Episode 58 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 taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today

are The Boot Room from Hertfordshire.

This team of friends

quiz together at the their local pub the Boot in Kimpton. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Greg, I'm 53 years old, and I'm a national accounts manager for an electronics company.

Hello, I'm Simon, I'm 41 years old and I'm a driving instructor.

Hi, I'm Arthur, I'm 64 years old and I'm an international administration manager.

Hi, I'm Mike, I'm 58 years old and I'm a sales manager.

Hi, I'm Thomas, I'm 22 years old and I'm a sales administrator.

Welcome to you, Boot Room. So what's the Boot like just as a boozer?

We'll talk about the quiz in a minute. What's it like?

It's a typical boozer, Dermot. We all go along there, we quiz, we have a bit of a laugh,

-we've been doing it for years.

-What about the quiz, then, at the Boot? Competitive, I guess?

It is competitive. It's largely general knowledge. We acquit ourselves really well.

Arthur, actually, asks the questions sometimes. That doesn't mean to say we know the answers.

No, well, I know that for certain.

OK, let's play the game, shall we?

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, Boot Room, the Eggheads have won the last eight games,

which means that £9,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

Right, I'm sure you're going to give it a good go. Let's start straight away with an Arts & Books round.

Who'd like to play this?

-Arts & Books. We'll probably go...

-Shall I?

-Arthur, you want to go for that one?

-Yeah, I'll have a go.

-Arthur, OK?

-I'll have a go at that.

-OK, putting the question master in.

-Which Egghead do you want to take on, Arthur?

-Pat?

-Pat.

-All right, we'll take Pat.

-All right.

-Pat against Arthur.

-Arthur and Pat, into the Question Room, then, please,

for this opening round.

OK, Arthur, I bet you have asked a few questions about Arts & Books,

but are you going to answer some? Well, we hope plenty.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Good luck, then, Arthur. Here's your first question.

The painting The Singing Butler by Jack Vettriano

is a depiction of a dancing couple in what outdoor setting?

It's not in a car park.

I think I know this one.

I think I bought it as a poster not so long ago.

It's on a beach.

Yeah, I don't think it would have sold

however many thousands of copies as a poster it has sold

if it was in a car park!

Well, you never know, he might have been able to make it look good,

but it is on a beach, of course. It's the right answer.

Pat, who is getting married in the title of a 1996 novel by Marian Keyes?

I think I've heard of Lucy Sullivan.

I don't think I've heard of either of the others.

So I hope it was Lucy Sullivan who was getting married.

Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married.

Yes, it's the right answer, Pat. Have you read it?

I have not, I've neglected my Marian Keyes.

Well, you'll have to catch up, but got the answer. All square.

Arthur, in the BBC's Big Read event of 2003, what was voted Britain's favourite book?

I don't think it would be Nineteen Eighty-Four...

I love Lord Of The Rings,

but whether it's universally loved, I don't know.

I'll go for Winnie-The-Pooh.

I don't know, but I'll go for Winnie-The-Pooh.

OK, Winnie-The-Pooh. All great books and much loved,

and Winnie-The-Pooh very much loved, but it wasn't the one

that was voted Britain's favourite book.

It was the other one you were thinking of, Lord Of The Rings.

Lord Of The Rings, so Arthur didn't get it.

So, chance for the lead, Pat.

Which Beatles song provides the English title of a 1987 novel

by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami?

This chap famously had a moment of revelation during a baseball game

when he decided he would become a novelist, there and then,

and he wrote a book called Norwegian Wood.

-At the baseball game?

-He was watching a baseball game

and he reckons his life changed.

-He decided, "I will write!" and that was it.

-Yeah.

And he's a very, very successful author.

And was this the book that came out of the epiphany?

I don't know if that was his first book, no,

but he's written half a dozen big-selling books.

OK, well, that's the right answer. What's it about?

I haven't read it, I'm afraid. No, I can't tell you.

It's a lead for Pat. Arthur, you need this.

Which British poet coined the term "sprung rhythm" to refer to a type of meter

that featured prominently in his works?

I don't know this one, so it's going to have to be a guess.

It sounds a bit prosaic for Gerard Manley Hopkins...

I don't know, I'll try Matthew Arnold.

Matthew Arnold to stay in the game for you, Arthur.

And I'm afraid you're out. It's not Matthew Arnold.

-Pat?

-It's Gerard Manley Hopkins.

-It is Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Wasn't he a priest, formerly a priest?

I think he was a Jesuit at one point, yeah.

OK, well, it's not the right answer from Arthur.

Didn't identify Gerard Manley Hopkins,

so we put Pat into the final round

and deprive you of a place, Arthur.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

The Boot Room have lost that one brain from the final round,

the Eggheads are all there, of course.

Second head-to-head coming up. And this one is Sport.

I know plenty of you will fancy your chances on this,

but who are you going to put forward for Sport?

-I think I'll do Sport, Dermot.

-OK, good man, Greg.

And choose an Egghead, remembering that, of course, it can't be Pat.

-Chris?

-Chris.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, we'll take on Chris.

-OK. Greg and Chris, then, contesting this one

from the cosy embrace of the Question Room, please.

OK, Greg, I know you're a big sports fan. Do you do any sports yourself, though?

Not as much as I should do, Dermot.

I do a little bit of keep-fit. I like riding my bike. I have a go at golf.

I wouldn't say I'm too good at it, but I enjoy playing it.

-I like getting out there.

-OK, yeah. Well, plenty of activities there, plus what you watch.

Well, let's see how you do in this, then. Do you want to go first or second?

Er, I think I'll go first, Dermot.

Good luck to you, Greg. First question.

What is the usual name for the raised platforms at the end of a swimming pool

from which swimmers can dive into the pool to begin a race?

Starting blocks, I think, is something you'd use in athletics.

So my choice is between balance boards and flexible flyers,

and I would think if it's diving it would be flexible flyers.

-They are starting blocks.

-Oh!

Starting blocks, same as they have on the track as well.

OK, well, Chris...

At the 2012 Olympic Games what was the name of the venue

for handball and modern pentathlon fencing?

Well, Zinc Box it wouldn't be, would it?

This is really because architects like covering stuff with copper,

which goes green...

we'll go Copper Box.

Probably sitting on top of one of your beloved shunting yards...

No doubt, the Thornton Fields Carriage Sidings probably

or maybe Bow Midland, I don't know.

It is the right answer. You worked it out.

Copper Box, so you have a lead.

Greg, the sports stadium known as Ellis Park until 2008

when it took the name of its new sponsor is in which city?

Well, it's not Melbourne.

My choice is between Johannesburg and Auckland.

I have a vague suspicion that it might be...

I'm thinking...

I think...I think it's Johannesburg.

OK. Now, you need to get this.

And you have, yes. Johannesburg.

Chris, your question, second question.

The Italian Rugby Union club Zebre is based in which city?

Well, I know Salerno from the 1943 landings,

Parma for ham...

but the largest of those three

and therefore the one that would support a rugby team is Bergamo.

OK...

No, it's Parma.

Oh? Ham.

Yes, ham and rugby, and I think a few other things as well.

All right, well, it's all square.

Everything to play for therefore, Greg.

Michael Bannon from Northern Ireland and the Canadian Sean Foley

are leading coaches in which sport?

-How are you spelling Foley, Dermot?

-F-O-L-E-Y.

Bannon and Foley...

I can't say the names are familiar to me.

I think I'd rule out tennis...

-You said they were Irish, yeah?

-No.

-No? Right...

Michael Bannon's from Northern Ireland and Sean Foley's Canadian.

Right, OK...

Well, they haven't got a great pedigree either country for tennis,

so I wouldn't go with them.

I'm thinking probably maybe boxing, Dermot.

Right, boxing.

Thinking of sporting pedigrees there, I see what you're thinking.

But you must have been tossing up about golf as well, which it is!

Golf. OK, Chris, well, you can win the round

if you get a correct answer here.

Which cricket team beat the reigning champions, the Chennai Super Kings,

in the final of the 2012 Indian Premier League?

Mmm...Delhi Daredevils...

Mumbai Indians...

Hang on! David Hasselhoff riding to the rescue!

Yes, it's Kolkata Knight Riders.

OK, right, we get the reference there,

Knight Rider and David Hasselhoff.

I thought then you were going to reject it,

thinking that that couldn't be a real name.

Why did you then go for it?

-It just rings a vague bell, a Daphne-style inkle.

-OK.

And it is the right answer!

The Chennai Super Kings defeated by the Kolkata Knight Riders.

And you have a place in the final round. Bad luck, Greg, you're not going to be there.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, two rounds gone, two members of the Boot Room gone,

but two more head-to-heads to play before the final round, so a lot of quizzing still to do.

And all the Eggheads there, of course.

So let's play the Science category that's come up.

Three players left to try this.

Simon, Michael, Thomas...

-We said all along Thomas was going to do the Science round.

-I'll take it.

We'll get our scientist on this round.

We'll say Thomas.

OK, Thomas, who would you like to play? Pat and Chris have played from the Eggheads,

so you can pick from either Barry, Daphne or Dave.

I think Dave's pretty good on this.

I'll take a walk with Daphne.

Very nice idea.

OK, but do make sure you take in the Question Room as you continue your travels.

You'll have to stop off there and answer a few questions. What you do after that, well, I don't know!

OK, let's have Thomas and Daphne into the Question Room, please.

So, Thomas, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go second, please, Dermot.

OK, Daphne, which of these is the common name of the medical condition

otitis externa that often affects people who spend time submerged in water?

Well, otitis relates to the ear,

so swimmer's ear.

OK, people who spend time submerged in water

would include swimmers, divers and snorkellers, of course,

but that's right. Swimmer's ear.

And then, Thomas, first question.

In the human body the enzyme amylase helps to break down starch into sugars

as part of which bodily process?

Digestion.

-Dermot?

-Yeah, it is. Yes.

My biology teachers wouldn't forgive me for getting that one wrong!

No, digestion is absolutely right.

And, Daphne, what term is used to refer to the process

of injecting fluid at high pressure into underground rock

in order to open fissures and allow trapped gas or crude oil to be collected?

That's fracking.

-Fracking?

-Mm-hm.

Fraggle Rock.

That's correct.

Right there, fracking.

And a lot of people concerned about this, aren't they?

Lots of concerns that it can cause earthquakes

or pollutes groundwater and things like that, Daphne.

-Well, apparently it's the way of the future, isn't it?

-Mmm.

All right. Thomas, second question.

The Weddell and ribbon are species of which aquatic mammal?

This is going to be a guess on this one.

I think maybe just because of the fur and sort of ribbon,

I'll go with otter on that one.

OK, otter.

No.

Also fur on the seals.

Seal, the Weddell seal, probably the best-known of those.

Ribbon seals as well.

OK, well, Daphne will win if she gets this.

Daphne, aboard which space shuttle in 1983

did Sally Ride become the first female American astronaut

to travel into outer space?

Well, the Challenger disaster was in '86,

so I would say it's probably Challenger.

You think she was on Challenger? '83, of course, the date here.

Yeah.

It is the right answer, Daphne!

No disaster for you. Well worked out!

Who was the first Russian woman, then?

-Valentina Tereshkova.

-Oh, very good!

I won't ask you about dogs and other things that have been there.

Challenger is the right answer. You're through to the final round.

Bad luck, Thomas. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, three of the challengers being given the boot from the Boot Room and no Eggheads.

So last chance coming up now to get rid of an Egghead, and this is Film & Television.

And, Simon and Mike, which one of you

fancies their chances? Film & TV.

-You're not confident?

-I'm really weak on this.

-We really didn't want that.

-I think we leave Simon for the last round. Mike, you happy with Film & Television?

-OK.

-We'll put Mike in for Film & Television.

-OK.

And you can choose from Barry or Dave.

-What do you think, Thomas?

-Dave.

-Dave.

-Yeah, we'll do for Dave.

All right, Mike and Dave playing Film & Television.

You know where to go. It's the Question Room.

So, Mike, is this your first choice of subject when you were considering what you might play on Eggheads?

I think it's fair to say, Dermot, I drew the short straw, but...I will give it my best!

Absolutely! And do you want the first set of questions or the second set?

I'll take the first set, please.

OK, first question coming to you, then, Mike.

Which actor played the soap opera character of Bobby Grant

and the sitcom character Jim Royle?

Er...I'm reasonably confident

that it was Ricky Tomlinson.

I'll make you even more confident. It's the right answer.

Dave, which singer is portrayed by different actors

as a minor character in the films Great Balls of Fire, Forrest Gump and Walk The Line?

I haven't seen Great Balls Of Fire or Forrest Gump.

I have seen Walk The Line.

I do remember Elvis Presley featuring with Johnny Cash at Sun Records,

-so it's Elvis Presley.

-Yeah. Not Cliff Richard, then?

No, I don't think he made it there.

Nor Barry Manilow. A bit too young, I think.

OK, Elvis is the right answer.

And back to you, Mike.

In which film does a young man, played by John Travolta,

kill a pig in order to play a cruel trick on a fellow student?

If I'm looking fairly blank,

that's because I haven't a clue,

so this is going to be a pure guess.

I'm going to guess at Carrie.

-Carrie? Pure guess?

-Pure guess?

Totally right, though. It's correct.

Dave, which film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson was based on his own short

entitled The Dirk Diggler Story?

Good job you said Dirk Diggler.

It's Boogie Nights.

Boogie Nights, yeah. That's the right answer.

Right, well, it's all square. Really good guess,

if it really was just a guess last time, Mike. It's all square and everything to play for.

Your question. In the American film industry, Roger Ebert is best known for his work in which field?

Again...I really... I've never heard of this guy...

Well...

Film critics are quite big, aren't they, in the States...

Quite powerful people as well,

so I'm going to guess he's a film critic.

You are a good guesser! That is the right answer!

Fantastic! Well, you have achieved three out of three!

And if Dave doesn't achieve it after this, he's leaving the game.

Dave, the writer Jeremy Samford rose to prominence for his work on which influential TV play?

Well, it's not Bar Mitzvah Boy because that's Jack Rosenthal.

Now...

who did Cathy Come Home, who did Scum?

Oh, Cathy Come Home was Alan Plater.

I've got to go with Scum,

but I've not got the confidence there because it could be Cathy Come Home.

OK, right, so you identified Bar Mitzvah Boy as Jack Rosenthal.

And so narrowed it down to one of two and you've got the wrong one!

Cathy Come Home! Fine, yeah.

It's what you were thinking, one of those two. Well!

Last round...

And you're through, Mike! And I think Simon is a very happy man there!

-A very, very happy man!

-He'll have some company in the final round.

And, Mike, you will be that company. Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So 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, Greg, Arthur and Thomas from the Boot Room, Dave from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio now, please?

So, Simon and Mike, you're playing to win the Boot Room £9,000.

Daphne, Chris, Barry and Pat, you're playing for something which money can't buy...

Any clue, Daphne?

Our reputation.

Ah, I love it! You know at last!

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer in this the final round.

So, Mike and Simon,

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

And would you like to go first or second?

-Any preference?

-Not really. First?

-OK.

-Let's go for that.

-OK, we'll go first, Dermot, please.

OK, first question is this.

Which of these is the name given to a portable cot for a baby?

Which of these is the name given to a portable cot for a baby?

I wanted to hear what came into your head before I said anything.

Is it the same thing that I'm thinking?

-I'm guessing it's a Moses basket.

-That's the same one I was thinking.

Jacob cradle rings bells, but...

I'm guessing it's a Moses basket.

I'm not 100%, but I think we should go with that.

-I think so.

-OK, Dermot, we'll go with a Moses basket.

OK, not 100%.

Always important to try and get your first one.

And I know you're trying and you have! It's the right answer.

Moses basket.

Eggheads, in the First Gulf War,

who was the commander of Operation Desert Storm?

In the First Gulf War,

who was the commander of Operation Desert Storm?

-Norman Schwarzkopf.

-Stormin' Norman, wasn't it?

-Stormin' Norman.

We're all agreed on that. It was Stormin' Norman, Norman Schwarzkopf.

Norman Schwarzkopf. Stormin' Norman, stormin' answer.

It's correct, Eggheads.

And back to Simon and Mike.

Barlinnie, Cornton Vale and Low Moss are the names of prisons in which part of the UK?

Barlinnie, Cornton Vale and Low Moss are the names of prisons

in which part of the UK?

-I've only heard of one of those.

-Which is...?

-Barlinnie.

-Which is in...

-Scot...

-So we should go with...?

I think we go with Scotland.

We'll go with Scotland.

OK. Well, if you identify one, you identify them all,

if you're sure of it. And it is the right answer, yes. Scotland.

OK, Eggheads.

Although no longer part of the official dress code,

the Garrick Club's tie has a striped pattern of two colours

that are likened to which combination?

Although no longer part of the official dress code,

the Garrick Club's tie has a striped pattern of two colours

that are likened to which combination?

-Gosh!

-I think it's salmon and cucumber...is it?

We don't know this one, do we?

I've heard of bacon and eggs as a tie pattern.

-What sort of club is the Garrick?

-The Garrick is for actors, isn't it?

-Cricket.

-The MCC has a famous tie as well.

Bacon and eggs sounds more the sort of thing actors might say.

-They'd want something with a strong name on, maybe.

-Yeah.

I really don't know.

Well, we don't know... If you've got an inkling, we'll go with that.

-No, I'm...

-Happy?

I'm not sure... Salmon and cucumber, that's...

It's...

cricket...

-Is that a wavering, then?

-It's a wavering, yeah.

-Salmon and cucumber, that's pink and green.

-Yes.

How many for bacon and eggs?

One. How many for salmon and cucumber?

One.

Two?

-Salmon and cucumber.

-Salmon and cucumber, it is.

All right, as you've gathered from our conversation,

-we haven't the slightest idea!

-No idea.

So on taking a vote we're going for salmon and cucumber.

It was an interesting conversation,

because if I'd called you to a halt a minute earlier,

you would have gone for bacon and eggs, I think.

That was the consensus until Daphne weighed in

with her first instinct.

The answer is...

..salmon and cucumber

-Well done, Daphne!

-You have to trust Daphne's instinct.

You saved them there, Daphne!

They were definitely going for bacon and eggs!

Well, well, well...

Just goes to show those head-to-heads...

If Thomas had managed to get rid of Daphne, I'm not sure they would have gone for bacon and eggs.

Anyway, listen, it's all square. Those are the ifs and buts.

This is the reality. You're still well in it and have put in a really good show so far,

so get this and put the pressure back on the Eggheads.

The Affenpinscher is classified in which dog breed group by the Kennel Club?

The Affenpinscher, I'm going to spell it for you,

A-F-F-E-N-P-I-N-S-C-H-E-R, Affenpinscher...

is classified in which dog breed group by the Kennel Club?

The Affenpinscher.

The only pinscher I've heard of is a Doberman pinscher,

-which is a gundog, isn't it?

-Yeah, but...

But is that the right answer?

I'm guessing it could well be from the same...from that genre.

Sounds like a German name, doesn't it?

It could well be another dog from that sort of area.

Let's go with it. OK, Dermot...

we're not 100%,

but based on a similar-sounding name to a Doberman pinscher,

we're going to stick to a gundog.

OK, gundog, Doberman pinscher, Affenpinscher,

maybe in the same breed group, you think?

It's not a gundog. Eggheads, do you know?

Utility.

No! It's a toy.

-Oh?

-Affenpinscher?

Which we got from Daphne again, by the way, you guys!

I'd get rid of them, Daphne! What use are they?

It wasn't your question, of course.

A chance then for you to wrap it all up, Eggheads.

The third level of the Eiffel Tower features a waxwork of which famous American

who visited the attraction shortly after it opened?

The third level of the Eiffel Tower features a waxwork

of which famous American

who visited the attraction shortly after it opened?

What are you thinking?

-When did it open?

-1889.

-1889. So it could be Barnum or Edison.

-Yeah.

-I think it's unlikely to be Mark Twain.

-Yeah.

Barnum was the showman,

or it could be a monument to the inventiveness of Gustave Eiffel,

in which case it could be Edison.

Well, it would be Gustave Eiffel if it was a monument to Eiffel!

He didn't invent anything, he was just a civil engineer.

Around the bottom of the Eiffel Tower

there are loads of names of great scientists,

so they're pretty keen on their science.

-That would tend to suggest Edison, wouldn't it?

-Maybe.

-We don't know.

-We don't know.

Well, on that basis, I'd be happy to go for Edison.

-Yeah.

-I've no idea.

-Are we happy with that?

-Yeah.

-All right.

Well, although Barnum was the great showman

and Mark Twain did travel extensively in Europe,

Pat believes there's lots of plaques of great scientists around the base

of the Eiffel Tower,

so on that basis we're going to go for Thomas Edison.

OK. Well, really considered all three there

and working together there, the Eggheads,

as they do so often, of course.

It is the right answer, Eggheads. You've won!

I think what you saw in action there was those Eggheads collaborating as they do so well,

and two tricky questions for them, their second and third,

and in the end all worked it out, all adding something to the discussion

and coming up with the right answers.

So it gives the lie to people who say, "Why don't you just play the final round?

"That's where the money's won and lost!" Those head-to-heads absolutely crucial,

giving them just that edge over you, I think, with the four of them against two of you.

But, listen, well done. You did really well against the Eggheads today, Boot Room.

Thank you very much indeed for playing them,

and when are we coming down to the Boot, then? When are they buying you a few drinks?

Any time they like.

In fact, now would be nice, after that! Could just do with something.

Well, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and their winning streak continues. I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £9,000.

That means the money rolls over to the next show.

So, Eggheads, congratulations!

And who will beat you? And 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.

Until then, goodbye.

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