Episode 76 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. They've won some of the toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads. And taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are Mental Block from Leeds. Now, this team all know one another

through working for the same banking group,

and are happy to admit they had a mental block

whilst trying to think up a team name. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Ray. I'm 54, and a software developer.

Hi. I'm Janice. I'm 53, and I'm a tailoress.

Hi. I'm Gary, 52, and I'm an IT professional.

Hello. I'm Jack. I'm 67. I'm a retired examinations-subject officer.

Hi. I'm Paddy. I'm 67, and I'm retired.

Well, great honesty there in your selection of team names.

You do quite a lot of quizzing, don't you?

Yes, certainly. Gary and Jack play in a quiz team regularly.

And the same quiz league, I believe, as our Barry,

who's not here today, but... Have you ever played against Barry?

-Yes, we have played against Barry.

-We haven't won yet.

Haven't won yet? How many times have you played against him?

Well, they're in the first division. We're in the second.

-Ah!

-So we only occasionally play him.

So, they haven't found him out and relegated him yet.

Plenty of practice, then. What about the rest of you?

-Are you in a quiz team?

-No. Only watching Eggheads,

-trying to answer the questions.

-All right. Let's play the quiz.

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

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

to the next show. The Eggheads have won the last three games.

That means £4,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

And our first head-to-head is on the subject of sport.

-Any one of you, to kick off.

-I think that's Gary.

-Looks like me. Yeah, I think so.

-Who are you taking on?

-I think I'm going to take on Daphne.

-Ooh!

OK. Daphne.

Sports. Attempt to knock Daphne out there,

and Gary and Daphne taking on this first subject.

Could I ask you both to take your positions in the Question Room,

just to make sure you can't confer.

Well, Gary trying to take Daphne out of the game.

And tell me about sports. Any sports you particularly follow?

I like all sports, Dermot,

but one particular thing I've done recently is take up golf,

which is... I now play for English Blind Golf Association

-in tournaments throughout the year.

-So, how does that work?

Do you have a guide, someone to tell you where the ball is

-and how far it is from the hole?

-That's exactly right, yes.

You work as a team with your guide, and they act as your eyes,

and it's my job to hit the ball, which is the simple part.

The guide's a bit of a caddy, as well, then?

-Absolutely.

-Help carry the clubs.

-That's correct, yeah,

-and to keep you mentally focussed.

-Keeps you fit, as well.

-It does.

-Good walk spoiled?

-Er, not at all.

No. The other way round, I would say.

OK, Gary. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

OK. Best of luck, Gary. Here's your first question, then.

Which tennis player won the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon in 2010?

That would be Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal is the right answer. Yes.

OK, Daphne. Your first question.

Which Uruguayan footballer won the Golden Ball,

the award given to the best player of the tournament,

at the 2010 World Cup?

That would be Diego Forlan.

Could have asked you which is the only one of them that's Uruguayan!

-Oh!

-SHE LAUGHS

It's another way round that. Yes, it's the right answer.

OK, Gary, your second question. In athletics,

what is the first field event in a decathlon?

First field event in a decathlon.

Mmm. Not got really much of an inclination here.

I'm going to plump, and it is a plump,

for the long jump.

You're not for the long jump. It's the right answer.

Well done, Gary.

First field event in a decathlon. Is it the first event, or is there...

The hundred metres is the first,

and then the long jump I think is the second after that.

Right. Daphne, Stacey Kemp and David King

have represented Great Britain in which sport?

SHE SIGHS

Oh, dear.

Sorry. I don't recognise the names.

Um...

I will go for...

figure skating.

-Figure skating?

-Mm-hm.

OK. Why's that, Daphne?

I just thought Stacey sounded quite a young name.

-Is...

-Stacey sounds like a young figure skater?

Well, yes. It doesn't sound like an archer.

This is the mighty Eggheads at work, then?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Wrong.

-It's the right answer.

So yes, that's the mighty Eggheads at work, guessing correctly.

OK. Well, er, Gary, it's all square.

This might win the round for you.

In which stadium does the Italian national rugby union team

usually play its home matches?

Mm. It's another guess. Er...

Stadio Plebiscito sounds a bit, er, like "the plebs". Um...

I'm going to plump for the middle one, Communale di Monigo.

-OK. Communale di Monigo.

-That's the one.

It's not the Plebiscito. Neither is it the Communale di Monigo.

It is the Flaminio, Stadio Flaminio.

Well, not identified by Gary, so a chance for Daphne.

Which Australian cricketer bowled a 100-miles-per-hour delivery

in July 2010?

Are they all bowlers? I don't... Um...

Sorry. I don't know a lot about cricket.

Um...

I like the name Shaun Tait.

You like the name? You liked the name Stacey Kemp before that.

And Shaun Tait sounds like he might have - what? Very strong arms?

-Yes.

-Bowl very fast. Is that... This is again the logic.

I don't believe it. You're an Egghead, and random guessing.

The truth, Daphne, finally speaks. You got it right!

Shaun Tait!

I'm going to apologise to you, Gary, on behalf of the Eggheads,

and Daphne in particular, with two outrageous guesses there,

winning the round. Means you won't be playing in the final round, Gary.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, still apologising after Daphne, then.

Are you going to buy a lottery ticket this weekend?

-You've used up all your luck. You wouldn't have a chance.

-No.

Goodness me! Well, as it stands, the Eggheads are all there.

Mental Block have lost one brain.

And our second head-to-head today is on the subject of Film & Television.

Who fancies this one? Film & TV. It can't be Gary. He's just played.

-THEY CHATTER

-Yes. Me.

-Yeah. Me, Dermot.

-Good stuff, Janice.

Which Egghead would you like to play?

-I'm sure you wouldn't want Daphne after that.

-Try Kevin.

I'll try Kevin.

-Try Kevin.

-Not very hopeful, but I'll try Kevin.

He does like this subject, but they've all got to be attacked.

Try and knock as many out as you can.

So, Janice and Kevin playing Film & Television.

Would you both please go to the Question Room?

So, Janice, you lived in Australia for a while, didn't you?

-I did, yes.

-Whereabouts?

-In Melbourne.

Back to Daphne. Is that the bit of Down Under that you visited?

Yes. Yes. We were put up in St Kilda.

-St Kilda. You obviously know that.

-Yes, we lived there!

-THEY LAUGH

-Right!

-Related!

-When were you there?

-We were there '98...

No, '96 to '98, then we went back in 2000.

I was there 1986 to '88.

-Ah!

-We missed each other.

-Missed each other, unfortunately.

You could have dropped something on her and stopped that performance

last round. Janice, Film & TV.

Presumably you've got a big interest in this area, the visual arts?

I do, yes. Yeah. Well, I watch a lot of TV.

-Good. A lot of quiz shows.

-Yes.

Good. OK. Choose a set of questions. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go...second, please.

Putting Master Kevin in, then, and, Kevin, your first question is this.

Which character did Bernard Lee play in 11 James Bond films?

It was Bond's boss, M.

Yes. Was that immediately before Judi Dench,

-or Dame Judi Dench took over?

-Not immediately, no.

-He was in the early films.

-OK.

Well, Bernard Lee certainly played M in 11 Bond films.

We will not be naming all those. And your first question, Janice.

Who starred as the secretary Tess McGill

in the 1988 film Working Girl?

I don't think it was Meryl Streep.

Um...

I do remember the film, but I can't quite remember

who played that role. I think I'm going to go for Melanie Griffith.

Melanie Griffith as the secretary in Working Girl...

It's the right answer, yes. Tess McGill, played by Melanie Griffith.

OK, your second question, Kevin. What's the title of the sitcom

in which Tom Hollander stars as a Church of England minister?

This was a new one, I think, in 2010, wasn't it?

And he is, um... He is a vicar, so he wouldn't be called Bish.

I haven't seen it. I'm just trying to recall from...

a notice of it in the paper or something. Er...

I can't remember whether it's Rev or Vic, to be honest.

My first instinct was Rev.

-I'm going to go for Rev.

-Staying with the first instinct?

It's not on Daphne lines, cos you think it reminds you

of a nice colour or a flower or something?

-No. Nothing like that, no.

-Um, it is the right answer.

Yes. Rev. Tom Hollander as Rev.

And your second question, then, Janice.

In the 1954 horror movie Them,

what creatures are mutated by atomic tests

to become the monsters of the title?

Them...

Them.

I've got a feeling...

Was it those giant ants in that film?

I don't watch horror movies,

but I do remember giant ants in a film,

-so I'm going to go for ants, Dermot.

-Good one. That's the right answer.

Yes. Some vague memory there. That's enough.

Two all. Well, all to play for, going into a third question each.

Kevin, which actor made his cinema-directing debut in 2000

with Pollock, a film about the life and times

of the painter Jackson Pollock, in which he also played the title role?

That was Ed Harris,

and it got a best supporting actress Oscar award, that film,

for Marcia Gay Harden, who was in it for about five minutes.

You seem to know it very well. I can't quibble with that.

Ed Harris is the right answer, which means, Janice, you need to get this.

Which real-life married couple played the title roles

in the 1990 Merchant Ivory film Mr & Mrs Bridge?

Oh! I've never seen the film.

And the only people I recognise as being married

is Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, so I'll go for them.

That'll do. It's the right answer, yes.

-Well done, Janice.

-Thank you.

-Three all,

and still work to do, though, and harder work, Janice.

We make it Sudden Death if it's all square after three questions,

and take away those choices, and Kevin faces the first question.

Kevin, who starred as The District Nurse on television

in the 1980s? Who starred as The District Nurse

on television in the 1980s?

I think District Nurse was, um...

ex-Liver Bird, Nerys Hughes.

Nerys Hughes is correct, Kevin, yes. Ex-Liver Bird, as you said.

OK. Again, Janice, you need to get this.

Which actor appeared in both The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in the 1960s,

and Hustle, first broadcast in 2004?

Which actor appeared in both The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in the 1960s,

and Hustle, first broadcast in 2004?

Eeh, do you know, the only name I can remember

from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is Illya Kuryakin,

but I think that's actually his character.

And the other one was Robert something.

I've got no idea. I'll go for Illya Kuryakin.

-Illya Kuryakin. Yeah.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

No, that is a character, and not this man's character.

-Napoleon Solo. Does that give you a clue?

-Yes.

-Do you know who played that one?

-Yes. Robert somebody.

Robert. You're getting a lot closer. I'll let Kevin say it.

-Vaughn.

-Robert Vaughn,

-spelt in that strange way without an A at the end.

-Yes.

Robert Vaughn, Napoleon Solo. I don't know what part he plays,

what role he is, in Hustle. Who played Illya Kuryakin, then, Kevin?

-David McCallum.

-David McCallum.

OK. That ends the round. A very good round there.

It got into Sudden Death against the World Quiz champion,

but not to be for you. You won't be in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, two finely balanced head-to-heads,

but they both have tipped the Eggheads' way,

so two members of Mental Block will miss the final round,

and all the Eggheads are still there.

Two more head-to-heads coming up, the next of which is Science.

And who'd like to play - Ray, Jack or Paddy?

-Science.

-I think Paddy.

-I think that's me.

Who would you like to play? Kevin and Daphne have played,

-so you've got CJ, Judith or Pat.

-I'll go for CJ...

-OK.

-..if that's OK.

-Of course it is. OK with you, CJ?

-No, not really.

-Not that we care.

-THEY LAUGH

It's Paddy and CJ, then, playing this one.

Into the Question Room, please.

Paddy, you were very keen to take this on.

Not the most popular subject in Eggheads.

Lot of teams shy away from it. Have you got a scientific background?

Not particularly. Just a lot of reading here and there,

-and a general interest.

-OK.

Choose a set of questions. Do you want to go first or second?

Um, I'll go first.

Good luck, Paddy. This is your first question.

In mathematics, what term describes two or more lines

lying in the same plane, that never meet

no matter how far they are extended?

-Parallel.

-Must be, yes. It's the right answer. Parallel lines.

And, CJ, what name is given to the control column

used to pilot a large aircraft?

Well, as far as I know it's just the yoke.

It can't be a harness. I don't think it's a rein.

I'll go for yoke.

-Not a rein?

-Don't think so.

-No horses up there in charge?

A yoke is the right answer, yes.

OK. Paddy, which creature has the scientific name

Vanessa atalanta?

Vanessa as in the woman's name,

and atalanta, A-T-A-L-A-N-T-A?

Well, the Vanessa is the genera name,

the first of the two, the genera name,

and I don't think the red deer or the squirrel have those,

so I'll go for the red admiral, the butterfly.

You've worked it out. Well done. That's correct. Red admiral.

And, CJ, at roughly 10.7 hours, which planet in the solar system

has the shortest day after Jupiter?

I knew Jupiter had the shortest.

Um...

I mean, logically it should be Mercury.

I mean, a day is how long it takes to revolve on its own axis.

Now, Mercury orbits very quickly,

goes round the sun in 88 days.

But that doesn't really affect how long its day is.

I don't think Saturn has a particularly short day.

Um, I'm not aware that Mars has a particularly short day either,

-so I'll go for Mercury.

-Mercury, for a short day.

10.7 hours, roughly.

It's not, no.

It's the closest to the sun, but no. Other Eggheads, do you know?

-Saturn.

-It's Saturn.

-Oh, well!

So, do we know how long the day is, then, in Jupiter?

It's not much less than that - maybe something like nine hours.

I see. But Saturn's the answer we were looking for.

We didn't get it from CJ, so, Paddy,

you'll be the first member of Mental Block into the final round

if you get this correct. The Mond process,

developed by the 19th-century German chemist and industrialist

Ludwig Mond, M-O-N-D,

is a method of obtaining which metal?

I don't think it can be copper, because copper's been known

and refined for centuries, millennia.

Zinc is also quite well known, so if it had to be that recent,

I'd have to go for nickel.

OK. Nickel, if it's as recent as the 19th century.

That's your reasoning for the Mond process.

Well, the Paddy process has taken you into the final round.

That's correct. Nickel.

Good effort there, Paddy. Very, very solid on that subject.

Hope you'll be solid on general knowledge

when you face it in the final round, where you'll be playing.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Good effort by Paddy. Makes it two-one to the Eggheads.

Two members of Mental Block missing from the final round,

one Egghead gone, and our last subject before that final round

comes up as Music. Who'd like to play this?

Two players can play. It's either Jack or Ray.

-Music.

-That would be me, Dermot.

Right, Ray. And who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Who have we got left there? Pat and Judith.

-I'll go for Judith, I think.

-OK.

It's Ray and Judith playing Music. Into the Question Room, please.

So, Ray, Music. What are your musical tastes?

Um, quite eclectic, really. I like a bit of classical, a bit of rock,

-a bit of pop, a bit of everything.

-Ideal for the category.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'd like to go second.

OK, Judith, your first question, then.

One of your very favourite acts here.

In which year did Rick Astley's single, Never Gonna Give You Up,

reach the top of the UK charts?

I haven't the faintest idea.

I hate date questions! I can never do them.

I don't know. 1984.

No. You really don't know, do you? It's 1987.

OK. Well, nothing there for Judith. Got '84 instead of '87.

So, is Ray's plan already working? Let's find out.

What is the title of the Beatles song that begins

"I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me"?

I remember that well. Norwegian Wood, I believe.

It's the right answer. Norwegian Wood, from The Beatles.

So, one-nil to you. See how Judith does with this one.

In 1954,

the song Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea

gave which entertainer one of his several UK top-ten singles?

Well, I think the '50s were kind of Max Bygraves' time,

-so I'm going to say Max Bygraves.

-Max Bygraves,

for Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea.

It's the right answer, yes. Max Bygraves.

So, still in it, but the lead goes back to Ray if he gets this.

What's the name of the central male character in the stage musical

We Will Rock You?

Stage musicals is not really my thing,

so I might have to have a guess here, I think, and...

Well, We Will Rock You reminds me of a Queen song,

and there was a... Galileo was in a Queen song,

if I remember rightly. So was Fandango, come to think of it.

And...

-I think I'll stick with Galileo.

-You're thinking of Bohemian Rhapsody

and saying Galileo was in it. Fandango was also in it,

as is Beelzebub, in actual fact,

if you think through that very long song.

But the answer is Galileo. It's the right answer. Well done.

Which means Judith needs to get this to keep her hopes alive.

Which composer's Opus 33 No. 2 in E flat major

is known as The Joke, because of the several ways it tricks audiences

into thinking it has finished when it hasn't?

It's someone with a sense of humour, I suppose.

I don't really know.

Schubert.

No, it's not. It's Haydn.

Oh, that was the other one I was going to say.

The answer's "Haydn" in there.

Very good round again by Ray this time, from Mental Block,

taking you sailing into the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So, this is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round, which as always is General Knowledge.

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

so, Janice and Gary from Mental Block,

and Judith and CJ from the Eggheads, would you leave the studio, please?

So, Ray, Jack and Paddy,

you're playing to win Mental Block £4,000.

Pat, Kevin and Daphne,

you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn, all general knowledge,

and you are allowed to confer. Ray, Jack and Paddy, the question is,

are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

And, Mental Block, do you want to go first or second?

-What do you think, chaps?

-I'll go with you. Whatever.

-Whatever.

-Er, we'll let the Eggheads go first.

OK. Eggheads kicking off, then, and your first question is this, then.

In 2010,

Julia Gillard became which country's first female prime minister?

-Australia.

-Australia.

She was born, I think, in Barry, South Wales,

and she's become Australia's prime minister.

The prime minister of Australia is correct, Eggheads.

So, negotiated that one easily enough,

and, Mental Block, your first one.

Which comedian started his career under the name Porky the Poet?

I have no idea about this, so I'm looking for inspiration.

I don't know either. We're going to have to make an educated guess.

-Porky...

-I'd say Peter Kay for that,

because he's the sort of person who might make fun of himself that way.

Yeah.

So, is that what we're going for?

Ricky Gervais would make fun of himself as well.

No. He's too sophisticated.

OK. Right. Well, we don't know, Dermot,

-but we're going to guess Peter Kay.

-Peter Kay - Porky the Poet,

early on in his career. It's not Peter Kay.

That's incorrect. Do you know, Eggheads?

-Phil Jupitus.

-Phil Jupitus,

Porky the Poet, early on in his career.

So, second question, Eggheads.

Blaby and Oadby and Wigston are places within the borders

of which historic county?

Leicestershire.

Leicestershire?

That's Leicestershire, Dermot.

Yes, it is, Eggheads. Very good.

OK. Well, Mental Block, you need to get this one, then.

In the US Navy, "Midway class" was the name for what type of vessel?

-Was it an aircraft carrier?

-I wish we'd gone first now.

-Well, Midway...

-USS Midway was an aircraft carrier.

My first thought was aircraft carrier.

-The Midway was fought with aircraft carrier.

-Go for that.

We're going for aircraft carrier, because of the Battle of Midway.

It was fought with aircraft carriers.

Aircraft carrier is the right answer.

Yes, the Midway-class vessels.

And you were presumably fine with Leicestershire.

You were saying you wished you'd gone first.

You might wish that after this one.

Cross your fingers they don't get this and win the game,

if they get this. Eggheads, in 2000, which French entrepreneur

was brought in to take control of the struggling tourist attraction

that was London's Millennium Dome?

It's Gerbeau, isn't it? It's certainly neither of the others.

I think he was a former ice-hockey player. It's Pierre-Yves Gerbeau.

-Pierre-Yves Gerbeau?

-Yep.

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

We'll never know what would have happened

if you'd gone the other way round, and you don't face another question,

so you really won't know there.

But it's a gamble. I've seen it pay off going second

as often as it pays off going first.

So thank you very much for playing the Eggheads today, Mental Block.

Really good rounds in those head-to-heads.

The first two went against you, but they were close,

then you really fought back, ended up all square in the final round

and then just fell away with that Phil Jupitus question.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and still reign supreme over Quiz Land.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £4,000,

which 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

can beat the Eggheads. £5,000 says they can't.

Until then, goodbye.

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