Episode 102 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is...

can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, where a team of five quiz challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads.

And taking on our quiz champions today

are the Fabulous Rat Circus from Southport.

Now this friends and family team share two passions in life,

and, no, it's not rats or circuses, it's football and quizzes.

Quite what that has to do with rats and the circus? Let's find out.

Hi, my name's Phil, I'm 31 years old and I'm an affordable warmth worker.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 30 and I'm a retail manager.

Hi, I'm Barry, I'm 30 and I work in a building society.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm 30 and I'm a civil servant.

Hi, I'm Sonny, I'm 29 and I'm a hotel concierge.

So, Phil and team, welcome.

-ALL: Hi.

-You know what I'm going to ask.

Where does the title of the team come from?

We wanted to go for something completely original, erm,

and also something that wasn't just a reworking of somebody else's

name or anything that was rude, so, Dave somehow came up with

the Fabulous Rat Circus and it's remained ever since.

And it's not just for quizzing,

it's also for football and bowling, you do as well?

Yeah, we've entered a couple of bowling competitions.

Not very good, a couple of us are really good,

but you get the weak sides letting us down, so...

But, yeah, we use it every possible opportunity,

just because it's so unusual.

There's a bit of family in here, I know, but the friends,

how did the friends meet in this team?

Erm, we all went to school or college together, erm,

and a couple of us worked together at one point as well,

so we go back about 20 years at least, most of us.

Can you release rats if the Eggheads start to misbehave?

That's the plan, that is the plan.

I know at least one player who will not be happy with that.

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.

And I can tell you, Fabulous Rat Circus,

that the Eggheads have won the last six games.

So that means £7,000 says you can't beat them today.

They are building up a bit of a run here.

-Would you like to start?

-Yes.

-Yep.

-We're ready.

-Yes.

-You're ready.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Food & Drink.

Who wants this?

-Sonny, you always fancied the opener. Yeah?

-So...

-That's us.

-Would you be happy to go for that?

-Erm...

-Not as happy as I would be.

-No, it's not your first choice.

-No, it wouldn't be my first choice.

-You are a food guy.

I mean, this was the plan, wasn't it?

I mean, I'll take it if you want, but...

-It's you, Sonny, is it? Down the end?

-Yeah, it's me.

OK, against which Egghead? Who would you like to pick?

There they all are, looking intelligent.

Er, I'll take on Kevin, please.

So it is Sonny from the Fabulous Rat Circus versus Kevin.

Food & Drink, we haven't done this for a while, have we?

It's a little while, yes.

Let's see what happens. To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the question room.

Now, I'm wondering whether I call you "Sonny" or "Sunny"?

It's "Sunny". Yeah, you say it like there's a U,

but it's actually spelt with an O.

Because your birth name was?

It was Graham.

Oh, right, OK, so, yeah, that's the shortened form, or...?

I just didn't like the name, to be honest.

-And so Sonny has come from that?

-Yeah, I just chose the name.

It was a name that I liked.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah, it's a bit of a nickname, kind of a Miami Vice thing.

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

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

Here's your question.

If a drink is served with a "twist",

what does the twist usually consist of?

Erm, in my work, working in a hotel, I've also worked on the bar as well.

I know I've twisted a little piece of citrus peel

off a lemon before to put in a drink.

I wouldn't imagine it's going to be coffee bean, cos you wouldn't

put coffee into a drink, the kind of drinks that have a twist.

Erm, paper umbrella doesn't seem like it's going to be, er, anything to

do with twisting, so, er, I'm going to go with citrus peel for that one.

Nicely done, citrus peel it is. One point to you.

OK, Kevin, your question. Which cookery writer and presenter

became cookery editor of Housewife magazine in 1966?

Right, well, that's going to be a bit early for Nigella Lawson,

and Isabella Beeton was long, long dead,

so I think it's got to be Mary Berry.

Mary Berry is the right answer.

Don't even know when Nigella was born, it must be around then,

-I would have thought.

-Something around then, yeah.

She couldn't have done it at the age of one.

Sonny, your question.

Which of these is a British term

for what North Americans call "canola oil"?

Erm, I've got no actual idea what this one is. Erm...

I've got no reason to suggest any of them over any of the others.

Erm, so I'll just, I'll go with sesame oil.

Sesame oil, anybody know on the Eggheads' side?

-Rapeseed?

-Rapeseed.

-Rapeseed is the answer.

So Kevin has a chance to take the lead on Food & Drink.

A type of what was invented by

and named after Dr John Abernethy as an aid to digestion?

Er, yes, I'm trying to remember how far back that goes.

I can't remember whether it's late 18th or early 19th century,

but I believe he may have worked at a hospital in Bath, which was then,

obviously, a fashionable spa town dealing with these sorts of things.

Erm, and it's an Abernethy biscuit.

Yes, it is an Abernethy biscuit. Well done, you're ahead, Kevin,

on Food & Drink. So, Sonny, you need to get this one right.

The dish "lumpia", widely enjoyed in South East Asia, consists of what?

Lumpia is L-U-M-P-I-A.

Lumpia. Again, I haven't got, really...

I've not been drawn to any of them.

It doesn't sound like something that you'd have as a part of egg soup.

As I say, not really sure. Erm...

I think spring rolls are kind of their own little thing.

Like little finger food.

Er, so I'll just go for prawn dumplings, again, just as a guess.

Do you know, Kevin?

Er, I...hmm, I was slightly tempted by the egg soup, but I don't know.

The egg soup's off, I'm afraid.

Spring rolls is the answer.

So, Sonny, I'm afraid you've been knocked out by Kevin,

but your team has a lot to play for here.

Do please come back and rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands,

the Fabulous Rat Circus have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet, Kevin remains in the team.

The next subject is Politics.

Is this good?

-Not good at all, this one.

-Oh, good.

-Very contentious.

-Come on, Baz. We need you to do it.

-We need you to do it, Baz.

-I'd be better at geography.

-You would be better at geography,

but you're better at politics than the rest of us.

-I've not seen you get a politics question wrong.

-Come on.

Barry, it does look like it's you. It really does.

-The captain's decision is final.

-Literally sacrificed.

-Against which Egghead? Anyone but Kevin.

-I'd say...

THEY CONFER

Erm, I'll go for Barry.

-We've got a Barry double-Barry.

-A brace of Bazzas.

A double-barreled round, how about that?

So, Barry from the Fabulous Rat Circus versus

Barry from the fabulous Eggheads, please take your positions.

So, Barry on Barry, and Barry from the challengers,

I gather you have a claim to fame in that you shook the hand of...?

The president of Peru.

Was that a mistake, or you were meeting him for some reason or what?

No, I was in the capital, Lima,

and they were doing a big earthquake drill,

and there was lots of people just stood around,

and they had a big tent.

And then out of the building came this man who was

flanked by security guards, and he ran into the tent

and as he came out I was kind of blocking his way,

and I stuck my hand out and he shook my hand

and I got a couple of pictures of him

as he was running away type of thing.

I didn't know who it was, to be honest,

and I showed the picture to a couple of people and they were like,

"Well, that's the president."

So I was quite perplexed that I'd actually met him, to be honest.

OK, Politics. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Challenger Barry, here we go.

In 2013, Anna Soubry, the Minister for Public Health,

described eating where as "disgusting"?

Erm, tough, tough question.

This was the category that nobody really wanted.

I don't know why she would say in your garden or on your bike,

I'm not sure why people would be eating on the bike anyway.

So I'd say, erm, by a process of elimination,

I'll go for at your desk.

At your desk is the right answer.

OK, Barry, your question.

In the 1990s, David Cameron was political advisor

to which Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Oh, well, David Mellor was never Chancellor of the Exchequer,

and I don't believe it was Kenneth Baker.

I think he was advisor to Norman Lamont.

He was, for Black Wednesday. You're right, Norman Lamont.

OK...

Back to you, Barry.

In what year was the Maori Language Act passed,

recognising Maori as an official language in New Zealand?

I'm not, I obviously, I don't know the answer to this one.

It will have to be a complete guess.

Erm, I'd go 1957.

It's actually later, 30 years later, 1987.

Barry, your question.

Which television historian became MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central in 2010?

Well, it's certainly not Mary Beard or Dan Stone.

I believe that was Tristram Hunt.

Tristram Hunt is correct. So you've taken the lead.

So that means, Barry from the Fabulous Rat Circus,

you've got to get this one right.

Which agency of the United Nations was awarded

the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize?

I couldn't see the International Monetary Fund, erm, receiving that.

The United Nations Children's Fund

just doesn't seem to sit right for me, so I'll veto those two.

I'll go for World Health Organisation.

No, it is the United Nations Children's Fund, actually.

It is going back a way, isn't it?

Bad luck to you, Barry from Fabulous Rat Circus,

you have lost to Barry from the Eggheads

and he will be in the final.

Please both of you rejoin your teams.

-OK, so we have lost two brains.

-Yes.

-I say we, I'm empathising.

Phil, any change of tactic at this crucial stage?

To be honest, we've already changed our tactics,

I think, because I didn't think the subjects would be quite so cruel.

Food, drink, politics were not what you were hoping for.

Not our strongest. We practised on everything

but we had two each that we thought would be our best subjects,

and they happened to not fall into any of those categories.

And your best subjects would be? What are you looking for now?

-Film & TV.

-Film & TV.

-Yeah, Film & TV. Maybe a bit of music.

-Geography.

-Film, TV, Sport, Music, OK.

-The next subject is Arts & Books.

-CHALLENGERS GROAN

I'm really sorry.

That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

-It's got to be Matt.

-I'd say Matt.

-Dave, Dave.

-We have to go with the captain.

-I'm saying Matt, sorry.

But you said...

Oh, it's Matt. Now, who do you want to take on, Matt?

-I know this is a difficult moment.

-Erm, we'll go Pat.

OK, don't worry, Matt, this is all good fun.

-Yes, it'll be a barrel of laughs.

-You can do it.

Matt from the Fabulous Rat Circus against Pat from the Eggheads,

and to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the question room.

OK, we had Barry and Barry, and now it's Pat and Matt.

Erm, it's not quite Matt and Matt, is it?

I could change my name to Pat.

My brother changes his name all the time, so it could work that way.

Do you mind me asking about the hair?

The hair started, erm, when, I think I was at a party and I was a bit

drunk in around 2002, and I wanted, there was

a lot of hair dyeing going on, and I wanted my hair to be dyed,

but I didn't want anyone to think I was dyeing it because I was ginger.

So I only dyed, like, one half of it blonde.

But I kind of got used to that sort of halfness, and then it kind of

like stuck, so I'm always like black and blonde, red and black, or...?

Don't ever commit a crime because you will be, er...

It'll be pretty easy to find me.

Crimewatch will not have a problem with that one.

Good luck in this round.

I know you were an unwilling participant in this round,

and I felt for you there.

It'll be fine, I can probably wing it

-because we've been very unlucky so far.

-Yeah, that's true.

The luck is about to turn, very true.

Would you like to go first or second?

Barry and my brother both went first, didn't they,

and they didn't do too well, so I'll go second.

Pat, in the Harry Potter books,

Draco Malfoy is a member of which house at Hogwarts?

He's a little bit of a scoundrel, I think, and a bit of a foe for Harry.

But what house does he belong to?

I'm not entirely sure.

I think I'll have to go for Slytherin, it sounds snaky

and I think Draco is a bit snaky.

I reckon you know this one, Matt.

I reckon that my luck hasn't changed yet

and I should have taken the first lot of questions.

Slytherin is the right answer.

Slytherin it is. OK, your question.

In the painting known as Whistler's Mother,

what colour dress is the subject wearing?

Yellow, red or black. Erm...

Oh, do you know what? There was a film that I saw

and it had a painting of Whistler's Mother in it,

is it, like, it's got Rowan Atkinson in it.

That would be great if I could remember

what the painting looked like in the film. Erm...

I don't think,

if it had been red and yellow it might have stood out a bit more.

So I'm going to guess at black.

Very good logic, it is black,

and you're right, it's the Mr Bean film, isn't it?

I think Bean ends up somehow destroying the painting

and has to repaint it and all of that.

It's a complete calamity.

So, one point each. Pat, over to you.

What is the usual English name for the medieval art style

in which people from various stations in life are depicted

being led towards the grave by skeletons?

Thought one of the options was going to be Eggheads.

I think this is a particularly cheery artistic genre.

I've seen a few examples, so I think it's Dance of Death.

Yeah, not sure how that caught on,

but you're right. Dance of Death it is.

So your question, Matt.

Which 20th-century artist had a pet ocelot, Babou,

with whom he travelled the world?

Erm, I don't know much about painters

and I know even less about painters' pets.

I think I'll probably guess at Salvador Dali.

-Salvador Dali is your answer and it's quite right.

-Oh!

Just going to wing it, I think.

A hard one to guess cos they're all, shall we say, eccentric, and...

I was hoping I may be able to work out which ones are 20th century,

but I've a funny feeling that all three of them were, weren't they?

-Yes, I suppose Dali was later, was he?

-Yeah, Dali was a bit later.

Klimt died fairly early in the century,

-round about the end of the First World War.

-What is an ocelot?

-It's a sort of large cat.

-A large cat.

OK, Pat, in 2007, the Louvre announced plans to open

a Louvre Museum where in the Middle East?

Well, it's not Qatar.

It's between, it's in the UA, UAE, so it's either Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

They do a lot of building in Dubai, but I think Abu Dhabi tends to

specialise in really heavy-duty museums with leading architects.

Erm...

The Louvre Dubai, the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Yeah, they've had some fantastic, erm, modern architectural designs.

I think, I'm not entirely sure but I'm going to go for Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is the right answer.

Sorry, Matt, they're playing well today.

They do tend to, but they're almost...

Have they got a question wrong yet?

Have you got a question wrong yet, Eggheads?

-I don't think they have, have they?

-No.

-No.

-Been counting.

We think they've got nothing wrong so far, but that, you know,

you never know, that could build up trouble for the final round.

Here's your question.

Therese Desqueyroux is a novel by which

French Nobel Literature Prize winner?

My knowledge of French literature is not at its best this week.

Got to get this one right.

Erm, OK.

I suppose, having only heard really of one of them

on the list, we'll go with Jean-Paul Sartre.

Pat, do you know? Is he right?

I think that's Francois Mauriac.

Francois Mauriac is the answer, Matt.

Sorry, played well but you've been knocked out. I know it hurts.

-Very much.

-Pat is in the final round.

Please come back to us and we'll play on.

So, as it stands, the Fabulous Rat Circus have now lost three

brains from the final round.

It's not a crisis but we're in the pre-crisis phase,

I think it's fair to say.

The next subject is Film & TV.

Wasn't that supposed to be Matt doing that? Or no...

-No, it's Dave.

-Oh, OK, so now suddenly we're on track.

-Hopefully.

-I hope so.

-Dave against... it can be Chris or Judith.

-Judith?

-Yeah?

-I think I'll go for Judith, please.

OK, good luck, Dave, from the Fabulous Rat Circus

against Judith on Film & TV. This is probably quite good for you, Judith.

I mean, I like film.

I'm not very good on children's television, though.

There's quite a lot of that.

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

Dave, are you ready for this?

-As ready as I can be.

-It's the big moment, isn't it?

It is, yeah, a lot of pressure on me now after sacrificing Matt before.

Dave, would you like to go first or second?

It's not made any difference so far with our luck,

so I'll be a gentleman and let Judith go first.

Judith, here we go with your first question.

What was the title of the 2013 TV show in which Tom Daley

taught celebrities to dive?

That was Splash.

Splash, did you watch it?

No, I missed it and I really wanted to watch it.

Well, it sounded as if it was...

-well, I won't say quite bad...

-Oh, was it?

There was a lot of very hostile criticism, but people saying

that actually it was bad in a way that made it really good.

-Yes. Well, I would rather have liked to have seen it.

-OK.

Dave, your question.

In the TV show Play Your Cards Right,

what was the correct answer to the question, "What do points make?"?

I think this one's quite an obvious one.

Erm...I don't think it's holidays or cars,

so I'm going to have to go prizes, Jeremy.

-You remember the presenter of that show?

-Play Your Cards Right.

-Was it Bruce Forsyth?

-Yeah, it was Bruce Forsyth. "What do points make?

-"Prizes!" Like that.

-LAUGHTER

Here's your question, Judith.

Who played the title role in the 2013 BBC comedy Being Eileen?

I've no idea. Erm...

Well, Eileen Atkins does write things but, I mean,

would she...be in something...

I can't... I think Eileen Atkins is a red herring.

I don't know. Sue Johnston.

-Sue Johnston is correct.

-Oh, how lucky!

They're just getting them all right, Dave.

It doesn't seem fair!

-It just isn't.

-OK.

In 1951, who married the singer and actor Yves Montand?

Right. Well before my era, so... I have no idea.

For some reason, I don't want to go for Catherine Deneuve, so...

-I am going to go for Jeanne Moreau as a guess.

-See if Judith knows.

-Is it Jeanne?

-No, it's Simone Signoret.

-Simone Signoret.

It was 1951,

-so you were -30.

-Yeah!

Judith, who directed the 1966 film version of Alfie

starring Michael Caine?

And because you went first, if you get this right,

you'll have knocked Dave out, you'll be in the final.

Alfie, OK.

I don't think it's Tony Richardson. I don't think it's his kind of...

He directed Charge Of The Light Brigade, I think,

and things like that.

I think I am going to risk Lewis Gilbert.

Risk it in the sense that you...

Well, because I'm not sure who he is, but I don't think Alfie

was in the style of John Schlesinger or Tony Richardson.

-Lewis Gilbert it is. Sorry, Dave.

-That's lucky.

-They are playing well.

They had some rough games

a while back, but they are back on track.

Judith, you are in the final round. Dave, you have been knocked out.

It is going to be a lonely rat in the final, I'm afraid,

from the circus, but he can still win. Do come back to us.

Rejoin your teams and we will play that final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round,

which as always is General Knowledge, but I'm afraid

those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So, Dave, Barry, Matt and Sunny from the Fabulous Rat Circus,

I do have to ask you to leave the studio.

Well, Phil, you are playing to win the Fabulous Rat Circus £7,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you are playing for something

that money cannot 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, Phil, the question is, is your one brain

better than the Eggheads' five?

And would you like to go first or second?

You could ask one of the questions and then I'll tell you.

I would like to go...first, please.

Here we go with your first question. Good luck.

Who replaced Jeremy Hunt as Culture Secretary in the September

2012 Cabinet reshuffle?

Erm...Baroness Warsi isn't really shouting out to me.

I think I would've heard that name on the telly a few times.

If I was paying attention, I suppose, would have helped.

I don't know Maria Miller. Politics is obviously not my thing,

so I am going to have to go Theresa May

because I have heard that name a few times.

Well, Theresa May is certainly high profile, that's for sure,

but the answer is Maria Miller.

Culture Secretary. OK, Eggheads, your question.

Who took over as presenter of Radio 1's Official Chart Show

in January 2013?

-Jameela Jamil rings a distant bell.

-I have no idea.

-No idea.

I think is she the first... I read something about her.

-If you've got an inkling...

-It's only an inkling.

Can we have the question again, Jeremy?

Who took over as presenter of Radio 1's Official Chart Show

-in January 2013?

-It's not Fearne Cotton.

-She rings a distant bell.

-It's definitely not Fearne Cotton.

-I think it's Jameela Jamil.

-OK.

-Just a faint idea.

Yeah, that's Jameela Jamil, Jeremy.

Let's see if Phil knows. Do you?

-I would have said Jameela Jamil as well.

-Jameela Jamil is correct.

Well done, Pat. Just dredged that out of somewhere.

They still haven't got a question wrong. Here we are, Phil.

Which musician and singer was born John Mellor in 1952?

-John Mellor?

-John Mellor.

I read a fair bit about Joe Strummer recently.

I know Joe Strummer wasn't necessarily his actual name.

Not quite sure who Jim Kerr is, and obviously

I know who Jools Holland is from his late show.

I'm going to say Joe Strummer.

I'm glad you did. You're right.

It is Joe Strummer. Jim Kerr is Simple Minds.

Joe Strummer.

But I am guessing that Jim Kerr and Jools Holland,

-those are their real names probably?

-I think so.

Strummer is obviously a made-up name. Yes. OK, well done, Phil.

So let's see what the Eggheads do now.

In the Dan Dare stories,

the Mekon is the leader of which race of aliens?

Treens.

-Treens.

-He is the leader of the Treens, Jeremy.

The Mekon is the leader of the Treens. You are right.

It's just the fact that they all know it that is so annoying.

-I know, they all looked at each other.

-OK.

You need to get this right because you got the first question wrong.

Get this right, still to play for.

Get it wrong and the contest is over.

One of the world's oldest family businesses,

the Torrini family of Florence, are known for making what?

Torrini does not strike me as a perfume thing.

Not sure of the background of violins,

but I also think I might recognise if it was jewellery,

but again it is not my big thing, this kind of subject.

So, I am going to have to say violins.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Is violins right?

-Tell us it's right, Eggheads.

-I don't think violins is right.

-No.

I'd probably go for jewellery.

There may be one of those jewellery shops on the bridge over the Arno.

Jewellery is the answer. Sorry, Phil.

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

Bad luck. Very hard when you are on your own.

No question, they all cheering you on back there

but when you are on your own, it is not easy. So we say commiserations.

-Thank you.

-The Eggheads played very well.

Did you get one wrong in that whole game?

I don't think they did and that makes it really tricky.

So they have done what comes naturally to them,

their winning streak continues.

It does mean that the Fabulous Rat Circus will not be going home

with the £7,000, so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done. Getting back into pace. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see

if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£1,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.