Episode 55 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 challenging our resident quiz champions today

are Protection Perfection.

This team of colleagues all work

for the same health and safety clothing supplier, based in Hull.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Russ, I'm 47 and I'm an export manager.

Hi, I'm Phil, I'm 34 years old and I'm a business development manager.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 34 years old and I'm a sales manager.

Hi, I'm Sparky, I'm 53 and a contracts administrator.

Hi, I'm Steve, I'm 35 and I'm a warehouse analyst.

Welcome, Protection Perfection.

You didn't need your hard hats today then, to play the Eggheads?

No, we didn't need them today but you never know, we might need them later on.

OK, and you do a lot of outside work together, I know.

A lot of activities including quizzing?

We do, yeah. We do a lot of activities.

A lot of sporting activities, but we also use our brains sometimes

and we do take part in quizzes

and we've been reasonably successful, but we're competitive.

OK, competitive and competitive in all ways.

When you're doing the outdoor stuff, what kind of things do you do?

All the things you'd expect. Football, cricket,

assault courses, dragon boat racing.

-A lot for charity as well.

-A lot of charity stuff.

-OK.

And quizzing today against the Eggheads.

As I say, maybe not needing the hard hats at this point.

We'll see how the head-to-heads go.

Every day there is £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, Protection Perfection, the Eggheads won just the last game

which means £2,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Let's play our first head-to-head, shall we? This is Sport.

Well, I'm sure a lot of you would like to play this.

-It can only be one of you. Who is it to be?

-Sport, yeah.

-Dave, you're the man.

-I think it's me.

All right and, Dave, choose your Egghead.

-Judith? We said Judith.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-I'd like to take Judith on.

-That look.

-Not likely.

-I think you do need the protection now.

Something more than a hard hat.

Let's get Dave and Judith into the Question Room, please, just to make sure you can't confer, Dave.

Well, Dave, I know you're a very good footballer so, good,

I hope, for the Sport round.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, I think.

Good luck. First question coming up, then.

Which football club retained the European Cup in 1990?

Going back a few years.

I think Liverpool were still banned from Europe at that point.

It can't have been Paris. I'm going to say AC Milan.

AC Milan, got that, yes. Well done.

Judith, in Formula One, the Sauber team is based in which country?

Well, it does sound a bit Germanic

but all those countries are a bit Germanic.

So...Sauber.

Germany.

Germany it is not.

Other Eggheads?

I think it's Austria.

No, it's Switzerland.

Sauber from Switzerland.

That the base anyway. And great news for Dave. Second question, Dave.

In cricket, the first ever one-day international

was contested in the 1971 between England and which country?

OK, it was a little bit before my time and it would be a guess,

to be honest, a little bit disappointing,

but I think it would be probably Australia.

Probably Australia.

You've got it, it's the right answer.

Well done.

Is Judith about to be bowled out?

You've got to get this, Judith.

The American, Jack Kramer, who died in 2009,

was a leading figure in which sport in the mid-20th century?

I have a feeling, I think he was a tennis player.

Jack Kramer and tennis, yes. You're still in it.

But maybe not for long. Dave, third question.

Which golfer, born in Portrush, County Antrim,

won the Open Golf Championship in 1947?

I'll honestly say I've never heard of any of the three of them.

One is sort of shining out to me which is Tommy Armour.

-OK. Going for that?

-Yeah, please.

-Tommy Armour.

Did he win the Open in '47?

No.

Fred Daly. Fred Daly.

Well, have you let Judith back in?

Judith, which player was awarded rugby league's

annual Man of Steel award in 1985, 1987 and 1989?

It's a mystery to me whether I can tell you.

I don't know. A, B, C.

Ellery Hanley.

You've made Daphne and CJ ecstatically happy there.

How on earth did they know about it?

It's the right answer, well done. Ellery Hanley.

Well, you knew about it

or was that just a guess?

Funnily enough, Daphne was talking about an Iron Man of Steel or whatever it's called.

-What is it called?

-Man of Steel.

-The Man of Steel.

And this is the name I remember,

but I didn't know whether it was those years or not

so it's just luck, really.

Ellery Hanley. And we go to Sudden Death.

Well, Dave, at one point you were sailing along there.

Looked like you were going to cruise into the final round,

but you've got to work a bit harder now because we are going to Sudden Death.

It's all square after three questions and the choices are removed from here.

Who was the first person to win

the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award three times?

The Overseas Personality of the Year?

I would say, possibly,

Seve Ballesteros?

OK, Seve Ballesteros, good guess.

It's a good guess, but that's all it is, it's not the right answer.

Do you know, Judith?

-Michael Schumacher?

-No. Other Eggheads?

Federer?

No.

Muhammad Ali.

Muhammad Ali. Well, nothing there,

no-one knew it, actually.

Judith, a chance to win it, then. Which member of England's 1990 World Cup squad,

later briefly served as the manager of the Italian club Sampdoria?

This is right up your street, Judith(!)

I'm sure it's right up Dave's street. He probably knows it very well.

I don't know, Kevin Keegan.

Right, Kevin Keegan.

No, it's not.

Well, Dave, do you know?

It's only out of interest, if you don't want to...

-Was it David Platt?

-It was David Platt. Brilliant.

-JUDITH: I knew he knew it.

-You don't get any points for that.

You've got to answer your own question

and this is yours.

In 1972, which city became the first Asian city

to host the Winter Olympics?

Tokyo?

No, right country, though.

Anyone else tell me?

Sapporo.

Sapporo.

Judith, the Soviet athlete Valeriy Brumel

won a gold medal in which event at the 1964 Summer Olympics?

High jump.

-Is the right answer.

-No!

I'm sorry, Dave, I really am.

Was that entirely a guess?

Absolutely, I had no idea. I seriously had no idea.

-And you did apologise to Dave.

-I do apologise to Dave. Annoying for him.

My goodness me, how you Eggheads can land them sometimes.

Well, you are leaping into the final round, Judith.

How you did that, well, only history will tell us.

We'll have to look back through that round. Dave, bad luck.

As I say, you were sailing along there, with the first two questions

but it all went horribly wrong.

You're not going to be in the final round. Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, let the word go out to would-be challengers of the Eggheads,

Judith is becoming formidable at Sport.

Pay attention, world...

-Rugby league.

-..and stop asking me.

-What's that trophy called again, in rugby league?

The, um, man... Man of Steel.

The Iron Man of Steel. I like that one.

Maybe they'll rename it after you've said that.

And as for your Olympic high jump champions, well,

you know the whole list, don't you?

Sort of. Or will do, soon.

As it stands, Protection Perfection

have lost one brain from the final round, the Eggheads are all there,

but we've only played that one round so let's get on with another one, right away.

Our next subject is Politics.

Who'd like to play this?

Politics, yeah. A subject we particularly didn't want to come up

but we have got a strategy.

Who was going to play Politics?

Steve?

Yeah, I think I'll be cannon fodder for that.

Steve is going to take Politics and which Egghead are you going to take on?

Any ideas?

We said,

was it CJ?

Yeah, CJ, I think.

-Yeah, CJ, please.

-All right.

Didn't want it, but have a plan in place, as we heard, there.

So, it's going to be Steve and CJ contesting Politics.

Into the Question Room, please.

Right, Steve, your choice, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here you go and good luck.

Which former US President launched an organisation called

The Global Initiative in 2005 with the aim of confronting

the world's most pressing challenges?

OK, right, not really much of an idea on this one.

Instinct was to go for Bill Clinton, initially.

So, I'll follow my instincts and I'll go for Bill Clinton, please.

Good instincts, right answer, Steve.

And, CJ, which former Conservative MP

famously converted to Roman Catholicism in 1993?

I think that one of those that is the most publicly religious is

Ann Widdicombe, so that's what I'll try.

That's correct. Ann Widdicombe for the point.

Steve, second question.

Instituted in 1960,

the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is located in which country?

I have absolutely no idea. No wonder nobody wanted to do this round.

Tibet.

I'm leaning towards Pakistan.

I would like to go for Pakistan, please.

OK, Pakistan.

It certainly wouldn't have been China, would it? But it's India.

India is the one you were looking for.

So, bad luck.

And, CJ, at which sport did Barack Obama and David Cameron

play a pair of students at the Globe Academy school in South London in May 2011?

I think that was table tennis.

It was table tennis.

So, we have a lead

and alarm bells ringing for Steve.

Which political scientist, whose works included

The State in Theory and Practice, was chairman of the Labour Party

when it came to power in 1945?

OK, another one, unfortunately, I know nothing about.

So, I will go with the name Jim Mortimer, please.

Jim Mortimer as the Labour Party chairman in 1945

when it came to power after the Second World War.

It's not,

-it is, CJ, do you know?

-No, sorry.

-Other Eggheads?

-Laski.

-Harold Laski.

-It's Laski.

Harold Laski.

Which means this round is a lot shorter

than the previous one.

CJ is through. 2-1 there. No need to put another question to him.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, not quite achieved perfection yet,

Protection Perfection.

Two brains gone from the final round,

the Eggheads all still there, but we've got a lot of quizzing to do.

Our third head-to-head coming up now.

This is Arts and Books.

So, who'd like to play this, Russ?

Arts and Books, who did we suggest for that?

-It was you.

-Was it myself?

It's going to be myself. I'm going to have a go at that.

OK, Russ. Well, Judith has played, as has CJ,

so you have Daphne, Kevin or Pat.

Fantastic choice.

Sparky, who did we suggest?

-Pat.

-Pat?

Can I take Pat on, please?

OK, Russ and Pat, then, heading for the Question Room to contest Arts and Books.

-You ready for this, Russ?

-I'm ready.

-As ready as you'll ever be.

-Let's do it.

-Do you want to go first or second?

Well, we've gone first twice and we haven't won

so I'm going to go against the grain and I'm going to go second.

Pat, then, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature winner,

Tomas Transtroemer, was born in which country?

I think he is a poet from Sweden.

He is. It's the right answer, yes.

How are you with your Swedish poets,

Russ, if you had faced that?

I probably would have struggled with that one.

OK, well, just seeing how Pat did with it. You're getting this.

The Rene Magritte exhibition subtitled The Pleasure Principle

was seen at which branch of the Tate Gallery in 2011?

OK, I don't know the answer to this one

so I'm going to have to take a bit of a guess.

Seems to be a theme at the moment.

I'm going to go for

Tate Modern.

Tate Modern for Rene Magritte's exhibition The Pleasure Principle.

It was at the Tate...

Liverpool.

Tate Liverpool.

OK, well, Pat, by what name is the supposed French-born,

Los Angeles-based, street artist Thierry Guetta better known?

I've a feeling he had something to do with Banksy,

but I don't know the answer off the top of my head.

Street artist.

Car wash, there is a sort of street link there.

I'm at sea here.

Mr Carwash.

I'll go for Mr Brainwash, it's a complete guess.

You like the word brain, do you?

Well, it's not a very promising guess.

OK, it's the right answer, though, Pat.

So, it's 2-0 and means you need to get this, Russ.

Which Venetian writer wrote the farce Servant of Two Masters

which was adapted and performed at the National Theatre in 2011

under the name One Man, Two Governors?

Venetian narrators are not a strength of mine.

So, again, I'm sorry, it's going to have to be a guess.

Venetian, Luigi, sounds Italian.

Carlo, sounds a bit more Spanish.

I'm going to go for Carlo Goldoni.

OK, Carlo Goldoni, even though you said it sounds a bit Spanish.

-I can assure you, they are all Italian.

-Right.

You've got the right one, yes, Carlo Goldoni. Well done.

But an important point, here, in the game, in the head-to-head

because Pat can get through with this.

The Bruntwood Prize is awarded in which area of the arts?

Doesn't ring a bell. Bruntwood.

They're all noble undertakings, all would merit a prize.

Bruntwood.

No, the name means almost nothing to me. Bruntwood.

I'm going to have to have another wild guess and go for painting.

A wild guess of painting to take you through.

It hasn't. It's not.

You haven't landed it. It's incorrect. Other Eggheads?

-No.

-No?

-I have heard of it but I can't remember.

-Sculpture?

Well, that's it, it's not sculpture. It's playwriting.

Bruntwood Prize in playwriting.

This is great news for you, Russ.

Let's hope you just know this straight out and take us into Sudden Death.

Which actress wrote the memoir White Cargo which tells of her early life in Asia?

OK, well, I know all three of those actresses.

Pauline Collins.

I know Pauline Collins is married to John Alderton, who comes from Hull.

So, that's a bit of useful information for you.

Greta Scacchi,

she once appeared in a movie called White Mischief

which, I think, was based in India.

Doesn't give me any clues.

I've got an inkling towards Felicity Kendal,

so I'll go for Felicity Kendal, please, Dermot.

Well done.

Felicity Kendal is correct, yes.

Brilliant stuff, there, Russ. Really revived the challenge then.

It's up for grabs now.

And, Pat, we are in Sudden Death, of course, just to remind you both.

Pat, which US artist's work called Look Mickey

was inspired by his son pointing to a comic book and saying,

"I bet you can't paint as good as that, eh, Dad?"

I think I've heard of this.

I think it's Roy Lichtenstein.

-Is that your answer?

-Yes.

It is correct. Roy Lichtenstein.

Mickey Mouse, the character his son pointed at.

Which means, Russ,

if you get this wrong you're out of the game.

Every Day is Mother's Day, published in 1985,

was the debut novel by which Booker Prize winning author?

Every Day is Mother's Day.

I don't know, I can't give a guess at all for that one.

I'm going to have to pass. I've no idea.

OK, Russ. The pressures of Sudden Death in the Question Room getting to you.

We award the round to Pat and we'll extra award it

if you give me the author here, Pat.

Sebastian Barry, no?

No. A lot of, obviously, a lot of Booker Prize winners to go through.

Other Eggheads?

-No.

-Not immediately, no.

-Wolf Hall?

-Oh, Hilary Mantel.

-Hilary Mantel.

Hilary Mantel.

Bad luck, Russ. Great quizzing

but not to be.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

Well, Russ, not getting the rub of the green there, I think.

Just not making it into the final round.

Pat's got that place

so Protection Perfection have lost three brains from the final round.

All the Eggheads are there.

And this is your last chance to knock one of those pesky Eggheads out.

It's Film and Television.

And, who's left, Phil or Sparky?

-Who wants it, Phil?

-It's going to be me, Dermot.

-OK, Phil.

Remember, Judith, CJ and Pat have played so it is Kevin or Daphne.

-Daphne.

-I'd say Daphne.

-I'd like to take on Daphne, please.

Daphne definitely.

OK, Phil and Daphne, then, playing Film and Television.

Can I ask you both, please, to go to the Question Room?

Well, Phil, the hopes of the nation, well, Protection Perfection,

resting on your shoulders.

Do you want to go first or second?

Unlike Russ, I think I'm going to go first, please, Dermot.

OK, kicking off on Film and Television

and this is your question to start.

Who played the role of Winston Churchill

in the 2010 film The King's Speech?

-Have you seen it, Phil?

-I haven't, no, Dermot.

I'm trying to, sort of, picture the other two

but Timothy Spall I have heard of, he was in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, I think.

I'm going to go for Timothy Spall, Dermot, please.

Just cos you've heard of him?

And he looks a bit like Winston.

He looked very like him

in the film The King's Speech.

It's right, well done.

Daphne, which actress played the role of Inspector Jean Darblay

in the first three series of the 1980s BBC programme Juliet Bravo?

I used to watch it. Stephanie Turner.

Is the right answer.

Yes, Stephanie Turner in the title role, there.

Your second question then, Phil.

In the popular TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

what was the surname of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Geller?

I must admit, I didn't watch Buffy.

At a guess,

and it is a total guess, I will go for Summers.

OK, and you've got it, yes. Good guess.

Daphne, what was the name of the American TV series of the 1970s

in which David Cassidy played Keith the eldest son of a musical family?

I think my daughter used to watch it.

The Partridge Family.

The Partridge Family

is the correct answer.

You've both given me some very good answers so far and,

Phil, third question.

Which English actress won the Best Actress award

at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the Robert Altman film Images?

Again, Dermot, I haven't seen the film.

This is a really tough one.

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

I think I'm going to go for Susannah York.

OK, Susannah York. Why?

Total guess. Total guess, Dermot.

A lot of total guesses,

a lot of correct total guesses.

Three out of three.

Well, listen, against that Egghead you're playing, there's no shame in that.

She's deployed plenty of them in the past.

Daphne, the George Lucas Stage

can be found at which British film studios?

I hope I'm as good at guessing as he is cos I don't know.

Pinewood.

Pinewood for the George Lucas Stage.

It's not, Daphne.

It's incorrect.

CJ?

Star Wars was filmed at Shepperton.

No, Elstree.

I've got Elstree for the George Lucas Stage.

Elstree, to clear that up.

Another round of applause, you know, Phil, he's done it.

Last knockings, there.

Well done, Phil, you're in the final round.

Thanks very much.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams?

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

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 in this round.

So, Russ, Dave and Steve from Protection Perfection

and Daphne from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

So, Phil and Sparky, you're playing to win Protection Perfection £2,000.

Pat, Judith, Kevin and CJ, you're playing for something which money cannot buy,

the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I ask each team three questions in turn. This time the questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Phil and Sparky,

the question is, "Are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?"

And, Protection Perfection, do you want to go first or second?

-I think we'll go first.

-First, please, Dermot.

Good luck, guys. First question to you, then.

According to the proverb, what does the early bird catch?

The worm. The worm, Dermot.

OK, no messing around, there, with the worm.

An early bird catching the worm.

Not too difficult,

not too taxing, that one.

Eggheads, let's hope this one is.

With which organisation is Bob-a-Job week most associated?

-Boy Scouts?

-Yes.

-Mm-hm.

-That's the Boy Scouts.

-Boy Scouts? Boy Scouts.

Well done, Eggheads.

It was put on hiatus for several years,

but then reintroduced back in 2011.

Oh, OK.

Well, all square after those

rather leisurely exchanges, I think, the first two questions.

Second question to you, Protection Perfection.

Biophilia is a 2011 album by which musician?

It's not David Bowie.

Not going to be Bowie, no.

-No? By a process of elimination...

-Have you seen it?

No, I must admit, I haven't.

By a process of elimination, yeah.

I've got an inkling against Bob Dylan, now.

-I thought Bob Dylan as well.

-What do you think?

Out of those, it's not David Bowie, he's not released anything.

-Bjork , we haven't...

-Luckily...

-We haven't heard much.

Yeah, luckily, we haven't heard much.

-I think we'll take...

-Yeah, we'll take Bob Dylan.

We'll take Bob Dylan as our answer, Dermot, please.

OK, Bob Dylan with Biophilia in 2011.

It's incorrect, it's not Bob Dylan.

-Bjork.

-Eggheads?

Bjork, I would have thought.

-Bjork.

-It's a landmark album.

It's a DVD, a sort of interactive thing.

It's regarded as something of a milestone.

OK. Well, not identified by Protection Perfection

which means it stays all square

and you've got a second question to come, Eggheads, and this is it.

Vnukovo International is one of the three major airports serving which capital city?

I think it's a spelling job, Dermot, just to make sure.

V-N-U-K-O-V-O.

Moscow has got three airports, doesn't it?

Yeah, it has, so this must be the third one

-because it's not...

-It's not Prague.

Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo

and it'll be that one.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-We think that's Moscow.

Moscow. I heard you mentioning the other two there.

Yes. As you do.

As you do(!)

It's the right answer. Moscow.

Gives you the lead and means

Protection Perfection, you have to get this.

What is the name of the castle at Schwangau

built for King Ludwig II of Bavaria?

Just call them one, two or three.

I was going to say, "Which one can we pronounce better."

None.

-I have no idea.

-Middle for diddle, I think.

What do you think, Sparks?

Shall we go for Vichtenstein?

Cos it sounds like Lichtenstein?

No idea.

No idea.

-Yeah, shall we?

-Yeah.

We are going to go, we don't know but we are going to say

Vichtenstein.

OK. Vichtenstein for King Ludwig's, King Ludwig II's castle.

Built for him. I just wonder if that would have given a bit of a clue.

It's not the right answer. It is, Eggheads?

TOGETHER: Neuschwanstein.

Neuschwanstein. Is the "Neu" the clue?

-New?

-Yeah.

New. Which means, Eggheads,

you've won.

It's the classic fairytale castle, the one that's used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Ah! OK, now we know.

Seen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Thank you for playing, Protection Perfection.

Some tricky questions there,

German castles, we had everything coming your way, didn't we?

Hope you've enjoyed taking on the Eggheads today.

We've enjoyed having you.

But the Eggheads have done what comes naturally

and they still reign supreme over quiz land.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £2,000.

That means, of course, the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations.

And do join us next time

to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£3,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd