing in the final round. Will you both join your teams?

That's Donald out for Quiz Me Hardy. All the Eggheads are still there.

Three more players to be ejected before we reach the final round.

Let's see who's going out on this Sport category.

Who wants to play it? Sport?

I do NOT want to do Sport. You're quite good at Sport.

No, I'm not.

-So I do Sport, then?

-Do you want to? Well, no-one wants to, obviously.

HELEN: Why don't we settle this with rock, paper, scissors?

-Rock, paper, scissors sounds like a fair way of resolving this.

-OK.

One, two, three.

Ah, fine. It's me, then.

-I've never seen that before. Choose an opponent.

-Who do we think?

-I don't know.

-Judith?

-OK.

How are you at rock, paper, scissors, Judith?

Well, shall we try?

Let's have, then, Alexander and Judith into the Question Room.

Alexander, do you want the first or the second set?

Donald took the first set, so I'll take the second set.

That means Judith is going first.

This is your question, Judith.

Discounting the allowance to fillies, at which weight is the Epsom Derby run?

I have absolutely no idea. I didn't...know it mattered.

Nine stone is incredibly light.

The saddle, presumably, counts in the weight.

But a jockey would have to get...

I just can't believe it could be nine stone. Nine stone is SO light.

-So I'll say 12 stone.

-You'll have to ask your trainer.

-I will. Yes.

Forgot to. Should have!

-Is it wrong?

-It's not the right answer. It's nine stone.

Those little jockeys get down to some very low weights.

It includes saddle, crop, everything they wear.

Everything the horse wears.

That means the jockey must weigh about eight and a half.

-Probably less. Yeah.

-Gosh! I'm amazed.

Well, nothing there. That's maybe a good selection, Alexander.

Caught Judith out with that. If you get this, you've got a nice lead.

Until 1992, which county cricket club had a rule forbidding those

born outside the historic county from playing for the club?

-Well, um... I've HEARD of Yorkshire!

-LAUGHTER

Cricket's not really something I'd watch.

I would... Yorkshire's the biggest.

I would guess that Yorkshire would be the most...

proud of being from Yorkshire and have some sort of Yorkshire streak.

So I'll go for Yorkshire.

OK. Right answer, yes. Yorkshire is correct.

Well, Judith,

in which US sport has Phil Jackson been one of the most successful coaches of all time?

What a question! Honestly! Talk about obscure.

Well, I shouldn't think it's ice hockey.

So either basketball or baseball.

So, eenie, meenie...

Baseball.

You've had these choices before and it's finished the same. Basketball.

Phil Jackson there, basketball coach.

Great news for you, Alexander. You have victory if you give me a correct answer here.

In July 2010, Jamie Baker and James Ward represented Great Britain

in an international contest against Turkey in which sport?

Well, you don't do doubles in boxing.

So I wouldn't have thought it would be boxing.

I'd guess, because I've not heard of them,

I would guess squash.

-Squash. Do you know, Judith?

-Of course I don't know, Dermot!

-LAUGHING:

-OK! It's the way you say that. Other Eggheads?

Tennis.

Tennis. A chance for Judith to mount an improbable comeback.

We've seen it happen before on Eggheads.

In 2009, Derby County Football Club unveiled a bronze bust of which former player

overlooking the pitch at their Pride Park stadium?

Huh!

Eenie, meenie.

I haven't been down the right lately. Steve Bloomer.

-It's the right answer, Judith!

-Is it? There you are!

Any other Egghead tell me more about Steve Bloomer?

I believe he was a goalkeeper, going back a long way.

-He was an England goalkeeper as well, I think.

-I see. OK.

Classic player, Steve Bloomer, guessed at by Judith.

Semi-comeback on the way. You need this to win the round, Alexander, or else we go to Sudden Death.

Which American middle distance runner

is regarded as the founder of speed golf, in which players run between shots?

Um...

A running question AND a golf question!

I know nothing about either.

-SIGHS

-I don't know.

I'm going to guess Sydney Maree

-because I think you wouldn't make that name up.

-Right!

An array of wild guessing techniques!

This one hasn't landed, I'm afraid. It's Steve Scott on speed golf.

Running between the shots. Well, Judith,

clawing your way back into it after getting two wrong. Sudden Death.

In 2007, Italy and France competed for the first time for the Giuseppe Garibaldi trophy in which sport?

Right, well, he must have been Italian.

-I don't know. Sailing.

-Sailing?

-Yeah.

-Other Eggheads?

-Rugby union?

-It's rugby union.

-Oh.

Another chance, Alexander.

In which US state is the famous Belmont Park racecourse located?

I'm sure, when we went... Me and Kirsty went on holiday to New York in September.

I'm sure there's a subway station called Belmont.

-I'm going to guess it's New York.

-New York for Belmont Park.

It's the right answer! That holiday paid off!

Means you're in the final round.

Bad luck, Judith. Quite a spirited defence in the end, but not to be.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Eggheads, we were discussing that Derby County question Steve Bloomer.

I've been thinking. You were wrong, Kevin, he wasn't a goalkeeper.

I was thinking about somebody else.

-He was a forward.

-Yeah, he was.

-Born in 1874.

Prolific scorer for England. 28 goals in 23 appearances!

If only we had a forward like that now! Fantastic stuff.

-I'm surprised again that those facts aren't at your fingertips like they are mine!

-Yes.

If only you could bring it forward more quickly, you'd be on the team.

Goalkeeper!

It's looking a lot better for Quiz Me Hardy. It's all-square.

Both teams have lost one brain from the final round.

This one is Geography.

Who'd like to play this?

I'm quite happy to go forward for Geography.

Who do we want to play?

-Kevin, Barry or Chris available on the Eggheads side.

-Barry?

Barry's got a bit of a tan! He's been kicking about somewhere!

-Helen will play Barry.

-OK, Helen and Barry into the Question Room.

Helen, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Best of luck.

Meaning "land of the rising sun", what is the Japanese word for Japan?

I have absolutely no idea, I'm afraid.

I have heard of the word Kyoto, but I'm not sure what it means.

I don't know.

I've no idea, but I have heard of Kyoto so I'm going to say Kyoto.

-Because I've heard of it.

-OK. Kyoto is IN Japan.

But the word FOR Japan in Japanese is Nippon. Not Kyoto.

Heard a good story about Nippon.

There was a travel company called Kinki, K-I-N-K-I.

They complained everyone in London laughed at them as they walked down the street.

They went back to Japan,

they looked at their bag and it said, Kinki Nippon Tourist.

So they changed the name of the travel company when they travel to the UK.

But Nippon, not Kyoto.

So, Barry, chance for the lead. The Gulf of Carpentaria

is enclosed on three sides by which country?

That's the large gulf on the north coast of Australia.

It is. It's the right answer. You have a lead.

Luanda is the capital and largest city of which African country?

Oh.

Again, I have absolutely no idea. Going to be a complete guess.

I'm going to say...Namibia.

Cos I've no idea at all.

OK, Luanda is not the capital of Namibia.

-Barry, do you know?

-It's Angola.

-Angola.

So a chance, then, for Barry to wrap the round up.

What is the term for an area of low rainfall on the leeward side of a hill or range of mountains?

Because it's in the shadow of mountains, it's a rain shadow.

Rain shadow is correct. Bad luck, Helen.

You're not in the final round.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

Two members of Quiz Me Hardy will be missing from the final round. One Egghead gone.

The last chance to knock a player out on Music.

Who'd like to play this?

I'll give it a go.

Scott, who would you like to play from the Eggheads? Kevin or Chris?

I think Chris. Scott will play Chris.

Scott and Chris, then, heading for the Question Room now, please.

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

-I'll go first, please.

All right, here you go.

Which organisation first sponsored the series of concerts called the Proms in 1927,

and has been involved since?

Hm. Well, um...

The Royal Mail Proms? British Museum Proms?

The most familiar sounding of those combinations is the BBC Proms.

I'm going to go for BBC.

Yes. It's the right answer.

Which term is used for a pop song created by blending two or more songs,

for instance the music track of one song and vocal track of another?

Hm. Well, it's not a cash-up.

That's what you do at the end of the day.

It's not a lash-up cos that's the sort of thing I build.

You get two tracks and mash them together. A mash-up.

Yes, it is, a mash-up. I'd like to see the lash-ups you build!

The jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall was born in which country?

Hm.

Um, well, it happens that the only thing I know about her,

besides the fact that I think she's married to Elvis Costello,

is her nationality, that she's Canadian.

It's an important bit of information. It's the right answer.

Nina Simone's 1990s autobiography shares a title with which song writting by Screamin' Jay Hawkins?

Nina Simone was fairly radical,

involved with the Civil Rights movement.

I think her autobiography was To Be Young, Gifted And Black.

It's not, Chris.

-Other Eggheads?

-I think it's the second one.

It's I Put A Spell On You, Nina Simone's autobiography.

Third question. This wins it for you, Scott.

A correct answer here.

In 2008, Herbie Hancock won the Album of the Year at the Grammys for River,

a tribute album to which other artist?

Herbie Hancock? Um...

Right.

Well, Joni Mitchell, I think, is sort of, um...

I think she flirted with jazz a bit.

She may have collaborated with Herbie Hancock at one time.

I'm trying to think, I don't think any of them have a song called River

by any of those.

But I'm going to guess Joni Mitchell.

Guess at Joni Mitchell.

-Alexander looking pleased. You know this?

-Her daughter's called River.

And she has a song called River on Blue.

It's the right answer. Booked your place in the final round today.

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.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads won't take part.

Helen and Donald from Quiz Me Hardy, and Chris and Judith from the Eggheads, leave the studio please.

Alexander, Kirsty and Scott, you're playing to win £2,000.

Barry, Pat and Kevin, you're playing for something which money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn. You are allowed to confer.

Alexander, Kirsty and Scott, the question is, are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

-Quiz Me Hardy, would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first.

So, Kirsty and Quiz Me Hardy,

who did the Spanish actor Javier Bardem marry in July 2010?

-He was the guy in No Country For Old Men.

-Yeah.

I think it's either Salma Hayek

or Penelope Cruz.

Was Penelope Cruz not going out with Tom Cruise?

Tom Cruise is very wee.

Javier Bardem is very big so maybe she thought...

Don't bring your ridiculous logic into this!

I think Penelope Cruz, only because of ridiculous logic.

OK, fine, whatever our reason...

-You think Penelope Cruz? OK.

-We'll go with Penelope Cruz.

Some ridiculous logic and some not so ridiculous got the right answer.

Married in July 2010.

First question for the Eggheads, in the world of fashion, Pam Hogg is best known for which role?

-Does that mean anything to either of you?

-No.

That's spelled H-O-G-G, Dermot?

-Yeah. It is. Pam Hogg.

-Doesn't ring any bells with me whatsoever.

My completely unscientific instinct would be there's more room to hide

as a designer, and achieve obscurity.

Well, from us, but that's puny logic, really.

There's more designers than possibly anybody else.

She is the percentage guess, rather designer is the percentage guess.

Maybe.

We simply don't know. We haven't got the faintest.

It could be any of the three so we'll say designer.

Both sides having a struggle with their first question.

Quiz Me Hardy got theirs in the end. And so have the Eggheads.

Yes, designer is correct.

-Percentage guess.

-Not even that!

It could have been any of those three.

One in three. They got it anyway. Quiz Me Hardy, second question.

In Greek mythology, who killed or banished the man-eating Stymphalian birds?

Seems like the kind of thing Heracles would do.

-Heracles did lots of things, 12 of them.

-Was that one of the 12?

He cleaned out a stable. That's the only one that I know.

-That didn't sound very...

-Heroic.

Shall we say Heracles, then?

-I would guess Heracles.

-I thought Heracles.

-You're Arts & Books.

-Shall we say Heracles?

-Yeah.

-You want to? OK.

-Heracles?

-Heracles.

It's the right answer. Well done.

Eggheads, what is the proofreading mark

resembling a circumflex that's written on a text

to indicate that something has been omitted and should be inserted?

It's a caret, isn't it? Yeah. It's a caret.

That is the correct answer.

Two each.

What name do the French give to the type of mushroom called porcini in Italian?

-Where's Helen when you need her?

-Um... Hm.

-I think it's one of the first two.

-One of the first two.

Morille made me think of cherries, like Morello cherries.

I don't know that it's related.

Pick one and go with it.

-I'd say girolle.

-Shall we say girolle?

-Yeah.

-Girolle.

-OK, girolle. Eggheads, what do you think?

-I'd have gone for cepe.

-Cepe.

Cepe, unfortunately. A chance for the Eggheads.

Who adapted the John Lahr book Prick Up Your Ears about the writer Joe Orton for a 1987 feature film?

-My first thought was Alan Bennett.

-Mine, too.

-But I'm not sure.

-Of the three, he seems the logical one.

-Sounds like David Hare to me.

Doesn't it sound like David Hare?

-I think Alan Bennett rings a distant bell.

-He does with me.

-Oh, well.

-Should know this, really.

It leapt out at me when they came up.

-Same for you?

-A distant bell.

-That's good enough for me.

-OK?

OK, yeah. I'll go with that?

Not sure on this, but we're hoping it does ring some faint bells.

-Alan Bennett.

-Alan Bennett.

-Not sure?

-Not sure at all.

-Prick Up Your Ears.

The adaptation for the 1987 feature film was written or adapted...

by Alan Bennett, it is the correct answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Eggheads, a complete guess on the first answer. Sure on the second.

-Good quizzers, Quiz Me Hardy.

-It was a nice game.

Thank you very much for coming in and quizzing the Eggheads today.

Those Eggheads have done what comes naturally and still reign supreme over Quizland.

You won't be going home with the £2,000. That means 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.

£3,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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