Episode 29 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 five quiz challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our quiz Goliaths today are The Two Tones.

This team of colleagues all work for Greater Manchester Police.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Simon. I'm 33 and I'm a police sergeant.

Hi, I'm Tim. I'm 43 years old and I'm a police officer.

Hi, I'm Rick. I'm 30 years old and I'm a police officer.

Hi, I'm Chris. I'm 50 and I'm a police officer.

Hello, I'm Simon. I'm 39 and I'm also a police officer.

Welcome to you, Two Tones.

So you regularly quiz -

is this informal, or in pub and police quizzes, or what?

In pub quizzes mostly.

Sometimes at work, when we've got the time.

Favourite subjects or anything that's thrown at you?

We like a bit of history, don't we?

History - all of us.

A lot of the Eggheads do as well. Shall we get on with it?

I'll tell you about the money.

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

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Two Tones, the Eggheads have won the last six games -

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

And let's look at the first head-to-head battle -

there we are, first subject is History.

Who'd like to play that? Presumably quite a number of you.

Choose a player.

If we're sticking with what we said, that's going to be me, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Get it over and done with.

That will be me.

All right, Simon.

Choose an Egghead - any one of the five, it's the first round.

I think it's going to have to be CJ.

-All right.

-Fair enough.

You like history, too.

Let's have Simon and CJ into the Question Room to play

the opening round.

Good luck, Simon. It's History, do you want to go first or second?

I would like to go first, please.

Here's your first question.

The heir to the throne of which country

was traditionally called the Dauphin?

Well, I've never heard of it.

I think I can easily discount Scotland.

That doesn't sound Scottish.

So it's between France and Spain.

And between the two, simply because it sounds like a French word,

I'll go with France, please.

That'll do - right answer, yes.

Dauphin of France.

OK, CJ.

Which revolutionary machine is Hiram Moore said to have

invented in the United States in 1834?

It's not the submarine - that's Cornelius van Drebbel

and that was in the 17th century.

Uh... You automatically think of combine harvesters as...

..engine-driven machines,

but of course an early one doesn't have to be.

Dishwashers are much, much earlier than you think they are.

I'll have to go with dishwasher, but I'm not at all sure.

OK. Dishwasher.

It's not. No, it's not, CJ.

I'll let you say - you know what it is.

-Is it combine harvester then, Dermot?

-It is combine harvester.

Combine harvester, invented by Hiram Moore.

Well, that's a good start, Simon.

See if you can build a bigger lead here.

The building of Caernarfon Castle,

styled after the walls of Constantinople,

was ordered by which king?

When you said Caernarfon Castle I was thinking...

..Norman conquests.

Henry V is far too late for that. John...

..I'm not sure when he was about but I think it

was before the Norman conquests, so I will go with Edward I.

Edward I is the right answer.

You've got two - it's a 2-0 lead,

but, of course, it might be whittled down a bit,

cos CJ hasn't faced his second question.

The Chinchorro people, who practised mummification of the dead

2,000 years before the Egyptians, were from which part of the world?

Well, mummification's traditionally from South America.

They have a lot of ancient peoples there, such as the Chimu,

who I think practised mummification long time before the Egyptians.

Um... Certainly don't think it's East Africa

and I'm fairly sure it's not China.

Simply because I know there's a long tradition of it,

and the word sounds South American, I'll try South America.

OK. You've got the right answer, CJ.

CJ's very much still in it,

but you can snuff out his revival here, Simon.

If you give me a right answer, you are in the final round.

Which Roman historian wrote Origins, in the 2nd century BC,

covering the history of Rome from its beginning?

I haven't got a clue.

Cato the Elder - I'm guessing that might be a bit of a...

Stuck in there to lead me astray, so I'm not going to go with that.

Nennius. I'll go with Nennius.

OK. Nennius.

Cato the Elder to lead you astray -

Cato the Elder would have led you into the final round!

It's the answer we were looking for.

Cato the Elder wrote Origins.

CJ's revival given a chance here.

CJ, in 1959, when modern postcodes were first introduced in the UK,

which city was chosen for the pilot scheme?

1959.

See, I hate this.

Before you read out the options, one of those leapt into my mind.

And I've got absolutely no...reason to understand why.

But I don't know the answer, so...

With no confidence and no logic behind it,

I'm going to go for Norwich.

-OK. And is that the one that leapt into your mind?

-Yeah.

Which is the right answer.

Obviously you've seen it, read it somewhere and, in actual fact,

all the choices do is confuse you.

-Absolutely!

-Put doubt into your mind. It can work that way,

particularly for the Eggheads with so much knowledge in there.

OK. Simon, we're now into Sudden Death.

If it's all-square after three questions,

whatever round it is, we go to Sudden Death and remove the options.

Can you tell me, Simon, in British history,

which king, accompanied by swordsmen,

marched to Parliament to arrest MPs called

Pym, Hampden, Haselrig, Holles and Strode?

Again, I don't know.

I'm going to guess that it's going to be...

English Civil War era.

I'll go with James I.

Oh!

You identified the period, you got the wrong king.

Close, but no cigar.

It's Charles I.

Charles I. So close.

But didn't get it.

CJ, that revival started as a little flame,

is it going to turn into a conflagration?

Got to get this.

Which Portuguese explorer was given the title Viceroy Of India in 1524?

I will plump for Vasco da Gama.

Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer,

was he given the title Viceroy Of India in 1524?

Yes, he was. You've got it, CJ. What a revival that was.

Simon, you were sailing along there,

sailing through those early questions, then you hit the rocks.

-Oh, well.

-And CJ's sailed in, courtesy of Vasco da Gama.

Bad luck, Simon, you won't be in the final round - CJ will be there.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams.

Good round, that. Swung back and forth

but in the end the Eggheads won through,

so The Two Tones have lost one brain from the final round,

the Eggheads are all still there.

Round two is Music. Who'd like to play this from The Two Tones?

I think we know who's going to go for it - Simon.

-It's going to be Simon.

-Other Simon - Simon N down the end there.

Simon, who would you like to play? It can be any of them apart from CJ.

SIMON: I'd probably say Kevin does know quite a lot about music.

It's up to you, mate.

Either between Chris or Dave.

I'll go Kevin, please.

Oh!

-He said it's up to you - Simon's gone for it.

-I did!

All right, it's going to be Simon playing Kevin, the subject is Music.

Would you both go to the Question Room, please.

Simon, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Best of luck, Simon. Here's your question.

"Take a sad song and make it better",

is a lyric from which song by The Beatles?

Luckily, this is one that I do know the answer to - it's...

I'm a Beatles fan, I know that answer's Hey Jude.

Of course, Hey Jude is correct. Take a sad song and make it better.

Couldn't better that answer.

Kevin, what type of instrument is The Messiah,

made by Antonio Stradivari,

and held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford?

Well, he made stringed instruments, but I don't think this one is a harp.

He's obviously most famous for his violins

and they've certainly got one of those in the Ashmolean,

so violin.

Is the right answer. Have you seen it, Kevin?

-Yes.

-Of course you have.

All right. Second question for both of you, yours coming up now, Simon.

The folk and blues performer Huddie Ledbetter,

better known as Lead Belly,

was particularly known for his virtuosity on which instrument?

Erm, it's not my particular genre of music.

There's nothing springing to mind at all that's

set any of the three out for me. Erm...

I'm going to go clarinet.

OK, clarinet for Lead Belly.

No, not the clarinet.

Kevin?

-Guitar.

-Yeah.

12-string guitar for the folk and blues performer known as Lead Belly.

OK, Kevin, will you take the lead?

Which singer's UK hit singles have included

Not That Kind, Left Outside Alone, and Sick And Tired?

Strangely enough, none of those are ringing any bells,

so...I really don't know.

I'll try Anastacia. I don't know it.

Trying Anastacia for Not That Kind, Left Outside Alone

and Sick And Tired.

Other Eggheads, would you have gone with that?

I would have gone Anastacia, but...

-I thought Sick And Tired was Pink, but I don't know.

-OK.

It is Anastacia!

He's got it!

Bad luck, Simon.

He had to think about it - bit of a guess,

but it means you need to get this one, Simon.

In 2013, who had a UK number one with his album Time,

37 years after his last chart-topping studio album?

I think the person I'm thinking about released an album in 2013.

Again, it's not my particular genre of music,

but I've got a hunch that it's David Bowie.

OK. David Bowie with Time.

It's not, Simon, no.

Kevin?

Bowie did come back in 2013.

-Exactly.

-But so did Rod Stewart.

Yeah, it's Rod Stewart with the album Time,

which means Kevin's done enough.

Kevin's got two and you've only got one out of the three,

so we don't put another question to Kevin.

You're in the final round, Kevin. No place for you, Simon, sorry.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams.

The Two Tones have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads are all still there.

We've got two more head-to-heads coming up

so it could be all-square in the final round

depending on the outcome of this, our next head-to-head -

it's Arts & Books.

Who'd like to play this from The Two Tones?

Tim, Rick or Chris?

I think we're going to have to.

-Tim?

-Yeah.

THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

On the account that Tim has read at least one book that we know of,

we're going to go with Tim.

All right. Tim, who do you want to choose from the Eggheads?

CJ and Kevin have played,

so you can have Chris, Barry or Dave.

-I'm going to go for Dave.

-OK. Dave.

Let's have Tim and Dave into the Question Room, please.

Tim, you grew up in the United States.

Do you have dual nationality or were your parents working there?

No. When I say grew up there,

I went to high school over there at 15,

so I finished high school over there in Manchester, Vermont.

I did a couple of years at high school

and then stayed out there for a few years afterwards.

Manchester in Vermont - had to be, didn't it!

-Yeah - home from home.

-OK.

And you've read a book?

It was a long time ago, though,

so this is not where I want to be right now.

All right, Tim.

Well, you are there and do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first - get it over and done with.

All right. Good luck, Tim, here's your first question.

Judith Krantz, born in the 1920s,

became well-known in which profession in the 1970s?

I'm sure...

When I say I'm sure, I'm not sure!

I've got an inkling on this one.

I recall...

I'm sure I've seen books by her.

Don't think they've been photography books - I'm going to go for novelist.

Novelist for Judith Krantz - right answer, Tim.

Good start.

Well negotiated.

Dave, your first question.

Which of these is the name given to art in which the medium is

the artist's body and the artwork is the actions made by the artist?

I've got to go performance art, but I'm not really...

following the thing there. I'm probably having a brain freeze.

Performance Art.

Yep, that's the right answer, Dave. You're on the board.

OK, Tim.

The painting Sunset At Montmajour was

unveiled in September 2013 as a work by which artist?

I'm going to spell it for you -

Sunset At Montmajour -

M-O-N-T-M-A-J-O-U-R.

I don't think the spelling helps in any way, shape, or form!

Eh...now then, Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne...

I'm just going to wild guess - for some reason I'm going to say Cezanne.

Cezanne for Sunset At Montmajour,

discovered a long time after they'd painted it.

It's not Cezanne. Do you know, Dave?

I would have gone Monet.

THEY SCOFF It's van Gogh.

It is van Gogh!

OK. Well, a chance for Dave to take the lead, Tim didn't get that.

Dave, in George Bernard Shaw's play of the same name,

what is John Bull's Other Island?

I don't think it's Australia. I don't think it is USA.

I think it is the Republic Of Ireland.

George Bernard Shaw, of course, with his Irish roots -

it is the right answer. Well done.

You have that lead, and you must get this, Tim.

"The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new",

is the opening sentence of a novel by which author?

Whoof! Certainly not something I've read!

Now then...

It sounds fairly modern-ish.

I don't think it's Beckett, cos he's from further back.

Not too sure about Steinbeck.

I have read George Orwell but not for many, many years.

It sounds a little bit like something he would write -

I'm going to go with George Orwell.

George Orwell for "The sun shone, having no alternative,

"on the nothing new."

It's the opening sentence of a novel by...

No, not Orwell, it's incorrect.

Dave, any ideas if you've only got two there?

I'll go Samuel Beckett.

Yes, it is by Beckett, Samuel Beckett,

which means, Tim, Dave's done enough to get through to the

final round - no place for you.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams.

As it stands,

The Two Tones have lost three brains from the final round,

the Eggheads haven't lost any, and we've got one head-to-head left,

so a final chance to knock an Egghead out.

This one's Film & Television.

Rick or Chris there available to play it.

Chris is being held back as our special man in the know,

so it's going to be Rick.

Rick, you can choose from Chris or Barry on the Eggheads' side.

SIMON: I would suggest Chris.

We'll go with Chris.

All right. So it's going to be Rick and Chris playing this one.

Into the Question Room, both of you.

All right, see how you do, Rick.

Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

First question, Rick, here you go.

Who plays the villainous Raul Silva in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall?

Can't say I've heard of any of them.

I've certainly not watched the film,

so it's going to be a bit of a guess.

And I will go with Gerard Depardieu.

The one on the left?

-The one on the left, yeah.

-Gerard Depardieu.

OK. But it's not Gerard Depardieu.

-Do you know, Chris?

-Yes - Javier Bardem.

OK. Well, he's not French, but...

Javier Bardem is what we were looking for,

so nothing for you, Rick.

Chris, your first question.

Natalie Lowe, Aliona Vilani and Erin Boag found fame on which UK TV show?

Erin Boag sticks in my mind - I think she was on Strictly Come Dancing.

-Is that the only one you recognise?

-Mm-hm.

All right. It is the right answer - that'll do. You have the lead.

Rick, let's get you started with this one, we hope.

Who played the title role played by Steve McQueen in the original,

in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair?

Again, a film one which I have not seen.

I think it's going to be a guess again.

I don't think it was Timothy Dalton.

I will go with...Pierce Brosnan.

OK. Pierce Brosnan.

The role in The Thomas Crown affair,

the 1999 remake, was taken by Pierce Brosnan - you've got it.

OK, Chris, Phil Lynott's Yellow Pearl,

and Paul Hardcastle's The Wizard,

were two of the theme tunes to which TV programme?

Top Of The Pops it was Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin,

so it's not that.

I don't think it was Razzamatazz either, I think

it was one of the tunes to The Tube.

It is not The Tube.

It is, other Eggheads....?

-ALL:

-Top Of The Pops.

-Oh!

It's all-square, everything to play for.

Rick, in which long-running television drama series did

Terence Alexander play a character called Charlie Hungerford?

I will, again, for the third time, have a

guess and I think I'm going to go with Lovejoy.

Lovejoy...

I'm afraid there's a few groans here, Rick - it's not right.

Chris'll know though.

-It's Bergerac.

-It is Bergerac.

OK. Well, a chance for you, Chris, to win it.

Frederic Raphael won an Oscar for the screenplay of which 1965 film?

Not The Sound Of Music.

Darling - that was Julie Christie.

Eh...Doctor Zhivago.

Doctor Zhivago for Frederic Raphael.

-No!

-No?

It's not. Other Eggheads?

-ALL:

-Darling.

-Darling.

So it's still all-square.

Rick, you've survived,

and you might just win it if you give me a correct answer here.

What is the name of the TV sitcom created by and starring

Adil Ray, that is set in Birmingham and was first seen in 2012?

I can't recall any programmes that have been in Birmingham.

Erm...

I will go with...

Believe there might have been something in Birmingham with

the Khan family.

I can't recall what the programme's actually called.

-Living With The Khans.

-Is that your answer, Rick?

Yeah, that's my answer.

I can't accept it, Rick. You are so close.

This is the curse of Sudden Death - given what you've said there,

you would pick this out of a list instantly.

It is not Living With The Khans, it is, Eggheads?

-ALL:

-Citizen Khan.

-Citizen Khan.

Bad luck, Rick, that was really unfortunate.

Means Chris has another chance to win the round.

Chris, David Morrissey, Mark Strong and Cherie Lunghi,

have all narrated which genealogical programme?

Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? is the right answer.

Chris, you've just sneaked through.

Really unlucky there, Rick.

Really, really unlucky with that Sudden Death question.

But we couldn't allow it,

which means you won't be in the final round.

Chris, you're going to be there.

Would you both, please, come back and join your teams.

This is what we've been playing towards, it's the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads won't be

allowed to take part in his round,

so, both the Simons and Tim and Rick from The Two Tones,

would you, please, leave the studio now.

Chris, you're playing to win The Two Tones £7,000.

Dave, Kevin, CJ, Barry and Chris,

you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'm going to ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge,

and you are allowed to confer.

Chris, the question is -

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

-Yeah.

-Chris, what do you want to do - first or second?

I'll go first, yeah.

Nothing to lose, Chris, give it a go.

First question coming up - General Knowledge, final round.

Which English city is in the names of a type of wide-bottomed

trousers and a type of marmalade?

I haven't got a clue about the marmalade,

but I know there are trousers called Oxford bags,

which I think are wide-bottomed, so with that in mind,

I'll go for Oxford, please.

OK. Well, the trousers led you to the right answer.

Oxford - well done.

Right, Eggheads,

for what is the Bavarian village of Oberammergau world-famous?

-Every ten years!

-It's held every ten years,

it's the Passion Play about the final few hours of Jesus Christ.

So it's the Passion Play.

Every ten years, so it must be difficult to get to see it.

Yeah, it is.

It's generally always sold out.

That's what I mean.

All right. Well, Passion Play for Oberammergau, the Eggheads got that.

So it's back to you, Chris, and here you go.

Which fashion-industry nickname has been applied to both

Azzedine Alaia and Herve Leger?

Erm...

I haven't got a clue.

I don't even know what peplum means.

To be honest, I thought they were both women

when you read the names out, so prince and king and sheik...

The Sheik Of Chic.

OK.

Azzedine Alaia and Herve Leger...

..have been dubbed...

..The King Of Cling.

All right.

Well, Chris didn't get that so how will you do with your second one?

What is referred to by the Australian slang term "illywhacker"?

My first thought was a confidence trickster.

That was what I first thought of.

I think a Queenslander, is he a "banana man", or something?

Yeah, a "banana bender".

That's it!

Some leading Australian novelist wrote a book called the Illywhacker.

Are we all happy with that then?

-We all thought the same thing.

-We all thought the same thing

and we're going to go for confidence trickster.

Confidence trickster for illywhackers.

Illywhacker's a confidence trickster!

Identified by the Eggheads, which means,

Chris, as happened to some of your colleagues,

you have to get this to stay in it.

The Italian football club Parma FC was originally named after

which composer?

Erm...

I really don't know, it's going to be another guess.

It could be any of them cos I think they're all Italian composers.

Verdi.

Verdi. A must-get question for Chris.

You have got it!

You landed it!

Good guess.

Still in it, just got to hope the Eggheads don't get this.

Eggheads, 28-year-old William Smellie was the first

editor of which prestigious reference work?

I've heard this - I think it's Encyclopaedia Britannica.

It's a Scottish name and Britannica was Scottish.

I think it was in Edinburgh.

It would make sense if it was Scottish.

Are we happy with that?

Let's just think a minute.

Gray's Anatomy is Gray.

THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

Is there somebody medical who's Smellie?

I might be getting confused with something else,

so go with what you're thinking.

-CJ:

-We've got names for the other two anyway.

OK, we think the Oxford English Dictionary was Murray

and Gray's Anatomy was of course, Gray.

But the Encyclopaedia Britannica was first

published in Edinburgh around 1797.

And we think the editor of that might have been a gentleman who

rejoiced in the fine Scottish name of Smellie.

You lot must have been brought up on the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Imbibing them from the age of two!

Occasionally intravenous.

So you think the Encyclopaedia Britannica...

I think you know it - it is the right answer, Eggheads.

You've won.

Chris, valiant effort in the final round,

I don't think there's any shame on

going out on The King Of Cling myself!

It's the only one you didn't know, but not to be, on the day -

always going to be tough - one of you against five of them.

It just didn't go right for the guys sitting behind you

in the Question Room.

Thank you very much indeed for playing the Eggheads today

and best of luck for all the great work we know you all do.

Very good to see you. Thank you very much.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and they still reign supreme over quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £7,000,

that means the money rolls over to the 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 - £8,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.