Episode 108 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 the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Eggstra Curricular.

This team are volunteers at the British Schools Museum in Hitchin.

Let's meet them.

Hello, my name is Andy, I am 48 years old

and I'm a volunteer museum manager.

Hello, my name's John, I'm 66 years old and I'm a fire consultant.

Hello, I'm Terry, I'm 65 years old and I am a retired rocket scientist.

Hello, I'm Denise, I'm 64 and a translator.

Hello, my name's Al, I'm 33 years old

and I'm a theatre production manager.

-Andy and team, welcome.

-Thank you, Jeremy.

The British Schools Museum, tell me about that.

The British Schools Museum in Hitchin is not a traditional museum

with displays and cases and cabinets, it's very much a living museum.

We have a fascinating complex of historic buildings dating back

to 1837 and through to 1905, when the last construction was built.

Within those buildings,

we invite people in to recreate their school days.

Victorian school days, Second World War school days,

all those sorts of things.

-So you have the old exercise books and inkwells?

-We do.

-Even the odd cane, I guess?

-We have canes.

For threatening rather than use these days,

but people can try out their hand writing on old-fashioned slates

and dip pens with ink and really get back to the Victorian school days.

OK, good luck in the game.

Every day, there is £1,000 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, Eggstra Curricular, the Eggheads have won the last 18 games.

They have had quite a good streak,

which means that £19,000 says you cannot beat them today.

-Would you like to get cracking?

-We would love to.

-OK.

Silence in class,

the first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of Arts & Books.

Oh, that's perfect, isn't it?

That suits us quite well, I think. Thank you.

-Who wants this?

-Al, I think you...

-Sounds like me, doesn't it?

-It does.

-OK, I'll take Arts & Books.

Against which Egghead, Al?

Judith, Pat, Barry, Chris, Daphne? Any of them.

I think we're going to have a crack at Pat.

OK, Al from Eggstra Curricular versus Pat on Arts & Books.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

And it will be three multiple-choice questions on Arts & Books

and Al, you can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please.

Good luck to you and your team, Eggstra Curricular. Here we go.

The art form "quilling" typically uses what as its primary material?

Er, I'm not sure.

I guess if it's quilling, anything to do with quill,

it might be paper, so I think I'll go paper.

Paper is your answer and it's correct. Well done.

Is that what it is, Eggheads, in the studio here?

-It means just drawing with a quill?

-It's making models out of paper.

-Making models out of paper?

-CHRIS:

-Rolls of paper, yeah.

Oh.

OK, Pat, Elizabeth Kostova's best-selling novel

The Historian is based around the legend of which character?

I don't know this. The Historian.

Dracula, the book,

is written as a series of letters recounting his adventures.

King Kong is on Skull Island.

And Godzilla just rampages. The Historian.

I can't see any obvious way of working it out.

I really have no idea at all.

And with little conviction, I'll say Dracula.

You can have more conviction than that.

You're quite right, Dracula it is.

Al, Irving Stone's best-selling novel

The Agony And The Ecstasy chronicles the life of which painter?

Well, I stayed in Florence last year on holiday

and we actually went to Vinci, had a look around Leonardo's house.

I don't know.

Vincent van Gogh, somewhere in my mind,

I seem to think he might have been troubled during his career,

so maybe The Agony And The Ecstasy refers to some of that trouble.

So I'm going to say Vincent van Gogh.

OK. Anyone here know?

I think it's Michelangelo, painting the Sistine Chapel.

It is Michelangelo, I'm afraid, Al, you got it wrong. Not Vincent.

Pat, which British film director

and writer wrote the 1986 play Made In Bangkok?

I think I'm going to be guessing again.

They're all British film directors.

I'm not sure whether all of them have written plays.

Mike Leigh has definitely written a few plays, I think.

I think I've only heard of Minghella as a director

and Mike Figgis, it could be him, as well. Once again, I'm in the dark.

I'm going to go for Mike Leigh.

No, it's Anthony Minghella. OK.

Al, you have one point each.

Your third question.

What is the name of the early 15th-century English humorous poem

in which a potter named Perkin takes part in a joust

to prove his status as an eligible bachelor?

Never heard of it. Doing so well so far this round(!)

On the basis that it includes a joust,

and jousts are found in tournaments, and "potter", "Tottenham",

there might be some rhyme there, I don't know.

A tenuous link, but I'm going to go for the Tournament Of Tottenham.

And you're quite right. Tournament Of Tottenham it is.

Pat, your question. If you don't get this right, you're not in the final.

First published in 1903, the novel The Way Of All Flesh, which was seen

as an attack on Victorian hypocrisy, is a work by which writer?

Both Wharton and James are Americans, although, of course,

that doesn't rule them out from attacking Victorian hypocrisy.

I have a very faint idea that this might be Samuel Butler.

I'm not very confident. Samuel Butler.

Samuel Butler is the right answer.

You're doing well with your guessing today, if I may say so.

So we go to Sudden Death, Al. It gets a bit harder.

-I don't give alternatives, OK?

-OK.

-Here we go.

Cornard Wood and The Painter's Daughters Chasing A Butterfly

are paintings by which English artist?

My wife might know this.

She's an art teacher and she's probably shouting what the answer is.

Um, nothing jumps out at me.

Um, I'm going to say...Constable.

I would ask for the first name, as well as the last name,

but it's the wrong answer, anyway. Thomas Gainsborough is the answer.

Pat, your question for the round, which German dramatist

did the actress Helene Weigel marry in 1929?

The first name that came into my head was Brecht.

He certainly, at one point, was married to Lotte Lenya,

but he could've been married more than once.

I think I'll assume that Brecht was married more than once

and I'll go for Bertolt Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht is the correct answer.

Sorry, Al, you've been knocked out by our Egghead,

so Pat will be in the final.

Do please both of you come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands,

the challengers have lost the first brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still intact and the next subject is Science.

So which of you Eggstra Curriculars would like this?

Well, we do have a rocket scientist.

You have a rocket scientist, that's true.

Terry, would you like to you,

or shall we try Denise with the natural sciences?

-Oh dear, oh dear.

-It was likely to come up.

OK, Terry, our rocket scientist, not to put pressure on him!

OK, Terry against?

-What do you think, Judith?

-Yes.

I'll take Judith, please.

Terry from Eggstra Curricular, the rocket scientist,

have you ever played a rocket scientist before, Judith?

I don't think we've ever had one on the programme.

-I don't think we have.

-No.

-Please go to the Question Room now.

So how did you actually become a rocket scientist, Terry?

I was finishing university in 1969 when man first landed on the Moon,

so that got me and several of my fellow students quite excited

about wanting to move into the space industry.

And you did that and you built rockets?

Well, satellites, yes, communication satellites, environmental satellites.

And a little lander to go onto Mars.

Good luck to you both, three questions on Science in turn,

whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner

and Terry, you can choose the first or second set.

First, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, Terry, good luck to you.

Which internal organ of the human body has right and left auricles?

I know the heart has ventricles.

The liver is one thing and the pancreas is one thing.

I think the heart must have auricles as well, so I'm going to say heart.

Yes, I was worried you diverted, but you didn't and you're right.

Heart is correct. Well done.

Judith, here's your question.

Which British physicist wrote the 1988 book A Brief History Of Time?

-That was Stephen Hawking.

-Stephen Hawking is, of course, correct.

Well done.

Terry, what is the common name for plants of the Delphinium genus?

Delphinium... I don't know much about larkspurs.

I'm really going to have to guess on this one.

It's, er, marigold.

Marigold is your answer.

The natural sciences, Denise, would you have taken this question?

I would have taken larkspur.

Yeah, Denise has given it to us, it's larkspur, Terry. Judith.

To take the lead.

In which decade did Cockcroft

and Walton succeed in spitting the atom?

I think it was the 1930s, because if it was earlier, the Germans

would have done it, so I think it's the 1930s.

-You'll know this one, Terry, won't you?

-I think it's 1930s, as well.

1930s is the right. Well done, you've taken the lead.

Terry, you've got to get this one right, OK?

We don't want to lose you.

What type of creature is a mud dauber?

Right, that is making a house, or a nest, or a home out of mud, I guess.

I don't think stick insects do that sort of thing.

Tarantulas are spiders.

I would possibly not think they do.

I know wasps do make things, their nests, out of mud.

I'm going to go with wasp.

Well done, you got it absolutely right.

I feel bad we've got you on the natural sciences here

and your expertise is elsewhere, but don't worry.

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

Named after an American scientist, the Keeling Curve

measures the concentration of what in the Earth's atmosphere?

Oh, gosh, I don't know.

Um, I imagine he's a sort of environmental man.

I think it might be methane.

Methane is your answer. Must throw this back to Terry. You'll know.

I'm not certain, but... Let's go for carbon dioxide.

You go carbon dioxide. Barry, do you know?

I would have said carbon dioxide.

The answer is carbon dioxide, Judith, so we go to Sudden Death.

Terry, well done, you hung on in there.

It's a bit more difficult now. I don't give alternatives.

Which sea creature belonging to the Phocoenidae family,

and with species called Dall's and Burmeister's,

takes its name from the Latin for "pig fish"?

Pig fish.

A sea creature. I can only take a blind guess, I'm afraid.

A sea urchin.

No, you'll kick yourself when you hear this. Denise, do you know?

No.

-Porpoise.

-Oh.

-Yes.

-Almost just the words "pig fish" translate there.

OK, Judith, for the round.

The Encke Gap is a feature of which planet in the solar system?

Saturn.

-Is she right?

-Yes, she is.

It's the gap between the rings, not as well known

as the Cassini Division, but it is a gap on Saturn's rings.

Judith, you've taken the round. You've beaten a rocket scientist.

Sorry, Terry, it can be like that, I'm afraid.

Will both of you please come back and join your team-mates?

-Andy, crisis or just a moment of alarm?

-Early days.

The challengers lost two brains, the Eggheads have not lost a brain,

despite a head-to-head with a rocket scientist.

The next subject is History, so which challenger would like History?

-Right, that's going to be me, Jeremy.

-OK, against which Egghead?

-Oh.

Daphne, Chris, Barry on the right-hand side there?

Not an easy choice.

I'm going to have a try at Barry, if I may, please?

OK, Andy from Eggstra Curricular versus Barry from the Eggheads

on History. Please take your positions.

So it was sheer passion that brought you into the Schools Museum,

-was it, Andy?

-It is, really, Jeremy, yes.

I started doing guided tours once a month on a Saturday morning

and now I'm there most days, really.

It's very interesting, museums now, particularly for parents with

young children, just how wonderfully engaging and interactive they are.

Indeed, yes, we love to have our school parties in.

They come as evacuees to our Second World War programme,

write letters home to their mum and dad and visit our air-raid shelter,

try on gas masks. Or they come as Victorian children,

often dressed up when they come, and their teachers in costume,

and get real Victorian lessons, but without the corporal punishment.

OK, good luck in this round,

three questions on History, which I know is your favourite subject.

Andy, you can choose the first or second set.

I think I'll go first again.

Good luck. What was the name of the mother of Julius Caesar?

Hmm.

Now, does one's mind automatically go blank, or is this something

I haven't seen or read?

I'm pretty sure it's not Olympias.

I don't recognise Imilce.

So I'm going for Aurelia, something rings a bell.

Aurelia is the right answer, well done, Andy.

OK, Barry, which monarch granted the town of Leamington Spa

the right to place the word "Royal" before its name?

Goodness me, that's an interesting one.

I don't think it was as early as William IV,

who was on the throne prior to Victoria.

And George V, I think not, so I shall go for Victoria.

Victoria is the right answer.

OK, one point each, back to you, Andy.

What name, after an area in Rhode Island

was given to the US equivalent of the British Nissen Hut,

first used in 1941?

Oh, dear, again, something I'm pretty sure I haven't heard,

so this is going to have to be a guess.

I'll have to go to the default of down the middle

and go for the Dunslett Hut.

OK, I'm thinking there's a bit of a military connection

with this question. I'm going to ask Chris,

because he loves his hardware. Nissen Hut?

Nissen Hut is ours and the American equivalent's a Quonset Hut.

Quonset Hut and Quonset Hut is the answer, Andy.

Barry, the 19th-century stage magician John Nevil Maskelyne

is credited with having invented a coin lock for making money

from the usage of what?

Goodness, this is one I've not heard of.

I normally associate the name Maskelyne with being

one of the earlier Astronomer Royals.

Right, on the rather spurious premise

that Maskelyne was an Astronomer Royal

and there's a telescope in there, I shall go for seaside telescopes.

-HE LAUGHS

-I like the connections in your mind.

I love the way they work.

The neurons are misfiring, though, it's public toilets.

So you are equal after two questions. Andy, your third.

The so-called Battle of the Herrings took place in which country in 1429?

Oh, dear. Another display of ignorance, I fear!

There was a lot of strife in all three countries at the time.

Herrings, I know, are popular more in northern Europe, perhaps,

so should I edge towards France?

I think I will. France, Jeremy, please.

Good logic. France is the right answer.

The right answer.

OK, Barry, your question.

If you get this wrong you're not in the final round.

The incident known as Pickett's Charge was a pivotal moment

during which war?

This was a famous incident

that General Robert E Lee bitterly regretted afterwards.

I think it was a charge by Pickett's Division which had

some 4,000 men straight up the hill

in the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

So my answer is the American Civil War.

American Civil War is the right answer. Well done.

A good bit of background there, as well. So two each.

We go to Sudden Death, Andy, OK?

Here's your first question.

The married women Freda Dudley Ward and Thelma Furness

had relationships with the man who became which British King?

It would be disloyal, perhaps, to the Crown to suggest that many

future kings had many liaisons of that type,

but I will say George IV.

Edward VIII. Edward VIII is the answer.

Barry, for the round, the Anglo-Saxon King

Edward the Elder was the son of which other monarch?

I believe Edward the Elder was the son of the King of Wessex,

who would have been Alfred the Great.

Very good on your kings and queens, I must say.

Alfred the Great is the right answer, Barry. Well done.

On Sudden Death you've taken it.

It's a hard-fought contest, Andy, but you've lost another player.

Your good self. Come back to us, please and rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost three brains

and the Eggheads have lost no brains from the final round

and the last subject is Film & Television, so who would like this?

Who wants this?

-Are you going to go for that, John?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, OK?

-John?

-John's going to take that.

-I will, yep.

OK. Against which Egghead, John?

I would say maybe...

-Chris?

-I think perhaps Chris.

We're hoping that Chris limits his watching to Wallace and Gromit

and doesn't look at much else!

So, it is John from Eggstra Curricular

versus Chris from the Eggheads, and to ensure there's no conferring,

please go to the Question Room.

Good luck in this round. Three questions, multiple choice.

John, you can choose the first or the second set.

Erm, I think I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck. Who first joined the cast of EastEnders

in 1985, playing Sharon Watts?

Oh, this is a show that I've never watched in my entire life,

so I have absolutely no idea.

Oh, this is going to be a complete guess. I'm going to say...

Letitia Dean.

I'll check with Judith, because Judith loves this programme.

He's absolutely right. A very good guess.

She confirms you are completely right! Letitia Dean!

Well done, John! OK, Chris - who asks

Terry Jones whether his wife is interested in photography

in the Monty Python sketch known as Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink?

Your wife, hey? Does she go, hey, hey?

Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge...? It's Eric Idle.

It is Eric Idle!

Class! OK, John -

in the film The Terminal, Viktor Navorski, played by Tom Hanks,

is trapped at which airport?

I haven't seen this film, either. Can't see any clues in the question,

so it's going to be a guess. I'm going to guess, erm,

-O'Hare.

-It's actually JFK.

John F Kennedy. OK. Sorry, John.

JFK.

Chris, to take the lead - who played the role

of the British school teacher Anna Leonowens

in the 1999 Hollywood film Anna And The King?

That was Jodie Foster.

You've taken the lead. It was Jodie Foster.

-What's the film about, Chris?

-Well, it's exactly the same plot

-as The King And I, but without the musical.

-OK.

John, you need to get this one right or you will be knocked out.

Who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance

in the title role in the 1936 film The Story Of Louis Pasteur?

I think that was Paul Muni.

Wow! Where did you get that from?

-I don't know, somewhere at the back of my mind.

-Completely right!

-Thank you.

-Well done.

I love that! I thought that would stump you, and, bang, you're there!

Chris - the 1960 release The Thousand Eyes Of Dr Mabuse

was the final work directed by which Viennese-born film-maker?

Well, I think Fritz Lang was German rather than Austrian.

Don't think it was Josef von Sternberg.

But about that time would have been the last film of Eric von Stroheim.

So, that's who I'll go with - Eric von Stroheim.

-No, it's Fritz Lang.

-Is it indeed?

-Yes, it is.

-Ah, right.

Back to you - we're on Sudden Death now, John, it gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives.

What is the title of the only Lord Of The Rings film

that won an Academy award for Best Picture?

I haven't seen any of those, so, the only one that I know of...

is...The Goblet Of Fire.

It's... Hang on, is Goblet Of Fire...?

-That's Harry Potter.

-It's Harry Potter, that one, yeah.

-It's not that, it's Return Of The King.

-Right.

Return Of The King.

Very tricky if you haven't seen them. Chris - Deep Throat,

The Jersey Devil and Ghost In The Machine

were episodes in which US TV series, first broadcast in the US in 1993?

-That was The X-Files.

-The X-Files is the right answer.

On Sudden Death, you've taken it, Eggheads. Chris is in the final.

Sorry, John. You've been knocked out.

Is this a crisis for the challengers? We will see.

We're going to play the final round next.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

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

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So, Andy, John, Terry and Al

from Eggstra Curricular - would you please now leave the studio?

-Well, I know that wasn't quite the plan, Denise...

-No, it wasn't.

You're playing to win Eggstra Curricular £19,000.

Daphne, Chris, Barry, Pat and Judith -

you're playing for something that money can't really buy, can it?

The Eggheads' reputation.

I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer. So, Denise, the question is,

can your one brain beat the Eggheads' five?

And would you like to go first or second?

Go first - continue the theme!

Here we go. Good luck. Glass's Guide,

first published by the Scottish engineer William Glass in the 1930s,

is used in which industry?

I've never heard of it...

1930s sounds a bit early for aviation.

It could be at the beginning stage.

Motor trade, I...

I have a feeling it's shipping, simply because you said

he's a Scottish engineer, and you tend to think of

shipping and...and Scotland somehow.

-I'm going to go down the middle for shipping.

-OK.

Still used now, funnily enough,

and it was mentioned to me last time I sold my car.

It shows you, if you've got a seven-year-old Audi

-that's in roughly what condition, how much it's worth.

-Roughly, yeah.

Kind of agreed second-hand prices.

-Sorry, the answer is motor trades.

-OK.

-Eggheads,

the song Clare was a UK number one hit in 1972

for which singer-songwriter?

-Gilbert O'Sullivan.

-Gilbert O'Sullivan, definitely.

Yes!

Gilbert O'Sullivan!

Gilbert O'Sullivan is right!

OK, so they're ahead, which is not good, but they can

falter more easily than you might think. Here's your question.

The Oscar-nominated film Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

is based on a book by which American writer?

I just love it when you get questions

when you haven't heard of any of them!

So much so, you can't really say anything about any of them.

All I can do in this is to say...

..keep with the trend, straight down the middle.

-Kathryn Stockett is your answer.

-Yes.

-OK.

The name is Jonathan Safran Foer.

OK, Eggheads, so...

Denise has got two wrong. If you get this right, the contest is over.

What name is given to the large committee room

in the Palace of Westminster, used by peers

as a secondary debating chamber?

-It's the Jericho Room.

-Jericho Room?

That is what...

-That's what came to mind.

-Yes, I thought Jericho, yes.

Yes, that's what came to mind. It's not Goliath,

-and I've never heard of Moses.

-No.

-Jericho Room does ring vague bells.

-Yes.

-Yes, good.

I'm happy with that.

Well, we don't know,

but Jericho Room sounds a bit familiar,

so, that's our answer.

I worked a lot in the Houses of Parliament. I hadn't heard of this.

-Moses Room.

-Oh, is it?

-Moses Room. So, they can get questions wrong,

even when there's all five of them.

OK? So, that encourages us,

but you've got to get this one right, Denise.

In the 1960s, the fashion designer Sergio Tacchini

was one of Italy's top participants in which sport?

I suppose golf would be quite logical. It's all...

Tennis...

I just love it when you've never heard of these people.

I cannot say anything useful apart from just going, on a guess...

And there's something vague

that the Italians will do things with skiing.

So, I'm going to go for skiing.

On the law of probabilities, you should have got one right here,

by guessing three times.

But that law is very unfair.

Actually, this was the time to go down the middle.

It's tennis.

-Sorry, Denise.

-It's quite all right.

So, we have to say, I'm afraid,

congratulations, Eggheads, you have won!

And you have to really have some mettle to stand alone against them,

-so well done.

-That's quite all right. Well done, chaps.

Commiserations to the challengers. The Eggheads have done

what comes naturally to them, and their winning streak continues.

It means you won't be going home with the £19,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, this is looking really quite impressive now.

I wonder who's EVER going to beat you?!

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

have the brains to defeat our Eggheads here.

And we're up to £20,000 now saying they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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