Episode 91 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 team of five quiz Challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are Bob's Buddies.

Now, this team of friends are all associated with the charity

Best Buddies UK. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Bob, and I'm a social entrepreneur.

Hello, I'm Dominic, and I'm a community development manager.

Hello, I'm Estelle, and I'm a business development manager.

Hello, I'm Bernard, and I'm a retired quality assurance manager.

Hi, I'm Philip, and I'm the director of a community enterprise.

-So, Bob, team, welcome. Great to see you.

-Thank you.

And tell us about Best Buddies.

Well, Best Buddies is an organisation that we

and a number of other social entrepreneurs and social workers

put together because, in the UK, we concentrate on services so much.

We think about people who need social support,

in terms of the services they receive, the amount that governments

and local governments spend.

And actually, when you talk to people, what they need is friends.

And what they need is relationships and social capital.

So it is a way of getting them a visit, or just a relationship?

Well, essentially, what we're trying to do is build

real relationships and get people to understand that

people in social need are just people, and they've got lots

and lots to offer, and friendship with somebody with a disability

or mental health problem, or someone who is very elderly

and frail can be a really, really rewarding thing to get involved in.

And it is something we used to do naturally.

We used to do it naturally, and then we've sort of outsourced it

to the professionals.

To the state, yeah. OK, well, I hope you do very well today.

Up against these five...

terrifying creatures.

Every day there is £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, Bob's Buddies, the Eggheads are doing really, really well.

They've won the last 15 games.

Bad news in that they are very confident.

Good news in that it means £16,000 is on the table today for you to win.

-Excellent.

-Would you like to crack on?

-Yes, please.

-All right.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Politics.

-So who would like this?

-OK. And who has got Politics?

-Bob's got Politics.

-But also you.

You have Politics, Bernard.

I think we agree that if it was between us, you would go. Yes?

OK, Bernard. On Politics. Against which Egghead?

-Barry, perhaps.

-What do you think?

-Barry.

-Could we go with Barry?

-You can indeed.

I think Barry likes his politics. He likes most subjects, actually.

So, Bernard from Bob's Buddies and... Oh, this is going to be interesting alliteration.

Bernard from Bob's Buddies, and Barry...from the Eggheads,

please go to our Question Room now.

-So, Bernard, I gather you are a performance poet.

-I am.

I do my best, Jeremy. I...

I perform every month or so at a local pub.

And I...

I have entered various competitions and been lucky enough

to get through to the finals in various poetry competitions.

I've never actually won one.

The last thing I got through to the final was the

-All Wales Comic Verse Competition.

-A-ha.

Sweetly, they've asked me to be a judge.

So obviously they've realised that I'm never going to win it,

but I might be able to judge it.

And I went to a performance poetry thing a while back

and I realised it is a whole new area of... A, it has got to be written

by you, it's got to be personal, and it's got to be really belted out.

Absolutely, absolutely.

I don't actually like the performing bit, I prefer the writing bit.

But there's a whole scene out there, and if you're going to write

poetry and get noticed, you have to perform, really.

I'm trying to imagine you as a performance poet, Barry.

I'm struggling a bit at the moment.

On stage and just really going for it.

Maybe even taking your glasses off.

-Maybe.

-OK, so we are on Politics here, Bernard.

And would you like to go first or second?

I would like to go first, Jeremy, if I may.

Here we go, Bernard, your first question.

Which of these countries has both a president and a prime minister?

I think that the answer is France, Jeremy.

The answer is France, well done. Barry, your question.

What is the name of the official residence of the

Speaker of the House of Commons?

In the all the years I've been interested in politics, I've

never heard this term.

The Speaker is the Speaker of the House,

so I really don't know, but I'll have to go for Speaker's House.

Yes, I'm not sure the logic was right there.

It could be any of those three, but you are right. Speaker's House it is.

-Very fortunate.

-Speaker's House is right. Back to you Bernard.

What is the English name of the Japanese parliament?

Is it...

I don't think it is the Knesset.

I think, er, I would go with...

-Diet.

-"Dee-et" or "die-et".

-Diet.

-Barry will know this. Barry.

-It is indeed.

The Storting is Norway, and the Knesset of course is Israel.

That's the correct answer, Bernard, well done. Back to you, Barry.

How many days does the House of Commons traditional summer

recess officially last?

Well, let's see, 26 is just under a month, 46, a month and a half.

A month seems...

A month seems too short. 76 is obviously too long.

46, that's getting on for a month and a half.

All of August and a bit more...

I think it is 46 days.

JEREMY LAUGHS

-You are going to be surprised when I tell you.

-Is it 76?

-It is.

-Oh, I would have never thought that!

JEREMY LAUGHS

More than two months.

Of course, they do claim to be working throughout that

time on constituency work, of course.

OK, 76, so you've got a bit of a chance now, Bernard.

Get this one right, you are in the final round.

The 1909 Act of Parliament known as the Morley-Minto Reforms gave

increased powers to inhabitants of which country?

I... I'm wondering between India and South Africa.

I'm just wondering that, as a result of the Boer War, it might be

South Africa, so I'm going to go for South Africa.

-Barry, do you know this?

-I would have gone for India.

India is the right answer, Bernard. So two out of three.

Back to Barry to save the round.

Of which US president did Patricia Schroeder say,

"He is attempting a great breakthrough in political technology,

"he's been perfecting the Teflon coated presidency.

"He sees to it that nothing sticks to him"? Was that...

Ah. Now, it is certainly not Lyndon Johnson.

Was Bill Clinton known as the Teflon Kid?

Or was it Ronald Reagan?

No, Bill Clinton was the Comeback Kid. I think it was Ronald Reagan.

-CJ disagrees.

-I think it's Bill Clinton.

Absolutely it is not Bill Clinton. It's Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan was the Teflon President

cos all kinds of things kicked off, like Iran/Contra,

and they were swatted and batted away with ease.

So, you're equal after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death now, Bernard, and it gets a bit harder

cos I don't give you alternative answers.

Which Latin American political leader stepped down in February 2008

after 49 years in office?

I think that would be Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro is quite right.

Back to you, Barry.

In the days of the USSR, what name,

derived from that of the citadel in Moscow that housed the government,

was given to the art of interpreting Soviet politics?

I think that would be Kremlinology.

Kremlinology is quite right.

Back to you, Bernard.

The title of which 1980 space adventure film

was used by Newsweek as its cover headline

when the UK sent its naval task force to the Falklands?

I don't know.

Lost In Space, I think, Jeremy, is all I can think of, really.

-It is The Empire Strikes Back.

-Ah, yes, yeah.

So, over to you, Barry. Get this right, you're in the final round.

We're on Sudden Death here.

The infamous picture dating from the 1980s of David Cameron

and others posing in tail coats was a group portrait

of the members of which Oxford undergraduate club?

Now, let me get this name right.

Was it the Bullingham Club or the Bollingham Club?

I think Bollingham champagne. I think it was the Bullingham Club.

Bullingham is wrong, I can't accept that.

-Bullingdon.

-Ah!

You're still level. Bernard, back to you.

Who became President of the United States in 1865

after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?

Erm...

I... I don't know, Jeremy.

My American history isn't that good.

I wonder whether it might have been...

Ulysses Grant.

-It was not Ulysses Grant. It was Andrew Johnson.

-Ah!

So, Barry has a chance.

Sudden Death - get this right, Barry, you're in the final round.

Who became the British Deputy Prime Minister in 1942

and remained in the role

during Winston Churchill's wartime administration?

I think he was probably my favourite British politician ever.

I think he was lord mayor of Stepney at one time

and I do believe it was Clement Attlee.

Clement Attlee is the right answer.

Well done, Barry, you've won on Sudden Death.

You're in the final. Sorry, Bernard,

you've been knocked out by our Egghead, but that does happen.

Please, both of you, return. Rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands, Bob's Buddies have lost Bernard's brain.

That's a performance poem for you!

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet. Barry's still with us.

The next subject is Science.

-So, who would like Science?

-Is that you, Phil?

-I think it's me!

-It's definitely Philip.

-OK, Philip against which Egghead?

-Judith?

-Judith?

-I think Judith.

Yeah? OK.

So, Philip from Bob's Buddies vs Judith from the Eggheads on Science.

Not Sport, Judith, that's the crucial thing.

Please go to the question room now.

So, here we are on Science against Judith

and would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

So, your first question, Philip, is this - which of these animals

is often described as the UK's largest wild land mammal?

Right. It's certainly a deer, I know that much.

I think I will say it's a red deer.

Red deer is the right answer, well done.

Judith,

which of these planets is the eighth from the sun in our solar system?

-The eighth from the sun?

-The eighth from the sun.

Well, that's the furthest out, isn't it?

I think it's Neptune, in that case.

Yes, Neptune is right.

So, back to you, Philip.

What is the technical term for pins and needles?

Well, it does suggest that there's something

kind of vaguely anaesthetic about it

in that you're not quite operating fully

so I'll go for paraesthesia.

Paraesthesia is quite right.

Great quiz question, actually, and well done.

So, to catch up,

here's your question.

The chemical element iridium takes its name from the Greek for what?

I think that is rainbow because irises

come from the Greek for rainbow so I'm going to say rainbow.

Well done, Judith. Rainbow is right.

Back to you, Philip.

Which gas did Joseph Priestley call dephlogisticated air?

Dephlogisticated is D-E-P-H-L-O-G-I-S-T-I-C-A-T-E-D.

OK, I don't know. It is a complete guess. I'll go for helium.

No, it's oxygen, cos I think he was saying, basically,

-it's air without the something. Is that right?

-Yeah.

He discovered it or, well,

he was one of the people who was credited with the discovery of it.

-So he found it was a component part of air.

-Mmm.

OK, Judith, for the round for Science.

The worldwide population of which of these wild animals

is estimated at between 20,000 to 25,000.

Well, I think tigers are down to about 5,000 now.

I don't know, I'm not sure. I think I'm going to try orang-utan.

-No, it's polar bear.

-It's polar bears?

Yes, so two each and locked after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death, Philip.

It gets a little bit harder cos I don't give you alternatives.

For what do the letters CC stand in the abbreviation CCTV,

the video monitoring system?

That'll be closed circuit.

Closed circuit is correct, well done.

Judith, which scientist presented the BBC programmes

Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe?

I think it's Brian Cox.

Professor Brian Cox is correct.

Philip,

which Swedish chemist invented blasting gelatine in 1875?

I can't even guess, Jeremy, I'm afraid. I haven't got a clue.

Blasting gelatine - Barry?

-Alfred Nobel.

-Alfred Nobel is the answer, Philip.

-Ah!

So, Judith, for the round.

What is the common name of the goat antelope Rupicapra rupicapra,

whose smooth absorbent hide is used in cleaning and polishing?

Is it a shammy, a chamois? Or however you pronounce it.

-Chamois, shammy - what's your answer?

-Chamois or shammy.

C-H-A-M-O-I-S.

That's exactly right. Shammy, people call it.

Well done, you've got it and you've got the round.

-Philip, you've been knocked out by Judith - on Science, Judith!

-Whoohoo!

The thumbs up and you're in the final round. Philip, you're not.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

So, Bob's Buddies have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost none so far and the next subject is Geography.

So, who would like this?

-Right, am I going to do it or are you going to do it?

-I'll do it.

-You're going to do it.

-I'll do it.

-Dominic, OK, against which Egghead?

-Which Egghead?

-It's got to be CJ, hasn't it?

-Can we have CJ, please?

Sure thing!

Dominic from Bob's Buddies, CJ from the Eggheads -

please go to the question room.

-All right, well, good luck in this round.

-Thank you.

Would you like to go first or second?

Er, first, if I may, please. Thank you.

Here we go, Dominic, good luck.

Which of these Spanish cities is located on the coast?

Well, it's certainly not Madrid.

I'm going to say Barcelona cos I've been there before

and that was on the coast, the south coast.

Absolutely right, that's right, Barcelona.

CJ, approximately how many people live in England?

That would be 54 million.

It is indeed 54 million.

OK, Dominic, Granton and Leith are areas in which British city?

Right, it's certainly not Liverpool and I would say it's not Swansea.

Sunshine On Leith, I'll have to say Edinburgh.

Indeed, The Proclaimers, yeah.

Edinburgh is the answer. Well done.

CJ, back to you.

The lowest point of elevation in North America is in which US state?

Don't know this, but surely it must be in California.

Florida's fairly flat, Montana's pretty mountainous.

There are a lot of valleys in California

so I'll have to go for California.

California is right.

Dominic, what is the name of the river

in Cumbria that flows through Bassenthwaite Lake

and Cockermouth to the sea?

I'm going to take a punt here, Jeremy, and go for Eden.

Derwent is the answer, Dominic, two out of three.

Cj has a chance to take the round.

Castle Drogo, designed by Edwin Lutyens, is in which national park?

I knew who it was designed by.

I was hoping that was going to be the question

as soon as you said Drogo!

Oh, dear. I don't think it's in the New Forest.

Obviously I don't know this cos it's UK geography,

but simply because I've got this picture of it

being on lonely windswept moors, I will try Dartmoor.

If you've got it right, you're in the final round. Eggheads, do you know?

-Dartmoor.

-Dartmoor, they all say! Well done, CJ.

Sorry, Dominic, you've been knocked out there

and CJ will be in the final round.

Come back to us and we'll play round four.

So, Bob's Buddies have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet.

One more round before the final and it's Film and TV, I can tell you.

-So who would like this?

-It'll be me.

-It's Estelle.

OK, Estelle, against which Egghead? You can have either Chris or Kevin.

-It's got to be Chris.

-Chris, please.

-You sound definite about that.

Absolutely definite.

Right, so, Estelle from Bob's Buddies and Chris from the Eggheads,

please go to the question room and we'll see what happens.

-Good luck, Estelle.

-Thank you.

-Here we go. Are you ready for this?

-Just about!

-OK, Film and TV against Chris.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go second, please.

So, Chris has the first question and here it is.

Who first played the role of Sam Mitchell in the TV drama EastEnders?

Well, June Brown is Dot Cotton.

I can honestly say I have never, ever watched EastEnders.

I don't think it was Danniella Westbrook either

so I think the first person to play Sam Mitchell was Michelle Collins.

Michelle Collins, you say. Judith will know.

-She watches it every night.

-It's Danniella Westbrook.

Danniella Westbrook is the answer,

Chris, so a faltering start, I'm afraid.

So, Estelle, that's good.

You haven't done anything and you're ahead already.

In which year was the BBC's flagship news broadcast

The Nine O'Clock News controversially replaced by the Ten O'Clock News?

1960, I think it was still going.

1980, I'm sure it was still going

because we used to moan at our parents at home so I'm saying 2000.

Absolutely spot on! Well done!

So you definitely are ahead now and it was Greg Dyke who made the switch.

So, Chris, Alan Ladd starred in which of these classic westerns?

Alan Ladd, who was an extremely short little fellow

and had to stand on boxes

to play scenes with leading ladies, was in Shane.

I didn't know that about the boxes.

-Mm.

-Shane is correct.

Estelle, which of these actors plays the role of Mycroft Holmes

in the TV drama Sherlock?

I believe it is Martin Freeman.

It's not. It's Mark Gatiss.

So Freeman is Watson.

-And Gatiss is Holmes's brother, basically.

-Yeah.

Yeah, a rather odd, sinister, brooding person.

I'm sorry, it was Mark Gatiss. Chris, over to you.

Who directed the 2014 film Maps To The Stars?

Now, Maps To The Stars doesn't sound like anything to do with astronomy.

It sounds to me like maps to stars' houses which you get in Hollywood,

which is a bit creepy and stalkerish.

Now, Oliver Stone does war movies and biopics like JFK,

David Cronenberg does horror movies,

but if we're talking creepy, stalkerish type things,

I have to go with David Lynch.

-David Cronenberg it is, Chris.

-Oh, OK.

-How about that, Estelle?

He made a mistake there.

You can take the round with this answer.

Which of these actors starred

in the films A Most Violent Year and Ex Machina?

I don't think it was Brad Pitt.

I'm going to go for Oscar Isaac.

If you've got this right, you've taken the round.

The correct answer is Oscar Isaac.

Well done, Estelle. Well done!

So, you're in the final so it's not a wipe-out for your team at all.

This is looking quite interesting for our final round.

Chris, you've been knocked out.

Return to us and we will play the final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is 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 that's Dominic, Bernard

and Philip from Bob's Buddies and also Chris from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So here we are. Bob and Estelle,

you are playing to win Bob's Buddies £16,000.

What a jackpot we've got!

Kevin, Judith, Barry, CJ, you're playing for something

which money can't really buy, which is the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, they're all general knowledge.

You can confer, OK, so, Bob's Buddies,

the question is are your two brains better than these four?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

And good luck, here's your question.

Which of these trees typically has bright green needle-like leaves?

-It's clearly larch, isn't it?

-Larch.

No problem there, I think - I hope! It'll be larch.

It is larch, well done, straight there. Eggheads, your first question.

In February 2015,

which of these jockeys announced his intention to retire?

-ALL:

-Tony McCoy.

That was AP, Tony McCoy.

Tony McCoy it was. Trucking on here!

Let's see if you can stop them in their tracks.

£16,000 we're playing for.

Which British actress, famed for her comedic roles,

played the policewoman Ruby Gates in the St Trinian's films?

It was Joyce Grenfell, definitely.

Again, I think we know the answer to this. I think that's Joyce Grenfell.

Yes, Joyce Grenfell is the answer. You're right, well done.

Next question is for the Eggheads.

The CAC 40 is a stock market index in which country?

France, isn't it? That's the stock market index in France.

France is correct.

CAC Quarante.

OK, your question,

third question, it can be crucial.

What name is given to the unique rotating boat lift,

built to link the Union Canal

with the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland?

-I have never heard of this, have you?

-I've not heard of it.

-Let's break it down.

-It won't be Stirling, that's nowhere near.

-Falkirk...

-Cowdenbeath...

I've got a funny feeling it might be the Falkirk Wheel,

but I don't know why I think that.

I think we should go for that one.

-I've got that feeling too.

-We honestly don't know.

There's a bit of an inkling that it might be the Falkirk Wheel, Jeremy.

Falkirk Wheel for three out of three if you've got it right.

-Eggheads, are they right?

-Yes.

-Falkirk Wheel it is.

Well done, three out of three. Well done, indeed!

You may not have to do another stroke of work today.

Let's see. If they get this wrong,

you've won £16,000.

The jackpot's been building up for quite a while

and teams have come close, but you're now VERY close.

Eggheads, you need to get this question right.

The crossword set by the compiler Azed first appeared

in which Sunday newspaper in 1972?

Azed is spelled A-Z-E-D.

-I think it's The Sunday Times.

-I thought Azed was The Sunday Times.

-OK, I don't know this.

-I think it's The Sunday Times.

He's one of the most famous ones, isn't he, Judith,

one of the most difficult ones? It's not The Mail On Sunday.

It's just I'm familiar with it and I don't read the other papers.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Oh, OK.

-I think we can rule out The Mail On Sunday.

I've read The Observer, but I've never looked at the crossword.

-I think Azed is one of those really, really famous setters.

-OK.

-I think you've both...

-That's my instinct.

I mean, I don't read The Observer and I don't read The Mail On Sunday,

but I am familiar with seeing it so I hope that that's what...

-OK.

-I thought Sunday Times before the options came up.

Can we just have the question once more, please?

The crossword set by the compiler Azed first appeared

in which Sunday newspaper in 1972?

-OK, well, I think we've got enough to...

-Pray!

-That's right.

Erm, right,

so we've got some instincts that that would be The Sunday Times.

OK, Sunday Times is your answer.

And, Judith, you've seen it in The Sunday Times?

It's just that I don't read The Mail On Sunday or The Observer,

but I am familiar with that crossword.

-And you've been reading The Sunday Times since 1972?

-No, I...

So, out of interest,

when did you start reading The Sunday Times?

Well, I only occasionally read The Sunday Times.

So, have you read it at all in the '70s?

Oh, God, it's the '70s aspect.

-Well, it quite clearly said it first appeared in 1972.

-Mm-hmm.

And you charged ahead.

Judith said The Sunday Times, CJ...

I think it's been going some time.

How old were you in 1972?

Er, two or three.

-You were reading The Sunday Times then?

-I was compiling it then.

The answer is The Observer.

We say congratulations, challengers, you have won!

Congratulations, guys! They blew a gasket, I can't explain it.

I've never seen anything like that.

Well done, Bob, and will this help the charity?

It'll help a tremendous amount.

Well done, it's fantastic that it's going to a great cause.

-I'm really pleased for you.

-Thanks very much.

-Great to see you winning.

Really chuffed for you, really chuffed and, yes,

-we'll have the debrief at the end.

-Oh, dear!

Well, there we go! You've just won £16,000.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You've proved they can be beaten.

We've also found out CJ's been reading The Sunday Times

since he was two. Join us next time on Eggheads

to see if a new team of challengers can do THAT to THEM.

Until then, goodbye.