Episode 42 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.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

the Bird Brains.

Now, this team all work for the same

food-manufacturing company and have come together from Derbyshire and Belfast.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm Ian.

I'm a category planning manager.

Hello, I'm Katharine.

I'm head of talent.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm head of planning.

Hi, I'm Jackie and I'm an HR manager.

Hi, I'm Chris and I'm a commercial manager.

So, Ian and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

So, different branches of the same company, Ian.

-Yes.

-And it's chicken and turkey.

Chicken and turkey. We do both at different times of the year, but, yes.

And do you quiz together?

No, we do not. We're together today really to raise money for our chosen

charity Farm Africa.

-So, that's what we're trying to do.

-I see. OK.

But also, the Eggheads will be aware that you could be bluffing about not

-quizzing. He gives you a big wink.

-Yeah.

-Couldn't you?

-Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

-We planned it on the train coming up.

-OK. Good luck.

Every day, there is £1,000 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, Bird Brains, the Eggheads had a bit of a bad time.

They then won the last game.

So, they're not sure yet whether they are back on track.

It means there's £2,000 for you to win today.

-Would you like to have a go?

-Yes, we would.

-Yes, we would.

-I thought so.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & TV and you can

choose from Chris, Dave, Kevin, Barry and Lisa.

All right, team.

Who's going to do this one?

-Film.

-Who's that?

-Chris.

-OK.

-Is that you?

-OK.

Chris at the end? OK.

Who do we want to go for?

We'll go for... What do you think?

-Chris at that end.

-Chris?

-Chris at that end.

Oh, right, you're a decisive lot, aren't you?

Some people take about five minutes to work it out.

I'm impressed. Chris from Bird Brains versus the other Chris.

We're going to have to work out a way of telling you apart, Chris.

-Bootiful.

-LAUGHTER

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

So, Chris Hughes, I'm just wondering...

-Mm.

-..who comes first?

The chicken worker or the Egghead?

This is a variation on the chicken and egg joke, isn't it?

On the whole chicken and egg philosophical conundrum.

Yeah, because... Obviously, other Chris, you've got to decide...

Well, you've got to answer the question, Challenger Chris.

So, there we are. Film & TV, you can tell us.

We'll finally get the answer.

I think in this instance, the chicken person will come first.

The chicken goes first. Are you ready?

-Absolutely.

-Let's do it.

OK. Chris, here's your question.

Which of these characters featured in a 2016 film of the same name?

I would go down the centre with Jason Bourne.

Jason Bourne is quite right, well done.

OK, Egghead Chris.

The TV bloopers show It'll Be All Right On The Night was first broadcast

in which year?

Well, it started out with Denis Norden.

It wasn't as early as 1957 and it wasn't as late as '97, so it's 1977.

1977 is right.

Back to you, Challenger Chris.

In EastEnders, who did Martin Fowler marry in May 2016?

EastEnders is probably not my strongest area.

Something's attracting me to Tina.

So, I'll go for Tina.

I wonder what is attracting you to Tina.

It's almost like Chris.

-Christina.

-Oh, I see, you're being attracted by your own name.

LAUGHTER

That's one way of getting the answer,

who might have a Chris in their name.

Oh, I wish it was right.

Stacey is the right answer.

OK, Chris Hughes.

In the 1993 film Mrs Doubtfire,

what accent does Robin Williams' character adopt when he assumes the

identity of the nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire?

-IN SCOTTISH ACCENT:

-Well, he does a sort of very dour Scots accent.

So, it's Scottish.

It is indeed Scottish.

You're taking your chances doing that in Glasgow.

Oh, bless him, Robin Williams.

OK. Scottish is right. Well done.

So far, Chris is in the lead, Egghead Chris.

You need to get this one right, Challenger Chris.

Chicken Chris. Who presents the TV series Fake Or Fortune alongside the

art expert Philip Mould?

Chris, is it...?

Oh. You're testing me today, Jeremy. Erm...

Sorry.

To be honest, it's going to be a guess.

I'll have to go with

-Kirsty Young.

-OK, if you've got this right, we play on.

Let's just check with your team.

-Do you watch it anyone?

-Yeah, it's Fiona Bruce.

It's Fiona Bruce.

I'm so sorry.

Chris, the Challenger,

the Locomotive, as we call him, has knocked you out.

Chris, you'll be in the final.

Come back to us. Early days.

We'll play on.

OK, the Bird Brains have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost one yet.

And the next subject for you is Politics.

Who would like Politics?

-That's quite easy.

-OK.

It's Jackie.

OK, Jackie.

-OK.

-Our HR manager.

Against which Egghead?

-Can't be Chris.

-Lisa?

-I think we said Lisa.

-Lisa. Lisa.

Very good.

So, Jackie from Bird Brains...

-You like that, don't you?

-No.

..Lisa from the Eggheads,

please, both of you go to our famous Question Room now.

OK, so would you like to go first or second, Jackie?

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

-Here we go. Good luck.

-Thank you.

How many people voted for the UK to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum?

Was it...?

Hm. That's a tricky one. It was obviously a close vote.

I would go with 17.4 million.

Absolutely right, well done.

OK, Lisa, here's your question.

Gerry Adams became the president of which political party in 1983?

Lisa, was it...?

That's Sinn Fein, Jeremy.

Well, we have a Northern Ireland contingent here, so let me

-just check.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes, it was definitely Sinn Fein.

Well done.

Jackie, back to you. Second question.

Which of these world leaders was suspended from her presidential duties in

May 2016 after impeachment proceedings were started?

I think I do vaguely recall this.

I'm not certain, but I'm going to go with Dilma Rousseff.

Dilma Rousseff is the right answer.

Do you remember which country this was?

I want to say Brazil.

Bang on. Well done.

Lisa, your second.

In July 2016,

there was a failed military coup attempt against the government of

which of these three countries?

I think it was Turkey.

Let me just have a little think.

I think it is Turkey.

Turkey's right. Well done.

So, see if you can get the third one right, Jackie,

and put some pressure on the Egg.

See if she cracks. What is Theresa May's maiden name?

I really don't know this one.

Theresa Sheffield doesn't sound right.

Complete guess, I'm going to go with Theresa Brasier.

Yes, it is right.

Well done. Lisa, here's your question.

You're on the precipice.

The US politician Tim Kaine became a senator for which US state in 2013?

Now, you see,

US elections in 2016, I made my little fact list

while it was going on.

I was there going, "Right, OK, got that one.

"Yeah, match them up with a state."

Tim Kaine, I think the representative for Virginia.

Virginia is correct.

So, you both got three out of three.

Sorry, Jackie, you couldn't shake her off.

So, we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

-Are you ready to go?

-Yep.

The Equal Franchise Act of 1928

gave all women over what age in the UK the right to vote?

In my mind I'm going up all the time.

So, I started at 21, I moved to 25, and I think I might be now at 30.

Erm...

I'm going to go with 30.

I don't know why I think that, but I'm going to go with 30.

OK, let's check with the Eggs here.

-Eggs?

-I think it's 21.

-21.

Yeah, it's 21.

-Oh!

-Jackie. Did it hit 30 at some point?

Yeah, the first time women got the vote, it was women over 30.

Do you know when that was?

-ALL:

-1918.

-'18.

-So, 1918 was 30.

-Right.

Lisa, if you get this right, you've taken a place in the final.

Which former London Mayor became Foreign Secretary in July 2016?

How could we forget? Boris Johnson.

Boris Johnson is right and with that, you take your place in the final.

Sorry, Jackie, you've been knocked out. Lisa will go through.

Please come back and re-join your teams and we'll play the next round.

So, the Bird Brains have lost another brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are still there,

all five of you. And the next subject is Arts & Books.

-Who would like this?

-Arts & Books. I can't do Arts & Books.

I think it'll have to be you.

OK.

-We're going to go with Andy.

-OK, Andy.

Head of planning. Against which Egghead?

And it needs to be Barry, or Kevin, or Dave.

-Erm...

-Dave.

-I think I'll go Dave, please.

I know you like your Arts & Books.

Yeah, it depends what it is.

If it's Harry Potter or Game Of Thrones, no.

So, Andy from the Bird Brains versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the

Eggheads. Please take your leave of us and go to the Question Room.

So, Andy, you were a student in the '80s.

-I certainly was.

-And studying what?

-Economics.

-Oh, OK, so, we're close to Arts & Books, but not that close.

No, not close enough.

But somehow you met Madonna?

Yes, the local radio station at the time ran a competition when she was

on tour, to go and meet her and have a bite to eat

and I won the competition.

So, this was before she was mega, mega, mega, wasn't it?

This was... This was a really early tour.

So, this was the time of sort of singles like Holiday and Like A Virgin.

Right. Well, she was pretty big then.

So, what was it like? Meal for two, or what?

No, actually, I went along with a friend of mine.

So, it was a meal for three.

-Yeah.

-But, no, it was fine.

She was really good fun.

How nice. Meeting Madonna.

Dave, that's right up on our list of impressive experiences.

-Oh, it's top-notch, isn't it?

-That is top-notch.

Brilliant. Absolutely superb story.

So, Andy, Arts & Books, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And good luck.

In 1836,

what became the first work by Charles Dickens to be published

originally in monthly instalments?

I seem to remember hearing about this

listening to something on the radio.

But the answer isn't jumping to mind.

I don't think it's Martin Chuzzlewit.

For some reason, The Pickwick Papers stands out,

so I'll go with The Pickwick Papers.

You're right, well done.

OK, Dave, your question.

What was the real first name of the writer known

as Dr Seuss?

I think it's Theodor Dryser, so I'll go Theodor.

Theodor's right. Back to you, Andy.

The politician Shirley Williams is the daughter of which novelist?

I don't think it's in the Sackville-West family.

But I'd be guessing between the other two.

I'm drawn to Violet Trefusis.

So, I'll go with that, Jeremy.

It's Vera Brittain.

Dave, your question.

Published in 1977,

Dying Of The Light is the first novel by which fantasy and science fiction author?

HE LAUGHS

Oh, dear. Paid for this.

Right, I'm going to rule out Arthur C Clarke.

I think he was earlier. I did say about my Game Of Thrones

lack of knowledge. But I didn't think he wrote science fiction,

George RR Martin. He could do.

Fantasy and science fiction I associate with Ray Bradbury,

so that's got to be my answer.

-Ray Bradbury.

-Oh, interesting.

OK. Because you could have ruled him out for the same reason that you

lost Arthur C Clarke.

Eggheads, correct me if I'm wrong, he was operating before.

-In the '50s.

-Oh, yes.

-In the '50s, yeah.

-Yeah, so I was...

-Fahrenheit 451 and all that.

-Yeah.

-George RR Martin.

I didn't associate him with science fiction, so...

-Game Of Thrones guy.

-Yep. OK.

One point each. Back to you, Andy.

The Seven And Five Society that was composed of seven painters

and five sculptors was founded in which year?

Andy, is it...?

Unlikely something like that would be founded at the start

of the Second World War, so I would rule that out.

1919, end of the First World War, art back in fashion.

Again, I'm guessing between the first two,

but I'll go down the middle and go with 1919.

-1919 is the right answer.

-Well done, Andy!

This is all good for your sponsorship, isn't it?

I know every question you get right, you're...

You're getting sponsored for, for Farm Africa. That's good.

So, Dave, see if you can stay in.

Which 15th century Italian painter is believed to have died

at the age of only 26?

I don't know.

I don't know how old Fra Angelico was. I've heard of him.

Was he that young?

No, I'm going to fall on my sword here - Fra Angelico.

-Who is it, Eggheads?

-Masaccio.

-Masaccio...

-Masaccio.

-..is the answer.

And with that, we say well done, Andy.

-Well done, Andy.

-You've taken the round.

Brilliant. You took on an Egghead, you emerged triumphant.

You've just broken the rhythm of the Eggheads here.

So that's very good news. You will be in the final.

Please return to us, we will play the last round before the final.

As it stands, the Bird Brains have lost two brains from the final round,

but the Eggheads have now lost a brain.

The next subject is Sport.

-Who wants Sport?

-That'll be me. I'll take that one.

-OK.

-I'll take that one, Jeremy.

-OK, skipper goes in.

Our category planning manager, Ian, against either Barry or Kevin.

-Two big hitters.

-I'd like to go with Kevin.

-Kevin.

-OK.

-Kevin.

-If I lose, I lose, then.

-THEY LAUGH

Well, at some point, he's going to be in front of you,

so give it a go.

Ian from the Bird Brains versus Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

OK, Ian, it's Sport.

Not your particular choice, or were you looking forward to this?

I'm OK with sport. Yeah. Not too worried.

Have you had one of your problems recently been Sport, Kevin?

-I can't remember.

-I lost the last one I did.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Bit of blankness.

Yeah, just a little absence. Nothing to worry about.

I don't know yet.

We'll let you know. Ian on Sport. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

And here is your question.

In football, what colours are the stripes on the shirts

usually worn by Newcastle United players for home games?

Well, I think they're called the Magpies because of black and white,

so I'll go with black and white.

Black and white is right.

Well done. Kevin.

Which of these England cricketers became famous

for being an all-rounder?

Well, be a bit careful,

but Steve Harmison is primarily known as a bowler.

And Alastair Cook is really primarily known

as an opening batsman.

So, Andrew Flintoff.

Andrew Flintoff is the right answer.

All right. Back to you, Ian.

Which of these women is a left-handed tennis player?

Left-handed.

I don't believe Steffi Graf was.

My initial thought was Martina Navratilova.

So, I'll have to go with my initial thought.

So, I'm going with Martina Navratilova.

You are right. Martina Navratilova.

Well done. I like your look of relief, Ian, that's good.

You're doing well. Kevin.

In UK horse racing, the Triple Crown consists of the 2,000 Guineas,

the Epsom Derby and which other race?

Well, the only one of those that's one of the classics,

let alone the Triple Crown, is the St Leger.

So, St Leger.

Yes, St Leger is correct. So, we're on Sport.

Third question for you now, Ian.

Le Bron James left Miami Heat to re-join which NBA team in 2014?

Can't say that basketball is my sport.

I think, and I'll go with, Los Angeles Lakers.

It's Cleveland Cavaliers. Ian, sorry.

So, Kevin has a chance to steal a place in the final.

The American, Simone Biles is a famous name in which sport?

She had a fantastic Rio Olympics in 2016.

She's a gymnast.

Gymnastics is the right answer.

You're in the final. Sorry, Ian, beaten by our Egghead.

But then he is very good. And it's not over for your team.

Please, both of you, re-join us and we'll see what happens in the final round.

So, this is what we've been playing towards.

It is time for our final round.

And, as always, it's General Knowledge.

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

won't be allowed to take part in this round, so that's Ian,

Jackie and Chris from Bird Brains, and also Dave from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Katharine, Andy, you're playing to win the Bird Brains' £2,000.

Lisa, Barry, Kevin and Chris,

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, the questions are all general knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

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

And if you need to release chickens at any point, just do it.

Put them off. Katharine and Andy, good luck.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-First?

-First.

-First, please.

All the best. Here we go.

Who received her fourth Oscar nomination

for her work in the 2015 film Joy?

Was this...?

-I have absolutely no idea.

-Neither do I.

I don't think it's Jennifer Lawrence.

I don't know if she's had any Oscar nominations, has she?

See, I would have said definitely not Amy Adams.

In which case, it would be Emily Blunt.

I can't remember her getting one either.

No, I can't. My first... My first reaction was Jennifer Lawrence.

But... It's... I can't even remember the film.

Joy. Shall we go with Jennifer Lawrence?

Let's go with Jennifer Lawrence. Shall we?

-OK.

-Yes, we'll go with Jennifer Lawrence.

Oh, you swerved around there.

You did well there, Katharine,

to just be open to the idea, because you're right.

The answer was Jennifer Lawrence.

Eggheads, the Dirham is official currency

of which of these countries?

That's D-I-R-H-A-M.

-United Arab Emirates?

-Yes.

-Yeah, I'd say United Arab Emirates.

-Are we all happy with that?

-Mm-hm.

-OK, Germany...

Jeremy, we're going for the United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates is the right answer.

You didn't really struggle there, but that may happen.

OK, Challengers.

What are the dimensions in millimetres

of a standard A3 sheet of paper?

-Right.

-We should know this from selecting the paper

-in the printer at work.

-A3.

620 feels like it's probably too big.

-Yeah.

-520 feels right.

I don't know whether four...

420 feels too small.

-Oh, maybe... Maybe not.

-Well, 297 x 2 is...

590. And 520. That's too square, is it not?

Yeah, no, that's a good point.

I think it would be 297 x 420.

But then, I got the last one wrong.

No, no, I think... I think, even just using my hand as a guide,

I think 520 is too big.

I think... I think you're right. I think we'll go with the first one.

-It's yours.

-OK, we're going to go with 297 x 420.

You've got it right. Well done.

297 x 420.

Did some good reasoning there.

A3 is twice the size of A4.

-And A4 is 297 x 210.

-Ah, OK. Useful.

Eggheads, according to Forbes, who was the highest-earning author in the world

between June 2015 and June 2016 with pre-tax earnings of 95 million?

Oh, my goodness me.

So, it's between mid-2015 and mid-2016.

-Yes.

-Not that that will particularly help.

-No, I think it does.

Because John Grisham wrote most of his novels before that, hasn't he?

So, you're looking at more recent things and Dan Brown's wrote

The Da Vinci Code and Inferno and everything a way back.

I think possibly James Patterson

would be the more recent of them.

I'm not convinced any of them have had a new release in that period.

-I think you'd be relying heavily on...

-Historical.

..previous sales, in the same way as most of the rich musicians.

The ones with the big back catalogues.

Patterson is an industry, basically. Churns them out.

Some of them are co-written, some of them are ghost-written.

-Tricky.

-I could think about this forever.

-Yeah.

If you just hadn't seen the list, it's...

If it comes to a vote, my vote's for Patterson.

Chris, have you any ideas?

Yeah, well, Dan Brown's a sort of passe phenomenon, isn't he?

And John Grisham tends to be more of a steady seller rather than having

fast peaks of sales, so I'm probably inclined toward Patterson.

-As Kevin says, he's an industry.

-Yeah, exactly, yeah. You'll see...

You'll see on the shelves, you'll see loads of James Patterson books.

You know, with other people's names, as well.

But it's a James Patterson brand.

I'd probably have to go for Patterson.

-Right, that's three of us.

-He's the one about which I know the least,

-so I wouldn't have gone for him.

-No, no.

But I'm quite prepared to fall in with the majority.

I can see exactly what you mean though with the past sales thing.

-OK, shall we go?

-Yeah, it... It's very tricky.

You can look at it either way.

Well, we could talk about this for a long, long time

and still not come to any firm conclusion.

But on the balance that James Patterson is more of an industry

than the other two, we think on sheer volume alone,

it will be James Patterson.

James Patterson did have a lot of books out between June 2015...

I hope there's not a but coming there.

Just... Just in that one year, he had a lot out.

So, the logic was good, but is the answer correct?

Do you know the answer?

I think we would have tended towards James Patterson, as well.

James Patterson is the right answer.

-Well done, gentlemen.

-Eggheads, you just crept to it.

OK, now get the third one right.

You can see that they're in a bit of a state still.

Which of these supermodels is the tallest?

I think... I think all of the press...

..I'm sure was around Naomi Campbell was really tall.

That's the one that jumps out at me.

I mean... But...

Yeah. You see, I wouldn't tend toward Cindy Crawford,

but I'm not sure about Elle Macpherson,

because I think she's quite tall as well.

-So, we're definitely ruling Cindy Crawford out.

-Yes.

-Definitely.

OK. So, can you think of them on the catwalk at any stage together?

No!

I mean, is there anything about Elle Macpherson

that brings to mind the fact that she's tall?

Not particularly. Not particularly.

My first instinct was Naomi Campbell. But...

OK. Shall we go with Naomi Campbell then?

Bearing in mind, we don't really know.

-We'll go with Naomi Campbell, Jeremy.

-OK.

One of them is six foot and the other two are 5'9".

Let me check with the Eggs here. Do you know?

-It's Elle Macpherson.

-Elle Macpherson.

So, chance for the Eggheads now in this close game.

Get this right, the contest is over.

Your question. Cold Water,

featuring Justin Bieber and Mo was a UK number one single

for which pop act in 2016?

-It's Major Lazer.

-Major Lazer.

-Major Lazer.

Well, three of us instantly said Major Lazer on that one.

I don't think Chris passed an opinion,

but I'm sure he will agree with us if we all go for Major Lazer.

-I won't stand in your way.

-Major Lazer.

The pop act that had Cold Water was indeed Major Lazer.

We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

So, I don't know how they do that,

but sometimes they've been looking at lists of...

Or maybe you've just been dancing around to it in your dressing room, Barry?

No, no, no, that was a list one, trust me.

-Thank you for playing.

-Thank you.

-Commiserations to our Bird Brains here.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them and they are just

about reigning supreme again over quiz land.

It does mean you don't go home with the £2,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Back on track.

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat them.

£3,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.