Episode 2 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...

Now, this group of keen walkers

are all members of the Stoke and Newcastle Ramblers

in Staffordshire.

So, let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Susan. I'm a retired social worker.

Hello, I'm Stephen and I'm a retired biology lecturer.

Hi, I'm Doreen and I'm a retired midwife.

Hi, I'm Rob and I'm a retired science lecturer.

Hi, I'm Peter, a freelance journalist.

So, Susan and team, welcome. And you ramble and quiz?

You ramble together and quiz separately, is that right? Yes.

The common connection is the rambling. OK.

We're all members of the local club

and we walk in the local area,

into Derbyshire, Cheshire, surrounding areas.

We have weekends away, holidays...

Lovely. This is all reminding me of one of my brother's jokes

where he says, "I rang the local rambling society,

"this bloke just went on and on."

Yeah, yeah. Sorry.

Tim will be furious with me because I always mess up his jokes, as well.

Good luck, everybody. 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, Rambling Away, the Eggheads have won the last six games, which means

there's ?7,000 for you to win today.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film TV.

So, Susan, who would like this?

Anybody prefer Film TV?

I'm happy with anything, yeah. Peter? Yeah. OK.

So Peter is going to go with that one.

OK, Peter, freelance journalist on the end there.

Against which Egghead?

We're still getting the measure of the new ones, to be honest.

I can't really help you. New to the team, how about Steve? All right.

But didn't you do Film TV last time, in your first outing?

Well, it very nearly did me, but, yes.

Yes, it very nearly did you, you're right. So let's see.

Rain in some more artillery on Steve's knowledge

and see how you go, Peter.

Peter from Rambling Away, Steve from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there is no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our very special Question Room?

Steve, do you feel settled as an Egghead now?

As time goes on, Jeremy, I'm feeling more and more confident and

settled into the role, so, hopefully, I'll continue to improve.

I'm not sure that there'll ever be

as hard a contest as that Make Me An Egghead.

My goodness,

it was extraordinary, the quizzing on that.

Well, people won't believe I'm only 15. It's aged me.

LAUGHTER

So, it's Film TV. That's the category.

And, Peter, you can choose first or second. First, please.

Good luck against our new Egghead, Steve.

Esme Young and Patrick Grant have appeared as judges on which

TV talent competition?

Right, well, I don't know this, but I've watched The X Factor

a fair amount and I don't think they've been on that.

I wouldn't have thought it would be The Apprentice,

so I'll go for The Great British Sewing Bee.

Yes, you're right, The Great British Sewing Bee it is.

OK, here's your question, Steve.

In the TV series The Man From Uncle,

the dastardly organisation THRUSH's acronym stood for

Technical Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables

and the Subjugation of what?

Ah, right.

I'd never actually known that before you said it, Jeremy,

to be fair, so I suppose, if you don't know,

they're all equally plausible,

but if it's a villainous organisation that's basically

aiming to overthrow mankind, hopefully, it would be Humanity.

It is Technical Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and

the Subjugation of Humanity. Well done, Steve.

Peter, your question.

In the Alan Partridge TV series, what was the name of Alan's

assistant, played by Felicity Montagu?

Right. I did see a few of them.

The one that immediately comes to mind is Jenny, but I am by

no means sure.

I'm just trying to run them over in my head. Susan, Lynn...

Um, no, I'm not terribly sure. I'll have to go for Jenny.

Do you know, I think I might have done that as well.

But I would've been wrong. And I'm afraid you're wrong. It's Lynn.

Steve, the 2015 film

Love And Friendship is based on which novel by Jane Austen?

Right. I've not seen it, so I'm clutching a bit.

I know they are all written by Jane Austen.

Probably the least known of the three would be Lady Susan,

which might point me in that direction.

I've nothing to go on, really. I'll say Lady Susan.

OK, Lady Susan is right. It is very good quizzing, well done.

Two to the Eggheads and, at the moment,

one to you, Peter.

It means you need to get this one right.

Who stars as the writer of stories for children's comics

Felix Wilkinson in the early Ealing comedy film Hue And Cry?

I think I remember seeing this many years ago.

I'm pretty sure it is not Alec Guinness or Gordon Jackson.

I would go for Alastair Sim.

What do you think, Challengers?

Yes. Yes, they all like that on your side.

Well done, Peter, Alastair Sim is right.

So, you're level,

but, Steve, you have a chance

to take the round with your third question.

In the 1986 film Heartburn, Meryl Streep and

Jack Nicholson's husband-and-wife characters share what occupation?

Mm, right.

For a minute, I was thinking tramp, but I think that is Ironweed.

So that's got me off on the wrong foot.

I'm struggling to remember the film.

I've no doubt seen it because I love both of those actors.

I will hope I'm right and say doctor. OK.

Journalist is the answer, Steve. Right, yeah.

After three questions each, the scores are level.

We go to Sudden Death.

Peter, it gets a bit harder, I don't give you different options.

In which TV series did David Duchovny play

a character nicknamed Spooky?

Right, I think I can remember the series,

but I can't remember the name of it.

And he had...a female sidekick.

Um...

Tales Of The... Something in California. X-Files!

Yes, you're right. Well done.

OK, Steve, your question. Sudden Death.

What is the title of the BBC TV drama series first broadcast

in 2014 that follows the lives of six pregnant women and their

partners who meet at a local parent craft class?

Ha. I think this is me saying goodbye.

Erm...

No, I can't even guess, to be honest. I really don't know.

In The Club is the answer, Steve.

Right. In The Club.

So, well done, Peter. That dredging of the X-Files

has won you the round. Great work.

You took on an Egghead and you triumphed.

And for the first time, we're going to lose Steve from a final.

First time for everything. Do come back to us, we'll play on.

As it stands, Rambling Away have not lost any brains from the final.

This is good. We've got to remember this moment, guys.

You're doing well.

You've knocked an Egghead out, one of the newest Eggheads.

First time it's happened to him as well. The next subject is Science.

So, who would like this? This is...Stephen?

Yeah, yeah. It looks like it's me.

It's so funny, cos I realised you've got two retired science

lecturers here, so this is a good...

Cos you are as well, Rob, aren't you? Uh-huh. OK.

So it's going to be Stephen, against which Egghead? We think Pat.

You are going to hurl yourself at Pat, OK. It has to be done.

Stephen from Rambling Away versus Pat from the Eggheads on Science.

You love your science, Pat, don't you? Yeah. Science is good.

Good stuff.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Stephen, biology is your subject? Correct, yes.

And I mentioned you've got two science people on the team, so

this is a strong area, really. Well, I hope so, but we'll see.

All right, so, Science we're on, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Stephen, good luck. Here we go with your first question.

What is a young cod known as?

Uh, well, codette and coddini

don't sound like British terms,

and cod is, you know, a British/Scandinavian fish,

so I'll go for codling.

I love your logic. You're right. Codling is correct.

Pat, your question.

When did the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler discover the

apparent change in frequency of waves caused by relative

motion that we now refer to as the Doppler effect?

I think it's surprisingly late.

Certainly not 1042.

I don't think it's 1442.

I think he was a 19th-century scientist, so I'm going for 1842.

1842 is the right answer.

Stephen.

What are the most common causes of pneumonia in adults?

Pneumonia. I think it's a bacterium. Isn't it pneumococcus?

I think it is a bacteria.

Yeah, bacteria is right.

Pat, your question.

Native to Central and South America, the jaguarundi is a small,

dark, unspotted wildcat whose swimming ability

has led to it being also known by what name?

Whale cat seems slightly unlikely.

A confection for a small member of the cat family, a whale.

A whale suggests bulk and sort of a marine creature,

so that seems false.

A dog cat?

There are armies of small mammals that are sort of kind of like

cats and kind of like dogs,

but seeing as swimming is in the question and the otter is

a quintessentially superlative swimmer,

I think I'll go for otter cat.

Otter cat is right.

OK.

Stephen, your question.

A year on Venus lasts approximately how many Earth days?

That will be 225 because it is a bit nearer the Sun than the Earth,

and so it will have a shorter year.

That's fantastically done. Well done.

OK, Pat.

If you get this wrong, you'll be out.

Scopolamine, a drug obtained from plants including nightshade

and henbane is commonly used as an effective remedy for which of

the following?

I've heard of the drug. I don't...

I've never paid it very much attention.

That's a bit tricky.

You'd think an acid reflux treatment would be some sort

of alkali to neutralise the acidity.

Motion sickness, serious problem, lots of different remedies.

And blocked sinuses...

Well, you would normally think a decongestant - menthol,

eucalyptus or something like that.

I suppose you could...

You could have drugs targeted...

There are drugs targeted at these conditions.

Scopolamine.

I'll go for motion sickness.

Yeah. Complete stab.

Eggheads, do you know?

I don't know for certain, but henbane and nightshade contain

alkaloids, and alkaloids affect the brain, so of those three,

motion sickness would seem to be the likeliest candidate.

Mm! Good thinking, Barry.

Motion sickness is correct. Well done, Pat. Good quizzing there.

Three points each.

Could be a tight round, this. Stephen, your question.

Sudden Death now, I don't give you alternative options.

What is the SI unit of illumination?

Um...

The lumen, I think it is.

Lumen is wrong. It's lux. Oh, well...

It's not lumen. Yeah.

So, Pat, for the round.

The Mercalli scale is used to measure the intensity of what?

And that's M-E-R-C-A-L-L-I, the Mercalli scale.

My first thought is that it is one of various scales used to

assess the impact of earthquakes.

Let me just think on it for a moment.

We've obviously got the Richter scale

and the modified Richter scale.

There's loads of them. Kanamori scale.

I think I'll go for earthquakes.

Earthquakes is your answer.

Stephen, is he right? I think he is.

Yeah, sadly from your point of view, he is. But there we go, Stephen.

Sorry, you've been knocked out.

Come back to us, both of you, rejoin your teams.

OK, as it stands, Rambling Away have lost a brain from the final round,

but the Eggheads have lost one as well.

So it is perfectly evenly matched. You can do this, Ramblers.

We can do it. You can do it. And this is...

You're going to like this round because it's Arts Books now

and I think you are very book-y people.

So, who would like to play this? Right, that's me.

OK. Please. Susan, brilliant. Against which Egghead?

Who looks vulnerable? SHE LAUGHS

I don't know about that, but I'd like to take on Beth, please. OK.

Fantastic. We're going to see what Beth is made of on Arts Books.

So, Susan from Rambling Away versus one of our newest Eggheads.

And to ensure there is no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our very special Question Room?

Susan, Arts Books, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go with your first question.

Katie Price's 2014 volume of autobiography is entitled

Love, Lipstick And...what?

I think that would be lies.

Lies is right.

OK, Beth. What is the man

in Grant Wood's 1930 painting American Gothic wearing on his head?

I... Yeah, this picture's a favourite of mine, actually.

In his hand, he's holding a pitchfork, but on his head,

there are spectacles.

Yes, spectacles.

Susan, back to you.

Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler was an important figure in the

Parisian art scene in the early part of the 20th century due to

his work as which of the following?

Well, I don't actually know.

I guess he could've been any of these.

OK. Well, I'll go art dealer.

It is art dealer, you're right. Well done. OK.

So art dealers were important at that period, were they?

Cos they often were the ones who picked the artist

who was up-and-coming? Yep.

OK, Beth, your question.

Julia Jackson and Leslie Stephen were the mother and father of

which writer?

Oh.

This isn't something I particularly know.

But they were obviously reasonably well known in their own right

as well.

I'm going to go for Agatha Christie.

Eggheads, do you know? Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf is the answer. Oh.

So, we've got a point down

on Beth's side. This is looking slightly promising now, Susan.

Get this right and your team pulls into the lead.

You will have dispatched an Egghead.

Henry Chinaski was the alter ego of which American writer?

OK, well, the only name that I recognise from these three is

William S Burroughs.

It just sounds so different.

I'll go with William S Burroughs

just because that was sort of first instinct.

Yeah. And I don't know. It's actually Charles Bukowski. OK.

Mm-hm.

So, you are not yet off the cliff edge,

Beth, but you will be if you get this wrong.

The American artist Sol LeWitt was best known as an exponent of which

art movement?

Now, I do quite like both pop art and abstract expressionism.

Minimalism is a bit bare for me.

There's not a lot to it.

But I'm going down the pop art route for this, Jeremy.

OK.

So, it's your third question, you're a point behind.

If you've got this wrong, you are out. Do you know this one, Susan?

Is it right, is it pop art?

I would've gone with that, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Minimalism is the answer. Oh.

That's a tough question.

And, Susan, well done.

You're in the final.

So, is your team getting closer to the ?7,000?

Sorry, Beth, your first experience at being knocked out.

It is. OK, first time for everything. ..a new Egghead.

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

As it stands, you're doing well. That's the summary of it.

You've lost a brain and you've managed to take out two.

In fact, the newest two brains...

Is that right?

..have been toppled. And the last subject...

Keep it up, because they can...

Honestly, they can strike back at any time.

The next subject is Politics, the last one before the final.

Who would like this?

I can't take this, I'm hopeless.

Have I got to put my head on the chopping block?

Go for it. I'm afraid so, I can't do it.

HE SIGHS OK. OK, I'll take it, Jeremy.

OK, retired science lecturer against which Egghead?

And you can have either Judith or Barry.

OK, Barry.

It is Barry from the Eggs against Rob from Rambling Away.

The subject is Politics. Please go to the Question Room.

OK, would you like to go first or second, Rob, on Politics?

I'll go first, please.

Here is your first question.

To which former British Prime Minister is the phrase

"if the policy isn't hurting, it isn't working"

attributed?

I don't think it's Tony Blair.

I can't remember much of anything that John Major said.

So I'm going to go for Margaret Thatcher.

No. I can remember this quite well cos it was in the recession

in the '90s, and it was actually John Major. Oh.

OK. Barry, your question.

Which of the following was the name given to Chancellor George Osborne's

2014 proposal to boost economic growth in the north of England?

It was The Northern Powerhouse.

That's the correct answer.

Rob, you've got to get this...

get this point to keep him worried. Here's your question.

Which of these terms means the abolition or repealing of a law?

And I can repeat them if you want.

No, that's OK, I'll go for abrogation.

Abrogation is your answer.

Yeah. It's correct. Well done, Rob.

Well done.

All right.

Barry, your second question.

What was the name of the body that Highways England replaced in 2015?

Well, the only one that rings any sort of recognition with

me is the Highways Agency, so I'll go for that.

Yes, indeed. Highways Agency.

OK, Rob, now because you got one wrong,

you've got to get this right.

Which French president, Rob, served as mayor of Tulle

from 2001 to 2008?

Not a clue.

OK...

Jacques Chirac.

N-n-no.

Not Jacques Chirac. That's a little bit after his time.

The answer was Francois Hollande.

Bad luck, Rob. Well done, Barry,

you've pulled it level for the Eggheads.

Rob, you've been beaten by our Egghead,

you won't be able to take part in the final round.

If you both come back to us, we will play that final.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our 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, Stephen and Rob from Rambling Away and also the two new

Eggheads, Beth and Steve, would you please now leave the studio?

Susan, Doreen and Peter, you are playing to win Rambling Away ?7,000.

Well done, you've drawn level with the Eggheads here.

Pat, Barry and Judith, you're playing for something that I

don't think money can buy, which is the Eggheads' precious 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, Rambling Away, the question is, can your three brains now

defeat these three veteran Eggheads' brains here?

Awful lot riding on this.

Rambling Away, would you like to go first or second?

Could we go first, please?

OK, Doreen and team, good luck to you.

And here is your first question.

The Alexander technique is a system of alternative treatment

intended primarily to improve what aspects of a person's body?

It's posture. Yes, mm-hm.

We think that's posture, Jeremy.

Posture is right, well done.

OK, Eggheads,

in 1991, who did Michael Stich defeat in the final to win the

men's singles title at Wimbledon?

OK, let's just... I think it's

Stefan Edberg or Boris Becker, don't you?

Yes, I do, but I don't... I'm just trying to think which one.

I think Stefan Edberg. I'd be inclined to go for Stefan Edberg,

but on no evidence whatsoever. He only won once, didn't he? Hm.

Well, I think if Stich had beaten Becker,

it would've been an all-German final.

Does that ring any bells?

Not particularly. An all-German final?

No, but it is a good point, though.

I don't know, let's go for Edberg. Are you happy with that?

I don't have any strong...

Well, we don't know, funnily enough.

But we think...

We're going to go for Stefan Edberg and hope for the best.

OK, Stefan Edberg is your answer. I wonder if our new Eggheads know.

Do you know who he was playing, Michael Stich, in '91?

We're not convinced, Jeremy,

but both me and Beth thought it was probably Boris Becker.

OK.

The answer is Boris Becker.

ALL: Oh!

How much you needed those new Eggheads... We did. ..to save you...

Yes. ..from this ignominy.

Right, it just got even better.

They've tripped, stumbled and fallen over the first question.

Your second.

What is the name of the official currency of the island of Anguilla?

ALL: East Caribbean dollar...

West Atlantic pound...

That sounds a bit convoluted to me.

Yeah. Northern Central America peso.

Well, the dollar is used in the Caribbean, isn't it?

It is, isn't it?

Of those, immediately, I would go for East Caribbean dollar.

Mm. Yes. With absolutely just...

Again, Northern Central America peso sounds a bit of a mouthful to me.

Are we happy with that? Yes. Yep.

We think, Jeremy, it is the East Caribbean dollar.

East Caribbean dollar is your answer.

Eggheads, are they right?

I think so, yeah. You are right.

Well done. Wow. Wow.

So, they're ahead.

Eggheads, get this wrong, you're in 17 kinds of trouble.

Slot receiver is a position in which sport?

That's up to you, boys. Slot receiver...

It sounds ice hockey-ish, doesn't it?

Well, in American football, they've got wide receivers,

who run, like wingers, they run down the edge of the pitch

and catch the quarterback's throw.

Would they have a word for somebody who runs down the middle

to do the same thing?

As opposed to wide... What has the slot got to do with it?

Well, just a narrow channel up the pitch, through the defence, perhaps?

I don't know.

There's certainly many more positions

on an American football team than there are the other two.

I don't think...

I don't think it is one of the standard catching positions

in baseball, the field positions.

Slot receiver doesn't sound right.

It sounds like somebody who waits for something.

In ice hockey, they're going like the clappers, wheeling around...

I must admit, I'm going off ice hockey now,

the more I think about it,

because there are so many strange positions in American football.

And they love their specialities. Yes.

I'm very inclined to go for that.

Maybe it's an equivalent to the wide receiver,

a guy who goes down the middle. I'm not sure.

What do you want me to say?

I would go for American football. American football. OK.

Well, again, we don't know.

But we're going to say American football and hope for the best.

American football?

Mm-hm. Do you know this one,

Challengers? No, we don't. New Eggheads, do you know this one?

We'd have been inclined to do the same. Yeah, American football.

OK. Cos you watch that, Beth, don't you? I do.

My husband is a fan, so that makes me a default fan.

American football is the right answer.

Thank goodness for that.

Sliding around like ice hockey players, you Eggheads, today.

My goodness!

You've caught them on a very...

Here's the key strategy we're learning from this game - take

out the new Eggheads with as much ferocity as you can and then

just steam-roll the veterans.

If you get this right,

you've won ?7,000.

In what year did the Rolling Stones' ill-fated concert at Altamont,

in California, take place?

For ?7,000.

That's when the Hells Angels... That's right.

Yes. Would it be as late as '77?

I wouldn't have thought. No. I'm sure it's not '77. No.

I think it's '69. You think it's as early as that? I do. Yeah?

I was 13 in '73 and I've got no radar... Yeah.

But I feel fairly sure it was fairly...

relatively close to Woodstock. OK.

Relatively. And the kind of conflicting cultures kind of thing.

Yes, yes. And...

I'd say I'm like 60% on '69. '69? Right.

Yeah? OK. Yeah, I'm happy with that. Happy with that, then? Yep.

Yep, go on.

Jeremy, we think it's 1969.

1969.

The answer is 1969!

We say congratulations to Rambling Away,

you've just won ?7,000!

Oh, how brilliant!

Oh! Whoo! How about that!

What about that? And that was...

As soon as I saw that question, I thought,

"You're going to know that."

We're chuffed. We had no idea whatsoever, did we? No.

No. None. Well done, Rambling Away, ?7,000 you've won.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You've proved they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team

of Challengers will be just as successful.

Till then, fun game, you did brilliantly. Thank you.

And, yeah, let's see what happens next time. Goodbye.