Episode 121 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 Worm Charmers from Devon.

They quiz together at The George in Blackawton.

When not quizzing, they prepare for the village's world-famous Worm Charming Festival.

Sounds fascinating. Let's meet them.

My name's Phil, I'm 61 and a musician.

Hi. I'm Nick, I'm 54 and I'm a cadet manager.

Hi, I'm Pete, I'm 54 and I'm a builder.

Hello. I'm Philip, I'm 48 and an independent financial adviser.

Hi, I'm Jos, I'm 59 and I'm a bookkeeper.

Phil and team, welcome. I need to know more about worm charming.

Firstly, what the point of it is.

I'll pass you over to Nick. He's our worm master.

I'm the worm master for the festival and what we try to achieve is to get 300 or 400 people

in a secret field trying to get as many worms out of the ground as they can from one square metre

without digging or forking.

-And so how do you do it? You sing to them?

-People have done feng shui, played violins, trumpets,

-but most people bring a fluid.

-A fluid?

-A fluid of some sort.

An elixir with their secret ingredient, but before they use it we make them drink some of it first.

Is this the maddest thing we've ever heard about? It's quite close.

-What's the record, then?

-It's 150.

-150 worms?

-Yes. In 15 minutes.

-They all suddenly come to the surface?

-Yes.

-And what was the elixir?

-We don't know.

We'd like to find out! Anyone seen this amazing thing?

I've seen it on television.

I saw children doing it.

-That's right.

-Well, we'll get round to it later on if there's time.

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

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

So, Worm Charmers, the challengers won the last game.

That means £1,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

The first Head to Head is on Film and TV. Which one of you wants it?

That will be...Peter.

Peter will do Film and TV.

-Good luck, Pete.

-Any Egghead that you fancy there?

-Do you want to test David?

Dave, yeah. Go for Dave.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Peter from the Worm Charmers against Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

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

Good luck. Three multiple choice questions. Pete, do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. In what capacity did Robert Dougall regularly appear on television?

Yeah, this goes back to the 1960s,

1970s.

I believe he was a newsreader.

He was a newsreader. Quite right.

OK, Dave, your question.

According to a 1970s public information film, motorists should think once, think twice, think what?

Em, I think it was about... It wasn't bridge and bollards.

I think it's bike.

Bike is the right answer. Well done.

-"Think bollard" would be a strange one.

-Yeah.

-OK, Pete.

Which 1978 film was Warren Beatty's directorial debut?

Heaven Can Wait I'm pretty sure is the one that bombed.

Reds, I'm not too sure.

And I think I'll go for Dick Tracy.

No, it's interesting. I had the same thought as you.

I thought Heaven Can Wait bombed, but that's Heaven's Gate.

The answer is Heaven Can Wait. They're all Warren Beatty? What was Heaven Can Wait about?

-An American footballer who dies and sort of goes to heaven and is given a second chance.

-OK.

Did it bomb? No?

-It was a successful film.

-OK, your chance to take the lead, Dave.

In which sitcom did the title characters live next door to the Fourmile family?

Right. I don't think it's Terry and June, I don't think it's Steptoe and Son.

I seem to remember the Fourmiles were quite...

There was one middle-aged man who wasn't too happy with the antics of George and Mildred.

I used to love this comedy. George and Mildred is right.

-With Yootha Joyce and...

-Brian Murphy.

-Brian Murphy, yeah.

They were brilliant.

OK, Pete, you need to get this right or you're out.

Which James Bond actor made his movie debut as Philip II in the 1967 film The Lion In Winter?

Once again, I'm not too sure about this one.

So...I'm going to have to go for Timothy Dalton.

Timothy Dalton is the right answer. Well done.

Very tricky.

Dave, if you get this one right, you're in the final round. Which Hitchcock movie was filmed in 3D?

Right. Now then...

It's not Dial M For Murder, I don't think.

I'm going to have to go... It's a turkey shoot between Vertigo and Rear Window.

I'll have to go, in this case, Vertigo.

-Dial M For Murder is the answer.

-I ruled it out straight away!

OK, Pete, this is good.

You both got two right. We go to sudden death, Pete. It means it's a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives.

Which 1991 film had both of its stars nominated for the Best Actress Oscar?

1991?

I can't think of a film, actually.

What shall I go for? Out of Africa.

No, Thelma and Louise. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon.

But Jodie Foster for Silence of the Lambs won it.

OK, for the round, Dave.

In which 1965 Western does Lee Marvin play both Kid Shelleen and his brother, Tim Strawn?

-Let's go for it. Cat Ballou.

-Cat Ballou is the right answer! He won an Oscar for both performances,

but he must have won just one Oscar.

Dave, you've taken the round.

Sorry, Pete. He is very, very good. You won't be in the final. He will.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

So the challengers have lost one brain from the final round, but there's plenty of time here.

Guys? At this point in a worm contest, what would you do? Bring on a new elixir?

Oh, yes.

The next subject is History.

Who'd like this? Can't be Pete.

-It's down to me.

-Jos, isn't it?

-Jos, don't go yet!

-Don't go just yet!

- We've got to pick an Egghead. - It would be easier without one.

-Which one of these?

-That is tough.

-It is, isn't it?

It is tough, this one. How about Pat?

-Would that be a suggestion for you?

-Yeah.

-We'll choose Pat, then.

OK, it's going to be Jos from the Worm Charmers trying to make sure that Pat

goes back underground. How's that for my little worm, Eggheads connection? Didn't work.

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

I'll ask three questions on history. It may or may not include worm charming, Jos.

-Whoever answers the most correctly is the winner. First or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. The Queen's 1957 Christmas message was the first to be broadcast in which medium?

Now then, I think...

it had been on the radio for some time, hadn't it?

And Morse Code, I guess, has been going for longer.

So I would have said I'll go for television.

Television is quite right.

Broadcasting in Morse Code. It would take a while, wouldn't it?

What name was given to the fear that Communists were infiltrating American life in the 1950s?

Well, Reds is the standard American term for Russian Communists.

They worked themselves up into something of a frenzy, people like McCarthy.

I think it must be Red Scare.

Red Scare is the right answer. Well done. OK, over to you, Jos.

Which town taken by Cromwell in 1658

was sold to Louis XIV by Charles II in 1662?

Well, they're all French towns, obviously.

And...

all famous in their own way. However, I think the English

have had most connection with Calais. And I would guess that that was the one that was sold.

-I'll go for Calais.

-As a matter of fact it's Dunkirk.

It's Dunkirk.

Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was destroyed by the Goths in AD262?

I don't think they...

They don't know where the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were.

They were obliterated a long time ago.

The Temple of Artemis was burned down by - what's his name? - Herostratus.

He wanted to ensure his name lived forever, so he burnt it down as an act of vandalism.

The statue of Zeus is at Olympia, so it's in Greece.

If the Goths are coming from central, northern Europe,

I suppose Greece is slightly handier.

They could go down to Ephesus or all the way to Syria, Iraq.

So I don't know the answer,

but I'll speculate on the statue of Zeus.

Temple of Artemis is the answer.

How about that? A bit of surprise here on the Eggheads' side.

-I'm quite surprised.

-You, too?

-It was rebuilt after it was burnt down the first time.

-OK.

There we are. Level pegging.

-How about that, Jos?

-I'm still in with a chance.

-You very much are.

Get this and put pressure on him. Which King of England is said to have remarked of his family

that they "come of the devil" and to the devil they would go?

Wow. Now that's a question and a half.

To the devil they would go...

I don't think it was Richard I because he was always too busy off fighting in the Crusades.

So I'll probably eliminate him.

So it's really between Edward II and Henry V.

Edward II I don't really fancy, so I'm going to go for Henry V.

-Anyone know on this side?

-Richard I.

-Richard I, Jos.

-Oh, gosh.

-Pat, if you get this one right, you've taken the round.

Which US President appointed the former child actor Shirley Temple

as a member of the American delegation to the United Nations?

She became Shirley Temple Black on marriage. I think she was an ambassador to places like Ghana.

I can't really do anything date-wise with that.

It could have been early or late. She finished acting around 20,

so she had a short career as you'd expect from a child star.

It could be Eisenhower. I don't think it's Reagan. It's either Eisenhower or Nixon.

I'll go for Nixon, but I'm not sure.

Richard Nixon is quite right. Well done. You've taken the round.

-Never mind.

-If you come back to us, we can play on.

The challengers have lost two brains, the Eggheads have lost none. They look just a little bit smug.

The next subject is Sport. Who'd like Sport?

Right. He's got to be our man.

-Yes. Philip?

-I'll do Sport.

-Sitting on the right.

-Against which Egghead?

It can't be Pat or Dave.

-Daphne?

-I think so, too.

-Daphne?

You think about this now. You get beaten by Daphne, your name will be...

-I'll never go in the pub again! There's an incentive.

-That's an insult to our Daphne.

-Daphne, please.

-Philip against the charming Daphne from the Eggheads. Please go to the Question Room.

-Phil, you're the choice for sport.

-Yes, for my sins.

-And you think Daphne is weak in that area?

-The team seem to think that!

OK, good luck. Three questions. Philip, the first or second set?

I'd like to go second, please.

OK, here we go, Daphne.

In 2005, footballer Robin van Persie made his full international debut for which country?

Football?!

Oh, God. Em...

I think he's Dutch, so Netherlands?

Netherlands is the right answer. Over to you, Philip. In the US,

the Golden Gloves is a well-known amateur competition in which sport?

I don't think it's snowboarding and there's no gloves in archery,

so I'll go for boxing, please.

-Philip, you're right. Boxing.

-Yeah!

Great excitement here.

Daphne, Louis Deacon, born in 1980, found fame in which sport?

I haven't heard of him in snooker.

I haven't heard of him in swimming, so rugby union?

-No?

-Rugby union is correct.

Oh!

Elimination is the key.

OK, Philip, the King's Course and Queen's Course are famously part of which golfing venue?

I don't think it's Muirfield.

Royal Troon, I suppose that's got the King and Queen.

-I'm going to go for Gleneagles. Yes, Gleneagles.

-Is he right, team?

-Yes!

-Yes, you're right. Well done.

-Well done, Phil!

Two points each. OK.

Daphne, the stick and ball game known as cammag is most associated with which island?

Oh. Could you spell it?

C-A-M-M-A-G.

Well...

It...

To me, the only one that's got a language, so it might be different,

is the Isle of Man. So that's what I'll go for.

Isle of Man is the right answer. Nice one. OK.

Philip, if you get this wrong, you've been knocked out. Aaron Rogers

was named which sport's most valuable player for 2011? Aaron is spelt A-A-R-O-N.

Right.

I'm going to have to have a guess on this one, I'm afraid.

I'm drawn to basketball. I don't know why.

So I'll go with... yeah, basketball?

-You don't sound very certain.

-I'm not, no.

-All American-based.

-Yeah.

It's American football. I'm sorry. You've been knocked out by Daphne.

Daphne, well done. You're in the final yet again. Please both of you come back here to the studio.

So the challengers have lost three brains, the Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

Just keep pummelling them and the worms will come to the surface.

The last subject is Science. Who'd like this? Is that good?

-Nick or Phil, it's got to be one of you two.

-It's got to be Nick!

-Yeah.

-OK, Nick.

The worm master against which Egg?

Barry or Chris?

-Let's get Chris out the way.

-Yes, I think so. I'll go for Chris.

OK, so it is Nick against Chris from the Eggheads.

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

-Nick, tell us about your top. It looks unusual.

-It's a vicar's cassock from a charity shop.

And my dear lady wife who makes her own fancy dress costumes

put some worms on them to make me look like a worm master.

-And that is your role in the village.

-It is, yeah.

-You'll check the worms that come above ground and count them?

-We have an international judge.

I'm busy compering the whole event.

-And do you get a prize for the largest worm or it just quantity?

-It's quantity.

-So if a whole load of very small worms come out, that counts?

-Yes.

-Are you allowed to cut worms in half?

-Certainly not. It kills them.

-And when you release them back, is it to the same holes?

-Yes. Straight back where we got them.

-Do they eat or drink the elixir?

-Well, there's something that attracts them.

-I guess it's the elixir that must bring them to the surface.

-Is the field special in some way?

-Yes, it's secret.

-No, I wonder why it has so many worms in it.

There are lots of worms in any field. If you go past a field full of cows,

-the number of worms in that field will far outweigh the cows in weight.

-Is that right? Chris?

Yeah, there's a lot of worms out there.

-So a field will have heavier worms than cows?

-Mm-hm.

-OK. That's a good fact.

-That could be a Steve Wright factoid. We love your top and we wish you well on Science.

-Thank you.

-Do you want the first or second set?

-I'd like to go first, please.

The process of setting up measuring equipment so that it conforms to a standard is known as what?

Em, filtration is to remove something from something else.

Titration, I don't know what that is.

I'm fairly certain it's calibration.

Well done. It is calibration.

See if you can get in the final.

In the name of the class of drugs known as NSAID, what does the letter S stand for? NSAID is N-S-A-I-D.

Aye...

Well, surgical, that's getting in there with knives and hardware.

It wouldn't be a drug as such.

Swelling, you'd want an anti-inflammatory.

So since steroids are drugs, I'll go with steroidal.

Steroidal is the right answer. Well done. Back to you, Nick.

WIMP, a computing acronym relating to graphical user interfaces,

usually stands for Windows, Icons, Menus and what?

Oh. This isn't my strong department, I have to say.

I think pixels is what makes up the screen, when we look at it.

Pointers... I feel comfortable with going for peripherals.

-Anyone on your team know?

-Not really, but I think he's right.

-It's not. It's pointers.

-OK.

-It must be the mouse action and all that.

Chris, what property of water

has a value of 0.07275 joules per square metre at 20 degrees Celsius?

Well, joules is a measure of energy.

Per square metre. That's an area.

So surface tension must be measurable, so it's surface tension.

Surface tension is right. Two out of two. He's taken the lead here, Nick.

Got to get this right. What species of moth has the scientific name lymantria dispar?

OK. The only one I know there is a gypsy moth.

The wax and the satin moth I'm not familiar with,

but I'm going to go for wax moth.

Ah! Eggs?

-Do you know?

-Satin?

-They're drawing a blank as well.

-It's a tough one, this. It's the gypsy moth, Nick.

-OK.

I'm sorry. There's no way back. Chris is in the final round

and you've been knocked out. So the final round looks tricky, but it can be done.

Both come back to us and we will play it.

So this is what we have been playing towards - the final round, which is on general knowledge.

But those of you who lost

won't be allowed to take part, so Nick, Pete, Philip and Jos from the Worm Charmers,

would you please now leave the studio?

Good luck, Phil. You are playing to win the Worm Charmers £1,000.

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

I will ask each team three questions. They're all general knowledge and you can confer.

So, Phil, the question is is your one brain able to take out the Eggheads' five?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first.

Good luck. What term is often used to refer to a satisfied participant?

Em...

I would...I would think...

It wouldn't be a happy mountaineer, I wouldn't have thought.

Happy rambler doesn't come to mind. I'll plump for happy camper.

Happy camper is correct.

Eggheads, in a speech

in London in 1856, who proclaimed, "History is the judge, its executioner the proletarian"?

Karl Marx.

-Sounds good to me.

-When one hears the world "proletariat", one thinks of Karl Marx. That's our answer.

You got it right. Karl Marx it is.

Back to you, Phil.

The House of Silk, published in 2011, is a Sherlock Holmes novel by which author?

-Right. The House of Silks?

-The House of Silk.

I don't think it's the sort of thing that Nick Hornby would be involved in.

I would think it's maybe more up Sebastian Faulks' street.

I'll go for Sebastian Faulks.

-Eggheads?

-Anthony Horowitz.

-Anthony Horowitz is the answer.

He was given the right

to rewrite a story? Or can you just do it without copyright?

-Sherlock Holmes, they've got some sort of rights over it.

-So you have to ask?

-Yes.

-But he would have been authorised.

-Yes.

-Eggheads, your question.

Who wrote the opera The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, first performed in 1868?

-Wagner.

-Yeah.

That's one of the operas by Richard Wagner.

You all said it at the same instant. It was frightening.

We could all hum some of it!

Richard Wagner is right, so they've gone ahead, Philip.

You need to get this one right. Get this wrong and there's no way back.

During the majority of World War Two,

Czechoslovakia's government in exile was based in which city?

I would have thought...

Czechoslovakia? I can't think it would be Canberra.

Australia's too far away.

Ottawa, Canada?

I don't know the answer, but I would suspect it would be London.

And London is the answer.

If you get this right, Eggheads,

you've taken it. Who would be most likely to employ a technique known as millefiori in their daily work?

-A glassmaker?

-Yeah.

Are millefiori those things when they do paperweights with flowers?

I've seen millefiori decorated objects.

They tend to have tiny little flowers, hundreds, thousands,

in paperweights, so a glassmaker.

Glassmaker is the right answer.

You've got three out of three.

Phil, you didn't. Congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

If you get one wrong in the final, it can really cost a lot.

I'm just wondering if I'll get strung up now.

They've got nothing to complain about.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and they reign supreme.

The Worm Charmers won't be going home with the £1,000, so it rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers can defeat them. £2,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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