Episode 18 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.

Looking steely.

Fine fettle. In fine fettle.

OK, well, let's see what happens here.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are the

Holistic Shoehorns.

This team of colleagues from

South Wales all work together

in the insurance department of a major bank.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Liz and I'm an account manager.

Hi, I'm James and I'm a pricing manager.

Hi, I'm Dave and I'm an account assistant.

Hi, I'm Chris and I'm a pricing analyst.

Hi, I'm Naomi and I'm also a pricing analyst.

So, Liz, team, welcome. Thank you. Good to see you.

I've got to ask about the team name - Holistic Shoehorns.

Please, explain. There's so much jargon in the business

that everything has to be looked at with a holistic view,

everything tries to be shoehorned into something that's live or into

a project that's ongoing, so we thought,

let's have a little bit of fun with it

and become the Holistic Shoehorns,

cos we are shoehorned together.

And you quiz, as well, I gather.

A little bit. A little bit for charity, we have done.

Not very successfully, unfortunately!

OK. Well, listen, this is going to be exciting,

cos everyday there is ?1,000 worth of cash up for grabs for our

Challengers, but we obviously let the money pile up if people don't win it.

And what has happened here is that the Eggheads have won the last 26.

Ooh! 26 games.

So they're on a run.

I don't think I've seen a run like this before,

so ?27,000 is here for you to win today.

You timed it right. Or I suppose you might have timed it very badly,

given that they're doing so well.

So let's get cracking, shall we?

OK. First head-to-head battle is on the subject of Sport.

Who would like this? OK, so...

Who did we say before? Yeah.

Yep, I'll take Sport. Are we still happy...

Dave, are you happy to still take Sport?

Yep, of course, yep. I'll take Sport, Jeremy.

OK, so, Dave, against which of these five?

I'll go up against Lisa, please.

So our Holistic Shoehorn against Lisa from the Eggheads,

and to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

So here we are on Sport, good luck with that.

Would you like to go first or second? First, please.

OK, so Sport.

Your first question, Dave.

Which Formula One driver won his third British Grand Prix in 2015?

Er, I think I'm going to go with Lewis Hamilton, Jeremy.

Lewis Hamilton is the right answer.

Well done. Lisa, over to you - Sport.

Excluding qualifying, but including the middle Sunday,

which is traditionally a rest day,

the Wimbledon Tennis Championships

usually take place over how many days?

Right, OK.

So, you start on the Monday with round one, you tick through,

you have your rest on the Sunday and then the women's final's usually

played on the Saturday of the following week and the men's final

on the Sunday, which I think would bring us up to a full 14 days.

14 days is correct.

Well done. Back to you, Dave.

Turf Moor is home to which English football club?

Erm, well, I'm very fond of my football and I've actually been to

this ground myself, so I'm going to go with Burnley, Jeremy.

Burnley's correct.

Good stuff.

Lisa, in 2014, Katy McLean captained

England's women to World Cup victory in which sport?

The Cricket World Cup... Ain't going to be that.

And we didn't win the football. Must be rugby union.

Rugby union is right.

OK, perfect round so far, two each.

Dave, this could be a key question, the third one.

Hold focus here. In the early part of the 20th century,

who scored a century at Lord's,

captained England at football and

won the men's tennis doubles at both

Wimbledon and in the Olympics?

Erm...I'm not 100% sure on this one.

So I think I'm going to have to take a bit of a guess

and probably go with Max Woosnam.

Well, you are right, Max Woosnam it is.

You got three out of three there, Dave, brilliant. Thank you.

See if you've cooked up some trouble for Lisa.

Where did the 2015 Tour de France begin?

I have a feeling it was Rotterdam.

I do hate it when geography sneaks into Sport, it's very, very unfair.

I THINK it's the Netherlands, I'll say the Netherlands.

Netherlands is the right answer.

So you've both got three.

You're level. And that means it goes to Sudden Death.

This could be a gruelling contest.

So, Dave, it gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives, OK?

The Briton Keri-Anne Payne has won

World Championship gold medals in which sport?

Erm...

Not entirely sure on this one.

Erm, so I'm just going to take a guess and say badminton.

Actually swimming. OK.

First one you got wrong. Lisa, for the round - Sudden Death,

it can all end quite quickly.

Julius Erving, spelled E-R-V-I-N-G,

also known as Dr J,

was a leading performer in which sport in the 1970s and '80s?

Well, let's...

Let's start by narrowing it down,

saying it's probably an American sport,

because that's a terrible spelling of Irving,

and they tend to be the ones giving out the daft nicknames,

so the preference would be somewhere between basketball and baseball.

I don't know. I'll hazard a guess at basketball.

Eggheads, is she right?

Yes. Certainly is. Yep. Yes, you are right, Lisa.

You've won on Sport. Sorry, Dave.

Just pipped at the post, there.

I know how good you are on this subject.

Please, come back to us, both of you, and we'll play the next round.

So the Holistic Shoehorns have lost a brain,

the Eggheads have still got all five in the final round,

but let's see what happens now, shall we?

It's Science.

Have we got a scientist among these bankers?

Ooh, I think we have, think we have.

Yeah... Chris, are you happy...?

Yeah. Chris is... Yeah. Against which Egghead? Can't be Lisa.

Ooh. Your choice. I'll go with Pat.

Pat? Yeah. Pat, Pat.

Pat, please.

Chris from the Holistic Shoehorns

versus Pat from the Eggheads on Science.

Please, take your positions.

Chris, you love roller coasters.

I do, yes! How many have you been on?

Oh, I haven't counted.

I've been on quite a lot. What, all over the world?

Er, there's... The ones in Britain and, er, been to Florida, as well.

So, yeah, not many places other than that, no, but...

OK, good stuff. Well, roller coasters to Science,

I suppose there's some kind of connection.

Er, yeah. And would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go, Chris, good luck.

Turn it round for your team.

36 inches equates to which of these units of length?

OK... I don't think it's foot.

Er...

OK, I'm going to go with yard.

Yard is correct.

Pat, how many atoms of carbon are there in a single molecule of

carbon dioxide gas?

Well, carbon dioxide is CO2.

I think it's one carbon and two oxygens, so I'll go for one.

One is correct.

So, one each.

Rhea, Phoebe and Dione

are moons of which planet?

OK, erm...

I... I don't think it's Mars,

because I think that's got two moons.

Erm, I think Saturn has quite a few moons, actually, more than three,

so I'm going to go with Uranus.

It's not Uranus, actually,

and, of course, it might have more than three and still be the answer.

Oh... How many moons does Saturn have? Do you know, Eggs? 60-odd.

60-odd. 62, isn't it? 60-odd, but these are three of Saturn's moons.

Ah! OK,

Pat, a loganberry is a cross between a raspberry and which other fruit?

Loganberry. I...I don't think it's a gooseberry,

and I think a strawberry is far too different to be crossing.

I think it's with a blackberry.

It is with a blackberry. Well done, Pat.

So Pat has two and you're stuck on one, Chris.

You've got to get this right or you'll be knocked out.

Which chemical element derives its name from the Greek for lead?

I have absolutely no idea.

Erm...

I can't even rule any out. I'm going to go straight down the middle.

Pol... Poly...

The middle one, please!

Molybdenum.

Molybdenum is the right answer.

Oh!

Well done, Chris. Well done. Well done. OK,

so you're still in it, but Pat can take the round now.

The Belgian-born priest and scientist

Georges Lemaitre is best known for

his work in which area of science?

Well, there have been lots of, erm,

priests who've made, er, strides in science, erm...

But I think Lemaitre had several of the early ideas which went on to

become the Big Bang theory.

Lemaitre is indeed associated with Big Bang theory, you're right, Pat.

Flawless performance from you.

Sorry, Chris, very hard when they get three in a row.

You've been knocked out and you won't be in the final round, but Pat will.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

The Holistic Shoehorns have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain so far.

The next subject is Film TV.

So which Holistic Shoehorn would like this?

I think Liz, Naomi.

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Want to keep you back, Liz?

Cos we said Naomi, didn't we, for Film Television?

Are you still happy, Naomi?

Yeah. That would be good. I think you two are the strongest,

so between you two at the end.

Sounds good. Yeah? Go for it.

And I think... Who do we...?

So Naomi against...

against either Kevin, Barry or Dave on the end?

Who do you think? Shall I go Kevin?

Go Kevin. Let's try.

Kevin. Kevin, please, Jeremy.

Brilliant. Naomi from the Holistic Shoehorns versus Kevin,

the grandmaster from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

Naomi, Film TV. Would you like to go first or second?

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

OK. And here is your first question, Naomi.

In June 2015, which Hollywood couple, after ten years of marriage,

announced their decision to divorce?

Well, I know Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

are still together. And I think Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are.

So I'm going to go with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

No. It's not, actually.

It was Ben and Jennifer.

Oh, really? You got it wrong there.

Kevin... Tiberius is the middle name

of which major character in the 2009 film Star Trek?

Well, the other Star Trek incarnation

sees James Tiberius Kirk.

Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk is right.

Absolutely iconic figure in science fiction.

Naomi,

in which 2015 film does Emilia Clarke

play the role of Sarah Connor?

Is it...

That would be Terminator Genisys.

Terminator Genisys is quite right.

Well done. Kevin.

Colin Farrell,

Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams starred in the second series of

which of these American TV dramas?

Yeah, it's a series that has different characters

and story for each series, set in different locations.

It's True Detective.

True Detective is correct.

OK, Naomi, you've got one wrong, so you need to get this one right.

Which actor won his first Oscar for his performance

in the 1955 film Mr Roberts?

The only one I've heard of is Jack Lemmon.

I think I'll go with Jack Lemmon.

That's how you do it! The Eggheads like this! They're laughing.

Jack Lemmon it is. Well done.

That's the way to go. That's the way to do it.

The only one you heard of is the right answer.

So you're still in it, but Kevin can end it now.

Your third question. Which Doctor Who actor provided the voice

for Spotty Man in the cartoon series SuperTed?

That means nothing whatsoever, I have to say.

The one who used to do a lot of voices,

both from radio work and character work and all sorts of things,

was Jon Pertwee. Maybe that's...

Maybe that's too obvious. It's not the sort of thing...

It's the right sort of time for the others, I think. But...

I'll say Jon Pertwee.

You're amazing. Jon Pertwee is the right answer.

Well done, Kevin. You got three out of three.

Sorry, Naomi, I'm afraid it does happen with this man a bit.

It's why they've got this huge run going on.

You've been knocked out.

Come back to us, both of you.

We'll play the last round before the final.

Well, the Eggheads are continuing at their fearsome best here.

The Holistic Shoehorns have now lost three.

Here they are on this side, still intact.

One more subject before the final.

It is Geography.

Who would like this? We discussed this on the train.

We discussed this. It has to be...

It HAS to be James.

I'll have a go.

James...against?

Shall we go...

I think either. Let's go Barry.

Cos he's closest.

OK!

So James from the Shoehorns, and Barry from the Eggheads,

please, go to the special place.

Good luck, James, on Geography.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

The krone is the official currency of which of these countries, James?

Is it...

So I knew it was a Scandinavian country before the answers came up.

So I think from the answers I've got in front of me, I'll go with Norway.

Norway is correct.

Here's your question, Barry.

In which part of the United Kingdom

is the rock formation known as the Giant's Causeway located?

Fortunately, my daughter-in-law is from Northern Ireland,

and only a few months ago, she took me to the Giant's Causeway,

so I know for a fact it's in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is correct.

Beautiful bit of coast, that, isn't it?

Absolutely stunning.

OK. James.

Rome's main airport is named after which man?

Is it...

Not sure I know this one off the top of my head.

But I'll try and have a look through the answers.

I think Columbus, was he Spanish?

I know Marco Polo was Italian.

Da Vinci...

Not sure. I'm going to go with Da Vinci,

cos I think that probably sounds more like it's around Rome.

Yeah, it is the Da Vinci Airport.

That's right. James, you got it right.

Well done. So two out of two for our Challengers.

And on we go to Barry's second.

Which of these countries has the largest population, Barry?

Canada is quite a small population.

And I think...

I think the answer must be Argentina, there.

It is indeed Argentina.

Third question to you, James.

The Dandenong Ranges are mountains in which country?

So, I'm fortunate enough to have been here.

I'm fairly certain it's Australia.

Australia is correct.

So you've made light work of that difficult question.

Well done. OK, perfect round from our Challenger.

Let's see if Barry can stay in.

Which of these countries is double landlocked,

meaning it is completely surrounded by landlocked countries?

There are only two double landlocked countries in the world.

Lichtenstein is one of them,

and Uzbekistan is the other.

Trust you to know that!

Uzbekistan is the right answer.

Well done. So three each.

Good round on Geography.

We go now to Sudden Death, James.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

Hidalgo is one of the 31 states of which country?

Given it's states and it sounds a little bit Spanish,

I'm going to plump with Mexico.

Is he right, Barry? He's spot-on.

Yeah, very good play. Mexico is correct.

Barry, which city is the capital of the Canadian territory of Yukon?

Now, I always get confused here.

I have to think about this.

It's not Yellowknife.

It's...

Yukon...

(B, C, D...)

You going through the whole alphabet? Yes!

See if it triggers something.

Sometimes it works.

No, I'm afraid it's just not coming.

It's not going to come. I'll have to pass.

I'll say Yellowknife, but it's not that.

It's not Yellowknife. How far down the alphabet did you get?

I got down to about T before I gave up.

Didn't get to W? No.

Is it Whitehorse? Yes, it is Whitehorse.

Oh! Sorry!

I should have just continued!

Look at that. You've managed to make an Egghead blow a gasket here.

Whitehorse is the answer, Barry.

Sorry. I feel your pain.

I feel your pain. Well done, James. You're in the final round!

Deservedly so.

You played really well there and showed great geographical knowledge.

Barry will be poring over a map of Canada tonight, I guarantee it.

So, please, come back to us.

We will play the final for a lot of money.

So, it's taken a turn, hasn't it?

And 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 that's David, Chris and Naomi

from the Holistic Shoehorns.

And also poor old Barry, Barry Whitehorse,

from the Eggheads.

Please, leave the studio.

Liz and James, you're playing to win the Holistic Shoehorns ?27,000.

Eggheads, you're playing for something that money can't buy,

which is your reputation.

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

This time they are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Holistic Shoehorns, the question is,

are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

And would you like to go first or second?

Shall we go first? Yeah.

Yeah, we'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

The full name of the financial organisation

known as the IMF is the International Monetary what?

It's Fund. It's definitely Fund. Yeah, it's Fund, Jeremy.

It is the International Monetary Fund. Well done.

First question to you. Eggheads,

pancetta is what type of food?

It's like bacon. It's meat.

It's meat, isn't it? Meat.

We believe, Jeremy, that is meat.

Yes, it's an area I have a terrible blind spot in.

Meat. Correct.

OK, one each. Your question.

What nickname is given to the skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street

in London, which had its structural topping out in December 2012?

Is it...

I think I know this,

because I heard a friend of mine

mention that there was sun reflecting

off one of the buildings in London.

It melted the shop...

It was the one that looked like a walkie-talkie.

OK. We have to go with that.

I think it's that one. We'll go with Walkie-Talkie.

OK. We'll go with Walkie-Talkie, please, Jeremy.

Yes, Walkie-Talkie is correct.

OK, the Challengers are ahead.

Your second question.

Which of these businessmen appeared in the top ten of the Sunday Times'

2015 Rich List?

I think it's Abramovich. My inclination would be Abramovich.

Are we all agreed? Are you all right with that, Lisa?

Did Kevin and Pat just say...?

Yeah, of course I'm all right. So Roman Abramovich.

Right, we are going to go, Jeremy, for Roman Abramovich.

I'm feeling the tension here.

Cos if you make a slip-up,

we know what's going to happen. Yep.

You haven't, though.

It is Roman Abramovich.

Well done. So they've got two right, as well.

Gosh, it would have been nice if they'd messed up,

then you'd just have had to get this right.

Now, get this one right, and you can just sit back and watch them.

OK. And hopefully they get theirs wrong, and you've got ?27,000.

You're very close to the money now.

In 2013, Joseph Muscat became Prime Minister of which country?

Muscat. That name rings a bell,

but I think it's a city and country somewhere, as well.

It's a bit too geographical for my liking.

You can't put the pressure on me!

I've got no idea.

Is there anything you can glean from the name?

Muscat? Do we think it sounds Maltese?

Could be. Could be, potentially.

It doesn't sound... It sounds more Maltese than...

Shall we rule out Dutch?

Yeah, let's rule out the Netherlands.

I think of the two...

I'd be... Sounds like we're both leaning towards Malta.

Malta, yeah. It's a punt, but...

We don't know it. We don't KNOW it.

Yeah. Happy to go with it?

It's as good as any. We don't know, Jeremy, erm,

so we're going to have to have a bit of a guess at Malta.

Malta is right. Well done.

So you've done very well. You've got three out of three - many fail

to do that in the final round. You couldn't have done any better.

All we want now is for them to get their question wrong

and you have ?27,000.

Eggheads, your third question.

Which song by Sam Smith and John Legend

was the official 2015 Red Nose Day

charity single?

Has anybody...

Not got an inkling at all.

No. Hmm. Got a vague preference

for Lay Me Down.

Mm-hm. I couldn't tell you why.

OK. I mean, I've heard of all three.

Yeah. All three of them are 2015 songs.

Mm-hm. I can't remember who did...

Who did what. Yes, I think...

I'm basically positive Lay Me Down

is a Sam Smith song. OK.

Well, that's as good as we can go for the moment.

I don't know that the rest aren't

Sam Smith and/or John Legend.

No bells rung in relation to Red Nose Day?

Lay Me Down sounds a bit depressing

for Red Nose Day,

that's the thing that's bothering me about it.

But you do think it's a Sam Smith song?

My original thought was, yeah,

I'm fairly confident that Lay Me Down

had something to do with Sam Smith,

but that's about the best I can do.

Right, we'll have to go with the instinct, I suppose.

Go with Lay Me Down. Yeah,

I'm really starting to worry

about the middle one, but...

I'm sorry, gentlemen...

OK, we'll have to take it.

But we'll go with it.

As you can see, we're in chaos, or...

Not in chaos, but, er...

Close. Not there,

but the one thing we've got to go on

is that Sam Smith was involved with

Lay Me Down, so that's our answer.

I'm nervous here.

So ?27,000 on this question,

if you have got it wrong,

IF they're taking the money...

..but the answer is Lay Me Down.

Well done, Lisa. Well done, Lisa.

Saviour. Anyway, there we are.

Phew! Dear me!

Three questions each, equal. You're playing brilliantly.

Now it gets even harder.

James knows this cos he's been through it - it's Sudden Death.

So are you ready? I don't give you alternatives.

Hezza is a nickname for which Conservative politician?

Michael Heseltine. Michael Heseltine.

That's the only thing that comes in... We both said it. Yeah.

In unison. Yes,

we both said in unison,

the only thing we can come up with is Michael Heseltine.

Michael Heseltine is correct.

Well done. Eggheads, again, get this wrong and it's over.

Which 1956 film starring Charlton Heston was the last film directed by

Cecil B DeMille. The Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments? Yeah. OK.

It's The Ten Commandments, Jeremy, please.

It is indeed The Ten Commandments.

He also directed a silent film in '23, 1923, same name.

So, equal, Sudden Death, ?27,000.

You're playing brilliantly.

Not a hair out of place so far.

Which English king born in 1421

was also crowned King of France?

So I think for that period

we're looking at probably the Plantagenets.

Hang on, hang on, let's think.

Henry VIII was 1520-odd.

OK. So his father was before that.

Yeah.

1480-1500, around that time.

Do you know his father's name?

This is the bit that I'm...

OK, ignore the name for now.

Let's go on timeline, so if we know which generation it is,

we maybe narrow it down a bit, so we're going back one generation,

so it's not going to be him. If it's an extra 40-60 years before him,

are we going to go father again or two fathers?

The thing is, though, no - it wasn't always fathers.

Like that, cos it wasn't...

It was sons or cousins or one died and then a cousin came in.

I'm sure it's going to be that one before Henry VII, so Edward III?

I don't think it was a Henry that early on.

Yeah, OK. If it was the latter part of the 15th century,

I would go with a Henry, but because it's so early,

I would go with an Edward.

So born 1421?

They're going to come in to reign a bit later.

I think it'd be Edward III. Yeah? It's as good as anything we've got.

Well, we don't know, but I think we're going to go with Edward III.

Edward III, it's interesting.

OK, I've taken your answer. You are wrong,

but you were working back in the most brilliantly logical way

and I think you probably said the name.

So you went Henry VIII, Henry VII, Henry VI was the correct answer.

Could so easily have said Henry VI suddenly.

I was honestly thinking you were going to.

Honestly, it was great to listen to your discussion. Sorry.

Not at all. Not finished yet, not by any means.

Sudden Death we're on.

Eggheads, if you get this right, the contest will be over.

Which female television presenter

won the first prize of ?500,000

in the European Poker Championships in 2006?

Victoria Coren Mitchell.

Victoria Coren Mitchell, yeah.

Victoria Coren Mitchell.

Well, she was Victoria Coren at the time.

And she's now Victoria Coren Mitchell.

So I'll explain that.

At the time, she was Victoria Coren,

but she is now known as Victoria Coren Mitchell.

The answer is Victoria Coren.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

I'm sure you knew that one.

I'd heard the name, yeah. Yeah. Oh, listen, well played.

Because to power on like that at the end,

that was brilliant and I knew they were on the ropes there.

You took them very close.

What a contest. I hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, it was great fun. We did, it was great fun.

Don't regret the Henry VI, you did brilliantly there.

Thanks for coming.

Commiserations to The Holistic Shoehorns.

I think you've been run no closer than that over the last 25,

26 games. No. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

their winning streak does continue, only just.

It means you won't be going home with the 27,000,

so we take the money and we roll it over to the next show.

So, Eggheads, well done. But this is a reminder for you,

it can happen and it will happen at some point.

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers

can finally win this jackpot.

It'll be ?28,000 by then.

Until then, goodbye!

I'm 52 years old... HE CLEARS THROAT

..and I want... HE MAKES CLICKING NOISES, GRUNTS

..a job.

What I would like is, erm,