Episode 130 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, hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today, are Brighton Rocks.

This friends and family team

have been taking part in the weekly pub quiz

at their local, The Station, in Preston Park in Brighton

for the past seven years.

Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Mark, I'm 46, and I'm an internet business owner.

Hi. I'm Jill, I'm 51, and I'm a teaching assistant.

Hello. My name's Liz. I'm 67 and I'm an English tutor.

Hi. I'm Les, I'm 67, and I'm a retired accountant.

Hi. I'm Malcolm, I'm 66, and I'm a retired communications manager.

-So, Mark and team, welcome.

-ALL: Thank you very much.

-And the...Mark, you're engaged to Jill?

-That's right, yes.

-And your mum is next to Jill.

-Indeed. Yeah.

Right. And then the two gentlemen on the end, how do you fit in?

-We're just friends.

-Yeah.

-Long-standing friends.

Excellent. And you quiz together?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-We do, yes. Every week.

How do you do when you quiz?

I think probably every third week we win,

-so we do OK.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-They'll all be watching, won't they?

Yeah. Yeah.

-We won £12 last week.

-Yeah.

-£12?

-Yeah.

-OK, nice one.

-Big money.

-Yeah, big, big money.

And I should say, your team title, Brighton Rocks,

is of course the title of a Graham Greene novel.

-Yes.

-And he comes up...he pops up a lot in the quiz, doesn't he?

Either as an alternative answer or... There's an awful lot to know about Graham Greene.

OK. When he was born, Kevin?

-1904.

-1904?

-When did he die?

-'91.

-How many books did he write?

Oh, I don't know. A lot.

Anyway. That's good, we've caught them out.

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

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

rolls over to the next show.

It's a bit more than £12 up for grabs today, Brighton Rocks.

The Eggheads have won the last nine games,

-which means £10,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Wow.

-Not bad.

So worth giving it a go for.

And the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & Television.

So who would like this?

-Well.

-You going to go for this?

-Do you think I should do that?

-Yes. Yeah.

-Shall I go for that?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-Give it a go?

-I'll go for that.

-Against which Egghead? You can choose from any of them.

This rather appealing crew we've got here.

-I was thinking Chris.

-You think Chris?

-Chris?

-Yeah?

-Chris?

Yeah. He doesn't always look happy.

All right. I'll go for Chris.

Yeah. Yeah.

-What are they saying about you, Chris?

-I don't know.

I don't care. Say what they like.

OK. He's in a good mood today.

So, Mark from Brighton Rocks

against Chris from the Eggheads on Film & TV.

And, to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our question room?

So, Mark, you're a hypnotherapist?

That's right, yes. Yeah. I'm working hard right now to calm myself.

It's working, is it?

I think so, yes, yeah.

I'm not sure if it's going to improve my memory, but it's certainly keeping me calm.

Are there some people who are unable to respond to hypnotherapy

cos they can't pay attention for long enough?

I think that's... You've hit it on the head there, actually, Jeremy.

That's...it's all about focus of mind

and really paying attention, and people who are very good at that

tend to be better subjects.

And you can get people to give up smoking and stop having bad dreams and all that?

Yeah. Post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, nerves,

going on quiz shows...

JEREMY LAUGHS

Driving test anxiety. You know, the whole sort of gamut, really.

You ever done any hypnotherapy, Chris?

No. I don't think I'm susceptible, Jeremy.

Well, you concentrate. You haven't got a low attention span.

-You could probably concentrate on something for years if necessary.

-I probably could, yeah, but...

I'm too much of a rebel. I won't surrender my will to anybody else.

All right. Each of you will get three multiple-choice questions on Film & TV.

And, Mark, you can choose the first or the second set.

I think, selfishly, I'll go first.

Not selfish at all. Here is your first question.

What are the first names of the comedy duo Watson and Oliver?

Right. Well...

I... It's Dawn and Jennifer... It's Jennifer Saunders,

so it's not... I don't think it's that.

I'm going to go for Mel and Sue, I think.

It is a bit of a guess. Erm...

But nothing else is coming up for me at the moment.

So, yeah, I'm going to go for Mel and Sue I think, Jeremy.

It's not Mel and Sue. Now, one of them has quite an unusual surname,

Mel and Sue. Gildroyd, is it?

-I'm not sure of the pronunciation, but it's spelt...

-Godric?

-Giedroyc.

-Giedroyc?

-Mel Giedroyc?

-Yeah.

-It's Lorna and Ingrid, the answer, Mark.

-Ah.

Lorna Watson, Ingrid Oliver.

OK, Chris.

Which comedian found fame as Archie in the children's TV series Ballamory?

Well, it wouldn't be Frankie Boyle, would it?

ALL LAUGH

Archie. He's the inventor-type, lives up in the pink castle.

Erm...

I think that's Miles Jupp.

It is Miles Jupp. I didn't know this, actually.

I've sort of become aware of him recently, but not in Ballamory.

-But yes, it is Miles Jupp.

-Yeah.

So one point to Chris.

Mark, in which film did Groucho Marx play Rufus T Firefly?

Right. Well, the only one I've seen is Duck Soup,

and that was a long time ago.

Rufus Firefly.

Sounds like it might be a kind of a business name.

I don't know what makes me think that.

So I'm going to go for Monkey Business.

Let's see if Chris knows this.

I think it's Duck Soup. Dictator of Freedonia.

-Duck Soup is the right answer.

-Right.

-Rufus T Firefly.

So, Chris, if you get this one right, you've won the round.

Haddonfield, Illinois is the setting for which John Carpenter film

released in 1978?

Ah, yeah. Now, The Fog is set on the coast

in New England somewhere, so it's not Illinois.

Haddonfield, Illinois,

sounds like a likely setting for a slasher called Halloween.

One of the early classics of that kind.

Yeah, Halloween is the right answer, Chris.

Well done. Two out of two.

So, Mark, no way back for you there, I'm afraid.

But plenty of time still for your team.

Please, both of you, come back here to the studio.

So, as it stands, the Challengers have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains. Let's play on. The next subject is Music.

Who's the music person?

-That's Malcolm. I think Malcolm's our man.

-Yeah.

-Malcolm, OK.

-I can do that.

Against which Egghead, Malcolm?

I'd like to play against Judith, please.

OK. So it's going to be Malcolm from Brighton Rocks

against Judith from the Eggheads.

And, to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the question room.

So you like your music, Malcolm?

Yes. Yes, I do, Jeremy, thank you.

-What sort of thing?

-A whole range of different types of music,

ranging from classical to pop, blues...

Dylan is one of my favourites.

So I hope a question about Bob Dylan comes up.

How are you on Dylan, Judith?

I'm not very good on music generally, I'm afraid.

I mean, trouble is, in the car

I listen to spoken word rather than music.

-You have audio tapes on?

-Yes.

I love audio tapes. I can drive from Calais to where I live in France

and absolutely not notice it if I've got a thriller on or something.

So you wouldn't choose to have death metal or something like that playing?

No. Absolutely never.

Slipknot or Megadeth?

No, I'm afraid not.

OK. Well, let's hope they don't come up.

-Probably will.

-I'll ask you three questions on music.

Whoever answers the most goes through to the Final.

Malcolm, first or second set?

I'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

Here we go, and good luck. How old was Elvis Presley at the time of his death is 1977?

Well, Elvis was one of my favourites back in the '60s

and the late '50s.

He certainly wasn't 22,

and, unfortunately for him and his family,

he didn't live to the age of 62.

He was 42.

You're right, bless him. 42 years old when he died.

Well done, Malcolm.

Judith, which city is the subject of the song that begins with the lines,

"Start spreading the news. I'm leaving today."

Start spreading the news I'm leaving today.

Oh, Barcelona.

JEREMY LAUGHS

Is it?

No, Judith.

I think it might be the way I read it.

-Yes. It seemed to fit the rhythm.

-I can't read them as they're sung.

SINGS TO HERSELF

So I didn't read... # Start spreading the news #

-Oh, New York.

-# I'm leaving today #

I read, "Start spreading the news. I'm leaving today."

-And for some reason...

-It chimed with Barcelona.

It chimed with Barcelona.

I don't know what's going on in your head.

I could hear a song going on in my head.

-Can you sing the rest of it?

-No, I absolutely cannot.

I suspect there might not be a chorus.

-The answer is New York.

-Oh, bother.

Botherations to you.

Malcolm. Which character from folklore is the subject of an 1815 work by Schubert

based on a poem by Goethe?

Well, I do like classical music.

Schubert is not one of my particular favourites.

So this is going to be a complete guess.

And I'm going to go for Lorelei.

See if Judith knows this one?

-I think it's Erlking.

-Erlking is the right answer, yeah.

Not Lorelei.

OK.

Judith, your question.

Who performed the Burt Bacharach song Alfie on the 2004 film remake?

Who performed the Burt Bacharach song Alfie on the 2004 film remake?

I can't even hear that in my head.

Not the 2004 remake one, anyhow.

Erm... Pff.

-Joss Stone.

-Joss Stone is the right answer.

-Coo!

-There we are. That levels it up after the Barcelona incident.

May be an advantage not to be able to hear them in your head?

-Maybe.

-Given what happened earlier.

Malcolm, which English singer was born Pauline Matthews in 1947?

Right. It's the right sort of era for me.

I'm pretty certain that it's not Dusty Springfield.

And I'm almost certain that it's not Sandie Shaw.

So that leaves me with Kiki Dee.

Brilliantly bang on. Kiki Dee's the right answer. Well done, Malcolm.

Judith, your question. You need to get this one right.

Which opera by Richard Strauss is based loosely on his own marriage? Is it...

Well, I wonder if he was married to someone called Arabella?

I'm not quite sure. I think Arabella?

I think Intermezzo.

-Huh.

-Sorry.

Music is the new Sport, obviously.

That's bad, Judith. You're out.

There's no easy way to tell you that.

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

so well done to your team. Great stuff.

You took on an Egghead and you emerged triumphant.

Good news for our Challengers.

Please, both of you, come back to us here.

We're trying to track down the song you hear in your head, Judith?

I'm not going to sing anything.

I think I've got it.

It's... # Start spreading the news I'm leaving today

# Barcelona!# Is it?

ALL LAUGH

The way you read it, Barcelona just followed on.

OK. Anyway.

Classic moment there.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain,

the Eggheads have also lost a brain from the final round.

Where do we go next? the answer is History. Who would like this?

History. Les, do you want to do History?

Do you want me to...?

What do you want to do?

-Would you...

-I don't want politics. That's the only thing.

Shall I have a go at History? What are we going to do?

Do you want to do History?

Worried about the last one, cos I can't do Politics.

-No, you don't know what the last one'll be.

-You don't.

-Do you want to have a go, then?

-Shall I?

-Yeah, you do it.

-OK.

OK. Well done. Good. Lots of people going for History, there.

OK. Jill against which Egghead?

Not Judith or Chris.

Who you thinking about? They're all...

-Erm, shall I take...

-Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, I think.

-Barry?

-Yeah, go for Barry.

I'm going to go against Barry, please.

OK. So it is Jill from Brighton Rocks against Barry. You love your history, Barry.

-I do indeed.

-Oh!

-Smiling with pleasure.

Don't worry. They're all good on it, to be honest.

-They love it. It's meat and drink.

-I love most things.

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

Good luck. Each of you get three questions.

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

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

Here we go. the Blackfriars Ring, destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942,

was a famous venue for which sport?

Well, I'm a really keen tennis player,

and I haven't heard that related to tennis.

So I'm going to rule tennis out.

Erm...Blackfriars Ring sounds like it could be something to do with

boxing, so I'm going to take boxing please, Jeremy.

Boxing is the correct answer. Well done.

Barry, what name

was given to the medieval tradesmen

who softened wool by treating it with urine?

Ah. It won't be a falconer, cos they obviously used birds of prey.

And I think a fowler was, again, something to do with birds.

I believe that they were fullers.

They were indeed fullers.

That's right.

OK. Back to you, Jill.

Queen Fabiola was the wife of which European monarch?

And Fabiola, Jill, is spelt

F-A-B-I-O-L-A, as you'd expect.

OK, thank you.

Haven't actually heard this name before,

but just going on the sound of it,

I don't think it would be Norwegian.

Of course, he doesn't have to marry a Norwegian, necessarily,

but I'm going to rule out Norway.

It sounds more Spanish to me,

so I'm going to rule out the Belgian one as well,

and go for Alphonso of Spain, please.

Alphonso XIII of Spain is your answer.

Barry, do you know the answer?

Kind Badouin...Baudouin of the Belgians.

Good old Baudouin of the Belgians. Could we have guessed that, or...?

Does he have a reputation, or what?

I don't think you could've guessed that, really.

Sorry, Jill. Very tough question, that.

Baudouin is the answer.

Baudouin of the Belgians.

Barry, which council was called by the Catholic Church

in response to the Protestant heresies of Martin Luther and others?

Well, the Council of Nicaea was much earlier.

I think that was in the 4th or 5th century AD.

And I've not heard of The Council of Florence.

But the council that the Catholic Church called

to try and reform the Catholic Church

in the light of the questions asked by Martin Luther

was The Council of Trent.

Council of Trent is the right answer.

So you get into the lead, and Jill, you need to get this one right.

Who was the first person to sign the death warrant of Charles I?

Was it...

Not absolutely sure on this one, either.

None of those names are really shouting out to me.

So I'm going to plump for...

Henry Ireton.

-Henry Ireton it was not.

-Urgh.

It was actually John Bradshaw.

-OK.

-So, after three questions,

there's no way back for you against Barry.

Barry will be in the Final. Jill, you've been knocked out.

But he's very good at history.

Both of you, come back, rejoin your teams, and we'll play on.

OK. As it stands, the Challengers have now lost two brains,

the Eggheads have lost one brain from the Final,

and the last subject before the Final is Arts & Books.

-Liz.

-That good?

-Do you want to?

-Liz, OK.

-Go on.

-You all right?

Which Egghead, Liz?

-It'll be difficult against both.

-Yeah, I think it's...

Erm, Pat, I think, please.

OK. Liz from Brighton Rocks

against Pat on Arts & Books from the Eggheads.

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

Good luck in this round. Arts & Books.

And you can choose the first or second set of questions.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we are, Liz.

Your first question. Good luck.

Robert Neville is the main character in which 1954 novel by Richard Matheson?

Yes. I have to confess, I don't know this.

But The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow I think is much earlier.

Legends Of The Fall, too, I imagine...

I'm not sure, is probably earlier.

I'm going to go for I Am Legend, and that's a pure guess.

It's a great guess. You've got it right.

I Am Legend is the right answer.

Pat,

the German novel All Quiet On The Western Front,

was set during which conflict?

It's certainly not World War II.

I think it's World War I.

Unfortunate ordinary soldiers.

struggling on the Western Front. I'll go for World War I.

World War I is the right answer. Well done.

It's an amazing, book, actually. Who wrote it?

-Anyone?

-Erich Maria Remarque.

And his real name was Kramer, but he thought that sounded too Germanic,

so he reversed his name to make remark.

Oh, it sounds a bit Spanish, yeah. I didn't realise he was German at all.

You got the right answer there, Pat. Well done. World War I.

Liz,

first published in 1976,

The Father Christmas Letters were written by which author for his children?

Yeah. I'm pretty sure of this one.

Although I didn't read The Lord of the Rings,

I did try and didn't succeed.

I think CS Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters.

HG Wells, I'm not aware of any book of letters.

I'm going to go for Tolkien.

Tolkien is the right answer. You're playing well.

Really, really good play. OK, Pat.

Which fictional character was featured in the 1953 book Down With Skool?

S-K-DOUBLE-O-L.

I don't think it's Bunter.

I read quite a lot of Bunter books when I was young.

I don't think it's him.

I don't know a great deal about Jennings.

I have a feeling Nigel Molesworth commits atrocities with spelling.

Erm...I'm not sure.

It could be either, but I think I'll go for Molesworth.

Nigel Molesworth is quite right.

Playing well, you two, both of you. Liz, your question.

In Rene Magritte's work,

The Discovery Of Fire,

which musical instrument is depicted in flames?

I'm pretty sure it's not a cello,

although, having said that, it probably is.

Erm...

I can't visualise it, although I do know his work.

I'm going to go for tuba.

You're right.

-Yes!

-Three out of three.

Great play.

Pat, if you don't get this right, you're out of the final round.

Lillian Hellman's play, The Little Foxes,

takes its title from a line in which book of the Bible?

Ah, let me think.

Song Of Solomon.

No, there's not really any way of working it out.

Any of those books could refer to foxes.

I think it's either Jeremiah or Lamentations.

I'm going to have to have a guess and go with Lamentations.

Interesting, you narrowed it down to the two that were wrong.

Oh, dear.

Song Of Solomon is the right answer.

So, Liz, well done. You're in the final round.

Extremely well played from somebody who loves her books.

If you both come back to us now, we will play that final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards,

the final round which, as always, is General Knowledge.

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

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

So, Mark and Jill from Brighton Rocks,

and Judith and Pat from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio.

So, Liz, Les, and Malcolm you are playing to win Brighton Rocks £10,000.

Kevin, Barry and Chris, you're playing for something money can't buy, the Eggheads' 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.

So, Liz, Les and Malcolm, the question is,

can you, with your three brains,

give the Eggheads a massive pounding?

And do you want to go first or second?

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

Here we go. Good luck to you three.

With which role is the England cricketer Ian Bell most associated?

He's a batsman, Les, isn't he?

Well, he certainly doesn't bowl

and he's definitely not a wicketkeeper.

-I'm sitting out on this.

-He's definitely a batsman.

I think he bats about three or four for England,

so he's definitely a batsman.

Batsman is the right answer. Well done.

-Well done.

-One point to you. Eggheads, your question.

Teddington Lock is a feature of which English river?

-Tides flow on the Thames.

-It is, yeah.

It's the highest tidal point on the Thames.

Thames is the right answer. Well done.

Back to you.

What is the name of the Regents Park mansion

which is the residence of the US ambassador? Is it..

-I personally haven't got a clue.

-Nor have I.

-Hanover sounds similar.

-About the right sort of era.

-Yeah.

-Doesn't it? Regency.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Want to try it?

-Go for that.

-Yeah.

Well, we're completely unsure about this,

but we'd like to submit Hanover Lodge as our answer, please.

OK. Shall I see if the Eggheads know if that's right?

ALL: Winfield House.

They all said it together, which usually means they're right.

And they are. Winfield House it is.

OK, Eggs. Your second question. See if you can take the lead.

The author Nevil Shute was also a successful pioneer in which field?

-It was aviation.

-Aviation, isn't it?

-He designed the R101, among other things.

-Yeah.

He worked in the aviation industry.

What was he doing? What was he flying?

He was on the engineering and design side.

OK, OK.

Aviation is your answer,

and aviation is correct. So you're in the lead.

And that means...got to hang on tight, here.

It could be bumpy.

-Fingers crossed.

-Yeah.

You've got to get this one right, or it's over.

What was the profession of Dame Veronica Wedgwood,

the third woman to be appointed a member of The Order Of Merit?

Was she...

Pff.

-I've heard of her.

-Have you?

-Have you heard of her?

-Never. I haven't, no.

-Erm...

Ah!

There was a CV Wedgewood who wrote historical books, wasn't there?

Well, go for that, then.

-Erm...

-I don't know the answer.

(I don't know.) What are we going to say?

-Well, we could be in your hands here.

-Historian?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I think we're submitting, as we're not quite sure about this one,

Jeremy, the answer of Historian.

Historian is your answer. And that was because, Liz, there was a...

Well, I know there somebody called CV Wedgewood who writes

historical books.

-Same one?

-Yeah, it is.

-You got it right.

-Star. Well done.

-Historian.

-Well done, Liz.

Well, I hope that earlier mistake

isn't going to be too expensive for you, with the US mansion,

cos this answer could give the Eggheads the contest, if they get it right.

And they may not.

What type of mineral is Cairngorm?

Eggheads, is it...

What type of mineral is Cairngorm?

-Hmm.

-I think we can agree on quartz.

-Can't we?

-Yes.

-My mum had a Cairngorm brooch.

-Yeah?

-And it was sort of...

-What colour?

-Amber colour with sort of streaks in it.

So I'll go with smoky quartz.

-I don't think... I'm pretty sure it's not rose quartz.

-Yeah.

-Milky quartz, smoky quartz.

-I've never heard of milky quartz.

I have heard of rose quartz.

It's milky just because of the opaque whitish colour.

How did you describe your mum's brooch?

It's... Well, she said it was a Cairngorm.

She might have been deluding herself.

It was a, sort of, amber-coloured stone

with, sort of, grey flecks in it.

-Definitely sounds smoky, doesn't it?

-Sounds smoky, yeah.

More than milky. OK.

Not too sure, Jeremy, but we're going to go with smoky.

It's the first time I've heard them use their parents' jewellery

as route to an answer.

That's... They've tried lots of things, but not that.

-Good old Mum's, your mum's Cairngorms.

-Mm-hmm.

The answer is smoky Quartz. Well done.

Give that one to Chris's Mum.

Congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

I'm trying to remember any of my mum's jewellery,

and that's not 50 years ago, and I'm struggling.

Your brains are amazing machines, you five.

I remember pearls. That's all I can remember.

He's got Cairngorm in his head and it's smoky Quartz.

You know, whatever. But well played to you.

To get three in the Final and knock out a couple of them

-takes some doing.

-Well done, you two.

Good answers. Thanks very much. Very nice game.

-Good game? Yeah, we really enjoyed it.

-Most enjoyable.

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

so you won't be going home with the £10,000,

which means the money rolls over to our 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.

Maybe we'll find out more about Chris's mum's jewellery collection as well.

£11,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd