Episode 76 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 are ready?

-Always!

-Ready!

You are ready, I can see!

Hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today are Fresh CC.

This friends and family team from Yorkshire and London have been

brought together through their shared love of cricket, so let's meet them.

Hi, I'm James, I'm a data scientist.

Hi, I'm Barry and I'm an operations manager.

Hi, I'm Mark and I am a business development manager.

Hi, I'm Jim and I'm an editor.

Hi, I'm Barry and I'm an insurance consultant.

So, James' team, welcome. Good to have you here.

Not worried about this lot?

Not at all. Well, actually, that's a lie!

Very concerned. They're a very formidable team and this is our

debut as a quiz team.

We're a bit of an unknown quantity.

We hope we've got enough to give them a good game.

Good stuff. And you know each other through what, relationships, family,

-friends, all that?

-Yeah. Barry is my brother-in-law.

The other three - school and

a cricket team that we created - Fresh Cricket Club in 1995.

It really is a means to keep in touch.

We played 1995-2000.

We haven't played since then.

OK. But the team still exists

-as an idea?

-Yes.

And in fact, we have got the odd game planned.

Now we've got children who are getting old enough to help us out a bit in

the field. We've got a few games planned for the future.

So what you're saying is, you want cricket to come up in the quiz today?

We would love cricket to come up, yes!

Not everyone... I mean, there are people here who have got a blank on

cricket. Who is blank on cricket?

Look at that, they never admit it!

I'm trying to smoke them out for you!

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.

So, Fresh CC, they have won the last five games.

I won't call it a roll - it's a streak at the moment.

You can bring it to an end and win £6,000 if you do.

Would you like to try?

We would love to try, please, Jeremy!

OK. First head-to-head battle is on the subject of Sport!

There we go. See, I told you I would do what I could.

That's very lucky!

So, I think...

Barry, Barry W, you are the man for this.

-Go for it.

-Barry W, at the end.

And I think...

..Judith is the person we would like to take on, please.

Right, you will be popular with her!

-Sorry, Judith.

-OK, so Barry W from Fresh CC versus Judith,

who is now known as the sporty one from the Eggheads.

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

in the Question Room?

Well, Judith, if you were to win this round...

I would have got to 600!

-Yes, you would have won 600 head-to-heads.

-Yes.

As you know, records of the numbers you've lost have been mislaid!

Yes, you keep saying that, they clearly haven't!

No, we don't know where they are.

Barry, you wouldn't want to spoil that, would you?

I would love to spoil the party!

So, would you like to go first or second?

Fortune favours the brave, I would like to go first please, Jeremy.

Here we go. What informal golfing term

is often used to refer to the flagstick?

I don't get to play anywhere near as much golf as I would like to.

Pretty sure the answer, though, is pin.

Pin is correct.

Judith. The Pakistani sportsman Mohammad Amir was suspended from

which sport for five years in 2010 for match fixing?

-I think it's cricket.

-There is the cricket question.

And there's the cricket question!

We got rid of cricket, we hope.

Cricket is right, well done.

Your question, Barry W.

Which English football club was known as Boscombe FC between

1899 and 1923?

Well...

My hometown and my supported club is Southampton,

so I can say straightaway it is not Southampton.

Exeter and Bournemouth, certainly both on the south coast.

Boscombe is a town very close to Bournemouth, though,

so for that reason my answer would be Bournemouth.

Brilliantly done, Bournemouth is right.

Judith. Which Australian rugby league club is part owned by the

actor Russell Crowe?

Well, I have absolutely no idea.

Pure guess,

Brisbane Broncos.

Do you know this one, Barry?

-I would be guessing.

-OK, any Challengers?

-ALL:

-Yes. I think it's the South Sydney...

Yes, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Judith.

Oh, suddenly, that 600 is slipping away.

So, if you get this right, you will take the round, Barry.

Sania Mirza and which other female tennis player

ended 2015 ranked number one in

the world in doubles?

I'm not aware of Maria Sharapova playing doubles.

I'm in the murky lands of guesswork,

so I'm trying to give an as educated guess as possible.

Kim Clijsters...

certainly took a long break from tennis to have children.

Martina Hingis was a very fine doubles player.

It will have to be a guess but my guess would be Martina Hingis.

-ALL:

-Well done. Well done.

Well done, you've got it right, it's Martina Hingis.

You've got three out of three. Sorry, Judith.

-Spoilsport!

-Not the day today, but the day will come.

-Tomorrow.

Maybe on something else, like Arts and Books.

-Yeah. If that ever happens!

-OK.

Congratulations, Barry.

Please, both of you come back and we will play on.

OK, so good start for our Challengers -

Fresh CC have not lost any brains, the Eggheads have taken a hit already.

The next subject is Arts and Books.

James, who wants this?

I think we've got someone lined up for Arts and Books.

-Is this me?

-Jim.

Yes, you're our man.

-I'll give it a go.

-And I think...

-take on Dave.

-Right, you sound like you've got a plan.

-Taking on Dave, are we?

-We've done a bit of revision, Jeremy.

-OK, I'm impressed.

-We've got a strong captain here!

Jim from Fresh CC versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there is no conferring,

please go to our famous Question Room.

So, Jim, you're an editor.

-Yes, I am, yes.

-And what do you edit?

-I edit a magazine for lawyers, all about intellectual property.

-Oh, right, and what's it called?

It's called Managing Intellectual Property.

We have readers all over the world, cover, patents, trademarks, copyright,

-all that kind of thing.

-That's what you might call specialist.

-It's fairly specialist, yeah.

But a very interesting area.

You learn a lot about innovation and technology and copyright and media,

that kind of thing. It's pretty hot at the moment.

I don't think we have an intellectual property round

in Eggheads. Although I suppose there are some intellectual properties

-that this lot have got.

-I think there's probably quite a lot of

intellectual property in the Eggheads studio, isn't there?

Yeah, that's true enough. So, would you like to go first or second?

I'll take a chance and go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, Jim. Which 19th-century writer had the middle name Makepeace?

Erm, I think it was William Makepeace Thackeray.

It was indeed, well done.

Dave. How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a book by which writer?

More children's literature, oh joy.

Doctor Seuss.

Doctor Seuss is right.

Jim, your question.

Which Shakespeare character is described as a fellow of

infinite jest, of most excellent fancy?

So, I don't think it's Prospero,

from The Tempest.

I am familiar with Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom.

I'm not 100% sure but I'm leaning towards Yorick.

I think it's that speech in Hamlet where they are at the grave.

So I'm going to say Yorick.

Yeah, I think you are right.

Yorick is right.

Isn't the speech one of these misquoted things where we say,

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well," but that was not the line?

-It's, "I knew him, Horatio".

-"I knew him, Horatio."

So, well done, Jim.

Could have gone wrong, there. Dave, your question.

Which novel takes its title from a line in Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray?

I don't think it's Sense And Sensibility.

I don't think it's The Turn Of The Screw.

I'm going to go for Far From The Madding Crowd, please.

It is Far From The Madding Crowd, you're right.

OK, Jim.

Which poet, Jim, was called, "my little Portuguese," by her husband?

I don't know the answer to this.

I don't think Mary Shelley was primarily known as

a poet, although she may well have written some poetry,

so I'm going to rule her out, I think, although I may regret it.

Of the other two,

it could be either. I think I'm going to say Christina Rossetti,

Jeremy.

-Is he right, Eggs?

-No. It's Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning is the right answer.

It gives you a chance, Dave.

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

Who was the co-creator with Tom Stoppard of the play

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour?

Right. It's going to be a gamble.

And unbelievably, I've read the play.

But...

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.

Every Good... E, G, B, D, F, which leads to a musical area.

So I'm going to go Andre Previn.

So, E, G, B, D, F is a scale on the piano, is it?

Yes. Something like that.

No, it's the lines on a treble stave.

It helps you remember which notes you write on them.

OK, thank you.

Lines on a treble stave, OK.

And that leads you away from the two non-musicians?

-Yes, it does.

-OK.

Andre Previn is the right answer, Dave, well done, three out of three.

Sorry, Jim. I can see you are a good player as well,

but you've been beaten by our Egghead.

Just that wretched Elizabeth Barrett Browning, you've got to blame her.

Come back to us, both of you, and we'll see what happens.

OK, so Fresh CC have lost a brain now from the final round.

The Eggheads have also lost one.

This is evenly poised.

-Game on.

-Feeling nervous?

-Yes, definitely!

-The next subject is Science.

Who would like this?

Right. He might moan a bit here.

Barry, I think you're the man to take this.

I'll take this.

I think we're going to take Kevin on.

-Oh!

-All, right.

There was a little murmur on the Eggheads' side.

"Oh", Like that. So, Barry C from Fresh CC versus Kevin from the E's.

I thought I'd just put it all down to letters now.

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

Any particular area of science that fascinates you most, Kevin?

Erm, I mean,

I wouldn't classify science as being one of my main categories, really.

But I suppose I would maybe pick astronomy.

I am quite interested in that.

OK, so we're on Science.

We've got Barry versus Kevin here.

Barry C. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, Jeremy.

So, here we go, good luck.

Which of these is a type of large seaweed growing in colder oceanic regions?

Right.

To be honest, Jeremy, I've only heard of one of these.

I'm going to go for kelp.

Kelp is correct!

Kevin. Which of these glands is located in the brain?

Well, the thyroid is in the neck

and the adrenal is down near the kidneys.

In the brain, it's the pituitary.

Do you know whereabouts it is?

Towards the front, basically.

Yeah, I think it's right up between your eyebrows.

-Yeah.

-On the inside, I should stress.

Yeah. So far.

Pituitary is right.

Barry C. Which mathematical term

means a contest in which one person's

loss is equal to the other's gain?

Well, I really need James on this, being the mathematician.

I'm going to go for nil aggregate, Jeremy.

OK. James, do you know the answer?

I probably would have guessed zero sum, but I don't know the answer.

It is zero sum,

meaning overall nothing has changed.

Is it zero sum game or zero sum gain?

-Eggheads?

-I think it's a zero sum game.

It's a zero sum game.

The early chaps like von Neumann with game theory,

they were very interested in these games where,

you know, if someone wins, someone has to lose.

Is the whole of life a zero sum game, do you think?

-Well, perhaps.

-This is all getting very, very deep, isn't it?

It's a bit philosophical, that.

We get a bit philosophical at this stage

of the game, everyone, just a heads up on that.

OK, Kevin. By what term is the chemical linkage of chains of the

same element known?

OK, so a concentration could be something in, say, solution,

something concentrated within something else.

Combination is...

Well, it does have some specific uses but I think a more general term

for things simply being combined.

But the word catena

refers to chain structures.

Yeah, I'll have to say catenation.

-Because catena means chains?

-Yes.

Catenation is right.

I'm sorry, Barry, it's the way he plays!

-You have to get up pretty early to catch him out.

-Phenomenal.

Bright and early.

Bright and early. So, get this right to stay in.

The American scientist Joseph Licklider

is famous for his work in the 1960s that

led to the development of which technology?

Could you spell his name, sorry, Jeremy?

Yes, L-I-C-K-L-I-D-E-R.

Again, it's going to have to be a pure guess.

I'm going to have to go for digital cameras, I'm afraid, Jeremy, yeah.

Yeah, I can see why you've gone for that.

Internet is the answer.

Oh, sorry, Barry.

But he's hard to beat - Kevin.

On any subject, and actually very good at science.

Kevin, you're in the final round.

If you both come back to us, we will play the last round before the final.

So, the Eggheads just starting to assert a little bit here.

Fresh CC have lost two brains now from the final,

the Eggheads have lost one. See if we can level it up now, James.

-We hope so.

-OK.

Last subject before the final, Music?

-OK.

-Is this you?

No, I'm going to try and save myself to the end, whatever that means.

Mark is going to take it, I think.

OK, Mark, against which Egghead?

And you can have either Lisa or Pat.

I think we're going to try and

-take on Pat.

-All right, so Mark from Fresh CC versus Pat, the silent destroyer.

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

Any particular music you love, Mark?

I guess a bit of funk, a bit of Indy.

Also a little bit of classical as well.

A broad spectrum.

Bit of funk, bit of indie, bit of classical, that's not a bad selection.

What is the indie, roughly what period?

Early '90s, so Nirvana,

Red Hot Chili Peppers, that sort of stuff.

Sure. So would you like to go first or second on Music?

I'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

So, here we go. Good luck, Mark.

Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) was a 1979 hit for which group?

And it's Shake Your Body and then in brackets, Down To The Ground.

Erm, not really my era, unfortunately.

But I'll say the Jacksons.

Yeah, it is the Jacksons.

Pat, which group had a UK hit in 1985 with We Built This City?

They informed us that Marconi plays the mambo, it was Starship.

It was Starship. "We built this city on rock and roll", wasn't it?

-That's what they did.

-Yeah, amazing.

OK, Mark.

Somebody's Watching Me

was a UK top-ten single for which singer in 1984?

I don't think it was Lionel Richie.

The only song that I know Ray Parker Jr

sang was Ghostbusters.

So I'm going to go with Rockwell.

Yeah, good play.

Rockwell is right.

Pat, what was the name of the record label founded by Frank Sinatra in

the early 1960s?

Yeah, he did...

..lots of work for CBS and for Capitol.

But at a certain point, I think

Frank took matters into his own hands

and he set up Reprise and released

some classic albums.

Reprise is right. So, 2-2.

Third question, Mark.

By what alternative name is the instrument called the ocarina sometimes known?

Erm, I'll admit that I don't know this one.

I'll go with lady's fingers.

It's really hard to guess, this one.

-Do you know this, Pat?

-I think it's the sweet potato.

It is, but because of what it looks like, a sweet potato...?

Sort of like a potato with some finger holes.

You blow into it and pleasing sounds come out.

-But it's a lumpy thing.

-Is that what it is...

It's a large... It's like a bagpipe, is it, or what?

It's not that big, it's the size of a large potato

and it's generally made of ceramic or some similar material.

-There we go, sweet potato, Mark.

-Oh.

Gives Pat a chance to book his place in the final.

Which French singer and songwriter had one of his biggest hits with the

1946 song La Mer, later recorded in English as Beyond The Sea?

-La Mer.

-La Mer.

First thought was Charles Trenet but I'm just double-checking.

He was a favourite of my mother's.

They're all capable of doing it.

Could it possibly be... I can imagine either of the others...

Maurice Chevalier certainly could

knock out a song like that, La Mer.

I'm slightly troubled by Maurice Chevalier,

but I think I'll go for Charles Trenet.

Charles Trenet. If you've got it right, you've taken the round.

-Is he right, Eggheads?

-Yeah.

Yeah, it was.

He did La Mer.

Charles Trenet. Sorry, Mark, one slip and they're at you.

-They're all over it.

-Absolutely.

Yeah, that's the way they play, I'm afraid.

Merciless. They only pretend to be polite.

Please come back and we'll see what happens in the final.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It's 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, Barry C, Mark and Jim from Fresh CC, and also Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please leave the studio?

Well, James and Barry, you are playing to win Fresh CC £6,000.

Kevin, Dave, Lisa and Pat,

you are playing for something which money cannot buy -

the Eggheads' reputation. And to continue this really impressive streak.

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

This time, they are all General Knowledge. You are allowed to confirm.

So, guys, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four in a famous victory?

Would you like to go first or second?

I think we're going to go first, Jeremy, please.

Here we go with your first question.

Good luck. What is the term for a person who makes candles?

Well, I think I could definitely rule out cobbler.

Yeah, I'm pretty confident the answer is chandler.

Yeah, that's where I was leaning as well.

We're going to say chandler, Jeremy.

Chandler is right.

What's a currier? We know a cobbler does shoes, but currier, Eggheads?

-Horses.

-Person who brushes a horse.

Horses. Your question, Eggheads.

Which of these is a phrase that refers to using your own legs as a

means of transport?

-Shanks's pony.

-Shanks's pony, kids?

Yeah. Shanks's pony.

Shanks's pony, Jeremy.

I feel terrible I haven't heard of this.

Because you spend a lot of time on your bike, Jeremy.

-You don't walk anywhere.

-No, yeah, walk and bike.

We're going on Shanks's pony means we're going to walk?

-Yes.

-OK. I'm going to start using it.

I'm going to bring it back.

1-1.

Fresh CC, which actor released the 2015 album Murdah Loves John?

Murder is M-U-R-D-A-H.

I don't have a clue on this one.

This is out of my comfort zone.

If it's murdah, murdah,

I'm wondering if it's a bit gangsta and whether it's Danny Dyer.

Idris Elba, of course, he's got some pretty rough edges to him as well,

so would he say "murdah"?

I have no idea.

I'm going to go on your logic here, Barry.

Back into the depths of guesswork,

but Danny Dyer would be the one that I'd lean towards.

I think the answer is that we don't fully know, Jeremy,

but we're going to guess Danny Dyer.

Danny Dyer is your answer.

I'm not sure whether he's got a musical thing.

Idris Elba is a DJ when he's not acting.

Is this a DJ-style album?

-Anyone know about it?

-I'd have guessed at him,

just because of his musical career, if you like.

And the murdah, maybe that goes back to him in The Wire and all that.

Is Luther not John Luther as well?

Is that right? Did I make that up?

It's possible, yeah.

He is John Luther, so Murdah Loves John goes to Luther, to Idris Elba,

Challengers. Sorry. So the Eggheads have a chance to take the lead with

their second question. The furniture designer and maker Thomas Chippendale

who wrote the book The Gentleman And Cabinet Makers'-Director was born in

which century?

-I thought it was 18th.

-Just thinking about an actual birth date.

I think it's... I think it's coming back to me.

-OK. Go on.

-Well, I think the book was published in about, erm,

the guide was published in 1754.

-Uh-huh.

-Maybe.

And the dates that have popped into my head are,

I think, 1718-79.

OK.

So that should be...

I hope I'm not mixing him up with

Sheraton or one of the other furniture makers.

Yeah.

But that's what popped into my head.

-Yeah, makes sense.

-So 1718, I think, is the

birth year.

I'm inclined to

go with you. OK. I think it's too early to be in the 1600s,

and I think it's too late for that.

-OK.

-I'd go with that.

-18th century.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Ashman's Almanac has dates in the 1700s for Thomas Chippendale,

so we'll go with 18th.

18th century is correct.

All right, you've got to get this one right.

Which of these US states has no coastline?

I think Mississippi has a coastline.

Yeah.

So it's between Alabama and Tennessee.

Picturing Tennessee, Tennessee is

-long and thin...

-Yeah.

-But does it reach the coast on the east?

My gut feeling is Alabama, but it's only a gut feeling.

I'd say that would be my gut feeling is well.

I can't think which coast Alabama would be on.

Yeah, I'm happy with that.

We are going to guess, slightly better than a guess,

but it's definitely a gut feel for Alabama, Jeremy.

Alabama is your answer.

If you've got this one wrong,

then the Eggheads have won, cos there's no way back.

Are they right about the shape of Tennessee?

-They are, yes.

-Long and thin.

-Yeah. It's long east-west.

-And it's long east-west.

So where does it slot in, then?

Above Mississippi and Alabama.

That's the trouble. Mississippi and Alabama are on the coast

and Tennessee is above them.

So we have to say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

Played well, guys.

They're on very good form at the moment, actually.

-Very impressive.

-The Chippendale dates moment...

-Fantastic.

-So commiserations, Fresh CC, thanks for playing.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them - most of the time, anyway,

and this winning streak continues.

I'm afraid this means the Challengers don't go home with the £6,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. You will never be beaten.

I'm certain of it now.

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

to finally defeat the Eggheads. £7,000 says they don't.

Till then, thanks for playing.

Goodbye.