Episode 43 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.

Feeling bookish, feeling learned?

-Oh, yeah.

-Definitely.

Very good. Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today

are the Top Spinners. Now this team all met

through the Redbridge sports centre

in Ilford, where they compete against each other

twice a week in table tennis. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Carol, and I'm a retired library assistant.

Hello, I'm Nigel, and I'm a black cab driver.

Hi, I'm Karen and I'm a retired publican.

Hi, my name's Dave and I'm a retired analytical chemist.

Hello. I'm Susan and I'm a house wife.

So, Carol and team, welcome.

-Hello!

-Good to see you, and I love a bit of table tennis,

if you've got a passion for it, I understand.

-You must be really good.

-Well, yes, we are!

Have we got any table tennis on this side?

I pong far more than I ping.

They don't really get out, I'm afraid.

Do you quiz at all?

No, we've never quizzed before, this is the first time.

-Oh, really?

-Oh, together?

So you've quizzed, you've got General Knowledge?

We've never quizzed as a team before

-but we've have been to quizzes individually.

-Oh, brilliant.

Well listen, good luck.

-Thank you.

-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, Top Spinners, the Eggheads have had a slightly torrid time,

then they've won the last two games.

So they're getting back into their stride and you need to stop them.

£3,000 is here for you if you can.

Would you like to try and win?

-ALL:

-Yes.

-Definitely.

-Oh, yeah.

The first head-to-head is on the subject of Geography,

you can have Beth, or Dave,

or Chris, or Barry or Lisa.

Nigel, yeah?

-Geography?

-I think it's going to be me.

OK.

Our black cab driver, against which Egghead?

-Yeah, I'll take on Dave.

-Very good, so Nigel,

from the Top Spinners with a mean serve, I suspect,

versus Dave from the Eggheads on Geography,

and just to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room.

So I'm just thinking we've got Tremendous Knowledge Dave,

and then Nigel, if you're a black cab driver,

you've done THE Knowledge, is that right?

-That's correct, yes.

-So you're The Knowledge Nigel?

-That's me.

-And that's where you have a memory of all the streets in London, it's amazing.

Just about most of them, yeah.

And how long does it take to do that?

Well, when I did it, it took about 22 months

but nowadays it takes between three and three-and-a-half years.

Really? What, cos there are more streets, or people are just slower?

No, they have made it harder

and also that there are more people doing it,

so it's taking longer.

I was going down near the Royal Albert Hall,

and a cab driver said it's called the Hot And Cold Corner,

-do you know this, Nigel?

-Yeah, it's the geographical society.

Yeah, Shackleton on one side and Livingstone on the other.

That's right, so the cab drivers call it Hot And Cold Corner.

All right, good luck, Nigel.

-Thank you.

-And do you want to go first or second on geography?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. The Strait of Gibraltar

connects the Mediterranean Sea to which ocean?

It's definitely not the Indian,

or the Pacific, so it's definitely the Atlantic.

Very good, Atlantic it is. Straight in there.

Good stuff.

And Dave, Tremendous Knowledge Dave, if you lose,

-you've got to give him a tip.

-Yep, definitely.

Seriously. Here is your question.

What is Yellowstone Park's Old Faithful?

-It's a geyser.

-It's a geyser, I've seen it!

It goes off, what, every 90 minutes or something?

-Yes, something like that.

-Very, very faithful, funnily enough!

OK. Nigel, the coastal resort town of Rapallo,

with its pastel coloured houses, is in which European country?

There's two choices I think

with the name Rapallo,

it's either, I believe, Spain or Italy

and I'm going to say... Italy.

I'm so glad you did. You know, Carol, don't you?

-Yes, I've been there.

-You've been there! Carol's been there, Nigel.

-You're right, Italy it is.

-Good.

Just past Hot And Cold Corner and turn left!

Dave, the Pearl, Red and Mekong rivers

all drain into which body of water?

Mekong. I think.

If it's the Mekong...I'm going with the South China Sea, please.

South China Sea is correct.

Nigel, the third question, can be crucial.

The i360 observation tower,

publicised as the world's thinnest tall building,

opened where in 2016?

I saw it under construction when I was down there and it's Brighton.

Brighton is the right answer.

Brilliant. Brighton it is.

You were just passing, were you?

No, I stayed there for a couple of days, for a weekend.

It's a magnificent looking building.

Yeah, good stuff. Well done.

Dave, you're on the back foot now, got to get this right.

Mindanao is the second largest island of which country?

Mindanao, can you spell it for me, please?

M-I-N-D-A-N-A-O.

I don't believe it's Malaysia...

I don't think it's Indonesia either.

I'm going to go for the Philippines, please.

Nicely done. Philippines is right.

You two are both playing well, my goodness.

After three questions each the scores are level.

We go to Sudden Death, Nigel.

-Oh, dear.

-No, you've done well, don't worry.

It's a bit harder now, I don't give you alternatives.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve

is located in which central Central American country?

I really don't know. But I'm going to take a guess at...

-..Uruguay.

-Do you know this, Dave?

I would have gone Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is the right answer.

-Oh, well played, Dave.

-Nigel.

Now you've got to get your one right, Dave.

-It's where it gets difficult.

-Yes.

-OK, this for the round, Dave.

Now a national historic landmark,

the former royal residence called Iolani Palace is in which US state?

Well, I'm having a guess here

but thinking of royal palace, I'm going to go Hawaii.

Hawaii is the right answer, well done, Dave.

You've taken that round without getting a question wrong.

He's playing well, Nigel, isn't he?

-He certainly is.

-Sorry, your Costa Rica was costly there.

You were beaten by our Egghead and will not be in the final round.

But, it's early days, please come back to us and rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, the Top Spinners have lost one brain from

the final round, the Eggheads have not lost any so far.

The next subject for you is Music.

This is going to be good, isn't it?

I reckon some Top Spinners like their music.

-Oh, yes.

-Susan, do you want to do music?

Yes. Why not? Who do I go against?

Susan is going to choose...

Susan against anyone but Dave.

-Do you want to try Chris?

-Yeah, go on.

-OK.

-Chris, please.

-So Susan from the Top Spinners versus Chris

from the Eggheads on Music, please go to our Question Room now.

So you're retired now, Susan?

-Yes.

-And playing table tennis, obviously.

-Absolutely. Twice a week.

-Anything else?

-I volunteer at a day centre for dementia.

Right, well, that must be amazing work.

It's very rewarding, yes, I enjoy it.

And how about your music tastes?

Nothing in particular, just general.

I go to the theatre quite often

and I do particularly like musicals, so...

Chris, I think you're quite big on musicals as well?

I like some musicals. I like Les Mis.

Starlight Express because of the subject matter. Chicago...

and some of the old Rodgers and Hammerstein stuff.

All right, well, let's see how we go.

It's Music, Susan, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go. The annual music award show founded by which

music publication presented its first Godlike Genius Award in 1994?

I think it might be Q.

-Do you know this, Chris?

-I'd go for the NME, myself.

-It is NME.

-Oh, dear.

-Never mind.

-Over to you, Chris.

Cher Lloyd came to fame as a contestant on which TV show?

I never watch any of these things...

Cher Lloyd.

Well, people from Britain's Got Talent and Fame Academy

tend to sink without trace once they get outside,

so I'll go for X Factor.

Like Susan Boyle.

The X Factor is right.

Over to you, Susan.

Bobby Crush, who found fame on Opportunity Knocks in the '70s,

became known for his skill on which musical instrument?

-I think this is piano.

-Yeah, do you remember that?

-I do, actually.

-I'm struggling a bit.

-Hughie Green and all that.

-That's right. Piano is right.

Chris, according to the lyrics of the song Oklahoma,

from the musical of the same name, what comes sweeping down the plain?

# When the wind comes sweeping down the plain... #

-It's the wind, Jeremy.

-It is the wind.

Susan, what is the stage name of the American rapper and actress

born Dana Owens?

I've never heard of Little Kim.

I've heard of Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah.

I think...maybe Missy Elliott,

I'll go for.

Any Eggheads know this?

-Queen Latifah.

-Queen Latifah...

is the answer, Susan, so I'm sorry, no way back for you in this round.

We have to say well done, Chris. Chris will be in the final.

Please, both of you return to us and we'll see what happens

in the next round.

OK, Top Spinners, what do we do

in table tennis when it starts to go wrong?

-We up our game.

-We up our game or we change our serve.

-Oh, yes.

-Yep, we do.

-We've lost two brains now from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost a brain

but they can cave in at any moment!

The next subject is History.

-Oh!

-Now that sounds good, Carol, is that yours?

Yes, I'm going to have a go at that.

A former librarian.

-Against which Egghead?

-I'll have Beth, please.

Very good. So Carol is going to be top spinning against Beth

from the Eggheads on History.

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

So good luck against Beth, Carol,

would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go.

Carol, Francis Walsingham was the principal secretary

and spymaster for which English monarch?

Well, when I first heard that name, I thought of Elizabeth I,

so that's who I'm going to go for, Elizabeth I.

Brilliant, you got it right, Carol, well done.

Beth, Kenneth MacAlpin is considered

to be the first king of which country?

It could be any of them - they've all got similar roots of names.

But with a name like MacAlpin you would go with Scotland,

and Kenneth is a very Scottish name as well, so Scotland.

Scotland is right, well done, Beth.

Carol, the Spanish hero, El Cid lived during which century?

I've heard of El Cid but I don't know which century he lived in.

So I will have to guess.

It definitely wasn't the 19th, so I'll go for the 11th.

-Yeah, 11th is right.

-Oh, well done!

Beth, your question. Buenaventura Durruti

was an influential figure in which 20th century conflict?

I know Barry is sitting there screaming the answer...

..most probably. Buenaventura sounds Spanish, Spanish Civil War?

-Let's see, Barry?

-I'm happy with that.

He's happy, Spanish Civil War, well done.

Carol, your question.

You're doing well, Carol. The early medieval kingdom of Dumnonia

was in which part of England?

Could you spell it please, for me?

D-U-M-N-O-N-I-A.

Well, I actually don't know at all, because I've never heard of it,

so this is a pure guess, and I'll go for the north-east.

No, it's the south-west.

But it's hard if you haven't heard of it.

Very hard. Beth, your question for the round.

How many so-called Good Emperors of Rome ruled over the empire

between approximately 96 and 180 AD?

Well, they went through some terrible emperors

as well as some pretty good ones,

and after Marcus Aurelius died, a bad one came in, Commodus.

I'm pretty sure it's not seven.

I don't think that they had seven good ones in a row,

or together.

I'm going to go with five.

-Any Eggheads know?

-Yes, it was five.

They were Trajan, Hadrian, Nerva, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

Blimey, Barry's just named them all.

We need a round of applause for all of that!

Barry does that at parties quite a lot.

It's why I don't get invited to many!

Five is right.

-Hooray!

-Three out of three for our Eggheads.

Sorry, Carol, they're playing well today, aren't they?

Yes, they are. Yes.

Not to worry. You've been knocked out,

but it's not over by a long way for our Challengers.

Come back to us, both of you, and we'll play a last round

before the final.

So, the Top Spinners have lost another brain.

They've lost three from the final round now.

The Eggheads are still all there and they're playing well as well.

The next subject is Arts & Books.

-Who would like this?

-Well, it's got to be one of you two.

-Go on, Karen.

-Are you going to go, Karen?

Who are you going to go up against?

It can be either Barry or Lisa.

-Who do you fancy?

-Lisa.

-You fancy Lisa?

-Everyone fancies Lisa!

LAUGHTER

Karen from Top Spinners versus Lisa from the Eggheads and the subject,

Arts & Books. The last round before the final round,

please take your positions.

OK, so you're on Arts & Books, Karen, against Lisa,

would you like to go first or second?

I would like to go first, please.

And here we go with your first question.

The 19th century novel The Brothers Karamazov is set in which country?

I don't think it's Ireland.

It's between Portugal... I'm sure it's not Portugal.

I'm going to go for Russia.

Russia is correct.

Written by, Eggheads?

-Dostoyevsky.

-Dostoyevsky.

-Dostoyevsky.

Lisa, the word "Bildungsroman",

which means a novel dealing with youth or formative years,

comes from which language?

It must be German.

Well, it wasn't my accent that gave it away, that's for sure.

German is right. OK, Karen,

which comedy writer well known for his TV sitcoms

adapted the Ealing Comedy film, The Ladykillers,

for the stage in 2011?

I'm not sure on this one at all.

It's going to have to be a guess, I'm afraid.

Graham Linehan is jumping out at me.

I'm going to say Graham Linehan.

Yeah, you're absolutely right!

Amazingly talented guy.

Lisa, My Wicked, Wicked Ways

is an autobiography by which Hollywood star?

Now, why did I think it was Errol Flynn just before it came up?

Is that because it's the right answer?

Or just because it's, you know, a happy straw that I'm clutching.

My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

Mr Hughes there will be able to tell you it's related to films

they've been in or catchphrases or something.

Sadly, I can't tell you anything of the sort.

I don't know many of the others were renowned

for having wicked ways, really.

More of an Errol Flynn persuasion, I think.

No, I'm grasping, here, I'll go for Errol Flynn.

-Let's see if Chris knows.

-Yep.

He did have a reputation of being, shall we say, a ladies' man.

So, yes.

He confirm it's right, Errol Flynn.

-Bless his heart.

-Who, Errol's or Chris'?

It's the same thing, really, isn't it?

OK, Karen. Your question.

Just pile the pressure on.

I'll try.

"I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world"

is a famous line by which poet?

Would you repeat that for me?

Yes, yawp is Y-A-W-P.

"I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world"

is a famous line by which poet?

-Again...

-SHE SIGHS DEEPLY

There's one jumping out at me

but it doesn't sound like TS Eliot.

I think I'm going to go with Walt Whitman.

-What does your team think?

-I think it's Robert Frost.

-What about you, Eggs?

-Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass.

Walt Whitman is right, from Leaves of Grass.

Three out of three, Karen.

So, Lisa to you, to stay in.

Is this the Egghead who's going to crack?

What is the name of the innovative British theatre group

founded in 2000, known for its immersive productions,

whose 2013 work The Drowned Man

was performed in a disused sorting office in London?

Now, I think the only one I've heard of, of those, is Punchdrunk.

Shall I go with my first instinct and say Punchdrunk?

Again, I don't think I can make a case for the other two.

-I'll go

-Punchdrunk. Punchdrunk is the right answer, Lisa.

Well done, good quizzing. Good quizzing by our Eggheads.

Sorry, Karen, you couldn't throw her off that easily.

-That's right.

-So we go to Sudden Death, it's gets a bit harder.

No alternatives from me.

Here's your question.

Which book by HG Wells is partly set

in the year, 802,701 AD?

There's only two that I can come up with...

1984 and...

-Animal Farm?

-It's not Animal Farm that was George Orwell,

it is The Time Machine.

-Sorry!

-The Time Machine.

-Of course it was, sorry.

OK, Lisa, get this right and you're in the final.

The Albertina is a museum and art collection

in which European capital city?

OK, not ringing bells for Paris.

It sounds more Germanic than anything else.

I've never heard of it in Berlin, that's not a guarantee.

No, I really haven't heard of it.

I'm reduced to guessing. I'll try Vienna.

-It is in Vienna.

-Wow!

-Well done, Lisa.

You got there. I don't know how you did it, a mystical thing there.

It's called being exceptional jammy.

Being jammy, whatever, you're in the final. Karen, sorry,

you've been knocked out as well.

So, it's looking difficult for the Challengers

but it's not beyond hope at all. Please come back,

rejoin your teams, we will play the final round.

So, this is what we've 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 Carol, Nigel, Karen and Susan,

from the Top Spinners,

would you please now leave the studio.

Dave, you are playing to win the Top Spinners £3,000.

Lisa, Barry, Chris, Dave and Beth,

you're playing for something that money cannot buy,

just restoring the Eggheads' reputation,

it's coming along nicely!

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

this time the answers are all general knowledge

and you may confer. Sorry, doesn't help you, Dave.

-Oh, I can talk to myself!

-You can talk to yourself!

Your team-mates sadly have been lost in battle.

So, Dave, can your one brain

defeat these five in a famous victory?

So, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Your first question, Dave, good luck.

For what does the letter P stand in the name of the navigational system

known commonly as GPS?

Positioning, I believe. Plotting doesn't sound right. Pathway, no.

-It's positioning.

-Global positioning satellite system?

-Satellite.

-Anyway, P is positioning.

One to you. Eggheads, the Italian word "nonna"

translates into which English word?

-ALL:

-Grandmother.

I had a litany of grandmothers appearing in front of me,

so we're going for grandmother.

Right answer. All right.

Over to you. In the 2016 Steven Spielberg film The BFG,

who plays the title role via motion capture performance?

I really am not sure about this.

I think I might have read it not so long ago.

I just think Mark Rylance is standing out to me.

So that will be my answer.

Mark Rylance is correct.

Playing well. So far, two out of two for our Challenger.

Eggheads, in 2016 in Major League Soccer,

which English footballer scored

the first-ever hat trick for New York City FC?

-Lampard.

-It's got to be Lampard because Beckham's LA Galaxy,

not Dennis Wise.

Well, our esteemed football correspondent assures me

it's Frank Lampard, so that's our answer.

It's Frank. Frank Lampard. You're right.

First-ever hat trick.

Dave, Changing Places, Nice Work

and Small World are novels by which British writer?

OK.

Mmm, again, not certain.

And I think I will do a Judith approach and I'll go for the middle,

-David Lodge.

-Well, funnily enough,

Judith's famous approach is to go down the right,

but that doesn't matter because it's right.

David Lodge is correct.

She won't mind at all!

-Right?

-She gets confused herself, to be honest!

To be honest, she veers all over.

But in theory, it's going down the right.

The magic right, she calls it.

So you've got three out of three,

you may not need to do anything more today.

The Eggheads mess this up, it's over.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

became president of which country in 2016?

Oh, goodness.

It's not Portugal, I don't think.

I don't think Portugal's had an election this year.

Why did I think Panama?

I've got nothing else to pin that on.

Now, for me, De Sousa is more a Portuguese name

if you think about Paulo Sousa

and things like that, it does tend to be.

I'm not... That's all I can hang it on.

Unless anyone has a more definite...

I have a vague inkle that there was

an election in Peru in 2016.

Panama will have a president, definitely, I don't know about Peru.

If Portugal has a Prime Minister,

you wouldn't know about the president.

-Not necessarily.

-No.

And it's "became president" rather than elected.

We really don't know. This might come down to a vote.

My inkling is Portugal because of the name and the president, but...

-That's just my suggestion.

-I think that might be a red herring.

OK.

I've just got at the back of my mind Peru,

but I have nothing to base it on.

-Lisa thought Peru.

-You thought Peru.

- I thought there was an election there in 2016

but I'm not getting any more than that from it.

-- So what are you saying, Beth?

-Panama.

-Panama.

-I say Portugal.

-Portugal.

-Peru.

-Probably Peru.

-Oh.

OK, three Perus. Let's Peru then. Team.

OK, Jeremy, well, as you've obviously gathered,

we haven't the slightest idea what the answer to this is.

Although, De Sousa does sound a Portuguese name,

we're not going to go for Portugal, we're going to go for Peru

and keep everything crossed.

I think you might be on for a famous victory here!

One of us has to be right, because we've said all three.

Yeah, one of you is right.

The correct answer is Portugal.

We say congratulations, Challengers, you have won!

Thank you very much.

And I said what does GPS stand for,

you said Global Positioning Satellite,

and it's System, so the engines have fallen out of the bottom

of the chassis with the Eggheads. Oh, the excitement here!

That's how excited we are. Dave, well done. Well played,

you kept your nerve with the David Lodge question.

Well, I didn't know it, it was a guess.

But doing it on your own is not easy, we know.

You can't confer.

Eggheads, what's that, three losses out of five games?

-Yes, it is.

-Yep.

-And five against one now?

What did we tell you?

The most dangerous opponent, one person.

-We got that right at least!

-You got that right!

You may need to work on this voting system of yours,

it is producing some very odd results.

Congratulations, Top Spinners, you've won the jackpot of £3,000.

You've stopped them and they've been stopped a few times, recently.

So they are going to go away and think about it

and you are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

You've proved they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see

if a new team of Challengers will be just as successful.

What a game, what an ending, what fun!

Until then, goodbye!