Episode 29 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.

Arranged in a splendid way. And ready to roll?

-Yes!

-Good.

Challenging our general knowledge geniuses today

are The Westenders from Edinburgh.

Now, this team of friends regularly quiz at their local,

the Au Bar in the city's West End.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Eileen, I'm a bookmaker's cashier.

Hi, I'm Stephen, I'm a voluntary worker.

Hello, I'm Bill, I'm a retired taxi driver.

Hello, I'm Jim, I'm a retired butcher.

Hi, I'm James, I'm a voluntary worker.

So, Eileen, team, great to see you.

And you quiz together, Eileen, is that right?

We quiz in separate teams a lot of the time, so...

Right. But under the same roof anyway?

In the same location.

Is it very competitive in the Au Bar?

Yes.

OK. If you've got the best player in the Au Bar here with us,

you don't need to identify them, we can try and guess.

We've got all five of them.

You've got all five of them?

Right! It does sound like we've got a game on here.

-Well, good luck against the Eggheads.

-Thank you.

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.

Now, Westenders, the Eggheads have actually won the last eight games.

You have come at a good time,

so the jackpot today is 9,000.

Would you like to play for it?

-Yes, please.

-I thought so.

OK, the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of History.

So, Eileen, who would like History?

-I'll take it.

-Bill.

-Bill.

It's going to be Bill?

OK, which Egghead?

They are all here.

What do you think?

Take your pick.

Lisa is the youngest.

Yes, OK. We will take Lisa.

I see where you're coming from.

Based on people don't tend to know about things from before they were

-born.

-Well, yes.

-We'll see!

-We'll see.

Bill from Westenders versus Lisa from the Eggheads - Eggenders.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

Bill, so would you like to go first or second on History?

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck, Bill.

In which year was John F Kennedy elected US President?

I happen to remember this.

It is 1960.

It is indeed 1960, of course.

Beating... Do you remember who?

Beating Tricky Dicky.

Yes, yes. Nixon.

Lisa. What was the surname of the brothers Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan,

who all took part in the gunfight at the OK Corral in 1881?

Was it...?

There was certainly a Wyatt Earp, wasn't there?

Is that enough to go on? I shall say Earp.

Wyatt Earp and Virgil and

the other one. Earp is the right answer, yes.

OK, Bill. Your question.

In British history, which king

married the eldest daughter of Edward IV?

Is it...?

Ah, right. One of the questions I certainly didn't want.

I will have to try...

It's between Henry VII and Richard III, I think.

Henry VII.

Well done. Henry VII is right, Bill.

Lisa.

Where is the Rosetta Stone,

discovered in Egypt in 1799, now housed?

Sounded awfully accusatory, Jeremy.

"Where is the Rosetta Stone?!" I haven't got it!

-I don't know what happened!

-Have you got it?!

I had a feeling before the options came up it was the British Museum,

so we'll go with the British Museum.

Yes, well done. It is the British Museum.

Have you been there lately?

No, I never have.

Isn't that awful? I live too far away from London for such things.

Back to you, Bill.

William Wallace was arrested in 1305 near which city?

I think that would be Glasgow.

It is indeed Glasgow.

You're playing really well. You have got three out of three.

Very effective, efficient play by Bill.

It leaves Lisa clinging on here.

Third question, Lisa.

Who ruled as King of Spain

until 1931, when the country became a republic?

Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear!

I know very little about any of them, other than that there is an

Alfonso XIII Street in Barcelona.

Yeah, I don't know.

I had a vague preference for Ferdinand VII when the

options came up. I'll say Ferdinand VII and hold my hands up.

Bill, you want to have a stab at that?

Oh, I would go for Alfonso XIII.

Yeah, you're very good because, Bill, you're right.

Lisa, you're wrong, you are knocked out.

Bill is in the final. How about that?

Nifty work. Not a single misstep by Bill here for the Challengers.

And, Lisa, I'm sorry.

Please come back to us and we will play on.

Well, great play by Bill.

Well done. And a great start.

Did you feel the pressure there, Bill?

-Or not?

-Absolutely, yes.

You did. Well, you're through to the final.

Well done. The Westenders have not lost a brain,

the Eggheads have lost Lisa. They have lost one.

The next subject is Music, so who wants this, Eileen?

This is... This is Jim.

-Jim?

-Go for it.

OK, Jim, our retired butcher, against whom?

I'll take Chris, please.

OK. Jim from The Westenders versus Chris from the Eggheads.

Can be hit or miss, old Chris, on Music.

Please take your positions in our special Question Room.

On Music, Jim, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, here we go. Which song features the line,

"Just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed"?

Well, I know Singin' In The Rain very well.

It's a musical and I like musicals.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head also came from a film.

So I shall go for Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

Actually, do you know what, it's Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,

but I am trying to... Lisa, I need your help, please.

# Raindrops keep falling on my head

# But just like the guy whose feet are

# Too big for his bed Nothing seems to fit... #

And it sort of goes on like that.

Yeah, you know the words to everything.

It's amazing. So, Lisa has just sung it

and you now know where it is from.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.

So, Chris, your chance to take the lead.

Too Shy was a UK number one single for Kajagoogoo in which decade?

Kajagoogoo.

The decade style forgot, the '80s.

Yes, it was the '80s, you're right.

A lot of big hair. Chris has got one.

And, Jim, you've got none at the moment.

Let's see if we can change that. The Love Unlimited Orchestra served as a

backing unit for which singer?

Jim, was it...

Love Unlimited.

Love Unlimited.

I can't believe it was Billy Joel.

Barry White was a love guy.

So I will go for Barry White.

Yeah, he was the love guy, I know what you mean.

And Barry White is right.

Completely right. Well done.

Chris, who was the first wife of Frank Sinatra?

Ah... Now, he had a big thing for years for Ava Gardner.

But I think his first wife,

after whom he named his daughter, was Nancy Barbato.

Yes, because it might look as if Nancy was put in there to fox you.

Because, of course, of Nancy Sinatra.

But Nancy Barbato is the right answer.

Well done. So you pull into the lead and it means, Jim,

you do need to get this one right.

Which of these composers died in the 19th century?

Do take your time.

Well, this is obviously tricky.

Classical is not my strong point, but...

I think Haydn was earlier.

I will go for...

..Claude Debussy.

It's not Claude Debussy.

Kevin knows his dates. When did Claude Debussy die?

-1918.

-1918.

So he died in the 20th century, as I suspect Mahler did, did he?

-1911.

-1911.

-Oh, well.

So, the one who died in the 1800s, ie, the 19th century,

was, in fact, Joseph Haydn.

He was, you're right, he was the earliest one.

But he was the correct answer, so I am really sorry about that, Jim.

Chris, you are in the final round.

The locomotive steams through again.

Jim, both of you, come back to us and we will play on.

So, rather interestingly poised.

The Westenders have lost one brain

from the final round but the Eggheads

have lost one as well.

The next subject is Arts & Books, so which Westender would like this?

-How about you, Eileen?

-It's you, Eileen, is it?

-Me.

-I know that you've written one.

-Yes, I have.

-That's quite a good reason.

OK, excellent. Eileen against whom?

-Dave, please.

-OK, so, Eileen from The Westenders against Dave.

-How's that, Dave?

-I'll just see what arts and books come in.

All right, good stuff.

Please go to the Question Room.

Eileen, before we play, you must tell us about your book.

Yeah, I had a book out, my first work of fiction published last year.

It's called Footprints On The Moon and it is a sort of dark,

psychological, crime-y sort of thing.

Right. Influenced by any particular author you admire?

A little bit of Val McDermid, erm,

but I am trying to be quite original, so...

Great. Well, congratulations.

Even just finishing it is quite a task, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Yeah. OK, well, good luck against Dave here.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Would you like to go first or second, Eileen?

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

Which writer committed suicide by drowning herself in 1941?

I do know this one.

It is Virginia Woolf.

Yes, it is Virginia Woolf.

It is a little bit late for Jane Austen, I'm thinking.

Yes!

OK. Dave, your question.

Diagon Alley is a location in books featuring which of these characters?

Never heard of this.

Oh, dear!

I'm going to have to have a guess.

-Harry Potter.

-Yes, of course,

because that is the one area you don't know anything about.

Lisa has got advice for you here.

-Go on.

-No, it is basically...

It is kind of the Oxford Street of the wizarding world.

It is where you go to buy your "wiz shiz".

So, 1-1. Sorry, Eileen.

That almost was a nice moment for you.

In Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence Of Memory,

the pocket watch in the bottom left-hand corner is covered in what?

I don't think it is pigeons.

And I don't think Dali painted rats.

He was more elephants and tigers and weird stuff.

So I'm going to go for ants.

It is indeed ants.

Good bit of detail there.

OK, your question, Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

What is the title of Jenny Joseph's poem that begins,

"When I am an old women, I shall wear purple"?

I don't know. I've not heard of this.

It is a bad round for me at the moment.

I'm going to go Affirmation, because I haven't heard of it at all.

The answer is Warning.

When we get older, we're going to be reading it.

OK, Eileen, you are in the lead.

If you get this right, the round is over and you are in the final.

The Death Cure is the third entry in which series of young adult books?

Erm, I have no idea.

I am going to say...

It is a wild stab in the dark.

I am going to say The Maze Runner.

-Is she right?

-She is quite right.

Yes, you're quite right, Eileen, well done.

Three out of three. Excellent play.

-Sorry, Dave. You have been knocked out.

-No apologies needed!

Knocked out by an author.

No shame in that. Well done, Eileen, you will be in the final round.

Come back, both of you, and we will see what happens in the next round.

The Westenders have lost one brain

from the final round but the Eggheads

have lost two. The next subject, and the last before the final,

is Film & TV. So who would like this?

It's got to be James or Stephen.

Stephen, you are good on your films.

-It depends how old they are.

-You know more about film than I do.

Television...

-Stephen.

-Stephen.

-I'll take this one, yes.

-OK.

Voluntary worker, former chef, against which Egghead?

-I don't know.

-It's Judith or Kevin.

I'll take Judith on.

-Judith.

-All right.

Stephen from The Westenders versus Judith from the Eggheads.

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

Film and TV, Stephen.

Would you like to go first or second?

I will go first, please.

Here we go with your question.

Endeavour is a spin-off from which TV drama series?

Endeavour.

That was Inspector Morse's first name,

so I will go for Inspector Morse.

Excellent play. Yes, it is Inspector Morse, Stephen.

Well done, first point to you.

Judith, what is the subtitle of the film Star Wars: Episode I?

Oh, I can never remember these.

Star Wars...

I think it is probably The Phantom Menace.

Good play there.

The Phantom Menace is correct.

-Yeah.

-Brilliant. OK, Stephen.

Who played Guy Chambers in the 2015 film

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel?

Well, it is not a film I have seen.

I have not been to see a film in the pictures for quite a while now.

It will have to be a bit of a guess here.

I would say...

-George Clooney.

-No, it was not, actually.

It was Richard Gere.

I wouldn't have guessed Richard Gere.

Brought in as a real bit of star power there.

Richard Gere. So, a chance for Judith to pull ahead.

Which sitcom character was particularly renowned

for changing her hair colour?

How I loved Mrs Slocombe!

I think Mrs Slocombe went through a series of different colours.

They must all have been wigs, I suppose.

I think it is Mrs Slocombe.

Mrs Slocombe is correct.

So she is ahead, Stephen.

Got to do something to stop her now.

For which film did Sidney Poitier win a Best Actor Oscar?

It is not Lilies Of The Field.

In The Heat Of The Night, one of my favourite films...

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner...

There were Oscars given out for In The Heat Of The Night,

but I think possibly Rod Steiger got an Oscar there,

so I will go for Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.

No, I think he was in all of them.

Eggheads, help us out here.

-Is he right?

-No, it is Lilies Of The Field.

Lilies Of The Field is the answer.

So, no way back.

Which means that you were beaten by our Egghead there, Stephen.

Judith will be in the final round and you won't.

But if you come back to us, we can get on and play the final.

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 is Stephen and Jim from The Westenders,

but also, Lisa and Dave from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

Eileen, Bill and James,

you are playing to win The Westenders £9,000.

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

which is your precious reputation.

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

and this time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Westenders, the question is,

are your three brains able to defeat these three?

It is always nice when the final is matched three on three.

Would you like to go first or second?

We will go first, please.

OK, James and team, here we go.

Your first question.

Which European capital hosted a summer Olympic Games

in the 1950s?

-Helsinki.

-It is Helsinki.

-Happy with that, guys?

-Yeah, Helsinki.

Helsinki, '52, I think it was.

Helsinki is correct, well done.

OK, Eggheads.

For what does the letter S stand in WSPU,

the party founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst?

-Social?

-Women's Social and Political Union.

-Was it?

-It wouldn't be Suffrage...

-No.

That is a red herring.

Yes, it is.

I hadn't thought about that, actually...

Although you might think it would be Suffrage, it is actually Social,

it was the Women's Social and Political Union.

You're quite right, it is Social.

Could have tripped you up, that one.

OK, that is a shame.

They didn't fall for that.

-Yes.

-Here's your question.

Lynn Bowles achieved fame for filling which role

on Radio 2?

Do you know this one?

No. I know it's not...

I don't think it is sports.

It is either weather or traffic.

-Which one was it?

-Lynn Bowles...

-I think it is traffic.

-Yeah, we'll go with traffic.

Jeremy, we will go for traffic reporter.

Phew, I am so relieved!

It would have been so painful

to tell Lynn that we had a great question,

she achieved fame for filling which role?

You said, "I don't know!" Yes, good, traffic reporter is right.

Well done. Pleased for you as well.

So, Eggs,

which word is formed by the chemical symbols for the elements with the

atomic numbers 3 and 15?

3 is lithium. I mean...

Fe for iron is 26.

And radium is up in the 80s.

So P is phosphorus.

-P for phosphorus.

-Phosphorus, yeah.

-So, lip.

-So it is lip.

It is lip. It is Li for lithium and P for phosphorus.

-Do you think they are right?

-I do, yes.

You're right, it is lip. I am just amazed with the way you got to that,

because I think that is

a deeply difficult question.

OK, your third question, good luck.

Bradley Cooper was nominated for a 2015 Tony Award

for his performance in which play?

Bradley Cooper.

I think it was The Elephant Man.

I was leaning towards The Elephant Man, too.

I have heard of Bradley Cooper, but don't know anything he has been in.

American Sniper, I think he was in that.

Shall we just go for The Elephant Man?

Jeremy, we're not very sure.

But we're all kind of leaning towards The Elephant Man.

-Are they right?

-Think so, yeah.

Yeah, The Elephant Man, it is. You have got three out of three.

Done really well there. Playing for £9,000.

If the Eggheads get this one wrong, the jackpot is yours.

A, you have got three in the final, which is good,

and B, you have got all three questions right.

Couldn't ask for more. So your third question here, Eggheads,

on which the contest may depend, is...

how many Grand Slam singles titles did the British tennis player

Fred Perry win?

How many Grand Slams were there in those days?

They all existed in the 1930s at his time.

-OK.

-He certainly won

-three Wimbledons.

-Three Wimbledons.

Did he win France or America?

Australia?

Well, I think so, yes.

I think he may well have done that.

I mean, I think he... I don't think it's three.

No, because he won three Wimbledons.

I think he won more than his three Wimbledons.

OK. So did he win five more or two more?

I am not sure he won the French.

But I may be wrong there.

Because, of course... Well, the era of the Four Musketeers was just...

..just before him.

I have to say, I don't know...

I have got no basis for this.

If I have an inkling, it is for eight.

-Yeah.

-Is it for eight?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Same here.

Because he would have won

more than two more on top of three Wimbledons, wouldn't he?

-If he was that good.

-Well, he would have had to win five more.

We don't know, do we?

-We don't.

-So we have to take a chance.

-Captain's decision.

-Yeah, it's taking a chance whichever way we go,

-I think.

-What's your instinct?

-My instinct is eight.

-OK, well...

-So's mine, actually.

-Well, let's go with your instinct,

because your instinct is usually quite good.

If we have any sort of inclination, it is towards the upper end, so

-we're thinking eight.

-Eight is your answer.

Well, it was a three-year period, by the way.

'33 to '36.

Three Wimbledons, one French Open, one Australian...

and three in America. So, eight is correct.

-Well done.

-Well done, Kevin!

Good quizzing there.

Just watching Kevin at work there...

Chris came in very decisively on eight, which was useful.

So sorry, you were so close to £9,000 there.

But never write this lot off.

So, perfect round so far for both teams.

We go to Sudden Death.

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

Here is your first question, Challengers.

Which British boxer, who became world middleweight champion in 1951,

had the nickname the Leamington Licker?

Bill?

Looking at you for...

Leamington Licker.

1951. '51.

-Middleweight, was it?

-I would go with Randy Turpin.

Was he not a bit earlier?

It sounds a bit earlier.

He was somewhere in the '50s.

I am sure he was a middleweight, yes.

-I really don't know.

-Jack London, was he...?

No, Jack London was...

-No, Brian London.

-No, Brian London, he was a heavyweight.

-Yeah.

-You want to go with that?

-What was the answer?

-Randy Turpin.

Randy Turpin.

We're not sure, Jeremy, as you've probably figured,

but Bill has come up with Randy Turpin.

Bill is quite right, it is Randy Turpin.

-Well done.

-Well done, Bill.

Absolutely brilliant. Defeated Sugar Ray Robinson and then lost a rematch

63 days later.

Well done. You have played brilliantly, Bill.

So you may have won £9,000.

Let's see. If the Eggheads get this wrong, you have.

By what name was the Nobel Prize winner Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu,

who died in September 1997, better known?

-Mother Teresa.

-That was the real name of Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa is quite right.

OK, Sudden Death, here we go.

Your question, Challengers.

Who wrote the song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face?

Roberta Flack sang it.

I think it might be Ewan MacColl.

-Which one?

-Ewan MacColl.

Ewan MacColl. How confident are you?

Well, wait a minute, there is another one

that is that type of song.

No, I still say Ewan MacColl.

-Confident?

-No.

Please say yes, Bill, come on.

Again, Jeremy, we're not very sure, but Bill is doing well today.

He has come up with Ewan MacColl.

Ewan MacColl is the right answer.

-Well done, Bill.

-You're still alive on Sudden Death.

In fact, you may be the winners if they get this wrong.

If they get this wrong! What was the surname of the Frenchman credited

with the invention of the collapsible opera hat?

Frenchman. 19th-century Frenchman.

Come on.

I know hundreds of those!

What is a French collapsible opera hat name in French?

Trying to think of any other names for a collapsible opera hat.

Think of a French name for it.

I can't, unfortunately.

-FRENCH ACCENT:

-Chapeau collapsible...!

It's not somebody weird like Gustave Eiffel, is it?

-I was...

-Could it be an engineer?

I was wondering about whether it was somebody well-known,

and I suppose it could be.

Can we just have it again, Jeremy?

Not that it is going to help, but...

What was the surname of the Frenchman

credited with the invention of the collapsible opera hat?

It could be something totally bizarre, like Gustave Eiffel.

The strange thing is, I think I have heard it, but

nothing is coming back to me.

No, nothing here either.

It is not somebody in a balloon?

What do the French call a top hat?

-I can't...

-I don't know. I simply can't remember.

I think we are stuck, aren't we?

So we may have to throw our hands up, basically.

-We could just say something like...

-Why don't we say Eiffel?

Gustave Eiffel. Just as a shot in the dark.

-Better than nothing.

-We haven't got a clue, quite honestly.

It is one of those questions.

So...we will say Eiffel.

We will say Eiffel, because it is just...

Gustave Eiffel.

This person gave their name.

Yes, that was the crucial thing,

but we can't remember what the French term for it is.

It is known as the Gibus.

-Oh, well.

-I didn't know that either.

In that case, I don't recognise it, no.

How do you spell that?

G-I-B-U-S.

That is a horror. That really is a horror.

That is a ridiculous question!

I think that might be one of the hardest

questions we've ever asked. Antoine Gibus.

The Gibus is the hat. You couldn't get it, Eggheads.

We say congratulations, Challengers.

You have won.

Well, OK, leaving aside the craziness of that last question...

-I am so glad you didn't get that question!

-So are we!

You played really well.

There were questions there that... Well, 19 times out of 20,

you would not hear the answer, you know,

so you did really well to push them that far.

And you just have to hope that something comes up like that.

We have Bill to thank.

Yeah, Bill was fantastic.

Brilliant play, right from the start.

Congratulations, Westenders.

Great game. You have won £9,000.

Really well done. You brought their run to an end,

just as they were beginning to get into it.

So you are officially cleverer than the Eggheads,

who will blame Mr Gibus for a long time.

You have proved they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team of Challengers will be

just as successful.

I can't guarantee we will have just as much fun.

Till then, goodbye.