Episode 20 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.

Fizzing and popping with ideas today.

Sparkling as champagne.

Very good, Barry.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are...

Now, this team are all members

of the Hale Golf Club in Cheshire

and regularly take part in the club's quiz nights.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Bill and I'm a freelance business consultant.

Hi, I'm Paul. I'm a university lecturer.

Hi, I'm Tony and I'm a financial regulatory consultant.

Hello, I'm John and I'm a finance director.

Hi, I'm James, I'm a retired sports journalist.

Bill and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Hi, Jeremy.

Golf brings you together, Bill, is that right?

It does, yes. We all play at Hale, as you said,

and we're all very keen golfers.

We all play in competitions and all that kind of thing

and occasionally, twice a year, we quiz.

And one long and convivial day,

we thought we'd put a team into Eggheads to see how good we are at it.

So you've run into this lot before on TV, have you?

-You know what they're about?

-Yes, yes. We have, yes.

OK. You've got two new Eggheads there as well,

so that's going to be exciting.

And I always think a divot is maybe not what you're aiming for in golf,

-is that right?

-No, it's what you SHOULD aim for but we don't,

that's the problem.

We have two good golfers in the team who probably do

-but the rest of us don't.

-OK.

Good luck, Challengers.

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

However, if you fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Flying Divots,

the Eggheads were hitting the grass with the golf clubs

for a number of games and a bit unsteady

and then they won the last four.

So they're on a bit of a streak now.

It means there's £5,000 to play for today.

Would you like to try and win it?

-Yes, we would.

-Thought so!

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

So who would like Film & TV? What's the plan?

-It's me.

-Yeah.

-It's me, yeah.

I'm afraid that's me.

Oh, the skipper goes in straightaway.

OK. And against which Egghead?

It can be anyone of the five.

I think I'll... Beth, I think.

Brilliant. The newest Egghead.

So, Bill from Flying Divots versus Beth from the Flying Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

So, Bill, I gather when you turned 60

-you were in the mosh pit at Bruce Springsteen?

-I was indeed.

It was absolutely fantastic.

-No better place to be.

-Oh, it was wonderful.

Is that where they let the first 3,000 people into

this enclosed area, is it?

It is, yes. And it was at Leeds and the stage was a D,

so we were on the inside of the D, which was absolutely fantastic.

Oh, he's still the best really live, isn't he?

Absolutely. No question about it.

Anyway, Film & TV, Bill, your choice.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, good luck. Win one for the golfers.

What is the name of the fictional town

that is the setting for The Simpsons?

I'm not a big fan of The Simpsons, unfortunately,

but I think, from memory, that's Springfield, I'm going to say.

Springfield is the right answer.

OK, Film & TV.

Beth, your first question.

Who played the role of Sergeant Wilson in the 2016 film

Dad's Army?

Sergeant Wilson, now which one's he?

Now, pretty sure he was the second in command to Captain Mainwaring.

And all three of these actors were in the film.

I think it was Bill Nighy.

-Let's check with the Eggheads, eh?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, Bill Nighy's right.

Well done. OK, back to you, Bill.

The BBC first used action replays in sport in which decade?

Certainly not the '50s.

I'm trying to think from my time in the '60s whether we had them then.

I think I'm going to say the 1970s.

I think it's later than the '60s. Yes, the 1970s.

It's actually the 1960s.

OK.

Beth, your question to take the lead.

Which James Bond film features the line,

"No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die".

Well, it's certainly not within my lifetime of Bond films,

so that puts out Tomorrow Never Dies.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Octopussy.

I'm sure that line was said by Goldfinger.

Goldfinger is the right answer.

OK, so you need to get this one right, Bill,

to stay in against Beth.

Who directed the 1995 film Dead Man Walking

starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn?

Oh, now, I have no idea at all on this.

I know the film.

From the names in front of me...

..I'm going to go with Michael Mann.

Beth, do you know this one?

I have an inkling that it was Tim Robbins.

Yes, you're right. It is Tim Robbins. So, sorry, Bill.

No way back in this round.

Well done, Beth, you've taken the first round.

But, things can change.

Come back to us. We'll see what happens next.

OK, so the Flying Divots have lost their captain but then, as in golf,

you can still play, can't you?

You can play on. It's not the end.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far but it is early days

and the next subject is Politics.

Who would like this?

-Politics.

-Is that me?

-Politics was you, Johnny.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Johnny.

-John?

OK, finance director against which Egghead?

I've got to try and play against my all-time quiz heroine,

-which is Judith.

-Ah!

The millionaire.

OK. John from the Flying Divots against Judith.

-That all right with you?

-Yes, that's fine.

-Do you like politics?

-I do quite.

I don't dare say it, but I do quite like politics.

-You've probably had a good run.

-Don't mention it, Jeremy.

She thinks I jinx her if I say that.

Every time Jeremy mentions statistics, we lose.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Judith, I know you get cross if I mention statistics.

Oh, no, no. That's it.

Well, of the current Eggheads,

you have the most wins on Politics with 53.

Have I only done it 53 times?

I mean, no...

That'd be 100%, wouldn't it, sorry.

No, I don't know how many times you've, as you put it, done it.

I do it very seldom.

-You don't do it very often?

-No.

OK. Well, let's see how we go here John.

Good luck against Judith, who is a brilliant quizzer, as we know.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, Jeremy.

And here is your first question.

Who was announced as the UK's new Foreign Secretary

on the 13th of July 2016?

I'm so glad I did my research before I came up.

And I think we know that Michael Gove...

Sorry, George Osborne has gone from the Cabinet,

so I think the answer's Boris Johnson.

Boris Johnson is the right answer, yes.

-Surprise announcement, yeah.

-Yeah.

OK, your question, Judith.

Lev Bronstein was the original name

of which early communist revolutionary?

That was Trotsky.

Brilliant, it was. Well done. Trotsky.

Back to you, John.

Which party did Herbert Asquith represent

when he was Prime Minister of Great Britain

between 1908 and 1916?

I'm not 100% sure but I know around then

there was a little run of Liberal MPs, I think,

certainly Lloyd George was around then, wasn't he?

So that's the one I'm looking at.

I'm going to say Liberal.

-Is he right, Judith?

-Yes, he's right.

Yes, Liberal's right.

Judith, your question.

The UK government department created in 2009

known as BIS is the Department for Business Innovation and what?

Business, Innovation and...

I think, it's Business, Innovation and Skills.

It is indeed skills.

OK.

Your question, John.

Which French politician became the president of the European Commission

in 1985 and served in the role for ten years?

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be Sarkozy.

And I'm sure it's not Hollande, because he's there.

So I'm going to say Jacques Delors.

Yeah, that's right. 1985, so he was, I seem to remember,

clashing with Mrs Thatcher a lot.

Jacques Delors.

OK, Judith,

you've got to get this right.

Since 1991, Clarence Thomas has been a senior figure

in which body in the United States?

I think he is the Supreme Court.

He is the Supreme Court, well done.

You're three each. We go to Sudden Death.

John, it gets a little bit harder cos I don't give you different options.

In 2000, who was inaugurated as the first elected Mayor of London?

I have got to say Ken Livingstone.

Yes, it is Ken Livingstone.

Re-elected in 2004 and lost to Boris Johnson in 2008.

Judith, to stay in.

The Folketing is the national parliament

of which European country?

The Folketing? F-A-L...

F-O-L-K-E-T-I-N-G.

I'm going to really kick myself. This is all your fault, Jeremy.

The Folketing.

I think it's Iceland.

BARRY GROANS OK.

Well, Barry gave us a little talk the other day

where he said we need to know our lower houses to be quizzers.

-Yes, exactly.

-And who wasn't listening? Go on.

Well, Iceland is the Althing.

Norway is the Storting.

Finland is the Eduskunta.

And Folketing is Denmark.

-Yes. Get in there!

-Yes, absolutely right.

Denmark is the answer.

I should have known that from lovely Borgen, too.

Oh, of course, Borgen.

Which I was glued to.

Judith, well played as always. You've just been pipped to the post.

-Well done, John.

-Thank you.

On Sudden Death, through to the final round.

So you've evened it up for the Challengers.

Oh, have we got a tight contest coming? I think so.

Please return and we'll play on.

So, the Flying Divots have lost that brain but the Eggheads have now lost

Judith as well, which can make things very tricky in the final.

The next subject is Food & Drink.

Who would like this?

-I think that's...

-I think that's James, food, isn't it?

-Yeah, James on the algorithm.

-James? OK, good stuff.

And, James, against which Egghead? You can't have Judith or Beth.

Steve?

I think I'd like to take on Steve please.

Another new Egghead. All right, into the firing line.

James will be flying his divots at Steve.

JEREMY LAUGHS

You're going to be warding off the divots in there.

All right, let's go to the Question Room now.

-James, you love your golf.

-I do indeed. I'm a very bad player.

But you've played at Augusta, I gather?

I have indeed, yes. Marvellous experience.

So, how many times?

I only played it once but I've been there for 26 years as a journalist.

Oh, tremendous. Who were you working for as a journalist?

Sunday Express and then the Sunday Telegraph.

And were those good years?

Marvellous years. In the '90s when several Europeans, Brits,

won the Green Jacket, all great stuff.

Yeah, and you were probably in newspapers at the right time as well.

I think so. We had, as we say, the golden age.

Yeah, yeah.

So Food & Drink, James.

At least half of that journalists are usually quite good at.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, please.

And all the best to you, James. Here we go.

Which of these foods can be categorised as long grain,

medium grain and short grain?

I think that's rice.

Rice is correct.

Steve, your question.

The traditional dish of boiled bacon and cabbage

is most closely associated with where?

I'd like to see Pat's face right now because if it's what I'm thinking,

I'm hoping he's smiling.

I don't associate it with Cornwall.

Wales, boiled bacon and cabbage?

I'm really not sure but the more I think about it, the less I know.

But my first thought was Ireland, so I will go Ireland.

Yes, Ireland is right. Well done.

One each. Back to you, James.

In which of these locations did curry goat

become a regional speciality after possibly having been introduced

from India?

Well, I came here to do Sport

but I think that may well have emigrated to Jamaica.

Yeah, Jamaica's right. Well done.

I agree, it's quite a long way from a sporting round, this, isn't it?

Not sure how you copped for this but anyway.

Steve, the long established wines of Hermitage and St Joseph

are from the valley of which French river?

There's probably a clue in that somewhere.

Judith'll be saying it's right on border on one of the rivers.

I just do not know.

Because it's a valley and because it's a river,

I'm going to say Loire with no real conviction at all.

OK, well Judith lived in France for many years.

Judith, was this near you?

No.

Is burgundy on the Rhone? I don't know.

-It's the Rhone.

-Right.

So Rhone is the answer, Steve.

Back to you, James.

Your third question.

Get this right, you've won the round.

In which century was the Cox's Orange Pippin

bred by Richard Cox, from Colnbrook, in Buckinghamshire?

Oh, it's going to be a guess.

The 17th century.

-James, it's actually the 19th.

-OK.

So, Steve has a chance

to draw level.

Which established cocktail is typically made from gin,

orange juice, grenadine and absinthe?

Cocktails ain't really my thing but I do believe a sidecar

has cointreau in it, so I'm going to discount that one.

I'll try a monkey gland, for what it's worth, but I don't know.

OK, any Eggs know? Beth, do you know this?

Yeah, we're pretty sure it's a monkey gland.

Yeah, monkey gland is the right answer. Well done, Steve.

Good quizzing, a little bit of Daphne there, spirit of Daphne.

So, equal after three questions.

Scores level. We go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, James, cos I don't give you different options.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

Which well-known chef published the influential cookbook White Heat

in 1990?

I'll go Heston Blumenthal.

Watching the Eggs play day after day I learn their little techniques

and they search the question for clues

and the clue in the title is the word white

and the answer is Marco Pierre White.

JAMES GROANS Steve, your question for the round.

Which fruit of the genus musa grows in clusters or tears

that are called hands?

I think that's bananas, Jeremy.

Bananas is the right answer, Steve. Well done.

On Sudden Death you've taken the round.

Sorry, James. Beaten by our Egghead, it does happen.

And as a result you will not be able to assist your team

in the final round.

But, the race is not over for these finalists.

They can still win, no question.

Please come back, we'll play the next round.

So, as it stands, the Flying Divots have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have just lost the one.

And the last subject before the final is Geography.

So, which of the Divots wants this?

That was me, one of mine. Yeah.

Yeah. I'll take Geography.

OK, Tony, against which Egghead?

And it can't be Steve, Beth or Judith.

Right, well, I think it's got to be Barry,

as a fellow admirer of a proper loud shirt.

I think I'd better go with my fellow man of excellent taste in shirts.

Good stuff. So Tony from the Flying Divots

to play our own Barry the Brain from the Eggheads.

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

Geography's the subject. Tony, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

And here we go with your first question, Tony.

Which city in Northern Ireland is the largest in terms of population?

Right, Jeremy, I do go over to Northern Ireland on business

a few times and I'm pretty sure that would be Belfast.

Belfast is correct.

Barry, on to you.

Which is the largest state by area in Australia?

Well Western Australia covers about half of the Australian continent,

so it just has to be Western Australia.

Western Australia is quite right.

What are the cities in Western Australia, then?

Perth is the main city.

Right. Western Australia. Well done. OK, Tony.

Cwmbran, established as a new town in 1949,

is roughly five miles north of which Welsh city?

Right, Jeremy, not completely sure about that

but I know St Asaph is in North Wales,

Bangor is on the way to Anglesey

and I'm pretty sure Cwmbran is in the south,

so I think that's Newport.

Newport is correct, good logic and good quizzing.

OK, no-one's got anything wrong yet.

Barry, the River Oder, as it is known in Germany,

rises in the Czech Republic and flows into which sea?

Well, the Oder and the Neisse used to be the borders between Germany

and Poland and on that principle it would flow into the North Sea.

Ah! I meant the Baltic Sea!

Sorry.

Barry, just as you left us here in the studio,

you said this time I'm going to listen to the questions.

I don't know what came over me there.

OK, Baltic Sea is the answer.

So, well,

I don't want to say that's handy, Tony, but it is.

If you get this right, you're in the final round.

The city of Laayoune is the largest in which of the world's

disputed regions?

-Could you spell that please, Jeremy?

-Yes.

L-A-A-Y-O-U-N-E.

It doesn't sound like the Western Sahara to me.

Sierra Leone.

Nagorno-Karabakh, doesn't seem to me

to maybe share the same kind of spelling.

So, if in doubt, as we say, go down the middle.

I'm going to say Somaliland.

Western Sahara is the answer, Tony.

So, you've given Barry

a little bit of a let off there, Tony.

Barry, you can catch up with this answer.

Which of these phenomena is associated with a Benioff zone?

Now I've heard of a Benioff zone

and I've always associated it with earthquakes.

So that is my answer.

OK. You're not pulling in the North Sea on this one or anything?

No, no. I've thought about this for at least two seconds here.

I can see you're treading carefully.

Earthquakes is right. Well done, Barry. Back on track.

So, level

after three questions, Tony. We go to Sudden Death.

I don't give you alternative options.

Tony, what is the traditional county town of Devon?

The traditional county town of Devon...

I think it might be Launceston.

It's... No, it's not. It's Exeter.

HE GROANS

Barry, for the round.

What is the capital of Guatemala?

Well, you're not going to believe this when I tell you

I've actually been to Guatemala.

Of course.

And I do believe the capital of Guatemala

is the...

interestingly-named Guatemala City.

That answer from Barry 'I've been to every question' Simmons...

..is correct. Guatemala City it is.

Sorry, Tony. Knocked out on Sudden Death with Barry.

He doesn't give you that many openings

and you didn't quite get stuck in when you had to

and Barry will be in the final.

Please come back to us and we'll see what happens in that final round.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round.

It is, as always, General Knowledge

but I'm afraid those of you

who lost your head-to-heads are not allowed to take part.

So, Bill, Tony and James from the Flying Divots,

but also Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio.

Paul and John, you are playing to win the Flying Divots £5,000.

Now, Pat, Beth, Steve and Barry, it's a bit more complicated for you.

You're playing for the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You can confer.

So, Flying Divots, the question is, are your two brains

able to take down the Eggheads' four?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

All the best to you. Here we go. Final round for £5,000.

For what do the letters R and A stand in the name of the politician

known as Rab Butler, who served as Chancellor in the 1950s?

This is where my politics falls apart.

-I think I'm...

-Well, hang on, just think about it. Rab.

-RA Butler.

-It's going to be Robert, isn't it?

Rab is short for a Scottish version of Robert.

Yeah.

So, I would... The best bet is going on the centre, Robert Alfred.

I agree with that.

Can we go for Robert Alfred please, Jeremy?

Robert Alfred. I hear an intake of breath here from the Eggheads.

-You think they're wrong?

-Richard Austen.

Richard Austen is the answer.

OK, Eggheads.

The Whitebeam, or Sorbus aria, native to the UK,

is a species of what?

-It's tree.

-Is it a tree?

-Are you saying whitebeam?

-Whitebeam.

-Yes, thank you.

-Whitebeam's a tree.

-It's a tree, yes.

-I thought he said white bean.

-Yeah, me too.

We think that's a tree, Jeremy.

Tree is correct.

OK, Challengers,

your second question.

Which Hollywood star was married to eight women,

including the actresses Ava Gardner, Martha Vickers and Elaine Devry?

Mickey Rooney, isn't it?

-He was married quite a lot.

-He was, yeah.

I think that's probably true actually.

Serial marrier, people who have been serially married,

I think Mickey Rooney's, I think, our informed guess.

-Mickey Rooney is your answer?

-It is, yeah.

Mickey Rooney is correct. Well done.

Eggheads, back to you. Which Gershwin song features the lines

"I'm a little lamb who's lost in a wood

"I know I could always be good"?

I think it's Someone To Watch Over Me.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-I'll bow to your superior knowledge.

I think so, yeah. I think it's...the original song.

-Is it?

-Just go over it, make sure.

-Yeah.

If I had someone to watch over me...

-BARRY:

-# If I was lost in a wood, always be good...

# Someone...

# Someone to watch over me. #

-..you just need two.

-People like Ella Fitzgerald have sung this.

That's Someone To Watch Over Me.

I was enjoying the rendition.

I wasn't sure it was leading you to the answer.

I was just waiting for something to happen there.

Someone To Watch Over Me is correct. Two out of two.

OK, you need to get this one right

to stay in the contest, Challengers.

If you do, they can come unstuck.

If you don't, it's over.

In which part of the body are the glands of moll?

M-O-L-L.

-Glands.

-Yeah.

You've got...

In your eyes, you've got little things that secrete your...

-Literally everything there has got glands, hasn't it?

-OK.

Moll.

Anything in the word at all that's giving us a clue?

-Nothing in derivation or anything is there?

-No.

What, what's your first answer?

I'm thinking eyelid but, I mean, I don't know. I don't know.

We might as well go with that, don't you think?

It is a complete guess, Jeremy, but neither of us are medics

so we're going to go for eyelid, please.

Eyelid is your answer.

Let's see, Eggheads?

Glands of moll?

We're not sure either, are we?

I prefer eyelid by elimination but I don't know it.

Eyelid is the answer.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-So you've got two out of three.

-Yeah.

-You've done well.

Now we see if the Eggheads

can take the contest with the third question.

Which Second World War Luftwaffe aircraft

was nicknamed The Flying Pencil?

Now, I've heard this and the first answer that came up to my mind

was the Dornier 17.

Dornier occurred to me as well.

-OK.

-That's it, then.

-I'm pretty certain.

I think Focke-Wulf is a jet of some sort.

-Yes.

-And I'm sure it's not the Junkers.

I'm pretty sure it's the Dornier 17.

-If you two have got it...

-Well, it rings a bell.

..then that's good enough for me.

We're not certain Jeremy but we have...

Bells have rung for the Dornier 17.

You said Dornier 17.

The Luftwaffe aircraft nicknamed The Flying Pencil

was the Dornier 17.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Yes, good solid play there from the Eggs.

It's hard when they get three out of three.

Did you know the last one there?

We were having an informed guess but again it was exactly the same

as the previous question, it was just a grasp in the dark.

And, obviously, you've seen it somewhere, Barry?

-Pat, have you seen it in a museum or something or...?

-I've read it somewhere.

-In a book.

-A book?

-Perhaps.

-A what?

Or the internet. Who knows?

Right, so seen a bit of dialogue in a novel,

somebody says "the Dornier, which was known as The Flying Pencil,

was the favourite of my mother's".

Well, they had all sorts of strange aeroplanes.

They had asymmetric aeroplanes and skinny aeroplanes, the Germans.

-They were quite adventurous.

-All right.

Well, we learn something all the time. I certainly do.

Thank you, Eggheads.

-Commiserations...

-Thank you.

-..to our brilliant Flying Divots.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them, most of the time,

and they reign supreme over quiz land.

It does mean that you're not going home with the £5,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done.

I think you can walk with a bit of swagger now, but not too much.

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

can stop them in their tracks.

£6,000 says they can't.

Until then, goodbye.