Episode 25 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. Had a good day so far?

-So far.

-So far.

-So far.

-See if we can put an end to that.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Valley Voice from Northamptonshire.

This team of friends

are all associated with their local choir,

which is based in the villages of Cottingham and Middleton.

So, let's meet them.

Hello, my name is Mary and I'm a retired nurse.

Hi, I'm Sue and I'm an NHS consultant.

Hi, my name's Jo and I'm a finance manager.

Hi, I'm Debbie and I'm a singing teacher.

Hi, I'm Jane and I'm a freelance communications consultant.

-So, Mary, team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Good to see you.

We've got a bit of a relationship going, haven't we?

Some of your partners have been on Eggheads before.

Yes, the men, last year.

Two of them from our team,

the partners were on, and we thought we would try and beat them.

I was going to say, making no bones about it, how did they do?

-They didn't win.

-OK.

-That was very diplomatic.

-Now, you're part of a choir.

-That's right.

-Tell me about that.

-The choir started, was it five years ago?

-2010.

-2010.

We have a women's group that meets once a month to eat and drink

and one very exciting evening, we decided to start a choir,

as Debbie is a music teacher and teaches in schools as well,

so that's how it started.

Could you sing something for us? We'd love that if you could.

-We could sing something that we use to warm up.

-That's perfect.

Yeah? One, two.

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor?

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor early in the morning?

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor?

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor?

# What shall we do with the drunken sailor early in the morning?

-# Hooray and up she rises

-Drunken sailor

-# Hooray and up she rises

-Drunken sailor

-# Hooray and up she rises

-Drunken sailor

# Early in the morning. #

Lovely, brilliant! APPLAUSE

That's normally the song we get Dave up with, actually.

So, good luck here.

Every day there is £1,000-worth of cash

up for grabs for our Challengers, as you know.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to our next show.

So, Valley Voice, the Eggheads have won the last four games.

They're on a bit of a run,

so £5,000 says you can't beat them.

-Would you like to try and stop the run now?

-Yep.

-Good.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & TV.

Who would like this?

-I think that'll be me.

-It will be...

-This one's straightforward.

-Going to be Jane?

-Jane.

-Yes.

-OK, Jane, against which Egghead?

-Any one of the five here.

-Do we think...?

-Chris.

-Chris?

-I'm going to play Chris.

-Yeah.

-Good stuff.

Jane from Valley Voice versus our Chris.

Chris Hughes from the Eggheads, the legend himself.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

OK, Jane, Film & TV. Your choice.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck. Let's see if you can get first blood here.

In 2015, the former footballer Dion Dublin

became a regular presenter of which TV show?

I don't think it's The One Show.

So, I'm going between Homes Under The Hammer...

Hmm... No, I watch that and I can't remember him being on it.

-I'm going to go for Coast.

-No, it's not.

-It's Homes Under The Hammer.

-Oh!

-Interestingly. I wasn't aware.

-He got very good reviews for it. They said he was a natural.

-Yeah.

Chris, your question. In 1977,

who took on the role of Kris Munroe in Charlie's Angels?

The only one of those that was ever in Charlie's Angels was Cheryl Ladd.

Cheryl Ladd.

Cheryl Ladd is the right answer. OK, Jane.

Who played Mr Chips in the 1939 film Goodbye, Mr Chips?

I know who played it in the later film. Um...

It's going to have to be a guess, I'm afraid. Um...

I'm going to go for Robert Donat.

You've got it right. Well done. 1939, Robert Donat.

Chris, what are the names of the Minions in the 2015 animated film?

I know there's a Minion called Stuart,

so it's obviously Stuart, Kevin and Bob.

Stuart, Kevin and Bob is correct. Well done.

What are the Minions? What do they look like?

Little yellow things. They look like liquorice comfits.

They've got sort of big goggles and wear dungarees

and they do the bidding of Gru, the chief villain.

I'm thinking it's not your kind of film, really.

Yeah, well, Despicable Me was a laugh. I've not seen Minions.

OK, Jane, your question.

You need to get this right to stay in.

Which of these films was directed and co-written

by the six foot, eight inch German aristocrat

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck?

OK, it's not Black Swan. I think that was Darren Aronofsky.

I think Inception was Christopher Nolan,

so I'm going to go with The Tourist.

Brilliantly played. You are quite right. It is The Tourist.

Well done.

Get this right, Chris, you're in the final.

If you don't we have Sudden Death.

Who played the beat poet Allen Ginsberg

in the 2013 film Kill Your Darlings?

Well, I don't see Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg.

Toss-up between Sam Riley and Andrew Garfield.

Go for Andrew Garfield.

No, you ruled out the right answer straightaway.

Daniel Radcliffe is the answer.

We still think of him as 13 years old, don't we?

Good stuff, Jane.

Sudden Death we go to.

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

You know that. You watch the show.

By what name was James Turner Street in Birmingham known

in the title of a controversial 2014 TV series?

I'm from Birmingham

and the answer is Benefits Street.

-You don't live in James Turner Street?

-No, I don't.

I don't live in Birmingham any more, either.

I don't know if anyone's going to move there for a while.

Benefits Street is the right answer.

-CHALLENGERS:

-Yay!

-OK, Chris,

you're under pressure now.

Which American actress was the female star of the 1980s film

The Big Easy and was married to the actor Gabriel Byrne

until their divorce in 1999?

Something's saying Kelly McGillis.

-That's wrong. Her name is Ellen Barkin.

-Ah.

What about that, Jane? You've done it!

-Fantastic!

-Yay!

There was a bit of nip and tuck going on there,

my goodness, but you managed to take him out in the end,

so Chris is out, Jane is in - the final round, that is.

If you come back to us, we will see what happens in the next round.

Valley Voice have not lost any brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one brain. The next subject for you is Music.

-I know who's going to want this.

-That's right, yeah.

Debbie.

-Absolutely.

-Debbie, the music teacher. Against which Egghead?

-Um...

-Barry.

-OK, we're going to go for Barry.

Debbie, the music teacher from Valley Voice,

versus Barry the Brain from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

take your positions in the Question Room.

So, I guess music is your life, Debbie.

It is a very big part of my life, yes.

And you teach it, so does that make you feel like, if it's professional,

-it becomes more serious and a bit more of a labour or not?

-No, no.

I work in a school and teach in school and then I teach at home

and generally, we just try and have as much fun as we can.

Music's such a good therapy.

-Debbie, would you like to go first or second?

-First, please, Jeremy.

Here is your first question.

What first name is shared by a member of Take That

and a member of Westlife?

I'm not good on knowing names of people from bands.

Gary shouts out at me.

But so does Mark.

-I'm going to go for Gary.

-OK, I would not know this.

Barry, do you know it? Barry, is it Gary?

Haven't a clue.

-No, it's a stinker, actually. Mark is the answer.

-Oh.

Bad luck. So, onto Barry.

According to the lyrics of Let It Go from the animated film Frozen,

what "never bothered me anyway"?

Ah. # The cold never bothered me anyway. #

LAUGHTER The cold is the right answer.

OK, so, Debbie,

here is your second question.

Which stage musical features the characters

Kate Monster and Christmas Eve?

I know it's not Chicago.

I'm pretty sure it's not Matilda, so I'm going to go for Avenue Q.

-You're bang on. Well done. Avenue Q is it. CHALLENGERS:

-Yay.

Which I haven't seen, actually.

-We've had Kate Monster on the show.

-Have we?

-Mmm-hmm.

-OK.

Barry, Vanilla Ice's 1990 UK number one single Ice Ice baby

sampled which number one from the 1980s?

Ooh, gosh. Vanilla Ice.

I don't think it's Under Pressure.

I can't quite remember that one. The title is very familiar.

I'll go for Fame.

Oh... Well, if I gave you the baseline...

# Da, na, na, na-na, na, na

# Da, na, na, na-na, na, na

# Ice ice baby

# Da, na, na, na-na, na, na. #

-Stop!

-Excellent as your singing is, Jeremy, that still doesn't help me.

-Under Pressure.

-Oh!

-Under Pressure.

This is good. Barry the Brain

has only got one out of two

and, Debbie, you can take the lead with this question.

Who topped the UK singles chart in the summer of 2013

with the song Love Me Again?

This is not a song that I know, so it's going to have to be a guess.

I don't like the sound of Vampire Weekend,

so I'm purely not going to choose that.

-I'm going to go for John Newman.

-Vampire Weekend are very good

but they're not really a sort of chart band, like that.

John Newman is the right answer.

APPLAUSE OK, Barry,

to stay in, which opera singer was known as La Divina?

Well, I don't think Renata Tebaldi had a nickname.

Joan Sutherland was known as La Stupenda,

so I'll go for Maria Callas.

Maria Callas is quite right,

so you've got two

and Debbie has two as well in our multiple choice section.

We go on to Sudden Death, Debbie.

At the 1999 Olivier Award ceremony, Hugh Jackman was a nominee

for his role in a National Theatre production of which musical?

I have no idea.

I'm going to go for an old musical

and I'm going to say something like Show Boat.

-Not Show Boat. Oklahoma!

-Ah.

So, Sudden Death, not multiple choice now, Barry.

Your question. Which pianist,

famous for his lavishly orchestrated reinterpretations of popular hits,

was born in France in 1953, as Philippe Pages?

I believe that was Richard Clayderman.

Record sales of over 150 million, the answer is Richard Clayderman.

Well done. You're through to the final round

on Sudden Death. Bad luck Debbie.

Oh, well.

Don't worry, we're still evenly matched here and a lively contest.

Please return, rejoin your teams.

As it stands, Valley Voice have lost a brain now from the final round.

The Eggheads have already lost Chris "the Locomotive" Hughes.

The next subject for you is History.

-Who would like History? CHALLANGERS:

-Ooh.

-I think that's me, isn't it?

-I think so.

-Mary?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Don't look worried. Who would you like to take on?

-You can't have Barry or Chris, but one of the others.

-I'm not sure.

Do you think CJ? I think they're all good at History.

They're good at everything, Mary! Go CJ.

Shall we go CJ? Yeah, CJ, please.

CJ doesn't recognise that anything happened before he was born.

-That's his problem with History.

-That's good cos I'm older than him.

So, Mary from Valley Voice versus CJ de Mooi from the Eggheads.

-Well, it literally says "his story", so...

-Exactly, it's your story.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to our Question Room.

Speaking of History, Mary, you saw the Beatles.

I did and I got in trouble with my parents

because I promised a friend's parents

that I would have a ticket for 8 and 6,

and they weren't very happy cos it was quite a lot of money then.

But I saw them at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon when I was aged 11.

-Oh, so just tell us the year, if you can.

-It was 1963.

I'm just thinking where... They were just starting then.

Yes, it was all the early hits.

There was Twist And Shout and Please Please Me

and Love Me Do...

And they'd come back from Hamburg, really well practised.

-Yeah, it was great.

-Tell us what you thought of it.

It was great but I couldn't hear a lot because of the screaming.

What an amazing thing. That's like saying you saw Elvis or something.

That's incredible. All right, Mary, a bit of History.

You're on the History here, with the Fairfield Halls and the Beatles.

-Yep.

-On History, in our round, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first again, please.

Good luck. If you get in the final, you've beaten The Ramblers,

your spouses' team.

The Roundheads and Cavaliers were opposing groups

during which conflict?

Right, well, I can remember quite a lot of History from school

and the Wars of the Roses was much earlier.

That was Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Crimean was Victorian times,

so it's definitely the English Civil War.

English Civil War is correct. Well done.

Good stuff. CJ.

2015 marked which anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta?

Well, I believe the Magna Carta was signed in 1215

and 2015 would be the 800th anniversary.

I notice you're treading very carefully there.

I'm being very careful.

I'd rather be careful and slow and correct than quick and wrong.

800th is right.

Here's your question, Mary.

Pierre Cauchon played a leading role

in the 1431 trial of which historical figure?

I'm not so sure on this one.

Marie-Antoinette would have been later than that.

Um... Eleanor of Aquitaine or Joan of Arc?

I'm going to go for Joan of Arc, please, Jeremy.

-It is Joan of Arc.

-Oh.

-Well done. Well done, Mary.

The interesting thing about the trial

of Joan of Arc was the offense that she was actually found guilty of

-and it was wearing men's clothes.

-Is that right?

Yes, and they executed her because she wore men's clothes.

That was the only thing they could find to charge her with.

OK. CJ, which country declared war on Japan,

just days after the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima?

I think that was the declaration by the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union is quite right. I need some detail here.

Chris, what on earth were they playing at?

Well, Russia always was afraid of attack through Siberia from Japan.

But, after the Yanks dropped the bomb on Hiroshima,

and the Japanese were thinking about surrendering...

They didn't surrender for over a week, till after Nagasaki.

The Soviet Union, just to make sure

they got their share of the spoils, declared war on Japan.

Soviet Union is right, CJ. Well done.

Two points each. Mary, back to you.

In 1291, the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil captured which city,

marking the end of Crusader rule in the Holy Land?

Right, I really don't know the answer to this,

so it will be a guess. Um...

I don't think I can work this out, so I'm going to go for Damascus.

-CJ, do you know?

-I'd have gone for Tyre.

-No, both wrong. Barry knows?

-It's Acre.

-You call it Acre?

-Well, "Aka" was it's proper name.

"Aka", "Acray", "Acre". The answer is the first one there.

Mary, sorry. So, CJ has a chance to take the round

and knock Mary out.

The Lancashire violinist and bandleader Wallace Hartley

died in which event?

I recognise the name.

And if I recognise the name,

I'm immediately assuming he was one of the band on the Titanic.

So, I'm going to assume he was one of the band members

who was still playing as the Titanic went down, so I'll say Titanic.

Yes, I'm not sure whether he was the famous band that played on,

but he was on the Titanic and he did die in that sinking.

He was the bandleader and the legend is he was playing

Nearer, My God, To Thee as she went down, yeah.

They did eventually find his body,

buoyed up by a White Star Line life jacket,

clutching his violin case and he was brought home

-and given a splendiferous funeral in Colne, Lancashire.

-There we are.

He's the man. You're absolutely right, CJ.

You've taken the round. Sorry, Mary.

He knocked you out there, which can happen.

Come back to us and we'll play the next round.

So we're still lodged with where The Ramblers were,

your husbands, your partners.

But we've got another round here

and I'm thinking this is going to be good for you. Arts & Books.

-What do you think?

-I think maybe Jo.

Do you? We've got to keep some...

-I can cover the Food and Drink knowledge and Science.

-Yeah, yeah.

Cos Science is a real weak thing.

I think Jo, then.

Oh, dear, I'm going to be the sacrificial lamb.

-It's going to be you, Jo, is it?

-Yes.

-OK.

-Which Egghead would you like to go against?

-Not Lisa, not Lisa,

-cos she's...

-No, no.

-So, it's got to be Pat.

-Pat?

-Pat.

-Yes.

-So, Pat?

-We're going to go for Pat.

-Yes.

-OK, so Jo from Valley Voice

versus our own Pat from the Eggheads and it's Arts & Books.

Please, for this final round before the final, go to our Question Room.

Jo, would you like to go

-first or second on Arts & Books?

-First, please.

Here is your question. What name is given to the legal right

of creative artists or publishers to control the use

and reproduction of their original works?

I think I might manage to answer this one

and won't go out in disgrace. I think it's copyright.

Copyright is quite correct. Well done.

OK, Pat, your question.

In the Harry Potter books,

Severus Snape is the head of which house at Hogwarts?

I think he's a faintly sinister figure,

although I think, in the long run,

he turns out to be benign, but he's a bit aloof.

-I think I'll go for Slytherin.

-Slytherin is right.

It's that slightly demonic-sounding name.

OK, back to you, Jo.

The Daphne du Maurier novel Jamaica Inn is set in which part of the UK?

It's not the Scottish Highlands.

We've been up here quite a lot.

And the Midlands, we're quite close to,

but we did go to Jamaica Inn when we were in Cornwall.

Yes, you're right.

Pat.

Which Shropshire-born poet was killed in action in France

during the First World War,

just seven days before the declaration of the armistice?

I think Siegfried Sassoon survived the war, as far as I know.

Rupert Brooke, I think, died in Greece of blood poisoning.

But I think Wilfred Owen is famous for dying tragically close

to the cessation of hostilities, so I'll go for Wilfred Owen.

Wilfred Owen is correct. So, level.

Difficult to shake this guy off, Jo.

-It certainly is.

-Try with this one.

Who delivers the speech that begins "All the world's a stage",

in the Shakespeare play As You Like It?

I'm not a great Shakespeare lover.

I really don't know, so I'm just having a guess at...

S...

Sebastian.

Sebastian is wrong. It's Jaques,

as he is pronounced, I gather. "Jay-quees".

Pat has a chance to take the round.

Pat, which of these paintings in the collection

of the National Gallery was painted first?

Well, I can dismiss one immediately.

I think the Bathers At Asnieres is the most recent of those three.

So, it's The Hay Wain versus Mr And Mrs Andrews,

Constable versus Gainsborough.

I'm a bit stuck here. I don't think there's a great deal in the dates.

I'm going to go for Mr And Mrs Andrews.

Mr And Mrs Andrews is right, Pat.

THE CHALLENGERS GROAN Jo, I feel your pain there,

I really do.

I thought he was coming adrift there, but Pat is a very wily player

and you're in the final, Pat, and Jo, you've been knocked out.

We're going to play the final now. Come back to us.

Let's see what happens.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It's time for the final round which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round,

so Mary, Jo and Debbie from Valley Voice

and also Chris from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio?

Sue and Jane, you're playing to win Valley Voice £5,000.

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

which is your reputation and to continue this roll.

You had a brilliant roll going a while back.

It was destroyed, you're trying to rebuild it.

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

They're all General Knowledge and you can confer.

So, Valley Voice, the question is, can you, with your two brains,

do better than your husbands and beat the Eggheads' four?

Would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, Jeremy, thank you.

General Knowledge. Your first question.

During a men's doubles semifinal at Wimbledon in 2015,

which famous person caught a tennis ball

when it flew into the Royal Box?

-It was David Beckham.

-Was it?

-Yes.

-OK.

-I think that was David Beckham.

It was, indeed, David Beckham. He didn't miss.

OK, Eggheads.

Betws-y-Coed is often called the gateway to which national park?

Snowdonia. It's up in the north, isn't it?

It's right in the north of Wales.

Reliably informed that's Snowdonia, Jeremy.

Snowdonia is the right answer.

Back to you, Valley Voice.

Which of these is a plant of the mint family?

-Well, I've heard of houndstooth.

-Have you?

I just wonder if it's got something to do with the shape of the leaves.

They're slightly serrated round the edges, mint leaves.

-Horehound I've never come across.

-No, nor hornblende.

It's just an odd spelling. It's an odd spelling to put.

-I think we'll have to go...

-Yeah.

-..for houndstooth, yeah.

We're not at all certain but we'll go for houndstooth, Jeremy.

Houndstooth. Let's check it with the Eggheads. Do you know?

I think it might be horehound.

I would have gone for houndstooth

cos I know it's a plant but...

-Lisa is right. Horehound.

-Ah.

-Happens occasionally, guys.

-Horehound.

They used to use it as a cough medicine.

Honey and horehound was a big thing in the 15th century,

-a physicians' thing.

-OK. Eggheads, to take the lead.

Edward Stanley, who served three times as UK Prime Minister,

was the 14th Earl of where?

-Derby.

-It was Derby.

-Derby's the one who served three terms.

-It's Derby.

-Definitely.

OK, he was Earl of Derby.

Derby is correct. Good solid play from the Eggheads.

You haven't troubled them

too much yet, but let's get this right to stay in.

Hopefully, they get theirs wrong, then all to play for.

The town of Masham in the Yorkshire Dales

is particularly associated with making which of these products?

-How can you make apples?

-Yeah.

-You grow apples. Um...

Beer? Well, haven't our lads gone on a tour

of most of the breweries in the UK?

And I've not heard them mention Masham.

-"Massam".

-"Massam".

What do you think? Should we go for chocolate?

-Shall we go for chocolate?

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

We're going to go for chocolate, Jeremy.

OK, chocolate is your answer. If you've got this right, we play on.

If it is wrong, it is the end of the contest.

Let me ask the Eggheads whether you know.

-I think...

-Barry, it's you.

-I think it must be beer.

-Home of the Black Sheep Brewery, Masham.

-Yes.

I'm sorry to say the answer is beer,

so we have to tell the Eggheads, congratulations, you have won.

-Now, you can blame husbands and partners for that.

-I think so.

I think it's their fault. It is THEIR fault.

-The one brewery they don't visit!

-Exactly.

-The Ramblers have done it again.

-Yeah.

-Oh, dear.

Thank you very much for playing.

It's great to see your team and brilliant to have the song earlier.

Commiserations, Valley Voice. The Eggheads have done

what comes naturally to them

and they still reign supreme over Quizland.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £5,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, well done.

You're starting to get a bit of your gumption back, I think,

and I'm wondering who's ever going to win.

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

have the brains to defeat this lot.

£6,000 is on the table. Until then, goodbye.