Episode 126 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 our general knowledge geniuses today

are Lord Of The Ping. Now, this team of friends all played table tennis

on the Grand Prix circuit and also compete in

the British University Championships. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Kieran, I'm 22, and I'm a journalism and French student.

Hi, I'm Carrie, I'm 22, and I'm a support worker.

Hi, I'm Emma, I'm 22, and I'm a psychology and sports science student.

Hi, I'm Tristan, I'm 22, and I'm a mathematics student.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm 22, and I'm a civil and structural engineering student.

So, Kieran and team, welcome. Good to see you.

ALL: Hi, how are you?

-You all have table tennis in common?

-We do, that's right.

And, Kieran, just tell me the attraction of that great sport,

which, by the way, I love. So, you just tell everyone else.

I think it's the fact that it can be played by anyone of any age,

you know? When you go down to a local league at 12 or 13, you can

play against someone who's 80 and be soundly beaten by them.

I feel like it doesn't really get the credit it deserves, it's not

a well-liked or generally popular sport, but we really enjoy it.

We've got two brilliant players in Carrie and Emma

-who represented England for, I think, ten years.

-OK.

And then Tristan and myself, we play.

We haven't quite hit those heights,

but we've had a fantastic year with the University of Sheffield's team.

OK, well, I hope you can smash this lot out of sight here.

Good luck against the Eggheads. Every day, there's £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, Lord Of The Ping, the Eggheads have won the last six games,

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

Would you like to try?

-Yes.

-Yes.

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

Now, who would like this?

-I think...is that going to be Emma?

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Emma against any one of them. Who would you like?

I remember hearing that Daphne

wasn't very good with her easts and wests.

Oh, I've heard that before, yeah.

Um, I think we'll go Daphne.

OK, so Emma from Lord Of The Ping versus...I'm thinking

non-table tennis playing Daphne, is that right?

Well, actually, when I used to work in the bank,

we had a table tennis table upstairs in the room,

-so, we always used to play every lunch time.

-Right.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please both take your positions in the question room.

Well, Emma, I won't talk non-stop about table tennis,

but I do notice you've got 12 National Table Tennis Titles.

Yeah, that's right, yeah.

At the tender age of 22, you must have started so young.

Yeah, I started playing when I was seven, both my parents

played for County, so, they got me into it and I've never looked back.

Great, well, it's been a great career so far.

Is that what you're planning to do professionally or maybe that's not possible?

Well, I did it for a year, played in Sweden and Belgium, um,

but at the moment I'm just concentrating on my studies as well.

-And you're studying where?

-At Nottingham Trent University.

Where I know you also carried the Olympic Torch.

Yeah, I was lucky enough to be chosen.

I was one of three people to be a torch bearer because of my

-achievements for university, so that was a great honour.

-Tremendous.

Well, good luck in this round against our Daphne.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, good luck to you.

Which of these countries does not share a border with Luxembourg?

Um, well, I've been to Luxembourg a few times.

I'm not entirely sure.

But I think I'm going to guess Switzerland.

Switzerland is the right answer.

-Well done, Emma. Good stuff.

-APPLAUSE

Daphne, St Mawes and St Blazey are settlements in which county?

Oh, they're in Cornwall.

-Yes.

-They are indeed in Cornwall. One each.

OK, Emma, your question.

The Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos

are an overseas territory of which country?

Uh, well, I've never actually heard of these islands before,

so this is going to be a bit of an educated guess.

I think I'm going to go Portugal.

Anyone here know on your side?

-No idea to be honest.

-No, not at all.

-Eggheads?

-UK.

-Yeah, they all say the UK.

-It's not obvious at all, Turks and Caicos...

-No.

..are overseas territories of the UK.

OK, Daphne. The Tower of David Museum

and the Kidron Valley are popular attractions in which city?

That's Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the right answer.

We go back to you, Emma.

Got to get this one right, OK?

Queenstown, a resort town in New Zealand's South Island

sits on the edge of which lake?

Is it...?

Eh, well, my knowledge of New Zealand isn't that great, to be honest.

Um, I'm not...I've only heard of...

Tarawera before. I've not heard of the other two.

But I think I'm going to have to guess Tarawera.

Daphne, do you know this one?

No. Um, I've gone for Rotorua because I didn't know.

-Anyone here?

-Rotorua is in the North Island, isn't it?

-It's where the geysers and things are.

-I think it's Wakatipu.

Kevin says, "Wakatipu." It's Wakatipu, Emma.

Very hard one to guess that, actually.

Sorry, you've been knocked out by Daphne.

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

So, as it stands, Lord Of The Ping have lost

a brain from the final round, whilst the Eggheads have not lost any.

The next subject for you is Science.

-This any good?

-Science!

-Well, that was Emma's!

-Yeah, that was your...

-I'd be happy to take this instead.

-I'll take it, yeah?

-Tristan, OK, cos your studying...is it maths?

-Yes, maths, yes.

-Well, that's in the zone.

-It's sort of in the zone, yeah.

Who would you like? Can't be Daphne?

-I don't mind.

-You go for it, I'll leave it down to you.

-Chris.

-I'll take Chris, please.

-All right, so, Tristan from Lord Of The Ping.

Chris, how are we on Science today?

O level Physics and Chemistry in University of London, 1963.

-Apart from that, it's all common sense.

-OK, Tristan against Chris.

Please go to the question room now.

So, Tristan, you're a table tennis player as well?

I am indeed, yes, yep.

And just let me ask you about your bat cos

I know the bat is very important.

Do you have one bat that you use the whole time that

-you're very attached to?

-I do have one bat, yes, and I just change the rubbers every

six months or so, when they need changing, when they go a bit dead.

How much stick can you get on a table tennis bat?

I mean, how grippy can you get it to spin that ball?

Well, some bats are known that, if you put a table tennis ball on

top of the bat and then you turn it upside down,

then it will stay stuck to it.

-Really?

-Yeah, some of the bats are like that, yeah.

We're almost on science territory with this,

the science of the table tennis bat.

-Yes, almost.

-Would you like to go first or second here, Tristan?

I'll go second.

So, Chris, the first question goes to you.

Grasshoppers are most closely related to which of these insects?

Well, they're...like a cricket.

They're a... They strigilate, rub their back legs together,

and make the noise.

Cricket is the answer.

Is that how you hear the noise at night, is it?

-As a bit of strigilating?

-Yeah.

-Can't beat a good strigilate!

-OK.

Tristan, the Halley Research Station at which work was done that

led to the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer, is situated where?

-Um...

-And Halley is H-A-L-L-E-Y.

-H-A-L-L-E-Y.

Um, it's going to have to be a bit of an educated guess, um...

I mean, to look at a hole in the ozone layer,

you'd have to be quite high up, so I'd guess Mount Kilimanjaro.

-Eggheads?

-But the hole was over the Antarctic, wasn't it?

The answer is Antarctica, I'm afraid, Tristan.

As Judith's pointed out, that's where the hole is, so...

-Oh, right, yeah.

-Chris, your question.

What of these phrases is usually used to refer to the

difference in appearance between the male and female of the same species?

That is sexual dimorphism.

Sexual dimorphism is the right answer.

OK...

Tristan.

Montan wax, used in the manufacture of various polishes can be

obtained from certain types of what?

Um, once again, not really sure of this one,

but I will guess at palm tree, please.

-It's coal.

-All right.

Coal is the answer,

so, actually, Chris has two and there's no way back for you

with the third question so, Tristan, we have to say goodbye, I'm afraid.

You won't be in the final round.

Chris has gone through to the final on Science

-and there wasn't really enough maths in there.

-No, not at all!

I apologise for that. Please, both of you, rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands, Lord Of The Ping have lost two brains from the

final round, whilst the Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

The next subject is Film & TV. Who would like this?

THEY ALL SPEAK AT ONCE

-OK.

-I'll take it.

-Carrie, against...?

Um, I'll take on Dave.

-Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

-LAUGHTER

-Everybody laughed when I said that.

-Yeah, quite rightly.

Carrie from Lord Of The Ping versus Dave from

the Eggheads on Film & Television.

Please, both of you, go to the Question Room now.

-Good luck here, Carrie.

-Thank you.

Are you going to compete at the next Olympics or is it too

early for me to be asking that?

It's a little bit early. At the moment, I'm working full-time,

so it's difficult to get the amount of training that you need in to play

at Olympic standard, but we'll see how it goes over the next year or so.

And what are you doing in your main job?

I'm a support worker at a school for children with special

educational needs.

-Well, good luck with that and with the sport as well.

-Thank you.

And here we are with Film & TV,

which I guess is something that you find a bit of time to watch.

Oh, I love films and I love TV. Yep.

Well, would you like to go first or second.

Em, I'll get it out the way and go first, please.

Good luck. Which character played by Martin Shaw in a TV drama serial

is a judge?

OK.

I haven't heard of this...

at all.

I'm going to guess John Deed.

-John Deed is correct.

-Oh!

-Judge John Deed.

OK, Dave, your question.

In which Robert Altman film do

Christian Lacroix, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Issey Miyake appear?

It's Pret-a-Porter.

Straight there, no thinking out loud, nothing.

Well, it's about...it's his take on the fashion, um, industry.

Pret-a-Porter is the right answer.

Your question, Carrie. The police officer Laure Berthaud and

the judge Francois Roban are characters in which TV drama?

Again, it's...

I've not watched any of those, so...

..I can't even string you a reason together, but I'm going to go Borgen.

Borgen is the wrong answer, it's Spiral, which is a French...

TV cop murder thing.

So, it's one point each and it's back to Dave.

In the film Royal Wedding, Fred Astaire performs

the Sunday Jumps dance routine with which household object?

The Sunday Jumps routine?

Never heard of this at all.

I've got no idea.

Uhh...

SHE MOUTHS SILENTLY

Oh, I've got no idea. Em, I'll go dining chair, but...

I don't think that's right.

Can anyone visualise this, Daphne?

I can see him dancing with a hatstand.

If he was jumping,

I'd have thought it would be easier to jump round a dining room chair.

I thought he'd be jumping over a chair, I must say. Yeah.

-Or round it.

-Yeah, round it. But it's not that, it is hatstand, Dave.

-Fair play.

-He must have done some amazing jumps there.

-OK, well, that's helpful, Carrie, isn't it?

-Yep, yep, that'll do.

So, one point each. What is table tennis? Up to 21 or 11 these days?

-No, 21's back in the day. It's 11 now.

-11.

-Yeah.

Who starred as Lisa in the classic 1948 film

"Letter From An Unknown Woman"?

SHE SIGHS

It's a bad run of questions for me. Um...

I'm not sure, I've not seen the film.

And I'm not too familiar with the actresses, so...

..Ingrid Bergman.

-It's actually Joan Fontaine.

-Oh!

-Bad luck.

OK.

Let's go to Dave. See if you can get this one right, Dave.

-Mm-hm.

-If you do, you're in the final round.

Jay Pritchett and Manny Delgado are characters in which US TV sitcom?

I'll go for Modern Family, but, again, no certainty at all.

But you've got it right, Dave.

-All right.

-Do you watch it or not?

I've watched it in the past,

I was just thinking with Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock I watch most

out of those three sitcoms and I'm not...I couldn't remember the names.

Curb Your Enthusiasm were about Larry David.

Again, I couldn't see a Manny in there, but Modern Family's got

quite a lot of different dysfunctional characters, so...

-Well played. You're in the final round, Dave.

-Thank you.

Sorry, Carrie, you were beaten by our Egghead and, as a result,

you will not be able to help your team in the final.

Carrie and Dave, please come back and join your teams.

So, Kieran, any thoughts? I'm doing a table tennis action

as I ask the question! Any thoughts on where we go from here?

Well, as the team captain, I can definitely say it's

not as we planned, but table tennis is a game of swings and roundabouts.

Table tennis, more than any other sport, you need mental strength and

a lot of bottle. And a lot of times in table tennis,

you can find yourself a couple of games down

and come back to win 3-2, so that's what we need to do in this.

Brilliant. That's a rousing speech.

That's one of the greatest speeches we've ever heard.

LAUGHTER Hopefully, it'll pay off.

Fantastic, OK, brilliant.

As it stands, the Lord Of The Ping have lost three brains,

so it's looking a bit difficult.

The Eggheads have been serving with some spin

and some savagery over the net and they have not lost a brain so far.

Let's see what happens now. The subject is Music.

I'll probably say... I'll take these.

-I'll take music.

-OK, Kieran on Music.

Team skipper against either...it's got to be Kevin or Judith.

Who do you think we should take?

Try and maybe take Kevin out so he's not in the final round.

-What do you think?

-Yeah.

-OK. Yeah, I'll face Kevin, please.

Very brave, but it has to be done. It can't be avoided.

Everyone has to face Kevin.

-I'll get the T-shirt made up.

-Yeah.

So, Kieran from Lord Of The Ping versus Kevin from the Eggheads,

and, just to ensure there's no conferring,

please go to the Question Room.

So, Kieran on Music, would you like to go first or second?

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

Up against Kevin, good luck to you.

Which track by the DJ Baauer went viral in February 2013

when a video of people dancing to it became a much copied internet trend?

Well, being a student, we spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos, so

I've seen a fair few Harlem Shakes, so the answer is Harlem Shake.

Harlem Shake is quite right.

You ever done the Harlem Shake, Kevin?

I'm doing it now, isn't it obvious?

LAUGHTER

Good answer. Ragga, a style of music that achieved

prominence in the 1980s had its roots in which country.

I think the spelling is going to be important here.

-R-A-G-G-A.

-Ah, double G.

Cos with the single G, ragas are part of India music,

Indian traditional music.

But I think Ragga would have come from Jamaica.

Ragga is indeed from Jamaica.

Question to you, Kieran.

The Bayreuth Tuba is also known by what name?

Oh, I'm going to be in trouble if I get this wrong,

cos one of my good friends plays the tuba.

I'll go with Wagner Tuba.

Yeah, Wagner Tuba, quite right.

Very good. Can you give us a bit of insight into how you did that?

-A total guess to be honest.

-OK, that's a very good insight.

A lot of good guessing going on the last few days.

Kevin, The Next Day is a 2013 album by which musician?

The first one in a little while, I think, by David Bowie.

David Bowie is the right answer.

Kieran, which musician was the second husband of Cher?

I have to be honest here and say I have absolutely no idea, but...

for some reason, the name Carlos Santana is standing out to me,

so I'll go with Carlos Santana.

Is it Carlos Santana?

It was Allman.

Greg Allman is the answer.

Who was Greg Allman, apart from being a husband of Cher?

-He was in a pop group called The Allman Brothers.

-Was he?

-Yeah.

-The Allman Brothers.

-I think it was that.

Over to you, Kevin.

Who composed the Russian Easter Festival Overture first

performed in St Petersburg in 1888?

I should know this. I know this is certainly something

I'm familiar with, so I should just, um...

..know this, but, for some reason, it's gone a bit wonky.

Um...

Borodin actually died the year before that,

but that wouldn't, um...

..sometimes things get delayed and are posthumous.

"The Easter Festival Overture"...I don't think it's Borodin anyway.

It's one of the other two.

I...if I had a first thought before the choices came up it was

Rimsky-Korsakov, so I'm going to have to stick with him.

Is he right, Eggs?

Yeah.

You're right, Kevin. Rimsky-Korsakov is the answer.

You've taken the round. Sorry, Kieran.

Music is a tough round, some tough questions in there,

so you have been knocked out.

Please, both of you come back. Rejoin your teams.

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, Kieran, Carrie, Emma and Tristan from Lord Of The Ping,

would you please leave the studio.

-OK, Matt, are you ready for this?

-As ready as I can be.

-Are you a table tennis player as well then?

-I am, yes.

I'm the club captain of the Sheffield University Table Tennis Team, so...

-Right.

-We've had a good season. We're unbeaten so far.

-And you're also about to be a bridge engineer.

-I am, yes.

I've got a job already lined up for when I start.

OK, well, hopefully all the positive energy comes together in this

round against the Eggheads.

You're playing to win Lord Of The Ping £7,000.

A bit different for you, Judith, Kevin, Dave, Daphne and Chris,

you're playing for something

money can't buy...the Eggheads' reputation.

Now, 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 that doesn't help.

So, Matt, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. First used militarily in the 1950s, what was the B52?

Um, I believe it's called the B-52 Bomber, so,

I will go aircraft there, please.

Also a great rock group, but, yes, you're right, aircraft is correct.

Your question, Eggheads.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge graduated from which

university in 2005?

I'd say that's where they met, weren't it?

-St Andrews.

-St Andrews.

St Andrews is the right answer.

Back to you. Matt, in grammar, conjugation means

listing the various forms of which part of speech?

Well, grammar isn't my strong point being an engineer. Um...

..conjugation?

I've heard of the conjugate of certain words. Um...

..I'm going to say noun, straight down the middle, educated guess.

No, it's verb, it's not noun.

Eggheads, to take the lead, in which field of the arts is

the Romanian Alina Cojocaru a famous name?

-Ballet.

-Is she?

-Ballet.

-Ballet?

-Yes, she's a ballerina.

She is a ballerina, so it's ballet.

She is a ballerina. Ballet is the right answer.

So, they've taken the lead. Take your time here, Matt.

The God of Hell and Fool For Love are works by which playwright?

Playwrighting, I've not really studied a lot. Um...

..I've not actually heard of them either, so...

I think I'm going to take the Eggheads' rule

and go down the right-hand side, so I'm going to go Sam Shepard.

I think you've actually got the Judith rule there.

I go down the right like that.

-And has that been a good policy for Matt?

-It has.

-It has? Oh, right.

-You've got it right. Sam Shepard it is.

-Good, good.

Your team are going crazy. That's excellent. All right, Eggheads.

There's two points each if you get this one right.

The contest is over, if you don't we go to Sudden Death.

The Anthony Roll created in the 1540s contains

illustrated information about what?

-Did you say 1540s?

-Ships, is it ships?

-Is it ships?

-Or dissolved monasteries?

-1540s?

-Well, do you think it's ships?

-I don't think so, no.

-I think it's monasteries.

I think it's monasteries, 1540s.

It fits in terms of the dates, doesn't it?

-I thought I just heard Chris say ships.

-No, I...

Monasteries.

Well, obviously, the great wave of the Dissolution...

-Yeah.

-..was from about 1536 to 1540.

Well, then you'd have a roll, maybe.

Yeah, it makes sense chronologically.

Dissolved monasteries, yeah.

It might not be, cos there's also, you know,

the Mary Rose was 1545, you know, so...

On balance, because of the dates.

We don't know, because it could actually be any of the three,

-couldn't it?

-Yeah, OK.

-Monasteries?

-Yeah.

-I'm happy with that.

-It is the period of the Dissolution.

-Yeah, I'm happy with that.

-Well...

we're not entirely sure,

but the dates seems to fit best of all

for dissolved monasteries.

I listened to your discussion carefully.

If you got this right, the contest is over.

As soon as I asked the question, someone shouted "ships".

-That was Chris.

-That was me.

-I thought it was Dave.

-It was me, I shouted ships, but...

-Why were you calling for...?

-No, cos what I was...

-What was going on there?

You suddenly had just went, "Ships", like that.

Well, I was thinking aloud...

Um...ships, ships, ships, but, having said that,

having listened to the other arguments,

the timing...is right with the dissolved monasteries.

-Ships was the right answer.

-Oh, ho, ho!

That's two points each after three questions. Matt, how about that?

Wow! Very lucky.

We go to sudden death in the final round, with £7,000 to play for.

-And it gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternative answers.

-Mm-hm.

The Bell Common Tunnel is a section of which UK motorway?

Now, this is something I probably should know, being a civil engineer.

Um...but I haven't actually heard of the tunnel.

There are a lot of tunnels...

going underneath the M25 to get into Central London.

The Bell Common Tunnel that's actually a part of the motorway.

So, in that case, I don't think it would be the M25. Um...

..it implies going through hills, so...

possibly the Peak District might be an answer.

I'm going to go roughly on location,

and I'm going to say the M62, yes.

M62...

on Sudden Death.

You said M62. Funnily enough...

you mentioned the answer more than any other motorway,

-but then you ruled it out. It was the M25.

-Oh!

-And it's built to get past or under the Epping Forrest...

-Oh, right, OK.

..without destroying it, yeah.

Eggheads, if you get this right, the contest is over.

In 2010, the tennis player Janko Tipsarevic was in the winning

Davis Cup team of which country?

-Serbia.

-Serbia.

-Serbia.

Serbia?

Yes, he's the, um,

he's the sort of Serbian number two after Novak Djokovic.

-So, it's Serbia.

-Serbia, OK. Um, that's Serbia.

You don't seem very doubtful.

No.

Janko Tipsarevic...

played for Serbia.

Eggheads, we say congratulations. You have won.

If only, I hate to say it, if only you had said verb!

-Hmm.

-Commiserations to Lord Of The Ping, the Eggheads have done what

comes naturally to them, and their winning streak continues.

It's been great to see you all and brilliant to hear about table tennis.

I don't think we've had a table tennis team in before,

so, thank you. It does mean you won't be going home with the £7,000,

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.

£8,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.