Episode 27 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz Challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

Here they are - the Eggheads.

Feeling turbo-charged?

We've got our mojo back.

You have indeed got your mojo back, Barry.

Taking on the might of our quiz goliaths today

are The Reel Deal.

Now, this team all work for the Bristol-based film rental shop

20th Century Flicks.

Established in the '80s,

it is now the only shop of its kind left in the city.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm a video shop co-director.

Hi, I'm Tara and I'm also a video shop co-director.

Hi, I'm Pete and I'm a researcher.

Hello, I'm Becca and I'm a library assistant.

Hi, I'm Ti, and I'm a global digital marketer.

So, Dave and team, welcome.

Good to see you.

Tell us about the shop, Dave.

Yeah, it's the oldest video shop in the world now.

-Really?

-It was opened in 1982, it's the longest-running one.

We've managed to keep it going

through various feats of ingenuity and stupidity.

And this is sort of the latest in a long business plan that we have

of securing the shop's future.

OK. And when you say the oldest video shop in the world,

I'm guessing you, therefore, rent out VHS, do you?

We still do, we've got about 3,000 videotapes

that we can't find on DVD or, indeed, online, so we keep them.

They go out a couple of times a week.

Mostly it's DVD and Blu-ray.

Isn't that fascinating, Eggs?

I read all about you.

There was an article in a colour supplement or something.

Yeah, sort of like "famous but poor" is our motto.

THEY LAUGH

We had a nice programme on BBC Radio 4.

-Maybe that's what I heard.

-It is one of these weird things,

there's a lot of attention because we are sort of a curiosity in a way,

but it's just trying to balance that

with actually making enough money to pay rent.

Of course, of course. Also going and discussing films with you guys

before renting them, that's the key thing.

You don't get that with all these streaming services.

No, often discussing films with us

-and then not renting them.

-A good point, yeah.

Well, good luck. What an interesting story.

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 our next show.

So, The Reel Deal, you've caught the Eggheads at a rather good moment,

there's an upside and a downside to that.

The upside is that they've won the last 11 games

so there's £12,000 to win.

The downside, obviously, is they are in rather good form.

So, it's going to be hard.

-Do you want to get cracking?

-Yeah.

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

Which one of you would like this?

I think that's going to be me.

THEY LAUGH

Ti, at the end.

And choose an Egghead, any one of the five.

I feel I might take on Steve.

And I could live to regret this.

Well, Steve is our newest Egghead.

And maybe still finding his feet,

maybe you can dislodge him from the end there.

-Here's hoping.

-Ti from The Reel Deal versus Steve from the Eggheads.

And just to ensure there is no conferring,

would you please take your positions now in the Question Room?

I'm just thinking, Steve,

you haven't played History before as an Egghead.

You're probably right at that, Jeremy.

So, Ti, maybe this is a good strategy.

You're trying him on an untested area.

Oh, hopefully, this is going to pay off, but we'll find out.

I think he probably likes his history, but let's find out.

Your choice, Ti, first or second?

I'll go first.

Here is your first question, good luck.

The historic warlord Tamburlaine was the ruler of which Empire?

Ah, right, I don't think it's Roman.

My Roman history is quite good enough

that I would have heard of that.

Mongol, I know Genghis Khan's birth name was Temujin,

which sounds quite similar.

I'm just going to have to guess with this one

and hope the Genghis Khan

comparison pays off and go with Mongol.

Kevin, what was Genghis Khan's birth name?

Temujin.

Temujin.

So that was beautiful.

And it took you in the right direction, Mongol is right.

-Great.

-Yeah, that was like

the equivalent of first point in table tennis,

just smashing it

straight out the window.

And winning the point.

Fantastic. OK.

Steve, which man, born in 1133,

is often said to be the first Plantagenet King of England?

-Henry II.

-You've thought long and hard about that.

Well, I mean, Henry V, he was the 15th century.

And Henry VIII was 16th century, so...

You know, it can't possibly be either of them two.

Yes, good point. That's the correct answer.

OK, back to you, Ti.

Which of these infamous criminals was referred to as a bushranger?

So Dick Turpin was a highwayman.

Billy the Kid was the Old West,

so he was a cattle rustler and a general outlaw,

and Ned Kelly was an Australian outlaw.

So from that reasoning, if you're going into the bush...

..that's an Australian expression.

I'm going to have to go with Ned Kelly.

Ned Kelly is the correct answer, good quizzing.

Over to you, Steve.

In British history, the Restoration

returned which royal house to the throne?

Well, it was following on from

the Commonwealth, of Oliver Cromwell and his son.

And it interrupted the Stuart dynasty.

The correct answer is Stuart, well done.

Back to you, Ti. Your third question.

Which Scottish king reigned for over 40 years

before abdicating the throne in 943 AD

and retiring to a monastery?

Constantine.

When I hear Constantine, I'm thinking more papal.

Macbeth, I know he was an actual Scottish king.

And thinking about it, I now have no idea

how accurate the play is to actual history.

This is going to be a complete guess

and I'm going to have to go with Alexander.

Constantine II is the answer, Ti.

So, it gives Steve a chance to win his first History round.

Make a bit of Eggheads history there.

In Anglo-Saxon Britain, what was a scramasax?

Can you spell that, please, Jeremy?

It's almost as you'd expect.

S-C-R-A-M-A-S-A-X.

A scramasax.

I know a soothsayer in Rome was an haruspex, and that sounds similar.

But it's a completely different language, so scramasax...

I'll try soothsayer, I don't know.

OK. No, it's a knife.

It's a knife.

So, equal after three questions.

That's a let-off for you, Ti.

It gets you into Sudden Death...

-All right.

-..which gets a bit more tricky

cos I don't give you different options.

-OK.

-Which Roman emperor renamed both Rome

and the months of the year after himself,

before being strangled by a wrestler named Narcissus?

Oh, I know this, my Roman history is normally pretty good.

I think it was Commodus.

That's a superb answer, you are quite right.

That's a stunning answer, that's like your first answer.

OK, you're up against a good player here, Steve.

-Yeah. Definitely.

-Your question.

Richard III was the brother of which other king of England?

-Edward IV.

-Edward IV is right.

Sudden Death.

Back to you, Ti.

Which French king ordered the construction

of the famous 16th-century Chateau de Chambord?

I don't know. I don't know.

This is going to have to be another guess.

I'm going to go with Louis XV.

No, Francis I.

Francois I.

Steve, for the round.

At the beginning of the 18th century,

the Great Northern War was contested

between a Russian-led coalition

and which country's Empire?

Hurray. I've lost about three pounds sat in here, Jeremy,

I'm just so pleased. It's Sweden.

Sweden is the right answer.

-Sorry, Ti, you played really well there.

-Oh, well.

Steve is in the final, Ti, you were beaten by our Egghead.

Please return, rejoin your teams, we'll play on.

Well, what a round.

Ti, well done. And the Commodus moment was extraordinary.

Brilliant quizzing. Brilliant quizzing.

Bad luck, what can I say?

Steve in the final. The Reel Deal have lost a brain.

The Eggheads have got all five.

Let's try again, shall we, to knock one out?

With Arts & Books.

Who would like this?

I will do Arts & Books, please.

OK, Becca, our library assistant, against which Egghead?

Chris, please can I challenge you?

Yeah. Spends a lot of time reading, but mainly train timetables.

They are hardly deathless literature, Jeremy.

So, Becca from the Reel Deal versus Chris from the Eggheads.

This is a good contest today, isn't it?

To ensure there is no conferring, please take your positions.

So, Becca, are you involved with this great video shop?

Yes, I work there part-time in the evenings and at weekends.

Great. And the main part of your job, Becca,

is in an actual library, is it?

Yeah, I work part-time in Bristol University library.

A little bit more.

Surrounded by books. That should be handy in this round.

It can, of course, range far and wide.

Would you like to go first or second, Becca?

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

OK, good luck to you, here we go.

Which famous works of art

are sometimes referred to as the Parthenon sculptures?

I haven't heard of the Parthenon sculptures before.

And the only one of these three answers

I've heard of is the Elgin Marbles,

who I hope are also from Greece,

and I'm going to go with the Elgin Marbles.

OK, I can tell you're treading very carefully,

but there's no need to, you are absolutely right.

Well done. Elgin Marbles.

Good. Chris, on to you.

Which of these is the title of a book by the writer Tolstoy?

Well, Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons,

Catch-22, Joseph Heller.

Anna Karenina is a silly woman

who throws herself under a train in a book by Tolstoy,

so it is Anna Karenina.

Judith, do you object to that?

Yes.

THEY LAUGH

Can you briefly say why?

Well, because she wasn't a silly woman

who threw herself under a train,

there was rather more to her.

OK, you've got the answer right.

Anna Karenina.

Back to you, Becca.

Stanley Kowalski is a character in which famous play?

I recognised his name when you said it and I'm really glad...

I think, I hope, to stand up to the reputation of the video shop,

it is A Streetcar Named Desire.

Oh, the whole reputation of the video shop...

Yes, because that is a film as well.

A Streetcar Named Desire is correct.

Yeah.

Chris, your question.

What is the name of the two giant horses' head sculptures

created by Andy Scott near Falkirk in 2013?

They're called the Kelpies,

after the malevolent shape-shifting spirits of Celtic mythology.

They're Kelpies.

Kelpies is right.

Back to you, Becca.

Which book by JoJo Moyes tells the story of a quadriplegic man

named Will and his carer Louisa?

I don't know these titles, and I don't know the author.

I think I'm going to take a guess on Me Before You.

Me Before You is quite right, Becca, well done.

So, Chris, what about this? Third question.

Get this wrong and Becca will be in the final.

Which of these is an influential book of poetry

by the writer Walt Whitman?

The only one of those that's by Walt Whitman is Leaves Of Grass.

Leaves Of Grass is correct, Chris, so 3-3.

These Eggheads are playing well at the moment,

it's been a problem for a number of teams.

It goes to Sudden Death, Becca, and I don't give you different options.

Here we go. In 1888,

Vincent van Gogh famously lived for a short period

in the Yellow House in Arles with which fellow painter?

Would it be too early for Pablo Picasso?

-Is that your answer?

-That's my answer.

It's the wrong answer,

it's Paul Gauguin. That would be too early for Picasso, would it?

-1888.

-Seven.

-He would have been seven?

Well, he could have lived with him.

-It's possible, yes.

-As a boy.

Childcare.

-It's possible.

-So, not too early for Picasso.

But it's Paul Gauguin.

Chris, Sudden Death. Get this right, you're in the final round.

Here's your question.

What is the title of the well-known David Hockney painting

in Tate Britain of a California swimming pool

notable for its two palm trees,

turquoise water, yellow diving board and white foam?

That's got to be A Bigger Splash.

A Bigger Splash is the correct answer, Chris,

you've got it on Sudden Death.

Sorry, Becca.

Again, another tight round.

Again, our Egghead has won.

Please return, rejoin your team-mates,

and we'll play the next round.

Well, it's a great game. The Reel Deal have lost two brains,

but they're fighting very hard.

The Eggheads are still all there,

at the moment, in the final round, but let's see if that changes now.

The next subject is Sport.

THEY SIGH

We were really hoping this wouldn't come up.

That doesn't sound like a good noise.

OK, I'll go for Sport, Jeremy.

OK, Tara, bravely stepping into the breach.

And you can have, let's see, Judith, Kevin or Barry.

I'm going to pick Judith.

I thought you would.

She will feel the same as you, I can promise.

OK, so, Tara from The Reel Deal

versus our own Judith from the Eggheads.

And you haven't done Sport for a while.

I haven't done it for ages.

You were starting to miss it, weren't you?

Never, I'm afraid.

OK, please go to the Question Room now.

Good luck in the Sport round.

Tara, would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, mixing it up.

Here is Miss Keppel on her beloved Sport.

Chris Coleman was the manager

of which international football team at Euro 2016?

Phew. There's one I know. It was Wales.

Well done, I was worried for you for a second there.

Wales is right.

Tara.

Who did Andy Murray beat in the 2016 Wimbledon Men's Singles Final?

I do not know the answer to this question,

I'm going to have to guess.

I'm just going to go straight down the middle with Thomas Berdych.

Thomas Berdych, it wasn't.

Team-mates...

-Milos Raonic.

-Yes, Milos Raonic is the right answer.

OK, Judith, your question.

Which country's men's team won gold

in the Olympic field hockey competition six times in succession

between 1928 and 1956?

I think it might be India.

-Let's see. Eggheads, do we know?

-India.

Yes, you're right, India it is.

Oh, OK, she's powered ahead here on Sport, Tara,

so you need to get this one

right to stay in.

Angelo Mathews has captained which country in international cricket?

Angelo Mathews.

Again, I don't know the answer to this question,

it is a complete guess.

I'm just going to pick one at random, so there's no logic to this,

but I'm going with Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is the right answer.

I'm so pleased.

THEY LAUGH

The stress of this is too much for me.

All right. Judith, your third question, for the round.

A man named George Stevens holds the record

for the most victories in which race,

having won it on five occasions?

America's Cup, I don't think that's likely

because that's only held every few years.

I think maybe four years.

And it's incredibly expensive too.

And I'm not sure that a horse...

He could ride different horses, couldn't he?

I think I'm going to say the University Boat Race,

I think that's the most likely.

It's the wrong answer.

SHE LAUGHS

-Of course.

-I like the way you laugh.

It's the Grand National.

The answer was wrong, Judith, so you have a chance here, Tara,

to come back into it.

Get this one right - whatever you need to do, just do it.

Maggie Alphonsi played 70 matches for England in which sport?

OK.

Once again, no idea of the answer, so definitely going for a guess.

70 matches is a lot.

I don't know which of these sports

that makes it more likely to be,

I'm not sure if that's a helpful clue.

I'm kind of tossing up between netball and rugby union,

and I don't know why.

But I'm going to go with rugby union, just because...

..I've heard more about women playing rugby union in the UK,

so that's my answer.

All right, rugby union is the correct answer.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, no.

You must leave the studio, put a bet on a horse,

cos you're going to win. I tell you what, this is amazing.

All right. Now, whether this should be described as Sudden Death,

I don't know.

We go to Sudden Death, Judith.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternative options, so here we go.

Which famous sporting event was held in London for the first time

on the 29th of March, 1981?

The London Marathon?

The London Marathon is correct.

So, Tara, you have to

get this right to stay in.

The winter sports venue of Wengen is in which country?

That's W-E-N-G-E-N.

Wengen.

It's a guess - Germany.

It's Switzerland.

Tara, sorry, you've been knocked out on Sudden Death.

Judith, there we go.

Through on Sport.

Please return to us, and we'll play the next round, see what happens.

OK, so The Reel Deal have lost three brains now from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any.

What do we do? Do we change the projector now?

What's the movie equivalent?

No, we just need a killer third reel.

OK, well, the fourth reel is Music.

So who would like this?

That's you, Dave.

-I'll go.

-OK. So it is Dave against which Egghead?

And it's either Barry or Kevin.

I'm going to have to go Barry, I want to take on Barry.

All right. Dave from The Reel Deal

will take on Barry from the Eggheads on Music.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Music, Dave. Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'd like to go second.

OK, Barry, here we go.

"Sometimes I feel like I've got to run away,

"I've got to get away from the pain

"you drive into the heart of me,"

are the opening lines to which song?

Sounds very much like Tainted Love, so I shall go for that.

Yeah. Tainted Love is right, Barry.

I know you knew that one, Dave. Here's your question.

Stitches is the title of a 2016 UK number one single

by which man?

OK.

OK, it's Bieber or Shawn.

Tara, I'm sorry if this is wrong.

But I'm going to go Shawn Mendes.

Team-mates? Is he right?

-You don't know?

-We don't know.

I only know this because I've got a nine-year-old and she asked me to

watch a video the other day.

She put this on, and it was Shawn Mendes.

-Yes.

-It's a really good video.

Shawn Mendes. OK, Barry, your question.

Who is the co-founder and lead singer

of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers?

Dave Grohl is the Foo Fighters.

But I think... I'm pretty certain

the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is Anthony Kiedis.

Anthony Kiedis is correct.

Dave. Which famous song features the lines, "The way you wear your hat,

"the way you sip your tea?"

# The way you wear your hat...

# The memory of all that Oh, no, they... #

It's They Can't Take That Away From Me.

Yeah, you're right. That's not an easy question.

They Can't Take That Away From Me is right.

Dave, well done.

Barry, your third question.

In which city was the rapper Jay Z born?

Jay Z.

I really don't know this at all.

So I'm just going to have a guess.

I'm going to go straight down the middle for Los Angeles.

No, you've got it wrong, Barry, it's New York.

Ah!

So. Interesting moment in the game.

Get this right, Dave, and you're in the final.

Tocatta And Fugue In D Minor

is a famous work for the organ by which composer?

Well, I always get this...

You're supposed to follow your instinct on this.

I think...

it's a toss-up between Beethoven and JS Bach.

And, I don't know,

my heart just says it's Johann Sebastian Bach.

Barry will know this. Barry?

-I'm toast.

-And you are toast.

Bach is the right answer.

Well done, Dave.

There we go. It can be done - well done, Dave,

you took on an Egghead, you defeated him.

Barry is knocked out, you are in the final.

And if you come back to us, we will play the all-important final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards,

it is time for our final round.

As always, it's 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 that's Tara,

Becca and Ti from The Reel Deal, but also Barry from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

OK, Dave and Pete, you're playing to win The Reel Deal £12,000.

Steve, Judith, Kevin and Chris,

you're playing for something money can't buy, the Eggheads' reputation,

just to protect your run that you're on.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge.

You can confer. So, Reel Deal, the question is,

are your two brains able to take down,

close the curtains on these four?

Dave and Pete, do you want to go first or second?

-I think we'll go first, Jeremy, please.

-Yeah, first.

OK, Pete and Dave,

good luck to you.

Here we go with your final round questions.

The sharpshooter Annie Oakley was born in which year?

It's Annie Get Your Gun, isn't it?

It is. I used to work a lot with fairground history.

My memory is leaning towards her

being a big deal in the early 20th century.

I don't know.

-Because when's the heyday of that sort of thing?

-Yeah.

In my mind that is 1880ish, 1890s.

You might be right.

So I'm just thinking Back To The Future III.

-Yes.

-1885. I would go 1860.

Yeah, you're right. I think so.

My confidence is not there.

-OK, should we...?

-1860.

Yeah, I think we're going to go with 1860.

1860 is the right answer.

Good play. Eggheads, your question.

The actress Jane Asher was engaged

to which member of The Beatles in the 1960s?

-It was Paul McCartney.

-I'll go with

-Paul McCartney.

-Yeah.

That was Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney's the right answer.

Back to you.

Who hosted the 2016 Tony Awards?

I want to say Neil Patrick Harris...

Because he did the Oscars.

-Yeah.

-But I don't know if he did the Tonys.

I think he did the Tonys.

Erm, I just have in my mind that it is Neil Patrick Harris.

It might be wrong but that's...

Yeah. I think we're going to go with Neil Patrick Harris.

Neil Patrick Harris is your answer?

OK. The answer is James Corden.

Oh... Sorry.

It's cool.

Your question, Eggheads.

Which country is often referred to as The Lucky Country,

a phrase coined by the writer Donald Horne?

Aussie. Yeah, I think that's Australia.

-Is it? I don't know. Never heard it.

-Chris thinks that too.

I think it's just a term that was...

Well, South Africa...

-I don't think Ireland...

-OK?

Or South Africa.

OK? Going for that, yeah?

I think it's referring to

a combination of climate

and being able to make

a good life and other factors.

I think that's Australia.

Australia is the right answer.

So, the Eggheads playing well.

They've got two.

You have to get this one right to stay in.

The Kappa is a water demon from the mythology of which country?

And Kappa is K-A-P-P-A.

It's... Kappa... Erm...

Do you think it's Egypt? I can't remember it in Egyptian mythology.

No, they don't really go in for sea monsters, I don't think.

-Maybe.

-Mexico's a bit general.

Yeah, that's the one I'm siding with.

Because in Japan, I don't know...

I'm just trying to think of how that

word would look in Japanese.

It's a harsh consonant.

To have two Ps...

Even in the Japanese translation, it's unlikely.

Yeah, that's good reasoning.

So, I...

I'd go with Mexico

because it's surrounded by water.

And, yeah.

Let's go with Mexico.

Mexico? OK, a lot riding on this.

If you are wrong, the contest is over.

Now, who knows this?

-Anybody?

-Japan?

-I'd have thought Japan.

-You think Japan.

I'm afraid to say, Japan.

We say congratulations, Eggheads.

-You have won!

-Very good game.

Good game.

Oh, what a brilliant team you are.

We've had a number of great teams recently

but you really were fabulous.

Listen, thank you so much for playing.

And it's been such fun.

Really, hasn't it, Eggheads?

-Really good. Yeah.

-You put a smile on our faces here.

Commiserations, Reel Deal.

The Eggheads, I did say at the beginning,

they are in good form at the moment.

There's not a lot of daylight to be had here.

So they've done what comes naturally to them.

Judith even won on Sport.

That's remarkable.

And the winning streak continues.

So, it does mean you're not going home with the £12,000.

We take that money, we roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

I sort of wish you'd lost to this wonderful team.

I can see how good you are at the moment.

And 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.

There's £13,000 to play for.

Until then, goodbye!