Episode 4 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.

Hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today

are the Knotty Knitters.

Now, as you may have guessed,

this team all share a passion for knitting

and regularly swap yarns - see what I did there? -

at the same knitting group in Glasgow.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Audrey, and I'm a retired teaching auxiliary.

Hello, my name's Andrea, and I'm a primary school teacher.

Hello, I'm Ellen, and I'm a retired primary school teacher.

Hello, I'm Beverly,

and I'm a retired police community support officer.

Hi, I'm Peta, and I'm a field archaeologist.

-So, Audrey, team, welcome. Good to see you here.

-Thank you.

Tell us about the Knotty Knitters.

Well, the Knotty Knitters are the Glasgow Knit 'n Stitch,

and we're a group of knitters of various ages and abilities,

and we're 1,000 strong.

We've been going for ten years.

We don't all meet at the same time, but we meet

and we have a jolly good time as well.

We knit, we stitch, we drink coffee, we eat cake,

and we put the world to rights.

So, and do you all knit the same kind of things?

You knit scarves and jumpers, or what?

-Mainly we're all knitting socks and scarves.

-LAUGHING: Yeah.

And we think of grannies, click, click, click, knitting,

-but it's not, is it?

-No.

-It's all ages now.

-No.

All ages, and we have a chap that comes to the knitting as well.

And we have older people, younger people -

we've even had children at some point.

They would even be welcome, this lot over here, would they?

You'd just take anyone?

-Yeah. Teach them a stitch or two.

-THEY LAUGH

Well, good luck in the quiz against the Eggheads here.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the price money rolls over to the next show.

So, Knotty Knitters, the Eggheads have won the last 12 games,

so they're performing rather well,

and that is handy for you,

because it means £13,000 is on the table for you to win.

-So, do you want to crack on?

-Yes.

-Knit one, purl one, is it?

-Mm-hm.

OK, maybe we can purl five.

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

Who would like Science?

Who's going to go for Science? Are you heading for Science?

-That was you, wasn't it?

-Yeah?

-Beverly?

-Might as well give it a try.

-Don't go yet, Beverly.

Beverly, tell us which Egghead you'd like to take on.

I think I'll take on CJ, please.

Right, so Beverly from Knotty Knitters

versus the man whose a complete knotty...

-A complete what?

-..nitwit. THEY LAUGH

I'm too slow for this.

CJ, let's just call him.

Please go to our Question Room now.

Good luck, Beverly. Against CJ.

-How are you feeling?

-Fine, thank you.

-Good.

-And confident?

-Erm...so-so.

OK. So, it's Science, and would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second, please.

CJ, first question to you, then.

In 2014, scientific research debunked the myth

that which birds are attracted to shiny objects?

Well, this part of important research must have passed me by,

but traditionally magpies are attracted to shiny things,

so I will assume it's magpies.

Magpies is the right answer. Well done.

Beverly, your question. Which sport did

Alan Shepard play when he landed on the moon in 1971?

Well, it's unlikely he would've played tennis

since he would've needed a partner.

He wouldn't have had the facilities, I imagine, to play snooker,

so I'll opt for golf.

HE CHUCKLES Great process of elimination there.

You're quite right. Yeah, the snooker table,

I don't know how that would've worked, really.

Sports you can't play on the moon. Number three.

CJ, your question.

Entomophobia is a fear of what?

Could you just make...?

Just to be sure, could you just spell the root of that?

E-N-T-O-M-O-P-H-O-B-I-A. Entomophobia.

Well, ento- is the usual word relating to insects,

so you've got entomology, which is the study of insects,

so I will assume it's insects.

Insects is quite right. Two to you.

Back to you, Beverly, to catch up.

What was the approximate length of a Tyrannosaurus rex

from its nose to the tip of its tail?

Well, I imagine it was much bigger than six metres.

I think there's one in the Natural History Museum,

a skeleton,

so I'll go for 18 metres.

Very big. CJ, is she right, do you think?

I certainly wouldn't have gone for that one.

I'm not sure between the other two, but 18 metres seems far too big.

Yeah, 18's too big. Six is too small, as you said, Beverly.

It's the middle one, actually - it's 12.

Now, because you allowed CJ to go first, he has the initiative.

If you get this right, CJ, you're in the final round.

The fuel in the solid rocket boosters

that powered NASA's Space Shuttle into orbit

is a powdered form of which element?

There's one of those there that's immediately jumping out at me,

but whether it's right or not, I don't know.

I certainly don't think it's sulphur.

I mean, the one that immediately jumped out at me was potassium,

and that certainly...

..erm, seems quite flammable when you set alight to it -

it...does spark.

I mean, aluminium surely would be too expensive, anyway,

and maybe even too heavy, even in powdered form.

Really don't know this, but I'm going to go for potassium.

-The element was aluminium.

-Ah!

Or aluminum, as the Americans say.

So, a chance to get things equal here, Beverly.

Your question.

Got to get this right to stay in.

John Kemp Starley from Coventry

is credited with pioneering which mode of transport

in the 19th century?

I'm pretty sure it wasn't a motorboat or an aeroplane.

Something in the back of my memory makes me think it was a bicycle.

And bicycle is correct.

Well done. So, two each.

Clawed your way back, Beverly - that's good.

We go to Sudden Death.

Get's a bit harder, as you know, CJ -

I don't give you alternatives.

Which scientist, a pioneer of antiseptic surgery,

was president of the Royal Society from 1895 to 1900?

Do I know anybody apart from Edward Jenner?

Hm, dear.

No is the simple answer. Edward Jenner.

No, it was Joseph Lister.

Beverly, for the round,

the symbol for which unit of length

is a capital A with a little circle over it?

Never seen that symbol for acre, which is what springs to mind.

Can't think of anything that begins with A.

Erm...

No, sorry.

-Is that a pass?

-Got to pass on that.

-You know it, CJ?

-Angstrom.

-Angstrom is the answer.

-Oh...

CJ, your question. What is the usual name

for a substance used in vaccinations

that is capable of causing the production of an antibody?

I don't know. Virus?

-Antigen.

-Oh.

Beverly, your question. A dilute solution of

acetic acid produced by fermentation,

approximately 5% by volume,

is better known by what name?

And if you get this, you're in the final round.

Vinegar.

Vinegar is the right answer. Well done.

-You're in the final round.

-Phew!

Knocked out CJ on Science.

Oh, CJ!

So, well done, Beverly - you're in the final.

Please come back to us, both of you, and we'll play on.

-Famous victory there, Beverly. Well done.

-Thank you.

You've got the Knotty Knitters off to an un-knotty start.

Fantastic. The knitting needles are flashing.

So, you've not lost a brain.

The Eggheads have lost one - the unmentionable.

The next subject is Sport.

-Oh...

-Oh, I see you wincing.

THEY GIGGLE Who would like this?

Well, what did we decide?

If it was Sport, it was going to... Or you were going to take it.

-Or me. What do you want?

-I don't know.

-Go on, take it.

-I don't mind. OK, I'll go for Sport.

-I'll do Sport.

-Andrea? OK, against which Egghead, Andrea?

-Which Egghead am I going against?

-I don't know about Lisa.

-I don't know if she's any good at Sport.

-I don't know.

-Because...

-I'll choose her anyway. Lisa, please.

-OK.

So, it's going to be Andrea from Knotty Knitters

versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

And if you would like to go to our Question Room, we'll crack on.

So, Andrea, I gather you're a huge Elvis fan.

Yes, I am. Very much so. Since I was about nine or ten.

I was just going to say we're about the same age,

so where did that come from?

Because it's a little bit before our time.

I watched GI Blues, I think it was, when I was nine,

and I thought, "Mm, I like his singing, I like the look of him."

So, my friend gave me a record token,

and that was my very first LP that I ever bought

was GI Blues' soundtrack.

Oh, and you must have been heartbroken when he died so young.

I was indeed. My plan was to go and see him in concert in Las Vegas,

but I didn't quite manage.

And I gather you have made do with knitting an Elvis?

I have, yes. I've knitted an Elvis.

But I did... For my 50th birthday,

my partner, James, took me to see the virtual Elvis concert.

-Oh, OK. Where he appears on the screen?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Or is he actually a hologram?

No, he's on the screen

with his original backing group and singers and things.

-It's superb.

-Sounds great. OK.

So Sport, Andrea, is the round,

and would you like to go first or second?

Oh, I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

In rugby union, how many points are awarded for a penalty?

I'm not really very sure, cos I don't watch rugby,

although I should cos my nephews played it.

I think, for a penalty, I'm going to go for three.

-Three is right.

-Oh!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

OK. Lisa.

Which country won the 2014 Men's Football World Cup?

Do you know, my brain's just gone into meltdown,

and that's just absolutely the sort of thing

you should know straightaway.

Erm, Spain won in 2010,

Argentina in... No, it's Germany.

It is Germany. Yeah, you're quite right. Well done.

Over to you, Andrea.

Which 21-year-old golfer won his second major of the year

at the 2015 US Open?

Erm, well, sadly for Dustin, I've never heard of him,

so could very well be him, but I don't know.

And I've heard of Rory McIlroy, who was injured,

so I'm not sure if that was for the US,

but I have a feeling it might've been Jordan Spieth.

You're right. Golfing prodigy Jordan Spieth.

Well done. Two out of two for you.

Lisa, over to you. Which Englishman

won silver medals in the 400m and the 4X400m relay

at the 1996 Olympic Games?

I think he used to run the last leg

because he was the Olympic silver medallist.

Certainly, Akabusi and Regis were in that big '90s team,

but I think the only individual medallist in the 400 there

is Roger Black.

Roger Black is correct.

OK, Andrea, in 2012, which veteran rider

won an Olympic gold medal

as part of the British show-jumping team on his horse Big Star?

Again, I don't know anything about this at all.

I do think David Broome is quite a long time ago,

so I don't know if it would be him.

It could've been.

And I've heard of Nick Skelton.

I've not heard of John Whitaker, so I'll say Nick Skelton.

-Nick Skelton is correct.

-Oh!

I love your guessing - it's just fantastic...

-I mean, no disrespect, I mean...

-It is just guessing.

Yet, but it's fantastic.

So, three out of three.

Lisa on the ropes,

or whatever your favourite sporting analogy is.

Mike Hailwood was a leading name in which sport in the 1960s?

Mike Hailwood.

SHE GROANS

Can you spell Hailwood for me, please, Jeremy?

H-A-I-L-W-O-O-D.

OK, that makes it slightly easier, I think.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-She says.

Now, my first connection was with Mike Hailwood, with motorsport,

but now I'm wondering if I've mixed him up with Mike Hawthorn.

Is it snooker? Is it snooker? Is it snooker?

Don't know. I'll go motorcycling.

-Motorcycling is correct.

-Oof!

So, we've got quite a bit of Sudden Death going on here.

LISA SIGHS Equal after three questions.

Again, Andrea, Sudden Death -

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

Here's your first question.

The footballer Diego Costa joined which Premier League team in 2014?

I have absolutely...not a clue.

I'm not even sure I know of very many Premier League football teams.

Let's go for...

What one do I know?

Let's go for Liverpool.

Well, Dave will know this.

-Chelsea.

-Chelsea.

-Oh, right.

OK, Lisa, Sudden Death. Andrea's got one wrong.

If you get this right, you're in the final round, and here it is.

For what does the letter H stand in the name of

the major North American professional sports league

called the NHL?

So, you've got the NFL,

which is your American approximation of football,

you've got your NBA, which is your basketball,

and you've got your NHL, which I think is hockey.

It's the National Hockey League - you're quite right.

You've taken the round, Lisa. Well done.

Sorry, Andrea - knocked out there.

Please, both of you, come back to us.

Rejoin your teams and we'll play on.

So, as it stands,

Knotty Knitters have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost a brain as well.

We're evenly poised here, and the knitting is speeding up.

The next subject is Geography.

So, which knotty knicker, knitter would this?

THEY CHUCKLE Knotty KNITTER would like this?

-Peta, you're good at geography.

-That's you, my dear.

-Yeah, OK.

-It has to be you.

-So, Knotty Knitter, Peta...

-Yeah.

-..against which Egg?

Against Pat.

So, Peta from Knotty Knitters versus Pat from the Eggheads.

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

So, Peta, you are well-travelled, I know.

I've been to one or two places, yeah.

Kyrgyzstan?

Yes. Central Asia.

I don't think that's come up before as a destination.

Was that business or pleasure?

It was a youth development expedition back when I was 18.

-And you're an archaeologist now?

-I am now, yeah.

Well, good luck in this round.

Digging for victory against Pat on Geography.

-Do you want to go first and second?

-I think I'll go second.

So, Pat, this is yours.

The Japanese flag features a red circle

on a background of what colour?

It's a red circle on a white background.

That is correct.

Peta, your question.

The Mexican peso consists of 100 what?

I'm trying to remember what the currency was when I was in Peru,

but I think that's completely different.

I will say...centavos.

Centavos is quite right. Well done.

Pat, your question.

The Wash is an inlet of the North Sea

located between Norfolk and which other county?

Well, it's above Norfolk.

Suffolk is to the south,

Essex is to the south even further,

so it must be Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire is correct.

So, two points to the Eggheads, one to you, Peta.

Your question.

The names of how many US states begin with a vowel?

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Erm...

I'll go down the middle. Ten.

Peta, sorry. I've got 12 down here. I'm afraid you're wrong.

OK, Pat, your question, for the round.

Which is the only Central American country

without a Caribbean coastline?

I think that's El Salvador.

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

-Is he right, Eggs?

-Yeah.

El Salvador is. Well done, Pat - you're in the final.

Sorry, Peta. You got knocked out there.

That's the way it goes sometimes.

But don't worry - your team can still win.

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

So, Knotty Knitters have lost two brains from the final round now.

The Eggheads have still just lost the one.

Last round before the final is Music.

-Who would like this?

-Ooh.

-I'll take Music.

OK, Audrey. Against which Egghead?

And you can have either Dave or Kevin.

-Kevin.

-Oh, Kevin?!

-Kevin, yeah.

OK, all right. He'll enjoy that.

So, it's Audrey from Knotty Knitters

against Kevin, our Egghead, on Music.

Please go to our Question Room.

OK, Audrey, if you get this round, you will have levelled it up.

-How are you feeling?

-Er, fine, fine.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-Is music your thing?

-Yes, yes.

-OK. OK.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Here we go.

During which awards show did Madonna fall off the stage mid-performance

in February 2015?

Ooh...

Oh, when you watch them, they all seem quite similar, don't they?

Erm... I'll disregard the Grammy Awards. Erm...

I think I'll go for the Brit Awards.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. Well done.

It was the Brits, the Brit Awards.

Kevin, your question. In which section

of a traditional orchestra

would the bassoons be located?

Bassoons are a woodwind instrument.

They are woodwind.

OK. Audrey.

Which song by The Jam includes the lines

"Getting a cab and travelling on buses

"Reading the graffiti about slashed-seat affairs"?

Ooh... Oh, I was never a Jam fan.

Erm... Sounds ominous.

I think I'll go for Town Called Malice.

It's That's Entertainment.

Although there is a bit of malice in there, you're right.

In fact, there's a quite a lot of malice in all their songs.

-Yes, there was at the time.

-Kevin, your question.

Bon Scott was the lead singer of which rock group

from 1974 until 1980?

Yes, he was one of those front men who met with an unfortunate demise.

He was AC/DC.

It was AC/DC. Yeah, very sad.

It was a whole sort of Spinal Tap thing, wasn't it, of...

-Well, yeah, I think was alcoholic poisoning in his case.

-Yeah.

Audrey, we've got the energy here.

Let's just get this one right, stay in and topple him

on the next question.

Here it is.

Chandelier was a hit single in 2014

for which Australian musician?

Ooh. Now, I've heard of Delta Goodrem and I've heard of Sia,

but I've never heard of Iggy Azalea.

Sia's the girl that has her face covered, isn't she?

Erm, Delta Goodrem is more...

middle-of-the-road, I would think.

I'll go for Sia.

You're bang on, actually, Audrey. Well done.

And it's great song as well. Sia, it is.

So, you've got two out of three.

We need to hope now that Kevin misses this one up.

Which Tchaikovsky ballet features the Waltz of the Snowflakes?

Er, I don't remember the Waltz of the Snowflakes, but...

there's no good reason why that should be in Romeo and Juliet.

In fact, he didn't do a ballet called Romeo and Juliet -

he did a... I think he did an overture.

So...I can't see any reason why it would be in Swan Lake,

where as The Nutcracker does have lots of different...

There's a whole suite of different little dances

by a whole variety of animate and inanimate objects,

so I'll say The Nutcracker.

And it's Christmassy as well, I guess, yeah.

The Nutcracker is the right answer. The Waltz of the Snowflakes.

Kevin, you've taken the round on Music. Sorry, Audrey.

You ran him very close there...

But the skipper's been knocked out.

And if you come back to us, we will play the final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards -

it is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So Audrey, Andrea and Peta from Knotty Knitters

and CJ from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So, Ellen and Beverly,

you are playing to win the Knotty Knitters £13,000.

Eggheads, you're playing for something

that money can't really buy, which is your reputation.

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

This time the questions are all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Knotty Knitters, the question is are your two brains able to...

What's the analogy? To purl?

-Stitch up.

-..to stitch up the four over here?

There we are. We've got it.

Ellen, would you like to go first or second?

I think we've decided that we'll go first, thank you, Jeremy.

So, all the very best to you. Playing for £13,000. Here we go.

Who plays Max in the 2015 film Mad Max - Fury Road?

-I don't know.

-I have no earthly idea.

-Do you anything about the film?

-No.

-Let me repeat the question.

Who plays Max in the 2015 film Mad Max - Fury Road?

Choose one.

Shall we just guess, and guess Andrew Garfield?

-Have a guess?

-Yeah.

So, it's going to be an absolute guess -

not even an educated guess -

and we're going to go for Andrew Garfield.

Let's find out from the Eggs. Are they right?

No, it's Tom Hardy.

Tom Hardy is the answer.

Remake of the famous one with Mel...

-Gibson.

-..Gibson.

OK. Eggs, your first question.

Felipe VI became king of which country in 2014?

Spain, isn't it? Are we all happy with Spain?

-After JC did one.

-Yeah, Spain, yeah.

We're going to go for Spain, please, Jeremy.

Dave, the correct answer is Spain. Well done.

So, they're ahead.

Hang on in there. Just...

by our fingernails or whatever we need to use.

Who became the host of the US chat show

The Late Late Show in 2015?

I think... I had a feeling...it was James Corden.

Did you?

There's something recently that Piers Morgan has been in.

I mean, it's more likely to be Piers Morgan,

but somewhere at the back of my mind,

I think, unlikely as it may sound...

-James Corden?

-..it was James Cordon.

-We'll go for that.

-Are you sure?

Your instinct's been good up till now, yeah.

We'll go with Beverly's instinct, Jeremy -

it's been sound up until now -

and we'll go with James Corden.

James Corden is your answer, and it's correct. Well done.

-Well done, Beverly.

-Well done.

He went over to the States to ply his trade.

OK, Eggheads, your question.

Which Spice Girl married

the Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner in 2015?

-Geri Halliwell?

-Yes, it's Geri Halliwell.

-Geri Halliwell, yeah?

We believe that's Geri Halliwell.

And CJ is nodding, so you must be right.

Geri Halliwell is the right answer.

So, they are ahead.

You must get this one right

because you slipped up on your first question.

So, take your time here, ladies.

In Greek mythology, the god Zeus appeared to Danae

as a shower of what?

Do you think that's where diamond's from? Diamante...

Danae... Yeah, that's a possibility.

-Diamonds...

-Yeah, Diam-ae, yeah.

-Do you think?

-Yeah, there could be a link between that.

We're thinking the word diamante

could have come from...

-WHISPERS:

-But I think it's gold.

So, we'll say diamonds?

Shall we? Are you happy with that?

My instinct says gold, but let's go with diamonds.

No. What does your instinct say?

My instinct says gold,

because, after all, you have to mine for diamonds.

We'll go with gold.

Yeah, I mean,

it's the person who was...

Who he appeared to, so it's not Zeus that...

It's not Zeus that would be linked to the diamonds -

it would be the other person.

-The other's Danae?

-Yeah, I would go for gold or silver.

OK, we'll go with gold. That was your first instinct.

-Sorry if I'm wrong.

-No, it's all right.

-We'll go with gold, Jeremy.

-So, your answer is gold?

-Mm-hm.

Shall we check with the Eggheads? Eggheads?

-Gold.

-Yeah, you got it right.

-Well done.

-Well done to you.

-I'm so pleased. Well done.

-Thank you, Jeremy.

-Nicely done.

-Thank you.

OK, so you've got two out of three there.

You just have to hope, fingers crossed, everything crossed now.

-Thank you.

-Knitting needles crossed.

-That's true.

-Have to hope they get this one wrong.

Eggheads, how many official languages

does South Africa have?

-11.

-11?

-11. Yeah.

-Definitely?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. 11? Yeah?

-Happy with 11?

-Want to run us through them all, Kevin?

-Not really, no.

-Fair enough.

You'll be asked to in a minute. But you're going with 11?

-I'm sure it's 11.

-Yeah.

OK, Kevin is sure that it's 11, Jeremy.

11? I thought you might go with five.

-Do you know them all?

-I've seen the list.

You know, it's going to have everything from...

Obviously English is in there, Xhosa, Zulu, various other...

-Afrikaans.

-Afrikaans should be there, you're right, yeah.

Well, if you've got it wrong,

we play on and there's £13,000 on the table,

but you have got it right,

-so we say congratulations, Eggheads.

-Well done, Kevin.

11 is the answer, and you have won.

I thought they would struggle with that.

So did I! I hoped, I hoped they would.

I just thought there was going to be a battle over five and 11 there.

No, I thought with all the tribal languages that...

Yes, there's a lot, yeah.

-Well, thank you for playing.

-Thanks you.

-Enjoyed it.

-Knotty Knitters, we all want to start knitting now, don't we?

-Yeah.

Speak for yourself, I already do.

Of course you do. Of course you do. What have you knitted recently?

I'm all right as long as it hasn't got sleeves in it,

at which point it starts getting complicated.

Commiserations to our brilliant Challengers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

This winning streak continues -

becoming a little bit impressive now.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £13,000,

so the money rolls over.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£14,000 is what they'll be playing for.

Till then, goodbye.