Episode 123 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz Challengers

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

They are the Eggheads

and taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today are...

Now, this team all know one another through

the Cheese Society of Bristol University.

The society are meets up every month and has over 90 members.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Ellie. I'm 20 and I'm a chemistry student.

Hi, I'm Laura, I'm 20 and I'm studying medicine.

Hi, I'm James, I'm 21 and I'm studying global health.

Hi, I'm Harry, I'm 20 years old and I'm a medical student.

Hi, I'm Adam, I'm 19 and I'm a maths student.

-So, Ellie and team, welcome.

-Hello.

So, tell us about the Cheese Society of Bristol.

Well, we are a small society only of about 90 people.

I say small, that's quite big. Um, but, our team at the moment,

we're comprised of...I'm the treasurer and Laura is

the co-president and we have an ex-president with us and members...

Crucially, which cheeses really, rather than the positions.

-I mean, you're...what's your cheese?

-My cheese? I am partial to a Tomme.

Should we go down...?

Let's find out as the game goes on,

we'll find out which each of your...the cheese you support,

and you'll have to tell us your cheeses as well, Eggheads, OK?

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, Let It Brie, the Eggheads have won the last three games,

which means that...

..says you can't beat them today. Would you like to try?

-Absolutely.

-Yes, definitely.

-I'm very glad.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Arts & Books.

Who would like this?

THEY CONFER

Sort of cultured film stuff and

music stuff for you as well, Laura, because...

I know nothing about Arts & Books.

OK, well, Laura, you said that you were good for the film...the

music, sorry, so, maybe this would be related to what you need to do.

-Yeah, what do you think? Yes?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-It'll be Laura.

-I hope so.

So, Laura on Arts & Books. OK, against which Egghead?

-Maybe...maybe Pat.

-Yeah, I don't know what Pat's strong at.

-He looks like he's ready to battle, maybe.

-Yes.

-Would you...?

-Yeah, I would like to take on Pat, please.

-Good stuff.

So, Laura from Let It Brie versus Pat from the Eggheads and, to ensure

there's no conferring, please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, Laura, your favourite cheese, please.

Um, I've got to stick with the Welsh on this one.

-It has to be Caerphilly cheese.

-Caerphilly? OK. Pat?

I like Wensleydale.

OK. Arts & Books, Laura, would you like to go first or second?

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

Here we go.

In Tolkien's novel, The Hobbit, what is the name of the blade

owned by Bilbo Baggins which glows in the presence of enemies?

Um, I am a great fan of Tolkien.

I've read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings,

so I'm quite confident to say that that's Sting.

Sting is the right answer. Well done.

Good start. It's always good

to get the first one in the bag. OK, Pat, your question.

How many daughters do Mr and Mrs Bennet have

in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice?

I think the daughters are quite numerous.

I saw the dramatization on TV

with Jennifer Ehle and, uh...

..Julia Sawalha. I think there must be five of them. Five.

Yup, the high number is the right number. Five it is.

OK, Laura, Natasha Rostova

is a central character in which novel?

OK, I'm struggling with this one a bit more.

Um, I think Crime and Punishment is standing out to me,

although I'm not sure, but can I please have Crime and Punishment?

You may indeed, but it is wrong, I'm afraid.

War and Peace it is, Laura.

Pat, over to you to take the lead.

The Fontana del Moro, or Fountain of the Moor,

with a central statue sculpted by Bernini is in which city?

Well, in general, Bernini is strongly linked with Rome.

Of course, um, he could have travelled.

I think I'll have to go on the basis that Bernini is a particularly

Roman artist and go for Rome.

Yes, Rome is correct.

Another question to you, Laura.

Which of these was represented in the sculpture

Powerless Structures Figure 101,

displayed on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth in 2012?

"Powerless Structures"...

I wouldn't go for teddy bear.

I think rocking horse sounds the most probable,

so, yeah, I'm going to go for rocking horse.

Yeah, I walked past that just the other day funnily enough

and was really struck by it. It is absolutely a rocking horse.

Well done.

So, if you get this one right, Pat,

you have taken the round cos Laura got one wrong earlier.

Which poet wrote the poem whose opening lines are traditionally

translated as, "Awake! For morning in the bowl of night,

"Has flung the stone that put the stars to flight."

I think that's translated from...

..Arabic or Persian.

And I think it's The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

It's Omar Khayyam.

Omar Khayyam is the right answer, so you've got three out of three.

Sorry, Laura. He's beaten you.

He hasn't got as good taste in cheese though.

You won't be in the final and Pat will.

Please both of you rejoin your team-mates and we'll play on.

So, Let It Brie have lost one brain.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet. It could happen though.

The next subject is Politics. Who would like this?

-Harry!

-We were just talking

about this, that if Politics comes up, Harry's going to go for it.

-OK, Harry on Politics.

-Yeah, yeah, I think I'm happy to do that.

Cheese and Eggs, which Egg do you want?

-I would say Barry.

-Yeah, yeah.

Well, let's try and take him out on Politics.

-Yeah, let's do it.

-We'll take the risk. Shall we do it?

We'll go for Barry. Yeah, Barry.

OK, so, Harry from Let It Brie versus Barry from the Eggheads.

They're trying to take you out of the final round, Barry.

That's a big compliment!

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, let's do the favourite cheeses then. Harry?

The favourite cheese, Jeremy, is a real Yorkshire Wensleydale.

Right, the same as Pat. Barry?

I'm a turophile, a lover of cheese,

and my favourite cheese is of the extreme variety.

I absolutely adore Gorgonzola and Stinking Bishop.

In fact, I even have a fridge which is in the garage,

-because my wife won't allow them in the house!

-Oh, right, well,

he could be an honorary member of

the Bristol University Cheese Society.

-Nothing would please me more.

-Definitely!

He could bring his fridges to your special sessions.

Um, Harry, I gather you've got a real interest in politics as well?

Err, yes, a real interest.

I served on the Youth Parliament for three years

and was recently appointed Director of Policy and Advocacy for

a charity, a student-based charity,

-that has branches across universities across the country.

-Interesting.

All right, well, here we go with politics, which can go back a way.

So, good luck.

Do you want to go for the first or second set of questions?

I'd like to go for the first, thank you.

Here we go, Harry, good luck.

Sebastian Coe served as an MP for Falmouth and Camborne

in which decade?

So, we all know Sebastian Coe first as an Olympic medallist.

And I think more recently we know him

because he was Chair of the Olympic Committee.

Uh...

I would say...based upon his athletics career and then

him moving into this Olympics career,

it has to be between those two periods,

so, I would say the 1990s.

1990s is absolutely right.

-Yes!

-Yes!

-Yeah.

OK, Barry,

Brightside and Hillsborough is a constituency in which British city?

Brightside and Hillsborough...

Ooh, it's not Belfast.

I'm torn on this one.

Brightside and Hillsborough...

I'm going to go for Edinburgh.

How interesting. Well...

Harry, you'll know this one, cos you're from Sheffield.

There is a Sheffield Brightside, uh,

and the correct Sheffield MP, I think, is...

uh...is David Blunkett.

Yeah, I think that was the connection, Barry, to get, is that

Sheffield Brightside has a famous MP which is,

or did before it was changed, David Blunkett.

-I should have known that.

-So, Sheffield is the answer. Hmm.

OK, Harry, to take the lead, which of these prime ministers

did not speak English as his first language?

I think the name that's screaming at me, if any, would be

Henry Campbell Bannerman.

Eggheads, is he right?

-No.

-No.

-No?

-Lloyd George.

-Lloyd George. Was it Welsh?

-It was.

-Welsh was his first language.

-Oh, I see.

-OK David Lloyd George.

So, Barry, your question.

Outside the largest cities, what is the name of the lowest tier

of political administration in France, headed by a mayor?

Department, I think, is the largest of those.

I think Arrondissement is a district and I think Commune is

smaller than Arrondissement, so I shall go for Commune.

Commune is quite right. Well done. You're off the blocks.

Your question, Harry.

Who was the female doctor who became an MP in 1938,

a parliamentary secretary in 1945, and a life peer in 1961?

Again, nothing screaming at me.

Um, I would be split between Edith Pitt and Edith Summerskill.

And I will say Edith Pitt.

-Is he right, Barry?

-Well, I'd have gone for Edith Summerskill.

Edith Summerskill is the right answer.

So, you've let Barry in here.

If he gets this right, he's taken the round.

Named after a president,

what is the name of the database of US Congress legislative information?

Well, I shall...

..think, go after the most famous literate president there,

and probably one of the most famous legislators as well, so,

I'll go for Thomas on the basis that it was named after Thomas Jefferson.

Oh, OK.

I thought you'd be trying to break it down into some kind of acronym,

like the HOLMES computer the police have in the UK.

-There's too many letters in those names.

-Yeah.

Thomas is right though. You've taken the round, Barry. Sorry, Harry.

Barry's in the final. Harry, you're not.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, Let It Brie have lost two brains, two little slices

of cheese, from the final round and the Eggheads have not lost a brain.

Let's try and get one out now, OK? The next subject is sport.

-That's me, isn't it?

-Definitely.

-Again, we were just talking about that.

-It's me!

-It's Adam.

-It's going to be Adam. OK, against which Egghead?

-I think Chris.

Yeah, Chris. I'd like to take on Chris, please.

OK, sure, Adam. So, Sport for Adam against Chris from the Eggheads,

and, to ensure there's no conferring,

please go to the Question Room.

So, Adam, your favourite cheese.

My favourite cheese is a Cornish Yarg,

which is quite an unusual cheese.

Does it come wrapped in something?

-Yes, stinging nettles.

-Ah!

-Yes.

-How interesting.

Chris, what about yours?

I'm quite partial to a nice bit of Stilton.

Especially with my local supermarket.

Sometimes, when it's in stock, you can

get Stilton with little pieces of apricot in it and that is beautiful.

OK, sport is the subject. Adam, you can choose

whether you want to go first or second.

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

Here we go. Good luck.

In 2013, which English football club announced they would be putting up

a statue of the Dutch footballer Dennis Bergkamp

outside their ground?

Well, Dennis Bergkamp famously played for Arsenal for a very long time,

so I'm going to say for Arsenal.

Arsenal is the right answer. Adam, well done.

Chris, which Olympic gold medallist,

who later became a BBC sports commentator and pundit,

carried the Olympic torch at Stonehenge in 2012?

Ah! I always thought Ed Moses was American.

-Um...

-They're all American!

-So is Carl Lewis.

Must be Michael Johnson.

-On the basis that he's the one who's not American?

-Hmm.

-Right.

-They're all American, Chris.

-Are they?

So, the one you thought wasn't American, is,

but you still got it right.

-Oh, good.

-How unfair is that?! Michael Johnson.

Adam, what name is usually given

to the leg movement which allows a water polo player to tread water?

Well, due to the circular action of the legs, that's the eggbeater.

Brilliant. You went straight there. You heard that before, have you?

Yes, I used to do a bit of swimming.

Well, I was amazed watching the Olympics,

when they were in the pool,

how their treading water is not like anything we do.

-It is...they're almost two feet out of the water.

-Yeah.

-It's incredible.

It is a lot of effort to tread water like they do.

It must be completely exhausting, yeah. Chris, here's your question.

St George's Park Cricket Ground,

which first hosted a test match in 1889, is in which country?

Well, it's not England... but I have an idea.

1889 would be about right for

the first test match in New Zealand, so I'll say New Zealand.

OK, here your logic has taken you astray, I'm afraid.

-South Africa is the answer.

-It is South Africa?

So, you're ahead, Adam.

If you get this one right, you're in the final round

-and your team will go crazy...

-TEAM LAUGHS

..and start throwing Brie around.

Snooker's World Open event was held in which Chinese city

for the first time in 2012?

Now, this one I don't know and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to work

it out, but, in the back of my mind somewhere, I think

I've heard Guiyang somewhere before so that is my answer.

I'm sorry, it's wrong.

It's Haikou. So, Chris has the chance to come back.

In the 1940s and '50s, Hatton's Grace was the first horse

to win which race in three consecutive years?

Well, the most prestigious of those three is the Champion Hurdle,

so that's what I'll have to go with, Champion Hurdle.

The year 1949, 1950 and '51 Champion Hurdle is the right answer.

Chris, well done. You've got it right, so, after three questions

each, the scores are level. We go to Sudden Death, Adam.

It's a bit harder now, cos I don't give you alternative answers, OK?

The Swede Lennart Bergelin was best known as the coach of which

tennis player in the 1970s and '80s?

Again, not sure, but the '70s and '80s...

..tennis player...

I'm going to say Ivan Lendl would be around that time.

No, because I think a fellow countryman was the place to

-look on this one. It was Bjorn Borg.

-Ah.

Bad luck.

OK, Chris, you get the round if you get this one right.

The socialites Tamara and Petra are the daughters of

which leading figure in sport?

They're the daughters of Bernie Ecclestone, surely,

the Formula 1 chappie.

Tamara and Petra are the daughters of Bernie Ecclestone.

Well done, Chris, you've taken the round. Sorry, Adam.

-I thought you had him there.

-Yeah.

-Not to worry.

You won't be in the final. Chris will.

The Challengers have got to turn it around.

Please come back and we'll play on.

OK, any change of plan? We lost...

We're still going to go with it!

We lost Cornish Yarg, we lost Wensleydale, and Caerphilly.

But we're left with...what's your cheese?

-Tomme.

-OK. Well, that's a powerful one.

Well, exactly, it's a Swiss mountain cheese, so...

-Yeah, it doesn't get dislodged easily.

-Yeah, exactly.

-All right.

So, Let It Brie have lost three brains from the final round,

but there is no panic there yet. The Eggheads are still intact.

The next subject for you is Film & Television.

I'm taking that. I'm taking that one, please.

OK, so we have the Swiss mountain cheese against which Egghead.

-It can be Judith or Kevin.

-I think...should we take Kevin?

-I think you should.

-Kevin.

-OK.

-I think we're going to take on Kevin, please.

-OK, so, Ellie from

Let It Brie versus Kevin from the Eggheads. He may struggle to name

a cheese, actually cos he's not good on his food and drink.

Please both of you go to the Question Room now.

So, yours was the Swiss mountain cheese, Ellie.

Kevin, give us your favourite cheese.

I grew up with Cheddar as the cheese of record,

so that was the one that was trotted out.

I'm assuming, Ellie, that the students in

the Bristol Cheese Society just move beyond Cheddar.

Well, we do quite often have a really good Cheddar,

but we do like to vary it up quite a lot.

OK, it's Film & TV, you're against Kevin who is...well,

he'd be quite a catch if you can knock him out.

Let's put it like that. Knock him overboard.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I think I'll go first.

Ellie, the Olympic boxer Luke Campbell reached

the final of which reality TV show in 2013?

Now, I don't actually know this. Um, I think that he'd probably be

on Dancing on Ice.

Yeah, absolutely. Dancing on Ice it is.

APPLAUSE

Kevin, what type of weapon is used by the gangsters

in the film Bugsy Malone?

It's a long time since I've seen it,

but I think they have these rather tubular...

..guns, which fire...

effectively custard pies, so that would make them splurge guns.

Splurge guns is right.

OK, Ellie, your question. The Ricky Gervais TV comedy drama Derek

is mainly set in what type of establishment?

I actually watch this series, um, so I know this one straightaway.

It's an old people's home.

It is an old people's home. Good stuff.

APPLAUSE

Kevin, in 2011, who took on the role of Saul Berenson

in the TV drama Homeland?

I think he's the, um, I think he's the boss of

the Claire Danes character. I think he's played by Mandy Patinkin.

He is indeed played by Mandy Patinkin.

Two each. Ellie...

third question could be crucial, it's a big moment for your team.

Which sporting event is featured in the Oscar-nominated

2003 animation, Belleville Rendez-vous?

I have absolutely no idea. So, um,

I don't think it's the Tour de France.

Um, for some odd reason, Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe is, um,

calling out at me.

Um, so I think I'm going to go with that one.

Let's see if your team-mates know here. Anyone?

I would have gone for Tour de France.

Tour de France it is, Ellie.

Bicycles.

So, Kevin has the chance to take the round.

In which film does Robert De Niro play a character called Johnny Boy?

Uh, yes, in Angel Heart he's effectively the devil,

and Casino, well, he's a gangster in that,

but, in Mean Streets he is a kind of street hustler...

..called Johnny Boy, so it's Mean Streets.

Mean Streets is the right answer. Sorry, Ellie, he's knocked you out.

He's very, very good though, if that's a consolation.

Kevin, you will be in the final and, if you both rejoin your teams,

we will play that final round.

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, Ellie, Laura, Harry and Adam from Let It Brie,

the brilliantly named team, would you please now leave the studio.

James, good luck, you're playing to win Let It Brie £4,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith, Kevin, 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. I know there's no-one to confer with.

James, the question for you is,

can your one brain overwhelm these five here?

Don't worry about answering that just now.

You just need to tell me if you want to go first or second.

Well, everyone else has gone first, so I'll go second.

OK, so we start with the five Eggheads. Here we go.

A creche is a model representing which scene from the Bible?

-Nativity.

-Nativity.

Nativity.

Nativity is correct.

Over to you, James.

By what title was Pope Benedict XVI known

following his 2013 resignation?

I suppose I should know this, but nothing jumping out,

so, Pope Emeticus...

Uh...

doesn't make me think of anything. Pope Exalticus...

..I'm not even sure if he was a particularly popular Pope.

I think he did a lot of visits, so maybe he would be exalted for that.

Emeritus...um...

I think I'll go for Emeritus as merit...

for his work.

Great. Really glad you did. It's right. Pope Emeritus.

Your team are happy behind you.

OK...

Here's your question.

Eggheads, Jan Mayen,

an island in the Arctic Circle is part of which country?

-Norway.

-Norway.

-Norway.

-Is it Norway?

-Norwegian, definitely.

Um, that's, um, Norway.

Norway is the right answer.

Here's your question, James.

What was the first name of the country musician who was

June Carter's mother and Johnny Cash's mother-in-law?

I think the only thing I have to go on is I've seen Walk The Line.

I'm not even sure if she features in it.

Um...I don't think it's Tanya...

Um...

So, Patty or Maybelle.

I-I'll just go Maybelle. That's a guess.

-Cos it sounds a bit more country.

-Yeah, I think so.

Is he right?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-You're right! Maybelle it is!

OK, third question to the Eggheads.

The comedy performer Sam Wills uses the stage name The Boy With...what?

Tape On His Face. I think he's a New Zealander.

I vaguely heard that, yeah.

There is an active comedian who does mime and he's the...

Man With The Tape On His Face.

-Yeah.

-He would have to, wouldn't he? If he had tape on his face.

-Exactly.

I may have seen a picture of him.

We think it's, well, it's Pat more than anybody,

thinks it's Tape On His Face.

And you're absolutely right. Tape On His Face is the answer.

Here's your question, James.

Where in the human body is the capitate bone?

Oh!

I feel it's the hand, so I suppose that counts as the wrist.

Um...it's not the knee...

as far as I can think.

The capitate, I think it's the wrist.

OK, there's lots of medical knowledge behind you. Is he right?

Yeah, you're right. Well done!

So, we go to Sudden Death, Eggheads.

You know it gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

-Smolensk is a city in which country?

-Belarus.

-Belarus.

-Well, it's got to be Belarus or Russia, hasn't it?

-It's Russia.

Well, the Polish, lots of leading Poles died

there in the crash at some point, didn't they?

At Smolensk, the big air crash.

-Ah.

-Hm.

But they could have been visiting Belarus or they could have been...?

-No, they were on their way to...

-Katyn.

-Yeah, it was a ceremony relating to the...

-Oh, that air crash yes.

..the Katyn Forrest Massacre.

The trouble is, it's somewhere near the border, whichever side it's on.

Um...

-I'm going for Russia.

-Honestly, I think it's Russia.

-I'm...

-Cos of the crash?

-I think it's reasonably big.

Yeah, I'm inclined now to think Russia.

My gut feeling's Russia, I must admit. I think it's just in.

-It's just in.

-Well, Russia's bigger than Belarus, so...

-Well, on balance.

-OK, shall we go for Russia?

-I think on balance, yes.

-Russia?

-Yes.

All right, well, with rather a lot of doubt, we're going for Russia.

-You've got it right.

-Oh.

-It is Russia.

-Phew!

It was very interesting hearing you go through it, all five of you.

So, now the pressure's on you, James,

cos you've got to get this right or the contest is over.

International Women's Day takes place in which month of the year?

We...as part of our course, have been studying maternal and child health.

So, it was mentioned,

and at this point I'm just trying to...you know,

I've got a vague memory of a period of time.

I'm trying to place it.

Um...

And I'm swinging towards March, but that might be wrong.

I think I need to break it down into things that happened.

I think it was February.

Is that your answer?

-Yeah, that's my answer.

-February's your answer.

I'm sorry, you've got it wrong.

-It was March.

-It was March.

It was like the Belarus, Russia moment there for you

and it worked the wrong way round.

So, on Sudden Death, we say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

Drat! Cos it was very much like a Belarus, Russia moment, wasn't it?

-The same thing...you could go either way with that.

-Yeah.

Anyway, commiserations, to Let It Brie.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They made quite an effort of it today.

They still reign supreme over Quiz Land.

I'm afraid that means you won't be going home with the £4,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show. 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.

£5,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.