Episode 88 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.

Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today

are The Dabbers from Nantwich.

Now, this team of friends all regularly quiz

at their local pub, Cronkinson's Farm. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Nick, a semiretired schoolteacher.

Hello, I'm Ian and I'm a glass fitter.

Hi, I'm Richard. I'm a salesman.

Hello, I'm John and I'm a postman.

Hello, I'm Kerry and I'm an internet bookseller.

So, Nick and team, welcome. Thanks for coming. Tell us about the pub.

It's fairly local, five minutes' walk from where we live.

It has a quiz every Thursday night.

It's quite competitive. There's myself and Richard in one team.

John in another. Ian and Kerry join in occasionally.

And you are called The Dabbers

-because that's the Nickname for Nantwich.

-It is, yes.

We think it goes back to the tanning and salt industries

-back in the...1500s.

-Right, well, that's a definite question

in a few months' time for you lot.

See if you remember it then. Good luck, Dabbers.

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 our next show.

So, Dabbers, the Eggheads have won the last two games,

which means there is £3,000 for you to play for today.

And our first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Science.

Who would like this?

-Science? Who's ready to take this one?

-Come on.

-Kerry, isn't it?

-Kerry?

-Kerry. You happy with...?

-I can do, yeah.

-Kerry.

-All right, Kerry, internet bookseller, against which Egghead?

Here they all are. Anyone of them.

-Who should I take on?

-Who are we going for?

-Who did we say? Have we got the spreadsheet handy still?

-No.

-THEY LAUGH

-Afraid not.

-How about Lisa?

-Lisa?

-Lovely.

-Yes, Lisa, please.

-Yep, Lisa on Science.

That is probably a good choice. On a bad day, she can be beaten.

It's a good choice. We'll stop at that.

Kerry from The Dabbers, Lisa from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

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

-So, Kerry, you are an internet bookseller.

-Yes, that's right.

And Judith was just saying to me, "What does that entail?"

I buy books and hopefully resell them at a profit.

-And so, that's second-hand?

-Yes.

Good stuff. You are up against Lisa on Science.

Kerry, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And good luck. Which of these is not an element in the periodic table?

Um...

Well, I think gold is and I think silver is,

so my answer would be bronze.

Bronze is not, you are quite right. Well done. Anyone help us on why?

-It's an alloy - copper and tin.

-It's not an element.

-It's copper and...?

-Tin.

-Copper and tin.

It's an alloy, says Chris.

OK, Lisa.

What aspect of a substance is measured in cubic metres?

I do love maths questions. That's volume.

Volume is the right answer.

OK, Kerry.

In the name of a computer file,

for what does the letter G stand in the acronym GIF?

Um... Well, I think that I've seen this attached to picture files,

so it would be graphics.

Yes, indeed. GIF is...kind of a little...

Well, it's, I suppose, a very small file that actually moves,

but I think the inventor, who's a guy, if I rack my brains,

-Steve Wilhite...

-Mm-hm.

-..thought it should be called JIF,

but he's obviously been outvoted.

So, to get level, Lisa,

which creatures are

instrumental in the spread of Dutch Elm disease?

Can't really see a fox getting far enough into the whatsit

of the tree to do any damage.

I'm pretty sure it's beetles.

Yeah, the beetles get in. Beetles, it is.

Kerry, third question.

What type of creature is a brown recluse?

-A brown recluse?

-Brown recluse.

Well, bats are fairly reclusive, I think.

But I think it might be a spider.

So, I'll go for spider.

-Spider is correct. Well done. DABBERS:

-Well done, Kerry.

I think cos bats are reclusive,

there wouldn't be a particularly reclusive bat.

But there could be a reclusive toad.

So, Lisa, your question to stay in.

What is the technical name for the big toe?

Well, your axilla is your armpit.

Varicella...

Is that chickenpox?

I think it's the name of a disease, anyway.

So, I shall have to go for hallux.

Yes, hallux is right. Nicely done.

Three out of three for you both.

No-one has got anything wrong so far.

Sudden Death, we go to, Kerry.

1,760 yards is the equivalent of which unit of measurement?

I think that must be a mile.

It is a mile.

Lisa.

To stay in, plutoids are dwarf planets

that are farther from the sun than which planet?

Is this a trick question,

on the basis that they keep deciding Pluto is not a planet?

In which case, I suppose the answer would be Neptune.

But...

..if Pluto is currently classified as a planet

and they do make it difficult...

to keep track, then I suppose it would be Pluto.

I may be overthinking this.

I shall say Neptune.

Yes, you got it right, actually. Neptune is right.

Barry, help us here. Is it because Pluto is not a planet?

That's right. Pluto is a plutoid.

-Pluto is a plutoid.

-Yes, and it's further out than Neptune.

-OK, and a plutoid is a non-planetary thing?

-Yes.

It's, what, a collection of gases, is it?

No, no. They can be rocky bodies,

but they don't fulfil the criteria for being a planet.

All right.

So, you are playing well, Kerry. Keep the pressure on.

Albert Einstein famously said that imagination is more important

than...what?

I suppose he was famous for his intelligence,

so I'll say intelligence.

Knowledge is the answer.

So, Sudden Death,

Lisa has a chance to take the round.

Who wrote the 1966 doctoral thesis

Properties Of Expanding Universes

while at Cambridge University?

Properties Of Expanding Universes.

I would say it sounds like a riveting read,

but there are probably millions of people

that would disagree with me if I said that sarcastically.

Best guess would be Stephen Hawking.

Stephen Hawking is the right answer.

So, on Sudden Death, Lisa, you are in the final. Sorry, Kerry,

you've been knocked out. Don't worry, team,

early days.

Lots to play for. Return to us, please. Rejoin your team-mates.

So, as it stands, The Dabbers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still sitting there.

Mind you, you were sitting there at the start of the last game

and then you were suddenly cut to ribbons. So, we shall see.

The next subject is Sport.

Right.

Silence from the Dabbers. That's worrying.

THEY LAUGH Where is the spreadsheet?

-I'm nominating myself.

-OK.

Skipper will go in. You can choose any Egghead, but not Lisa.

-Who did we say?

-I'd go for Chris.

-Chris? OK.

-Chris, it is.

-Oh, dear, you're not going to react badly?

No, anything for a fellow denizen of Crewe.

LAUGHTER

-Oh, Crewe is near Nantwich, right?

-Yeah, about three miles away.

-Cos that's the constituency - Crewe and Nantwich.

-Yeah, yeah.

So, Nick from The Dabbers versus Chris from the Eggheads.

Near neighbours, but will they quiz well together?

Please go to our Question Room now.

-So, Nick, you are a teacher?

-Yes, I am.

Still teaching a couple of days a week?

Yes, yes, far more than I want to, actually.

I keep getting phone calls from head teachers who know me saying,

"Can you come in and help out today?"

or "Do some intervention with the GCSE classes."

Oh, right, so you've tried to retire and failed?

-Basically, yes.

-Yeah.

I manage to get one day off a week, really.

Great. So Sport, Nick, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here's a question, Nick. Good luck.

In American football, what name is given to a very long pass

into the end zone made in the final seconds of a game?

Um... I'm thinking it's one of those that you would be wishing luck,

so it could be the Hail Mary.

Screen pass, I think that's something to do with sideways.

Quarterback sneak... I'm going to go for the Hail Mary

because I think it's one that's down to luck if the receiver catches it.

Yes, Hail Mary is right. Well done.

Chris, who finished 2015

as the top ranked women's singles tennis player?

Um... "Is she still there?" I wonder.

Well, I think she's still there, so I think it's Serena Williams.

Serena Williams is quite right. Over to you, Nick.

In rugby union,

a player is sent off for how many minutes

after receiving a yellow card?

I'm pretty sure for the sin bin, it's ten minutes.

I'm going to stay with ten.

Ten is correct.

Chris, which English football club paid

an initial £44 million for Raheem Sterling in 2015?

Where's Dave when you need him?

I'll have to go with Manchester City.

Well, he played for Liverpool, I think, didn't he?

-Anyone help us here? Is he right? ALL:

-Yeah.

Yeah, you are right, Chris. Manchester City.

Nick, your third question.

Mark Wood, who made his test debut in 2015,

usually performs which role for the England cricket team?

Um...well, I've seen his batting,

I wouldn't ask him to open the batting.

He's certainly not a wicketkeeper, so he's a fast bowler.

-So, you like your cricket?

-Yes, I do, actually. Yes.

You are quite right. Fast bowler.

Chris, to stay in.

The former IAAF president Lamine Diack is best known

for his achievements in which athletics events?

I don't think he's a long jumper.

Marathon runners tend not to get very far, do they,

in the administration of sports?

Probably, the highest profile of those three,

which might have led him onto a career in management,

is 110m hurdles.

Because it might have led to management?

It's the highest profile of those three events, yeah.

-The answer is long jump, Chris.

-Uh-huh.

So, you've been knocked out on Sport.

I know the pain of that.

Nick, well done. You are in the final round. Hey! It's good.

Going well for our Challengers now.

Turning it around a little bit.

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

The Dabbers have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have now also lost a brain.

The locomotive steams into the distance.

Chris will be in the sin bin and the next subject is Film & TV.

Who wants this?

-Well...

-It's got to be Richard.

-Go on, then. That'll be me.

-OK, Richard.

Against which Egghead?

Can't be Lisa or Chris.

-Pat or Barry.

-Pat or Barry.

-Shall we go for Barry?

-Yes.

-Yes. Barry.

-Barry, please.

Right, so Richard from The Dabbers against Barry,

who likes this category?

-Yes, I watch quite a lot of films these days.

-Yeah?

Not so much television now.

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

All right, Film & TV. Good luck to both of you.

Richard, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second.

So, Barry has the first question.

How much did a standard TV license for a colour television cost

in the UK in 2015?

Well, I'll go straight there. It was £145.50.

It was indeed. 145.50. OK, Richard.

Who won the 2015 series of

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here?

Hm. That's a tough one.

It wasn't Lady Colin Campbell because I believe she left early.

I'm going to go for Jorgie Porter.

OK, having not seen any of it, watching the very final episode,

so I saw the moment Vicky Pattinson was crowned.

I am sorry. It's Vicky.

Barry, the Jim Carrey comedy

The Mask in which Cameron Diaz

made her feature film debut was released in which year?

Oh, gosh. Now, I've watched this a couple of times

and I've enjoyed it very much on both occasions.

So, I would say 1999.

-It was earlier.

-Ah!

'94. OK, so

we go over to you now, Richard, for your question.

How many students compete in each episode of the TV quiz show

University Challenge?

Hm. Well, it's not six.

And I watch it all the time.

I should know this. I'm going to go...

..down the middle with eight.

-Team, is he right? ALL:

-He is, yes.

Yeah, you are right. Well done, Richard. You did well there.

OK, eight is right. You them gave a bit of stress at this end.

So, one each. Third question to Barry.

Which of these is a 2015 comedy film

starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart?

I think Hot Pursuit was earlier.

Not sure on this.

Will Ferrell, he seems to be in everything these days.

I think it may be Trainwreck.

-No. Get Hard.

-Ah!

So, Richard, here we go. You can take Barry on the turn.

For which film did Marlon Brando receive his only

Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination? Was it...?

I vaguely remember Sayonara because...

I don't know why.

A Dry White Season, I think I'm going to rule out.

This is a long shot.

I'm going to go for "Viva Zapata!".

Yeah, it was A Dry White Season.

So, one each after three questions.

And we go to Sudden Death, Barry.

See if you can turn this around.

Gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternatives. You know that.

The British actress Alice Eve who appeared in the films

Star Trek Into Darkness and She's Out Of My League

is the daughter which actor?

Well, the only actor I can think of with the surname Eve,

and I'm hoping it's the same one, is Trevor Eve.

So I'll go for that.

Yes, Trevor Eve is right. Star of Shoestring.

So, Richard, over to you.

To stay in, Sudden Death.

In which decade was the TV quiz show Mastermind first broadcast?

Ah! All right.

It was broadcast for quite some time,

had a sort of hiatus, then came back.

I'm thinking of Magnus Magnusson in the original chair.

I would have to say '70s.

Yes, you are right. 1972.

Barry, Sudden Death.

"I'm going to count to three, there will not be a four,"

is a quote from which 1988 action film starring Alan Rickman?

"I'm going to count to three, there will not be a four."

Well, Alan Rickman was in Die Hard and that's in the 1980s,

so I shall go for Die Hard.

Die Hard is right.

Sudden Death, Richard.

Which actress appeared as George Clooney's daughter

in The Descendents

and as the cancer-suffering Hazel in The Fault In Our Stars?

I don't know.

For some reason, Rooney Mara springs to mind, but...

it's a long shot.

I'm going to say Rooney Mara.

-Eggheads?

-Shailene Woodley, is it?

Shailene Woodley is the actress, Richard.

And it means you've been knocked out by our Barry.

So, he goes through to the final round. Bad luck.

Come back to us. We'll play the last round before the final.

So, the Eggheads are starting to just motor a bit.

You've got to stop them, Dabbers.

You've lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggs have lost just the one and the last subject

before the final is Politics.

Now, is this good?

-It could be.

-Could be.

-John?

-I don't mind, but...

-I fancy it.

-You fancy it? OK, Ian.

-OK.

-Who are you playing, Ian?

-We'll be playing, let me see.

-Judith.

-Right.

-Judith on Politics. Very good.

OK, Ian from the Dabbers, Judith from the Eggheads,

please go to special room.

So, Politics. Let's see how well you do against our Judith.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go second, please.

Switching it around a bit,

going second. OK, Judith, first question to you.

Which politician served as MP for Huntington

during his time as British Prime Minister?

I think that is John Major.

John Major is correct.

Ian, George Galloway

took part in which TV show in 2006?

It wasn't Strictly Come Dancing, Jeremy.

I think it was Celebrity Big Brother.

Thank you for letting me off the hook there.

Celebrity Big Brother is the answer.

Judith, how many Plaid Cymru MPs

were in the house of commons at the end of 2015?

Plaid Cymru.

Well, I don't think there are very many of them.

I think it's more likely to be three than anything else. Yes, three.

Three is correct.

So, to catch up, here is your question, Ian.

Who was the British Prime Minister

when Queen Victoria came to the throne?

It's not Palmerston, that was later.

It's between Wellington and Melbourne.

Lord Melbourne.

-Is the correct answer.

-Well done.

-Well played.

Judith,

to take the lead. Which of these was appointed a conservative member of

the House of Lords in 2014?

Oh. Well, not Deborah Meaden.

I think it's Karren Brady. But she's the one on...

The Apprentice, isn't she, though?

I think it's Karren Brady.

I'm slightly uncertain.

It is Karren Brady. Is she football-related, Eggs?

Yes. I believe she...

Was it Birmingham City she managed?

It was Birmingham City and I think she went along to West Ham...

-West Ham now.

-Yeah.

So, Ian, you need this one to stay in.

For what is Dan short in the name of

the US former vice president Dan Quayle?

It wouldn't be Dante. It sounds too Italian for that person.

I believe his name was Danforth Quayle.

It was Danforth Quayle. Well done. Good play. Three-three to you both.

We go to Sudden Death again.

Judith, which Tory politician wrote a biography called

The Churchill Factor, published in 2014?

Oh, Boris Johnson.

Boris Johnson is quite right.

Ian, you need this.

In March 2014, Anne Hidalgo became the first woman to be elected mayor

of which European capital city?

Well, as the name Hidalgo was a Spanish name,

I'm going to go for Madrid.

Yes, it sounds like it is, but, Judith, do you know this one?

No, I don't.

-It's Paris.

-Paris? Uh-huh. Good Lord.

So, I'm afraid you've been knocked out there, Ian,

by Judith on Politics. Always painful.

Please come back to us and we will play the final.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge.

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

to take part in this round.

So, Ian, Richard and Kerry, from The Dabbers,

but also Chris from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Nick and John, you are playing to win The Dabbers £3,000.

Pat, Lisa, Barry and Judith, you are playing for something

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

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer, gents.

So, Nick and John, the question is -

can you, with your two brains,

defeat these four in a famous victory?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK. Good luck to you both.

Chavismo is a left-wing political movement based on the ideas,

programmes and government style associated with the former

president of which country?

-BOTH:

-Venezuela, yeah.

-Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, we don't like Greece or Spain.

We think we'll go for Venezuela.

Venezuela is correct.

Eggheads, over to you. And it's Hugo Chavez, right?

-ALL:

-Yes.

-At the centre of that.

OK, Eggheads, your question.

Which of these countries shares a land border with Germany?

Well, even I might get to that.

-Luxembourg.

-Yes.

That's Luxembourg.

That it is, Luxembourg. Well done.

Second question to our Challengers.

Who is the protagonist of the Paula Hawkins novel

The Girl On The Train?

Is this person...?

I think it's Amy Dunne.

It's certainly not Kay Scarpetta.

-No, it's just a hunch, if anything.

-You've got a hunch, well...

-I just feel like it's Amy Dunne, but...

-I don't know.

So, we are on a 50-50 here, Jeremy.

We're going to go for Amy Dunne.

Amy Dunne is your answer.

Now, I have a feeling Amy Dunne might have been Gone Girl.

-That's right.

-Was she?

Kay Scarpetta?

Patricia Cornwell's novels.

Right. And the answer is...

Bizarrely, I'm reading this book at the moment.

It's Rachel Watson.

-Right.

-Right.

-Rachel Watson.

OK, to take the lead, Eggheads.

Love Yourself was the third UK number one single of 2015

for which singer?

Looking at you.

Love Yourself?

I don't think it's Justin Bieber,

although he did have...

I thought it was Bieber, actually.

-Yeah?

-I don't think it's Sam Smith.

-I think we definitely rule that out.

-Well, hang on, let me think.

Bieber had a monster album,

didn't he? A comeback album.

I'm coming back to thinking it was Bieber after all.

I think... I can't make a case

for it being Jess. I don't think...

She had a lot of number ones in 2015.

-I don't think any of them were called that.

-No.

The problem with Bieber is some of

his were number one and then weren't

and then were again.

Sam Smith had two of them.

The Writing On The Wall, that's one.

-I...

-Did he have...?

-I don't think it's him.

Did he have one at the beginning of the year as well?

Sam Smith is my nemesis, honestly.

No, I don't think it's Sam Smith.

I'm more inclined

to come back to Bieber.

A vague notion, but I'm not confident.

-I would have backed you up on that, so we'll go with it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Want to try that?

-Yeah.

OK, we don't know this, Jeremy,

but we've just got the faintest

of notions it was Justin Bieber.

Love Yourself is Justin Bieber. Well done.

Well done.

So, they've taken the lead.

You have to get this one right, guys.

In December 2015,

what did Kanye West and Kim Kardashian name their son?

-Any ideas?

-Saint...

-HE CHUCKLES

I was hoping it was going to be a question about Glastonbury.

-THEY LAUGH

-Saint Kardashian.

If he was being ironic, but I can't imagine him being ironic.

-Silas, Silas.

-I have no idea, mate.

-Silas?

-I'd go for Saint.

-I think it's Saint.

-I'll let you go for it.

I would go Silas, personally, but no.

But is that on any knowledge?

No. None whatsoever.

So, we'll stay with you.

Kardashian. Silas. Son called Silas.

Go with Saint. If you're happy.

Yeah, we have no idea,

so we are going to plump for Saint.

Saint is right.

Well done. Well done.

OK. Eggs, if you get this right,

the contest is over.

What name is given to a champagne bottle which holds the

equivalent of 12 standard bottles? Is it...?

Salmanazar.

It's a Salmanazar.

Rehoboam is four.

Methuselah, I believe, is eight and I think a Salmanazar is 12.

I have no idea.

I forget the size increments.

I know the sequence of letters.

There's a mnemonic to remember them -

Michael Jackson Rich Man Sings Bad Songs.

And then they go up in sequence.

-So, M is two, which is magnum.

-Mm-hm.

-Jackson is Jeroboam.

-Yeah.

How many bottles?

-That must be four.

-Four.

-Rehoboam must be six.

-Yeah.

-Magnum is eight and then...

-No, no.

-Magnum is gone.

-Then they go up in fours.

-Methuselah is eight.

-So, that's Salmanazar, which is 12.

Belshazzar, which is 16

and Nebuchadnezzar, which is 20.

It's Salmanazar. I'm happy on that.

So how does he Sing Bad Songs,

if the last one is an N, Barry?

-Oh, Sings Bad Notes, sorry.

-That would work.

-Sings Bad Notes.

We're going for Salmanazar.

Salmanazar is your answer.

And it was one of your, what do we call them, acronyms?

-Mnemonics.

-Mnemonics, where you... What was it?

Michael Jackson Rich Man Sings Bad Notes.

Gives you right all the way up to Nebuchadnezzar, you say.

Rehoboam is six, Methuselah is eight,

Salmanazar is 12.

Well done, Barry, especially. Well done, Eggheads.

We say congratulations, you have won.

Well done, Barry.

Yeah, that was... That mnemonic stood up.

Nothing to do with the mnemonic and everything to do with the amount

-of champagne Barry can actually drink.

-Yeah.

There we are. Did you know that one?

-We worked it out.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well, I can't retire now, so...

-LAUGHTER

So, commiserations to The Dabbers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They still reign supreme over quiz land.

Just starting to build up the prize again, Eggheads.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £3,000.

We are going to roll that money over to the next show.

Eggheads, very well done. Entertaining, as always.

Who, I wonder, will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£4,000 says it can't be done.

Till then, goodbye.