Episode 81 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. Welcome, Eggheads.

Sometimes, I don't think I'm welcoming enough to you.

-It's very good to have you here.

-Thank you very much.

-It's great to be here.

-Are you feeling like winning?

-Yes.

-Always.

Feeling like it, yes.

Right. Taking on our quiz champions today are We Love Tripe.

Now, everyone on this team is

a supporter of the Tripe Marketing Board, which is

an apparently fictional organisation whose aim is to promote

-the cultural heritage of, yes, tripe. Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Bill.

I'm a checkout operator.

Hello, I'm Sue and I'm retired from the NHS.

Hi, I'm Sarah and I run a bespoke pork pie company.

Hello, I'm Jonathan and I'm a teacher.

Hello, I'm Paul and I'm the manager of a small charity.

-So, Bill, team, welcome. Good to see you.

-Hello.

-Hello.

I think I have seen references to the Tripe Marketing Board

but it was always a bit fictional, was it?

To some people, it's real. Very real.

-It's serious to you, I'm sensing.

-I think so, yes.

It's central to my life, I think.

I had tripe in France once by accident cos

-I didn't know what an andouillette grillee was.

-Right.

-I made a note of it because, to be honest, I was traumatised by it.

-OK.

-It was very strong.

-Ah.

-Does that sound like I was eating the wrong thing?

-I think probably, yes.

-You should try the tripe from the local chippy, I think.

-OK.

What is tripe?

It's the innards of cattle.

Or sometimes called humbles, but we're a broad church.

We include chitterlings and hodge as well.

-But tripe has brought you together.

-It has. The warm embrace of tripe.

-Well, I hope your performance is better than tripe.

-Yes.

Every day, there is £1,000 of cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, We Love Tripe, I can tell you the Eggheads are on their mettle,

aren't they? They've won the last five games,

so that means there's £6,000 to play for today.

How much tripe could you roughly buy with that?

LAUGHTER

Um... Covering a medium sized English county, I think.

The first head-to-head battle, speaking of that, is on the subject of Geography.

-Who would like to play Geography?

-Who is taking Geography?

-Well, that would be Paul.

-Paul?

-OK, I'll do that.

-And which Egghead would you like to take on, Paul?

You can see them all here. Chris in orange. Lisa in orange.

We're keeping them apart for that reason.

I think I'd like to take on Lisa.

So, Paul from We Love Tripe against Lisa from the Eggheads.

And just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our famous Question Room?

OK, so you can choose whether you go first or second, Paul.

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And all the best to you, here we go.

Which of these French areas is located in the north of the country?

Well, I know Provence is the south.

And Midi-Pyrenees is towards the south.

I would go for Normandy.

Normandy is quite right. Well done.

OK, Lisa. Your question.

In terms of population, what is the largest city in Japan?

Um...

I think Osaka is only the second biggest.

I think it's probably safe to assume it's Tokyo.

Well, Barry would know this cos he loves Japan. Tokyo is correct.

Well done. Back to you, Paul.

Copacabana Beach is a famous feature of which city?

Well, I'm just about in the depths of my memory recalling the song.

And I think that was Rio de Janeiro.

It was indeed Rio de Janeiro. You're right.

Two out of two. Over to Lisa. Here's your question.

Which European country is nicknamed the Land of Fire and Ice?

Right. Um...

Presumably, the fire part is to do with sort of geysers

or hot springs or volcanoes.

All of which I think you find in Iceland. I'll go for Iceland.

-Yes, indeed. Have you been there?

-No, I'd love to go.

OK. Back to you, Paul.

Which US state is the most easterly of the six that make up New England?

I couldn't really say for certain on this one, Jeremy.

It's going to be a guess, I think.

Um...

Not inclined towards New Hampshire.

I think I'm heading towards Maine.

Please.

Maine is your answer. And Maine is correct. Well done.

So you've got a sort of mental image of the way it juts out towards

the top, yeah?

No, I've just had a guess, Jeremy, to be honest!

Well, you were right anyway. OK, he's got three out of three.

-Doesn't make it easy for you, does he?

-That's one way of putting it!

The National Memorial Arboretum is in which English county?

Right. If I were going to put in a National Memoriam Arboretum...

..where would I put it?

Would I put it in Derbyshire?

Or would there be too many hills in the way?

Would I put it in Buckinghamshire? Maybe.

No, I can't say for certain,

so we'll have to do a first instinct job and go for Staffordshire.

-Let's try Chris. I know he'll know.

-Yes, in Staffordshire.

Near any particular place?

-I think it's just about six miles north of Tamworth.

-Right.

I've been there, actually, yeah.

-Beautiful place. Staffordshire is the answer.

-Blimey.

All right. So, three out of three for both of you.

So, Paul, it gets a tiny bit harder now. I don't give you alternatives.

We're on Sudden Death.

In Macapa, Brazil, the Marco Zero is a monument to what?

Zero suggests it might be something

to do with geography.

Maybe a line on the map.

Um...

Really struggling here to even dredge anything.

Um... So it's going to have to be an absolute guess.

Um...

I think it might mark the mid point of South America.

OK, that's wrong. It's the Equator. Not far off.

Passes directly through Macapa.

OK, Lisa. Your question.

How many US states are within the area

described as the Contiguous United States?

Um...

Does the Contiguous United States just mean all the bits

that are actually joined together physically?

Which would only exclude Hawaii, I think.

Um... Or possibly Rhode Island as well, being an island.

Yeah, that's a good question, actually.

Cos if it is talking about the sort of full

area of the United States, assuming that is what contiguous means,

then I don't know whether to include Rhode Island or not.

Um... I mean, I think it is a proper island. Um...

I'm going to assume not and go for 48.

-Let's just clear this up. Is Rhode Island an actual island?

-No.

-No, it's not.

-So it's 49 then.

-No, no.

You've got it right for the wrong reason.

-Cos Alaska is the other one, is it?

-Exactly.

-For some reason, I don't know.

You forgot Alaska, which is the size of goodness knows, Western Europe, probably.

-Yeah.

-But you're absolutely right. 48 is the answer.

-You can feel slightly ashamed.

-Wrong logic, right answer.

-Exactly.

-Lucky win.

-That's all that counts in here. Well done, Lisa.

You've won through on Geography. Paul, sorry.

You were beaten by our Egghead.

Please return to us and rejoin your team-mates and we'll play the next round.

So a little bit of a shaky start for We Love Tripe,

but lots of time to come still. We've lost a brain from our Challengers.

The Eggheads are intact. All their shells are in one piece so far.

The next subject for you is Sport.

-I'm quite happy to take it.

-OK, then.

I'll take it then, Jeremy, please.

OK, Jonathan. Against which Egghead, Jonathan?

Ooh, could I take Judith, please?

-No!

-Oh, please!

-It hasn't happened for so long.

Just no!

-It's been ages since the last time.

-It has, actually. That's quite true.

I haven't done it for ages.

So, Jonathan from We Love Tripe versus Judith from the Eggheads

and to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

-Jonathan, you're a teacher, I understand.

-I am, Jeremy, yes.

And you teach not sport, I'm assuming.

No, I'm a primary school teacher. I teach in Kendal.

But you've been tapped up for Sport here.

Yes, it was one of those subjects that someone had to take

-the bullet, as it were.

-Jonathan, the first question is the easiest.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-Could I go first, please, Jeremy?

You may and here we go.

Which men's international rugby union team won a record

equalling 17th consecutive match in 2014?

I don't think it's England or Wales.

I suspect that it's New Zealand, Jeremy.

-It is New Zealand.

-Thank you.

Well done.

Judith...

Which darts player is nicknamed The Viking?

Well, it's not Cliff Lazarenko.

Eric Bristow, Andy Fordham...

Andy "The Viking" Fordham. Andy Fordham.

Well done, you! Yes, it is. The Viking, Andy Fordham.

OK. Back to you, Jonathan.

Who was the captain of the England cricket team between 1986 and 1988?

I don't think it was Tony Greig.

Graham Gooch or Mike Gatting. That's...

My gut instinct, 1986 to 1988...

..is Mike Gatting. I'm going to go with Mike Gatting, please.

Yeah, you've got it right. Well done. Mike Gatting.

OK, Judith. Your question. To keep up.

Who came second behind Lewis Hamilton

in the 2014 Formula 1 drivers' championship?

Um...

I did know this.

Some time ago. I don't think it's Jenson Button.

And I can't remember whether it's Kimi Raikkonen or Nico Rosberg.

I... Well, Nico Rosberg is now his team-mate, isn't he?

Um...

So I'm going to say Nico Rosberg.

-Eggheads, is she right?

-Yes. She's quite right.

Yes, you are quite right. Nico Rosberg it is.

This is why you don't get picked on Sport. You're amazing on it now.

Jonathan, your question.

In which year did the cyclist Chris Hoy win his first Olympic gold medal?

Cycling's not my sport.

Of course, I've heard of Sir Chris Hoy.

Um... Fantastic cyclist, I know.

2000 seems too long ago.

I think I'm going to go 2008, Jeremy, please.

See if Judith knows this. Is he right?

No, I think it's earlier than that. I think it might even be 2000.

-No, it's 2004.

-Oh.

-Oh.

So you went a little bit too recent there, Jonathan.

So you've got two out of three. This is Judith's moment.

If she gets this right, she's in the final round

and will have triumphed on Sport and what will you do to celebrate?

Oh, God, I don't know. Champagne, everything.

-Yeah. Ticker tape?

-Ticker tape. That's up to you.

At the 2012 Olympic Games,

the German athlete Robert Harting ripped off his shirt and jumped

over some hurdles to celebrate winning a gold medal in which event?

Not hurdles. Um...

The shot putters and the hammer slingers are rather sort of...

I can't imagine them jumping over anything, frankly,

cos they're rather sort of heavy and...

But a discus thrower is slightly more athletic. I mean, lighter...

I think it might be the discus thrower, simply...

Physically a lighter person.

Discus it is.

You've got three out of three on Sport, Judith. Well done.

-You're in the final.

-Right. Ticker, ticker. From the ceiling.

-Ticker from the ceiling, you do the champagne.

-A shower from the ceiling.

And you won't get chosen again for days and days and days.

Sorry, Jonathan. If you come back to us, we'll see what happens next.

So, Chris Hoy came up there and, Lisa, you have a fact.

His 2004 Olympic gold medal was in the kilo time trial,

which they don't actually run any more as an Olympic event, so unless they ever decide to reinstate it,

Chris Hoy is forever the Olympic champion in the kilo time trial.

And kilo, you just cycle as fast as you can...

It's basically as fast as you can for 1,000 metres, yeah.

So, that's a minute, or something?

Yeah, I think Chris Hoy did it in less than a minute

-when he became the Olympic champion.

-Wow!

OK, so, as it stands, We Love Tripe...

They haven't lost any tripe,

but they've lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still just sitting there...

You've had a number of games where the five of you have just been impregnable.

So let's see if you can win this round, Arts & Books.

Who would like this?

-That's mine.

-Do you want to do it? Sue. Sue, please.

OK. Sue. Against which Egghead?

You can have Dave or Kevin or Chris, so it's the blokes.

-The blokes. I'll have Dave, please.

-All right,

so Sue from We Love Tripe versus Dave from the Eggheads on Arts & Books.

Please take your positions.

Arts & Books, Sue. Do you want to go first or second against Dave?

I'll go first and take the plunge.

All right. So here is your first question and good luck to you.

Tiny Tim is a character in which Dickens work?

Well, definitely not David Copperfield.

And not Great Expectations. I think it's in...

He's in A Christmas Carol.

Well done, yes. A Christmas Carol.

That could trip up people, that question. Dave...

Sidney and Jane are one of three couples

in Alan Ayckbourn's play Absurd Person what?

Singular.

Yeah, Absurd Person Singular, it is. Back to you, Sue.

The French writer Victor Hugo lived during which century?

Ooh...

Well...

I was going to say it's not the 15th,

but you start looking at them and thinking... Ooh...

Um...

I think I'd say the 19th.

Hopefully.

OK, Eggheads, is she right?

Yeah, you are right. Well done, Sue.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, your question.

Stormed at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well

Into the jaws of death

Into the mouth of hell rode the 600

are lines written by which poet?

Sounds...

And my dear friend Chris will recite most of it,

but it sounds like The Charge Of The Light Brigade to me.

So I've got to go Tennyson.

-Is he right, Chris?

-He certainly is...Jeremy.

Yeah, it is Jeremy over here, yeah.

Can you give us the start of the poem or the end of it? Or some other part?

Something to the left of them, something to the right of them...

-Cannons.

-Cannons to the left...

-And volleyed and thundered, yeah.

We're struggling with any other bits of the poem, Dave,

but Chris has confirmed...

-Half a league onward into the valley of death rode the 600.

-Yeah.

Definitely Tennyson, Dave. Well done. Two each. Sue, you're playing well.

See if you can dislodge him now and become the first person to

win through so far and get into the final.

The influential Dutch graphic artist MC Escher died in which year?

This is going to be a guess because I've never heard of him,

I'm very sorry to tell you.

Um...

I think possibly... Well...

If he'd been in 1972, I might have heard of him.

Um...

I will go for 1942.

-It's actually '72.

-Oh!

I don't know, maybe graphic art is a slightly more modern thing.

-I don't know.

-Yeah.

-Difficult to guess that one.

1972, so Dave has the chance to win.

Albert Camus' novel The Outsider is set in which country?

Right, I don't know this.

But all I can go on is a North African influence,

so I'm going to go Algeria.

If you have got this right, you're in the final round, Dave.

You're playing well at the moment, I must say.

Algeria is the right answer. Three out of three again.

Eggheads playing pretty well, not just this game

but a number of games recently. Sorry, Sue.

It's that beastly third question again, isn't it?

You've been knocked out. Dave is in the final.

Both of you, please rejoin your teams.

So, We Love Tripe have now lost the three brains. Any thoughts on that?

Are we going to change to a different kind of foodstuff?

-Um...

-LAUGHTER

Operation Omelette still continues, I think.

-We're not moving up to chitterlings or anything?

-No, no. Operation Omelette is still running.

So the next subject and the last before the final is Music.

-Who from We Love Tripe would like Music?

-OK. Um...

-Sarah.

-Yes. I'll do that.

-Sarah, against which Egghead?

-I'm going to go for Kevin.

-You're going for the main man.

-Yes.

-All right.

So it's Sarah from We Love Tripe and it's Kevin from the Eggheads.

And if you go to the Question Room, we'll get cracking.

So, Sarah, I must ask you about the pork pies.

-This is your business, right?

-Yes, it is indeed.

We mustn't get confused with tripe. They're not in the pork pies.

No tripe has been injured in the making of my pork pies.

And you do unusual flavours, is that right?

Yes, we like to make them a little differently, so I'm just

about to start picking wild garlic for our wild garlic pork pies.

-Ooh, my mouth is watering.

-That is coming up.

And we do chorizo and fig and orange at Christmas. Onion marmalade.

-It sounds like it's going really well.

-Thank you.

-So, Music.

-Yes.

And I'm thinking you're going to like the same music as me, so would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first.

Good luck, Sarah. Here we go.

Which man found fame as the lead singer of the band Duran Duran?

Well, it certainly wasn't Holly Johnson. Um...

So, I think I'm going to go for Simon Le Bon.

Simon Le Bon is quite right. OK, Kevin.

Which of these stage musicals is set in Scotland?

Well, the Scottish one there about the disappearing village is

Brigadoon.

Brigadoon is the right answer, Kevin. Well done.

So, Music and back to Sarah.

In which year did the Russian born composer Dmitri Shostakovich die?

I'm not very sure on this.

I've heard of him and I knew he was Russian.

Um...

Shostakovich... I don't think he was as long ago as 1915.

Um...

I'm going to say 1975.

You're right, it is 1975.

Well done.

OK, your question, Kevin.

Which British vocalist won four Grammy awards in 2015, including the

awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist?

2015... Well, I think...

Yeah, the other two would have been...

Adele, particularly, has done well at the Grammys, but earlier.

I think it's got to be Sam Smith. Sam Smith.

You're right. Sam Smith, it is. So, two each.

Sarah, Nicky Wire found fame as a bassist

and a songwriter in which band?

Nicky Wire...

I really don't know this.

My instinct is dragging me towards the Manic Street Preachers,

but it is just instinct.

No, it's really good instinct. Manic Street Preachers is the right answer.

Three out of three. Good stuff. OK, so Kevin now on the edge.

If he gets this wrong, he's out.

I Want To Know What Love Is was a 1985 number one for which band?

That was Foreigner.

-Oh, you're straight there.

-Mm.

-Were you grooving to that?

-I don't groove to anything.

-At the time? Cold As Ice was their other one, wasn't it?

-Yes.

-That's right.

-Foreigner is right. OK, we go to Sudden Death, Sarah.

It gets a bit harder because I don't give you alternative answers.

What was the surname of the brothers Steve and Muff who were

original members of the Spencer Davis Group formed in the early 1960s?

I have no idea on this one. Steve and Muff...

That's not even ringing any bells.

So, I'll just hope that they named the band after their dad

and say Davis.

No, no. It's not, I'm afraid. I like the logic, actually.

It was the only logic I could come up with.

But I didn't know these two were in the Spencer Davis Group.

-Steve Winwood...

-Oh.

-Muff Winwood.

-Ah, yes.

That makes sense now.

So, Sudden Death. And, Kevin, you have a chance to take the round.

In which century did the composer Ludwig van Beethoven die?

In the 19th.

Can you give me the exact year?

1827.

-Can you give me the exact date?

-No.

JEREMY LAUGHS

You're right, it's 1827.

I just needed the century, I thought you might get that right.

You've done it on sudden death. Sorry, Sarah, he has knocked you out.

-Never mind.

-In fact, a number of games recently

where all the Challengers

have been knocked out. This is another one.

So, no embarrassment, and you can still win.

And if you come back to us, both of you,

we will play the all-important final round.

OK, so here we are, with, again, 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.

And it is all Challengers.

It's Sue and Sarah and Jonathan and Paul from We Love Tripe.

Sorry, but you have to leave the studio.

Sorry, Bill, it wasn't supposed to quite work out like this.

No, I feel a bit like Butch Cassidy without

the assistance of the Sundance Kid.

-Taking on the Bolivian army.

-You going to run out the building?

-Yes.

OK, so you're from Leek in Staffordshire,

and you're a local historian there?

I am a local historian, amongst other things, yes.

I'm sure that will come in handy, I hope there's some history questions

for you. You're playing to win your team £6,000.

As for Lisa and Dave and Kevin and Judith and Chris,

it's almost higher stakes for you,

because you need to preserve the Eggheads' precious reputation.

You're playing well at the moment, Eggheads,

let's see if that continues.

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

they're all general knowledge, you can confer.

We Love Tripe, Bill, the question is -

can your one brain defeat these five?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I shall go second.

Eggheads then, you get the first question.

What type of creature is a ptarmigan?

-It's a grouse, isn't it?

-Yes, yep.

It's a bird, Jeremy.

It's a bird.

One point to them. Bill, your question.

Alberto Tomba was a leading name in which sports in the 1980s and '90s?

It's a name that is not familiar to me.

Right...I'm going to rule out skiing.

On the basis it's a... Latin American name...

I may be wrong, but I don't see it as a skiing name,

it's either cycling or squash.

It's a pure guess, I'm going with cycling.

OK, cycling is your answer.

-Is he right, Eggheads?

-No, he's a skier.

A skier, so how do we reconcile the South American name?

-He was Italian.

-Is it T-O-M-B-E-A-U?

-No.

-T-O-M-B-A.

-He was Italian.

-Italian skier.

-Particularly slalom.

-Was he very good?

-Gold medallist.

Several gold medals.

He was a very chunky guy who got the nickname "Tomba the Bomba"

because he was just aggression.

-Pure aggression.

-Sorry, Bill, skiing.

Over to you, Eggheads. Your second question.

What Biblical first name did Chris Martin

and Gwyneth Paltrow give to their son born in April 2006?

-Moses.

-Moses.

-CHRIS:

-Moses? Definitely Moses.

Yeah, no question, yeah.

Let's go and part the Red Sea, it's Moses, Jeremy.

Moses is right.

All right, so they've got two, you need to really get this one right.

You have to get this one right.

In classical mythology, Aeneas was a hero from which city?

Aeneas...

Erm...

It's...

not Colchis.

It's not Athens.

I believe it is Troy.

Dido and Aeneas is the thought I had.

It's Troy.

Troy is the right answer, well done, Bill.

Big sigh of relief backstage there. Back at the races here.

OK, Eggheads, if you get this one right, the contest is over.

If you get it wrong, we go back to Bill.

In the Thomas The Tank Engine books, by the Reverend W Awdry,

what are the names of Thomas' two coaches?

-Annie and Clarabel.

-Clarabel.

-Why am I telling the train expert? Yeah.

Yeah, it's Annie and Clarabel, Jeremy.

If it is Annie and Clarabel, you will have got three right

and Bill's first answer will have cost him dear.

The answer is Annie and Clarabel.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

-Oh, that skier.

-Yes, it's not a sport I follow, so...

Tomba the Bomba.

Your logic, "it can't be South American", I follow that completely.

-Yeah.

-But then he was Italian. So, commiserations to We Love Tripe.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally.

They've got a real swagger at the moment,

they are really on a winning streak.

It means our Challengers won't be going home with the £6,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done, looking impregnable right now.

Do join us for our next programme to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat them,

or maybe even just knock one of them out!

£7,000 says they can't do it. Until then, goodbye.