Episode 4 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!

With our two newer Eggheads on the end here. Great to see you.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today are

the Number Crunchers, from Lincolnshire.

Now, the majority of this team work together at an accountancy

practice in Spalding,

and they often quiz against rival teams of accountants and solicitors.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Phil, and I'm an audit and accounts manager.

Hi, I'm Michael, and I'm an accountant.

Hi, I'm Gemma, and I'm a trainee accountant.

Hi, I'm Carl, and I'm an accountant.

Hi, I'm Trev and I'm a retired software engineer.

So Phil and team, welcome.

Phil, accountancy, let's start with that.

-That brings you all together, does it? Numbers?

-Yes.

-Right.

And you're checking forms and writing things down and...

-Preparing accounts.

-That's my understanding of accountancy. OK.

So, that would mean strongest subjects are...the science end, or...?

-Not really, no.

-No. Music.

-And films.

-You listen to music while you're doing it.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Right. And when people say, "Accountants, oh, they're really boring,"

-what do you say in response?

-Normally right, but not us.

THEY LAUGH

OK, well, that's very honest. These are the exceptions, exactly.

Well, the Eggheads, sometimes not that interesting, to be honest, either.

THEY LAUGH

Quizzing. What about quizzing? Because the interesting thing is you do quiz together sometimes.

Yes, that's right, yeah. We've done a few quizzes against other professional firms,

and often in the pubs as well, on quiz machines.

And how lively does that get with the Spalding accountants all

-going head-to-head.

-Not that lively, but it's fun.

JEREMY LAUGHS

-Do you win? That's the key thing.

-Not often.

OK! Well, listen, see if you can break the habit today. 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, Number Crunchers, the Eggheads have won just the last game,

so let's see if you can take them down while they're still

getting their act together.

£2,000 on the table. Would you like to play?

-Yes.

-I love the way accountants pause for a long time

before answering the most simple question. Of course you do.

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

So, Phil and team, who wants this?

-Who wants to do Science, then?

-I think we're better leaving Trev for the end.

-OK, I'll stay.

-You do Science, then. Michael will do Science.

-Old Trev is being saved, that's...

-Yes.

-OK, interesting information.

-OK. So who is going to do it?

-Michael.

-Me, please.

-OK, Michael.

Against which Egghead? You can choose anyone, here.

We're still getting to grips with the new ones,

we're not sure their strengths and weaknesses yet.

I think I'll take the new guy, Steve.

Very good!

OK, Michael from the Number Crunchers versus Steve,

one of the newest Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, Michael, you're an ice hockey player as well as an accountant?

-I try to be, yeah, I give it a go.

-What made you take that up?

Em, I always sort of followed the sport quite

a lot before taking it up and, er, when I was at university,

went to one of the sports fairs and, yeah,

they took on beginners and I went from there, really, so...

It looks like one of the most violent sports, I must say,

but I guess you wear protective gear.

Yeah, that's part of the fun of it, to be honest,

but I play in goal, so out the way of most of the violence, normally.

JEREMY LAUGHS

But you have serious face protection and so on?

Yeah, yeah. Good-sized bit of kit, anyway.

OK, so it's your choice, Michael,

do you want to go first or second on Science?

Eh, I think I'll go first, please.

Michael, your first question.

Which of these dinosaurs grew to approximately 3 metres in length,

and moved around on two legs? Is it...

OK, em...

Stegosaurus I seem to think didn't walk on two legs, eh...

And triceratops is the same, I think,

so I'll go for the middle option, please.

However you say that.

Yeah, I wanted to say KO-LEO-physis, but I think it's going to

be SEE-LO-physis. Barry would know that.

Coelophysis is the right answer, Michael, well done.

Would have made a great ice hockey player.

THEY LAUGH

Steve. The yak, a short-legged ox-like mammal,

is native to which continent?

Yeah, well, it's, er...

an animal you associate with the Himalayas, places like that,

so hopefully that's going to be in Asia.

Asia is quite right. The yak is from Asia. OK.

Michael, the thermosphere lies between the mesosphere and

which other major layer of the earth's atmosphere?

Eh... Not too sure on this one. Erm...

Just trying to think of the order of the different layers. Erm...

I would plump for stratosphere, I think.

I know what you mean. Anyone know this on the Eggheads side, here?

I'd have gone the exosphere.

Do you know, I bet Barry's got a mnemonic for it.

The answer is exosphere.

But I can't really give you a reason, it just is.

Just one of those things, never had a look, myself.

Steve, what type of animal is the Australian bilby? Is the bilby a...

Mmm. It's not an ungulate. Erm...

Just sort of torn between the other two. Erm...

Bilby. Bilby.

I know it's a small furry thing,

but I can't get a clear picture of it in my head, so, er...

I think it might be a marsupial, so that's my answer, Jeremy.

What is the difference between a marsupial and a primate,

-do you know?

-They carry their young in a pouch.

-Yeah, like kangaroos and so on.

-Yeah, yeah.

Marsupial is the right answer. That's the Australian bilby.

Anyone got a clearer picture of it in their head?

Yeah, I remember Prince George being given

-a bilby when they visited Australia.

-Oh, right!

-Yeah.

-What, permanently, or just...?

-No, the toy one.

-Oh, I see. A toy one.

I was going to say, getting that back to the UK...

Royal children, so much privilege, honestly.

THEY LAUGH

Marsupial is the right answer, well done, Steve.

So, you need to get this right, Michael, to stay in.

In which part of the human body is the ethmoid bone found?

Ethmoid bone...

OK, erm...

Just trying to think of the roots of ethmoid. Er...

I don't think it's skull, because that tends to be cranial,

all that sort of thing. Erm... I'm going to plump for...

Sort of 50-50 between them. I think I'm going to go with foot.

Steve, do you know this?

Well, I'm no doctor, Jeremy, but I would have gone skull, personally.

-The ethmoid is actually in the skull, Michael.

-OK.

In a way I'm glad you don't know because it means you haven't

-yet taken a puck in the head.

-Yeah!

-And may you never find out.

-There's plenty of time.

Exactly. Michael, bad luck, there,

you've been beaten by our newest Egghead, and as

a result you will not be allowed to help your team in the final round.

Come back to us, rejoin your teams, and we'll play on.

Are we still confused about the bilby? Let's...

-Who can describe one? You saw one, did you, Beth?

-I've seen one.

-You saw a toy one.

-I've only seen it in cuddly toy form!

-OK!

How big is a bilby, first? Because I'm going to try and draw it.

-I don't think they're terribly big.

-It looks like a kangaroo, does it? Or what?

-We were thinking more sort of...

-Little kangaroo, little wallaby.

-Little wallaby.

-OK, what? Pointy-up ears?

-Think so.

-Sort of longish snout with a piggy-type...

-A long...

JEREMY LAUGHS

It look like a... It's furry, though, you think?

-Like a sort of anteater-type nose.

-Wears a flat hat.

THEY LAUGH

And it's got a pouch. Right.

-I'm getting something a bit like that...

-That's it, that's his...

Chilling. Chilling is the similarity.

Is that the bill that...?

Why's he got one massive leg

and one really small leg?

-Because of perspective!

-Yeah?

-Perspective.

-Ah, brilliant.

All right, and the other question, I know eth...noid, or ethmoid, I should say.

-Ethmoid.

-..is a bone at the base of the nose.

-Oh.

-OK?

As it stands, the Number Crunchers have lost one brain from

the final round. Bad luck, they've lost their ice hockey play.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far. See if you can turn it around.

The next subject is Sport. Now, who would like this?

-Got to be you, innit, Phil?

-It's you, Phil, isn't it?

-Is it me? Sport?

-I'm happy for you to do Sport, yeah.

-You're happy to do Sport.

-No, I'm happy for you to do Sport, if you want.

-Yeah.

-Do you want to do Sport, Trev, or will I?

-Oh, no.

-I'll stay to the end.

-I think Trev's determined to stay to the end.

THEY LAUGH You can ask him as much as you want.

-Phil?

-I'll take on Sport.

-All right, you're doing Sport.

And, against which Egghead? It obviously can't be Steve.

-I think I'll try Lisa, please.

-Very good. Lisa, who likes her Sport.

-I do.

-Yeah?

Doesn't mean the questions always fall perfectly, but I do like it.

Phil from the Number Crunchers versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

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

-So, Lisa, which sports is it for you?

-I like...

I sort of start minority and work properly down towards the

weird stuff. So, you know, I love tennis, I love athletics,

I love Formula 1.

I even like finding the really bizarre stuff tucked away on

the sports channels, like rodeo and strength athletics and stuff,

that's brilliant.

All right, well, good luck, Phil, against Lisa.

And would you like to go first or second?

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

-And your thing is cycling, Phil, I gather?

-Yeah, a little bit, yeah.

All right, well, good luck. Hope you don't get a puncture here.

Who became the manager of Manchester United Football Club in May 2016?

Is this...

Right. I think I know the answer to this one.

I know Jurgen Klopp's manager of Liverpool, so I can rule him out.

And Claudio Ranieri is the current Leicester manager.

Erm, so the Manchester United manager is Jose Mourinho.

It is indeed, Jose Mourinho.

Lisa.

In rugby union, which of these positions is a back? Lisa, is it...

You're smiling. And I'm smiling. Do you know why I'm smiling?

Cos this is the one thing I revised before I came in today!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Er, yeah, so.

Hooker's number two, that's a forward. Second row, four and five,

forwards. Outside centre.

Outside centre's a back, it's outside centre.

You actually revise before the show? That's amazing.

It doesn't happen often,

but I was so fed up with not getting rugby union ones that should

be an absolute gimme that I did actually do it.

Well, I was going to say, I thought you would know this anyway,

but we had slot receiver the other day and that caused puzzlement.

That's American football, isn't it? Do we have that in rugby?

It is American football, you're quite right.

Ok, you're just confusing me now, stop it.

JEREMY LAUGHS Outside centre is right.

Phil, which of these famous cricketers was

a left-handed batsman?

Right. I'm not too into my cricket.

Erm...

So I'm going to have to really guess on this one. Erm...

I'll go for Jacques Kallis, please.

Jacques Kallis, let's see. Who's... Any other sporting people?

Trev, do you know this?

I don't, I'm afraid. I know quite a few left-handers.

Brian Lara is the answer, Phil.

-Well, I'd guess that, but I wouldn't put my house on it.

-Yeah. OK.

So, your chance to take the lead here, Lisa Thiel.

Which of tennis's four Grand Slam tournaments did

Novak Djokovic win for the first time in 2016?

Yeah, it was starting to become a bit of

a recurring theme in 2016 that Novak Djokovic played Andy Murray

in the finals of the Grand Slams, so it was... Basically,

the Grand Slams started, you're like, "Djokovic is going to play

"Murray in the final, Djokovic will win, and we'll all go home."

Erm, yeah, sorry. The Australian Open he's won lots of times already.

Erm, it was the French Open.

Yes, it was! Well done! French Open.

So, Lisa has two. You've got to get this one, Phil.

I don't need to tell you that, you're an accountant(!)

THEY LAUGH

Dafne Schippers, born in the Netherlands in 1992,

is a world champion in which sport?

I think it's cycling.

Ooh.

OK. I heard a gasp on this side. Beth?

Yeah. Dafne Schippers was a world-renowned and, I think,

though Dave will probably correct me, em, heptathlete.

I think she was an Olympic heptathlete and she swapped to do

more sprint events, so it's athletics.

Yeah, it's athletics. Athletics, Phil, I'm sorry about that.

So, no way back for you in this round. Lisa has won.

Lisa will be in the final. Phil, if you come back to us,

you can continue to captain your team through what may be

difficult times.

As it stands, the Number Crunchers have lost two brains.

I feel like, as you're accountants,

I should be saying this in a slightly less harmful way,

but there's no easy way to tell you, you are losing, guys,

you need to pull this back.

The Eggheads are sitting there a bit too smugly.

The next subject is Geography.

Now, is this going to be better?

Well, Gemma said she wanted to do Geography if it came up.

OK, Gemma, and you can have any one of the three in the middle.

-I'll take Beth.

-Beth.

-OK. Beth on Geography.

We're all still learning about Beth, let's see what happens.

Gemma, the Number Cruncher, Beth, the newest Egghead,

please go to the Question Room.

Have you done a Geography round yet, Beth? I'm trying to work out.

-I have, yeah. Won one. Well, played one, won one.

-Oh, OK, that's good.

Let's me just write that down in my little summary of record so far.

-Won one out of one. That's good.

-Yeah.

That's a hundred percent record.

-Accountants, am I right?

-That's correct.

-Yes. All right.

Well, good luck here. Your second on Geography.

-And, Gemma, I know you do kick boxing.

-Yes.

-So, would that come in handy in this round?

-Probably not.

It's always good to defend yourself.

Well, if it gets desperate you're welcome to try anything.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

OK, let's see if you can just turn the tide now for the

brilliant Number Crunchers.

Here's your first Geography question, Gemma.

What is the state capital of Idaho? Is it...

Don't think it's New Orleans.

I think I'd have to go for Boise.

Yeah, Boise's quite right. Bang on there. Well done, Gemma.

Beth, your question.

In which part of France is the city of Marseille located?

Oh, I... I... They've...

A lot of the Euro 2016 matches were played down in...

DOWN in Marseille, so I believe that's in the south.

Very good. So it is. The south.

Over to you, Gemma.

What colours are the two stripes on the national flag of Indonesia?

At a total guess - white and green.

Yeah, it's not, actually.

Now, I did a bit of work on flags recently,

cos I was so upset by my lack of knowledge,

and I thought that Indonesia and Poland had the same flag.

Is that right, Eggheads?

Depends which way up you're holding it.

I thought it was the other way round.

The reverse, but the colours are, Eggs?

-BOTH:

-Red and white.

-Red and white is the answer, Gemma.

OK, so, Beth, you have a chance to take the lead.

The names of how many US states begin with the letter M?

Oh, now I'm running through them in my head. Erm...

We've got Mississippi, Maine, Missouri...

..there must be at least one more.

Er, Montana...

..Maryland...

Let's go with six.

Six, you've got. Let's just go through them.

-You said Mississippi, Maine, Montana, Maryland...

-Missouri.

Missouri.

-Michigan.

-Montana.

-Massachusetts.

-Massachusetts.

-Oh!

Missouri, we've said. Oh, maybe I didn't count Missouri.

One more, one more.

-Minnesota.

-Minnesota. Eight of them.

-Eight!

Eight of them. OK, that's a little bit... All right, so this is...

Suddenly, now, the accountants could just be back in the game.

Get this right, Gemma,

and you may just have booked your place in the final.

Here we go.

What is the approximate population of Oman?

I'm going to have a guess at 44 million.

-You're quite a long way out. It's 4 million. It's really small.

-Oh.

-What's Ireland? Is Ireland about 4?

-There or thereabouts, yeah.

Yeah. So it's small. 4 million is the answer.

So, Beth, you have the advantage now. Your chance to take the round.

What is the official currency of Kazakhstan?

Oh, this is, erm... Picking right in my weak spots of world currencies.

None of them are really springing as...

I'm trying to think of the language clues from where Kazakhstan is,

and, erm...

So...

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

..tenge.

Tenge is your answer for the round. Let's see. Eggheads?

-Spot on.

-I think that's right.

-Spot on!

-Yay!

Yeah, currencies are a big part of this.

Is that just based on the fact that it looked a bit like...?

You know, Kazakhstan is the kind of place that they use a lot of

-"E"s, or...?

-Yeah, I think it was just because of...

I don't really know.

It's more of a language clue.

-I think taka, maybe not so central Asian language.

-Yeah.

Interesting the way your brain works there. Well done.

-You've got two out of two now.

-Yay!

-How about that?

Still 100% record on Geography. Sorry, Gemma.

Been knocked out, there.

Beaten by our Egghead, and therefore not able to play in the final round.

Please return and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the Number Crunchers have lost three brains from

the final round.

It's not a crisis yet, but it's looking like it might be one.

-Working towards one.

-It's working towards a crisis, yeah.

Just trying to keep you steady here.

The Eggheads are just sitting pretty there, I'm afraid.

You need to try and knock one out now. You've got Music next.

So I'm assuming I know who this is going to be.

Trev, you're going to say you're not going to do it.

-Yeah.

-Right? So it must be you, Carl, then.

-I think it would be, yeah.

-I don't know. Don't let me decide for you.

-No, it'll be me, yeah.

-OK.

So, accountant Carl against which Egghead?

It can either be Pat or Dave.

Erm, I think I'll go with Dave.

-Please.

-Right, so Carl from the Number Crunchers versus

"Tremendous Knowledge" Dave from the Eggheads on Music, please.

Take your positions.

Carl, do you listen to music?

-Er, yeah.

-That's not a trick question.

Yeah, I normally have me iPod plugged in, yeah.

And what sort of thing do you like?

-Bit of everything. Mainly sort of rock.

-Yeah.

Cos "bit of everything" on this show involves opera, the lute,

-the bouzouki, we had the other day.

-Oh, dear.

Let's see how you do. Good luck.

You've got to, if possible, just build a wall now,

and stop the Eggheads in their tracks.

Would you like to go first or second, Carl?

I'd like to go first, please.

OK, so Music for you, Carl. Good luck. Take your time.

What is the name of the thin stick with which

a conductor directs an orchestra?

Er, I'm not overly sure, but I think it might be a baton.

Absolutely right, yeah.

It is possible to overthink these things, but that is it.

The conductor's baton. FRENCH ACCENT: Baton.

How would you pronounce that, Dave?

-"BAT-on."

-Yeah, cos I said "BAT-on," but now I'm thinking it's "bat-ON".

-No, I'd just go "BAT-on."

-OK, your question.

Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson found fame as members

of which girl group?

Sugababes have had a revolving door of members.

Spice Girls, as far as I know, was only the five of them at any time.

I believe that's Little Mix.

Little Mix is right.

Carl, you're equal with Dave.

I'd Give My Life for You and Please are songs from which musical

that premiered in the West End in 1989?

Ah, erm, yeah, not big up on West End.

Erm, I think Wicked's more recent than that,

-so I'll go with The Phantom Of The Opera.

-OK, Phantom Of The Opera.

Let's see if your team-mates know.

-Anybody here?

-I don't think we know.

-But we'd guess Phantom.

-You'd guess Phantom?

-Yeah.

It is Miss Saigon.

Carl, so Dave has the chance to take the lead.

The American jazz musician, John Coltrane,

was best known for his expertise on which instrument?

I always associate...

One instrument came into my head, I could be wrong,

but I always associated him with the saxophone.

Saxophone is right. You take the lead.

So back to you, Carl. There's a pattern in this game.

This is the third... The horror of the third question.

Now, see if you can get this right and stay in it, Carl.

At the end of the Verdi opera Rigoletto, which character is

delivered to Rigoletto in a sack by the assassin, Sparafucile?

Right, unfortunately, I don't really have a clue with opera,

so I'm going to go with Maddalena.

The character delivered to Rigoletto in a sack is Gilda.

-Sorry, Carl, no way back for you.

-That's fine, yeah.

So Dave has taken that round.

The Eggheads have so far had not a hair out of place here.

It's going to be difficult in the final, but not impossible.

Let us see how our Challengers do, and play the final round.

So, here we are.

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 Phil, Michael, Gemma, and Carl from the Number Crunchers.

Would you please now leave the studio?

So, Trev, with the other Number Crunchers looking on,

you're playing to win the team £2,000.

Lisa, Dave, Pat, Beth, and Steve, you are playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I'm going to ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all general knowledge. You can confer.

Trev, I'm sorry that doesn't really help you.

-No.

-But do talk to yourself.

The question is, can you, with your one brain,

defeat these five in a famous victory?

-It has been done, so, Trev, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

OK, good luck.

Who became the new co-host of the TV show, Good Morning Britain,

in November 2015?

-That's Piers Morgan.

-It is Piers Morgan.

-He's going to be so pleased you got that right.

-Yeah.

JEREMY CHUCKLES

Well done. Your question, Eggheads.

Which of these English queens died of smallpox, aged 32?

-Mary.

-Is it Mary?

-Yeah, Mary II.

-Victoria lived till she was in her 80s.

-And Elizabeth?

She was in her 60s before she snuffed it. Yeah.

-So it is Mary.

-70, almost.

We think that's Mary II.

Mary II. Did she come straight after Elizabeth, or before, or...?

-Help me out with Mary.

-Mary was 1689-ish, to...

-Yeah, 1702, is it?

Well, William reigned till 1702, cos Mary died before then.

So it's William and Mary, it's that double...?

Mary was actually the one with the proper claim to the throne.

So that was why parliament sort of wanted her to come over.

Right. Brilliant. Lovely bit of history, thank you.

Mary II is quite right, too.

Here's your question, Trev.

In 2016, the Bank of England announced that JMW Turner

and his painting, The Fighting Temeraire,

would feature on the new design of which banknote?

I don't know. I'm going to guess £10.

OK. It's hard to guess, really. I'm sure you know the painting.

-I do know the painting, but...

-Eggheads, help us here.

-I think it's the 20.

-I thought it was the 20.

-Yeah. 20's the right answer, Trev.

-OK.

-I'm really sorry.

-That's fine.

OK. Eggheads, to take the lead. What is the French word for a goat?

-Chevre.

-Chevre.

-Chevre.

-Singe is a monkey, grenouille's a frog.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK, everybody happy with that?

-Happy with that, yeah.

We're going for chevre.

-What do you think, Trev?

-Yes.

-Yes, chevre is right.

So they're ahead, which is annoying.

Get this one right, and see if you can hold them. Otherwise, it's over.

Which of these playwrights wrote the stage play

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child?

-Jack Thorne.

-Jack Thorne.

-Guess, or knowledge?

-Guess.

-Really?

-Yes.

But you said it in that Barry Simmons way,

as if you absolutely know it.

-And you were right to, it's correct. Well done.

-Thank you.

Is this the moment it turns?

Eggheads, get this wrong, we go to sudden death,

and as we know, anything can happen.

The 2016 film The Nice Guys,

starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, is set during which era?

-It's the 1970s, isn't it?

-Yeah, Shane Black's...

-Los Angeles...

-Yeah.

-1970s, I think. I think I've seen their suits, they're quite...

-Yeah, they've got a nasty pastel flare-type thing going on.

-Yeah.

-Lots of polyester.

-Yes. Big collars.

Could possibly be the '90s, though.

-I don't think so.

-OK.

-I think it is further back than that.

-OK.

Definitely period.

We think they commit various offences against fashion

on-screen because they're from the 1970s.

1970s, you all seem to agree.

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

If you've got it wrong, we go to sudden death.

The answer is the 1970s.

-We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

-Well played, Trev.

So you were being saved for the final round,

but it's hard on your own, Trev, isn't it?

Against five Eggheads, I'd say it's pretty difficult.

Yeah, and you obviously hope at some point they disagree on something,

but you didn't really today, Eggs, you were playing in sync there.

Trev, I'm sorry. Commiserations to the Number Crunchers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

playing powerfully now with these two new Eggheads,

and they reign supreme over Quizland.

It means you won't be going home with the £2,000, so we'll take

that money, we'll roll it over to the next show, see what happens.

Eggheads, well done. I can't imagine any of you ever losing a round.

That'll jinx it.

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

the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£3,000 says they don't. Till then, goodbye.