Episode 93 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 challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Bottle Kickers from South Leicestershire.

Now this team are all participants

in the ancient sport of bottle kicking,

a tradition which dates back to the Middle Ages. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm 53 and I'm a company chairman.

Hi, I'm Adam, 24 years old and an IT manager.

Hi, I'm Steve, 36, a connectivity system tester.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 53 years old and I'm a design draughtsman.

Hi, I'm Steven, I'm 38 years old and I'm a history teacher.

-Chris and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

Bottle kicking, I gather, is not a bottle.

-No, it's actually a barrel, Jeremy.

-And you have one here.

-Yes, I do.

So what do you do with this barrel

when it comes out on an Easter Monday?

This particular barrel, Jeremy, is filled with ale,

and we have three of these barrels, we play with one at a time.

Two are filled with ale, one is solid wood, and it's

just like a massive rugby scrum with maybe 100, 200 on each team.

When you move it around, where are you trying to take it?

Erm, our neighbours at the village of Hallarton

basically have to get it down a hill and across a river,

and our team from Medbourne have to get it across

two or three fields, hedges, barbed wire fences, etc.

-So it's just a massive ruck between two villages?

-Exactly that.

It sounds fantastic!

Funnily enough, it's the kind of question

that comes up on Eggheads the whole time, isn't it?

Where does bottle kicking happen? So now we know the answer is Hallarton.

-Yes it is, in Hallarton.

-And you'd like that question.

-Yes.

All right, every day 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, Bottle Kickers, the Eggheads have won the last three games,

which means £4,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Shall we start?

-Yes.

-Give it a try.

You can bring out the barrel if it gets nasty, OK?

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film and Television.

Who would like this?

THEY CONFER

Chris, are you the expert on...?

-You were going to do Geography, weren't you?

-Adam? Steve?

-Yeah, go on, Steve.

-Yeah, we're going to choose Steve.

Steve, against which Egghead?

-Which bottle would you like to kick?

-What do we think?

-Barry?

-Yeah, sure.

-Yeah, take on Barry.

OK, Steve from the Bottle Kickers against Barry from the Eggheads.

This is the point where I'd like to say

that my quiz team is called the Keg Busters.

And that looks suspiciously like a small keg to me.

OK, to ensure there's no conferring

please take your positions in our question room.

-So you're the Keg Busters, Barry?

-Yes, indeed.

I've been a member of the Keg Busters team since 1984.

Is that because your quiz team has been busting kegs a lot?

That could have a lot to do with it.

We tend to empty them rather than bust them.

-Oh, I see, so you break them open in other words?

-Yes.

OK, so Keg Busters, that's Barry,

against Bottle Kickers, that's Steve,

three multiple choice questions on Film and Television,

Steve, I'll give you the chance to choose

the first or second set of questions.

Erm, I'll go first, please.

Which British actress played the title role

in the 2011 US TV mini-series Mildred Pierce?

I've heard of this and I've got a feeling that she won

an award for it, and I think it's Kate Winslet.

Nicely done, it is Kate Winslet, you're quite right.

Would have been easy to go wrong on that one.

Here's your question, Barry.

Zara Brownless was the winner of which 2011 reality TV show?

Oh, well, I watched some episodes of all of those,

but the name seems to escape me for the moment.

I'm sure it wasn't The X Factor.

And I don't think it was Britain's Got Talent.

I'm going to go for Young Apprentice.

Young Apprentice is the right answer, well done.

Over to you, Steve.

Who plays the title character in the 2007 superhero film Ghost Rider

and its sequel?

Erm, I've not seen the film but I do remember seeing quite

a lot of posters and advertising for it, and it's Nicolas Cage.

Nicolas Cage is correct, you're playing really well here.

-He knows his stuff, doesn't he, Barry?

-He does indeed.

The Pirates of the Caribbean films were inspired by and based on what?

It'd be an interesting fast food meal.

I've been on this ride, it's a theme park ride and it was in Disneyland,

and a great deal of fun it was too, so the answer is theme park ride.

Theme park ride is the right answer, well done. OK, back to you, Steve.

The political TV drama series Borgen is set in which country?

Erm, I've never heard of the programme,

and there's nothing that's coming to mind.

It sounds like it could be any of them.

Erm, I'm going to have to guess at Finland.

I'm sorry, it's not.

It's part of this whole Danish invasion that's happened.

The Killing was one of them and I think Borgen...

what is Borgen, actually? Any Eggheads know?

It's short for Christiansborg which is the building that contains

the parliament, the prime minister's office

and some other organs of government.

So it's a way of saying "Inside the Beltway?"

It's like saying Westminster almost.

Yeah, OK, so Denmark is the answer there, Steve, sorry.

Barry, your question, you'll be in the final if you get this right.

In the 1972 disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure,

what is the profession of the character played by Gene Hackman?

Ooh, I have to dredge this one up. This is from a long time back.

I have seen this film. Er...

I have seen it, trying to remember what Gene Hackman was.

I don't think he was a private investigator.

Could he be a TV announcer or a church minister?

It seems unlikely but I'm going to go for church minister.

Church minister is right, Barry, so you're in the final.

Steve, he's knocked you out. He got all three right.

So both of you, please come back and rejoin your teams.

So now you have lost a brain, but don't worry, it's very early days.

No need to get out the keg just yet.

The next subject is Arts and Books, so who would like this?

THEY CONFER

-Definitely Dave.

-Dave?

Yes, go on.

Dave? All right, giving it a go against...?

Anyone but Barry.

-What do you think?

-Erm...

-Who d'you fancy?

-Probably try Chris, please.

-Chris, that good for you?

-Has to be, doesn't it?

-How's the mood today, good?

-Oh, the mood's good, yeah.

-Great.

-Ask me in ten minutes.

Dave from the Bottle Kickers versus Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

-So, Dave, your job is draughtsman?

-Design draughtsman, yes, Jeremy.

Designing what kind of thing?

It's basically overhead cranes and lifting equipment.

And then back at home, something a bit lighter,

at least physically lighter, you love to read, I gather, biographies?

I like to read biographies and anything...encyclopaedias,

that kind of thing, it's...my wife thinks I'm incredibly boring,

but, you know, it leaves her alone to watch the TV.

I saw recently that the Encyclopaedia Britannica

is not going to be printed anymore, it's just going to be online.

-Really?

-Yeah.

That's a shame, that'll make less room

for dust on my bookshelves anyway.

Also something wonderful about old encyclopaedias, isn't there?

The things they say about computers in the 1950s or whatever?

Yeah, my mother has a complete edition of,

I believe it's the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volumes One to 12,

I think, and if you read them these days it's complete nonsense, really.

I mean, fair play to the people that wrote them all those years ago,

but it just doesn't add up these days.

Really interesting looking back at that.

Three questions on Arts and Books, Dave,

and you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like the first set, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, good luck.

The meditation teacher Paul Wilson found fame in the 1990s

with his book called The Little Book Of...what?

This is something I haven't had experience with.

Erm, Solitude seems to be standing out

but I'm drawn towards Calm.

-No, I'm going to go with Solitude, Jeremy.

-Let's see if your team know.

-Do you know, guys?

-ALL: It's Calm.

They know it, it's Calm, Dave.

-Sorry.

-I should have stayed there.

-Yeah. Chris, over to you.

Who is the central character in the novel The Troubled Man,

published in English in 2011?

Well, Hercule Poirot, he was created by Agatha Christie

and there's been none written since she last wrote hers.

Piet Van Der Valk, I think, was Nicholas Freeling

and there's not been any for a long time,

but Kurt Wallander is the, er, gloomy Scandinavian detective

with his own problems, so I'll have to say Kurt Wallander.

Kurt Wallander is the right answer, Chris.

Back to you, Dave.

What is the title of Marc Camoletti's 1960s farce

about a French architect's relationships

with three airline flight attendants?

He was a French writer, therefore,

Concorde-Concorde would be a possibility.

Boeing-Boeing...

Airbus-Airbus is far too light.

Boeing-Boeing... I'm going to go, cos of the French connotation,

with Concorde-Concorde.

Yeah, but I think Boeing-Boeing is the pun, isn't it?

Boeing-Boeing is the answer.

That was the title of Marc Camoletti's book.

Chris, the photographer Norman Parkinson famously

specialised in which subject area?

Erm, Norman Parkinson, I seem to remember,

was a fashion photographer.

Fashion.

Fashion is the right answer, Chris is through to the final.

Sorry, Dave, you've been knocked out there.

You won't be helping your team in the final round.

Please come back and we'll play on.

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

the Eggheads have lost no brains from the final round,

and the next subject for you is Sport.

So who would like this?

-Maybe Adam.

-Adam?

-Adam.

-Shall we give Adam a go? Yeah?

I'll take that, please, Jeremy.

OK, and which Egghead would you like to take on?

Erm, I think I'll take on Daphne, please.

-There she is, looking, as always, happy, smiling.

-Resigned.

Determined, I was going to say.

So it's Adam from the Bottle Kickers versus Daphne from the Eggheads,

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

-So, Adam, I know you're Chris's son.

-Yes.

-And you work with your dad?

-I do.

-And do you also kick bottles with your dad?

-I do, yes.

Erm, being from the area,

you're brought up from an early age to get involved.

I'm sure at some point parents are a bit reluctant,

but you're always...you try and get in from a young age, really.

Cos it sounds as if it might be quite dangerous.

-Do people get stretchered off?

-Oh, yeah, certainly.

I mean, broken bones, certainly sprains and ligament damage,

stuff like that's a common occurrence.

Sounds great!

It can be, not so great if you're on the wrong side of it.

-Did you do it last year?

-Yeah.

And was there a moment when the other village

get the keg near the destination, somebody just runs and grabs it.

Erm, it's generally quite a long process,

depends how long it goes on.

It's not often that it breaks away from the pack

and there's a runner,

but yeah, it's normally just involved in the big scrum, really.

What's the youngest age at which you can take part?

There's not really any age limit, to be honest, it's just...

Cos you're 24, so you must be one of the youngest.

You'd be surprised.

-There's some quite young 'uns in there.

-Really?

-Yeah.

It really sounds like a good day out, Daphne. D'you fancy it?

I'd like to watch.

I think if you took part, you would definitely get the keg.

I'll ask each of you three questions on Sport in turn, and Adam,

you can choose the first or the second set.

I think I'll go first, please.

Here we go. First question.

Who won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in December 2011?

Erm, I believe all three of them were nominated.

Erm, but the winner was the cyclist Mark Cavendish.

Mark Cavendish is the right answer, well done.

Daphne, over to you.

What effect do snooker players aim to achieve by striking

the lower half of the cue ball?

Erm, I don't know.

It's not a foul, obviously, because they wouldn't aim to do that.

-Kick?

-Kick is your answer.

D'you know it's funny, I couldn't choose between kick and backspin.

It's backspin. But who's a snooker player here? Anybody?

I played a little bit of snooker.

So what is kick then if it's not that?

A kick isn't deliberately applied.

It's a kick when the snooker balls collide

and bounce in an unexpected fashion.

It's caused by static or something.

It's very much unwanted, players get fed up

when they get an unlucky kick.

So it's to do with the impact of one ball on another. OK.

Adam, for what does the letter K stand in the name

of the Eurasian Ice Hockey League, founded in 2008, the KHL?

Erm, ice hockey,

tending to be from the States, America, Canada,

it's generally a college sport.

Erm, I honestly haven't heard of them,

so I would have to take a punt at Kollege, I think.

No, it is Kontinental. Now what's going on there? Why the K?

-Whose language?

-It's in Eastern Europe and Russia.

-I think it's just a K from Russian.

-Russian, there we are.

Kontinental is the answer.

We have it on good authority from Pat

that that looks very much like a Russian K.

OK, Daphne, your question.

What sport is played by the Belgian team Racing Club Genk?

Racing Club Genk. And Genk is spelt G-E-N-K.

-G-E-N-K.

-Yeah.

Well, I can't see what Racing Club

has to do with handball or volleyball,

so I hope it's football.

And you are right to hope that because it is football. Well done.

Football it is. So...

one point each. Third question.

In the mid-1980s, Jean-Marie Balestre became

the president of which sport governing body, Adam?

Erm, I have to say, I don't recognise the name. Erm...

I know a little bit about rugby union

and I haven't heard of that, so I think...

it may be a wrong idea, but I might rule out rugby union.

I haven't heard of it associated with Formula One,

I think Bernie Ecclestone's been involved for quite a while

and the FIA rule over the Formula 1 as the sporting body.

So I think based on that I'll have to go with athletics, please.

Athletics is wrong, actually. It is Formula 1.

Cos it's mid-1980s so it must be even before Mosley, I guess.

Daphne, if you get this right,

you're in the final.

In what capacity did Constantine "Cus" D'Amato find fame?

Well, I haven't heard of him.

Erm,

at a guess, he sounds like a boxing trainer.

-Is she right, guys?

-ALL: Yes.

The challengers know that you're right,

so boxing trainer it is.

Well done, Daphne, you've taken that round

and you will be in the final.

Sorry, Adam, you got knocked out there.

Please, both of you come back and we'll play the next round.

Chris, erm, change of plan?

Erm, well, we did have a game plan but, erm,

I think we'll revert to Plan B.

Does that involve finally producing the barrel and hurling it at them?

-I wouldn't like to say.

-All right, we'll wait to see.

The challengers have lost three brains,

the Eggheads have not lost any.

Will this final round turn it around?

The last subject is Geography.

-Who wants this?

-That's for you, Chris, innit?

Erm, yeah, shall I take geography then? OK.

The team captain himself. OK, against which Egghead?

Dave or Pat?

-One end or the other?

-I think we'll try Tremendous Dave, please.

OK, that's nice, Tremendous Dave,

-it's even better than Tremendous Knowledge.

-Thank you.

So it is Chris from the Bottle Kickers versus

Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

So on the Bottle Kicking, Chris, not meaning to go on,

but we all want to know if there are points involved in this?

Er, the point is to win two barrels out of three, Jeremy.

-Oh, to get them to the village?

-Yes, that's right.

So you have three barrels on the go

and it's the team that gets the most barrels back?

No, it's one at a time, Jeremy, so we play for one barrel first.

When that one's won by whichever team,

we then play for the second barrel.

And which village over the years... It's gone on since the Middle Ages,

Which village over the years has been the stronger?

Erm, it does vary.

Hallarton's unfortunately on a bit of a run at the moment

but we'll get 'em this Easter Monday, don't worry about that.

I'm going to ask each of you three questions on Geography in turn.

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

I'll stick with the rest of the team and I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, good luck getting some help into that final round.

What name is given to an intense vortex in the shape

of a column that occurs over water?

Right, I have come across this before.

I'm pretty sure it's not waterspigot.

Erm...

I think it's waterspout, actually, Jeremy.

Waterspout is the right answer. Very good.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, here's your question.

In 1998, the Royal Yacht Britannia

became permanently moored in which city?

You know what? I don't know. Should know this straight away.

Erm...

Where is it?

Don't know, ooh!

I'm going to rule out Cardiff, but I don't like Edinburgh up there.

Erm, hmm...let me have a think if I've seen it.

I'll go London.

-Any Eggheads know?

-Edinburgh.

-Edinburgh.

When did it go out of service, then, Eggheads? That year, was it?

That was when she was decommissioned, yeah.

Yeah, Edinburgh's the answer, Dave.

Back to you, Chris. You're in the lead.

Ryde is a seaside town on which British island?

Well, erm, being a well travelled man

and having spent ten years in the Navy, I should know my geography.

I know it's definitely not the Isle of Sheppey.

Erm, so I think it's the Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight is the correct answer.

Well done again, and you mentioned the Navy.

-I know you were in the Falklands War.

-Yes, I was, Jeremy.

You had to put off your wedding for that.

I did have to put off the wedding,

but I still managed to find time for the bottle kicking.

OK, Dave, your question.

Euboea is which country's second-largest island?

Right, I'm just having a think.

Er...

I don't think it's Greece.

Er, now, you've got Sicily and Sardinia, so...

I'm going to have to go Spain but with no kind of conviction at all.

If you get this one wrong, I think you're out, Dave.

-Yeah, I think I might be.

-Cos he's got two and you've got...

-none, because it's Greece.

-Yeah, fair enough.

Greece is the answer. So you've been knocked out.

Well done, Chris,

you're going to get a bit of help for your team-mate in the final.

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

So, bit of a comeback from the challengers,

and this is what we've been playing towards.

It is time 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.

So Adam, Steve and Dave from the Bottle Kickers

and Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

Steven, did you stay out deliberately till this point?

-No, I'm afraid my subject didn't come up.

-Which is?

-Er, history.

-Cos you're a teacher?

-I'm a history teacher.

So you need some history questions.

Big problem if I get them wrong,

I could become a real laughing stock at work.

All right, so difficult history questions where there's an excuse

for getting them wrong. OK.

Chris and Steven, you are playing to win the Bottle Kickers £4,000.

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

money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time the questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Bottle Kickers, the question is, are your two brains better

than the Eggheads' four, which you can see in front of you?

Would you like to go first or second?

I think we'll stick with tradition and go first.

Here we go, good luck to you, three questions away from the jackpot.

Who would be most likely to work at a forge?

Well, tailor makes clothes. Draughtsman draws things, so...

-Got to be blacksmith.

-Blacksmith, Jeremy.

Blacksmith is correct.

Well done. First one right,

that's always very, very handy. OK, Eggheads,

according to the well-known sentence containing every letter

in the alphabet, "The quick brown fox jumps over a..." what?

-Has to be lazy dog.

-Lazy dog.

That's a lazy dog, Jeremy.

Lazy dog is the right answer.

There is a name for a sentence that contains all

the letters of the alphabet, it's called a pangram.

-A pangram.

-Mm-hm.

-OK.

Next question is for the Bottle Kickers.

The marmoset is a type of monkey native to which region?

-Ooh, dear. It's not the Americas, is it?

-You sure?

-I'm sure it's not the Americas.

-I don't think it's Australasia.

So you've got South East Asia. D'you want to have a go at that?

-South East Asia, shall we go for it?

-South East Asia, Jeremy.

We had one like this the other day about the gibbon

and they're very difficult questions.

Any Eggheads agree with that or disagree? Where would you say?

-I'd have said South East Asia.

-No, I'd have said Americas.

-The Americas.

-You think Americas, yeah. Americas is the right answer.

It's the Americas, not South East Asia for the marmoset.

So you may have let them in, let's see.

The Triple Entente was a pre-World War One

alliance between Britain, France and which country?

-Russia?

-Russia.

That was Russia, Jeremy.

It was indeed Russia.

They've gone ahead, so you do need this one, guys,

otherwise the contest is over.

Which song, a UK Top Five hit for Blondie in 1978,

was originally written and recorded

by the Los Angeles-based band the Nerves?

Well, it's more your era than mine.

It is more my era and they are definitely all Blondie songs.

I've personally known Heart Of Glass, but...

I think we should take Heart Of Glass out

cos I reckon that was number one.

I think it was definitely, erm, yeah.

-Los Angeles.

-Is there a connotation with Union City Blue, with...?

-What, and Los Angeles?

-Yeah, Los Angeles, d'you think, perhaps?

I don't, er...

What do you think?

-I think it's the Telephone.

-Do you?

Yeah, but I'm only having a stab in the dark.

We've got a bit of a split decision here. Erm...

-Shall we go for...?

-You call.

Hanging On The Telephone, Jeremy.

Very good, you got it right.

Very good, and I love Blondie, but that is quite a hard question.

Well done. How did you decide to go for that one?

-I couldn't work it out. Instinct.

-Yes.

So, Eggheads, if you get this wrong, we go to Sudden Death.

If you get it right, you've won the contest

because they dropped one earlier.

What was the name of the Roman architect and engineer

who wrote a handbook entitled De Architectura?

-Vitruvius.

-Absolutely.

Cato was a politician, Cincinnatus was an occasional general,

and Vitruvius wrote the book about architecture, so it's Vitruvius.

You sound worryingly certain.

-You can't just be uncertain, can you, for a while, or...?

-No.

-You do think it is Vitruvius?

-We think it's Vitruvius.

-I fear it might be, don't you?

-I do, yeah.

Vitruvius is the right answer, Eggheads,

so we say congratulations, you have won.

It's been great finding out about bottle kicking,

I'm tempted to say this is the moment for...

we'll decide it on the keg.

-That's how we'll do it.

-OK.

-But I hope you've enjoyed the contest.

Very much, thank you.

Been great to see you and we'll get the other village in

and see how they do, shall we?

-Er, no!

-Commiserations to you, challengers.

You fought hard but the Eggheads have done

what comes naturally to them.

They still reign supreme over Quizland.

You're putting a bit of a streak back together now,

having had a bumpy patch.

That means you won't be going home with the £4,000

so that 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.

£5,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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