Episode 66 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 the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Doncaster Phoenix.

This team of friends are all associated with the same rugby club

and regularly quiz together at the Cask Corner pub.

-Let's meet them.

-I'm Joe, I'm 26, I'm a recruitment consultant.

I'm Daniel, I'm 27, I'm an accountant.

I'm Dan, I'm 26 and I'm a marketing account manager.

I'm Andy, I'm 32, I'm an IT manager.

Hello. I'm Drew, I'm 47, and I'm a motor dealer.

Joe and team, welcome.

Are you all playing rugby or all involved somehow?

We're members of the same club. The three of us on the right all play.

Drew is the team manager and Andrew likes to come and support

and heckle us from the sidelines.

-You are quite a strapping team.

-Yeah! Some more than others!

-Chris, you might be a good scrum-half.

-Well, yeah.

It's a game for hooligans, played by gentlemen, as opposed to soccer,

which is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans.

And you quiz together.

We quiz every Thursday after we've been to rugby training at a local pub in Doncaster.

-We get a few free beer vouchers afterwards we've won it.

-Good luck against the Eggheads.

They are raring to go. Every day, there is £1,000 up for grabs

for our challengers. If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, that prize money rolls over to the next show.

Doncaster Phoenix, I can tell you the Eggheads lost the last game,

which means £1,000 says you cannot beat them today. Shall we start?

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Sport.

-I knew you'd want Sport.

-It's convenient, Dan.

-I'll take Sport.

Dan on Sport. Who is the non-sporty Egghead? Who looks rickety?

-I think I'll take Daphne on.

-So Dan from Doncaster Phoenix...

Judith breathing a sigh of relief there.

..against Daphne on Sport. To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

You're up against Daphne on Sport. Three multiple-choice questions.

-You can choose the first or the second set.

-I'll go first, please.

OK, here we go.

Good luck to you and your team.

The golfer Sandy Lyle represented

which country during his professional career?

Well, golf isn't one of my strongest subjects,

but I'm pretty sure that the answer to that one is Scotland.

Scotland is the right answer. Well done. Daphne, over to you.

In rugby union,

how many metres off the ground is the crossbar between the goalposts?

Erm... Ha!

Ten.

-Dan, what do you think? You must know this.

-I should know it.

I'd have a guess at three metres.

Three metres is the right answer, Daphne.

-I was probably thinking feet!

-This is a good start.

It's great to get you guys on Sport at the start. Flying start.

Nicky Henderson became famous as a leading figure in which sport?

Again, this isn't one of my strongest subjects

but I'm pretty sure that the answer to that one is horse racing.

Horse racing is the right answer. Two out of two.

-Daphne, if you get this one wrong, off the cliff.

-Bye bye.

Bye bye.

The tennis player Tomas Berdych was born in which present-day country?

Um...Czech Republic.

-Where did that come from?

-I don't know. Is it right?

-Czech Republic is correct.

-OK. Phoof!

All right. So it's still two-one and you can end this round right now.

Dan, in 1991, which German footballer became the first ever

recipient of FIFA's Player Of The Year Award?

Well, Germany won the 1990 World Cup.

And I think the captain of the team was Lothar Matthaus.

I have a guess at Lothar Matthaus.

Lothar Matthaus is your answer and it's correct. Well done.

Three out of three, taking the round.

-Daphne, you've been knocked out on Sport.

-Yes.

-Well done, Dan.

You took on one of the Eggheads, you've won, you're in the final round. Daphne is not.

Please come back here and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the challengers have lost no brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one brain. It's early days.

The next subject is Arts And Books.

Who would like this?

-Dan? Daniel? It's got to be you, mate.

-You or Drew.

-Drew, you're much more educated than me.

-I think it'll be you.

I think it's got to be you, Dan.

-I think I'm being a bit of a sacrifice here.

-OK.

Dan on Arts And Books against which Egghead? Anyone but Daphne.

-I'm going to have a go at Judith.

-Yeah, go on.

-I'll take Judith on.

-She likes her books. She does.

-Change your mind!

Daniel, from Doncaster Phoenix, versus Judith from the Eggheads.

Please both of you go to the Question Room now.

OK, I will ask you a few questions on Arts And Books.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner

-and, Daniel, you can choose the first or the second set.

-I think I'll go first, please.

OK, here we go, Daniel. Good luck.

In Enid Blyton's books about Noddy, what is the occupation of Mr Plod?

I have never watched it, never read it.

Mr Plod though, you would assume is PC Plod, maybe.

A policeman, I think.

Policeman is quite right. Well done.

-OK, we'll spare you a Noddy question, Judith.

-Thank you.

The fictional detective detectives Dalziel and Pascoe are the creations

of which crime writer?

Oh, dear. Well, it's not PD James.

And I think Colin Dexter created Morse, didn't he?

So, I'm just hoping it's Reginald Hill.

Reginald Hill is the right answer. I love your rhetorical questions.

I'm never going to answer one of your questions, you know that?

-"He created Morse, didn't he?"

-I can always try, can't I?

Daniel, which American writer wrote the novels The Last Picture Show

and Terms Of Endearment?

Again, I don't know the answer of this one.

I think it's going to have to be a complete guess.

And I will go with Larry McMurtry.

-Eggheads?

-Yes.

-Yes, you got it right. Well done.

What's the rugby equivalent of that? You just punt the ball upfield...

-And hope for the best.

-Someone catches it and you get a try.

Judith, your question.

What is the name of the childhood teddy bear of the artist

Grayson Perry, whom he came to regard as God of his creative world?

It's Alan Measles.

Alan Measles is right. Two each to you. Hard fought.

Daniel, The Light Of The World, The Triumph Of The Innocents

and May Morning On Maudlin Tower

are works by which painter who died in 1910?

Brilliant(!)

Again, I couldn't even...

I don't recognise any of the names.

So it's going to have to be a complete guess again.

And this time will go down the middle with Ford Madox Brown.

Ford Madox Brown is your answer. It's actually William Holman Hunt.

Judith, if you take this question, you've got the round.

Which artist created the artwork Queen And Country,

which consists of sheets of stamps commemorating soldiers

who lost their lives in Iraq?

Oh, gosh. I remember hearing about this. Or reading about it.

Um... Steve McQueen is the one that's become a film director.

Oh, gosh. I don't know. Oh, dear. Martin Creed.

-Martin Creed is your answer?

-Yes.

-No, it's Steve McQueen.

-Oh, who became a film director!

-Did he?

-Yes.

-Did he do Shame or something? Was that him?

-Yes, exactly.

Steve McQueen is the answer. We go to Sudden Death.

You're equal after three questions. Gets a bit harder now, Daniel.

-I don't give you alternatives. Are you ready?

-Yeah(!)

-You don't sound very certain.

-No.

Who wrote the 1889 essay London Models, which took a humorous look

at the types of model available to artists in London at the time?

Um, I have not got a clue.

I'm trying to think of anyone around that era.

I honestly don't know.

I'm just going to say Charles Dickens.

Not Charles Dickens. If you'd thought a bit more about that period, Oscar Wilde.

But not a very well-known work by him,

it has to be said. Oscar Wilde is the answer.

Judith, your chance to take the round.

The Cement Garden, published in 1978,

is a work by which Booker Prize winner?

Ian McEwan.

Ian McEwan is the right answer, Judith.

On Sudden Death, you've taken it. Sorry, Dan. You've been knocked out

by our Egghead here. Please, both of you come back and rejoin your teams in the studio.

-Well done, Judith.

-Thank you.

Because we've got a new Egghead, Dave, known as Tremendous Knowledge,

-you could all have names like that.

-We could.

You've done very well in Arts And Books. Yours would be Judith "The Library" Keppel.

-Oh, God. Thank you.

-Is that all right?

Well, that'll do for the time being.

-87% hit rate in Arts And Books since the start of Eggheads.

-Really?

There we are. As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain, the Eggheads have lost one brain

as well from the all-important final round.

The next subject is History. Which of you would like History?

-What do you reckon? Do you fancy it?

-You've got more chance than I have.

That's worrying, isn't it?

-I think you're older than Joe, so you should know more history.

-Yeah.

Drew on History, OK. Which Egghead, Drew?

It can't obviously be Daphne or Judith. It has to be a bloke.

-I think it'll be Chris.

-OK. So Drew from the Doncaster Phoenix against Chris

from the Eggheads on History and to ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

I will ask each of you three questions on history, in turn,

-and Drew, you can choose the first or the second set of questions.

-I shall go second, please.

Chris, here's your first question. In the 17th century,

the Shimabara Rebellion was a peasant uprising in which country?

Ah...

Well, Ghana wasn't known about in those times.

Neither was Columbia. It was still pre-Columbian at that time.

-So it was in Japan.

-Shimabara, yes, it's in Japan. Well done.

First one to you. Back to you, Drew.

Adolf Hitler's nephew William, who served in the US Navy

in World War II, was born in which English city?

Right. I don't really remember him having a nephew, to be fair.

If it was any of those,

I would have thought it would perhaps be Liverpool.

Wasn't there a story where he was supposedly in England at one stage?

I think if it would be anything, it would be Liverpool. It is a guess.

Liverpool is your answer. It's quite right, Drew. Well done. Very good.

OK, Chris, your second question.

The column known as Pompeii's Pillar was erected in 297 A.D.

in which North African city?

There was a big Roman imperial presence in Tripoli.

-Erm... What was the date again?

-297 A.D.

-297 A.D.

Ah, post-Ptolomei Egypt.

I will have to go with Tripoli.

-Why did you suddenly go for that?

-Just an inkle, as Daphne would say.

-It was Alexandria.

-Pompeii was murdered in Alexandria.

Pompeii was murdered in Alexandria, says Barry.

Oh, that would explain it.

OK, Drew.

What was the name of the house on St Helena where Napoleon Bonaparte

spent the last years of his life and died in 1821?

None of those are ringing any bells. Just trying to eliminate here.

I would guess and I'm probably wrong, it would be Dogwood House.

-Take us through your elimination there.

-It was a guess.

LAUGHTER

OK. That's fine. It's not, actually. It's Longwood House.

But yeah, I enjoyed that!

So the scores, one wrong, one right, each. Third question.

Chris, the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act, which removed

the restriction on a man marrying his late wife's sister, was passed in which year?

1707 is a bit early. That's the Act of Union.

Had they really got into the marriage legislation in 1807?

Divorce was still difficult,

required an Act of Parliament and everything.

I think it probably as late as the growth of liberalism in 1907,

that's what I'll go with. 1907.

1907 is correct.

And who would have thought there was a law to stop you

marrying your widow's sister? Drew, here's your question.

If you get this wrong, you'll be out. If you get it right, we go to Sudden Death.

The explorer Francis Younghusband commanded a British military

expedition that entered which Asian city in August 1904?

Jakarta is ringing a bell for some reason but I'm not sure

whether that's right or not.

And I don't have a recollection of it, to be fair.

I would have thought, if any, it would perhaps be Jakarta,

-so that's what I'll go with.

-Let's see if Chris knows this.

Jakarta was part of the Dutch East Indies at the time,

so we'd have no business going there.

Kandy's on Ceylon as was, Sri Lanka as now is.

It was part of the British Empire. No business going there.

They had an expedition to Lhasa. The Forbidden City.

-Capital of Tibet.

-Capital of Tibet. OK, right. Thank you.

That is the right answer. Lhasa it is.

Thank you very much, Drew. You won't be in the final.

Chris will be. Do come back. We'll play another round.

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains,

the Eggheads have lost one brain from the final round.

Our last subject before the final is Music. Who is the musician?

-I'll be taking that one.

-Joe. Against Barry or Pat?

What do you reckon? Barry or Pat?

-I'd go with Barry.

-Go on then, I'll take on Barry.

OK, Joe from Doncaster Phoenix against Barry from the Eggheads.

Would you please go to the Question Room?

I'm going to ask each of the three questions on Music, in turn.

-Joe, you can choose the first or the second set.

-I think I'll go second, please.

Here we go, Barry, with your first.

Whose 1930s song With My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock

was censored by the BBC due to its supposedly suggestive lyrics?

I'm not sure of the answer to this one,

but one name comes out of the page at me,

because Max Miller was often censored for a lot of his routines.

-I think it might be Max Miller.

-Daphne says no. Who was it?

-George Formby.

-Again, I chose the wrong one!

-Was he, When I'm Cleaning Windows?

-That's the fellow.

OK, Joe, your question.

In which year was I Heard It Through The Grapevine

a UK number one single for Marvin Gaye?

In which year was I Heard It Through The Grapevine

a UK number one single for Marvin Gaye?

I know the song well. I'm probably going to have a guess at the year.

I think '69 is probably too early. I'll have a guess at 1979.

No, it was actually '69. It's a very old song. Before you were born.

-Yeah, way before I was born.

-When were you born?

-'85.

-Wow! Terrifying.

I was a student in '85. Barry, your question.

Tim Booth found fame as the lead singer with which band,

whose UK top 40 singles included Born Of Frustration and Sit Down?

I've not heard of the gentleman

and I've only heard of Belle And Sebastian of those three bands.

While there's no rhyme nor reason for going for the one you've heard

of, but that's all I've got to go on, so I'll say Belle And Sebastian.

It's not Belle And Sebastian. Can we sing this one?

# Oh, sit down, Sit down next to me. #

-James.

-I'll take your word for that.

You'll recognise it if you hear a decent version.

We didn't really help, I don't think!

OK, it is very dramatic now. Joe, your chance to pull into the lead.

OK. Let's see if we can get the point in this round.

Which rock vocalist sang and the role of Jesus Christ on the original recording

of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Jesus Christ Superstar?

I'm going to have to have a total guess at this again.

I don't think it's Ozzy Osbourne.

I can't really imagine him singing Jesus Christ Superstar, somehow.

The one I've heard of is Robert Plant, so I'm going to go for him.

I almost think Robert Plant is too big a star to do this.

It was Ian Gillan.

So, we've both had two questions,

we're both still on the starters blocks.

Barry, Alison Balsom, winner of the classic Brit Award for Female

Artist of the Year in 2009 and 2011, found fame playing which instrument?

I believe she was a trumpet player.

Trumpet is correct. Well done.

OK, Joe. See if you can stay in.

Which singer's first band, formed while he was at school, was called the Quin-Tones?

I don't know the answer to this.

I'm going to have to have a complete guess, unfortunately.

-Could you repeat the name of the band?

-Which singer's first band,

formed while he was at school, was called the Quin-Tones?

I'm going to have a guess at...

-..Cliff Richard.

-Cliff Richard is the right answer.

So, you nearly got it with one, Barry, but not quite.

We go to Sudden Death. It gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives. Here's your first question.

Which American singer, who won a Brit Award in the 1980s, had UK hits

with the songs One Day I'll Fly Away and Rainy Night In Georgia?

One Day I'll Fly Away, I think that was Randy Crawford.

Randy Crawford is quite right, well done.

Joe, to stay in, in 2011, Moves Like Jagger was a UK hit single

for Maroon 5, featuring which female US singer?

I know that one, it's Christina Aguilera.

Christina Aguilera is correct. Brilliant record that, actually.

-Like that Daphne?

-I haven't heard it.

-I bet you have.

It's a really catchy... Very catchy. OK, Barry, your question.

Back In The DHSS, Trouble Over Bridgwater

and Achtung Bono are albums released by which satirical English rock band formed in the 1980s?

If you'd have said the '60s or the '70s, I would've hazarded

a guess at the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, but I think they were earlier.

I really don't know the answer to this one.

I'm going to say the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band,

-but I'm sure they were earlier.

-I know why you did that, it's wrong.

The one we were looking for was Half Man Half Biscuit.

Joe, if you get this right,

you're through to the final round. You've knocked out Barry.

Which 1874 work was composed by Mussorgsky in memory of the painter

and architect Viktor Alexandrovich Hartmann?

Classical's not my strong point. I don't have a clue.

To hazard a guess... No idea. Clair De Lune. I know it's not that.

But I don't really know any classical music.

It was called Pictures At An Exhibition.

All right, heavy weather. Back to Barry.

"Drink, drink, drink", is a repeated line in the Drinking Song,

that features in which operetta by Sigmund Romberg?

Now this is one I really should know.

Daphne will be tearing her hair out at this. The Student Prince.

The Student Prince is the right answer. She's put her hair back in!

Joe, if you get this right, you're still in, if you don't, you're out.

What was the title of REM's first full-length album

released in 1983, which included the track Radio Free Europe?

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to this. It's not come to me.

I can only think of one of their songs and it's Losing My Religion, but I know it's not that one.

-That's what I'll have to go with.

-It's not Losing My Religion.

The album was called Murmur.

So with that, you've been knocked out by Barry in a tough old round.

You lost on Music. Barry will be in the final. Joe, you won't to be.

Please, both of you come back to your teams. We will play the final round.

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

It's time for the final round, which is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

Joe, Daniel and Drew from Doncaster Phoenix

and Daphne from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

So, Andy and Dan. You're playing to win Doncaster Phoenix £1,000.

Chris, Parry, Pat and Judith, you're playing for something

that money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, the questions are General Knowledge. You can now confer.

Doncaster Phoenix, the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-We'll go first, I think, Dan.

-We're going to go first.

-Go first.

Good luck to you both. You can do it.

Which actress played Marilyn Monroe in the 2011 film

My Week With Marilyn?

I think it was Michelle Williams.

Didn't she win an Oscar for it or something?

She was nominated for an Oscar, yeah. Michelle Williams.

-You were certain about that. Have you seen it?

-I've not seen the film.

You're right. Michelle Williams is correct. Well done.

Eggheads, over to you four. When seen directly from above,

what shape is New York's famous skyscraper, the Flatiron Building?

THEY CONFER

It looks like an old-fashioned heavy iron and it's triangular.

Triangular is the right answer. One each.

Back to you, Doncaster Phoenix.

What is the chemical symbol for yttrium, spelt Y-T-T-R-I-U-M?

What is the chemical symbol for yttrium?

Well, I'm not sure about Ym, there's Yt and Y.

I'm trying to think what other chemical symbol starts with Y?

I can't think of anything.

You'd think, just go with Y for it, wouldn't you?

-Shall we go for Y?

-Go on, then. We'll have a go.

-We'll have a punt at Y.

-Brilliant. You got it right.

A tough question as well. OK, this is getting interesting.

Eggheads, which railway engineer is immortalised in a ballad

by Wallace Saunders after he gave his life to save the passengers

and crew on board the Cannonball Express in April 1900?

-It's Casey Jones.

-It's Casey Jones. John Luther Jones.

That's Casey Jones.

Casey Jones. So that's why we've all heard of Casey Jones, is it?

I thought it was unlikely Chris would get that wrong. Casey Jones.

Question three, a lot can ride on the third question.

You're doing so well so far.

In which year was the Highway Code first published?

-I'm not sure there were many cars around in 1901, was there?

-No.

'31, did you even need a licence to drive in '31? Not sure.

The Highway Code will be quite an old...

Well, it will be but when was it updated?

It could have been updated and published for the first time in '61.

-Published, yeah.

-What do you reckon, '61?

-I'll go with you.

1961, Jeremy.

1961. Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Your bread-and-butter, this kind of question.

-1931.

-'31, it was.

So, you're wrong, I'm afraid. 1931 is the answer.

Eggheads, if you get this one right, you will have won the contest.

What is the alternative name for Mount Taranaki in New Zealand?

-It's Egmont.

-Egmont.

-I know there's a Mount Egmont.

Taranaki is in the bottom left corner of North Island.

-I think it's Egmont.

-I'm happy with Egmont.

-I think it's Egmont.

-I think it might be.

-Not certain.

-Do you want to go with it? Go with it.

-Nothing else.

-We're not certain.

-I think Mount Egmont.

-If you get this wrong, we go to Sudden Death.

If you've got it right, the contest is over.

Your third question, the answer is Mount Egmont. Congratulations.

You have won.

-What was the question that killed us there? The third one?

-Highway Code.

Yeah, and '61 is the obvious one to guess.

I didn't think there were many cars around in 1901 and 1931.

What would they have written? Drive in a straight line? Doncaster Phoenix, thank you.

Always good to see rugby players. Fit and healthy, full of youthful exuberance.

-I'm sorry that the Eggheads have dented you. Good luck, get your own back on the rugby pitch.

-We will.

Commiserations. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and they reign supreme over quiz land.

You won't be going home with the £1,000, which means the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Let's see if you can keep it going.

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£2,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd