Episode 85 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 were 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 The Hole In The Wall Gang.

This team of friends regularly take part in a weekly quiz

at the Black Lion pub in Wrexham,

which is known locally as The Hole In The Wall.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, my name's Tony.

I'm 57 and I'm a retired deputy head teacher.

Hello. I'm Frank. I'm 74 and I'm a retired deputy head teacher.

Hi, I'm Bill. I'm 65 and I'm a retired wood machinist.

Hi, I'm Bryn. I'm 57 and a retired bank manager.

Hi, I'm Ralph, I'm 57 and I'm a hospital porter.

So, Tony and team, welcome. Great to see you. You like quizzing together?

-Yes, we do.

-And a lot of life experience here, I'm sensing.

Yes, yes. Some of us a bit older than the others.

You're a retired deputy head?

-Yes, myself and Frank are both retired deputies.

-And hobbies?

I do all sorts. Hiking, gardening,

I like a bit of cooking, I go geocaching,

which is looking for hidden treasure.

In fact, I found one today. You saw me on the seafront.

Yes! It's so strange, I was walking down the front

and you were looking behind a sign.

-I thought you were going to ask me but you didn't.

-I was about to.

I thought, I don't want to intrude.

What would you be doing, looking behind a sign?

Well, a geocache is a hidden, it could be any size,

but this one was a particularly small one, and in it, it has a little log book and you get the co-ordinates

and a clue, and you go looking for them.

And I happened to have downloaded them before we came,

so I know there was one fairly close, and we had a few minutes

so we went and had a look. It was a magnetic one. Took me a while but I found it.

-So you log it and...

-Yeah, log it and I go back to the computer

and make a comment and so forth.

Why is the pub that you all drink in known as The Hole In The Wall?

Well, there is more than one possibility

but we think that the most likely is that it sits just outside of Wrexham.

Although it's a beautiful area now, it was quite an industrial area.

There was an ironworks there and quarries and all sorts.

And the pub itself is on a slope, and at the side of the pub

there are some steps and in the wall, there is a space where we believe

that the workers would come and have a drink at the hole in the wall.

I see. Well, good luck in taking some chunks out of this wall here.

Every day, there is £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our challengers. However if they fail to beat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Hole In The Wall Gang, the Eggheads have won just the last game

so that means £2,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Are you ready to try?

-I think we are, yes.

-Good.

The first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of Food and Drink.

Who wants this?

-You know what you've got to do.

-Yeah.

-Bill, is it you? OK.

-Against which Egghead?

-It's got to be. It's the only weakness.

-Who is that?

-Kevin.

-Against Kevin.

OK, Bill from The Hole In The Wall Gang versus Kevin from the Eggheads,

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

So here we are, up against Kevin on Food and Drink.

And it's going to be three multiple choice questions.

Bill, you can choose the first or the second set.

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Best of luck, Bill.

What term is used for the process of tying the legs

and wings of a chicken before roasting? Is it:

I'm not really sure. Fetter doesn't sound right.

Gird... I'm not too sure. I think I'll go for truss.

Truss is the right answer. Well done.

Kevin, your question. Which gas is added to water to make soda water?

I believe that would be carbon dioxide.

-Which would be the most dangerous of those three gases to add?

-Hmm...

Probably methane, I would have thought.

-Yes, wouldn't be nice to drink anyway.

-No.

Carbon dioxide is the right answer. Back to you, Bill.

What name is given to the dish in which steak and a mushroom

and shallot mixture are packed into the hollowed-out crust of a loaf?

I must admit I've never heard of any of those.

I don't think it's horseman's. It's between angler's and shooter's.

I think I'll go for shooter's.

-Is he right, team?

-I don't know.

-No idea.

Your team don't know, but you do, Bill, because you're right.

Well done. Shooter's sandwich is right. Two out of two for Bill.

Kevin, the French cheese called Comte is traditionally made from the milk of which animal?

Sorry, can you spell it, Jeremy?

The French cheese called Comte, C-O-M-T-E acute accent,

is traditionally made from the milk of which animal?

Comte...

I'm assuming that probably comes from the Franche-Comte region,

which is towards the Swiss border.

Not that that helps particularly. It's quite a mountainous area.

-I don't know so I'll try sheep.

-You're wrong, actually, it's cow.

One or the other.

Oh, I say, here we are, Bill. That was a good tactic, wasn't it?

If you get this right, Kevin is out. You've deposed the king.

Which cooking term is used for stirring a sauce until it is cool,

thereby ensuring its smoothness and preventing a skin from forming?

Hmm, another one I haven't heard of. It's going to be another guess.

-I would tend to go for ventre.

-Ventre it is not. It is vanner.

Stirring a sauce until it is cool to stop it turning into a skin.

Vanner. So, Kevin, you have a chance to catch up.

What is the main ingredient in the spicy Mexican soup called menudo?

-M-E-N-U-D-O?

-M-E-N-U-D-O.

What is the main ingredient in the spicy Mexican soup called menudo?

If you get this wrong, you're out.

-Yeah.

-Well, it's going to be a one-in-three guess anyway, so...

Even if I have heard it, I can't remember what's in it. Um, prawns.

Well, Bill, you're in the final. It's not prawns.

-What is it?

-Tripe. Tripe is the answer.

Very honest of you to say it was one in three.

Kevin, you've been knocked out on Food and Drink.

That's a very smart strategic start from your team, may I say.

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

So, as it stands, the challengers have not lost a brain yet.

This is a good start. And the Eggheads have lost Kevin, even better.

So the next subject is Arts and Books. Who would like this?

-I think it's got to be Frank.

-Frank on Arts and Books.

-Yes?

-OK, Frank, against which Egghead?

-Shall we try Dave?

-Because we don't know Dave.

-Dave is an unknown quantity.

The unknown quantity of Dave. The tremendous knowledge of Dave.

So it's Frank from the Hole In The Wall Gang versus Dave from the Eggheads

and please go to the question room.

-Well, Frank, you're a busy bee as well.

-Oh, yes, yes. I was, yes.

You're 74 and you're still doing what?

I do tour guides in Chester now, either working on the open-top buses

or showing parties of Japanese tourists around our wonderful city.

How marvellous. And your hobbies,

I gather you make wine and do crosswords?

Yes, I have been a bit of a folk musician in my time as well,

I can play harmonica and melodeon.

And just to embarrass you with one more fact about you,

you were at the same school as Paul McCartney and George Harrison,

-is that right?

-Yes, not such a big deal, though.

They were very little boys when I was a sixth-former,

so they were out of my sight, really.

-But you were there all the same.

-Interesting to think about it, yes.

-And Paul McCartney, he bought the school after.

-Did he?

Yes, and it's now a School for Performing Arts.

I've heard that, actually, yeah, yeah. Fascinating, Dave, isn't it?

-It is, very much so.

-OK, retired teacher and tourist guide, Frank,

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

-I think I'd like the first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go and all the best to you.

The best-selling 1996 novel by Rebecca Wells concerns

The Divine Secrets Of The Sisterhood of which name?

Well, I can't say I've met that one.

Ga-Ga sounds a bit too much like a singer. I'll have to go for Na-Na.

-Let's see if Dave knows. Dave?

-I wouldn't know at all. Is it Ya-Ya?

-It is Ya-Ya.

-Oh, dear.

-It's Ya-Ya. I didn't know. Did anyone here know?

-Anyone read it?

-I'd heard of it.

It's called The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,

but what it's actually involved with...

-You didn't find out what the secret was.

-No. I didn't.

-Did they not make a film?

-I think it was made into a film as well.

-OK.

Tremendous knowledge, Dave.

What relation was Frances Trollope,

author of The Life And Adventures Of A Clever Woman

to the more famous writer, Anthony Trollope?

I can't say I've ever heard this so I'm going to go daughter.

-No, mother.

-Fair enough.

-So we're equal.

Second question to you, Frank.

The Roman poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known as Horace,

lived during which century?

Well, by the 6th century, the Roman Empire was pretty well over.

I've a feeling he was around, well,

not quite in the time of Julius Caesar, that was...

I'm pretty sure he was AD.

So I'll go with 3rd century AD.

Actually, 1st century BC is the answer. 1st century BC.

Dave, your question. Jean Loup Sieff, who died in 2000,

was a leading figure in which of the arts?

Again, I've not really got an idea on this at all, but something's ringing.

Photography's hitting me at the moment so I'll go photography.

And you're right, actually, it is photography.

OK, Frank, you need to get this one right to stay in the match.

In January 2012, which artist joined the Order of Merit?

David Hockney has been highly reputed.

I don't think Damien Hirst.

They're all three very noted and doing very well.

I think I'll have to go for David Hockney.

Well done, David Hockney is quite right. So you're equal.

Equal on one point but if you get this, Dave,

you're through to the final. The painter, Dora Carrington, had a long relationship

with which writer before his death in 1932?

Again, I've not heard of this but I'm just trying to go on dates.

His death in 1932. Kipling won the Nobel Prize for Literature

in 1907, so how long after that did he die?

-You know what, Rudyard Kipling.

-Daphne?

-Lytton Strachey.

-Lytton Strachey is the answer.

-Fair enough.

-So we go to sudden death.

One point each after three questions.

And, Frank, it's a bit harder now

because I don't give you alternative answers.

George Wickham appears in which Jane Austen novel?

-Pride and Prejudice.

-Pride and Prejudice is correct.

Well done, Frank.

Dave, the phrase "Hoist with your own petard"

is adapted from a line in which of Shakespeare's plays?

I don't know. So I've only got 37 to pick from.

Hoist with your own petard?

I don't know. Romeo and Juliet?

No, it's... Anyone know?

-Hamlet.

-Hamlet is the answer.

-Fair enough. Well done.

Which had a whole load of others. It had "Send him packing" as well.

-Loads and loads of quotes.

-So many of the idioms. Yeah, yeah.

Anyone know what a petard is? Anyone know?

-Frank, do you know what a petard is?

-Yes, it was a land mine.

And if you weren't careful,

you got blown up with your own petard.

That's exactly right.

Petard was a small explosive device for blowing doors off,

from the French 'peter', to break wind. How about that?

And Hamlet says, "For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his."

-I won't say that you've been hoisted here, Dave.

-I think you can.

I've been hoisted and I ought to brush up

more on my Shakespeare, I think, to compete in these rounds.

Well done to my opponent, worthy winner.

So you are knocked out and Frank, well done,

you stay in the game there, very bravely.

And you are now in the final round.

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

-Well, Tony, that's a good start.

-Yes, excellent start.

You've cracked two eggs.

It was interesting, Frank, because he really is very knowledgeable

and I thought he had a couple of stinkers, and then when the Jane Austen came up

I thought, yes, that's right up Frank's street,

-so we're very pleased with that.

-Frank, you did very well there.

-Thank you.

-So you're still in it, very much so.

As it stands, the challengers have lost no brains,

the Eggheads have lost two brains.

How many games start like that? The next subject is Sport.

-Have you got a sport person.

-We have. Bryn.

-Bryn, OK.

-What you want to do, Chris or Daphne?

-Who do you fancy?

-Chris, I think.

-You think so?

-Chris.

OK, so it's Bryn from The Hole In The Wall Gang versus Chris on Sport.

-No Judith today.

-No. Won the last one, I might tell you.

Yes, he won his last four. That's fighting talk.

Please go to the question room now.

I'll ask each of you three questions on sport in turn.

Bryn, you can choose the first or second set of questions

-to see if you can get to the final.

-Can I go first, please, Jeremy?

So, here we go. Good luck.

Which male tennis player ended 2011 ranked No. 1 in the world?

I'm sure that Murray has never been number one.

Federer certainly has.

I think the answer is Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic was the right answer, Bryn, well done. Over to Chris.

Freddie Roach became famous as a coach of world champions in which sport?

Well, you don't have a coach in boxing, you have a trainer,

rather than a coach.

And...

Golf is something you work at and practise on your own,

out there, wasting your time

punting a stupid little ball about in an artificial landscape.

But I should think if you wanted to improve your game in snooker,

you might engage a coach, so I'll say snooker.

I have a feeling that Dave is going to disagree.

-Tremendous knowledge?

-Yes, he works with a lot of boxers in America.

It's boxing.

Coaching, you'd think of boxing rather than snooker,

wouldn't you, Chris, or not?

-Well, I'd say boxing trainers rather than coaches.

-I see, I see.

Boxing is the answer so you've fallen behind.

-This is really not going the Eggheads' way at all.

-No.

Bryn, which Rugby Union player, nicknamed Alfie,

won 100 caps for Wales?

He later switched to Rugby League. The answer is Gareth Thomas.

It is, of course, Gareth Thomas. Well done.

You are a Welsh team, essentially, aren't you?

-We are indeed.

-It would be stunning if you got that wrong.

Chris, if you don't get this right you're going to be out.

What is the width in metres of a goal in Olympic handball?

Err...

What is the width in metres of a goal in Olympic handball?

10 ft, 14 ft... 22 ft...

Down the middle. Five.

-Anyone know here?

-3?

-Three, they're saying.

Three is the right answer, Chris. Chris, I'm sorry, you're out.

-You've been knocked out. Is that painful?

-I'm way past pain, Jeremy.

The answer was three. Well done to you, Bryn,

you've won through on Sport so you've taken three rounds in a row, you challengers.

This is looking very impressive now. Please come back, rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands the challengers have lost no brains

and the Eggheads have lost three brains from the final round,

and the last subject for you is Music.

-Now who would like Music?

-Ralph?

-Yeah, I'll do it. Yeah.

Ralph, very decisive on it.

Which Egghead would you like to tap with a teaspoon?

I'll take Barry, yep.

Right, Ralph from The Hole In The Wall Gang

versus Barry from the Eggheads on Music, please take your positions.

So I'm going to ask each of you three questions on music in turn

and Ralph, you can choose the first or the second set of questions?

Second set, please.

Second set. So Barry, you're bringing up the rear here.

-Something like that.

-Defending the rear flank of the Eggheads.

This is a really interesting game. Here's your question.

Which British female artist released her debut album,

Who You Are, in 2011?

2011...

Oh, I really don't know this one. I've never heard of Anna Calvi.

And I've only just heard of Lana Del Rey.

Jessie J had a good year in 2011,

I'm wondering did she start a little bit earlier?

I think it's between Jessie J and Lana Del Rey.

I think Jessie J was around just a little bit earlier,

so on that basis, I know Lana Del Rey started in 2011,

so I'll go for Lana Del Rey.

Is there something in the water today?

It's not Lana Del Rey, it's Jessie J.

This is great, it's like watching a tenpin bowling alley

where all the skittles keep being set up horizontally.

You've not even have to say anything yet, Ralph, you're already ahead.

In which decade did The Jam have their first UK Top 40 single?

I think the '70s is too early. '90s is too late. I'll go for 1980s.

No, it was the '70s.

It was the '70s. It might have even been as early as '76 or '77.

-'77.

-It was In The City, wasn't it?

-Yes, it was.

-Haha, you and me, Dave!

-I know. Similar generation, I think.

-Same music.

OK, Barry, which part of the UK is mentioned

in the Beatles song When I'm 64?

Gosh, that is such a well-known song.

I never realised it mentioned a part of the UK in it.

I can't get past the first verse. This is a shame.

It's...

-It's the Isle of Wight.

-How did you get to that?

-I finally got past the first verse!

-What was the line?

-Did you get the line?

-I can't know but I remember

that it scanned with the Isle of Wight.

You're right as well. Well done, Barry. Isle of Wight is right.

So Barry is in the lead. Back to you, Ralph.

Which band won the Mercury Music Prize in 1994

with the album Elegant Slumming?

Can't say I've even heard of the album. I'll just say Pulp.

No, it's not Pulp, it's M People.

So, Barry, you've got a chance to go into the final now

if you get this one right.

The military march written in 1897 by Julius Fucik,

traditionally associated with circus clowns, is called Entry Of The what?

I think it goes # Da-da da-da-da-da da-da-daa-da. #

I think it's the Entry Of The Gladiators.

We should have that music for you, Eggheads, although possibly not this afternoon.

Gladiators is correct.

So, I'm so thrown by what's happened I don't know what to say.

You've actually got your place in the final, Barry.

Ralph, sorry, Barry has triumphed here so there will be two Eggheads

in the final round and you have been knocked out, but it doesn't detract

from a great team performance and let's see what happens in the final.

Well, what a game so far. This is what we have been playing towards.

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

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So that's Ralph, from The Hole In The Wall Gang,

and Kevin, David and Chris from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio.

Well, Tony, I know a lot of you will be watching and saying, "How did you do that?"

because we don't often have that many Eggheads backstairs.

Well, I think we had some good choices of subjects,

and we got our big hitters up for those and,

sadly, had to sacrifice Ralph a bit.

Well, The Hole In The Wall Gang have certainly taken a lump

out of the Eggheads. And Tony, Frank, Bill and Bryn,

you're playing to win the gang £2,000 now.

Daphne and Barry, you're playing for something that money can buy, which is the Eggheads' 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.

Tony, Frank, Bill and Bryn, the question is,

are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

That really is a good question.

Would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Looking forward to this. Good luck, guys.

According to the ancient Greek scientist Empedocles,

all things were made from earth,

water, air and which other ingredient?

-Fire, wood or ice. It's not going to be wood, is it?

-Fire, definitely.

And it's not going to be ice. Fire is what I thought.

So are we happy with that? Fire?

-Fire, Jeremy.

-Fire is correct.

Eggheads, what term was widely used in the 1990s to describe dishonest

or disreputable political activity?

EGGHEADS CHUCKLE

-It could be any of them, but it must be sleaze!

-Yeah.

It's sleaze.

Sleaze is correct. Well done. Back to you, Hole In The Wall Gang.

Which pop star of the 1980s provided the intro

and outro voice for the children's television programme, Teletubbies?

I have no idea. Music, no idea.

-I never heard a song.

-Was it 1980s, Jeremy?

Which pop star of the 1980s provided the intro

and outro voice for the children's television programme, Teletubbies?

My guess would be Toyah Willcox.

I don't think it's Hazel O'Connor because she had that...

I would say Toyah Willcox, yeah.

She has that sort of voice that would be nice for a children's programme.

-My guess would be Toyah Willcox.

-I'm happy with that, yeah.

Well, we don't really know, but we don't think it's Hazel O'Connor,

so it's Carol Decker or Toyah

and we think Toyah Willcox has got that sort of voice,

so that's what we'll go for.

Toyah Willcox is the right answer. Very good.

I thought you were going to stumble there, actually.

OK, Eggheads, which actress is portrayed by Judi Dench

in the 2011 film, My Week With Marilyn?

This is one of those films I meant to see and never got around to seeing.

I think it's Peggy Ashcroft. I don't know.

I've nothing to offer on this one. Who made more films around that time?

-Peggy Ashcroft.

-I think Peggy Ashcroft. I'm happy with that.

Right. OK. We don't know. Neither of us has seen the film.

Kevin ought to be here. Peggy Ashcroft.

-How about you guys, do you know?

-Sybil Thorndike.

Sybil Thorndike's the right answer. You got it wrong.

-It's not Peggy Ashcroft.

-We didn't know.

-Sybil Thorndike.

-Have you seen the film?

-Yes.

-Right.

So, if you get this correct, you will have three points.

There's no way back for them. So you've won.

And you will have beaten them.

Here's your question. Where is the Firefly estate,

that was once owned by the actor, writer and composer, Noel Coward?

-Jamaica.

-My first thought, it was Jamaica.

-Yes.

The West Indies, isn't it?

We're not thinking of James Bond, are we, Fleming?

But the name Firefly, you wouldn't get them in Switzerland or Norfolk?

No, well, probably, yes.

That would be the scientific logic and Jamaica is what we think anyway.

We don't know for certain but we think it's Jamaica.

Jamaica is your answer. If you've got it right,

you've taken the contest after some stunning play throughout, may I say.

I think you know the answer, Eggheads, don't you?

It is Jamaica, so we say congratulations, challengers.

-You've won.

-Brilliant.

Out of interest, Eggheads in the background,

-did you know the Sybil Thorndike answer?

-Yeah, I've seen the film.

Kevin's seen the film. It's an absolute masterclass

in Eggheads strategy, this particular match.

So we say well done on all counts.

I don't know who was running the programme there

but it certainly worked.

You've won £2,000, Hole In The Wall Gang,

and you are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You have proved they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team of challengers

will be just as successful and as canny as The Hole In The Wall.

Until then, goodbye.