Episode 44 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 our quiz Goliaths today are the Collegiate Quizzers.

This team are all members of the same rugby club,

Liverpool Collegiate RUFC.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Gary. I'm 42 and I'm a deployment manager.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 41 and I'm a teacher of mathematics.

Hi, I'm Roy, I'm 62 and I'm a retired teacher.

Hi, I'm Tim, I'm 36 and I'm a sales rep for an IT company.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 45 and I'm a project manager.

Welcome to you, Collegiate Quizzers.

-Do you do a lot of quizzing, then, Gary?

-Er, not really, no.

But we think we've got the ability to overcome the Eggheads today.

OK, you must be pretty good at rugby, then.

What's the team like?

Er, the team's doing very well at the moment.

We're only a junior team but we run four senior men's teams,

a ladies' team,

and we have under sevens through to under 19s in our junior section.

-So...

-Thriving.

-Yeah.

I'd say it is.

Well, Collegiate Quizzers,

not too much quizzing done in the past, but you never know.

Will you beat the Eggheads?

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, Collegiate Quizzers, the Eggheads have won the last 12 games,

so that means £13,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Let's start the game. We kick off with Science.

So, which one of you wants to take this on?

That'll be Timothy.

OK, Tim. And who will you play from the Eggheads, then?

Er, I think we'll take on... CJ, please.

OK. Right, First round,

and it's CJ from the Eggheads, Tim from the Collegiate Quizzers.

Into the Question Room, please.

So, Tim, Science.

Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second please, Dermot.

CJ, your first question is this -

what is the chemical symbol for oxygen?

I think it's number eight on the periodic table,

and it's O.

It is O.

That is correct.

So, Tim, your first question.

Which large bird of prey has been successfully reintroduced

to Scotland since the 1970s?

Er, I'll have a guess at white-tailed eagle, please, Dermot.

Is the right answer, yeah.

Off to a good start, Tim.

CJ, which French naturalist is commemorated in the name of a bat

that's found all over the UK and as far away as Japan?

I don't think I've heard this. Er...

I will confess I've never heard of Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton.

I've really got nothing to go on between the other two, either.

Um...

Well, the one I know slightly more about is Leclerc,

so I'll try Georges Louis Leclerc.

OK.

Barry?

It's Daubenton's bat.

OK. It's Daubenton's bat, says Barry.

But CJ hadn't heard of it.

Well, Tim, potentially good news for you, going second.

You've avoided that question, but it only works for you,

of course, if you get your second question right. Here it is.

Which inventor from Devon born around 1650 developed

an early steam-driven water pump known as the miner's friend?

I haven't heard of any of those names.

Um...

Edmond Halley.

You've hit the post. It's not the right answer. Eggheads?

ALL: Thomas Savery.

Thomas Savery, yeah. OK, well, it stays at one-all.

Third question, CJ.

In which year did the British aircraft

the Fairey Delta 2 set a world airspeed record of 1,132 mph?

What's that? That's about Mach 1.7, isn't it?

Er...

I can't imagine you're going to get that supersonic in '46.

When did Concorde take its first flight?

I think that was '69 for Concorde.

And Concorde exceeds Mach 2.

Oh, I don't know, but because it's so close to Mach 2, I'll try '66.

It was '56, 1956.

Which you were obviously considering there.

But nothing there for CJ.

So, Tim, an opportunity to get straight into the final round here.

In the abbreviation A-L-U, ALU,

referring to a component of a computer's central processing unit,

for what does the letter L stand?

You have just made my professional life an absolute nightmare.

Um...

I didn't know what you were going to say, there -

-I thought you were going to say I've just made your day.

-No. Afraid not.

-Straight in with the right answer.

-I'm afraid not!

Um...

I will go with...

logic.

Logic. OK.

It's the right answer, Tim.

OK, Tim, you're playing in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Right, Tim, well done there with ALU.

And just tell us why it was important, given what you do,

-that you got that.

-I work for an IT company,

we concentrate specifically on selling servers and things,

so I think my professional credibility would have disappeared

-in about five seconds.

-OK, well, it's just gone up.

Tim triumphed in that round.

The Eggheads are missing one brain from the final round.

And the Collegiate Quizzers are all there - but we've only played one.

So, let's play our next round. It's Sport.

-Who would like to take this on?

-That's me.

-Roy.

OK, Roy. And which Egghead? Anyone apart from CJ.

-Yeah, I think I'll play Judith.

-All right.

Let's have Roy and Judith into the Question Room, please.

So, Roy, I'm sure you'd like some rugby questions in this round.

Oh - may be too much pressure on me!

I see what you mean! Yes, bit like Tim in that last round.

Roy, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, good luck, Roy. Here you go.

In test matches,

what colour are the official caps worn by England cricketers?

Well, I know green is Australia.

Maroon is the West Indies, I believe.

So I believe blue is the England cap.

Worked that out well - yes, right answer.

And Judith, first question.

The British driver James Hunt

won the Formula 1 world championship in which year?

I wish I'd seen that film, Rush.

But I haven't yet.

I think he was a '60s person, um...

Or was he '70s? Oh, Lord.

I'm doubting, now.

It definitely wasn't '86, anyhow.

I'm going to plump for '66.

-With no confidence.

-OK.

A good year, then, World Cup and Formula 1 world champion.

-It was '76.

-'76, yeah.

-Not...

-I was trying to think of what his hair looked like, actually.

-Quite '70s.

-Very '70s.

-It was '70s.

-It was very '70s.

OK, well, good start, then, Roy.

Could get better.

In the 1970s, Peter Shilton

and which other goalkeeper won the PFA player of the year award?

I don't think it was Gary Sprake,

cos he famously threw the ball into his own net

when he was playing for Leeds United.

Ray Clements was Peter Shilton's understudy for the England team.

I've got a feeling it was Pat Jennings,

cos he did really well in that time, playing for Spurs.

So I'll go for Pat Jennings.

Yeah, Pat Jennings is the right answer, well done, yeah.

Pat Jennings.

OK, Judith needs to get this.

Judith, which golfer won more than 11 million

by winning the 2013 tour championship in Atlanta, Georgia?

Um, I haven't revised golf lately.

Um...

Oh, goodness, who was it?

I think it was Henrik Stenson.

No need to revise, it's the right answer. Well done.

Henrik Stenson.

-11 million.

-Must have seen it.

-There we are.

Will Judith come back and finish top of this game?

Well, she won't if Roy gets this.

Roy, the Dutch sportswoman Marianne Vos

has won world and Olympic titles in which sport?

Not sure about this one. Um...

I don't believe it's figure skating.

I've got a feeling I've heard the name connected with cycling.

I'm a keen cyclist myself, so I'd better get this right.

I think I'll go cycling, Dermot.

You just pedalled your way into the final round.

It's the right answer.

Let's just confirm that.

Roy, yeah, you're there in the final round

as well as Tim. No place for Judith.

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

Well, the Collegiate Quizzers building on that first round lead -

they've now knocked two Eggheads out of the final round.

They're all there.

Our next subject, the third round, is Geography.

Who wants to play this from the Collegiate Quizzers?

-Dave.

-Dave.

If I must, I'll do the Geography.

Dave A's going to fall on the sword.

That's this Dave closest to me.

OK, Dave, and who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

You can play either Chris, Barry or Kevin.

-Chris.

-Yeah, Chris.

-I've been told to pick Chris.

-OK.

-Told to pick Chris!

-I've been told!

Captain's orders.

OK, right, captain's orders are that Chris accompany you

into the Question Room, please.

So, Dave, Geography round coming up.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, please.

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

Which of these cities is furthest north?

Um, well...

We got the train up yesterday, and we had to make a stopover in Carlisle,

which was just on the border.

So I'm pretty certain that Carlisle's the furthest north.

OK, we should explain we film the series in Glasgow,

so you were getting the train up and stopped in Carlisle.

It is the right answer, well done.

Chris, which town lies on the Camel Estuary?

Yeah, down in Cornwall, that's Padstow.

Padstow on the Camel, correct.

OK, Dave, second question.

Seattle is a major city in which US state?

Um, I do know quite a few of the American states.

I'm pretty sure that Seattle's the capital of Washington State.

Yep, Seattle is in Washington state.

But maybe not necessarily the capital -

I don't know, because they're a bit weird about their capitals,

but I'll confirm that is correct, yeah, Washington state,

which of course is on the west coast. That is correct.

Is it the capital, though, Eggheads?

-No, Olympia.

-Olympia! There we are, there's one to store away.

There you are.

Doesn't matter - we just wanted to know where Seattle was,

and you told us.

All right. Well, Chris, your second question.

What is the largest Italian city by population?

Oh, that's a...

Er...

Well, Rome's the capital.

Milan and Turin are both sort of industrial cities

up on the Lombard plain.

Rome's not really all that big.

Neither, I don't think, is Turin -

but Milan does straggle out into the countryside for quite a long way,

so I'll have to go with Milan.

OK, Milan as the largest Italian city by population.

What do you think, other Eggheads?

-Rome.

-Follow that logic?

-Go for Rome.

It is Rome.

-Oh! The obvious.

-It is Rome.

So, are we going to see the demise of another Egghead?

Right, pretend you're just on the opposition line,

you're just in that scrum - one last heave and you're there.

Which Himalayan peak is the fourth highest mountain in the world?

Um, I don't think it's K2.

I always thought that was second, vying with Everest.

Um, I've never actually heard of Lhotse.

But my wife went on a trek round Nepal and did the Annapurna trail,

So I'm going to go with Annapurna.

OK, Annapurna.

It's not, it is Lhotse.

Right, well, a chance for Chris to redeem himself.

Chris, the Margaret River tourist area in Australia

is roughly a three-hour drive south from which city?

Well, a three hour drive south from Melbourne

would put you in the Indian Ocean.

Um...

Perth's in the Swan River in the west,

with quite a bit of land to the south of it,

so I'll have to say Perth.

-OK, Perth.

-Mm.

Had to think a bit - but you've got the right answer.

Yes, Perth.

Right, well, we go to Sudden Death, then, Dave.

Still very much in it.

But to sort out a winner, we are removing the options now.

Which large island has the local name Kalaallit Nunaat?

K-A-L-A-A-L-L-I-T.

Second word Nunaat, N-U-N-A-A-T.

It sounds Asian.

Um...

Sumatra.

-DERMOT CHUCKLES

-No, it's a very different language.

-Chris?

-It's not Greenland, is it?

It is, Greenland.

OK, a chance for Chris, here.

Chris, which city originally established as a settlement

for freed slaves is the capital of Sierra Leone?

Freetown.

Is the right answer.

Listen, well played, Dave - some really great answers in there,

but it means you won't be in the final round.

Would you both come back and join your teams?

Well, after that tussle, the Collegiate Quizzers have

lost their first brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have still lost those two.

And our next subject is Music.

So, who'd like to play this? We've got the other Dave or Gary.

Our resident DJ, Dave B, please.

Got to be you, then, Dave. And you've got Kevin or Barry here.

What do you think, guys?

I think...Barry.

-Barry.

-All right. Barry from the Eggheads.

So, Dave and Barry,

can I ask you both to go to the Question Room, please?

Well, Dave, let's get on with it.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck, Dave. Here you go.

"Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be"

is a lyric from a famous song by which band?

Oh, dear.

The lyrics aren't jumping out on me.

Er... At all.

Er...

Could you say the lyrics one more time, please?

"Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be",

a lyric from a famous song by which band?

Ah.

OK.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to go with The Beatles, I believe it's...

I think it's from Yesterday.

Did you suddenly sing it to yourself? It came to you there!

It was your dulcet tones that helped me.

Yeah! Good. Right.

Yeah, from Yesterday, and The Beatles.

Well done, there. Whoa!

OK, well, Barry,

after we started with a Beatles classic, there,

here's a classic for you.

"Hold a chicken in the air, stick a deckchair up your nose"

are lines from a song that was UK number one single

for characters in which TV show?

It really should have been the Neighbours, but it's Spitting Image.

Yes! It is Spitting Image.

So, back to you, Dave.

The modern brass instrument called the cornet

usually has how many valves?

I think it was one of the smaller of the...

brass instruments...

And for that I think I'm going to go for three.

It's the right answer, Dave.

Two out of two.

And Barry, Dave Bartram

and Buddy Gask were vocalists with which band

that became famous in the 1970s?

Oh, dear. Three '70s bands, as well.

Those names, unfortunately, don't mean anything to me.

I don't think it was Slade -

I thought the vocalist there was Noddy Holder.

I can't remember who the vocalist in Mud was.

So, I'll go for the bigger band, Showaddywaddy.

Yeah, you worked it out. It's the right answer, yes, Showaddywaddy.

Right, well, Dave, going well here.

Third question.

Sir Mark Elder established his reputation in classical music

in which role?

I don't remember the name at all.

Um...

I mean, there were many famous tenors that recorded works,

and I can't remember this name as being one of those.

With all due respect to harpists,

I'm just not sure somebody would be knighted for playing a harp,

so I'm going to stick with conductor.

You've got it! Well done, Dave.

Three out of three.

All eyes on Barry.

Which female vocalist had a UK top ten album in 2013

with Ketavan? K-E-T-A-V-A-N.

Oh...I don't know.

I can't recall Katie Melua having an album out...

And I'm not even sure if Leona Lewis has,

but Ellie Goulding had a very popular number one with Burn.

Think she was in the charts for quite some time.

So I shall go for Ellie Goulding.

Ellie Goulding.

Well, Dave, you're the DJ, is he right, do you know?

I think he is.

That's interesting!

-Cos you're wrong, Barry.

-Oh!

-It's Katie Melua.

-Katie Mel...!

-Katie Melua.

Which means, Dave, in spite of agreeing with him,

you're in the final round.

Another victor for Collegiate Quizzers. Barry, you won't be there.

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

So, 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 Dave A from the Collegiate Quizzers

and CJ, Barry and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you leave the studio, please?

So, Gary, Roy, Tim and Dave,

you are playing to win the Collegiate Quizzers £13,000.

Kevin and Chris, you are 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 to start.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge

and you are allowed to confer,

so, Collegiate Quizzers, the question is,

are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

And Collegiate Quizzers, would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, please.

Best of luck. Here's your first final-round question.

The fashion model Miranda Kerr was born in which city?

-Never heard of her.

-Anyone? Dave?

I think...

-I would...

-I think she's Australian.

-That doesn't mean...

-Would say Sydney, wouldn't it?

-Doesn't mean she was born in Australia, though, does it?

-Well...

-I've...

-I've never heard of her.

I've never heard of her, and Kerr, Australian,

if that's what you think, Tim...

Indeed, no, I concur completely.

We'll have a wild guess

-and go for Sydney.

-Wild guess,

but she was born in Sydney, yes. The right answer.

Well done. Eggheads,

which substance can be obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree?

Yeah, used in medicine. It's quinine.

It's the right answer, Eggheads, yeah. All right,

all square. Second question for the Collegiate Quizzers.

Which Alfred Hitchcock film was remade in 1979 with

Cybill Shepherd and Elliott Gould?

I think I know this one, so...

The Lady Vanishes.

-Have you seen it?

-I think so, yeah.

It's the right answer. The Lady Vanishes, remade then, in 1979.

Eggheads, James Baker and Lawrence Eagleburger

both served as US Secretary of State under which president?

-It's not the other two, so it's George HW Bush.

-It is, isn't it?

They were Republican Secretaries of State.

-The name Eagleburger is quite memorable.

-Yes, exactly, yeah.

James Baker, I believe, also served under Ronald Reagan,

but continued to do so under George The First, George Bush.

The other two are much too early,

so the answer is George HW Bush.

OK, I like that, "George The First".

-Yes, George The First.

-In America.

It's the right answer, yes, George Bush Senior.

OK, and it's all square at two-all.

Both teams going incredibly well. Collegiate Quizzers, question three.

Which English monarch's heir was known as Henry the Young King

as he was crowned during his father's reign

in order to secure the succession?

Any ideas on that end? Because I'm lacking.

I think it was... Edward II was the one that they killed.

Yeah, and I think Henry II was his son, but I'm not sure.

Best guess, Henry II.

-No, Edward II.

-Edward II.

-No, no, Edward II was the one that they killed.

-Yeah.

So we're going Edward II,

to secure the lineage.

No, no, Edward II was the one that they killed

and Henry II, I think, was his son,

so I think it's Henry II.

-No, I think it's Edward II.

-Henry the son of Henry?

I'm almost certain Henry II was after Edward II.

-Henry?

-Henry.

We'll go with Henry II.

OK. Debate there. Was it Edward II or Henry II?

It's Henry II, it's correct.

-Well done, Tim.

-I bow to your superior knowledge.

-Got it.

OK, well, Eggheads, you need this.

What is a tourbillon?

What is a tourbillon? T-O-U-R-B-I-L-L-O-N.

I don't think I've ever heard of it as a savoury tart,

-although it could be.

-No.

I don't know why, my first thought was watch component,

but I don't know, it's that sort of a word, isn't it?

It sounds as though it should be.

-Something that turns.

-Yeah.

I don't know. I don't think I've heard of it as a hat, but then...

-No.

-There are all kinds of hats, aren't there?

-Yeah.

-I'd be inclined for watch component.

-Shall we try that?

-If it's wrong...

-If it's wrong, it's wrong.

-If it's wrong, it's wrong. Yeah.

We don't know this.

We're inclined to go for watch component.

OK, watch component. Well,

debate on the Collegiate Quizzers' side with their third question,

and that matched by the Eggheads there,

and it is the right answer.

Watch component.

Phew! What a quiz this is turning out to be!

Great contest. OK, we're into sudden death,

as you'll be very familiar with by now.

And here's your question, Collegiate Quizzers.

The shadow theatre dance group Attraction,

who won Britain's Got Talent in 2013, was formed in which country?

It was a former Yugoslavian country.

I thought it was Hungary.

My initial thought was Hungary.

Now you say it...

And that was before you said it.

Two of you saying Hungary...

I think we'll go with Hungary, please.

OK, Hungary?

It's the right answer, yes, from Hungary.

OK, Eggheads,

which famous American news magazine

was founded by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce in 1923?

-I think that's Time.

-Yes, sounds like Time, yeah.

-The name Luce chimes with Time.

-Henry Luce.

-Yeah.

I think he was the long-standing president, founder and...

He was, wasn't he? Yeah.

-It's not Newsweek.

-It's not Newsweek, no, that's much later.

-I think it's Time.

-Yeah, I think it's Time.

We think that's Time magazine.

It's the correct answer, Eggheads.

Great quizzing. Collegiate Quizzers,

another question.

In the title of the radio show It's That Man Again,

first broadcast in 1939,

the words "that man" originally referred to which historical figure?

-This is the radio programme...

-'39.

This is the radio programme known as ITMA, wasn't it?

So if it was first broadcast in '39, that could be referring to...

-The Fuhrer himself, surely?

-Yeah.

-Hitler?

-That's my theory.

Right?

-Yeah.

-Famous historical figure, '39.

We'll go for Adolf Hitler.

OK, Adolf Hitler, first broadcast in '39, picking up on that.

It's That Man Again, the words "that man" originally referred to...

..Adolf Hitler. It's correct.

-Well done, boys.

-Well done, well worked out.

Real pressure on the Eggheads,

really turning the screw on them.

Eggheads, which England rugby star

was the winner of the 2011 series of Celebrity MasterChef?

Which England rugby star was the winner of the 2011 series

of Celebrity MasterChef?

-Not a clue.

-Phil Vickery? No.

Well, you might be thinking that cos there's a chef called that.

-There is a chef, married to Fern Britton, yeah.

-Erm...

Do you have any names? No?

-Well...

-I don't know, Ben Cohen or somebody like that,

-I don't know.

-Why not? Yeah.

We haven't got the faintest idea,

not the faintest, so we've just got to pick a rugby player name,

so we don't know it, so we'll try Ben Cohen.

OK, Ben Cohen won Celebrity MasterChef, you think, in 2011.

-What did you say originally, Chris? First instinct?

-Phil Vickery.

-The answer is Phil Vickery.

-Oh.

Which means you've won the money!

Interesting, Chris, there about the confusion with the Phil Vickeries.

There's two of them, you're right, a chef and Fern Britton.

You got all that, but also, the former England rugby star,

so bad luck there, talked yourself out of it,

but it's great news for the Collegiate Quizzers.

Well, how does that feel?

-Fantastic.

-A bit of relief there!

So often teams do really well in the head-to-heads

and then kind of find the final round is too much for them

and it all goes the wrong way

and this is, of course, the round where it really matters,

but you kept that up.

You deserve that money, don't you think, Eggheads?

-That was well-deserved.

-Thank you very much.

Congratulations to you, once again.

You have just won £13,000,

so you are also officially cleverer than the Eggheads for today.

You've proved they can be beaten.

Do join us next time on Eggheads

to see if a new team of challengers will be just as successful.

Until then, goodbye.