Episode 91 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.

-Here they are, the Eggheads, raring to go.

-Oh, yes.

-Absolutely.

And you've got the short sleeves on, Barry.

-Resplendent in colours.

-Indeed.

Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today

are the Omelette Makers from Scotland.

Now, this team of colleagues all work together as civil servants.

Simon and David regularly quiz together

at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Simon and I'm a customs officer.

Hello, I'm Graham. I'm a tax inspector.

Hi, I'm Laura and I'm a customs officer.

Hi, I'm Tom and I'm a tax inspector.

Hi, I'm David and I'm also a tax inspector.

So, Simon and team, welcome. Thank you for coming.

I said Scotland, it's Glasgow, Edinburgh, is it?

Yeah, the first four of us are based in Glasgow

and David's based in Edinburgh.

So, across the Central Belt.

And I think I know why you've called yourself the Omelette Makers

but I better just check.

Yeah, just a playful play on words.

-You can't make an omelette without breaking a few Eggheads.

-Yes.

So, hopefully, with the right sort of questions tonight

-we might break a few.

-Yep, emotionally and quizzically.

So you haven't quizzed as a complete team, Simon, is that right?

No, that's correct.

David and I have quizzed together but this is a bit of a test

as a five-piece band.

And when you said the Voodoo Rooms,

I noticed you guys went, "Ooh," like that.

-Yes, we've quizzed there also, many times.

-Oh, have you?

-Mm-hm.

-Have you ever seen them down there?

-Yeah, a couple of them.

-Really?

Do they go in disguise?

-They try to, but everyone recognises them.

-Oh, well...

I remember Barry once drew a beard to try and cover himself up.

He did, yes.

And he also wears very bright jackets sometimes

so people don't notice him.

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.

OK, Omelette Makers, with the brilliant name,

the Eggheads have won the last five games,

they're starting to get into their stride,

they're starting to get a bit smug. So, you've got to stop them.

£6,000 is in play.

-Would you like to try and win it?

-Yes, we would.

Right, Simon and team, the first head-to-head battle is on Politics.

-Who would like this?

-That'll be me, then.

Yes, I think we'll go with David for this one.

David, at the end, our tax inspector.

-And who would you like to inspect?

-Lisa?

-Yeah, I'll go to Lisa.

-Oh, I am worth inspecting, sir.

-THEY LAUGH

So David from the Omelette Makers

versus Lisa from the Eggheads on Politics.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please both take your positions

in our very famous Question Room?

OK, politics for you, David. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here's your question.

What is the name of the document issued by a political party

before a general election that contains the set of policies

that the party stands for and would wish to implement

if elected to govern?

Well, Bill of Rights is the US term

for the first ten parts of the Constitution.

The white paper is sort of a bill that goes before Parliament.

So it would have to be a manifesto.

Manifesto is quite right. Well done.

Lisa, your question.

Which of these organisations sits in Strasbourg?

See, I was getting myself confused there,

cos I immediately thought the European Parliament

and then I went, "Oh, no, that's Brussels."

-Yeah, European Parliament.

-Yeah.

It's one of these jokes that people make the whole time is

they can't even have one parliament, they have to have two.

European Parliament is in Strasbourg and in Brussels as well.

Well, that's just as well.

Go backwards and forwards, yeah.

OK. David, back to you.

Which Conservative politician, following consistent speculation

about his hair, admitted that there was, I quote,

"Some, but only some, enhancement of the follicular area?"

Well, the one with the famous hair is Michael Fabricant.

-So, I'll have to go for that.

-It is, yes. Bless him.

Michael Fabricant has a large mop of blonde hair.

Your question, Lisa.

Which politician became the bookmakers' favourite

to become the next leader of the Labour Party

following a speech he gave in favour of bombing Syria in November, 2015?

Now, Hilary Benn does not strike me, necessarily,

as the "let's bomb Syria" type.

Of course, the problem with the other two is

they've sort of had their chance and binned it off, really.

I don't know. I sort of want to say Hilary Benn but it could just be

an absolutely catastrophic thing to say,

on the basis I don't really think it's his sort of policy.

It's time to weigh this up.

If I say Hilary Benn and it's wrong, I'm going to feel really stupid.

If I don't say Hilary Benn and it's right,

I will feel marginally less stupid.

On which basis, I will go for Andy Burnham.

BARRY GROANS

Caramba!

You know this, David?

Yes. It was the Shadow Foreign Secretary at the time.

So, it's Hilary Benn.

That makes more sense.

Cos what happened is he kind of made this speech completely

anti-Jeremy Corbyn's position with Corbyn sitting next to him.

And everyone thought, "OK. There's the next leader."

Hilary Benn is the right answer.

Biggest moment in the House of Commons for about 15 years.

Thank you, Jeremy. I feel so much better when you rub it in.

I'm just saying there must have been a reason you missed it.

OK. David, your question.

Who was the first Democrat president since Franklin D Roosevelt

to win consecutive terms of office?

Well, Jimmy Carter only won the one term.

Bill Clinton won in the '92 and the '96 election

and that was before Obama.

So, it would have to be Bill Clinton.

Yes, it was Bill Clinton, well done.

You've got three out of three there, David.

You're a very good quizzer, I can tell.

You're in the final round. Lisa, sorry.

I can hear the hiss of the frying pan

and see the whisk coming towards me.

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

As it stands, the Omelette Makers

have not lost any brains from the final round.

They've taken first blood here.

They've broken an egg, as you have to do to make an omelette.

The Eggheads have lost Lisa. The next subject is Science.

Who's the scientist?

Tom, you said you would have a go at this, didn't you?

Somewhat reluctantly it's me.

Tom, another tax inspector, against which Egghead?

Try Pat?

-I think we agreed Pat.

-Yeah.

OK. Let's go for Pat.

Tom from the Omelette Makers will play Pat, the Silent Destroyer,

from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

All right, Science, Tom, is the subject.

Would you like to go first or second against the Silent Destroyer?

I would like to go first please, Jeremy.

Here is your question.

Which of these animals typically spends up to 16 hours a day

submerged in rivers or lakes?

OK. It's certainly not an elephant.

They certainly don't go underwater as much as that.

Hippopotamuses are well-known for spending time in water,

so I think I'd like to go for hippopotamus, please.

Hippopotamus is quite right.

OK, Pat, which chemical element takes its symbol from

an abbreviation of the New Latin word natrium or nat-rium?

I think Na for natrium is also the symbol for sodium.

Yes, it is. Na is sodium.

All right. Tom, back to you.

Steel is made by combining iron with which other element?

Certainly not silver.

Steel's very, very strong for all the uses that it has.

On that basis, given that titanium is very, very strong,

I think I will go for titanium, but I'm not 100% sure.

We'll go to Barry on this. Barry?

I'm afraid it's carbon.

-Carbon is the answer.

-Ah, OK.

Pat, your chance to take the lead.

The reticulated python,

sometimes called the largest snake in the world,

often reaches what length when mature?

Well, it's the longest snake in the world

so I think we can dismiss two metres, that doesn't cut much ice...

amongst the big snakes.

Seven metres is 21 foot, which is a very substantial snake.

14 metres - 42 feet. 42 feet is a long snake.

I'm slightly uneasy about seven versus 14.

One seems too small and one seems too big.

The largest of all snakes is going to have to be

a bit special, isn't it?

I think to claim the crown, I think you'll have to go to 14 metres.

-It's too long.

-Too long?

Seven metres.

OK.

Tom, your question.

Which scientist famously likened himself to the Hindu deity Vishnu

when he quoted these words from the Bhagavad-Gita -

"I am become Death, destroyer of worlds"?

I don't know the answer. I've not heard that quote before.

I don't think it sounds like something that Albert Einstein

would have said.

Um...

Oppenheimer obviously instrumental in the invention of

a very serious weapon.

So, I think, of the three,

I think I would like to go for the middle one, for Oppenheimer, please.

Oppenheimer. Now, Eggheads, in contemplating that,

we need to remember what Nobel did before he invented the Peace Prize.

He invented dynamite.

He invented dynamite.

So, there is that. But which is the right answer, Eggs, do you know?

-BOTH:

-Oppenheimer.

-Oppenheimer's right.

So, you have taken the lead, Tom.

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

Which dwarf planet in our solar system is named after

the Greek goddess of discord?

I think that's Eris.

Eris is correct.

Tom, we go to Sudden Death. It gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives. Are you ready for your question?

-Yes, I am.

-In mathematics, what is the cube root of 343?

I'm trying to do some mental arithmetic here.

I'm sorry, I don't think I'm going to be able to work it out, Jeremy.

Do you want to take a stab at it?

Because it's Sudden Death and I can pick a number, I'll say 81.

-Challengers, do you know?

-Seven.

-Seven is the answer. Seven times seven times seven.

-OK. No problem.

It's OK. Very hard in that room not to go blank sometimes.

Sudden Death, your chance to take the round, Pat.

The French mathematician, physicist

and philosopher Blaise Pascal lived during which century?

Blaise Pascal. Well, he's got to be down somewhere in the 1600s.

Could he have stretched into the 1700s?

I think 15 is too early. 17 is too late.

So, it's the 1600s, which is the 17th century.

17th century.

Yes, he was 1623 to 1662, so it is the 17th.

Pat, on Sudden Death, you've beaten Tom. Tom, sorry.

I know you know the cube root thing.

No, I don't, actually.

-It's a long time ago I did maths at school.

-Cubes and squares.

All right, well, do come back to us, both of you,

and we'll see what happens in the next round.

So, as it stands, the Omelette Makers have broken one Egg

but the Eggs have broken back, just to continue the analogy.

So, both teams have lost a brain. The next subject is Geography.

-Which Omelette Maker would like this?

-That's you, Simon.

-The traveller, yes.

-That'll be me.

OK, team captain, Simon, against which Egghead -

Kevin, Dave or Barry?

Let's try Dave.

So, it's Simon from the Omelette Makers

versus our Dave from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

please go now to the Chamber Of Challenge.

Simon, Geography. Do you want to go first or second?

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go. Which of these islands is the largest by area, Simon?

I've not been to any of them.

Um...

Isle of Man or Jersey?

I'm just trying to imagine seeing the two of them on a map.

Which one would look larger?

I am going to go with the Isle of Man.

Nicely done. Isle of Man, it is.

That's a hard question.

Dave, which landlocked country lies between Russia and China?

Mongolia.

Blimey, you didn't hang about there.

Didn't want to hang about.

Understood. Mongolia is right.

Simon, Jakarta is a city in which country?

You're really picking the places I've not been to.

I do know this one, though. Jakarta is in Indonesia.

Indonesia is correct.

David, your question.

By area, which is the largest bay in the world?

No, I don't like it, really, but...

we'll rule out the Bay of Biscay,

rule out Baffin Bay and go for the Bay of Bengal, please.

And you don't like it, what, cos you've been there or...?

No, no, not at all. It's just the...

With sizes, it's very hard to visualise, you know,

which one, even looking at a map,

trying to put them all in context, because they've all got distances.

But I will go with the Bay of Bengal.

Bay of Bengal is the right answer.

So, you're locked in step here.

Simon, your third question could be crucial.

Which is the most southerly country on the Arabian Peninsula?

Well, Jordan is quite far north, so I'm going to rule that out.

And Oman and Yemen both sit on the bottom.

But I believe the angle it sits at, Yemen sits to the left

and it's further south.

So, I'm going to go with Yemen.

Yeah, you're really good. Yemen is right.

Ooh. This is a good team we've got here, Eggheads.

Dave, your third question to stay in.

Which design is pictured at the centre of the flag of Swaziland?

I'm trying to think. There is one with a shield and weapons.

Now, is it Swaziland? I don't think it's a...

It could be a golden sun.

It could be a flying eagle. No, I'm sorry.

I'm going to go for a shield and weapons, please.

Don't be sorry. It's right. It's the correct answer.

So, you're equal after three.

No-one's made a mistake in this round so far. Simon, back to you.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

Cheyenne is the capital of which US state?

OK. I'm going to go with my first thought, North Dakota.

It's Wyoming.

Dave, your question

is for the round.

The San Juan River forms part of the border between Nicaragua

and which other country?

-San Juan River?

-Yeah.

Well, I'm going to go Costa Rica.

Yes, Costa Rica is the right answer, Dave.

Sudden Death, you've taken the round.

Simon, sorry, beaten by our Egghead.

As a result you won't be able to take part in the final.

If you return to your team-mates, we'll play the next round.

So, as it stands,

the Omelette Makers have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have still just lost the one.

The last subject before the final is Film & TV.

So, whose is this?

-That's Laura, I think.

-That's me.

-I think you'll be quite good at this.

-Yeah, I'll go for it.

OK, Laura, customs officer, whose bags would you like to look inside?

THEY ALL CHUCKLE

It's Kevin or Barry, I don't know how much of a choice that is.

Go on, then. I'll be the sacrificial lamb. Kevin.

Kevin, said with certain conviction.

So, Laura from the Omelette Makers versus Kevin from the Eggheads.

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

Laura, on Film & TV, would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please?

And here is your first question.

"Our survey says" is a well-known phrase from which game show?

Um... I've never seen Take Me Out.

And I'm pretty sure it's Family Fortunes.

Family Fortunes is correct.

Kevin, who played the role of the grumpy weatherman Phil Connors

in the 1993 film Groundhog Day?

Yes, very amusing film, that one.

It was Bill Murray.

Bill Murray is quite right.

Laura, Toby Jones received a BAFTA nomination

for playing the role of the real-life

Stoke City kit man Neil Baldwin in which TV drama?

I've never heard of it.

Um...

Marvellous. Take a stab.

Yeah, Marvellous is right.

And it was really good because he's got learning difficulties and

he loves Stoke City and they put him in there and he's just an

incredible inspiration.

Kevin, your question.

The actor and comedian Richard Blackwood joined the cast of

which TV soap opera in 2014?

Well, theoretically it could be any of them, I suppose.

I have...

a sort of instinct.

Though I've not been too infallible just recently. Um...

I'll have to go for EastEnders, I think.

-Eggheads, is he right?

-Quite right, yes.

-Yes, indeed.

Well done. 2-2. Back to you, Laura.

Who received an Oscar nomination for directing the film Boyhood?

It's going to have to be a guess again.

I'll go down the middle, Bennett Miller.

David knows this. David?

-It's Linklater.

-Richard Linklater is the answer.

So, gives Kevin a chance here on the third question.

Kevin, who plays the role of the villainous Kylo Ren

in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Well, they're all in it, but the one who plays Kylo Ren is Adam Driver.

If you're right, you're in the final.

Adam Driver is the right answer. Well done, Kevin. You've done it.

Three out of three. Sorry, Laura, beaten by our Egghead.

But if you come back to us, we will play that final round for £6,000.

So, this is what we've been playing towards,

it is time for the final round, which, as always,

is General Knowledge.

But, I'm afraid, those of you that lost your head-to-heads

are not allowed to take part in this round.

So, Simon, Laura and Tom from the Omelette Makers,

and also, Lisa from the Eggheads

would you please now leave the studio?

Graham and David, you are playing to win the Omelette Makers £6,000.

Kevin, Dave, Pat and Barry, you're playing for something

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

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

this time they're all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Graham and David, the question is,

can your two brains take down these four?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, Jeremy.

Here's your first question. Good luck, Graham and David.

The fictional characters called the Minions are well-known

for their fondness for which type of fruit?

I don't really know this but I seem to remember they're

sort of yellow and the adverts and always with bananas, so...

Yeah, I must admit I can't, honestly...

-I know they're in Despicable Me.

-Yeah.

But I can't honestly say I've studied it in any depth.

-So, are we going bananas?

-I think bananas is probably the best bet.

We'll go with bananas. We'll go bananas!

Bananas is the right answer. You've gone bananas very well.

Successfully. This lot went bananas

a long time ago, didn't you? Here's your question.

Which of these machines were found in German Panzer divisions

during World War II?

-I think tanks, hey?

-Tanks?

-Tanks, yeah.

Panzer is the German word for armour, so it leads us to tanks.

Tanks is correct.

Challengers,

in Norse mythology, who was the watchman of the gods

who guarded the rainbow bridge to Earth?

-Not Loki.

-Loki's the son, obviously.

It's one of the...

I can't remember the other ones. I'd go for Balder, I think.

Cos I seem to remember there was a game called Baldur's Gate,

-a video game.

-A video game, yeah.

I don't know if that's related.

So, that's why I'd probably lean towards that.

-Well, you've convinced me.

-Cool.

-We'll go Balder.

Balder, OK. Eggheads, are they right?

-No.

-ALL:

-Heimdall.

Heimdall, born of nine mothers,

it was said his hearing was so acute, he could hear grass growing.

Heimdall is the answer, Challengers. THEY SIGH

I hope that's not an expensive error.

So we go to the Eggheads for their second question.

In 2011, who became the first woman to have

a UK top ten album in five consecutive decades?

-Right.

-Ooh... Bit of a tough one, this.

'10s, 2000s, '90s, '80s and '70s.

I think it's Vera Lynn.

My first thought was Vera Lynn and then I was thinking,

-could it be Kate Bush?

-Cos she did have a number one album.

-She had a number one album then.

-In 2011.

Kate Bush has had presumably some interregnum

where she didn't have any.

What do you think, Pat?

I know that Vera Lynn has set various records.

She does pop up when you look at these records.

It does seem rather odd, though.

That's starting with the '70s.

Yeah.

-Vera Lynn's been around a lot longer.

-Yeah, a lot longer.

'70s, '80s...

Vera Lynn certainly had a number one hit.

-It said top ten, didn't it?

-Yeah.

We've not discussed Annie Lennox at all.

No, but I don't think she was solo from the '70s.

-It seems unlikely to me, but that may be wrong.

-Mm.

So what's the consensus? Shall we put it to the vote?

Yeah.

OK. I'm going to go for Vera Lynn.

Yeah, I'll go Vera Lynn.

I don't...

I've got my misgivings about Kate Bush.

Yeah, I've got my misgivings.

But on balance, Vera Lynn.

Vera Lynn.

OK. Happy? OK.

Well, we have deep misgivings about this answer as we could

argue a reasonable case for both Kate Bush and Vera Lynn.

But on balance, we're going to go for Vera Lynn.

-The answer is Kate Bush.

-Ah.

-Oh.

Kate Bush. All right. So...

HE LAUGHS

..that doesn't happen very often.

As soon as you get a flat tyre, they get one as well.

Here's your third question. Get this right.

The British wrestler born William George Matthews and often

billed as The Man You Love To Hate was better known by what name?

I don't know that Catweazle was The Man You Love To Hate?

I thought Mick McManus.

I thought McManus was always the one you want to hate.

-I seem to remember my gran hating him.

-Yeah.

So, you think we'll go for Mick McManus?

-I think go for Mick McManus.

-We'll go for Mick McManus.

Very good. Mick McManus is correct. You made swift work of that.

Third question to the Eggheads.

Which poet born in 1894 wrote these lines -

"and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

"i carry your heart i carry it in my heart"?

It's too late for Emily Dickinson.

-Can I ask a question?

-Yes.

Is the quotation entirely in lower case?

It is in lower case entirely.

-Well, I was thinking 1894...

-Well, that's ee cummings, isn't it?

Frost was... Yeah, I was doing it on the dates.

I'm pretty sure cummings is 1894.

And Frost...

-..was later. He's not 1894.

-OK.

And it's much too late... Emily Dickinson was already dead.

-Yeah, OK.

-So, it's cummings.

-OK.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Well, I think the clue here is that it was written in lower case

and ee cummings is the poet who famously wrote everything

in lower case.

So, on that basis, we're going for ee cummings.

ee cummings is the right answer.

OK, so, equal

after three questions. We go to Sudden Death.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

In 2015, which actress starred in the title role of

a London revival of the stage musical Funny Girl?

Any thoughts?

It doesn't ring any bells at all.

Nothing for me either.

-HE SIGHS

-Funny Girl.

Do you know the original to work out how old the character would be?

Funny Girl was...

Was it Barbra Streisand who was in Funny Girl?

So, who would it...? It's got to be someone...

-..who can sing as well as act.

-Yes.

Jane Horrocks or someone like that?

-I can't really see her in it.

-No.

I'm sure we would have heard it if it had been someone like that.

Who's been in the West End recently? Someone like Gillian Anderson maybe?

-Oh, yeah.

-She's done a couple of shows.

-Yeah.

-Working with that?

-Gillian Anderson.

-Yeah, Gillian Anderson.

-Gillian Anderson, we'll go for.

Gillian Anderson. Eggheads, are they right?

I think that was the very versatile Sheridan Smith.

Yes, the answer is Sheridan Smith. Kevin is absolutely right.

Ah, yes.

So, that gives the Eggheads a chance.

Which man co-created and co-wrote

many of the episodes for the TV sitcoms

Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo!

in collaboration with Jeremy Lloyd?

-David Croft.

-David Croft, isn't it? It's David Croft.

David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, yeah.

-Go David Croft?

-David Croft.

-Yep.

I think we're on safer ground here now.

We believe that was David Croft.

Good team you've been playing, for sure,

but you have won, Eggheads.

David Croft is the answer. We say congratulations, Eggheads.

If only you'd said Heimdall.

You'd have £6,000. I shouldn't even remind you of that.

That's the way it crumbles around here. Commiserations.

You got out your whisks and your spatulas

and you really set about those eggs.

But you didn't quite break enough of them, Omelette Makers, I'm afraid.

They've done what comes naturally to them.

They had a little bit of a skid and a stumble there on Kate Bush.

But the winning streak continues.

And I'm afraid it means you won't be going home with the 6,000,

so, the money rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, well done.

Very good to watch you at the moment, actually.

I wonder who will beat you.

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

have the brains to defeat them.

£7,000 says they don't. What excitement.

Until then, goodbye.