Episode 107 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, where five quiz challengers pit their wits

against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain. They are the Eggheads.

Taking on our quiz Goliaths today are The Mighty Squirrels.

This team know one another through Haslington Cricket Club in Cheshire. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Jon, I'm 51 and I'm an online retailer.

Hi, I'm Tom, I'm 23 and a customer services adviser.

Hi, I'm James, I'm 20 and a leisure assistant.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm 51 and a sales manager.

Hi, I'm Richard, I'm 53 and a Director of Corporate Services.

-Welcome, Jon, welcome, team.

-Thanks.

-Mighty Squirrels is the club name?

No, the name is Haslington, but the squirrel is part of our logo, the emblem.

-So you're all keen cricketers?

-In some way, shape or form.

-You have a very interesting business.

-I sell umpiring equipment online.

-So you realised there was nowhere obvious to buy it?

Not a one-stop shop, so I thought the opportunity was there to do it.

There is an internet site for everything! Amazing.

-There was no way of getting them easily before?

-Not in one place.

-OK, good luck here.

You can be the umpire and decide they have no points, if you have to.

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

If they fail to win, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So the Eggheads have won the last 17 games. They're on a bit of a run.

-£18,000 says you can't beat them today. Shall we get cracking?

-Let's do it.

The first Head to Head is Sport.

This is up your street.

-James.

-James?

-Definitely.

-Which Egghead would you like?

-You can have any of them.

-Daphne?

-Daphne's a very good guesser.

-We'll go with Daphne.

-She is a good guesser.

We called her Pot Luck Daphne. I don't know how she does it.

So James from the Mighty Squirrels against the mighty Egghead Daphne,

please go to the Question Room.

-James, you love your sport?

-I do, yes.

-You've sat in every seat at Crewe Alexandria's stadium?

-Yeah, all 10,000 of them.

-So what was the rule there?

-Do them all in three hours?

-No, it was just trying to do it as quickly as possible.

-I did it in 5 hours 28 minutes.

-Great. Three questions on sport.

Whoever answers the most correctly is the winner.

-Would you like first or second?

-I'll go second, please.

Here we go, Daphne.

Chris Robshaw captained which team in the 2012 rugby union Six Nations?

He captained...England despite only having one cap.

That's a good bit of ancillary information.

England is right. Is she right about that, James?

-That's what I thought.

-OK. With which role is England cricketer Monty Panesar most associated?

If I get this wrong, I'll get crucified, so spin bowler.

Spin bowler is correct. Your life is safe. Daphne,

how long did it take Novak Djokovic to defeat Rafael Nadal in the final of the men's singles tournament

at the 2012 Australian Open?

Well, I know it was the longest-ever Grand Slam final.

So I'm hoping it was 7 hours.

-OK, I kind of see the logic there. Because it's the longest-ever, it must be the biggest number.

-Yeah.

-But it's not.

-It's not. That led you astray. 5 hours 53 minutes.

But still the longest Grand Slam final in tennis history.

So, James,

she's given you an in here. In which city did the athlete Steve Ovett win an Olympic gold medal?

Right. Athletics is probably the worst thing that could come up,

so I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to literally have to have a guess at this.

And I will go with Moscow.

Moscow is correct. You're playing well.

-Daphne, get this wrong...

-And I'm gone.

-You're a goner.

Which footballer scored the most goals at the 1990 World Cup?

1990.

Italy, so I think...

I think it was Salvatore Schillaci.

You're quite right. Well done. Salvatore Schillaci.

You're back in,

but, James, get this right to win. Eli Manning is a famous name in which sport?

I've got a friend and literally every other thing he says is about American football.

I'm pretty sure this name's come up, so I'll go for American football.

You're playing very well. You've booked a place in the final.

Good start! Sorry, Daphne.

-That's all right.

-2 out of 3's not good enough here and you're out of the contest.

Please both rejoin your teams.

The challengers have not lost a brain, but the Eggheads have.

The next subject is Film and TV.

Who would like this?

-What are we going to do?

-That one's interesting.

-Film and TV?

-No.

-You go for it.

-I'll go for this one, then.

-OK, Andy.

-Which Egghead would you like?

-You said you wanted to take on Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

I would like to have a go with Chris, but...

I think I'm going to go with Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

OK, Andy versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

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

-Cricket's a big part of your life?

-It's been a big part of my life for a long time.

Played it for a long time, gave up, had my injuries fixed and repaired

-and then started umpiring.

-Dave, are you into cricket or not?

Very big cricket fan. It was always an ambition of mine to go to the MCG for the Boxing Day Test,

-which I managed to achieve just after I got married.

-All right.

We're on Film and TV here. Three questions, multiple choice.

-First or second set?

-I will also go second, please.

Here we go. Dave, good luck. What is the profession of Sam Neill's character in Jurassic Park?

Right. I haven't actually seen the film, but I'll hazard a guess

that he's a palaeontologist.

He is a palaeontologist. Well done.

Andy, over to you.

Andrea McLean and Carol Vorderman regularly present which daytime TV show?

Oh.

Daytime TV.

I don't think they will have done anything to do with politics.

I don't think it's The Wright Stuff.

And I'm pretty sure Andrea McLean has presented Loose Women.

Loose Women is the right answer.

Dave,

who played a nurse called Chummy when the TV series Call The Midwife was first broadcast in 2012?

Again, I haven't seen this programme, surprisingly,

but obviously a very big hit of the time. Not Sally Phillips, not Celia Imrie.

There was a lot of publicity about Chummy getting married. Miranda Hart.

Miranda Hart is the right answer.

OK, Andy.

As well as Best Original Screenplay, Sylvester Stallone was nominated for an Academy Award

in which category for his work on the 1976 film Rocky?

OK. Well...

I'm not so sure Sylvester Stallone has got anything really to do with music,

so I'll go for one of the other two.

I don't think he directed it. We'll go Best Actor.

Best Actor is correct.

Dave,

the film The Descendants, released in the UK in 2012, is set in which US state?

I haven't seen the film. I wanted to see it.

I think it centres on a man who's been a landowner

or basically somebody who's been active in business,

played by George Clooney,

and his wife is involved in an accident so he has to go through all the trauma with his family.

And I think that he goes back to Hawaii.

Hawaii is the correct answer. Well done. Over to you, Andy.

Which actress wrote episodes of some TV programmes in which she starred, using the pseudonym Jonathan Marr?

Well...

this is a good one. They always are if you don't know the answer.

-And you need to get this right.

-I don't know.

I always loved Jan Francis in the various things she was in, especially Just Good Friends.

Wendy Craig in Butterflies.

Francesca Annis, because she's in the middle. Francesca Annis.

-Let me see if Dave knows this. Dave?

-I would have thought it's Wendy Craig.

I think when she did Mother Makes Five and those things that she did write certain episodes.

I haven't got any other logic, really, to go on, but Wendy Craig more seems to be who would write

-and get involved on the creative side.

-Wendy Craig is right.

Andy, sorry. Dave was right and you were wrong on that.

You've been knocked out by our Egghead. They're level with you.

Do rejoin your teams here in the studio.

The challengers have lost one brain. The Eggheads have also lost a brain from the final round.

The next subject is Geography. Who would like this?

-That's you, Tom.

-Against which Egghead?

-Barry, please.

-You've thought about this!

Tom from the Mighty Squirrels against Barry from the Eggheads.

-You've had a lot of geography lately.

-I'm enjoying them now.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

-Tom, Geography. You were determined to take it.

-Em, yeah. I studied it at A Level, got an A in it,

so I'm hoping that things that I know come up, really!

OK, three questions in turn. You can choose the first or second set.

I'll go against the grain. First, please.

Good luck. Evenly matched so far. The African country Gabon is bordered by which ocean?

I've got a feeling that it's on the eastern side of Africa

and that would be the Atlantic.

-OK. Atlantic is your answer. If it's eastern...

-Sorry, west!

Yeah, but you got the right answer.

-Wrong side and the right ocean!

-Yeah.

-Atlantic is right.

Barry,

Berlin is in which part of Germany?

Eh...

Working on the assumption that the Russians got there in WWII, it must be in the north east.

North east is the right answer. It was inside East Germany.

-It was indeed.

-Even the west bit.

Tom, Tignes is a ski resort in which European country?

I haven't done much skiing myself. I've been a couple of times.

Only in France.

I've got a feeling it's France. Yeah, go for France, please.

Two out of two. Well done. Playing well, Tom. Barry,

Yemen is bordered by Oman and which other country?

Oh, that's quite a tough one. Let me see.

Er, Yemen is at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates I believe are at the top end, so it must be Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the right answer.

Tom, third question. Playing well, but he's neck and neck with you.

The Mehrangarh Fort is a feature of the city of Jodhpur in which Indian state?

Mehrangarh is M-E-H-R-A-N-G-A-R-H.

I have absolutely no idea.

I don't know why, but when I saw the three,

the first one my eyes were drawn to was Tamil Nadu,

so I'm going to go for Tamil Nadu. Oh...

Yeah. Tamil Nadu.

When you said, "The first one I was drawn to," I thought you'd get it.

It's the first one that came up - Rajasthan. Tamil Nadu was incorrect.

So you've got two out of three.

Let's see if Barry books his place in the final.

Maribor, one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2012,

is the second largest city in which country?

It's certainly not Belarus.

Maribor, I've heard of this.

I believe it's in Slovenia.

If you're right, Barry, you're in the final round.

You're correct. Slovenia is the right answer.

Sorry, Tom, you've been knocked out there. You played well though.

Both of you, come back and rejoin your teams.

So the challengers have lost two brains and the Eggheads have lost one brain from the final round.

The last subject for you is History.

Who would like this?

-That's what you were going for.

-That was one of my subjects. It's dropped lucky.

-Richard?

-Definitely me.

Against which Egghead? You can have Chris or Pat.

-What do we think?

-I'm not sure.

-It's your choice.

-Chris? I'll take on Chris.

All right, so Richard from The Mighty Squirrels versus Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure no conferring, take your positions in the question room.

-OK, Richard, History...

-Indeed.

I gather, just before we go on, that you worked with or for Alan Sugar?

I did, Jeremy. In the '80s, I worked for Amstrad

as it was becoming the success story of the '80s.

-Was he inspirational to work with?

-He was, and equally as fearsome as you see on the TV.

He was a lot younger then, but he hasn't lost his edge.

-Did you ever hear him say the immortal words to any of your colleagues?

-Not in earshot.

Alan Sugar, there we are. I'll ask each of you three questions on History in turn.

-Choose the first or second set.

-As a bowler, I liked to get my work done, then put my feet up,

so I'm going to go first, Jeremy.

Here is your question. How was Louis XVI's wife Marie Antoinette executed?

Various methods of execution...

But being in France, the most favoured method of executing people

was the guillotine,

so I'm going to go for guillotine.

Guillotine is the right answer. Well done.

Chris, your question.

Edward III, who ruled England for 50 years during the 14th century, was a member of which royal house?

He was a Plantagenet.

He was indeed a Plantagenet. So one each. Back to you, Richard.

What type of weapon was the medieval pike?

Well, medieval, it's not going to be a cannon.

And I probably wouldn't have thought in medieval times a crossbow was...

..around, but having watched Robin Hood, they certainly used crossbows.

Whether that's medieval or not,

spears have been around for a long time.

A pike, I think, was something with, um...

..a bit of, uh...

..something on the top.

I'm going to go for a spear, Jeremy, please. A spear.

Spear is the correct answer, Richard. Chris, your question.

In 1964, a collision in the Thames between two ships caused the loss of 42 what,

which had been en route for Cuba at the time?

Whoa!

We weren't exporting telephone boxes to Cuba.

We hadn't started phasing out the real telephone boxes then

for conversion into shower cabinets and what have you.

I don't think we were exporting combine harvesters to Cuba

because Cuba's main crop is sugar.

You don't harvest that with a combine harvester,

but from about 1960 onwards,

London Transport were replacing the RT fleet with the RM fleet

and there were a lot of redundant London buses

which could be flogged off, so we were sending buses to Cuba.

-It's buses.

-I love the way you held your knowledge off to the end there.

Buses is absolutely right. I've never heard about this story.

At the bottom of the Thames somewhere, there's 42 buses?

They were a hazard to navigation. They were salvaged and scrapped.

-They weren't just left?

-No, the Thames isn't that deep.

Richard, your third question.

In May 1941, sailors from which Royal Navy ship boarded the German U-110 submarine,

leading to the capture of an Enigma cipher machine?

It's certainly not HMS Somali.

It was either Lightning or it was Bulldog.

I think I will go for...

..HMS Lightning.

Let me ask Chris and see if he knows. You love your military stuff.

I think it was HMS Somali, a Tribal-class destroyer.

-No. Anyone?

-HMS Bulldog.

-HMS Bulldog is the right answer, Richard.

You got it wrong. It seems unfair since Chris did as well.

That's the way the cookie crumbles. It means Chris has a chance to book his place in the final.

Which tribe occupied lands in south-west Wales

at the time of the Roman conquest of Britain?

Ah...

It wasn't the Iceni. They were Boadicea's tribe in East Anglia.

I've never heard of the middle one, Taexali.

So it's the Demetae.

Do you think he's right, Richard?

I actually would have no idea either,

but from your reaction, I would go for the middle one.

HE LAUGHS

No, it's just Chris is a very good quizzer

and he just rumbustiously pounds his way through the options

and often ends up on the right one and he's done it this time.

It is the Demetae, Chris, so you're in the final.

Come back to us and we will play the final round.

This is what we have been playing towards, the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads cannot take part,

so, Tom, Andy and Richard from The Mighty Squirrels and also Daphne from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So, Jon and James, here we are, you are playing to win The Mighty Squirrels £18,000.

Dave, Chris, Barry and Pat, you are playing for something money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

I will ask each team three questions in turn. This time, they are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

Mighty Squirrels, the question is, are your two brains able to take down the Eggheads' four?

-And would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first.

Good luck to you. First question.

Which chess piece occupies the corner positions at the start of a game?

-Castle.

-Castle?

-Castle, yeah.

Castle.

Castle is the right answer. Well done. Over to you, Eggheads.

"Fraise" is the French word for which fruit?

-Strawberry.

-Strawberry.

That's strawberry, Jeremy.

Strawberry is the right answer. Back to you, Squirrels.

Farm Boy is the sequel to which popular book?

War Horse was based on a farm.

The story started based on a farm.

-Black Beauty, I'm not sure of.

-So do you want to go with War Horse?

I think it tends to be going back to the farm possibly?

-OK.

-OK, happy with that?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that.

We'll plump for War Horse, please, Jeremy.

War Horse is the right answer.

Good, steady, logical answering.

Eggheads, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep"

are lines spoken by which character in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest?

-It's Prospero, isn't it?

-Prospero.

-Are you sure?

-Yes, absolutely sure.

It couldn't be Ariel?

It's not fairy enough for Ariel, so it's Prospero.

-OK.

-I think he's speaking to Miranda at the time.

OK, we think that's Prospero.

Yeah, Barry knows his Shakespeare. Prospero it is.

So, two each.

We're on the third question. If you get all three right, which I really recommend,

there's 18,000 being played for and they can slip up.

In January 2012, Margrethe II celebrated her 40th jubilee as the queen of which country?

-I've got a... Hmm.

-Go on.

I was tending towards Denmark, but I've got no idea why.

Yeah, I seem to remember something along those lines.

-I don't remember seeing either of the other two in the papers.

-No, I don't.

I'm definitely swaying towards... towards Denmark.

OK, yeah, go for that.

We're not quite so sure, Jeremy, but we'll have a punt at Denmark.

The Queen who celebrated her 40th jubilee

was Margrethe II of Denmark.

Well done. You got three out of three. Couldn't have asked for more.

You're one question away from that money

because if the Eggheads get this wrong, then the game is over.

The theme tune of which TV series

was an arrangement of the traditional folk song, Johnny Todd?

It's Z Cars. It's the one they play at Everton.

The one they play at Everton matches. Definitely Z Cars.

Z Cars, Jeremy.

Z Cars is the right answer. Three each, playing well.

We go to Sudden Death.

£18,000 to play for and I don't give you alternative answers.

Which Samuel Beckett play features the quotation,

"Give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant and then it's night once more"?

-No.

-No. I'm terrible with plays.

I'm struggling with that one.

I really am.

I'm struggling with that one, I'm afraid.

Just have a guess. I don't know any, so...

No, I can't even come up with an answer there, I'm afraid.

Is it The Gravedigger? The Gravedigger we'll put as an answer.

The Gravedigger... Let me see if the Eggheads know.

-Is it Waiting For Godot?

-Waiting For Godot is the answer.

So if the Eggheads get this,

they've taken the contest.

Anthony Newley's version of which English folk song reached No.3 in the UK charts in 1960?

What English folk songs do we have? Newley...

Greensleeves, Green Grow The Rushes, O...

-Scarborough Fair?

-I can't think.

- Oh, is it Strawberry Fair? - Strawberry Fair.

-Is it Strawberry Fair?

-That makes sense.

- I think he did do Strawberry Fair. - In the early '60s, yeah.

# Buttercups and daisies... #

-Yes.

-I think it's Strawberry Fair.

-Strawberry Fair?

-Strawberry Fair.

We think it might be Strawberry Fair.

As you talked, I thought, "You are drawing a total blank here."

Then Dave, Tremendous Knowledge Dave pops up with the answer Strawberry Fair,

proving he is definitely an Egghead because that is the correct answer.

Strawberry Fair. Congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

-Well done, Dave.

-That was good, Dave.

That just came like that?

You find something in the recesses sometimes, so that one came up.

-I was thinking of his other records. That didn't spring immediately.

-Tricky question, that.

-Very hard.

-Anyway, thank you for playing in a very good cricketing spirit.

-Thank you very much. We enjoyed it.

Commiserations. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with the £18,000, so the money rolls over.

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.

£19,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd