Episode 139 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.

Taking on our quiz champions today are the Rambling Badgers from Leeds.

This team of friends have taken their name from their shared

love of rambling, and also from team captain Dave's

informal term for his friends, badgers.

I'd hate to know how he refers to his enemies.

Let's meet them.

I'm Dave, I'm 37 years old and I'm a production manager.

Hi, I'm Leanne. I'm 30 and I'm a legal cashier.

Hi, I'm Roger. I'm 43 and I'm an art worker.

Hi, I'm Matt. I'm 34 and I'm also an art worker.

Hi, I'm Simon. I'm 38 and I'm a finance manager.

Dave and team, welcome. Good to see you.

No Barry here, which is a shame, because he is local to you in Leeds.

He is. Not joined us rambling yet, though.

Not joined you rambling.

Are these quite serious rambles that you have?

Some are. It's mainly fun, but from time to time, or once a year,

we do put together a sponsored walk.

And do you go a long way?

We started off in the Yorkshire Dales,

ventured up to the Lake District, Peak District.

Anywhere with a few hills, basically.

So badgers, Dave, why call them all badgers?

I don't know, I just like the phrase. I would say, "Now then, you badger."

"Ay up, you badger," being a Yorkshire man.

-So it's a term of endearment.

-Absolutely, yeah.

What about the Eggheads,

-you wouldn't call them badgers, would you?

-Badgers.

Foxes, wolves, something like that? Maybe just Eggheads.

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.

Rambling Badgers, the Eggheads have won the last two games,

which means £3,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Would you like to try?

-Absolutely.

OK, the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Arts and Books.

Who would like this and against which Egghead?

-Roger?

-It's got to be Roger.

Who shall we go against?

Dave.

Me against Dave, please.

Very good. Roger from the Rambling Badgers

versus Dave from the Eggheads on Arts and Books.

Just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the question room.

OK, good luck in this round against the man

we call Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

It's Arts and Books, Roger, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go - the character Sam-I-Am appears in which work by Dr Seuss?

I know this cos it used to be one of our favourites

when I read it to my son.

It's Green Eggs And Ham.

That's a very good reason to know it. You're absolutely right.

Green Eggs And Ham. Well done. First point to the challengers.

OK, here we go.

Dave, where did Michelangelo paint his famous fresco The Last Judgment?

The Sagrada Familia is in Barcelona, a brilliant building from Gaudi.

Louvre, no, I don't think. I'll go Sistine Chapel.

Sistine Chapel is the right answer.

Roger, over to you.

At the start of Samuel Beckett's play Waiting For Godot,

which character is struggling to remove his boot?

Em...I haven't actually seen this play.

I'll guess at Estragon.

-Estragon.

-Estragon is correct.

Well done.

I knew they were flamboyant names.

Dave, "Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything"

is a line from which Shakespeare play?

I don't know.

I'm just inclined to go for As You Like It,

but with no degree, again, of certainty.

I'll go for As You Like it.

As You Like It is correct. Two points each. Roger, back to you.

In the Old English poem The Dream Of The Rood,

to what does the word Rood refer?

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with logic.

A cross and a church don't dream, so I'm going to do it logically

and say it's Priest.

But I'm not aware of that poem.

No, it's cross. I'm sorry.

Dave, for the round,

which American author was born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien?

Not heard of it.

Now I thought Anne Tyler and Anne Rice were both female authors.

Could be wrong here. I'm going to go for Anne McCaffrey

just on that basis.

I've got the logic here,

but Daphne's shaking her head, I'm afraid. Daphne.

-Anne Rice.

-Anne Rice is the answer,

so you're level after three questions.

Roger, we go back to you. It's Sudden Death now, OK?

I don't give you alternatives.

The first volume of memoirs by the Nobel-Prize-winning author

Gunter Grass is known in English as Peeling The what?

Onion.

Onion is correct.

Onion is correct, nicely done.

OK, Dave.

Di Bondone was the surname of which renaissance artist who died in 1337?

I should know this.

I'll go with Tintoretto, but I don't think it's right.

Any Eggheads know?

-Giotto.

-Giotto is the answer. Dave, you've been knocked out.

Roger, well done.

Well played.

First round to our Ramblers here.

You will be in the final round and Dave won't.

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

Well done, Rambling Badgers. What about that?! Cracking start, Roger.

As it stands, they have not lost any brains,

the Eggheads have lost a brain.

The next subject for you is Geography.

Who would like this?

I'll take that.

-I think I'll take Geography, please.

-OK, against which Egghead?

Anyone but Dave.

-What do you think? Speak up.

-I think I'll play against Judith, please.

Simon from the Rambling Badgers versus Judith on Geography.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

OK, good luck in this round. Geography it is, Simon.

Would you like the first or second set of questions?

I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go.

New York's Grand Central Terminal is located in which borough?

OK, I've never been to New York, unfortunately.

I don't think it's Staten Island, which leaves Brooklyn or Manhattan.

I think it's obviously quite a populous place,

so I think I'll go with Brooklyn.

It's actually, probably of the three,

I guess, the most populous, which is Manhattan.

Judith, which of these countries has the smallest surface area?

Oh, I can't bear those sort of questions.

I think it's India.

Yes, you're absolutely right. India is the smallest.

3 million square km.

All right, Simon, STN is

the International Air Transport Association code for which airport?

I'm not sure what the code is for Stornoway whatsoever.

STN doesn't register with Stansted for me, so I'll go with Southampton.

It's Stansted, Simon.

So if Judith gets this one right, she's taken the round.

What is the official currency of the Philippines?

Well, the Philippines were associated with America

at one point.

I would think they may have called their currency the dollar.

The Philippine dollar.

No, there's been various noises on the Eggheads' desk

of pain and mild agony.

Oh, peso then.

-The Philippine peso is the right answer.

-Yeah.

Simon, a chance for you to come back,

but you have to get this one right.

El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala

and which other Central American country?

Based on, I think, in the late '60s or early '70s,

they had a brief war, or certainly a tete-a-tete

with one of their neighbouring countries.

I believe it was Honduras.

Bang on, well done. Honduras it was.

Judith, if you get this right you're in the final.

If not, we go to Sudden Death.

In polar regions, what name is given to an area of rock that

emerges above ice sheets and glaciers.

Well, drumlins are... You have drumlins in Scotland, don't you?

I'm not quite sure what a drumlin is in Scotland, but I'm just wondering

if it would be translated to the Arctic, if that's what it meant.

Cirque, circus.

Nuna...nuna... Nunatak.

I think I'm going to risk drumlin.

OK, it's nunatak.

You got it wrong and therefore we go to Sudden Death.

Simon, on Geography.

I start with you, it gets a bit harder,

I don't give you alternatives.

The ski resorts of Verbier and Saas-Fee

are in which European country?

I think I will go for Switzerland.

Switzerland is the correct answer.

Have you broken the deadlock? Let's see.

Judith, you need to get this right.

After severe flooding in 1957,

a major public works programme re-routed the River Turia

so that it runs around rather than through which Spanish city?

I've no idea.

Madrid.

The answer is Valencia.

Judith, you've been knocked out, well done, Simon.

You are in the final round, you badger.

The Badgers are rambling. Very good news for our challengers.

Please, both of you, rejoin your teams and we'll play on.

So, as it stands, the Rambling Badgers are doing really well.

They've not lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost two. What's going to happen next?

Film and TV is the next subject. Who's this?

-It's got to be. Got to be Leanne.

-Right, against who?

I don't mind doing it against Kevin. He's not very good at it.

You decide, you're playing.

I'll go with Kevin then. Yeah, I'll try Kevin.

Leanne from the Rambling Badgers versus Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to our question room now.

So Film and TV, Leanne.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck.

In February 2013, who hosted the ceremony for the Academy Awards?

I'll rule Tina Fey out completely.

I think Ricky Gervais hosted it the year before.

I'm going with Seth MacFarlane, please.

Seth MacFarlane is the right answer.

Kevin, which sports star won the 2013 series

of the TV show Dancing On Ice?

Not something I actually watched.

My immediate inclination was Beth Tweddle,

but I'm a little bit...

No, I'll stick with Beth Tweddle.

-Is he right?

-Yes.

Yes, Beth Tweddle is the right answer, well done.

Back to you, Leanne.

Which of these films did Steven Spielberg direct first?

Well, although I picked Film and TV, film isn't really my strong point.

The film that first came into my head when you asked the question

was ET - Extra Terrestrial, so I'm going to go with that.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Dave, do you know?

-Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

-Yeah, Close Encounters was 1977.

Then it went to Raiders of the Lost Ark and then it went to ET.

ET was '82.

Kevin has a chance to take the lead.

Which character is played by Jeremy Renner in the 2011 film

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol?

I have actually seen it.

It's not Ethan Hunt, because that's the Tom Cruise character.

I think Luther Stickell is probably the character

played by Ving Rhames,

so I think for Renner I'd have to go for William Brandt.

William Brandt is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Leanne, your question.

Try and get this right, cos you need it to stay in, OK?

What is the colour of the chair in which at the end of an edition

of the Graham Norton Show members of the audience are invited to sit

and tell their most entertaining story?

Em, again, I don't watch it.

My first inclination was pink.

Obviously because that's not come out, I'm going to go with red

because it's the nearest colour.

Red is correct.

OK, Kevin's question for the round, then.

Who wrote the films The Queen, The Last King Of Scotland

and The Damned United?

Yeah, he's been quite prolific in recent years,

and quite successful too. It's Peter Morgan.

Peter Morgan is the right answer.

You've taken the round with three correct questions. Sorry, Leanne.

But you know what he's like, our Kevin. Not bad, is he?

-No, he's very good. Knows his stuff.

-Well played, though.

Do, both of you, please return to us now.

As it stands, the Rambling Badgers have lost one

brain from the final round, whilst the Eggheads have lost two brains.

Playing really well.

The next subject is History. Which badger would like this?

I'd better, then.

Yeah?

-Shall I do it?

-Yeah, do it.

Matt against which Egghead?

I'll take Pat, please.

Matt from the Rambling Badgers

against our rather stationary badger Pat.

On History, let's see how you both do.

Please go to the question room.

OK, so Matt, History.

Would you like to go first or second

against this very, very fine Egghead?

I'll go first, please.

Matt, Queen Victoria reached the milestone of 25 years

as monarch on June 20th in which year?

I'm not sure. She was one of the longest-reigning monarchs.

I would have to say 1862.

Very good. 1862 is correct.

Pat, the island of Borneo was occupied by which invading army

between 1942 and 1945?

Considering its location...

..it's unlikely it was the Russians.

They had many other things to keep them busy.

During World War II,

it was the Japanese who made the big push down into Southeast Asia...

..so it must have been the Japanese who occupied it.

Japanese is the right answer.

Your question, Matt.

In World War II, "Who me?" was the nickname of an American chemical

designed to offend which sense of enemy soldiers?

I'm not entirely sure of the answer.

But going on the name, I would suggest...

..possibly...hearing.

Hearing. The answer is smell.

I guess it was like a military stink bomb.

Pat, for how many years was Louis XV King of France?

Louis XIV was in the top job for 72 years,

which is the record for a French king.

That was from somewhere in the 1600s to somewhere in the 1700s.

Louis XVI meets a sticky end at the guillotine,

so Louis XV is in the middle.

I'm dismissing 79.

I don't think he got to within three years of Louis XIV,

so I think we'll give him a surely more than ample 59 years.

He was king between 1715 and 1774, so you're right - 59 years.

It is, you got there.

He's in the lead. That means, Matt, you need this one.

Which Roman Emperor was the adopted son of Hadrian?

Again...

..I'm not too sure.

Something is drawing me towards Valerian.

Yeah, I'm going to say Valerian.

Antoninus Pius is the answer. That means Pat's taken the round.

The Eggheads fighting back a little bit

after your very strong start, Badgers.

Sorry, Matt, you've been knocked out

and you'll not be in the final round.

If you both come back to us, we will play that final.

This is what we've been playing towards.

It's 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 Leanne and Matt from Rambling Badgers,

and also Judith and Dave from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Dave, Roger and Simon,

you're playing to win the Rambling Badger's £3,000.

Pat, Kevin and Daphne, you're playing for something that

money can't buy - 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.

Rambling Badgers, the question is can your three brains

overcome the Eggheads' three brains over here?

Would you like to go first or second?

-First.

-First, please.

Here we go.

For what does the letter A usually stand in the abbreviation AQI,

referring to a manner of speech in which intonation rises

towards the end of the utterance?

Australian seems a bit obvious.

Why do you think Australian, or are you not thinking Australian?

Australians are famous for that, aren't they?

Well, they do talk, they do go up at the end.

Whereas Appalachian is actually about that.

It's an area.

It's going to be a guess, isn't it?

If we're going to guess, we know the Australians do...

-Yeah, I'll go with that.

-I don't know. I'm just guessing.

It's a guess.

Simply for the fact that's a lot of Australians do have sentences

that go up at the end, we're going to choose Australian, please.

Australian is correct.

What does it stand for, anyone know?

Australian Question Intonation.

Yes, it does. I can never recreate it, but instead of saying...

-MONOTONE:

-"We went to the park today." It's...

-TONE RISES:

-"We went to the park today."

-It's like that, isn't it?

-Yes, that's it.

Every sentence is a thing of wonder.

Yeah, exactly.

-It drives me crazy. Does it drive you crazy?

-Yeah.

A little bit, yeah.

Eggheads, let's see if you can get this question...

-TONE RISES:

-..right.

In which position did the footballer Paul Gascoigne usually play?

-He was a midfielder.

-He was a midfielder.

Yeah, he wasn't a goalkeeper or defender anyway, so midfielder.

He was a midfielder.

He was, of course, a midfielder. Well done.

Back to you, Badgers.

Of these men,

which was the Prime Minister of the UK for the longest time?

It wasn't Gordon Brown, was it? He had a very short...

I don't think it was Edward Heath. Didn't he do one term?

Was it he who was ousted by Thatcher, was that Edward Heath?

Yeah, could be. I'm not sure.

How many years did Brown do?

Take over from Blair.

He took over from Blair after two and a bit terms.

Yeah.

-So do we think he only did one term, or the best part of one term?

-Yeah.

I've got it in my head that Heath only did one term,

-but it might have been a five-year term.

-Right.

So it's if Macmillan did one or two terms.

I think it was quite a turbulent time when Macmillan and Heath were

in power, but I don't know if that means that they changed quickly.

If you think Macmillan... I think it might be Macmillan.

-Why not?

-I don't know it for sure.

We will plump for Harold Macmillan, please.

OK, I was with you on the discussion there.

You worked through it pretty well.

Gordon Brown three years, Edward Heath four years,

Harold Macmillan six years.

Well done. Macmillan is the answer.

OK, Eggheads.

Erythropoietin, also known as EPO,

is a hormone mainly produced in which part of an adult's body?

-I think it's kidneys.

-It's a blood booster thing, isn't it?

It's one of the illegal substances in sport.

I think it's kidneys.

I think I remember reading it and thinking, "You don't hear of many

"things produced by the kidneys," normally they're just filters.

I think that's what I read.

Yeah, we know what it does but not where it comes from.

We believe that's the kidneys.

Kidneys is the right answer. Well done, Eggheads. Two each.

Third question can be crucial in this contest.

Who did the actress Evan Rachel Wood marry in 2012?

How are you on your gossip, guys?

I think Rupert Grint's a bit young to be married yet.

He's probably only 18-20 or something like that.

-He's probably quite young to be married.

-OK.

Jamie Bell is the guy out of King Kong and...

..Billy Elliot.

He's a bit older.

-Did he get married last year?

-Unfortunately, I don't know that.

If I was on my own, I'd guess Jamie Bell,

but I don't want to sway you two.

It's better than anything I've got.

We're going to plump for Jamie Bell, I think, please.

-Are they right?

-Yeah.

-I think so.

Yeah, you're right. Jamie Bell it is.

Three out of three, playing very well. OK, Eggheads.

Get this one wrong and the contest is over and you've lost.

"What About Us?"

became a UK number one single for which group in March 2013?

It's The Saturdays.

Yeah, the other two haven't had number ones in 2012.

That's The Saturdays.

-Are you sure about that, Daphne?

-Yeah, positive.

The Saturdays featuring Sean Paul. Well done.

Three each.

Couldn't have done any more by this stage, but they've kept

track of you, unfortunately, so we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternate answers.

A Blaze Of Glory is the subtitle of the 1993 biography

of which rugby player?

How's your rugby?

It doesn't feel good, right now. '93.

It's got to be someone that would be interesting enough that

-people would want to read a book about him.

-Blaze Of Glory.

-A character.

-It could be Union or League.

It must be someone who was a bit of a character.

When did Martin Offiah...

When did Martin Offiah retire?

Obviously Chariots of Fire, Blaze Of Glory.

I don't know, I'm just...

I think it's a good shout.

In the absence of anything else.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Unless it's... Oh, I don't know. Shall we go for it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Right, in the absence of anything else,

we've pondered over rugby union, rugby league.

Just because he was known as Chariots of Fire,

we've gone for Martin Offiah.

Martin Offiah is correct.

-Good answer. Good answer.

-Well done.

All right, Eggheads, wow,

you're having some tough contests these days.

This to stay in.

Which much-married Hollywood actress is quoted as saying,

"I planned on having one husband and seven children,

"but it turned out the other way around."

-I can't think of one, can you think of one?

-Well, Elizabeth Taylor.

Elizabeth Taylor.

Liz Taylor, much-married Hollywood actress.

She fits the bill in that respect.

How many different husbands.

Six different husbands and seven weddings?

I thought she had two sons by Michael Wilding.

She had.

She adopted one.

Yeah, but if we think about the number of marriages,

this implies seven marriages, doesn't it?

How many marriages did Elizabeth Taylor have?

-There was obviously Hilton.

-Todd.

-Michael Wilding.

-Mike Todd.

Was there anybody before Richard Burton?

-Eddie Fisher.

-Eddie Fisher, that's right.

-He married Debbie Reynolds, didn't he?

-Yeah.

Then later on there was Larry Fortensky and John Warner.

Yes, but she married Richard Burton twice.

She doesn't have to count them twice in the seven.

-She could just count them once.

-I think Elizabeth Taylor.

OK.

After due consideration, we're going to go for Elizabeth Taylor.

-The answer is Lana Turner.

-Oh.

So we say congratulations, Challengers, you have won.

So we say well done to you, Rambling Badgers.

We now know how you ramble.

It's slow and it's accurate, you never take a wrong turning.

-We always get there. We always get there.

-You really did.

It's brilliant. You've won £3,000.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You've proved that they can be beaten.

Do join us next time on Eggheads to see

if a new team of Challengers will be just as successful.

Until then, goodbye.