Episode 61 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.

-And here they are - the Eggheads.

-Hello.

-Was that a big enough build-up?

-Yes.

-Cos you are not really modest, are you? ALL:

-Well...

It depends what you call modesty.

No, you're not modest, take it from me.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are the Drama Queens from Nottinghamshire.

This team are all members

of the East Leake Amateur Players

and regularly quiz together at their local, the Nags Head.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Annette and I'm a retired university librarian.

Hello, I'm Tara and I'm a lawyer.

Hello, I'm Geoff and I'm an IT technician.

Hello, I'm Gill and I'm a solicitor.

Hi, I'm Sonya and I'm a team assistant.

-So, Annette and team, great to see you. Thanks for coming.

-Thank you.

And tell us about the Nags Head, Annette.

The Nags Head is very much a locals' pub, for local people.

And so, four us here in the team, we quiz there regularly.

We really like the quizzing,

but I mean, we like the banter with the other teams as well.

So, it's as much for the fun and the drink as well.

And you are also part of the amateur players,

-which is the key thing, isn't it?

-That's right.

We are very much part of the amateur players.

Between us, we all act, direct, produce

and some of us all of the above.

And what's the most ambitious thing you've done?

We've done cabarets, we do pantomime every year, which we love.

We also... Each May, we put on a production.

We have an adult's production and a children's production as well,

cos we've got equal number of children in the group as well,

which is really good fun working with children.

And I think they like working with us oldies as well.

Good luck in this contest.

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

for our Challengers, as you know.

If you fail to defeat the Eggheads, that prize money rolls over

to the next show. Now, quite a number of teams have come

and failed to defeat them recently.

They've actually won the last 12.

So, we have £13,000 for you to win today.

How about that? ALL MURMUR IN EXCITEMENT

-Unlucky for some, 13, but who knows?

-Hopefully unlucky for them.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & TV.

Now, who would like this?

-Well, not me.

-Nor me.

Who wants to take this?

-I'm thinking like Geoff or...

-Yeah.

-How are you on...?

-Well, yeah, I can take a go at it.

-No, I think you would be good at it, Geoff.

-All right, yeah.

Who would you want to take on?

-Can I take on Dave, please?

-You can indeed.

Geoff from Drama Queens versus Dave from the Eggheads on Film & TV.

To ensure there is no conferring, would you please take your positions

in our famous Question Room?

So, Geoff, Film & TV, would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please, Jeremy?

You certainly can. Here is your question.

What are the first names of the TV presenting duo

with the surnames Woodall and Constantine?

Dawn and Jennifer, that's French and Saunders.

Mel and Sue, can't quite remember,

but it's definitely Trinny and Susannah.

Trinny and Susannah is the right answer.

OK, Dave.

My Heart Will Go On was the love theme for which 1997 film?

Well, you've put horrible things in my head now.

I'm trying to forget this film.

Titanic.

What, because you didn't like it?

Not a fan at all.

Not a fan of the song either. Sorry.

Titanic is the right answer.

Geoff, back to you.

In Coronation Street,

which of Gail's children has a daughter called Bethany?

I don't watch Coronation Street,

so this is going to have to be a total and utter guess.

So, I'm going to go down the middle with David.

Judith, you don't watch Coronation Street, do you?

-No.

-I do.

-Chris watches it.

Dave watches it. Yeah?

It's Sarah Lou.

Sarah Louise is the answer.

Over to Dave.

What was the real first name of Rex Harrison?

I think it's Reginald Carey.

Uh, I think it is.

It's Reginald, anyway.

Reginald is right.

Reginald Carey Harrison.

Geoff,

you need this.

Which of The Goodies had a small role as a computer operator

in the 1971 film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory?

Again, I don't know. I would have to take a guess on this one

and say it was Tim Brooke-Taylor.

It was indeed Tim Brooke-Taylor. Well done.

Nice bit of movie trivia.

So you got two out of three.

OK, Dave, this for the round.

Naomi Harris, who first played Ms Moneypenny

in the 2012 film Skyfall,

had a childhood role as Joyce in the TV series

Simon And The...what?

Don't know. Have not heard of this children's programme at all.

I'm just wondering why worm is there.

So that is unfortunately attracting me.

I'm going to go Simon And The Worm.

Joyce in the TV series Simon And The... Eggheads?

-Witch.

-Witch is the answer.

So, equal after three questions.

And we go to Sudden Death. Geoff, here is your first question.

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

Which 2000 film ends with the title character taking to the stage

to perform the lead in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake?

I'm thinking that is going to be Billy Elliot.

Billy Elliot is quite right.

Dave, to stay in.

What is the name of the purple Teletubby?

-Oh, no!

-(I know this.)

-SHE LAUGHS

You are having a laugh.

-THEY LAUGH

-Come on, Dave!

Right, you've got Po who's red.

Oh, no!

Oh, this is horrible.

I'll go Dipsy.

-Tinky-Winky, Dave.

-Right, fine!

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Been knocked out by Tinky-Winky.

There's no shame in that.

Well done, Geoff. You've got superior Film & TV knowledge.

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

So as it stands, the Drama Queens have not lost a brain

-from the final round. How about that?

-Great!

The Eggheads have lost one. We play on with Music.

Music. Um...

-Sonya, it's between you and me, really.

-Sonya, I think.

-What about you on Music?

-No, I'd rather not.

-I know Tara is a no-no on Music.

-We need you in the final.

-What do you want?

-I'll do Music.

-Do want to do Music?

-Well done, Sonya.

Sonya? Anyone but Dave.

-OK, I would like to take on Chris, please.

-Good stuff.

And Chris loves his music.

Sonya from the Drama Queens versus Chris, The Locomotive,

from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions.

So what sort of music do you like, Sonya?

Sort of '70s, '80s, really. That's my sort of field.

So, we're between Visage and Led Zeppelin.

You've got to be more specific.

-Slade.

-Slade, OK.

Well, I reckon Chris would like Slade.

-Yeah, I really like Slade, actually, yeah.

-Favourite song by them, Chris?

Mama Weer All Crazee Now.

-Yeah, which is the Eggheads' kind of theme tune, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Cum On Feel The Noize.

-Cum On Feel The Noize.

Yeah, gosh, not many reply with Slade.

That's fantastic. OK, Sonya, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, here is your first question, Sonya.

Which of these is an instrument with a double reed?

Well, I actually used to play this instrument at school,

and it's a bassoon.

Yes. Brilliant.

Chris, your question.

"Humidity is rising Barometer's getting low

"According to all sources The street's the place to go"

are lyrics from which song?

It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls.

It's Raining Men is correct.

Sonya, which song from the musical Annie

was sampled for a single on a 1998 album by the rapper Jay-Z?

Uh...

I don't think it's Maybe.

I'm pretty sure It's The Hard Knock Life.

Yeah, brilliant. It's The Hard Knock Life.

Very sure-footed play by our Challenger here.

Chris.

Kylie Minogue was born in which year?

Whoa.

Well, she was in Neighbours in the 1990s, so it wouldn't be '78.

Don't think it's...'73.

She is the elder of the two Minogue sisters, so I'll say '68.

Yeah, she's coming up on 50. '68 is correct.

OK, Sonya,

which of these is a tenor role

in Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutte?

I'm not sure of this one at all.

I'm going to have to take a guess, and I'll go for Fiordiligi.

Let's see if Chris knows.

Not an opera I'm familiar with.

I'd be more inclined to go for Ferrando.

Ferrando is the answer. So, two out of three.

Leaves you open here to Chris.

What is the surname, Chris, of the singer known as Jamelia

who had UK hit singles with Superstar and Thank You?

HE MUTTERS

Jamelia Daniels.

-No, Davis.

-Davis? Oh, well.

Jamelia Davis is the answer.

So, two out of two for both of you.

We go to Sudden Death, Sonya.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

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

Which park was the title of a 1967 top ten single

for The Small Faces?

The only one I can think of is Itchycoo Park.

Itchycoo Park is correct.

Good play. Chris, pressure on you.

How many sharps are there in a G-major scale?

Oh, musical theory, yeah.

Absolute shot in the dark. Four.

Lisa knows.

E-major is four, but there's only one in a G-major scale.

-That's right. And it is?

-F-sharp.

F-sharp. There is only one.

You are out, Chris.

And on Sudden Death, Sonya has triumphed

and you will be in the final, Sonya. Well done.

Come back to us and we'll see what happens next.

Oh, you are playing rather well, Drama Queens.

You've not lost any brains from the final round, as you know.

The Eggheads have lost two,

and they're just quaking a bit below the desk.

It's glass on the side, and I can see knees knocking.

The next subject is History.

Who would like this?

Would you like to do History? You're OK with History?

-Yeah, I'll take History.

-Who would you want to take on in History?

Who do you suggest?

L-L...

Lisa.

Lisa, please, Jeremy.

All right, the team captain is taking the reins here. This is good.

Gill from Drama Queens versus Lisa on History for the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring, please take your positions.

Gill, as well as being a solicitor, you like to write pantomimes.

I do indeed.

I'm in the middle of writing my ninth panto at the moment.

How wonderful! And do you have to then put all those brilliant jokes

in? Those kind of cracker jokes?

Brilliant? Well, I do try and put some in.

I wouldn't know if they were all brilliant.

Puns are allowed, aren't they?

-They are indeed.

-And also I notice when I go with my kids

that there's always jokes that are there for adults as well.

Absolutely. You've got to find the right songs

and you've got to find the right jokes.

You've got to appeal to the entire audience.

-All right, well, good luck doing that in this round.

-Thank you.

History against Lisa. Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

And here's your question.

What did the explorer George Mallory reportedly answer

when he was asked why he wanted to scale Mount Everest?

Did he say...?

Well, as a drama queen, I ought to go for the fame,

but I think he went because it's there.

Because it's there is correct.

Lisa.

In British history, who were the two queens who ruled in 1553?

Isn't it helpful when they've got Mary in all of them(?)

So, Edward VI died in 1553

and Lady Jane Grey was...put on the throne as the Nine Days' Queen.

Elizabeth dates...so 1558. And, obviously, Victoria was much later.

So it's Jane and Mary.

It is indeed Jane and Mary. Well done.

Over to you, Gill.

William Kidd, executed for piracy in 1701, was born in which country?

I don't know the answer to this. Um...

So, I'm going to guess Scotland.

Scotland is quite right.

OK, Lisa, your question.

Sir Bertram Ramsay played a key role in which of these events?

Ramsay, Ramsay, Ramsay, Ramsay.

I think I know vaguely more...

I wonder if I can do this on the basis I know vaguely more -

and it is vaguely - about the Battle of the Somme

and the birth of the NHS than I do about Dunkirk.

I've hardly got a huge knowledge of any of them.

Oh, I don't know.

Let's go for the evacuation of Dunkirk.

On the basis that if you had heard of him, it would

have been one of the other two, is that right?

It's only the vaguest knowledge that I have of any of them,

so it's not desperately helpful.

-No, but it's good. You've got it right.

-Wow!

Evacuation of Dunkirk.

OK, Gill.

Level pegging so far.

What was the name of the English tobacco planter who married

the Powhatan princess Pocahontas in April 1614?

Well, I love the Disney film.

Used some of those songs in pantos.

-I think it's John Brown.

-Eggheads?

-BOTH:

-Rolfe.

-John Rolfe...

-Ooh.

-..is the answer, sorry.

So, Lisa, you get this right,

you're in the final.

What name was given to the Chinese rebel group who played

a part in overthrowing Emperor Wang Mang in AD 23?

I have really no idea.

How would you recognise...

..a fellow member of your...

..your group?

I don't know. I'm definitely starting a band called

Wang Mang And The Red Eyebrows

after this anyway, cos it just sounds cool.

I'll go for the Red Eyebrows.

Anyone know on the Challengers' side?

-Not a clue.

-We would go...

-We would go for Blue Faces.

We would go for Blue Faces, but...

Blue Faces, yeah.

Chris?

I'd go for Blue Faces.

Well, I think it's the Red Eyebrows.

-Yeah, Red Eyebrows is the right answer, Lisa.

-Hey!

Three out of three. Sorry, Gill, you've been knocked out.

Doesn't go to Sudden Death.

You won't be in the final round.

If you come back to us,

we'll find out if the Eggheads are starting to turn the tide.

-So, are we worried, Drama Queens? ALL:

-No.

-We are not.

-Not at all.

-We are not worried.

OK. Oh, yes, we are.

Oh, no, we're not!

Our Drama Queens have now lost a brain from the final round,

but the pantomime continues with the Eggheads. They've lost two.

Let us see. Arts & Books, before the final. Who wants this?

I think... Who have we got left?

-You or me?

-You two.

-Just you two.

It's up to you, captain.

I think you are slightly stronger in Arts & Books than I am.

-But I'm quite happy.

-I think you go for books, Annette.

Yeah, I think you'd better go for it.

-You think I should go up there?

-I think you should go.

-Or do you want to stay back?

-I see you girding yourself here.

OK, I've got to take this for the team.

So, who would you like to take on?

-You can have either Judith or Kevin.

-I'll go for...

Jud-du-du. Judith.

I love your decision-making. It's brilliant. OK, Annette.

This is the big one now.

The team captain goes into the breach from the Drama Queens

versus Judith from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room.

I'm sensing you're the powerhouse behind your team, Annette.

Ha-ha!

-Who knows?

-Good old-fashioned Arts & Books round

now for you, Annette.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first.

Here we go.

Truman Capote's novella Breakfast At Tiffany's is set

in which city?

Breakfast At Tiffany's, Holly Golightly and her cat...

Is it New York?

New York is correct. Well done.

Judith, whose 1825 painting

entitled The Leaping Horse

depicts a scene beside the River Stour? Is it...?

Well, I think that is Constable.

John Constable.

John Constable is correct.

Back to you, Annette.

Which painting by Diego Velazquez was exhibited

in Rokeby Park in County Durham

before it was acquired by the National Gallery?

I'm not 100% certain on this one,

but I'll say the Toilet Of Venus.

-Is she right, Judith?

-Yes.

Yeah, the Rokeby Of Venus.

Right, well done.

It was stabbed by a suffragette.

The painting was, was it?

Yes, at some point, when it was in the National Gallery.

OK, your question, Judith.

How many daffodils are seen at a glance in the Wordsworth poem

that begins "I wandered lonely as a cloud"? Is it...?

10,000.

-10,000 is correct.

-Yes.

You are playing well.

Two good players in Arts & Books here, that's for sure.

Annette, which sport did Harold Pinter say

was "the greatest thing that God ever created on earth"?

I've got to confess, I have absolutely no idea on this one.

Harold Pinter, um...

I'm going to just have to take

a guess on this, and I'll go for...

cricket.

-Is she right, Eggheads?

-Think so.

-Yeah.

Yeah, it was cricket.

You are so good, Annette. Playing well.

Three out of three. Judith.

In Mark Haddon's book

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time,

what is the name of the dog?

Oh, lor.

I haven't read it or seen the play or anything.

I don't know, my instincts said Wellington.

I don't know if that's right at all

or whether I should pay attention to it.

But I'm going to say Wellington.

Wellington is the right answer, Judith. Well done.

-Well, I must've read it somewhere, mustn't I?

-Well, I guess so.

All right, three questions each.

I sort of thought this might happen. And we go to Sudden Death, Annette.

I don't give you alternatives.

Daryl Van Horne is the central, male character

of which John Updike novel?

Is it...

..The...Witches Of Eastwick?

Yes, it is The Witches Of Eastwick.

Played by Jack Nicholson in the 1987 film.

To stay in, Judith.

Esther Greenwood is the narrator of which novel by Sylvia Plath?

The Bell Jar.

That's right. Her only novel. It's The Bell Jar.

Annette, we go back. Sudden Death. Your question.

Which 1941 play by Noel Coward takes its title from a line

in Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem To A Skylark?

That would be Blithe Spirit.

Indeed, Blithe Spirit.

Judith, to stay in.

In books by the Paddington creator, Michael Bond,

what type of creature is Olga Da Polga?

What kind of creature is Olga Da Polga?

-Yeah.

-Gosh, I don't know. A cat.

-You've said a cat.

-I said a cat.

You just kind of went for cat?

-Yes.

-You didn't know.

-No.

-And we are on Sudden Death.

-Yeah.

And it is so finely balanced.

And you've gone out on a cat.

-I've gone out on a cat?

-I'm so sorry, Judith.

Well, I don't know what it was.

-It was either a dog or cat.

-Guinea pig, I'm sorry.

Oh, guinea pig.

No, it wasn't a dog or a cat, but listen, great round by both of you.

Bad luck, Judith. Well done, Annette.

Great quizzing by you. And, wow, that was fantastic for us.

Please come back to us and we'll play the final.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads won't be

allowed to take part in this round.

So that's Gill from the Drama Queens,

but also Chris, Judith and Dave from the Eggheads.

Would you please leave the studio?

OK, Annette, Tara, Geoff and Sonya, you are playing to win

the Drama Queens £13,000.

You've quizzed brilliantly so far.

Eggheads, reduced to two.

Kevin and Lisa, now playing for something that money can't buy -

your precious reputation and to keep this roll going.

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

This time, they are all General Knowledge. You can confer.

So, Drama Queens, the question is -

are your four brains able to defeat the Eggheads's two?

-Wow!

-You don't need to answer that, Annette. Don't worry.

Would you like to go, Tara, first or second?

We would like to go first, please, Jeremy.

All right, Tara, team, good luck. Take your time.

Non capisco means I don't understand in which language?

I'm pretty certain it's Italian. You happy with Italian?

Do you need the spelling of it?

-No.

-Non capisco? You want it spelled?

-No.

-I don't think so. Yeah.

-Yeah.

We think it's Italian.

Italian is the correct answer.

Your first question, Eggheads.

In 2015, the singer Carly Simon finally revealed

that the second verse of her song You're So Vain was about

which Hollywood star?

It's Warren Beatty. Yeah.

-Yeah, it's been said to be him for years, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

It's something that's sort of being an open secret, I suppose.

Yeah, we are fairly sure, Jeremy,

that's Warren Beatty.

Warren Beatty is correct.

OK, second question.

At the 1988 Olympic Games,

Florence Griffith Joyner won gold medals

in the 4x100m relay and which two individual events?

-You know this, don't you, Tara?

-Yes.

Gosh, I remember watching it many years ago.

And she was an absolutely fabulous sprinter,

so I'm thinking it's the 100, 200m, chaps?

That's what I would go for as well.

She's definitely not going to do any hurdles.

It's definitely not the 110 hurdles.

Did she do the long jump, though?

-Oh, don't...

-Don't talk yourself out of it.

-I'm talking myself out of it.

-No, don't talk yourself out of it.

I've started to talk myself out of this one,

but I'm going to go with

the 100 and 200m.

You're absolutely right.

Well done, Tara.

100 and 200m. That was... Yeah, isn't that interesting?

Go with the first one and then don't

talk yourself out of it.

Very, very good policy.

OK.

Eggheads, your second question.

Which of these elements has the lowest atomic number?

-Sodium is 11, sulphur is...

-Sodium is 11.

-Four, no.

-Silicon is 14.

-Thank you.

-Sulphur is...

-16.

-16.

-Sodium.

-So, the lowest atomic number?

The lowest atomic number.

-OK, so sodium.

-Sodium, the furthest side to the left.

That would be sodium.

Yeah, sodium is right. Very impressive.

OK, your third question.

This is the key one, really. Get this one right

and then you may not need to do any more work for your £13,000.

Which female baseball pitcher is believed to have had her

contract voided after striking out both Babe Ruth

and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game

between the Chattanooga Lookouts and the New York Yankees?

Has anyone heard of any of these people?

I've not heard of any of them.

The only one I thought I recognised was Mamie Johnson.

That's the only one I thought I recognised.

I recognised that one.

-Should we go for that?

-Yeah, OK.

-THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

I mean... Tara.

Yeah, we really don't know at all,

but we are going to go with

Mamie Johnson on this one.

If you've got this right,

it's three in a row. Are they right?

Not sure. I'm aware of the incident, but I can't...

I would have gone for that, but I'm not sure

whether that's right or not.

A hard question.

Jackie Mitchell is the answer.

Jackie Mitchell. You got two out of three.

And after a great game, the Eggheads now have the chance to finish it.

The sculpture in Lucerne

that was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen

to commemorate the Swiss guards who were massacred in 1792

during the French Revolution

takes the form of which dying creature?

It's a lion.

I was about to say you are on your own, but you know.

You carry on.

I've actually been there and seen it.

It's a lion.

When you have that level of certainty,

it's a brave person who would argue against you.

The correct answer is lion. We say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

Yeah, it was old Jackie Mitchell, wasn't it?

We don't know. We know now. We didn't know then.

Well, Drama Queens, you've been an amazing team of quizzers

and you really had the better of them for much of the game.

And it was only this last ditch defence

which saved the game for the Eggheads.

-So we say commiserations. I hope you've enjoyed it.

-Yeah.

-We've really enjoyed it. Thank you.

-Thank you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and their winning streak continues.

It does mean you are not going home with the £13,000,

so we take the money, we roll it over to our next show.

The next Challengers will be excited by that.

Congratulations, Eggheads.

I think you are going to win the next one too.

Just trying to jinx them.

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

better than our brilliant Drama Queens today.

£14,000 says they can't beat the Eggheads. Till then. Goodbye.