Episode 76 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, where a team of five quiz challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain. They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our awesome quiz champions today are the Penn Pals.

This team of old friends are connected by Penn in Wolverhampton

and can regularly be found quizzing in the Rose and Crown. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Ben, I'm 26 and a trainee primary school teacher.

Hi, I'm Lydia, I'm 24 and an administration assistant.

Hi, I'm Phil, I'm 26 and a student.

Hi, I'm Sam and I'm 24 and an engineer.

Hi, I'm Lisa, I'm 23 and I'm a student.

-Ben and team, welcome.

-Hello.

-You're keen quizzers.

-Correct.

-Ben, you are a trainee teacher?

-A trainee primary teacher, yeah. Just finishing my year of training.

-With a dream to teach in Australia?

-Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

-Once I've got my NQT year out of the way.

-That's Daphne's favourite.

It certainly is, yes.

-Are the Eggheads big in Australia? Do we know?

-Yes.

-You can be seen in Australia?

-And New Zealand as well.

If you move over there, you could still watch the programme.

-Fantastic.

-That's an incentive.

And the quizzing?

-Tell me about the quizzing.

-We meet up once a week at our local pub, the Rose and Crown,

where we always try to win every week.

Sometimes we're successful. Sometimes not!

-You have a good spread of subjects?

-We like to think so. We've all got our own subjects.

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

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

So, Penn Pals, the Eggheads have won the last 10 games, which means £11,000 says you can't beat them.

-Shall we start?

-Yes!

-OK.

The Head to Head battle that we start with is on Sport.

So who's the Sport person?

-You, Ben?

-I think so.

-Yeah.

-OK. You can choose any of these... I was going to say reprobates.

Brilliant quizzers.

-Do you want to throw Judith in?

-Yeah, I think that's right.

-Sorry!

-Judith.

-Her shoulders sagged then.

The misery of it. OK, so Ben from Penn Pals versus Judith from the Eggheads.

-You get it out the way early.

-That's true, yes.

-Also, you're getting better at some sports.

-You answered a question right on...

-One!

-..athletics the other day.

-That was probably good luck.

To ensure there's no conferring, please both take your positions in the Question Room.

Here we go. Three multiple choice questions on Sport in turn.

Whoever answers the most correctly, wins. Ben, your choice - the first or the second set?

I'll have the first set, please.

Here we go. The dolphin kick is usually performed as part of which swimming stroke?

Right. I'm pretty sure I can rule out backstroke.

I don't believe it's backstroke.

I think the same action is used for breaststroke. So I say butterfly.

Butterfly is right. Well done.

Judith, your question.

Often used in relation to American sports, for what does the abbreviation MVP stand?

Massive Variation in Points applies to me, I think. But I do think I know this one. Most Valuable Player.

Most Valuable Player is right.

Well done. One each. Ben, back to you.

Lamont Peterson defeated which British boxer in 2011 to take the WBA and IBF

light-welterweight titles?

Right. I don't think it was Dereck Chisora.

I'm going to say Kevin Mitchell.

-See if your team know.

-No idea.

-OK.

-Leaning towards Amir Khan, but...

Yeah, you're right to. Amir Kahn is right. Ben, you got it wrong.

Judith, on to you

to take the lead in Sport. Which golfer was named the PGA Tour's 2011 Player of the Year

after finishing the season at the top of the money lists in both America and Europe?

I think I know this one. I think it's Luke Donald.

You're bang on!

-Is that because you follow golf?

-I think I read about Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy.

-Rory McIlroy was top notch for a fortnight, then Luke Donald overtook him again.

-Yeah!

Great stuff. You're in the lead. Ben,

get this wrong and you are out.

Sydney Thunder is a team that competes in which sport?

Em...I don't think it would be a cricket team.

It doesn't sound like a cricket team. Sydney Thunder...

Potentially could be a basketball team, but it does sound a lot like an Australian Rules Football team.

Sydney Thunder...

I'm going to have a guess at basketball.

Oh, you veered left and right and every which way there.

I know why you would have said Australian Rules Football. It's cricket.

-Oh, wow.

-Could have been any.

So I'm sorry. Judith, why this worry about Sport? You keep winning.

-Well, I don't keep winning! I won again, that's all.

-You won one.

But that's good for you. Ben, sorry, you've been knocked out, but it will give Judith an emotional boost.

There is that. Please, both of you come back and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the challengers have lost one brain.

The Eggheads have lost no brains. Now it's Arts and Books.

Which of you would like that?

-It has to be Lisa.

-Lisa, OK.

-The pressure(!)

-Who would you like to take on here?

-Pat? Pat, maybe?

-Yes, OK. Yeah.

-Pat?

-Pat, please.

-All right.

-OK. Lisa from Penn Pals versus Pat from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

-Lisa, I know your big thing is children's books.

-Yeah, I'm studying for an MA in Children's Literature.

-So, yeah.

-You can actually study children's books specifically?

Yes, there's a few universities that offer it and I chose Reading because I liked their course.

-And who is regarded as the greatest ever?

-I think that's up for debate.

I like to think it's all about taste and who you personally like.

-Is it Roald Dahl or Julia Donaldson or what?

-Roald Dahl's up there. Jacqueline Wilson's very popular.

-Yeah. You think it's undervalued and overlooked, do you?

-It can be, yeah.

It's something that has got a lot of value in it

and is sometimes seen as simple. There's a lot more to it.

-Pat, you got any favourite children's authors?

-No, not really.

I've read lots of them, but there's none I turn to regularly, no.

OK. I wish I hadn't asked now.

I'll ask each of you three questions on Arts and Books.

Whoever answers the most correctly wins. Lisa, first or second set?

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck. John Godber's play Up and Under centres on which sport?

-Up and Under?

-Up and Under.

I'm thinking obviously diving you would climb up and then go under the water.

Eh, mountaineering...

You climb up. Not sure about the under. I hadn't heard of the book.

-I'm going to go for diving and dismiss rugby league.

-Diving.

-People of a certain generation will remember Eddie Waring.

-Yes.

He was a famous rugby commentator. I've never been that into rugby,

but he'd say, "And he's done an up and under!" Was that the accent?

-Something like that.

-No.

-No?! It is rugby league, Lisa, sorry!

You kick the ball up in the air and run underneath it.

Pat, what is the title of Louisa May Alcott's 1871 sequel to her novel Little Women?

I think she wrote a whole series of books

set about the same group of people. I think the sequel is Little Men.

Quite right. It is Little Men.

Back to you, Lisa.

What did Charles Saatchi describe in a December 2011 newspaper article as

"comprehensively and indisputably vulgar"?

Em...

I don't think I came across this.

Being vulgar.

I think that a photographer can sometimes capture moments that might be seen as vulgar.

An architect, perhaps, could build things that might not be aesthetically pleasing.

I'm trying to think about an art buyer as well.

I'm going to go for...

..being...

..a photographer?

Being a photographer. You said that without much certainty.

-No, I'm not sure.

-Yeah, I can tell.

It's not that, actually.

It's pretty unguessable, this, Lisa. He was taking a pop at art buyers.

He doesn't think people should go around buying paintings.

-Wasn't he sending himself up?

-Was he?

Isn't he the great art buyer of all time? Indiscriminate. He buys virtually everything.

So he believes he shouldn't? Or somehow it lowers him.

-I think he was being satirical.

-So it's even more difficult to solve it on that basis.

Pat, your question. If you get this right, you've taken the round.

Turner's famous painting known as Rain, Steam and Speed, depicting a train crossing a bridge,

has a subtitle referring to which railway company?

Er...it's a celebrated painting.

I think there's a little hare running along chasing the train.

I think the loco is about to thunder across a bridge near Maidenhead.

So that makes it the Great Western, I think.

The correct answer is Great Western. So, Lisa, sorry. No way back for you in this round.

Two out of two right for Pat. Pat will be in the final.

Both of you please come back to us in the studio.

-So you've lost two brains now. Don't panic.

-Do we look panicked?

No, you're not looking panicked. The Eggheads have lost no brains.

Time for our next round - Science.

-Who would like this?

-Engineer.

Yeah, definitely you, Sam.

Sam, the engineer. OK. Against which Egghead, Sam?

Who do you want? Do you want to go for Daphne?

-It's your choice.

-Try Daphne.

-OK.

-Definitely.

-We'll take on Daphne.

-Right. Sam from Penn Pals versus Daphne, smiling away on the end.

-Yes!

-And you like Science.

-I like it better than I did.

-You've now learnt the Periodic Table.

No, not me. That's Judith.

-You learnt it?

-No, I haven't. It's unlearnable!

OK, well, let's see. The proof of the pudding, as they say.

Sam from Penn Pals versus Daphne from the Eggheads on Science. Please go to the Question Room.

Sam, you've got degrees in Science?

I've got a Bachelor's in Physics and a Master's in Engineering.

That is impressive. So the engineering degree was an extension of the physics degree?

Yeah, I thought it would be easier to get a job in engineering.

-You must have spent ages studying for all that.

-It's only four years. It's just a one-year Master's.

-And you're doing what now?

-I work in a local engineering company.

-So can we call you a scientist?

-I like to think of myself as an engineer/scientist.

-Not just an engineer or scientist.

-OK, three questions on Science. You choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. What substance is produced by the hypopharyngeal glands of young worker bees?

Can't say that I have heard this question or am familiar with it.

I don't quite know where that gland is on the bee or what it produces.

Nectar, obviously, and pollen are quite the obvious ones.

Royal Jelly is not screaming out at me, but it could produce that for some kind of function

that I'm not sure about. I think I'll go for the obvious one.

Well, one of the obvious ones between nectar and pollen

and go with nectar.

Nectar. OK. Daphne, do you want to help here?

-Em, Royal Jelly?

-Yeah.

Which they produce in the hive.

The nectar comes from the plants, does it not? OK.

Your question, Daphne. Kinesthesis is the name for a person's sense of what?

Em, kinetic...movement?

Very good. Movement is correct.

So she's ahead of you,

but you have time to come back here.

Just take your time. What colour was the first synthetic dye, developed by William Perkin?

I think I do remember hearing this, but I can't actually remember the answer.

I'm just going to go for a guess and go for the one that's calling out at me and that's mauve.

You've got it right. Well done.

Nice one, Sam. Daphne,

what word precedes "fighting fish" in the common name of the species betta splendens?

Well, my husband used to keep tropical fish

and he did have some Siamese fighting fish.

Sorry!

Siamese is the right answer.

So Daphne has two

and, Sam, you have one. My maths tells me you need to get this right.

What name is given to Saturn's moons Pandora and Prometheus

to describe the effect they have on the planet's ring systems?

Em...

I seem to be drawn towards assassin moons.

I'm not quite... I don't think I've come across any of these phrases

being associated with moons and their effect on the rings.

I guess shepherd... What would shepherd mean?

Obviously something to do with herding. I can't quite see how that would be relevant.

-So I'm going to have another guess and go for assassin moons.

-Assassin moons is your answer.

-Anyone know?

-We thought assassin moons.

-Anyone here?

-Shepherd.

-Shepherd is the answer.

Shepherd moons. Not stuntman, anyway!

Sam, sorry about that.

You've been beaten by Daphne. Daphne will be in the final round

and Sam has been knocked out. Both please come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the challengers have lost those three brains. The Eggheads have not lost a brain.

It's the last round before the final. It's going to be Music.

Who would like to do this?

-I think I'll go for Music.

-Lydia, against which Egghead?

It can be Dave, who has tremendous knowledge, or Kevin.

-Try Dave?

-We'll go for Dave, please, Jeremy.

I love the way you said that. Do it one more time for me. "We'll go for Dave!"

All right. So it is Lydia from the Penn Pals against Dave from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring please go to the Question Room.

Good luck, both of you. This is Music.

-First or second?

-Everybody's gone first. I'll stick with first.

OK, here's your first question. According to the nursery rhyme, the big ship sails on the ally-ally-o

on the last day of which month?

Well, this isn't a nursery rhyme or a song

that I'm very familiar with. I'm trying to think where the rhyme might fall.

I think probably seafaring weather...maybe April? Because it's all As, alliteration?

I don't particularly... I'm not very confident, but April.

-Your answer is April. Can your team help?

-We think September.

And give us the line. I'm tying to place it.

# The big ship sails on the ally-ally-o... On the last day of September... #

Oh, right, OK. September, Lydia. Sorry. Dave,

here is your question.

What name is given to the class of musical instruments that make sound by way of vibrating strings?

OK. I don't know. I've not heard of this.

It's something that's gone away from me.

I'll rule out the first one.

I'll go...

Electrophone.

-No, actually. Chordophone.

-Chordophone.

So, Lydia, a bit of luck.

What was the title of Donny Osmond's first solo UK number one single?

They're all his songs when he was young.

I have a feeling that everyone will say Puppy Love,

but I think that might have been when he was with The Osmonds.

Or Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool could also have been with them.

I think I've got to go with the gut instinct. I think it's Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool.

I'm amazed at your Osmonds knowledge. This is about a century before you were born.

You've got it wrong. Puppy Love.

You deserved to get that one right. Sorry.

Your question, Dave.

Which song from The King And I includes the lines, "Putting it my way, but nicely,

"You are precisely my cup of tea"?

Em...I'm trying to think of Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr

from my film-watching days.

I'll go for Getting To Know You.

And you're right. We've got a right answer here!

Getting To Know You is right!

Right, Lydia,

you can match him pound for pound.

Maureen Tucker was the drummer for which American rock group formed in the 1960s?

Well, em...

1960s rock.

Maureen sounds like a female name, which probably won't help.

I just...I think The Velvet Underground were all men.

The Fugs. I've never heard of The Fugs, so I'll go with the Keppel Method and go with The Stooges.

-Eggheads, was Maureen a woman?

-Yeah!

-It's The Velvet Underground,

-Lydia.

-Oh, dear.

-They had a female drummer, did they?

I did not know that. That is a tricky one, sorry.

You have been beaten by Dave. There's no way back.

Dave will be in the final.

-You can punch the air with delight.

-Oh, yippee(!)

-It might not be appropriate with one right answer.

If you both come back to us, we will play the final round.

So this is what we've been playing towards. It's the final round on General Knowledge.

But those of you who lost

won't be allowed to take part.

So Ben, Lydia, Sam and Lisa, please leave the studio.

Good luck here, Phil. I know it wasn't supposed to end up like this.

-No, we were hoping for everyone to be on.

-And you're studying?

-Yeah, my first year.

-So you started a bit late.

-I started as a gardener.

-Right.

Then I went abroad to teach English in Budapest, just for a change.

I came back and thought I needed to do something, so I went to college and then applied to uni.

-So what are you studying?

-History and Philosophy.

-Hope they come up!

Eggheads, you're there in strength. It is horrible looking at the five of them.

-I don't mean horrible. Forbidding.

-I feel confident!

And it's happened before, believe me. How many times, Eggs?

-Eight, nine.

-Eight, nine?

-Quite a lot.

Solo winner, bang. And it takes them weeks to recover.

-So you're playing to win Penn Pals £11,000.

-Yep.

Pat, Judith, Kevin, Dave and Daphne, you're playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation. I will ask each team three questions in turn.

They are all general knowledge. You are allowed to confer.

Phil, is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five? Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

Popping and locking are forms of what?

The minute you said those two words, I automatically thought of hip-hop.

So...I'm going to go for street dance.

And street dance is right. Well done. That's a good start.

Eggheads, which words appeared

above the crowned thistle on the reverse of the first decimal 5p pieces issued in 1968?

-Got to be "new pence".

-It wouldn't be "standard weight".

They were the first decimal coins to be issued.

-It wouldn't have "Great Britain".

-I wouldn't have thought so.

-It's got to be the obvious.

-I think it's got to be that.

"Standard weight", no.

That would be one of the first coins.

Yeah, yeah. "New pence".

We will go for "new pence", Jeremy.

And "new pence" is the right answer. Well done.

OK, back to you, Phil.

Who played Professor Inigo Tinkle in Carry On Up The Jungle

and Francis Bigger in Carry On Doctor?

I do watch a bit of Carry On,

but I've never watched those two.

For some reason, I want to go for Terry Scott.

They were all in it. Bernard Cribbins wasn't in it a lot.

I say that, but it could possibly be him.

So I'm going to go for Terry Scott.

Terry Scott is your answer. He was in a famous sitcom.

-Terry and June.

-Of course.

-Do you know?

-I think it's Frankie Howerd.

Dave's got it right. Frankie Howerd is the right answer.

What was the famous line about the Romans?

-"Infamy! Infamy!"

-"They've all got it in for me!"

-As Julius Caesar was assassinated.

OK, your question to pull ahead, Eggheads. The underground network of streets called Mary King's Close

is in which British city?

-I don't know.

-Bristol.

-Not Bristol.

I think Edinburgh has substantial underground workings.

-It rings a bell with me as Edinburgh.

-What's the name? Mary...?

The underground network of streets called Mary King's Close.

Bristol hasn't really... There are caves on the other side of the river, aren't there?

I must admit I don't know much about Swansea's underground credentials.

-Happy with Edinburgh?

-Yeah.

We think, on the whole, it must be Edinburgh. So Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is the right answer. OK, so they've got two

so you must get this one right, Phil, or the contest is over.

They're praying for you backstage. I can see. Look at that.

Which legendary couple were due to meet at the white mulberry tree near the tomb of Ninus?

Oh, this is where I need one of the girls.

I'm not too sure.

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

I'm trying to think of fairy tales and Shakespeare and...

I hope it's that. I think it's Tristan and...

-And Isolde.

-Tristan and Isolde, OK.

If you've got it wrong, it's over. Shall I throw it to them?

Yeah, I'd like to see what they say.

-Do you know this one?

-Pyramus and Thisbe.

It's when they all know it, it's galling. Pyramus and Thisbe.

You've got it wrong, Phil, sorry.

Congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

Commiserations. It is hard to beat them, one against five at the end.

It's been done, but I don't think I thought through the questions.

With different questions, it could have been your day.

-Good to see you all. Hope it's been OK.

-It was a really good day.

Commiserations, Penn Pals. Eggheads have done what comes naturally. Their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with £11,000, so the money rolls over.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team can defeat the Eggheads.

£12,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd