Episode 34 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. Here they are as well.

CJ, looking younger than ever.

I was going to say I'm well pickled,

-but then I realised I was sitting next to Barry.

-Oh-ho!

All right. Well, that's started things off well over here!

Nice and rude to each other.

Hoping to get one over on the Eggs today

are the Hayling Hackers, from Hampshire.

This team of friends are all members of the same golf club

on Hayling Island and regularly take part in the club's quiz.

So, let's meet them.

Hello, my name's Ben, and I'm a retired traffic engineer.

Hi, I'm Bill, and I'm a retired IT programme director.

Hello, my name is Terry, I'm a retired chartered accountant.

Hi, I'm Paul, and I'm a sales director.

Hi, I'm Phil, and I'm a retired IT consultant.

-So, Ben and team, welcome. Good to see you.

-Thank you.

And tell us about the Hayling Hackers, why the name?

Well, I am possibly the only hacker on the team, Jeremy,

whereas my team-mates are all good golfers.

We're all members of Hayling Golf Club.

-We play on the suburb links course at Hayling Island in Hampshire.

-OK.

Well, I hope you can hack into this lot today, that's all I can say.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Have you brought some clubs with you?

Because they might be handy, you know.

Not of the golfing variety.

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, Hayling Hackers, the Eggheads have won of the last four games.

Just got a bit of a run together, and you've got to stop them.

It means that £5,000 says you can't beat them today.

-Would you like to give it a go?

-Absolutely.

-Yes, please.

So the first subject for you is History.

And which of you would like this?

-We all look at Terry.

-I'll have a go.

I think Terry's the one.

Terry, just before you go, choose an Egghead to play.

I think I'll play against Lisa.

All right, that was said with a great deal of conviction.

Lisa, are you up for this?

I'm slightly worried, it sounds like Terry's got a metaphorical

five-iron tucked away for me.

All right, so Terry with his five-iron against Lisa with her...?

-I'm usually just sat quietly at the 19th hole, Jeremy.

-OK.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room now?

Good luck, Terry. You have the choice,

would you like to go first or second?

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

Here we go, Terry. Good luck to you and the Hayling Hackers.

Which type of weapon was the blunderbuss?

I don't think it's a catapult.

I'm not sure about a crossbow.

But I'm going to say gun.

Gun is the right answer. Well done.

OK, over to you, Lisa.

Eliot Ness' team of US law enforcement officers,

known as The Untouchables,

were recruited to investigate which notorious criminal?

Thank goodness for classic film. That's Al Capone.

What is the film in question?

The Untouchables, Jeremy.

Oh, of course, with Sean Connery and all that! Yeah.

Al Capone is right, thank you.

Me put in my place early on. OK.

Terry, the Neolithic period is also known by what name?

Neolithic.

I'll have a bit of a problem on this one.

Let me just think.

I'm going to say this is the New Bronze Age.

It's actually New Stone Age.

Oh, dear.

So Lisa has a chance to take the lead.

Which of these kings, Lisa, ruled England from 1016-1035?

1016-1035.

Well, Henry I was considerably later, he's post-Conqueror.

And Alfred, I think, has got dates in the 800s and 900s.

But 1016 is ringing a bell for when Canute made his effort to

unify all the kingdoms of the islands.

So I'll go for Canute.

Canute is the right answer.

So, Terry, back's against the wall -

-or whatever the golfing analogy is here!

-Hmm.

Which bridge in London is known as the Ladies' Bridge,

because of the key role women played in its construction

during World War II?

I don't think it's Tower Bridge.

It's between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge.

I think it is Blackfriars Bridge.

Any Eggheads know?

I thought it was Waterloo Bridge.

Barry says Waterloo. Team, is he right?

Blackfriars looks older.

Blackfriars is older. Waterloo is the right answer, Terry, sorry.

Waterloo it is, so that means Lisa is through to the final

because there is no way back for our Challenger in this round,

but it is early days.

Return to us, please, and we'll play on.

So as it stands, the Hayling Hackers have lost one brain

from the final round, the Eggheads have not lost a brain so far,

but early days.

Come on, guys. This is the moment.

The subject is Arts & Books. Who would like this?

I think it's going to be you, Ben.

-I'll give it a go.

-OK, Ben.

Team captain from the Hayling Hackers

against which Egghead? Not Lisa.

-Good grief. Pat, please.

-Pat?

-Yes.

OK, Ben from the Hackers, Pat from the Eggheads,

please go to our Question Room now.

So, Ben, what was your career?

I've had quite a varied career.

Ex-teacher, ex-mobile librarian, ex-traffic engineer.

Mobile librarian sounds good.

Was that in a kind of caravan or what?

Yeah, a 35-foot-long motorhome type thing,

held 4,000 books, and we took it to old people's homes

and hard to get to places which didn't have a library.

All right, good luck in this round. Arts & Books it is,

perfect for you, Ben, with your former career.

Would you like to go first or second against Pat?

I'll take my cue from Terry and go first, please.

And here we go with your first question.

Arthur Golden's novel Memoirs of a Geisha

is mainly set in which country?

I don't know the book but "geisha" is a bit of a giveaway,

I don't think it's Australia, I don't think it's India.

I would suggest it's Japan.

It is indeed Japan.

Barry's favourite country. Have you read the book, Barry?

-I have indeed, it's a very good book indeed.

-Is it quite saucy?

No, It's a tale of a rivalry of a young trainee geisha

and the other geishas in the establishment.

One of them is very nasty indeed.

Pat, your question.

The Italian artist known as Raphael was part

of which artistic movement?

I think he proceeds by several centuries

both Expressionism and Art Deco.

He was alive in the 1400s and 1500s, he was Renaissance.

Renaissance is correct. 1-1, back to you, Ben.

In the Shakespeare play Hamlet,

Claudius is what relation to the title character?

I think... I'm not sure again, but I think he might be uncle.

Claudius is Hamlet's uncle, you're right.

Pat, the 1915 novel The Voyage Out

was the first published by which writer?

1915...

First book, it sounds slightly late for Henry James's first book.

I've a nagging feeling Graham Greene's first book

is around that time but it's got a different title.

In which case...

..I'll have to go for Virginia Woolf,

but I'm a bit uneasy.

Virginia Woolf, let's see if the Eggs know. Eggs?

-Yes. It is Virginia Woolf.

-Barry?

-Yes.

They all say yes. You're right, Virginia Woolf it is.

I thought you had him there.

I thought you were going to take him down. Here's your third question.

Keep the pressure on.

Excluding its pedestal, how tall is Rio de Janeiro's

world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue?

Excluding the pedestal. Is it...

It's certainly more than 10 metres.

30 metres would be about 100 foot in old money.

50 metres, 160 foot in old money.

I'm going to say 50 metres.

-Do your team know?,

-30 I think.

30. So what is that, 90 foot?

100 foot.

The pedestal is quite large.

When you stand and look at it, it's huge,

but if you take off the pedestal...

So it's almost like an office block looking up at it.

And it's on top of the hill so it's really imposing.

30 metres, sorry.

It gives Pat a chance to take the round.

Who wrote the 2008 book Paper Towns which was later

turned into a film starring Cara Delevingne?

I don't think I know anything about either the book or the film.

Paper Towns.

I'm going to have to just do a pick

and go for James Frey.

James Frey is wrong.

-John Green!

-Oh, well.

Hard old question, so it's 2-2 after multiple choice questions.

It gets a bit harder now, we go to Sudden Death.

I don't give you alternatives, here's your question.

The author Franz Kafka wrote primarily in which language?

Franz Kafka was a Czech writer

so Czechoslovakian.

No, German.

Was he Czech, Eggs? Can we confirm that?

-He was Czech.

-He was Czech but he wrote in German.

It wasn't Czechoslovakia at the time,

it was part of Austria-Hungary he was born in,

but it is Czechoslovakia, where he was born.

I see, so he could be Czech and write in German.

Not an embarrassment at all, Ben,

but it gives Pat a chance to take the round on this question,

Sudden Death. Albert Camus,

the French writer of The Stranger and The Plague,

was born in which North African country?

Well, several of his books are set in Algeria

and there's a big French presence in Algeria.

I'm pretty sure he was born in Algeria.

Is he right, Eggs?

He is indeed.

It is the right answer. You've taken the round,

so two to the Eggheads now.

What will happen next?

Come back to us and we will find out.

-A little bit painful, Ben, we've lost two.

-Yes.

What would this be the equivalent of in golf?

We're on the ninth hole?

-Two down with three to play.

-Three under-par?

I've ruled myself out of it

so I just hope I've got some good team-mates around me

like the Ryder Cup team.

They've lost two brains, the Hayling Hackers,

the Eggheads have not lost any and as always at this point,

are looking insufferably smug,

so you have to wipe the smiles off their faces and it's Sport.

-Is that good?

-I guess that's me, then, Jeremy.

-Paul against which Egghead?

-I'd like to take on CJ, please, Jeremy.

-A fellow marathon runner.

-Correct.

-OK, two runners together.

Paul from the Hayling Hackers versus CJ from the Eggheads on Sport.

Please go to the Question Room.

OK, Sport we're on, Paul, which I think is your thing,

given that you're a runner like CJ.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

Here is your first question, Paul.

In cricket, what was the result of the 2015 men's Ashes series?

Is it...

2015, recent series, I think recently we've had a bit

more of a track record of wins against Australia.

I know I think they beat us down under last time,

so definitely not a draw.

Hopefully it wasn't an Australia win,

so I'm going for an England win, Jeremy.

England win is right. Well done.

Would you have got that, CJ?

Yes, I looked at my lists a little bit before I came out.

-That's your substitute for real life.

-Yeah, or work.

Here's your question.

In which position did the World Cup winning footballer

Gordon Banks usually play?

I think, because I've heard of him, I think he was a goalkeeper.

He was 1966, wasn't he?

-Yes, he was.

-He was a lovely man as well.

Goalkeeper is right, well done.

OK, Paul,

which of tennis's four Grand Slam tournaments

was contested every year throughout World War II?

I think obviously where the main location of World War II

was taking place, then I'm going to rule out

both Wimbledon and the French Open

and I'm going to go with the US Open, Jeremy.

Nicely done. It is the US Open.

This is confident play by our Challengers.

Let's see, CJ, if the wheels start coming off.

How many teams took part in the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup in England?

Unfortunately I don't know if it was a straight elimination contest

or they had groups to start with.

Rugby World Cup, do they have groups?

I'm going to say they do.

12 is surely too few.

32...seems like a lot.

I've really got no idea but I hope they had four groups of five,

and the top two went through to make quarterfinals, I'll try 20.

You're nodding, Paul, I notice. Is he right?

He is.

20's the right answer, well done.

So Challengers with two points, Eggheads with two points.

Third question to you, Paul.

Gennady Golovkin, born in 1982,

is a famous name in which sport?

Don't know the answer straight off, Jeremy.

I think I'm going to go for athletics, Jeremy.

CJ, do you know this?

-I thought it was boxing.

-Boxing is the answer.

Gennady Golovkin was a boxer,

so this gives our Egghead a chance here.

Which of these golfing events was first held in 1927?

Ryder Cup.

Oh, wow, is that a list? Or were you there?

That's a list.

He learnt a list, how annoying is that?

-Absolutely correct.

-He's absolutely right.

Well done, you're in the final round.

More bad news for our Challengers, what will happen next?

Come back to us, Paul, sorry you've been knocked out.

It's not over yet, though! We'll play the next round in a tick.

OK, so let's get the golfing analogies going,

we are in the rough.

We've hit three balls into the long grass.

-In deep doo-doo.

-We've still got another ball left before the final.

They've lost three brains, Eggheads over here looking smugger.

Still intact. The last subject before the final is Film and TV.

It's got to be either Phil or Bill.

What are you going to do?

Well, I think...

I'll take it.

-You sure?

-Absolutely.

We'll leave you in the final.

-You sure?

-Absolutely.

Given that you said you don't know anything about Film and TV, Phil,

there's not a lot of...

He's not got a lot of choice! Bill against which Egghead,

Barry or Dave?

I'll go for Dave, please.

Bill from Hayling Hackers

swinging the club at Dave from the Eggheads on Film and TV.

Just to ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions.

So, Bill, what are we going to do here?

This is looking a bit desperate now. It certainly is.

Film and TV, would you like to go first or second?

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

Here is your first question, Bill, good luck.

In which decade was the TV drama series Casualty first broadcast?

2000s, I think it's been going a little longer than that, Casualty.

It was filmed originally in Bristol

at some stage near Southmead Hospital.

I think the 1960s is probably a little bit early so I'd go

right down the middle and say 1980s.

1980s is right. That's right.

Dave with the tremendous knowledge, here is your question.

Cilla Black hosted which of these TV shows from 1985 to 2003?

Cilla hosted Blind Date.

Blind Date is correct, of course. I knew you wouldn't get that wrong.

Bill, over to you.

What is the profession of Meryl Streep's character

in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada?

It's not a film I've seen.

Given that Prada is a fashion house,

I'm going to go for fashion designer.

Any of your team-mates know?

I think she's a magazine editor.

They're right and you're wrong, Bill, I'm afraid.

Magazine editor it is.

So, Dave, you can take the lead.

What was the worldwide box office gross

of James Cameron's film Avatar?

Right, I've had similar questions to this about box office

and my esteemed colleague CJ has had to screw up his face

in contortions because I keep getting them wrong.

But on this occasion, I'm going to go for the top, 2.7 billion.

Let's have a look at CJ's face now. Is it screwed up?

It isn't, because that's the right answer.

It is the right answer, 2.7 billion.

OK, so...

-This is a bit worrying.

-No pressure then.

To recap, we've got an Egghead in the lead.

You've got to save the day, Bill,

or your team-mate will be playing alone in the final.

Sean Harris plays the villainous Solomon Lane in which 2015 spy film?

I saw The Man From UNCLE

and I don't think I recall the name Solomon Lane in that.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.

A set of films that I've actually seen since the first one.

So I'm going to guess that one. No other reason, really.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.

It's the right answer. Well done. Rogue Nation is right. Well done.

So, you've levelled with Dave

but, if Tremendous Knowledge gets this right, he's in the final.

Who received three best supporting actor Oscar nominations

for his performances in The Master, Doubt and Charlie Wilson's War?

Right, because I didn't know he was in Charlie Wilson's War

but, sure, I've got to go on the percentages there

of what I've seen and go for Philip Seymour Hoffman,

even though I didn't know he was in Charlie Wilson's War.

-He was, actually. Yeah.

-Right.

He got three best supporting actor Oscar nominations for those films.

The answer is Philip Seymour Hoffman. Well done.

Three out of three, Dave. Playing well.

And Bill, you were beaten by our Egghead as a result.

You will not be able to help your team in the final round.

In fact, you're going to have one player alone.

Come back to us.

We'll play the all-important final.

This is what we have been playing towards,

it is time for our 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 I have to look on this side, I'm afraid.

It's Ben and Bill and Terry and Paul from the Hayling Hackers.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Well, good luck, Phil. I'm sorry you're on your own here.

You are playing to win the Hayling Hackers £5,000.

As for you, Eggheads, Dave, Lisa, Pat, CJ and Barry,

you are playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' precious reputation.

And to get a bit of a run going again.

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

You can confer. I'm sorry that doesn't help you.

Phil, the question is, is your one brain able to dramatically take down

these five all playing together?

You don't have to answer that, don't worry.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

OK. Here is your first question.

General Knowledge, Phil. Good luck.

Who did the actor Justin Theroux marry in August 2015?

I've heard of two of them, which is a help.

I think...

I have a feeling it was Jennifer Aniston.

Shall we check with the Eggs?

-Right.

-Lisa, you read a lot of those magazines?

Watch a lot of those programmes that those people were in. Yep.

Jennifer Aniston's right. Well done.

Eggheads, your first question.

What is the capital of Cyprus?

-All happy with Nicosia?

-Nicosia.

Yes, we're all happy with Nicosia for that one.

Nicosia.

-Where is Valletta?

-Malta.

-Malta.

-And Podgorica?

-Montenegro.

-Thank you.

There we are. Never catch them on a capital.

Phil, fontina is what type of Italian food?

Fontina. F-O-N-T-I-N-A.

Fontina.

I can't get anything out of the letters.

I've never heard of it as a meat.

The Italians make a lot of cheeses.

And, of course, famous for their bread,

but I will go for cheese.

Cheese is correct. Well done.

You're playing well.

A bit of conviction.

OK, Eggheads, Marvin Gaye was a UK number one single in 2015

for Charlie Puth featuring which singer?

Meghan Trainor.

I think this time it wasn't all about the bass,

but it did feature Meghan Trainor.

Meghan Trainor is right.

I thought they were going to slip up on that.

Still, you're doing well. Two out of two.

Third question for you, Phil, now.

Get this one right and then we hope they go wrong

and you just collect the money. It's that simple.

What type of animal was Gordo

who was sent into space in an American rocket in 1958?

There was a famous dog who was in space but he was Russian.

So I'm going to eliminate the dog

because I don't think they'd do the same again.

My gut feeling, again, is it's got to be more than a hamster.

My gut feeling's a monkey.

Yeah, you were right to eliminate the dog.

Monkey's the right answer.

Well done. Three out of three.

So, even though you lost four team-mates along the way,

Hayling Hackers, here you are, one question from £5,000.

It's the joy of Eggheads, isn't it?

And they're sitting here and they suddenly feel a chill in the room

because they're worried.

Eggheads, the brothers Kevin and Michael O'Hare, both born in Hull,

became leading performers and administrators in which field?

Oh. I've never heard of them.

I don't think it's acting.

I have an instinct for acting.

When you think about administrators...

Have you heard of opera singers and ballet dancers from Hull?

Why not?

I'm not ruling it out, but I'm saying,

in terms of the administration, acting seems...

-Ballet and opera have administration.

-I know.

I'm going to have to...my first...

Oh, dear. I hate to say this. My first initial thought was opera.

Kevin O'Hare is the one that's ringing a bell.

-Michael O'Hare doesn't.

-There's no Billy Elliot link with all this?

If you were from Hull and you were a star in ballet,

would that be some sort of seed for Billy Elliot? No?

My feel is opera because I think opera has a lot of administrators.

I personally would rule out acting

-because I hope I would've heard of them.

-OK.

Possibly the reason I'm slightly leaning towards opera

is I'm just wondering if I may have heard the name Kevin O'Hare

in relation in some way to the Royal Opera House,

to Covent Garden.

Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Uh-oh!

Have you got something?

Kevin O'Hare, is he the new head of the Old Vic?

The Old Vic's just... Is that where I know his name from?

Oh, Lord! Is he the new head of the Old Vic?

Right, I'm changing my answer. I want to go for acting.

-After Kevin Spacey?

-Yeah, Kevin Spacey left.

I'm wondering if that's one of them.

That's beginning to ring a bell with me. I think I'm changing my vote.

There's an inkle now. There's an inkle based on something.

I'm sure I recognise the name and I've just remembered

about the Old Vic. I'm just wondering if that's him.

-I want to go for acting.

-OK, we have a decision.

-Happy with that?

-Yes.

All right, after much head-wringing, as was obvious,

we've decided to go for acting.

OK, your answer is acting.

If you've got it wrong, they have taken the contest.

If you got it right, we go to Sudden Death. You know that.

The brothers Kevin and Michael O'Hare,

both born in Hull, became leading performers and administrators

in ballet.

We say well done, Challengers, you have won!

That is, if I may say so, the joy of Eggheads.

But you played well. It's not a fluke.

You got three questions right.

-I think it was a little bit of a fluke.

-No!

A lot of people would have said dog

or they would have got one of the other ones wrong.

It's only in our history, and it's quite a long history

we've got now on Eggheads together, the 15th time that's happened,

reduced to one and the one wins.

I must admit, I didn't know any of them.

No, but your logic was really, really good.

There's some clues there, isn't there?

And that thing of saying,

"There's lots more cheeses than breads,"

that's a classic bit of Eggheads logic, actually.

Well done, Hayling Hackers, you've taken them down at £5,000.

You played really, really... I won't say played really well

but you've certainly loaded the blunderbuss...

You brought out the blunderbuss at the right moment, there.

You proved you're cleverer than the Eggheads, Phil.

No doubt, it's official.

You've certainly proved they can be beaten.

That's the joy of the game here. Do join us next time on Eggheads

to see if a new team of Challengers will be just as successful.

This lot will be aching for revenge, I think.

Till then, goodbye.