Episode 48 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.

Got a bit of vocal power today?

-Yes, definitely.

-I hope so.

-Absolutely.

-Bravissimo.

Well, you might have met your match, because hoping to beat the Eggheads

today are The Upstagers. This team of singers are all members

of the Royal Opera Chorus and perform regularly

at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Simon and I'm a tenor.

Hello, I'm John and I'm a bass.

Hello, I'm Alison and I'm a soprano.

Hi, I'm Andrew and I'm a tenor.

Hi, I'm Ollie and I'm a baritone.

Simon and team, welcome.

-Thank you.

-Hello.

-So, you sing, that's the key thing, is it?

-Yes, yes we do.

-You do operas and all sorts?

Yes, operas. Not musicals, generally.

-Operas come up in the music round, don't they?

-Occasionally.

-Yes.

They do!

So, will that be nerve-racking, if you're asked a question about opera?

LAUGHTER

We'll probably get it wrong!

Would it be OK for me to ask you to sing something for us?

Yes, of course. And how about the drinking song,

the Brindisi, from Verdi's Traviata.

Libiamo.

# Libiamo, libiamo

# Ne'lieti calici

# Che la bellezza infiora

# E la fuggevol ora

# S'inebrii a volutta. #

-Thank you.

-Bravo.

-Do you quiz together, crucially?

We have quizzed together.

For two years running, we won the inter-departmental Royal Opera House

quiz challenge. That is, the chorus, beating the orchestra,

which was the important thing... on both occasions.

Wonderful. Well, good luck, team.

Every day, there's £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our Challengers. If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show. Upstagers, the Eggheads

have won the last four games,

so there's £5,000 for you to win today.

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

guess what? - Music!

I don't know if that makes it difficult.

Let me tell you, you've got Judith or Steve or Kevin,

-Pat or Dave to choose from.

-Right. Would you like to do that?

-I'll go.

-Go on.

-John.

-John is down with the kids, so...

Oh, no. Can we say that? Sorry!

John, against which Egghead?

-I'm going to choose Steve.

-OK, up to you.

So, John from the Upstagers, versus Steve from the Eggheads.

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

in our legendary Question Room.

So, are you ready, John?

-I am, yes.

-OK, it's Music. Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go...second.

OK. Interesting. Well, Steve, your question.

In which section of the orchestra is a French horn found?

I don't want to do anything absolutely stupid here,

so pretty sure that's Brass.

Brass is correct.

OK, John.

You'll like this. Which of these Puccini operas is set in China?

Well, all three of them are operas that we've done a lot,

cos Puccini is very popular.

And I do know that that opera is Turandot.

Turandot is the right answer.

Thank goodness for that!

Steve.

In 2015, BBC Radio One's Chart Show

moved from Sunday to which day of the week?

Yeah, it's Friday, Jeremy.

Friday's right. Well done.

OK, John.

Empty Sky,

released in 1969 in the UK and, then, in 1975 in the USA,

after he'd become famous, was the debut studio album

by which musician? John, is this...

Now, something in the back of my mind has clicked,

so I'm going to listen to it.

I'm going to say no to Rod Stewart and no to Sting

and go for Elton John.

You've done well there. Elton John is the right answer. Well done.

Steve, your question.

Drew Boley and Sherrie Christian

are characters in which stage musical?

Musicals ain't my bag. Right, erm...

I've seen films of all three.

Basically, cos I don't think it's the other two,

I will say Rock of Ages, but I'm really not sure.

Rock of Ages is the right answer.

OK, John, you need to get this.

I'm hoping for an opera question.

How many songs reached the number one spot

on the UK singles chart in 2015?

Well, I think it does change quite a lot these days.

I don't think you get these people staying 15 weeks at number one

any more. But 34 sounds quite a lot.

14 sounds too little. I'm going to guess

and I'm going to say 24.

Got that right. Well done. 24 is the right answer.

-He's good, isn't he, Steve?

-Yeah, good answer.

So, three questions each. It gets bit harder. We go to Sudden Death.

-I don't give you alternative options. You know that, Steve.

-I do.

Here's your question. When Zayn Malik left One Direction

in 2015, how many members of the original group

-remained?

-Four.

Straight out?

Yeah, my daughter's a massive fan.

-Went from five to four?

-Yeah.

You're right. That's the quickest

answer we've EVER had in the history of Eggheads. "Four"!

In the lead. The trouble with letting him go first, John.

-Mmm.

-You keep plugging away and we've got to hope he trips up.

The singer Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian,

who found fame as Charles Aznavour, was born in which country?

Well, until I heard his full name, I would have said he was French.

But the name doesn't sound particularly French.

I really don't know, so I'm going

to make a guess and say Belgium.

You know what, we weren't even trying to mess with your head there.

-France, it is.

-Ah!

-It's just as simple as France.

-He's French and it's France.

-Ah, well.

Sudden Death. You've gone, John, I'm afraid.

-Never mind.

-Charles Aznavour. Of all the artists to get knocked out by!

Steve, you're in the final round. Please, both of you return to us

and we'll see what happens next.

As it stands, The Upstagers have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any, but it's too early for you to burst

into song, Eggheads. The next subject is Science.

So, who would like this?

ALL UPSTAGERS: Ah!

-Andrew!

-Shall I build you up?!

No discussion needed.

Yeah, we do have a doctor of nuclear physics amongst us.

Oh, brilliant! Can you guess which?

Well, Andrew did look as if he was quite excited by the word "science",

when I said it, so... OK, Andrew.

Anyone but Steve. Who would you like?

-Dave.

-OK.

-Yeah, go on.

-I think it's going to be Dave.

-Great stuff.

So, Andrew from The Upstagers is going to take on Dave

from the Eggheads. To ensure no conferring, please go to our

Question Room.

Andrew, would you like to go first or second on Science?

I'll stick with the tradition of going first, please.

Your first Science question

against Tremendous Knowledge Dave. Which of these creatures

is native to Africa?

Uh, well, the coyote is North American, the dingo is Australian.

It's hyena.

Hyena's quite right.

-Dave, your first question.

-Yep.

Pyrosis is a technical name for which of these?

-Pyrosis?

-Pyrosis.

Yeah. I've got to go off those. I don't think it's earache.

I think that's otitis, maybe.

I don't think it's athlete's foot. I've got to go heartburn.

Heartburn is right.

OK. Coming back to you now, Andrew.

What is the average gestation period for a horse?

Sorry we're not quite on nuclear physics yet.

Um, well, three months is too short.

I think I'd have to go with...11 months.

You're right. 11 months. Well done.

Two out of two. Dave.

What is the predominant colour on the upper side of the wings

of the Comma butterfly, found commonly across England and Wales?

I'm not sure, at all.

But the instinct was white, so I'll go with white, please.

Instinct was white.

Let's check.

Judith, your famous victory against the rocket scientist

was on a question about butterflies. Is it white, orange or green?

I'm not sure. I think it's white.

I think it's like an RAF sign on the top, with white...

Like an RAF sign?

-I think it's orange, I think.

-You say orange.

I think it's orange and it's got a bit of fretwork down the bottom.

Dave, it's orange.

-OK.

-Oh.

Little bit of a moment here.

Anticipation. Andrew, get this right,

you're in the final round. In the human body, the appendix

is connected to which part of the large intestine?

I'm not sure.

The one that stands out, although I'm not quite sure why,

is cecum, so I'll go with cecum.

Cecum is right!

-ALL:

-Yes!

-So, you're in the final round.

You've been knocked out, Dave.

We've got some good quizzers here, no question about that. Sorry, Dave.

No, no, no. No apologies needed. Very good player.

Knocked out by a classy player. Andrew, Dave, come back,

rejoin your teams and we'll see what happens next.

OK, level now. The Upstagers have drawn back.

They have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have also lost a brain.

And the next subject for you is Arts & Books.

Arts & Books. That might be good for you, as well,

-arty people.

-Yes.

-Will I do it?

-Yeah.

-Go on.

-I'm going to do it!

-Alison is going to do it.

-I'm going to have a go!

Alison, our soprano. Arts & Books, against which Egghead?

-Can't, obviously, be Steve or Dave.

-Pat, I'd think?

-With Pat are we?

-OK.

Alison from The Upstagers, versus Pat from the Eggheads.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

Arts & Books, Alison. First or second?

Um...first, please.

Alison, in a German fairytale collected by the Grimm Brothers,

which of these is imprisoned in a tower?

It's not Rumpelstiltskin.

I think he kidnapped a baby.

It's not Little Red Riding Hood.

She was in the woods, trying to visit her grandmother.

So, I think it is Rapunzel, who was locked up in a tower.

You are so right. Well done. Rapunzel.

Pat, who's 1825 painting, entitled The Leaping Horse,

depicts a scene beside the River Stour in East Anglia?

Francis Bacon. Doesn't sound like his sort of thing, at all.

The dates are good, I think, for both Turner and Constable,

but the River Stour leads me to say John Constable.

John Constable is the right answer. They may get harder.

Back to you, Alison.

The Hilary Mantel novel, A Place Of Greater Safety,

is set during which historical event?

I don't know the answer to this. I associate Hilary Mantel

with Wolf Hall, which is Tudor novel.

It's a toss-up between French Revolution and Spanish Civil War

and I'm going to go for French Revolution.

Is the right answer!

Oh, lovely!

OK, Pat, your question.

The vacuum cleaner salesman, James Wormold,

is the main protagonist in which Graham Greene novel?

I know all three books.

Wormold, I think, is Our Man in Havana.

Yeah, I love Graham Greene. You're quite right.

Our Man in Havana is right. Well done.

So, we're level here. Alison, feeling a bit tense?

-Oh, yes!

-Get this one right and put a bit of pressure on the great man.

The Good Morrow, which opens with the lines,

"I wonder by my troth

"What thou and I did, till we loved"

is by which poet?

I don't know the answer to this question.

I am drawn towards John Donne,

because I know that he wrote that kind of thing,

so I'm going to have to say John Donne,

with no certainty, whatsoever.

John Donne. It's a beautiful line.

-John Donne is right.

-Oh!

-Yes! Well done.

-Well done.

I am pleased!

Pat, your question, to stay in.

Who is the author of the 2016 bestselling novel,

The Essex Serpent?

Pat, is this...?

Ooh, I think I'm undone here.

I haven't heard of the book. I'm, erm...

I'm going to be reduced to a stab here.

Sarah Perry.

How do you do that?

-Sarah Perry is the right answer.

-Oh!

-Was that just one in three?!

I know nothing about the authors. I have not heard of the book.

That's amazing. OK, Sarah Perry is right.

So, 3-3. Scores level.

Gets a bit harder. We go to Sudden Death.

I don't give you alternative options.

Playing well, Alison. Keep it up. Here's your question.

The Weekend Baker is a 2016 cookery book by which male celebrity chef?

Right, so, is it somebody like Paul Hollywood?

Cos I think he's the, kind of, most famous baker, sort of,

celebrity chef I can think of. Let's go for Paul Hollywood.

Paul Hollywood is right.

-Yes!

-We're on Sudden Death.

I'm not giving you alternative answers.

Pat, the fictional desert planet Arrakis first appears in which

1965 sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert?

Dune.

Dune is correct.

So, back to you, Alison.

"Here begins the great game"

is a quote from which Rudyard Kipling novel?

I think that is...

Is it Kim?

It's Kim. Well done.

Pat, to stay in.

Aurelio Zen, the fictional detective created by Michael Dibdin,

is a native of which Italian city?

I think Aurelio Zen is based in Venice.

-Ah!

-Venice is right.

Sudden Death. Good round.

Keep it up, Alison.

The Big Tail Elephant Group was an art collective formed

in the 1990s in which country, as a response to its rapid urbanisation?

Elephants. I can only think of India.

Maybe India. I don't know. This could be it for me.

-It's not India. Anyone know?

-No.

It's a big thought, like the one you had.

-It's China.

-Mm.

-So it's just, yes,

cities getting bigger and that was the response among artists.

You're not out yet. Pat, get this right,

you're in the final. What type of object

is the American Buffalo, in the title of the play by David Mamet?

I think I know this.

I quite like David Mamet.

I do like Glengarry Glen Ross. I think the American Buffalo

is a coin.

That's the answer I was looking for. Coin. You're quite right.

That's it. Pat, well done.

Sorry, Alison. You played so well

there, though. Round of applause for Alison. Did great.

Haven't had an Arts & Books round with that many right answers

for quite a while, have we, Eggheads? So, please come back,

both of you, and we'll see what the next round brings.

Well, can The Upstagers pull back?

They have now lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost just the one.

The last subject before the final is Sport.

Ah, well, well... Rule me out!

That's a clear choice. Easy.

-I think it's me and Judith, isn't it?

-Yes!

LAUGHTER

OK, a baritone, so you know what you're doing.

Ollie from The Upstagers will play

-Judith on Sport.

-Yes.

-You will forgive them for this.

Well, I've no choice.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please, for the last time, go to our Question Room.

So, Sport, against Judith.

Ollie, first or second?

Oh, I think first, please, yeah.

Here we go. Good luck.

What term is often used to describe a tennis player

who plays predominantly from the back of the court?

Well, I'm pretty sure that's a baseliner.

Baseliner is right.

Judith.

Aside from the Water Jump,

what is the minimum height of the fences

horses have to jump at the Grand National?

I'm, sort of, hesitating about that it could possibly be eight foot six.

Erm, but I...

I think it must be four foot six, actually - the minimum.

-Four feet six inches is the right answer.

-Thank goodness for that.

Could've been eight foot.

OK. Back to you, Ollie.

Duncan Goodhew won an Olympic gold medal in 1980

in which swimming stroke?

Ha-ha. It's not backstroke.

I remember watching it,

but obviously not that well, if I'm still struggling for an answer.

I think I'm going to go for...butterfly.

No! It's breaststroke.

It is breaststroke.

OK, Judith.

Your question, to take the lead on Sport!

Which football team was defeated by Real Madrid in the 2016

Champions League final?

I have a feeling it was... Isn't it known as a derby,

when you play the next-door team?

There's something in my mind saying it was Atletico Madrid.

Let's go to Dave. You know this.

-Yeah, she's right.

-Done well here, hasn't she, Judith? Well done.

Atletico Madrid is right, well done.

So, she's ahead.

Ollie, if you get this wrong, you're out.

In 1963, who became the first New Zealand golfer

to win the British Open?

Oh... Well, Frank Nobilo's far too recent for that.

Erm...

Peter Thomson, I thought was Australian,

but maybe I'm wrong there. Bob Charles is round about

the right era. Er...

I'm going Bob Charles.

And you're right! Well done.

That could've caught you out. Bob Charles, it is.

So, level now. Judith, with this,

you can take the round.

In 2016, Dutee Chand became the first woman from which country

to qualify for an Olympic 100m race in over 30 years?

That sounds very Indian to me.

Purely on how her name sounds, I'm going to say India.

Ollie, you know what...

You know what's happened here, don't you, Ollie?

I'm never going to hear the last of this.

I do sometimes win!

India is the right answer.

Well done, Judith, you're in the final round.

Sorry, Ollie. Knocked out by Judith on Sport.

-Something to write home about!

-Thanks(!)

Come back to us, both of you, and we will play the final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards,

it's time for our final round, which as always,

is General Knowledge.

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

can't take part in this round.

So, that's John, Alison and Ollie,

from The Upstagers. And also Dave, from The Eggheads.

Would you please now leave this studio?

Simon, Andrew, you're playing to win The Upstagers £5,000.

Pat, Kevin, Steve and Judith,

you play for something money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

And to just turn this roll into a super roll.

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

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge. You may confer.

So, Upstagers, the question is, are your two brains better

than the Eggheads' four? We know your voices are better.

Are your brains better?

Would you like to go first or second?

We will go first, please.

Here's your first question. The RAAF, established in 1921,

is the air force of which country?

We're agreed it's Australia.

Straight there. Australia's right. Well done.

Eggheads, what is the capital city of Costa Rica?

-San Jose?

-West Side Story, isn't it?

That is San Jose.

San Jose is correct.

Feeling tense and we've only done one question.

Upstagers, which Ghanaian-born British author

wrote the 1990 novel, Brazzaville Beach?

Do you know this?

David Lodge was born in Brockley, I think.

No, no. Is that right, Eggheads?

Can I confer...?

-Can we confer with the Eggheads?!

-Don't you dare.

-No, no.

-Is it Zimbabwean?

-I think, I think it's William Boyd.

-Is it Zimbabwean?

-No, Ghanaian.

-Ghanaian.

-Ghanaian-born British author who wrote Brazzaville Beach.

-I've read some of his books and...

-I'm happy to go with you on that.

Yep? Andrew's happy to go with my William Boyd.

William Boyd is correct.

Eggheads, to catch up,

who played Peter Venkman in the 1984 film, Ghostbusters?

Weren't Venkman Bill Murray?

-That's what I was thinking.

-I don't know which character that was.

I don't remember. I haven't a good memory of it.

I think Harold Ramis, was he Egon Spengler?

-KEVIN:

-Dan Ackroyd...

-JUDITH:

-I'm abstaining.

-KEVIN:

-Name beginning with ST or...

Raymond something? The other character. Raymond.

-Surname beginning with S.

-Really can't think.

-OK, shall we go for it?

-Yeah.

-Not...

-Are we all...?

Not 100% on this, actually. Mixing up names and characters

a little bit, but we think it's Bill Murray.

OK, Bill Murray is your answer.

The name you were searching for was Ray Stantz...

-Stantz, yes.

-..who is played by Dan Ackroyd, so you're very...

Amazing, Kevin, just weaving

the needle through the wool there.

-Bill Murray's right.

-Phew.

-Well done.

They're very good,

but they can go wrong.

Here's your third question. Get this right, let's see.

Which Italian lake was the site of

a heavy defeat for the Roman army by Hannibal?

I'd immediately say Trasimene.

-Trasimene.

-That just rings a historical bell, that's all.

-Well...I'll go with you.

-And I don't...

Lake Trasimene.

You say Trasimene, I say Trasi-mean.

-It's correct.

-Mm-hm.

-Lake Trasimene.

Well done.

And you've got a bit of certainty there, that's good.

Not shown any signs of going wrong, these Challengers,

over these. Eggheads.

Sometimes given the title, The Peaceable,

who was king of England from 959 to 975?

-It's Edgar.

-Yeah.

-Edgar, OK?

OK? That...that was Edgar.

You're never going to go wrong on your kings, are you?

Edgar The Peaceable is correct. Well done.

So, 3-3, after three questions.

-Are you ready for Sudden Death, Challengers?

-No!

-Gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternatives. So, here we are with your first.

Who played the astrophysicist Jane Foster

in the 2011 film, Thor?

-I really haven't a clue.

-No, neither have I.

-I don't know, pick an actress.

-Yes. I can't think of...

-Is Helen Baxendale old enough? I mean...

-Yes...

-Well...

I'm... Yeah, I'm clueless.

We don't know. Helen Baxendale.

Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Eggheads?

-Natalie Portman.

Natalie Portman. Let's see if

the Eggheads can take the contest.

£5,000 we're playing for. Get this wrong, it carries on.

Eggheads, your question. Thomas Marvell and Bobby Jaffers

are characters in which 1897 novel by HG Wells?

-If it's 1890s, well...

-Invisible Man?

-What else have we got?

-War Of The Worlds or... Time Machine or...

-I just...

Well, I don't think The Time Machine is 1897. I think that was earlier.

That was a couple of years before.

I mean, they do sound pretty down-to-earth names, don't they?

Yeah, yeah.

-I think...

-Is he The Island of Dr Moreau or is that Verne?

I think that might have been the year before, actually.

I think it's coming down to either The Invisible Man

or The War Of The Worlds.

Cos I think that was his science-fiction period.

I think his social novels, like Kipps and Mr Polly, etc...

-Tono-Bungay, that were later.

-Yeah. They were a bit later.

If The Time Machine was 1895,

-Doctor Moreau was 1896...

-Yeah.

I'm thinking that The War Of The Worlds was possibly his first

big...success. I may be going wrong there.

So, I'm inclining to The Invisible Man, at the moment.

Well, I just thought that year,

around that time, but I can't place characters, anyway.

OK. Shall I? Not sure on this, Jeremy.

But we're going to go with The Invisible Man.

The Invisible Man is your answer.

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

Amazing quizzing. You're quite right.

The Invisible Man is the answer.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

That was quite amazing.

-Did you know that one?

-No. No.

I was going to come up with something else.

I thought you'd do it through the characters, but you did it

on the dates. The hardest route.

You've seen them at their very best here.

Upstagers, you played a hard game and you played well.

So, commiserations. I hope you enjoyed it.

-Thank you.

-Very much.

-Thank you.

We loved the quizzing, but also the singing very much, indeed.

The Royal Opera House singing. The Eggheads have done what comes

naturally to them. This winning streak continues.

An impressive victory today, on HG Wells.

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

so we roll that over to the next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

We're close to a Pat shoulder roll here.

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

have the brains to defeat The Eggheads.

£6,000 is here for them to play for. Till we quiz again, goodbye.