Episode 117 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 might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Great Moulton Quizzers.

This friends and family team from Great Moulton in Norfolk

originally met through their children attending the same school.

Their friendship blossomed, and they now regularly attend

the pub quiz in their local, the Fox And Hounds. Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Nick. I'm 42 and I'm a marketing and propositions manager.

Hi, I'm Sara. I'm 45 and I'm a part-time school secretary.

Hi. I'm Neil, I'm 42, and I'm a software engineer.

Hi. I'm Lorraine. I'm 42 and I'm an associate lecturer.

Hi. I'm Dave. I'm 45 and I'm a scientist.

So, Nick and team, welcome. Good to see you. You quiz together.

-That's right.

-And you met as parents in the school.

-Absolutely.

So we've met in the village over the last few years

and we quiz together and apart, actually.

And is the pub, the Fox And Hounds, is that quite a rural pub?

Yeah, I think you'd call it a rural pub.

It's quite a small south Norfolk village.

Sara, you're going to make sure you don't hit the wrong button.

-Certainly am, Jeremy!

-ALL LAUGH

-Tell us about the incident.

-Well, it's a long time ago now,

but I was on a programme called 100 To 1...

-With Chris Tarrant.

-With Chris Tarrant.

And I had to answer the question,

"Which genre of films was Alfred Hitchcock most famous for?"

And, unfortunately, I pressed the wrong button and he became

a producer of comedy films.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-Right, OK.

So, well... He'll probably come up. He comes up quite a lot.

We've got a big jackpot today, I can tell you.

Every day there is £1,000 in cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

But, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money

rolls over to the next show. So, Great Moulton Quizzers,

the Eggheads have won the last 27 games.

-Ooh.

-Which means it's £28,000 we have for you if you win today. OK?

Can you win? Can you beat the Eggheads? Let's see.

First Head-to-Head battle is on the subject of Film & Television.

-Who would like this?

-That's you, Nick. That's your round.

-Definitely?

-It's me.

-That was pretty decisive.

Which Egghead would you like on Film & TV?

-Judith?

-Barry is good on everything else,

not on Film & Television. If you think you can beat him,

-take Barry.

-I don't think I'd beat any of them.

CHALLENGERS LAUGH

-Go for Barry.

-You think?

-Yeah.

-We're going to go for Barry, please.

-OK.

Neil's obviously got it all mapped out in his mind.

So, Nick from the Great Moulton Quizzers against Barry,

on Film & TV, from the Eggheads.

To ensure no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our Question Room?

OK, so, three multiple-choice questions on Film & TV.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Nick, you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Your first question, Nick. Good luck.

In which film, released in the UK in February 2012,

does Adam Sandler play the Sadelstein twins?

Er, I'm not a huge fan of Adam Sandler,

but I think that Al Pacino was in this film,

and I think it was called Jack And Jill.

-Jack and Jill is the right answer. Well done.

-Yes!

-Well done.

Good start to your team.

Barry. The Slipper And The Rose,

starring Gemma Craven,

was a 1976 film version of which fairy tale?

I believe that was Cinderella.

Cinderella is correct.

Back to you, Nick.

Which country was the main setting

for the wartime TV drama Secret Army,

starring Bernard Hepton and Jan Francis?

I vaguely remember watching this when I was quite young.

I think it was the programme that was then spoofed into 'Allo 'Allo!

It could be Belgium or France, but I'm going to go for France.

-I think it was France.

-It's actually Belgium.

Barry, to take the lead.

Kent Walton was an ITV commentator for over 30 years

on which subject?

Ooh. His name sounds familiar. Kent Walton.

Don't think he was a horse-racing commentator.

I think he was wrestling.

Two falls, one submission or a knockout. Certainly was.

You're right. Really missed that when it stopped being on TV.

OK, so he's in the lead, Nick, and you need this question.

Otherwise you're going to be knocked out, I'm afraid.

Ethel Merman was married to which actor for just over a month in 1964?

Ooh. That's a tricky one.

I don't know it, so I'm going to have to try and think through it.

Peter Lorre...I'm not sure.

I think he might have been quite elderly at that point.

Lee Marvin had a reputation of being...

Erm, it's going to be Lee Marvin or Ernest Borgnine.

I think I'm going to plump for Lee Marvin, please.

-Do you know, Barry?

-I think I would've gone for Ernest Borgnine.

Ernest Borgnine is the answer, Nick. Sorry.

You've been knocked out. Barry, you will be in the final.

Nick, you won't be.

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

As it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain

from the final round, and the Eggheads have lost no brains.

The next subject is Politics.

Now, which of you would like that?

-That's you or me.

-Which out of us two is it going to be?

-I'll go, shall I?

-Yeah, I think you're probably better.

Yeah. I think that's going to be me.

Which Egghead would you like? Can be anyone but Barry.

-I think probably Judith.

-Yup.

-I think Judith.

-OK.

So it's Neil from the Great Moulton Quizzers

versus Judith from the Eggheads.

To make sure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

So, Neil, you did some amazing bike ride?

It was not such an amazing bike ride,

but it was on quite an amazing bike, yeah.

We... It was Nick, Dave and I,

we did a sponsored cycle ride round Norfolk.

But we did it on one bike, so a three-seater bike.

-It was really good fun.

-So what do they call it?

A tandem or something else?

It's a three-seater tandem. It's called a triplet.

A triplet? And if you don't pedal,

-do the other two notice?

-They certainly do.

And there were times, actually, that someone would stop pedalling

-and they got short shrift.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-But you made it, and it was for charity?

-It was, yeah.

We were doing it in aid of a charity called The Big C,

which is based in Norfolk, and they support cancer research.

OK. Good luck in this round. I'll ask each of you three questions on Politics.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Neil, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

Can I go first, please, Jeremy?

You sure can. Here we go.

The UK Border Agency was set up as part of which government department?

So, I think Work and Pensions and Exchequer are both

to do with money, so it may relate to customs,

but I think it's actually more to do with

things like the Home Office's roles with policing and so on.

So I think I'm going to go with Home Office.

Home Office is the right answer.

Judith.

What term is given to the budgetary measures employed by a government

to try to influence the economy?

I think that might be fiscal policy.

-You sounded uncertain.

-No, I'm not. I'm always wary of obviousness.

You are right. Fiscal policy is right.

Your second question, Neil.

What is the name of the political blog set up in 2002

by Mick Fealty focusing on Northern Ireland news?

OK. Well, I don't know.

So, Kipper O'Malley sounds a bit fishy.

Bagger O'Shea...no.

OK, I'm not quite sure why, but I'm drawn to Slugger O'Toole.

So I think I'm going to go for that. Slugger O'Toole.

Slugger O'Toole is quite right. Well done.

Judith, your question.

In 2009, which actor left the cast of the medical TV series House

to become an associate director in the Obama administration's

Office of Public Engagement?

I've absolutely no idea.

I really don't know.

Robert Sean Leonard sounds like a very official name. So...

On the other hand, it might be...

I just have to guess, so Robert Sean Leonard.

You should have gone down the right. Kal Penn is the answer.

OK. Third question to you, Neil.

Who did Jacqueline Kennedy describe

as, "A bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman"?

Jackie Kennedy. So I think we're looking for someone around the '60s.

The only person I can really think of that would...

..fit around that time would be Indira Gandhi, but "pushy"?

I don't think that quite fits. But no.

I'm going to try for that. I'm going to try for Indira Gandhi.

OK, and if you've got this one right, you've taken the round,

cos there's no way back for our Egghead.

Do you know, Judith, the answer?

I would've thought it was Lady Bird Johnson.

No, it was Indira Gandhi. Well done, Neil, you've taken the round.

You're in the final. Judith, you've been knocked out.

Bad luck indeed.

Please, both of you, return to the studio here.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain,

the Eggheads have lost one brain as well from the Final Round.

So this is good stuff now. You're coming back.

The next subject is Music. Who would like this?

-I think that's going to be me.

-You, Lorraine.

-Yeah.

-You happy with me?

OK, Lorraine, which Egghead? Can't be Judith or Barry.

-Who do we think for Music?

-I think it'll be really tough.

-I'd suggest Dave.

-OK.

-I'd try Dave.

-OK.

We'll go for Tremendous Knowledge Dave, please.

Right. Lorraine from the Great Moulton Quizzers

versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

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

I'm going to ask each of you three question on Music in turn.

Lorraine, you can choose the first or second set.

I think I will follow with the rest of my team-mates

and I will go first, please, Jeremy.

In 1983, David Bowie had a UK number one single with "Let's..." what?

Ah. Now, I remember this.

Erm, and it certainly wasn't sing, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't move,

so I think it's Let's Dance.

Let's Dance is correct.

Dave, which song, originally by the Bangles,

was a UK number one for Atomic Kitten in 2001?

Right. I don't think it's Manic Monday.

Don't think it's Walk Like An Egyptian. I think it was number one

for both the Bangles and the Atomic Kitten in this country.

Eternal Flame.

Eternal Flame is the right answer. Well done. I wouldn't have got that.

Lorraine, your question.

Who is described in a song as, "Badder than Old King Kong,"

and, "Meaner than a junkyard dog"?

Ooh. Erm...

I'm really not sure about this.

I'm pretty sure it's not Mr Blue Sky.

I remember that song and I don't remember those lyrics in there.

I don't think it's Mustang Sally. I'm going to go for Leroy Brown.

-Leroy Brown is the right answer.

-Yes, well done.

-Who wrote that? Anyone know?

-Jim Croce.

-It was, it was Jim Croce.

-Who did Time In A Bottle and Operator...

-Then died very young.

Died in his 30s in a plane crash, yeah.

Dave, here we go. Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

At the 1997 Brits, which Spice Girl famously invited Liam Gallagher

to, "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough"?

That's a good question. Erm...

Lots of incidents at Brit Awards at those times.

Now, I just cannot imagine Emma Bunton saying that.

Could be my famous last words on this question.

Posh Spice, again, it doesn't sound right, but Sporty Spice,

who was Mel C, from Liverpool, it just seems to ring

that she might have said that, so I'll go Sporty Spice.

Yes, it's her, Sporty Spice.

It's two each, it's the third question,

and, Lorraine, it's your question.

Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Barney McKenna

were three of the founding members of which folk group?

Ooh. Folk isn't really my strong suit at all.

I have... I've heard of all of them.

But that doesn't really help particularly.

I'm just wondering from their names if they might sound Irish at all,

so whether they'd be The Dubliners.

But something's drawing me to The Chieftains,

and I don't know whether that's just because I recognise the name more.

I think I'm going to go with The Chieftains.

-I wish you'd stayed with The Dubliners.

-Oh!

It was great logic. The Dubliners is the right answer, Lorraine.

So, Dave, you've got a chance to take the round

and get your place in the final.

Since the 1950s, which Irish town has held a festival

which features lesser-known operas?

Never heard of this at all.

Erm...Pat's going to scream at me when I get this wrong.

Wexford.

-Pat?

-He's all right, yes. That's correct.

It's correct, he says. He's not going to scream at you at all.

-I got away.

-Wexford is the right answer. Dave, you're in the final.

-Sorry, Lorraine.

-Very sorry, Lorraine.

You got two right, but not enough.

Please, both of you, come back to us, rejoin your teams.

So, Nick, any change in strategy now?

-Well, I think we're doing OK. Two through.

-Two through at least, yeah.

-Going first seems to be working reasonably well.

-As planned.

As planned, at the moment. Going reasonably to plan.

If you were in the Great Moulton quiz now,

doing one of the pub quizzes, would you have switched things about?

-Er...

-We'd have another beer, I think.

-You'd have another beer?

What a great idea. They'd have another beer.

The Challengers have lost two brains,

the Eggheads have lost one brain from the all-important Final Round.

The last subject is Geography.

-So which of the Challengers will be playing in this round?

-You.

Sara, do you want to take it or want me to take it?

-No, it's got to be David.

-I'll take it, Jeremy.

-Yeah.

Dave? OK, against which Egghead, Dave?

You've got Pat and Kevin left. None is a pushover.

I'd go for Pat, but it's a really tough one.

-Up to you.

-It's difficult.

Difficult, but I'll try Pat, please, Jeremy.

So it's Dave from the Great Moulton Quizzers

versus Pat from the Eggheads and, to make sure there's no conferring,

please take your positions.

Dave, you're in the bridge club, is that right?

Yes, along with Nick and Neil. We are four bridge clubs,

which is really just an excuse to try lots of different whiskies to taste.

I did notice that it's really a whisky club where bridge is played incidentally.

That's true. That's just completely incidental,

and the fact that we also drink whisky, I think, means that my bridge

has not improved over the many years we've been playing together.

-But you're from Scotland originally?

-Yes. And my palate in whisky

has actually improved quite a bit through these bridge evenings.

And I have to say, even the English whisky,

it pains me to say it as a Scotsman, is a very, very good whisky.

All right. I'll ask each of you three questions on Geography in turn.

Dave, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

Well, I think I'll go with the remainder of my team

and pick for first please, Jeremy.

Good luck. If you get into the final, it'll be three against three.

And it is a lot of money, £27,000, that we're playing for.

Here's your first question.

Which river runs along the western border of Liechtenstein?

The western border of Liechtenstein? Liechtenstein?

Close to Germany, of course,

which may be the Rhine.

The Danube also flows round that part.

I don't think it's the Seine, which is just purely in France.

I would...

Possibly Danube, but I would maybe go with my first instinct,

which was the Rhine, please, Jeremy.

And Rhine is correct. Nice one.

Not an easy question. Pat,

which island has an airport named after Napoleon Bonaparte?

Well...

I suppose he's got connections with all three islands.

Elba's pretty small and pretty rocky.

It's a mountainous little island.

I'm not sure they'd have a... They might have a small little airport,

but they wouldn't have a substantial airport there.

He was born in Corsica and he was exiled to St Helena.

St Helena's a British possession.

I'm not sure the powers-that-be would be in any rush

to name an airport in St Helena after Napoleon,

even though he's the most famous resident of the island.

And he was born in Corsica.

So, of the three,

I think it might be Corsica.

That's good logic and you're quite right, Pat, it is Corsica.

Dave, your question.

St Machar's Cathedral, which can trace its history back to 580AD,

is in which Scottish city?

Well, I've lived in two of those cities,

Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

I haven't lived in Dundee.

And I actually lived just round the corner from St Machar Cathedral

when I lived in Aberdeen, so Aberdeen is my answer, Jeremy.

Right. Handy to have experienced it first hand. Brilliant.

Aberdeen is the right answer. Well done.

Pat, Kangaroo Point is a prestigious suburb of which Australian city?

Gosh. Kangaroo Point.

I've only one thing that might help me.

Ah. I think there was a Kangaroo Island,

which is a nature reserve, and, if my memory serves me,

I think Kangaroo Island is somewhere near Adelaide,

so perhaps Kangaroo Point, perhaps there's a link there.

But it could be any of the three.

I'm going to have to go for Adelaide, but it's a bit of a guess.

-Actually, you're wrong. It's Brisbane, Pat.

-Oh.

A little murmur of anticipation here. We're on the third question.

If you get this one right, Dave, you're in the final.

Girona, Leda and Tarragona

are three provinces of which Spanish region?

Well, I have heard of them.

The only place of those three,

the only region I've been to of those three, is Catalonia

and I don't remember it being one of those regions.

It's a bit of a guess between the other two.

Er, I would say...

-..Andalusia, Jeremy.

-It's wrong. It's Catalonia.

-Ah.

So let's see if Pat can bring it back.

Pat, what is depicted in the eighth-century cliff carving

at Madara in Bulgaria, which is now a World Heritage site?

My first thought is horse and rider

but I'm really not sure, I can't picture it.

Mermaid? Possible. Royal coronation.

The most elemental of those three options is the horse and rider.

I think that's where I'm going to have to go, horse and rider.

Horse and rider is correct. So you're level.

After three questions, how about that? We go to Sudden Death, Dave.

-So it gets a bit harder cos I don't give you alternatives.

-OK, Jeremy.

The Russian port of Vladivostok is on which ocean?

Vladivostok...

is on what ocean?

Mmm, that's a tricky one.

I would say... I would say...

The only thing I can think of, Jeremy, is the Arctic Ocean?

No. It is the Pacific.

The Pacific.

Pat. This for the round.

The Ross Dependency in Antarctica

is a region claimed by which country?

It's like a pie chart, Antarctica,

with all sort of segments claimed by different people,

sometimes overlapping. Like, Australia have a piece,

Norway have a big piece.

I'm not certain, but my feeling is that it's New Zealand.

New Zealand is the correct answer so, Pat, you're in the final.

-Sorry, Dave. You nearly had him there.

-Yeah.

And, in the end, he just overtook.

If you come back to us, we'll play the Final Round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards, the Final Round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your Head-to-Heads

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

So Nick, Lorraine and Dave

from the Great Moulton Quizzers,

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

So, Sara and Neil,

you are playing to win the Great Moulton Quizzers £28,000.

Dave, Kevin, Pat and Barry, you're playing for something money can't buy,

the Eggheads' very precious reputation.

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

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

Sara and Neil, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Can you defeat them?

-We hope so.

-Good.

I love the confidence. Would you like to go first or second?

Going first has worked quite well for us, so we're going to go first please, Jeremy.

OK, all the best. £28,000 is a big jackpot.

What is the name of the overall worn by astronauts

and others who are subject to high levels of acceleration force?

-I think Anti-G-force.

-I think it's to do with blood going away

from the brain, and that's why it's called an Anti-G-force.

-So I think Anti-G Suit.

-We think it's the Anti-G Suit, Jeremy.

Anti-G Suit is the right answer. Well done. OK.

One to you. Eggheads,

the writer and artist William Blake was born in which century?

-18th.

-18th?

He was born in the 18th century.

Can you tell us exactly when, Kevin?

Well, 1757 was the year.

-1757 is the year.

-Yeah.

And 18th is the correct answer.

Isn't that amazing? How does he do that?

Sara and Neil, OK, your second question.

William Hedley's early steam locomotive,

Puffing Billy, can be seen in which museum?

-Do you know this?

-I thought I did.

I thought it was York, so I'm not right.

-No, I think...

-Very early prototype.

Isn't it? So maybe the Science Museum?

Well, I've been to the Transport Museum.

I've not been to the Museum of London.

I have been to the Science Museum

and they have got a number of steam engine exhibits there.

I think that's more likely than the Museum of London.

-I think you're right. I think Science Museum.

-OK.

We think it's the Science Museum, Jeremy.

And you've got it absolutely right. Well done.

Chris would have known that, wouldn't he?

Chris has probably driven it.

Eggheads. Larry Slade and Harry Hope are characters

in which Eugene O'Neill play?

It's The Iceman Cometh. Yeah.

-I'm pretty sure it's The Iceman Cometh.

-Mm-hmm.

I've seen Long Day's Journey Into Night quite recently,

and that's the Tyrone family.

Mourning Becomes Electra is another...

I'm happy about... That's the one about death, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's set in a bar...

-In a bar, absolutely.

-Iceman Cometh?

-Yeah.

-OK.

I think that's The Iceman Cometh, Jeremy.

The Iceman Cometh is the right answer.

Yeah.

They're hard to shake off.

You just need them to get one wrong, then you're in.

Just don't get anything wrong yourself. Here's the third question.

Which word, coming from the French for nest,

refers to a group of pheasants?

-Nest.

-I don't...

None of them seem very French, do they?

-We should know this, coming from the countryside.

-I know.

And having lots of pheasants in the garden!

Is anything used in any other circumstances

to form nest from neem?

I would plump for neem for no other reason than it sounds more likely.

Yeah. I'm struggling, but nothing's ringing a bell, so...

-Neem.

-It's what Nick said. If you don't know, go down the middle.

We don't know, Jeremy, so we had this big strategy.

If we don't know, we'll go down the middle.

-Neem.

-OK. Neem is your answer.

Which sounds French-related. Is it right? Anyone?

-ALL: Nye.

-Nye. You all know it's Nye, do you?

Nye is the right answer.

But you're not out yet.

You're not out yet. Let's see whether they get this one right.

Completed in 2003, what type of structure was built on the site

of the house where Tsar Nicholas II and his family were killed?

Hmm. I've a feeling it might be, since the resurgence of...

-It might be a church.

-It's the logical answer.

-Yes.

-Have you seen anything on this, Pat?

-No, no.

I mean, it would be a natural site.

-Given that the... Given the way that the...

-Given the date.

..the Orthodox Church has revived in Russia.

With a church, if you build a church, you could choose

to build it in a particular place to commemorate something.

And railway station doesn't lend itself to that, does it?

-No. And opera house doesn't.

-Doesn't really.

I can't really see a logical reason why it would be a railway station

-or opera house other than just chance.

-Yeah.

And we haven't heard of it. At least with church,

-we've got a logical reason for...

-Yeah. OK, yeah.

-OK. Does that sound good enough?

-Fine, yeah.

We don't know it, Jeremy.

But just on the basis of the fact that it was a site

of the martyrdom of the royal family, and there's been a revival

of the Orthodox Church in Russia in recent years,

it seems logical that it might be commemorated in that way.

So we'll say church.

Church is your answer.

You've gone in the right direction. The answer is church, Eggheads.

Sorry, Challengers.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won again!

I thought they might go away from church.

I thought they might say railway station.

-And those wretched pheasants.

-CHALLENGERS LAUGH

-There aren't any in Great Moulton, are there?

-There's loads.

Oh, no. Now everyone'll be saying, "Look at that nye over there."

That's how life works, isn't it?

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

I'm afraid that means you won't be going home with the £28,000.

So that means the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. This is really getting very interesting.

Who will beat you? Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£29,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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