Episode 83 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.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Sunningdale Hackers from Berkshire.

Now, as well as hacking their way around

Sunningdale golf course,

this team of friends also enjoy testing themselves

with crosswords in the clubhouse. So, let's meet them.

Hello, my name is Blaise. I am an insurance director.

Hello, my name is Philip, and I'm a company chairman.

Hello, my name is Richard. I'm a property company director.

Hello, I'm Hugh and I'm a company director.

Hello, I'm Tom and I'm a trader.

So, Blaise and team, good to see you.

-Thank you for coming.

-Hello, Jeremy.

-Are you up for this?

-Yes.

-Absolutely.

-Good stuff.

Tell us about the golf club.

Well, we're all sort of golf-orientated.

We're golf mad. Some of us play at Sunningdale Golf Club

or in that area,

but we enjoy a quiz or two and ring each other up

to do the Saturday morning quiz in the papers

-and we're all good friends together.

-OK.

And the quiz practice, is that quite competitive when you do it?

More friendly. Just for a pint or two round the pub.

Nothing too serious.

You know these guys are pretty serious and not very friendly.

-Just to warn you.

-Spotted that.

If anyone wants to buy us a pint while we're quizzing,

-then we never say no.

-Yeah, that might help.

-But I wish you well. Good luck with this one.

-Thank 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, Sunningdale Hackers, the Eggheads are doing really well.

They're on a roll. They've won the last 12 games.

So, that means there's £13,000 to win today.

The first head-to-head battle

is on the subject of Geography.

-So, Blaise, who would like this?

-That's me.

-Who did we say?

Richard has volunteered to...

-OK, don't go just yet, Richard.

-Right.

Richard, choose an Egghead. You can have any one of the five.

-I think Lisa is your target here.

-I think Lisa, yes.

-Yes?

-We like Lisa.

-Lisa.

-The lovely Lisa.

-This is amazing.

She's been honed in on Geography for the last few games.

-It's interesting.

-I'm loving it, Jeremy.

I'm not to blame for it, am I?

Yes, you're completely and utterly to blame

-for everything that happens on this show.

-OK.

So, Richard from Sunningdale Hackers versus, we will now say,

the Brilliant On Geography Lisa from Eggheads.

See if that changes it. To ensure there's no conferring,

would you both please take your positions now

in our famous Question Room?

So, Richard, Geography and your choice.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

OK, good luck to you.

What name is given to long, narrow arms of the sea,

commonly extending far inland,

that are formed by the movement of a glacier?

I think it's tarn.

Tarn is your answer.

Let's just get a heads up from the Eggheads on this.

-What is a tarn?

-It's an upland pond, basically.

-Oh, right.

-It's fjord, Richard.

-OK.

OK, Lisa,

which of these lines of latitude is the most southerly?

OK, I thought you were going to start giving me numbers

and you know what happens when you give me numbers.

But that's not so bad. We're still dealing in words.

Let me just make sure I've got them the right way round in my head.

I think Cancer's the one above the equator, yeah.

Tropic of Capricorn.

Tropic of Capricorn is quite right.

Easy to go wrong there. Richard,

what is the largest city, although not the capital,

of the US state of Nebraska?

I think Bismarck is the capital of Nebraska.

I'm not sure. I'll have to guess at Fargo.

Fargo's become famous through film and TV,

-but it's not Fargo.

-Right.

-It's Omaha.

-OK.

Right, so, Lisa, you can actually

win the round with this answer.

The Timor Sea lies between Indonesia and which other country?

-The Timor Sea. T-I-M-O-R.

-Yeah.

Um, first thought was actually the Philippines, but...

..I have trouble because there are

an awful lot of seas around Indonesia.

And it might be Australia.

It sort of depends whether it's to the south or to the east.

No, I mean, I could sit here all day

and not be able to pinpoint it exactly,

but I'll say the Philippines.

-Oh!

-It is Australia.

Every time Australia comes up, you get the wrong answer.

-It's just me and Australia, we don't get on.

-You don't.

-We don't.

-It is Australia.

There we go, Richard. There's a let off for you there,

but you need to come back into it now with this answer.

What is the capital of the island of Corsica?

Well, Palermo is Sicily.

Um...I think it's Ajaccio.

Ajaccio is the right answer.

So, well done. You're on the board, equal with Lisa,

but if Lisa gets this right, she's in the final round.

Which Canadian province has the highest population?

I think Ontario is where more of the big cities hang out.

It sort of depends on the spread.

Hang on. Where's Montreal? That could skew it.

Um, I don't know. I'll try Ontario.

Ontario is the right answer, Lisa. You've won the round. Well done.

Sketchy but on target.

It's about as good as I can expect from Geography, Jeremy.

-I'll take it every time.

-Well, you're in the final round.

Richard, you've been knocked out.

You see how tough these Eggheads are now.

Come back to us, both of you. Rejoin your teams. We'll play on.

OK, so, the Sunningdale Hackers have lost a brain from the final round.

We've hit a ball into the rough there.

-I'll be taking a provisional.

-Taking a provisional.

The Eggheads have still not lost any, but it's early days,

and the next subject, gentlemen, is Music.

-Who would like Music?

-Was it me?

-It was you.

-Yes, it was you.

-It was undeniably you.

-It was definitely you.

-It's me, apparently.

It's you, Blaise. It's the skipper.

We can find out the history of your name.

Would you like to take on an Egghead, Blaise?

No, I don't want to take them on.

-I've got to, though.

-Yeah, you have to.

Well, there's very little chance of beating Kevin on History, Science,

Politics, Art, but maybe Music could be a weak point.

-Good point.

-We've got to get rid of him.

-Yeah.

-He's got to go.

-Yeah, you clearly watch the show.

You know what's going on.

So, Blaise from the Sunningdale Hackers

is going into battle against the grandmaster,

Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Blaise, tell me about your name

and how you came to be called Blaise.

Well, my dear father was a Lancaster bomber pilot

in the Second World War,

and he completed about 44, 45 missions

before they finally shot him down.

And he was shot down by a squadron of Fokkers

and was rescued by a very lovely and courageous woman

from the French Resistance and taken to a farmhouse

where he was nursed back to health.

And he swore there and then that if ever he had a son,

he would be called after that village,

which was Saint-Blaise in France.

-So, that is why I'm called Blaise.

-Oh, that is so powerful.

Chris, your thoughts on that. You're our Second World War man.

Yes, absolutely, yeah.

I mean, to survive 44 missions as a Lancaster pilot -

that is going some.

-Yes.

-So, good luck in this round against Kevin.

Thank you for that story. Brilliant.

Would you like to go first or second?

Well, I think that class had better go first, don't you?

We'd better put Kevin in to bat.

OK, high-stakes gamble. Let's see if he trips up.

So, it's Music, Kevin going first.

Kevin, the stage musical Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

is set in which US state?

The brothers concerned are lumberjacks, essentially,

and I think they're involved in the logging business.

Not that that rules anything out specifically,

but the Pacific Northwest is very well known for that.

I believe this is Oregon.

Oregon is right.

Blaise, your question.

Which of these is the title of an album by Marvin Gaye?

By Marvin Gaye.

Purple Rain was Prince, I think, wasn't it?

It's a toss up just between the two. I don't know either of them.

I will go for Face Value.

Ah, that's a Phil Collins album, actually.

But you're absolutely right about Purple Rain.

What's Going On is Marvin Gaye. That is one of his famous songs.

Kevin, which song was a UK number one hit single

for the band Years And Years in 2015?

Well, there's nothing really to say about any of those,

choosing between them. I believe it was King.

Yeah, King is right.

So, you need this one

as you went second, Blaise.

Free Fallin' and Learning To Fly are songs by which American singer?

Falling without a G. Free Fallin'.

Well, The Big O,

I don't remember him singing Free Fallin', Learning To Fly.

Bob Dylan wrote and sang loads and loads and loads of songs,

but I don't recognise those.

I will have to have a go at Tom Petty.

It is Tom Petty. Well done.

So, Kevin, this for the round.

Which composer is often said

to have ruined his career as a concert pianist

by using a home-made finger-stretching device

of his own design?

Oh, I can't remember. I'm sort of aware of the story,

but I can't remember who it was.

The one who had the biggest career, if you like, as a concert pianist

and was the equivalent of a pop star of his day,

really, was Liszt.

It could be either of the others, but I think,

on the basis of him having the biggest concert career,

I would have to go for Liszt.

Understood. Any Eggheads tried this finger-stretching device?

-You've not tried this at home or anything?

-No.

We don't want you invalided out.

-It's Robert Schumann.

-Pat says it's Robert Schumann.

-Ah.

-Because your hands, the fourth finger on each hand

is naturally slightly weak

and he devised some sort of mechanical contraption

-to strengthen it, and it went all wrong.

-Oh, dear.

Robert Schumann is the answer, Kevin.

But that's good for you, Blaise.

You have a chance to take him to Sudden Death

if you get this right.

The overture to which of these operas

was reputedly written on the morning of its premiere

with its composer suffering from a massive hangover?

I was hoping you were going to ask me a question about The Beatles

or something from the '60s. This is, once again,

slightly before my time and not my specialist subject.

So, basically, you're asking me

which one of these composers drank the most.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Well, Carmen,

that was by Bizet, wasn't it?

Assuming that he was French and used to enjoy a little tipple of wine,

I will have a go at Carmen.

-Don Giovanni.

-Oh, well.

-Don Giovanni is the answer.

Sorry, Blaise, you've been knocked out.

Kevin will be in the final.

Come back to us and we'll see if the Challengers can turn it around.

So, as it stands, the Sunningdale Hackers

have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are there still sitting pretty, all five of them.

We need to change that, Challengers.

The next subject, I think you'll like. It's History.

-Who would like this?

-Who was our history man?

-That's you, Philip, isn't it?

-Is it me?

-I think that's you.

-The oldest and wisest.

-Definitely.

So, Philip, the wisest.

-Well...

-Who looks the least wise there?

-David?

-Dave, Pat or Chris?

I'm afraid I think it's Tremendous Knowledge David.

OK, Tremendous Knowledge David. Nice, formal address.

So, Philip from the Sunningdale Hackers

versus TKD from the Eggheads.

Please go to the special room now.

So, Philip - History. I noticed that somebody said

you're going on History cos you're the oldest,

which I don't think you even are in your team,

-but anyway...

-I'm certainly not. I'm third.

Yes. I don't know what's going on there.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

OK, here is your question.

Good luck against Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

What was the Spanish Inquisition?

Well, it was not an early Spanish parliament.

Although I like the sound of mercenary unit,

it was, in fact, an ecclesiastical court.

Ecclesiastical court is correct.

And is it very wrong that, as soon as those words are said,

I think of Monty Python?

HE LAUGHS I can't get it out of my head.

Yes, I remember that well.

OK, Dave.

Doc Holliday played an important role

in which of these historical events?

I think it was the gunfight at the OK Corral.

-1881, is it? Yeah?

-Let's check with Kevin.

-Yeah, 1881.

-That's the gunfight, is it?

-Yes.

All right, so, gunfight at the OK Corral

is the right answer.

So, Philip, your question.

Which of these German cities was famously the target

of an intense bombing campaign

from the 13th to the 15th February 1945,

a campaign that almost destroyed the entire city?

Well, I'm very pleased Hamburg's not up there

because I would have been concerned then.

I think it was...

It wasn't Munich, I don't think it was Rostock

and I think it was one that caused, and still causes, great controversy.

I think it was Dresden.

It was indeed Dresden. Yes, you're right. Well done.

OK, Dave,

which King of England died,

possibly through foul play, in Pontefract Castle?

I don't think it's George II.

Don't think it's Edward II. I think it's Richard II.

Richard II is the right answer.

OK, over to you, Philip.

In which year was the political philosopher

Niccolo Machiavelli born?

Oh, I hate these questions. I don't think it was 1669.

I'm not entirely sure...

..sadly, but I think I'm going to go 1469.

Yes, absolutely right. Well done. 1469.

So, three out of three on History.

Can Dave stay in?

What name is given to the explosion

roughly equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs

that occurred in a Siberian forest in June 1908?

There's only one of those I've heard of.

I'll have to go for it. The Tunguska event.

And you're right, though I feel I need background.

Do you know much more about this? Was it man-made, Eggheads?

No, it's one of those things that happened.

I mean, there's all sorts of wild theories out there.

Everything from alien spaceship blowing up

to the earth being struck by a mini black hole.

But the fact remains that there was this huge explosion

in a literally unpopulated area of Siberia,

and when they got there, all the trees were laying flat...

-..for about 50 miles around.

-Wow.

OK, well, anyway, he got it right, I'm afraid, Philip, so, three-three.

We go to Sudden Death.

You've played a perfect round so far in History. Good luck here.

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

The American-born inventor

best known for inventing the recoil-operated machinegun

is Hiram who?

So, Hiram is H-I-R-A-M.

I know it. I know it.

Um...

One thinks of Bren gun, Sten gun.

Gatling.

-No, Maxim.

-Ah.

-Hiram Maxim.

So, this for the round, Dave.

The 1943 Battle of Kursk,

believed to be the largest tank battle in history,

was fought between forces from the Soviet Union and which country?

I don't see any other reason to go against this one.

So, it's Soviet Union... Yeah, I'm still going to go Germany.

-Chris, is it Germany?

-It is, yeah.

Germany's the right answer, Dave. Well done. You've taken the round.

Sorry about that, Philip.

Beaten by our Egghead.

And if you come back to us, both of you,

we'll see what happens in the last round before the final.

As it stands, the Sunningdale Hackers

have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any. This is the moment, guys.

What is the golfing term?

-Hook it?

-We're dormie down,

but these matches can still be won in extra holes.

Oh, they can be won in extra holes, no question.

The last subject before the final is Film & TV.

So, who wants this? Tom or Hugh?

It's Tom, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-OK, Tom.

Against which Egg? Pat or Chris?

I think that Chris might stumble and fall.

-He might hack it into the rough and fail to get out.

-OK, Chris.

All right, Tom from the Sunningdale Hackers

versus our Chris, the Locomotive, as we call him.

Please go to the Question Room now.

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

I'm not as confident as Blaise, so I'll go first.

Work's for me. Here we go, Tom. Good luck.

Walter White and Jesse Pinkman

are characters in which US TV drama series?

Not one I've watched.

Um, possibly, I'm going to go with...

Breaking Bad, I'm going to go for.

Yeah, I'm glad you did. It's right, Breaking Bad.

OK, Chris,

in which film does Sandra Bullock provide the voice

of a villainous character named Scarlet Overkill?

Unlikely to be Minions.

Unlikely to be The Good Dinosaur.

So, I'll go with Inside Out.

-No, it's Minions.

-Is it?

-Yes, it's Minions, Chris.

So, you have a bit of an advantage here, Tom.

-Don't lose it.

-Let's hope not.

In which film does Noel Coward

play the role of the crime boss Mr Bridger?

Pretty sure about this one.

Michael Caine's favourite line as his lackey.

Definitely The Italian Job.

-Yeah, cos he's in prison, isn't he?

-That's right.

-Noel Coward.

The Italian Job is right.

OK, Chris... I love that film.

..who plays Tuppence Beresford

in the TV detective series Partners In Crime?

-And if you get this wrong, Chris, it's over.

-Hm.

I think that's Jessica Raine.

It is Jessica Raine. Well done.

So, you're still in it,

but, Tom, if you get this right, you're in the final.

What is the name of the character played by Charlize Theron

in the 2015 film Mad Max - Fury Road?

Pretty sure about this.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I don't know the answer. Um...

I'm going to go for the middle - Imperator Furiosa.

Sort of sounds like the most likely, doesn't it?

And that almost would put me off, but, Eggheads, is he right?

-Yeah.

-Imperator Furiosa gets you into the final. Well done.

Maybe the tide is turning here

for our Hackers. Sorry, Chris, you've been knocked out.

If you return to us, we'll play the all-important final round.

And this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

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

to take part in this round.

So, that is Blaise, Philip and Richard

from the Sunningdale Hackers, but also Chris from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

So, Hugh and Tom, you are playing to win

the Sunningdale Hackers £13,000. Good jackpot today.

Kevin, Dave, Lisa and Pat,

you're playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' precious reputation.

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

They're all General Knowledge. You can confer.

So, Sunningdale Hackers, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four?

I'm sure, on a good day, you can. The question is, is this a good day?

Would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, here's your first question. Good luck.

Which overseas territory of the UK has a capital called The Valley?

It's not Bermuda or...

The capital of Bermuda is not The Valley.

-Well, Falklands is Port Stanley.

-It must be Anguilla.

Bermuda's not The Valley, so it must be.

So, it must be the middle one. It must be Anguilla.

Yeah, that's right. That's how elimination works.

You've done it brilliantly.

So, first point there to our Challengers.

Eggheads, in Turkish cookery, what are borek?

B-O-R-E-K. O has two dots on it.

-Filled pastries.

-Is that pastries?

-Yeah, my immediate thought

was to do with sort of bread and pastry.

-Filled pastries.

-Filled pastries.

-We think they're filled pastries.

Yes, and Kevin putting on a style in a Food & Drink question.

Wow. Filled pastries.

-Collector's item moment on Eggheads.

-Yeah, thanks.

-One each.

Back to you. In 2015,

Gary Neville was appointed head coach

of which Spanish football club?

Football - not our greatest subject.

I don't think it's Athletic Bilbao.

It's either Real Sociedad or Valencia.

-I think it's Valencia.

-Is it? OK.

But I wouldn't be anything like certain.

I'm not a big soccer fan. I'm more of a rugby fan, but...

Yeah, me too. Um, I'll go with you.

We're going to go with the first one - Valencia.

Valencia's right. Well done.

OK, Eggheads,

who plays the title role in the film Victor Frankenstein?

-McAvoy.

-McAvoy.

-Daniel Radcliffe was playing Igor, I think.

Yeah, Radcliffe's Igor and James McAvoy is Victor Frankenstein.

Cumberbatch did it on stage, but not in the film.

-Yeah, so, it's McAvoy.

-James McAvoy.

That's James McAvoy.

James McAvoy is correct.

OK, third question can be crucial, guys.

-Steel yourselves here. Here it is.

-Nice, easy one.

The Continental Marines, now known as the US Marine Corps,

was founded during which conflict?

Ooh, this is a big one.

I don't think this would be the Civil War, do you?

It sounds like when they were together.

So, it's either when it was the War of Independence

or World War I.

I don't think World War I either.

-You don't think World War I?

-Wait, let's have a...

The Continental?

Why would they have called it the Continental Marines?

Presumably cos it was all about the whole of America,

-so it might've been...

-The War of Independence.

-..War of Independence, yeah.

-Go with that.

-Go with that.

US War of Independence is the right answer. Yay!

You made short work of that, gentlemen.

Your three colleagues at the back are looking very pleased.

OK, so, if the Eggheads get this wrong,

£13,000 is won by our Challengers.

That may be the last bit of work you have to do today. Who knows?

Here's your question. In March 2015,

which Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist

announced her intention to become a jockey?

-Victoria Pendleton.

-Trott's still on the bike,

-but it's definitely Pendleton.

-She's been riding...

-At Cheltenham.

At Cheltenham, yeah. Victoria Pendleton.

That's Victoria Pendleton.

Victoria Pendleton is the right answer.

Sudden Death, then, in the final round. £13,000

we're playing for. Gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives.

So, Tom and Hugh, your question.

Which team caused perhaps the greatest shock result

in Rugby Union World Cup history when it defeated South Africa

in the group stages of the 2015 competition?

I was there in Brighton. Japan.

Japan is right.

OK, so, has that won you £13,000?

Let's see. Sudden Death.

Eggheads, which northern Italian city

is home to the Pirelli Tower, completed in the 1950s?

-Is it Milan?

-It's Milan, isn't it?

-Milan's Pirelli, isn't it?

-Let's, um...

..think about it a second, just to make sure.

I'm pretty sure it's Milan, but we'll just have a...

It's not any of the other big cities in northern Italy either.

-So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Milan.

-What about you, Pat?

I think it's Milan.

Yeah? We're happy, aren't we?

I'm going with the majority. Don't look at me.

We think that's Milan.

Milan is correct. The city's tallest building at the time.

So, Sudden Death.

Keep plugging on here. £13,000 to win.

Which Chinese artist was arrested at Beijing Airport in 2011

under suspicion of economic crimes

in an incident that sparked international condemnation?

Is his name An Wei? Something like that?

An Wei, isn't it?

The guy with the beard and does the sort of installation type...

-Yeah, I think his name's An Wei.

-An Wei is your answer.

The name is Ai Weiwei.

-Ai Weiwei.

-So, you're close, but not close enough.

-Yeah.

He had 81 days in prison after that.

So, Eggheads, you have a chance to take the contest with this question.

Who became the Baron of Weston-super-Mare in 1992?

-Is it Jeffrey Archer?

-Jeffrey Archer.

That was about the time he went to the House of Lords.

Weston-super-Mare was his title?

Yeah, he's the only person...

It's the only person I can think of with that title.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, it's Jeffrey Archer. Definitely, yeah.

That's Jeffrey Archer.

Baron of Weston-super-Mare is Jeffrey Archer.

-We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

-Well played, lads.

Well played.

And it's Ai Wee-way, isn't it? That's how we pronounce it, right?

-I think that's the proper...

-Or Ai Way-way?

-Way-way, probably.

-I tend to say Way-way.

Bad luck, guys. Played a good game.

Commiserations to our Sunningdale Hackers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

You're playing really well. Your winning streak continues.

It does mean that you won't be going home with the £13,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, I wonder if you will ever be beaten.

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

can take them on successfully and defeat them.

£14,000 says they can't.

Till then, goodbye.