Episode 82 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 hoping to beat them today are the Flotilla of Tugs from London.

This team of work colleagues spent many hours

coming up with a team name

and the reason behind it, to do their thinking justice,

I think I'd better let them explain. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Johnny, I'm 25 and I'm a website manager.

Hi, I'm Emma, I'm 26 and I'm a recruitment consultant.

Hi, I'm Simon, I'm 39 and I'm a sales director.

Hi, I'm Josh, I'm 23 and I'm a sales consultant.

Hi, I'm Ian, I'm 36 and I'm a national sales manager.

-So, Johnny and team, welcome.

-Hi, Jeremy.

So I need to ask you about Flotilla of Tugs.

Are you working in the tug industry or something?

No, actually, we're just a bunch of little tug boats,

all pulling in the same direction at work and in our quiz team.

We've all got specialist subjects and we pull in the same direction.

OK, to defeat the Eggheads somehow by playing as a team. I've got it.

And you take part in something called the Seven Days Quiz

-which is an online BBC thing.

-BBC News website.

So every Friday we go on and we take part in it

and we've got a scoreboard in the office and we write up our score.

At the end of the month we add them up and the winner at the end of the year is going to win a prize.

-It's current affairs quiz?

-Current affairs.

-You've got your specialist subjects all worked out here?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

OK, good luck to you.

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 to the next show.

So, Flotilla of Tugs, the Eggheads have won the last 16 games,

which means £17,000 says you can't beat them.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of film and TV.

-Who would like this?

-Simon.

-It's got to be Simon, hasn't it?

-OK, me, please.

-Simon, against which Egghead?

-Oh, dear.

-Any one of them. Film and TV.

-Judith, please.

-OK, straight there. You've got a plan, haven't you?

-Yeah.

Simon from Flotilla of Tugs versus Judith from the Eggheads on film and TV

and to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the question room?

OK, I'll ask each of you three multiple choice questions on film and TV in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

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

The first, please, sir.

Here we go, Simon, good luck.

The Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes

wrote and created which TV series?

OK, erm, Julian Fellowes is normally known for sort of period dramas,

I think, that kind of thing, in film and TV.

Erm, I'm not absolutely sure

but I'm going to say, yeah, Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey is the right answer. Well done, Simon.

First point to your team.

In one of the last games we had, it took a while to get the first point.

Judith, Hugh Jackman starred in which 2011 film about robot boxing?

It's not the sort of film I ever watch

or even think about, so I have no idea.

I haven't even heard of it, actually.

Top Tin.

-Real Steel.

-HE LAUGHS

Whoever made up the answer Top Tin is feeling a bit self-satisfied now

because of you choosing it.

OK, Simon.

A Game Of Shadows is the subtitle of the second film in which movie franchise?

Erm... I've seen all of them and I would be very confident

that it is Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes is the right answer. Well done. Two out of two.

Judith, in 1998, Julie Hesmondhalgh took on the role

of which Coronation Street character?

I'm an EastEnders person, not a Corrie person.

Erm... So I really don't know.

I'm going to go the Keppel swerve to Tracy.

The Keppel swerve... Is she right or wrong, Simon? Do you know?

I don't know, actually.

The answer's Hayley. Hayley's the answer.

-So...

-It's another of these days.

-..you've gone.

-I've gone already?

-You've gone already!

-Oh, no!

We've had two questions, Simon got them both right. He's in the final.

-There's no way back after two wrong answers.

-You're so right.

So, please, both of you come back and rejoin your team-mates.

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

The Eggheads have lost Judith.

So let's have our next subject, which is science.

-Who would like science?

-I think that's me.

-Josh.

-Josh.

We were talking about Josh going for it.

-Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

-Yeah, against Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

OK, against which Egghead, Josh? It can't be Judith.

I'll be taking on Tremendous Knowledge Dave, please.

Fine. So Josh from the Flotilla of Tugs versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

So, Josh, you are the youngest member of the team.

I am. I think I've been thrown to the wolves a little bit here.

-Why's that? Is it not your subject?

-Not necessarily.

I did do chemistry A level, so I've got some idea

but it's not my strongest subject.

So chemistry A level gets you in to do science.

Exactly. Let's hope there's no physics or biology.

And you've got some exciting events coming with a wedding.

Yeah, getting married this year, which is very exciting.

I could do with the Eggheads money.

Well, you can name check your beautiful fiancee.

She's Jenny. So, hello, Jenny. I love you.

OK. Oh, that's nice. Don't do that often enough, do we?

OK, I'll each of you three questions on science in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner.

Josh, you can choose the first or the second set of questions.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go with your first question.

In the natural world, what is a loach?

I've not really got a brilliant idea, I have to say.

Erm... It's going to be a guess.

And the name that just popped out straight away was the evergreen tree.

OK, I'll see if Dave knows this one. Dave?

-It's a fish.

-It is a fish. It's a freshwater fish, Josh.

So we'll see if Dave can pull ahead.

The Greek scientist Eratosthenes of Cyrene

was the first person to calculate which of the Earth's properties?

Right. Erm...

I don't know this straight off but just looking at it,

population and average temperature don't seem right to me.

I'll go for circumference.

Circumference is the right answer. Well done.

How did he do that? Barry will know.

He used the angle that the sun made.

He put a pole down a well at Alexandria

and then he did it 200 miles further down south in Egypt

and he looked at the angle that the sun made

and he worked out the circumference of the great circle from it.

-He was only about 2 or 3% out. Amazing, considering.

-Extraordinary.

OK, your question, Josh.

What is the name of the rover vehicle NASA sent to Mars in November 2011

as part of its Mars science laboratory mission?

Mm.

Again, not filled with confidence but Discovery rings a bit of a bell,

so I'm going to go with Discovery.

It's Curiosity, I'm sorry to say.

So, Dave, if you get this one right, you've taken the round.

The Martin-Schultz scale is used to determine and describe what aspect of the human body?

Right, erm...

I don't know. I've not heard of it, but if I'm going off scales,

shape of fingernails and colour of the eye don't seem right to me,

so I'll go growth of teeth,

just simply because we're dealing with a scale.

-Interesting. No, it's actually colour of the eye.

-Mm-hm?

Anyone know anything about this?

It's a 1 to 16 or 1 to 20 scale describing the colour of the eye.

-Right. So you give your eye a number, basically?

-Mm.

-OK.

We had some optometrists in the other day, didn't we?

-Should've listened to them.

-Should have asked them, yes.

OK, so you are back in with a chance, Josh,

but you've got to get this one right.

The Golmud solar park, which is G-O-L-M-U-D,

which in late 2011 became one of the largest solar energy plants in the world,

is located in which country?

I don't know it but just given how hot the country is

and also the name of the park,

I'm going to go for Saudi Arabia on that question.

It is China.

Oh! Josh, I'm really sorry, it is China.

So, with one scored, Dave goes through to the final

and you've been knocked out.

Do, both of you, please, come back, rejoin your teams.

So at it stands, the challengers have lost one brain,

the Eggheads have also lost a brain, from that crucial final round.

The next subject is arts and books. Who wants to play this one?

-It's got to be Emma, hasn't it?

-It's going to have to be me.

-OK, Emma against which Egghead?

-Barry?

-Barry?

-OK, yeah?

-OK, Barry, captain.

Emma from Flotilla of Tugs versus Barry from the Eggheads on arts and books.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

I will ask each of you three questions on arts and books.

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

-Er, first.

Here we go. What name is given to an anonymous author

who writes books for which someone more famous takes the credit?

I think I know this one.

I don't think it's bluffwriter. I think it's ghostwriter.

Bang on. Well done. Ghostwriter it is. Barry, back to you.

Who would be most likely to employ sprung rhythm in their daily work?

Well, sprung rhythm was a term invented by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins,

so the answer is poet.

Poet is right. What is sprung rhythm?

I really don't know.

I thought you'd know what it was.

-No, I can quote some of his poems but I can't...

-Give us a line of The Windhover or something.

Yes. "Glory be to God for dappled things."

That's one of his famous lines.

OK, Emma, your question.

What is the name of the award that the Crime Writers Association

bestows on the best crime novel of the year?

I really don't know this one.

I don't think Gold Truncheon sounds right.

Erm... Gold Dagger, maybe.

I'm going to say Gold Revolver.

-It's actually the Gold Dagger.

-Oh!

Barry, over to you, to take the lead.

In which decade was Michael Morpurgo's book War Horse first published?

It's recently been made into a wonderful film directed by Spielberg.

I know the war horse is called Joey.

but I suspect it won't be as early as the '60s or the '70s,

so I'm going to go for the '80s.

And '80s is the right answer,

so that means you do need this one, now, Emma,

otherwise you will be knocked out. Here we go.

The series of prints produced by Francisco de Goya from 1810

to express his horror at the Napoleonic invasion of Spain

are known collectively by what title?

I really don't know this one.

Johnny's going to be sitting there, really knowing the answer.

I don't think it's The War To End All Wars.

I could be completely wrong.

It's a guess. I'm going to say The Disasters Of War.

-Is she right, Eggheads?

-Yes.

-You are spot on. Well done.

-Yes!

-Well done.

Barry, if you get this one right, you're in the final.

O Mistress Mine, Where Are You Roaming? and I Am Gone, Sir

are songs sung by which character in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night?

I'm not sure but songs in Shakespearean plays

are often sung by clowns and Feste is the clown in Twelfth Night,

so I shall go for Feste.

And you have got it exactly right, Barry. Good logic from you.

Feste is the answer.

-Emma, I'm sorry. I thought you were coming back, there.

-Never mind.

He sneaked past you and he will be in the final

and you have been knocked out, I'm sorry to say.

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

OK, last subject round to come.

We've found out about sprung rhythm, Barry.

It's apparently when poets use rhythm in their poetry that imitates speech.

-Ah!

-So we know about sprung rhythm.

We have now a round to play before the final

and you've lost two brains.

-Are the plans going to change?

-No, we'll keep tugging along.

-The flotilla is still in place?

-In place. Everything's still going to plan.

OK, so you've lost two, they've lost one.

-It's politics. Who would like this?

-It's going to have to be me.

-You're really sport, aren't you? So it's Hobson's choice.

-Yeah.

Ian? OK. I think that's Ian. Against which Egghead?

-Erm...

-Pat or Kevin?

It's... I'm going to go for Pat.

All right. Ian from Flotilla of Tugs versus Pat.

The subject is politics

and to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

Ian, you have an absolutely wonderful claim to fame.

That's right, yes.

I was one of the cubs on Jim'll Fix It back in the day

who were eating their lunch on the Blackpool Pleasure Beach roller coaster.

And what year was that, first of all?

Erm, I forget. My memory of the early '80s is pretty poor

but I think it was '82.

Yeah. We've all seen it because they - well, you -

-went up and down in the roller coaster and food went everywhere.

-That's right.

So you wrote and said you wanted to eat a meal on a roller coaster?

I wasn't on camera, I was stuck near the back

but I think, you know, as the years go by I'm glad I wasn't.

Whose idea was it to ask for that?

I think was the Akela of the group. I think it was the leader.

And he put a bit of encouragement and a bit of banter into it

and we eventually got to that conclusion.

-And did you go then to the studio and see Jim?

-No, we didn't.

I think two or three of them did but I wasn't one of those lucky ones.

And it's amazing, with a show like the one you've just mentioned

how everyone of a certain age, which I guess is mainly this side,

we will all have seen that clip

-because those days, there were four channels...

-Absolutely.

-..and you all watched everything.

-That's it.

All right. I'm going to ask each of you three questions on politics.

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

-I'll take the first, please.

Here we go. No roller coaster in sight.

In 2011, who told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee

that his appearance before them was "the most humble day of my life"?

Erm... I'm pretty sure it's not Alan Sugar or Richard Branson,

so I'm going to plump for Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch is the right answer. Well done.

Quite a lively session, that, wasn't it? Because then...

-He got a custard pie.

-He had a custard pie in his face

-and his wife Wendy hit the person...

-She was terrific, wasn't she?

She was good.

Pat, what phrase did the BBC Today Programme correspondent Andrew Gilligan infamously use in 2003

to describe changes made to the September dossier

on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?

This blew up into an enormous storm

that went on for months and months and months.

I think he claimed it had been sexed up.

Sexed up is the correct answer.

Still not sure whether history's vindicated him or not.

It's an interesting question.

OK, Ian, your question.

From 1997 to 2010, Julie Kirkbride was MP for Bromsgrove

for which party?

This is going to be a guess. I don't know the person in question.

I'm sort of cusping between two at the moment.

It's between Conservative and Liberal Democrat.

I'm thinking, that area, is it a Conservative stronghold?

I think I'm going to plump for Liberal Democrat.

No, she's actually Conservative.

Stood down over the expenses scandal.

OK, Pat, your question.

In 1978, before he became leader of North Korea,

Kim Jong-il ordered the kidnapping of the South Korean Shin Sang-ok

for the purpose of using him to improve what in the North?

I... Yes, I remember this.

This is...

I think you have to read it twice to convince yourself it's true.

I think he was a film-maker who made sort of fantasy horror films

and Kim Jong-il had him abducted to make films in North Korea.

I think he was kept for maybe ten years

and then he somehow found his way back to South Korea again.

So he's a film-maker.

Film-making is the right answer.

So he was actually held, Kevin? Do you know anything about this?

Well, effectively. There are ways and ways, of course.

I'm not so sure that perhaps his wife wasn't with his as well.

Odd to hold an artist against their will and force them to create art.

I know. You wonder sometimes about just where the boundaries lie

but that was the idea.

And I think there was a biography involved,

a biographical film about the great leader or the Dear Leader

or one of them, so it's all very odd.

Very, very strange story. So it was Shin Sang-ok, the film-maker,

kidnapped by North Korea.

Ian, your question. You need to get this one right.

In 2007, Montenegro joined the Council of Europe,

which brought the total membership of that body

up to how many countries?

Again, it's a shot in the dark, this one.

I'm going to go straight down the middle, Jeremy, on 37.

It actually brought the membership to 47, Ian.

So that's wrong and no way back for you after those three questions.

So, Pat, you're in the final. Ian, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out.

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

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round, which, as always, is general knowledge

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

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

so Emma, Josh and Ian from Flotilla of Tugs

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

Well, Johnny and Simon, you're playing to win Flotilla of Tugs £17,000.

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

which is the Eggheads' reputation.

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

The questions are all general knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Johnny and Simon, the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-We'll go first, please.

Your first question.

Which creature's name is also used to mean the act of pestering someone persistently?

-You badger someone.

-You badger someone, don't you?

Badger.

Badger is the correct answer. Well done.

Eggheads, the legal authority to act on behalf of another

is known by what term?

-I think that's power of attorney.

-Yes, power of attorney.

That's power of attorney.

Power of attorney is the right answer.

Back to you guys.

Composer is the title of an album classical compositions

released in 2012 by which actor?

-Do you know this?

-I know that he likes to conduct.

Anthony Hopkins likes to conduct some of his own works from time to time.

-I'd be really surprised...

-If it was Rhys Ifans.

-..if it was either of those other two.

-Yeah.

-So I'll go with that.

-Yeah. Anthony Hopkins.

The correct answer is Anthony Hopkins.

Well done! You could have easily slipped up on that.

OK, Eggheads, the Pergau Dam, which was the source of political controversy in the UK in the 1990s,

is located in which country?

-It was...

-I thought it was Malaysia.

It was an export guarantee.

Yeah, there was all sorts of shenanigans

over, well, backhanders, basically, and favours received.

I think that's Malaysia.

That was in Malaysia.

Malaysia is the right answer. Two each.

Get this one right and you put a bit of pressure on them, OK?

In church architecture, a sedilia is a term used to refer to what?

Right. Do you know?

-I'm a big fan of church architecture.

-Are you?

Yeah. Avid fan. I like to go to them in my spare time with my Pevsner.

-So do you know the answer?

-Yeah, I do.

-OK.

-It's...

-No, tell me.

-It's stone seats.

-They're set into the end of the church.

-Good man.

Stone seats.

How wonderful. I thought for a second you were joking

about the church architecture but you're absolutely right.

Stone seats it is. Really well played.

-Because you've seen that?

-I've seen them in quite a few churches.

They're up the end by the high altar.

It's where the priests sit during the mass.

Well done. Stone seats it is. Good play, eh, Eggheads?

Suddenly here we are, backs against the wall.

The American actor George Gabby Hayes was best known for appearing in what genre of films?

Westerns. Westerns. He was one of these grizzled old characters.

Erm, beard, all of that.

-OK.

-He would regularly trot out in Westerns. OK?

-Fine, yeah.

He was in a lot of Westerns

as a kind of comedy old... Not necessarily comedy

but an old-timer, grizzled old-timer.

Westerns is your answer.

What was your speciality on Mastermind, Kevin?

-One of them was Western films.

-I thought it was.

That's rather lucky.

If you got it wrong, the contest is over and they take the money

but it is Westerns.

So three each.

Ooh, this is a contest now.

-Were you being saved up for the end, Johnny?

-Yes.

-I see, OK.

We had that the other day. Very effective tactic.

We go to Sudden Death now. So it's a bit harder.

-I don't give you alternative answers.

-Yeah.

Which stage and film musical has an Italian title,

is set in Greece and uses music by a Swedish pop group?

-Mamma Mia!

-Yeah.

-Mamma Mia!

-Mamma Mia is correct.

Four out of four. You're doing well.

Eggheads, Sudden Death.

What is broadcast several times daily on Radio 4,

the first time being at 00:48 hours?

-Is it the shipping forecast?

-The shipping forecast?

-Let's just have a think.

-Yes, let's have a think. Absolutely.

What else could it be? 00:48.

-It's not a news bulletin?

-Several times a day.

There's no other time signal or...?

The simple weather forecast would be much more regular, wouldn't it?

Yeah. I think we should...

I think, if it's something else, you know, fair play

-but...

-Yeah.

-OK. Are we all happy?

-Yeah, I'm happy with the shipping forecast.

-OK.

We're not absolutely sure but we think the most plausible answer sounds to be the shipping forecast.

so that's what we'll go for.

The shipping forecast is your answer. There is £17,000 being played for here.

If you've got it wrong, they've got the money.

The correct answer... Do you know the correct answer?

-Shipping forecast.

-The shipping forecast is the correct answer.

So level after four questions.

Here's your Sudden Death question.

Patrimonio is a wine appellation from which Mediterranean island?

-Patrimonio, to me, sounds Italian.

-Yeah.

So I'm thinking Mediterranean island,

-Sicily?

-I'd say that as well, yeah.

-Of all the islands.

-Are there any other islands?

-Italian islands?

-Mediterranean islands generally.

-Sardinia would be the other one.

-Sardinia, sir.

-Yeah.

Let's see if we can look at them.

Shall we go with Sardinia?

-More likely to have a wine.

-Yeah.

-Sardinia...

-Sardinia's got a slightly more moderate climate.

-Sicily can be quite rocky and hot.

-Oh!

Right, are you of the view we should go for your first instinct?

-I'd go with Sardinia.

-You'd go with Sardinia?

-Yeah.

-OK, I totally trust you, mate.

-Sardinia.

Eggheads, do you know?

Not sure on this.

I possibly thought it might be one of the Greek islands

but it does sound more Italian, I admit.

I had some sort of an instinct for one of the Greek islands, maybe Crete or somewhere,

but not sure at all.

-It's actually Corsica.

-THEY GROAN

So, Italian connections but French...

Yeah because it's largely a dialect of Italian.

It's almost the extra island that wasn't included in your discussion.

-Sorry about that.

-It's all right.

-It's in their hands now.

If the Eggheads get this right, the contest is over.

Located in Providence, what is the full name of the acclaimed art education institution

known by the acronym RISD, which is RIS-D?

-If it's Rhode Island, if it's art education...

-School of drama.

I would have thought school of design, maybe.

We'd have to assume that the RI is Rhode Island.

-That sounds probable.

-It's an education institution, so the S must be school.

Rhode Island School of... Can you think of anything other than design?

-No.

-Drama doesn't really fit.

I mean, it could be drama. That could fall under the umbrella of...

-It could be dramatic arts.

-..art education.

But then it would probably have an extra letter. It could be drama.

But...

I think because it's just got the one letter, it would be design.

-It is art education, specifically.

-Yeah.

-As opposed to "arts".

-OK?

-I'm happy with that.

Well, we don't know it but we'll try Rhode Island School of Design.

Rhode Island School of Design.

-I suppose it could have been drawing.

-Yeah.

-Drafting.

-Yeah.

RISD does indeed stand for Rhode Island School of Design.

Sorry, challengers. Congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Johnny, you came on strong at the end there.

-You were the secret weapon in the Flotilla, there.

-Yeah.

I was just a tug.

You played very hard at the end there.

There are teams that have won with fewer correct answers in the final round,

-are there not, Eggheads?

-Yeah, that was very good.

-Very good quizzing and bad luck.

-Yeah.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with the £17,000,

which means that the money rolls over to the 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.

£18,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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