Episode 37 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.

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 might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Up Funnel Down Screw.

This team are all volunteer visitor guides on board HMS Warrior.

That's a historic armour-plated, iron-hulled warship,

berthed in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard complex.

Let's meet them.

I'm Julian.

I'm 79 years of age and I'm a retired insurance executive.

Hello. I'm Patrick. I'm 67 and I'm a retired naval engineer.

Hello. I'm Trevor.

I'm 72 years old and I'm a retired Royal Naval Senior Rate.

Hi. I'm Alastair. I'm 79

and I'm a retired naval officer and author.

Hello. I'm Arthur.

I'm 79 years of age and I'm a retired naval officer.

Welcome to you, Up Funnel Down Screw.

I'm loving the team name.

But, of course, it refers to HMS Warrior

preparing to leave its berth.

Absolutely, yes, yes.

And I think, Alastair,

you give a good definition of Up Funnel Down Screw.

Good gracious.

This happened when you want to change the ship's mode of propulsion

from being under sail to being under steam.

And it was as simple as that.

Sailing the ship, you lowered the propeller down

and you put the funnels up and vice versa

when you wanted to go from steam to sail.

-I see. So it has two methods of propulsion.

-Indeed.

So, did a lot of warships at the time get built like that?

Yes, they did.

From 1841 to about 1880,

nearly everybody's warship which had a steam engine also had sails.

Fascinating. I know there's an Egghead down there

who's listening with great attention there.

Chris, do you know about HMS Warrior?

Yeah, I've been on the Warrior, yeah.

Well, she was the ultimate weapon of the time,

designed to put the fear of God in the French, basically.

Never fired a shot in anger but did the job.

OK. Right, well, let's fire some quizzing shots.

Not in anger but in competition here.

Every day there's £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Up Funnel Down Screw,

the Eggheads have won the last five games,

and that means £6,000 says you can't beat them today.

And we will start.

Our first head-to-head is going to be Film & Television.

Who would like to play this one?

Film & TV,

who'd like to start us?

-Is that me, I think?

-Is it you? Yeah, that's great.

-Yes.

-Yes, I'll do it.

-You'll have a go at that?

-I'll have a go.

-I'll take it.

-Patrick.

-OK, Patrick.

And who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

-I wonder who I should take on.

-They're all good.

-Yes. Chris?

-Indeed so.

-Why not?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-I'll take on Chris, please.

All right. Patrick and Chris playing our opening round.

It's Film & Television.

Could you both go to the Question Room, please?

Well, Patrick, it's fascinating hearing about HMS Warrior's

service in Victoria's fleet.

Is it true, you actually once got asked if you'd served upon her?

Yes, I was asked by a young child who thought I was quite old

and asked, had I served on there, and I said,

"I'm that old but I'm not really old enough to have served on her."

DERMOT LAUGHS

When did she formally retire

from service?

And then, how has she survived so long into this century?

She retired around about 1883

and then did various jobs in the Reserve Fleets

until after doing a...like a shore liaison job for HMS Vernon,

she became a floating hulk,

a jetty alongside in Milford Haven

for 50 years before she was rescued.

Great. And now, being looked after by you and others.

Great to hear that. Shall we play the round then? Film & Television.

Would you like to go first or second, Patrick?

I'd like to go first, please, Dermot.

OK. First question

is this.

In which 1997 film did Tom Wilkinson

play an unemployed manager called Gerald?

Uh, I think I know the answer to this one, Dermot.

It's not RocknRolla.

It's not Wilde. I think it's The Full Monty.

It is The Full Monty, yes.

Tom Wilkinson as Gerald there.

Chris, which film director was quoted as saying,

"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."?

That was Alfred Hitchcock, Dermot.

OK. Was he referring to any particular film?

-No, I think just his methods of building suspense.

-Yes. OK.

Hitchcock is correct. And Patrick, second question.

Which actress played Willow in the

long-running television fantasy drama Buffy The Vampire Slayer?

It's not a programme I've seen, Dermot,

so it'll have to be a guess, I'm afraid.

Um, none of the names seem familiar to me, so I'll take Blake Lively.

OK. Blake Lively.

As we might have guessed, Patrick,

perhaps not something you would be too keen on watching.

It's not Blake Lively, you haven't got it.

You never know with Chris. Do you know?

Yeah, it's Alyson Hannigan.

My goodness me. How do you know that, Chris?

It is the right answer.

-You'd be surprised what I know.

-Yeah, that's what I say.

Every now and again you think, he'll never know that, and you do.

OK. Well, it wasn't your question, so you don't get a point for it.

That was just out of interest.

And here is your second question.

Which of these television dramas was co-created by Steven Moffat?

It's not Downton Abbey. That's... Well, you know, it...

I don't know. Um...

Game Of Thrones. No.

I think Sherlock was a collaboration,

so I'll have to say Sherlock.

Sherlock. Julian Fellowes for Downton Abbey.

-Yeah, yeah, that's the fella.

-Just thought I'd put that into your mind.

Can't do it while you're thinking though.

Can't give you any kind of a steer.

Sherlock is the right answer.

You have a lead. Right, Patrick.

Important to get this then.

The actor Claude Rains,

who starred in the 1942 film Casablanca,

was born in which city?

I don't really know this one. I don't think it's London.

I might be wrong on that, obviously.

My instinct is...Budapest.

OK, Budapest for Claude Rains

starring so memorably...well, in so many films,

but Casablanca stands out.

You're saying Budapest.

Chris, do you know? Is it Budapest?

Well, he was on the London stage way back,

and John Gielgud

was asked if he'd remembered him, what happened to him.

"I think he failed and went to America."

So, if he was on the London stage back in the '20s,

I think he was born in London.

He was certainly British.

It is London. It is London.

So, you will be playing with the usual suspects...

-The Eggheads.

-Ah!

Round up the usual suspects.

Yeah, yeah. Good line.

Crikey. You know, you try.

OK, Chris, you will be playing in the final round.

Patrick, no place for you.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, as it stands, Up Funnel Down Screw

have lost that one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are all still there.

Now, our next subject coming up

I suspect might be more to your liking.

It's History.

Who will play this one from Up Funnel Down Screw?

History.

-Will Arthur do that one? Arthur?

-That's Arthur, isn't it?

-Right.

-Yes.

-Arthur.

Right, Arthur. Now, choose your Egghead.

Just remember, it can't be Chris but any of the other four.

Um, could I try CJ, please?

Yes, you can. Let's have Arthur and CJ into the Question Room, please.

So, Arthur, let's play the History round.

Would you like to go first or second?

First, please, Dermot.

And here's your first question.

Which of these pieces of legislation was enacted by Parliament in 1833?

Have to think about this.

I'm pretty sure votes for women came later.

Railways were about then.

I think I'll go for abolition of slavery.

And right to do so. That's the correct answer, yes.

The other two much later of course.

And, CJ, who founded a monastery on the Hebridean island of Iona

in 563 AD?

That was St Columba.

St Columba is the right answer.

And Arthur, your second question.

Robert Adam, born in Kirkcaldy in 1728,

became famous in which field?

OK. My mind is wandering somewhat.

Um...

I don't think medicine.

I'm going to plump for architecture.

Yes! You have got it.

Wandered onto the right answer there. That's two for you.

CJ, the historic street in York called The Shambles

takes its name from which type of shop?

Once you started with butcher's,

there was really only the other two options to choose.

It's a butcher's.

OK, butcher's, yes,

is the right answer.

And third question for both of you.

Yours coming first, Arthur.

The 1332 Battle of Dupplin Moor

was fought near which city?

Dupplin Moor is D-U-P-P-L-I-N.

I don't think it's the West Country...

..or as far north as Perth.

It sounds more like Preston for me.

OK, Preston you're going for

for Dupplin Moor.

I'm afraid it's wrong.

It's incorrect. Anyone know? CJ?

Well, I would have gone for Perth.

Perth it is.

So Arthur didn't get that,

giving CJ an opportunity

to win the round.

After the First World War, the American commander John Pershing

named which notable participant as the man who won the war?

I'd be...

..surprised if it was Haig.

Wilson...

obviously did help but was much later.

America only entered the war in 1917.

HE SIGHS I really don't know this whole...

Pretty much guess at Ferdinand Foch.

OK.

Ferdinand Foch...

..it's not.

Other Eggheads?

That's interesting though. I would have gone for Foch.

Kevin would have gone for Foch as well, he says.

-I would.

-In that case then,

it's possible that he could have said it about either of the others.

-That's why it's such a good question, isn't it?

-Yeah.

The options are so good. It's Douglas Haig.

It is Douglas Haig.

OK. Well, nobody has won yet.

It's all square after three questions.

So, Arthur, we're taking away the options

and turning it into the Sudden Death phase of the round

just to sort out a winner.

And can you tell me,

who was on the throne of England between 1558

and 1603?

I'm much happier with that. That was Queen Elizabeth I.

Certainly was. Yes, Elizabeth I.

You're back on track.

And, CJ,

who was Home Secretary in 1910

when troops were used to control striking miners

during the Tonypandy Riots?

I don't know if he did anything after but his name was Winston Churchill.

Yes, Winston Churchill is correct.

And some ill feeling towards him in South Wales ever since.

OK. Arthur,

early in the 10th century,

Alfred The Great's daughter Aethelflaed

became the sole ruler of which Anglo-Saxon kingdom

after the death of her husband?

Now, I'm guessing in this one now, I'm afraid.

Could it have been Wessex?

Wessex is not it.

-No. Do you know, CJ?

-I would have guessed at Mercia.

Mercia. Mercia.

Anyone tell me a bit more about Aethelflaed?

Well, she was married to the king of Mercia and then obviously has...

-Yeah.

-I think she became known as the Lady Of The Mercians.

OK.

Right. Well, nothing there for Arthur.

CJ, in 1916, the explorer Ernest Shackleton and five others

heroically sailed from which island in a small, open boat

to reach South Georgia?

South Georgia is where he's buried.

Oh, one island immediately comes to mind but...

..simply goes along with South Georgia. It's the...

..main name I know for Shackleton.

I don't think I know any others.

So this is just a case of, choose the only other name I know,

and I'll try Elephant Island.

Which is the right answer.

That's the way it works with Eggheads, isn't it?

Got that link to Shackleton and did... It's right.

OK. Well, CJ has just won

that round into Sudden Death.

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

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

Well, Up Funnel Down Screw have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any.

We've got two more head-to-heads, so a chance to make it all square

in the final round.

Our next head-to-head is Sport.

So, who from Up Funnel Down Screw

would like to play this?

-Yeah, OK.

-Would you do this?

-Yes.

I'll do that, Dermot.

OK, Trevor. And now, which Egghead would you like to play?

CJ and Chris have played,

so you can have Judith, Barry or Kevin.

Um, Barry.

Barry. Yes, the sportiest of them all.

-HE LAUGHS

-What's your best time over 100m?

-Isn't it 9 point...?

-About three days.

-Yes.

THEY CHUCKLE

OK, let's have Trevor and Barry into the Question Room, please.

So, Trevor, after your naval career,

I believe you still like going to sea on cruises.

Yes. Bit strange, isn't it?

Busmans' holidays. But my wife comes with me on the cruise

and of course she wasn't on ships,

-although there are women serving on Royal Naval ships today.

-Yeah.

What's it like being on a cruise? Aren't you still itching to get on the bridge

or go below decks and have a look at the engine room?

In actual fact, you don't.

It's all sectioned off and you've got your certain areas

which you can walk around in.

But getting to the bridge, down into the engine rooms - forget it.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

-OK.

Trevor, would you like to go first or second?

Well, I'll go first, please.

OK, Trevor.

The boxer Floyd Mayweather represented which country

at the Olympics in 1996?

Well, I think he had a good career afterwards in the professional ranks

but he represented America. USA.

Yep, America and USA is correct.

Good start, Trevor.

Barry, in which of these sports is a player penalised

when committing a deliberate knock-on?

I'd like to see that as a penalty in tennis, I really would.

But I feel the answer... Well, I know the answer to this.

It's rugby league.

Yes, it is rugby league.

I don't know how you'd enforce it in tennis.

Trevor, second question.

Which international cricket team has played home test matches

at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground?

S-I-N-H-A-L-E-S-E.

That sounds very much to me like Sri Lanka.

It is, yes. Well done.

Right answer there.

And, Barry, in which branch of motorsports

did Coventry-born Cal Crutchlow make his debut in 2011?

Not aware of him in Formula One.

He's World Rally Cars and MotoGP.

I think I'll go for MotoGP.

That is the right answer, Barry.

It's all square again. Two each.

Trevor, Non Stanford from Wales

became women's world champion in which sport in 2013?

Her first name is spelt N-O-N.

Non Stanford.

I don't think she's a fencer.

Um...

I haven't heard anything about tri... I'm going to go for taekwondo.

OK. Taekwondo for Non Stanford.

It's not the right answer.

It's incorrect. Barry, do you know?

-I think she's a triathlete.

-Yes.

It's triathlon for Non Stanford, which gives Barry a chance here.

In 2013, the new San Mames Stadium

replaced the original stadium of the same name

as the home of which Spanish football team?

It's spelt 'San' and then M-A-M-E-S.

I've heard of this stadium, but where is it?

I don't think it's Atletico Madrid.

San Mames, is it...?

Is it a Basque stadium?

I'm going to go for Athletic Bilbao.

OK.

You've got it, Barry. It is the right answer.

It's Athletic Bilbao, which means, again,

just edged you out there.

The player from Up Funnel Down Screw, Trevor,

you won't be in the final round. Barry, you've got a place.

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

Well, that now means that Up Funnel Down Screw have lost three brains

from the final round and the Eggheads are unscathed as yet.

Let's change that situation with our final head-to-head. It's Geography.

So, who'd like to play this from Julian or Alastair?

Geography.

-I will.

-OK. Julian. And you can choose from Kevin or Judith.

Um, what a choice.

-Judith. I'd love to choose Judith.

-OK.

Well, let's have Julian and Judith into the Question Room now, please.

OK, Julian, let's see if we can get you through here

to keep Alastair company in the final round.

Would you like to go first or second?

I would like to go first, please, Dermot.

OK, best of luck. Here you go, Julian.

What is the name of the coastal inlet

on which the New Zealand city of Gisborne is located?

Well, I must admit, those three don't mean anything

to me at the moment.

But, um...

Hardship, Destitution and Poverty, wow.

-Um...

-Yeah, what a collection.

-What a collection.

Oh, I'll go for Destitution Sound.

OK. Destitution Sound.

I wonder if any of your colleagues

in the extensive naval careers ever made it that far.

No, unfortunately.

-My daughter did though. Later on.

-OK.

And they think it's Poverty Bay,

which it is. Poverty Bay.

Not Destitution Sound.

OK. Judith, your first question.

The Cyclades is a group of islands in which body of water?

Well, they're Greek, so they are in the Aegean.

-Not the north?

-No.

No. They are of course in the Aegean Sea. The Cyclades.

OK. You've got that lead then, Judith.

Julian, here's your next question.

Kosice, a European capital of culture in 2013,

is the second-largest city in which country?

Kosice. K-O-S-I-C-E.

Um... I have to admit, Dermot, I'm not familiar with the city.

But...

I will go for... Slovakia.

Well done. You've got it.

Well done. You are off the mark.

OK, Judith.

At 1,726 feet high,

Great Cockup is a prominence in which national park?

How do you spell...? I can't hear whether it's Cocker or Cockup.

I...

You're just getting me to say it again.

SHE LAUGHS

Great Cockup.

C-O-C-K-U-P. Cockup.

SHE LAUGHS

Um, I've never heard of it.

It doesn't sound Welsh, though.

-Do you want me to say it again?

-No, no, it's all right. I can hear.

Great Cockup. Um...

Is... I don't think it's the Brecon Beacons,

cos I'm sure it would have some more Welsh-sounding name.

So, it's either Lake District or Dartmoor.

I think it's more likely to be the Lake District

cos there are more mountains there.

OK.

It's in the... I'm not going to say it again. It's in the Lake District.

It is correct. Well done.

Lucky.

You got it. So, you've got that lead back,

which means that you do need this, Julian.

The Mexican peninsula of Baja California

is roughly how many miles long?

Yes, that's quite a choice.

I don't think it's 760.

That'd be... That's quite a distance.

Um...

And my life depends on this, doesn't it?

So, I will go for...

180.

OK, 180 for Baja California.

What do you think, Judith?

I don't know either.

Just for the sake of saying something different, I'll say 370.

-OK, that's good to know because it's 760.

-Oh!

So, you would have been wrong as well,

which means, well, good news for you, Judith.

You're in the final round as well.

And, Julian, you won't be there.

Alastair will be navigating the final round on his own.

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

So, this is what we'd 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, Julian, Patrick, Trevor and Arthur from Up Funnel Down Screw,

would you all leave the studio, please?

So, Alastair, you're playing to win Up Funnel Down Screw £6,000.

Kevin, CJ, Barry, Chris and Judith,

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

And, 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.

So, Alastair, the question is,

is your one brain better than the Eggheads' five?

And Alastair, what do you want to do?

Do you want to go first or second in the final round?

I'll go first. Yes, thank you.

OK. First question for you, Alastair.

The village of Craster, in Northumberland,

is famous for which of these products?

Well, the answer is kippers.

-It is.

-It's too easy, that one.

-DERMOT LAUGHS

-Well, don't complain.

Too easy. OK, well, let's hope they're all too easy for you.

Kippers is the right answer. Off to a good start.

Eggheads, which scientist spent over 40 years working

with chimpanzees in Tanzania?

THEY ALL LAUGH

Which scientists spent over 40 years working

with chimpanzees in Tanzania?

How much do you want it to be Dawkins?

THEY CHUCKLE

I think we'd know, wouldn't we?

OK? Everybody happy with Jane Goodall?

That was Jane Goodall.

Jane Goodall...

is the right answer, Eggheads.

One all.

Alastair, in 2010, Bill Gates and which other tycoon

established the Giving Pledge campaign to encourage billionaires

to give at least half of their wealth to charity?

Yeah, um, I don't know the answer to that one.

I don't think it was Carlos Slim.

Lakshmi Mittal is the Indian steel tycoon.

And Warren Buffett is the 'Sage of Omaha'.

And I think probably it's Warren Buffett

because he comes from the same country as did...

thingy.

-The chap you said first up.

-Bill Gates.

-Bill Gates. Yeah, of course.

-OK. Going for...?

-I'm going for Warren Buffett.

-Warren Buffett.

Same country as Bill Gates, of course.

It is the right answer. Yes, well done.

Two to you.

Eggheads, the Conservative MP Owen Paterson was appointed

to which position in September 2012?

-He founded...

-Defra.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, he's environmental.

Cos in international development, there was Justine Greening.

He's to do with the badger cull.

He's to do with the badger cull.

Environment Secretary, yes.

That is Environment Secretary.

Environment Secretary for Owen Paterson

appointed in September 2012.

It is the right answer, Eggheads. Yes.

OK. Right.

Going well, Alastair. Third question.

Which author, born in 1972,

wrote the novels Instructions For A Heatwave

and The Hand That First Held Mine?

Blind guess, I'm afraid. It really is.

I don't know either of the novels or any of the three authors.

So, eenie meenie miney moe, Sarah Hall.

OK, Sarah Hall for those novels, Instructions For A Heatwave

and The Hand That First Held Mine.

What do you think, Eggheads? Is it Sarah Hall?

-No idea.

-No idea.

-Might be. Well, I don't think it is Sarah Hall, no.

But as between the other two...

Maggie O'Farrell, maybe.

It is, I'm afraid, Maggie O'Farrell.

As you said, it was an outright guess, Alastair.

One in three and didn't identify it.

So, the Eggheads have got a chance to win a game here.

Eggheads, under what name did the singer James Marcus Smith

have a number of UK hits in the 1960s, including Hold Me and Maria?

-It's not Del Shannon.

-No.

Um, I'm pretty sure it's not Billy J Kramer. I think it is PJ Proby.

-PJ Proby.

-Yes, I'd be happy with that as well.

I think his name was James Smith.

Billy J Kramer came from Liverpool.

Anybody, any firmer knowledge?

No.

-PJ Proby was a made-up name.

-No idea.

Yeah, oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I think it's him.

Who?

-I think it's PJ Proby.

-It is.

I...agree with you. It's definitely not Del Shannon.

-So...OK?

-Yeah. Let's hope we don't rip anything with this one.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

I think that's PJ Proby.

PJ Proby. What are you talking about? Ripped trousers?

Yes. PJ Proby was renowned for his trousers splitting

while performing on stage.

Wasn't while he was visiting that place in the Lake District, was it?

That's what I thought of.

OK. Serious business, you're going for PJ Proby.

It's the right answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Well, very generous there, Alastair. You did well.

Two out of three ain't bad,

-but it doesn't win the money today.

-No, unfortunately not.

Well, listen, bad luck, Up Funnel Down Screw.

You didn't really get going in those head-to-heads,

which means that you had a difficult task there in the final round.

But thank you very much indeed for coming to tell us

all about the HMS Warrior and all the work in the historic dockyards.

I know there's a lot more to see that, isn't there,

-than just the Warrior?

-There is indeed.

It's a very full day's excursion to go and see the three ships there.

-OK.

-Plus the museum.

-Oh, right. Well, what about it, Eggheads?

Let's fire up the Quattro and get down there, shall we?

OK. Well, listen, thank you very much indeed

for playing the Eggheads once again.

But those Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £6,000.

That means the money rolls over to the next show.

So, Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

And join us next time to see

if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£7,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.