Episode 99 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 We Are What We Know.

Now, this friends and family team from the north-east of England

take the inspiration for their team name from their strongly held

quizzing belief that you either know the answer or you don't.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Laura, and 24 and I'm a sales executive.

Hi, I'm Harry, I'm 21,

and I'm a marketing and business development executive.

Hi, I'm Chris, I'm 29 and I'm a sales executive.

Hi, I'm Neil, I'm 32 and I'm a national account executive.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 32 and I'm a general manager.

-So, Laura and team, welcome, good to see you.

-Hello.

-Thank you.

Roughly...or exactly, whereabouts are you from? Which town?

Most of us are from Darlington, except Harry, he's from Thirsk.

-And you know...or We Know What We Know...

-Yes.

..is about if you don't know, you can't guess.

Well, basically, we thought we'd come, and if we know it, we know it.

If we don't, then, you know... we know what we know.

Daphne, you have a middle ground here,

cos sometimes you don't know things, but you DO know them.

Or you guess them right. How do you do that? It's not just guessing.

Well, I can't explain my thought processes,

but sometimes it's just a little, what we call, an inkling.

And if it's 50-50,

then that one slightly more 50 than the other one...

It's almost like your brain is an enormous attic with no light.

-We have got brains like Velcro.

-Yes, brains like Velcro.

I was going to say, you go in and you rummage.

-And you find things you didn't know were there.

-Yes.

-Sometimes.

-Yes.

-Sometimes.

-Not always, though.

-No.

-You quiz together, of course?

Yes, we do.

Down the pub or where?

Sometimes the pub, but normally just with each other.

-We just enjoy it, so...

-What is it about quizzing that is just such a British thing?

-LAUGHTER It is, isn't?

-It is.

-Tradition.

-OK, good luck in this.

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, We Know What We Know, the Eggheads have won the last three games,

which means the £4,000 says that you can't beat them today.

-Are you ready to start?

-Yes.

-Yes.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of History.

Who would like this?

-Who's the History player?

-I reckon I'll go for it.

-Do you want to?

-Go with Harry?

-Are you OK?

-Yeah, we're going to go with Harry.

OK, Harry, on History... Harry on history, against which Egghead?

-Dave.

-I think we'll go Dave.

-Yeah, Dave, please.

OK, Harry on History from We Know What We Know,

to Tremendous Knowledge Dave - how about that?

The perfect connection on History.

And just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take positions in the Question Room?

Good luck against Tremendous Knowledge Dave on History.

And, Harry, you can choose the first or second set of questions.

Er, I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Which UK Prime Minister resigned from his post

in the year John F Kennedy was assassinated?

Right, I'm going to be honest, this question definitely

predates by birth, so I've narrowed out what I'm going for there.

I haven't really heard of Harold Macmillan or Edward Heath,

-so I'm going to guess Harold Wilson, I think.

-1963 was when it happened.

-It was Harold Macmillan. Harry...

-Oh, well.

-Another Harry!

Dave, over to you.

At the end of 1943, part of the South Hams district of Devon

was evacuated to make way for rehearsals for which military event?

Oh, right, rehearsals. Erm, I'll go D-Day Landings.

D-Day Landings is the right answer.

Well done, Dave. You've taken the lead.

Harry, see if you get some more luck with this question.

Immediately prior to his return to Iran in 1979,

Ayatollah Khomeini lived in which country?

Again, I've got one that I'm not entirely sure on.

Iran has had some potentially bad press recently, so I might have

to go with East Germany,

as it's that side of the Berlin Wall at the time.

So I'm going to saw East Germany.

-He was in exile in, I think... was it Paris?

-Paris.

Yes, Paris in France. France is the answer, Harry.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, your question.

You get this one right, then the round is yours.

Which famous designer built the R100 Airship that successfully

flew to Canada and back in 1930?

I'm going to go Nigel Gresley.

-Oh... What?!

-Chris is appalled.

Chris, why the reaction?

Well, Nigel Gresley was the chief mechanical engineer

of the London and North Eastern Railway at the time.

-He had nothing whatever to do with flying contraptions.

-So it was...?

-Barnes Wallis.

-Barnes Wallis it was, Dave.

-I didn't know.

So you're not knocked out just yet, Harry.

Come on, let's get a right answer here.

Which Roman emperor was the immediate successor of Trajan?

Erm, again, this is one that I'm not entirely sure on...

OK, well, in terms of the name, it's like Hadrian,

and I'm not entirely sure, so I'm going to guess Hadrian.

I'm liking your logic here.

-Has he got it right, team? Do you think?

-I think so.

-I think so.

-I don't know.

-It just proves we know what we know,

cos he doesn't know...

He's got it right, though. Well done!

-Well done, mate.

-Well done!

Off the starting blocks, Harry.

There's something about the H answers, isn't there?

It's Harold Macmillan and then it's Hadrian.

There's a pattern here.

-OK, Dave, if you get this one wrong, we go to Sudden Death.

-Mm-hm.

Which house on the Sandringham estate

was the home of George V before he became King?

I've not heard of this at all, so I'm going to go for Brook Cottage.

-Any Eggheads know?

-York.

-York Cottage.

York Cottage is the right answer, Dave,

so one point each after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death. I might call that a let-off, Harry.

Yeah, I would as well, I think.

-It gets a little trickier now, cos I don't give your alternative answers. We're on Sudden Death, OK?

-OK.

The remains of the Venerable Bede are believed

to have been transferred in the 11th century

to which northern city's cathedral?

Right, well, I'm not sure, if I'm honest.

If I think of big cathedrals in the north, there's Durham,

York, there's Ripon - I suppose that's a bit smaller.

York's obviously got the Archbishop of York,

so I'm going to choose York, I think.

You're mainly from Darlington, team-mates. Where do you think?

-Is he right about this?

-I don't know.

-Not 100% sure.

It's Durham.

You named it and then moved past it, I'm afraid.

Dave, Simon de Montfort, the leader of a baronial revolt

against Henry III, was invested with which earldom in 1239?

Earl of Leicester.

Leicester is a right answer, Dave, well done.

You've taken the round. Sorry, Harry, you were knocked out there,

but early days for your team,

and let's see what happens next. Do return to us.

So, as it stands, We Know What We Know have taken a knock

and lost a brain - Harry's - from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

They're all sitting there rather over-contentedly.

A bit smug, you may say! We'll see whether something can happen now.

The next subject is Music.

-Who wants this?

-Chris.

-I think, Chris. Yeah?

-I think it's going to have to be myself.

OK, Chris, and against which Egghead? It can't be Dave.

I think I'll take on Chris.

This has happened more than once recently, hasn't it?

-That the person with the name Chris goes with Chris.

-Good name.

-It is a very good name.

-If we got together any time, we could take over the world.

LAUGHTER

So Chris from We Know What We Know, and Chris from the Eggheads,

please get together now in our question rooms.

Would you like to go first or second, Chris from the Challengers?

I will go...second, please.

Here we go. Egghead Chris, your question.

For what does PYT stand in the title of a 1984 single

for Michael Jackson?

I don't think it's People You Trust.

It's got to be Pretty Young Thing.

PYT is Pretty Young Thing, yes. Chris, your question.

Which one of these was a founder member of the girl group, Bananarama?

Well, I believe Nadine was in Girls Aloud.

Liz McClarnon, I think, was in Atomic Kitten.

So I'm going to go with Keren Woodward.

Have you heard of Bananarama?

-I was very young, but, yes, yes.

-You were very young.

That's what I was thinking. I think, just as you are born,

-they were singing the first...

-Yeah, I believe so.

But you got it right, Chris, well done. Keren Woodward.

OK. Chris - Egghead Chris -

what was the title of Neil Young's 1972 UK top ten single?

Well, Heart of Glass was Blondie, so it's not that.

Heart of Darkness is a Joseph Conrad novel,

so it's got to be Heart of Gold.

-Yeah, it is Heart of Gold. You've heard the song, yeah?

-Oh, yeah.

-OK.

We Know What We Know, we are back with you, back with Chris.

The arrival in Europe in 1919 of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra

did much to popularise what type of music?

Popularise...Classical.

Orchestra...

I know people would say orchestra, a bit of classical, but...

Popularise.

I'll go with classical.

-Eggheads.

-ALL: Jazz.

-Jazz, yeah.

Too early for rock 'n' roll, but it was jazz.

Where are the origins

of the very start of jazz? It was the USA, yeah?

And 19th-century?

Jazz, or what we would call jazz today, would go back to about 1880s.

Various other things fed into it.

OK. Big Chris.

You get the round if you get this one right, Chris.

"Wherever we go, whatever we do,

"we're going to go through it together"

are lines from the song Together Wherever We Go from which musical?

Well, it ain't Bugsy Malone.

Nor is it Carousel. It's Gypsy.

Gypsy is the right answer, Chris, well done. You've got the round.

Sorry, other Chris. You're knocked out,

but he's a doughty fighter, old Chris the Train.

He went like an express train and you've been knocked out, Chris.

Do return to us here.

So as it stands We Know What We Know, our challenging team,

have lost two brains now from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

The next subject for you is geography. Who wants this?

-Can't be Chris or Harry.

-I'm all right to take it. I'll give it a go.

-I'm not very good.

-Against which one?

I think we be better off with you two, so... Yes, I'm going to go.

Good, Laura. Get into the question booth. Excellent.

-Against which Egghead?

-Who should I go for?

-Go for your idol.

I was going to say, go for your idol.

Whoever you want to do it with.

-I think I'd like to face Daphne, two girls and that.

-OK, very good.

-Quite nice.

-So Laura from We Know What We Know against Daphne.

This is the great test of We Know What We Know, or Daphne's thing,

the inkle, sometimes we know stuff we don't know.

So we can find out what happens when you go up against each other.

Please go to the question room now.

-Well, Laura, I know you're a fan of the show.

-I am.

So I'm hoping you're feeling good about this moment.

I'm very excited, Jeremy.

How does it feel being in the question room

-next to the great Daphne?

-It's so strange. But amazing.

-Great experience.

-Let's see how you go.

On geography, Laura, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go with first, Jeremy.

Here we go. The volcano Eyjafjallajokull

which erupted in 2010 causing major disruption to civil aviation

is located in which country?

Right.

I think I've heard of a volcano in Iceland.

It sounds more from there to me. Maybe I'm wrong.

But I think I'm going to go, have a punt and go with Iceland.

Iceland is the right answer. Well done.

You've sent ash up into the air. Amazingly delayed flights

all over the world, didn't it? Incredible. Daphne.

San Miguel is the largest island in which Atlantic Ocean group?

Well, the other two are in the Indian Ocean,

and it's the Azores.

Azores is the right answer. Back to you, Laura.

What type of vehicles carry passengers

on the Nottingham Express transit system?

One of my best friends lives in Nottingham so I've been there

a few times and I've noticed there's definitely quite a few tram rails,

so I'm going to go with trams.

Trams is the right answer.

Playing well. Doing really well.

Two out of two.

OK, Daphne, your question. What is the approximate size...

SHE LAUGHS

I know you love these. ..In square kilometres of Australia.

SHE SIGHS

I don't know! 70 million.

-The answer is 7.7 million.

-Oh, right!

-Got it wrong.

OK. This is good, Laura, isn't it?

-Yeah, really good.

-Treasure the moment, here,

you're ahead of Daphne. Big Eggheads fan, playing Daphne

and you're about to pitch her out of the competition, and she'll be

very sporting if you do, so you don't have to worry about that.

-You've got to get this one right though.

-OK.

The shipping forecast area formerly known as Heligoland

now has what name?

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

-Just go straight down the middle and try Viking.

-See if Daphne knows.

-Daphne?

-German Bight.

-German Bight is the answer. Oh, Laura.

Have we let her back in with all her inkles on the run?

Through which part of England does the M53 motorway run, Daphne?

-If you get this wrong, Daphne, you will have gone.

-I know.

And I haven't got a clue.

The Wirral?

-The Wirral is the right answer!

-I'm so sorry!

Laura, we go to sudden death now.

Which means it gets a tiny bit harder

because I don't get you alternative answers. Good luck. Here we go.

Patras, the European Capital of Culture in 2006,

is the third-largest city in which country?

I'm thinking, Patras...

To me it sounds Greek. Maybe.

Yeah, I think I'll just go with Greece.

Greece is correct!

Good play.

Daphne, to stay in you need to get this right.

Latakia is a Mediterranean port in which country?

Turkey?

Ooh, Daphne, you got it wrong. It's Syria!

APPLAUSE

There we are, Laura, how about that?

-That's amazing!

-It wasn't so bad. You've won, you've triumphed,

you're in the final round. Well done. Daphne has been knocked out.

The inkles did not beat the great We Know What We Know team.

Please come back to us, and we will play the next round.

As it stands, We Know What We Know have lost two brains.

The Eggheads have lost Daphne, after that big build-up I gave you.

-It's my fault again, isn't it?

-Yes.

-The next subject is Sport.

So which of you would like this?

THEY CONFER

-I'll do it.

-OK, Neil, against which Egghead? It can be Kevin or Barry.

So one from either end.

THEY CONFER

-Yeah, Barry.

-All right, I can see you're looking forward to this.

It's We Know What We Know on Sport and it's Neil playing Barry.

Please go to the question room now.

So Sport, Neil, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck.

In boxing, which phrase has been trademarked in the United States

by the well-known ring announcer Michael Buffer?

Let's make sure I get this right.

He's made a fortune from it, hasn't he?

It's "let's get ready to rumble".

"Let's get ready to rumble" is the right answer. Well done. OK, Barry.

In which country is the Ffos Las racecourse located?

This is one of the newest racecourses to come on stream, isn't it?

I believe it's in Wales.

Wales is your answer and it's correct.

That's new, Barry, is it, that one?

Yes, it's only been on stream a couple of years, I think.

-Interesting. You would have known that, Neil?

-Yeah, I knew that.

LAUGHTER

The footballer known as Neymar

made his full international debut in 2010 for which team?

His name is spelt in N-E-Y-M-A-R. One word.

Yeah, and his ridiculous haircut. It's Brazil.

Brazil is the right answer.

Well, you know your stuff on football, I can tell. OK, Barry.

Which British sportsperson did Toni Minichiello

coach to gold at the 2012 Olympics?

Toni Minichiello, that name rings a bell.

Ah! It was Jessica Ennis.

-Why do you say that with such certainty?

-I just remembered it.

I read a piece on this just a few days ago. Toni Minichiello

is the coach of Jessica Ennis. OK. So we're equal after two, two each.

Neil.

The record for the longest Davis Cup match in history

was broken in February 2013 in a doubles match between Switzerland

and the Czech Republic that lasted just over how many hours?

It was that one in Wimbledon, wasn't it, a couple of years ago,

that was 12 or something?

So I'd go with 11, but it's a total guess.

-Let's see if Barry knows this. Barry?

-I would have gone with seven.

Seven is the right answer, Neil. Yeah.

Barry, if you get this right, you're in the final round.

In 2012, which rugby union team began playing home games

at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford?

Oxford stadium. I'm pretty certain it's not London Irish.

Not sure on this one. I'm going to go for London Wasps.

I wonder if Neil knows this.

I'd have guessed possibly London Welsh

-but it would have been a guess.

-London Welsh would have been right!

Barry got it wrong, so you're equal

after three questions. This is getting to be quite a contest now.

Keep up the pressure here, Neil, don't let him in.

Gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives, OK?

The Borg-Warner trophy is awarded to the winner of which race?

I don't have a clue. I'll guess at the New York Marathon.

-Absolute guess.

-Anyone here know?

-ALL: Indianapolis 500.

Indianapolis 500 is the answer.

Not the New York Marathon.

This for the round, Barry.

-The Wire is the nickname of which British rugby league team?

-The Wire?

-The Wire.

-Rugby league teams tend to be alliterative.

So I'm looking at Widnes or Warrington.

-I'll go for Warrington.

-I can accept that. The team is Warrington Wolves.

-Warrington Wolves.

-Yeah. But I can accept Warrington.

So you've done it. That was a good bit of logic there,

actually pulling that out.

The Wire are the Warrington Wolves.

And Neil, that means you will not be in the final round. I'm sorry.

Wow! Good contest! Come back to us and we will play that final.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round which as always is general knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost head-to-head won't be able to

take part in this round, so Harry, Chris and Neil

from We Know What We Know and Daphne from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

So Laura and Tim, you're playing to win

We Know What We Know £4,000.

Kevin, Dave, Chris and Barry, you're playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time the questions are all general knowledge

and you can confer with each other.

So Laura and Tim, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

And would you like to go first or second?

-I think we'd like to go first, please.

-First.

OK, here we go. Good luck.

Six-pack is a colloquial term for a well-developed set of which muscles?

-Definitely abdominals.

-Abdominals, isn't it, yeah? Abdominals.

Abdominals is the right answer, well done. You're off the starting pad.

Eggheads, in the children's book Stig of the Dump, what is Stig?

-Caveman.

-Happy with caveman?

-Yeah.

-Stig is a caveman.

-He is a caveman.

I remember reading that, I think 40 years ago. OK, your question.

Harry Selfridge, the retail magnate who founded the store

that is named after him, was born in which country?

-I know this one.

-Yeah, it's been on TV.

-It's definitely USA.

-I think we'll go with USA.

-Have you been watching it, Laura?

-Yes.

USA is the right answer. Two out of two!

Here's your question, Eggheads. Petra, a ruined city in Jordan,

derives its name from the ancient Greek word for what?

THEY CONFER

The word is petros, which means rock.

Rock is the right answer. So it's your third question.

Get this one right, Laura, you know this quiz really well.

The third is often vital.

Put the pressure on them, who knows what could happen.

What is the name of the detective created by Michael Innes

in the 1930s who first appeared in the novel

Death at the President's Lodging?

-I'm not sure.

-I've got no idea.

Do you want to try and knock one out or anything?

-No.

-I honestly have no clue.

1930s, think of maybe a name from back then that was common?

I have an inkling towards John Appleby, but that's just me.

-It's up to you.

-You've been quite good today, haven't you?

You've been lucky today, so we'll go with John Appleby.

John Appleby is your answer. OK.

And the whole We Know What We Know thing

was that if you don't know, you don't know.

We now realise that if you don't know, you sometimes do know,

because John Appleby is quite right! Well done.

You've played really well.

So he's an American author, is he, or what?

-No, British.

-So he's writing about the President's lodging, but...?

No, the President in this instance

-is the president of an Oxbridge college.

-Oh, I see. OK.

-Very academic settings, often, for his books.

-Oh, OK!

I was thinking American. All right.

John Appleby is right anyway, well done. Three out of three.

Well, well, well, Eggheads, we've been here before.

Just when you thought you were safe to go back in the water.

What entertainment did the entrepreneur Bertram Mills

regularly stage at Christmas in Olympia in London

beginning in 1920?

ALL: Bertram Mills Circus.

That was, very big in its day, Bertram Mills Circus.

Circus is your answer. Did used to say "roll up"?

Did he have some kind of...? Why have we heard of Bertram?

-It was the definitive circus for years.

-Circus is the right answer.

So we go to Sudden Death, gets a bit harder,

I don't give you alternatives.

Ringo Starr sings the lead vocal on which track

on the Beatles 1967 album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

-I am really rubbish at Beatles songs.

-I was hoping you'd know!

Honestly, I'm appalling at them.

-Strawberry Fields, Let It Be... I'm really bad.

-On that album?

Obviously Sergeant Pepper, but I don't think it would be that one.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure which songs are on which albums.

Do you want to just guess one, a famous one?

-Strawberry Fields?

-Yeah.

-Strawberry Fields?

-Forever?

-Strawberry Fields Forever?

-I think that might be on that album, actually, isn't it?

-ALL: It's not.

The album starts with the track

Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

and then it just kind of sweeps into a second track which goes...

# What would you do if I sang out of tune... #

and that's With A Little Help From My Friends. That is the answer.

With A Little Help From My Friends.

-Oh, well..

-So we're on Sudden Death.

If you get this one right then the contest is over.

Here we go, Eggheads. Which film starring David Niven

and directed by Powell and Pressburger

was shown at the first Royal film performance in 1946?

-A Matter Of Life And Death.

-Yes, A Matter Of Life And Death.

It's the one where he plays an RAF pilot who might or might not be dead,

and has to go through a trial in heaven,

and it's called A Matter Of Life And Death.

A Matter Of Life And Death is the right answer,

so we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Thank you, Laura and Tim, for coming in. And team.

-And I hope you enjoyed it.

-Very enjoyable, thank you very much.

You ran them pretty close, you ran them close.

If just one or two answers at the end had gone your way you would have

definitely beaten them.

So, commiserations to We Know What We Know.

As you now discover, you know some things that maybe you don't know.

-Maybe, yes.

-Some brilliant guessing on your side as well.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and they reign supreme over Quizland still.

I'm afraid that means you won't be going home with the £4,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£5,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.