Episode 101 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 might of our quiz goliaths today

are the Beech Boys from Surrey.

This team of friends are all members of Carshalton Beeches

Bowling Club and regularly quiz together after a game.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Cliff, I'm 55 years old and I'm Head of Income.

Hi. I'm Steve. I am 59 years old and I work as an administrator.

Hi. I'm Richard, I'm 57 and I am a Local Government Officer.

Hi, I'm Mark. I'm 50 years old and I'm an ICT manager.

Hi. I'm John, I'm 66 and I am a retired electrical engineer.

So, Cliff and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Hi!

-And it's a bowling club you all belong to.

-Yes, Carshalton Beeches Bowling Club.

-Which is crown green bowling.

-No...

-Tell us the different kinds.

There's crown green bowling which is more of a northern game

-and the southern game is on a flat surface.

-OK.

And you have a club quiz night, do you?

Yes, we have club quiz nights every couple of months

and then there's another local club we go to which is a tennis club where we quiz as well.

And what would be the reaction if this lot

walked into the Carshalton Beeches club quiz night?

Oh, well, I think they'd really look forward to the challenge,

-I think.

-Because we've got the reverse happening here.

So, Carshalton Beeches has come to the Eggheads.

Let's see what happens.

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

Challengers, however of they fail to defeat the Eggheads

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Beech Boys, the Eggheads have won the last five games which

means that £6,000 says you cannot beat them today.

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

-Right.

-Who would like this?

THEY CONFER

-Either myself, or Steve or Richard.

-Not me.

-No.

-Myself or you, wasn't it?

-Do you want to?

-OK, I'll do it.

-Richard.

-Richard on Science against which Egghead?

Maybe Daphne or Chris.

I don't fancy Chris, I think he's too clever. Let's go for Daphne.

JEREMY LAUGHS

-You didn't hear that conversation, did you?

-Parts of it!

She does like a challenge.

So, Richard from the Beech Boys, which is B-E-E-C-H, of course,

very good pun...

versus Daphne from the Eggheads which is just E-G-G.

To ensure there is no conferring please

take your positions in the Question Room.

-You were press-ganged on Science, Richard?

-It looks like it, yes.

I am pleased to say it can include the natural habitat

-and I know you love bird-watching.

-I do indeed, yes.

Casual bird-watching, not a twitcher.

But I go for the odd walk and like to look at the birds while out.

That's the best sort, isn't it?

It's relaxing and getting a bit of exercise at the same time.

So, we are on Science, Richard. Do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to take the first set of questions, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

Which British founder of the World Wide Web made a special

appearance at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games?

Well, unfortunately I didn't watch

the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.

I am not confident.

I will go for Tim Berners-Lee.

Yeah. I am so glad you did.

You've got it right. Daphne, your question.

What was the name of the standard leaded petrol that was

withdrawn from sale on petrol forecourts in 2000?

-Well, the only one I have heard of is four-star petrol so four-star.

-Yes.

I didn't realise that was withdrawn from sale in 2000 but you're right.

Four-star it is. OK, Richard.

In medicine, the term Bogart-Bacall Syndrome is sometimes used to

describe a disorder of which part of the body?

This is another one I'm not absolutely sure of.

I cannot even dismiss any.

I'm afraid it is going to be a total guess.

-Vocal cords, I think.

-Yes. Good guess. Correct.

-Never heard of that one.

-No.

There are so many strange syndromes.

Someone the other day was telling me about Capgras Syndrome.

-Anyone know what that is?

-Yes.

-Barry?

Is that when you believe your friends have been

swapped for aliens or something like that?

All of your friends have been replaced by impostors. Yes.

But there are very few examples of it in the world.

OK. Assuming it IS Daphne, we carry on!

For what do the letters QR stand in QR code,

the name given to a type of bar code that can be

read by the camera on a mobile phone or smartphone?

I think that is quick response.

Quick response is correct.

Here's your next question.

Richard, in January 2013 an American professor discovered

what was believed to be the world's largest prime number

consisting of approximately how many digits?

If it's going to be the largest number I'd go for...

the 170 million.

170 million different digits.

I know if I throw this to Daphne you won't know

because the numbers, they swim in front of your eyes, don't they?

-Yes, but I think I would have gone for the middle one.

-Yes.

It is the middle one. It's 17.4, actually.

That gives Daphne a chance here.

Often cultivated a house plant

phalaenopsis is known by what alternative name, Daphne?

I'm sure Judith knows.

I don't.

Erm... I don't think it's a chrysanthemum.

Erm...

Known by what other name? OK.

Try the most unobvious. Rubber tree.

-No, it's Moth Orchid!

-Ohh!

That's so funny. I was sure you get that. So, it's equal after three.

Richard, we go to Sudden Death. It gets a bit harder.

Because I don't give you alternative answers, OK? Here we go.

Graphene is a form of which chemical element?

Erm...

I would say that is a carbon element.

-Carbon is correct.

-Well done!

Daphne,

Ba is the chemical symbol of which element?

Barium.

Barium is right. Got it. Well done.

OK, back to Richard. Sudden Death.

A meteorite found in the Sahara Desert in 2011

and nicknamed Black Beauty was proved to be from which planet?

I would guess at Venus.

-Team-mates, do you know?

-ALL:

-Mars.

-They all think it's Mars and they're right, Richard.

-Ah!

Daphne has the chance to take the round.

Vampire finches are birds native to which island group?

The Galapagos?

It is the Galapagos, Daphne. How did you know that?

Well, Darwin's finches.

Darwin did a lot of study on finches when he was in the Galapagos.

Very good. Yes, you're right, Daphne.

-Richard, that's what you're up against. You played well though.

-Yes.

Ran her very, very close.

You have been knocked out and Daphne will be in the final.

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

As it stands, the Beech Boys have lost one brain from the final round.

Still very early days. The Eggheads have not lost any.

Let's see what happens next. The subject is Film & Television.

Beech Boys, who wants this?

-That was you.

-That was the one I fancied.

-It looks like it's going to be you.

-I'll go for it. I don't mind.

Mark's going to have a try at Film & Television.

-OK, Mark, against which Egghead?

-I would try Chris. I would try Chris.

Yes, let's try Chris.

Mark from the Beech Boys against Chris from the Eggheads on Film & TV.

Please take your positions.

This is a good round for you, Mark,

-because of course you were born on television.

-Yes, unfortunately.

It was my 15 minutes claim to fame.

I was actually born on a programme called Your Life In Their Hands way back in 1963.

It's interesting. We're roughly the same age.

They had a fly-on-the-wall documentary thing

and you were one of the examples, were you?

Yes, I came out of the hospital signing autographs!

That must have been, at the time, the early '60s, sensational.

I don't know a lot about it and I've never seen it on television.

-I don't know whether one would want to watch that.

-No!

I think maybe not. Mark, you can choose whether you go first or second.

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Here's your question.

"I feel the need, the need for speed,"

are famous lines from which 1980s film?

I know it's not Back To The Future

and I don't imagine it's Ghostbusters.

I've never seen Top Gun but I'll go for Top Gun.

You're right, Top Gun. Great film.

Chris, the Supermatch Game was a feature of which TV game show?

That was Blankety Blank, Jeremy.

Blankety Blank is correct.

Mark, over to you.

Who played the lead role of Francis Underwood in the 2013 US remake

of the 1990s British TV series House Of Cards?

I only saw the British one. I've never seen the American one.

Probably going to rule out Kevin Spacey

because he spends a lot of time in the UK.

I'd more likely go for Kevin Kline.

Interestingly Kevin Spacey moves around a bit

and he is the answer.

Chris, your question.

Who played the leading female role of Evelyn Mulwray

in the 1974 Oscar-winning film Chinatown?

That was Faye Dunaway, Jeremy.

I watched it only recently and it's such a great film.

Faye Dunaway is the right answer. OK, so you've got one wrong, Mark.

You need to get this right. Film & TV, your third question.

What was the title of the follow-on series to the 1980s TV sitcom Fresh Fields

starring Anton Rodgers and Julia McKenzie?

Again, don't think it was the first one, Funny Fields.

I can't actually remember it. I'll go for French Fields.

French Fields is right. Well done.

I don't remember the programme.

-Do you remember it, Mark, or not?

-Vaguely.

I do remember it being set abroad but I couldn't remember

-if it was French or elsewhere.

-All right.

Chris, if you get this right, you will be in the final round.

What is the usual English title of the French new wave film

A Bout De Souffle directed by Jean-Luc Godard?

It's Breathless, Jeremy.

Breathless is correct and you are in the final, Chris.

Sorry, Mark, you've been knocked out

so another blow for your team, the Beech Boys.

Let's see what happens next. Please come back to us.

Now that actually was, Eggheads,

Chris's 600th victory in the Question Room.

-Oh!

-600.

-Well done.

So it would have been a shame to spoil that. That is the upside.

I can see you don't quite agree, Mark!

As it stands, the Beech Boys have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any. Where do we go next? To Sport.

Which of you would like sport?

I've already had a volunteer for sport and it's John at the end.

-John, it's you. Against?

-I'll take Judith, please.

What a surprise.

You obviously watch the show.

John from the Beech Boys versus Judith from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room now.

So, John, on Sport, would you like to go first or second?

First, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck. In which of these sports might one commit a backcourt violation?

I can't see it being diving.

Archery, I haven't heard of it but I think it could be in basketball.

-Yes, basketball is right.

-Well done.

OK, Judith.

Who became chairman of England's Rugby Football Union in July 2012?

Well, not Jonny Wilkinson because he's still playing.

Um, Bill Beaumont.

You said it so uncertainly.

Well, I feel a bit uncertain.

-I'm just slightly doubtful about Will Carling.

-I bet John knows. John?

-I think she's right.

-You're right, Judith. Bill Beaumont is right.

OK, second question to you, John.

In football, which country won its third Africa Cup of Nations title in 2013?

I don't think it was South Africa.

I'll go for Nigeria.

-Nigeria is correct, John. Nicely done.

-Well done.

-Very nicely done.

It would be easy to come unstuck on that one.

OK, Judith.

Westmead Hawk, the first animal athlete to be displayed

as a waxwork at Madame Tussaud's in London competed in which sport?

Well, I know there's a greyhound somewhere in Tring or something.

I have no idea about this.

I've just never heard it as a racehorse

which is putting me off horse.

I think I am nonetheless going to go for horse

because horses are more famous than anything else.

Let me just ask Daphne. Daphne knows.

-Greyhound.

-Greyhound is Westmead Hawk.

It means you've taken the lead, John,

and if you get this one right, you have taken the round.

Which British competitor won a gold medal

in the men's double trap shooting event at the 2012 Olympic Games?

Not too sure on this one. I think Luke Patience was a rower.

I think I'm going to have to plump for Peter Wilson.

I'm not really sure on it.

Double trap shooting event at the 2012 Olympic Games

was Peter Wilson. Well done, John. You've taken the round.

Really good play on Sports there.

-Sorry, Judith. All on a greyhound, eh?

-I know.

All the money on a single animal and you're out of the final round

and John is in. Rejoin your teams. We'll play on.

All right. As it stands we are getting some good vibrations from the Beech Boys

because although you have lost two brains,

you've taken out an Egghead brain and doesn't Judith look cross?

-I do not!

-You do.

-You were looking really grumpy.

-No, I'm not.

The next subject is Geography.

Who would like this?

-Which Beech Boy?

-Do you want to try geography?

-Depends whether you want to be left or not.

-I don't mind being left.

-I don't mind either.

-Steve's going to try Geography then.

OK. Steve on Geography against which Egghead?

You've got two challenges there, haven't you?

-Pat.

-Try Pat, please.

OK, so Steve from the Beech Boys against Pat from the Eggheads on Geography.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

So it's Steve against Pat on Geography.

You look as if you're ready to go on a journey, Pat.

Yes, I've got my Barbados clothes on!

Alas I am chained to an answering desk.

We call those shirts Hawaiian shirts, I suppose.

It's just a general-purpose loud shirt. A dart-playing shirt, perhaps.

If you need help with that shirt, Steve, we can always turn the volume down on it. Let us know.

We'll get the technicians out. Steve, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

I'd like to go first, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck to you both.

In which country is the town of Castel Gandolfo,

best known as the location of the summer residence of the Pope?

Given that the Pope lives in Italy, I would say Italy.

Italy is the right answer.

Pat, your question.

The names of which Caribbean islands mean "ancient" and "bearded" in Spanish?

I think Tobago gets its name from "tobacco"

but the "ancient" and "bearded" name is Antigua and Barbuda.

-Where you'd be at home in that shirt, I think?

-I think so!

Antigua and Barbuda is the right answer.

I never knew that information. How interesting. OK, Steve.

Which of these is the most northerly service station on the M1 motorway in England?

I don't think it's Newport Pagnell.

Toddington... I don't know.

I'll go for Woolley Edge.

Yes, you've got it. Well done. Woolley Edge.

OK, Pat,

what informal name is sometimes given to the southeast corner of Cornwall

due to the fact that it is often bypassed by tourists?

I wouldn't have thought any part of Cornwall

really misses out on tourists.

Dark Corner sounds a bit forbidding.

I'm not sure. I haven't heard the term.

I'll go for Forgotten Corner. It seems the most likely.

Forgotten Corner is the right answer.

OK, Steve, your question.

The area of shallow water called the Flemish Cap is located in which ocean?

Flemish?

I would associate Flemish with Belgium

or with the European sort of area so I don't think it's Pacific Ocean.

Probably not Indian Ocean. I would go for Atlantic.

-Atlantic is correct.

-Good answer, Steve.

Pat, your question. If you get this one wrong,

you'll be thrown out dramatically.

The India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi,

was inspired by which Parisian landmark?

Well, it's described as a gate.

Of those three options, the Arc de Triomphe

most closely resembles an arched gate, so I'll go for Arc de Triomphe.

Arc de Triomphe is the right answer. Well done.

Three out of three for you both.

-Oh, Steve. They're not easy to beat, are they?

-No, not at all.

We go through to the rather frighteningly named Sudden Death stage now.

I don't give you alternative answers. Here we go.

The Bulford Kiwi is a large kiwi-shaped figure

carved into the side of a hill in which English county?

I've never heard of it so it's going to be a guess. Wiltshire?

-You're good. Wiltshire's right.

-Well done. Good answer.

OK, Pat.

The equator passes through Ecuador, Brazil

and which other South American country?

I think it catches a piece of Colombia, which is rather surprising.

Colombia is the right answer.

Steve, your question.

The historic port of Malindi, M-A-L-I-N-D-I,

visited by Vasco da Gama, is in which African country?

Never heard of it so again this is going to be a complete guess.

Mozambique?

-I might have gone for that as well. It's Kenya.

-Ah.

So Pat, we go to you now.

You have a chance for the round.

Lake Van is the largest lake in which country?

I think it lies in mountainous terrain in eastern Turkey.

Turkey is the right answer. Well done, Pat, you're in the final round.

Sorry, Steve.

-He just didn't get one wrong there. Not at all.

-No. That was tough.

It happens more than we might expect and you've been knocked out.

Pat will be in the final round. Please rejoin your team-mates.

So this is what we've been playing towards.

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

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

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

So Steve, Richard and Mark from the Beech Boys

and Judith from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

Cliff and John, you're playing to win the Beech Boys £6,000.

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

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Cliff and John, the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four

and would you like to go first or second?

I think we decided we were going to go first to follow the trend.

Good luck to you both. Here we go.

Which of these words appears first in the traditional lyrics of the song God Save The Queen?

HE HUMS

Noble. Yes, we were just trying to run through the lyrics there.

-It's noble, I think.

-Yes, I think so.

-We think it's noble.

-OK.

-What is the lyric you're remembering then? God save our?

-Gracious Queen.

-God save our noble Queen.

-Send her victorious, happy and glorious.

Yes, you've got it right. Well done. Nobel it is.

Be easy to come unstuck on that one. I was having doubts.

Here we go, Eggheads. Your first question.

The word "decimate" derives from a practice in the ancient Roman army

of putting to death what percentage of a body of soldiers

guilty of mutiny or other crime?

This was the most severe punishment a Roman legion could face

when the men were lined up and every 10th man in a row was taken out

and beaten to death by his colleagues. So it's one in ten.

-Give me an answer that's on the screen if you can.

-Sorry, ten.

Ten is the correct answer. This is your question then, Beech Boys.

Which of these fictional schoolboys was created first?

Oh, I think Adrian Mole was the most recent one. Billy Bunter?

-My days easily. Tom Brown's School Days.

-Earlier, wasn't it?

I think that was earlier because Billy Bunter's in comics.

I think we're going to go for Tom Brown on that one.

Tom Brown is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Eggheads.

The word "postprandial" is used to describe something that takes place when?

-After eating?

-Yes. We're all agreed on this one.

"Postprandial" is something that takes place after eating.

After eating is correct. OK.

So two each.

Playing well. You get this one right, they get theirs wrong,

you have taken the jackpot. £6,000. That's it.

No more work needs to be done. Here's your question.

Which American actor, well-known for his tough guy roles in 1930s films,

was banned from entering Britain in 1967

because his presence was not perceived to be conducive to the public good?

Ooh. This is more your area, isn't it?

I was trying to think if he was anything to do with the Mafia.

-I know it's from America but George Raft had a bad name, didn't he?

-Yes.

I don't know Paul Muni.

Edward G Robinson, I can't imagine him being banned from the country.

-So George Raft, do you think?

-Let's go for George Raft.

-It's our best guess.

-Best guess. We don't know for sure

but we think George Raft might be with some of his connections.

George Raft...

is the right answer. Nice play.

Can anyone help here? Not just for being a bad guy in films?

-He was allegedly involved with the mob.

-Yes, the Mafia.

-Allegedly.

He was a genuine gangster rather than a movie gangster.

It wasn't to do with the film parts he played?

He played a gangster in the films as well.

George Raft is the right answer. Well done. Very good. All right.

Eggheads, if you get this one wrong, the prize goes to our Challengers.

What is the real first name of the singer and actor Noddy Holder?

-It's not Nigel.

-No.

I've got a feeling it's Neville.

What does everybody else think?

I haven't got a clue, no.

-Never heard it.

-Neville's ringing more of a bell than Norbert.

-Norbert Holder doesn't sound right.

-No. I think it's Neville.

-BIRMINGHAM ACCENT:

-Nobody in that part of the world

is going to call their son Norbert, are they?

-Neville.

-All right.

We're not 100% certain on this one but the consensus of opinion

is Neville so we hope that's the right answer.

We're going for Neville.

Your answer is Neville and if you've got it wrong... If!

The contest is over, Eggheads, if you've got it wrong.

Neville is the right answer.

-Very rare for Daphne to have nothing on it. Nothing at all.

-No.

I've always known him as Noddy.

You had them on the edge

of the precipice and the soil was under their fingernail tips but they clung on.

We go to Sudden Death. I don't give you alternatives.

Heart Skips A Beat and Dance With Me Tonight were UK number one singles in 2011

for which former X Factor contestant?

Oh, X Factor.

The second name is Burke. I don't know the first name.

-Sandra Burke or something?

-Not Sandra Burke.

-Alexandra?

-Alexandra Burke. Yes, that's the only one I can think of.

-Alexandra Burke, we think.

-Alexandra Burke?

-Who was Alexandra Burke, Eggheads?

-She had a giant hit with Hallelujah.

-OK?

-I think this might be Olly Murs.

Olly Murs. Olly Murs is the answer.

You got that wrong.

We're in Sudden Death so it could all end very quickly here.

Let's see what the Eggheads do with this question.

Jacqueline Roque married which artist in 1961?

I think she married Picasso.

I think Picasso's first wife was a ballerina, Olga somebody,

but I think she married Picasso. Can you spell that, please?

Jacqueline is J-A-C-Q-U-E-L-I-N-E, exactly as you'd expect.

Roque is R-O-Q-U-E.

-I'm reasonably certain it's Picasso. All agreed?

-Yes.

We think she was the second wife of Pablo Picasso.

-Pablo Picasso? Are you sure Picasso was alive in '61?

-Oh, yes.

-When did he die?

-Sometime in the '70s, I think.

Jacqueline Roque married Pablo Picasso in 1961.

We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

Would you have got that one, Challengers? Might have got there?

Might have got there through the age.

-I think he died in '73, but I'm not sure.

-'73 sounds right.

So we say commiserations, Beech Boys.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally and their winning streak continues.

-It's been a lot of fun having you in.

-It's been great fun being here.

-We've had a really great day.

-I'm really glad. Thank you.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with £6,000.

I hope that hasn't spoiled the day at all.

The money rolls over to our next show and makes it even more exciting.

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.

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