Episode 34 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 our awesome quiz champions today are

East Slope De Mooi.

This team all met in Sussex University where,

for a long time, they all lived in

the notoriously rowdy East Slope halls of residence.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Patrick, I'm 23, and I'm a politics and sociology graduate.

Hi, I'm Shad I'm 21, and I'm a history and politics student.

Hi, I'm Claire, I'm 21, and I'm a law student.

Hi, I'm Kes, I'm 23, and I'm a film studies student.

Hi, I'm Tom, I'm 21, and I'm a preschool support worker.

Well, what a team name, welcome to East Slope De Mooi.

I've got a confession to make,

I suppose I should declare an interest before it all starts.

I too used to live in the East Slope...

-Hurray.

-Go on!

..as a Sussex graduate.

But, of course, no favour given here.

You are saying it's rowdy. When I was there, we were a studious lot.

We used to go to poetry recitals, do some flower arranging.

You mean it's changed?

Yeah, it's changed a little bit since then.

It's known for its parties and everyone having a really good time.

You, obviously, are fans of our CJ over there,

-adding De Mooi to the name.

-Yeah.

We all met at Sussex Uni.

So we took our steady base to sprinkle some CJ magic on it.

I see, plenty of that magic.

-East Slope De Mooi.

-East Slope De Mooi. Fine name.

Let's see if you are fine quizzers.

Every day, there's £1,000 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, East Slope De Mooi, the Eggheads have won the last two games.

That means £3,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads today.

So, we will start with our first head-to-head.

And this one is History.

I don't know if you've got a player in mind

but I think one of you lot studies that.

-We've got a couple of history graduates.

-Yes.

What are we going to do?

-You can always do politics.

-It's got to be Shad.

-Yeah, I'll go up.

We'll take Shad on that one.

All right, Shad. Now, choose any Eggheads you like. Will it be

Mr De Mooi?

-What do you reckon?

-I think they're probably all good at history!

-It's up to you.

-Dave, then?

-Yeah, Dave.

That's a bold shout, bold move. We're going to take on Dave.

Bold shout from Shad. He's going to play Dave at history.

You know where to go, then. The Question Room for you both, please.

OK, Shad, as we know, it's history and politics you're studying?

-Yep, history and politics.

-OK.

Tell me. Do you want to go first or second in this history round?

Could I go first, please?

Of course you can, Shad. Here's your first question.

In 1930, what did around three million Britons hold licences for?

Er, I would guess, for radios.

-Not cows?

-No!

-Er... That's the most unlikely, I reckon.

-Indeed!

Radios is the right answer. The radio licence.

Right, Shad off the mark there, that's a good one.

And, Dave, the 1707 Acts of Union took place

during the reign of which monarch?

Right, have a look at this.

Queen Anne, 1702 to 1714.

So I believe that 1707 must be Queen Anne.

That's correct. Anne.

OK, second question, Shad.

Which of these politicians served 11 terms as Prime Minister of France?

Erm.

This one's a bit more difficult than the last one.

I would guess it's Briand, because,

maybe, the French Government was the most unstable then

when he was around.

OK. Briand is the right answer. Well got there.

What kind of era?

-Early 20th century.

-Early 20th.

He was around for quite some time, around the turn of the century,

right through until the end of the '20s.

OK, Dave, your second question.

In 30BC, following the Battle of Actium,

Egypt became a province of which empire?

I'll go Roman.

OK.

No need to add any more. That's the right answer.

The Battle of Actium.

And third question, both going really well. Shad.

On its completion in 1931,

the Empire State Building became the world's tallest skyscraper.

A status it retained until early in which decade?

This one's going to be more or less a guess from me.

I don't think it's the 1980s because that's too late.

I'll go with the 1960s.

OK, 1960s.

Whichever one it is, it's a long time.

Held the title of the world's tallest skyscraper until the 1970s.

Oh!

OK, a chance, then, for Dave.

Katanga was the name of a breakaway state that,

in 1960, proclaimed itself separate

from which newly independent country?

I don't think it's Central African Republic,

I don't think it's Burkina Faso. I think,

if I remember rightly, it was the old Zaire,

sorry, the new.

It was Zaire at the time.

So it would be Democratic Republic of Congo.

Both of you on very good form.

Shad, just slipping up there on the Empire State Building.

But Dave maintaining the form to get the right answer,

and through to the final round.

Bad luck, Shad.

We could tell you had a lot of knowledge on the subject.

But Dave has just nudged you out.

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

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Tremendous knowledge on display by both players.

But Dave,

living up to the nickname, having just a little more there means

East Slope De Mooi have lost one brain from the round,

the Eggheads are all there,

but only one round gone, so let's play our second one today.

This subject is Arts & Books.

Who'd like to play this on East Slope De Mooi?

-Tricky one for us, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-So, who?

-I think, Claire, you should do it.

-OK, I will do it.

-Go on.

-We're going to send up Claire for this one.

-All right, Claire.

And who would you like to choose from the Eggheads to play against?

-Er... Pat?

-Yeah.

-Take on Pat?

-OK, yeah.

-Pat?

-We're going to take on Pat, yeah.

Claire, from East Slope De Mooi, Pat from the Eggheads,

to play Arts & Books. Into the Question Room, both of you, please.

So, Claire, Arts & Books. You're a law student.

Are you doing a law conversion course?

Did you do English Literature as a primary degree?

Or is it a law degree to start with?

A roundabout way of saying, what's your interest in Arts & Books?

Well, I am doing a law conversion. I actually did anthropology before.

My interest in Arts & Books is, I guess,

I was the one in the team most interested.

I see, almost by default, then.

OK, Claire, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, thank you.

OK, Claire, first question.

Which of these is one of Chaucer's Canterbury tales?

Erm, well, not really the ones I recognise.

I'm going to go for The Canon's Yeoman's Tale.

I think, I'm sure I've read The Assistant Referee's Tale!

On the road to Canterbury.

What a great set of choices there.

The Canon's Yeoman's Tale is right. Good start, Claire.

Nice one, Claire.

And, Pat, Laugharne, in Carmarthenshire,

is the final resting place of which famous poet?

I think Burns is buried in Ayrshire.

Seamus Heaney is buried in Bellaghy in County Londonderry.

Dylan Thomas, I think, had a converted boathouse in Laugharne

where he lived for years, and that's where he's buried. So, Dylan Thomas.

Yep, Dylan Thomas is the right answer. Good start for you both.

Claire.

In A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens,

Scrooge is shown the Fezziwig family by the ghost of what?

Erm, I think it's the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

OK, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

It was by the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Christmas Past, not Christmas Yet to Come.

So, a chance for Pat.

Pat, Ford Madox Ford's novel, The Good Soldier,

is set just before which conflict?

My first feeling is that it's World War I.

I don't think it's got anything to do with the Vietnam War.

I think he was an English writer.

The Second Boer War is around the turn of the century.

Erm... No, I think it's set in the shadow of World War I.

World War I, you've got it.

Claire, back to you, you need to get this.

Of which painter did the artist Paul Cezanne famously say,

"Only an eye, but, my God, what an eye!"

Erm, I think, because...

Er... I think it's Monet,

-Claude Monet.

-OK.

Monet is correct.

Yes, you have the two.

But you've got that problem with your middle one,

which gives this chance to Pat.

Allan Breck Stewart, a political rebel,

is one of the central characters in which the novel

by Robert Louis Stevenson?

Kidnapped is his most famous novel.

I don't know anything about Prince Otto.

I think he wrote The Master of Ballantrae,

perhaps he wrote Prince Otto.

I'm reduced to something of a punt here.

-I'll go for The Master of Ballantrae.

-The Master of Ballantrae.

It's not, Pat, it's incorrect.

It's Kidnapped.

Kidnapped.

So, well...

There we are, it's all square, Claire.

You're still very much in it.

But we go to Sudden Death, and take away the options,

because you're all square after three questions each.

And here's yours.

The plot of which 19th-century Russian novel

is set in motion by the murder of a pawnbroker named

Alyona Ivanovna?

DERMOT LAUGHS

I-V-A-N-O-V-N-A.

Alyona Ivanovna?

Well, we were actually talking about this earlier today.

That's Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky.

Ah! Thank you for getting me off the hook. How would you say it?

Alyona Ivanov...?

-It's... Ivanovna.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

I'm not good at that.

It's Crime and Punishment, it's the right answer, well done.

So, Pat, Reginald Front-De-Boeuf and Isaac of York are characters

in which novel by Sir Walter Scott?

Isaac of York is in England, so perhaps it's one of his books

which is set south of the border.

He was very prolific.

Ivanhoe and Kenilworth are two plausible ones.

I'll go for Ivanhoe.

Ivanhoe is correct

OK, Claire.

For what does the letter S stand in the name of the painter LS Lowry?

Erm.

That's, in a way, I feel like I knew this once. Erm.

But I'm just going to have to say Stephen?

GENTLE LAUGHTER

-It is Stephen.

-Yes, come on, Claire!

-And what's the L for, Eggheads?

-Laurence.

Laurence Stephen, LS Lowry. Well done, Claire.

Pat needs this to keep the round alive.

So, Pat, a trilogy of novels by David Peace,

the first volume of which was published in 2007,

features the aftermath of World War II in which Asian city?

I'm in trouble here.

I can't remember his book.

I've a very faint bell saying Tokyo.

But it's very, very tenuous.

I'll say Tokyo.

Tokyo is right. Yes.

So, it's another pair of questions. Claire.

Rubens' The Raising of the Cross, completed in 1610,

is on view in the Cathedral of our Lady in which city?

Um! Again, this is a bit of a guess. Well, it's a complete guess.

Erm... I'm going to say maybe somewhere in Spain.

Um...I don't really know, so I'm just going to say Madrid.

Madrid?

No, not Madrid. Pat, do you know?

I'd guess it's somewhere like Antwerp.

It is Antwerp.

But you don't get a point for that, as we all know,

just out of interest for that.

This is a question that, if you get it right,

you will progress into the final round.

Pat, how many paintings make up the work known as A Rake's Progress

by William Hogarth?

I've seen this at various times.

Lots of episodes, as he goes downhill rapidly.

Ends up in Bedlam.

I think it's more than six.

So it's between eight and 12.

It's a narrative, a story, so he needs a few panels to tell his story.

Is eight enough?

I think I'll risk eight.

OK.

You said between eight and 12,

you're at the lower end of your estimation.

The number of paintings that make up the work of A Rake's Progress

by Hogarth are...

eight, it is the right answer, Pat. Just got it.

Which means you are in the final round, and Claire, you are not.

But, Claire, what a performance.

Up against the world quiz champion there.

Well played, you, but again no place in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

You're clearly good enough to beat an Egghead,

you just need a bit of luck to get through,

which you haven't had so far. It means the Eggheads are 2-0 up,

you've lost two brains from the final round,

and they're all still there at the moment.

Round 3 today is Sport.

So, who would like to play this from East Slope De Mooi?

-Sport.

-I'll...

-Big sporty Tom.

-Big sporty Tom.

Who do you think isn't big and sporty from the Eggheads?

Dave and Pat have played,

so you can't put their sporting knowledge to the test.

Judith, Kevin or CJ?

I'll take Mr De Mooi, please.

Of course. East Slope De Mooi's Tom is representing you

against CJ De Mooi.

Into the Question Room, both of you, please.

So, big sporty Tom, do you want to go first or second?

Erm, I'll let the big man go first, I'll let CJ go first, please.

CJ, Ben Cohen represented England between 2000 and 2006

in which sport?

I've done some work with him for one of his charities,

and he was a Rugby Union player.

Indeed, yes, well done, Ben Cohen.

Not going to get that wrong then.

OK, Tom.

Candlepin and duckpin are variations of which sport?

The pin aspect draws me towards bowling, I guess.

But the duck also draws me to swimming.

-I'm going to go down the middle with bowling.

-OK, bowling.

Duck wasn't enough to draw you to swimming.

Right answer, yep, bowling.

CJ, in which decade was the name, Milk Race, first used for

the cycling competition now known as the Tour of Britain?

I was hoping you were going to use some decades

slightly further spaced apart than that.

I would have thought the '50s was too early.

The '70s was its heyday.

I would have thought the '60s was probably a little too early as well.

I hope. I will try 1970s.

1970s for the Milk Race before it became the Tour of Britain.

No, it's not. It is, other Eggheads?

-I'd have gone for the

-'50s. '50s, yeah, it is the earliest there,

it's the 1950s.

So, well, was that a good choice, Tom, putting CJ in?

It will have proved to have been if you get this right.

Tom, Audere est Facere, or To Dare Is To Do,

is the motto of which Premier League football team?

Um.

I really don't know.

I'm going to go with my friend, James Ranson's football team,

and that's Chelsea.

OK, going for Chelsea for Audere est Facere.

It's not.

Kevin?

I think it might be Spurs.

It is Tottenham Hotspur. OK.

You didn't get that, Tom, so CJ's still well in it.

CJ, third question.

The 1973 boxing match known as the Battle of Broken Jaw was

a rematch between Muhammad Ali and which of his previous opponents?

Virtually no idea. But...

I think Ken Norton died in 2013.

And I think, reading something about how he'd actually beaten

Muhammad Ali,

so maybe he had a rematch with Ali,

wanting his revenge or the title back?

That's literally all I've got to go on. I really don't know.

I will try Ken Norton.

On such scraps of information do Eggheads thrive.

It is the right answer. Ken Norton. CJ, there.

Read something, somewhere and, being an Egghead, it stuck.

Well, it now means, Tom, you must get this,

to take us into Sudden Death.

Which racing driver from Northern Ireland won the 1982

Formula 1 Detroit Grand Prix, despite starting 17th on the grid?

I really don't follow F1 at all.

and I'm not old enough to remember that.

HE SIGHS HEAVILY

I'm going to go down the left, Lance Macklin.

OK, going for Lance Macklin.

-It's John Watson.

-Mm.

-Bad luck, Tom.

-TOM SIGHS

There we are.

It was looking rather rosy for you at one point,

but it's turned a lot cloudier.

CJ is through to the final round. No place for you, Tom.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Somehow, you seem to be slipping down that East Slope.

I don't know how it's happening here.

You've lost three brains, the Eggheads are all still there.

So, here's your last chance coming up to knock one of them out.

Film & Television, and we've got Patrick or Kes left.

Film & TV.

Kes is a film studies student.

-Kes it is.

-This could be really embarrassing.

Kes, are you named after your parents' favourite film?

-I don't know.

-THEY ALL LAUGH

Who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Pat, Dave and CJ have played, so you've got Judith or Kevin?

We could try... Could try Kevin. It's up to you.

It would be good if you won this...

-Yeah, go for it.

-OK. I'll take Kevin.

Right, OK, it should be a good battle.

You're a film student, against a film buff.

He knows a lot about many other things,

but one of his favourite subjects as well.

So, Kes and Kevin, go to the Question Room, please.

Kes, we talked about you being a film student,

but you've got the television side of this round to deal with.

Do you watch much TV?

Erm, not really, apart from Eggheads, no.

-Pat always makes me watch Eggheads.

-You little liar!

-I don't watch that much on my own.

-Flattery gets you everywhere.

Right, do you want to go first or second?

Erm, I'll just go first, thank you.

Best of luck, Kes, here you go.

Who played the title character in the 1999 film,

The Talented Mr Ripley?

Um, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Arnie.

I'm going to go for Matt Damon, please.

Yes, you're right, Matt Damon.

Arnie would have been interesting in the role.

Kevin, Emily Maitliss has been a regular presenter

of which of these TV programmes?

I think she's a presenter of Newsnight.

I think she'd be great on the Bake Off, indeed any of those as well.

Emily Maitliss, yes, presenter of Newsnight, that's correct.

OK, Kes, in which US detective series did a pair of Dobermans

named Zeus and Apollo regularly appear?

Erm...

I don't think I've actually ever watched any of these.

I'm just going to guess...

Columbo?

OK, Columbo, with two Dobermans named Zeus and Apollo.

It's incorrect, Kes.

You'll know, Dave, you always know these things.

-Yeah, it's Magnum, PI.

-DERMOT GIGGLES

How much rubbish TV do you know?

It was that time, it was the '80s, before I could go to the pub.

THEY ALL LAUGH

Of course, now, on the channels somewhere,

you can always pick up on them again. Magnum, PI, Kes.

Magnum, PI.

OK, your second question, Kevin.

In the first two Bridget Jones movies,

who plays the title character's father?

Um... I did see them, of course, it was when they came out

so it's a while back.

But I'm pretty sure that was Jim Broadbent.

Yes, it was.

Jim Broadbent is Bridget Jones's father.

-So, you need to get this, Kes.

-Come on, Kes.

In which year was the BBC television news and current affairs programme

Nationwide first broadcast?

Um...

I have absolutely no idea. Again.

Um...

1949?

OK, 1949...

is the wrong answer.

It's 1969.

So, bad luck, Kes, there.

We talked all about film, and you got two TV questions

which were kind of slightly generational as well,

well before your time.

Means you won't be in the final round -

would you both please come back and join your teams?

And this is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round,

which as always is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

so Shad, Claire, Kes and Tom from East Slope De Mooi,

please leave the studio now.

And so Patrick, you're playing to win East Slope De Mooi £3,000.

Judith, Pat, Dave, Kevin and CJ,

you are playing for something which money cannot buy.

The Eggheads' reputation.

So, as usual, I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all general knowledge

and you are allowed to confer.

So, Patrick, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

And Patrick, again you get to choose, as the challenger -

do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Best of luck, Patrick. Here's your first question.

The Charleston is a dance that became popular in which decade?

I've never heard of the Charleston.

Which kind of suggests to me that you might've heard of it

if it was in the 1970s.

Maybe - like the doo-wop...

something.

The 1920s...

I'm trying to place...

somebody that would have been around in that era

that might've been called something Charleston

who danced...

..in a funny way, but I can't think of anybody.

So I'm going to go with 1850s.

Kind of based on that.

OK.

It's not the right answer,

Patrick, it was the 1920s.

1920s for the Charleston.

Eggheads, your first question.

See what happens with this one.

According to the common phrase,

someone who is incompetent at something can't do it for....what?

ALL: Toffee.

Toffee - toffee, can't do it for toffee.

Can't do it for toffee. It is the right answer.

So, I suspect you need this one, Patrick, if you're to have a chance.

In the US, what does a pink slip given to an employee mean?

Pink slip... It does ring a bell.

And I think that I've only heard it in kind of negative connotations...

So I'm going to go with dismissal, Dermot.

OK, dismissal for the pink slip.

Yeah, we've heard it in films, haven't we? Hear it quite a lot.

It is the right answer, dismissal, well done.

You are on the board.

Hoping for the Eggheads to get one of the next two wrong, though.

So, Eggheads, in English, the name of the computer language

Prolog is an abbreviation of which phrase?

Ah.

HE REPEATS THE CHOICES

-It can't be logistics.

-Not logistics.

No, not the first one.

Or logarithmic, why would it be that?

The third one doesn't really make a great deal of sense.

Programming in Logic...

Programming in Logic sounds right...

OK, yeah.

So, Programming in Logic?

-Sounds right.

-I can't say it.

Um...we think that is Programming in Logic.

OK, Programming in Logic for Prolog.

They all would fit, wouldn't they?

It is the right answer, though, Eggheads, you've got it.

Programming in Logic -

which means, Patrick, well,

you came back there with the second one, you just get this.

Which pop group were the stars of the 1960s musical comedy film

The Ghost Goes Gear?

Um, I've never...

heard of it.

But...

I don't think it was the Kinks,

only because I know a little bit more about them.

Um, and Herman's Hermits is quite a comical name...

so maybe they'd be in a comedy film...

Um, Spencer Davis Group, I just don't know anything about.

I guess I'll go down the middle. Herman's Hermits.

OK, Herman's Hermits for The Ghost Goes Gear.

What a wacky '60s name that was.

What do you think, Eggheads?

I was thinking the Kinks, but...

I would've gone Herman's Hermits, but...

OK.

Well, it is...

The Spencer Davis Group, I'm afraid.

Oh!

Bad luck, Patrick.

It means, Eggheads, you've won!

Well, bad luck, Patrick.

As I say, a lot of student teams like you come along and say,

you know, it's a question about Henry VIII and things,

"It's before my time" - it's before the Eggheads' time!

But you know, you got a lot of '60s, '70s and even 1920s questions

that were quite dependent on the generation you were brought up in,

so, bad luck. Good performances in those head-to-heads -

I don't think the balance of power in the final round

really reflected that. Some really good attempts.

Came here and gave it a go - but it wasn't to be on the day.

And as a former resident of East Slope, as I said,

and a Sussex graduate, let my experience be a warning to you.

Look what happens - you could end up being the presenter of Eggheads.

So, be careful!

Thank you very much indeed for playing the Eggheads today.

They 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 £3,000.

That means the money rolls over to our next show.

So, join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£4,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.