Episode 90 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.

You feeling musical, Eggs?

-Mm-hm.

-Very harmonious.

-All right.

Well, we'll see cos that might be important.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Sinfonics.

Now, this team are all members

of the Cheshire Sinfonia.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Susan. I'm a GP.

Hello, my name is Richard and I'm a medical equipment salesman.

Hello, I'm Jenny and I'm a retired professional musician.

Hello, my name is Ian and I'm a university lecturer.

Hello, my name is Louise

and I'm a professional violinist and teacher.

-So, Susan and team, welcome. Thanks for coming in and...

-Thanks.

-..playing, but without your instruments for once.

-Yes.

So, tell us about the sinfonia.

So, Cheshire Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra,

it's based in Bramhall, which is just south of Manchester

and we all play together in the orchestra.

And are you the best quizzers in the orchestra?

Is that how you've worked it out?

Or just the ones with the day off? LAUGHTER

I think these are the guys who got strong-armed by me, really.

OK, so you are a fan of the show?

I'm a fan of the show and when the idea was kind of put to us,

I was the most enthusiastic, I think, about doing it.

-So, they suggested that I organise it. So here we are.

-Brilliant.

And let's see how you do. Good luck to you, Sinfonics.

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

for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money just rolls over to our next show.

So, where we are, Sinfonics,

is that the Eggheads have won the last four,

had a bit of a battering five games ago,

but they are now back on track and keen to win.

And £5,000 says you can't stop them.

-Would you like to try?

-Yes.

-Mm-hm.

-Good stuff.

The first head-to-head battle is on Sport.

Who is the sporting person?

-I think I'm the one for Sport.

-OK, Jenny.

-Yes.

All right, Jenny, against which Egghead? There they all are.

What do you think, any thoughts?

-Lisa?

-Lisa? I think I'll try Lisa.

-OK, yes.

-May I go against Lisa, please?

-You may.

Jenny from the Sinfonics versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

Chris is breathing a sigh of something.

LAUGHTER He's had a lot of Sport recently

of the quiz variety, not the real variety.

OK, so Sinfonics versus Eggheads

and to ensure there is no conferring, would you please take

your positions in our special Question Room?

Lisa, have we done much Sport recently?

Not that recently.

I seem to have had an awful lot of Geography rounds

getting in the way of proper things.

Yeah, I know Geography was the bane, but now maybe you are out of this

-and you are into the sports end.

-Well, one can only hope.

OK, Jenny, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Good luck. What was your instrument by the way, Jenny?

Viola, I play.

Wonderful. Here's your question.

Which of these British drivers

became Formula 1 world champion first?

Um...

Well, Jenson Button is too recent.

And I think Damon Hill... I'll go for James Hunt, please.

James Hunt is right.

Lisa, which country

topped the medal table at the 2014 Winter Olympics with 13 golds

and 33 medals in total?

13 golds and 33 medals in total.

I think there was something about the host nation not doing as

well as it normally does, so it wasn't...

Or was it Russia? Hang on.

I don't think it was China, but I'm now panicking...

..cos there was... I can't remember whether it was 2010 or 2014

where the host nation didn't top the medal table.

I'll try Russia.

-This was in Sochi, was it?

-Yeah.

Russia is the right answer.

Well done, they won on their home territory.

Jenny, who captained

the European team at golf's 1999 Ryder Cup,

which was nicknamed the Battle of Brookline?

Ah, now, I have to think about this.

Don't think it was Mark James.

No, I think I'm going to go for Seve.

-Mark James is the answer, Jenny.

-Yeah.

OK, Lisa, which country won tennis'

Davis Cup 15 times

between 1950 and 1967?

Between those years, I would have thought the country

with the greatest majority of dominant players would be Australia.

It might be the USA, they have won it an awful lot of times,

but that might be later getting into the...

'70s and '80s where they were having their runs.

I'll try Australia.

Australia is correct.

So, she is ahead, Jenny. You've got to try

-and stop her.

-Yeah.

Get this wrong and you will be out.

Danielle Harrison and Phillip Harris have both represented Britain

in which sport?

Well, I don't know. Um...

But before the answers came up,

I thought it might be ice-skating,

so I'll stick with my inkling

and go for ice-skating.

Yeah, the spirit of Daphne, your inkling is absolutely right there.

-Oh!

-Ice-skating is correct.

So, Lisa has a chance to take the round.

In which sport did the Hungarian Laszlo Papp win gold medals

at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympic games?

Tricky, tricky.

Not heard of him, don't know if I can make a case for anything.

I might just have to blind guess it.

-I'll say boxing.

-HE LAUGHS

Is she right, Eggheads?

-ALL:

-Yes.

-Yeah, boxing is the right answer.

-Three out of three.

-Ooh!

-Sorry, Jenny.

Beaten by our Egghead there.

It's what they do.

And you've got to try and stop them.

Come back to us and we will play the next round.

As it stands, the Sinfonics have lost a brain from the final round.

They've lost Jenny.

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

The next subject is Film & TV.

Who would like this?

-It's you or me, isn't it?

-Well... No.

-Not me.

We had said that you would do the TV,

-but do we want to keep you for the General Knowledge?

-Not necessarily.

That's up to you. It's up to you, Suze. I mean, I'll...

-If Music comes up, would you rather I did Music?

-Yeah, go on.

-So, I will...

-Susan, OK.

-..have a whirl.

All right, Susan on Film & TV against which Egghead?

-What about Chris?

-I sort of think he's...

-OK, yeah.

-Chris, please.

Good stuff. So, Susan from Sinfonics versus Chris from the Eggheads.

Please go to the chamber of contemplation.

Susan, you spent a bit of time as a doctor in Australia.

Yeah, that's right. I did.

Treating snakebites.

Yeah, so one of the places I worked

was the regional centre for toxinology,

so we got the snake and spider bites used to come in.

And any dramatic or exotic ones there?

Some brown snake bites, a lot of redback spider bites.

I didn't see any funnel-web bites.

They are the really nasty ones, but they did come in,

but not on my shift.

People used to bring them in in Tupperware boxes to check that

-they were the right things.

-Wow.

You always have to look in your shoes in Australia

before you put your feet in them, I gather.

Well, we were kind of quite urban, so it wasn't quite so bad,

but I think if you live in the country, in the outback,

yeah, you've got to be really careful.

Toilet seats, shoes, that sort of thing.

So, Film & TV, Susan. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck.

Which of these made their debut as a professional dancer

on the 2015 series of Strictly Come Dancing?

Oh, well, this one is up my street cos I watch it.

It's Giovanni Pernice.

It is indeed Giovanni.

It's so funny cos he's actually a massive fan of Eggheads.

So, he will be so excited when I tell him this came up.

Every time I saw him on Strictly, he always said,

"Jeremy, do you want to go first or second?"

That's what he said every time. So well done.

I'm so glad you got that right.

OK, Chris, which trilogy

of films was released in France

under the title Very Bad Trip?

Very Bad Trip, yeah.

Well, presumably, very bad trip in French, tres mal voyage or whatever.

Um...

Not The Godfather, not Back To The Future,

it sounds like The Hangover.

It was a pretty bad trip, so I'll say The Hangover.

Yeah, the first one of those films is really funny as well.

-The Hangover is right.

-Yeah.

OK, Susan,

in 1939, which film became the first foreign language film

to be nominated in the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards?

OK, I don't know. I hoped Gone With The Wind

was going to be one of the answers when you said 1939. Um...

I think La Dolce Vita was a bit later.

The other two, I haven't got a clue.

I'm going to go for La Grande Illusion.

La Grande Illusion is correct.

OK. Chris, over to you.

Which actor won a BAFTA

in 2006 for his portrayal of the government weapons inspector

and scientist Dr David Kelly?

I have an idea that was Mark Rylance.

Nicely done. It was.

Almost unguessable there, but you are absolutely right.

OK, can't quite shake him off,

Susan, can you? Try and do your third question.

Get this right and Chris may just implode.

Which English comedy actor played Igor opposite

Gene Wilder's Dr Frankenstein in the 1974 film Young Frankenstein?

Again, I don't know.

The one that is jumping out at me is Kenneth Williams, so...

..for good or for ill, I'm going to go for that.

I don't think you were born in '74, but as a nine-year-old,

-I remember these posters and the face of Marty Feldman.

-Ah, OK.

OK, so Chris, you can take the round with this question.

The actors Rami Malek and Christian Slater

received Golden Globe acting nominations for their performances

in which 2015 TV programme?

Ah, haven't got a clue, Jeremy.

Sounds like it might be sort of buddy/partner, cop-type thing,

which suggests to me they're on the drug squad. So it's Narcos.

Narcos.

No, it's not, actually.

-Mr Robot is the answer.

-Uh-huh.

Mr Robot. We go to Sudden Death.

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

The main thing is, you are still in. That's the key.

What is the first name of the character played by Simon Bird

in the TV comedy series the Inbetweeners?

Let's go for Will.

Will is correct. SHE SIGHS

Really well done.

OK. Sudden Death.

Chris, you get this wrong, you are not in the final.

What was the name of the Battery Boy

in the title of the TV puppet series of the 1950s and '60s?

Now, we are excavating, aren't we? It was Torchy.

Torchy is right.

Good play. Sudden Death.

Susan, what was the name of the captain of the USS Enterprise

in The Cage, the 1960s pilot for the show

that would later become Star Trek?

-Pike?

-Ooh!

-Need a first name.

-Oh...

Christopher.

-That is the right answer.

-Well done.

Christopher Pike is the right answer. Brilliant!

Now you've got to hope that Chris gets this wrong.

Which popular TV game show host, who died in 2012,

was one of the earliest actors to play the character of James Bond

in a 1950s radio dramatisation of Moonraker?

Bob Holness.

Bob Holness is correct.

Susan, Sudden Death. Your question.

Which Northern Irish comedian and presenter

married Cat Deely in 2012?

Patrick Kielty.

Patrick Kielty is right.

Well done.

Chris, in the 2002 film

the Bourne Identity, the main character

travels around which continent as he attempts to work out who he is?

Never seen it.

Must be Asia.

No, it mustn't be. It's Europe.

-Huh.

-Susan, well done.

You've taken the round on Sudden Death.

Nicely done. You had to hold your nerve there, my goodness!

That Christopher Pike answer was genius.

So, Susan is in the final, Chris is not.

Please, both of you, return to us and we will play on.

As it stands, the Sinfonics have lost a brain

from the final round, the Eggheads have lost a brain as well.

And we move on to our next subject - Arts & Books.

-Whose is this?

-I think that's me.

Louise. Hang on. Hang on.

-Don't get up yet.

-Who do we want to...?

-Who do you want to play against?

-Who do I want to play? Hm.

Louise, who would you like to strike with your bow?

I think I'll strike Dave, please.

So, Louise from the Sinfonics versus Dave from the Eggheads.

You ready to play, Dave?

Well, again, no real option.

-Better play, hadn't I?

-No option at all. Arts & Books.

Please go to the special room.

OK, Louise, Arts & Books and would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go.

The book known as The Count of Monte Cristo

in English was originally written in which language?

I think this was written in French.

French is right.

Dave.

Willy Loman is the central character in which play by Arthur Miller?

I love this question for financial reasons.

It's Death Of A Salesman.

-You love it for financial reasons?

-Yeah.

Oh, because it was a winning question for you on Millionaire?

Yeah, but it was the key one.

It was the 32,000 one and I think Pat and Barry will identify

that once you get to 32,000, you know, that can't be taken away,

that's a key mark

in your progress on that show.

Dave, Death Of A Salesman is right.

Louise, which Oscar-winning film-maker

won the Turner Prize for modern art in 1999?

I don't think it was Steve McQueen.

Danny Boyle...

Hm, I'm used to hearing more about recently.

I think I'll go with Sam Mendes.

Sam Mendes is your answer. Let me get Barry on this.

-You know the answer?

-It was Steve McQueen, I'm afraid.

Steve McQueen? What, the famous film star?

No, not the film star, the famous film director.

Oh, all right, so there's two of them.

Yes, there's two of them.

Steve McQueen is the answer.

Dave, your question to take the lead.

Battlefield Earth is a science fiction novel by the founder

of which organization?

You would have to go some...

It would be a 1865 novel for the Salvation Army

or a 1900 novel for The Scout Movement.

I believe it was L Ron Hubbard and Scientology because it became

a film, a much-panned film featuring John Travolta.

Scientology.

Scientology is the right answer.

OK, so, Louise, try

and get this one right to stay in.

Who wrote the 1988 play Hapgood

about a female spy master

who was played by Felicity Kendal in the original production?

I don't know this one, but something said David Hare.

But it's just a guess.

It sounds like one of his cos he did Racing Demons and all of that.

Tom Stoppard is the answer there, Louise.

Sorry, he's been knocked out by Dave.

Dave, you'll be in the final round.

Come back to us and we will play the last round before the final.

OK, so here we are. The Sinfonics have lost two brains

from the final round, the Eggheads have lost a brain as well.

Last round before the final is Science.

Who would like this?

-I think...

-That's you.

-..that I will do this, so...

-It's me.

-Ian. What's your subject, Ian?

-Computer science.

OK, that's handy. You can go either against Pat or Barry.

-I think Barry is good at art, isn't he?

-Yeah, I think Barry.

-I think Barry. I think Pat is quite good...

-Yes, I think.

I'm guided entirely by you.

-Go with Jenny. I think she knows.

-Try Barry. Yes, let's try Barry.

I'll go with Barry, please.

Good stuff, so it's Ian from the Sinfonics,

computer science is his thing, versus Barry from the Eggheads.

-All kinds of science...

-Hopefully.

-..is your thing.

Yeah. So, for the last time, please go to our Question Room.

Good luck to you, Ian. I hope it's up your street.

Science is the subject and you are up against Barry,

who spends his evenings wrapped in the periodic table.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. All the best.

In geometry, a trapezoid has how many sides?

Four.

Four is correct.

Good.

Barry,

the common method of rebooting personal computers

invented by IBM engineer David Bradley

is to press delete, alt and which other key simultaneously?

It's control.

Control-alt-delete. Well done.

OK, over to you, Ian.

By what name are the winged fruits of hornbeam and elm trees

properly known?

I don't know the answer to this.

I don't know and I am guessing.

And I'm going to have to try carpel.

Let's see if Barry knows.

It's samara.

Sorry, Ian, samara is the answer.

Barry has a chance to take the lead.

The first reported case of the respiratory virus known as SARS

was in which country in 2002?

Oh, goodness, this is a good question.

I really don't know the answer to this one,

so this is going to be a guess.

I'll go for Spain, but I really don't know.

OK, Eggheads, do we know?

-I think it's China.

-China.

China is the answer.

So, you are level.

A bit of a let off there, Ian. That's good, isn't it?

-Well, we'll see.

-Hold focus here.

Named after a Finnish doctor who first described it in the 1920s,

Von Willebrand disease affects which part of the body?

Well, it's a great shame that we don't have Susan here

doing this round as well, but she has already won her round.

It is pretty well a wild guess,

so I will guess the nervous system for no reason whatsoever.

OK, let's ask the doctor. Susan.

-It's blood.

-It's blood, says Susan.

OK, you are not out of it yet, though, Ian.

Barry's had his moments.

Your question, Barry, to get into the final.

In 2015, it was announced that which musician was backing

a plan to conduct experiments to see if chimpanzees could communicate

by using video-conferencing technology?

Goodness me, that is a question and a half.

I haven't a clue.

But Peter Gabriel has been involved in all sorts of interesting

schemes of late, so on that basis and that basis alone,

-I'll go for Peter Gabriel.

-Eggheads, is he right?

-He is right.

-He is right says Pat. Yes, you've got it, Barry.

Sorry, Ian. I know science ranges so widely, doesn't it?

Well, there it is.

There it is, but let's see what happens.

Come back to us, rejoin your teams, we'll play the final.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round. As always, it 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, Jenny, Ian and Louise from the Sinfonics

and also Chris from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio?

All right, Susan and Richard, husband and wife,

you are playing to win the Sinfonics £5,000.

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

that money can't buy, which is your reputations

and to keep this little streak you've got,

turn it into something bigger.

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer, Challengers.

So, Susan and Richard,

the question is - can your two brains take down these four?

Would you like to go first or second?

Carry on with first? We would like to go first.

All right, General Knowledge.

What word is used to refer to the habit of ignoring someone

in favour of a mobile phone?

-Do you know this?

-No, I don't.

The one that I've heard of is phishing,

but I have got a feeling that might be something else.

I think phishing is something to do with advertising.

Advertising, isn't it, online?

So if it's a mobile phone... To pub, to phreak.

Phubbing as an fobbing off is one that comes to me.

-And it would be like a mobile phone?

-Yeah.

-Phreaking is sort of more animated and phubbing is sort of...

-Yeah.

-Talk to the hand.

-Yeah, should we go phubbing, then?

-Yeah.

I think we are going to go with phubbing, please, Jeremy.

Yeah, phubbing is correct,

but it's not one I've ever heard or used.

It's a portmanteau word -

phone snubbing.

So, phubbing is the answer there. OK, Eggheads, in 2014,

Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt,

Gary Neville and Phil Neville became co-owners of which football club?

-I think Salford City.

-Salford City.

-Salford City.

-Yeah.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that.

Salford City.

Salford City is quite right.

Local to Man U.

Challengers, which musician did the model Chrissy Teigen marry in 2013?

-Do you know?

-Well, I don't think Will.i.am is married.

No, I don't either.

Robin Thicke certainly was married,

but then I think he split up

and I don't know if he's married

somebody else since then.

I know nothing about John Legend's sort of marital status.

-Don't know why I think Robin Thicke.

-Do you want to go...?

-I mean, that's the name that I thought of.

-Before they came up?

-No, when they came up.

-When they came up.

He certainly got a more colourful love life than the others, I think.

-But it's a bit of a guess, but we we'll go for it.

-Shall we try it?

Jeremy, we'd like to try Robin Thicke.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Is this right?

-No, it's John Legend.

-John Legend.

Not Will.i.am, but John Legend.

OK. Here's your question.

In 2014, Charles Michel was elected Prime Minister of

which European country?

-I think we can rule out France.

-Yes, I was just about to say that.

-That's Valls.

-Yes, Manuel Valls.

-OK, so...

Belgium versus Luxembourg.

They went a long time without a government in Belgium.

Have they had...Elio Di Rupo? Is he the current Belgian leader?

-I'm not sure.

-Do they have a president in...?

Get the spelling of Michel, to be honest.

-Can we have a spelling please?

-M-I-C-H-E-L.

Cos that sounds more

Luxembourg-ish, to be fair.

Well, they went a long time without a prime minister or

government in Belgium, I'm sure.

When they did have one, they made a big...

It was in all the papers, I'm sure I would have recognised

the name if it was Charles Michel.

Michel, the EL at the end just sounds more Luxembourg-ish,

but that... I don't have any anything else to...

So we...

I'm inclined to Luxembourg because I think I would have recognised

-the Belgian name when they came up.

-What about yourself, Lisa?

I actually have a slight preference for Belgium based on

I think I've heard a different name

for Luxembourg, but I couldn't

tell you anything about the actual name, so, Pat, if you've got a...

-Let's have a think about this.

-I really don't know.

I'm not sure of this at all.

I mean, if it turns out to be Belgium,

I wouldn't be that shaken,

you know, surprised.

On the basis you've got a name for Belgium, Pat.

Who may or may not be.

It may or may not be, but there is a name

and we don't have a name for

Luxembourg and it might be a better fit.

-What do you think...?

-THEY TALK AT SAME TIME

OK, Barry, you happy with...? Well, we will go Luxembourg.

-Yeah, a bit risky.

-It is risky.

-OK, we are not completely sure of this.

-Or at all.

We can dismiss France easily

and we feel like we have some reasons

to get rid of Belgium.

So we are going for Luxembourg.

It's not France. It is Belgium.

-ALL:

-Ooh!

-I'm sorry, guys.

-Oh, that's all right.

Sooo...you had

a little bit of luck there.

They've matched your wrong answer with their own.

Get this right, put some pressure on. £5,000, you are playing for.

Who wrote the 2002 graphic novel Diary Of A Teenage Girl,

which was turned into a film in 2015?

Well, Catlin Moran doesn't write graphic novels.

She writes biographies and novels and things.

I don't think she ever has.

And there is...

I'm just thinking there's somebody, the person that wrote Tamara Drewe

that was also made into a film, graphic novel.

About the life of a young woman.

Now, I can't remember the name of the author.

So Phoebe Gloeckner or Posy Simmonds.

Yeah.

-You know nothing about graphic novels?

-Not a thing.

-Not a thing.

So, Gloeckner sounds sort of German.

Do Germans write graphic novels?

I think so, yeah.

-Posy Simmonds sounds English.

-I know, yeah.

Maybe it is Posy Simmonds, maybe that's why I've heard of it.

-What do you think, Posy Simmonds?

-Posy is the one I kind of...

I'm going to plump for,

but it's with very little certainty.

I know we've got very little to go on, haven't we? Shall we...?

-Go on.

-An uneducated guess, Posy Simmonds.

Posy Simmonds.

Well, it's not Caitlin Moran.

Phoebe Gloeckner is the answer.

-Ahh!

-Phoebe Gloeckner.

So, Eggheads, this for the contest.

Who originally had a hit with the song The Greatest Love Of All

in 1977, eight years before Whitney Houston recorded it?

-George Benson.

-Benson.

-Definitely, George Benson.

-Yeah. Yeah, it is.

-Greatest Love Of All. George Benson.

-It's a song that's caught me

out before, but in this case, I think you are right.

-Definitely George Benson.

-Yeah, yeah.

I'm getting some strong feedback from my team-mates here.

He said the word George Benson about

-eight times.

-He did.

I think I'll have to say

George Benson.

The answer is George Benson.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Well played.

I know you would have known the musical question.

-Yeah, we knew that one.

-Yeah, yeah, but anyway,

commiserations, Sinfonics.

I'm sorry, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

most of the time, anyway.

And they still reign supreme over quiz land.

I'm afraid it means you won't be going home with the £5,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done.

Who, I wonder, will beat you?

Let's see if it happens next time.

A new team of Challengers will challenge the Eggheads

to win £6,000.

Until then, goodbye.