Episode 128 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 hoping to beat our quiz Goliaths today

are the Forge Inn Dream Team from Leicestershire.

Now this team all quiz at the Forge Inn

in Glenfield, usually on separate teams,

but they've put aside their rivalries for today.

Let us meet them.

Hi, I'm Paul, I'm 32, and I'm a warehouse manager.

Hi, I'm Adey, I'm 57 and I'm a regional sales manager.

Hi, I'm Nobby, I'm 52, I'm an IT manager.

Hi, I'm Lisa, I'm 41 and I'm an office assistant.

Hi, I'm Tom, I'm 24, and I'm a food services assistant.

So, Paul and team, great to see you, welcome.

Thank you very much.

Normally on different teams,

so we've got the "best of" here, have we?

That's the idea. I ask the questions, these guys answer them.

Hopefully I've got the creme de la creme today.

And we know it's serious

when someone brings the quiz-setter along, which is you, Paul.

That's correct, yeah.

So you love extreme sports?

-I do indeed - skydiving, that's my favourite.

-OK.

Ultimate. You can't describe how good it is. Best feeling ever.

And taking on the Eggheads is a form of extreme sport?

It's a walk in the park compared to that.

OK, well, good luck.

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, Forge Inn Dream Team,

the Eggheads are doing pretty well at the moment.

They've won the last eight games,

which means £9,000 says you can't beat them today.

Shall we give it a go?

-Oh, not half!

-Absolutely.

You're really up for it, that's fantastic.

OK, first head-to-head battle is on the subjects of Arts & Books.

Who would like this? Name somebody.

-Lisa?

-I think that's down to you, Lisa.

-You happy?

-You'll give it a go?

-Yeah.

-Lisa?

And then you have to choose an Egghead to take on -

whoever looks like they don't do any reading at all.

THEY LAUGH

-What do you reckon?

-Tremendous Knowledge Dave?

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, please.

OK. That's interesting,

cos you've had a number of Arts & Books recently.

I don't look like, obviously, I do any reading.

LAUGHTER

It's interesting, you're getting this one again and again,

it's really testing your defences.

OK, Lisa from the Forge Inn Dream Team

versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave on Arts & Books.

For Dave, another go at this round.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

-Good luck in this round, Lisa.

-Thank you.

And a really interesting story about how you met Nobby, your husband,

which shows how serious your team is,

-because it was in a quiz.

-It was.

And you disagreed on a question.

The question was, what date is Burns Night?

I said it was 25th January.

-And Nobby said?

-It was the 29th.

OK. And Dave will tell us the right answer?

Lisa's right. Unlucky, Nobby.

The team overruled me and we went with Nobby's answer,

and lost the quiz by one point.

Oh!

How did you manage to kindle love after that?

I sent him a text which said,

"I'm having a Burns Night supper on the 25th,

"but you can come on the 29th if you like."

LAUGHTER

Fantastic! All right, good luck in this round.

Would you like to go first or second, Lisa?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Your first question.

The American writer Daniel Handler

became famous for his books written under what name?

OK. Well, the only one I've heard of is Lemony Snicket,

who I believe wrote the Series Of Unfortunate Events.

I haven't heard of Will Parry or James Trotter,

so it is a guess,

and I'm going to go with Lemony Snicket.

Lemony Snicket is the right answer. Well done.

Dave, what is the surname of Judith and Amos

in the novel Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons?

Haven't got a clue. Erm...

I know the book. Erm...

Everdeen I associate with Thomas Hardy.

Trying to think what Pevensey's from.

I'm going to go Starkadder, but with no conviction at all.

Is he right, Eggheads?

-Yup.

-Yes, he is.

He is right, Starkadder it is.

Lisa, back to you. Who played the role

of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2013 West End production

of the play The Audience?

Again, this is going to be a complete guess.

I think Kristin Scott Thomas would perhaps be too young for that role.

Helen Mirren's played the role on screen.

My guess would be Judi Dench.

No, it is Helen Mirren playing the Queen.

Dave, the adventures of which character feature

in the collection of short stories called The Brighter Buccaneer?

Brighter Buccaneer.

Hmm.

I don't think it's James Bond.

Brighter Buccaneer...

Just trying to see if I can get a handle on that.

Oh, Leslie Charteris with The Saint short stories,

but I'm inclined to go for Biggles, just on the title,

The Brighter Buccaneer, but it's a guess.

Biggles.

-No, it's The Saint.

-It is The Saint.

He's let you back in.

Your third question.

Which of these painters worked for the London branch

of the art dealers Goupil & Cie in the early 1870s?

I was hoping no art questions were going to come up.

I prefer the books.

Again, it's a complete guess,

I'm going to go straight down the middle with Claude Monet.

-Is she right, Eggheads?

-I thought it was van Gogh.

Van Gogh is right, Barry, well done. Van Gogh it is, Lisa,

although I didn't think he was that gainfully employed

with art at all, really.

-I think he did quite a bit of missionary work.

-Mmm, in Belgium.

OK. Dave, your question for the round.

The book Quidditch Through The Ages was written by JK Rowling

in aid of Comic Relief in 2001 with whose name on the front cover?

I've got no idea at all.

Harry Potter and me have never got on in this quiz,

and I think this is going to carry on.

Let's have a think if we can get anything from it. Quidditch...

I'm going to go for Persimmons Figg,

because that sounds as logical as any

but, as I said, no real idea in terms of Quidditch.

-Lisa, do you know this?

-I don't.

I'm a little bit like Dave, me and Harry Potter don't get on.

Yes, it is that Harry Potter thing,

where people who know it know everything,

but if you don't, you've got nothing.

They're hard to guess and you guessed it wrong, Dave,

-it's Kennilworthy Whisp.

-OK.

So, you're equal after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death, Lisa.

It gets a bit harder, we don't give you alternative answers.

The 1954 still-life painting of watermelons Viva La Vida,

which inspired the title of Coldplay's 2008 album,

was painted by which Mexican artist?

I have no idea.

Can't even come up with a Mexican artist.

No. It's going to have to be a pass.

Dave, do you know?

I'd go Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo is the right answer.

Dave, your question.

The play Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

was written by which dramatist?

Edward Albee.

Edward Albee is the right answer, Dave.

Well done on Arts & Books,

you're starting to build up a bit of a run.

Sorry, Lisa, you've been knocked out.

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

Lisa and Nobby, it wasn't just yourselves who met at a quiz.

Daphne?

Yes, I met my second husband at a quiz.

He was a quizmaster.

He read out the question, mispronounced it,

we gave the wrong answer and I told him off

because it was his fault we gave the wrong answer,

and he said, "I remember thinking at the time

"what stroppy little madam she was!"

LAUGHTER

And then a year after my husband died, we met up,

and that's it, we've been married 20-odd years.

There we are, so quizzes are the place -

like minds meet each other, exactly.

So, as it stands, the Forge Inn Dream Team

have lost a brain from the final round,

but the dream is still alive, Paul.

Well and truly alive, three more rounds to go.

We want to give them a chance, eh?

The Eggheads are still all there, and the next subject for you

is Food & Drink.

-I think...

-Oh, dear.

-Adey?

-It is.

OK, Adey, against anyone but Dave.

-Who do you reckon?

-I was going to say Barry.

-Who do you reckon, Tom?

-Barry.

-Barry, please.

Have you done it before, Barry?

You haven't done it for a while, have you?

-Yes, I don't get many Food & Drink, so I'll enjoy this.

-OK.

Adey from the Forge Inn Dream Team versus Barry from the Eggheads,

Food & Drink.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Barry, your favourite tipple?

Oh, that's a good malt whisky, without a shadow of a doubt.

Adey, what about you?

What do you like to eat, since we're doing Food & Drink?

Like to eat? Oh, curry. Indian food - I could have it for breakfast.

Mmm, I know what you mean.

OK, Adey, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Which cheese eaten in Switzerland melted over potatoes

takes its name from the French meaning "to scrape"?

Well, paneer is Indian cheese,

I know that very well because of my hobby.

Mascarpone - I'm sure that's Italian,

so I'm going to go for raclette.

Raclette is quite right, well done.

Barry, the Aztec leader Montezuma II

reportedly drank up to 50 cups of what every day?

Well, the Aztecs were famous for drinking chocolate,

only they never put sugar in, they drank it as a bitter drink.

The answer the chocolate.

Chocolate is correct.

-You've been there, haven't you?

-I have indeed, yes.

Wonderful country.

All right, Adey.

In Caribbean cuisine, Solomon Gundy is a paste made of what?

Chicken, fish or snake...?

I'm getting no clues, I don't really know,

I just don't think somehow you're going to make a paste out of snake.

So...

I'm going to go down the middle, Jeremy, and go for fish.

Fish is actually correct.

Oh!

Barry, your question.

What is the name of the red or purple powder

prepared from the shrub Rhus coriaria

that is used as a lemony spice in Middle Eastern cooking?

I'm sure I've eaten this, but I can't remember what the name is.

Sumac does not sound Middle Eastern, it sounds more South American.

Kibbeh and burghul both do sound Arabic,

but I think the most Arabian sounding word there is kibbeh,

so on that basis alone I'll go for kibbeh.

Anyone know?

Well, sumac is definitely used as a spice.

-Sumac is the answer.

-Oh! The one I discounted!

Adey, if you get this one right, you've won the round.

Of which food did Mark Twain write,

"When one has tasted it he knows what the angels eat?"

Absolutely no clue whatsoever.

Mark Twain, American.

And I guess...

All those fruits would have been available during his time, but...

banana probably not quite so prevalent...

I'm going to go for avocado, Jeremy.

I reckon you know, Barry, you like your Mark Twain.

I do, but the only Mark Twain food quote I know

is that "Cauliflower is a cabbage with a college education."

I think he might have gone for...

I think the angels might have a sweet tooth,

so I'd go for watermelon.

Watermelon it is.

OK, Barry.

Rappu is a sweet wine most associated with which island?

Goodness me, can you spell that, please?

Rappu is R-A-P-P-U.

R-A-P-P-U...

There's not much of a clue in the name, as well.

Which country would make wines?

I've never heard of a wine from Malta,

so I'm going to discount that.

Corsica, of course, would be a big French influence,

but does Rappu sound French?

Rappu, to me, has a...

It has a tinge of Arabic about it,

so on that basis alone I shall go for Sardinia.

-No, it's Corsica.

-Ah!

Adey, well done.

Oh, thank you! What a relief!

You've taken the round.

Barry misfired a bit there, which is to your advantage.

If you both come back to your teams, we'll play on.

As it stands, the Forge Inn Dream Team have lost a brain,

but so have the Eggheads, they've lost Barry.

The next subject for you is History.

-Ooh.

-Good?

-A sharp intake of breath.

-Yeah.

-Tom?

-Yeah, I don't mind.

-Tom.

Tom, against which Egghead?

Obviously not Barry or Dave.

-Dave would have been good, but he's gone.

-Yeah.

-Chris.

-I think Chris.

Yeah, Chris. Chris, please.

OK, so Tom from the Forge Inn Dream Team

versus Chris of the Eggheads on History,

and to ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

So, what made them choose you on History, Tom?

I think it's the round that no-one wanted, really,

and I said I'd take one for the team, so...

All right, well, good luck in this round, History, against Chris.

Chris is just happy it's not Sport, aren't you, Chris?

I am overjoyed it's not Sport, Jeremy.

Would you like to go first or second, Tom?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go.

The Siege of Mafeking, which began in October 1899

and lasted until May the following year,

took place in which modern-day country?

Erm, I'm not entirely sure.

It doesn't sound German or Japanese.

I'll go South Africa, please.

South Africa is the right answer.

Chris, what was the nickname of the Grand Slam bomb

developed by Barnes Wallis in World War II?

Well, Big Bertha was a gun made by Krupp's in the First World War.

Little Boy was the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki,

so it's got to be Ten Ton Tess.

Ten Ton Tess is correct.

OK, Tom, which political leader

led the so-called Salt March in 1930?

Erm, again, it's going to have to be another guess,

but, erm...

..I'll say... I'll go down the middle and say Gandhi.

Yes!

Your team are pleased, Gandhi is correct.

Wouldn't have been Churchill, but you could imagine

something to do with salt in Russia, couldn't you?

But Stalin didn't lead marches.

-No, he just sent people to the salt mines!

-Yeah, exactly.

OK, Chris, in ancient Greece,

a Chalcidian helmet was usually made of which material?

Well, presumably that's the standard-issue Greek helmet,

which was made of bronze.

It is indeed, it's bronze, yeah.

OK, so 2-2.

Which Russian city endured great fires in 1547, 1571 and 1812?

I'm not doing very well here, I should know this one,

I've got A-level history and we did part of it on Russia,

but we didn't cover this.

It's going to have to be another guess.

I'll go with Moscow.

Moscow's correct.

Nice one!

Chris, Mary de Bohun

was the wife of the man who went on to become which King of England?

I don't know, Jeremy. Erm...

It's, er...

It's back in Plantagenet times, obviously,

with a name like that, so...

Richard II?

-Barry?

-Henry IV.

Henry IV, says Barry.

Henry IV is the answer. Chris, you've been knocked out on History.

-Hey, well done, Tom.

-Well done, Tom!

What about that?

Needed the options, obviously.

You knocked out Chris, the Egghead.

You're going to be in the final round. That's brilliant play.

Please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the Forge Inn Dream Team

have lost one brain from the final round,

and they're doing rather well, cos the Eggheads have lost two.

The next subject is Sport.

-This good for you?

-Nobby!

-Nobby!

Nobby, against which Egghead?

-Do you reckon Daphne?

-Daphne or Pat?

-Do you reckon Daphne?

-Yeah, Daphne.

-Daphne, please Jeremy.

Nobby from the Forge Inn Dream Team versus Daphne,

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

I was talking to Paul about skydiving, Nobby,

I gather you're a skydiver, too.

Yeah, that's correct, Jeremy, I've done about 2,500 jumps.

Did you see the amazing, was it Mr Baumgartner?

-What was his name?

-Yes, Baumgartner.

That was absolutely fantastic,

something I would really have loved to have attempted.

To fall that distance at that speed, absolutely incredible.

From the edge of space, absolutely amazing.

Height, Eggheads?

23 miles, something like that?

23 miles, landed in...?

-New Mexico.

-New Mexico, Daphne, was it? Right.

I was going to say "one piece"!

LAUGHTER

OK, Sport, Nobby. Would you like to go first or second?

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

Here we go. Which country won the 2013 Six Nations Rugby Union title?

I do like my rugby, I must admit, I didn't watch too much of it.

I believe it was Wales.

Wales is correct.

Daphne,

how many ponies pull each carriage

in the equestrian event known as Scurry Driving?

I've never heard of it. Erm...

Two?

Two is correct.

Nobby, what first name is used by the British javelin thrower

who was originally named Katherine Sayers?

I must admit, I don't know the answer to this one.

Um...

I'm going to go with a guess here and go with Goldie.

-Goldie's right.

-Oh, great!

Well done, Nobby.

Daphne,

the surgeon Sid Watkins, who died in 2012,

is particularly associated

with improving medical safety in which sport?

Motor racing?

Let's see if you are right. Is she right, Eggheads?

She is, yes. He was a very prominent figure.

The friend of Ayrton Senna,

and he made big contributions to the high safety standards they now have.

Motor racing is the right answer, Daphne.

OK.

Over to you, Nobby.

In 2013, who became the first footballer to score

at least ten goals in ten consecutive Premier League seasons?

I must admit, I'm not a great football fan,

even though I support Portsmouth, who are my home team.

I would have to go with Wayne Rooney as my answer for that one, Jeremy.

It's a very interesting one, this, because it's not a striker,

-it's Frank Lampard.

-Oh, right.

So, Daphne, you have a chance to take the round.

The leading golfers Jason Day and Robert Allenby

were both born in which country?

Australia?

Do you think she's right, Nobby?

I think she's right with Australia.

Yeah, Australia's the right answer, Daphne. You've taken the round.

A big sigh of relief there, but you played well, three out of three.

And you will be in the final. Sorry, Nobby, you've been knocked out.

Come back and we will play that final round.

So, this is what we've been playing towards,

it is time for the final round, which, as always,

is General Knowledge. I'm afraid those of you who lost

your head-to-heads won't be allowed to take part in this round

so I have to send players away from both sides.

Nobby and Lisa, from the Forge Inn Dream Team,

and Chris and Barry from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Paul, Adey and Tom,

you're playing to win the Forge Inn Dream Team £9,000.

Dave, Daphne and Pat, 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.

So, Forge Inn Dream Team, the question is,

are your three brains able to defeat the Eggheads' three over here?

The three of you, do you want to go first or second?

First? Stick with the winning form, we'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck.

Which actor has starred in the films Starter For 10,

Atonement and Welcome To The Punch?

You're the film man, so...

-Yeah, it's James McAvoy.

-James McAvoy?

James McAvoy.

-James McAvoy is the right answer.

-Well done, Tom.

OK, Eggheads.

Which song, famously recorded by Elvis Presley,

begins with the line - "Wise men say only fools rush in?"

Can't Help Falling In Love. Definitely.

That's Can't Help Falling In Love.

Can't Help Falling In Love is the right answer.

OK, here's your second question.

Octavia Hill, Hardwicke Rawnsley and Robert Hunter

are credited as the three cofounders of which organisation?

They all sort of sounded elderly sort of thing,

-so go for National Trust?

-Yeah, go for National Trust.

National Trust, Jeremy.

Wow, you just plucked that out,

you had no information there, just how the names sound.

Yeah, basically.

-Good quizzing, it's right.

-Awesome.

National Trust is right.

Eggheads, the film academy of which country

gives prizes called the Robert Awards?

-I don't know this.

-I've never heard of it. Robert.

No, I haven't heard this.

The one thing there that I would have said,

Denmark would have had a more prolific film...

Well, in recent times,

Denmark has been a bit of a film country.

..film industry, rather than Greece and Portugal.

-They do make films, but...

-Yeah, the others do.

Denmark's been a bit more active.

-That's not much to go on.

-Not much to go on at all.

I think we can discount Greece.

-It just doesn't...

-OK.

So, eeny-meeny-miny-mo.

What are we going to go?

Denmark is slightly...

Denmark's more prolific with the films,

-and that's all we've got to go on.

-OK.

We're completely at sea here, Jeremy, we just do not know,

but in recent times, although all three countries make films,

Denmark has had a bigger international footprint,

so we'll try Denmark.

It's named after a sculptor, actually,

a gentleman who was responsible for sculpting the actual statuette,

Robert Jacobsen.

-Denmark is correct.

-Phew! Got away with it!

That was lucky!

They were on the edge!

See the panic spreading?

Well done to Dave, he was the first one to say,

"Look, it's the Danes who've got the movies."

OK, your third question.

Old Sock, released in March 2013,

is an album by which English musician?

-Joe Cocker's recently...

-Just had a new album.

Joe Cocker's recently had a new album.

I'm not aware of Eric Clapton doing anything as recent as 2013.

-I'd be definitely inclined to pick Joe Cocker.

-Joe Cocker?

That's what I'd go for.

-Joe Cocker.

-Joe Cocker is your answer.

Eggheads?

It's Eric Clapton.

-Yeah, it's Eric Clapton.

-Is it?

-Yeah, yeah.

Can't believe that.

Eggheads, with this answer you can take the contest.

Bay Street is the name given to the financial sector

of which North American city?

-Toronto.

-Yeah.

Well, if you're talking about financial districts,

there is a national stock exchange in Toronto,

whereas, obviously, New York is the United States' main...

Toronto sounds... sounds feasible, doesn't it?

If you thought that immediately.

I thought it before it came up, but...

I'm happy with that.

I'm happy with that, because the other two don't seem right.

OK, we're going to go with Toronto.

If you have this right, the contest is over.

Bay Street is in Toronto.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

You did play very well, I can tell you're a good quizzing team.

-Thank you for coming.

-Thank you.

-Commiserations.

Of course, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid it means you won't be going home with £9,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, there we are, you looked as if you were being torn apart,

but you rallied the ship and won through.

Who will beat you, I wonder?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£10,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.