Episode 106 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.

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are Pottering On-Air.

Now this team all know one another

through their work at a community radio station, 6 Towns Radio,

which is based in Stoke-on-Trent.

So let's meet them.

I'm Dave. I'm 52 and I introduce a rock show.

Hello. I'm Chris. I'm 44

and I present the Independent And Unsigned Show.

Hello. I'm Lisa. I'm 39 years old and I present an arts and culture show.

Hi. I'm Rob. I'm 48 years old and I present the sports show.

Hello. I'm Terry. I'm 39

and I present an afternoon magazine show.

So, Dave and team, great to see you. Welcome.

-Hello.

-Tell us about the radio station.

It's been on the air for about two years, community radio station.

We broadcast from Burslem, which is in Stoke-on-Trent -

we've got a little studio there.

And all of these vagabonds are DJs at 6 Towns.

-And you're on seven days a week?

-Seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Broadcasting through the internet at the moment.

Keeping that going must take some doing!

-You've got night-time shows too, have you?

-Yes,

and we've got the manager here, project manager as well,

and at the end here we've got Rob and Terry.

They've got shows of their own, of course, but they keep us in line.

-So it's talk or music or both?

-A mixture of all, you know.

We've got various different types of music being broadcast

and different age groups and all sorts of things, you know.

So, it's essentially cos people say commercial radio

is really not local any more.

So maybe you guys are taking over.

Absolutely, yeah. We're taking everything going on in the area

and we try and capture the arts, sport

and anything that's really going on in Stoke-on-Trent.

Do you do any quizzing? That may be the most important question.

Ah, well, maybe we should start that.

-Well, you're going to now.

-A radio station quiz show.

Put that on the list, put that on the list.

And you can see if you can get these guys to open it or something, yeah.

Every day there is £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, Pottering On-Air, the Eggheads have won the last 16 games,

which means £17,000 says you can't beat them today.

-How's that?

-Yeah, it'll do.

-It'll do?

-Yeah.

-Want to start?

-Definitely.

OK, first head-to-head battle is on the subject of music.

-Ooh.

-That should be good, surely?

-Yep.

-That's a good choice, thank you.

-Who's the muso? Who wants to play?

It's got to be somebody on the end here. Terry?

I don't like the idea of me doing music

because we all should do music really, being DJs.

But I think they've picked me because I currently work in clubs,

so I know some new music. That's what it is.

OK, all right. Well, remember, you've got Daphne on her musicals

-and she's ferocious.

-Yes, I know.

Which Egghead would you like to take on, Terry?

Barry, please.

So it is Terry from Pottering On-Air

versus Barry on the end of the line there,

from the Eggheads.

To ensure no conferring, please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, what do you do for the station, Terry?

I do an afternoon show. A weekday afternoon show.

That's music and news and everything else?

Yeah - we have a few guests on the phone.

We sometimes have guests in the studio.

Sometimes when there may be a show in town, you know,

some celebrity coming to town,

they promote it in the studio or on the phone. Things like that.

What kinds of people have you had in?

-Tim Vine.

-Oh, I've heard of him, yeah!

Yeah, I interviewed him in Telford a couple of years ago.

But yeah, we have quite a...

I've been to interview Keith Lemon.

On the music front it could be anyone from, you know,

bands that are around today to '60s bands that are touring again.

So it's a total mix.

Sounds wonderful, I must say.

So we're going to ask you three multiple choice questions on music.

-OK.

-And you can choose the first or second set, Terry.

I'll choose the second set, please.

Barry, here comes your first question.

Which artist released the album 50 Words For Snow in 2011?

Oh, I know this because my daughter insisted I listen to it

cos it was so beautiful. It's Kate Bush.

Yep, still a star. Kate Bush is the answer, well done.

Who was it who did the 50 Million Bicycles in Beijing?

-Who was that?

-Katie Melua.

-It was the other Kate, OK.

Terry, the singer Alexander O'Neal

became known in the 1980s for which musical genre?

He was definitely a soul artist, Jeremy.

I couldn't see him do heavy metal.

And I've seen him. He still does tours, I think.

So yeah, I'm sure he's definitely soul.

Soul is the right answer.

What's that famous one-word title song that he did?

-Criticise.

-Criticise. All you ever do is criticise. That's it.

Barry. Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty

who formed the 1970s folk-rock band Stealers Wheel

had attended school together in which town?

Oh, that's an interesting question.

Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty.

I've got it at the back of my mind that Gerry Rafferty was Scottish

and the only Scottish town there certainly is Paisley.

I'll go for Paisley.

Paisley is correct.

Yeah. OK, Terry,

what name is given to the carved, curved head of a violin?

Right, well, it looks a bit like a scroll.

So that's springing out at me.

The crown. I wouldn't think it was the crown.

And the groin, no. I'm going to stick with scroll, please.

Well done, scroll is correct.

Two points each. Back to you, Barry. Third question.

Which 1893 opera by Giacomo Puccini

is based on a novel by the French writer, the Abbe Prevost?

Well, it's not La Boheme.

I think the Abbe Prevost,

yeah, I'm sure of it, he wrote Manon Lescaut.

Manon Lescaut is correct.

Showing your classical knowledge there.

OK, Terry, over to you.

In 1970, which well-known rock song

was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic for the band Free?

Oh, it's a karaoke classic.

Gimme Some Lovin' I think was...

Gimme Some Lovin'. I'm not sure who that was.

Free was definitely All Right Now.

I'm going to say All Right Now.

All Right Now is correct.

You've got me thinking now, Gimme Some Lovin', who was that?

-Spencer Davis Group.

-Was it? Yeah, Spencer Davis Group.

Right, that was cracking stuff.

Three questions out of three for you both.

And you made light work of that.

It'll get a bit harder now, Terry, OK?

-It's Sudden Death.

-OK.

So it means I don't give you alternatives.

OK, Barry, your question.

The singer Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa,

was born in which country?

Well, I like Miriam Makeba very much indeed

and I believe she is South African.

She is South African, well done. Although exiled for many years.

Terry, your question to stay in.

Which song from the musical West Side Story includes the line,

"all the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word"?

West Side Story.

The only song I can think of off my head from West Side Story

is America.

-So I'm going for America.

-America is your answer. You're wrong.

-It is Maria.

-Maria's the other one.

-Maria is the answer, Terry, so I'm sorry.

-Yeah.

You got it wrong and on Sudden Death, that is fatal.

Barry will be in the final and you won't be.

Please, both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

So, the challengers have lost a brain from the Final Round.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet.

The next subject for you is politics.

Do you have a plan on politics?

-Oh, dear.

-You've split us now.

-Politics, everyone.

-There's two guys who could maybe do it.

-You looking at me?

-I'm looking at Dave or Chris.

-Are you looking at me?!

-I think we must do.

-It's me for Politics, I'm afraid.

-OK, Dave on politics versus...

Tricky. Let's have the two Daves.

-Why not?

-OK, so Dave from Pottering On-Air

versus Dave, Tremendous Knowledge Dave, from the Eggheads.

Double Dave, please go to the Question Room now.

Dave, I should've asked you about the name Pottering On-Air.

Of course, pottering and potteries and Stoke are all interlinked.

That's right, yes.

Of course, ceramics and pottery are all made in the potteries,

Stoke-on-Trent,

and the industry's a lot smaller now

but they still make it there

and it's well cherished and treasured.

So it's Politics. Three questions, multiple choice.

And, Dave, you can choose the first or second set.

I'm going to choose the second set, please.

Here we go, Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

What name did the media give to the 2003 document

issued by the Blair Labour government entitled: "Iraq,

Its Infrastructure Of Concealment, Deception And Intimidation"?

I can't remember what the media thing was at the time,

but the one that looks

best to me is the Dodgy Dossier, so I'll go for that.

Dodgy Dossier is the right answer.

-Dave, the other Dave. Two Daves, you're throwing me here.

-I know.

Dave, pottering Dave.

As part of his military duties,

where was Prince William sent in February 2012

on what was declared to be a routine posting?

I can't imagine him being in the Falkland Islands.

They wouldn't have much to do there.

I suspect people from the Falklands will complain I said that.

And Gibraltar, again,

doesn't sound... I'm going for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is your answer. Team-mates, do you know?

-The Falklands.

-It is. It's the Falklands.

-Oh no!

-Cos at the time

it was looking a bit tense, funnily enough.

The Argentines, I think, took exception to him being sent over.

Falklands is the right answer.

Dave, your question. Which party moved its central office

to 30 Millbank, London in 2007?

I always associate Millbank with Labour,

so that's got to be my answer. Labour.

Yeah, it's a difficult question because

-actually Labour did move there but about 10 years earlier.

-Yeah.

Maybe even more.

-The answer is Conservative.

-Fine.

2007 was the year.

OK, the other Dave now.

Which word was coined by Karl Marx

to describe the lowest section of the working classes

including criminal elements?

I'm dying to say the middle word - Lumpenproleteriat. Oh, dear.

Samizdat. It's not Refusenik.

-Is that how you pronounce it, Refusenik?

-Refusenik.

Oh, dear. I'm going for,

oh, dear, Samizdat?

-Is that how you pronounced it?

-Samizdat is the third one, yeah.

-I'm going for Samizdat.

-Samizdat, OK.

You know, it's a funny coincidence, this -

I happened to look up Samizdat the other day

cos somebody used it in conversation.

I thought, "I don't know what that means,"

and when I looked it up, I found that it means

kind of photocopying a dissident leaflet or piece of material

and handing it round.

-So it's not the answer.

-Oh!

-Lumpenproleteriat is the answer.

-No!

As in where we get the word "proles" from.

OK, so Dave has one and Dave has zero.

Here's your third question, Dave.

Which US politician is credited with saying, "They who can

"give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety

"deserve neither liberty nor safety"?

Right, erm, I haven't heard the quote. Erm...

I'm gonna go Woodrow Wilson

because he was quite erudite, with his 14 points.

So I'll go Woodrow Wilson.

The answer, Dave, is Benjamin Franklin.

-Fair enough.

-Not Woodrow Wilson.

So, other Dave,

pottering Dave, you have a chance now to take it to Sudden Death,

but you've got to get this right.

In 1965,

the East Garden at the White House

was dedicated to which former first lady?

I don't imagine it being Jacqueline Kennedy.

I think it's a bit early. Her husband, if it's Jackie Kennedy,

was assassinated two years before.

Rosalynn Carter, I assume, is Jimmy Carter's wife

and he wasn't in power until the '70s.

So deduction leads me to Eleanor Roosevelt.

I'm just guessing here, but her husband was killed

and then two years later, she's no longer first lady

and they dedicate the garden to her. It was Jacqueline Kennedy.

So the timing actually could have led you to her.

Because you got three wrong, Dave, you're not in the final.

And Tremendous Knowledge Dave will be in the final in your place.

Please, both of you, rejoin your team-mates here in the studio.

So, the challengers have lost two brains

and the Eggheads have lost no brains so far from the crucial Final Round.

The next subject is sport.

-You've got a good football team.

-We have.

-We've got a sport show.

-Two football teams.

-A tricky one, this one.

-We're going for Rob.

-Rob presents a sport show. Yeah, definitely.

Rob? OK, and against which Egghead, Rob?

I think I'll go for Chris, please.

So it is Rob from Pottering On-Air versus Chris from the Eggheads.

Don't be grumpy - you haven't had sport for a while.

I haven't. I've achieved a zen-like calm on the subject.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Rob, I'm going to ask you three questions on sport in turn,

each of you, and you can choose the first or second set.

I will go with the first set, please.

Here we go and good luck to Pottering On-Air.

What name is given to a single game of snooker, Rob?

That answer jumped straight into my mind. It's a frame.

-Frame is the right answer, well done.

-Thank you.

Chris, in hurdling, what name is given to the leg

which goes over the hurdle first?

Well, lazy legs wouldn't be a lot of use to you,

and your legs are both the same length,

but the leg that goes over the hurdle first

has got to be the lead leg.

Lead leg is the right answer, well done.

OK, back to you, Rob.

Which nickname is often used

to refer to the football team Juventus?

I'm totally guessing at these.

Juventus.

Bianconeri.

I'm going to go for Bianconeri.

Anyone help us here?

This refers to the colours, like a lot of the Italian teams do.

So it's white and black,

-which is black and white stripes.

-And Bianconeri is absolutely right,

white and black. Well done, Rob.

Your second question, Chris.

The three-time Formula 1 world champion Jack Brabham

was born in which country?

I remember Jack Brabham. I think he was Australian,

so I'd go with Australia.

Australia is the right answer, well done.

OK, over to you. Rob.

This is a hard-fought round, two each.

Cricket stumps are most commonly made from which type of wood?

I was thinking bats and willow for some reason.

Ash, walnut or yew?

I'm going to go for walnut, Jeremy.

I think your team know. Team?

-We think it's ash.

-Yeah, it is ash.

-Oh.

Chris, if you get this right, you're in the final.

In 2012, Harvard graduate Jeremy Lin

made a record-breaking start to his professional career

in which US sport?

Well, baseball tends to come up from...

It's more a working-class sport, isn't it, in America?

Not that they have a class system,

but I don't think Harvard play baseball.

I don't think they play ice hockey either.

But a lot of American colleges play basketball,

so that's what I'm going to go with. Basketball.

Yep, Jeremy Lin is indeed a basketball player.

So basketball is correct. Chris, you've taken the round.

And, Rob, sorry - he's knocked you out on Sport.

-Never mind.

-OK, bad luck, you're not in the final.

Please, both of you come back and join your teams.

So, the challengers have lost three brains

and the Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

So this is the moment not to potter,

-but to actually race at them. Yeah?

-Let's see what we can do.

OK, good luck. The last subject before the final is geography.

Who'd like this? Geography.

ALL GROAN AND LAUGH

We've been saving ourselves for this round. It's my weakest subject.

-I dodged geography!

-It's my weakest subject too.

But you didn't, so one of us has got to do it.

Right, paper, scissors, stone this one is then, isn't it?

So, Chris or Lisa.

-Do you want me to do it?

-Yes.

-I don't mind.

-Good one. Yeah.

-Fall on my sword.

-Yeah.

-Chris.

OK, Chris, which Egghead would you like?

You can get Daphne or Kevin.

I think I'd like to go against Daphne, please.

So, Chris from Pottering On-Air

versus Daphne from the Eggheads on geography.

And if you can please go to the Question Room now.

You've done an awful lot with your life, Chris, haven't you?

-A fair bit, yes. I'm old enough.

-Teaching, writing, writing plays.

Yeah, and radio presenting, voiceovers, etc.

Yeah, what for you is the main thing?

At the moment, radio presenting.

Certainly, cos that's independent and unsigned bands,

it's my main thing.

It's just being able to give a little bit of extra help

to people who don't have the major companies behind them.

Very good. So, we're on geography now.

-Unfortunately.

-I know that's nothing to do

with unsigned bands in Stoke, but anyway. Good luck.

-Three questions.

-Thank you.

-Multiple choice.

You can choose the first or the second set.

I'd like to go first, please.

Chris, here we go, all the best.

Gloucester and Cirencester are on the edge

of which range of hills?

Well, they all begin with a C, which is a good start.

But that's about as much use to me as a wooden fish on wheels.

Let's have a think. I've got a feeling

for some reason that it's the Chilterns.

Let me ask the Eggheads. Eggs?

-Cotswolds is the answer.

-Oh.

Daphne, over to you. Geography.

Ullapool is a fishing port in which part of the UK?

Ullapool I think is Scotland.

Scotland is correct.

Here's your question, Chris.

Chimbote and Chiclayo

are cities in which South American country?

I'm really not sure about that either, I'm afraid.

I mean, if you told me

to pick which continent they were on,

I'd have probably got that.

I don't know. There's something niggling that says Colombia.

So that's what I'll go for, please.

Anyone know here? Any Eggheads know?

They sound Peruvian to me.

Kevin says they sound Peruvian.

They are Peruvian. Chris, Peru is the answer.

Daphne, if you ace this one, you're in the Final Round.

According to 2010 figures, what is the population of Brunei?

Oh, for goodness' sake.

-You know I hate these questions.

-I know you do. I know you do.

There are 5.3 million in Brunei.

No, there are 407,000, Daphne.

Told you I hated it.

We might be on television there.

I don't know, do you think so? Is Eggheads shown in Brunei?

-I doubt it.

-What would your message be to the people of Brunei?

-There's less of you than I thought.

-ALL LAUGH

OK, Chris, you're still hanging on here.

But you need to get this one right.

Poland's highest point on Mount Rysy

lies on its border with which other country?

Well, one of our presenters

is from the Czech Republic,

and she does a show on a Saturday.

And she has people who listen in from all of those countries.

I think,

if I can try to visualise it,

I've got a feeling it's Slovakia.

-I hope so anyway.

-Slovakia is the right answer, Chris. Nicely done.

Here we go, Daphne. Which city is the capital of the Italian region

known in English as Apulia?

Oh, crumbs.

I think

Bari.

How do you do that? How do you unerringly guess the right one

92% of the time?

It's in there somewhere, Daphne, isn't it?

Somewhere in that massive hard drive.

The file folder opens and out comes Bari.

It's right. Well done, Daphne, you're in the final.

Sorry, Chris, I thought she was going to slip up there

but she didn't. And she rarely does, in truth.

Both come back and rejoin your teams

and we will play the Final Round.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for 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 in this round.

So, Dave, Chris, Rob and Terry from Pottering On-Air,

would you please leave the studio.

Well, Lisa, I'm not sure how it's ended like this.

-No.

-But you're not to blame, that's for sure.

-And they are counting on you now.

-Yeah, fingers crossed.

And it's one of these ones where the jackpot's, you know, handy.

Well, it would be very, very useful for us, I have to admit, yeah.

-Would you put it into the station?

-Yes,

that's exactly what we want to do, really.

We rely on public donations and sponsorship and things.

We're all volunteers so it would be really useful for us.

All right, Lisa, you're playing for 6 Towns Radio and good luck to you.

-Thank you.

-£17,000 in the balance.

Kevin, Dave, Daphne, Chris and Barry,

you're playing for something else.

The Eggheads' valuable reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time all the questions are General Knowledge,

and I'll address this to this side only, you can confer.

You don't have the option.

Would you like to go first or second, Lisa?

I'll go first.

Here we go, good luck. Who directed the Russell Crowe films

Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind?

Right, OK, I know all of those people.

I know that James Cameron did the whole Avatar thing.

I watched it recently. Steven Spielberg, that's ET

and science fictiony-stuff.

Ron Howard. Goodness me.

And I've only ever heard of A Beautiful Mind out of those two.

I'm just trying to remember.

I'm going to go with James Cameron.

I think I can associate James Cameron with that.

I can't be entirely sure, but what I can't think

is that the other two are associated with that name.

So I'll go for James Cameron.

James Cameron is your answer.

Well, you were on the right track cos he did do Avatar

and, what, Terminator, I guess and Titanic

and big, big, blockbusters. Not those ones though.

Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind

-were directed by Ron Howard.

-Shame.

OK, Eggheads, your first question to take the lead.

What type of bird is a teal?

-A duck.

-Oh, it's me, isn't it?

Teal is a duck.

Duck is the right answer.

Back to you, Lisa. Which type of three-dimensional shape

is described as a torus?

I know this one. I watched a documentary the other day,

it was all about energy fields and things like that

and they were showing a picture of the torus

as an energy field, round like a doughnut, so I'll say ring doughnut.

-Ring doughnut is absolutely right, well done.

-Brilliant.

-Very good.

OK, Eggheads, for what does the letter B stand

in the name of the elite Royal Navy unit called the SBS?

Boat, isn't it? Special Boat Service.

SBS is the Special Boat Service. So it's boat.

Special Boat Service is quite right. Boat is correct.

So, here we are at the situation where we go to the third question.

So you have to get this right to hold them off.

If you don't get it right, the contest will be over.

And they're all very tense at the back.

Very, very tense. Not at all, he says.

The word dekko,

meaning a quick look or glance,

derives from which language?

Dekko is spelt D-E-K-K-O.

Dekko.

There's something that kind of suggests something Hindi about it.

It would be between Hindi and Mandarin.

There's something that says

it might be Hindi.

It is pure guess, this. Pure guesswork this is, I think.

But I'll try for Hindi and fingers crossed.

-Shall we ask them?

-Yes.

Is she right? You are right!

-You're a very good quizzer, Lisa.

-Thanks.

-You're a very good quizzer.

-You follow your instincts, don't you?

-Yeah.

And it's a shame about the first question because,

well, had you got it right, they'd be on the cliff edge now.

If they get this wrong,

-we go to Sudden Death.

-Oh, dear.

If they get it right, the contest is over.

You are up against all five Eggheads.

Let's see what their brains do.

The order of the Seraphim,

instituted in 1748

is the highest order of chivalry of which country?

Belgium didn't exist in 1748.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

I think Spain's got a much larger population,

so if it was in Spain, perhaps we might have heard

of somebody who had been awarded it

a bit more than if possibly in Sweden.

If I have any sort of an instinct at all,

it's that if it was Spain, I think I would have heard of it.

And therefore I'm inclined to Sweden, but I don't...

Yes, I'm inclined to go for Sweden as well by principle.

I would have gone for Spain if I was on my own,

-but if I was just me.

-Same here, I'd go with Daphne,

but, you know, if it's a collective.

Sweden is the answer from everybody.

With no particular confidence, we'll try Sweden.

Sweden is your answer. I listened with interest

about ruling out Belgium on the basis that it didn't exist

was a good piece of logic.

Sweden is the right answer, Eggheads.

So you did get your three questions right,

and that means that first question

-was so expensive for you.

-I know.

I'm sorry, but thank you, well played.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Commiserations, challengers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues. It means you won't be going home

with the £17,000.

But I hope you go back and have brilliant times on the radio.

-Thanks.

-The money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, many congratulations. Who will beat you?

Are you going to get up as high as 20,000 I wonder?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£18,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd