Episode 25 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, and they are looking ferocious.

-Well, not really.

-Sort of...

-You're looking friendly, really.

-Pussycats.

They're friendly until the quizzing starts, that's the thing.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Mental Blocks.

Now, this team of friends have been quizzing together

in and around South London for over 20 years.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Nigel. I'm an economist who works for the Government.

Hello, I'm Kevin, and I'm a chartered surveyor.

Hi, I'm Sheila, and I'm a coach and mediator.

Hello, I'm James, and I am a retired company director.

Hello, I'm Steve, and I'm a retired civil servant.

So, Nigel and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Hello.

-Hi.

So you're quizzers, basically, Nigel?

Yeah, a few times a year we go out to charity quizzes.

We're just a bunch of old friends who -

shall I say long-standing friends - who quiz together.

So do you have particular skills going on

and a strategy and all that?

And have you worked out who's got the strengths

-and who's got the weaknesses?

-We've done a bit of that.

Normally, the bit of the quiz that we really like

is when, between us, we know the answer.

And each of us don't quite, but between us we manage it.

Now, Mental Blocks, the Eggheads have won the last nine games.

They are doing very well.

You've got to stop them. There's ten grand if you win today.

-Would you like to try?

-Yeah, sure.

Brilliant. The first head-to-head battle is on the subject

of Film and Television.

Who would like this?

Well, Kevin, I think.

-It's got to be our Kevin.

-Yeah, you happy for me to go first?

OK, Kevin? Against which Egghead?

Possibly Lisa, do you think?

-Lisa?

-Yeah.

-Or Judith? Or...?

-Why don't we go for Lisa?

-Go with Lisa?

-Lisa.

There is no right and wrong there.

There's no obvious weak spot, I don't think, on...

Well, maybe there is.

Kevin from Mental Blocks versus our own Lisa from the Eggheads.

First Round, here we go, please go to the question room now.

Kevin up against Lisa.

Film and TV.

Here comes the round.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, Jeremy.

Good luck. Which role in Coronation Street

was played for over 40 years by Anne Kirkbride?

Was she...?

I don't watch Coronation Street any more,

although I used to watch it a lot when I was younger.

Definitely not Hilda Ogden.

Bet Lynch was the barmaid.

I'm pretty sure it's Deirdre Barlow.

Deirdre Barlow is correct.

OK, Lisa, your first question.

Angela Rippon is famously the first woman

to be a permanent BBC presenter of which genre of TV?

I believe she was the BBC's first female newsreader,

so it's news.

News is the right answer.

Back to you, Kevin.

The 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You,

starring Heath Ledger, is based on which Shakespeare play?

I don't know this one. Ten things?

10 Things I Hate About You.

It's not Romeo And Juliet.

I don't believe it's Hamlet.

Taming Of The Shrew is all about husband and wife

hating each other and stuff,

so I'm going to guess at Taming Of The Shrew.

Yes, you're right. Taming Of The Shrew.

OK, your question, Lisa.

The children's TV presenter Johnny Ball

specialised in programmes on which subject? Was it...?

Yeah, I'm getting flashbacks from childhood, it's maths and science.

Yeah, and the father of...?

-Zoe Ball.

-Zoe Ball.

Maths and science is quite right.

Kevin, which man, the writer of the TV drama series Broadchurch,

was announced as the new producer of Dr Who in January 2016?

Now, I don't know this one at all.

Steven Moffat, well, he used to be involved in writing Dr Who.

So I think it's probably Chris Chibnall or Toby Whithouse.

I really don't know this one.

I'm going to go for Toby Whithouse.

It's Chris Chibnall.

Kevin, sorry about that. But two out of three ain't bad.

Lisa, we go with your third question,

see if you can take the round.

The 1973 film Badlands starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek

was the debut work by which director?

Oh.

I may struggle to do this on the date,

because I think all of them have been around

for roughly the same length of time in one way or the other.

Not sure I can draw any of them out in kind of...

..genre terms either.

Maybe not Terrence Malick.

I have a vague feeling Martin Scorsese.

So I'll try Martin Scorsese.

-Dave?

-Terrence Malick.

Terrence Malick is the answer.

Oh, well, if you're going to be wrong, be really wrong.

After three questions each, the scores are level.

We go to Sudden Death.

Gets a bit harder, these are not multiple-choice questions.

So here we go with yours, Kevin.

Which British actor played the character known as Pumpkin

in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction.

Pumpkin in Pulp Fiction?

I should know this one.

Who is that now? British actor in Pulp Fiction?

I know the film well.

I think he's the guy who plays in Lie To Me.

He was in Reservoir Dogs - I think it's him.

Can't think of his name.

Definitely got a mental block.

No, I can't get it.

Take a stab at it or pass?

-I'll pass.

-Lisa, do you know?

-Tim Roth.

-Tim Roth is the answer.

And he was in...? Was he in Reservoir Dogs, then, Kevin?

-Yes, he was, wasn't he?

-Yes, he was. Definitely.

He's obviously a favourite of Quentin Tarantino's?

Tim Roth. OK, Lisa, for the round.

Albert Brooks provides the voice of Marlin

in which 2016 animated film?

OK. Marlin? M-A-R-L-I-N?

-Correct.

-Cool, he's a fish.

He's the father of Nemo.

Was in Finding Nemo. But the 2016 bit kind of gives it away -

it must be Finding Dory.

Finding Dory is the right answer.

Well done, Lisa, you're in the final.

Sorry, Kevin. They do that a bit, don't they, these Eggheads?

So you won't be in the final.

Please come back to us, both of you, and rejoin your teams.

So, on Angela Rippon - not the first female journalist,

-but the first woman to basically...

-Anchor?

..permanently anchor BBC News, yeah.

As it stands, the Mental Blocks have lost one brain from the final round.

You can turn this around, Blocks.

The Eggheads are still all sitting there,

looking a little bit too satisfied.

And the next subject is Music.

So who would like this?

-Oh.

-Oh, dear.

Everybody volunteering not to do that.

Either Steve or Sheena or James.

Oh, no, I decline.

I think it's Steve. He's the man.

Take one for the team, as they say.

Take one for the team, Steven.

-OK.

-All right.

Steve, OK. But you like your music, I know you do.

We'll find out more in a second.

Who would you like to take on?

-Can't be Lisa?

-Right.

-Chris.

-Can't be Lisa. Chris.

Steve from Mental Blocks on Music,

which is not always the happiest subject for Chris of the Eggheads.

Please, both of you go to the question room now.

So, Steve, I thought you would want to take music

because of your musical background.

Yeah, but it's a specific genre.

I'm into rock and heavy metal and things like that.

My knowledge of rappers and other kinds of music

is not as strong as it could be.

Well, they say don't worry,

because you've described Chris there, so that's fine.

So you're in a band called the Xylophone Yacht Zombies.

Exactly. We were X, Y, Z, so that we'd be last in the record store,

because we're not looking to be famous

or to have incredibly large egos.

So we're on Music, I think you're going to be good on Music.

Steve, do you want to go first or second?

I would always rather go first.

Here we go with your first question.

What was the original surname of Madonna?

Well, it's an East Coast lady there and...

She's not Irish and Bullock is probably too English.

I'm pretty sure she's got an Italian background, so Ciccone,

if I'm pronouncing it correctly.

-I think we go Si-coni. EXAGGERATED ACCENT:

-Si-coni.

Who is good with their Italian here? Anybody?

Judith?

I think it's Chi-ccone.

Chic-cone. So the first C is "ch"' and the double-C is "c".

C followed by an I becomes a "ch".

Ciccone. All right, you're right, anyway.

Well done, Steve. Brilliant. Chris, back to you.

In which year was the singer Billie Holiday born?

Well, Lady Day, I think she died in tragic circumstances in the '60s,

and she had quite a long career.

She was certainly active in '35,

so she must have been born in '15, 1915.

Yes, 1915 is right.

Steven, back to you.

"You need cooling, baby, I'm not foolin',

"I'm going to send you back to schoolin'" are the opening lines

of which classic rock track?

Well, I love all of those tracks

and I'm a deep, deep Led Zep fan,

and I have to say it's got to be Whole Lotta Love.

-So this is the perfect question for you.

-Absolutely.

Whole Lotta Love, not at all, it's a pleasure.

So, Bohemian Rhapsody is "Is this the real life?"

But Bat Out Of Hell, I'm trying to think, what was the...?

What is the opening line of that, Steven?

# Sirens are screaming in the fires of hell

# Way down in the valley tonight

# There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye...

BOTH: # And a blade shining oh so bright. #

Hey!

You stopped just as I was going to do the motorbike revving sounds.

Yeah, well, I can't go on forever.

OK, well done, Whole Lotta Love, Steve.

Now, you're enjoying this music round now, aren't you?

I am now.

OK, Chris... On My One...

is the title of a 2016 album by which British singer?

Don't think it's Jake Bugg.

I don't think Robbie Williams has an album out at the moment, so...

I'll have a go at Tom Odell.

You just missed it, it's Jake Bugg...

-Ah.

-..Chris.

Steve, your question.

If you get this right, you've gone through to the final

and levelled things up.

Quite a lot riding on it, £10,000, we're playing for.

Which of these composers was a conscientious objector

during World War II?

Well, Edward Elgar, I suspect, was of a different era,

and it would've been out of that timeframe.

Holst, I've got a feeling is also from a earlier timeframe,

and so I'm probably going to plump for Benjamin Britten,

right in the middle.

Benjamin Britten, I like your logic.

Is it the correct answer? Chris, you know.

-Yes, it is, actually.

-Yeah, Benjamin Britten's right.

Well done, Steve. No way back for Chris in this round.

Chris has been knocked out.

What can I say?

Three out of three.

And you will be in the final.

Please rejoin your team-mates and we'll play the next round.

Well, this is getting a bit interesting -

the Mental Blocks have levelled things up.

They have lost a brain but the Eggheads have also now lost a brain.

The next subject is History.

So who from Mental Blocks would like this classic quiz area?

Right, James, you or me?

-I think it's probably you, isn't it?

-I think... Want me to do it?

-I don't mind.

-I think it's James.

OK. It will be me.

All right, James.

Retired company director, against which Egghead?

Can't be Lisa or Chris.

What's Judith like at history?

Judith's good on history. Can I have Dave?

-Dave.

-Dave is good, but...

Tremendous Knowledge Dave? Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Tottenham versus Manchester United.

OK. That could be lively.

James from Mental Blocks takes on Dave from the Eggheads,

Tremendous Knowledge Dave. The subject, History.

Please go to the question room.

History it is, and would you like to go first, or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK. So, James from the Mental Blocks...

In medieval Britain, what was a freelance?

Well, I like horse racing and a freelance jockey

is one who sort of spread himself about the bit for money,

so I'm guessing it's a mercenary soldier.

You're quite right.

-I guess that's where we get the whole freelance thing from now.

-Yes.

Dave...what type of weapon was the historical howitzer?

Not a broadsword or a longbow, it's a gun.

It's a gun. You're right. OK, your question, James.

Which of these historical figures was born first?

Well, Emmeline Pankhurst was the beginning of the last century,

Elizabeth I was the end of the Tudor era,

so Joan of Arc was Middle Ages,

so I'm going with her.

You're right, James.

Well done, Joan of Arc.

Dave, your question.

Franz Joseph, born in 1830,

was the king of Hungary and the Emperor of which other country?

I have the Austrian Hungarian Empire in my head.

I don't know why.

The others are confusing me a bit, but I'm going to go Austria.

Austria's the right answer.

James, back to you.

"You may go to hell and I will go to Texas"

is a famous quote attributed to which American?

Davy Crockett, the Alamo, all about Texas, wasn't it?

Don't think it's George Washington. I'm going to guess Davy Crockett.

Yeah, you've got three out of three, well done.

Good play by James from the Mental Blocks.

Tremendous Knowledge Dave, you need to get this one right.

When people make a toast to the little gentleman

in the black velvet waistcoat,

they are referencing the death of which king?

Don't know.

Richard III...

The little gentleman, because he had a hunchback, didn't he?

I'm not sure about William III,

who was William of Orange.

I've got no real basis for this, but...

Toast to the...

the king, because Henry III was long-lived, 1216-1272.

I've got no basis for this apart from just go for Henry III.

Henry III is your answer.

OK. Let's just see if James knows this one.

I think it's William III, it's the mole that his horse tripped over,

which threw him of his horse,

because he tripped over a mole, a molehill, and he died.

So it's William III.

But where does his shortness and his waistcoat come in?

No, the mole, the gentleman in a black velvet was a mole.

Oh, I see!

So they are referencing the death of William III.

Dave, you've been knocked out there on that answer.

William III was the correct answer.

Well done, James. You've taken on an Egghead.

Your team is powering through a bit here.

This is getting interesting.

Come back and we'll play the next round.

Well, I'm wondering if the Eggheads run, or roll,

or whatever it is, is coming to an end this afternoon.

The Mental Blocks have lost one brain from the final round,

you have now lost two and I sense panic setting in over there.

The next subject is Arts and Books.

Who would like this?

-Oh... Arts and books.

-That's got to be good, right?

You're all quizzers.

Yeah, this is one that James said he would do under sufferance,

so it looks like it's me.

-OK.

-OK, Nigel.

-Yep.

-Against which Egghead?

You can have either Judith or Kevin.

Judith, I think... No, Judith's very strong on art.

-She's good on...

-Yes, very strong.

Try, try and take out Kevin.

Kevin, why not? Kevin.

-OK.

-Why not?

-In for a penny, in for a pound.

You've got to meet him at some point.

Try and get him out before the final - good tactic.

Nigel from the Mental Blocks versus Kevin from the Eggheads

on Arts and Books.

Please head off, for the last time, to the question room.

So, Arts and Books, Nigel, from the Mental Blocks.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

Here we go, good luck.

"Not a creature was staring, not even a mouse"

is the second line of which famous poem?

Is it...?

I think this is about Christmas Eve and the excitement that people have

before Santa Claus arrives and delivers presents,

so I think it's A Visit From Saint Nicholas.

Yes, it is A Visit From Saint Nicholas.

-Well done.

-Phew.

-Kevin, your question.

What name is given to art

that does not attempt to represent observable reality,

but seeks to achieve its effect using shapes,

forms, colours and textures?

Well, ancient art is what it says on the tin, it's ancient.

Applied art is using objects and various designs,

but the one that's non-representational

is abstract art.

Abstract art is of course correct.

One each. Back to you, Nigel.

In the book The Strange Case Of Doctor Jekyll And Mr Hyde,

what is Jekyll's first name?

Right, I think it's definitely not Clive.

Henry Jekyll is what's in my head, so I'm going to go for Henry Jekyll.

-Kevin?

-Yes, yes, that's right.

Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde.

Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde. Well done, Nigel.

Kevin, Empire Of The Sun

is a book by which author?

Based on his own childhood in China

during the period of the Second World War, it's JG Ballard.

JG Ballard is quite right.

OK, third question, you're cracking on here, Nigel.

The sculptor Donatello was born and died in which city?

I think this is Renaissance and it's Italian Renaissance,

so that suggests not Paris.

And I think it's Florence rather than Venice,

so I'm going to go for Florence.

Good answer. You're right, Florence is correct, well done.

Three out of three. Kevin now has to get this right to stay in.

The 1994 novel Closing Time

is the sequel to which other work of fiction?

I'm struggling to think of any particular sequels

to either The Great Gatsby or To Kill A Mockingbird,

but I think Closing Time was by Joseph Heller

and was a sequel to Catch-22.

Catch-22 is the right answer.

3-3, nothing to choose between these two quizzers.

We go to sudden death, Nigel.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you different options.

It was announced in mid-2016 that which snooker world champion

would soon be releasing a novel called Framed,

a thriller loosely inspired by his early experiences?

Framed.

So I'm wondering about Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry,

Steve Davis.

I don't think it's going to be Steve Davis or Stephen Hendry.

So I'm going to guess Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the right answer.

It's really good!

Kevin, to stay, the 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge

is particularly remembered for his pioneering photographs

of which four-legged animal in motion?

Yes, his photographs were used

in trying to finally settle the argument

about when a horse was running if all four of its legs

left the ground simultaneously, and so it's horses.

Horses is right.

Nigel, back to you.

Which French painter also created sculptures,

including a nearly life-sized work entitled Little dancer aged 14,

first exhibited in 1881?

I'm thinking it's not Rodin, but I can't think who else it would be.

So I'm going to go with...

Oh, Francois Moreau or Auguste Rodin.

I'm going to go for Francois Moreau.

OK, I almost wonder if you've made this harder than it needs to be,

because a French painter...

-Oh.

-..also created sculptures.

And you go, you know, these guys here, dancer,

and they go straight for Degas every time.

-Edgar Degas...

-Oh.

-..is the answer.

OK, Kevin. This for the round.

Which 1934 novel by James M Cain

features the characters Frank Cora and Nick Papadakis?

It's The Postman Always Rings Twice.

If you've got this right, the round is over.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is the right answer, Kevin.

Well done. Sorry, bad luck, Nigel.

Any daylight you give this man, he's liable to take advantage,

so you have been knocked out.

He is good, yes.

That's almost an understatement.

So Kevin will play in the final.

If you come back to last now, we'll play the final round.

This is what we've been playing towards,

it is time for the final round.

As always, general knowledge.

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

won't be allowed to take part in this round,

so that is Nigel and Kevin from the Mental Blocks,

and also Chris and Dave from the Eggheads,

would you now please leave the studio?

Sheila, take a bow.

-Thank you.

-You, alongside James and Steve are now playing

to win the Mental Blocks' £10,000.

Judith, Kevin and Lisa,

you're fighting a rearguard action

to try to defend the Eggheads' reputation.

A number of teams have failed to take you down.

This one looks like they've got a sense of purpose about them.

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

This time they're all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, the Mental Blocks, the question is,

are your three brains better than these three over here?

And would you like to go first or second?

I think we'd like to go first.

Yes, we'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Right, good luck, team.

Which of these mythological creatures is most associated

with the county of Somerset?

Right. Wyvern is more Herefordshire, I think.

They have Wyvern Radio, BBC Wyvern, I think they used to have.

So that's Herefordshire.

Hippogriff is straight out of Harry Potter,

so I think that's just a red herring.

Manticore has got a Somerset...

Manticore is the one that I would go for, personally.

-Manticore, yes.

-OK.

I think would like to go for Manticore, please, Jeremy.

Manticore is your answer.

Now, funnily enough, I was reading about King Alfred the other day,

just for sheer interest, and I wondered if I came across Wyvern.

-Did I?

-Yes.

-Kevin, what was the reference there?

Well, it goes...

It's a creature that is associated with Wessex in general,

so it would cover an area from where Steve was talking about

up in the Herefordshire area

all the way down through Wiltshire to Somerset and that...

Yet there is an association with Somerset.

-Oh, well, I didn't know.

-Wyvern is the answer.

Eggheads... In Italian cuisine, what are amaretti?

Biscuits, biscuits, biscuits, biscuits!

They're, um, biscuits.

Biscuits is correct.

OK.

Challengers, don't give up here.

Keep focused. In film-making, what is a squib?

Is it...?

Squib. S-Q-U-I-B.

As in damp squib...

Damp squib. Yes, so it's explosive.

-Yeah, exactly.

-I think so.

-I would go with that.

-Yeah.

-Props buyer? No.

-No.

-Wind machine?

-It's the damp squib...

-Damp squib.

-Yes.

-Let's go for that.

-Yes, we're going to say a small explosive.

Sheila, small explosive is quite right.

Back to you, Eggheads. Which is the oldest hospital in London?

-Well, of those, yes.

-Bart's.

Yes, Bart's dates back to about the 12th century.

-Does it?

-Wow.

-I think, in its original incarnation.

Yeah. I think definitely Bart's.

-Yes.

-Um, we think it's Bart's.

The correct answer is Bart's.

So you need to get this one right, challengers.

The TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson

was expelled from which of these schools?

Crikey. Any idea at all?

No idea whatsoever.

-No.

-I haven't got a clue.

-Eton is...

-I don't think he's an old Etonian, is he?

I wouldn't be surprised if he was.

I would've thought that if he was an old Etonian,

it would have emerged with the sort of era of Cameron and Johnson

and maybe that would have been thrown up in his face?

-But...

-Repton?

-I would go...

I'd go Repton first.

Repton. We're not 100% certain on this.

Bit of a mixed view, but I think we're going to go for Repton.

Repton is the correct answer.

OK, well done. You've got two out of three.

Not bad going in the final round,

but the Eggheads can make it three out of three

and win the contest with this question.

What was the first name of the notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel?

It's Benjamin.

-It's Benjamin, is it?

-Yeah, Benjamin Bugsy Siegel, yeah.

-Benjamin Bugsy Siegel.

-Well, he wasn't a Brian or a Bradley.

Yes, he's Benjamin.

If you've got this right, the contest is over.

Very hard-fought contest, as well.

Otherwise you'd go to sudden death.

There aren't that many gangsters called Brian.

-No.

-I don't think.

-Well, not that you know of.

-You know...

-They could be lying low.

-Yes.

Nor Bradley. The correct answer is Benjamin.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Thank you.

Oh, what was it, the Manticore...?

What is the Manticore, Eggheads, anyway?

-Is there such a thing?

-Yes, it's another mythological creature.

Commiserations to the Mental Blocks.

You played a great game,

but that expensive answer in the last round

has done for other teams

and actually done for you on occasions, as well, Eggheads.

The Eggheads are really, really on the prowl now.

They have done brilliantly.

This winning streak continues.

It means the challengers don't go home with £10,000,

it means we take that money and roll it over to our next exciting show,

and it means I have to say congratulations, Eggheads.

To me, you now look unbeatable.

I don't think it's going to happen.

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

have any chance of defeating that lot.

£11,000 says they can't.

Until then, goodbye.