Episode 26 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.

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 awesome quiz champions today

are the Seago's - this family team from Northampton

all share a passion for quizzing,

and often take part in their local pub quiz

at the Fox and Hounds in Upper Harleston.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm Gill, I'm 65,

and I'm a retired secretary.

Hello, I'm George, I'm 68 and I'm a retired consultant.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm 37, and I'm a sales manager.

Hi, I'm Dan, I'm 39 and I'm a managing director.

Hello. I'm Nick, I'm 42, and I'm a consultant.

Welcome to you, Seago's, and glad to hear you're very keen on quizzes.

It's a very good qualification for taking on the Eggheads!

Do you quiz together, or, I would suspect, being a family team,

do you also quiz against each other as well?

Well, both, actually.

We go to our local pub quiz very often on a Monday,

but Daniel and Nicholas don't very often come with us

-because they live in different places.

-Yeah.

But my husband and I and Matthew

and various other friends usually make up a team.

All right, and how do you do - do you win it fairly regularly?

Last week, we won it.

-Oh, good!

-But we're usually around second or third,

-so, quite...

-OK, you know that's not good enough here?

-I know!

-From the Fox and Hounds to the Eggheads!

And so, when you get together on family occasions,

do you all then quiz against each other?

-Yes, it gets very competitive then.

-I was imagining that.

-Yes, yes.

We're a board-game family at Christmas and things

and that very often involves quizzing.

-Trivial Pursuits and things like that.

-Definitely, yes.

The Christmas game, fairly competitive, is it?

And tell me about the helicopter licenses.

-Gill, you don't fly...

-No, I don't.

-But all the rest of you do?

-We do.

And that probably comes about - I seemed to develop

a love of flying. When I was 12, my parents emigrated to South Africa,

and I was one of those children with a label tied to my lapel...

-Yes.

-Sent off on a 24-hour flight to South Africa.

And they used to take you onto the flight deck and they

made me a member of something called the Junior Jet Club,

and I think my love of flying developed there.

-And you've passed it on to your sons.

-Well, yes, the... Yes.

And, well, hovering above the Eggheads -

let's hope that's what happens here today.

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, Seago's, the Eggheads have won the last three games.

That means £4,000 says you can't beat them.

And time to start the quiz, then,

and our first head-to-head comes up - this is Politics.

Who wants to take this on? Politics for our first round?

-That's, er, your...your department.

-Nick.

-Nicholas, I think.

Oh, Nick, and any Egghead you like -

-as you know, it's the opening round.

-Erm,

-I'll take CJ on, I think, please.

-CJ, OK.

We'll have the two gentlemen at the end of their teams.

Nick versus CJ - could I ask you both to go to the Question Room,

please, so you can't confer with your team-mates?

OK, then, Nick, kicking off for the Seago's.

And it's Politics. You get to choose, as the challenger,

do you want to go first or second?

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

Best of luck.

Here's your question - which Oscar-winning screenwriter

was given a peerage by David Cameron in November 2010?

Right. I don't believe it was Emma Thompson.

Out of the other two, I'm not entirely sure.

I know that Julian Fellowes has been in the news

I think to do with... I think it's Downton Abbey.

So, on that basis,

-I'll choose Simon Beaufoy.

-Simon Beaufoy.

It's not. It is Julian Fellowes!

I mean, a lot of people, due to Downton Abbey,

and other reasons, thought he already was

Lord Fellowes! But, yes,

slightly connected, one would suspect,

to the success of Downton Abbey. Julian Fellowes there.

And first question for you, CJ - what was the subject

of the referendum held in Britain in May 2011?

I think this was the one mainly brought on by the Liberal Democrats

about the alternative vote system, so, voting system.

-That's correct. And the outcome, CJ?

-Not good for the Liberal Democrats!

Yes! It was turned down, any change to the voting system.

And there you have a lead, then, CJ. And Nick,

second question - after he was deposed,

Idi Amin spent many years in exile in which country?

I don't believe it was China, I don't think relations were that good

with that country.

Erm...

And I also don't think it was Morocco,

-so I'm going to go with Saudi Arabia.

-OK, eliminating those two,

left with the third one, and going for that,

and it IS the correct answer, yes, Saudi Arabia.

And your question number two, CJ - in the House of Commons,

an adjournment date at the end of each day's sitting

usually lasts how long?

Oh, don't know this.

Erm, I'd be surprised if it was as long as an hour.

Erm...

I mean, a day's sitting can be anything,

it can go onto the wee hours,

so maybe even half an hour would be too long,

-so I'll try quarter of an hour.

-Quarter of an hour. Yes. I mean,

unless you watch the Parliament Channel,

you very rarely get to see adjournment debates on television.

And, er, it's half an hour for an adjournment debate.

So that's good news for you, Nick, it's all square

as we go into the third question. And this is yours, Nick -

in 1997, the Irish president, Mary Robinson,

became High Commissioner for which United Nations agency?

I don't believe that, er,

the Irish have particularly anything to do with atomic energy,

and I don't think it was agricultural development, either.

Although there's a lot of farming obviously in Ireland.

-I'm pretty sure it was human rights.

-Human rights.

Yes, indeed.

Seen in so many of the world's badly-affected places,

and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner there

involved with human rights.

It means you've got to get this, CJ - which political philosopher

was the author of the book On Liberty?

Which political philosopher was the author of the book On Liberty?

It's not Bentham.

Oh, dear.

I'm trying to think if Mill wrote anything else...

My instinct is Thomas Paine. I'm just trying to think if Mill

wrote anything apart from the, erm,

Vindication of Women.

Er... No, I think it's Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine, for On Liberty. Well,

-you've caused the other Eggheads a lot of pain.

-Oh!

It is John Stuart Mill.

Confused yourself there.

That was a real turnaround for Nick. Fluffed your first question,

pulled it back on the last two,

and into the final round. Well done, Nick.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

CJ failing to identify John Stuart Mill means the Eggheads

have lost one brain from the final round.

The Seago's are all there at this point.

Our next head-to-head, then, is Film & Television.

-Who'd like to play this? Can't be you, Nick.

-I think I

-put myself up for that.

-I think you did, Matt, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Matt.

-I'd quite like to do it.

-OK, Matt,

and pick an Egghead, anyone apart from CJ!

-Who do you think?

-Erm...

Judith, I think, because she lives in France.

OK. Judith, if that's all right, please, Dermot.

Yep. And I heard the analysis there, "because she's lived in France".

-And doesn't watch the telly.

-And doesn't watch the telly!

Well, you're letting everyone know!

So, let's have Matt and Judith into the Question Room, please.

Matt, your theory is that Judith doesn't get to see many films

and television programmes because she's in France.

What about you, though, you're always flying your helicopter,

pub quizzing and skydiving, aren't you?

That's very true, Dermot, yes.

I took up skydiving about three or four years ago,

and I've got about 123 full skydives to my name at the moment,

and it's something I really enjoy.

Funnily enough, it was the film Point Break

that inspired me to eventually get myself up in the air.

-Nice link, that.

-Thank you.

To the subject! Let's play it -

Film & Television - do you want to go first or second?

In any other situation, Dermot, I'd always say ladies first, but I hope

Judith will forgive me, and I'll take the first set of questions if I may.

If she wins the round, she'll forgive you anything,

otherwise, she'll never forgive you!

Matt, here you go, first question -

which actress has appeared in the films The Incredible Hulk,

Armageddon and The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers?

Right, well, I've seen a couple of those films,

and I think I can eliminate Naomi Watts.

And also I think I can eliminate Charlize Theron.

I'm pretty sure it's Liv Tyler, who, if I'm not mistaken,

I think is the daughter of Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, I think.

Egghead-like, extra information.

But more to the point, the correct answer, yes, Liv Tyler.

Judith -

Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel

appeared together in which 2011 comedy film?

Well, that didn't get to France, I can tell you!

Erm... I'm not sure.

Er, Bad Teacher.

Is the right answer, yes!

-How did you work that out, just that it might be...?

-I just thought

it sounded the most likely title.

OK, it's all square.

And Matt - the 2011 TV drama series The Hour

is mainly set in which industry?

Now, I've heard of it but I've never watched it,

so, unfortunately, apologies, team,

this is going to have to be a complete guess.

I'm trying to get a clue from the name, The Hour,

whether that might give me anything.

And nothing is coming to me at the moment, so,

erm, I'll try and take Judith's approach and go down the middle

and I'll say media.

Ha-ha-ha! Hoist with her own petard!

It's the right answer, yes!

Media is correct. If you didn't see it, I suppose, yes,

it's in the media -

television, to be precise.

And your question, Judith - Mark Wright and Lauren Goodger

found fame in which TV show?

I know you're a keen viewer of them all.

-I've watched The Only Way Is Essex once.

-Was that enough?!

I haven't watched Made In Chelsea but my daughter lives in Chelsea,

and keeps running into the people who are in it.

I'm trying to think if Mark and Lauren are kind of Essex-type names,

but they're not, really, are they?

Erm...

Maybe it's... I think it might be Chelsea,

let's try Chelsea,

the Made In Chelsea one.

I think you've come up with a good idea here, Judith,

I think they should swap them over, it would be rather interesting,

Made In Chelsea cast go to Essex and the TOWIE cast go to Chelsea,

-because that's what you've done.

-I've swapped them?

Yes, you've put Mark and Lauren

from The Only Way Is Essex

into Made In Chelsea.

So, you haven't identified it, it's the wrong answer.

The Only Way Is Essex is what we were looking for.

So, you go through to the final round, following your brother, Matt,

if you get this correct - which actress was nominated

six times for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar but never won?

I have to confess, Dermot, I've not heard of any of those three,

so, this is not looking good.

Again, this is going to have to be another complete guess.

And I shall go for...

Celeste Holm.

OK. Not going down the middle. That wouldn't have helped you, either,

but Celeste Holm is not the answer,

it is Thelma Ritter.

Not identified there by Matt.

So, a chance for Judith to get in the game. Judith -

in which year was the TV comedy Friends first broadcast in the USA?

Those are all far too close together!

How on earth are you supposed to remember that?

Erm, it seems to have been on for ever and ever,

so I'm going to say 1992.

1992. We're going to say farewell to you, then,

given that it was 1994! That's a bit like

CJ's performance, started so well and then just faded away,

and let Matt into the final round.

There you see the scores.

Matt, well done, congratulations, you're playing in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, Eggheads on the back foot,

lost two brains from the final round, the Seago's

are all together, and we face our third head-to-head.

And this one is Geography.

Who'd like to play this - Mum, Dad or Dan?

-Do you want Dad to do it?

-Dad, you're quite good on geography.

-You don't have to take it, but...

-No pressure!

Ah! Stay with us, George, because you have to pick an Egghead.

Judith and CJ have both played, so you have Kevin, Pat or Barry?

-I'll go Barry.

-Barry, on geography, then.

George and Barry, into the Question Room, please.

Well-travelled George there playing geography.

I've got that image of you with your Paddington Bear label

stuck onto your duffle coat there as you were packed off to South Africa.

Of course, they used to look after you very well there, didn't they,

the airlines? Did you have someone to see you on to the plane,

sit beside you, make sure you got off and all that?

It was almost like having your personal chaperone the whole journey.

It's exactly as you said.

OK, George, you get to choose.

It's geography, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

OK, you've chosen to try and put the pressure on Barry, first up,

and your first question is this - Guadalajara is the second-largest

city in which country?

Guadalajara is the second-largest city in which country?

I confess immediately, I haven't got a clue.

So it is going to be a total guess.

I'll just guess Venezuela, Dermot.

Venezuela, for Guadalajara. It's not!

-Oh, dear.

-It is Mexico.

-Ah.

And your first question, then, Barry -

Beijing is located in which part of China?

Beijing is located in which part of China?

I believe that's in the north-east.

It's quite tricky that, isn't it? Unless of course you know!

CJ would, because it's so far away.

-Absolutely!

-You don't know where Birmingham is,

-but you know Beijing!

-Shanghai is in the south-east,

-but Beijing is in the north-east.

-It is, north-east.

Well done, Barry, you have one point.

George hasn't scored yet, but let's see if he can do it here.

George - the Wandle Valley Regional Park

is located on the south side of which British city?

The Wandle Valley Regional Park is located on the south side

of which British city?

Well, I go to London a lot, I can't say I've ever heard it in London.

Edinburgh and Cardiff...

I'll have to take a chance and say...

-..Cardiff.

-Cardiff, for the Wandle Valley.

-George, it's incorrect.

-Oh, dear!

-Barry, do you know?

-Edinburgh?

-Good, you didn't know, either.

-London!

-We'll ask the other Eggheads - what do you think?

-It's London.

-It's London. The Wandle goes through Wandsworth.

Yes, the Wandle, it's one of the many rivers

that feeds into London, it's not just the Thames in London.

The Wandle Valley is in London.

And it means, Barry, a chance

for victory here early on - Abu Dhabi

is located on which body of water?

Abu Dhabi is located on which body of water?

Er, Abu Dhabi. It's not the Red Sea.

It's not the Gulf...

-No, it must be the Persian Gulf.

-The Persian Gulf?

-Mm-hmm.

It's the correct answer. Well done, Barry. You are through

to the final round. And, George,

come back to I think a little gentle ribbing from your sons,

I would suspect! You're not in the final round, I'm sorry to say.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

The Eggheads have been doing this quite a lot recently,

losing the first two rounds then building up a head of steam.

It's like prodding the sleeping giant.

Unfortunately they woke up on your watch, George,

which means you're not playing in the final round,

although two Eggheads have gone.

Can they balance it in their favour in that final round?

We reach our last head-to-head.

Can they take out another Egghead here, on Sport?

Gill or Dan, Sport...

-You're both sporty.

-You're both good on sport.

-Who's going, Dan?

-Dan, I think, yeah.

OK, Dan, and you know the Eggheads,

you can play Pat or Kevin.

I think I'll try against Kevin, please.

OK, Kevin - Dan and Kevin, into the Question Room, please.

Dan, when it comes to sport, I know how good you at table football -

didn't you used to play with Al Murray, the Pub landlord?

He, er, he was my table football partner at school, actually, yes.

He was a little bit older than me,

but yes, we were probably the best team in the school, to be honest.

Was he like that then, was he a bit grumpy, last orders,

-ladies and gentlemen?

-No!

No, he was...

He was quite serious at school, actually. I think he was head boy.

OK, let's play the round, then, Dan.

Sport, and you get to choose, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, good luck, Dan, and this is your question -

which country won the women's football World Cup Final in 2011?

I have no idea, Dermot.

I, er...

I wouldn't think it was Japan.

I mean, their men's football is not particularly strong.

So I'm ruling out Japan.

Er...

I think of Sweden and Columbia,

Sweden seems to be the more likely option.

I don't think... Well, I'm going to go for Sweden, anyway.

It is not, it is the one you ruled out first, the Japanese.

-Right.

-Now, it's interesting, because you got your first question wrong,

as did Nick, but he of course got through to the final round.

Your dad got his first one wrong and didn't,

-so, which way will it go for you?

-I think the latter.

Well, yes, many times

World Quiz Champion sitting there

you're playing - let's see how Kevin does with his first one.

Kevin - which role is most associated with the England

cricket player Chris Tremlett?

Yes, he played for Hampshire as well, he's a seam bowler.

He is a seam bowler. OK. Well,

you've got to get moving, I suspect, here, Dan.

In which year did the tennis player Rod Laver

win his final Grand Slam singles title?

Well, I've obviously heard of Rod Laver,

but I don't really know how far back he went.

I don't think it was as far back as '59.

I think I'll go '69, please, Dermot.

1969 for Rod Laver's last big win

in a Grand slam - it's the right answer. Well done.

-CJ?

-Well, in '69,

he won the Grand Slam, all four tournaments,

-then went professional so couldn't play in them any more.

-Ah, I see!

There we are, '69, identified by Dan, keeping you in the game,

hoping for Kevin to get a question wrong, then.

And will it be this one - in 2011, Kevin, which cyclist

became the first Briton to win the Green Jersey in the Tour de France?

The Green Jersey being for accumulated points

over the different stages.

So it's one that specialists can win,

and Cavendish, who is the guy,

is a specialist sprinter, effectively.

So it's Mark Cavendish.

Mark Cavendish. And a comprehensive knowledge of how he did it.

That is correct, Mark Cavendish. So you're wearing

the Yellow Jersey, so to speak,

in this head-to-head. Get this wrong and you're out of the game, Dan -

Bert Bushnell won a gold medal for Britain

in which sport at the 1948 Olympic Games in London?

I have absolutely no idea!

I think, erm...

I don't know many fencers but it doesn't sound like

a fencing name. Erm...

Rowing is a...more often than not

a team sport, so I'm going to rule that out.

Er... Yeah, I think,

erm...

-I think I'm going to go with shooting, Dermot.

-OK, shooting,

for Bert Bushnell. Have you heard of him, Kevin, is it shooting?

I wasn't immediately familiar with the name.

My reasoning would be that we didn't get much in the 1948 Olympics.

I think a lot of our people were still suffering from

post-war shortages and that kind of thing.

I don't recall us getting anything

in either shooting or fencing in '48,

so I would have gone for rowing.

It's rowing there, Dan. Liking your thinking,

-of course - rationing, post-war period.

-Yeah.

It's rowing, which means we close the round -

Kevin is through to the final round.

Dan, as you suspected there, getting the first one wrong means

I don't need to put another one to Kevin.

Please come back and join your teams.

So, this is what we've been playing towards,

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

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

won't be allowed to take part, so George and Dan from the Seago's

and Judith and CJ from the Eggheads,

would you all leave the studio, please?

Gill, Matt and Nick - you're playing

to win the family - the Seago's - £4,000.

Barry, Pat and Kevin -

you are playing for something which money cannot buy.

It is the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn,

and this time the questions are all General Knowledge, as you know,

and you are allowed to confer, as you know as well.

Gill, Matt and Nick, the question is - are your three brains

better than the Eggheads' three?

And Seago's - would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, please.

OK, final round - will you win the money? First question to Seago's -

which city was the location

for the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall

in July 2011?

Which city was the location for the wedding

of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in July 2011?

Erm, we're all agreed, it was Edinburgh.

Edinburgh...

is the correct answer. Good start.

Eggheads - in which year

was the publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch born?

Well, he's 80 now, isn't he?

-When does that...?

-Has he actually turned 80? Well, I mean...

-'31?

-Mmm.

That would make it '31, wouldn't it?

If he was 80?

-Yeah. Well, I must... That was my first instinct.

-Yeah.

We think it's 1931.

The answer is 1931. Rupert Murdoch born in that year.

So, back to the Seago's -

"I kissed thee, I killed thee, no way but this

"Killing myself to die upon a kiss"

are the last lines spoken by which Shakespearean character?

-Have you any idea?

-Well...

-It sounds...

-I think it could be Othello.

-Oh, really? I was thinking Romeo, but...

-I was as well.

-Were you?

-What was your reasoning, though?

-Because it sounds quite...?

-It has to do with love and...

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Well, I'll be guided by you.

-But I'm not 100%.

-I don't know Othello at all.

-I'm going by the words and...

-Yeah.

-..trying to tie it up with the type of play that it is.

-Yeah, OK.

-But it's your... You're team captain, so...

-Er,

-we're going to go for Romeo.

-OK, Romeo. Well, a lot of dying going on

in all those plays.

And you're going for Romeo. Although what did you think, Gill?

-you thought Othello, didn't you?

-Mmm.

-That's the right answer, Othello.

-Oh.

-Sorry.

-It's after he kills Desdemona, isn't it?

Yeah, well, still plenty of

questions to come. Eggheads -

Glad You Came was a UK number one single

for which group in 2011?

-I think it's The Wanted.

-The Wanted, yeah?

-We think that's The Wanted, Dermot.

-The Wanted.

It's the right answer, Eggheads.

Can be caught out with questions like that,

but not today, unfortunately for you, Seago's.

It means you've got to get this - Stephen Hodder

is a famous name in which field?

Stephen Hodder.

-I don't think it's cookery.

-No, I don't. think it's cookery.

I've heard the name.

He wasn't the chap that designed...

-the Gherkin in London?

-No.

-No? It's not him?

-No.

-I haven't heard his name in ballet.

-(Norman Foster.)

-Oh, right!

Do you think it could be architecture?

Stephen Hodder.

-Hodder.

-It sounds...like an architect's name, but...

-Mmm.

-What do you think?

-I don't know.

-Definitely not cookery.

-No.

-No.

-One of the other two.

Well, we definitely don't think it's cookery,

so, erm,

on balance, I think we're going to go for architecture.

Got to get it. And you have!

It's correct! Architecture!

Well, a crucial point in the game. The Eggheads win

if they give me a correct answer here. Eggheads -

what is the first name of the German scientist who was awarded

the 1918 Nobel Prize in chemistry

for his work on the synthesis of ammonia from its elements.

Fritz.

-It's Fritz.

-What's the first name

of the German scientist who was awarded the 1918

Nobel Prize in chemistry

for his work on the synthesis of ammonia from its elements?

-It's Haber? So it's Fritz.

-Yeah, it's Haber.

OK? Fritz Haber, so it's Fritz.

-So both names you're giving me?

-Well, just Fritz, then.

-OK!

The answer is Fritz. Eggheads, you've won!

Well, well, well.

That's the kind of question I suspect might have given you

a bit of a problem, perhaps? The Haber process, which, of course,

the Eggheads gobbled up.

The message goes out loud and clear - Mum's always right.

Architecture, that was your instinct. It was Othello,

was the crucial question.

That should cause some debate, I suspect, at the Christmas quiz!

-Thank you for playing the Eggheads today, Seago's.

-Thank you.

Heads held high. Dan and George sitting in the Question Room, too.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and they still reign supreme over Quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £4,000,

which 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.

£5,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.