Episode 29 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. What kind of form are we in today?

-Stunning.

-Stunning.

Long pause, and then the word stunning.

It's not very convincing, is it?

LAUGHTER

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today are 5 No Trumps.

This team of friends

are all members of the same bridge club based in Langham.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Jill, and I'm a voluntary worker.

Hello, I'm Roy.

I'm a retired IT worker.

Hello, I'm David, and I'm a retired IT director.

Hello, I'm Maggie, and I'm a retired haematologist.

Hello, I'm David, I'm a retired managing director.

-So, Jill and team, welcome. ALL:

-Hello, Jeremy.

-And you're Essex-based?

-Yes.

-And you love bridge?

-Yes, we love bridge.

So you play together, and you play other people.

We play in a club, we play in a club on Monday nights

and then we also play with each other at fours at home,

so, yes.

I know I have friends who love bridge, so...

I don't play myself, but I understand it can be a passion.

It's quite competitive, yes.

Very good. OK, well, good luck.

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, 5 No Trumps,

I can tell you that the Eggheads are on a roll.

They've won the last 13 games.

Pat, after ten games,

-do that thing with your shoulders.

-Oh, no, Jeremy.

-Come on!

LAUGHTER

I didn't thank my colleagues. We'll have to do that next time.

That's what they do.

That's what they do when they go above ten.

Thank you, Pat.

So, it's good news and bad,

they're on great form,

-but there's a big jackpot, £14,000 for you to win.

-Excellent.

So you've got to hurl yourselves at them here,

whatever cards you need to deal, use them.

-Shall we start?

-Yes.

OK, the first head-to-head battle is

on the subject of History.

Now, who would like this?

David.

-I'm apparently deputed to do this.

-OK.

David, our retired managing director,

against which Egghead?

Can be any one of the five.

-Let's go with Beth, shall we?

-OK.

So, Dave from 5 No Trumps is going to play

our newest Egghead,

Beth from the Eggheads, on History,

and to ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, David, you've chosen our newest Egghead, Beth,

winner of Make Me An Egghead.

Would you like to go first or second on History?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

So, here we go. David, good luck.

Which of these historical figures was born first?

Which would I think...? I...

William the Conqueror seems to be

about sort of tens...1000,

so I would have thought

he's not the first one.

Let's try Alfred the Great.

Alfred the Great is quite right.

Oh, good.

OK, Beth.

Which man was murdered on 29th December 1170

in Canterbury Cathedral?

I went to university

at the University of Kent

and we graduated

from Canterbury Cathedral

so it would be highly embarrassing

if I get this one wrong.

Thomas Becket.

Thomas Becket is correct, Beth.

One each, and, David, back to you.

The Black Death pandemic that ravaged Britain in the 14th century

originated in which part of the world?

Oh, a difficult one.

14th century.

I don't think it was India.

It's between China and Japan.

Um...

Let's go for China.

Yes, China is correct.

Not as easy as it sounds.

And you'll know, Beth, cos you do tropical diseases,

what is a pandemic as opposed to an epidemic?

Well, pandemic means it's gone worldwide,

and epidemic could mean just a small area.

Right.

OK, here's your second question.

In which century did Brazil gain its independence from Portugal?

OK.

I think 15th is far too early,

so it would be between 17th and 19th.

-19th century.

-19th is... Well, let's see with Barry.

Barry, is 19th right or wrong?

Yes, nearly all the South American countries

gained their independence from either Spain or Portugal

in the 19th century.

-OK, the 1800s. Yeah. You're right, Beth.

-(Phew.)

Well done, 19th is correct.

OK, nothing to choose between you

at the moment. David, your third question.

In February 1943, a team of Allied saboteurs

known as The Swallows famously sabotaged

a Nazi heavy-water factory in which part of Norway?

HE CHUCKLES

Sounds almost like a Wagnerian opera.

Telemark sort of sounds a possibility, but...

Oh...

I'll go for Telemark.

Let's see, who will know this? Pat, do you know this one?

He's right, yes,

famous film about them,

about the escapade.

Heroes Of Telemark.

Heroes Of Telemark was the film, Telemark is the answer.

-Well done, three out of three.

-Wow.

OK, Beth, your question to stay in.

Approximately how long ago did the Mayan civilisation

mysteriously die out?

Ooh.

Maya, certainly not 120 years ago, it's WELL before that.

12,000 seems a heck of a long time ago.

1,200 years ago.

1,200 is the right answer.

Well done. 3-3.

David, we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, I don't give you alternative options.

Towards the end of World War II,

which country developed the Nakajima Kika fighter plane?

From the way you say it, it sounds very Japanese,

so I'll go for Japan.

Japan is correct.

Beth, Sudden Death.

Which European leader's remains were returned to France in 1840

aboard a ship named Belle Poule?

It's... Well, it's got to be Napoleon.

Napoleon is right, Beth, well done.

David, she's playing well, but so are you.

Here's your question.

Bombed in 1937 during a civil war, Guernica is in which country?

Well, 1937, was that...?

I can think of the Spanish Civil War, or something like that.

Was it Spain?

Spain is correct.

OK, Beth, to stay in.

The possibly mythical kingdom of Van Lang is often regarded as

a forerunner of which modern-day South-East Asian country?

It's not...a place I've heard of,

being real or mythical,

possibly mythical.

I can't...

I can't get Cambodia out of my head, so I'll go with Cambodia.

Cambodia is your answer. This to stay in. Eggheads, do you know?

Well, Van is often used as part of Vietnamese names,

so on that basis I'd be tempted to go for Vietnam.

Barry makes the point that Van is often...

-..Vietnam or Vietnam-related.

-Oh, Vietnam, again.

-Not Vietnam again! No!

-I think you've had three questions

where the answer's been something to do with Vietnam.

Vietnam is the answer, Beth,

and you've been knocked out by David.

Well played, David, you didn't get a single question wrong.

Do come back to us and we will play the next round.

Well, good start to our bridge players here.

5 No Trumps have not lost a brain

and Beth has been knocked out on the Eggheads side.

The next subject is Music.

Who would like Music?

-You want me to do it?

-No.

-Are you happy with it?

-You go for music.

-I'll take it.

-You happy?

Yeah. It looks as though it's going to be me.

Jill, voluntary worker, against which Egghead?

Who would you like? Can't be Beth.

Try the other new one!

I'm going to go for Steve.

-The other new one! OK.

-Bridge face.

See what you're doing here, yeah.

Steve's got his bridge face on.

Jill from 5 No Trumps against Steve

from the Eggheads.

Please go to our famous Question Room now.

Jill, would you like to go first or second on Music?

I'll go first, please.

Jill against one of our newest Eggheads.

Firestarter was a UK number one hit single

in 1996 for which band?

I haven't a clue,

so I've just got to go through a process of elimination.

Firestarter.

Well, due to the fact that they're probably a very fiery group

I will go for Oasis.

OK. It's not them, actually.

Now, we know this, Eggheads,

don't we, for the craziest reasons?

We recorded the parts of Firestarter, all of us.

Yeah, we did, it's quite...

it is quite...

I suppose, an edgy song, Jill,

and we decided to try and do our own video of it

in which Barry, Judith, Pat... played extraordinary parts.

I think Pat did the shoulder roll in that, actually.

-No, I did not.

-LAUGHTER

You did something!

And it was, unfortunately, for whatever reason,

taken down from the internet by somebody.

LAUGHTER

I think we had too much fun doing it!

-The correct answer is The Prodigy.

-OK.

OK. Steve, in which year

was the jazz musician Miles Davis born?

Well, I don't know.

But, just thinking

when he was popular and active,

I know late '60s

he was doing some of his best work...

..so that leads me to suspect it's probably 1926.

1926 is the right answer.

So Steve goes into the lead,

and back to you, Jill.

The stage musical Fiddler On The Roof is set in which country?

I do believe that's Russia.

Yes, Russia is right.

If I Were A Rich Man!

Steve.

Who was the lead singer of The Small Faces?

Yeah. Sadly no longer with us, it's Steve Marriott.

It is. Now I, in my innocence,

was expecting to see Rod Stewart's name there,

-but I've...

-The Faces, The Faces.

-He's The Faces.

Steve Marriott is right.

So our Steve takes the lead here,

and...you sort of need to get this one right, Jill.

I Cry When I Laugh is a 2015 album by which singer?

They're all favourites of mine, but, as to which one...

I'm going to go straight down the middle

with Ellie Goulding.

See if Steve knows this one. Is Ellie Goulding right?

-It's Jess Glynne, unfortunately.

-It is Jess Glynne.

Sorry, Jill. She's worth catching up on, actually, she's very good.

You've been knocked out by our Egghead there.

Steve will be in the final round.

Please, both of you return, rejoin your teams,

and we'll see what happens next.

OK, as it stands,

5 No Trumps have lost a brain from the final round,

lost the skipper, actually.

The Eggheads have lost a brain as well. We play on.

Arts & Books, next.

Who would like this?

Who's the reader?

-I think Maggie'll have to do it just in case.

-OK.

-Thank you.

Me, apparently.

OK, so that's Maggie, our retired haematologist,

against which Egghead, Maggie? Who do you like the look of?

You've got Pat and Barry and Judith to choose from.

-Barry.

-Yes.

-Definitely.

-Barry, please.

-OK.

So, Maggie from 5 No Trumps

versus Barry, known as The Brain, from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

OK, Maggie, I know this wasn't your choice...

-Ha! Correct.

-Has the strategy gone to pot, slightly?

Well, just slightly, I was supposed to be doing Science.

THEY CHUCKLE Oh, OK!

And that hasn't come up. Well, we know what will happen next.

-I know, I know, obviously, yeah.

-OK, well, good luck here.

Arts & Books against our own dear Barry,

-and would you like to go first or second?

-First, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, first question.

What type of work of art is the famous Mannequin Pis in Brussels,

which depicts a small boy relieving himself?

That's a sculpture.

Sculpture is the right answer.

Well done, Maggie.

Barry, back to you.

Tom Kitten is a fictional character

created by which writer?

Well, it doesn't sound like Roald Dahl,

and it certainly doesn't sound like Tolkien,

but Beatrix Potter was very fond of

having animal characters,

so I shall go for Beatrix Potter.

Beatrix Potter is right, well done.

Tom Kitten. OK.

So far so good, Maggie.

Hold focus here.

Who was the UK's poet laureate when Elizabeth II came to the throne?

Um...

It certainly wouldn't be Andrew Motion, he's much too recent.

Ted Hughes, I think that would be...

No, wait a minute.

No, that would be Ted Hughes.

Ted Hughes is your answer? Oh, OK.

Because you were going to rule him out, weren't you?

No, I think John Masefield would be too early

and Andrew Motion would be too late.

It is John Masefield, actually.

John Masefield is the answer. Let's go to you, Barry.

Which of these is depicted in Claude Monet's painting Nimphee...

..which is N-I-M-P-H-E-E?

It sounds a bit like

a French version of nymphet,

and on that very tenuous link,

I shall go for a ballet dancer.

Yes, cos it sounds like a physical form of some kind, doesn't it?

-It does.

-But...

Anyone know this, Eggheads?

I think what he's trying

to say is water lilies,

and so it would be a bridge?

-A bridge.

-A bridge is the answer

cos it's The Water Lilies.

Oh, from his garden at Giverny?

-Nimphee. Yeah, you see, you can picture it now.

-Yes.

So, that's a little bit of a let-off, there.

Oh, Maggie, I wish you'd got that John Masefield right.

-I do, too.

-LAUGHTER

Cos then you'd be in a commanding position.

Get this right, and rattle Barry.

Switch House, opened in 2016,

is the name of an extension to which famous art gallery?

Well, it's there, I was there on Wednesday, it's the Tate Modern.

Oh, and you were saying you

didn't want to play Arts & Books!

I was meeting a friend for lunch.

OK! What's it like?

-It's stunning.

-Really? And it's the...ancillary power room,

or something, is it, or what? What is the extra bit?

-No, it's just an enormous extension to the gallery area.

-OK.

Tate Modern is the right answer.

Beautifully done.

Two out of three. Will it be enough? Let's see.

Barry, if you get this wrong, you're out.

In 2011 Hilary Mantel announced that the third part of

her Thomas Cromwell trilogy of books would have which title?

Oh, I absolutely love these, the Hilary Mantel trilogy,

they so capture the...excitement and the terror of Tudor England,

and I believe her third novel is called The Mirror And The Light.

The Mirror And The Light is the right answer.

You're equal after three questions.

Well done, Maggie! You held him to a draw in multiple choice.

Now we go to Sudden Death. I don't give you options.

Which Liverpool-born model and TV personality put her name to

a 2016 debut novel entitled Remember My Name?

I've got absolutely no idea.

Do you want to take a stab at one?

Elle Macpherson?

No... She's younger. Abbey Clancy, who's married to Peter Crouch.

Oh, yes, I know who you mean now. Yes.

Barry, your question, for the round.

Written in 1890, The Light That Failed was the first novel

written by which author newly returned from India?

1890.

Well, I think the clue there is newly returned from India,

because I'm pretty sure that Kipling

returned from India in 1890, so I shall say...

What's his first name...?

Oh, gosh, ha-ha-ha! I'm having a moment now!

HE CHUCKLES

This always happens,

this always happens at this stage in a run.

Rudyard Kipling!

Rudyard Kipling is right, Barry.

Oh, you had us in suspense, there! Maggie, sorry, he's knocked you out,

but I can see you know your arts and your books.

Well done to you both.

Barry, you'll be in the final. Maggie, you won't.

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

OK, so, 5 No Trumps have lost Maggie, now.

They've lost two from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one.

And the next subject is Film & Television.

-Who'd like this?

-Do you want to take it?

Roy's going to take it.

OK, it's going to be Roy.

Retired IT worker.

And you can have either Pat or Judith.

-Judith?

-We'll go for Judith.

-All right. All right.

Roy from 5 No Trumps

versus I think our only bridge player on this side.

Yes. That's not going to help.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Roy, Film & Television,

would you like to go first or second against Judith?

I'll go first, please.

And here is your first question.

In which year was the TV presenter Jeremy Paxman born?

Well, he looks as if he is about 55 years old.

Um...

So...I will go for 1960.

He's going to love you so much

cos he's ten years older than that.

-Oh!

-Oh.

JEREMY LAUGHS

He was born in 1950.

Judith, your question.

Which of these comedy characters is an alter ego

of the comedian Lee Francis?

Well, I don't think it's Loadsamoney

cos that was, um...someone else.

LAUGHTER

Er...

Keith Lemon.

Keith Lemon is quite right.

You know the show? It's very funny.

-No, I don't.

-He's really good. Yeah.

OK, back to you, Roy.

Which of these film-makers famously made spaghetti Westerns?

I certainly don't immediately know the answer.

I don't think it was Coppola.

I think I would go for Sergio Leone.

Sergio Leone is the correct answer.

Judith, back to you.

The British actor Mark Rylance won an Oscar for his role

in which 2015 film?

That was Bridge Of Spies.

Bridge Of Spies is correct.

So Judith is ahead

and it means, Roy, you do need to get this one right.

Who plays the role of Lex Luthor in the 2016 film

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice?

Yes, I'm very out of my comfort zone on this one.

Very arbitrarily, I would say Michael Shannon.

-Any Eggheads know?

-Yeah, it's Jesse Eisenberg.

Jesse Eisenberg, says Beth.

Jesse Eisenberg is the right answer, Roy, sorry.

You've been knocked out by Judith,

playing powerfully at the moment, and, as a result,

will not be in the final round.

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

This is what we have been playing towards,

it is time for the final round,

which, as always, is General Knowledge,

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

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

so that's Jill, Roy and Maggie from 5 No Trumps,

but also Beth from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

So good luck to you, Davids,

you are playing to win 5 No Trumps £14,000.

Pat, Steve, Barry, Judith, this is now serious.

You are playing for something that money can't buy,

not just the Eggheads' reputation,

but to maintain this really impressive run.

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

David and David, you may confer.

So, the question is, can your two brains defeat these four?

And would you like to go first or second?

-First, I think.

-Yeah, we'll go first, Jeremy, please.

OK. So, we start here, your first question.

Which of these words is the term for a woman who gives support,

help and advice to another woman

during pregnancy and childbirth?

Blimey. Um...

I don't think I've even heard of those words.

I've not heard of the three words.

Yes.

The only thing I'm thinking is doula sounds a bit like an Indian word,

um...and they have mothers and grandmothers...

-Any idea?

-Go for that.

No, I'd go for doula.

For reasons we can't adequately explain,

we're going to go for doula.

Doula's correct.

Eggheads, which prophet

from Greek mythology was turned from a man into a woman and back again?

-Tiresias.

-Happy with that, Judith?

-Mm-hm.

We think that's Tiresias.

The answer is Tiresias.

Your second question, Challengers. Playing for £14,000.

In 2015, Philip Green sold which chain of shops

to the City investor Retail Acquisitions for £1?

-I think it's clearly BHS, isn't it?

-British Home Stores.

-Philip Green.

-Yes.

We're pretty certain it's BHS, Jeremy.

-BHS is the right answer.

-Thank you.

Eggheads, over to you.

Anaglypta is a type of what?

-Wallpaper.

-It's generally wallpaper, but...

It's 3D wallpaper.

Could conceivably be a roof tile that was patterned,

but generally, it is wallpaper.

Texture, isn't it? I'd have thought.

We think that's wallpaper, Jeremy.

Anaglypta is, indeed, wallpaper. Well done.

So, they have two out of two,

you have two out of two, it's very tight.

Your third question can sometimes be crucial, Davids.

Lalibela in Ethiopia is famous for what type of buildings,

carved from rock?

You've been there, haven't you?

-Isn't it...?

-It's churches.

-Churches.

Jeremy, I was fortunate enough to, with my wife and some other people,

visit Ethiopia three years, two or three years ago,

and Lalibela was one of the places we went to,

and it is churches.

Churches is the right answer.

Your visit served you well.

OK, Eggheads,

get this wrong and you know that your run is at an end.

Brian Braddock is the real name of which Marvel Comics superhero?

-It's Captain Britain.

-Yeah?

Mr Fantastic is Reed Richards, Falcon, I can't quite be sure,

but I know Brian Braddock is Captain Britain.

-Well, good stuff.

-I used to read it. Back in my youth.

I am advised, with vigour, that it's Captain Britain.

Captain Britain is the right answer.

Well done.

That was good. That was good play

from our new Egghead there.

Takes them to three correct answers, just like you.

We go to Sudden Death. So, David and David, here we go.

Which country's national female football team

is known as the Matildas?

Something like the Waltzing Matildas?

It's got to be Australia, it's got to be...

The clue is Matildas, isn't it?

I mean, they could be called the Golden...

No, that's Jamaica.

-Um...I think we're happy...?

-Happy with Australia.

We believe the clue is in the name the Matildas,

and with the Waltzing Matilda song, we're going to go with Australia.

The correct answer is Australia. Well done.

So, pressure on the Eggheads again.

Which city is the birthplace

of the English screenwriter Jimmy McGovern?

-I always thought he was a Scouser.

-Yes, I did too.

-Liverpool.

-Liverpool is the thing I thought of.

-OK.

-Yeah. If you're happy, yeah.

We're not certain about this, Jeremy,

but we think he's from Liverpool.

Liverpool is your answer?

If you've got this wrong, £14,000 is yours.

If, if, if, if, if...

The correct answer, Eggheads,

is Liverpool.

Oh, thank you, Jeremy.

So here's your question,

David and David - get this right, keep the pressure up.

In 2015, which species of whale set a new record

for the longest mammal migration recorded,

swimming from Russia to Mexico and back,

a total of almost 14,000 miles in six months?

Right, what whales do we know?

I don't think it's a blue whale.

I don't think you get blue whales coming this far north.

-So what other whales are there?

-What other whales...?

Oh, dear. Um...

I have to say, this is not my strongest.

I would've gone for a blue whale on the basis that, well,

it is an extremely large...

It is a big whale, isn't it?

Can you think of any other whales?

Sperm whales.

There are... I am sure there are lots of others,

which have totally gone out of my mind, so...

I don't think it's a sperm whale. Maybe prefer blue whale, but...

Oh, let's go with blue whale.

Yeah, Jeremy, we are really struggling with this one.

I don't think natural history is either of our strongest subjects

so, for no other reason than it was the first one we both thought of,

we are going to say blue whale.

Let's try the Eggheads.

I don't know this, but the whale that's generally noted

for giant migrations is the grey whale

so I think it would have to have a chance.

Pat's usually right, he's right this time as well.

-It's the grey whale.

-Grey whale.

-Never heard of it.

Could have accepted western grey whale.

Eggheads, your chance to take the contest.

How many basic positions of the feet

are there generally considered to be in classical ballet?

-I think it's five.

-I think it's five.

-You think it's five?

-Five positions.

-Definitely.

-Yeah, five is what came to mind.

-OK?

-Yeah.

We think that's five, Jeremy.

In classical ballet, basic positions of the feet,

there are generally considered to be,

as you all say, five.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Well, I must say, you did brilliantly

and you didn't get much wrong there, until we hit the grey whale.

-Grey whale.

-I've never actually heard of a grey whale.

There was one good thing which is that sometimes,

you'll say grey whale, rule it out and go elsewhere,

and you didn't do that, so you don't need to worry about that.

Commiserations, David and David, commiserations to 5 No Trumps,

the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

This shoulder-rolling winning streak continues, I'm afraid.

He'll only do it once a show, Pat, you won't do it again for us.

You won't be going home with the £14,000,

so the money rolls over to our next exciting show.

Eggheads, you are doing well, you really, really are,

and I'm starting to wonder if you can ever be beaten.

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

can finally take them down.

There's going to be £15,000 on the table.

Until we play again, goodbye.