Episode 27 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 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...

This team of colleagues all work for the RAF

and are based at Boulmer in Northumberland. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm 34 and I've been an RAF officer for eight years.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm 36 years old.

Before joining the RAF, I studied French and Spanish at Swansea University.

Hi, I'm Emma, I'm 25 and I'm an RAF officer.

Hi, I'm Kev, I'm 29 and I've been an RAF officer for eight years.

Hi, I'm Nayfe, I'm 29 and I'm also an RAF officer.

Welcome to you. You better explain the team name.

We get Boulmer... I see where you're going.

-Tell me about it, Andy.

-We're all from RAF Boulmer

but we had a suspicion what some of our answers might be like

so we thought we'd have a play on words!

And came up with Boulmer-balderdash.

And what about quizzing? Do you manage to quiz together?

No. We've come together especially for this.

Ahh! OK. Well, assembled to take on, to shoot down the Eggheads today!

Let's see if you can.

Every day, there's £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Complete Boulmerdash, the Eggheads have won the last four games.

That means £5,000 says you can't beat them.

Right, head-to-heads coming up.

The first one is History. Who'd like to play this?

I'll take History, please.

-And... Sorry?

-Who are you going to challenge?

-I know who your favourite is. Do you mind if I take on Daphne?

-No.

I'll take on Daphne, please.

-Emma, are you gutted?

-I am actually gutted.

She's a hero of mine!

We'll maybe ask you again after you see what happens in the Question Room!

Maybe it's for the best!

Andy leading, as the officer and a gentleman that he is.

-One out of two ain't bad.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

Well said!

Andy and Daphne playing this first head-to-head. Into the Question Room, please.

History, this category is.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Best of luck, Andy. First History question is this...

In the 1940s and '50s,

which politician led the Vietnamese Communist forces

in the first Indo-China War?

Right, Emperor Hirohito was Japanese so not a player there.

Chairman Mao - Chinese.

I know there was some Chinese influence into Vietnam.

However Ho Chi Minh had the trail named after him,

so I'll go with Ho Chi Minh.

Ho Chi Minh is the right answer. Well worked out.

Your first question, Daphne. Which pub name is believed to elude to the hiding place

of the future King Charles II at the Battle of Worcester?

That is The Royal Oak.

He hid in an oak. That is the right answer.

OK, Andy, second question. Good start.

During an attempt to conquer Mount Everest in 1924,

Sandy Irvine disappeared along with which other climber?

I'm fairly sure it wasn't Hillary. I believe he did summit in the end.

Mallory certainly rings a bell.

I just can't think if Mallory survived or if he was...

-I'm going to go with George Mallory.

-OK.

Not so sure but decided to go for Mallory.

It's the right answer. Well done.

OK, Daphne,

which landmark features the remains of Roman forts named Housesteads, Chesters and Birdoswald?

As far as I know, there are no forts on the White Cliffs of Dover.

It's Hadrian's Wall.

It is, of course, yes.

Back to Andy.

Two out of two. Let's make it three out of three.

What was the name of the class of steam locomotive used in the mid-19th century

to haul the Flying Dutchman express trains?

Erm...

Golden Baron just doesn't ring right.

Silver Countess sounds quite luxurious.

I don't know if the Flying Dutchman was a luxury train.

The Iron Duke sounds quite powerful.

I'm going to go for The Iron Duke.

Phew! It's the right answer!

Well done, Andy.

Daphne, which industrialist lived almost half of his life as an amputee,

having lost part of his right leg to smallpox?

It's going to be a guess. Erm...

I'm trying to work out which is the earliest of them!

Industrialist...

Richard Arkwright.

OK, Richard Arkwright, as living half his life as an amputee.

-No?

-It's not. It's Josiah Wedgwood.

Well, well, well, Andy! Well done. You're in the Final Round!

Except Emma's going to be very cross with you. Look what you've done to poor Daphne.

-I think she'll forgive you.

-This is bittersweet!

Bittersweet, she says.

Let's have you both back into the studio, please.

Andy leading the charge there. It means the Eggheads are missing one brain from the Final Round.

Complete Boulmerdash - all there. You spoiled Daphne's party.

That was a significant head-to-head, Daphne. Do you know why?

-No.

-It's your 700th head-to-head...

-Is it?

-..in the entire series of Eggheads.

-Oh, my!

Lost on your 700th appearance and Andy's booked his place in the Final Round.

Who will be joining him? This next round will decide part of that.

It's Arts & Books.

-Who wants to play this?

-Everyone's looking at you!

-Sorry!

-I think it's going to be me, Dermot.

-All right, Nayfe.

Who would you like to play? It can't be Daphne.

-I don't know.

-Dave?

We'll go with Dave.

OK, Dave. It's going to be Nayfe and Dave playing this one.

The Question Room awaits for you both, please.

Nayfe, let's see if you can follow Andy into that Final Round.

Up against Dave. It's Arts & Books.

Do you want the first or the second set of questions?

I'll take the second set, please.

Trying different tactics here, putting the Egghead in first.

That Egghead is Dave. This is your question.

One of the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

tells of how which creature "got his spots"?

The leopard.

No messing around. It's the right answer. Of course it is.

Nayfe, what is the name of the eldest Pevensie daughter

in CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

Well, Hermione's Harry Potter and Wendy's Peter Pan

so that's Susan.

It is. Well handled, just like the Egghead before you.

Straight in with the right answer.

The artwork erected on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth in 2012

is a bronze sculpture of what?

I don't know. I'm going to have to have a guess.

Trafalgar Square...

I'll have to go Boy on a Rocking Horse.

OK. Boy on a Rocking Horse...

-..is the right answer.

-I don't know how I got away with that.

OK. Nayfe,

as well as birds and horses,

which animal is visible in the foreground of Constable's The Hay Wain?

We've had a print on the landing for many years in my parents' house,

but I'm trying to think.

I'm going to go with dog

because I think there's a dog running by the side of the hay wain.

You've got it! It's right. There's a mental imprint somewhere.

So it's all square. Third question for both of you.

Dave, this is yours. Six years before its publication as a novel in 1961,

the opening chapter of Joseph Heller's Catch-22

appeared in a literary magazine under what title?

I haven't got a clue. Erm... Let's have a look.

Catch-18 doesn't sound catchy enough to me, but it's probably right.

Catch-24... Catch-29...

I haven't got any kind of basis for it at all.

Erm...

I'm going to go Catch-18.

OK. Catch...

..18! Well done, Dave.

-Well done.

-I think it's just reverse logic!

-Yes.

It didn't seem right.

All right, Nayfe, this is a very important question for you.

What is the title of the self-portrait by Sarah Lucas

in which she has a poultry product attached to her underwear?

I have got absolutely no clue, surprisingly!

I think I'm just going to go with Chicken Knickers

on the basis that it sounds the most entertaining.

That's probably why she chose it. It's the right answer. Well done.

Good quizzing. Well played, Nayfe. All square. We go to Sudden Death.

We are removing the options. Answers direct from you, nothing to guess at.

Dave, the band names Heaven 17 and Moloko

were inspired by which book by Anthony Burgess?

-A Clockwork Orange.

-It's the right answer. Well done.

Nayfe,

which kitchen sink drama by Shelagh Delaney

was first performed as play in 1958 when she was just 19?

I-I couldn't even hazard a guess.

-I couldn't even hazard a guess.

-Are you sure?

Better to have a go than leave it empty.

Erm...

-No. Sorry.

-There's nothing there. Can't force you.

It's all gone blank. We all know the feeling.

I'll just ask Dave if he knows. Dave, any idea?

-A Taste of Honey.

-It is A Taste of Honey.

It means Dave's won the round. No place for you, I'm afraid, Nayfe.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Very close but that evens it up.

Both teams have lost one brain from the Final Round.

Round Three. This head-to-head is Sport.

Who'd like to play?

-Matt.

-It's going to be me, Dermot.

All right, Matt. Choose an Egghead. Dave and Daphne have played.

You have Kevin, Judith or Pat.

Not Kevin or Pat? Right, Judith please.

It has to be Judith.

OK. Matt and Judith, into the Question Room, please.

Matt, as the challenger, you choose -

do you want to go first or let Judith begin?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Matt. First question on Sport.

The brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee

won medals at London 2012 in which event?

It certainly wasn't javelin and I'm sure it wasn't the marathon.

I remember them. I think one came first and one came third.

-It was the triathlon.

-It was indeed the triathlon,

involving that agonising penalty wait.

Judith, first question. At the start of a frame of snooker,

the 15 red balls are arranged in the form of what shape?

I think they're in a triangle.

They are. That's correct.

Matt, second question.

Which country staged cricket's 2012 ICC World Twenty20 competition?

They just lost out in the final to the West Indies. It was Sri Lanka.

Knows his cricket. That's right, Matt, yes.

Judith, in 1954 Lester Piggott, then aged 18,

won his first Epsom Derby on which horse?

Oh, gosh!

Erm, something is drawing me towards Sir Ivor.

OK. Sir Ivor for Lester Piggott.

So many thousands of victories during that long, long career.

But that first Derby win...

-..was on Never Say Die.

-Oh.

Great chance for you here, Matt.

A chance to go into the Final Round with a correct answer here.

In 1992, which tennis player appeared in all four Grand Slam Ladies' Singles Finals?

Right, now, Monica Seles,

I know she was attacked at one stage and was never the same again.

I think that might've been before 1992 so I don't think it was her.

I don't think Sabatini was ever good enough for all four finals.

I'm going to go Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

OK. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

All four Grand Slam titles in 1992. In the finals, sorry, not titles.

Er, no, it was Monica Seles.

So a let-off for Judith

and a chance to get into Sudden Death.

Judith, in the early 1980s,

the Frenchmen Patrick Tambay and Didier Pironi

were professionals in which sport?

Well, the French are mad about cycling

but I don't know whether that's just lately.

They're also very good at skiing. Oh, dearie me.

It's going to be a guess.

-Skiing.

-OK, skiing.

I loved your line about cycling, wondering if it was only lately they got into it.

-They invented the Tour de France!

-I know,

-but I don't know if they were good at it until lately.

-I see!

Just have a tour and invite everyone else along!

-It's motor racing, Judith!

-It was neither of them.

-Leave cycling out of it.

-I would never have gone for that.

Indeed! It's motor racing,

so it didn't matter about that tennis question, Matt.

You are in the Final Round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Another Egghead crashing to earth, which means they've lost two brains from the Final Round.

Complete Boulmerdash have only lost one.

Our next subject is Music.

Two players left there. It's Emma or Kev.

-I think that's...

-It's going to be Emma.

-That's mine

just because it is!

-Just because it is.

-If it's all '90s-plus...!

-Yes.

Which Egghead would you like to play from either Kevin or Pat?

Who's got the fear in their eyes?

-There's no fear from either of them!

-No fear it all!

-Er... I fancy taking on Kevin if you're OK with that.

-Go for it.

Hopefully all the questions are about Katy Perry and Taylor Swift!

-Just to narrow it down!

-I can hope!

Emma and Kevin, into the Question Room, please.

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

I'd love to go first, please.

Here's your first question, Emma. Which TV character

had the 1993 Christmas UK number 1 single?

Well, I haven't heard of Sooty having a single

and Big Bird is pretty American,

so I think I'll go for Mr Blobby because Noel's House Party was out.

You might've been jumping round

as you opened your Christmas presents to it.

It is the right answer, yes. Mr Blobby.

Kevin, which song by Oasis was used as the theme tune to the TV sitcom The Royle Family?

Ah. Of course, I never actually watched The Royle Family

-so that's a bit of a problem, isn't it?

-Yes.

Mm...

I simply don't know it so I'll try Some Might Say.

OK. Some Might Say.

-It's Half the World Away, Kevin.

-OK. Right.

Never watched it so I just don't know.

Half the World Away, which is what you were from the answer.

OK. Well, what a start, Emma.

Second question. "Fall to Grace",

which reached number two in the UK chart in 2012,

is the second album by which singer?

I don't think that Cher Lloyd has released more than one album.

I think Joss Stone has released more than two albums.

Fall to Grace sounds like a Paloma Faith kind of song

-so I'm going to go for Paloma Faith.

-OK.

That was right up your street. 2-0 lead. It's correct.

Well, alarm bells ringing for Kevin.

The song Respect, a hit for Aretha Franklin, was written by which other singer?

Now, this I should know.

This is a bad set of questions for me, as it's turned out!

Just the way they go.

Erm... I'll try Otis Redding.

Otis Redding is the right answer, Kevin!

-Whoa!

-Something in there somewhere, I think.

He's clawed his way back in. He's got a slim chance.

But his fate is not in his hands because of that first question he got wrong.

So for a place in the Final Round, Emma, playing for £5,000...

In the video to Pulp's Common People,

Jarvis Cocker is wheeled down a supermarket aisle in a shopping trolley,

being pushed by which actress?

Now, I don't know this.

I think Common People was maybe a bit before Sienna Miller's time

so I don't think it's her.

It's out of the other two.

In my opinion, Sadie Frost is more famous and more recognisable

so I'm going to go for her.

OK, Sadie Frost.

Gone for it. Can't change it.

-It's the right answer.

-BOYS: Yes!

In RAF terms, you've just shot him down!

The mighty Kevin is not going to be in the Final Round. Emma, you are.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the Final Round. As always, it's general knowledge.

Those who lost your head-to-heads won't be allowed to take part in this round.

Nayfe from Complete Boulmerdash

and Judith, Kevin and Daphne from the Eggheads,

would you all leave the studio, please?

Andy, Matt, Emma and Kev, you're playing to win Complete Boulmerdash £5,000.

Pat and Dave, you're playing for something which money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The differences are, it's general knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

Complete Boulmerdash, the question is,

are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

Guys, would you like to go first or second?

Going first seems to have worked well, so we'll go first again.

Let's see how you do. Best of luck. First question coming right up.

Which of these is the name of a type of dance,

believed to have developed from the mambo in 1950s Cuba?

-Cha Cha Cha's quite old.

-Do-si-do, isn't that like line dancing?

-Yes, where you're going round...

-You hear them in ceilidhs.

-Yes.

-THEY TALK AT ONCE

-Lindy-lou just doesn't sound...

-I think Cha Cha Cha - big skirts...

So, what, Cha Cha Cha shall we go for?

-Yes.

-It's definitely not Do-si-do.

I haven't heard of Lindy-lou so I would...

-That seems to be the consensus.

-OK.

We're going to go for the Cha Cha Cha.

Cha Cha Cha is the correct answer. Good start.

Which constituent of the body is most likely to suffer from split ends?

-I hope it's hair.

-You could have problems with your nails.

I think that term is always used for hair...

-Yes, hair.

-..in the ads for shampoo and all the rest of it.

-We're going for hair.

-OK. Hair is the right answer.

Back to Complete Boulmerdash. After a nice start, let's build on it.

Who is the English director of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough?

I'm happy. What are you going to say?

I'm not going to put anything in your head if you're confident.

-If you've got a good idea because I've got no idea.

-I'm 95 percent certain it's Michael Apted.

I would go with you. I don't know.

If anyone else has got any ideas, but I don't recognise the others...

I recognise Michael Apted.

-We'll go with Michael Apted.

-OK.

It's the right answer.

Two for two.

Eggheads, where is the UK Space Agency based?

I have a faint notion it's Swindon but I have no real reason.

If you've got the notion,

-rather than...

-It could easily be wrong. Exeter?

-Do any of them ring any bells?

-Not with me.

If you've got the notion Swindon, then...

-It really is a punt.

-That's fair enough.

If you've got a faint notion it's Swindon, we've got to go with that.

We don't know this, Dermot. We're going to...

I've a faint notion it might be Swindon, but it's very tenuous.

-It's correct.

-Well done.

2-2.

Back to Complete Boulmerdash. Third question.

A blue plaque erected in north London in 2003

marks a former home of David Devant

who, in 1905, became the first president of which organisation?

The Horticultural Society has got to be older than that.

I'm sure it's a lot older.

Is it older than that?

The Confederation of British Industry pre-dates that.

You're talking back to the Industrial Revolution.

However, you'd also think any group of magicians would date back further

because it was a popular pastime for Victorians to go and see.

But the music hall was really big around then, wasn't it?

Perhaps the Magic Circle didn't exist and they didn't share their secrets.

I don't know the answer but, to me, the Magic Circle seems more likely.

I would go for Magic Circle.

I'm with Matt.

I don't know.

-I'm going Magic Circle. Matt?

-Magic Circle.

-OK. I'm happy.

Let's go with it, then. We'll go with Magic Circle.

Magic Circle is your answer. It was your first instinct.

-It's the right answer. Well done.

-Yes!

OK.

-Well!

-Magic.

If the Eggheads don't land this, you've got the money.

What was the first name of the English woman

who married into the Wagner family

and took control of the Bayreuth Festival in 1930?

Have you got any notion?

I think in the Wagner family, there is a...

..I thought there was a "Winfried", the German spelling,

but maybe I saw what I expected to see. Maybe it's Winifred.

-I really don't know. I'm tempted by Winifred.

-OK.

You've seen it somewhere, possibly, and maybe thought it was Winfried.

I may've assumed it was the German spelling.

-But it's tenuous again.

-OK. We'll go with it.

We're riding our luck here. I've an idea it might be Winifred.

OK. Winifred.

Cheered on by Daphne. It's the right answer, Eggheads.

-Well done.

-We go to Sudden Death.

All square at 3-3.

As you know, we remove the options.

Complete Boulmerdash,

fantastic quizzing so far. Keep it up.

On a standard London Monopoly board,

the pink properties are Pall Mall, Northumberland Avenue and which other?

I was thinking Pentonville.

-That's light blue.

-No, that's light blue.

-I believe it's Whitehall.

-Yes, I agree with you.

-Go for it.

-You're the expert.

I'm going to make a show of myself if I get this wrong!

I believe it is Whitehall.

You've obviously played Monopoly a lot, judging from that!

It's the right answer. Well done.

Well done, Kev.

In terms of casino revenues,

which former Portuguese colony overtook Las Vegas in 2006

to become the world's foremost gambling resort?

-I think that's Macau.

-That's all I can think of.

-I think it's got the world's biggest casinos.

-If it has, it's Portuguese.

-Even US gambling moguls like Adelson have built...

-Casinos there. Macau.

We're going for Macau.

It's the right answer. Well done.

On we go in the search for a winner. This is going to take something.

Which city did the architect Le Corbusier

describe as "a beautiful catastrophe"?

It could be London.

Christopher Wren redesigned London but it didn't all come to...

-But would you describe London as beautiful?

-I wouldn't but...

I think it's an educated guess.

It can't be anything too new. It's got to have old stuff.

-That rules out anywhere in America.

-That rules out America.

OK. Erm,

a semi educated guess - London.

OK. London.

The city described by Le Corbusier as "a beautiful catastrophe" is...

..New York.

Once you ruled out the United States...

"A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe,

"and fifty times it is a beautiful catastrophe."

That's from his book "When the Cathedrals Were White".

Well, the Eggheads have to get their question correct if they are to win.

The Bishops' Bible was a version of the Bible

first produced during the reign of which English monarch?

I suspect we should go for a nice big monarch

like Henry VIII or Elizabeth I.

-Shall we go for Elizabeth I?

-It's a guess.

We're reduced to a guess. We're going to go for Elizabeth I.

OK. The Bishops' Bible was a version of the Bible

first produced during the reign of...

-..Elizabeth I!

-Well done!

-You've won.

DERMOT LAUGHS

I feel like that! What must you feel like?

What a fantastic performance!

You won the game on questions. You answered more correctly than the Eggheads.

Well done. Thank you very much for playing.

The only thing you didn't do was win the money, but the rest was fantastic!

So good to see you here, Complete Boulmerdash. Best of luck.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally. They reign supreme over quiz land.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £5,000,

which means the money rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£6,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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