Episode 38 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 Bell Boys.

Now, this team all quiz together at their local, The Bell,

in Chichester, usually on opposing teams.

They have put aside their differences to tackle the Eggheads today.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Bob, I'm 61 and I'm a retired GP.

Hello, I'm Stuart, I'm 66, and I'm a part-time taxi driver.

Hello, I'm Joe, I'm 59, I'm a project manager.

Hello, I'm Steve, I'm 51 and I'm a retired primary head teacher.

Hello, I'm Andy, I'm 61, I'm semi-retired

and work in the entertainment industry.

Welcome to you, Bell Boys.

Interested in the idea that you've got the cream of talent

from The Bell quiz there.

How did you pick them? Where there trials? Were there some kind of tests?

When we came up with the idea of entering this competition,

I asked the landlady who were the stand out players in each of the teams,

and she dropped me a few names,

I had a word, and got four of them to agree to accompany me.

But a few rivalries, then, buried, I suppose?

Yeah. We've represented the pub together before in the local radio Battle of the Boozers,

the inter-pub competition, which, fortunately, we won this year.

Actually, when I told Daphne Bell Boys were arriving, she said,

"Oh, good, they can take my bags up to my room."

ALL CHUCKLE

But now we understand the origin of the name.

Now, every day, there is £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs for our challengers.

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

Bell Boys, the challengers actually won the last game,

proving it can be done,

and meaning £1,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

Our first head-to-head to kick us off is Music.

Who's your Music specialist, then, Bell Boys?

We think that's Andy.

-Yeah, away you go, Andy.

-Andy? OK.

And you get to choose any Egghead you like.

-I'd like to try Chris, please.

-Chris on Music.

OK, let's get the whole quiz started with Andy and Chris contesting Music.

Into the Question Room, both of you, please.

Andy, would you like to go first or second?

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

Kicking off, then, and first question.

What is the title of Nilsson's only UK number one single

which reached the top of the chart in 1972?

Well, I think that one is Without You.

OK. Without You. Yes, it is. Well done.

By Nilsson. Chris,

which popstar's many film appearances

include a major role in the 1983 World War II prisoner of war drama

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence?

Well, I'd like to see Madonna in a World War II prison camp drama

but it was actually David Bowie.

Steady now, Chris.

David Bowie in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence is correct.

Andy.

In the 1960s, the musician Jose Feliciano

won a Grammy Award for Best Male Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance

for his cover version of which song?

He did a splendid version of Light My Fire.

He did. And won a Grammy for it. It's the right answer. Well done.

Best Male Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance.

OK, Chris. I'm With You,

which topped the UK album chart in September 2011, is by which group?

Yeah. I don't think it's Limp Bizkit.

I don't think The Killers have done much of late.

But the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around lately

so I'll go with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Oh, well worked out, it's correct.

Yes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm With You.

Going well for both of you.

2-2. Back to Andy.

Rodgers and Hammerstein won their only Academy Award together

for the song It Might As Well Be Spring from which musical?

I kind of think it isn't The King And I, so it's a two-way split.

I'm going to go for State Fair.

State Fair is correct, and means, Chris,

you need to get this to stay in the round.

In which role in classical music did the Russian Alfred Schnittke

find fame in the second half of the 20th century?

Hmm.

Well, I don't think there's any famous trombonists

in classical music.

I mean, we had Chris Barber in trad jazz and that sort of thing

but I don't think many trombonists actually get that well known.

I've not heard of him as a composer so I'll go for opera singer.

OK, an opera singer, Alfred Schnittke.

-He is actually a composer, or was.

-Was he?

-Yeah.

Which means, compose yourself, Andy,

prepare yourself for the final round in which you will be appearing.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, after that exchange, the Eggheads are one brain down,

that brain being Chris.

And we move on swiftly to our second head-to-head today.

This one is Sport.

I wonder if this will suit you as well

after that blistering start by Andy.

-After a toss of the coin, Stuart is going to take this on.

-OK.

Stuart, you get to choose any Egghead apart from Chris. He's eliminated.

-Judith or Daphne.

-Judith. Judith, please.

OK, Stuart and Judith playing Sport. As you know, you need to go to the Question Room to do it.

Well, Stuart, let's see if you can build on Andy's trailblazing there.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll follow Andy and go first, please.

First question to you, Stuart, on Sport, then.

What term is used to refer to falling off the board

in the sport of surfing?

I sincerely hope the answer is wipeout.

It is, yes, wipeout.

which is not going to happen to you after getting that one.

Judith, SAG stations, or SAG stops,

typically provide assistance to those engaged in which sport?

Well, I don't think in skiing you stop and have assistance, do you?

And yachting, you tend to carry on unless you go to a port.

So I imagine it must be cycling.

Cycling is correct, yes. Well done, Judith.

Solid starts by you both. Stuart, second question.

In 2008, Delon Armitage made his full England debut in which sport?

Well, I've not heard of him in football or cricket,

so I will shoot for Rugby Union.

Rugby Union is the correct answer. Well done, Stuart.

Judith, over what distance are the hurdles races

of the IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships run?

I don't know.

Umm... Why can't they be nice round figures like the outdoor ones?

I suppose, perhaps, 80 metres.

-80 metres?

-Mmm.

Daphne doesn't think so. What do you think, Daphne?

I'm not sure

but I might have gone for 70.

No, it's 60.

-It's 60.

-60 metres for the hurdles in indoor athletics.

So, Stuart, if you get this, you're into the final round.

Which tennis player achieved his first and only Grand Slam victory

at the Australian Open in January 1977?

Well, I know Stan Smith won Wimbledon so it's not him.

I'll guess at Roscoe Tanner.

OK, Roscoe Tanner. Judith likes tennis.

Is it Roscoe Tanner?

I don't know, but he had the fastest serve ever for a long time.

Oh, did he?

And he also won one Grand Slam victory

in Australia in January 1977. It is the right answer.

Well done, Stuart. You're through to the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, Bell Boys, the plan working so far.

As it stands, the Eggheads have lost two from the final round and you're all still there.

The bell tolling for the Eggheads. Will it get worse?

Our third head-to-head is Arts & Books.

Who'd like to play this one? Remember,

-Stuart and Andy have played, so one of the other three.

-Yeah.

-Go do your thing.

-I think Steve's going to take that one.

All right, Steve, and pick an Egghead.

You cannot pick Chris or Judith, though. So it's Pat, Barry or Daphne.

-Pat or Barry.

-OK.

-I'll play Pat, please.

-OK, Pat.

Let's have Steve and Pat playing Arts & Books from the Question Room.

Steve, you get to choose. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll follow what's gone before and go first, please. Thank you.

OK, Arts & Books. Your first question, Steve.

A limerick is an example of which poetic stanza form?

OK, now, I'm going to have to think this through. Number of lines.

Are you saying a few,

hopefully broadcastable, limericks to yourself?

Well, yes. It's just counting up the lines. I think there are...um...

five lines, so it's a quintain, I believe.

Yeah, that's right.

OK, Pat, your first question.

What term is used to refer to the substance used to coat

an artist's canvas prior to beginning a painting?

I think he uses a primer.

A primer. Yes, of course. You've both had a couple of primers there,

just ease you in to this round.

Steve, Under The Greenwood Tree,

featuring the characters Fancy Day and Dick Dewy,

is an 1872 novel by which author?

Well, I know that the title has a Thomas Hardy flavour to it

but I'm sure it's not Thomas Hardy.

Umm...

It's a toss-up between Henry Fielding and Anthony Trollope.

I'll go for Henry Fielding.

Henry Fielding. Under The Greenwood Tree

is by Hardy. It is Hardy.

Hardy there. Well, a chance for Pat.

The author Eric Van Lustbader

has written a series of novels featuring which character?

Hmm.

I think he wrote several Robert Ludlums

after Mr Ludlum's demise but...

And did Ludlum write The Bourne... one of the Bourne books?

I think he probably did.

I don't think it's Sherlock Holmes.

Although there are several novelists

who famously wrote James Bond sequels,

I don't think this is the chap.

I think it's Jason Bourne.

Jason Bourne. The other Eggheads like it. It's the right answer.

So it means, Steve, you need to get this.

"The oldest hath borne most We that are young

"Shall never see so much, nor live so long."

are the final spoken words in which Shakespeare play?

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not Romeo And Juliet.

I hope I'm remembering correctly.

Um...

-I think I'm going to go for King Lear.

-King Lear.

"The oldest hath borne most." It's the right answer, yes.

Well...

just that slip-up in the middle giving Pat an opportunity here.

Pat, in which played by Christopher Marlowe does the central character

burn a copy of the Koran?

My first thought is Tamburlaine The Great.

I'm not sure whether he was Muslim or not.

If he wasn't Muslim, then, as he rampaged across Asia,

he will have been oppressing Muslim peoples

and he might well have done that.

Edward II. I can't think they were very preoccupied

with the Koran back in the England of Edward II.

And Doctor Faustus...

I'll have to assume that it was Tamburlaine The Great

as he rampaged across Asia.

OK, Tamburlaine The Great is the right answer, Pat.

Yes, you've won the round.

I suspect, Steve, if you hadn't got confused

about your Hardy there, we'd be playing deep into Sudden Death.

But not to be for you on the day. It means you won't be in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, The Bell Boys have lost their first brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost two.

We reach our last subject before the final round. This is Science.

Joe or Bob to play science.

-Hmm.

-Hmm.

-Not my strong point.

-I'll play.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

You might be more use at the back end, though.

-Well, your general knowledge is good.

-OK.

-I'll go for that one, please, Dermot.

-All right, Bob.

The remaining Eggheads are Barry or Daphne.

-I'd like to challenge Daphne, please.

-You said that with a smile on your face.

Has it always been an ambition to take on the mighty Daphne Fowler?

It has indeed, yes.

OK, well, let's see this clash in the Question Room, then.

Bob and Daphne playing Science.

So, Bob, I suppose it's your medical background

that led them to put you up for this.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I won't buck the trend.

I'll go first, please.

It must be said,

been working pretty well so far. Science, then.

Off we go, Bob.

In terms of technology, for what does the abbreviation R&D stand?

Umm... Risky & Dangerous sounds too loose a term.

Reading & Discussion...

-No, not specific enough. I think it's Research & Development.

-Yeah.

It is. I'm pretty sure you know it, not just think it.

Research & Development for R&D. OK, Daphne.

The extension .jpg at the end of a filename in a modern computer

normally indicates that the file in question comprises of what?

An image. Photographs.

Yeah, that's right. It's all square. One-all.

Bob, the European Space Agency launched its first mission

to another planet in the solar system in 2003

with which planet as its destination?

A tricky one, this.

So many people are sending so much stuff up into space

that you lose track of who's going where and when.

Um... I don't think Mercury's a target for anybody.

So I'll rule that out. Out of Venus and Mars...

You read more about probes to Mars so my answer is Mars.

OK, Mars. And you got it, yes, well done.

Probe to Mars. OK, Daphne.

Ayurvedic medicine, A-Y-U-R-V-E-D-I-C,

is generally believed to have originated in which country?

I think that's India.

-India.

-Mmm-hmm.

India is correct. It's all square.

I think, as we rather expected,

this is going to be a hard-fought round. Your question, Bob.

What bodily disorder is known by the scientific name cholelithiasis?

Well, I should be shot if I don't know this one. This is gallstones.

DERMOT CHUCKLES

-Did I get the pronunciation right, Dr Bob?

-Just about.

-Right, OK!

Well, at least you understood it.

Cholelithiasis. Gallstones is correct. Yes, well done.

I was a bit nervous reading that one out there,

knowing Bob's medical background.

Fell absolutely perfectly for you.

If this doesn't fall perfectly for Daphne, another Egghead will be gone.

The male of which bird species has a distinctive booming call

that has earned it the title of Britain's loudest bird?

I think that's a bittern.

-Britain's loudest bird?

-Mmm-hmm.

The bittern is correct, yes. All square.

Sudden Death comes upon us. We haven't played this before, Bob.

Sudden Death means we take away the options you've seen up till now

so just got to get the answer from you.

Here's your question.

Lassa fever is named after a town in which country

where it was first identified in 1969?

I can give you the continent.

I'm torn between two countries on that continent.

I'll go for Nigeria.

It's the right answer!

Daphne.

If angiosperm is the botanical term

for a plant in which the seeds are in a closed ovary,

what word is used for those whose seeds are exposed?

SHE SIGHS

I ought to know this, but...

No, sorry, it's just not coming, Dermot. I'll have to pass.

OK, it's a pass. You've won the round, then, Bob. Do you know?

-No, I'm afraid I don't know either.

-OK!

Well, both cracked on this question. Something had to give. Anyone know?

-BOTH: Gymnosperm.

-Gymnosperm.

Gymnosperm would have kept you in it.

-I would have picked it out of three.

-Exactly. You would have picked it out of three.

Happens so often to contestants,

to your opponents, but it's happened to an Egghead today.

Bob emerging triumphant out of it.

So, Bob, Daphne, would you both please come back and join your teams?

So this is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for 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.

So just Steve from The Bell Boys,

and Daphne, Chris and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

Well, then, Bob, Stuart, Joe and Andy,

you're playing to win The Bell Boys £1,000.

Barry and Pat, you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' rather damaged reputation.

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

This time, the questions are all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer in this final round. Bob, Stuart, Joe and Andy, the question is,

are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

Bell Boys, would you like to go first or second?

I think we'll go first. We'll stick with the trend.

And why not? Been working so well up to this point.

First question, then, goes to you, Bell Boys, and good luck with it.

Dr Lilith Sternin, played by Bebe Neuwirth,

was married to which other sitcom character?

Yeah?

I'm reliably informed - none of them mean anything to me -

but I'm reliably informed it's Frasier Crane.

Frasier Crane is correct, yes.

That gets you off to a good start.

Eggheads, which UK organisation has a trading arm

that publishes the magazine known as Which?

-I believe that's the Consumers' Association.

-I think so.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah.

Yes, we're both happy with this one. It's the Consumers' Association.

Publishing Which?, is correct, yes. Consumers' Association.

So, back to the Bell Boys. Second question.

A member of which band tweeted "I forbid you to like it"

after David Cameron had chosen one of the band's songs

on Desert Island Discs.

-You're looking at me now, aren't you?

-We're kind of hoping... Well...

It sounds to me...

I was going to say it's probably Morrissey, isn't it?

Yes, I would say the same.

-Was it Morrissey?

-Yes.

-So we'll stick with The Smiths?

-Yeah.

OK. We're thinking Morrissey so we're thinking The Smiths.

The Smiths.

Tweeting, "I forbid you to like it."

It's the right answer, yes. Well done.

Second question for the Eggheads.

Where was the architect Zaha Hadid born?

It's not Syria. Is she Iranian?

-I think she was born in Baghdad.

-Oh.

-Well, let me just...

-I'm not sure.

It's either Iran or Iraq.

I don't think she was born in Tehran, I think she's from Baghdad.

In which case, it would be Iraq. So I think it's Iraq.

OK. We're going for Iraq.

Iraq for the birthplace of Zaha Hadid.

It's the right answer, Eggheads. Great quizzing up to this point.

Bell Boys.

Who was creative director of the fashion label Hermes

from 2003 to 2010?

Does anyone know?

Thierry Mugler, I thought he was more into bags and that sort of thing.

Erm.. Gaultier. Gaultier. Surely not.

If I was going to go with one, I'd just guess Farhi,

but it would be a guess.

-Listening to you, I'd probably go along with that reasoning.

-Yeah?

I'd happily, yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Shall we?

OK. We don't really know. Not fashion... Yeah, erm!

Not really our thing! We'll go with Nicole Farhi.

OK. For the creative director of Hermes. Nicole Farhi...

No, it's not. It is... Of the other two...

A lot easier for you if you're guessing. Do you know?

-Thierry Mugler?

-No.

It's a lot easier now for everyone! It's Jean Paul Gaultier.

Interesting the Eggheads may have struggled with that as well,

but that wasn't their question. This is.

And they don't win unless they, obviously, beat your score.

In which part of London did Marie Stopes

open the UK's first family planning clinic in 1921?

I've got a feeling she opened it in the East End.

East End rings a bell with me.

That would make it Bethnal Green, wouldn't it?

Tooting's south London. Where's Holloway?

I'm not sure.

Bethnal Green is cast iron East End.

I'm sure she opened it in the East End.

That's probably where the greatest need was.

I think Bethnal Green is the most East End-y of those three options.

OK. Shall we go for that?

I have a feeling that she opened her clinic in the East End

and of those three options, Bethnal Green is the most East End,

so we'll go for that.

Yes, as you identified there, you've got south, north and east.

Eggheads, the answer is north. Holloway.

-Oh!

-Holloway!

Ooh! What might have been.

You would've taken the Eggheads' scalp with a Gaultier answer,

but you both didn't know your third question, so we go to sudden death.

Still very much alive, everything to play for.

And Bell Boys,

which Jamaican-born life peer served as the general secretary

of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1991 to 2003?

THEY CONFER

-Yeah?

-Must be.

I would imagine. Yeah.

We think Bill Morris.

Bill Morris is correct!

Well. You're back in it.

And the pressure all on the Eggheads.

Who was the choreographer of the ballets Manon and Mayerling,

first performed in 1974 and 1978 respectively?

Two names come to mind - one is Frederick Ashton

and one is... Is it Kenneth MacMillan?

Mmm. Frederick Ashton came to my mind

but I've got nothing to back it up with.

MacMillan or Ashton?

Mayerling...

You don't have a clue from the titles - they don't really help.

Kenneth MacMillan, yeah?

-I think so.

-That's his name.

Didn't one of them actually die almost on set

during a performance of Mayerling? Was that Kenneth MacMillan?

I'm not sure.

I think it is. It rings a bell.

I think there's a famous incidence of a leading choreographer

actually dying in the theatre, in the ballet.

Mayerling rings a bell for Kenneth MacMillan, but it could go wrong.

Well, I had Frederick Ashton

but that was only because I couldn't think of Fred MacMillan...

Kenneth MacMillan. We'll go for Kenneth MacMillan.

-What's your answer?

-We're not sure on this one.

But we're going to go for Kenneth MacMillan.

Kenneth MacMillan.

Tossing it up between Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan.

And you've got the right answer, Eggheads. That's correct.

Kenneth MacMillan. OK.

Bell Boys.

Which British-born American film comic and entertainer

wrote several volumes of memoirs,

including Have Tux, Will Travel and I Owe Russia 1,200?

OK. British-born Americans.

Bob Hope?

Yeah.

Yeah. Who's the guy? Chaplin?

-Laurel?

-Chaplin used to play the violin...

Was he English?

I don't think so, no.

I don't think he was.

Bob Hope was and he might have written something like Have Tux...

-That sounds more likely.

-Do you think so?

I don't know.

I would go for.. I could be wrong but...

He's a British-born American, certainly.

And he might owe Russia some money, he thought it was a joke.

-So are we sticking with that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

OK. Well, we've thrashed it around.

Erm, so we're going to go with Bob Hope.

But not thrashing in the sense of being lost.

It's the right answer. Bob Hope.

-Well done!

-Well done, guys.

Yeah, well done to you.

Bob Hope with Have Tux, Will Travel

and I Owe Russia 1,200.

And Eggheads, pressure back on you.

Which economist and social reformer wrote the 1944 report

Full Employment In A Free Society?

Oooh. Keynes? Beveridge?

Beveridge did a big report on the reform of the social welfare system,

of which full employment would only be a small...

Full employment tends to make me think of Keynes.

It makes you think of an economist. Definitely.

Van Huyck?

No, it wouldn't be him.

Galbraith?

No, it's too early for Galbraith.

Was Keynes alive in 1944?

-I would've thought so.

-Yeah?

Beveridge... It could've been Beveridge I suppose.

He was the big social reformer.

He was the social reformer.

But he's always linked with that.

He could've written that as well.

I need an answer, Eggheads.

Shall we go for Keynes, despite misgivings?

Yeah. Well, we're thinking it might be Beveridge

but we don't have his first name, so we do have the first name of

John Maynard Keynes, who was an economist

but wasn't a social reformer

and unfortunately that's what we'll have to offer. John Maynard Keynes.

John Maynard Keynes.

For the 1944 report Full Employment In A Free Society.

Well, report goes with Beveridge.

and it's William Beveridge.

Which means, Bell Boys, you've won!

Well done!

Well done, mate.

-Brilliant.

-Congratulations, Bell Boys! You've done it again.

The Eggheads lost two on the bounce.

The only pity is we can't give you more money but you've got the honour

of beating the Eggheads. That was really high-quality.

As I said, high-quality quizzing right into the final round there,

right into sudden death, and beat the Eggheads at their own game.

How does that feel? Did you expect when you came here...

You come with pretty low expectations?

-Yes, no, we did not expect to win at all, no.

-Default is to lose!

Plan for the worst and hope for the best!

Well you had the best possible turn-out there, beating the Eggheads

and you've just won £1,000

and you are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

For today, anyway.

Do join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team of challengers

will be just as successful. Until then, goodbye.

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