Episode 38 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.

Challenging our quiz goliaths today are Don't Dare Lacrosse Us.

Now, this team are all members of the University of Oxford Lacrosse Club.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Jen, and I'm an engineering student.

Hi, I'm Cal, and I'm a classics student.

Hi, I'm Cat, and I'm a human sciences student.

Hi, I'm Shamus, and I'm a biology student.

Hi, I'm Zoe and I'm a medical student.

So, Jen and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Thank you for joining us here.

-You've broken off from your studies to come up here?

-Yes.

-OK.

And tell us about the lacrosse, Jen,

which has obviously brought you together.

Yep, so we're both parts of the men's and women's squads

at Oxford and we have weekly matches against other universities

and train four to five times a week.

And there's a little bit of a nice parallel here

because, Judith, you are or have been a lacrosse player.

Yes, when I was at school.

I played on the wing.

On the wing? Nice.

I used to be able to run in those days, which I can't do any more.

What's it called when you do that thing?

This thing? It's cradling.

Can you run with it without doing that or does it fall out?

You can, but it sometimes makes it easier for the other team

-to tackle the ball.

-Oh, I see. So they can give you a thwack?

Oh, yeah.

But if you run with your stick down, the ball falls out of the stick.

You have to sort of hold it up and move it to keep the ball inside the net, haven't you?

-Listen, I wish you all the best.

-Thank you.

Good luck. Stay sharp, stay focused.

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, Don't Dare Lacrosse Us,

the Eggheads are getting into their stride.

They've won the last four. So there's £5,000 to win today.

I really hope you do it. Good luck.

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

We have Judith and Beth, Kevin, Pat and Steve you can choose from.

-Right.

-Who did we say we're going to go?

Cat, are you good at music?

I was saying I'm happy to have a stab at that.

-I think you should go for it.

-You'll be fine.

OK, and who are we going to take on?

Cat against which one?

Who looks as if they're not very musical?

-Who do we think, guys?

-Who's your instinct, Cat?

-I think one of the women.

-OK. Beth?

-Yeah, go for it.

-OK, yeah.

Very decisive. I can see you've got a strategy.

It's Cat from Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

versus Beth from the Eggheads on Music.

And to ensure there's no conferring

would you please go to our famous Question Room?

So, Cat, what are you studying when you're not doing lacrosse?

-I study human sciences.

-OK, and what would that be, roughly?

So it's quite a broad degree.

It's half humanities, half sciences subjects.

We basically study all the ologies -

psychology, ecology, sociology, physiology, all of them.

OK, well, good luck. We're on Music here.

-Or musicology, maybe I should call it.

-Yes.

And, Cat, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first.

Here we go. Good luck.

What is the real name of the musician and singer known as Suggs?

OK, so I've never heard of Suggs,

so that doesn't help very much.

I've heard of Reginald Dwight, maybe.

But, honestly, I'm going to have to have a complete stab at it.

And I think I'm going to go with...

Reginald Dwight, just purely because that name rings a bit of a bell.

OK, let's see. Reginald Dwight,

-does anyone on your side know who it is?

-No, no idea.

Eggs?

-It's Elton John.

-Elton John is Reginald Dwight.

Boy George is George O'Dowd.

-So he's Graham MacPherson.

-Right.

-And he was the singer with Madness.

-Oh, OK.

He still is, actually.

Still going very strong.

Beth, your question.

What line follows, "When you walk through a storm,"

in the song You'll Never Walk Alone from Carousel?

# When you walk through the storm

# Hold your head up high. #

-There.

-That's nice.

Well, that's the answer, isn't it? Yes, well done. Brilliant.

Hold your head up high.

Rarely do we get answers delivered as classily as that.

Thank you. Cat, your question.

Which 1993 film was turned into a stage musical

with music by Tim Minchin

and opened in London's Old Vic Theatre in the summer of 2016?

So I know Tim Minchin, I can picture him.

I don't think it's Sleepless In Seattle.

So I'm going to pick between Mrs Doubtfire and Groundhog Day.

I'm going to go with Mrs Doubtfire.

It's wrong, I'm afraid.

But you were choosing between the right two. It was Groundhog Day.

OK, Beth, your question.

You can take the round with this, actually, Beth.

Which music hall song features the line,

"I wouldn't give you tuppence for your old watch chain"?

Oh...

That sounds like...

I mean, they're all sort of musical songs, aren't they?

But if somebody is giving tuppence for something,

I wonder if they're shouting for any old iron.

Yeah, Any Old Iron.

The answer is Any Old Iron, Beth.

Well done. You got two out of two.

Sorry, Cat.

Just cos there's no way back from that position,

so you've been knocked out.

Beth will be in the final round, but it's very early days.

Still hope for our lacrosse team here.

Please come back, rejoin your teams.

As it stands, Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

have lost one brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost one yet.

And I stress yet.

The next subject is Sport.

This has got to be good.

-I think we're...

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah. I think it was going to be me who did Sport.

-OK, Jen.

Who would you like to take on here? A tricky choice.

I think Judith.

-Take on Judith, yeah.

-Judith, I think.

So it's Jen from Don't Dare Lacrosse Us...

-It's all going to be lacrosse questions, isn't it?

-Oh, dear.

It should be. ..versus Judith from the Eggheads.

So two great lacrosse players.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Now, Jen,

you were the winning cox for the Woman's Oxford Rowing Team in 2015.

-Yeah, I was.

-Congratulations.

So tell us about the race.

So it was the first race that the women were on the Tideway

with the men and shown on TV and to have the same platform.

And we managed to win it, which was great,

but it was just great to have women's sport given that opportunity

-to reach the millions across the country.

-Oh, wow.

-Well, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-And the lacrosse is going well for you?

-I'm loving it.

Yeah, the team was really friendly when I switched sport

and it's just a great vibe.

All right, Jen, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck. Sport.

Which of these rugby union players was a member

of the England team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup?

OK. So I don't think it was Owen Farrell,

I think he's more recent.

I think I'm going to go Will Carling.

-It's Matt Dawson.

-Oh, OK.

OK, Judith.

The tennis player Jimmy Connors won his first Grand Slam singles title

in which decade?

Well, definitely not the '50s.

And I don't... I think he was the '70s.

-The 1970s is right.

-Oh, phew.

OK, back to you, Jen.

In which position did the Southampton and England footballer

Matt Le Tissier usually play?

OK.

So I don't think he was a goalkeeper.

I'm going to go midfielder.

-Absolutely right.

-Yes.

Midfielder it is. Scored a lot of goals as well.

Judith, approximately how tall

is the British world champion boxer James DeGale?

-SHE CHUCKLES

-No idea.

It depends, if he's a bantamweight

he might be five foot six, I suppose,

and if he's a heavyweight he might be six foot six,

and I don't know what he is.

I'm going to say six foot.

You're playing very well, Judith.

-You're right.

-Oh.

OK, Jen, you've got to stop her.

You must get this question right to stay in.

In July 2016 the American athlete Kendra Harrison

broke a women's world record

that had stood for almost 28 years in which event?

I actually remember watching her break this record,

and the travesty was that she, I don't think,

made the Olympic US team for Rio

because she'd had a fall or something in the trials.

And I'm pretty sure it's the 100 metre hurdles.

Jen, you're absolutely right. 100 metre hurdles it is. Well done.

Two out of three.

Judith, get this right, you're in the final.

The England cricketer Adil Rashid is what type of bowler?

-Adil?

-Rashid.

Rashid.

I think he's a spin bowler.

If you've got this right

you've equalled your record Sports victories of six on the trot.

Spin is right, Judith. Well done. You're in the final round.

Sorry, Jen. She knocked you out there.

She's playing very well on Sport at the moment

and has gone through and triumphed.

Please come back and rejoin your teams

and we'll see what happens next.

As it stands Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still just sitting there.

They think it's all over, but you've got to show them...

it is in a minute.

The next subject is Arts and Books. Who would like this?

-Do you go anything about it?

-I know nothing.

-At all?

-Do we want to save Cal?

-I think it probably would be...

Yeah, I'll go Arts and Books.

OK, Cal, classics student.

Lots of books.

And you can have any one of the gents.

Well, they all know their stuff pretty well

but I think I'll take Steve.

OK, so it's Cal from Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

versus Steve from the Eggheads on Arts and Books.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Cal, Arts and Books,

-would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

And here is your first question.

Which of these characters features

in stories set on the fictional island of Sodor?

OK. Well, Bilbo Baggins lives in the Shire.

That's definitely not an island.

Peter Rabbit, I'm not sure if there's any reference

to an island at all.

He lives in the garden

near the person he goes and steals carrots from.

But I'm pretty sure I remember from watching Thomas The Tank Engine

back in the day that Thomas lives on an island.

so I'm going to say Thomas The Tank Engine.

Yeah, one could go wrong on this question,

and you've got it right. Well done. Thomas The Tank Engine.

Steve, in which decade did Enid Blyton die?

I don't honestly know.

She was obviously very prolific and she wrote throughout her life,

but I think she was writing in the '60s,

so, on the basis of that, I will say 1980s,

although I'm not ever so sure.

-Steve, 1960s.

-Right.

OK, Cal, this is good now.

Your second question. Keep the advantage.

Which Yorkshire village is the site of the parsonage

at which the Bronte family lived for many years?

I haven't actually read any Bronte novels, but I know...

I've seen snippets of Jane Eyre on TV,

there was a TV series a couple of years back,

and they all sound like Yorkshire villages,

so I don't totally know between them. But...

I think...

Hebden Bridge is ringing a bell for me, so I'm going to go with that.

Let's see if Steve knows.

-It's Haworth.

-It's Haworth.

Haworth it is.

Back to you, Steve. See if you can catch up.

Which art institution has regional outposts at Montacute House,

Bodelwyddan Castle and Beningbrough Hall?

Right...

Cos Bodelwyddan, I suppose that does sound a bit Cornish.

I know there's a Tate Gallery in St Ives.

Hmm. Really don't know.

On the basis that one of them sounds a bit Cornish,

and against my better judgment, I'll say Tate Galleries.

Eggheads?

-Portrait Gallery.

-National Portrait Gallery is the answer.

-Yeah.

So two zeros in a row.

-This is unusual play from Steve.

-Hmm.

He's blown a gasket here, Cal.

So get this one right, you're in the final.

Who wrote the collection of poems Selling Manhattan,

winner of a Somerset Maugham Award?

I think Somerset Maugham Awards are a British poetry award,

so I think all of them are British poets.

I haven't heard of Sylvia Plath or Carol Ann Duffy

writing any such poetry...

..so I'm going to go with Dorothy Parker.

-It's Carol Ann Duffy.

-Oh, no.

So have you let him back in? Let's see.

Steve, get this one right and we go to Sudden Death.

Get it wrong, you're out.

Which British writer had a brush with death in 1865

when he was involved in the Staplehurst rail crash?

Hooray, I know one. Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens it is. Well done.

So 1-1 after three questions. Cal, we go back to you.

Sudden Death now. Gets a bit harder,

-I don't give you alternative choices.

-OK.

Between 2005 and 2015

which writer twice won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction?

Sebastian Faulks.

No, Hilary Mantel.

Steve, this for the round.

The surrealist painter Rene Magritte was born in which country?

Belgium. Oh... Yeah.

Too late, you've said it.

Yeah, you're right, Steve. Belgium.

You just answered it out like that,

it just came out, almost an involuntary spasm.

Yeah, yeah.

So I'm sorry, Cal.

Hey-ho. Live to fight another day.

Steve is in the final and you've been knocked out.

Come back to us and we'll play the last round before the final.

So, as it stands, Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain.

The next subject is Science.

Now, have we got a scientist?

It's got to be Shamus.

Shamus is a biology student. Brilliant, Shamus.

Against which Egghead - Pat or Kevin?

-I think I'm going to take on Pat, please, Jeremy.

-OK.

So Shamus from Don't Dare Lacrosse Us

is taking on Pat from the Eggheads on Science.

Please go to the Question Room now.

OK, Shamus. I know this cuts both ways, doesn't it?

As a scientist doing science, it's never the happiest position.

Yeah, hopefully I can do all right, Jeremy.

And you're biology, aren't you?

So if physics or something comes up, then...?

I can give it a go, but unsure.

OK. Well, let's see what comes up.

Shamus, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck.

A contact lens is so called because it is located in contact

with which part of the eye?

I'm not completely sure on this, Jeremy.

I think I should know because I wear them myself.

I'm drawn to cornea.

So, yeah, I'll go cornea, please.

Yeah, retina, optic nerve, I think, are towards the back.

That would be very painful.

Cornea is right.

Pat, your question.

In the human body, what is the name of the first part

of the small intestine?

I think the uvula is the little fleshy appendage

at the back of the mouth.

And the trachea is the...windpipe.

So I think the piece of the intestine is the duodenum.

Is he right?

Yes, everyone likes that. Duodenum is right.

OK, next question to you, Shamus.

In surgical equipment, what name is given to a narrow tube

that is inserted into a vein to administer medication?

I don't think it's nebuliser or doppler.

I'm going to go with cannula, please.

OK, let's check with Zoe because you are a medical student.

I am indeed. I think it's the cannula.

Cannula is right.

Pat,

the product copal,

used to make varnish,

is obtained from what?

Well, sea anemones are almost overwhelmingly water, I think.

So I'm not sure you'd harvest very much of anything from them.

In the past, the lac beetle was very important for shellac,

which is a sort of polish-like material.

And obviously trees,

you can get resins and things from trees.

I think... I'm torn here.

I think I'll go for trees, but I have slight concerns.

-Trees is right, Pat.

-Well done.

Very, very good indeed.

When they're on fire,

this lot, you need a lot of water to put them out.

Shamus, the disease leprosy is also known by what name,

after the surname of the Norwegian physician

who discovered the bacillus that causes it?

I'm not sure on this one at all, Jeremy.

I'm trying to perhaps pick a name that sounds

more Norwegian than others.

I'm going to go for Hansen's disease.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-Eggs?

-Yes.

Yeah, they like that. Hansen's disease.

So, three out of three for our biologist.

Will Pat get knocked out here? Let's see.

In 1997, the chemical element with the atomic number 109

was named after which leading scientist?

Of those three the only one with a chemical element is Lise Meitner,

who I think was famously sort of excluded from a Nobel award.

She had done a load of work, I think it was with Otto Hahn,

but she was just left off the nomination, rather unfairly.

But she got an element in the end, so I think it's Lise Meitner.

Lise Meitner is quite right.

So three out of three for you both. It gets a bit

more tight and tricky now, Shamus.

We go to Sudden Death, OK?

I don't give you alternatives.

What is the positive square root of 3,600?

I'd like to go for 60, please, Jeremy.

60 is quite right, Shamus. Well done.

Pat, your question.

The chemical elements with the atomic numbers 1 and 2

both have names beginning with what letter?

That's H.

And do you know which they are?

Hydrogen and helium.

Yep, that's right. H it is.

OK, your question now, Shamus. Here we go.

A hectare is equal to how many square metres?

Again, I'm unsure.

I'm going to go for 60 square metres, Jeremy.

No, it's actually... That is...

In a way, you can take comfort from the fact you're not close.

-It's 10,000.

-OK.

So we're talking...

We're an acre or an acre and a half or something?

-No, it's more than that.

-It's more than that, is it?

-Yeah.

-OK, so it's 100 by 100, basically?

-Yeah.

So, Pat to take the round.

In April 2016, who became the first man to complete a marathon

in space on a treadmill aboard the International Space Station,

running along with those tackling the London Marathon on Earth?

I think I'll go for Tim Peake.

The marathon in space in April 2016 was indeed by Tim Peake.

Well done, Pat. You've got it right.

Sorry, Shamus. You fought very well there.

Knocked out on science.

So we're going to have a full complement of Eggheads in the final.

Come back to us and we'll 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 it's Jen and Cal and Cat and Shamus from Don't Dare Lacrosse Us,

please leave the studio.

-Good luck, Zoe.

-Thank you.

You're playing to win Don't Dare Lacrosse Us £5,000.

Steve, Pat, Kevin, Beth and Judith, you are playing for

something money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation,

and to keep this roll rolling.

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

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

I'm sorry that doesn't help you.

Zoe, the question is, can you, with your one brain, defeat these five?

I know the answer is yes because we've seen it happen.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

First question for Zoe.

From the Italian for stained,

what is an espresso coffee served with a dash of foamed milk known as?

Macchiato.

Well done. Macchiato is right.

Eggheads.

Nubuck, N-U-B-U-C-K,

is a type of what?

-It's leather.

-It's leather.

It's a synthetic, a sort of synthetic leather.

-It's synthetic suede backwards.

-Yeah.

Are we all happy with leather?

We think that's leather, Jeremy.

Leather is right.

OK, Zoe, back to you.

Which of these is a meaning of the English noun chagrin,

or cha-grin, sometimes people say? C-H-A-G-R-I-N.

It doesn't really sound like a word that might be associated

with pleasure, perhaps.

Really not quite sure but I think I'll go for annoyance.

I'm glad you did. You're right.

Eggheads.

Which Greek philosopher, born around 428 BC,

was the tutor of Aristotle?

-It's Plato.

-Plato?

-Yeah.

-I mean, you'll know...

-Oh, yeah, it's Plato.

Plato regarded Socrates as his mentor.

I mean, Epicurus stands slightly apart in the tradition.

You could say that Socrates

was the teacher of Plato,

and Plato was the teacher of Aristotle.

So it's Plato.

You're absolutely right. Well done. Kevin especially. Plato it is.

OK, back to you, Zoe. See if you can get the third one right.

Which British comedian, born in 1894,

was known as the Cheeky Chappie?

Oh. I'm not great on my comedians.

It'll be a bit of a stab in the dark

with this one, I think.

Um...

I'm going to go for Max Miller.

-Is she right?

-Yeah.

Yes, you're right.

JEREMEY LAUGHS

-You're playing really well, Zoe.

-Yep.

Oh, this is such a great game!

All right. So, having had the full four team-mates knocked out,

you've got three out of three in the final round.

And, Eggheads, if you get this wrong then they have won the jackpot.

The Hope Six Demolition Project released in 2016,

was the first UK number one album for which British female singer-songwriter?

-PJ Harvey.

-PJ Harvey?

-I think so.

-Yeah.

It definitely rang a bell.

-I thought her before it came out.

-Oh, OK.

-Fine.

-And you think it is, yeah?

We think that's PJ Harvey.

PJ Harvey. Do you know the answer here?

-No.

-PJ Harvey is right.

Well done, Kev.

So 3-3.

Kevin powering the Eggheads back there.

We go to Sudden Death. It gets a bit harder,

-I don't give you different choices.

-Yep.

-Zoe, your question.

The architect Oscar Niemeyer, who died in 2012,

was born in which country?

Oh. Um...

Niemeyer.

I'm really not sure. Um...

Norway?

The answer is...

-Do you know?

-Brazil?

-Was it Brazil?

-Brazil, they all say.

-Brazil.

Brazil is the answer.

Your question, to take the contest.

Cochon d'Inde is a French term for which creature?

-Cochon?

-Cochon d'Inde.

Can you spell it?

Cochon, and then D'-I-N-D-E.

Cochon d'Inde, something of India.

Indian pig.

A porcupine then or something.

-Cochon d'Inde.

-So it's C-O-C-H-O-N...

-Yes.

-..and then D'I-N-DE.

-Correct.

-Is what sort of creature?

Cochon d'Inde is a French term for which creature?

What would they mean by "d'Inde?"

Do they mean East Indies or West Indies?

Or India, do you think?

-It's just a...

-Just foreign.

I did know this. I've read this or heard it,

and I now can't remember.

-Cochon is a pig.

-How about guinea pig?

-Well, that's what I'm...

-Cochon d'Inde.

-Guinea pig would fit.

-Yes.

What do you think?

Happy to go with guinea pig?

-Guinea pigs.

-Yeah, we'll try that.

We're not sure, linguistically, here, Jeremy,

but cochon means pig

and d'Inde seems to have some kind of geographical derivation,

so it's a bit...

it's a bit awkward, really.

Anyway, we'll go for guinea pig.

The answer is guinea pig.

We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

They... Well, a sterling performance in the final round

and all three questions right and then Sudden Death.

-They're hard to beat, all five.

-Yeah.

-Zoe, thank you for playing.

-Thank you.

-Thanks to the team.

Commiserations to Don't Dare Lacrosse Us.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They still reign supreme over quiz land.

Recently, all five of you have been here

and I feel you're actually on a bit of a roll here.

It does mean the Challengers don't go home with the £5,000,

the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

Who will beat you?

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

the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£6,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.