Episode 11 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 quiz champions today are...

This team of friends were inspired to apply for Eggheads

whilst munching on that student favourite - pesto-flavoured pasta.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Thomas, I'm 20,

and I study economics and physics at Edinburgh.

Hello, I'm Guthrie, I'm 20 years old,

and I study economics at Edinburgh.

Hi, I'm Kirsty, I'm 19 years old, and I study medicine at Edinburgh.

Hello, I'm Max, I'm 20, and I study economics at Dundee.

Hi, I'm Ruairidh, I'm 20 years old, and I study economics at Edinburgh.

Well, welcome to you, Power To The Pesto.

We've explained how you got the team name. I just wondered, other student favourite,

what if it was beans on toast you happened to be eating that night?

I guess it would be something like that.

-Power To The Beans.

-You are very keen on watching Eggheads, are you?

-Yeah.

We enjoy watching it, maybe to the detriment of my studies a little bit.

Well, it can only aid your studies, so intellectual a programme it is.

I mean, do you find that you do well when you're playing at home?

Of course, it's very different from playing here as you'll find out.

Sometimes. I guess it depends on the round and just

-if the questions within the topics are favoured by me.

-Yeah.

OK. Right, then, good luck to you,

because every day there's £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, Power To The Pesto, the Eggheads have won the last 21 games.

That means £22,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-That would buy a bit of pesto.

-Yeah.

-Maybe some pasta to go with it.

OK, the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film and TV.

A subject, I'm sure, you know little bit about, all of you.

-Which one wants to play it?

-Right.

-I think maybe Kirsty.

That's either Kirsty or Max. Who wants to do it?

-I think we'll go with Kirsty.

-Kirsty?

-Yep, yep.

OK, Kirsty, and choose any of those Eggheads.

Right, boys, what do we think?

-Barry is probably a good one to go with, I think.

-Barry?

-Barry?

-I'm happy with that.

-We'll try Barry.

Just why do you think Barry?

We did a little research before the show...

Oh, dear!

-..and I think Barry might have lost a couple of times. I'm not sure.

-Lost?!

It has been known, but not that often, it must be said.

It's going to be Kirsty and Barry contesting Film and TV.

Could I ask you both, please, to go to the question room.

That, Kirsty, as you know, is so you can't confer with your team-mates.

Well, Kirsty, here's hoping Barry has one of his off days.

As I say, pretty infrequent, but could be time just right for you.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go second, please.

I see.

Been thinking through the tactics as well, hoping Barry slips up first.

OK, Barry. The media personality Alvin Hall became famous

for presenting programmes on which subject?

This was a good choice by Kirsty,

because I've never heard of Alvin Hall, I'm afraid to say.

-Ho-ho!

-So I'm struggling a little, here. Alvin Hall.

Well, I watch a lot of cookery programmes

and I've never seen his name mentioned in cookery,

or even in antiques, and I do tend to watch a few antiques shows.

So, I shall go for finance.

I love that preamble and giving us false hope.

You did it, the elimination technique, anyway.

Yes, it is the right answer, finance.

OK, well, for the tactic not to have backfired totally, Kirsty,

you need to get this -

Lynne Frederick was the last wife of which actor?

I must say, I have absolutely no idea,

so I think I'm going to have to take a guess.

-Just off the top of my head, I'll go for Peter Sellers.

-OK.

And Barry laughs because he knew the answer to that,

and he knows that's correct. Peter Sellers. OK.

Barry, second question.

In 2011, which actor won a BAFTA award for his portrayal

of Eric Morecambe in the TV film Eric And Ernie?

Well, the good news is I saw this film and it was excellent,

but I can't remember who played him!

So I'm really struggling today.

That's the other way round from Kirsty's view. That's good news.

-I really don't know on this. Robert Sheehan.

-OK.

It is the wrong answer.

It's Mr Daniel Rigby playing Eric Morecambe.

Well, great news, Kirsty, but to capitalise you need to get this.

Which French director's films

include Subway, Leon and The Big Blue?

Well, I'm absolutely rubbish with French films, so absolutely no idea.

Erm...

-I think I will go with Claude Chabrol.

-Claude Chabrol.

No, it's the wrong answer. It's Luc Besson.

Well, no damage done, then.

It stays all square. Both failing with your second questions.

Third one for you, Barry. Which role was played by Natalie Dormer

in the historical television drama The Tudors?

Now, this is one I watched avidly cos I really enjoy that period,

though I still can't get it into my head that Jonathan Rhys Meyers

was actually Henry VIII.

But Natalie Dormer, I'm sure, played Anne Boleyn.

Right answer, yes, having watched it.

OK, well, it's turned around a bit, Kirsty.

You've got to get this to stay in the game.

Which American actor was Oscar-nominated in 2010

for his performance in The Hurt Locker,

and again in 2011 for his role in The Town?

Well, I have seen The Hurt Locker,

but at the moment the name of the actor is escaping me.

-I'm going to go with John Hawkes.

-John Hawkes.

It's not. It's not John Hawkes. Do you know of the other two, Barry?

I thought it was Mark Ruffalo.

You're both really good at this, cos it's Jeremy Renner.

I mean, what it goes to prove is what a tough round this has been.

These questions, unless you'd seen them as Barry had there

with Anne Boleyn, which is what's won him the round...

Very, very tough, I thought, there.

So, bad luck there, Kirsty,

but Barry turned it round and has ejected you from the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, Power To The Pesto lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads, of course, all still there. Only one round gone.

Our second head-to-head is Science.

Who would like to take this on from Power To The Pesto?

-The team captain.

-Thomas, OK. Any Egghead apart from Barry.

-Pat?

-Pat?

-Pat.

-Yeah, go for it.

-Right, I think we'll take on Pat.

OK, it's going to be Pat, then, playing Thomas.

Both into the question room now, please.

So, Thomas, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Thomas, first question.

What term is used to refer to an indicator on a computer screen

that can be moved by the user?

OK, so I recognise all the words,

but I think the one I'd most associate with a computer is cursor.

-Or at least moving it around.

-Yeah, indeed, it's the right answer.

Yes, of course, cursor. OK, Pat.

On a standard UK QWERTY keyboard, the letters Esc, E-S-C,

often seen on a key at the top-left are short for what?

They're short for escape.

They are indeed.

Both handling those computer-based questions very easily indeed.

And Thomas...

Which of the senses is primarily affected

by the disorder achromatopsia?

This would've been a good question for Kirsty who just went up before.

-She's studying medicine, so...

-Yeah.

I think I might have heard of it if it had something to do with

smell or sight, although they are quite big categories, still.

-But I think I'm going to go with touch.

-OK, achromatopsia.

Well, let's ask Kirsty.

I haven't come to achromia-topsia yet...

-Achromatopsia.

-..but I would've gone for touch as well.

-OK.

Well, still some studying to do, then, cos it's sight.

Achromatopsia is associated with sight.

So, nothing there, then, for Thomas.

Pat, what is the chemical symbol for the element astatine?

I should be able to just fire off the answer, but...

Ah, let me just think.

It's certainly not An, I can eliminate that.

I don't think there is an element with the name An.

Wait, no, there are a couple of elements which have got

rather odd symbols.

Antimony is Sn, arsenic is... Is arsenic As?

No, I don't think it is. I think it's As.

As for this astatine. Um, it's not.

-It's At.

-It's At.

-That's the other one, obviously, you were thinking of.

-Mental block.

Right, well, it stays all square.

Thomas, that's good, no harm done there,

and you take the lead if you give me a correct answer here.

What type of creature is a Royal Gramma?

Royal Gramma sounds as if it's been named...

Maybe an expression sponsored by a monarch at some point.

I think, kind of a glamorous creature, might be a snake,

so I'm happy to go with a snake, but I don't now.

OK, you don't know, but I like the reasoning.

Not sure if it's the right reasoning,

but it's the wrong answer. It's not a snake.

Don't know if there was some expedition

which uncovered the Royal Gramma, which is a... Pat?

-I think it's a fish.

-It is a fish.

It is a fish.

Well, Thomas not getting that gives you a chance to win the round, Pat.

This is your question.

The Missyplicity Project was an early attempt to clone

which type of creature?

Perhaps Missy was the parent,

and plicity - they formed the word that way. That's possible.

Missy.

It'd be a bit strange to be cloning rabbits,

seeing as they have a legendary ability to reproduce themselves.

They don't need any help.

Missy sounds almost like a pet name,

in which case a parrot or a dog would be...

People can name their rabbits,

but a parrot or a dog would seem more plausible.

Well, I haven't heard of much parrot cloning,

but there has been a fair amount of dog cloning,

including the South Korean, Snuppy, who turned out to be a fake.

So, um...

-I better go for dog.

-OK, dog.

I love the way on this third question both of you

have woven a story around the question.

We had Thomas there with his expedition,

hacking through the jungle looking for the Royal Gramma,

and then imagining it to be a noble animal like a snake, and was wrong.

And Pat's come up with the idea we need a pet here,

because of the name Missy, perhaps, applied,

and what kind of thing you would call Missy? You'd call a dog that.

You've got the right answer, Pat, and for the right reasons!

The dog was called Missy.

So, you know, bad luck there, Tom.

As I say, similar thought processes applied.

Unfortunately, you got it wrong and you won't be in the final round.

Would you both please come back to join your teams?

Power To The Pesto have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there. So, our third head-to-head,

this one is Geography.

Who would like to play Geography?

Probably would've been me. I think we're looking at Ruairidh.

-Ruairidh's our second back up.

-It's definitely not going to be me.

-Ruairidh?

-I think we're going to take Ruairidh on.

OK, Ruairidh, who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Can't be Barry or Pat, so you have Kevin, Judith or Chris.

Who are we going for?

I think I'm going to go for Judith.

-Judith?

-Judith?

-OK.

Let's have Ruairidh and Judith into the Question Room now, please.

So, it is Geography, and do you want to go first or second, Ruairidh?

I'll go second, please.

Second, putting the Egghead in once again,

and your question is this, Judith -

the Chauvet Cave, which is home to some of the world's oldest

cave paintings, is in which European country?

-Can you just spell it, just to make sure?

-Of course. C-H-A-U-V-E-T.

I think that is France.

On the spelling alone?

It's the right answer, Judith. Yes, of course. OK.

And first question, then, going to you, Ruairidh.

Often regarded as the most expensive road ever built in Britain,

the Limehouse Link opened in which city in the 1990s?

OK. Well, I'm from Scotland and I've not heard of it around Glasgow.

Erm...

As a pure guess, I'm going to go with Birmingham.

London.

The Limehouse Link is in London. Why so expensive, Eggheads?

-Mostly in tunnel.

-Tunnelling, isn't it?

-Yeah.

It was part of the Docklands redevelopment, wasn't it?

Leading to Canary Wharf.

So City boys can get to Canary Wharf five minutes faster.

DERMOT LAUGHS

OK, well, Judith, you have a lead, and potentially a bigger one here.

Once the home of a thriving Norman castle,

the town of Berkhamsted is in which county?

I don't not anything about the castle,

but I think Berkhamsted is in Hertfordshire.

It's the right answer.

Judith, you do have that big lead, a commanding lead. 2-0.

Very threateningly, then, for you, Ruairidh,

it means you've got to get this.

Crescent City and The City That Care Forgot

are some of the many nicknames of which American city?

Again, I don't really know this one.

Erm...

I'm sure Seattle's got a nickname. I can't really remember it.

I'm just going to have to guess, I think.

I'm going to go with...

..Philadelphia.

Oh, no.

Was it Seattle?

It's not Philadelphia and it's not Seattle either. It's New Orleans.

Judith, you don't need any more questions,

you've won the round 2-0.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, Power To The Pesto,

three brains gone now from the final round. Eggheads are all still there.

Last chance coming up to knock one of them out

and it's on the subject of Sport.

And we have left Guthrie or Max to play.

-Think we'll go for Max.

-Max.

All right, Max, and which Egghead would you like to play?

Pat, Barry and Judith have already competed,

so you have Kevin or Chris.

-Just do what you want.

-I'll take on Kevin, I think.

OK, Kevin on Sport.

So, it's going to be Max taking on Kevin.

Into the question room, both of you, please.

OK, Sport, and would you like to go first or second, Max?

I think I'll go second.

So, you face the first question, Kevin.

In 2001, Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his debut

for which international football team?

Despite the Balkan-sounding name,

he's actually a Swedish national, so he plays for Sweden.

Yeah, could've been tricky, couldn't it?

Not to you, though, it's the right answer.

And first question, then, to you, Max.

Which tennis player was named

Australia's Davis Cup captain in October 2010?

Erm...

Tennis probably should have been one that I would be strong at,

although, maybe not this question.

I don't think it's Lleyton Hewitt.

Pat Cash does a lot of commentary,

although I think he's maybe their Davis Cup captain as well.

I'm going to say Pat Cash.

OK, Pat Cash.

It isn't Pat, but it's Rafter.

Patrick Rafter is the answer we're looking for.

Kevin got his and Max didn't,

so, chance again then, Kevin, to forge into a bigger lead.

Hermann Tilke found fame as a leading designer of what?

Right. It sounds... I must admit, I don't think I've heard of him.

I wouldn't have thought it would be horse racing courses,

simply because they tend to grow...

Well, I say organically, but over centuries, over a long time.

A lot of the leading golf course designers are American.

That's not to say that he's not American. He could be.

He's just got a Germanic-sounding name. Given the...

Given the prominence of Germans in early motor racing,

things like the Nurburgring, Hockenheim and various others,

I would go for motor racing circuits, just on the basis that

it's more likely with somebody Germanic. Let's put it that way.

And it is the right answer, Kevin, yeah.

-You worked it out, those slim percentages.

-Yeah.

OK, well, you need to get this, then, Max.

Paula Radcliffe won a gold medal in the 2002 Commonwealth Games

in which event?

Erm...

I think going to go for 10,000m.

10,000m.

What's the reasoning on that, given that she now seems

to concentrate on the marathon and that's the closest to that distance?

-Yeah, basically, that's the furthest of the three options, and so...

-Yeah.

It's not the right answer, though. She's good at the 5,000, too.

And won the gold in 2002.

That means you're not going to be trying to win the £22,000 today

with Guthrie, who's going to be on his own.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, now, this is what we've been playing towards -

it's time for the final round, as always, General Knowledge.

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

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

so Thomas, Kirsty, Max and Ruairidh from Power To The Pesto,

would you leave the studio now, please?

So, then, Guthrie, you're playing to win Power To The Pesto £22,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith, and Kevin, you're playing

for something which money can't buy - it's the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time the questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

Guthrie, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

And Guthrie, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'd like to go first, please.

OK, good luck, Guthrie. First question is this -

what did JK Rowling call the Harry Potter website she launched in 2011

which allowed users to access background material

as well as engage with the interactive universe?

Right, well, I've read all the books,

but I was never aware that there was a website like this.

I wouldn't have thought Potterschool would be that. No.

So, I could discount that,

just cos I don't feel it would be called a school.

Erm, Pottermore or Potterville?

Both quite plausible. Pottermore...

I think I'll go for Pottermore.

-Pottermore?

-Yeah.

-More on Potter. It's the right answer.

Yes, well done, well worked out.

Pottermore.

Eggheads, your first question - which actor played the title role

in an ill-fated Broadway production of Macbeth in 2000 which closed

after a short run and incurred reported losses of 1.5 million?

-Do you think it might be Eddie Murphy?

-Any thoughts?

-No thoughts.

Kelsey Grammar. Steve Martin.

Steve Martin does lots of different things, in his favour.

Yeah, I mean, I have no idea. I have no idea.

I mean, the only thing that I would...

-Steve Martin does have...

-But he's a comic.

Yeah, but he does have these sort of intellectual credentials.

He's written plays.

-He wrote a play called Picasso At The Lapin Agile, for instance.

-Yes.

I must admit, I had an inkling in the my mind that Steve Martin...

-You had an inkling?

-Do you? Right, OK.

-I'd be inclined to go along with that as well.

-What's the consensus?

-Are we going for Steve Martin?

-Yeah, it's the first question, isn't it?

-Right, the consensus is Steve Martin, Dermot.

-Steve Martin? OK.

Well, the answer is Kelsey Grammer.

-Well, Guthrie...

-Good start.

Good start, but don't dare to hope yet.

Let's get this under your belt, then dare to hope. OK, second question.

Guy Verhofstadt was the prime minister of which country

from 1999 to 2008?

Guy Verhofstadt. Right. Well, not heard of him.

So I'm trying to think of heads of state for all these countries.

Can't really think of any from those dates.

It's going to have to be a guess.

Erm...

Belgium, but that's a guess.

-Belgium, a guess. Guy Verhofstadt.

-I'm not confident.

Tell you what, Thomas is confident.

That's not a good thing, though. THEY LAUGH

-It is, cos it's the right answer!

-Oh, my...

It's the right answer.

So, well done. You have a 2-0 lead.

You might not have to answer another question.

-Well, that might be too much.

-You might not, I'm just saying.

Well, if the Eggheads get this wrong...

They were all over the place with their first one.

If they get this wrong, you've won the money.

Eggheads, in the 20th century,

Kenzo Tange from Japan was a leading figure in which field?

In the 20th century,

Kenzo Tange from Japan was a leading figure in which field?

-Definitely an architect.

-He was an architect, yeah.

Yeah, he was definitely an architect, Dermot, so it's architecture.

OK, so you know this one.

It is the right answer, Eggheads, so we get down to business.

No pressure at all, Guthrie, but 22 grand for one question.

I think it's a bit more than you get from the pub quiz machine.

Let's see if you can get this.

Nutmegger is a nickname for people from which US state?

I've not really travelled the States at all, only been to Florida, so...

that's not going to help. Nutmegger.

Trying to think of what that would relate to.

Nuts, something to do with nuts. No.

Erm, right, I'm going to discount Arkansas for no reason.

And Oregon or Connecticut?

Erm...

I'm going to go for Oregon.

OK, Oregon for Nutmeggers.

Presumably, Eggheads, produce a lot of nutmeg? The spice. And...

it's Connecticut.

-Connecticut. You were down to the last two.

-Yeah.

50/50 for £22,000.

Well, you know, you've still got another chance

without, perhaps, answering another question.

Eggheads, you need to get this one right.

Charles Armitage Brown is best known as being the housemate

and confidant of which poet?

Wordsworth lived with his sister, didn't he?

Well, I've got a strong instinct on this one, but I think it's Keats.

Yes, my instinct said Keats.

But when the Keats lived in Hampstead,

he shared his house with a friend.

-I think it was actually Brown's house, and he gave Keats...

-A room.

Room. I may... I hope I haven't got the wrong guy, but...

-It seems very plausible.

-My instinct was that too.

I can't relate that sort of thing to either Shelley or Wordsworth,

so I think it's Keats, but it might not be.

OK, well, it's the best we've got.

We think it was a household in Hampstead,

and Keats lived there, so we'll go with Keats.

Keats and Charles Armitage Brown to take us into Sudden Death, or...

hand the money over to Power To The Pesto.

It's Sudden Death, it's the right answer.

Keats is correct.

-Well, just keep the faith.

-Yeah.

-Focus on this.

Now, Sudden Death means we've taken away the choices.

I've just got to hear an answer from you to sort out a winner.

-Good luck, Guthrie.

-Thank you.

How many characters are In Search Of An Author,

according to the title of Luigi Pirandello's 1921 play?

How many characters are In Search Of An Author,

according to the title of Luigi Pirandello's 1921 play?

Erm, not familiar with it at all,

so it's going to have to be a guess again.

I can't see it being a ridiculously high number,

so I'm going to go for kind of a lowish number.

-13 has just sprung to mind, so I'll go for 13.

-13.

I can see why you would go for that. It's not 13, though. 13 characters.

No, it's incorrect. Eggheads, do you know?

-EGGHEADS:

-Six.

-Six.

Six Characters In Search Of An Author

in Pirandello's 1921 play.

Well, this would be quite a turnaround if the Eggheads get this.

Eggheads, who was the first British monarch to send

a transatlantic telegram?

THEY CONFER

When was the first?

I thought there was a first involving Victoria and Buchanan.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And where's Buchanan?

-Well, Buchanan, he was the 1850s.

It could be, for some reason, that it didn't happen

until Edward VII or something like that, but Victoria seems likely.

-Bit late for Edward VII.

-Hmm?

-Bit late for Edward VII.

-Yeah, she seems likely

just because she was there for about three or four decades after the...

-Yeah, after the cables were laid.

-..after the cables were laid.

Well, the cables were laid in the 1860s, and Victoria was still around

until 1901, so it's highly likely that the first transatlantic telegram

sent by a British monarch was sent by Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria. Pat, I had you mention Buchanan.

I think there is a first linking Victoria and James Buchanan.

Yeah, that is the right answer, yes.

And it was between Victoria and James Buchanan.

The only thing you got wrong was the dates - not the 1860s, 1857,

so you'll have to get back to the reference books

and see when those cables were laid. Obviously, during the 1850s.

The answer is Queen Victoria, which means Eggheads, you've won.

Forget about Queen Victoria and the cable laying,

we turn to Guthrie and say what a heroic struggle you put up there

to try and grab that £22,000.

And came that close too.

-Yeah, it was close, wasn't it?

-Oh!

I bet you'll never, ever forget that Connecticut is the nutmeg capital

of the United States!

I think you ought to go out there and indulge in some of it,

but I think a bowl of pesto-covered pasta tonight is on the cards.

Thank you very much for playing the Eggheads today,

and in spite of what happened in the head-to-heads,

coming so close to beating them. Just not there.

Well done, Guthrie, well done to the rest of you.

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

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £22,000

and that 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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£23,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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