Episode 4 Eggheads

These people are among 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 the show where a team of five quiz challengers pit their wits

against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain - they are the Eggheads.

Hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today are...

This team of friends are all connected

through the same football team based in Warrington. Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Pete. I'm 40 and I run a printing company.

Hello, I'm Neil. I'm 45 and I'm a painter and decorator.

Hi, I'm Graeme. I'm 28 and I'm a business trainer.

Hello. I'm Mike. I'm 35 and I'm a sales executive.

Hi, I'm Neil. I'm 40 and I'm a technology engineer.

Welcome, Canaries. You're from Warrington. You're the Canaries.

-So, nothing to do with Norwich?

-No. Wrong end of the country!

Why the Canaries, then? You wear yellow shirts?

When we first started, we didn't have a kit.

The only thing we could rustle up was seven yellow shirts.

My brother-in-law said, "You look like a bunch of canaries." And the name stuck.

It wasn't high-vis jackets, was it?

Do you do any quizzing? We know about the football.

We occasionally go to the local pub, the Plough, have a few pints and answer some questions.

-Mainly wrongly, but...

-Get a few right and you might win the money. I'll tell you how much.

Every day, there is £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads the money rolls over.

So, Canaries, the Eggheads have won the last seven.

So £8,000 says you can't beat them.

Our first head-to-head battle is going to be on Science.

Who'd like to open for the Canaries?

-Science. Stick with the plan?

-Yeah.

Stick with the plan. That'll be me, Dermot.

-And...

-Go Pat?

-Yeah. Pat or Judith? Pat.

-Go Pat.

-I'll try and take Pat on, please.

-Graeme and Pat, into the Question Room, please.

Good luck, Graeme, kicking off for the Canaries.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first please, Dermot.

Good luck, Graeme.

First question coming your way.

What term is used to refer to the condition of a slow heart rate, below 60 beats per minute?

Below 60. So, it's to do with the heart.

Sciatica, I think, is to do with your nerves.

Neuralgia sounds like it could be to do with the brain.

Purely on the basis of "cardia",

I'm going to go with bradycardia, I think.

Right to do so. It's correct. Good start.

What type of scientific establishment is located more than 4,000 metres up,

at the top of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii?

Because of its height and the thin air,

it's a near perfect spot for observatories,

and various giant telescopes are housed up there.

So, it's observatory.

-Not a good spot for a nuclear power station?

-Ah, well!

-You can put them anywhere.

-Probably not there.

It is the right answer, observatory. Graeme, second question.

Which part of the Space Shuttle was the only element not to be routinely reused?

Not to be reused? Um...

I could see them reusing a fuel tank.

Payload bay, I couldn't even fathom what that is.

I can't imagine a rocket booster being reused,

so I'm going to go with solid rocket booster.

All right, it's not. It's incorrect.

It was the only element NOT to be routinely reused,

which was the external fuel tank.

The external fuel tank is what we wanted.

Pat, as seen on a plant leaf, what is a stoma?

I think it's the Greek for "mouth".

It's a little pore through which the plant transpires

and does all sorts of things.

-It's pore.

-Greek for "little mouth"?

-For "mouth". I think so.

-Coming out of your big mouth.

Pore is correct. Gives you the lead.

And, Graeme, third question.

What does a helminthologist study?

-I'm going to spell it. I suspect you want me to.

-Please.

H-E-L-M-I-N-T-H-O-L-O-G-I-S-T. It's all one word.

-Helminthologist?

-What does a helminthologist study?

Eggshells. Would somebody study eggshells?

I'm drawn towards parasitic worms, I don't know why.

I'm going to go with the worms, please, parasitic worms.

Don't know why you're drawn to parasitic worms.

-Maybe you're just thinking about the Eggheads.

-Maybe.

You've got those images in your mind.

It's the right answer, too! Well done!

Still work to do, Pat, if you are to win. If you don't get this, we go to Sudden Death.

What colour is the element barium?

I don't know.

A great many elements in the middle of the periodic table

are invariably described as "silvery-white" metals,

but I don't know if barium is one of them.

It's over to the left in one of the first couple of columns.

I don't know.

On the basis that quite a few elements are silvery-white,

I think that's the percentage answer, silvery-white.

On percentages.

Showing your Egghead-like thinking, it is the correct answer, Pat.

You've won the round. Bad luck, Graeme.

Did fairly well but, of course, Pat did very well.

You won't be playing in the final round. Please come back and join your teams.

One Canary gone. All the Eggheads still there. We haven't gone very far.

Let's go further with our next head-to-head. A-ha! You'll like this, I'm sure.

Who wants to play? Can't be Graeme.

ALL CONFER

Who do you want me to take on?

Shall we go Chris? >

Yeah. >

OK. I'll go and I'll play Chris.

I think you've got a plan. You've thought this through. Hoping for Sport.

Just hope it works.

Let's hope it does for you. It's going to be Mike and Chris playing the sport round.

Into the Question Room, please.

Let's see if you can go the whole hog here, Mike, and knock Chris out on Sport.

-What are your tactics? First or second?

-I'd like to go first please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Mike. Here's your question.

In fencing, what French word is traditionally used by a competitor

to acknowledge that a hit has been made?

OK, well... Not familiar with bisque associated to fencing.

Um...

Peloton is generally the...

I think it's the name given to the actual...

area in the Olympics that fencing's around,

but touche is the one that I recognise as the one where...

-Yeah. Touche.

-Touche!

Literally "touched". It's the right answer. Well done.

Chris, in horse racing, what name is given to an investigation

into the events of a particular race?

The last hope of losing punters! It's the stewards' enquiry.

Stewards' enquiry, you think. It's the right answer.

No need for a stewards' enquiry there.

Mike, in which part of the world is UNCAF an association of local national football teams?

OK, um... I think I'm going to rule out central Africa.

Cos I think that's CONCACAF, or along those lines - I think.

Um...

Central Asia, I'm not sure. I'm being drawn towards Central America.

-I'm going to say Central America.

-Central America.

Is the right answer. Well done, Mike. Particularly well done.

If you didn't know the central Africa one...

I play along when I first see the questions to see if I know it.

With the F in there, you're drawn to Africa.

I'm sure a lot of you thought that but Mike, well done.

You've got two out of two.

Chris, for which team did Pastor Maldonado drive in the 2012 Formula 1 season?

Maldonado sounds like an Italian name,

not that that's anything to go by.

The only Italian team there is Ferrari.

-That's what I'll have to go with.

-Other Eggheads, what do you think?

-KEVIN AND JUDITH: Williams.

-It's Williams, Chris.

Makes that second answer from you

look all the better, Mike.

You get into the final round with a correct one here.

Which West Indian bowler broke Mike Gatting's nose during a 1986 one-day cricket international?

I do remember this. Um...

Question is, which of those bowlers was it?

Joel Garner, known as Big Bird. Don't think it was Joel.

Um... Or the Whispering Death, Michael Holding.

I'm pretty convinced that it was Malcolm Marshall.

Going for Malcolm Marshall breaking Mike Gatting's nose.

Looks like he's had his nose broken a few times! This was one of them.

Was it Malcolm Marshall in 1986?

Yes, it was. It's the right answer. Well done, Mike.

Well done, Mike. No need to put another question to Chris!

He remains silent in the Question Room - fuming silently.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

It's all-square now. Both the Canaries and the Eggheads have lost one brain from the final round.

Round three, and this one is Geography.

Who'd like to play this?

ALL CONFER

Who do you want me to take on?

-Judith?

-What about Kevin?

-Kevin?

-It's up to you. Yeah?

-I'll take Kevin on.

-OK. Yeah.

You're really unconcerned. You'll take any of them on!

Let's have Neil and Kevin into the Question Room, please.

Neil couldn't wait to get into the Question Room and take on the mighty Kevin in Geography.

You've got a one in 12 chance of beating him. He's played 36 and lost three during Eggheads.

That's the kind of man he is. So modest.

Just a little expression as I mentioned that.

You know it's going to be hard work. Do you want to go first or second?

I think I'll go first.

Good luck, Neil.

First Geography question is this.

Bridgwater and Taunton are towns in which English county?

I think I know this, to start with.

I know it's not in Kent.

And I know it's not in Norfolk, which only leaves Somerset.

Indeed. It's the right answer. Yes.

Kevin, the Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in which sea?

They're called "Lesser" because they're the smaller chain of islands

in the Caribbean.

Correct answer. Yup.

Another pair of questions. Second question, Neil.

Where would one be most likely to see a type of hill known as a pingo? P-I-N-G-O.

Well, seeing as it's a hill, I'm guessing it's not in a basin.

I'm not sure of the other two.

-I'm going to go with the Sahara desert.

-Sahara desert.

You could have a hill in a basin, if it's a big basin.

It's not the Amazon. It's not the Sahara, though.

It is the Arctic. Pingos.

-I thought it was Pingus.

-That's a little penguin.

-That'll be the Antarctic.

-Yeah.

Kevin, chance for the lead. What is the official currency

of the British military enclave of Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus?

I think they would use...

Cyprus used to have the Cyprus pound,

but then it signed up to the euro.

Because the British military bases are small enclaves within Cyprus,

the logic is it would be the euro.

OK, the euro.

Logic proving right. It is correct.

So, you have a lead.

Neil, you need to get this.

Sebastopol is a sea port in which country?

Well, they're all on the Black Sea.

Georgia's only a small little place.

Sebastopol.

I don't really know, Dermot, so I'm going to go...

with Romania.

Sebastopol, a sea port in...

Ukraine.

Sorry, Neil. Didn't get it.

And that's enough to see you exiting the game, I'm afraid.

Kevin's through to the final round. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So, the Canaries have lost two brains from the final round. The Eggheads have lost one.

There's a pattern developing. They strike first. You strike back.

You have to win our last head-to-head before the final round, and its Music.

There's only Pete or other Neil.

-Who wants to play?

-I'll do it if you want.

-You do it.

Pete.

-I think I'm going to do it, Dermot.

-You've got Barry or Judith.

-Barry?

-Yeah.

-Barry.

-I'll play Barry, please.

-All right.

Barry's pleased about that. Pete and Barry into the Question Room, please.

-Pete, would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first please.

It's Music, first question.

What is the title of pop group One Direction's debut album?

-Are you a fan, Pete?

-I'm not, but my daughter's a massive fan.

-Good.

-I think I know.

-You'd better get it right.

-She'll kill me if I don't.

I think it's Up All Night.

-It's the right answer. Yes.

-LAUGHS

-She'll be very happy. What's her name?

-Emily.

Well done, Emily, helping her dad by getting that.

And Barry, which group had a UK Top Ten in 1980 with De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da?

I remember this very well. I'll save you from singing it.

-It was The Police.

-It is The Police.

Identified that very successfully. It's level-pegging

after those first questions. Second question for Pete.

Let's Get Serious was a 1980 UK hit single for which of the Jacksons?

I'm not sure La Toya had any hits.

I'm stuck between Janet and Jermaine.

It might be early for Janet, so I'm going to go with Jermaine.

Jermaine Jackson. We ARE getting serious.

It's the right answer.

Matching Barry with his knowledge of music of 1980.

Which song from the musical High Society contains the lines,

"Have you heard? It's in the stars. Next July we collide with Mars"?

Ah.

# Have you heard? It's in the stars Next July we collide with Mars

# Well, do you evah? What a swell party this is. #

Well, Do You Evah?

You thought you'd got away with it.

Yeah. Who said Frank Sinatra's not with us any more?

Well, Did You Evah? It is the right answer.

Thankfully - we don't have to go through the other ones.

This is great quizzing. It's all-square.

This is for you, Pete.

Which French composer became organist at the famed Church of the Madeleine in Paris in 1857,

an association that lasted for 20 years?

-Don't think Emily can help you with that one!

-Wouldn't have thought so.

I've got to be honest, Dermot, I have not got a clue.

I've heard of Debussy. I've not heard of the other two.

I'm going to have to take a guess.

Because it sounds a bit Frenchy, I'm going to say...

-STRUGGLES WITH PRONUNCIATION:

-Camille Saint-Saens.

That one, yeah! We've lit it up. We know what you mean.

You've gone for that "because it sounds a bit Frenchy"?

-LAUGHING

-They all sound a bit Frenchy,

in all honesty.

Pete, we like your honesty - and you got the right answer!

Who cares how you got it? Camille Saint-Saens.

Well, Barry, crucial question.

What is the real first name of the guitarist Ry Cooder?

Ooh. I like Ry Cooder. I listen to his music quite often.

But I'm struggling to remember his first name.

I don't think it's Rydan. It's either Ryman or Ryland.

Something at the back of my mind is telling me it's Ryland.

It could equally be Ryman but I'll go for Ryland.

I hear he's interested in stationery and opened a chain of shops.

It IS Ryland. It's the right answer. Well done, Barry.

That means we go for the first time to Sudden Death.

No choices, that's all. Same formula. Here you go.

Ringleader Of The Tormentors and You Are The Quarry

are solo albums by which British singer?

I'm not 100% sure...

but my brother-in-law is a massive Smiths fan.

I've got a feeling it's Morrissey.

Normally we need a first name and a surname, but we don't in this case.

It's the right answer - Morrissey.

Your family's really helping you out!

Just as well you listen to the music they listen to.

Morrissey, right. In pole position again.

Barry, the only UK Top Ten single for Whistling Jack Smith

was in 1967 with a song called I Was Kaiser Bill's... what?

I used to be able to whistle this, but over the years my ability to whistle has sadly diminished.

I believe it was I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman.

-What do you mean "sadly"?

-I enjoyed whistling. It was a fun activity.

-I'm sure YOU did, Barry.

-I didn't have to listen to myself.

We don't want you whistling along to I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman. It's the right answer, well done.

Anyone else can just remind us of it?

CHRIS WHISTLES THE SONG

Got it.

Chris isn't bad at it, you know. Kaiser Bill's Batman.

Another pair of questions. Pete, you're going really well. Keep it up.

Which jazz musician, who died in 2010,

wrote theme tunes for the TV shows Tomorrow's World and The Avengers,

as well as scores for films including The Servant and Modesty Blaise?

Um... Jazz isn't one of my strong points.

I must admit, I don't know.

I'm just going to have to pluck out one of the only jazz people I've ever heard of -

I don't even know if he's dead - and say Acker Bilk.

Acker Bilk. Good guess. It's not right.

It's an incorrect answer. Does Barry know?

-No. I'm afraid I don't know this one.

-Oh!

Oh, dear. I'm sure the other Eggheads will.

Laurie Johnson. Johnny Dankworth.

Not from Chris. It's from Kevin. John or Johnny Dankworth.

Well, a crack in Pete's armour

gives Barry a slim chance here.

Which English musician and composer best known for his instrumental work

had hit albums in the UK in the 1970s with Hergest Ridge,

Ommadawn and Incantations?

I believe Hergest Ridge was the follow-up to Tubular Bells.

-It was Mike Oldfield.

-I bet YOU had them, didn't you?

-I certainly did. I still have.

-Of course you did.

Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn and Incantations. Pete knew it as well. It is Mike Oldfield.

Bad luck, Pete.

You would have been a real bonus to the team if you'd made it.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

This is what we've been playing towards, the final round which, as always, is...

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

So we lose Pete, Neil and Graeme from the Canaries

and Chris from the Eggheads - would you all please leave the studio now?

Mike and Neil, you're playing to win the Canaries £8,000.

Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something which money can't buy - your very reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The questions are General Knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

Which means, Mike, your victory was important in that head-to-head.

Gives Neil someone to talk to there! Neil endorsing that!

The question is, Canaries, are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

What do you want to do, go first or second?

-First.

-Can we go first please, Dermot?

Let's get on with it. The Canaries electing to start.

General Knowledge, first question.

For what does the letter G stand in the name of the fuel LPG?

-I think it's gas.

-It's the most obvious one.

-Yeah.

-Um... You happy with that?

-Yeah. Definitely.

-OK. Go on.

I think that's gas, Dermot.

-The other two might make a bit of a mess of your engine!

-Yeah.

It is. Can you give me the L and P?

-Liquid petroleum?

-Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

Well done.

Eggheads, what name is given to the backward springing action of a gun that occurs when it's fired?

Recoil?

-That's recoil.

-Recoil is correct, Judith, well done.

Knowledge of weaponry from Judith. And it's all-square.

Second question, Canaries.

In 1972, Fay Maschler became the restaurant critic of which newspaper?

-Do you know?

-I'll be honest, no.

-Right.

-Well, I think...

-It might...

-Can I talk?

-Go on.

I reckon I read it in the Evening Standard that she retired recently.

-Oh, right.

-On the way home on the train.

Go for it.

I think that I read recently in the Evening Standard

that she'd retired.

So we'll say the Evening Standard.

It's the right answer. Well done. Well remembered from that article.

Eggheads, then.

Sally Lockhart is the central character in a series of four novels by which author?

Philip Pullman, OK?

I'm not sure on this one.

-Philip Pullman.

-Philip Pullman you think.

You KNOW. It's correct, Eggheads. Back to the Canaries.

Coming into English via French,

from what language does the word "caravan" originally derive?

-Again, I've got...

-No idea.

-Have you got any idea?

-No.

-I think possibly it could be Hindi.

-I was. I was.

-Well, we're both drawn towards it.

-Yeah.

-Just have a go.

-OK.

We're not quite sure but we're both drawn to the same answer.

We shall say Hindi.

Hindi, and both drawn to it.

You're both wrong. Eggheads, do you know?

Persian.

I think it derives from "caravanserai",

-stopping places on the Silk Road when they reached Persia.

-Ah, OK.

Then we get caravan from that.

It's Persian, not Hindi.

An opening for the Eggheads.

In what year did the first official Edinburgh Military Tattoo take place?

It might be 1850, Victorian Scotland.

I remember seeing them when I was five or six.

And that was WELL before 1950!

Unfortunately, that would be around '53 or '54.

-Any thoughts, Pat?

-Has it got anything to do with the Festival?

That was my only thought. The Festival started 1947.

Has it got any linkage at all? I've no idea.

-Well, I don't know.

-It now takes place during the Festival.

-Yeah.

I'm not aware of it going back beyond...

My first gut reaction was I was looking for '47 up there.

So '50 might be possible, actually.

You both think it is that, 1950,

rather than Queen Victoria being interested in Scotland?

My first instinct when they came up was 1950,

but I may be entirely wrong, it may go back much...

-I don't know either.

-..further than I thought.

-So which would you like to go for?

-1950, I'd say.

-OK.

-We're going to risk it and say 1950.

-The answer is...

1950. Eggheads, you've won.

Bad luck, Canaries. You know what proved to be decisive,

listening to that discussion on that last answer from the Eggheads,

was the Neil versus Kevin - Neil in the Question Room -

the Neil versus Kevin head-to-head,

which unfortunately, from your point of view, Kevin won.

But fortunately for the Eggheads he steadied the ship there.

The rest of them might have dived in on 1850.

It means you've failed to beat the Eggheads today, but heads held high!

-You quizzed well and I hope you've had a great time.

-Super time, yeah.

Good to see you, Canaries, and best of luck with the football and the quizzing.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and their winning streak continues.

You won't be going home with the £8,000. The money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Hitting a bit of form here. Who will beat you?

Join us to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£9,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]