Episode 95 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.

Taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Snooker Loopy.

This team are all members of the English Association of Snooker

and Billiards. Let's meet them.

I'm Oli, I'm 27 and I'm a security officer.

Hello, I'm Paul, I'm 50 and I'm a solicitor.

Hi, I'm John, I'm 32 and I'm a company director.

Hi, I'm Rob, I'm 59 and I'm a customer assistant.

Hi, I'm Steve, I'm 46 and I'm a trainer for a high street bank.

-Oli and team, welcome. Good to see you.

-Thank you.

-It's snooker and billiards?

-Yes, that's right.

How did you get the team together because you didn't know each other before?

No, we put out an application on the association's website

for anyone who's interested in taking part in the team.

This is what we're left with at the end of the process.

Did you have a pile of people looking for a place?

Yes, probably about 15, then we whittled it down, so...

What is the difference between snooker and billiards, in a word?

-I'll pass that on to John.

-You are the billiards man?

-Yes, I am.

Both are played on the same table.

But there's only three balls at billiards -

a red, a white and a yellow.

So it's a lot more difficult than snooker

because you've got less options.

Do you not sometimes, when you're playing it, want more balls on the table?

-Sometimes.

-So you just think I'm missing the blue, green and pink.

-What about the pink, you don't have the pink in billiards?

-No pink.

-Do you not miss the pink?

-Well, we have to make do with what we've got.

Any snooker or billiards players here, Eggs?

They don't really get out much. You know, they don't.

They are inside the whole time looking at little lists.

Every day there's £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, Snooker Loopy, the Eggheads have won the last five games.

Which means £6,000 says you can't beat them today.

The first subject is Film and Television.

You have to tell me who wants to play this.

Steve, have a go with this one?

-I'm easy. Do you want me to go?

-I don't mind.

We think Steve will have a go at this one.

All right, Steve, against which Egghead?

Go against Chris, do you think? Can I go against Chris, please?

You certainly can.

Steve, from Snooker Loopy versus Chris on Film and TV.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in our question room.

I'm going to ask each of you three multiple-choice questions on Film and Television in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly is the winner

and goes through to the final.

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

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, good luck.

Prisoner And Escort was the name of the pilot episode for which classic sitcom?

I don't think it was Only Fools And Horses.

Man About The House I think was a little bit earlier.

And I've got a nickname of Norman as well. Because of my surname.

Because I think it's Porridge.

-Well done, because your surname is Fletcher.

-It is indeed.

-So you're not going to get that one wrong.

-No, hopefully.

Porridge is the right answer, Steve.

Chris, which broadcaster, known as the presenter of Coast

and Scrapheap Challenge, is famous for his enormous moustache?

That is the slightly eccentric and a bit like myself Dick Strawbridge.

Dick Strawbridge is the right answer.

Ever thought of growing a handlebar moustache, Chris?

I did once think of growing a beard when I was about 22,

but my mother said, "Ach, you'd look like the black laird of Dundee."

So I never bothered since.

It might be good having the handlebar with the ends waxed,

-turned upwards.

-So I can twirl it at certain times, yes.

-When you are struggling for an answer.

-Yes.

OK, your question, Steve.

Which British actress co-starred with Michael Fassbender in the 2011 film Shame?

-This is a new one on me. What year was the film again?

-2011.

I've not heard of Rebecca Hall

and the only one I think I've heard of is Rosamund Pike.

So I'll go with her.

It's not Rosamund Pike. Anyone?

-Carey Mulligan.

-Carey Mulligan is the correct answer, Steve. Sorry.

Let's see if Chris can pull ahead.

In 2011, Ralph Fiennes directed and starred in a film version of which Shakespeare play?

I don't think anybody has filmed Titus Andronicus,

which would just be a bloodbath.

I've not heard of Cymbeline ever being filmed.

But I think there was a film made recently of Coriolanus,

so that's what I'll go with.

Corialanus is the correct answer, Chris. Well done.

OK, he's ahead, so you need this one, Steve.

I keep wanting to call you Norman.

The film Distant Voices, Still Lives, by Terence Davies,

is an evocation of working-class life of the 1940s and 1950s in which city?

I work in Birmingham. It doesn't seem to ring any bells.

And...I would think...

I was a Liverpool supporter as a child,

but now I've seen the light and I'm a Shrewsbury Town fan.

So I'm going to go for Liverpool.

You've got it right, well done.

OK, Chris, for the round.

Kurt Hummel, Tina CohenChang and Artie Abrams

are characters from which US TV series?

It sounds like something of an ethnic mix.

Nurse Jackie is set in a hospital.

Six Feet Under is set in an undertaker's, obviously.

I think they are three of the kids from Glee, so I'll go with Glee.

Glee is the right answer, Chris. So, just a quiet tut from his team.

You've lost your first player, I'm afraid.

Steve, you've been knocked out and won't be in the final round. Chris will.

Please return to your teams.

So, on Shakespeare plays that have become movies,

Chris said no-one has done Titus Andronicus. Barry, you beg to differ.

Yes, Anthony Hopkins did a fantastic version of Titus Andronicus.

Jessica Lange played a very fine Tamora, Queen of the Goth.

-Fearsome.

-As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

And a bit of extra Shakespeare knowledge for us.

The next subject is Geography.

Who would like this?

THEY CONFER

Rob on Geography. OK, Rob, against which Egghead?

Um...Judith, please.

-Fine, you won't complain about that, will you, Judith?

-Not at all.

I haven't done Geography for ages.

She had a terrible run of constant Sport

and ever since you got upset about it, it stopped and it's now been

all your favourite subjects, including History last time.

-Yes.

-That went well.

-That went well!

So, it's Rob from Snooker Loopy versus Judith from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the question room.

Rob, your involvement in snooker is what?

Predominantly, these days, I'm a snooker referee.

I took up refereeing some years back and that's my passion,

but I do still play.

It's not like refereeing football where you have a lot of very,

very difficult judgment calls. The ball is in the pocket or it's not.

There are still some rather technical rules to the game that we have to adhere to.

I think it's a lot more difficult than people imagine.

What's the most unusual foul you've ever given?

Prior to actually taking up refereeing,

I was actually playing a game on one table

and turned around to the scoreboard

and the cue ball from the next table came over onto mine.

That's probably one of the most unusual ones I've seen.

-I hope you didn't lose points for that.

-No.

-Here we go with Geography.

Good subject for you, Judith, you haven't done it for ages.

-No, not for ages.

-Let's see who does well here.

Whoever answers the most gets into the final.

Rob, choose the first or second set of questions.

I'd like to go first, please.

Rob, which word is used to refer to the height of an area

measured from sea level?

Well, a little bit of aptitude I hope we've got for this programme.

And possibly a bit of attitude.

But I think the answer we are looking for is altitude.

Altitude is the right answer, Rob. Well done.

OK, Judith.

Autriche is the French name for which country?

-A-U-T-R-I-C-H-E?

-Yes.

-Is it Austria?

-You were never going to get that wrong, were you?

-I hope not.

-Austria is the right answer.

Rob, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska is famous for what feature,

the largest of its kind in the USA?

I'm not familiar with that one, Jeremy.

I don't think it's an oil field in Alaska.

I suppose it would be a perfect place for an observatory.

I'm going to plump for the hydro-electric station.

Hydro-electric station is wrong, Rob. It is actually oil field.

Yes, it's a big state for oil,

but it could easily have been either of the other two. Sorry about that.

Judith, the harbour of which city was formerly called Port Nicholson?

Oh.

Well, I think Sydney has always been called Sydney Harbour.

I mean, it's just that sort of...

I can't think of anything else it could be called.

Wellington is New Zealand. Nicholson.

And Durban is South Africa.

Nicholson, I think may be Wellington.

Wellington is the right answer, so you are ahead now.

Back to you, Rob. Got to get this right.

The Galapagos Islands are approximately what distance from mainland Ecuador?

600 miles sounds a long way.

20 miles seems rather close, I'm going to plump for 240 miles.

-I see the logic there, but it is 600.

-600?

-So it is quite a way.

-Has anyone been to the Galapagos?

-Just interested in the Pacific.

Huge. Even though if you see on a small-scale map it may look

as though those islands are not that far off the coast,

the Pacific is huge, so it's quite a distance.

I'm sorry none of that helps you, Rob. 600 miles is the answer.

You've been knocked out by Judith over those questions.

So, Judith will be in the final and you won't be.

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

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains

and the Eggheads have lost no brains from the final round.

Our next subject is Politics. Politics, guys.

This was one of the topics that nobody really wanted.

I think it's going to be me that takes one for the team here.

-So you are snookered?

-I think so.

OK, against which Egghead? Who do you want to take out?

-I was going to say what about Kevin?

-Barry?

-Barry, yes.

Yes, I'll take on Barry, please.

Barry on Politics. OK, John from Snooker Loopy versus Barry.

Please go to the question room now.

-Good luck here, John.

-Thank you.

I was going to say Barry loves Politics. It's one of your good subjects, not an obsession.

-It's not an obsession, but I enjoy it.

-Three questions on Politics.

-John, choose the first or second set.

-I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Which castle is the official UK government residence in Northern Ireland?

I've played lots of competitions in Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately we don't get chance to do much sightseeing.

Dunluce doesn't ring any bells at all.

Although for some reason, Hillsborough does.

Yes, I think I'll go with Hillsborough.

That faint bell served you well. Hillsborough is the right answer.

Well done.

Straight in the pocket.

Barry, which phrase was coined by Paul Weyrich to describe people

with strong Christian conservative principles?

I wouldn't have known the name, but of those three, moral majority

shines out for me, so I think the answer is moral majority.

It's the right answer.

John. Which political figure said, "Anger is the enemy of non-violence

"and pride is a monster that swallows it up"?

Well...I've got no idea.

Um...right, let's just have a wild guess at Franco.

It's not, it's Gandhi. It's Gandhi, the big non-violent figure.

OK, Barry, over to you.

In the 1970s, Sheik Yamani was the oil minister of which country?

Didn't he have a wonderful name, Sheikh Yamani?

It just sounds like "Shake your money",

but he was the oil minister of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the right answer. It is the best name ever.

-It truly is.

-You couldn't make that up, could you?

If you said, "Shake your money", you wouldn't be mispronouncing it.

OK, John, you need to get this one right.

What is the name of the British-Dutch union

launched in 2009 to represent maritime professionals?

Um...again, never heard of any of them, I'm afraid.

Um...let's have a go at Nautilus International.

You've got it right, it is Nautilus International.

So you are equal on two points each,

but Barry can take it with this question.

What was the name of the 1947 press release by film industry heads

condemning workers accused of communist activities?

I've never heard of this one.

They are all names that are synonymous with famous hotels.

So I guess that's why the three names are in there,

but I really don't know it.

So this is an out-and-out guess, I'm afraid.

And I shall go for...

Which sounds more common?

I don't think it will be Ritz. Is it Waldorf or Hilton?

-We'll try Waldorf.

-Anyone know here?

Is he right, Eggheads?

I don't remember it. I'd have gone for Waldorf, but I don't know it.

It is the Waldorf. Well done, you got it right.

A slight fluke on the last one, but well played.

John, that means you have been knocked into the pocket, I'm afraid.

You won't be in the final round.

If you come back to us now, we'll play on.

-So what happens now, Oli?

-We panic.

-Oh, so restrained panic?

In your sport, comebacks are really possible.

-I see them the whole time.

-You just need some pots.

-Yes.

As it stands, the challengers have lost three brains. It's looking painful.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet.

The last subject is Music.

Who would like this?

I think I will take this one.

I think I will take one for the team.

Oli, against who?

-Should I try my luck against Kevin?

-Why not?

I'll try my luck against Kevin.

This is the high-stakes manoeuvre, isn't it?

If you can knock him out before the final.

So it's Oli from Snooker Loopy versus

Kevin from the Eggheads on Music.

Please go to the question room now.

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

Oli, first or second set of questions on Music for you?

First set, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, Oli, good luck. Try and break the run and get in the final.

The Liberty Bell and the Stars And Stripes Forever

are examples of what type of composition?

Liberty Bell and Stars And Stripes Forever.

Not surprisingly, I haven't heard of it.

Out of the three though, waltz seems like

the more old-fashioned of the three, so I'll go for that.

It's not waltz, it's march.

Kevin, your question.

In a 1960s US hit, written by the actor Trevor Peacock,

who was told she had a lovely daughter?

Sorry, I'm just thinking about Mrs Brown, she had boys.

This is Mrs Jones. You have a lovely daughter.

Mrs Jones, you have a lovely daughter.

-That's so funny. You got it wrong.

-Really?

-Yes. Mrs Brown.

-Oh, really?

-Mrs Brown...

-Oh, sorry, yes, yes, OK.

Help us here. Anyone help me with this song?

# Mrs Brown, you've got a lovely daughter. #

-Yes, that's the one.

-As soon as I saw Mrs Brown,

I thought about Mrs Brown's Boys!

And there's the famous song, Me And Mrs Jones as well.

I know, yeah. Absolutely.

Listen, Oli, he's potted the red by accident, so you've got an in.

Which musical is based on a play written by Maureen Dallas Watkins

who was assigned to report on a murder case in the 1920s?

OK, again, absolutely no idea.

A Chorus Line, I've never heard of that, to be honest.

I've never heard of Carmen Jones, but that could be the victim, I suppose.

I was going to go for Chicago, but I'll go for Carmen Jones.

-Let's see if your team-mates know.

-Chicago.

Chicago it is. Chicago it is.

So, have we got any right answers at all yet?

So, on with you, Kevin.

Which pop duo wrote the music for The Most Incredible Thing,

a ballet based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale?

I believe I'm moving into a kind of semi-classical idiom

that that was the Pet Shop Boys.

Yes, I wouldn't have known that. Pet Shop Boys is the right answer.

Well done, you got an answer right.

That puts a bit of pressure on Oli.

Try just to get this one, I know you will.

Under what name did Amelia Warner release her album of '80s covers, Renditions?

I will have to go for Mixed-up Millie, I think.

Slow-Moving Millie is the answer.

Oli, sorry, I thought for a second you were going to knock him

off his perch. Kevin, you've won the round and you will be in the final.

Come back to us, both of you, and we'll play that final round.

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

it's 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.

The Eggheads have taken some lumps out of Snooker Loopy.

It's Oli and John and Rob and Steve,

would you please leave the studio?

-Paul, good luck.

-Thank you.

-One ball, take them all out.

-Or an implosion over there.

I was looking for a snooker/billiards analogy.

Somehow you dropped them all into the same pocket.

Yeah, a major in-off, something.

-You're a solicitor, most of the time.

-I am.

But you joined the Snooker and Billiards Association as a player-member.

-Yes.

-Meaning that you're semi-pro or just, you love it?

No, I'm far from being semi-pro. I'm a rank amateur.

But, love it, played the game for 30 years and love playing it.

-And that's snooker, is it?

-Yes.

I'm wondering if you might be a quizzer.

I wonder if these guys have, very cleverly,

hidden you until this moment.

It would be nice to think there was a very clever strategy.

They're nodding, by the way. So, if you're going to deny it, it's no use.

You're playing to win Snooker Loopy £6,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, 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

and you are allowed to confer. Paul, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

-And would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

What title is given to the senior female member of the Royal household

traditionally responsible for the Queen's clothes?

I'm not an arch-royalist, so struggling a little bit with this,

but my inkling, my educated guess is Mistress of the Robes.

And your inkling is quite right.

Mistress of the Robes it is. Well done. Eggheads, over to you.

Epidemiology is a science

which investigates the distribution and causes of what?

That's diseases.

Diseases is the right answer. Epidemiology. OK.

Paul, it might get harder. Here we go.

In the radio series, The Archers,

what surname is shared by Ed, William, Clarrie and Joe?

I haven't listened to The Archers for quite a few years,

but I remember Eddie Grundy, so I'm going to say Grundy.

You've got it right. Well done. It is Grundy.

OK, your question, Eggheads.

Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha

are relations of which fictional character?

ALL: Bertie Wooster.

Aunts of Bertie Wooster. He has a lot of trouble with his aunts.

They are indeed aunts of Bertie Wooster.

Well done.

So, back to you, Paul. Do try and get this one right.

I know you will, because three in a row starts to get

a little bit of pressure on them.

What type of creature is the douroucouli of South America?

Let me spell it to you for a second. D-O-U-R-O-U-C-O-U-L-I.

Douroucouli.

I've not heard of this. So it's going to be pretty much a guess.

For some reason, I don't think it's a monkey

Er, obscure names are often fish.

I'm going to go for fish.

Fish is your answer. Eggheads, do you know?

I think it's a monkey. I think it's nicknamed the owl monkey

because of its striking resemblance to an owl.

I don't know about that, but it's a monkey. Monkey's the answer.

OK, so a douroucouli has put you with

the black just hanging over the pocket.

If you get this one right, Eggheads, you remain champions.

Which actor was married in the 1980s

to the make-up actress, Lori Allison?

In the 1980s.

Johnny Depp was too young. Do you think?

He was born in 1963, so it depends when in the '80s, doesn't it?

Vanessa Paradis...

THEY CONFER INAUDIBLY

I've only come across Vanessa Paradis, ever, for Johnny Depp.

Demi Moore, that was, hmmm...

And the other one he was dating was, was it Mimi Rogers?

Kelly Preston?

THEY CONFER INAUDIBLY

How old is Bruce Willis?

He's 61, 62?

So, ages...

I think that it might be...

Well, I was going to say, maybe it was a youthful mistake. You know?

Because, none of us have heard of her.

It could have been a youthful mistake,

and they were married for a year and then she vanished.

Do you think that's...? How old is John Travolta?

He's the oldest there, by far, isn't he?

Maybe if he was married to one of the younger ones,

we might have heard it.

Do you think the youthful folly of Johnny Depp might be it?

I've got nothing to go on, either. Anybody?

I've got nothing to add to this at all, I'm afraid.

-Shall we take a chance, then, on Johnny Depp?

-Yeah.

I really don't know.

No, I don't either.

Before he got involved with...actresses and...

I've no idea. That's just a theory.

That sounds reasonable to me.

It could be any of them.

-We're going for Johnny Depp?

-OK.

We don't know this at all,

but we've resolved to have a punt on Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp is your answer. I listened very carefully there.

Judith's... Is it fair to call it a soliloquy?

About how you decided he must have married someone,

it was youthful indiscretion

and it won't have lasted very long

and that's why we hadn't heard of it

and constructing a whole story for us there.

All of which was completely right, actually.

Because it was a couple of years in the early '80s

that they were married for. It was Lori Allison and Johnny Depp.

Well done, Eggheads, Well done, Judith, particularly.

You have won the contest.

I thought they were going astray, I really did,

because I thought that if they haven't heard of her,

they won't think it's Depp, because he's the most famous one.

I had a moment of hope.

Well, there you are. You took them all on. Not many do.

Well, fair play to them. They are the best!

They are definitely the best, yeah.

And even to be in the situation and hold your end up is something,

so, well done. Commiserations to the challengers.

The Eggheads did what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues.

It does mean that you won't be going home with the £6,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done, particularly at the end. Who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£7,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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