Episode 34 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together they make up the Eggheads, arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is - can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are the Earley Birds from Berkshire.

This team quiz together at their local pub, The Maiden Over in Earley,

and have combined the best of the pub's brains to challenge the Eggheads. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Robert, I'm 37, and I'm an IT trainer.

Hi, I'm Carmen, I'm 30 and I'm a reward consultant.

Hello, my name is Peter, I'm 38 and I'm a retail support executive.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 54 and I'm a chartered financial planner.

Hi, I'm Tony, I'm 31 and I'm an IT project manager.

Welcome, Earley Birds. You've combined a couple of teams and brought along the quizmaster.

We have indeed. Peter here is our quizmaster.

I've sort of joined quite a lot of teams, really,

but Tony and Carmen here have formed a team, I've played with them, I've played with Tim

and we've all pretty much played together.

So have you hand-picked this team or did you go into the pub one day and pick who was there?

Tony and I were talking about it at one point and Carmen said, "I want to be in it too."

And Pete said, "No, I've got to be in there too."

-And Tim was, I guess, the last-minute person.

-I see.

Carmen, do you want to reconsider, now you've seen the whites of the Eggheads' eyes?

-I'm a bit concerned.

-OK, listen, best of luck.

-Is there a cricketing link with The Maiden Over, the pub?

-There is.

I think many years ago, it had more of a cricket feel to it.

I think the only link it has with cricket now is the fact there is a bat in there, but that's about it.

-And a few beer glasses?

-There's one or two.

-Which you like to empty. Best of luck, Earley Birds.

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

But if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Earley Birds, the Eggheads have won the last three games

and that means £4,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

So let's see what comes up first. This head-to-head, to start us off, is History.

Who'd like to play it and which Egghead would you like to take on?

That'll be you then, Tim, Mr Military History.

-Right, OK.

-Who do you think you should take on?

-They're all very good at History.

-So...

-They are indeed.

I think I might try...

-I might try Pat.

-Pat?

-Yeah, go for it.

OK, Tim and Pat into the question room then

to contest our opening round, it's History.

OK, opening round for you then, Tim, going into bat first for the Earley Birds.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I've always been pretty contrary, so I'll go second, please.

It's Pat in first then.

Pat, which phrase was formally removed from the British monarch's royal style and titles in 1948?

King of France, I think it was a long time...

Calais had been lost a long time before 1948.

I'm not sure about Defender of the Faith,

but 1947 was India's independence,

so it seems probable that Emperor of India was removed.

Going for that and it's the right answer.

OK, Tim.

Aiming to secure fair rents, fixity of tenure and free sale,

the Irish National Land League was formed in 1879 with which politician as its President?

Well, I've not heard of any of them, so that's not really very helpful.

So, um...logic is going to be difficult at this stage.

I'm drawn towards Charles Stewart Parnell, actually,

so I think I'll go for that, please.

Charles Stewart Parnell, President of the Irish National Land League,

-it's correct, well done.

-APPLAUSE

OK, and one apiece then.

Second question, Pat. The Royal Navy commander and diver known as Buster Crabb

disappeared in 1956 in which harbour?

Yes, there was a Soviet delegation and I think their ship was moored.

And it's thought...

Well, he disappeared in the harbour.

I don't think it's Dover, so it's between Weymouth and Portsmouth

I'm not sure. I'm going to go for Portsmouth.

Portsmouth for a bit of a Cold War mystery as described there by Pat,

it's the right answer. Yes, well done.

Tim, your second question. Which French king was forced to abdicate during the July Revolution of 1830?

My knowledge of French history is pretty poor, I have to say.

The only one that I've really heard of, I think, is Louis XVIII,

so I think I'm going to go with that - Louis XVIII.

OK, Louis XVIII abdicating in 1830...

It's not. Pat?

-I'm unsure.

-OK, other Eggheads?

-Charles X.

-Charles X.

OK, well...

It's looking ominous.

Pat, if you get this, you're in the final round.

When the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in Britain in the late 1830s,

the Registrar General was based in which London building?

I've heard many times people talking

about archives in Somerset House.

I don't think it's Bush House. That's to do with the BBC.

And Apsley House is the Duke of Wellington's home, I think.

Perhaps not. I think it's Somerset House.

Somerset House is, unfortunately for Tim, correct.

Somerset House wins you the round and, Tim, you're not in the final.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

So, after the early exchanges, the Earley Birds have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there. Our second subject is Arts & Books.

-Arts & Books...

-LAUGHTER

-Carmen smiling there. Is that because you want to play it or have to play it?

-No, no.

-Arts & Books, who wants to play?

-It's not my strongest.

-It's not my strongest.

-That was mine as well.

-It was.

-I can take it for the team.

-You'll take one for the team?

-I'll take one for the team.

-Carmen's going to take one for the team.

-OK. And which Egghead will you take for the team?

-I think we'll take CJ.

-We'll take CJ

-OK, Carmen and CJ then playing Arts & Books.

Into the question room, both of you, please.

-Carmen, would you like to go first or second?

-I'd like to go second, please.

Second again then.

CJ's in then. In Spain, the Miguel de Cervantes Award is given annually

to honour the lifetime achievement of someone in what field?

Cervantes wrote Don Quixote,

which is a piece of literature, so I'll assume it's literature.

Well worked out, CJ. How did you manage that?

It's the right answer. Yes, literature is correct. And Carmen,

what is the term for a short, witty saying that expresses a well-known truth,

such as, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"?

To be honest, I haven't heard of any of those,

so I might just take a stab in the dark and say it's an ablative

OK, ablative, yes...

How would you have been with Cervantes?

-No? Maybe not?

-No.

-OK.

OK, well, you haven't got this one. It is an aphorism.

CJ...

Which pop artist produced a design of wallpaper in 1966,

featuring as its motif the head of a cow?

No idea whatsoever.

Um, the head of a cow...

The one I'm least familiar with,

cos I only know two or three of his works, is Lichtenstein.

-Let's assume, blind guess, Roy Lichtenstein.

-OK, down the middle.

It's not Roy Lichtenstein. Other Eggheads?

-Peter Blake?

-Warhol?

-Andy Warhol?

Andy Warhol with the wallpaper with the cow's head motif.

OK, well, you might be able to make amends for that first answer, Carmen, with this.

What type of novels did Agatha Christie write under the pen name of Mary Westmacott?

I know Agatha Christie did detective and thriller kind of novels,

so under another pen name...

I don't think she would do westerns.

Science fiction may not be up her street, so I'll go with romances

Yeah, well done. Well worked out. Correct, romances.

Back in it. All square.

CJ, Lanark was the debut novel of which writer,

described by Anthony Burgess as the most important Scottish writer since Sir Walter Scott?

Well, I haven't heard of it.

I haven't even heard of Jeff Torrington, so apologies to him

-No idea. I'll try James Kelman.

-James Kelman?

It's not. Incorrect.

-Alasdair Gray.

-Alasdair Gray, it is, from Judith there.

So what a turnaround this would be!

Didn't get your first one, but now in a position, Carmen, to take the round with this.

Whose painting from around 1826,

entitled Oedipus And The Sphinx, a reworking of an 1808 original, hangs in the National Gallery in London?

Painting is not my strong suit, unfortunately.

I don't know any of those names,

so once again, I might have to go for a guess.

-And I'll take Courbet.

-Courbet...

It's not. CJ?

-No.

-Other Eggheads?

-Delacroix?

-Ingres.

-..No.

-It's Ingres then.

-Ingres.

-It's going well(!)

-It's going very well(!) Ingres.

So, there we are,

all square, one each.

And into Sudden Death. I know you know the rules,

but just to underline it, you don't see any more choices in this section of a head-to-head.

We're just trying to get a winner and making it harder.

CJ, the name of which New York borough is the title

of a 2009 novel by the Irish author, Colm Toibin?

I haven't heard of the novel, so it's just going to be a guess at a New York borough then.

Which name lends itself most to a title?

Brooklyn.

Is the right answer, CJ!

Whoa! Didn't know it.

But a fairly good knowledge of his New York boroughs, so got that.

And you need to get this, Carmen.

Which Kazuo Ishiguro novel about a repressed English butler won the 1989 Booker Prize?

Butler... The only butlers I know of are Alfred and Jeeves, so I don't know it's either of them.

Um... I'm going to have to pass, unfortunately.

-Really? You can't have a guess at anything? You know you're out if you don't get it.

-Hmm...

Kazuo Ishiguro novel about a repressed English butler.

I'll go for Jeeves then.

Jeeves? No. It's not Jeeves. Do you know, CJ?

-The Remains Of The Day?

-The Remains Of The Day. Also a film with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

That is the right answer from CJ, so he got two there in Sudden Death.

Carmen, it means you're not playing in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

The Earley Birds haven't got the worm yet. Two brains missing from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there. Two more head-to-heads coming up. Next, it's Sport.

So who'd like to play this?

-Robert, Peter or Tony?

-Will you take that?

-Yeah.

-Who are you going to play against?

-Judith.

Tony and Judith then playing Sport. Into the question room, please.

Tony and Judith matching in pink there in the question room.

-Tony, would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Tony. First question then.

What is the period in a year when football clubs can transfer in players from other teams?

What is the period in a year

when football clubs can transfer in players from other teams?

Dermot, like you, I'm a massive Arsenal fan and I love my football.

And so deducting the other two is just going to be time-wasting.

-It's the transfer window.

-The transfer window...

Can we ask Arsene Wenger to buy a few defenders in his opportunity?

The transfer window is correct, Tony.

And Judith, first question for you.

A bowling green is usually divided up into a number of parallel playing strips known as what?

A bowling green is usually divided up

into a number of parallel playing strips known as what?

I suppose bowls... You said "bowls", didn't you, a bowling green?

-A bowling green, yeah.

-Yeah. Well, it's quite an ancient game, isn't it

I can't think why on earth it would be rinks.

I think bowling rinks are the other kind of bowls,

the skittles type.

-I think it might be courts.

-Bowling courts...

-What do you think, other Eggheads?

-Rinks.

-Rinks.

-It's bowling rinks.

-JUDITH LAUGHS

Tony, good start for you.

Best possible one. Let's see if you can continue with that. In 2005,

Ben Hilfenhaus made his debut for which Australian domestic cricket team?

OK. Cricket's not my best sport.

I could probably have had a guess that Hilfenhaus was a cricketer.

Australian domestic cricket I don't know anything about.

I wouldn't even know if they are valid teams.

Victorian Bushrangers...

I don't know about that.

I'm going to go for the Queensland Bulls.

The Queensland Bulls. It's not. Judith, you of course know.

-The Victoria Bushrangers.

-See, you didn't know! Tasmanian Tigers.

But good attempt at bluffing there.

OK, well, a chance to catch up, Judith.

In 2009, the Aegon Awards were given for the first time to British players and coaches in which sport?

I wonder if it's tennis to encourage them as they're not very good at it.

I don't know. I don't know how to get a line on it.

So I'm going to say...

Gymnastics.

Oh, Judith! It is tennis.

-First instincts.

-It wasn't an instinct. I have no instincts.

-None at all?

-None about sport, no.

-OK.

Tennis there. Well,

you've still got the lead and a place in the final round for a correct answer here, Tony.

In May, 2011, who at the age of 46 became the oldest man to win a boxing world title

after defeating Canadian Jean Pascal?

I haven't heard of Felix Trinidad, but then boxing is, like cricket,

one of my worst sports.

I have heard of Roy Jones Jr and Bernard Hopkins.

Roy Jones Jr I thought is probably getting on a bit for a boxer.

Because I think he's going to be around that age, I'm going to say Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones Jr getting on a bit, you feel. 46. It's not him.

No, it is Bernard Hopkins.

Bernard Hopkins.

-I could have told you that.

-Now I can't check that, Judith,

but I know you wouldn't fib, so we'll...

Pinocchio.

No. Well, a chance here, Judith, to take us into Sudden Death.

If not, you go out. The Cherry Hinton Stakes, a race for fillies, is run at which race course?

Well, again I really don't know.

-Let's have a go at Goodwood.

-OK, Goodwood.

Right, Goodwood. Em...

-No?

-No.

Not as such. It's Newmarket for the Cherry Hinton Stakes.

Let's look at the scoreboard again.

-No, don't let's bother! Let's go home now.

-I'm really enjoying it.

One-nil to Tony and you're through to the final round. Both please come back and join your teams.

That's looking better. You've still lost two brains,

but Tony's comprehensive victory there means the Eggheads have lost one brain.

Our last subject is Film and TV. Robert or Peter to play.

I think that will probably be me.

-That'll be myself.

-OK, Peter. Who would you like to play?

-Remaining for you are Kevin or Daphne.

-I'd love to play Daphne.

Your wish is granted. Into the Question Room, Peter and Daphne.

OK, Peter, is this the start of a revival for the Earley Birds?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-If I was a gentleman, I'd say, "Ladies first,"

but I'm not, so I'll go first, please.

All right, Peter, first question. Which of the ITV franchise stations had its headquarters in Manchester?

Em, well, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be Southern.

And I associate Granada with Coronation Street, which is set up there, so I'll say Granada.

Not really too hard to work out. Granada is the right answer.

You'd think he'd won!

Daphne, in 2011, who became the host of the BBC renovation programme Village SOS?

Oh, dear. I haven't seen it.

Sarah Beeny.

Sarah Beeny? It's the right answer. Well worked out, Daphne.

Or something there. Maybe read the listings. I know you do that.

OK, Peter.

"To me. To you," is the catchphrase of which children's TV entertainers?

"To me. To you," is the catchphrase of which children's TV entertainers?

Well, I do find myself saying it when carrying a table with a friend

or something along those lines. It's not Dick and Dom or The Krankies. The Chuckle Brothers.

It is The Chuckle Brothers.

To me. To you. Big Chuckle Brothers fans here, I'm sure.

Daphne,

which actor had one of his first successes as gangster Duke Mantee in 1936's The Petrified Forest?

I think this is more my era.

Em, Humphrey Bogart.

Well, you know...

Before. But it is Humphrey Bogart. Yes, well identified there. The Petrified Forest.

OK.

All square. Going well, Peter.

Who played Athos in the 1973 film The Three Musketeers and its sequel The Four Musketeers?

I haven't got a clue. I'm going to hope some of Daphne's luck rubs off

with me having a blind guess.

That's what this is going to be. I'm going to say Richard Chamberlain.

You know Daphne so well, yes.

The odd blind guess.

But this hasn't worked. No, it is... Do you know, Daphne?

-No! I'd have gone for...

-Which one?

-Oliver Reed.

-Who played Athos.

They were all in those films. So Oliver Reed there and a chance for Daphne.

In the US sitcom Seinfeld, what is the name of the mailman who is regarded as Jerry's nemesis?

I don't watch it.

Sorry!

I think it might be...

Newman?

See, that's the guessing you wanted to emulate. It's right. Done it again!

-I'm sorry.

-Say sorry to Peter.

Sorry, Peter.

Bad luck, Peter. You're not in the final round. Daphne, you are.

Both please come back and join your teams.

Well, this is what we've been playing towards. Time for the final round, which is General Knowledge,

but I'm afraid those of you who lost

won't be allowed to take part. So Carmen, Peter and Tim

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

So Robert and Tony, you're playing to win the Earley Birds £4,000.

Pat, Kevin, CJ and Daphne, you're playing for something money can't buy - The Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I ask each team three questions. They're all General Knowledge and you can confer.

So, Robert and Tony, the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Would you like to go first or second?

OK. Given that Tony went first and won his round, we'll stick with that and go first.

OK, going first, then. Here's your question.

On The Floor, featuring Pitbull, was a 2011 UK number one single for which performer?

On The Floor, featuring Pitbull, was a 2011 UK number one single for which performer?

Given that we get the music rounds regularly at the quiz,

I'm pretty sure this is one that featured in it for us.

-So I'm pretty sure it's Jennifer Lopez.

-Yeah, OK.

-We're pretty sure. Jennifer Lopez.

-Jennifer Lopez?

J-Lo. It is Jennifer Lopez. It's correct.

OK, Eggheads,

the Polish trade union Solidarity was formed in 1980 having been sparked by a strike

at what facility in Gdansk?

the Polish trade union Solidarity was formed in 1980

having been sparked by a strike at what facility in Gdansk?

-Shipyard?

-I was there a few weeks ago.

I was actually there a few weeks ago. There's a whacking great monument outside. It's a shipyard.

Shipyard. Led, of course, by...

-Lech Walesa.

-Shipyard, correct.

Over to the Earley Birds.

Egypt Point, Culver Down and St Catherine's Point are all locations on which island?

Egypt Point, Culver Down and St Catherine's Point are all locations on which island?

-I...

-I don't think it's the Isle of Wight.

-I was going to say I've been there.

-So have I.

-A few years ago.

I don't remember any of them being there.

I don't remember Egypt Point or Culver Down.

-No, there's a lighthouse there, isn't there?

-St Catherine's Point.

-St Catherine's Point.

-Needles?

-Yeah.

-I thought that was by the Needles.

-So it could be that.

-You call things Downs in the south of England?

-Yeah.

-I'd say Isle of Wight.

-OK.

Given that we're not entirely sure

and we figure that St Catherine's lighthouse is on the Isle of Wight,

-we'll go with Isle of Wight.

-OK.

You were going to rule it out, but you've got the right answer.

-High five, my son!

-Two to you.

Eggheads, in the Warner Bros cartoons, which fictitious company supplied Wile E Coyote

with a succession of gadgets which he used to try to capture Roadrunner?

in the Warner Bros cartoons, which fictitious company supplied Wile E Coyote

with a succession of gadgets which he used to try to capture Roadrunner?

Acme.

-That's Acme.

-Yes, it is! OK, all square again.

Third question.

In what year, with the passing of the Mint Act,

did the dollar become the official monetary unit of the United States?

In what year, with the passing of the Mint Act,

did the dollar become the official monetary unit of the United States?

My thinking on this is I would guess it's after American independence.

-Or around then, anyway.

-So 1739 is too early.

-Yes.

I never remember exactly what year independence was. Late 1700s.

-It's 1776.

-So I would go for the year after.

-The year after?

-Yeah.

OK. So we're thinking 1739 is a little too early

and we figure we're going to go with 1777.

1777. The year after American independence.

It's not the right answer. On the right track, though, Eggheads.

-Should have gone for...

-The American government wasn't established

as a government until the 1780s with the new constitution.

They had great battles over whether to have a national bank and various financial institutions.

-So it's 1792.

-1792.

-On the right track...

-Sorry.

-..but incorrect. A chance here.

What name is given to the philosophical study of the nature of being?

What name is given to the philosophical study of the nature of being?

-Ontology.

-It's ontology.

Right? That's ontology.

-Ontology?

-Yes.

-It's the right answer, Eggheads. You've won.

-Never mind, eh?

-Never mind, eh?

I like the way you said that! The kind of thing your mum would say when you were a kid and fell over.

Well done, Earley Birds. Nice to see you, nice game.

Those Head to Heads just didn't go your way. Tony squeezing through against Judith.

Great to see you and best of luck with the quizzing in future at the Maiden Over,

but the Eggheads have done what comes naturally and reign supreme.

You won't be going home with £4,000 and that means the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. I will ask who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers can defeat them. £5,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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