Episode 99 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 the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today are Job Lot.

This team of colleagues all work for Careers Wales, based in Cardiff.

Let's meet them.

I'm Mark, I'm 43, and I'm a database administrator.

Hi, I'm Marcus. I'm 39, and I'm a careers advisor.

Hi, I'm Becks. I'm 29, and I'm an information advisor.

Hi. I'm Owen. I'm 28, and I'm a careers advisor.

Hello. I'm Dave. I'm 30 years old, and I'm an information advisor.

So, Mark and team, welcome. Does anyone ever come in and say

"I want a job as a careers adviser"?

I don't think anyone ever wants to be a careers adviser!

It's just something that they kind of fall into, really, through other routes.

If someone came in and said I want to be a professional quizzer, how loudly would you laugh?

Quite!

I'd show them an episode of Eggheads and say, "Really? Do you think you have a chance?"

Well, let's see if you have.

Every day there is £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, Job Lot, I can tell you the Eggheads have who won the last nine games.

Which means £10,000 says you can't beat them today.

How about that? Five figures. Shall we start?

First head-to-head battle is on the subject of History.

-Who would like History here?

-I think that's my subject.

Dave. OK. So an information advisor?

Yes, that's right.

And whose information would you like to trade?

Who do we think?

Which Egghead?

Ladies first. Shall we go Daphne?

Let's go for it. There you go.

Daphne? OK. So, Dave from Job Lot,

versus Daphne from the Eggheads on history, looking quite pleased with it.

And to ensure there is no conferring, would you please take your positions in the question room.

Three multiple-choice questions on History in turn.

You know the rules. Whoever gets the most right goes through to the final and the other person is knocked out.

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

I believe I'll go first, if I may, please.

Here we go with your first question, Dave.

Who was the British monarch when William Gladstone first became prime minister?

Right, yes. I believe that was Queen Victoria.

Very good, it was Victoria.

Daphne, the widow of which courtier who was

executed in 1618 reportedly kept his embalmed head in a bag?

Yes, I wouldn't have liked to have rifled through that bag!

It was Walter Raleigh.

It was Walter Raleigh, which is presumably why her bag never got snatched!

Dave, your question.

The chiton and the peplos were forms of clothing that date from which ancient civilisation?

If I recall, the chiton was like a tunic.

And the peplos, if I recall, some sort of wrap, or cloak.

It was the ancient Greeks.

Well done to you. It was indeed the Greeks.

Daphne, your question.

What type of WW2 weapon was the British-made Valentine?

Oh!

Um...

I think it was probably a tank.

Unerring with your guessing as always. Tank is the right answer.

OK, Dave. You're both playing well.

But beware, because Daphne can take you on the curve.

Don't be fooled by the Miss Marple look about her!

What was the name of the last Visigothic king of Spain

who was defeated in 711 during the Muslim invasion?

Right then.

I'm not sure on this one, so let's have a think.

None of those names stand out as typically Visigothic, I suppose.

They sound quite modern to me.

King Ralph, King Reginald, or King Roderic.

I think King Roderic sounds the most appropriate.

I'll guess at Roderic, please.

Yes, you got it right. You've played very well.

Now, Daphne. A bit of pressure on you. Third question.

By which name is Jeanne Poisson well-known in French history?

So Jeanne is J-E-A-N-N-E Poisson.

She's Madame de Pompadour.

Madame de Pompadour is the right answer. You've gone to sudden death.

That's a very good round. Three points for both of you,

and as yet not struggling at all.

Dave, play on. Don't let up.

Sudden death is where I don't give you alternatives, OK?

Bela Kun ruled which country as ruler of a short lived Soviet republic in 1919?

Right.

On this one, I'm not getting... I can't think of anything. So 1919?

Soviet...

No, I really can't think.

Let's just guess at a random country.

Afghanistan.

No, it was Hungary.

OK, Daphne, your chance to take the round.

Building commenced on the present-day Wells Cathedral in which century?

I ought to know because it's not far from me, but

I have to say I've never been there.

Could you repeat it?

Building commenced on the present-day Wells Cathedral in which century?

Twelfth.

Yes, it has 1175, so it was the 12th century.

I'm so... Sorry.

You knocked out a good player there!

You may have done the challengers a bit of damage.

Dave, well played. Really well played.

Excellent round for you, but you have been knocked out.

You won't be in the final, and Daphne will.

Please both of you come back and rejoin your teams.

OK, so as it stands, the challengers have lost

one brain from the final round.

Although Dave, you played - I can't say it enough - really well.

-Thank you.

-Eggheads have lost no brains so far.

The next subject is Music. Who would like this?

Owen, d'you want this one?

Would you like a crack at Music?

I could attempt Music.

Owen, against which Egghead? Obviously it can't be Daphne.

-Chris.

-I was going to say Chris.

Shall we say Chris?

If we get some music from post-1990, I think we're OK!

So it's going to be Owen from Job Lot versus Chris from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions.

I'll ask each of you three questions on music in turn,

and you can choose, Owen, the first or the second set.

I think fortune favours the brave, so I think I'll go first, please.

Good luck to you. Here we go.

Who wrote and recorded the 1967 US hit single Brown Eyed Girl?

Right, OK.

I think I'm going to have to go with Van Morrison...

..because my parents kind of do have some kind of musical taste,

so I did have that growing up, so yes,

I think I'll stick with Van Morrison.

Van Morrison is the right answer. Well done!

That's a long time ago. '67. I hadn't realised that.

-And it's still played. It sounds fresh now.

-Good.

Yeah, yeah, it's good.

Chris - the 2011 song Video Games was the first

UK singles chart entry for which singer?

Mmm.

That was...

..not Nadine Coyle, not Lana Del Rey - Nicole Scherzinger.

Challengers, is he right?

-Apparently not, no.

-No, he's not right.

It's Lana Del Rey!

She usually sings about death and destruction, doesn't she?

-Well, of course, video games...

-Exactly, video games

-is exactly that.

-Mmm.

-Owen, you're in the lead, that's a good start.

The popular classical singer Alfie Boe has which type of voice?

Classical. Erm...

Right, OK. Erm...

I like the music, but I don't know too much about particular singers,

so this is just going to have to be a random guess.

Classical singing. Erm... Have to go with...

..er, tenor, I think.

Tenor is correct.

Two out of two!

Chris, can you get a point here? The independent label Factory Records

was started in 1978 in which city?

Something is saying to me, Sheffield.

-Sheffield?

-Mmm.

What was the something, was it the Challengers, by any chance,

-or somebody...?

-No, just... LAUGHTER

-..somebody who wanted you not to get a point?

-Factory Records,

-Sheffield - there you go.

-Manchester it was.

-Chris, you've been knocked out, you've not even got a point.

-Nope.

No! Any words of apology to the...the viewing public?

What you see is what you get - if you don't like it, tough.

I thought not! Owen, well done - you will be in the final.

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

The Challengers have lost one, the Eggheads have lost one.

It's an interesting contest, and the next subject is geography,

so who would like this?

-Was that you, Becs?

-That was you, wasn't it?

-Becs...?

-Yeah.

Against which Egghead, Becs?

Erm, I'll take Dave, as he's an unknown quantity, so...

-Tremendous Knowledge...

-Yes.

-..we call him.

So, from Job Lot, it's Becs. From the Eggheads, it's Dave.

Please go to the Question Room now.

I'll ask each of you three questions on geography in turn, and Becs,

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

Erm, I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go - good luck to you and your team.

The New York Stock Exchange is located on which road in Manhattan?

Erm, I'm going to go straight for the answer,

and I think it's Wall Street.

Brilliant. You were not put off at all by the obviousness of it.

Well done, Wall Street is the answer.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave - in Asia,

Dave, what type of major geographical feature

is the Brahmaputra?

Brahmaputra. Yeah, er...

Sometimes, you know, things, you look at them, and, er,

something just throws you off, but, erm,

I believe the Brahmaputra is a river.

River is the right answer. Well done.

Back to you, Becs.

In Paris, the rapid transit system which is usually referred to

as the "eh-uh-eh" comprises which mode of transport?

And by the way, "eh-uh-eh" is just the way the French say RER...

Right, I'm not entirely sure about this one, but...

..I'm trying to work out what the E and the R could be for.

Erm...I'm not really swaying towards trains...

Tram, sorry. Erm...

I'm going to go for monorail, because I'm not entirely sure, sorry.

The answer is train. Train is the answer.

I should have gone for train. My father was a very keen train spotter.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

OK, Dave - there are how many stars on the flag of Puerto Rico?

Let me have a think about it.

Puerto Rico. Because I... I've got something in my head

that it's like the Texan flag -

which could be totally wrong.

And of course, Texas is a lone star state, so I'll go one.

That's very good, it is one, Tremendous Knowledge.

So, Becs, you have to get this one right -

which Caribbean island has a capital called Oranjestad?

Right, erm, I know that Aruba has Dutch origins,

but I'm not entirely sure about Saint Lucia or Grenada. Erm...

I'm going to have to go for Aruba, sorry.

Excellent, Aruba is right!

Really, really well done.

OK, Dave, you take the round if you get this one.

The Lancashire port of Fleetwood is at the mouth of which river?

Get this wrong, and I'm going to be in trouble,

and I could get it wrong quite easily.

Erm, I don't think it's the Ribble.

Er, because I think... I thought it was the Vale of Lune.

But I could be in problems.

I don't think it's the Wyre, because the Lune's Lancaster.

So, let me just have a think.

Got f... Could be the Wyre.

Oh, this is a problem.

So, why is the Wyre up there?

I'll go the Lune.

-It's the Wyre.

-Right, fair enough.

So, Becs, you're still in it, OK? We go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternative answers. Here we go.

What is the official language

of the West African island nation Sao Tome and Principe?

That was discovered by a European explorer,

and I'm sure it's Portuguese?

Portuguese is correct!

Well done!

Is this that you love your history, or you're well-travelled, or what?

No, again, it's back to my father. He was in the merchant navy

for 13 years, and he... Well, he pretty much travelled

around the globe more than ten times,

so it's just memory rather than knowledge, I'm afraid.

So, bless him, he used to come back and talk about his trips?

-Yes, yeah, yeah.

-Is he still with us?

-No, he passed away sadly seven years ago.

-I'm sorry. OK...

Dave - which British overseas territory

was named Jabal Tariq in Arabic?

Overseas territory... Must be near Egypt somewhere.

Libya, Sudan...

Sudan. But I don't think that's right.

Sudan. You know, I looked at it, thinking it's unguessable,

then I realised, no, it's not! Jabal Tariq, Jabal Tariq...

Gibral-ta... Gibraltar!

-Fair enough.

-That's how you do it!

-Took me a while, and I've got it in front of me!

-Yep.

How about that, Becs? You knocked out an Egghead?

Er, yeah! Ha-ha!

With all that knowledge from your dad. That's brilliant.

So, you're in the final round. And, er, Tremendous Knowledge Dave...

-Very obvious knowledge Dave, yeah!

-Not so tremendous today!

-Yeah.

Please both of you come back and rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain

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

and the last subject for you is sport.

So, who would like this?

-Is that bad news?

-Er, right, yeah.

-Erm, kind of.

-This is when we open up.

-Yeah.

I'll go for it, shall I?

-I think you'd be better placed than me to do it, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I'll have a go at sport,

-and...

-OK, Mark - against which Egghead?

-Kevin or Barry.

-Right.

-Which one do you think?

-Kevin, I think?

-Yeah, I would.

-Yeah.

-I'll go against Kevin.

-OK, so, Mark from Job Lot versus Kevin

from the Eggheads on sport - haven't done that for a while, have you?

-It's a while, yeah, it is quite a while.

-Really long time!

So, to ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room now.

OK, let's see how we go. Three questions, and you can choose

-the first or the second set...

-OK, I'll go for the first set, please.

Good luck. The Italian football club commonly known as Internazionale

is based in which city?

Right, the... When you said Internazionale,

the first indicator in my mind was Milan,

so I'll plump for Milan, please.

Milan is the right answer!

So, that's Inter Milan, as opposed to AC Milan, yeah. OK, Kevin -

in tennis, which is the only Grand Slam tournament

to have tie-breaks in every set, including the final set of matches?

Mmm...

I honestly don't know. I should know this, but, erm...

Mmm...

OK, I'll say Wimbledon. I'll take a chance on it being Wimbledon,

because there was that enormously long match between...

..Isner and Mahut a couple of years ago. Er...

-That's your answer?

-Yeah, I...

-This is a very rare moment,

-where you may have misunderstood the question...

-I may have done.

..because I said, "What is the only Grand Slam tournament

"to have tie-breaks in every set?"

-I've just completely misunderstood the question.

-US Open is the answer,

-Kevin.

-Yeah, OK, yeah.

-OK, Mark, how about that?

you want to freeze-frame this moment,

-you're ahead of Kevin in sport...?

-Yes, this will be on record.

OK, good stuff, yeah! Glasgow Rocks and Sheffield Sharks

are clubs in the leading British league of which sport?

-What were the teams, Glasgow...?

-Glasgow Rocks and Sheffield Sharks.

Oh...

I would... I don't think it's rugby league.

They tend to be... They've got Rhinos and...

bit animals! Erm, I will have a guess

at basketball.

-Eggheads, is he right?

-Yes.

-Yes, you are, says Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Basketball is right, so you keep the lead. Well done.

Kevin, to you - what term is used in baseball

if a starting pitcher doesn't allow any opposing batter

to get to first base during a complete match?

The only term there from baseball that I recognise

is perfect game - so, perfect game.

Perfect game it is, well done. Back to you, Mark.

If you get this one right, you've knocked Kevin out -

that may be very, very handy. Here we go.

In Olympic air rifle events,

shooters stand how far away from the target?

10m seems a bit close, to be honest, for an air rifle.

But 50m seems... I'll go down the middle, and go for 25m.

No, it's 10m. I mean, I suppose

-air rifles are just not that powerful, are they?

-No.

-30ft?

-Thought they were more powerful than that, though!

Yeah.

Your question, Kevin - if you get this one wrong, you're still out.

The British monarch's horse-racing silks are purple and scarlet

with gold braid, and a velvet cap of which colour?

Erm...

Mmm. I know which one I favour there but, er...

So, purple and scarlet with gold braid...

I don't... I think it's black.

Black is the right answer.

-Mmm.

-Well done, so two points each. We go to Sudden Death.

Sorry, Mark, you nearly shook him off there but now it's Sudden Death,

and it's a bit harder - I don't give you alternatives.

The UCI, founded in 1900,

is the international governing body of which sport?

1900...

The only sport I can th... Well, where a letter would fit...

would be...the C for...

..croquet? CHUCKLING

You're halfway there, but it's not croquet.

-It's cycling!

-Oh!

Union Cycliste Internationale.

Kevin - in which decade did Kevin Keegan

last play for the England football team?

If you get this right, you've got the round.

It's just a question of whether he would have gone on...

..into... Did he reach the '90s...

at all? Or was he already moving into, er...?

Obviously he became a senior player and then moved into management.

I th...

I think it's got to be the '80s. 1980s.

'82 was the last appearance for England for Kevin Keegan,

but not your last appearance in this game,

Kevin - the other Kevin - because you will be in the final round.

And well done, Mark, you almost did it there but not quite.

You're out, I'm afraid. If you come back to us,

we will play the final round.

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

for our 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, Mark and Dave from Job Lot

and also Dave and Chris from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Marcus, Becs and Owen - you're playing to win Job Lot £10,000.

Kevin, Daphne and Barry - you're playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' very precious 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, Job Lot, the question is,

are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

And would you like to go first or second?

We're going to choose first, please.

Great. And playing for a five-figure jackpot, so,

all the best to you, Job Lot. Here's your question - in 2011,

David Walliams swam 140 miles of which river for Sport Relief?

He... He done it, erm, up the Thames, didn't he?

Because they were all really concerned about the..

-They were concerned about his health.

-And the boat.

-It was definitely the Thames.

-It was in the news recently.

Didn't he do the, erm...?

Across the...?

-Channel as well. Definitely.

-He did the Channel, but this was a river.

-We're doing Thames, are we?

-We'll go with the Thames, yeah.

We don't think it was the other two, we think it was more local,

so we're going to go for the Thames.

The Thames is the right answer.

Brilliant. Well done.

Eggheads, your question - what was the name of the daughter

Asclepius, the Greek God of Healing?

-Panacea.

-Panacea?

-Panacea. That's our...recommendation.

Yes, her name means "Cure All", and it was Panacea.

Panacea is the right answer! OK, Job Lot, the three of you,

good luck with this one. Second question -

Goodwood House in Sussex is the country seat of which dukedom?

I...I'd be swayed to Richmond.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Closer to Sussex as well, isn't it?

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that.

-So, just for the fact

that it's closer to Sussex, we're going to go for Richmond.

-Are they right?

-Yes.

-Yep.

-You are. Well done.

-Well done!

Trying to work it out and thinking that if you're in Richmond,

you're in the city, and therefore you have a country seat

and therefore you have a different place - is that the reason?

I don't... It's to do with the vagaries of land-holding and...

-who got which estate.

-So, it could have been Norfolk?

-Oh...

-Norfolk's seat is Arundel, which is also in Sussex.

-Right.

-So...

OK Eggheads, your question. What does a purlin help to support?

It's an upright beam that...

A purlin is an upright beam that helps support a roof.

Roof is the right answer.

Well, they're playing well, which is a shame.

So it does mean you have to play well as well.

Here is your third question.

In TS Eliot's poem, the Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock,

with what has the narrator measured out his life?

-I think it was coffee spoons.

-You think?

-Yeah.

My reasoning for this is a song by Crash Test Dummies

where they mention TS Eliot and afternoons and coffee spoons.

That's my only reason for it.

THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

I could sing it, but I won't!

Coffee spoons, yes.

We'll go that one? Let's go.

Our only reasoning for this is a song that I know

by a band called the Crash Test Dummies

where they mention TS Eliot and coffee spoons in the same song,

so we're going to go for coffee spoons.

Good for the Crash Test Dummies, they helped you to the answer.

It is coffee spoons.

Eggheads, if you get this wrong, the contest is over

and the challengers have taken £10,000.

What was the first month of the French Revolutionary calendar

that roughly equates to September 23 to October 22?

Vendemiaire, because it's the month of harvest and...

Nivose is snow so that's winter.

Prifairial, again, summer,

so Vendemiaire must be the harvest month.

Yeah.

Nivose is the month of snow which leaves it in winter

and prairial is a summer month,

so the first month in the French Revolutionary calendar,

which I believe might mean "windy" is vendemiaire

-Vendemiaire is the right answer.

-You've got three each.

You've played really well, but so have they

and we go to sudden death in the final round

with quite a lot of money up for grabs.

And it's a question now, of you giving me the answers.

I don't give you alternatives.

"I thought the king had more affected

"the Duke of Albany than Cornwall",

is the very first line of which Shakespeare play?

Only because, he's talking about dukes,...

and I don't know, but...

-...what's the one that is set in Glamis Castle?

-Macbeth.

I think that, just...

Where's Albany?

I, well...

Because that would be the same thing, wouldn't it?

Well, "Alba" is Scotland, so maybe Albany.

Maybe. I would say Macbeth.

Go on, then. Shall we just go with our lucky charm?

THEY LAUGH

A rose between two thorns, yeah!

That's my reason, because again, the Alba for Scotland and Albany...

-That's good reasoning for me.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-I haven't, either way. We don't blame you at all for this one.

-Not this one!

-OK!

Ready? We're just going to go with our lucky charm.

And we're going to say Macbeth

and we're not going to blame her if we get it wrong.

Macbeth is your answer, OK.

Shall we see if the Eggheads know the answer? Is it Macbeth?

(ALL): King Lear.

I suppose the only way of going from the quote to the title

is the word "King".

That is what I was thinking.

But that's pretty tenuous.

-Oh, sorry!

-No, don't worry.

King Lear is the right answer, so that gives them away back in here.

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

Lord Raglan, after whom the Raglan sleeve is named,

lost his sword arm at which battle?

That was Waterloo.

And then, subsequently, he became, having been,

well, not in retirement, but inactive for many years,

he became commander-in-chief during the Crimean War,

but I think it was Waterloo where he actually lost his arm.

Lord Raglan is well-known as the commander-in-chief

in the Crimean War, but he actually lost his arm a few years earlier,

in 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo.

If you have got this right, the contest is over.

That'd be a shame for our challengers.

The correct answer is Waterloo.

So we say congratulations Eggheads, you have won!

CHALLENGERS APPLAUD

Bad luck, you played a great game.

But they can be ferocious on the sudden death.

-And it gets very hard on sudden death.

-We noticed!

-So, bad luck on Macbeth and all of that, but thanks for playing.

-Thank you.

Commiserations to you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

so their winning streak is building into quite a streak now.

You won't be going home with the £10,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done. Who will beat you, I wonder?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£11,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.

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