Episode 67 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. They are the Eggheads.

Taking on our quiz Goliaths today

are the Tennis Tykes, members of a tennis club based in Wetherby.

Let's meet them. Hello, I'm Mike, I'm 67 and I'm a retired senior lecturer.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 59 and I'm a tennis umpire.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 49 and a regional sales manager.

Hello, I'm Philip, I'm 68 and a retired financial adviser.

Hi, I'm John, I'm 66 and I'm a care company owner.

So, Mike and team, welcome. Good to see you. All tennis players? Yes, that's correct.

A range of skills? Varied.

You've got some pretty serious ones. One or two who play in the local leagues that we compete in. OK.

Do you quiz together? No, we don't. We're an ad hoc team, basically.

Put together for the occasion.

I can see they're trying to lull you into a false sense of security. Good tactic.

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

but if they fail to win that rolls over to the next show.

So I can tell you that the Eggheads have actually won the last 17 games,

which means £18,000 is on the table today for you to win,

if you can beat them!

The first head-to-head battle is on Film and Television.

Who would like this? John? If you want.

I shall martyr myself. John, which Egghead would you like to play?

I don't know how recently any of them were on a tennis court.

I'm going to pick Judith. She's bound to know more than I do,

but she's very pretty and posh and I like that.

John versus Judith from the Eggheads. Would you please take your positions in the question room?

OK, John, Film and TV. Are we ready? We are, yes. You're a massive fan of the Beatles?

Massive fan, yeah. Yeah. Are you a Beatles fan, Judith? I adored the Beatles in their day.

What kind of period? Well, the '60s!

I meant what sort of Beatles period. The White Album or Let It Be...? I don't know.

The '60s is not quite precise enough. What's the best Beatles film? Definitely Hard Day's Night.

It encapsulated the whole genre and was very well done.

Probably one of the best pop music films ever made. I must get that out.

Film and TV. John, first or second? I shall go first, please.

Here we go. Which series of horror films which began in 1984

features a central character with a burned face and a clawed glove?

Well, these are all films that used to keep me awake.

Chainsaw Massacre is horrific,

but I believe it is the guy called Freddy from Nightmare On Elm Street.

Absolutely right, John. Well done. Nightmare On Elm Street.

Judith, over to you.

Which comedian started presenting his Science Club on BBC television in 2012?

Oh, that's Dara O'Briain.

He's chummed up with Brian Cox.

Yeah. He's funny. Right answer.

Well done.

The character played by Jo Brand in the comedy Getting On shares her name with which pop star?

Well...

I'd have more chance if you asked how many stones are in Hadrian's Wall.

I've heard of Jo Brand, but I've not seen the actual show.

Debbie Harry might be too big a star. Kim Wilde was a big star here.

I may go for Sheena Easton. She wasn't quite in the same category as the other two.

Sheena Easton is the wrong answer. Kim Wilde is the answer.

Judith, your chance for the lead.

In the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, who plays Q?

Oh, that is the lovely Ben Wishaw who I think's a terribly good actor.

Ben Wishaw is right. A very young Q.

Very young. Surprisingly young.

OK, she's taken the lead.

John, you need to get this right.

Eric Marlon Bishop is the real name of which actor?

I've never heard of Cuba Gooding Jr.

Jamie Foxx I've heard of. Eddie Murphy I've heard of.

If it was a pop singer, I'd know them all, but with film stars...

I think I'm going to go for Eddie Murphy.

It's Jamie Foxx. Ah. It's Jamie Foxx.

It's difficult to guess that one.

Judith has taken the round and she will be in the final round.

John, you've been knocked out. Plenty of time yet.

Please, both of you rejoin your teammates and we'll play on.

In tennis terms, what just happened?

I think that was one-love to the Eggheads.

Well played, John. Thank you. There's plenty of time to win the match, if not that game.

The Tennis Tykes have lost a brain, the Eggheads have not lost one yet.

Let's see what happens with Science.

So who's the scientist?

Who would like to play an Egghead? I'll have a go.

It's you, Mike. You're the scientist.

Looks like it's me. You've been nominated. Against which Egghead?

I'd like to play Chris, please. OK, Mike and Chris, do go to the question room now.

So we're going to do Science now. Mike, first or second? I'll go first, thank you, Jeremy.

Here we go. What name is given to any substance applied to sliding surfaces to reduce friction?

Well, a refrigerant is something which is used to chill something,

a coagulant is commonly used to make blood clot. That leaves us with lubricant.

Lubricant is the right answer. Well done, Mike.

Chris, here is your question.

Electricity passed through neon produces a glow of which colour?

Neon. The original neon signs were rather sickly looking things.

Red/orange is sodium. Yellow/brown wouldn't work, so pink/purple.

Interesting answer.

I'm thinking back to American strip malls of the '50s

and thinking they were red twisty letters. It's red/orange.

Oh, right. You're in the lead, Mike.

Your team's gone, "Wow!" like when MPs wake up in the Commons.

The same noise. Which substance used in the cosmetics industry

is obtained from the African tree Vitellaria Paradoxa?

Right.

Bit of a stab in the dark, this one.

I'm going to go for tea tree oil.

It's shea butter. OK. It's not tea tree oil.

Over to you, Chris.

The German chemist Felix Hoffmann is most associated with the synthesis of which drug

in the 1890s?

Well, aspirin is derived from the willow tree. It's natural.

Penicillin came along much later, after Alexander Fleming,

but there was a move to synthesise quinine in the 1890s

for use in the colonies. Quinine.

A bit like your neon answer. You charged at the wrong one.

Quinine it is not. Barry?

Aspirin. Acetylsalicylic acid.

But Chris says it grows on trees. It was originally derived

from the bark of a willow tree. But Hoffmann synthesised it.

So aspirin is the answer, Chris.

If you get this one right, Mike,

you've taken the round and you're in the final.

He's got two wrong in a row.

At the age of 81, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1983

for her discovery of so-called jumping genes,

pieces of DNA that move from one place to another in genomes?

I think I read something about this, but I can't remember exactly.

I'm going to go for Rita Levi-Montalcini.

Rita Levi-Montalcini, it is not. Anyone know?

Barbara McClintock. Yes.

Discovered jumping genes.

OK, Chris,

this is not the highest-scoring round we've ever had,

if I could put that sensitively. If you get this wrong, you will be out.

Which of these creatures would be of special interest to a teuthologist?

Can you spell it, please?

T-E-U-T-H-O-L-O-G-I-S-T. Teuthologist.

Well, okapi is an antelope. That would be of interest to a naturalist in general.

There's no specialisation in antelope studies.

The opossum is a marsupial.

I'll have to go with octopus, the most scientifically interesting.

Octopus is right. So we go to sudden death, Mike.

I don't give you alternative answers.

Here's your question, Mike. What unit of mass, equivalent to 0.2 of a gram,

is used to measure the mass of a diamond?

A carat. Carat is correct.

Well done, Michael!

On the Minor Planet Centre system of coding,

which UK observatory has the code number 000?

Well, presumably it's the base from which all others are measured,

so it would be the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, or Herstmonceux.

Greenwich Royal Observatory is correct.

Mike, the mineral cinnabar is a compound of mercury and which other element?

Sulphur. Sulphur is correct.

It's the certainty, isn't it?

It's quite something. OK, Chris, this to stay in.

Which scientific instrument, historically used by astronomers,

takes its English name from the Greek meaning "star taking"?

That's an astrolabe. Astrolabe is correct.

Back to you, Mike.

Which planet in the Solar System was originally named Georgium Sidus,

in honour of King George III?

Right. I don't know this one.

I'm going to have a go at Neptune.

The answer is Uranus. Oh, OK.

Chris, to take the round.

In 1962, the British-born scientist Neil Bartlett proved that noble gases are not chemically inert

by becoming the first person to form a compound using which noble gas?

Argon. Oh! Eggheads, is he right?

Xenon. I think it was xenon. Xenon is the answer, Chris.

Off the hook, Mike. Sudden death.

Which of the great apes has the scientific name Pan troglodytes?

Wow. Um...

Orangutan.

No, chimpanzee. OK.

Chris,

which geological period of the Paleozoic Era takes its name

from the Latin for Wales?

Cambrian. Cambrian is right. You're in the final round.

Sorry, Mike.

Knocked out by our Egghead.

Chris will be in the final. Both of you rejoin your teams.

Bad luck, Mike. We were near your subject area, but not always on it.

No, and some of them were very esoteric! Yeah.

Tough. It shows... Chris did well. Exactly. The Eggheads can nick it at the end.

But well played. Thank you. As it stands, the Tennis Tykes have lost two brains from the final.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain. Let's see what happens on Sport.

I am looking at sportsmen.

Shall I take that one? I think so. I'll take that, Jeremy.

Against which Egghead?

Can I try and take on Pat, please? Of course you can.

Dave from the Tennis Tykes against Pat on Sport.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

Dave, you are a real tennis umpire? A real tennis umpire, yeah.

That's how you make a living, is it? Er, well, it's more for the enjoyment of doing it

rather than the money. You've done it at Wimbledon, at the Davis Cup.

You've been an umpire in some key games. That's right. Very tense games and at a high level.

It's enjoyable. OK.

You're against Pat. The subject is Sport. Would you like to go first or second? I'll go first, please.

Here is your first question, Dave.

Who became manager of the tennis player Andy Murray in 2009?

Crikey!

I don't think it's Simon Cowell. He's more entertainment.

Simon Bates, I'm thinking of as radio,

so I will say Simon Fuller for that one.

You're absolutely right. The tennis question comes up straight away.

How about that? Amazing.

Pat, which rower partnered Anna Watkins to win an Olympic double sculls gold medal in 2012?

I think Laura Trott is a cyclist.

There are two Jade Jones.

And I don't think either of them row.

I think it's Katherine Grainger.

Katherine Grainger is the right answer, Pat. Back to you, Dave.

Otago Volts and Canterbury Wizards are New Zealand teams in which sport?

The first thing, when you said a New Zealand sport,

I was thinking of rugby union,

but could you just give me the name again, please?

The first name is spelt O-T-A-G-O.

Otago Volts and Canterbury Wizards.

Right, um...

I'm thinking rugby union,

but I've not heard of them as rugby union teams

which I think I might have...

No, I'll stick with rugby union, please, Jeremy.

Is he right? I don't think so. Soccer? Yeah, I think it's football.

You think it's soccer. You're all wrong. Cricket is the answer.

Sorry, Dave. Back to you, Pat.

The footballer Fabrice Muamba, who retired from the sport in 2012, was born in which country?

I think they're all Francophone countries.

I have a faint feeling he's from Kinshasa,

but I'm not dead sure. I don't think it's Central African Republic.

I think he's from Kinshasa, so it's Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congo is quite right. Well done.

He's ahead, so you need this one, Dave, to stay in. If you don't get it, you're out of the final.

Which baseball team won the 2012 World Series, beating the Detroit Tigers?

Right...

San Francisco...

The Super Bowl...

I've honestly no idea,

but I'm going to make a decision

between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cardinals,

purely because I don't think it's San Francisco.

I'll go for St Louis Cardinals, please, Jeremy. Pat, do you know?

It's the Giants. It is the San Francisco Giants, Dave. Sorry.

No way back for you, so you have been knocked out.

Pat is in the final round. Both of you, please come back to us.

Bad luck, Dave. Tough. Thank you. What can I say?

Tough. He's good. Is the tactic going to change? Do we change the tactic now?

We'll have to do something.

The Tennis Tykes have lost three brains from the final round. The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

I keep saying "so far", hoping things will change for you. The next subject is Arts & Books.

Is that bad?

LAUGHTER Who wants this?

It's going to be me, but I only learned to read and write a few years ago(!)

Philip against which Egghead? You can either have Barry or Kevin.

Right, I think we'll do a kamikaze here. I'll go for Kevin.

Trying to take out the grand master. Yeah, well... OK.

Philip from the Tennis Tykes versus Kevin from the Eggheads. It's Arts & Books. Do go to the question room.

Philip, would you like to go first or second? I'd like to go home!

Good answer! I wish I could give you a point for that answer.

First or second? I'll go first, please.

Good luck. In Shakespeare's play The Merchant Of Venice,

which character says,

"Let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh

"to be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleaseth me"?

Well, the only character I know...

I think it might be Shylock.

My answer will be Shylock.

Shylock is correct, well done. "The pound of flesh" quote, yeah.

Kevin, here's your question.

You were sitting very quietly on the end. Were you keeping your counsel? Something like that.

You've suddenly broken into the limelight.

Which Victorian novelist features in the Terry Pratchett novel Dodger?

I don't know this because I'm not a Terry Pratchett fan,

so I've no idea about it from that angle,

but Victorian novelist...

Leo Tolstoy may have lived much of his life during the Victorian period,

but he was Russian. I don't see why he'd be called a Victorian novelist.

Henry James, whilst he started writing under Victoria...

..was as much Edwardian as Victorian, so I think it has to be Dickens.

Very good logic. Yes, Charles Dickens, it is.

He uses the word "Victorian". He gets to it through that word.

OK, over to you, Philip.

In the Harry Potter books, what type of creature is Errol, owned by the Weasley family?

Well, I must be one of the few people in the UK

who has only just heard of Harry Potter novels,

so this is going to be an out-and-out guess.

But I think I'll stick to the same side and go "owl".

Errol is an owl. You're right.

Kevin...

In a work by TS Eliot, who is known as "the original conjuring cat"?

They're all characters from it.

I've not read the original or indeed seen the stage show,

so I'm slightly in the dark.

Conjuring cat...

I'll...

I'll have to go for Mistoffelees, Mr Mistoffelees.

And you've got the answer right. Mr Mistoffelees, it is.

Sorry, Philip.

You couldn't shake him off that easily. I thought you were in there. So did I. Can I go home now, please?

Come on, you're doing well. Here's your question.

In John Singer Sargent's famous portrait of Madame X,

what colour dress is the subject wearing?

The first thought I had was green, so that's hopelessly wrong.

I'll do a Judith and go down the middle and say it's white.

Judith, where would you have gone?

He should have done a Judith and gone down the right. That's the magic one.

And it's black. We've got confused about what angle Judith prefers.

LAUGHTER

Black is the answer, Philip. I'm sorry.

Kevin, get this one right and you're in the final round.

If you don't, we go to sudden death.

Jeanne Hebuterne was the mistress of which artist, committing suicide soon after his death in 1920?

She was the mistress of Amedeo Modigliani.

You're absolutely right. She was.

Modigliani is the correct answer.

Sorry, Philip, your one error there has cost you the round.

I know that's painful. You won't be in the final. If you both come back to us, we'll play that final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards, the final round, which, as always, is General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round, so, Mike, Dave, Philip and John from the Tennis Tykes,

would you please leave the studio?

I don't know quite how this has happened, Tim.

You are alone, but your colleagues will be very grateful if you win.

You're playing to win the Tennis Tykes £18,000.

Chris, Barry, Pat, Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

I will ask each team three questions in turn. This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer. That doesn't help you much.

So the question, Tim, is - is your one brain able to overcome these five?

Would you like to go first or second? I'll go first.

OK, well, good luck to you.

Which bird shares its name with the term used for "small flags"?

I've never heard of a waxwing flag or a starling flag,

but I have heard of bunting, so I'll go for "bunting".

Absolutely right. Well done. First point to you.

That might have seemed easy, but people trip up on the first one

and it's hard to recover, so that is a good one to have in the bag. OK, Eggheads, all five of you...

What term is used to mean a small, fashionable, upmarket hotel

that has been designed by an interior decorator?

Boutique. Boutique.

All happy with "boutique"? Yeah.

That's a boutique hotel.

Boutique hotel, it is. You're right.

OK, Tim...

In the UK, Oak Apple Day is celebrated in which month?

Oak Apple Day. Oak Apple Day.

I've heard of it, but I don't know which month it's in.

I'm trying to think logically.

When would oak apples be around?

I seem to think that apples come later in the year.

I'll go for September, Jeremy.

Eggheads, is he right? May. May the 29th, I think.

May, Tim. Sorry, May is the answer.

The Eggheads have a chance to take the lead.

Thomas Doughty was suspected of witchcraft, tried for treachery

and executed whilst sailing with which British explorer?

I think that's Francis Drake. Drake, wasn't it?

It was on the way down, as they were going down...

I'm trying to think which side of South America it was on,

but he was a bit too rebellious.

We're all agreed on this one. It was Francis Drake.

What was the story? I'm fascinated.

It was... The charges were trumped up

because he effectively disputed Drake's leadership of the expedition.

Francis Drake is the right answer.

You do need to get this one right, Tim,

to stay in the contest. Don't give up.

When they fall apart, it's rapid and fun for me, to be honest.

The Japanese skill of iaido involves which of these?

Let me just spell that for you.

It's I-A-I-D-O.

Iaido. Again, unfortunately, I haven't heard of it.

I'm thinking about a skill.

Would you call penmanship a skill? I suppose you would.

But then you would the other two as well.

Something's drawing me to penmanship.

Yeah, I'm going to go for penmanship.

Penmanship is the wrong answer. Oh, dear. The answer is swordsmanship.

I won't go back to the Eggheads for another question

because there is no way back for the Tennis Tykes.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Commiserations to Tim and the Tennis Tykes. I hope you enjoyed coming. Very much so. Thank you.

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

You won't go home with the £18,000 which rolls over to the next show.

Eggheads, very well done to you. Out in force, all five of you survived the early rounds.

Who, I wonder, will ever beat you?

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

£19,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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