Episode 24 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.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are...

Now, most of this team grew up together in Zimbabwe

and since moving to the UK have formed a social club

to support and empower one another.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Collette, and I'm a registered nurse.

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm a marketing student.

Hello, I'm Margaret, and I'm a care manager.

Hi, I'm Petronella, I'm a social worker.

Hello, I'm Tandi, and I'm a restaurateur.

So, Collette and team, welcome.

ALL: Hi, Jeremy!

So, tell me about United Women first of all.

Well, United Women is a support group that we formed,

myself and Margaret, back in 2011.

It really encompasses bringing together women that have

grown up in Zimbabwe, and we just support,

empower each other, we socialise,

-we're there for each other, basically.

-Great.

-Yes.

And somewhere in the middle of all that,

you find time to watch Eggheads, do you?

Oh, we do, we do and we love it.

THEY LAUGH

Well, I know Emily is you daughter.

Emily's my daughter, that's right.

OK. Wishing you all the best, United Women. Good luck.

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.

Now, United Women, the Eggheads have been doing rather well.

So well that that Pat has been doing the new trademark shoulder roll.

Watch this.

-You've built it up too much!

-Come on.

-Ooh!

-Yeah!

-Ooh!

JEREMY LAUGHS They've won the last eight games.

Oh, wow!

-That means £9,000 is on the table to win.

-Oh, wow.

-Shall we have a go?

-Yes!

OK, the first head-to-head battle

is on the subject of Film & TV.

Now, which of our United Women

would like this?

-I think I'll go for it.

-Emily.

-Emily?

-Emily.

-You're quite good with film and TV, aren't you?

-I'll go for it.

All right, our marketing student.

Which Egghead would you like to take on, Emily?

You can have any of them there.

Do you want to go for Lisa? What did you think?

I think Lisa.

-I'll go for Lisa.

-Brilliant.

OK, Emily from United Women, on Film & TV,

against Lisa from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions

in the Question Room.

So, Emily, you're about to do a degree in marketing.

Yes, I'm really looking forward to it.

Brilliant. And I know you are an adrenaline junkie.

I am, yeah. I love going to theme parks and rollercoasters. Yeah.

OK, well, I hope this isn't too much of a rollercoaster right now.

The Film & TV round, and you can choose, Emily,

whether you go first or second.

I would like to go first, please.

Here we go. Good luck, team.

Emily, in which year was the actress Keira Knightley born?

Erm...

I'm not too certain.

I'm sure it's not 1995.

I might just have to just have a guess

and go straight down the middle and go for 1985.

1985.

What do you think, Lisa?

Well, apart from being more beautiful, richer

and more talented than me, she's also younger.

-So, yes, it's '85.

-'85 is right.

Well done. A point to you, Emily.

Lisa, your first question.

With which genre of film is the writer and director

Richard Curtis most associated?

Let's see...

Four Weddings And A Funeral, Love Actually, Bridget Jones,

some of the greatest horror films of our times... I kid.

It's romantic comedy.

Romantic comedy is right.

Back to you, Emily.

Which superhero was played by Chadwick Boseman

in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War?

Erm...

I'm not too sure, because I haven't seen this movie.

So I'm thinking either Black Panther or The Falcon.

I think I'll go for...

The Falcon.

OK. Looking for a superhero here.

I wonder if your team-mates know. Is it The Falcon?

Black Panther, isn't it?

Mm, it is, yeah. Your mum has got it.

-It is Black Panther.

-OK.

Black Panther is the right answer.

OK, Lisa, your question, to take the lead.

Shaun Evans has played which detective on TV since 2012?

Right, erm...

Ooh!

It's definitely not George Gently.

I was all set to go for Barnaby and just rule out Morse completely

and I suddenly thought, "Hang on, hang on, is Shaun Evans Endeavour?"

I'm not a Midsomer Murders person,

and there's been a lot of changes of personnel.

I think I'll go for Endeavour Morse.

You veered left and right there.

Endeavour Morse is the right answer, Lisa. Squeaked it.

So, Emily, you need to get this one right to stay in.

Here's your question.

In 2016, the daughter of which film-maker published an open letter

debunking the theory that her father was responsible for filming

a fake moon landing in 1969?

Is it...

Oh, I'm not too sure about this. Erm...

Something's making me think Sam Peckinpah, so I'll go for that.

Let's see if the Eggheads know this one. Eggs?

I thought Kubrick.

Dave says Kubrick.

Lisa, what do you say?

I actually thought it was Kubrick that was most associated

with doing it, as a thing.

The answer is Stanley Kubrick, Emily. So, sorry.

Lisa, you are in the final. Emily, sorry, you've been knocked out.

Please come back to us and we'll see what happens.

OK, United Women have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still sitting there.

We need to somehow dislodge them.

The next subject is Music.

Who would like Music?

-Erm... Music?

-Pettie.

I'm not really good at music.

Tandi?

-Yeah, I'll take it.

-Good, all right.

Tandi's up for it. Tandi, who will you take on? Can't be Lisa.

Dave, I think Dave, because he's more into sports.

All right. I'll take on Dave.

So it is Tandi from United Women versus Dave from the Eggheads,

and to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please go to the Question Room for your Music questions?

So, Tandi, you run a restaurant?

Yes, I do. We do, with my business partner in Herefordshire.

So... But that's hard work. We all know that a restaurant,

you're only as good as your last meal, aren't you?

Oh, extremely. It's extremely hard work.

But it's worth it, cos if people are happy with the food,

they compliment you and you know you're doing a good job.

And it's so fascinating that you and two of your friends here grew up in Zimbabwe.

We grew up in Zimbabwe and moved to the UK 12 years ago.

And do you look at what's going on over there and feel a bit sad?

Oh, it's so sad. I do follow it, cos my family are still there.

But fingers crossed things get better soon.

OK, well, fingers crossed in this round as well. Music, Tandi.

Would you like to go first or second against Tremendous Knowledge Dave?

I think I'm better off going first.

OK, good luck to you on Music. Here we go.

Who found fame as the lead singer of the band REM?

Well...

I'm trying to think REM, and...

I think it's between Michael Stipe and Robert Smith.

I think I'll go for Robert Smith.

I might be wrong, but I'll go with Robert Smith.

OK, OK. Well, he's definitely a lead singer, but, Dave,

which band is Robert Smith in?

The Cure.

So Robert Smith is The Cure. Bruce Dickinson is Iron Maiden, is he?

Yes, he is, yeah.

And Michael Stipe is REM.

Bad luck, Tandi.

Dave, over to you.

Which Frankie Goes To Hollywood song contains these lines?

"I'll protect you from the hooded claw

"Keep the vampires from your door."

"I'll protect you from the hooded claw, the vampires from your door.

"Death-defying love for you..."

Power Of Love.

Yeah, cos Relax was the first one, Two Tribes the second.

Three successive number ones, three debut singles,

but The Power Of Love...

-The Power Of Love is quite right.

-Yeah.

-OK, Tandi...

-Yes.

Which composer's works are catalogued by Kochel numbers,

or K numbers?

I'm thinking...

I actually don't know the answer to this, but I'll sort of have a guess.

Mozart, probably.

-Just go straight in the middle.

-OK.

Oh, Tandi...

-You're totally right!

-Ohh!

THEY CHEER

OK, you're level.

Let's see if Dave takes the lead here.

In a 2016 list of the 60 bestselling albums of all time in the UK,

which band had two greatest hits albums in the top ten?

-Two greatest hits albums?

-Yeah.

Now, The Beatles, the one greatest hits album I can remember was

the one with all the number ones, which was called 1.

Pink Floyd have obviously had greatest hits,

but the one band that I would have thought would've had

very big sellers in the '70s and '80s, and '90s, was Queen.

-So that's my answer, Queen.

-OK.

Queen is right.

We need him to make a mistake, Tandi, don't we?

Absolutely, yeah.

Which of these songs was written by Cole Porter? Tandi, was it...

Cole Porter... I should know this, actually.

I'll try...

I've Got You Under My Skin.

So, I've Got You Under My Skin. Let me check with Lisa. She will know.

I think it's right.

Can you sing it?

I was going to get Chris to do it.

Go on, Chris.

# I've got you under my skin

# I got you deep in the heart of me... #

-I don't know any more of it.

-Yeah, like that.

OK, the main thing is it's the right answer, Tandi, well done.

Playing well.

OK, we're on our way here.

Dave, what name is given to Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony?

Right, I thought Eroica was Beethoven.

Now, I've not associated Mahler with New York. Could be very wrong here.

Kevin could be rolling his eyes.

But I would have thought New York, possibly, would go with...

erm, Dvorak, maybe.

I'm going to go Resurrection.

Do you think he's right, Tandi?

-I'm hoping he's not, but...

-Well, you know, to be honest, I am, too.

The name given to the Second Symphony by Gustav Mahler

is Resurrection, Dave. Three out of three again.

These beastly Eggheads!

Tandi, you played well. So sorry.

Knocked out, but still hope for your team.

Come back and we'll play on.

OK, so our United Women have lost a couple of brains

from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any and they are on this roll at the moment.

The next subject is Food & Drink.

Oh, Tandi, I'm thinking this was your one,

but you played!

So who do we use? Margaret?

-Margaret.

-Margaret, who do you want to play against?

Obviously, it can't be Lisa or Dave.

No. Kevin.

So, Margaret from United Women versus Kevin from the Eggheads

on the favourite Food & Drink, Kevin. There we go.

Please go to the Question Room now.

-So, Margaret, food and drink is your thing?

-Yes.

-Because you love to cook?

-I love cooking.

I'll try anything.

I've got loads of cookbooks,

so I'd try anything and I enjoy it when people enjoy my food.

Maybe you can cook for Kevin, because, Kevin,

you need your palate expanded, don't you?

-Yeah, I probably do, yes.

-Yeah!

-Yeah.

OK, well, good luck, Margaret, on Food & Drink.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'll go first.

Here we go. Good luck, Margaret.

At which point in a meal would a sundae typically be eaten?

Er...

I'm dying to say what it is.

-Go on, say it.

-It's dessert!

LAUGHTER

It is dessert.

OK, Kevin, your question.

Which spirit is traditionally poured over a Christmas pudding

and then lit prior to serving?

Oh-ho! Yeah, OK,

I like the idea of the absinthe.

That might be quite interesting.

But traditionally, it's brandy.

Brandy is correct.

OK, Margaret, your question.

Paprika is typically a major ingredient of which of these dishes?

Is it in...

Definitely not chicken kiev.

That's all white.

Er, I'm not very sure, but I think I'll go for Hungarian goulash.

The answer is Hungarian goulash.

THEY CHEER

Well done. You're playing well, Margaret.

I can see Kevin's knees are knocking.

Under the desk.

In which country is the smoked puffin meat known as lundi a speciality?

-How do you spell that, Jeremy?

-L-U-N-D-I.

Thought it was.

Erm, well, puffins are sea birds of northern climes.

And...

it wouldn't be Spain.

I don't see any reason why it would be Denmark,

although, of course, it's Scandinavian.

But they do eat puffin meat in Iceland,

so I would have to go for Iceland.

You think he's right, Margaret?

I think he is right.

Yeah, he's got it right.

Iceland is the right answer. So you're level.

Both playing well.

What is the French term for egg whites that are whisked until

they form stiff peaks?

Ooh...

I don't think it's neige...

I'm being drawn to pluie.

Or is it neige?

LAUGHTER

I'll go for pluie.

Ohh!

Based on my bad French, pluie I think means rain.

Fracas is a fight.

But what does neige mean? Eggs?

-Snow.

-Neige means snow.

Ohh, dear!

And neige it is.

-Aww!

-Awwwww!

Not out yet. Let's just see what

Kevin makes of his third question.

Which famous Dutch dish originated in Indonesia, Kevin,

and consists of many small dishes of food served with rice?

Well, I don't... Erm...

The other two there, I'm not sure,

they may well be genuine Dutch things, but I don't recognise them.

But the one that translates as rice table, rijsttafel...

I have actually had that.

-You had it?

-Mm, in Amsterdam, yeah.

The answer... Ah!

Oh, Challengers, he's got it right.

It is rijsttafel.

Sorry, sorry, Margaret. You chased him very close there.

Just not quite. Come back to us,

Kevin will be in the final round, and we will see what happens

in the last head-to-head.

OK, let's just see how the United Women are feeling now.

Sorry about that, Margaret. That's... It was tight.

Collette, I think you knew the answer to that last one, did you?

I did, I did. I knew it was neige because I did French in school.

-Oh, right.

-I knew that meant snow.

So I figured out that that would be the answer.

-Yeah.

-But not to worry.

Have you got a plan who goes next, or do you need me to tell you what the subject is?

If you tell us the subject first, we'll work it out.

-All right.

-Yeah.

Well, United Women have lost three.

The Eggheads are still sitting there,

so this is the moment to strike, OK?

It's Geography.

So, which of you two would like it?

-Yeah. I'll go.

-Pettie will go.

OK, Pettie.

Yeah. Pettie's our secret weapon.

The secret geographical weapon!

Petronella from United Women versus who from the Eggheads?

And you can have either Chris or Pat. The young men.

-Oh, for your namesake?

-Yeah!

I'll take on Pat.

-So it's going to be Pet on Pat?

-Yes!

LAUGHTER

So, Petronella from United Women versus Pat from the Eggheads.

Please go to our Question Room now.

Tell me about the church choir you're in, Petronella.

I belong to a church choir.

I grew up in church singing in Sunday school,

and that's when I developed a passion for singing.

So, we get invited to weddings and functions,

and I got married to someone who likes music as well.

Lovely. OK.

Well, good luck here on Geography.

And would you like to go first or second against Pat?

I'll go first.

Here we go. Good luck.

Come on, let's get one more United Woman in the final.

The Balearic Sea lies off the east coast of which country?

Mm!

The Balearic Sea...

Yes, that's B-A-L-E-A-R-I-C.

Balearic...

I don't think it's Greece.

And I don't think it's Spain either.

I'll go with Egypt.

OK.

Pat, is that right?

I think it's between Catalonia and the Balearic Islands,

so I would have gone for Spain.

Yes, Spain is the answer, Petronella.

But don't worry, I know this is not your first choice of subject.

Blame Margaret for that!

OK, Pat. Pat versus Pet...

Whitby is a seaside town on which body of water?

Well, it's where old Dracula was washed to shore,

and the goths meet up every year for a festival.

I think it's on the North Sea.

The North Sea is the right answer, Pat. Well done.

OK, back to you, Petronella.

Which of these American cities is the most southerly?

I don't think it's San Francisco.

Boston or Chicago...

I think I'll go with...

..Chicago.

Chicago.

Eggheads, help us out here.

Well, Chicago's up on Lake Michigan,

so it's fairly far north.

Boston is Massachusetts, New England.

So that's fairly far north.

San Francisco is across the other side in California and probably

quite a way down, actually.

It's not as far down as Los Angeles,

but it's quite far down.

So the most southerly of those three is San Francisco.

San Francisco, Petronella, is the answer.

So Pat has a chance to seize the round with this question.

In which part of Italy is the region of Puglia?

P-U-G-L-I-A.

Oh, I think the north-west

is mostly occupied by provinces like Piedmont and Liguria.

The centre is the Rome, Naples, Florence chunk.

I think Puglia is down near places like Bari.

I think it's in the south-east of the country.

The answer is south-east, Pat.

Well done. You are a very good quizzer.

And, I'm afraid, no way back for you in this round, Petronella.

But don't worry, you've still got the final to come.

So please come back to us and we'll see what happens.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round.

As always, it's General Knowledge.

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

to take part in this round.

That's Emily, Margaret, Petronella and Tandi from United Women.

Sorry, but could you please leave the studio?

OK, Collette. So, here we are.

-Yes.

-You're playing to win United Women £9,000.

-You may just be two or three questions away.

-OK.

Kevin, Chris, Lisa, Dave and Pat,

you're playing for something that money can't buy.

Well, it's more than the Eggheads' reputation, really,

it's for the Eggheads name to go even further

across the world of quizzing.

Perhaps be known on other planets.

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

This time, the questions are all general knowledge.

You may confer, and I'm sorry, Collette, that doesn't help you.

-No.

-The question is, can you, with your one brain, defeat these five?

It can be done. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK. Here we go. Good luck.

Collette, which of these is a term for someone

who talks at great length without making much sense?

Erm...

I'm not sure I've heard of the term before,

but I don't think it's donkeyman, somehow.

-A person who talks too much, did you say?

-Yeah.

-Without making any sense?

Let me read it again.

Which of these is a term for someone who talks

at great length without making much sense?

Yeah. Erm...

I think it could be a galligaskins.

I'm thinking it could be that. Blatherskite...

Possibly, but...

I'll go with the first one.

I'll go towards the left and say galligaskins.

Galligaskins is wrong, I'm afraid.

Ohhh!

I think the only way of getting to it is maybe through "blathering".

-OK.

-"He blathered on," you know?

-Oh, OK.

-Blatherskite.

-A blatherskite. Oh, yeah.

-Not to worry. It's a hard question.

-Yeah.

Campaign to rename Radio 2's lunchtime show

The Blatherskite Show starts here.

LAUGHTER

Yeah, isn't that the truth?

Galligaskins is a pair of trousers, I'm told.

Eggheads, what name is given to the process - used by poor typists -

of typing slowly, using only one or two fingers?

-That's hunt-and-peck.

-Hunt-and-peck method of typing, yes.

-Hunt-and-peck?

-Hunt-and-peck, I think.

Hunt... Yeah, yeah.

Hunt-and-peck?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Makes sense.

Well, I've always called it two-finger typing,

but I'm told it's hunt-and-peck, Jeremy.

Hunt-and-peck is correct.

OK. Back to you, Collette.

How old was Charles II when the English Civil War began?

I think he could possibly...

I'm thinking either...

12 or 32.

I don't think he was 52.

Something is steering me away from 52.

I think I'll go...

I'll go with my first instinct and say 12.

OK, 12 is your answer.

Eggheads, can you help us here?

Yes. That's right.

Yes, you're absolutely right. Well done.

So, he was brought over from France, right?

Well, yeah, afterwards. After the Commonwealth, he came back.

At the time, his father was king, Charles I,

at the time the Civil War began.

And the family went into exile eventually.

And after the Republic had been there for about ten years,

he came back.

So at the time he came back,

he would have been closer to 30.

-Yeah.

-But the age he was at the beginning of the Civil War was 12.

-Yeah.

-Still a relatively young man in 1660, yeah.

Right, well done, Collette.

Good quizzing. Brilliant. OK, Eggheads, your question.

William Boldwood and Frank Troy are characters in which book?

It must be Far From The Madding Crowd.

It ain't the other two.

-It was William Boldwood and Frank...?

-Troy.

Sergeant Troy.

That's Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd, Jeremy.

It is indeed Thomas Hardy's Far From The Madding Crowd, you're right.

Now, Collette, they've stolen a slight advantage here.

Got to get this one right to stay in the contest. Take your time.

Which railway station is the busiest in Europe

by total passenger numbers?

Is it...

Erm...

I haven't been to Milan Central Station or Gare du Nord.

I've been to London St Pancras, and that's always pretty busy.

But you said by sheer number of people?

Yes, busiest in Europe by total passenger numbers.

Passenger numbers.

I'm tempted to say London St Pancras,

but I might have to go for Milan Central Station.

I'm not sure where Gare du Nord is.

I suppose it's in France, I guess. Gare du Nord.

Ohh...

Or could it be Gare du Nord then?

Jeremy, I think I'll go for Milan Central Station.

OK.

So if you've got this wrong, the Eggheads have won.

It's actually Gare du Nord.

Oh, I should have said that.

I know, I could see you thinking, nearly going for it.

It's a very hard one.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Well played.

United Women have been one of the most fun teams we've ever had

-in the studio.

-Oh, thank you, thank you.

-Really.

I don't know how tight those numbers are

on the railway stations - Eggheads?

Well, I would actually have been inclined towards London St Pancras,

because that's three stations in one these days -

the International, the Midland Main Line and the Thameslink.

Gare du Nord, though, has got... Well, Kevin...

Well, I mean, it's got, obviously, the Eurostar comes in there.

-Yeah.

-And then you've got the big mainline services coming in

from Brussels and points further north.

And all the Paris suburbs.

-The Netherlands, Belgium...

-Yeah, quite a lot going on.

-It's a heaving place, really is a heaving place.

-Always busy.

Hard old question, but great play from the United Women.

Thank you, Collette, so much for coming in.

The Eggheads have done their thing and their winning streak continues.

So it means the Challengers don't go home with the £9,000.

We take the money and roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Five of you in the final round.

I wonder who will ever beat you.

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£10,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.