Episode 43 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 and you're ready to do battle.

-Absolutely.

-Always.

-I can tell. I'm sensing the energy now.

-Plenty of energy here.

Excellent. Challenging our resident quiz champions today

are The Swans.

Now, these Challengers

take their name from one of team member Roger's passions in life,

his hometown football club Swansea City.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Shantel and I'm a fashion retail manager.

Hi, I'm Philippa and I'm a photography student.

Hi, I'm Roger. I'm a finance assistant.

Hi, I'm Simon. I'm a window cleaner.

Hi, I'm Nick and I'm a software engineer.

-So, Shantel and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

Now, so we've got a Swansea connection

but more Northern Ireland now.

Yes, my dad, Roger's originally from Swansea

so he has emanated that Swansea City thing on to us.

We're not Swansea City fans but that's where the name comes from.

-And you've been to Swansea to see them play?

-I have once, yes.

THEY LAUGH Did it go well?

The match went well but getting into the game wasn't so successful.

Oh, what happened?

Well, I was about 14 at the time and it was my first big game,

going through the turnstile

and my dad had two tickets so I thought you had to go in together

and we got stuck in the turnstile. Yeah, a bit embarrassing but fun...

All right, well, I hope you don't get stuck in the turnstiles here.

-No, I hope not.

-Are you quizzers, all of you or not?

We, myself and my sister, Philippa and my dad have quizzed together

and Nick at the end has quizzed with us a few times with The Swans

and then my uncle Simon, we've added him into the mix for today.

-Great, so kind of a family team...

-Yep, yeah.

..and maybe quite handy quizzers, we shall see.

Look at the Eggheads, just sort of scoping now.

Just working it out.

So 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. You know that.

Swans, I can tell you the Eggheads have won the last five games.

That's why they're looking a bit confident now.

So, there's £6,000 to win. Would you like to try?

-Absolutely.

-All right, bring it on.

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

Who would like this?

-That's going to be you, Nick.

-OK.

-OK? Don't go yet.

-Nick, choose an Egghead to go against.

-CJ, maybe?

-CJ, OK.

-OK, we'll go for CJ.

-OK, CJ. Ah-ha.

Well, we know there's a weak spot there.

Nick from the Swans, CJ from the Eggheads on Geography.

-Will there be some English counties?

-I hope not.

-Who knows?

Please go to our famous Question Room now.

Have we straightened out our English counties yet, CJ?

I have no idea about any of them.

It's one of those things, I buy books on it,

I have my map in my gym and it won't go in.

It doesn't matter what I do, English counties,

-UK geography will not stick.

-It's one of those things, I guess.

Well, it looks like you've chosen

the right guy here on Geography, Nick.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

All right, good luck, Nick. Here's your first question.

What is the name of the port of both ancient and modern Athens?

I don't know the answer to this one. It's not Pompeii.

I would choose Persepolis.

-CJ, you're pulling a face.

-It's Piraeus.

Piraeus is the answer. OK, CJ, your question.

What name is commonly given to the south easternmost

peninsula of Europe?

Ooh, which is the most south eastern?

It's not Jutland.

I'm just trying to... I mean, surely Crimea...

..surely Crimea is east of the Balkans?

With not very much confidence, I'll try Crimea.

To be fair, I would have said Crimea and I'm wrong as well.

Eggheads, help us out because Crimea is obviously east

but not south, is that right?

Well, in the sense that the Balkans

extends further south. Yeah.

So that, if you are taking south east

as a directional point there,

then that is further south east than the Crimea

as the Crimea is a little bit further north.

On the other hand, it is east

of the Balkans. A tricky one, that.

The answer is Balkans.

LAUGHS: You're going to go straight

off and have a look at a map, aren't you, CJ?

OK, so we're at zero, here.

Nick, the Scottish archipelago of St Kilda has the same

name as a district of which Australian city?

Another one I don't know the answer to.

Somehow I don't think it's Perth.

I would choose Sydney.

The answer is Melbourne.

Did you know that, CJ?

I did, they mention it when the Australian Open tennis is played.

OK. Here's your question. See if you can get on the scoreboard.

Chesapeake Bay is bordered by the US state of Maryland to the north

and which other to the south?

Shouldn't be Virginia.

Oh, dear, now, which one borders Maryland?

Is it Connecticut?

Ugh.

I'm not entirely sure but I think

I'm going to go for Connecticut.

-Eggheads?

-Virginia.

-Virginia is the answer.

-Oh, dear.

-Oh, nobody's...

-We're doing well, aren't we, here? We're doing well.

Unusual game.

OK, Nick. In which departement is the French city of Nice?

Well, I've been to Nice so I should know.

It's obviously on the Mediterranean.

I'll go for Alpes-Maritimes.

Alpes-Maritimes is the correct answer. Well done.

Not an easy question. OK, so the scoreboard is working.

CJ, get this wrong, you're out.

Which historical Russian city is

also the most southerly in the country?

Sochi is very south

but most southerly, I don't know.

I'm going to eliminate Grozny, I don't think it's that.

No, I really don't know. I'm torn between Sochi and Derbent.

Sochi is very far south but

I don't think it would be the most southerly so I'll try Derbent.

Derbent is the correct answer.

Right, Nick. We go to Sudden Death.

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

Here's your question.

The seaport of Catania is on which Italian island?

I don't know the answer to this so I will make a guess at Sicily.

Sicily is correct. Well done.

CJ, your question.

Originally the site of the town's Royal Infirmary,

Piccadilly Gardens is found in which UK city?

I think that's in Manchester.

Manchester is quite right.

Sudden Death we are on, Nick, your question.

Which Canadian territory whose name comes from the Inuit

for "our land" was established in 1999?

Canadian territory in 1999.

I don't know the answer to this.

I will guess Saskatchewan.

Not Saskatchewan. Nunavit. N-U-N-A-V-U-T.

OK, CJ,

your question to take the round.

In which Asian country would you find the

spectacular coastal rock formation called Kotapu or Nail Island?

Ko is K-O and then T-A-P-U.

Well, that sounds Thai, to me.

Again, you'll be surprised to know I don't know this one

but I will try Thailand.

Thailand is the right answer, CJ. Well done, you've done it

on Sudden Death. You're in the final round.

Nick, sorry.

That was a bit of a bare knuckle contest, wasn't it? My goodness.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

OK, so The Swans have lost a brain, they lost Nick from the final round.

The Eggheads still all sitting there looking a little bit

pleased with themselves, maybe. The next subject is Music.

-Oh, Lord.

-Who wants this?

-That's Philippa.

-I'm going to take that.

-Philippa, OK.

Choose an Egghead to go against.

I want Lisa. I think I should take Lisa. I'm going to take Lisa.

-OK, that's good, isn't it?

-Always happy.

-Might get a song out of you.

Philippa from The Swans versus Lisa from the Eggheads and to ensure

there's no conferring please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, you have an enormous CD collection, I gather, Philippa.

Yeah, I think either close to 400 or just over 400. Very eclectic.

And you haven't thrown it out with all the internet stuff.

-You're keeping them.

-Oh, no, I'm all about the hard copy.

It's all about the CD and the wee book inside.

-That's what it's all about.

-Oh, lovely.

Does that compare to your CD collection, Lisa?

No, I only own about 20 CDs in total,

but there must be about 600 in my house courtesy of my husband.

All right, so Music and, Philippa, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second, please, Jeremy.

So, your first question, Lisa.

"You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"

are lyrics from which Kenny Rogers song?

-Can I have a sing, Jeremy? I love this song.

-Please sing it.

# You've got to know

# When to hold 'em

# Know when to fold 'em

# Know when to walk away

# Know when to run

# You never count your money

# When you're sitting at the table

# There'll be time enough for counting

# When the dealing's done. #

-And I love that song.

-That's good.

Now get the answer wrong.

Thanks, Jeremy.

Like all Kenny Rogers songs, it's a great story and it's The Gambler.

The Gambler is right. Well done.

So you're going to have to sing now as well, Philippa.

-Oh, no. No-one wants that, Jeremy.

-JEREMY CHUCKLES

Ooh, I wonder if you're going to get this. Limahl was the

lead singer of which popular 1980s pop band?

Well, I know it's not Duran Duran...

I think...

I know, I think I know...

..the other two bands but I'm going to go with

Kajagoogoo.

Yay, well done. You got it right. Kajagoogoo.

Lisa, your question. Which founder member of the group Soul II Soul,

and I'm not going to call them Soul Eleven Soul,

was awarded an MBE in 2008?

Oh, dear.

Could have been any of them.

Hang on, assuming all of them actually did found Soul II Soul.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, back it up, back it up, back it up.

Hang on, were Rebel MC and Tricky ever in Soul II Soul?

That could be where I'm going wrong.

On the basis I know Jazzie B was in Soul II Soul,

I'll go for Jazzie B.

Jazzie B is right. Dave, do you think the other two

weren't even in the group?

No, well, Rebel MC and Tricky,

-no, they weren't in the group at all, no.

-Yeah.

-No, you're right, they weren't there, Lisa. Well done.

-Cool.

So, let's see. Lisa's got two.

Philippa, you've got one.

To catch up, here's your question.

What name is sometimes given to the end of a violin bow where the

tension of the horse hair can be adjusted?

I have no clue at all,

this wouldn't be, instruments aren't my strong point.

I'm going to say...

..fox. I don't know why but, yes, it's going to be fox.

I know what you mean cos the fox's tail and all that

but is that right, Lisa? Have you got any violin experience?

I used to play but, I mean, I was so bad they barely let me

near the bow, let alone do anything to the tension.

I'd have said frog but I don't know.

Does it look like a frog or something? Frog is the right answer.

Does it look like a frog?

I don't know, it's just one of those words that they just use when

something's a random shape, frog, that's why I'd have gone with it.

Frog is the answer, Philippa, sorry.

Third question to you, Lisa.

Le Donne Letterate is the title of the first opera by which composer?

Le Donne Letterate?

Let's see. All composers, I think, so that doesn't help.

Do I know if any of them wrote one or just more than one

which would also help if it was the first opera?

I don't think I can narrow this down so I will

go for Alessandro Scarlatti.

If Barry was here, I'd ask him.

Antonio Salieri is the answer.

So you have a chance to catch up but you've got to get this one right,

-Philippa.

-No pressure.

The postpunk duo Sleaford Mods

formed in which UK city?

I don't know this one either.

I would say and this could be totally wrong,

but I'm saying Birmingham cos I think

that there's quite a lot of like mod bands or whatever from there.

I could be wrong so I'm going to go with Birmingham.

OK, they are quite obscure and I love postpunk.

Dave, do you know?

Apparently it's Nottingham, well,

-Pat and Kevin told me.

-OK.

HE LAUGHS

It's a hard old question. The Sleaford Mods

formed in Nottingham, Philippa.

So, sorry.

With a smaller CD collection

but just one extra correct answer,

Lisa is through to the final and you've been knocked out.

Don't worry, though, plenty of time to come back.

Do return to us and we'll play on.

So we had the word frog came up there

and it was part of the violin bow

and it's also the indentation on a brick. That's a frog.

See, told you, weird shape, call it a frog.

And have a guess what the little bit,

sort of hollowed out bit is on a horse's hoof.

That's a frog, yeah.

Anyway, as it stands... I'm sorry the frog was your undoing there.

..The Swans have lost two brains from the final round.

It's time, I think, to turn it around. This is the moment.

The Eggheads have not lost one so far so, Shantel,

whatever strategy you've got, now is the moment.

-Bring out the spreadsheets.

-Game play, yeah.

-Game play.

All right, next subject for you is History.

Who would like this?

-What do you reckon?

-It's going to have to be you, Simon,

-in case sport comes up next.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Simon? Okey dokey.

And which Egghead? You can have Pat or Dave or Kevin.

-Dave, I think.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK. Big Dave, please.

Challenge Dave.

Right, Simon from Swans versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave

from the Eggheads.

-Always feel it's a hex to say that before you go in.

-Absolutely.

Do you want to take your positions in the Question Room, please?

OK, well, you're up against Dave on History. He can be good on History.

-He has his good days, don't you, Dave?

-I have my good days, yes.

But I can have bad days as well.

So, Simon, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, here is your first question. Good luck, Simon.

Which medieval village near Perth was the traditional

crowning place of Scottish kings?

Right, I'm not too sure about this one.

I'll go down the middle, Glencoe.

It has, no, it's not Glencoe.

It has a famous stone of Scone association,

so it is, I say "Scoon" for this, is that right?

-That one is, yes.

-Scone is the answer.

OK, Dave, your question.

The 13th century traveller and writer

Marco Polo was a native of which Italian city?

Right, I don't think it's Florence, I don't think it's Rome,

I think it's Venice.

It is Venice. Well done.

Simon,

which English king appointed John Balliol King of Scotland?

I think that, Jeremy,

I think it's Edward I.

Bang on. Edward I is right.

Played with great conviction, well done.

Dave,

the historical region of Asia Minor roughly constituted

the Asian part of which modern-day country?

I'll go, of those three,

Turkey.

I think it has to be, doesn't it?

Turkey is the right answer. So Dave's in the lead.

It means you do need to get

this one right, Simon.

Whom did Benjamin Disraeli describe as "that unprincipled maniac"?

I'm not sure again with this one, Jeremy.

I think I'll go...

William Pitt the Younger.

Anyone give us any background on this, Eggs?

His great rivalry was with Gladstone.

Yeah, so we're thinking it's Disraeli, Gladstone,

Disraeli, Gladstone, like that.

Yes, but Palmerston was a near

contemporary of them as well

and he was, shall we say,

a controversial character

in his own right but it's

most likely to be Gladstone.

William Gladstone is the right answer here.

The two of them were boxing and coxing

for many years. So Dave has triumphed in that round.

Simon has been knocked out.

Looking difficult for our Challengers.

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

OK, Shantel, any thoughts now on the strategy?

We've been quite unlucky with some of our subjects

so fingers crossed on the last one.

I know you're good quizzers, there's no doubt about that.

So the Swans have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any. Let's see if you can turn it around.

Only a few days ago,

a team won having been reduced to a single player in the final.

So it's honestly, still got petrol in the tank.

The next subject is Arts & Books.

-SHE GASPS Is this good?

-No.

-The worst?

Yeah, this is our worst possible scenario.

-Who would like it?

-It's going to be me.

OK, Shantel and against which Egghead?

It's got to be Kevin or Pat.

We'll try and take out Kevin.

I'll try and take out...

Well, somebody did this the other day

and you got knocked off your perch.

In fact, you were seen in the Question Room,

looking around as if to say, "What is this place?"

THEY LAUGH You hadn't seen it before.

So Shantel from The Swans

versus Kevin from the Eggheads.

Arts & Books. Come on, Shantel, this is the moment.

Good luck. Please go to the Question Room.

I hope you do well against Kevin here.

See if you can get him out, Shantel.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second, please, Jeremy.

So, Arts & Books. Kevin, your first question.

Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome

is a comic story of a trip down which river?

They are on the Thames, I believe.

Yes, they are on the Thames.

What was the first line of that book, do you remember? Anybody?

-Oh, you don't know?

-Sorry.

Well, I think the first line of Three Men In A Boat is,

-"There were four of us."

-OK.

-I think that's it.

Shantel, here's your question.

Aesop was the legendary author of a collection of fables,

many of which involved what?

Again, literature's not a great subject for me.

I'm going to go with...

..gods.

Something's telling me I've heard that before, maybe.

It's a bit of a guess.

OK, gods, it is not gods actually.

Aesop's Fables are animals and I remember that only

because I remember having a book as a child

and I'm trying to think of the famous,

the one I always remember is that the fox that was persuaded to give

up its tail by another fox who'd lost its tail.

-Anyone else remember any others?

-The Fox And The Crow.

-The Hare And The Tortoise.

-The Hare And The Tortoise is one?

Kevin, your question. You're in the lead.

Which artistic term refers to the technique of creating

an image with the smoke from a lighted candle?

Well, um...

..vaporisation seems a much more general term

and so does hazing but fumage would obviously relate to smoke.

I don't think I've come across it as an art term so maybe

it's in there as a red herring but it seems like the logical one.

The other two seem more, or too general, so fumage.

Fumage is correct.

Can't think of having heard that before myself, either.

Shantel, back to you.

So he's got two and you need to get this one right.

Which of these is a collection of poems by Philip Larkin?

Again, a little bit of a guess.

I'm going to go with Lyrical Ballads.

No, and I'm just trying to think who that's by.

Hawk In The Rain I'm guessing is Ted Hughes, is it?

And Larkin is High Windows.

So High Windows is the right answer.

Lyrical Ballads, it could be almost any poet, couldn't it?

-Wordsworth/Coleridge.

-Who is it, Kevin?

-Is it Wordsworth?

A collaboration between Wordsworth and Coleridge.

OK, so it's a famous poetry book, is it?

Yeah, it is. I wouldn't swear to that being the only Lyrical Ballads

cos it's a fairly obvious title but the most

famous one is probably the one between Wordsworth and Coleridge.

So, sorry that wasn't right, Shantel. High Windows it was

and as Kevin's done one of his storming

runs there, you've been knocked out, I'm sorry.

Let's see how the Challengers do in the final round, it's coming.

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, sadly it's Shantel and Philippa and Simon

and Nick from The Swans, would you please leave the studio?

OK, Roger, you're playing to win The Swans £6,000.

Kevin, Dave, Lisa, Pat and CJ,

you're playing for something that money cannot buy, which is

the Eggheads' reputation

and to keep this little roll we've got going carrying on.

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, Roger, the question is, can your one brain defeat these five?

So, fingers crossed, Roger.

Just tell me whether you would like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go, your question, Roger.

Which pop singer made a four-episode cameo as Joni Preston

in the TV soap Coronation Street in 2015?

Sarah Harding.

Oh, straight there. You watched it.

Yeah, I do tend to watch Coronation Street,

yeah, so I think it's Sarah Harding.

I think she was the manager of a bar.

Yeah, well, they're all clapping you backstage.

So, well done, Sarah Harding it is.

OK, Eggheads.

Ashtanga and kundalini are both types of which practice?

Ashtanga's a yoga.

Kundalini's yoga, isn't it?

Kundalini's yoga, isn't it?

Yes, it is, yeah. Happy with that.

We think that they are types of yoga.

Yoga is correct, well done.

Back to you, Roger. For what does the first P stand

in the abbreviation TPP,

the name of an intercontinental trade deal announced in 2015?

I'm not sure about that. I don't think it's prices.

Because it's intercontinental, I would probably have thought...

I would say Pacific.

Pacific is the right answer. Well done, you.

OK, so Roger's in the lead.

We're playing for £6,000 here.

And you, Eggs, I know what happens when you get nervous.

In which European country was the political party Podemos

formed in 2014?

Podemos.

Spain, Spain, Spain.

-Are we happy with Spain?

-Spain.

I think that, it's made great

progress very quickly in Spain.

Spain is right.

I wish you could shake them off more easily,

Roger, that's annoying.

They were a bit too confident there, weren't they?

So, get this one right and you may not need to do any more work today.

What was the first planet in our solar system to be discovered

through the use of a telescope?

I don't think it was Uranus.

It's either Neptune or Mars.

I would say Neptune.

Neptune is your answer.

-I think that is the furthest one. Is it the furthest one?

-It is.

But we think, I think it's Uranus in 1781.

So the first one to be discovered through the use of a telescope

was Uranus.

So you have two points,

Roger, they have two points.

You're playing for £6,000.

If they get this wrong, we go to Sudden Death.

Otherwise the contest is over.

The actor Jason Statham

represented Great Britain in which sport, Eggies?

-I think we all like diving?

-Diving.

Diving, he was a diver.

No question, diving.

He was a diver, so it's diving.

You love questions like this, don't you?

You love ones that somebody famous for one thing did something else.

They're attractive little...

Cos you know that's what quizzes are made of.

Diving is the answer.

So, we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

-1990 at the Commonwealth Games.

-Yes, it was.

-I understand.

-Before the acting.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, Roger, sorry about that

and to all of you brilliant Swans sitting backstage.

You gave us a good game there. Commiserations to you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues.

We'll stay away from telescopes for a while. That would be annoying.

So it does mean that The Swans are not going home with £6,000.

We will take that money and roll it over to the next show, why not?

Eggheads, I'm going to call it a roll and I'm also going

to say that I don't see that you're ever going to be stopped.

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers can do it.

£7,000 says they can't defeat the Eggheads.

Till then, goodbye.