Episode 45 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 what is this, the 1,500th show?

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

-That's right.

-It is.

And so if we go back 1,500, were any of you there at the very start?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-The three on the left.

-The three on the end.

-Well, from the others, a round of applause.

Guys!

One of the longest-running quiz shows in British TV history.

Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today

on this historic show - you've chosen a good moment...

Now, this team are all fourth-year students

at St Catharine's College in Cambridge. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Jonny, and I'm a law student.

Hi, I'm Will and I'm an engineering student.

Hi, I'm Alice and I'm a modern and medieval languages students.

Hi, I'm Robbie and I'm a law student.

Hi, I'm Stewart and I'm a natural sciences student.

So, Jonny and team, welcome, good to see you.

-Thank you.

-Jonny, tell us about the college.

Well, we're all members of St Catharine's College in Cambridge,

which is a nice, medium-sized old college in Cambridge.

It's well known for being a social college, good at sports,

so we hope we reflect that.

And "for the wheel" is the motto, is it?

It is, yeah. Well, St Catharine,

after whom the college is named, the symbol is a Catherine Wheel,

so whenever we play any sport or do anything for the college,

it's just the informal thing that we say before we go in to do it.

-Oh, you say, "For the wheel"?

-For the wheel.

-As in, for the college?

-Yes.

-Good stuff.

-Exactly.

-Wonderful. OK, good luck, team.

Every day, there is £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs for our challengers.

That's not been subject to inflation, that figure, has it?

THEY LAUGH Over the years?

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, For The Wheel, the Eggheads have won the last seven games,

so they're doing pretty well, they're getting into their stride.

And that means £8,000 says you can't beat them.

-Would you like to try?

-We'll have a go.

-I think so.

-Brilliant stuff.

Well, the first round is on Film & TV, so who is the square eyes?

-I think that's me.

-Will.

-Will.

-Will, please.

-Yes.

-OK, Will, against which Egghead, Will?

You can have anyone, you can have one of the classic Eggs, if you want.

Yeah, I think I'll go for Kevin, please.

OK. Start at the top.

Very good. Will from For The Wheel, versus Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to the special question room.

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

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

Good luck. The title of the long-running BBC antiques show

is Cash In The...what?

I'm pretty sure my mum watches every now and again,

I believe that's attic, Jeremy.

Cash In The Attic, well done.

Kevin. The novelist Alex Garland both directed and wrote

the screenplay for which 2015 film?

Well, The Martian was Ridley Scott, and Slow West was John...

Whose surname escapes me just at the moment.

But Alex Garland did Ex Machina.

Ex Machina is quite right. Well done.

Will, in which 1990s film did

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro appear

on screen together for the first time?

I have heard this before.

I don't believe it's Meet The Parents.

Um, I think they were both in Heat,

but I can't remember if it was the first,

but as I think they were both in it, I'll go with Heat.

Yeah, I think Cape Fear was just Robert De Niro.

Heat is the right answer, well done, Will.

Two points to you, playing well.

Kevin. Who is the director of The Force Awakens,

the seventh film in the Star Wars series?

He seems to be the go-to man for rebooting franchises.

It's a JJ Abrams.

JJ Abrams is right.

Back to you, Will. 2-2.

Who played the title role in the 1990 TV film Goodnight, Mr Tom?

Um, I remember reading the book about this,

but I've not seen the TV or film.

This will have to be a guess, so I think I'll go with Denis Lawson.

-Is he right, Kevin?

-John Thaw.

John Thaw is the answer.

Two out of three. See if Kevin can book his seat in the final.

Here we go. In which 2014 film did Jude Law play

a submarine captain looking for Nazi gold?

It's where it was...

The title of the film comes from where it's actually set,

it's Black Sea.

Black Sea is the right answer, Kevin, three out of three.

Sorry, Will, it is very hard to beat him.

You had a good go at it, though.

You've been knocked out, Kevin's in the final.

Early days. Rejoin your teams, please.

So, as it stands, For The Wheel have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads are still sitting pretty.

The next subject is Arts & Books.

This is good, isn't it, students?

THEY LAUGH

-Planned for this one.

-You read a lot of books!

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

-OK.

Alice? OK. Modern and medieval languages.

Against what, or who?

Against "what"?!

I don't know.

-Take Dave.

-OK.

Against Dave, please.

All right. Alice from For The Wheel versus Dave with the tremendous

knowledge, from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Arts & Books. Alice, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

And here is your first question.

Which mythical creatures feature significantly

in the popular Game Of Thrones series of books by George RR Martin?

I do know this one, and that's dragons.

Dragons is right.

Over to you, Dave.

Which English landscape artist became known

as the "painter of light", due to his use of brilliant colours?

-Landscape painter?

-Yeah.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY

Use of colours? I'm not too sure,

but, I'm going to go JMW Turner.

Yeah, Turner is correct.

I suppose Stubbs, we think of the horse, don't we?

Yeah, but Gainsborough was throwing me a little bit,

but, yeah.

Alice, back to you.

Which character in A Midsummer Night's Dream utters

the line, "Lord, what fools these mortals be"?

I'm going to go with the logic that Oberon is not mortal.

I'm not entirely sure.

So I'll go with Oberon.

OK, Oberon is your answer.

-Is she right, Eggheads?

-It's Puck, I think.

-Puck.

-Yeah, we think it's Puck at this end.

Dave, your question. Which author won the 2015 Man Booker prize?

I think he's the first Jamaican to win that award.

It's Marlon James.

Marlon James is correct.

So you need to get this one right to stay in, Alice.

What was the first name of the 18th-century Italian painter Tiepolo?

Er, I have no idea.

So...

And I don't think I can work it out particularly easily,

so I'll go for Giorgio.

Giorgio's wrong. I'm sorry.

It's Giovanni.

-Difficult one.

-Yeah.

So you have been knocked out by Tremendous Knowledge Dave,

cos there's no way back from that position and, Dave,

you will be in the final. Well done.

Return to us, please, and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, For The Wheel have lost

a couple of brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any. I'm just wondering if your run

is going to really power-up now, Eggheads,

or will you be stopped in your tracks?

Let's see. The next subject is Politics.

-Who would like this?

-Yeah, go on, Rob.

OK, Rob.

THEY CONFER

I think we'll take Lisa, please.

So it's going to be Robbie from From The Wheel against Lisa

from the Eggheads. Please go to the question room.

Robbie, on Politics, would you like to first or second?

I think I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here is your question, Robbie. Good luck to you. Which word

often appears in the national press referring

to Britain's possible departure from the European Union?

That'll be Brexit, Jeremy.

It is Brexit, yes.

Lisa, of which country

was Justin Trudeau elected prime minister in 2015?

I think that's Canada.

Canada is right. Oh, we are screaming along here.

Robbie, who was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party in 2015?

Deputy leader. Um, probably should know this, Jeremy,

but I've got to say I don't know it off the top of my head.

From gut instinct I'm going to go with Andy Burnham.

Team, what do you think?

-Tom Watson.

-Yeah, it's Tom Watson, Robbie.

Lisa's chance to take the lead.

Which of these British Prime Ministers

was elected to office with over 14 million votes - the most in history?

What a question. 14 million. It's what you base that on.

I think turnout has probably gone down slightly

from Thatcher to Cameron, but population's gone up.

So the number in and of itself doesn't help very much.

That said, if you're looking at margins of victory,

then Thatcher's... were probably the biggest.

Let's not prolong the agony.

I'll go for Margaret Thatcher.

It's a funny one. It's not the one you expect.

-It's John Major.

-Interesting.

-Oh!

-In 1992...

So that's a turnout thing, when everyone came out to make sure it

-wasn't Kinnock?

-You're absolutely right.

That is exactly the answer, yeah.

-Bother.

-So, there we go. John Major is the answer.

OK, Robbie.

Which Conservative MP was appointed

Chief Whip to the House of Commons in May 2015?

Again this isn't one I know off the top of my head, I'm afraid, Jeremy.

Just thinking if there's any bells ringing.

One that sticks out the most is Jeremy Wright,

so I'm just going to have to go with my gut there.

No, it's not. It's actually Mark Harper.

Tough question. Lisa - one point each -

get this right, you're in the final.

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor

of which city in 2011 and again in 2015?

Oh, I couldn't remember whether it was New York or Chicago,

and they're both there!

So, well, I suppose at least then we can assume it's not Baltimore.

I can't remember. I'm just going to have to jump and

hope sudden death is kind.

I'll go for New York. I can't remember.

I think maybe the way to get to this is the Obama connection.

Oh, great, so it's Chicago.

-Yeah, fantastic.

-Chicago is the answer.

I think he pulled some levers for him, so that's good for you, Robbie.

Equal after three questions.

You've been let off the hook twice there.

Need to press the advantage now.

We go to sudden death, Robbie, OK?

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

In which country was Terry Waite kidnapped in 1987?

Got to say...

I don't really have a clue here, Jeremy.

Purely on the basis that there's quite a lot of piracy in Somalia,

I'll go Somalia.

Yeah, it was actually more of a Middle East thing.

-It was Lebanon.

-OK.

Beirut, Lebanon is the answer.

Lisa Thiel, in the closely fought primaries,

who was Barack Obama's main rival, whom he beat in June 2008

to win the Democratic nomination?

There was this really annoying clip they played on Radio 4 of a woman

who was campaigning for her singing...

# H-I-L-L-A-R-Y-C-L-I-N-T-O-N, let's hear it again. #

Isn't that irritating?

I've now inflicted it on you. I think that must be Hillary Clinton.

It is Hillary Clinton. Well done. You're in the final.

Sorry, Robbie, you got knocked out there by our Egghead.

Ran her pretty close in sudden death, but she has triumphed.

Both of you return to your teams, and we'll see what happens next.

So, as it stands, For The Wheel have lost three brains,

the Eggheads are just there, bit of confidence, really annoying,

but maybe you can do something about this.

The next subject is Music.

Is that good?

No, not so good, Jeremy.

-I think it's going to have to be...

-Yeah?

-Good luck.

-Who shall I take on?

-Stuart, OK.

-I think Chris.

-No, I reckon I'll go Judith.

I'll take on Judith, please, Jeremy.

OK, Stuart from For The Wheel, versus Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the question room.

Well, Judith, 1,500 shows.

-Yes!

-And you've been here since the start.

13 years, whatever it is.

Any favourite questions, any favourite moments?

Well, it was quite fun, I did Science -

and science is not my strongest -

but I played Science against a rocket scientist, and I beat him.

That was very good, and then I also had a triumph when I played

Edwina Currie on Politics, and beat her.

-That was good.

-Wonderful.

OK, we'll start with you, Stuart. Would you like to go first

-or second?

-I'll go first, Jeremy.

OK, so Stuart up against Judith.

Stuart, which of these instruments is most likely to be played using wire brushes?

Well, I think, although I wouldn't say music is my strong point,

I'd like to think that's reasonably straightforward,

-and that's the drums, Jeremy.

-Yes, it is the drums.

In fact, if you played electric guitar with wire brushes,

you might have a very nasty shock!

Judith, what was the title

of Guns N' Roses' debut studio album?

I'm not at all sure, but

um...I think it's Like A Virgin.

Well, no, actually it's not.

-That's Madonna.

-Yes, I thought it was.

You thought it was Madonna, and you went for it.

OK, doesn't matter.

It's Appetite For Destruction.

-Right.

-Stuart, back to you.

Judith is obviously doing her kamikaze number today.

In which UK city was the band Supergrass formed?

Well, I don't know this off the top of my head, and the only thing

I'll have to go on is that I know a lot of musical talent has come

out of Liverpool in the past,

so I'll go down the left and go for Liverpool, Jeremy.

OK. No, Oxford is the answer.

Oxford. Judith, your question.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love was a top five UK hit for which group in 1989?

I'm afraid I don't know that, either.

What about Haircut 100?

-I think Dave will know this.

-It's Tears For Fears.

Yeah, Tears For Fears, Judith.

-Oh.

-Tears For Fears.

So, look, the situation has turned to your advantage, Stuart.

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

Which Richard Strauss opera features a character called Zerbinetta?

Well, similarly to last time, I have absolutely no idea.

It will be a complete guess.

I wouldn't have been able to name any one of his operas.

So I will take a punt and go straight down the middle.

Der Rosenkavalier.

No, it's not.

It is Ariadne Auf Naxos.

So, Judith, you're still in with a chance here.

See if we can get on the board.

Krist Novoselic was the bass guitarist

for which of these '90s bands?

Well, again, I have absolutely no idea,

so I'll keep on going down the right and save Pearl Jam.

Is she right, Eggs?

-Nirvana.

-Nirvana.

-Nirvana is the answer, but the good news is, guys,

you've got an extra player in the final.

-Well done, Stuart.

-What a hero!

-Perhaps a bit lucky there.

-Judith knocked out.

Sorry, Nirvana was the answer, Judith.

-That's all right.

-Come back to us. We'll 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,

so will Alice and Robbie from For The Wheel

and also Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So, Johnny and Stuart, you're playing to win For The Wheel £8,000.

Chris, Kevin, Dave, Lisa,

you're playing for something that money can't really buy, as we know,

which is the Eggheads' precious reputation.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge. You are allowed to confer.

So, For The Wheel, the question is,

can your two brains overwhelm these four?

And would you like to go first or second?

-Go first?

-Yeah, go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, Jonny and Stuart. Good luck.

And here is your first question. Which car manufacturer made headlines by admitting

the manipulation of emissions tests in 2015?

-VW.

-Volkswagen.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, we're pretty confident on this one.

We're looking forward to the film,

and we think that's Volkswagen, Jeremy.

Volkswagen is quite right. Well done, guys.

OK, Eggheads, over to you.

Which word refers to fragments of cocoa or coffee beans?

Nibs. Cocoa nibs.

Cocoa nibs.

-Yes.

-Cocoa nibs, yeah.

That's nibs, Jeremy.

Cocoa nibs is right.

OK, challengers, for what does the V stand

in the computing term "vlogger"?

-Video?

-Yes.

Yeah, we think that's video,

-Jeremy.

-As in video logger.

Yes, you're right. Very good.

OK, Eggheads, your second question.

Halfway To Hollywood is the second volume of diaries by which member of

the Monty Python team?

I had a feeling that Cleese was...

..doing something, but Terry Jones is...

I don't know.

I wouldn't have thought it was Palin.

-No, no, no, it's not Palin.

-Palin jumped out at me.

-Why Palin?

-I'm not sure.

I thought that they'd started releasing...

I thought Palin had done a little bit of promotional work.

-On stuff like this.

-OK.

-But don't take that as a given.

It could have been about something else.

Did you say a SECOND volume of memoirs, Jeremy?

Let me read it again.

Halfway To Hollywood is the second volume of diaries

by which member of the Monty Python team?

Diaries suggests Palin, then.

-Yeah.

-Because he's travelling around.

-Yeah.

-But you can make a case for all three, to be perfectly honest,

but go for a vote.

-What are you saying, Palin?

-I'll vote Palin, but...

-What are you saying?

-I think Palin, on the whole.

I think Palin, as well.

The team is going Palin, aren't we?

The team's going Michael Palin, Jeremy.

They came within a whisker of getting it wrong,

-but Palin is the answer.

-Well done, Lisa.

Also, Cleese has been on a publicity tour

and, of course, Terry Jones has a big Hollywood connection,

so that's a very hard question, but well done, Eggheads.

Michael Palin. Impressive performance

by the newest member of the team.

All right, but sorry for you guys, because you were within...

I could smell the money there.

Gosh, it was wafting.

Third question. Get this one right just to see,

they might be a bit shellshocked now.

Which rhetorical term means

an inversion of the usual word order in a sentence?

My teacher will be absolutely killing me - Latin teacher.

I'm just thinking through all the terms we did.

Doing Latin.

I mean,

"anti-" is obviously..

Yeah.

Anaphora is the one that...

The most prevalent one I've seen used in classic literature,

but something just tells me it means something else.

Nothing is jumping out for me.

So I'm happy to go with your gut.

If there's something deep inside that's shouting, "Go for it."

When I saw them, that was the first one that came up.

I would've said chiasmus, personally!

Yeah. And I can't think of any other way of working it out.

There's nothing else, so I'm happy to go with...

I might regret this, but have a go.

We're not sure, Jeremy.

I actually did Latin at A level and we spoke a lot about these terms.

My knowledge of Greek prefixes and suffixes is not strong enough

to be able to work it out fantastically.

We're going to go with anaphora.

OK.

Now, does anyone know, first of all, what antistrophe is?

Yes, it's used in Greek, classical Greek poetry,

so it relates to verse forms, different types of verse forms.

-So it's not that.

-OK, and anaphora?

-That's it.

-You think that's it?

-I think that's right, yeah.

-Oh, that it was.

-Oh, am I wrong?

-No, you were wrong.

-Oh!

-Everyone is wrong.

Anastrophe is the answer,

and an example would be the way Yoda speaks in Star Wars.

"I will not into the kitchen go."

-Wrong we were!

-Wrong you were!

Wrong you were. So anastrophe was the right answer,

which gives the Eggs a chance to take the contest on this question.

Old Providence, formerly an English Puritan colony,

is a Caribbean island belonging to which country?

If it's Caribbean, it's not going to be Colombia, is it?

Yeah, I mean... I don't know. My reasoning would be that

Colombia and Nicaragua are a bit far over, basically.

Because obviously you've got the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

It's surprising... Colombia... I'm not so sure about Nicaragua,

but Colombia has got some islands

that are quite far out into the Gulf of Mexico, let's say,

but would it actually go into the Caribbean?

I mean, the logical thing, because of where it is,

is the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic, yeah.

That's half of Hispaniola.

Without actually knowing it, the percentage guess is

Dominican Republic, but simply because of where it is

in relation to what you normally think of as the Caribbean.

I'm prepared to go with you two.

It could be. There are all these little islands.

But the thing is, we're not going to make a logical case

for the other islands, so we've got to go with...

Is that OK?

-Go with Dominican?

-Yes, I think so.

Dominican Republic is half of Hispaniola.

The other half being Haiti.

And that is more...

shall we say, pirate waters in the 17th century and therefore open to

English settlement.

Nicaragua and Colombia, of course, was Spanish at that time, so...

..our percentage guess would be Dominican Republic.

It is the wrong answer.

Colombia is the answer.

So off the hook.

-We're back in.

-This is a tight game.

All right, we go to sudden death.

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

Here's your first question. On 18th April 2013,

a plaque was unveiled at Epsom Racecourse

to mark the anniversary of whose death?

The first thought I've got was...

-..Sir Henry Cecil.

-Yeah.

The Frankel trainer.

But I'm just thinking back to when Frankel won.

I'm wondering whether that might be a bit early.

April 2013.

I can't really think of anyone else, and he was so loved.

Flat-racing legend.

Yeah, happy to go with that.

-Nothing else to go on.

-Yeah.

Our best guess, Jeremy, is a guy who was a trainer.

We think he died not too long before that time.

The trainer of horses, including Frankel,

so we're going to say Sir Henry Cecil.

I think when I throw it over to the side, they will say something else.

-Emily Davison.

-Emily Davison, the suffragette.

Emily Davidson.

Eggheads, this for the round.

The title of which 2015 film starring Emily Blunt

is Spanish for assassin or hit man?

-Sicario.

-Sicario.

-Sicario.

-Sicario.

-S-I-C-A-R-I-O.

-Yeah, yeah.

That is Sicario,

-Jeremy.

-You seem pretty certain about that.

Well, Kevin does. What he doesn't know about film...

-Good film.

-Good film.

£8,000 on the table for our challengers.

Is the contest over?

The 2015 film has the title Sicario.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Well played.

It was that wretched anastrophe, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Because that would have...

My old Latin teacher will have kittens when he sees that.

It was obscure.

We would have gone the wrong way.

Also, you didn't get it, either, so, yeah, commiserations.

I can see you are great quizzers,

and I'm sure you will go on to great things.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues.

A bit of wind in their sails now.

It does mean you're not going home with the £8,000,

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

Who is ever going to beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains

to defeat them. See if I can will it to happen.

£9,000 says they don't.

They're going to get up to 10,000 soon, let's see.

Until next time, goodbye.