Episode 109 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.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today are Yartek Thistle.

This team of friends are all

members of the Glasgow Doctor Who Society and profess to get

all of their general knowledge from the stories of Doctor Who.

That could be very useful. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Alan.

I'm 41 years old and I'm a senior consultancy administrator.

Hi. I'm Deirdre. I'm 42 and I'm a finance officer.

Hello. I'm David. I'm 22 and I'm a freelance filmmaker.

Hello. I'm Barry. I'm 29 and I'm a general manager.

Hi. I'm Kenny. I'm 38 and I'm a newspaper reporter.

Alan and team, welcome.

Good to see you. So you've got Doctor Who in common.

-Is that right?

-Yes.

We're all members of the Glasgow Doctor Who Society.

-That's how we all met.

-And you're not the only members. There are more, are there?

We have about 150 members online

and regular meetings between a dozen and two dozen people.

When you talk about the Doctors, is it like James Bond, where

everybody says it's Sean Connery or Daniel Craig who is the best?

-You all have a definite Doctor?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Come on.

Well, my favourite is Colin Baker, which is

-a controversial point of view.

-I'm going to have to go down the line.

-Deirdre?

-Peter Davison.

-David Tennant.

-Sylvester McCoy.

-Tom Baker.

Got a good mix there. My goodness!

Tell us about the team name, the Yartek Thistle.

Well, we're all Doctor Who fans.

We're all from in or around Glasgow and there's a football team

in Glasgow called Partick Thistle, better known as Partick Thistle Nil.

And there was a character in a 1964 Doctor Who story,

The Keys Of Marinus, called Yartek,

the leader of the alien Voord, so Yartek Thistle.

And hopefully it won't be "nil"!

If a Doctor Who question doesn't come up, I'm going

to personally apologise to you. I feel we must have one!

So, good luck against the Eggheads. They're more frightening

than the Daleks and they can go upstairs as well.

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, Yartek Thistle, the challengers won the last game, which proves it can be done.

That means £1,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-Do you want to try?

-Oh, yes!

-Definitely.

They're in the mood to get themselves back on track.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & TV.

Who would like this?

-Will I go for this?

-David is our media man, so... Have a think.

I'll go against Judith.

Perfect.

So it is David from Yartek Thistle versus Judith from the Eggheads.

-How are you on your Doctor Who, Judith?

-Very bad.

I haven't watched it for ages. Colin Baker, I think... No, Colin...

-The one with the scarves.

-Baker, yeah.

-Tom Baker.

-Tom Baker!

-Tom Baker, yeah.

-That was my era.

-I think that says all we need to know about Judith's knowledge of Doctor Who!

-It does!

To ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

OK, Film & TV.

David, you can choose, would you like to go first or second?

I'll take the bullet and go first.

Here we go.

In the 2012 film Life Of Pi, a zookeeper's son

and a tiger share which type of transport?

It's a lifeboat, Jeremy.

-Have you seen it?

-Yes.

-Lifeboat is right. Judith, your question.

Which British actress married the Hollywood actor

Michael Douglas in 2000?

I always get these who-married-who questions.

Um... Well, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

-Yes. There we are. Wasn't so bad.

-No.

David, your question.

Which actor's first big break was playing the title

role in the 1990 TV mini-series Chancer?

Ah...

I...

I don't think it could be Clive Owen.

I think, if I remember correctly,

his first big film role was in... a Poliakoff film, Close My Eyes.

Daniel Craig, I think his first big thing was Our Friends In The North.

I don't think it's him. I just don't know at all.

I'm going to just have to go for Sean Bean cos I don't think

I've heard of the other two being in something like that.

You're right to rule out Daniel Craig cos, yes,

Friends In The North was the big one for him.

-Clive Owen is the answer, though.

-Ah!

-Clive Owen.

Judith, in the 1998 film Hideous Kinky, Kate Winslet's character

leaves London to live in which country with her two daughters?

Oh, I know. That's about Emma Freud, isn't it?

Her childhood, I think.

Um...and they went to Morocco.

Morocco is the right answer.

So, David, she's playing well

and you need to get this one right or you will have been knocked out,

but many, many good people have been knocked out by Judith on Film & TV.

The 1968 film Petulia, directed by Richard Lester,

starred which actress in the title role?

Ah! Well, unfortunately,

I'm truly stumped cos I have never heard of this film.

No, I don't know this film...

Um... Something to me says that it's Angie Dickinson,

but I think I'll go for Julie Christie cos it's the only person

-I can think of working at that time.

-Julie Christie is correct.

Well done, David.

I thought you were just going to snatch defeat

from the jaws of victory there, but you stayed with it.

Judith, your question.

The TV drama The Hour, set in a television

newsroom during the Cold War, was created by which writer?

Um... Oh, dear!

I'm very bad at... You can never see the credits.

They go past far too quickly.

Um...

But I have a feeling, I think, it's Abi Morgan.

You've got it right, Abi Morgan is the answer. Sorry, David.

You've been knocked out by Judith.

It's very hard when they get three in a row. So you won't be in the final and Judith will.

Please, both of you, return to your teams.

So, we're about to play on.

Judith, by the way, the film we mentioned, Hideous Kinky,

was not Emma Freud, it was...?

-Anyone?

-Esther.

-Esther Freud.

Well, I knew it was somebody Freud, beginning with an E.

She's married to an actor you will probably know - David Morrissey.

-Oh, is she?

-Yeah, apparently. So, it was her story.

So, as it stands, Yartek Thistle have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain - all to play for. It's Geography now.

Who would like this?

-That'll have to be me.

-Who fancies that?

-I'll go for it.

-Barry?

-Barry.

-Yeah.

Barry, against which Egghead? Anyone but Judith.

-Shall I go for Pat?

-Yeah, let's go for Pat.

-Yeah.

OK, so it's Barry from Yartek Thistle versus Pat

from the Eggheads. And to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room? We're going to play Geography now.

-Barry, would you like to go first or second?

-I think

I'll keep the precedent that David set and I'll go first.

Here is your question. On which river is the city of Berlin located?

Um...

For some reason, I don't think the Spree is actually related to that.

For some reason, I've got in my head it's Volga

and I'm going to go down the middle for Volga.

It's not, actually.

It's...the Spree.

Oh, well. Never mind.

Pat, how many US states begin with the letter T?

It's one of those questions where you need a bit of patience.

Tennessee and Texas.

We're off with two. Can we find any more?

East Coast, Vermont, New Hampshire...

Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland...

A line...

Georgia... I think it's two.

It is two.

I love you just criss-crossing the States there in your mind

and you can do the map in your head, it's amazing.

OK, Barry, your second question.

The town of Leominster is traditionally considered to

be in which county?

-Leominster.

-It's obviously spelled L-E-O-M-I-N-S-T-E-R. Leominster.

Um...

I'm going to have a go...

I'll say Wiltshire.

-It's not, actually. It's Herefordshire.

-Right.

So, bad luck, Barry.

Pat, your question, and if you get this right,

you're in the final round.

The Avenue of the Baobabs is a tourist attraction on which island?

Well, I haven't heard of this avenue.

You do get Baobabs on mainland Africa.

But they're particularly associated with Madagascar.

So...have I any reason to go anywhere else?

Cuba, Sri Lanka...

No. I think I have no choice but to go with Madagascar.

-What is a baobab?

-It's almost like an inverted tree.

It's got a colossal trunk and sort of spindly branches.

And it can store enormous quantities of liquid

in its trunk for period of drought.

-Really?

-Very distinctive trees.

-Interesting.

Madagascar is the right answer. Very well played, Pat. I'm sorry, Barry.

You caught him on excellent form there.

That can happen with these Eggheads.

-It might be time to call for the Daleks!

-Possibly, yeah.

Or the Yarteks. Whatever it is that's going to take them out one at a time!

Barry, do come back to us, Pat, come back to us, and we'll play on.

So, as it stands, Yartek Thistle have lost two brains from the

final round, the Eggheads have not lost any. Where do we go from here?

We go to Politics.

Who would like this?

Would have been me!

Do you want to do Politics, just in case Sport comes up next?

-That's a point.

-We're better just...

Yes, no-one in the Glasgow Doctor Who side who can do Sport.

-Is that right?

-So are we doing me?

Deirdre, before you go...

Deirdre, then, against which Egghead?

So...let's go for...Barry.

-OK.

-Barry, please.

OK, so Deirdre from Yartek Thistle versus Barry.

You had a whole series of games where you weren't being picked

and now you're being picked all the time. Barry from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

OK, so, Deirdre, would you like the first or second set of questions?

I think I'd like the first set, please.

Here we go. Good luck to you.

The fear of Communist sympathisers during the Cold War was often

expressed using which phrase?

I have heard this phrase,

so I'm pretty sure it's "reds under the bed".

"Reds under the bed" is correct. Well done.

THEY APPLAUD

Some very polite Doctor Who applause coming your way!

Barry, which of these countries became a member of NATO in 2004?

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

So I think that would rule out Egypt.

I can't imagine Jamaica would become a member of NATO.

I think I'm going to go for Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is correct.

OK.

Over to you, Deirdre.

Which British political party moved its London

headquarters from Cowley Street to Great George Street in 2011?

I'm not sure of this one,

but I've got a hunch and I can't tell you why I've got a hunch.

I think it's Conservative.

I'm afraid it's Liberal Democrat.

OK, Barry, to take the lead.

Who was installed as the unelected Italian Prime Minister

in November 2011?

I don't know who Giorgio Napolitano was, but Romano Prodi was

an Italian Prime Minister, but he was much earlier.

The one who was installed recently was Mario Monti.

Mario Monti is the right answer. Good answer.

So, he's taken the lead, which means, Deirdre,

you need to get this one, OK?

In 2011, which country's government lost a vote of no confidence

after being found to be in contempt of parliament?

I am desperately trying to remember what my Australian friends

have been saying on Facebook over the last couple of years.

Um... I'm going to...

I'm going to go for another hunch and say Australia.

-Barry, do you know this one?

-I think I would have gone for South Africa.

No. Actually, Canada is the answer, Deirdre.

Consolation that our Egghead didn't know it, but, I'm afraid, as there's

no way back for you, you will not be in the final round and Barry will.

Both of you, please come back and rejoin your teams.

Yartek Thistle have lost three, the Eggheads have not lost a brain so far.

The next subject, the last subject before the final round, is Sport.

LAUGHTER

The plan actually came off!

It was not for nothing.

-So this is Kenny now?

-Yes.

Our secret weapon.

Kenny is a rarity amongst Doctor Who fans because he knows what sport IS!

Could we clarify? I know what football is.

I don't know what cricket is - we're Scottish, cricket(!)

It's an insect, isn't it?

Cricket, the insect, is unlikely to come up in the Sport round

but we'll see, you never know.

-So, Kenny, against which Egghead?

-I think I'd like to try Chris, please.

OK, so it is Kenny from Yartek Thistle versus Chris,

who likes his sport. Sometimes. No, not really.

-Getting quite good at it.

-Yeah, he's won a few on sport recently.

Please go the Question Room and we'll quiz on.

So, we are on Sport, Kenny. Would you like to go first or second?

Can I go second, please?

Chris, the finals of which Grand Slam tennis championships

are held at the Rod Laver Arena?

Well, Rod Laver was an Australian from way back

so it must be the Australian Open.

It is the Australian Open, well done. Kenny, your question.

What official name is given to the periods in-between

stages of a triathlon,

where competitors change equipment for the next discipline?

Looking at it, I don't think it'd be conversations.

That sounds too much like rugby.

Exchanges doesn't sound like a very sporty word so I think transitions.

Transitions is the right answer, well done. 1-1.

Chris, back to you. Which cricketer was given the middle name St Aubrun?

Don Bradman was just plain Don Bradman.

Garry Sobers was just plain Garfield Sobers.

So, it must be Jack Hobbs.

Let me ask your fellow Eggheads here. Anyone?

-Gary Sobers.

-Gary Sobers, they all say, Chris. Got it wrong.

Kenny, which jockey won his first Grand National in 2010

on a horse called Don't Push It?

I'm not quite sure, I'm not very big on horse racing,

as I like my money too much to gamble it.

So, I think, Frankie Dettori, he's been around for a long time.

Tony McCoy, again, more recently,

so I'd like to think it was Mick Kinane.

Well, this person won on his 15th attempt.

Team-mates, do you know?

I think it's Tony McCoy.

Barry's right, Kenny, Tony McCoy is the right answer.

On his 15th attempt.

He just failed to capitalise, but, don't worry, you're still level.

Chris, at the London 2012 Olympics,

what was the first event to take place in the modern pentathlon?

Well, show jumping's not in the modern pentathlon, is it?

Neither's fencing, so it must be shooting.

Shooting's wrong, Chris. It's fencing.

This should be a chance here, Kenny.

Get yourself in the final if you get this right.

Which Scottish football team is nicknamed the "Buddies"?

Hibernian are the "Hibees".

Partick Thistle, not Yartek Thistle, are the "Jags".

St Mirren, from Paisley, and Paisley residents, are known as "Buddies".

So pleased for you, you got it right. Brilliant.

You're in the final.

He shoots, he scores.

That is complete coincidence that Partick Thistle's come up there,

absolutely complete and utter coincidence.

That just shows how crazy this game is. Well done, Kenny,

you've knocked out an Egghead. You did indeed shoot and score.

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

Well, that's a turn-up, Alan.

The relief is indescribable.

We mentioned a lot of Doctor Who.

Colin Baker is one of the Doctors, I think the sixth one, is that right?

-Yes.

-Tom Baker was the fourth, which is always confusing.

-Colin Baker's appeared on this programme, hasn't he?

-Yes, he has.

On Celebrity Eggheads.

-And he sat in that very chair.

-Good.

And they took it to Sudden Death so hopefully we can do the same.

Why did I ever think I was going to be able to surprise you

-with that information?

-Do you want to know who else was on the team?

All right, so we've got real Doctor Who fans here, Yartek Thistle,

and this is what we've 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, Deirdre, David and Barry from Yartek Thistle, and also Chris

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

So, here we are, Alan and Kenny, and by the way, love the T-shirt, Kenny.

At first I thought it was jacket.

No, it's actually a replica T-shirt of Peter Davidson,

the fifth Doctor Who's costume.

Complete with celery in the lapel.

My wife said to me before coming in,

"Please don't wear that T-shirt to go on TV." And I did.

Well, I hope it carries you to victory.

You're playing to win £1,000.

Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something

that money can't buy, which is the Eggheads' precious 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, Yartek Thistle, the question is,

are your two brains able to defeat the Eggheads' four?

And would you like to go first or second?

Well, I reckon going first didn't do us very many favours

so going second worked for Kenny so it's good enough for me.

First question to the Eggheads. How many legs do adult butterflies have?

They're insects so they must have six.

So, we're happy with six.

They're insects and the classic number of legs for insects is six.

Six is the right answer. Back to you.

What are the dark areas called "maria" that are seen on the moon?

Maria. M-A-R-I-A.

Lunar plains is my head for some reason, I don't know why.

-Plains, I'm thinking.

-Yes.

I'm thinking maria, marine, water, dried water, plains.

I think lunar plains. I don't know why.

I'm kind of tending towards that myself.

We think plains.

Plains is the right answer.

Really well done. Could easily come adrift on that.

OK, Eggheads.

M Diddy is a nickname given to which public figure

when serving time in prison?

They've all done time. Martha Stewart is American,

which is perhaps a slight... and Martha could be "M."

-What's the Diddy bit, then?

-Some sort of play on P Diddy...

But she was before P Diddy when she went to prison.

Jeffrey Archer or Jonathan Aitken...

I'm sure if they'd been given that we would have heard that in the press.

I can't come up with anything for either of them

that would relate to that.

Yeah, well, we've not heard it before...

In a way, it almost looks, because her name begins with "M", it almost

looks too obvious, in a way, but we'll go with Martha Stewart.

Martha Stewart is correct.

Don't know this myself but I'm assuming it's a play on P Diddy?

A play on P Diddy, obviously.

Does "diddy" mean small in America like it does, slang wise, here?

-Not really.

-Maybe... Does Diddy means small "M". I don't know.

It's the idea she was down with the rappers in jail, wasn't it?

-I suppose.

-Oh, yes, that would make sense.

-That's what the fun of it is.

All right, your second question.

In French, the word for "inch"

is the same as the word for which body part?

Right, nez.

Your thumb's about an inch, isn't it?

I'm trying to think...

I wish I paid more attention...

Jambe is leg.

Tete is head.

Nez?

I think it's either ear of thumb.

Thumb because that's probably about an inch.

An ear because I seem to remember one of the bones in the inner ear

being called something like inch, inchnea...

Ear or thumb.

-I reckon thumb's...

-Thumb.

We're going to go with thumb, after all that.

It is a great discussion. Thumb is the right answer.

BOTH: Yay!

OK, so, here we are. Third question to the Eggheads.

Jules Cantini, whose house became a museum in Marseilles in 1916,

was noted as a worker in which material?

It suggests he was dead, really.

-Was he dead then?

-His house became a museum.

-Sort of.

-Well, later, after he died.

Sadly, I haven't actually...

One bit of France I haven't actually been to is Marseilles.

Could be an artist in steel but it's slightly unusual.

Yes, it's either glass or marble, I would think.

I would think so, I wouldn't think it was steel.

I don't know. What are various peoples' inclination on this?

-Mine's glass.

-Same here.

I think mine is glass because we might have heard of it

if it was marble.

-Yeah, well.

-If he was a sculptor.

Unfortunately, we've never heard of the man,

so that does make it a bit of one in three guess.

And technically, well, not technically, it could have been

any of those so...on balance, we're going to go for glass.

You were heavily going for glass in as much as you can

when you're guessing.

And it's marble.

-Never heard of him.

-Interesting, now.

How's that, Yartek Thistle, you played very well,

you've got yourselves a chance here of the jackpot. So, just get this

right and you've taken the contest and you are officially cleverer

than the Eggheads. Which vocal group was originally formed

to serve as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter?

I seem to recall... The Drifters are...

I can't think of them being particularly harmonised as a group.

I can only...

I might be completely wrong

but I think I only tend to remember the lead vocal and not harmonies.

The Temptations? Now, Temptations...

I'm thinking of The Foundations, Build Me Up, Buttercup.

Temptations did...

I haven't a clue on this one, I'll be honest.

But I'm thinking of the words of Wet Wet Wet -

"Gimme, gimme, gimme temptation."

-A complete guess.

-I think...

Probably...

Temptations is...it's staring at me.

-It's the one...

-It's a complete guess.

I think we're going to go for The Temptations.

-It's not The Temptations, it's The Drifters.

-Oh.

-Oh.

Eggheads, we go to Sudden Death.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternative answers.

Galileo Galilei Airport is located in which Italian city?

-Pisa.

-Pisa.

-Definitely.

That's Pisa.

That is Pisa.

Hang on in there. Get this one right, the contest goes on.

Sudden Death, though I don't give you alternatives.

In which year of the 1960s was there no Christmas speech

broadcast by the Queen?

-Right.

-So, why would there by no Christmas speech?

Assassination of Kennedy in '63.

-That's...

-It's close to Christmas.

November 22nd.

The day before the first episode of Doctor Who, of course.

There weren't any other... Were there any...?

Anything related to the Commonwealth, perhaps,

-that could have affected it.

-Yes. Erm...

The only thing I can think of in the '60s is the assassination of Kennedy.

OK. If that's all we can think of, then...

And it's within a month of Christmas, so...

We're going to say 1963 as a mark of respect

for the assassination of Kennedy.

Well, you were in a position in this contest a moment ago where,

had you got an answer right,

a Drifters' answer, you would have beaten the Eggheads

cos they let you in.

I wonder if you've got this right.

The year of the assassination of JFK.

That didn't stop the Queen doing a speech.

It was actually '69.

Because of the investiture of Prince Charles

and a documentary about the royal family.

She thought they were being over-exposed.

The answer is 1969, so we say sorry, Yartek Thistle,

and congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Well, the joy of this game, you started with some difficulties

but then came through so strongly in the final and really were

within a few inches on a question card of taking the Eggheads.

Well, we've done exactly the same as the Doctor Who team that came on.

We've taken it to Sudden Death and lost on the final question,

so we can be satisfied with that.

More than satisfied and really nice to see you playing as well.

Thank you for coming in. Commiserations to Yartek Thistle.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

And they reign supreme over quiz-land once again.

I'm only pausing over that cos they've had their problems recently.

It does mean that you won't be going home with the £1,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done.

Maybe you'll build up a bit of run again.

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers have the brains

to defeat the Eggheads. £2,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.