Episode 54 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.

Taking on our awesome quiz Goliaths today

are the Blank Cheques from London. This team of friends work

within the same bank in Canary Wharf and have in the past won a large charity quiz. Let's meet them.

I'm Gavin, I'm 29 and I'm a bank manager.

Hi, I'm Dino, I'm 41 and I'm a bank director.

Hi, I'm Tom, I'm 27 and I'm a project manager.

Hi, I'm Alex, I'm 26 and a bank associate.

Hi, I'm Tom, I'm 30 and I'm a lawyer.

Welcome to you, Blank Cheques. Tell me about the large charity quiz.

It wasn't that large. It was just a quiz in Canary Wharf that we entered and we did quite well.

-That's prompted us to apply for this.

-"Did quite well." You won it?

-We did.

-And all of you were on the team?

-Indeed we were.

-Yeah.

-Any others or just you five?

-Eight in total. It was a bit of a collective.

-What kind of quiz was it? General knowledge?

-A complete mixed bag, yeah, very general.

Your rivals today are the Eggheads.

Talking of blank cheques, I'll tell you about the cheque on offer today.

Every day, there is £1,000 of cash up for grabs for our challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over.

Blank Cheques, the challengers won last time out, proving it can be done.

That means then £1,000 says you cannot beat the Eggheads today.

Let's play our first round then. It's Music.

Any one of you can start.

-Tom?

-We said it was going to be me?

-Yeah.

-I'll take that, Dermot.

OK, and Tom, choose your Egghead.

-Judith or Kevin?

-Kevin, I think.

-Shall we try and take Kevin out?

-Go on.

-We'll go with Kevin.

-"Try and take Kevin out!"

-LAUGHTER

-Go for the jugular!

Tom and Kevin then, into the question room.

That's to make sure you cannot confer with your team-mates.

-Tom, you get to choose. It's Music. Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

What is the term for the temporary shifting of accent in a piece of music,

so the strong beats become weak and vice-versa?

OK, my brother's a professional musician,

so he'll be particularly angry if I don't get this.

I don't think it's transcription.

I'm leaning towards syncopation.

I'm going to go with that gut feeling and go with syncopation.

Syncopation... Your brother's very happy. It's right. Well done.

Kevin, which U2 album first featured the hit single, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For?

-No, just don't know.

-Oh!

So, a one-in-three guess, actually.

I'll try The Unforgettable Fire. It's a complete one-in-three guess.

The Unforgettable Fire, you won't forget this now

because it's not right, and CJ looking pained.

-It's The Joshua Tree.

-It's The Joshua Tree

with I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. You have, Tom,

which is a mistake from Kevin on the first question.

Can you go further into the lead here?

Mel B from The Spice Girls released her solo single Word Up in 1999 under what name?

I think this was based on her marriage.

Obviously, one letter to choose between the three.

My inclination is towards Melanie G.

I do remember the song coming out. I'm going to go with Melanie G.

Interesting, you bankers having a detailed knowledge

of the former Spice Girls and their marriages.

It's the right answer - Melanie G. G for...?

You're right about where the G came from. G for...do you know?

-Her then husband's surname?

-I can't remember.

-Gulzar. G-U-L... Was it Jimmy Gulzar?

-Sure.

OK, well, well done there.

You have a 2-0 lead and go straight into the final round if Kevin doesn't get this.

What was the name of the evil snake on the Captain Beaky records?

I don't know if the other two existed.

The only one I've heard of is Hissing Sid, so we'll go for that.

It makes you giggle, that question. It is correct.

Captain Beaky.

All sorts in these questions.

They really range around. You've still got work to do, Tom.

What was the title of the first UK number single for Jennifer Lopez?

I think Love Don't Cost A Thing was more recent,

so I don't think that's right.

I would go with, "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got,"

-Jenny From The Block.

-OK, I was looking for that.

-I'm giving the lyrics.

-Very good, Jenny From The Block.

You know your J-Lo, but not when they were released.

-It is Love Don't Cost A Thing.

-OK.

So you had Kevin. He looked down and out. You were 2-0 in the lead.

And is he going to come back? We'll see.

Which composer wrote the opera La Finta Giardiniera or The Pretend Garden-Girl,

first produced in 1775?

Well, the only one who was actually alive in 1775 was Mozart

and it is Mozart, anyway.

-So got it twice really there?

-Yeah.

That's the man who knows his dates

as you may have seen on many editions of Eggheads.

We test Kevin out on the dates, so he's been able to do that

by pointing out that none of the other two were alive at the time.

It is Mozart and it's game on again.

It's like we're starting from afresh because we go to Sudden Death after three questions if it's all square.

I know you know the rules, but just to remind everybody,

we remove the options you've seen.

The song I Could Write A Book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers was written for which musical?

If there was one area I'd lean towards as my weakest area of music, it would be musicals, sadly.

I Could Write A Book...

Wild stab in the dark, I will go with, as I passed by the sign recently, Priscilla.

Priscilla, oh, yeah, Queen Of The Desert.

No, it's not, though.

It's tough. I wonder if you can get this, Kevin, just out of interest?

-I really don't know it, but I'll try Pal Joey.

-Pal Joey is the answer. Pal Joey, Tom.

So, not really any the wiser after hearing that, are you?

-No.

-Some comfort to you, anyway. You've got to sit this one out and hope Kevin doesn't get it.

What is the term for a piece of music composed in the style of the boating songs of Venetian gondoliers

such as in Offenbach's Tales Of Hoffmann?

That's barcarole.

Barcarole...is the right answer, Kevin.

You've made it through.

Oh, dear, Tom. How did that happen?

I don't know. It unravelled very quickly. My Jennifer Lopez knowledge wasn't up to scratch.

That would have got you through. It just unravelled, as you said there.

A great round there, Tom, but you won't be taking part in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, a Houdini-like escape for Kevin there means

that the Blank Cheques are missing one brain from the final round, the Eggheads are all there.

The second round coming up and it's Science.

Who would like to play Science?

-I think we said it was you, Gav.

-Yeah, yeah.

-I think we said you.

-I'll take Science, Dermot.

OK, Gavin. Take an Egghead, not Kevin, but any of the other four.

-What do you think?

-Judith?

-Judith might be weaker at Science?

-I've no idea.

-It's all relative.

Pat maybe? I don't know.

-I don't mind.

-Go Pat.

-I'll take Pat, please.

Pat? OK. Judith there..."Phew!"

LAUGHTER

I'm doing the "phew" for you. Let's have Gavin and Pat then into the question room, please.

Gavin, you saw how it works, apart from the end bit, of course, from your point of view.

-You don't want it to work like that. Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Gavin, best of luck with Science. Your first question is this.

Bacteraemia is the scientific term for the presence of bacteria in what specifically?

HE SIGHS

I have to say I have absolutely no idea,

so it will be a stab in the dark, Dermot. Um...

I'm tempted away from "eye",

so I think I'm going to go for...

um..."bloodstream".

OK, bacteria in the bloodstream is the right answer. Well done.

That's the start you wanted.

Pat, what is the amount of heat required

to convert a liquid into gas at constant temperature and pressure?

It's changing from a liquid to a gas,

so I don't think compression is relevant.

And there's no burning going on.

I think it's just a change of state, so it's heat of vaporisation.

Heat of vaporisation is the right answer from Pat. Back to you, Gavin.

A dibasic acid is one in which each molecule contains two replaceable atoms of which element?

Again I'm not sure.

Dibasic?

I think I'm going to go with "hydrogen". Again it's a guess.

OK, a guess again and right again!

Get in!

Just keep guessing. I wouldn't bother with knowing any of them!

Pat, what colour are the legs and the bill of the chough, a bird found

on the western coasts of Scotland, Ireland and Wales?

Ah, he's a crow.

And I think he's got a distinctive pinky-red beak.

Can I have the question again, please?

What colour are the legs and bill of the chough,

a bird found on the west coasts of Scotland, Ireland and Wales?

I'll go for "red".

The red bill and legs of the chough...is right.

Both going tremendously well.

Two-all, and back to Gavin.

Often known as runners, what name is given to the horizontal stems that grow along the ground from a plant,

such as the strawberry, and produce new plants at their tips?

I'm starting to wonder why I took this subject!

Have another guess! Why not?

It's a toughie. I'm lucky I've only got three to choose from.

I'd like to say there's some method in the madness,

but it's a guess again.

I'll go for the middle one - stolons, please.

Eggheads, if Daphne ever doesn't want to play any more...

-It's brilliant.

-..with her accuracy at guessing...

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

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Three guesses out of three.

I'm sure slightly informed. I'm not sure you took us through all the thinking.

Maybe you ruled out the odd option. You're in a commanding position. Pat needs to get this.

The ailerons on an aeroplane's wing are designed to mainly control the aircraft in which type of movement?

Well, I presume "roll" is rocking from side to side.

"Pitch" is the angle of the fuselage,

whether it's pointing up into the sky or down to the ground.

I'm not entirely sure what "yaw" is.

I'm not entirely sure whether ailerons are the same as flaps.

I'm going to assume that they're used

to control the angle of attack

of the main fuselage of the plane, the pitch.

But this could easily be wrong. I'll go for "pitch".

Pitch, the angle of attack...

Gavin's angle of attack has been perfect. It's the wrong answer.

It is to control the roll. The roll.

You're out of the game, Pat,

-which means, Gavin...

-Well played!

What a performance! Keep that up in the final round, the Eggheads will be very worried. You'll play in it.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

As it stands, that's better for the Blank Cheques. One brain missing from each team in the final round.

And our third subject today is Politics.

Who would like to play this?

Gavin and Tom E have played, so the other Tom, Dino or Alex.

-I think we said Alex was the man.

-I think I am.

-You're the man.

-I'm going to play, Dermot.

Which Egghead do you want to play? Kevin and Pat have played, so you have CJ, Judith or Barry.

-Judith.

-I'll go for Judith.

OK, let's have Alex and Judith into the question room, please.

Which way is it going to go for Alex?

-Do you want the first or second set of questions?

-I'll go first, please.

Alex, when a UK General Election is called, what is the official term for the dispersal of Parliament?

I'll go for a dissolution.

A dissolution is the right answer, of course.

And a good start again.

Judith, for what does the letter B stand in the economic abbreviation PSBR?

Public... I think it's Borrowing.

It is. Do you know what it all stands for?

Public something Borrowing...

-Something. Public Sector Borrowing Requirement.

-That's right.

Much talked about these days. All square. Second question for Alex.

Who became Prime Minister of the Netherlands following the Dutch General Election of June 2010?

I bet you stayed up all night to watch the results!

No, I didn't actually.

I'm not that much of a fan of Dutch politics.

I don't think it's the middle one.

So that leaves the other two.

I don't think it's the middle one.

I'm going to go for Mark Rutte.

OK, that one. Mark Rutte is the right answer.

You have the luck of Gavin in there.

Let's hope it doesn't run out before you get to the end of this round.

Judith, the Family Allowances Act which provided an allowance for each child in a family,

apart from the eldest, was passed in the UK in which decade?

Well, I'm sure it wasn't the '80s.

I think it's much more likely to be the '40s than any other time,

along with the National Health and all the rest of it.

Yeah, I think I'll go for the '40s.

Yeah, one of the building blocks of the Welfare State. You have it.

Two-all and back to Alex.

According to its 2010 financial statements,

which UK political party had 193,961 individual members?

I think it will either be Labour or Conservative.

Do you know, I'll go for...

I'll go for Labour.

It's the right answer - the Labour Party.

-Got the luck!

-Labour, well done. So it's staying with this team.

What can you do to shake 'em off, Eggheads? You've got to get this to start with, Judith.

What is the name of the main legislative body of the Maldives?

Well, I hope I've got the luck of the bankers in this case

because I've no idea!

I think...

I have a feeling they're Muslim, aren't they, the Maldives?

And Majlis sounds vaguely sort of Araby, Muslimy,

-so I'm going to say Majlis.

-OK...

-Yeah.

-You're saying it very nicely too and it is the right answer.

-Wow!

You deserve that after the string of guesses from the Blank Cheques.

We go to Sudden Death again.

Alex, if you need to guess, which I hope you don't, it's harder because there are no choices.

Who was Margaret Thatcher's longest serving Cabinet Minister?

Who was Margaret Thatcher's longest serving Cabinet Minister?

I think, and this is a little bit of a guess, but I think that's Michael Heseltine.

No, no.

No. Yes, of that era, of course. But had a famous falling-out with Margaret Thatcher.

-Judith?

-Is it "everyone needs a Willie", Willie Whitelaw?

No, no. That's a good one. He was around a long time. Other Eggheads?

-Douglas Hurd?

-No.

-Caused her so much damage when he resigned.

-It was Howe, was it?

-Geoffrey Howe.

-He was there longer...? OK, OK.

Geoffrey Howe.

OK, a chance then. First chance in the game for Judith.

John F Kennedy squared up to which political rival on television

in the so-called Great Debates of 1960?

I think that was Nixon who was let down by his five o'clock shadow.

Richard. Do you want the Christian name?

-So what's your answer?

-Richard Nixon.

-Richard Nixon...

-No?

-It's the right answer, Judith. Yes, you have taken the round.

You matched one guess with another guess,

although there were two guesses before that, so probably only fair.

Richard Nixon takes you through. Bad luck, good performance, Alex.

Both please come back and join your teams.

A fantastic contest so far, but the Blank Cheques have lost two brains, the Eggheads have lost one.

Will it be all square? Let's find out now in our last Head To Head, Arts and Books.

-Dino or Tom?

-Tom?

I think that's you.

OK, Tom, who are you going to play? We've got Barry or CJ.

-Em, I think Barry.

-OK, it's going to be Tom and Barry playing this last Head To Head.

It's Arts and Books. The Question Room beckons both of you, please.

Some great rounds so far. Let's see what awaits. Tom, do you want to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, please.

Off we go, Tom. What is the title of author Robert Harris's 2011 thriller set in the world of hedge funds?

Em...

It's not The Ghost.

That was, I think, a political thriller.

I'm not sure whether it's Enigma or The Fear Index.

-But I'm going to go with... The Fear Index.

-The Fear Index.

-Required reading, isn't it? In your world?

-A cautionary tale.

-A cautionary tale. The Fear Index is correct. Well done.

-Thank you.

And Barry, first question. 2011 was the centenary of the birth of which English playwright?

2011.

That's 1911.

Hmm. Gosh.

This one's kind of passed me by.

Pinter died not so long ago and I'm sure he wasn't 100, so I will discount him on that basis.

-I think I'll go for Noel Coward.

-Noel Coward, OK.

There was, I remember, a great revival of his works to accompany this centenary.

-Eggheads, is it Noel Coward?

-No.

-It's Rattigan.

-Terence Rattigan! Terence Rattigan, Barry.

OK, this is great news for Tom.

Best possible start. The American abstract impressionist painter Willem de Kooning was born

in which city?

I have no idea.

I'm hoping I'll have the luck of my teammates.

-I'm going to say Amsterdam.

-Amsterdam for the birth city

of Willem de Kooning. It's not!

Goodness me!

-The luck's run out.

-It's Rotterdam.

So, well, you still might

retain that lead if Barry fails.

Raku - R-A-K-U.

Raku is a type of what?

I believe Raku is a type of Japanese earth-fired pottery, so it's earthenware.

Back to form. Don't stay down for long, those Eggheads.

And Tom, third question.

The Humours Of An Election is a series of four paintings by which artist?

OK. I don't know this one either. I was hoping for more books and less art!

Em, I...

Again, it is an absolute guess, but I'm going to go with John Tenniel.

-John Tenniel, in the middle. No! It really has deserted you now.

-It has.

-Barry?

-Hogarth?

-Hogarth.

Barry, I suspect he didn't expect

to be in this position, but he can take the round here.

The artist Eugene Boudin is particularly famous for his beach scenes of which region of France?

I'm not 100% certain on this, but I have seen some of his work.

I seem to think it was in Normandy.

OK, Normandy you think, for Boudin's beach scenes. It's the right answer.

You're through to the final round. That's happened twice to you guys.

You're not going to be there, Tom. Both please come back and join your teams.

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 Tom, Alex and the other Tom

and Pat from the Eggheads, would you all leave the studio, please?

So Gavin and Dino, you're playing to win the Blank Cheques £1,000.

Barry, Judith, Kevin and CJ are playing for something money cannot buy - your damaged reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions. This time they're all general knowledge and you can confer.

Gavin and Dino, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Blank Cheques, would you like to go first or second?

-First?

-First, Dermot.

And good luck, Blank Cheques.

First question. How many cardinal points are there on a compass?

-I would have said four.

-I'm not 100% sure. I'd have thought five or seven, but you think four.

-Four...yeah. Let's go four.

-You think it's four. OK.

Dermot, we'll go for four, please.

OK, four. Four cardinal points on a compass.

You flirted with five and seven, Gavin pulling you back to magnetic north, so to speak. It's right!

-Four.

-Well done.

-They are as simple as north, south, east and west.

Yes, the cardinal points. And, Eggheads,

sky diving is another name for which activity?

-I've done all three! It's parachuting, yeah?

-Yes.

I've done all three. Parachuting.

-All at the same time?

-Not yet, but it's an option if you're up for it.

You go first.

Sky diving and parachuting. Yes, it's the right answer.

OK, back to the Blank Cheques.

In 2011, which country's football authorities decreed that only women and children under 12

would be admitted to watch certain matches in an attempt to combat hooliganism?

-I don't think it's Spain.

-I don't think it's Spain.

-So it's out of Greece and Turkey.

-I think they've both had issues in the past with hooliganism.

I was leaning towards Turkey, but I really don't know.

-I don't know, but I would lean towards Turkey.

-Let's go Turkey.

-What do you think?

-Yeah. Dermot, we're not 100% sure,

but we'll go for Turkey.

Turkey. With its... It must be quite a hooliganism problem.

Only women and children under 12 watching certain matches in Turkey.

It's the right answer!

Gavin's revving up that guessing engine. Bit of instinct as well.

Two out of two.

Eggheads, what is the full name of the official notices previously known as D Notices?

It's Defence Advisory.

We think those are Defence Advisory Notices, Dermot.

It's the right answer, Eggheads.

You've got two as well.

In which city are the M Night Shyamalan films

Sixth Sense and Unbreakable set?

Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

-Which city are they set in?

-I think it's Chicago.

I think it is as well. I don't think it's Philadelphia.

Yeah, I've got a strong feeling it's Chicago.

Let's go with it. You know your films.

We're reasonably sure we think it's Chicago, Dermot.

Chicago for the setting of Sixth Sense and Unbreakable

by M Night Shyamalan. They're set in Philadelphia.

Philly.

-Not Chicago.

-Sorry.

Well...

A chance for the Eggheads here. Which Indian cricketer took all 10 wickets in one Test match innings

against Pakistan in 1999?

-It can't be Zaheer Khan.

-It's Kumble.

-Yeah, yeah.

Em, that's Anil Kumble.

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh or Anil Kumble.

All 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan.

It's Kumble. It's right. You've won.

Well, bowled you out in the end, Blank Cheques, but stout resistance, especially from Gavin.

No wonder you won that charity quiz with an assured sense...

I'm not going to call it guessing. As the Eggheads will tell you, there's guessing, inklings,

a lot in between not knowing and knowing.

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

You won't be going home with £1,000 and that means the money rolls over.

Eggheads, congratulations once again.

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

Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd