Episode 73 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?

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are...

This team of old friends take their name from the fact that they've

celebrated their 60th birthdays. So let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Steve. I'm a retired trade union education officer.

Hi, I'm Bob. I'm a retired industrial chemist.

Hello, I'm Steve. I'm a retired teacher.

Hello, I'm David. And I'm a retired computer programmer.

Hi, I'm John. I'm a retired university lecturer.

Steve and team, welcome. Good to see you.

Bob and I play golf together, hence the Swinging part of the Sixties.

And the other members of the team are old friends of ours.

Right, and you quiz together as well, is that right?

Bob and I have quizzed together, but we haven't done

so regularly recently.

Will the clubs come out if it gets nasty?

Good luck to you.

Every day, there is ?1,000 worth of cash

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

Swinging Sixties, the Eggheads have done rather well recently.

So ?14,000 is here for you to win today.

John? OK. Choose an Egghead. You can have any one of the five.

Dave, do you think? Yeah, OK. I'll go with Dave.

Right, so it's going to be John from the Swinging Sixties

versus Dave from the Eggheads. Arts Books, Dave.

To ensure there is no conferring,

Arts Books, John. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

How long is the longest side

of John Constable's painting The Hay Wain?

It surely can't be 7.85 metres.

Yeah, bang on. Sorry we couldn't give it to you in feet and inches.

HE LAUGHS 1.85 is right.

Dave...

Milan Kundera, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1929,

became famous in which role?

Yes, what did he write? Any Eggs?

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being.

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. Yes.

Back to you, John.

Which writer's first novel, entitled Union Street,

was the inspiration for the 1990 feature film Stanley And Iris?

I'm pretty sure that Union Street is Pat Barker.

Pat Barker is right. Yeah, very good.

Dave, which French landscape and portrait painter,

born in Paris in 1796, had the first names Jean-Baptiste-Camille?

Jean-Baptiste-Camille? Yeah.

1796. Born in Paris.

Yeah, Corot's the one. He's the landscape painter.

John, your question. Which Sherlock Holmes novel

culminates in a boat chase

along the Thames after an Andaman Islander called Tonga?

I don't know my Sherlock Holmes stories so...

I can't see any way I can really work this out.

Let's go with...

The Valley Of Fear.

I bet Chris knows.

It's The Sign Of Four, Jeremy.

It is The Sign Of Four, John.

Two out of three. Let's see how Dave does now.

You could be in the final, Dave, if you get this right.

Which writer was expelled from Cornwall in 1917

on suspicion of spying?

I'm going to have to go with DH Lawrence,

but there's no real certainty in that.

Do you know, John?

I would have gone for DH Lawrence as well.

DH Lawrence is the right answer. Dave, well done. Thank you.

You got it right.

John, sorry about that. You've been knocked out.

Not the greatest start for your team. Plenty of time left.

Please come back to us and we will play on.

As it stands, Swinging Sixties have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost one yet.

The next subject is Geography.

So who is the best travelled sixty-something?

INDISTINCT CHAT

I think that's going to be me, Jeremy.

OK, David. Anyone here look as though they don't get out much?

I think Lisa.

I think we will go for Lisa, please.

OK, yes. You haven't got CJ here. CJ can really stumble on this.

But no CJ today.

So David from Swinging Sixties versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring, please take your positions.

David, you're a lepidopterist.

That's right, Jeremy. I like to study butterflies and moths.

I was going to ask what that is, yeah. We are on Geography here.

I'm sure there is a connection somewhere.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

Here we go.

The abbreviation ACT stands for Australian Capital what?

I'm pretty sure that the Australian Capital Territory.

It is indeed. Well done. Territory it is.

Lisa.

Which of these rivers is also known as the Zaire River?

I think it would make sense for it to be the Congo.

The Congo is right.

OK, back to you, David.

Which of these Welsh local authority areas shares a border with England?

I'm tempted by Carmarthenshire but...

Powys...

I'm going to rule out the Vale of Glamorgan.

But I'm tempted by Carmarthenshire and Powys.

Carmarthen. Powys.

I think I'm going towards Powys now.

I'm going to go for Powys.

Powys is the right answer. Well done.

You were very methodical there.

Very much so.

OK, Lisa. Which Canadian province is bordered by Quebec and Manitoba?

I was so delighted to escape that Welsh question and now I've

walked straight into another one that's all about relative provinces.

I thought Nova Scotia had links to Prince Edward Island, which is

sort of east coast of Canada.

Which would put it in the same sort of region.

And I can't find a better reason than that for the others.

Given that this is almost certainly going to be wrong,

I shall go for Nova Scotia.

Do you know, David? Out of interest.

I think it's Ontario.

It is Ontario, yeah.

Australia and Canada, Lisa.

Basically big countries with lots of provinces.

Can we just not have them?

Far away places of which we know little.

David, get this one right and you are in the final round.

The Pacific island of Bora Bora is part of an overseas territory

of which country?

Hmm.

Well, I don't think Spain has got many interests in that

part of the world.

I know the United States got control of a lot of islands in that area...

..after the Second World War.

I think I'm going to go for the United States.

Do you know, Challengers?

France, is it?

Yeah, it is France.

France is the answer.

Let's see whether you get punished for that, David.

Lisa has a chance now to stay in.

Mounts Bay is a large sweeping bay in which county?

Nope. Internal library is coming up with a blank.

So, finger in the wind,

chalk on the blackboard,

tail on the donkey,

East Sussex.

It's not the first time that this has come up. Other side of the country?

Cornwall is the answer. Of course it is! Yay(!)

Probably some kind of DH Lawrence connection.

So, David, well done. Thank you. How about that!

You are in the final round. Lisa has been knocked out.

David, please come back. Lisa too. And we will play on.

So, Swinging Sixties, how are we feeling?

Better. LAUGHTER

OK, good. Certainly not retired from the point of view of this game.

You've lost a brain, they've lost a brain. We play on.

Food Drink is the subject.

Ooh, that's me, I think.

Is that you? It's me.

Who is the foodie here?

I'm going to take this one. Oh, Steve. OK, good.

The captain. Against which Egghead?

I think I'll go for...

You've got to go for... Chris, isn't it?

INDISTINCT CHATTER Of course, Kevin. Yes.

Of course, Kevin.

LAUGHTER The one chink maybe.

Yeah, it could be.

It just occurred to you suddenly the Kevin food thing. Very famous.

So it's Steve G from the Swinging Sixties,

Kevin from the Eggheads.

We can now do all the jokes about how you haven't got an oven and a fridge.

Yeah, you can do them. Please take your positions.

We are on Food Drink.

Steve G, it's your choice whether you want to go first or second.

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

Here is your first question.

The Reuben sandwich, filled with corned beef, Swiss cheese,

sauerkraut and Russian dressing, was created in which country?

Yes. I'm not immediately sure of this one.

I don't think it's Denmark.

I'll try South Africa.

No, it's America. Ah. USA.

Not South Africa.

Kevin, over to you.

Which of these, Kevin, is a variety of peach?

It's not a lychee and it's not a passion fruit. Nectarine.

Nectarine is correct. Well done.

Steve G, back to you.

Which name is used for a cut of pork that is

taken from the top of the foreleg?

Yes, it's definitely not tenderloin.

I haven't heard of hand and spring.

I'll go for chump, Jeremy.

Hand and spring is the answer, Steve.

THEY MURMUR

Kevin, in Spanish cuisine, Albarino is a type of what?

I don't think I've come across that, no.

But you can see why it might, because of the Alba bit,

you can see why it might be a white wine,

because that's a translation of white.

But is that too...obvious.

Pickled egg doesn't give me anything at all.

There are various types of air-dried ham, though.

It's a popular way of doing ham in Spain.

I'm going to go for the air-dried ham.

I'm sure I'm going to regret this.

You are cos it's white wine. It's white wine, yeah.

You got halfway there.

He's let you off slightly there, Steve.

But you need to get this one right.

In confectionery, a type of black and white striped mint is named

after which district of Liverpool where they were first made?

I've not heard of a mint from...

Everton. They call them the Toffees.

I think I'll plump...

Toxteth or Bootle.

I'll plump for Toxteth, Jeremy.

Let's ask your team-mates. I think you know, team-mates.

We think it's Everton. The Toffees.

Yeah, Everton is the answer.

Everton is the answer. Sorry, Steve.

Kevin has pulled past you with his Food Drink knowledge.

A bit.

LAUGHING: A bit, yeah.

So Kevin will be in the final. Please come back to us.

Rejoin your team-mates. We will see what happens next.

The Swinging Sixties have lost two brains

and lost the skipper as well, sorry, Steve.

The Eggheads have also lost a brain. We won't mention who, Lisa.

The next subject is Sport.

Is this good before the final? Sport.

Are you happy for me to take that? Very happy. Fantastic.

Is that you, Bob? It's me, Jeremy.

OK, choose an Egghead if you can.

Better be Chris. I'm told it has to be Chris.

He is going to be pleased about that.

He's got the staring eyes now, look. LAUGHTER

Bob from the Swinging Sixties, Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

All right. Sport. Do you want to go first or second, Bob?

I'll go first, please.

And here is your question.

In which country do football teams compete in the competition

called La Liga?

Well, I don't know what the Swedish league is called.

Or the Swiss. It sounds Spanish.

It's Spain, Jeremy.

Spain is correct.

Chris, which test cricket ground

is the home of Surrey County Cricket Club?

Mm. That's Kennington Oval, Jeremy. That's the Oval.

The Oval is right. So that's the one in London? Yeah.

Just across Westminster Bridge. Right.

Back to you, Bob.

In which sport does a loose forward usually wear the number 13 shirt?

It's certainly not hockey.

I've played that all my life.

Loose forward...

It sounds like a rugby term to me. I'm going for rugby league.

Rugby league is correct.

Playing well. Still no golf though.

Trying to find a golf question.

Chris, in 2011, which race was won by Cadel Evans?

He doesn't sound like a driver, so it's not the Monaco Grand Prix.

Doesn't ring any bells as a cyclist, so it's not the Tour de France.

I'll have to go with the London Marathon.

You do do it very sort of persuasively

when you go straight for an answer.

Even when it's completely wrong. As it is on this occasion.

Tour de France. Ah.

Yeah. Bob, your question.

Let's see, where are we? You've got two, Chris has got one.

Get this right and you are in the final.

In which year did women first compete officially in the modern

Summer Olympics?

The modern Olympics only started in 1896.

A fairly small affair, I think.

They probably weren't ready for women then.

1936 is more famous for the Berlin Olympics and Jesse Owens.

1920 sounds about right.

I'll go for 1920.

No, you should have gone for 1900.

Ah! It was that early. 1900.

So, Chris, get this right, you're still in.

The golfer Peter Thomson - five-time winner of the Open -

was born in which country?

I knew we'd get golf at some moment. Just not for the right contestant.

He's a New Zealander. New Zealand.

Bob, is he right? No.

Where is he from? He's Australian.

Oh, well. Chris, he's Australian. You've been knocked out.

How about that! TEAM APPLAUD

In the end, you won it on golf after all.

Indirectly. So you will be in the final round.

If you both come back, we will play that final.

So this is what we have 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-head won't be

allowed to take part in this round.

So Steve G and John from the Swinging Sixties.

But it's also Lisa and Chris from the Eggheads.

Would you please leave the studio?

Now, Bob, Steve W and David,

you are playing to win Swinging Sixties ?14,000.

Dave, Kevin and Judith, you're playing for something that

money I don't think can buy, which is the Eggheads' precious reputation.

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

They are all going to be General Knowledge. You can confer.

So, Swinging Sixties,

the question is, can your three brains defeat the three over there?

You pulled it back brilliantly in this contest, so we wish you well.

Good luck. Bob, Steve, David, do you want to go first or second?

First? Yes. First. First, please.

Here we go.

According to the advice for drivers described in the highway code,

which of these actions should be performed first?

Mirrors. Mirror, signal, manoeuvre.

Yeah.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Mirror.

Mirror, you suddenly shout out. Mirror.

Mirror is right.

Eggheads, Lucy Watson, Andy Jordan and Mark-Francis Vandelli became

well-known following their appearances on which TV programme?

Would you get a Mark-Francis Vandelli in Essex?

Or Geordie Shore? Or Geordie?

Andy is just the one that's throwing me at the moment.

There are lots of Andys in Chelsea. OK.

But if you've got it in Lucy and that other name,

just on the basis of those two, I would go Made In Chelsea but...

Shall we risk it?

Risk it because we are not going to get any nearer. I've got nothing.

We've got nothing to go on at all. Nothing to go on.

Let's go Made In Chelsea. I don't recognise any names. No.

Just purely on the sound of the names, we think

they fit in Chelsea rather than Essex or Geordie...land.

So your answer is?

Made In Chelsea.

Made in Chelsea. You guys know?

We would have had the same reasoning. Yeah.

The idea that people called Vandelli don't get as far

north as Newcastle, an extraordinary part of the discussion.

Anyway, you're right. I'll stop teasing. Well done, Judith.

Made In Chelsea it is. Oh what a shame!

It could have been anything there. It could.

OK, Challengers,

the word myriad is derived from the Greek for which number?

Myriad. Who's the...?

INDISTINCT CHAT

Now then... The factors. Moving up the factors.

Myriad. It's not going to be 101. No, it's not.

It's definitely more than 101.

If I'm proved wrong, I'll be devastated.

Did the Greeks need to count up to one million?

10,000...

I like your reasoning. I'd go for 10,000.

What do you think? Yeah, go on.

Right, well, we don't know. We know it's lots.

So we are going to go for 10,000.

I guess lots isn't 101. It is 10,000. Well done.

Thank you. OK, Eggheads.

This is an exciting round we are in here.

Who are the rulers of hagiarchy?

Saints. Saints. Saints. Saints then.

Hagiography. As in hagiography being the lives of saints.

Hagi... Saints.

Saints is correct.

Third question. Two each so far. Tight round.

Tight contest.

The 1991 play Deja Vu was the follow-up to which famous

play of the 1950s?

Anybody heard of this one? Now then...

I don't think...

I think Look Back In Anger is a red herring

because it's to do with looking back... Deja Vu...

I'd have thought the same about... View From The Bridge, yeah.

I certainly don't recognise it as an Arthur Miller play.

And I don't think that she followed up A Taste Of Honey. I don't think.

Did she? Right, OK. I'm asking you.

I've no idea. I don't know.

So?

So what does that leave?

It leaves Osborne, doesn't it?

It leaves John Osborne.

Look Back In Anger. Look Back In Anger.

Shall we go for that one?

We don't know, quite simply.

But our reasoning, such as it was, brings us to Look Back In Anger.

And the reasoning is good.

Look Back In Anger it is. You got three out of three. Well done.

If they, the Eggheads, get this wrong, then the contest is over

and they have lost.

In Greek mythology, what was the name of the giant who had

three bodies and a heard of beautiful red cattle?

That's the one of...

Hercules' labours was to steal the cattle of Geryon. Mm.

And Polyphemus was obviously... Cyclops. Cyclops.

Argus was the 100-eyed man.

So it's Geryon. Geryon. Yep.

That is Geryon.

Geryon is right.

Eggheads, you have hung on in there with some pretty sure-footed play.

Three each.

Sudden Death in the final round with ?14,000 to play for.

This is a great edition of Eggheads. Hang on in there.

The ancient city of Tyre is located in which modern-day country?

It's Lebanon, I think. Lebanon.

We are all agreed on that.

Yeah.

Looking at the map of the Mediterranean,

we know roughly where it is.

So we had to decide between Israel and Lebanon.

And we are going for Lebanon.

I'm glad you did. You are quite right.

Big city under the Phoenicians. Was it Tyre and Sidon in the Bible, yeah?

In the Bible, yeah. Yeah.

Well, well, well, well, Eggheads.

You are suddenly on the ropes here.

By what name is a pedestrian light-controlled crossing

colloquially known?

Do you mean the ones where you press a button?

Yeah. And the lights change? Yeah.

Are they pelican crossings? I thought they were.

But I stand to be corrected. I thought that's what they were.

I have no idea.

What's a zebra crossing then?

A zebra crossing is the one with the lighted beacon.

And you've actually got the black and white markings on the... Yes.

So it's a pelican crossing then, isn't it?

I thought that's what they were called. Yeah, pelican. OK.

Pelican? We've got to go with it, yeah. I may be entirely wrong.

We think they are pelican crossings.

Pelican is right. The clue is in the name.

PEdestrian LIght CONtrol.

Pe-li-can. Oh, peli-can.

Yeah, I think that's where you get pelican from. Controlled.

OK...

It's tense in here!

Your question. Sudden Death.

Which typeface,

designed by Vincent Connare in 1996,

was named after a medieval catapult?

I think there are dozens of them. There are dozens of typefaces.

Catapult. Why am I thinking of Trebuchet? Does that ring any bells?

I think you're right. But have you heard of a typeface?

No, but I've never been that far down the list.

That was your first idea.

Otherwise it's a total guess. Yeah, yeah. Yes.

What is it again? Trebuchet. Trebuchet.

We don't know, quite simply.

But we are going to chance our arm with Trebuchet.

Trebuchet. And where did Trebuchet come from, Bob?

Is it the word for catapult?

It just sounds like a medieval catapult.

It's a word I've heard before, but I just can't quite place it.

When you say you don't know, you're wrong. You do know.

You're quite right. Trebuchet is right.

And it was given that name

because it supposedly launches words across the internet.

OK, Eggheads again.

The name of which government department within the criminal

justice system is frequently abbreviated to SFO?

Serious Fraud Office. Serious Fraud Office. SFO.

Serious Fraud Office? Serious Fraud Office. OK. Yep.

That is the Serious Fraud Office.

Serious Fraud Office is correct.

OK.

Your question.

Which classic 1970s TV series was based on the novel

Cyborg by Martin Caidin?

1970s... '70s. Like Doctor Who...

Sci-fi series. Blake's 7.

Quatermass was before. Red Dwarf.

That was black-and-white, Quatermass.

Star Trek.

Ooh.

No, that started in the '60s. Yes. Earlier, I think.

Blake's 7 is our best answer so far.

I can't think of any other ones.

'60s. '70s.

No? OK, go with it.

We can't come up with anything else. OK.

Again, I have to start by saying we don't know.

OK, Blake's 7 is your answer.

You will kick yourselves because it all hinges on the idea

Are you getting there?

Lee Majors. The Six Million Dollar Man.

Which I know we were

OK, Eggheads.

Get this question right and you've won the head-to-head.

Which American city has the nickname the City of the Big Shoulders,

inspired by a poem by Carl Sandburg?

Well...

I don't know this, but the only thing - Carl Sandburg was

famously associated with Chicago.

A Chicago poet. OK. And writer.

That's the Windy City, isn't it? It is the Windy City, yeah.

It can have other names. It could be somewhere... I mean, it's not...

He didn't exclusively write about Chicago. Mm.

I have heard the phrase, but I can't think what is actually relates to.

And then you can start to construct all sorts of cases for other things.

You've got Boston where you've got the two areas of land which...

But is he associated with Boston?

No, he's associated with Chicago. Yeah. Go on, then.

Because Carl Sandburg is associated with Chicago, we are

going to go for Chicago.

Although we do know that's also called the Windy City.

But we are going to say Chicago. OK. As an alternative.

Let me read the poem. A bit of the poem.

Hog Butcher for the World

Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat

Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler

Stormy, husky, brawling City of the Big Shoulders.

If you've got it right, the contest is over.

If not, we play on. You have played really, really well.

But the answer is Chicago.

And we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Never mind. That was just toe-to-toe in the final.

Quite pleased with that, yes.

Your Trebuchet was a stroke of genius there. Would you have got Trebuchet?

Yes. They are, OK. Yup, they would have done. I hope you enjoyed it.

Yes, thank you. That was fantastic.

Maybe, to misquote Jaws, we needed a bigger club.

LAUGHTER Commiserations, Swinging Sixties.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They played well too, I have to say.

Some answers pulled out of the bag there. Quite impressive.

The winning streak continues on the side.

On your side, you don't

go home with a ?14,000, so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Well done, the three of you. Who will beat you?

Let's see if next time a new team of Challengers have the brains to do it.

?15,000 says they don't. Till then, thanks for playing. Goodbye.

Live At The Apollo... ..is back. Yay!

Yeah! Back for a brand-new... ..series...

Oh, fantastic! ..on BBC Two.

Big respect. The future. This is going to go very well.