Episode 103 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 challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Easton Cowboys. This team of friends

all play for the same cricket team,

which is part of the Easton Cowboys sports and social club in Bristol.

So let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Neil, 45, and I'm a senior support worker.

Hi, I'm Reg, I'm 51, and I'm an area sales manager.

Hi, I'm Mark, I'm 51, and I'm a software technician.

Hi, I'm Justin, I'm 47, and I'm a medicinal herbalist.

Hi, I'm Martin, I'm 51 and I'm an advice and guidance worker.

-So, Neil and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Good to see you.

-So you play cricket together?

-We do, yes. Yes.

The Cowboys, there's a range of sports that we put on -

football, cricket, netball, that sort of thing. It's been going 20 years.

We had a lovely tournament last year to celebrate that.

-And quiz together at all or not?

-No.

-This is the first time.

Only on the train coming up.

I always wonder if you do very fast revision for this programme,

how do you actually do that?

You bring out a map of the world and all

the films of Steven Spielberg or something like that?

The Bumper Quiz Book.

The Bumper Pub Quiz Book we had on the train on the way up.

-Was that successful?

-It passed the time.

-I don't know what's in there.

-Any of you guys got The Bumper Quiz Book?

-I've got that book, yes.

You probably wrote it!

Barry used to be the person, when you text one of those phone numbers

-to answer any question, you were on the other end.

-That's right.

-We found out a lot of stuff about Barry recently, yeah.

-There we are.

-All good, I'm sure.

-Yeah.

Everyday, there's £1,000 of cash up for grabs for our challenges,

however, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize-money rolls over to the next show.

So, Easton Cowboys, the Eggheads have won the last seven games,

which means £8,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Wish you all the best.

-Thank you.

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

Who would like this?

ALL: It's Mark.

OK, Mark, in the middle, against, you can choose any one of them.

Any weaknesses? You could try Pat or Dave.

All right, I'll try Pat, I think.

So, Mark from the Easton Cowboys versus Pat from the Eggheads,

to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

Mark, would you like to go first or second?

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

Here we go. Good luck.

Spanish Guinea was the name of a Spanish colony on which continent?

It doesn't sound North American to me.

Nor really does it sound very Asian to me,

so I think I'm tempted by Africa.

Yeah, I'll go Africa.

Africa is the right answer.

Pat, your question. In which country is Shannon Airport located?

EGGHEADS CHUCKLE

This was a big government initiative

in the early days of the Irish Republic,

and the location of the first ever duty-free shop,

and it's in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland is right.

OK, Mark, over to you.

Which of the emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates

has the largest area?

The largest area.

I certainly don't know which has the largest area.

I think of Dubai mainly as a city rather than an area,

so I'll dismiss that one. I don't know, but I'll go Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is the right answer. Playing well, Mark.

OK, let's see what Pat can do.

Pat, if backing is an anticlockwise change of direction made by a wind,

what is the equivalent term for a clockwise change of direction?

I'm not sure.

My first preference is veering, but I'm not sure.

Neaping, neap tides, and fulling.

I think it should be veering.

I'll go with veering.

Veering is correct. Well done.

OK, Mark, your question - he's running you close, isn't he?

It's never easy.

The Leeuwin Current is an ocean current that travels

southwards along the western coast of which country?

I'll spell it for you. L-E-E-U-W-I-N.

Well, I certainly don't know.

So how can I reason it through?

I don't know if it would be Spain. That doesn't sound very likely to me.

It could be the USA or Australia.

I think I'd be more likely to have heard of it

if it was USA, so I'm reasoning through to Australia.

I'll go for that.

You played very well. You're right. Australia it is. Three out of three.

OK, so Pat under pressure now. Let's see how you deal with this.

The inhabitants of Antwerp are known locally by what name?

Sinjoren has a faintly Hispanic side to it.

Even that's not that useful, because of the fact that

the Spanish occupied a big chunk of the Low Countries for a long time,

so it could have an idiosyncratic legacy from those years.

Hjerren would probably be "men" in Dutch.

And Messjuren is sort of a French-flavoured word for men,

but again, the French are not that far away.

Antwerp is in the Flanders part of Belgium,

so it's Flemish or Dutch-speaking.

So Hjerren would be the fairly obvious one.

I'm not sure that's correct. Really don't know what to do here.

No, it's going to be a complete guess. I'll go for Messjuren.

A complete guess.

They're all similar. And this is wrong.

Sinjoren is the right answer, so, Mark, well done,

you're in the final round. You played very well there.

Pat has been knocked out. Congratulations, Mark.

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

That was very well done, Mark,

not least because we've just been looking at how many times

Pat has lost on Geography, and we think it's only twice before,

to non-celebrities, if you don't mind me saying that.

We had Sir Matthew Pinsent beat you on Geography, did he?

-Yes, he did.

-I think.

And nobody has ever beaten Pat before on Geography where

-the first question has been about Shannon Airport.

-Yes, indeed!

-I tried not to groan loudly when it happened.

-Well done.

It's a good omen for the Easton Cowboys,

because they have not lost a brain and the Eggheads have.

There we go, what's going to happen?

The next subject is Film & Television.

-I think that's going to be me, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, it's me.

-Reg, OK.

-Which Egghead, Reg?

-I think Judith.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, I'm happy with that.

Can I play Judith, please?

Reg from the Easton Cowboys against Judith.

To make sure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

Film & Television and, Reg, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question. Good luck.

Who is the star of the 2002 film comedy Sweet Home Alabama?

Oh, that's one about somebody going back

to their roots in south of America, isn't it?

So I think it might be a bit lowbrow for Meryl Streep,

and I'm pretty sure it's not Jennifer Lawrence.

I'd say probably Reese Witherspoon.

Reese Witherspoon is correct.

Judith, your question.

Which 1979 film features cameos from Bob Hope, Steve Martin,

Orson Welles and Richard Pryor, among others?

Well, it's not The Deer Hunter.

Perhaps it's The Muppet Movie.

I think it might be The Muppet Movie.

I'm assuming you probably haven't watched that regularly.

I used to love the Muppets,

but I don't think I've ever seen a film of the Muppets.

They used to send up celebrities,

and these were some of the ones in the film.

You are right. The Muppet Movie.

OK, Reg, what is the surname of the Liverpool-born acting brothers

Joe, Paul, Mark and Stephen?

Now, one of them played Doctor Who, didn't he? In the TV special.

And in fact, I believe he even lives in Bristol,

so I think that's going to be the McGann brothers.

McGann is the right answer. Well done.

It makes up for the Shannon incident,

as we shall now describe it. Judith, your question.

Who wrote and directed the 2013 BBC drama Dancing On The Edge?

That was Stephen Poliakoff.

Stephen Poliakoff is correct.

-You're playing well, Judith.

-Thank you very much.

-In matching green.

-Thank you.

OK, your question, Reg,

who played Pope Julius II alongside Charlton Heston's Michelangelo

in the 1965 film The Agony And The Ecstasy?

Oh, that's hard! Pretty sure it's not Alec Guinness.

When it came up, I immediately thought Rex Harrison,

so I'm going to go with that. Rex Harrison.

Really good play. Rex Harrison is correct.

OK, Judith, your question to stay in the round.

You're on the edge of oblivion.

-On the edge of becoming a Muppet.

-Thanks!

In the classic animated children's TV series Noggin The Nog,

what relation was the villainous Nogbad The Bad to Noggin?

I've absolutely no idea. But uncles are very often villains.

So I'm going to try uncle.

Nogbad The Bad was the uncle of Noggin. You got it right.

So three points each.

They are playing well.

Just see if you can dislodge her here, Reg.

We go to Sudden Death, it gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives. OK?

Which actor, born in Northern Ireland in 1952

starred in the action films Taken and The A-Team?

I think that might have been Liam Neeson.

Liam Neeson is correct.

Well done. Bit of an advantage.

Sudden Death, we're on. Judith, back to you.

Which actress did Alec Baldwin married in 1993?

I have absolutely no idea.

I can't even think of a suitable possible one.

Presumably, he's divorced her since.

I don't know. Don't know.

Anything?

Reese Witherspoon.

It's Kim Basinger.

Still wouldn't have known.

So, well done, Reg. You got it.

You've taken the round. Nicely done.

You'll be in the final, Reg, and Judith will not be.

Please, both of you, rejoin your team-mates.

The Easton Cowboys are doing very well. I would almost say yee-ha!

You have got two out of two so far. Not many games start like this.

You've done very well. You need to keep the pressure up.

You've so far got rid of Pat and Judith.

Let's see what happens next. It's History.

-That will have to be me.

-I think so.

-Martin. OK.

Which Egghead, Martin, would you like to play?

-Which Egghead should I go for, guys?

-Dave?

-I think Tremendous...

They just called you Tremendous, now, Dave. How about that?

"I think Tremendous!"

He has been on the show so long.

Martin from the Easton Cowboys

versus Dave from the Eggheads on History,

and please go to the Question Room.

History it is. You are up against Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go. What was the more common name of

the Unification Or Death movement

that was behind the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914?

I think that was the Black Hand. I'm fairly certain about that.

It was the Black Hand.

Yeah, you're right. Well done. The Black Hand.

Dave, the Glienicke Bridge where America and the Soviet Union

traded spies during the Cold War is on the edge of which city?

I'll go for Berlin.

Absolutely right. Berlin.

Which activist was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom

in New York City in February 1965?

I don't know. I'm fairly certain it wasn't Martin Luther King.

Harvey Milk, I know, I think he was the mayor.

I'm going to go with Malcolm X.

Malcolm X is correct.

OK, your question, Dave.

In 1964, Nyasaland, which is now Malawi,

gained full independence from which country?

I believe it's the United Kingdom.

Yep, it was one of ours, you're right. The UK is the answer.

Two points each. Both playing well. Martin, back to you.

UK households required a radio licence and a television licence

until the radio licence was abolished in which year?

Well, I'm fairly certain it wasn't '71.

I'm going to say '55.

-Anyone here know?

-I think it's '71.

Dave is right, Tremendous Knowledge has got it,

1971 is the answer. '71.

So that means, Dave, if you get this one right,

you're in the final round.

Eleanor of Castile was the first wife of which King of England?

I'm going to go for - you'll gasp now, I think -

I should know this straightaway. I'll go for Richard II.

It's Edward III, isn't it?

No, it's neither, it's Edward I.

-Edward I, sorry.

-So, Martin, we go to Sudden Death now.

Anne Neville was the wife of which King of England?

William...William II.

It's a guess.

It's not William. It's Richard III.

It's the one everyone was talking about a while back.

An amazing story.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, in 1766,

William Pitt the Elder was elevated to the peerage

with the title Earl of where?

I know what I want to go for, but I thought it was Pitt the Younger.

Earl of Chatham.

Earl of Chatham is the right answer.

Well done, Dave, you've taken the round.

A bit of a fightback by the Eggheads,

but you have put in a good performance there, Martin.

Sorry, he's knocked you out.

Please, both of you rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the Easton Cowboys have lost one brain

from the final round while the Eggheads have lost two.

The next subject is Sport.

Who wants this?

It's got to be you.

-I will take that, thank you.

-Neil. Against which Egghead?

If you're feeling adventurous, Kevin.

If you're feeling conservative, go for Barry.

-Let's try and get Kevin out of it.

-Well done.

-Serious play here.

Neil from the Easton Cowboys versus Kevin from the Eggheads,

please go to our Question Room.

Sport - Neil, would you like to go first or second?

I will go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck.

Sergio Parisse say has captained which Six Nations rugby union team?

OK. It doesn't sound the most Scottish or Welsh name,

or Italian, really, for that matter.

I'm going to go for Italy, just because I haven't heard of him

and I would have thought I would have if he was Scottish or Welsh.

Italy is the right answer.

Kevin, in which sport is a participant

most likely to bob and weave?

-To bob and weave.

-Bob and weave.

Yes, I suppose, technically,

you could have a go at that with volleyball and darts,

but it's most likely trying to avoid blows in boxing.

Boxing is the right answer. OK, back to you, Neil.

Tony Gubba is most associated with commentating on which sport?

Well, I'm going to go for...

I'm going to go for football.

Football is correct. Well done.

Kevin, the major-league baseball team known as the Orioles

is based in which US city?

Well, it's the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore is the right answer.

Cracking along here, two each. Back to you, Neil.

What is the name of the governing body of horseracing in France?

OK, I don't know this one.

I would have said it's probably got the word "France" in it,

so that hasn't helped much.

Um...Galop sounds too obvious.

I'm going to go for Hippodrome.

It's actually Galop!

It really is France Galop.

That's two out of three. Let's see whether Kevin

can take his place in the final with this question.

Miga, Quatchi and Sumi were the mascots for which

Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games?

Those words just sound to me more like they might come from somewhere

up near the north-west coast of North America. British Columbia.

Miga, Quatchi and Sumi. I'll go for Vancouver.

-Is he right, Eggheads?

-Yes.

Yep, you're right, Kevin. Vancouver 2010, it is.

Three out of three. Sorry, Neil.

-Ouch.

-That can happen with Kevin.

Pulling themselves back into the race a bit here, aren't they?

Let's see what happens in the final.

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

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, Neil and Martin,

from the Easton Cowboys, and Pat and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So here we go. Reg, Mark and Justin,

you are playing to win the Easton Cowboys £8,000.

Barry, Kevin and Dave, 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.

Easton Cowboys, the question is,

are your three brains now able to defeat the Eggheads' three?

And you've had a very good game so far. So let's see what happens.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please, Jeremy.

Here we go with your first question.

Which BBC radio station was threatened with closure in 2010,

leading to protests from listeners and musicians?

-I think it was 6 Music.

-Definitely 6 Music.

-Because they keep talking about it.

-Definitely 6 Music.

-They would never threaten Radio 1, surely?

-No.

-Or Radio 3.

If you think about it. We're going to go for 6 Music.

6 Music is the right answer.

I work in the same building as the brilliant staff of 6.

And they are much cooler than 2, that's for sure.

OK, Eggheads, how many faces does a decahedron have?

THEY MUMBLE TO EACH OTHER

Deca is the prefix that means 10, so we'll go for 10.

10 is the right answer. Right, so one each.

Back to you, Easton Cowboys. Saddle up. Here we go.

A misericord is a ledge on the underside of a seat

in what type of establishment?

Having done Medieval Studies at university,

I ought to know that, really. It's a church.

I'd go with that. Church. We'll go for church, please.

They're the little ledgy seats in the choir bit

and there's carvings underneath them and they tip up.

You are absolutely right. Well done. Church it is.

Good play here. OK, next one.

Eggheads, in Morse Code, which punctuation mark is represented

by two dots followed by two dashes followed by another two dots?

Don't know this, but I'm sure a full stop is more common,

so that would be a shorter code than six.

Ampersand is a mixture of two signs, isn't it?

So I'm wondering if two dots, two dashes, two dots could be ampersand.

There might be some logic to that.

-The question mark I think is just a unique sign.

-Yeah.

-Is it?

-I think so.

-Right. OK.

-I don't know my Morse Code.

-I don't know my Morse Code at all.

It's a long time since I looked at it.

Just on the basis of how ampersand is constructed,

I'm inclined to go for that, unless anybody disagrees.

No, I haven't got anything to go on.

-OK.

-Go with that.

We don't know the answer to this one,

but we think that a full stop,

because it's probably the more common of all those punctuation marks,

would perhaps be a simpler thing in Morse Code,

and because an ampersand is generally a mixture of two signs

we think that might be the longest one,

so we'll go for ampersand.

Where would you use an ampersand, for example,

in a message from a ship?

I'm sure... Good question.

-It's not the right answer.

-Of course.

It's question mark, Eggheads.

We missed the obvious point. Yeah.

Question mark is the answer.

OK, well, that's interesting, you get this one right,

you've taken the contest. £8,000 on the table. Just get this one right.

The cuneus is a wedge-shaped part of which organ in the human body?

-Can you spell that, please?

-C-U-N-E-U-S.

Of all them, the one that appeals to me is liver.

I don't really know why, to be perfectly honest, which is

-not much help.

-Wow, that's hard. Any other thoughts on that?

My inclination is to say brain, but then...

I could be wrong. I don't recognise it.

All I recognise is the shape, it's wedge-shaped.

Think about where it's going to be.

The bottom of the heart is wedge-shaped. The liver...

I think if it was the heart, we would have heard that by now.

-I don't think heart.

-I don't recognise it as part of the heart.

I favour liver, but I don't honestly know why.

I say liver, because I think, if it was the other two,

-we would have heard of it. Captain?

-Let's go liver.

We'll go liver, Jeremy.

Your answer is liver.

If you've got it right, the contest is yours, the money is yours.

It's a bit like your ampersand one in a funny way.

You've just gone the wrong way. You were close. It's brain.

Oh, bums.

It's brain. Mark, your instinct has served you very well so far.

Don't be disheartened. It is brain.

Let's see what the Eggheads can do here.

It's very dangerous to give them a way back into the game.

Here is your question, your third question.

Which Prime Minister was nicknamed

Baillie Vass by Private Eye magazine?

-Alec Douglas-Home.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

I'm pretty certain it was Alec Douglas-Home.

-It rings a bell.

-Yeah.

It's not Tony Blair.

Baillie Vass. OK.

Well, the only one of those prime ministers who is Scottish there,

is Alec Douglas-Home, and I do recall reading Private Eye

and they called him Baillie Vass, so that's our answer, Alec Douglas-Home.

You're right. Alec Douglas-Home it is.

Back on track, Eggheads. Well done.

So, you're equal after three questions.

You've both got one wrong. We go to Sudden Death.

It's never going to be easy, is it? It's the way it goes.

The Mystic River which gave its name to an Oscar-winning film

flows into the harbour of which major American city?

East Coast. I'm inclined to think Baltimore.

But if anyone else has got a better idea...

I haven't even got a suggestion to make.

I think you're not far off, actually.

The Mystic River which gave its name to an Oscar-winning film

flows into the harbour of which major American city?

I'm not convinced it's Baltimore. I think it's further north.

-What are you thinking? Boston?

-No, not as big as that.

That sort of area, though.

I have to abstain. I haven't even got a feeling.

What you think, Reg? Otherwise, we'll go with Baltimore.

I'm sure it's further north than that, but no, go with it.

-I can't think.

-OK, we'll go with Baltimore.

Baltimore is your answer. Let's see the Eggheads know.

-Boston.

-Boston!

-Is it?

-It's not, is it?

-Yeah, Boston.

-Damn it.

You haven't lost yet.

If you do get this answer, Eggheads, the contest is over.

Which geological period is named after mountains

-on the Switzerland-France border?

-ALL:

-Jurassic.

Shall I run through them all?

It's Jurassic.

THEY CONFER

It was named after the Jura Mountains

and the period is the Jurassic period.

The correct answer is Jurassic.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

You were saying at the start, you don't quiz together -

you've done brilliantly for a non-quiz team. Really brilliantly.

-Put the cuneus out of your minds.

-How about Boston? Can be put that out of our minds?

Commiserations, Easton Cowboys.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally,

and their winning streak continues.

They've had some exciting games lately, as well.

It means you won't be going home with the £8,000.

So the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, very well done, who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£9,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.