Episode 35 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.

-And are you on fleek?

-Always.

-Absolutely.

You gave me that word, Lisa.

-What does it mean?

-I think it's a down-with-the-kids term for being

-trendy.

-OK, well, yes, you are quite on fleek at the moment.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are The Spiders from Lancashire.

Now, this team of friends regularly quiz together at the Wheatsheaf

pub in Woodplumpton. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Laurence, and I'm a retired builder.

Hello, I'm Nicola I'm a nursery manager.

Hello, I'm Matt, I'm an IT consultant.

Hello, I'm Jane and I'm a policy consultant.

Hello, I'm Peter and I'm a lengthsman.

So, Laurence and team, welcome.

Good to see you. You quiz together, Laurence, yeah?

-Yes.

-So how does it go when you quiz together?

Quite well, usually.

We're a varied subject team, so we all have a speciality.

Oh, well, that's very useful for Eggheads.

And you're called The Spiders

because of a David Bowie connection.

So help us here.

Well, the first time we went to the Wheatsheaf at Woodplumpton,

Bowie had just died.

And normally we used a topical name so we thought we would be the

-Spiders from Preston.

-Because his famous...

Well, you'll know this. We haven't got Dave here,

-who can tell us the famous...

-Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders from Mars.

Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders from Mars.

Anyway, have you had some rehearsals?

Have you had some planning, some strategy sessions?

We have, yes.

Don't say any more!

We had a team once who brought out a whole sheet of paper with arrows on

it and everything. That did worry them, actually.

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.

So, Spiders, the Eggheads have won just the last game.

They had a great run and they just suddenly were derailed.

£2,000 for you to win today.

-Would you like to get cracking?

-Oh, yes.

-OK.

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

You've got Beth, Chris, Pat, Barry and Lisa to choose from.

-This is mine, then?

-I think that's yours, Matt.

-OK.

-Matt will be taking it.

Matt, our IT consultant, against which Egghead?

-Shall we take Chris?

-Yes, I think so.

Yeah, that's fine with me.

I'm sensing the strategy already.

So, Matt from The Spiders versus Chris from Mars, some of the time.

Well, Mars confectionery, Slough, maybe.

Definitely with us at the moment, though.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

So, Matt, you love Leicester City?

Yes, I do. Born and bred, brought up with the family,

it was forced upon me when I was a kid.

But now it's a lot better.

Well, what was it like when you won?

It's still actually surreal, it doesn't feel it's sunk in yet.

Did you follow this, Chris? Do you know what we're talking about?

-Which sport?

-Well, it's football.

Yeah, well done.

I once hung out at Filbert Street in Leicester, but other than that,

I couldn't care less.

Well, it was a lovely moment.

Leicester won the Premiership, which is a great thing, because it was an anti-money thing.

So I thought you would have been behind them.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm anti-money, yeah.

Not antimony, which is a metallic element - anti-money.

Oh, dear, we've got into a very strange part of the quiz maze here,

haven't we? Let's get back to Sport.

Your choice. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go, Matt.

A giant sculpture of which Olympic swimmer was unveiled in the

Serpentine lake in London in the summer of 2016?

So, they're all famous swimmers, they've done well.

As it's in the Serpentine

I'm assuming it's actually going to be Rebecca Adlington

as she's the British one of the three.

It is Rebecca Adlington.

I have missed this totally. Is it a permanent sculpture or...?

Anyone know? I'm not sure whether it's permanent.

-You mean it's a blow-up one?

-It was massive.

It was really big.

-I didn't see it but I saw pictures.

-But made out of something solid?

Yeah.

OK.

Who knew? Chris, your question.

Which course hosted golf's Open Championship

for the ninth time in 2016?

Carnoustie is at the other side of Dundee, a bit far out.

Turnberry is an Ayrshire, and so is Royal Troon.

Ninth time, it's somewhere with a bit of history,

so I'll say Royal Troon.

-Eggs, is he right?

-Yes, he's right.

Yes, you're right. OK. Back to you, Matt.

In which of these sports is a player most likely to call an audible?

Audible. American sports aren't my favourite here,

so it's going to be a total guess, this one.

Let's go... Audible. I'll go for American football

but it's a total guess.

That's good because Laurence is pumping the air here.

-Laurence, you think he's right?

-Yes, definitely.

And what is an audible?

It's when they change the game that they play from what they originally

decided on and the quarterback tells the other players it's a different

-play.

-OK, but it's audible because everybody hears it?

-On his team.

-I see.

American football's right.

Well done, Matt.

Well done.

OK, Chris, you're still with us?

Yeah, still here.

In 2016, Pakistan cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq

celebrated a century at Lord's by doing what on the field of play?

The conga, he'd have to get the rest of the team in to do the conga,

so it's unlikely to be the conga.

Press-ups would be a bit ostentatious but I can imagine

him turning cartwheels in celebration, so I'll say cartwheels.

Yeah, that's the guessable one, but it's not that, actually.

And, of course, the conga, you would require others, wouldn't you?

Press-ups, Chris.

This is looking a little bit tasty now,

as sports commentators say, Matt.

Get this right, you're in the final.

What was the prize-money for the winner of the Tour de France in 2016?

So it is lot of effort... to win the Tour de France,

so I'm assuming it's going to be large numbers here.

If you think Wimbledon winners win millions,

so I'm going to have to go for 500,000 euros.

Yeah, the right idea completely.

It is 500,000. Well done.

Matt, you've taken the round. First round to our Challengers.

Looking very pleased there.

-Sorry, Chris.

-All right, no problem.

And Sport, as well.

The only thing worse than that is for you to go out on rap music.

Chris is not in the final match, you are.

Well done. Come back and rejoin your teams. We'll play on.

So, as it stands, The Spiders have not lost any brains from the final

round. The Eggheads have lost one.

The next subject is Food & Drink. So who would like this?

I think that's going to be me, isn't it?

I think that's going to be you, Jane.

OK, Jane, against which Egghead? Obviously, it can't be Chris.

-Who do you think?

-Beth?

Beth. Yes, we'll have Beth, please.

OK. Jane from The Spiders versus Beth from the Eggheads on Food & Drink.

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

I think this might be your first Food & Drink, Beth.

I think it is, yeah.

Looking forward to this.

-And any particular Food & Drink areas that you love?

-Cocktails.

Right. Will they come up?

I hope so.

I just like cooking, as well, so...

Well, let's see. Food & Drink.

Jane, would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, let's see if you can keep it going for your side.

Here's your question. What is the translation of the French winemaking term blanc de blanc?

Well, I think the word blanc in French means white

so I assume the answer is white from whites.

White from whites is quite right.

Beth, your question.

What name is traditionally given to a seating area

near the kitchen of a restaurant where diners can observe their food being cooked?

This is a chef's table.

You are so right. Chef's table it is.

Jane, your question. The dried berry known as allspice is particularly

associated with cuisine from which of these?

Oh, my goodness.

I don't think it's Scandinavia.

I don't think it's Australia,

so I'll go right down the middle and say the Caribbean.

Well done. Caribbean it is. Two out of two.

Beth, the Italian Zuppa Inglese

is commonly said to resemble which typically British dish?

Zuppa Inglese. Well, that would translate

as English soup, doesn't it?

So the only thing there that looks like it could be

soup-y-esque would be a trifle.

Trifle is right. 2-2.

Table for two. OK, Jane.

The English chef Nathan Outlaw

is particularly well-known for cooking what?

Now, I don't know the answer to this.

I don't know, is somebody well-known for cooking lamb?

That doesn't seem right.

I'm going to take a guess and I'm going to say fish.

And you have a phobia of something, don't you?

-I do.

-And what is that?

It's the thing in the middle, the fish.

I'm really sorry. I saw that and I thought,

"Oh, I hope fish doesn't come up."

And then, of course, it does.

Not deliberate, I promise.

So does the phobia just mean you can't look at them or think

-about them or...?

-Yes, I can eat them quite happily,

as long as they don't look fishlike.

I find trips to aquariums or trips to the fish counter

at the supermarket quite difficult.

Could this, in a way,

getting the answer right here, be part of therapy?

-Maybe.

-Yes, it is fish.

Well done. Well done.

On the other hand, I'm scared of eating the fish.

-Oh, are you?

-Yeah.

-Because they're slippery or something?

No, fish-bone phobia.

Oh, really? We've got a lot of phobias today.

All right. Beth.

Apart from rice, which of these

are the central ingredient of the Italian dish risotto primavera?

Well, primavera is the Italian for spring, so spring vegetables.

Well done. Spring vegetable it is. Three out of three for you both.

We go to Sudden Death.

So, Jane, it gets a bit harder, I don't give you different choices.

What spirit is the principal ingredient of a white lady cocktail?

Goodness. It's not a cocktail I'm familiar with.

But I guess, being as it's white,

I'm imagining it should be clear-coloured

so it's whether it's vodka or gin.

I'm going to go with gin, Jeremy.

Jane is right.

There we are. There's always a cocktail in this round somewhere.

That's why it's so popular.

OK, we go back to you, Beth.

Beauty of Bath is a variety of which fruit?

Sounds like...

Being where Bath is and Somerset being very well-known for

apples and Bath being close to there. I will...

Apples seems a reasonable guess.

Apple is right.

So, Sudden Death.

Well done. You're both playing really well.

Jane, back to you. The raw fish dish called ahi poke

is a feature of the cuisine of which US state?

I'm trying to think of somewhere that's known for its fish.

I presume it would be somewhere on the coast.

I'll maybe go for...

-..Louisiana.

-No, it is Hawaii.

It's a kind of marinated raw tuna.

OK, Beth, your chance to take the round.

Rocoto peppers are most associated with cuisine from which continent?

It's not something I know, but let's go with...

-..South America?

-If you've got it right, you're in the final, Beth.

And it is right. Well done.

South America. Sorry, Jane.

You've been knocked out by our Egghead, who's levelled things up.

Good play by Beth, good play by you both.

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

OK, the Eggheads fighting back. Well done, Beth. As it stands,

The Spiders have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost a brain, as well.

The next subject for you is Science.

Which Spider wants this?

I think I'm going to have to take it, aren't I?

Do you want to have a go, Pete?

Do you want to go?

-Go on, then. I'll...

-Yeah, you're going to take it.

Peter, down the end.

Our lengthsman. We'll investigate that in a moment.

Against which Egghead?

-Pat.

-Pat, all right.

-Go for Pat?

-Yeah.

-Pat, please.

It's quite a good little democracy you've got going on.

Peter from The Spiders versus Pat from the Eggheads.

And, of course, since you were last here doing the rolling shoulders,

-Pat...

-I was a younger man then.

Well, you were, and the money went missing

so you can't do it for a while.

He only does it if it goes over £10,000.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please go to our Question Room.

So, Peter, tell us what the lengthsman is, if you can.

Right, Jeremy. A lengthsman.

Basically, I work in my local parish -

it's a job for a local person, keeping the area looking tidy and neat.

It's all grass cutting, planting, spring, summer, autumn.

Traditionally, it's a person who lives in the actual parish

does the job - they like it to be a local person.

I'm thinking that must be quite good for the mind.

It must be rather enjoyable.

I love it. I love being outdoors and listening to the radio while I'm

doing my job and it's great, yeah.

Well, I'm hoping you're on the right station.

I am, Jeremy.

I hope we don't make you too cross.

Have you ever called in while you've been mowing?

I haven't, no. I've been on the show before you - PopMaster.

-Oh, PopMaster, really? How did you do?

-I won.

-Oh, good.

But this is Science. That's no good, is it?

I'm here for the team here, Jeremy.

OK, understood.

Science, Peter. Would you like to go first or second?

First, please, Jeremy.

Peter, your first question. Argentum is the Latin name for which element?

A-R-G-E-N-T-U-M.

Well, I don't know this, Jeremy, so it's going to have to be a guess.

I'm going to go with copper, Jeremy.

Now, let's just think how we get to the words here.

Pat, where would you go with argentum?

I think it's the Latin for silver.

Yeah, but are there any kind of silvery things

that have the word arg?

Well, Argentina was named after exploitation of silver deposits,

-I think.

-The answer is silver, Peter.

Pat, your question.

Ichtheology is the branch of zoology that deals with

what creatures?

I think ichthus is the Greek for fish,

so I'm fairly confident it's the study of fish.

Jane, I promise this isn't deliberate.

I don't know what's happening.

I don't know what's happening here.

Obviously the deciding question

at the end of the final is going to be...

The answer is going to be fish to that, as well.

Fish is the right answer.

We've got a fish-phobic in among our Challengers

and the fish are coming up all the time.

OK. Back to you, Peter.

What type of creature is Bouvier's red colobus,

rediscovered in Africa in 2015 after previously been thought extinct?

I'm not sure, but I'm leaning towards butterfly.

It seems the kind of name.

So I'll go with butterfly, Jeremy.

I would have done the same. Let's see. Challengers, do you know?

-It's a monkey.

-They're right, it's a monkey, Peter.

Bad luck. I know this is not your subject.

Pat, your question for the round.

How many moons does Mars have?

I think they are a pair, aren't they?

Phobos and Deimos,

which translate as fear and terror or something like that.

So there is definitely at least two, I don't think they've got five -

there are five Martian moons.

I think it's two.

The correct answer is two.

Pat, well done. Peter, sorry, no way back in this round,

but I know it was not your chosen subject at all.

You took one for the team very bravely there.

Our Egghead has knocked you out, sadly.

Come back and we'll see what happens in the next round.

So a bit of a fightback now by the Eggheads.

The Spiders have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost one. Let's see what happens next.

Politics is the subject.

CHUCKLING Is that good?

Nicola or Laurence.

I think I'm taking one for the team.

OK. The captain goes in.

Who would you like? You can have either Barry, known as the Brain,

or Lisa.

I'll go with Lisa, please.

Very good. Laurence from The Spiders versus Lisa from the Eggheads on

Politics, which I think you get quite a lot.

It doesn't matter what subject it is.

I have reduced sympathy for Jane because I'm petrified of Spiders

and they've brought five!

Well, that's a very good tactic.

OK. So, please, both of you, go to the Question Room.

So, Politics, Laurence. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second, please.

I heard a slight gasp on the Eggheads' desk.

I think it was Barry going, "Oh!"

You've taken them aback. Well done. OK, Lisa.

During his successful campaign to become London mayor in 2016,

Sadiq Khan stated several times that his father had had what job?

I'm fairly certain he was a bus driver.

Bus driver is right.

Laurence. In 2006,

which of these went on a so-called hug-a-husky trip

to the Arctic Circle in order to establish

his environmental credentials?

I have a feeling that it wasn't David Blunkett.

I think it was David Cameron.

David Cameron is the right answer.

Of course, that was the start of it all, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-OK, Lisa.

The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819

was an agreement between the United States

and which country?

So, Adams-Onis, O-N-I-S.

1819.

19th century has never been my favourite period of history.

The problem with the 19th century is they'd started writing stuff down

by then and there's far too much to read.

OK, let's have a think.

Onis sounds slightly more western Mediterranean.

I would have thought the percentage guess here was France,

unless I can think of another reason for it to be Spain.

Yeah, this is just a straight guess because I haven't really got a clue.

-I'll try France.

-France.

Let's see. Barry looks a bit upset by that.

I think it was about the purchase of Florida,

so I would have gone for Spain.

It is Spain. And I'm not sure whether Barry is right,

but he's saying the purchase of Florida.

Ah, that would make sense.

-There we go.

-So, Laurence, your chance.

You've done a brilliant thing by turning the tables

and letting Lisa go first, but now you need to capitalise.

Who did Theresa May appoint as Home Secretary in July 2016?

I don't think it was Stephen Crabb.

I think it was Amber Rudd.

Amber Rudd is right. So you're ahead.

Lisa, you need this to stay in.

In 2016, which government department did Iain Duncan Smith call the worst thing in Britain?

I don't know, there's an argument for all of those.

I don't know. I'm just thinking about Iain Duncan Smith's...

..pre-Work and Pensions career.

Go on. Put me out of my misery.

-Education.

-Do you know, Laurence?

No, I haven't a clue.

I'm trying to place this remark.

I'm not sure when it was. I wonder if it was just before he resigned.

-Treasury is the answer.

-Oh, well, that makes more sense,

if you're going to line it up with Work and Pensions.

There's vague logic behind it.

There was a bit of stress and tension,

as indeed there is on the Eggheads' side as a result of that win.

Well done, Laurence.

-Thank you.

-No way back for Lisa, so she's knocked out,

and you will be in the final round.

And if you come back to us, we'll play it.

This is what we have been playing towards and you've been playing so well, Challengers, today.

It is time for the final round.

As always, it's going to be General Knowledge, but, I'm afraid,

those who lost the head-to-heads are not allowed to take part in this

round. So that's Jane and Peter for The Spiders and also Lisa and Chris

from the Eggheads - would you please now leave the studio?

OK. So, here we are. Laurence, Nicola and Matt,

you're playing to win The Spiders £2,000.

Barry, Pat and Beth,

you're playing for something that money really can't buy,

which is the Eggheads' reputation and trying to get a bit of a run

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

this time they're all General Knowledge. You can confer.

So, Spiders, the question is,

can your three brains - what's that, 24 legs? -

overwhelm the three Eggs over here?

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I think we'll go second.

OK. So, second.

General Knowledge, here we go.

Eggheads. Which group released the 2016 album The Lexicon Of Love II

34 years after the original album was released?

-That's ABC - most definitely.

-Martin Fry.

-Yeah.

I'm reliably informed by both my partners on the left

that it's ABC.

Would you have struggled with this, Barry?

Absolutely. OK.

Wouldn't have had a clue.

ABC is right.

OK, Nicola and team.

Philistines were a group of people from which part of the world?

They appear in the Bible a lot, so I think it's the Middle East.

I would have said the Middle East. I think we can discount the others.

Yes, I think we'll go for the Middle East.

The Middle East is right.

One each. Eggheads.

The TV series Heimat,

which chronicled people's lives during the 20th century,

was made in which country?

-It was Germany.

-Heimat is German for homeland.

-OK.

THEY CONFER

We're all sure on that - I think Heimat means homeland in German,

so we'll go for Germany.

Yes, Germany it is.

Back to you, Challengers.

Bercy is a neighbourhood of which European capital?

Bercy is spelt BE-R-C-Y.

-Bercy.

-I don't think it's Dublin.

-It sounds...

Could it sound French?

Do you think? Or are we going for...?

I don't know.

-Go for Paris.

-Yeah, on the basis of?

On the basis of we don't know.

No, we don't know. Down the middle, we're going to go for Paris, please,

-Jeremy.

-Not Dublin, not Copenhagen, Paris is right.

Well done.

OK, 2-2. It's tense!

Eggheads. Lionel Barber was appointed editor of which newspaper in 2005?

Oh, dear, another newspaper editor.

I think I've read these, but I...

Sometimes they don't stick.

Paul Dacre is surely still at the Daily Mail.

-Has the Guardian changed recently?

-So I'd discount the Daily Mail.

Where did Katharine Viner go? Was she the Guardian?

Katharine Vine or Katharine Viner?

Oh, I should know these. I think I...

I have known them at one point but this has slipped away.

My feeling that the Guardian is Katharine Viner

and you think Paul Dacre may be the Daily Mail.

ALL: So that leaves us with the Financial Times.

A rather forlorn punt.

Yeah?

Well, Jeremy, you have discovered our Achilles heel.

We always seem to fall down on editors of national newspapers.

But I think the Daily Mail might still be Paul Dacre,

and Pat thinks Katharine Viner

might be at the Guardian so, on that basis,

we're going to go - not with a great deal of certainty -

for the Financial Times.

OK, you do struggle with these newspaper questions.

Of course, the Daily Mail has some sort of hierarchy where someone's an

executive and not - maybe Dacre's not doing it day-to-day.

But you're pretty much there. Financial Times is right.

-Phew!

-Oh.

Would you have known that, guys?

No, no.

So you need this one.

The Arctic Circle is approximately how many degrees

north of the equator?

-OK.

-Have we anything to go on?

The whole thing's going to be 90 degrees.

The whole thing will be 90 degrees.

86 is high, but is it too high?

Cos it comes down quite a way to us.

It's not...

-Do we think...?

-I don't know where we are.

-I can't see us...

-Shall we go down the middle?

-Again.

Well, it's... I agree with you, I think 86 is too far.

-Do you think?

-Yeah.

-And 66 may be too low.

-Mm.

Again, with not much degree of certainty at all,

we're going to go for 76.

OK, a lot riding on this.

If you get it right we go to Sudden Death,

if it's wrong we end the contest.

It's that idea that you're sort of... There's the equator,

and if it's 90 it's there.

Help us, Barry or Pat or Beth?

-Who knows this?

-Well, the Arctic Circle is at 23 degrees.

Take 23 away from 90, you get 66.

So it's 23 degrees from the North Pole.

I see. 66 is the answer.

I'm so sorry.

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

Particularly annoying when Barry comes up with a load of angles

in the very last question.

But, on the upside, we didn't have any fish in the final round.

-That's good. So, Jane, you were spared that.

-Great!

Thanks for playing. I hope you've enjoyed it.

-We have.

-Yes.

-Good.

Commiserations to our Spiders -

lovely to have a David Bowie-related name, as well.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and you're back in

charge of quiz land, no doubt about it.

So it does mean you're not going home with the £2,000,

so we roll the money over to the next show.

Maybe we'll get to 10,000, maybe Pat will do the shoulders again.

Eggheads, congratulations.

Who will beat you? Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat that lot.

£3,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.