Episode 94 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 taking on our quiz champions today are...

This team of friends quiz every week

at the Village Inn pub in Southampton.

Let's meet them.

Hi, my name is Ben, I'm 24, and I'm a telesales agent.

Hi, I'm Ian, I'm 23, and I'm a customer service advisor.

Hi, I'm Jason, I'm 25, and I'm a health researcher.

Hi, I'm Joe, I'm 30, and I'm a telesales agent.

Hi, I'm Rob, I'm 22, and I'm a student of environmental sciences.

So, Ben and team, welcome. And you quiz together?

Yes, at the Village Inn pub. It's in Park Gate, Southampton.

And you've been friends at university, school, the whole lot?

-A mixture of university and school and work as well.

-Sure.

And you like the word geronimo, or it's connected with something?

Yeah, I do like the word.

It's the name of a song by one of my favourite bands - Phantom Planet.

-Yeah, who are they?

-It's Phantom Planet.

Good luck, guys, and good luck beating the Eggheads.

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, Geronimo, the Eggheads have won the last four games,

which means £5,000 says you can't beat them. Would you like to try?

-Very much so.

-Good stuff. OK, bring on Geronimo.

The first head-to-head battle is on History.

Which Egghead and which of you?

-Controversial.

-Me, do you think? Is it me for History first up?

-I think... I think that's one of your favourite ones, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I'll go first, Jeremy.

-Rob, OK.

Which Egghead would you like to take on? You've got the pick of all five.

I'll go with Judith, please.

OK, so Rob from Geronimo versus Judith from the Eggheads,

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

So you're training to be an officer in the Territorial Army, Rob?

Partly, yes. In the Officer Training Corps.

I'm working towards a potential commission in the Territorial Army.

Which would be a full-time thing?

No, it would be part-time if I chose to take it the whole way

and actually attend the commissioning course.

OK. And what else is going on in your life?

Well, I'm a student,

so I'm studying environmental management at Southampton University

at Masters level, so that takes up most of my time.

And mixed in with the Officer Training Corps,

sort of a full-time job.

OK. And, Rob, your choice -

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

-I'll go first.

Rob, here we go.

What name was given to a member of the warrior caste in Japan?

Right. I'm fairly sure I do this one.

I've not actually heard of the second two,

and samurais are famous for sort of being the warrior caste.

So I'm pretty sure it's samurai.

Samurai is quite right.

Barry...

Barry loves Japan, don't you, Barry?

-I do.

-So tell us... You all laughed when I said kabuki.

-Is that because it's a type of sushi?

-It's theatre.

-Theatre?

-Japanese theatre. And yakitori is skewered chicken.

OK, so to get attacked by yakitori that's going to be...

-You're in big trouble!

-You are in big trouble!

OK, Judith, your question.

In what year was Britain's first stretch of motorway,

the Preston Bypass, opened?

Well, not many cars on the road in 1938 or '18,

so I think it must be 1958.

1958 is the right answer, Judith. Well done.

Rob, which Australian explorer, author of The Home Of The Blizzard,

took part in the first ascent of Mount Erebus in 1908?

Ooh! Erm, I don't think I've heard of any of them.

Mount Erebus...

No, it's going to be a guess on this one, I think. So...

My intuition is telling me to go towards Douglas Mawson.

-Why did your intuition tell you that?

-I don't really know.

It just took me in that direction.

As I sit here, the most interesting thing for me

is when you don't know the answer and you guess or you use intuition

and how that works, cos it's often right, and it's right again.

Douglas Mawson is correct.

I just don't know. Is that the subconscious or what?

No, there's some logic behind that answer.

Most people think the highest mountain in Australia is Kosciuszko,

but Heard Island, which is an Austrian dependency,

has a mountain called Mawson's Peak, which is actually

the highest mountain in Australia and its territories.

So there's some logic there.

-So when you hear the word Mawson, your brain says mountain?

-Yes.

DAPHNE: Yes.

OK, Judith. Stateira, the daughter of Darius III of Persia,

married which historical figure?

And it's spelt S-T-A-T-E, as in state, and then I-R-A. Stateira.

Well, I don't think she married Julius Caesar,

and I don't think she married Alexander the Great.

He married someone else.

But I'm troubled by her not being the right date for Genghis Khan.

Erm, well, I'm fairly sure it wasn't Julius Caesar or Alexander,

so it's got to be Genghis Khan, and I just hope the dates fit.

That would've been a happy marriage, wouldn't it?

Genghis Khan. There's a little bit of...

What's the word? ..frustration here?

I think Judith had too much knowledge,

because she probably remembers that Alexander the Great

was married to Roxane, but he also had other wives.

Yes, he had other.

And Daphne saying that Alexander the Great was married to Roxane

-but had other wives.

-Oh, right.

-So that...

He was quite young when he died,

so I didn't think he'd have had time to have other wives.

Alexander the Great is the correct answer there, Judith, I'm sorry.

And Darius,

he really went downhill after X Factor, didn't he?

LAUGHTER

OK, Rob, your question -

the Exeter Book, dating from the 10th century,

is a collection of what?

Fairly sure land registrations was the Domesday Book.

It was fractionally later. 10th century, that was 11th century.

Recipes or poems.

Poems would be the more logical choice,

but I have a feeling that it was a recipe book, a famous recipe book

of very early recipes.

Erm...

Although between the two... I'm going to go with recipes,

cos I just have a feeling that it's the less common answer,

but I just have a gut instinct again that I have heard it somewhere.

In this case, it's taken you astray, cos it's poems.

Rob, sorry. If Judith gets this one right, we go to Sudden Death.

Judith, the last Duke of Cambridge before Prince William

was a grandson of which monarch?

The Duke of Cambridge...

I'm fairly sure George III had a Duke of Cambridge.

But did Victoria?

I'm not sure.

I think I'm going to say...

..Victoria.

Victoria is your answer. And this is your favourite subject, isn't it?

-I know, I got it wrong!

-You got it wrong, yeah!

-It was George III.

It's George III.

-George III, so, Rob, well done.

-I thought it might be.

You've actually...

That's no small feat, because Judith, as we know, won £1 million

on a history question once. Well done, you've knocked out Judith,

who's very strong on History, and you'll be in the final round.

Please both come back and rejoin your teams.

Well done, Rob and team. Great stuff.

As it stands, the challengers have not lost a brain and Eggheads have.

So now we move to our next subject, which is Film & Television.

-Who would like this?

-THEY DISCUSS

-That's a pretty straightforward one.

-That's me.

OK, Jason, straight there.

Against which Egghead?

I'll try Chris.

-Right. Chris.

-Mm?

-Chris, you with us?

-Yeah!

LAUGHTER

Jason from Geronimo versus Chris from the Eggheads.

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

OK, good luck in this round, Film & TV.

Three questions, and you can choose, Jason, the first or the second set.

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. In 2011, which radio presenter became the voice

of the title character in the animated TV series Rastamouse?

Right, well I guess I can rule out Tim Westwood.

I'm going to say that because it's an animated series,

it's probably someone younger, so Reggie Yates is a bit younger than

Trevor Nelson, I think, so I'll go for Reggie Yates. But I'm not sure.

Reggie Yates is the right answer. Well done. Good start.

And here we go with your question, Chris.

At the start of 2012, Nick Hewer,

best known from The Apprentice, took over as the host of which programme?

He's taken over as the host of Countdown,

which I don't watch any more for reasons of my own.

Would they be anything to do with three consonants and two vowels?

-Yes, they would, rather.

-Yes.

"Carol" is the word.

Ever since she left, Chris has been distraught.

The correct answer is Countdown, Chris, well done.

Jason, who starred as a woman who lives her life as a man

in the film Albert Nobbs, released in the UK in 2012?

Again, I've not seen this film.

I'm not actually familiar with the first two actresses.

I've heard of Glenn Close.

And I think I've seen her do some fairly sort of masculine roles.

So, based on that, I'd guess Glenn Close, but I've not seen the film.

Masculine roles in other films?

Maybe 101 Dalmatians, I think she might be Cruella de Vil.

I think that's right, and, of course, Fatal Attraction as well.

You're right - Glenn Close it is. I like the logic.

Very good. Very good play.

OK, Chris, which 1985 film ends with the line,

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

That's when Doc Brown comes back for Marty McFly at the end of

Back To The Future.

Back To The Future is the right answer.

Jason, your third question. Both playing really well.

Which small town is the main setting

for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds?

Not doing very well with the films I've seen so far.

My first instinct, just purely out of nowhere, is Fairvale.

So I'm going to have to go with that, just as a guess,

but I'm stuck between that and Santa Rosa, but I'll go Fairvale.

Let's see who knows.

-BARRY:

-Bodega Bay.

-Bod-e-ga or Bod-a-ga Bay. Yeah.

Was that up on signs in the film and stuff, or what?

No, I don't think so.

It was just by the sea, presumably.

It's known that's where he filmed it?

-Oh, yes, and the story was by Daphne du Maurier.

-Was it?

-Mm.

Bodega Bay is the answer.

So we go to Chris, and you can take the round with this answer, Chris.

Who played the working-class girl in a relationship with

a Conservative MP in the 1980s sitcom The Other 'Arf?

I think - I'm not too sure - that was Lorraine Chase.

It was indeed Lorraine Chase.

I can't remember the sitcom at all, The Other 'Arf.

-No, I can't either, but...

-It was her. Chris, you've taken the round.

Well done. And Jason, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out there,

so you won't be in the final round and Chris will.

It's getting to be an interesting contest.

Please both come back and rejoin your team-mates.

So, the challengers have lost a brain but so have the Eggheads.

And we move now to our next subject, which is Science.

Do we have a scientist?

Rob was the scientist. He was also the historian.

Also done it, OK. So...?

What do you think? I think Joe should do Science.

-OK, I think... Yeah, cos we need you for Music.

-I'll take Science.

OK, it's going to be Joe. Against which Egghead, Joe?

-Daphne, do you reckon?

-Not Chris or Judith.

-Against Daphne.

-Science.

So, Geronimo Joe versus Egghead Daphne on Science.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, three questions on Science.

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

-First.

Here we go, Joe, good luck.

In geometry, what specific name is given to the curved line that forms

the perimeter of a circle?

I don't think it's hypotenuse.

Not the tangent. I think, the circumference.

Circumference is the right answer.

-It's almost too complicated, that question, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

OK, Daphne.

Rancidification is the decomposition of which constituent of food?

Well, butter goes rancid, so I assume it's fats and oils.

Fats and oils is the right answer.

Back to you, Joe.

The vast array of telescopes in the Atacama Desert,

which became operational 2011, is known by what acronym?

I don't think it's ABIGAIL.

ALMA... I'm not warming to that.

I'm going to go for ANNA, purely on a guess.

And, yeah, I think ANNA.

Let's see if Daphne knows. Daphne?

-No, I don't know.

-Anyone? Barry?

It's ALMA.

OK, the answer is ALMA, not ANNA.

Now, over to you, Daphne.

Which future Nobel Prize winner taught physics

at the University of Manchester from 1914 to 1916?

I haven't heard this.

Erm...

I think going to guess Niels Bohr, simply because he's Danish.

Why would that help you?

Well, I think Max Planck's German or Austrian, and it was during the war.

Oh, I see what you mean.

-But I don't know.

-But you do know, because it is Niels Bohr.

Well done.

Joe, you need to get this one right,

cos she is a point ahead of you.

Here's your third question.

What name is given to two prime numbers which differ from each other

by six, for example, five and 11?

I don't think it's racy.

Not flirty. Possibly sexy, I think, primes I'm going to go for.

-Sexy primes.

-Yeah.

It's a great question. I know Barry will know.

Yes, the Latin for six is "sex", hence, sexy primes.

It's because the Latin for six is "sex", so it's sexy. You're right.

Bang on. Well done.

OK, Daphne, your question. It's two points each.

If you get this answer, you're in the final.

The Fernandez reaction signals a positive result to a skin test

for which disease?

Well, leprosy, you could obviously see.

Tetanus, diphtheria...

I've heard of a skin test for diphtheria.

I think I'll go for diphtheria.

Diphtheria is your answer.

Have we got a health specialist on this side, anyone know?

I thought it was leprosy, but...

-Yeah, leprosy is the answer, Daphne.

-Oh!

OK, so we go to Sudden Death, Joe. You've held her off so far.

Two right out of three, gets a bit harder, I don't give alternatives.

The British scientist James Chadwick was awarded a Nobel Prize

in which category in 1935?

Physics?

Physics is correct.

LAUGHTER

He discovered the neutron.

Well done! Daphne, if you get this wrong, you're out.

Which alkaline earth metal has the chemical symbol Sr?

-SHE SIGHS

-Strontium.

Strontium is the right answer, Daphne.

Well done with your periodic table.

Joe, back to you.

Barnard's Loop is a nebula visible in which constellation?

I think this is going to have to be a guess again.

Saturn.

Orion.

Saturn is a planet, or it's not a constellation as well, is it, no?

-EGGHEADS:

-No.

-Yeah, Orion is the constellation.

Could've accepted the Hunter.

Daphne, what's the name commonly given to the scientific principle

that is known as Mariotte's law in France?

-And if you get this right, you're in the final.

-Boyle's law.

Boyle's law is the right answer, Daphne.

You've taken the round on Sudden Death. You're a doughty fighter.

Sorry, Joe. She's good, isn't she?

Very good, yes, she is.

Do both come back and rejoin your teams.

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

the Eggheads have lost one brain from the all-important final round.

And our last subject before the final is Sport.

Is that good for you?

I think it is good, yeah.

And I'm going to take that.

Who's it going to be on this side?

Pat or Barry, guys?

I think Barry would be the best choice.

-Barry?

-Think so.

Ben and Barry. Sounds like a kind of ice cream.

So, Geronimo versus the Eggheads, please take your positions.

OK, three questions on Sport, and Ben,

you can choose the first or second set of questions.

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. In Formula 1 racing,

qualifying sessions usually take place on which day of the week?

OK, I do like Formula 1.

I don't think anything takes place on Monday or Wednesday.

I think they have a couple of practises on Thursday and Friday,

and the qualifying, I believe, takes place on a Saturday.

Saturday is the right answer, well done. Barry, over to you.

When the equestrian discipline known as eventing was introduced to

the Olympics in 1912, who were the only people allowed to take part?

Ooh! Well, I can't imagine it would be farmers and I can't imagine

it'll be clergyman, but I can see that military officers who would be

expected to be able to ride a horse at that time would be most likely,

so I'll go for military officers.

Military officers is the right answer, Barry. Well done.

Back to you, Ben.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined which football club from Southampton in 2011?

Right, this is my favourite sport, so this is a good one.

Definitely not Chelsea and it isn't Liverpool,

so I'll go straight down the middle for Arsenal.

That's the correct answer. Barry -

Henry Longhurst was renowned as a writer

and commentator on which sport?

It's definitely not rugby union.

The name does ring a bell, but I'm trying to see what bell it rings.

Henry Longhurst.

I'm not sure on this, but I'm going to go for golf.

Golf is the right answer, Barry. Nicely done. Back to you, Ben.

-He's proving difficult to shake off, this man, isn't he?

-I know.

In a handicap game of croquet,

what name is given to an extra turn awarded to a weaker player?

This is tricky.

I don't know why I have...

Some sort of instinct is telling me to go with bisque.

You're right, bisque it is. Three out of three.

Barry, if you get this wrong, you are out.

Which sport is played by the Fife Flyers?

Well, Fife is obviously a Scottish town,

so that would lead me to curling, but I don't think it is curling.

The Fife Flyers.

You can certainly travel fairly quickly on a basketball court,

but I think the one sport where you're likely to fly the most

would be ice hockey, so I shall go for ice hockey.

Ice hockey is the right answer. Well done.

So, three out of three for you both. Hard-fought round.

Sudden Death is what we go to now. Ben, are you ready?

-I am.

-Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

Which American tennis player won the men's singles at the US Open

when he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003?

Is Pete Sampras American? I don't know. I think...

I will plump for...

..Pete Sampras.

It's Andy Roddick.

Andy Roddick, oh!

The last American man to win the title, interestingly.

So Barry, if you get this right, you've one around.

During the 1998/1999 season,

which future manager of the England football team became assistant

to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United?

I'm not sure on this, but I'll have a go at Steve McClaren.

Do you think he's right, Ben?

I think that's right, yeah.

It is right, Barry. Well done, Steve McClaren it is.

You've triumphed on Sudden Death. Sorry, Ben.

Team captain has been knocked out here. That's a shame for your team.

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

So, this is what we've been playing towards.

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

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

can't take part in this round.

So, Ben, Jason and Joe from Geronimo,

and also Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Ian and Rob, you're playing to win Geronimo £5,000.

Daphne, Chris, Barry and Pat,

you're playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, the questions are all general knowledge,

you are allowed to confer.

So, Geronimo, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, keeping with tradition.

Good luck. Three questions away from £5,000. All the best.

In which comic did Beryl the Peril first appear?

I must admit, I've never heard of it.

I have very little idea of any of those three.

-I don't know any.

-The Hotspur, I've not even heard of.

-Bunty, have you heard of Bunty?

-Never heard of any of them.

The Topper, I have heard of.

-The one we've heard of, then?

-Yeah, I think we'll have to go Topper.

The Topper.

Just because we've heard of it, The Topper.

Very well played, it's The Topper. And it's not easy,

cos I would've thought Beano or Dandy would be there, but it wasn't.

No.

Beryl the Peril in The Topper. Here's your question.

Eggheads, Life On Air is the autobiography of which broadcaster?

David Attenborough. David Attenborough.

That's David Attenborough, Jeremy.

David Attenborough is the right answer. Who's read it, anyone?

-No.

-I have.

-Well done.

And it's brilliant. Absolutely wonderful.

All round his foreign travels and the bat caves...

-Everything he does is brilliant.

-Yeah. It's a wonderful book.

David Attenborough. OK, over to you.

Which band, formed in 1971,

has featured Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain as members?

-Right.

-I've heard of the Eagles.

-I've heard of the Eagles as well.

Heard of Dr Feelgood in passing, but never heard anything of theirs.

Or its. Whoever they are.

-New York Dolls. Heard of them?

-Never heard of them at all.

It's going to be another guess then.

Which one, though? Which way?

I would be inclined to go with the Eagles, because I've heard

some of their stuff, but none of the names mean anything to me.

OK, my dad is actually an Eagles fan, so if this is wrong, I'm sorry,

but we're going to go for Eagles.

Eagles is your answer. Your dad is going to be upset.

It's almost the most easily rule out-able one,

because the individual Eagles are all quite famous.

But, it's the New York Dolls.

It's the New York Dolls. Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain.

OK. Eggheads, to take the lead -

in 2011, attempts were made to popularise a new

two-thirds-of-a-pint drink measure in British pubs under what name?

-EGGHEADS:

-Schooner.

-The Australian measure?

That's the schooner.

I think it's a popular measure in Australia already.

It didn't catch on here, or what?

You're joking!

Have you ever been offered a schooner, Chris?

-No.

-You don't drink halves?

I don't drink halves, I don't drink schooners.

It sunk without a trace.

The schooner is the right answer.

So, here we are.

We're perched on the edge of oblivion, Geronimo.

We need to get this one right. Go to get this one right to stay in.

59th Street and Lexington Avenue, New York,

is the address of the flagship store of which retailer?

So, 5th Avenue is Macy's, that's gone. It's not there anyway.

Both Tiffany & Co

and Bloomingdale's are famous stores, big stores in New York.

Lexington Avenue, Lexington Avenue.

I've been there.

Trying to remember which one it is.

Tiffany & Co was my first instinct, but...

-Shall we go with instinct?

-I think we're going to have to.

It's going to be another instinct sort of guess.

Once again, another instinct.

-We'll go for Tiffany & Co.

-Tiffany & Co.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Been here, Eggheads?

I'm not sure. I think it may be Bloomingdale's.

The answer is Bloomingdale's.

So, with one out of three, there's no way back, Geronimo.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

But I loved the logic there, Rob. I could almost see you visualise it.

Yeah, I was trying to map it out, but...

Yeah, yeah, I could see you were working through it.

Commiserations to the challengers.

The Eggheads has done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues.

It does mean that Geronimo won't be going home with £5,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains

to defeat the Eggheads.

£6,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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