Episode 36 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. Hoping to get one over

on our quiz champions today are The Only Way Is SE.

Now, this team of school friends from south-east London

haven't been quizzing together for long,

but are three-time winners

of the George Staples pub quiz in Sidcup.

However, so far, they've failed to answer the £1,000 jackpot question.

How annoying! Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Luke, and I'm an apprentice quantity surveyor.

Hi, I'm Ali, and I'm an apprentice banker.

Hi, I'm George, and I'm English literature student.

Hi, I'm Jawand, and I'm an accounting student.

Hi, I'm Jack, and I'm a history and German student.

So, Luke and team, welcome. Good to see you.

-ALL:

-Hi.

So you've known each other a long time?

Me and Ali, we've known each other since we were about 10 or so.

The rest of us have known each other since secondary school.

And tell us about this place where you started quizzing.

So, basically, they had some ridiculously high prize for it,

so we thought we might as well go,

and it turned out we're just pretty good at it.

Yeah, that's a very good bit of sledging - start them off

on the wrong foot.

Well done. 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, The Only Way Is SE,

the Eggheads have won the last two games.

You can see the steam coming out the top of the train now,

so you've got to stop them.

It means there's £3,000 to play for.

-Would you like to try? ALL:

-Yes.

Excellent. Since you're here.

And the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Arts & Books.

You can choose between Beth, Chris, Pat, Steve, and Barry.

-I'd say George.

-It's probably going to have to be you, George.

OK. I think it's going to be me, Jeremy.

George, our English literature student.

I can see why you've been chosen.

-Who would you like to take on?

-It's a tough choice.

I think I'm going to go with Chris, please.

OK, so George from The Only Way Is SE versus Chris from the Eggheads,

please go to our legendary Question Room.

Arts & Books, George. What's your favourite kind

of reading at the moment, now you're studying?

I'm into all sorts of things,

mostly short stories.

I'm quite into Haruki Murakami.

He's a Japanese writer.

And I like poetry as well.

I really love Seamus Heaney, he's one of my favourites.

Brilliant. He is great. Chris, you probably like him as well.

Yeah, I like Seamus Heaney, yeah.

Good. OK, George, first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

And here we go. Down The Rabbit Hole is the title of the first chapter

of a classic children's book by which author?

I'm pretty sure that's from Alice In Wonderland,

which would be Lewis Carroll.

Lewis Carroll is quite right.

Thank you very much.

Nobody ever thanks me when I tell them they're right.

We've got a very polite team here.

You don't thank me, do you, Chris?

Give me something to thank you for and I might.

JEREMY LAUGHS

OK, well, maybe it's coming.

Which female Shakespearian character

is given a potion by Friar Laurence

to make her appear dead?

That's Juliet.

Juliet is the right answer.

I thought you were going to thank me.

OK. Thanks, Jeremy.

OK, George, back to you. Which character in an epic poem

by the ancient writer Virgil

sails to Italy and becomes the founder

of the Roman people?

Hmm. OK, I'm not too sure on this one.

I think I'm going to go for the first one, Aeneas.

Aeneas is right. Yeah, really good.

Was that just a guess, or was there something...?

I was fairly sure, but I wasn't 100% confident.

-It's good enough.

-Yep.

OK, Chris on the back foot a little bit here.

Chris, your question. Which of these books is set

mainly at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland?

Interesting. Well, it's not War Horse,

because that's mostly set on the Western Front.

Is it Regeneration or is it Birdsong?

I've not read either, but I think the one that's set at Craiglockhart

is Regeneration.

Regeneration is right.

Well done. You're both playing well.

George.

The Renaissance painter Giorgione

lived and worked mainly in which city?

OK, well, I think all these cities have had very famous painters

throughout the ages.

I think perhaps the one most well-known for famous artists

is Florence, so just on that logic I'm going to go with Florence.

Venice is the answer, George.

-OK.

-Chris, your chance to get the round here.

Arts & Books. For what does the letter M stand in the name

of the American crime novelist James M Kane?

I don't have a clue, Jeremy.

Is he Irish or is he Jewish?

If he's Jewish, the Jewish name there is Mordechai,

so that's what I'll have to go with.

-No, it's Mallahan.

-Irish, then, in that case.

So, Chris, two out of three for you as well.

-A bit of a let-off there, George.

-Yeah.

How about that? We go to Sudden Death, though,

so it gets a little bit more tricky,

I don't give you alternative answers.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

Which Irish writer described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos,

quite accurately more than 100 years before either moon was discovered?

Oh, I'm not sure. Erm...

I'm struggling to think of anyone who it could be...

..I'm afraid.

I'm sorry, I don't know.

-I'm going to have to pass, I'm afraid. I'm not sure.

-OK.

-Chris, do you know?

-It sounds like it ought to be Jonathan Swift.

Yeah, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels.

So Chris has a chance to take the round.

-But don't worry, George, you're not out yet.

-Yeah.

Which Italian chemist wrote If This Is A Man

about his experiences inside Auschwitz concentration camp?

-Primo Levy.

-Primo Levy is the right answer, Chris.

You've taken the round on Sudden Death. Sorry, George.

-That's OK.

-You've been knocked out by our Egghead here.

He'll be in the final and you won't.

Please, come back, rejoin your teams. We'll see what happens next.

So The Only Way Is SE have lost a brain.

We hope that that is not catastrophic.

Bad luck, George. The Eggheads are still sitting pretty there.

The next subject is Geography.

OK. Do we have a geographer?

-Yeah.

-Is that you, Luke?

-I'm not, like, an actual geographer.

No. You're a quantity surveyor.

-Yeah.

-But you do a bit of geography on the side?

Yeah, it's something that's always interested me.

Brilliant. OK, well, that's a great start.

Who would you like to take on? It can't be Chris.

-Not Barry.

-I'm going to have to melt from Barry a bit.

-You're avoiding Barry?

-Yeah.

-Well, he has been to every answer.

That's his claim to fame.

I'll take Steve.

Good call. So Luke from The Only Way Is SE

versus Steve from the Eggheads.

Please, both of you, go to our Question Room now.

-Good luck, Luke.

-Thanks.

Team captain going in.

Yep.

JEREMY LAUGHS Are you bit worried by this?

-Not really.

-OK. That's good.

I should say, your team name is based on the show

The Only Way Is Essex.

Yeah. It's just cos it works for a pun, we don't actually watch it.

Steve, do you watch it?

Cos I can never find anyone who actually admits to watching it,

-but I know lots of people do.

-Life's too short.

Or my life is, anyway.

All right, Geography, Luke.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-Second, please.

Steve, your first question.

What is the capital of the Caribbean island of Barbados?

Yeah, it's Bridgetown, Jeremy.

So Kingston is Jamaica?

-Yeah.

-Port of Spain?

-Trinidad.

Trinidad, OK. Bridgetown is right.

Luke, your question. Which of these Australian cities is furthest north?

Erm... So I know Melbourne is right in the south.

Sydney, I think, is really far in the south as well,

so I think... I've got a feeling that Darwin...

You know the bit in Australia, it's going to sound stupid,

but the bit where it points up at the top

and goes near Papua New Guinea? I think that's where Darwin is.

I might be thinking of somewhere else. But I'm going to say Darwin.

Yes, Darwin is right.

Well done, because that could easily have gone wrong.

Steve. Which US State has the highest population density

according to the US Census?

I think that one's New Jersey, Jeremy.

New Jersey is the right answer.

OK. Your question, Luke.

-Keep the pressure on him here.

-Yeah.

With which of these countries

does Switzerland share its longest border?

Well, it's definitely not Liechtenstein.

I've been from Italy on a coach to Britain

and we went through Switzerland,

and I feel like Switzerland's border with France isn't that long.

I think Italy's...

Because Switzerland is more long than it is tall,

so I've got a feeling it's Italy.

You're really good. Well done, Italy it is.

Playing well.

Steve.

The kuna is the main currency of which country?

That's K-U-N-A.

Yeah, I think somewhere along the way,

it might be derived from "crown," unless that's koruna.

But, anyway, I think it's Croatia, Jeremy.

Well, you're making swift work of these questions today.

Croatia's right. You've got three out of three.

So, Luke, this is the moment.

Get this right, take him to Sudden Death, he may just...

The circuits may break.

-OK.

-Here we go.

The feature known as Scarborough Shoal

lies in which body of water?

Erm, well, I was hoping it would be the North Sea or something.

Well, I've got a feeling, because I know that Hong Kong and Shanghai,

they're on the south-eastern part of China,

and there's a lot of things in Shanghai -

I remember we learned about it in school -

where it's pretty much like London.

Or it was, anyway. I don't know if it still is.

And Hong Kong, obviously, used to be a British colony.

And I've got a feeling that would make it the South China Sea,

-but I'm not sure.

-What do you think, Steve?

I really don't know, Jeremy. But it's a very plausible answer.

It's a lovely answer. Eggs, is he right?

He's right, it's one of those little groups of rocks

that are the subject of lots of disputes, territorial disputes.

Yeah, Pat confirms you are right, Luke.

Oh!

And the logic was just perfect.

So we go to Sudden Death.

Gets a bit harder. Start with you, Steve.

I don't give you alternative answers.

Which Asian city was previously known as Akmola,

and is now the capital of Kazakhstan?

Astana.

Astana is the right answer.

I know you love your capitals, you Eggheads.

All right, now there's pressure here, Luke.

EAU is which country's international vehicle registration code?

Well, obviously it's an anagram of UAE,

but then United Arab Emirates sort of seems too obvious,

that the reason why I'm not sort of, I don't want to lean towards it.

I've really not got any idea, so I'm just going to say Egypt.

But I don't think that's right.

-So your answer is?

-Egypt.

Egypt. Any Eggheads know?

Is it Uganda? East Africa Uganda?

Yeah, Pat. East Africa Uganda is what it stands for.

Sorry, Luke.

Well done, Steve, you squeaked it,

and you came very close there, Luke.

Sorry about that, but great play.

Come back to us, we'll play on.

So, as it stands, The Only Way Is SE have lost two brains

from the final round,

despite, may I say, just brilliant play there, Luke, in Geography.

The Eggheads have not lost a brain yet.

The next subject is Music.

Who wants Music?

I don't think I should do Music.

-No.

-OK, I'll do it, then.

-You sure? Good luck.

-I respect that, Ali.

Take one for the team.

OK, apprentice banker, against which quizzer?

It could be Pat or Beth or Barry.

Shall I try and take out Barry before the General Knowledge?

-Yeah.

-Everyone agree with that?

-Yeah.

-We'll go from Barry.

OK. Ali from The Only Is SE versus Barry from The Only Way Is...Leeds.

-No, not SE.

-LE!

The Only Way Is Leeds. We've got to practise our lines, Barry.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

OK, Ali, you're against the great Barry, known as The Brain, on music.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

Good luck, and here we go, Ali.

The marimba most closely resembles

which of these percussion instruments?

Hmm. I haven't heard of it before.

My music teacher didn't do a good job on this one.

I'll hazard a guess at bongos.

Bongos. Actually, you strike it to play a note, the marimba,

so it's more like the xylophone.

Xylophone is correct.

Barry, your question.

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer,"

are lines from which Stevie Wonder song?

Gosh. I would have preferred the marimba question.

"When you believe in things.. then you will suffer."

Well, it doesn't sound like Happy Birthday.

I mean, I've heard Superstition many times and I can't recall that line,

but the tenor of that line sounds very much

like it came from Superstition.

So, although I've heard Superstition many times

and I can't remember it, I'm going to go for superstition.

If Lisa was here, I would ask her to do it, but it's...

# When you believe in things you don't understand

# Then you suffer Superstition get you down. #

But you're right, Barry. That's the main thing.

It would be an odd line to have in Happy Birthday.

It would indeed.

All right, he's pulled ahead, Ali.

The year 2016 was the 20th anniversary

of the debut album by which group?

Spice Girls...

I've heard the name Take That more recently than the other two.

I'll have to go by the process of elimination.

I don't think it's Westlife,

purely because I haven't heard their name crop up much.

I'm going to go with Take That, Jeremy.

-Would you have gone Take That, Barry?

-Yes, I would.

So would I, but it's the Spice Girls.

-Wow.

-Oh, gosh.

OK.

Barry Simmons, you have a chance to take the round

with just this question.

Who composed the music for The Goodbye Girl,

the stage musical based on the 1977 film of the same name?

Well, I enjoyed the film very much. I think Richard Dreyfus was in it,

it was a wonderful film.

But it won't be Aaron Copeland, because he was classical,

and I don't think it could possibly be Leonard Bernstein,

he probably wasn't composing by that time,

so I'll have to go for Marvin Hamlisch.

If you've got this right, Barry, you've taken the round.

Marvin Hamlisch is the right answer.

Well done, Barry, place in the final. Two out of two.

Sorry, Ali. You've been knocked out.

It's not quite a crisis, for our Challengers but it's getting close.

Return to us, we'll play the last round

before the all-important final.

So, The Only Way Is SE have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still in one piece.

And the next subject is Sport.

Now, is this good news?

-Reasonably good news.

-Reasonably.

So is it Jawand or Jack?

-I think I'll go for it.

-OK, Jawand, against which Egghead?

It can be either Beth or Pat.

You know, I don't really know who is stronger at Sport.

-It's just a toss-up, really.

-Shall we go with Beth?

Beth? Right, I'll go with Beth, please.

OK. So, Jawand from The Only Way Is SE,

playing Beth, at Sport, from the Eggheads.

And, please, for the last time, go to our Question Room.

So, Jawand you can choose whether you go first or second on Sport.

I'll go second, please.

Here we go, Beth, with your first question on Sport.

Who did Andy Murray defeat to win the gold medal

in the men's singles at the 2016 Olympics?

I was absolutely addicted to the Olympics,

but this was one match that actually passed me by,

but I'm pretty sure it was Juan Martin del Potro.

Juan Martin Del Potro is the right answer.

Well done. OK, your first question now, Jawand.

Good luck. Which of these terms means the recorded times

for intervals of an athletics race?

The answer is splits.

Splits is right.

Back to you, Beth.

Tofiq Bahramov, from Azerbaijan,

played an important part in which of these sporting events?

Well, that sounds like an incredibly Russian name,

even though he's from Kazakh... Sorry

-Azerbaijan.

-Azerbaijan, sorry.

I wonder whether he was the Russian linesman in the '66 World Cup,

so that was going to be my answer.

1966 World Cup final, I can see the lads nodding here.

It got the thumbs up from Steve. Yes, Beth, well done.

Jawand.

In 1981, the American Bob Tway

turned professional in which sport?

Oh... I've never heard of that name,

to be honest, Bob Tway.

I don't think it's figure skating.

I'll go with golf.

Golf is correct.

Playing well. Two out of two.

Over to you, Beth.

Which Pakistani batsman

became his country's highest Test match scorer in 2015?

It's going to have to be a one-in-three guess.

For no reason... I'm not sure whether he plays so much any more,

so Younis Khan might be out.

So it's between the other two,

both of whom I believe are still playing.

Misbah-Ul-Haq.

Misbah-Ul-Haq is your answer.

Let's just go to Ali here,

because I know your family are originally from Pakistan, yeah?

-Yes.

-And you know this?

Yeah, Younis Khan would have been my answer.

He's still playing, and I think,

if we're talking about all-time leading Test scorers,

then it's Younis Khan.

Yeah, Younis Khan is the answer, Beth. Confirmed by Ali here.

So...

Jawand, you have a chance to take the round

and get into the final.

The Charlotte Hornets are a team in which US sport?

That doesn't sound like a basketball team.

So I'm going to rule that out.

I know Jack's a fan of the US basketball, so if it was basketball

he'd probably give me a beating.

I think I'm going to go for baseball.

OK, you've inflicted a bit of pain here on your side.

Jack, do you want to tell him?

-It's a basketball team.

-It is basketball.

-Right.

Oh, dear. That was your question, wasn't it?

-Yeah, sadly.

-So, equal after three,

we go to Sudden Death.

I don't give you choices here.

Your question, Beth.

At the Australian Swimming Championships in 2004,

which swimmer was disqualified

after he overbalanced on the blocks

in the heats of the 400 metres freestyle,

thus putting his Olympic place in jeopardy?

Oh, so that could be one of two.

One of the two would be out because he was American,

so I'm going to go with the Australian, which is Ian Thorpe.

Ian Thorpe is right.

So, pressure on you now, Jawand.

Beth ahead. Sudden Death, it could all end now.

The Soviet competitor Larisa Latynina

was a leading name in which sport?

So that's obviously something that's been around for a while.

I'm not too sure about what the Soviet Union

were particularly good at in the past. Erm...

However, something is telling me that it's fencing.

Fencing. If true, that would be a brilliant, brilliant shout.

-It's not, I'm afraid. It's gymnastics.

-Gymnastics.

So Larisa was a gymnast.

And that means you are out of the final round, Jawand.

I'm sorry. So the Challengers will be down to one.

Well done, Beth. You're in the final.

Come back to us, and we will play that final round.

So this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our 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, I'm afraid, all from this side -

it's Luke and Ali and George and Jawand from The Only Way Is SE.

Would you please now leave the studio?

OK, Jack, here we are.

Now, the last big question you answered was for 1,000 at the pub,

-and this time it's for 3,000.

-Yep.

So are you up for it?

-I'm a very up for it.

-I'm sorry the tactics haven't quite worked out.

But you can still win, can't he?

-We know this.

-Yes, he certainly can.

So, Barry, Steve, Pat, Chris, Beth,

you're playing for something invaluable,

which is the Eggheads' reputation,

still a little bit shaky.

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

They're all General Knowledge. You can confer.

I'm sorry that doesn't help you, Jack.

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

And it's been done before.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

All right. Here we go, Jack.

In which city would you be most likely to travel

on the underground system called the U-Bahn?

Well, I'm a German student.

I'm pretty sure that the answer's Berlin.

Berlin is right. Yeah, you are studying German and something else?

-History.

-History. OK.

-We'll hope for a history question next.

-Yeah.

Berlin is the right answer. Well done. Eggheads.

Which popular breed of cat is particularly known

for its lack of a tail?

Manx? Happy with Manx?

We think that's a Manx cat.

It is a Manx cat. I don't know how you know this stuff.

OK, Jack.

The 2016 book Porcelain

is the memoir of which DJ and musician?

I can't think of any link to any of...

I mean, I don't know a lot about any of the DJs anyway.

I can't think of a link to them.

I'll go for Moby. I'm not sure why...

-..but, yeah.

-Eggheads?

Moby had a song called Porcelain.

Yeah, Moby had a song called Porcelain.

-So Moby's right.

-A bit of luck.

You can do with luck here.

That's good. Eggheads...

My desk slightly trembled.

I think it's them. They just sense the danger.

The name of which type of pasta

literally means wheels?

-Rigatoni is ridged, isn't it?

-I thought that was rigatoni.

-Really?

-No, it's not rigatoni.

Rigatoni is like tubes.

Ridge. Yeah.

-Ruote?

-Ruote sounds like rotary or...

How it's written, I'd say ruote.

-OK?

-Yes, we'll go with that.

We're not sure at all of this, but we're going to go with ruote.

Ruote is, sadly, right.

OK, Jack, get this right,

and who knows?

Who knows? What type of insect

is the parasitic gadfly or horsefly?

I don't know again.

I can't think of any link. I'm sure there is one.

I'll go for bot fly, please, Jeremy.

Is he right?

I think it's a blowfly.

Yeah. Very, very painful bites from horseflies.

-So you say blowfly?

-I would say blowfly.

-OK.

The answer is bot fly.

-Wow!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-You got it, and...

-Good answer.

-I don't know what they were...

thinking there, the Eggs. Who knows?

You may not have to do any more work today.

-I wouldn't mind that.

-You've done your bit for the team.

What about that, team? He got three out of three.

OK. Eggheads.

Game on.

Born in Canada in the late 1970s,

Erdem Moralioglu is a well-known name in which field?

He's not that well known.

Erdem. Erdem, I've heard, is a fashion designer.

-It's down to you then, Beth.

-Designer? Fashion designer?

-Yeah.

OK. Well, we've had guidance from Beth here,

and we're going with fashion designer.

A lot riding on this.

Beth is right. Fashion design.

Oh, OK, the new Egghead coming up trumps there.

-So, equal after three.

-Yeah.

Sorry, Jack. Right on the verge.

-For a second, I thought...

-For a second.

Now we go to Sudden Death.

Which star of the TV series Downton Abbey was nominated for an Oscar

for her performance in the 1981 film Ragtime?

I'm thinking 1981, obviously quite a lot of the cast is quite young.

I can't think of her name, the woman who plays the, like...

The grandmother and the mother of the main guy.

I think her name's Maggie Smith, but that might be wrong.

I would guess Maggie Smith, because I know she's in Downton Abbey.

You've remembered correctly an actor, Maggie Smith,

but it's Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Lady Grantham.

Eggheads.

If you get this right, the contest is over.

Sudden Death, we're on.

Which actor played the title character Derek Flint

in the spoof spy films Our Man Flint and In Like Flint?

Coburn?

James Coburn.

Think so.

We think that's James Coburn.

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

Our Man Flint...

..was indeed James Coburn.

We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

You could have done no more.

You got three right, and three right is often enough.

But then it's hard when there's five of them as well.

So, commiserations.

-Thank you.

-I hope you've had a good time.

You've made a long trip up to Glasgow here.

A good experience, yeah. It was fun, nervous.

And now you can go to the pub and win the £1,000.

-Exactly, yeah.

-It's going to be a cinch after this.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

You still reign supreme over Quizland.

It does mean that the Challengers don't go home with the £3,000,

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

Eggheads, well done. I wonder if this money will ever be won?

Just trying to jinx it. Join us next time

to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

There's £4,000 for them to play for.

Till then, goodbye.