Episode 73 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 Whiskeypedia.

This team of old friends share very similar passions in life:

sport, travel and, from their team name, one would assume...

encyclopaedias? Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Duncan, I'm 36 and I'm a sales director.

Hi, I'm Mark, I'm 36 and I'm a barrister.

Hi, I'm Richard, I'm 36 and I'm a sales director.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 38 and I'm an IT consultant.

Hi, I'm Scott, I'm 36 and I'm a client accountant.

-So, Duncan and team, welcome.

-Hi.

-Hi.

I said encyclopaedias but a bit of whisky as well, I gather?

-Yes.

-Yes, very much so.

-So you quiz together, you drink together?

Yep, the team was pretty much born as a pub quiz team

and the name fitted with our other interest in life

which is the whisky.

OK, and how does it feel to be sat opposite these titans of quizzing?

I think if we told the truth, we'd have to go, so...fantastic!

Good luck! Everyday there's £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, Whiskeypedia, the Eggheads have won the last seven games

which means that £8,000 says you can't beat them today.

The first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of Arts & Books.

So, challengers, who wants this?

-I'm not sure about me.

-I'm not sure about me.

-I think we should go for Tim. Tim?

-I'll take it.

-That's fine.

-Tim? OK. From Australia, right?

-From Australia, yes.

-Against which Egghead?

You've got the whole range to pick from here.

-Chris, maybe?

-Take Chris.

-I'll take Chris, yeah.

OK, it's Tim from Whiskeypedia versus Chris

from the Eggheads and just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our question room?

OK, so I'm going to ask each of you three multiple-choice questions

on Arts & Books in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Tim, would you like first or second?

I think I'll go second, thanks, Jeremy.

So, Chris, we start with you.

Arwen Undomiel is a character created by which writer?

Ah, now I think we're talking Elvish here, aren't we?

So it's JRR Tolkien.

You're quite right, it is Tolkien. Well done.

Over to you, Tim.

What is the name of the central little girl

in Roald Dahl's book, the BFG?

Is it...

Ooh, that's a good question.

The Roald Dahl books had many different English names

generally for the characters.

Not sure about Daisy. Or Megan.

Sophie, for me, seems like the right answer

so I'm going to go with Sophie.

Sophie is the right answer, well done. OK,

back to you, Chris, your second question.

Isaac Solomon, a receiver of stolen goods,

is believed to be the inspiration for which Dickens character?

Is it:

Well, the original illustrations look like something

out of Der Sturmer.

They were total anti-Semitic caricatures and it was Fagin.

Fagin is the right answer, well done. OK, over to you, Tim.

Who wrote the book Death Comes To Pemberley, a murder mystery

using the characters from Jane Austen's novel, Pride And Prejudice?

Is it:

I do know a few of those novelists.

I think I'm going to go with PD James.

I know that Daphne will know this. Daphne?

-Yes, he's quite right, it's wonderful.

-Is it, really?

-Yes.

She's a brilliant writer, isn't she?

PD James is the right answer, Tim. Well done.

Chris, whose painting Le Pigeon Aux Petit Pois

was among several works stolen from the Paris Museum Of Modern Art

in 2010? Was it:

The Pigeon And The Little Peas.

Not Monet, I can't imagine an impressionist painting a pigeon

and little peas.

Er...Paul Klee's a bit abstract.

Er...I seem to remember reading that some Klees had been stolen

so I'll go with Paul Klee.

-OK, you ruled him out as too abstract.

-Mm.

-And then you went back to him?

-Mm.

-He's all straight lines, Klee, isn't he?

-Mm-hmm.

-And squares.

-He takes a line for a walk.

-Takes a line for a walk?

-Picasso's the answer, Chris.

-Oh, all right.

Tim, get this right and you've beaten Chris

and you're in the final round. Here we go.

The medical student Philip Carey is the main character

in which English novel? Is it:

Not sure I've read either of any of those top...any of those novels.

He was a medical student.

I'm going to go with The Good Soldier, I think.

I'm sorry, you're wrong, it's Of Human Bondage.

OK, we get to Sudden Death, gentlemen,

which means it gets a bit harder.

I don't give you multiple-choice alternatives. Chris, your question.

Towel Day, which takes place on 25th May, celebrates the life

and works of which science fiction author?

Towel... Ah, yes. You always know where your towel is. Douglas Adams.

Douglas Adams is right.

I think Chapter Three of Hitchhiker's Guide says

you have to know where your towel...

You must always have a towel, or something. Yeah.

OK, so Tim, to stay in now for you, your question.

Which Scottish born painter born in 1951 signed his early works

under the real name of Jack Hoggan?

I'm just trying to think of some Scottish painters I know.

But none of them really have a name similar

or in relation to that in my mind.

So I'm going to have to pass on that. I can't think of anyone.

OK, let me just try the Eggheads as you passed. Eggheads?

-Jack Vettriano.

-It is Jack Vettriano. Most famous painting?

-The Singing Butler.

-Butler on the beach.

-The Singing Butler,

-which I think sold for three quarters of a million.

-Yeah.

So it was Jack Vettriano, Tim. Which means Chris has got it

on Sudden Death. Through again on Arts & Books.

-What's that, four out of five now?

-Three out of four.

Three out of four!

Well, what can I say? You're playing well.

Both of you, please come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the challengers

have lost a brain but it's very early days, isn't it, Eggheads?

You've seen them lose all their brains and then you've lost.

So Eggheads have lost no brains, next subject for you is Geography.

Who would like Geography? Who's travelled?

Most of us have travelled quite well actually.

I think Mark's taking Geography.

I'll go, I'll take Geography.

Mark, OK, good. Against which Egghead?

I'm going to go for - rightly or wrongly - Barry.

OK, Mark from Whiskeypedia versus, rightly or wrongly, Barry.

Barry The Calculator from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

OK, so three questions multiple-choice, Geography

and, Mark, you can choose the first or second set.

Um...I'll go first, please.

Here we go. What colour is the cross on the flag of Denmark? Is it:

Right, I'm trying to picture the flag of Denmark now.

Um, there's red on that flag, as with a number of

the other Scandinavian countries

and I'm trying to remember what the cross is in the foreground.

I don't want to mix it up with Norway or one of the others.

Um...

With Denmark, I think I'm going to go for white.

I think the Norwegian flag has blue and red

and I think Danish flag is white.

You've got it right, very well done.

As I looked at it I thought it was easy and then as I looked

I thought, no, you could get very confused.

I was thinking blue and yellow. It's red and white, is it?

-Yes, red and white.

-Red and white. Red background, white cross.

-OK.

-It's actually the oldest national flag in the world.

-Oh, right.

-It dates from the 12th century.

OK, I can't give you any points for that, Barry

but certainly good to hear it.

What of the monetary unit of Argentina?

It's unlikely to be the franc or the dollar

and it's a Spanish-speaking country so I shall go for the peso.

Peso is the right answer, well done. Mark, your question.

The name of the Middle Eastern region known as the West Bank

refers to the West Bank of which river?

OK, well they're all in the Middle Eastern region.

I believe the River Jordan is in fact what we were referring to

when we think of the West Bank so my answer is Jordan.

You're good, Jordan is the right answer.

OK, Barry over to you. What name is given to a branch of a river

which flows away from the main stream? Is it:

Oh. Well, the only one out of those three which makes any sense

to me is a distributary so I shall go for that.

Distributary is the right answer, well done. OK, Mark,

see if you can get this, put him under pressure.

Duart Castle, which is D-U-A-R-T,

Duart Castle, seat of the Clan MacLean,

is on which Scottish island?

I've had a few trips to Scotland and watched some interesting

television programmes but having cycled through it,

I didn't really focus much on the West Coast

but is it Mull, is it Rum, is it Skye?

Skye have got the Cuillin range

but I'm not sure about the history of its peoples or of Mull or of Rum.

I'm just going to hazard a guess and I'll go for Skye.

Anyone know, any Eggheads know?

-Skye.

-I'd go for Mull.

-Barry says Skye, Daphne says Mull.

-Mull is the right answer.

-Oh, gosh!

Mull is the right answer so Barry, if you get this right,

you've taken the round.

Which town in New South Wales is in a different time zone

from the rest of the state? Is it:

Well, I didn't know the answer to the last question

and to match it, I don't know the answer to this one!

So I know they have a strange half-an-hour time zone,

time difference in part of Australia so obviously it must be this

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

so I'll go for Wagga Wagga because I like the sound of it.

OK. I'm told that the pronunciation is "wogger wogger".

Wagga Wagga, then.

And it's the wrong answer anyway, it's Broken Hill.

You're equal after three questions, Mark. We go to Sudden Death, OK?

So it's a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives.

Which European river is spanned by the Vasco da Gama Bridge,

one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world?

We're talking the Iberian peninsular, I believe,

because Vasco da Gama, I believe he was an explorer.

So I think I'm definitely thinking Spain or Portugal.

Um...which river is it that runs through Lisbon?

Because that's the only one I can think of at this moment.

Is it Tiber or it the Ti...?

I get the rivers in Rome and Lisbon mixed up.

I'm going to go for the river that runs through Lisbon, is it the Tiber?

Tiber's my answer.

You're getting towards it, but you're not quite there.

The river Tagus. The River Tagus is the answer, located in Lisbon.

Barry, your question. This for the round.

Indira Gandhi International airport serves which Indian city?

Well, Indira Gandhi was a famous Prime Minister of India.

Er...

Would they have named it after the capital city?

I don't know this one, but I would have to go for New Delhi.

New Delhi is the right answer, Barry, you've taken the round.

Well fought, Mark, but you're out of the final. A big loss for your team.

For Whiskeypedia. Barry, you will be in the final.

Please, both of you come back to the studio and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost two brains

and the Eggheads have lost no brains from the final round.

The next subject is Food & Drink, so who,

from the challengers wants Food & Drink, and against which Egghead?

I'll take Food & Drink.

-We haven't got Kevin here, so who do you want?

-We'll go with Pat, please.

OK, Duncan from Whiskeypedia vs Pat, on Food & Drink for the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions

in the question room? Three questions on Food & Drink,

Duncan, would you like the first or second set of questions?

I'll go second.

Pat, your first question.

A sipit used as an accompaniment to a dish is a piece of what?

An accompaniment to a dish.

My first thought was bread,

something to do with wiping up the sauce, or dunking.

It sounds like it could be bread, so I'll go for bread.

It is bread. Well done. Over to you, Duncan.

In a restaurant, what name is given to the section where the food is plated, ready for service?

Well, er, I was given this round on the basis that

I eat with clients in lots of restaurants.

So, I should know this.

I am thinking that the waiters normally sweep past,

picking up dishes as they go, so I will go with the pass.

Very good. It is the pass. Good use of logic. So, one each, Pat.

Traditional Cumberland sausage and which other English foodstuff

were given EU protected geographical indication status in 2011?

Ah, I've heard of all three.

I think the Cornish pasty, I think it made progress recently.

And secured protected status.

The Bedfordshire clanger, it's sort of a sausage with jam, I think.

Yorkshire pudding is the ubiquitous, simple, oven-baked pudding.

I will go for Cornish pasty.

Well done. Cornish pasty's the right answer, Pat. Over to you, Duncan.

In Ireland, which fruits are traditionally gathered on the summer Sunday known as Fraughan Sunday?

Well, again, nothing's leaping out at me from there. I don't know.

I'm going to take... A guess, with bilberries.

And bilberries is quite right. Duncan, you're playing well.

OK, Pat, your third Food & Drink question.

In the Korean delicacy, Sannakji, which creatures are cut up alive

and served while still moving?

Well, they are very keen on eels in Japan.

And those have been in the famous banking ads.

Octopuses have featured in Korean cinema.

A famous scene where the actor ate a live octopus.

Of those chaps, the one most likely to continue wriggling, I suspect,

is the octopus. So I'll go for octopus.

I can see looks of horror on the faces of your team-mates.

-I would feel sick!

-Judith feels sick at the idea

-that an octopus could be wriggling at the table on the plate.

-Yes.

And it is the right answer,

so I'm afraid you could feel even sicker now.

Octopuses. OK.

Duncan, you need to get this one right,

because he's playing quite well, understated Pat over there.

Who wrote the influential 1984 book on cooking,

The Science And Law Of The Kitchen?

The title is On Food And Cooking, The Science And Law Of The Kitchen.

OK. I'm sorry to say, there's nothing that leaps out again.

I did have an idea, and that's not one of the choices, so that's gone.

But I'm going to go with Anthony Bourdain.

And it's not Anthony Bourdain, it's Harold McGee.

Duncan, sorry, you've been pipped at the post.

Who can tell us about Harold McGee? Anybody know about him? No, nothing?

Nothing at all. No shame in not knowing.

You won't be in the final round, I'm afraid, Pat will be there. He came through on Food & Drink.

Please, both of you, return to the studio.

So, you've lost three brains, guys. Is this a crisis now?

Not yet. Secret weapon.

Secret weapon in reserve.

Eggheads have lost no brains from the final round.

And our last subject before the final is Sport.

-Hope you've got a good sport person.

-I said I'd take Sport.

OK, Richard, against which Egghead? Daphne or Judith?

Judith, please, Jeremy.

Richard from Whiskeypedia against Judith on Sport from the Eggheads.

Happy days!

Yeah, happy days(!)

Please both of you go to the question room now.

I'll ask you three questions on Sport in turn, and Richard,

you can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, good luck. In which decade

did Lester Piggott ride his first Epsom Derby winner?

Well, I like lots of sports. Horseracing is not amongst them.

So I'm off to a good start.

Um, I know he's been around a long time.

I know he started racing well before I was born.

I don't think he's old enough to say 1930s,

although I know jockeys can start very young.

And I think he might be, he might have started

slightly before I think he might have started, if that makes sense.

I'm going to take a guess on 1940s, Jeremy.

Judith, you like occasionally to have a bet on horses.

-I think it's the 1950s.

-It is the 1950s. Richard, sorry.

Judith, the footballer Mikel Arteta was born in which country?

-How are you spelling Arteta?

-A-R-T-E-T-A.

A-R-T-E-T-A - could be anything.

I don't know. Er, Portugal?

Portugal? OK, Richard? Do you know?

I do know that one, Jeremy, because he could play for Spain,

I don't think he's ever played for Spain.

He's played in the Premier league for the last ten years. I'll go Spain.

Spain is the right answer. Who does he play for in the Premier league?

Arsenal.

OK, Richard, in Rugby Union, Cook Cup is a trophy

contested between England and which other country?

The Cook Cup, is it -

I don't think it's Scotland, so it's between Australia and South Africa.

Because of the Captain Cook link, might be wrong,

but I will go for Australia, Jeremy.

Let me check with Tim.

I think it would be Captain Cook, so I would go with Australia.

Australia is the right answer. Well done. Good. Judith, onto you.

Which British athlete won a medal in the men's 110 metres hurdles

at the 1991, 1993, and 1995 World Championships?

I have absolutely no idea. Um, It's not Kriss Akabusi I don't think.

I think he does some other kind of athletics.

So it could be either John Regis or Tony Jarrett.

And John Regis is a name I think I might have heard of,

so I'm going to say him.

John Regis. Is not the right answer.

-It's actually Tony Jarrett. So your chance is...

-Is fading!

Well, your chance is fading. OK.

-Have you got one right yet, no?

-No!

You may not get another chance.

Richard, get this one right, you're through to the final.

Which medal did the cyclist Lance Armstrong win

in the men's road time trial at the 2000 Olympic Games?

OK, I know he was multiple Tour de France winner

and came back from serious illness to win that race lots of times.

I don't know what his Olympic record was, though.

It's going to be a guess. I'm going to go for silver or gold.

I'm going to go silver, because I've never heard of him

being described as an Olympic gold medallist. So I'll go silver.

Silver is wrong. It's bronze.

Almost unguessable, that.

Judith, the Shaposhnikova is a move performed

on which piece of gymnastics apparatus?

This, to stay in, Judith. Is it -

Shaposhnikova? I think it's the balance beam.

Why do you think it's that?

Because it's the magic right.

-Going down the right again? The Keppel rule?

-Yes, the Keppel move!

It's the uneven bars, Judith, I'm sorry.

Even, despite your history on Sport, three out of three wrong,

you haven't done that many times.

Not many, mercifully.

Mercifully. So, you are out of the game. Well done, Richard.

You have beaten our Egghead, so you will be in the final.

And, if you both come back to us now, we will play that final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

Time for the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge,

but those of you who lost your head-to-heads

can't take part in this round.

So, Duncan, Mark and Tim, from Whiskeypedia,

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

Richard and Scott, good luck,

you're playing to win Whiskeypedia £8,000.

Daphne, Chris, Barry and Pat, you're playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' very precious reputation.

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

This time the questions are all general knowledge

and you are allowed to confer. So, Whiskeypedia, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-And, do you want to go first or second?

-We will go first, please.

Final round, £8,000, first question.

What name is given to the formation of balls of fluff

on a fabric's surface, due to wear or rubbing?

Felling sounds like something you might do walking or something.

They have got machines that pull them off. Pilling. I will go with pilling.

-Shall we go with that?

-We're going to go with pilling.

Very decisive, and you're right. It is pilling. Well done, Scott.

A very kind of domestic answer, there!

Eggheads, in which London Park

was the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain opened in 2004?

(DAPHNE): Hyde Park.

It was in Kensington Gardens, wasn't it?

That's Hyde Park.

Hyde Park is the right answer. OK, your second question.

The Time of Troubles, which ended in 1613,

was a period in the history of which country?

I said I was all right at history, but I don't know that.

OK, I don't know why, but I want to go with France.

I was thinking China, actually.

From all three countries. You?

-Neither of us think Russia.

-No.

OK, I'd be happy to go with China if you think it's China. I don't know.

I'm now not thinking it's France.

I'm thinking it's between China and Russia.

I think we'll go China.

OK, funny, it's the one you were least likely to choose all along.

It's Russia. Anyone know what it was about, what was happening?

When Boris Godunov became Czar of Russia

and they were various false claimants to be the Czar,

the false Dmitris, and it was a very nasty period.

Right, another politician question for you.

Which politician published the memoirs, You Can't Say That,

in 2011?

(PAT): I think that's Livingstone...

I think it's Ken Livingstone.

It's not Boris Johnson, is it?

Boris Johnson would never say you can't say that!

Michael Portillo rather seems unlikely.

I think it's Ken Livingstone.

OK, Ken Livingstone.

Ken Livingstone is your answer, and it is correct.

So, you take the lead, Eggheads.

And it puts you in a slightly dangerous position, guys.

£8,000 up grabs. You need to get this one right.

Philomel is a poetic name for which bird?

Philomel, which is P-H-I-L-O-M-E-L, as in Phil, O Mel?

You're more likely to write a poem about a nightingale

-than a dove or a robin.

-I don't think it works.

Philomel. I quite like nightingale. It sounds more...poetic.

-It's between those two, and again, it's just a guess, I don't know.

-OK.

We'll go with nightingale, then.

I love the way you discuss it a bit, and then bang,

you're suddenly there. And it is working quite well.

Nightingale is the right answer. Well done.

So there are some brows being dabbed backstage.

It does mean, Eggheads, if you get this one right,

you have taken the round and the contest.

The conductor Arturo Toscanini played which orchestral instrument?

THEY CONFER

I would've thought it was a violin or a cello, but...

I initially thought the violin but, funnily enough,

trumpet's coming into my mind.

-I can't believe it was the trumpet.

-Cello?

We're not too sure, but cello?

Toscanini played the cello, you're quite right, Eggheads.

Congratulations, you have won!

-It was that one question in the middle.

-Yep.

Commiserations, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and their winning streak continues, getting quite impressive now.

I'm afraid that means you won't be going home with the £8,000.

So the money rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, congratulations.

Who will beat you? Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£9,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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