Episode 44 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.

And looking a bit sombre today, Eggheads, I think,

in your dark colours.

Thoughtful. Yes.

Thoughtful...hmm.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are...

Now, this team all work together at the same solicitors firm in

Manchester, so let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Alan and I'm a solicitor.

Hi, I'm Mike and I'm a corporate lawyer.

Hi, I'm Richard and I'm a personal injury claims solicitor.

Hi, I'm Max and I'm a solicitor.

Hi, I'm Dominic and I'm a trainee solicitor.

So, Alan, team, welcome.

Good to see you.

Alan, there's a kind of Alan Partridge dimension here.

There is. We based our team name on Alan's Big Plate

and we're big fans of the show.

Now, you've got to explain that.

Yes, well, he used to, when he was at the Linton Travel Tavern

he used to go to an all-you-can-eat buffet

and he brought with him his own plate

to try to get all his fair share.

Do you remember this, Eggheads?

-Yeah.

-This Partridge thing?

And you're all solicitors, so you've got your own plate at work,

-I'm presuming.

-We do.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

So you work together on matters involving the law?

We do. We're based in different departments but we do work together,

-yes.

-Do you quiz together?

Occasionally, yes.

We've participated in a few charity night quizzes

and we've been lucky enough to win a few of those.

Oh, you're saying that in a very understated way.

They hear the word win and they suddenly...

Do you know what winning is, Eggheads?

-THEY LAUGH

-You used to do!

They've had a mare recently, the Eggs,

doesn't matter how big their plate is.

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, Big Platers, the challengers won the last game.

That means it can be done.

£1,000 on the table.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film and TV.

And you can choose between Beth, Chris, Pat, Barry and Lisa.

-Who wants to take that one on?

-This is the one we didn't want to come up.

That's right, yeah. Don't fancy this.

Trying to save Alan for...

Yeah.

-I don't think I'd be...

-You're feeling it, mate?

-No.

-I think, Richard, you reckoned that you were pretty strong on that.

-Go on, Richard.

-Yes.

-I'll take this one.

-OK, Richard, personal injury claims solicitor.

Entirely appropriate. Who would you like to do some personal damage to?

I think Chris might be the man to go for.

-Yeah?

-Chris.

Yeah, we'd like to choose Chris, please.

OK. Last seen in a cinema in the days of the Farfisa.

Oh, yeah, yeah. The mighty Wurlitzer, yeah.

So it's going to be Richard from The Big Platers versus Chris.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, Richard, do you watch movies when you can?

Yes, absolutely, as much as I can.

-What do you enjoy?

-Mainly action films,

a big fan of things like the Bourne films and the Bond films.

Are you a Bourne, Jason Bourne man, Chris?

Not really, no.

No, I lost interest when they stopped making Ealing comedies.

Well, you like your James Bond, don't you?

The early Bonds, yeah, the Connery Bonds, shall we say,

-the classic Bonds, yeah.

-Film and television, Richard.

-First or second?

-First, please.

OK, let's see if these Eggheads are back on track.

We've tried turning them off and turning them on again.

Here's your question. What is the profession of Denzel Washington's

character in the film Training Day?

Hmm. Um...

Vaguely remember watching this film.

Not entirely sure on it, though. Um...

I do have a recollection that he was

a politician called into action unexpectedly.

I'm going to go with politician.

Politician, OK.

-Chris, do you know this?

-I thought he was a policeman.

Yeah, policeman is the answer.

Chris... What genre of film is Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket?

It was filmed in the ruins of Becton gasworks, set in the Vietnam War,

so it's a war film.

War is correct.

Yes, not a romantic comedy.

Hardly.

Richard, which of these comic book characters appears in the 2016 film

Suicide Squad?

Ooh.

Very tricky for me, that one. I...

I think I'll rule out The Joker.

I'm fairly sure it's not The Joker.

Erm...

Between the others, I have a feeling that was Deadpool.

Let's see. Challengers?

-Do you know?

-It's The Joker.

-It's The Joker.

-Oh.

Don't worry.

We're early days here.

Maybe not in this round, though.

Chris, you can take it with this.

Who won the 2016 series of the TV show Celebrity MasterChef?

This is something else I don't watch.

Doubt it would be Jimmy Osmond, somehow.

Louise Minchin or Alexis Conran.

I'll just have to take a punt on Alexis Conran.

I was thinking Louise Minchin won it, actually,

but I'm wrong and you're right.

-It is Alexis Conran.

-Huh.

And with two out of two, no way back for you, Richard.

You've been beaten by our Egghead on Film and TV

and, as a result, will not be able to help your team

in the final round.

This is what it's all about. Please come back to us.

Re-join your teams. We'll play on.

So as it stands, The Big Platers have lost one brain

from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any and, Chris, powerful performance.

-Oh, thank you very much.

-For a man who's not been in a cinema for a while.

-Oh, yeah.

-The next subject is Sport.

So, Big Platers?

-I think...

-Captain's decision.

I'm happy to go through, so is Dominic.

I think Mike.

-Yeah?

-That's fine, should be Mike.

-All right.

Lots of people want sport.

-Mike?

-It's a popular one, yeah.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-Against which Egghead?

Anyone but Chris.

I think go for Pat.

-Pat.

-Mike from The Big Platers versus Pat from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to our Question Room.

Well, usually, Mike, when sport comes up there's a bit of a tussle

with people not wanting to do it,

but half your team want to do sport.

Yeah, it's a popular choice of topic.

And I see why you were chosen,

cos you used to play rugby semi-professionally.

Yeah. I think that's as high as it can get, yeah.

I did play for a number of years for a team in Manchester.

We got up to the Championship, sort of one below the Premier League, so,

yeah, it was a good number of years.

I had the benefit of still having a career but still playing decent sport.

OK, well, good luck in this round against Pat.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

In the game of cricket, which of these fielding positions, Mike,

is located behind square?

That's fallen nicely for me.

Yeah, cover's in front of wicket on the off-side.

Mid-on, sort of beyond the bowler on the on-side,

so fine leg is behind square,

behind the batsman, so fine leg.

Fine leg is right. Well done.

OK, let's see if this Eggheads revival is continuing

with Pat's first question. In football,

how many teams competed in the English Premier League

during the 2016-17 season?

16 is a bit small.

I think it's a 38-game season, with 19...

20 teams each having two games against their 19 opponents.

I think there might still be 24-team set-ups in the lower divisions,

but for the Premier League...yes, for the Premier League it's 20.

20 is correct. Back to you, Mike.

They may get harder. In a standard game of croquet,

the four balls are black, yellow, red and what colour?

Now, this, yeah...

Trying to think if we had a croquet...

-I'm trying to think as well.

-I'm thinking...

I don't think

it's white but it could well be.

I mean, it could be those.

My initial thoughts were blue

and I will stick with blue.

Just go with the gut instinct, but really could be any of them.

Well, initial thoughts are often a good guide.

Blue is correct.

That is a stinker of a question.

I haven't played croquet for quite some time.

Pat, your question.

Which sprinter crossed the line third in the infamous

1988 Olympic Games men's 100 metres final?

Well, let me see.

Um...

This is the race that was won by Ben Johnson,

who was subsequently stripped of his title.

And did...? I'm not even sure if the second-place person

eventually fell foul.

Who finished third?

I think I have a memory of Carl Lewis being in the frame

of the finish and trailing Johnson, so I'll go for Carl Lewis.

Yeah, and I think you're right about Carl being there because I think he

very soon after gave an interview which was not even very coded

about Ben Johnson's performance.

However, the answer is Linford Christie.

This is good, Mike, this is good.

Pat's stuttered.

Is Pat out? Only you can decide.

Here's your third question.

Which English rugby union team plays its home games

at the Ricoh Arena?

Again, this has fallen very, very nicely.

I've got a bit of history with the Ricoh Arena, so in my

job as a corporate lawyer I acted for the purchasers of Coventry City,

so I know it very well and

well aware that Wasps have moved their home games

up to the Ricoh Arena, so, yeah, it's certainly not

Harlequins or Saracens - Wasps is my answer.

Wasps it is. Well done, Mike, you've done really well there.

Pat - oh, dear, setback.

We lost a powerful Egghead there.

Knocked out and you won't be able to take part in the final.

So come back to us, both of you,

re-join your teams and we'll see what happens next.

So, now a round to The Big Platers.

They've lost a brain from the final, the Eggheads have lost one, too.

Evenly matched. We go into our next round.

It's Geography.

Who would like this?

-Geography.

-You for the...

I think we send Dominic on for this.

-Right. OK.

-Yeah?

-That's fine.

-Dominic, take your pick.

-I choose Beth, please.

-Dominic against...

-Against Beth?

-Beth, yeah.

-All right.

Dominic from The Big Platers versus Beth from the Eggheads on

Geography. How's that for you?

Not my greatest.

Not my best.

-Countries, rivers...

-Yeah.

-Capitals.

-Mmm.

-OK, let's see how we go here.

Getting exciting, this contest, isn't it?

Please go to our famous Question Room now.

OK, good luck on geography, Dominic.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Which of these bodies of water links the Red Sea

to the Arabian Sea?

I'll go for the Bay of Bengal.

Now, I need a bit of map work here, let's just think,

which Egghead can help me?

Pat, you're very good at visualising maps.

Where is the Bay of Bengal?

That's to the east of India, of the Indian subcontinent,

between India and Burma.

And Strait of Malacca? Help me.

That's over in Indonesia.

So we're looking sort of Middle East, Red Sea and...

which one are we? Gulf of Aden, then, are we?

The Gulf of Aden and it narrows to a thing called the Bab-el-Mandeb,

which is the narrow strait and then you're in the Red Sea.

OK. Gulf of Aden, I'm afraid, Dominic.

Beth, your question. Which of these US states is landlocked?

I'm pretty sure that Oregon and Washington

are both on the West Coast,

so that must be Montana.

It is Montana. And I guess part of the land-locking is by a bit of

-Canada above it, is it?

-Yeah.

-Cos it's right at the top of the USA.

Dominic, which symbols feature on the national flag of Pakistan?

Not too sure about this.

But I'll go for the crescent and the star.

Crescent and star is quite right.

Do you know the colour of this, Beth?

Yeah, it's a green field with a white crescent and star.

That's it.

Your question, what is the capital of the Dominican Republic?

Oh, I was revising capital cities of the West Indies not so long ago.

Now, let's have a think.

Dominican Republic.

I'm pretty sure Port-au-Prince is Haiti

and St John's sounds a little more English, so it would be one of

Bermuda, Barbuda, Antigua, somewhere like that,

so, as it's Spanish sounding, Santo Domingo.

Indeed. Santo Domingo.

OK, back to you, Dominic.

Got to get this right.

Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake

in the centre of which Australian city?

Lake Burley Griffin.

Artificial lake.

I'll go with Darwin, Jeremy.

I'm afraid it's Canberra.

Oh.

Sorry, Dominic. Actually, Australia comes up a lot,

and it always foxes me, I must say,

but you've been knocked out there.

And beaten by our Egghead, Beth, who will be in the final round.

Maybe the Eggheads really are rebooting a little bit after

their recent defeats. Come back to us

and we'll play the last round before the final.

OK, as it stands,

the Big Platers have lost two brains from the final round.

Still looking quite unruffled there, Alan? Do you

always have that expression when you're in a big legal negotiation?

-I do indeed, yeah.

-So just completely...?

Still confident.

Still confident? OK.

The Eggheads have lost just Pat, just the one,

and we have now Music for you.

Who wants to play a tune?

-Well, it's Max.

-You do it?

-Go Max?

-Max? OK.

-Good man.

Another solicitor with the Big Platers.

You can take on either Barry or Lisa,

both of them quite tricky.

I'll try Barry, please, Jeremy.

OK. Max from the Big Platers,

Barry - loves his music, don't you?

I do indeed.

LAUGHTER

But different sorts, we forget.

Yes. You didn't say anything about "his music".

His music, crucially.

Although we had a little bit of misfiring on Wagner the other day,

-didn't we?

-Yes, amazingly, that.

Yeah, it was amazing. To ensure there's no conferring,

please go to the Question Room now.

OK, good luck, Max, we're all admiring your shirt.

-Thank you, Jeremy.

-And actually, Chris,

you've been trying to identify the aircraft on it?

Well, I've got a couple. There's a Boeing P-12

and an Albatross DV.

But some of the others I think are just generic.

It's an interesting shirt.

So when you shook his hand earlier, you just started looking at

-his shirt...

-That's right.

-..identifying planes?

-Yeah!

Have you got it for a reason, or just cos it's rather beautiful, Max?

Just because I thought it would pop on television, Jeremy.

-Yeah, it's good.

-So it was quite intimidating having Barry and Chris

name the planes back to me.

Well, there's a whole load of potential questions just on

your shirt. Well, anyway, we're on Music.

Would you like to go first or second against Barry?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And here is your first question.

The 2014 jukebox musical Sunny Afternoon

is based on the songs of which group?

I'm pretty confident, on my way to work...

I think they are putting this on at one of the theatres in Manchester.

I can't see there being any link to The Who or The Beatles.

I'm pretty sure it's The Kinks.

The Kinks is the right answer, yeah, it's one of their songs.

First line, anyone?

-Barry?

-"The taxman's taken all my dough"?

That's it. "I'm sitting in my stately home." Yeah.

OK.

The Kinks is right. We go to you, Barry.

The Verdi opera Aida was first performed

in which year?

Barry, was it...?

This opera was especially commissioned,

and I believe the answer to this

must be 1871.

Very good, Barry.

1871's right.

OK, Max.

Seven Years was a worldwide hit

for which pop act in 2016?

I really don't know, I'm afraid.

I think my music knowledge kind of falls off a cliff after about 2005.

I'll go for Taylor Swift, but I don't know.

Lisa, can you sing it?

# Once I was seven years old

# Momma told me

# Go get yourself a wife or you'll be lonely... #

And it sort of carries on like that, doesn't it?

# Once I was 11 years old... #

Yeah, it's a lovely song - it's Lukas Graham.

OK, Barry, which 1959 stage musical

features the character Rose

and her two daughters, June and Louise?

It's certainly not Rent, cos that's much later.

Carousel and Gypsy are of that vintage.

Gypsy, of course, is about Gypsy Rose Lee,

so there's a Rose there.

Was there a Rose in Carousel?

I don't recall a Rose in Carousel,

so I'll go for Gypsy.

Gypsy is correct.

So he's ahead, which is a bit annoying, Max,

and I can feel them, having had their rather difficult time,

they're just firing up their turbo chargers now, the Eggs.

This could be a key moment -

you've got to get this one right to stay in.

Coldplay's Guy Berryman is best known

for playing which instrument?

Guy Berryman.

Again, I don't know.

I think Chris Martin tends to play the piano.

I'll go for bass, because no-one ever knows the name of the drummer.

What, you've gone for bass because the drummer is so obscure that

even people in the band wouldn't know who it was?

That's my hope, that's my hope.

Bass is right, well done.

Bass is right. OK, so, level,

but Barry has a chance with this to take the round.

And here is your question...

The cover of the Nirvana album Nevermind

features a baby swimming underwater

along with what, Barry?

Oh, gosh, a very famous cover - I'm just trying to picture it now.

Nevermind. I saw...

I saw an article recently about the baby as he looks now.

Wouldn't quite recognise him as a baby.

HE LAUGHS

I think I have it in my mind that there was a dollar bill

on that cover, so I'll go for dollar bill.

Yeah, it's a very, very famous album cover.

And you're right - I think the baby has become maybe

-a 20-year-old now...

-Indeed.

-..or so, maybe even older.

Dollar bill is right, well done.

Sorry, despite the aircraft there,

-we couldn't quite get into formation, Max...

-Yeah.

-..and you've been knocked out by Barry.

-Them's the breaks.

Barry will be in the final.

Come back to us, gentlemen, we'll play the crucial final round.

All right, 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 Richard, Max and Dominic from the Big Platers,

and also Pat from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

So here we are, Alan and Mike,

you're playing to win the Big Platers £1,000.

For Lisa, Barry, Chris and Beth, the prize is almost bigger -

it's to restore the Eggheads' reputation,

which has been so badly ripped and torn.

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You can confer. So, gentlemen, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first.

And here we go. Good luck.

Osiris was the god of the underworld

in which collection of ancient myths?

How are you spelling Osiris, please?

O-S-I-R-I-S, all one word. Osiris.

My first thought, Mike, is it's Egyptian.

Yep, I-I'm thinking it's not... Doesn't sound like a Norse...

It doesn't, no.

And I think the Roman god of the underworld was Pluto.

-Oh, OK.

-So, that being the case,

I think we're in agreement that Osiris was Egyptian.

-Yeah.

-That's our answer, Jeremy - Egyptian.

Yeah, very good, Egyptian is right.

Eggheads, for what does the letter H stand in the abbreviation

of the United Nations agency WHO?

It's the World Health Organization.

-World Health Organization.

-So it's health.

-OK.

My little internal voice is chiming, so, yeah.

That's health, Jeremy.

Health is right.

Well done. 1-1.

Back to you, challengers.

The Conservative MP Philip Hammond

was appointed to which role in July 2016?

You know this one, don't you, Alan?

I believe so, I think it's

-the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

-Yeah.

We agree on that?

-Yes, yeah.

-I think we can safely eliminate the other two.

That being the case, we're going

to say Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He's a difficult guy to follow, cos he keeps such a low profile,

he's very quietly spoken.

-Are they right, though?

-Yes, it is Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Yes, it is Chancellor of the Exchequer, well done.

OK, Eggheads, your question.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

is a book of children's stories most closely

linked to which of these fantasy worlds?

-Potter, Potter, Potter.

-Potter!

-Potter.

JEREMY LAUGHS

Dave's favourite - it's Harry Potter.

It is Harry Potter.

So, where are we?

We're equal. Oh, this is tense,

cos there's a lot riding on this for the Eggheads.

They're just trying to get back on track.

Panthera onca is the scientific name

for which of these big cats...?

Panthera onca, O-N-C-A.

I don't think it's tiger, cos tiger is...

No, I'd eliminate that one.

-Tiger is just the same name twice, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So my gut feeling was jaguar.

Because that's South American, black panther...

-Yeah.

-..sort of...

It's a sort of... It's an American, rather than an African one.

So, the panther and the jaguar are more similar.

-But honestly...

-Hm.

-..that's my logic.

-I think so.

It's between the jaguar and the leopard, isn't it?

-I think a leopard is sometimes described as a panther.

-Yeah.

But, um...

-I don't know the answer for certain.

-Yeah.

Your first thought was jaguar?

I'm inclined to...

go with that one.

My one reservation is that a leopard

is sometimes referred to as a panther.

If you know that...

then that would be logical, wouldn't it, that it would be known as that?

Black panther.

Orca...

A black panther is a type of...

a type of leopard.

Yeah, OK. Cos...

cos panthers, what was the...?

In The Jungle Book...

there was the...

-..that was a panther, wasn't it?

-It was.

-So... So...

-And they...

And they are Asian/African.

-They are.

-So...

-Yeah.

No, you've talked me round there.

I'll defer to you on that one, I think, yeah.

It's...it's a tough call.

-Um...I think we've arrived at our answer.

-Yeah.

-Leopard.

-Go on, then.

We're going to say leopard, after lengthy discussion,

with no...no certainty at all.

OK.

I'm sorry, you've just got into

a mess there - it's jaguar.

ALAN GROANS

So it gives the Eggheads the power

to get this question, get this round,

get this contest, maybe get themselves back together.

Here is your question.

Jeanne Calment, believed to have been the

oldest person in recorded history,

died in 1997 at what age?

It's 120.

Definitely 122.

-She was French, 122, yeah.

-She was, yeah.

-An old French lady, wasn't she?

-Yeah, 122, I think.

Yeah, fairly definitely. Cor, 130...

Yeah, we're fairly certain that's 122.

Jeanne Calment died in 1997

at the age of 122.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

APPLAUSE

Sorry, guys, you were within a...

-Literally within a jaguar's whisker...

-Yeah.

-..of taking them

-to Sudden Death there.

-Wow.

But for them, well, that's good news, and a relief,

I suspect. Commiserations, Big Platers. Hope you enjoyed it?

-Very much so, thank you.

-We've got a buffet upstairs,

-get your plates in up there and...

-We will do!

-..get all the food.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them -

they have reigned supreme over quizland once again.

You fought well today, Eggheads.

No taking anything away from you.

I'm afraid that means the challengers don't go home with

the £1,000, so the money rolls over to the next show.

And we wonder whether you're now starting to get back into

your stride. Congratulations, Eggheads.

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers can stop them

winning. £2,000 will be here for them if they do.

Till then, goodbye.