Episode 56 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, where five quiz challengers pit their wits

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

Taking on our quiz Goliaths today are Credit Where Credit's Due.

This team all work in credit and risk analysis at a stockbroker's in Leeds. Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Simon, I'm 31 and a credit risk analyst.

Hi. I'm Kevin, I'm 40 years old and an associate vice president.

Hiya, I'm Sam, I'm 33 and an operational risk analyst.

Hi, I'm David, I'm 29 and a recoveries analyst.

Hi, I'm Jeremy, 49, and a financial crime prevention senior manager.

Welcome, Credit Where Credit's Due. Well, you might go well into credit if you win today on Eggheads.

-Tell me about your quizzing experience. Have you done much?

-We've done a couple of quizzes.

Well...two. We found one on the internet to do.

It was on some What's On In Leeds website. So we went along to a pub in Leeds

and we said, "Are you ready for the quiz?" There was only four people in.

He said, "I beg your pardon? We haven't had a quiz for years."

So we just played the Post-It note game for the rest of the night.

-Where you write up names?

-Yeah, we made our own up.

-Fantastic.

I like to see you've had some good preparation. Maybe we should have a round of that with the Eggheads.

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

If they fail, the prize money rolls over.

So the Eggheads have won the last six games. You guys can work out

that £7,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

And our first head to head, a chance to knock an Egghead out, is on Music.

Who'd like to start us off?

- Is that me? - Your round, Sam.

-That'll be me.

-All right, Sam. I can see you're fired up.

-Choose an Egghead.

-Take Chris on?

-Yeah, me and Chris.

-OK, it's going to be Sam and Chris on Music.

Both, from the question room, please.

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

-First, please.

OK, first question. Who, together with the Military Wives,

won the Classical Brit Award for Single of the Year in 2012?

I'm not really au fait with classical, so this is a bit hard for me, this one.

Em...

2012. I don't think it's Paul Potts because he was the...

Britain's Got Talent winner a few years ago.

I'm not sure if Katherine Jenkins has done anything recently.

-I'm going to say Gareth Malone.

-Phew! Just as well, yes.

Well done there.

Chris, 2012 was the 50th anniversary of the release of which group's debut UK single?

1962.

The Beatles were '63.

The Who were sort of mod era. That's more '65-ish.

So it had to be the Rolling Stones.

OK. It's not the right answer. I'm not sure you maybe listened to the question.

It's not number one. It's the debut UK single.

-It was in 1962 from... Eggheads?

-The Beatles.

-And the song was...?

-Love Me Do.

-Love Me Do.

Right, well,

-great news, Sam.

-Yeah.

-Good start. Can you go two-nil up here?

Halcyon, released in 2012, is the second album by which female British artist?

Halcyon. Can you spell that, please?

H-A-L-C-Y-O-N.

Halcyon.

Well, I don't think Emeli Sande's had her second album yet.

-I'm going to say Ellie Goulding.

-Well done! It's the right answer! You're two-nil up.

Well, Chris will go down without a score if he doesn't get this.

"I bought it in Primrose Hill from a bloke from Brazil," are lines from which single by Madness?

That's Driving In My Car, Dermot.

OK! Are you a bit of a Madness fan?

-I like some of their stuff, yeah.

-Driving In My Car is right.

Chris is still in it

and he'll do his damnedest to get back at you. You can prevent that if you get this right, Sam.

The saxophonist known as Kenny G was born with which surname?

I just know him as Kenny G!

Never even heard of this. I'm going to have to...

I'm going to punt for Gorelick.

OK. You've gone down the middle...

..and you're in the final round! It's the right answer!

Storming performance!

Well-rounded music knowledge there. You're in the final round. Would you both please join your teams?

Well, the Eggheads always give credit where credit's due. I think they will agree with me

that was a textbook performance, Sam. That's the way to do it.

The Eggheads have lost one brain.

And our next subject is History.

Who wants to play this?

-That would be me, I think.

-OK, right, David.

-Choose your Egghead.

-Daphne, please.

OK, the two Ds, David and Daphne, into the question room, please.

-So, David, history is your leisure activity, is it? That's what you prefer to read?

-Yeah, I do.

I studied it at university. It's gone on from there.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go. First question now.

The ancient region of Canaan was in which area of the world?

Well, I went to Catholic school, so if I get this wrong it would be embarrassing. The Middle East.

OK, that's your answer and it is correct, so you're not embarrassed.

Daphne, used by Germany in WWII, what type of machine was the Stuka?

That was an aircraft.

I think it had something on it that made a whistle when it dived,

to frighten people.

You're the quizzing equivalent of one, I should say! It is the right answer.

An aircraft. OK, David,

who was US President when the Russians shot down the U2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers?

I might rule out Kennedy. I think he was slightly earlier.

I'm going to plump for Nixon.

OK. No, it's even earlier than Kennedy. It's Eisenhower.

So a chance for Daphne.

The Egyptian monarch Akhenaten rejected traditional religion and established a new cult

that worshipped what?

-The Sun, Ra.

-The Sun.

It's right. What would traditional religion have been that he rejected?

Lots of gods. A whole pantheon,

whereas this was a monotheistic religion. Just the Sun disc.

-That was it.

-That was worshipped.

Daphne got it. You have that lead.

In which Kent town did Napoleon III die in 1873

during surgery for a bladder stone?

I don't think I've ever come across that, so it's another guess.

-I'm going to go with Sevenoaks.

-Sevenoaks.

Napoleon III died during surgery in...

Chislehurst. As you were saying there,

a complete guess.

It hasn't worked for you. Daphne is through to the final round.

Both please come back and join your teams.

Daphne wreaking her revenge there for the ejection of Chris.

It's all square now. Both teams have lost one brain from the final round.

So evenly poised. Let's move on to our third head to head.

Arts and Books. Who'd like this one?

-Simon, Kevin or Jeremy?

-The one we didn't want!

-That's me, Dermot.

-All right, Kevin. And choose your Egghead. It could be Kevin and Kevin.

There's two others, Judith and Dave.

-I'd like to take on Dave, please.

-OK, Kevin and Dave.

Into the question room, please.

-Kevin, first or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

OK, Arts and Books. In Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, who warns Caesar, "Beware the ides of March"?

OK...

Unfortunately for me, while I have the complete works of William Shakespeare on a bookshelf,

I've never actually read them!

But it's a very famous phrase from that play.

Given that the nature of soothsaying is predicting the future,

I'm going to plump for Soothsayer.

OK. That's the right answer, yes.

From the Soothsayer.

The Last of the Mohicans is one of five books by James Fenimore Cooper known collectively by what name?

I've not heard this, but I've got to go The White Trail Tales,

-out of the options.

-I'd never heard of it. Leatherstocking.

-Never heard of it.

Is this what they were wearing, other Eggheads?

-Leather gaiters.

-Yeah, OK.

News to me and Dave, anyway.

That's a great start then again for the challenger.

Kevin, get this and you're in a commanding position.

Her Fearful Symmetry is the second novel by which best-selling author?

OK, so this one doesn't jump out at me.

I've heard of Zadie Smith, heard of Kate Atkinson,

not heard of Audrey Niffenegger.

I think...

I am...

for no real reason other than I'm most familiar with her name, I'm going to go for Zadie Smith.

OK, Zadie Smith. Her second novel.

No, not by her. Dave?

-I'd have gone Kate Atkinson.

-No!

-Wrong.

-It is Audrey Niffenegger.

-No point asking me questions today!

You know.

I'm just about to. OK. See how you do with this.

What was the real name of historical novelist CS Forester?

I think it's Cecil Smith, but don't trust anything I say

in this particular round.

Well, we do trust that. That is the right answer.

Levels it up.

Kevin, in Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence, what is the first name of Lady Chatterley's husband?

Oh, again, nothing's really jumping out at me.

I've...

I've seen some of a previous dramatisation of this on TV.

I think the one starring Sean Bean.

Given the era when it is set...

I think I will go for...

Clive.

OK. I see your thinking there.

Clive...is not the right answer. It is...

-Want a go, Dave?

-It's probably Christian. I'll say Clifford.

No, it is Clifford. I see your psychology there, denying yourself.

All right, Dave,

this is a chance to get through here. Which James M Cain novel

tells the story of Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis?

Right. Sorry, could you repeat the names again, please?

Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis.

I'm going to go for Double Indemnity,

but again I don't trust what I'm saying at the moment!

More likely a tie-break, I think.

Yes, it is going to be that. The Postman Always Rings Twice.

So we go to sudden death. All square after three questions.

We take away the options. Which play by Noel Coward centres on a divorced couple named Elyot and Amanda?

Again, I'm not particularly familiar with Noel Coward's work.

I'm afraid nothing's jumping out.

-I can't even give an educated guess.

-OK, not familiar with Noel Coward's plays, so not proffering a guess.

-Eggheads?

-Private Lives.

-So nothing there for Kevin.

A chance again for Dave.

In which Charles Dickens novel does Mark Tapley travel to America as the servant of the title character?

-Martin Chuzzlewit.

-It's the right answer!

Dave, after all the doubt

-and indecision, straight in. You know your Dickens.

-Some of it.

-Not all of it. Don't take that as read.

-Well, that has been read.

Takes you through. Bad luck, Kevin. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

It's now tipping the Eggheads' way. Credit Where Credit's Due have lost two brains, the Eggheads one.

So our last head to head. It is Geography.

Simon or Jeremy there.

-I think that's me, Dermot, please.

-OK, Jeremy. And choose your Egghead.

-It's Kevin or Judith.

-I'll take on Kevin.

OK, let's have Jeremy and Kevin into the question room now, please.

-OK, Jeremy, first or second?

-I'll go first, please, Dermot.

OK, good luck. What is the official language of Uruguay?

Well, I don't think it's English.

Spain was quite strong in conquering, many years ago.

I'll go down the middle with Spanish.

Right thing to do. Yes, correct answer.

Kevin, the districts of Hambleton, Ryedale and Selby are located in which English county?

-They're all in North Yorkshire.

-Right answer.

And on we go.

Second one, Jeremy. The resort of Faliraki is on which Mediterranean island?

Well, I've been to Corfu. I don't believe it's actually on Corfu.

Naxos...

doesn't ring a bell to me.

I'm going to go with Rhodes, Dermot.

Well done. It's the right answer. Faliraki.

The abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is located on the border of Normandy and which other French region?

It is right on the border. The border curves round slightly to encompass it. It's Brittany.

Brittany is the right answer. Two-all. Really good quizzing here.

Jeremy, the most historic district of which US city is popularly known as LoDo?

It's going to be, I'm afraid, a complete guess,

but I'm going to go for...

-Detroit.

-OK, Detroit for LoDo.

It is Denver, in actual fact.

Gives Kevin a chance here.

The Aussenalster and Binnenalster are artificial lakes created in which German city?

Well, I've been on both of these a few times, so it's Hamburg.

Well-travelled Kevin.

Nothing better than witnessing them for yourself. It is right.

Bad luck, Jeremy. Both please come back and join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards - the final round on general knowledge.

But those of you who lost

won't be allowed to take part, so Kevin, David and Jeremy and Chris from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

So, Simon and Sam, you're playing to win £7,000.

Judith, Kevin, Dave and Daphne are playing for something money cannot buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions. They're all general knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

So are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

What would you like to do in terms of tactics - go first or second?

-Go first?

-Yeah.

-We'll go first.

OK, best of luck to you, Simon and Sam. First question.

Which country won cricket's Twenty20 World Cup in 2012?

-I don't know much about cricket.

-I'm not a cricket fan at all.

West Indies did quite well, I think.

So... if I was to guess of those three,

I'll probably guess West Indies.

-I'll go with your guess.

-Try that?

-Yeah.

-We'll try West Indies.

A pressure question. Not what you wanted, cricket.

You got it, though. Well done! It's very important

to get that first one on the board and you've done that.

Eggheads, the 1967 drama Guess Who's Coming To Dinner was the final film of which Hollywood actor?

Spencer Tracy.

That was Spencer Tracy.

That's the right answer, Eggheads.

All square as we go into another pair of questions.

This to Simon and Sam. Ruby, topaz,

emerald-chinned and sapphire-throated are species of which bird?

-Any ideas? No?

-Em...

-I don't think it's finch.

-No.

-It sounds a bit...regal for finch.

-What about hummingbird?

-Of those, I think...

You tend to hear a hummingbird with names like that appended to them.

-Yeah. Quail... I don't know.

-Shall we go down the middle, then, again? It worked for you.

-Yeah.

-Go with that.

-We'll go with hummingbird.

-OK.

-Because it worked for Sam.

-Yeah.

-Guessing again a little bit,

it's the right answer!

Two out of two.

Doing well. Eggheads, who was the last king of the ancient region of Lydia?

-It should be Croesus.

-Croesus.

-Is it Croesus?

-He was overthrown by the Persians.

- Yeah. - OK?

That is Croesus.

-Not Midas?

-No. Apparently not.

-Hope not!

-It's the right answer, Eggheads. You've levelled it.

All right.

Going really well here. Simon and Sam, I hope you know this one.

Which American actor, famous for his silent movies,

married the actress Mildred Davis in 1923?

I've heard of all of them, but... I don't know who any of them married.

It sounds like something you might have heard of, but I haven't.

I'd have gone for Harold Lloyd, who I know of, but I don't know as much as the other two.

-It's no real reasoning.

-No, it's no reasoning at all.

-I might have heard if it was Charlie Chaplin.

-Yeah.

-What do you think?

-We've done all right guessing so far.

-It's between Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.

-Yeah.

-We haven't gone down that side yet.

-Which side?

-Harold Lloyd.

-You say, then. Go on.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

On my head be it, then. We'll say Harold Lloyd.

Harold Lloyd. On your head be it.

-Because you haven't been down that side?

-We've no other reason!

It's the right answer!

You could have turned that

into a 50/50, which you did. It's American actors and Charlie Chaplin is British.

So, Eggheads, you need this. Serge Haroche and David J Wineland

won the 2012 Nobel Prize in which category?

-Not medicine.

-It's not medicine.

-Not medicine.

-So one of the others.

-I...

-What about physics?

-I'm just... I think it's physics, but I'm trying to remember who won...

-The medicine one,

-that was the stem cell one.

-It's definitely not medicine.

Wasn't one the Japanese...?

-That was medicine.

-My instinct was physics.

- Shall we go with your instinct? - Yeah, go with the instinct.

Well, we're very uncertain, as you can see.

But Kevin has an inkling that it's physics, so physics.

You're getting over-analytical. Take a leaf out of their book.

They've guessed right, middle and left. Three out of three.

Bosh, bosh, bosh. It IS the right answer, though.

It's all-square.

You've done really well, Simon and Sam, to get to sudden death against the Eggheads.

But you want to win the money. We make it harder now. The options go.

If you do need to guess, which I hope you don't, you have to make them up yourself.

Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official world champion of which game?

-Do you know?

-No.

It'll be another guess.

-The first official world champion.

-Something like...

-Chess.

-..chess.

-Or tiddlywinks.

-We both thought chess, didn't we?

I haven't even... I can't place the name at all.

-So chess.

-We both thought that as our first guess.

-Yeah.

We don't know. The first thought we both had, thinking of games, was chess.

-So we'll just say chess.

-OK, chess.

You really are blessed today. It's the right answer. Well done!

Four out of four.

Fantastic form. It's kind of guessing, but it's kind of informed.

You both, it came into your minds. So there must be something there.

Puts the pressure on you, Eggheads. The former model Elin Nordegren, who is the ex-wife of Tiger Woods,

was born and brought up in which country?

-Swedish.

-Um, she's Swedish. Born and brought up in Sweden.

It's the right answer, Eggheads.

I want one you know outright.

-So do we!

-We knew that one.

"So do we!" says Sam. Yes, more to the point. Try this one.

Which footballer turned TV presenter scored two goals for Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final?

-It's either Ian Wright...

-Yeah.

-..or Mark Bright.

-1990.

-1990.

-I'm sure that was...

-Ian Wright?

-I think it was Ian Wright. It was 4-3 or something like that.

-For some reason, I think it was Ian Wright.

-I think Ian Wright. My dad supports Crystal Palace.

Memory's a bit hazy, but we'll go with Ian Wright.

-Your dad supports Crystal Palace?

-Yeah.

-It's good, then. It is the right answer. Ian Wright!

Eggheads, you need to get this.

Which cartoonist drew the caricatures in the opening title sequence of the sitcom Yes Minister?

-Gerald Scarfe?

-I think it's Scarfe. I don't think it's Searle.

-No, I'm just visualising the beak, the noses...

-Yeah.

-That looks like Gerald Scarfe.

-OK, well, we all think it's Gerald Scarfe.

Gerald Scarfe, the caricatures for Yes, Minister.

It's the right answer, Eggheads.

On we go.

What calibre quizzing is going on here today!

Right, Simon and Sam matching the Eggheads blow for blow.

Put it to them again. Which ventriloquist, who died in 2007,

was the operator of Lenny the Lion?

-I can't think.

-No, I can't think of any either.

-No, I can't think.

-No, unfortunately, we can't think of a name to give you.

OK, Lenny the Lion. Unsurprisingly, I think, not ringing a bell.

-This is the kind of thing the Eggheads...

-Terry Hall.

It's the right answer, yes. Terry Hall and Lenny the Lion.

How do you know these things?!

Just trivia, isn't it, I suppose?

-Dave was his understudy.

-I was, yes!

It doesn't count, of course. That was just out of interest,

but first chance for the Eggheads. They've had to catch up. This a shot at victory.

Which former Labour MP was the host of the 1950s television interview series Face To Face?

John Freeman.

-John Freeman?

-Yes.

John Freeman.

John Freeman IS the right answer. Eggheads, you've won!

Well, I know you'd like the money, but... You haven't quite won it,

but you've won a lot of honour and respect. That final round was an incredible performance there.

Some really tricky questions to get into sudden death and then that guess about chess.

Very, very impressive indeed. Thank you for playing today, Credit Where Credit's Due.

You couldn't be better named. That applies to you lot.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally.

You won't be going home with £7,000, which means the money rolls over to the next show.

Congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team can defeat the Eggheads. £8,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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