Episode 47 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.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are...

Now, this team are all members

of Saltford Tennis Club in Bristol and regularly quiz together

at their local pub, The Brassmill.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Sally and I'm an occupational therapist.

Hi, I'm James and I work in public relations.

Hi, I'm Helen and I'm a charity administrator.

Hi, I'm Chris and I'm a printer.

Hi, I'm Julie. I'm an administrator.

-So, Sally and team, welcome. ALL:

-Thank you.

Good to see you. So it's mainly tennis that brings you together?

Yes, Jeremy. We've all played tennis at one point

for Saltford Tennis Club, the local club.

And we know each other through other activities too.

-Netball as well, I gather?

-Yeah, obviously only the women,

-but we've all played that.

-Well, I don't know. Isn't that...?

Could you play a bit of netball, Chris?

If I can get the skirt to fit, yes.

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And other things too?

-Well, and we quiz a lot together.

-Ah!

OK, well, tell me about that.

Well, about twice a month, we try and do at the local pub quiz

-and we actually win a fair amount of the time.

-Brilliant.

And when you are asked questions in the pub, do you listen to them?

-LAUGHTER Cos...

-It helps.

We try to, we do try to.

Yeah, because we had some incidents in the last game where I think

you wouldn't mind me saying you just didn't listen to anything at all.

Well, I rescued them from one question

that somebody didn't listen to.

-And then got it wrong on the next.

-LAUGHTER

Anyway, they've had a little bit of a turbulence

in the last game or two.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money rolls over to our next show.

Now, Double Fault, despite their problems,

the Eggheads are on a streak - they've won the last nine.

It means £10,000 is here for you to win today.

Oh, no pressure(!)

-Would you like to give it a go?

-Yeah, we definitely want to.

All right. First head-to-head battle is on the subject of History.

-Oh.

-Who would like this?

-Oh, I'll try it then.

-I might have to go.

-Oh, yeah.

-One of you two?

-Me or who?

-I think Sally or Helen.

-Me or Helen?

-I'm not very good at...

-You can do geography later. OK, shall I do it?

-Yes.

-Against?

-OK, and against...

-Sally, team captain.

-Yes, I'm going to go for History.

-What do you reckon? CJ maybe?

-I don't know, what do you think?

-Yeah, um...

-Who?

I think CJ maybe, I don't know. Chris, CJ?

I'll... Let's try...Chris.

-You don't sound convinced.

-No, I'm not.

Yeah. So, OK.

Sally from Double Fault versus Chris from the Eggheads on History.

And just to make sure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our famous Question Room?

Chris, I'm not sure I've ever asked

you what your favourite period of history is.

Probably the Edwardian era or, going back 50 years before that,

so the golden age of the likes of IK Brunel.

Oh, I thought you'd say Second World War,

but that's... By then, you were beginning to wane a bit, were you?

Well, I lived through a lot of the aftermath of that.

I mean, London, when I was a very small child,

was still in a shocking state from the bombing.

-Yeah.

-Mm.

-So it doesn't feel like history.

-No.

It was last week's news when I was a kid.

Amazing. All right, well, good luck, Sally. In this round,

-would you like to go first or second?

-I think I'd like to go

second, please, Jeremy.

OK, so, Chris, your first history question.

-The Stockton and Darlington Railway...

-Oh!

LAUGHTER

-Fix!

-JEREMY CHUCKLES

That's funny. You've given him the railway question.

-Oh... Right.

-He loves his trains.

..the world's first steam passenger railway was opened in which year?

Oh, dear, what a basic, elemental question.

-It's almost...

-HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

It's 1825, Jeremy.

You can translate for us, if you like.

Well, it's actually a quote from Gotterdammerung.

"It almost shames me to mess about with these people."

LAUGHTER They've given you a question

-that's too simple.

-Yeah.

1825 is the right answer.

I'm afraid the chance of him getting that wrong, Sally,

was remote or slight.

Your question. What was Lenin's real surname?

Ooh, I think I actually know that one. Um...

And I'm pretty sure I don't...I'm not sure how to pronounce it,

but it's Ulyanov.

Ulyanov is right, well done. Good stuff.

Chris, which of these people used the ancient alphabet called Ogham?

It's a strange system of carving things on the edges of stones.

It was the Celts.

It was the Celts, well done. Two for you. Back to you, Sally.

In which century did the first known Viking raid destroy

the monastery at Lindisfarne?

I can't even think around this one.

I should know about the Vikings but when they destroyed Lindisfarne...

I don't think it was as late as the 8th century.

Um...

I'm going to go down the middle and say the 4th century but

I'm not confident in that at all.

All right, let me check with the Eggheads.

Eggs, can we do this with King Alfred or something or what?

-No, it's before Alfred.

-Before Alfred.

The Lindisfarne one was 793 so that's just in the 8th century.

Yeah. So Kevin says it was 793.

He's got it marked in his diary somewhere.

-8th century is the answer, Sally, sorry.

-OK.

-All right.

-Your question, Chris.

-Yeah.

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

What was the subject of the Victorian collecting craze called

pteridomania, that was reflected in the decorative arts of the period?

-I can spell it for you, if you want.

-Mm-hm.

It's P-T-E-R-I and then DOMANIA, all one word.

Ah, yes, they almost drove some species to extinction.

It was fern collecting, so it's ferns.

If you've got this right, you are in the final round.

So they had a lot of Victorian-style wallpaper and stuff with ferns on.

They used to go out literally hunting ferns and digging them up.

Yes, now you mention it. I can see it in my mind's eye.

Ferns is correct. Chris, you're in the final round. Well done.

-Sorry, Sally.

-OK.

Going second and the wrong answer and that bloomin' train question.

-Yeah.

-Did for you, I'm afraid.

-That was unfortunate.

Don't worry though. You can still captain your team

and we'll see what happens next. Please rejoin us.

So, awkward start for Double Fault.

They've lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still sitting there

hoping to continue this roll they're on.

-It's Geography now.

-Oh!

-Geography.

-Sorry, Sally.

-That was yours, Sally.

-I wanted to do geography.

-That's my favourite one.

-It's what you wanted, I'm sorry.

-Yeah, that's really...

-So who would like this?

-Helen?

-It would have to be Helen.

-OK.

-I think it would be Helen against CJ.

-Oh, gosh.

-All right.

I can tell you watch the programme.

So, Helen from Double Fault versus CJ,

who hopefully will not get lost on the way to the Question Room.

And to ensure there is no conferring, would you head there

and possibly someone can take CJ.

-So, Helen, you've lived all over the world.

-I have, yes.

My father was a helicopter engineer

and he started off working in Nigeria when he was younger

and then when I was born we went to Iran and Singapore and Abu Dhabi,

and then he ended up in Trinidad and Tobago when I was older.

So, yeah, I've travelled a lot and really enjoyed it.

-What a life.

-Yeah, it was really good.

Amazing wildlife and amazing people, cultures, yeah.

I was very privileged.

How about you, CJ? Can you match that?

-You've been to Amsterdam.

-I've been to Amsterdam.

-I think I've been to 52 countries so far.

-Oh, wow.

I want to get to 100 countries, that would be my aim.

OK, we are sort of landlocked here in the studio so it won't happen now

but we can range throughout the world with this particular category.

So, Helen, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

Here we are with your first question. Good luck.

Which word is taken from Dutch

and refers to a low-lying land reclaimed from the sea or a river?

-Polder.

-Oh, yeah. Bang on. That's not easy either.

I know what scree is. What's esker?

It's a hill formed by glaciers.

-A hill formed by glaciers?

-Mm-hm.

OK. CJ.

Which term refers to the arm of the Atlantic Ocean

that stretches between Canada and Greenland?

Uh, the Baltic Sea is in Northern Europe, the Bering Sea

is between Russia and Canada so I think that must be the Labrador Sea.

It is the Labrador Sea, well done. Helen, over to you.

The area called the Heavy Woollen District,

named for the fabric that was manufactured there,

is in which part of the UK?

South Lanarkshire.

OK, you went the way I wasn't expecting there.

What made you do that?

I think I remember it from history. Doing history O-level.

-It is West Yorkshire.

-Oh!

-Let's ask Barry.

When you're thinking of textiles you immediately think of Bradford

and Leeds, they were the great textile centres of the last century.

-And of course a lot of...

-They're in West Yorkshire.

..immigration came there as a result of needing the labour.

That's right, absolutely.

All right, so the answer is West Yorkshire there, Helen. Sorry.

CJ, you can take the lead.

In which city is the monument called Anna Livia,

that was once nicknamed the Floozie in the Jacuzzi?

Could you spell the name, please?

Anna is A-N-N-A and then Livia is L-I-V-I-A.

I haven't heard of Anna Livia but

I have heard of the Floozie in the Jacuzzi

And I thought it was closer to home.

To me it sounds more like an Irish sense of humour

and I thought it was closer to home so I'll try Dublin.

Dublin is the right answer. CJ takes the lead.

So Helen, you are where Sally was and you must get this question

right now to stay in.

The Gulf of Manfredonia forms part of the coastline of which country?

Oh, gosh. I've never heard of it.

Um... Could you spell Manfredonia?

Yeah. M-A-N-F-R-E-D and then O-N-I-A.

All one word, sort of as you'd expect.

OK. I really don't know but I'm going to go for Australia.

Could see why you did that but it's Italy.

Italy is the answer. CJ, well done, you are in the final.

Helen, sorry, you've been knocked out. Do please rejoin your teams.

Double Fault have lost two brains.

-This is what, two serves into the net?

-It is, yeah.

But don't worry, another serve, another game.

The Eggheads are all sitting there.

They were sitting there like that just the other day

and they lost, OK?

So you're not out of it, not by any means, as you know.

-Music is the next subject for you.

-Ooh, we like that one.

-Good.

-We like that.

-Who would like that?

-Chris.

-Chris again.

-I'll do music, Jeremy.

-Chris, OK. Against which Egghead?

-Let's just...decide.

-Not Chris or CJ.

-Judith?

-You're probably best...

OK, yeah. I'll play against Judith, please.

OK. So it's going to be Chris from Double Fault.

Judith, this is happening again.

-You've gone everyday Sport to everyday Music.

-Yeah, I know.

But you like melodies and rhythms.

Well, I do but I don't know their names.

Oh, yes, of course. That is the small problem.

To ensure there is no conferring, please go to the special room.

Chris, you must tell me about your band.

Yes, Jeremy.

We haven't performed for a while but my band is called Squeezed Middle

and I'm a big fan of Difford and Tilbrook.

Oh, right, who were in Squeeze. Of course, they were Squeeze.

And Jools Holland, of course.

We do a few Squeeze numbers,

Beatles, Stones, a bit of Paolo Nutini.

Yeah, I enjoy it. I'm a singer in the band, so yeah.

Good. I hope you enjoy making the music, that's fantastic.

And I'm also hoping that music doesn't veer into areas you're

-unfamiliar with.

-Me too, Jeremy.

So would you like to go first or second against Judith?

I'll go first, please.

And here is your first question, Chris.

Which of these patriotic songs includes the line,

"Thy choicest gifts in store"?

OK, Jeremy.

I haven't heard the line at all.

Admittedly, everyone seems to know

the first verse of the National anthem.

CJ SPEAKS SILENTLY

I am going to go for I Vow To Thee My Country.

OK, let's just work this one out.

-Team, do you know?

-The National anthem.

The National anthem.

-So where does it...?

-Uh!

-Let's just work this one out.

-I'm pretty sure it's the second verse.

-The second verse?

-Yes.

# Thy choicest gifts in store. #

-I can only do it if I sing it and I'm not doing it.

-You can say it.

Yeah, sorry, Chris. It is the National anthem.

OK, Judith.

The singer Muddy Waters was famous

for his performances in which musical genre?

Muddy Waters. Not comic opera, anyhow. Blues.

Blues is correct.

Chris, back to you.

"Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?"

is the first line of the hit song by which band?

This is more like it, Jeremy.

-That is The Stranglers.

-Yeah!

-No More Heroes.

Of course. I bet you could sing the whole song.

I could do but I'm not going to now.

-# Whatever happened to...

-Leon Trotsky! #

What a song that is.

Judith, you would not have got that.

-No, I wouldn't. Of course not.

-OK.

Your question, Ms Keppel.

The composer Igor Stravinsky was born in which year?

Well, I think that must be 1882.

I think it must be 1882.

Born in 1882. You're right, Judith. Well done, two points to you.

All right, Chris, your question.

Because of the National anthem thing,

you've got to get this one right.

In 2005, which artist achieved the 1,000th number one single on

the official UK charts with One Night?

I know Elvis, he did One Night With You.

Um...

But that would've been a rerelease, obviously.

Huh! I'm going to have to...

..go with Cliff Richard.

OK. It's wrong.

The funny thing is, you said the right answer because

it is an Elvis song, you're right.

-# One night with you. #

-Yeah.

Elvis Presley is the answer, Chris, sorry.

Yeah, it was a reissue, obviously, of the old song.

Sorry about that. You've been knocked out by Judith. Well done.

OK, Chris and Judith, please come back and rejoin your teams

and we'll see what happens next.

So, tricky, Sally, at this point. Where are we in terms of tennis?

We need new balls, I guess. THEY LAUGH

We need a whole new match, actually.

Well, you're not out of it, that's the key thing.

With the tennis match, you can always come back.

Double Fault on this side have lost three brains.

The Eggheads have not lost any

and they are on this somewhat powerful run

so let's try and stop them.

The next subject is Film & TV.

Who would like this?

-Julie.

-You'd be good at this.

-Yes.

-Are you sure?

-Yes, are you sure?

-Yeah.

-Are you OK, James? Definitely.

-Against?

-Oh, right, let's go...

All right, Julie. You can have either Kevin or Barry.

Barry...

I think I'll take on Kevin, please.

So, Julie from Double Fault will be serving at Kevin from the Eggheads.

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

Film & TV is the subject.

Julie, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

All right, Julie, good luck. Here is your first question.

The Greendale Rocket is a steam engine that has featured

in which children's TV programme?

Greendale I...

Well, usually you say this, it's never right

but I'm going to go with Postman Pat.

-Yes, you are right. Well done. The best-known of the three.

-Yeah.

Good strategy, actually, on question one.

Just pick the answer that's most obvious. OK, Kevin.

In which year was Casino Royale released, introducing Daniel Craig

as James Bond for the first time?

Well, the last of the Pierce Brosnan Bonds

was Die Another Day and that was 2002.

Then there was about a four-year gap

before Casino Royale came out with Daniel Craig. So it was 2006.

2006 is correct.

OK, Julie.

Which cult horror film is set on the fictional Hebridean island

of Summerisle?

Again, I am going with the gut, leaning towards The Wicker Man.

Let me see if you're right. Team, what do you think?

-Correct.

-She's right.

-Yeah, you're right.

-Whuf!

-Well done.

-Get in!

Wicker Man, get in!

All Right. Kevin, your question.

Which 1987 film had the famous tag line, "This time it's personal"?

I'm just trying...

I'm just trying to work out how 84 Charing Cross Road,

how that would work. Anyway...

I know it was a sequel of some kind so it must be Jaws - The Revenge.

Jaws - The Revenge is correct.

OK, Julie. Your third question. You're playing well, by the way.

Which country's film industry is known as Ouallywood?

And Oually is O-U-A-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D. Ouallywood.

Ouallywood.

Not one I'm familiar with, I must admit. Um...

And they all begin with M so...

I'll have to go with the gut.

It doesn't make any sense but I'm going towards Mongolia.

-Your inklings have let you down on this occasion. It is Morocco.

-Oh.

I'm just trying to work out why Morocco. Kevin, can you tell us?

I can only assume that the leading studios must be based

-in a place that has that name.

-Oually.

-Of Oually-something, yeah.

Two out of three for you.

Julie, let's see whether that keeps you in.

Kevin's third question for a place in the final.

Which of these TV dramas was created by Russell T Davies?

Well, of those I know...

Well, I think I know that he did Queer As Folk.

Queer As Folk is correct, Kevin.

Three out of three, as you so often do.

You are in the final. Sorry, Julie.

-That's OK.

-There you go.

-He does tend to do that, I'm afraid.

-Yeah.

-Brave of you to take him on.

Somebody has to do it. Come back to us and we will play the final round.

We heard of Ouallywood there.

We haven't done a lot of Ouallywood questions before.

I've now found out, just so you know. Ouarzazate is this city.

-Oh, Ouarzazat.

-Ouarzazat or Ouarzazate becomes Ouallywood.

That's a place where they filmed a lot of things like Living Daylights,

Gladiator, Kingdom Of Heaven.

It's in the south, on the edge of the desert. I've been there.

-It gives you a lot of... You've been there?

-Yes.

-Well, go on.

Well, there's nothing more to say about it, I've been there.

We want to hear everything.

It's in the south, on the edge of the desert.

There are Kasbahs there which are like villages all in one building.

And they get renewed every spring because they're made entirely of mud

and in the winter they all get washed away.

And so they pat them with bits of mud and put them back together.

The whole village lives in this one building. It's fascinating.

And when you were there, was that the film you were filming

which we can't talk about?

Uh-ha! No, it was a very long time ago.

Where you're starring opposite Bradley Cooper, that one?

Oh, golly, yes. I didn't want to talk about that.

You mustn't say anything until it is properly out.

-Mustn't say anything at all.

-No, nothing at all, Judith.

All right, so now we know. This is what we've 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, Sally, Helen, Chris and Julie from Double Fault,

would you please leave the studio?

OK, James, big moment.

You're playing to win Double Fault £10,000 and your fellow competitors

will be very grateful if you win.

CJ, Barry, Chris, Judith and Kevin, you are playing for something

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

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge. You can confer.

Sorry, that doesn't help you.

So, James, the question is,

can you with your one brain defeat these five in a famous victory?

-We'll see.

-That's the right attitude.

-Good luck. Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go second.

And here is your first question, Eggs.

In televisions that are referred to as being 4K,

4K refers to roughly 4,000 what?

-It's pixels. It's the definition of a screen.

-The resolution.

-Are we all happy with pixels?

-Yes.

Yes, these are televisions that have suddenly come to the fore.

There's not really much point in buying them because although

they're 4K and they show 4,000 pixels, which is the right answer,

there's not many programmes that are put out in 4K.

So you don't actually get a chance to see them very much.

But the answer is pixels.

Pixels is the right answer.

-I should've gone first, I've got a 4K TV.

-You've got a 4K TV?

-Probably should've taken that one.

-Are you able to see it OK?

I think it's one of those things, like Barry said,

technology advances so much that you buy it and it might be the best

thing then but it's always going to improve.

-Is it almost too good for your eyes?

-The picture quality is fantastic.

Particularly for watching sport or something like that,

the picture quality is very good.

Cos I met the BBC person in charge of HD and I said,

"Mine doesn't seem to be HD."

And she worked out it was cos I was sitting too far away from the TV.

She said, "If you sit closer, it will look better."

-That is a cheaper way of doing it.

-Get a smaller telly.

Or get a new pair of glasses.

OK, James. Sorry, we're mucking around here. £10,000 to play for.

Which company announced that they would cease making their Defender

model in early 2016 after 67 years of continuous production?

Well, out of all of those, mostly logical name would suggest

it would be Land Rover so I'll go for Land Rover.

Spot on, well done. Land Rover it is.

Eggheads, your second question.

The state of Oregon has an unusual flag with the state seal on one side

and a golden image of which creature on the other?

-The Beaver State, isn't it

-Yeah, it's the Beaver State, Oregon.

-Sheldon Cooper presents them with flags. Ha-ha-ha!

-Yes.

Oregon is known as the Beaver State

so I think that might be a clue of what's on the flag.

The answer is beaver.

Beaver is the right answer.

The striped skunk would be an unusual one, wouldn't it?

OK, James, back to you. To catch up, your question.

The term vespertine refers to which part of the day?

I've not heard it before, vespertine.

Perhaps wrongly, I'm going to rule out midday.

Vespertine. I'll try, just a guess, evening.

-Eggheads, is he right?

-Yes.

-Vespers is an evening service.

Vespers is the keyword, as Barry says, evening service.

so evening is right. Two out of two.

You've given them the initiative by letting them go first.

If they get this right, there's going to be pressure on you

so keep focused there.

Stay in 4K mode.

Eggheads, the famous epitaph that reads,

"When you go home, tell them of us

"and say for your tomorrow we gave our today,"

is named after which Second World War battle?

-It's the Kohima epitaph.

-It can't be Monte Cassino.

No. There's no epitaph I know for Arnhem.

-We all happy which Kohima?

-Yes.

We believe the answer to that is Kohima.

A little-known battle, unfortunately.

And you're right. Kohima is correct. So three out of three.

Can you get three out of three or is the contest over?

James, this is your moment.

If you get it right, we go to Sudden Death.

£10,000 we are playing for.

Here is your question. Tetum is an official language in which country?

That's spelt T-E-T-U-M.

Don't know again. I've not heard it. I'm trying to think of the...

..the language and if there is any link.

I don't know so I have to guess.

I will have a guess at the Philippines.

Understood. Big country. Which one is it?

I think it's East Timor.

-East Timor.

-Yeah.

Which is, I was going to say, a smaller country

but maybe there's a lot of...

You wouldn't think they'd have their own language there.

It's a very small country but they

have got their own language, yeah.

So the answer is East Timor and we have to say congratulations,

Eggheads, you have won.

-James, sorry, you were chasing them there.

-Yeah.

And then the third question correct

always puts the pressure on, doesn't it?

-Yeah. I'd not heard of that before.

-I hadn't either. Tetum.

Tetum, East Timor. OK.

Commiserations to you and your team, Double Fault.

Great to see you all. Thanks for playing.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and this winning streak continues with a bit of swagger as well.

It does mean that you won't be going home with the £10,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done again.

I don't think you're ever going to lose.

Join us next time to see

if a new team of Challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£11,000 says they won't do it. Till then, goodbye.