Episode 61 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 challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Roller Dolls.

This team all take part in the increasingly popular sport

of roller derby,

and they're based in Barry's home town of Leeds.

Apparently, he's a regular attendee

and will be joining the team next season.

Let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Anna. I'm 35 and I'm a content developer.

Hi. I'm Katie. I'm 29 and I'm a student support officer.

Hi. I'm Jack. I'm 29 and I'm an accountant.

Hi. I'm Stephanie, 31.

I'm a book-keeper.

Hi. I'm Gemma. I'm 29 and I'm a database programmer.

So, Anna and team, welcome.

ALL: Hi.

Tell us about roller derby.

Roller derby is a full-contact sport,

played mainly by women.

Jack here is our exception to that rule,

because he's our referee.

It's a race game, basically, that one player tries to score points.

The rest of the team try to get her her points

or stop the other opposing player getting her points.

If you can sense a quiver on this side,

it's because they had a bad experience with roller-skaters

on the show,

not least where a team previously took out, I think, four of you

and then there was only Kevin left.

Unfortunately, he was in good form, and he won.

But you can sense the worry on that side, I think!

Look at that.

Those eggs all quivering!

Every day there's £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, Roller Dolls, I can tell you the Eggheads have won the last 11 games,

which means that £12,000 says you can't beat them today.

Would you like to try? ALL: Yes!

OK, the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & Television.

So choose one of yourselves

to go against one of themselves.

This was the topic that everybody wanted to do!

Everybody always wants in on Film & Television.

So how do you feel?

I could go for Film & TV. Yes.

Katie. Katie.

OK, choose an Egghead.

Who's never been in the cinema?

I think I'd like to take on Judith.

So Katie from Roller Dolls

versus Judith from the Eggheads on Film & TV.

Just to ensure there's no conferring,

will you take your positions in the Question Room?

So, Judith, you like your movies?

I do. I love movies, yes.

And what about roller-skating?

Well, I used to roller-skate.

We had a thing at school.

We used to roller-skate round in a circle at school.

Katie, that sounds a bit tame compared to what you do.

Skating round a circle?

It does. Well, we skate round an oval track, for a start,

which is probably a lot bigger.

And there's a lot of hitting involved, so...

Hitting? Hitting, yes.

Contact.

You've not sold it to Judith now!

The mention of hitting didn't help.

No hitting in this round.

You can choose whether you go first or second.

I'd like to go second, please.

Judith, your first question.

Which 1989 film had the tagline,

"He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary"?

Um...um...um.

I think that might be Dead Poets Society.

Dead Poets Society is the right answer.

Hurray! Well done.

Katie, over to you.

Tim Burton's 2012 film Frankenweenie

centres on a young boy's attempts to bring who back to life?

Well, I have to confess, Jeremy, that I've not actually seen the film.

But I'm going to take a stab at a Martian invader.

A Martian invader had fallen to Earth

and was being in some way resuscitated?

That's my guess. OK.

It would be a brilliant film.

It's not Frankenweenie, though.

That was his pet dog, I'm afraid.

But I love the guess!

OK. And Bela Lugosi,

blimey, we're going back a long way with him.

Have you guys heard of Bela Lugosi?

ALL: Yeah!

Dracula.

Exactly, man of 1,000 faces and all that.

OK, Judith, to take the lead, your second question.

How is Mr Grace, played by Harold Bennett,

regularly referred to in the sitcom Are You Being Served?

Well, it would be very... I think it might be Young Mr Grace.

Just because it's so unlikely.

But presumably he was the son of the old Mr Grace.

I think it's Young Mr Grace.

Young Mr Grace is correct.

Was he actually quite old? Yes, he was. That was the joke.

Now, Katie, get your blades on.

Get your skates on.

Whizz past her and give her a thump on the way.

You've got to get this one right.

The 1962 film musical Girls, Girls, Girls

starred which singer?

Well, I know that Elvis Presley was in quite a few films.

Um...

Tom Jones, he likes the ladies!

I'm not too sure.

I think I'm going to go with Tom Jones.

You were on track the first time with Elvis.

It was one of his many, many, many films.

Elvis Presley is the right answer. Tom Jones is wrong.

I'm sorry. That means, Judith,

you've taken the round on Film & TV.

Katie, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out of the circle or oval, or whatever shape it is.

You won't be in the final round.

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

Bad luck, Katie. It can happen, though.

And it did!

I should mention, before we get letters,

a correction, because you will pick me up on this.

Bela Lugosi was not the man of 1,000 faces.

Barry, it was...? Lon Chaney. Lon Chaney.

So as it stands, the Roller Dolls have lost one brain from the final round,

while the Eggheads have not lost a brain.

And the next subject for you is Music.

So which Roller Doll...? Why do you sigh?

That was going to be Katie!

Who wants Music?

How do you feel about Music?

Shall I go for this? Jack, I think.

I'll take Music. OK, Jack.

Against which Egghead? Obviously can't be Judith.

Um, I think I'll take...

I think I'll take Dave on.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave on Music.

Jack from the Roller Dolls against Dave.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Jack, you're on Music now.

I notice you've got a stage name when you do your roller-skating. What is it?

It's Boris Snarloff.

Based on, obviously, Boris Karloff,

the actor who played Frankenstein's monster.

We're getting through our horror film references here,

because we've now had Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.

Yeah! OK, we're on Music.

I hope this isn't a horror show for you, Jack. Good luck.

Fingers crossed. Do you want to go first or second? I'll go first, please.

Jack, your first question. Good luck.

In which year did Kylie Minogue

have a UK hit with the single Can't Get You Out Of My Head?

Well, I have to confess I'm not the biggest fan of Kylie

and pop music in the world.

Although it was around a lot when I was growing up.

I do think this was one of her later singles,

so not the big hits with Jason Donovan, things in the '80s.

So I'm going to go for 2001 as the answer.

2001 is bang on! Well done.

Dave, your question.

What was the title of Simply Red's 1991 bestselling album

that included an eponymous hit single?

It was the ever-repetitive Stars.

Stars is the right answer.

Jack, your question.

Which musician and talent show judge

appeared on The Script's 2012 UK No 1 single Hall Of Fame?

I'm not too sure about this one.

Again, it's the side of music I'm not too familiar with myself.

Thinking of the band and the kind of style they do,

I would probably guess that it's Will.i.am.

Your guessing is good.

Will.i.am is the correct answer, Jack.

OK, Dave.

In the 1930s, the American Lawrence Hammond

invented a type of what instrument that subsequently bore his name?

All I've ever heard of out of those three options

is a Hammond organ,

so that's got to be my answer - organ.

Do you not think there is a Hammond trumpet? No.

It would be good, though. It would.

We'll get a call saying there is!

Organ is the right answer.

Well done. 2-2. Good round.

Jack, on to you.

Get this one right, you put pressure on Tremendous Knowledge.

Whose recording of Vesti La Giubba

from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci

was the first sound recording to sell a million copies?

I think this one's going to have to be a bit of a guess for me.

Um, I'm not really...

hot on my classical opera singing.

I think I'm going to go with Mario Lanza.

Dave, do you know? I would have gone with Enrico Caruso.

Yes, Caruso is the right answer.

Jack, sorry, you got it wrong.

But don't worry, you're still in it.

If Dave gets this, he's in the final round.

If not, we go to Sudden Death.

Dave, your third question. Which jazz musician

adopted the Swahili name Mwandishi in the early 1970s?

I've not heard of this.

In the early '70s...

I'll have to go Herbie Hancock.

The correct answer is Herbie Hancock.

Well done, Dave. Three out of three. Jack, you played really well.

I thought you would take him on the corner there, but you didn't.

You're out of the final round and Dave is in. Both of you, please come back and join your teams.

Bad luck, Jack. You fought well there.

And I should say the two who have been knocked out - Jack and Katie - are engaged.

So we shouldn't miss the excitement of that. We are!

We're in good company. Exactly.

So it's just the two of you back there. There are no recriminations.

As it stands, the Roller Dolls have lost two brains from the final round,

so we're not repeating that famous contest

where a roller-skating team knocked all the Eggheads bar one out,

but there's still hope.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet.

The next subject is History.

Anna, you look suddenly like that's you.

I think that's me!

I sense the history look!

Against which Egghead?

Not Dave, not Judith.

Um...Barry?

Barry, please.

OK. So, Anna from Roller Dolls

versus Barry on History from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

Anna, good luck. Do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to go second, please.

OK, Barry, your first question.

Which 1968 Act of Parliament

was designed to prevent manufacturers and retailers

from misleading customers as to what they were buying?

Well, it could well have been the Criminal Justice Act.

I don't think it could be a Finance Act.

This was absolutely the Trade Descriptions Act.

And a wonderful piece of legislation it was too.

Trade Descriptions Act is correct. Well done.

Over to you, Anna.

Which country was ruled by King Olav V

from 1957 until his death in 1991?

I don't know the answer, but Olav sounds...

not very Spanish.

So I will go for Norway, I think.

It is certainly not very Spanish, and Norway is right. Good logic.

One point each. Well done, Anna.

You're off the blocks.

Barry, your question.

In 1927, the Treaty of Jeddah

recognised the independence of the kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd,

which would later become part of Saudi Arabia,

from which country?

Ah...that's an interesting question.

I'm not 100% certain on this. It certainly wasn't Italy.

I have a sneaking suspicion

that France might have had control of Saudi Arabia.

But let me think about this for a second.

I'm trying to remember...in the film Lawrence Of Arabia,

that dealt very much with Saudi,

with the people in charge of Saudi at that time.

We as the British came to support them,

so perhaps I'm changing my mind to think it was Great Britain.

I'll go for Great Britain.

Have you ever lost a History round, Barry? Oh, it was France!

I haven't, as of yet.

No, don't worry.

You certainly haven't lost a History round.

You haven't got that question wrong.

Great Britain is the right answer.

OK, Anna, he is a tough...

fighter on History in particular.

Here is your next question.

Who had the second shortest tenure in US Presidential history?

I'm not very good on my Presidents.

Um...

It's going to be a guess.

I'll go with...

I'm between Truman and Garfield.

Because I've heard of him less, I'll go for Garfield.

Is she right, Barry? Yes, she's right.

It was only a few months, wasn't it? Yes.

He was assassinated, which is a pretty terminal end

to any political career.

Yes, March to September 1881,

and that was unfortunately the end of him.

James Garfield is the right answer. Well done.

Barry, over to you for your third question.

Which King of England was defeated by Canute

at the Battle of Assandun in 1016?

You've very kindly given me all three kings from the same period!

I don't think it was Ethelred the Unready.

Edmund Ironside...

I think was assassinated.

But I can't recall if Harold Harefoot was ever King.

So I'm in a bit of a quandary here.

I really don't know.

At the back of my mind,

1016 is the final date I have for Ethelred the Unready.

So, despite what I said earlier,

I'm going to go for Ethelred the Unready.

How interesting. You've got it wrong.

Oh!

Harold Harefoot?

No, you've got it wrong again!

All over the place! Want another guess?

No, it's too embarrassing already as it is!

Let's see if an Egghead can help.

Anyone help with the logic

of how we get to Ironside, the correct answer?

Ethelred the Unready died in 1016.

Then Edmund Ironside was briefly in charge,

but was defeated by Canute.

And Canute's dynasty, of whom Harold Harefoot was part,

then took over for the next 30 years or so.

OK, got that, Barry?

If it comes up again? Yes, I won't forget that at all.

Thank you, Kevin.

So, Anna...

Let's enjoy the moment here.

Your two team-mates have been knocked out.

Barry has never lost a History round in all the time he's been playing, which is now quite a while.

If you get this one right, you will be in the final and you will have deposed Barry.

So here we go.

Built in the USSR during the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev,

what are Khrushchyovkas?

I don't know the answer

and I'm desperately trying to...

logic it out.

I'm going to dismiss bread shops.

I'm not sure he'd want to be named after bread shops.

Oh!

I think he might want to be named after swimming pools,

but my gut is telling me apartment buildings.

I'm wondering if he built some tremendous apartment buildings.

I'm going to go with that. I don't know the answer,

but I'll go with apartment buildings.

OK, apartment buildings is your answer.

You've roller-bladed right up behind one of the most powerful Eggheads

and you have swept him out of the way.

You are in the final round. Well done!

Apartment buildings is the correct answer.

Sorry, Barry. There we go. Barry has been knocked out

by Anna, and she will be in the final and not him.

Both of you, please come back to us.

Well done, Anna.

And your handle when you go roller-skating is...?

Bird of Pain. And now Barry understands why!

So the Roller Dolls have lost two brains,

but the Eggheads have now lost one.

The next subject for you is Arts & Books.

ROLLER DOLLS LAUGH

Who's this? It was supposed to be mine!

It would have been Anna,

but we want to save Stephanie, so it's going to be me.

OK. So, Gemma, against which Egghead?

It can only be Kevin or Pat.

We'll go for Pat.

Gemma from Roller Dolls versus Pat from the Eggheads

on Arts & Books.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

Gemma, all of your team-mates have a handle when you skate,

and we've talked about the Bird of Pain

and Boris Snarloff, so tell us what yours is.

I'm Skatewell Tart.

Skatewell Tart - why is that?

I do quite like cake,

and obviously bakewell tart is a classic, so...

You do a lot of baking, do you?

I do. I really enjoy my baking.

OK, it's Arts & Books. Gemma, would you like the first or second set of questions?

The first, please.

Gemma, your question.

What name is given to the expressions of gratitude

writers sometimes include at the beginnings of their books?

Um...

I can't say I'm great with books, to be honest.

But I'm going to go with acknowledgments.

It just seems to make more sense.

Acknowledgments is the right answer. Well done.

Barry, your first question.

What type of venue is most likely to have a prompter's box?

Well, in a library, you'd imagine people would be saying "Shh!"

Which is not quite prompting.

I think it's the theatre,

in case actors or singers have trouble

remembering their lines.

So I think it's the theatre.

Theatre is correct.

OK, Skatewell Tart.

Hope you don't mind me calling you that. No!

Doesn't feel right, somehow!

It takes a while to get used to it!

Which 17th-century painter gave his name to a style of beard

involving just a moustache and a goatee?

Um...

I know that Vincent van Gogh had some sort of facial hair!

Um...

I don't really know the other two.

So I'm just going to guess at Vincent van Gogh.

It's an interesting question. It's not Vincent van Gogh.

It's Anthony van Dyck.

Do they call that the Van Dyck, then?

Van Dyck beard, yes. A Van Dyck beard?

Have you heard of that, Gemma? No.

I'm sure Jack will have done, with his facial hair!

Jack's got a Van Gogh beard. That's the difference, I guess!

More straightforward.

Pat, what sort of beard have you got, then?

I don't know!

I'm not sure exactly of its classification.

It just happened!

LAUGHTER

OK. The Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland

was the designer of which award?

I think he's a big name in Norway.

There's a big park filled with his sculptures...

in Oslo. Frogner Park.

I think Norway may be the clue.

I don't see any reason why he would have done the Oscar statuette

or the British Empire Medal.

Big strong Norwegian connection with the Nobel Prizes.

So I'll go for the Nobel Peace Prize Medal.

You're absolutely right.

The Nobel Peace Prize Medal is what he designed.

Gemma, you have to get this one right to stay in.

Alan Bennett's first full-length stage play, Forty Years On,

is set in what type of establishment?

Well, I have heard of Alan Bennett.

And...

I'm sure that one of his others is in a school.

So I'm ruling that one out.

Out of the other two, it's pot luck, so I'm going to go hospital.

Hospital is your answer.

Did he write The History Boys?

Yes. That was in a school? Yes.

But this was too, Gemma! Oh!

Forty Years On is set in a school.

Pat, that means you've won on Arts & Books and you will be in the final.

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

This is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round, which is as always General Knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, Katie, Jack and Gemma from the Roller Dolls

and Barry from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio.

So, Anna and Stephanie, you are playing to win the Roller Dolls £12,000.

Dave, Kevin, Judith and Pat, you're playing for something that money actually can't buy,

which is 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.

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

You don't need to answer that!

Just tell us, do you want to go first or second?

We'll go second, please.

Eggheads, your first question.

According to the nursery rhyme, Dr Foster went to...

where, in a shower of rain?

Gloucester. Gloucester, I think.

He rhymed, so he went to Gloucester.

You think Dr Foster went to Gloucester?

You obviously don't fancy having a million hits on YouTube

by getting a wrong answer for that?!

It doesn't appeal to you today? Not really!

Gloucester is the right answer. Well done.

Right, Roller Dolls,

traditionally, what shape is a croissant?

It's most definitely a crescent.

Most definitely a crescent!

Crescent is the right answer.

OK. Eggheads, your second question.

In Italy, what are carabinieri?

Military police. OK? Yes.

They're a force of somewhere between police and army.

They're military police.

Military police is the right answer.

OK. They're pretending to know everything,

but they don't really.

The Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is what type of aircraft?

My first instinct was a helicopter. Was it?

When he said Skycrane, I thought crane.

Practical refuelling.

But then, a helicopter could be used as a crane, couldn't it?

The crane is like an insect, isn't it?

So...

What do you feel? Go with your instinct.

I think you were right. Mmm...!

I don't know. Do you know?

You've convinced me! You've put forward a very good argument

for your refuelling tanker.

Your up and down thing is also a good argument.

Shall we go helicopter? Yeah.

We're going to go helicopter.

I'm so glad you did. It's right.

Helicopter is correct.

So, 2-2.

How interesting.

If the Eggheads get this one wrong,

the field is open.

Eggheads, someone with the letters KCMG after their name

is a Knight Commander of the Order of whom?

It's St Michael and St George.

St Michael and St George is the correct answer.

Eggheads, you've got three out of three in the final round.

This is the danger of going second.

You have to get this right to stay in.

If you get it right, we go to Sudden Death.

Lisa Fonssagrives,

who married the photographer Irving Penn,

was famous in the 1940s and '50s as what?

Again, my first instinct in the '40s and '50s would be a fashion model.

And she married a photographer.

That kind of shenanigans.

Does make sense.

I do feel fashion model,

but I don't know.

Remember we had that conversation about going with our instinct?

Lady Instinct! Yeah, and not over-thinking it.

OK.

We'll go with...fashion model.

OK.

And that was Lady Instinct, did you say?

Never heard that phrase before on this programme!

It has served you well. Fashion model is the right answer.

You're still in it. Three out of three for you both.

OK, this is exciting.

Every time we get roller-skaters in here,

things get exciting.

So, it is Sudden Death.

Anything can happen now.

I don't give you alternative answers. That's how we work it.

And we're with you, Eggheads.

Which group's song A Day In The Life

was banned by the BBC in 1967?

It's a Beatles song, isn't it?

1967...

It was banned because it talks about the death of a man in a car crash.

And he was a man of some importance.

I knew it. It's the Beatles.

The Beatles is correct.

Banned because it was said to encourage drug-taking, interestingly.

OK, here we are again.

I can't give you alternatives here. We're on Sudden Death. OK.

In which country of the United Kingdom was Prince Charles born in 1948?

Scotland?

Any particular reason, Scotland?

Isn't that where they go when they relax?

Leisure time. Leisure...and to have babies!

He is the Prince of Wales. I know.

But it's just his title.

And if it was England, it just seems so bland, doesn't it? Yes!

OK.

So, Scotland?

Scotland, please.

So you had the choice of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

He was born in Buckingham Palace.

Oh! Oh! So it was England.

Oh, no!

I'm so sorry. And he's the Prince of Wales - you could have gone in all directions on that one.

But is does mean we have to say congratulations, Eggheads -

you have won.

Commiserations, Roller Dolls.

Very entertaining listening to your logic there!

On all the answers,

really interesting play in the final round.

Thank you very much for coming in.

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 £12,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to beat the Eggheads.

£13,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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