Episode 50 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. No "possibly" about it, is there?

-No.

-Eggs?

-Of course.

-No...

-Come on.

-It's a dead cert.

-Are you feeling the force?

-Yes.

-Oh, yeah, I feel the force.

-Excellent.

Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today are Over and Out.

Now, this team are all members of St Albans Cricket Club.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm the managing director of a PR company.

I'm Nick and I'm a chemistry teacher.

Hi, I'm Jonny and I'm a masters student in politics.

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm a project and programme manager.

I'm Toby and I'm a data analyst.

So, Andy, team, welcome. Great to see you.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-It's the cricket club that brings you together, Andy, is it?

It is, yeah. We all play cricket together.

There's something about a dropped catch in there, is that right?

Yeah, I'm unfortunately the back-to-back recipient

of the Dropped Catch Of The Year award for St Albans Cricket Club.

So they work out which was the one

that you maybe should've collected?

There wasn't much choice. I was a clear winner.

How is it then, the cricket? Is it very competitive,

or just leisurely, or what?

It's pretty competitive. We run five teams on a Saturday

and two teams on a Sunday.

We play league cricket, we play friendly cricket,

so... We've got a big youth section.

We really cover most bases when it comes to the cricket.

And the two Andys have quizzed before here?

Yeah, we've done a little bit of pub quizzing before.

Right, OK. Good luck. Every day there is £1,000 worth

of cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Over and Out, I can tell you that the Eggheads are,

I think we can call it a roll now, officially.

They are on a roll, they've won six on the trot.

That's good news for you in the sense that it means that £7,000

is on the table today.

Bad news in that they're in good form, but let's not worry

about that. You can take them down, I'm sure.

-Are you ready to try?

-We're ready, definitely.

OK, first head-to-head battle is on Arts & Books,

and you can choose from Judith, Dave, Kevin, Barry and Lisa.

-Arts & Books...

-I would suggest you go for Barry and you go for it.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-Shall we do that?

-Yeah.

-Are you happy with that? I think we're going to go for Barry.

And I'm going to...

-OK.

-..do it.

-OK, the team captain, Andy goes in.

Arts & Books the subject.

And it's Barry "The Brain" who'll be in the Question Room as well.

Please, gentlemen, go there now.

Andy, I gather you had a really interesting musical job?

Well, I run a PR company now in the music industry,

but for many years I worked in the record industry.

I worked throughout the '90s at Creation Records,

home of Oasis and Primal Scream and various other people.

Great, so you saw Oasis come up in the incredible way that they did?

I did, I fought the Britpop wars.

THEY LAUGH

Yeah well, that was...

There's been nothing like that probably since the...

I was going to say the Beatles, but maybe T Rex and all that would've

been similar, but it's unusual to have that level of hysteria, isn't it?

Yeah, it was quite a remarkable time, I think.

I think they worked out at one point that one in 12 people in the country

bought (What's The Story) Morning Glory, their second album.

It was an astonishing time.

All right, good luck in this round, Andy.

Arts & Books, and your choice, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first.

So here's your question, Andy. Good luck.

Which of these novels is set during World War I?

Mm. Well, it's not Catch-22, cos that's in the Second World War.

Er, The Quiet American, I don't know.

I do know that the answer is Birdsong,

which is set in the First World War.

Birdsong is correct, yeah.

Got a point. Over to Barry. How are you, Barry?

-Well, thank you.

-You're an Oasis fan?

-Yes, yes...

I didn't buy that album though,

but I probably listened to every track on it many times.

Yeah, it's good. Which Shakespeare character was the Prince of Tyre?

Barry, was it...?

Well, Othello was from Cyprus and Cymbeline was an English,

a British King. So it was Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Pericles is right.

One each. Back to you, Andy.

Who is the central character of the EM Forster book, A Room with a View?

I have to say, I don't know.

I mean, I'm aware of the book, I haven't read it. Erm...

It's going to be a complete guess.

I'm going to say...

er, Lucy Honeychurch.

BARRY LAUGHS

-Is he right, Barry?

-He's absolutely right.

That's right. Lucy Honeychurch is the right answer, Andy. Well done.

Going well, two out of two for our Challenger.

Barry, how many lines are there in each verse

of the Rudyard Kipling poem, If?

Ooh!

It's not two.

It must be eight.

Eight is correct.

THEY LAUGH

The sort of one you can come undone on, isn't it?

-Easily.

-Yeah.

Andy, to increase the pressure on our Egghead,

and let's see if that shell gives way.

Who painted Nu Couche, or Reclining Nude,

which was sold for 170 million in 2015?

The only one I've heard of is Modigliani.

Erm...

I don't know the other two.

I'm going to say Modigliani.

Wouldn't he be amazed if he knew his work had gone for that amount

of money? I always think. Modigliani is the right answer, well done.

Amedeo Modigliani, Three out of three.

OK, they've started very well.

Let's see if Barry can stay in there.

Your question,

which Steven Karam play set in a New York apartment

won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play?

Barry, was it...?

I missed this. I really don't know on this one at all.

I'm sorry to say I haven't heard of any of those plays,

so it's going to be an absolute guess.

I'll go for The Father.

The Father. Let's see, Challengers, do you know?

-No.

-The Humans is the only thing that...

Yeah, Andy's got it on this side.

-The Humans is the answer, Barry.

-Oh!

Well done, Andy. That's good. Good stroke for your team.

That's not a dropped catch at all there, is it?

-I'm thrilled.

-You're going to be in the final round,

you've knocked out Barry "The Brain".

Please come back to us and we'll see what the next round holds.

We had an interesting passing reference to Othello in that round,

and, Barry, you said he was from Cyprus?

Yes, and I might have got that wrong.

The play is set in Cyprus, but the subtitle of the play is

Othello Moor Of Venice, so he might well be Venetian.

Yes, that's right. So there's The Moor Of Venice

and it's set in Cyprus, so there's all kinds of different things going on there.

As it stands, Over and Out have not lost a brain. Done really well here.

The Eggheads have lost Barry.

And the next subject for you is Science.

-Who would like this?

-I think that's you.

Me? Yeah, sure.

-That's going to be me, Jeremy.

-OK, Andy.

Against which Egghead? And it can't be Barry.

-Judith?

-Um, Judith, please.

OK, very good. You like your science.

Quite. If it's birds and bees, it's OK.

Yeah, botany rather than the periodic table.

Oh, the periodic table, yes. My nemesis, that is.

So, Andy from Over and Out

is playing Judith on Science from the Eggheads.

Please now go to our legendary Question Room.

Well, Judith, it is very wide, Science, isn't it?

Huge, yes. And it's stars and...

You go from the birds and the bees to stars.

-Yeah.

-Exactly.

All right. Well, there we are, Andy.

Would you like to go first or second on Science?

First, please, Jeremy.

And here we go.

Which of these animals often live for more than 50 years in the wild?

Erm...

I don't think it's a lion.

Erm, I would...

..probably rule out giraffe as well. I would guess the African element...

Elephant!

-JEREMY LAUGHS

-Erm, yes.

OK, African elephant is right, well done.

Let's see, Judith.

In geometry, an acute angle is any angle of less than how many degrees?

Is it...?

Er, that's 90.

-You sure?

-Er, fairly sure.

90's right.

So back to you, Andy.

Which of these is a bone in the human ear?

I know that the patella is in the knee.

I'm not too sure about the other two.

I've heard of scaphoid, so I'll go scaphoid.

Eggheads, help us here, patella, where is that?

-Knee.

-Kneecap.

-As Andy said.

-Knee, and scaphoid?

-I think it's in the wrist.

-The wrist.

-Think so.

-Malleus is the answer, Andy, sorry.

-OK.

-So a chance for Judith now to take the lead.

The megatherium, which grew to a length of around six metres,

is an extinct member of which animal family?

Judith, is it...?

-Megatherium?

-The megatherium.

Well, I mean... I'm thinking it must be a long,

thin thing if it grew to a length of something.

Erm, so I think I'd go for alligator.

Which is a long, thin creature.

Barry is looking as if he is in...

has got a problem with indigestion or something.

-Barry, what's happening?

-Megatherium is a giant sloth.

-It's a giant sloth?

-Yes, it's quite...

Although it was six metres long, it was a very squat animal.

It's low and quite heavily built.

I see. It's low and heavily built, Judith, but it is a sloth.

All right, Andy, get this right, maybe Judith will start to tremble.

In which US state did the Wright brothers

achieve their first successful powered aeroplane flight in 1903?

No, I don't know this one.

I'm going to go for North Carolina.

North Carolina is correct.

Well done. OK, Judith, you need to get this one right.

William C Campbell, Satoshi Omura

and Youyou Tu were awarded which Nobel prize in 2015?

I really don't know.

I think, erm, as there are three of them...

..a team effort,

er, maybe it's physiology or medicine.

I'm not even going to ask about the logic. You've got it right.

-Mm.

-It's physiology or medicine, well done.

So, level after three questions, Andy.

It is hard to throw them off, isn't it?

-It is.

-We go to Sudden Death, it gets a bit harder,

I don't give you alternatives.

Here's your question.

How many horns did the triceratops dinosaur have on its face?

I'm going to just have to go with the clue in the word,

so I'll go for three.

The name translates to three-horned face, so three is correct.

Judith, you need this to stay in.

In particle physics,

the abbreviation LHC stands for large hadron what?

-LHC?

-Yes.

-A collider.

Collider's right.

Level.

Back to you, Andy.

Astronauts from how many of NASA's 17 Apollo missions

walked on the moon?

I wish I could name them all.

That is a tough question.

Complete guess, out of 17...

I would guess six.

-Dave, is he right?

-Yeah.

-Six is right.

LAUGHTER

OK, Judith,

if you get this wrong, you will be...toast.

What nationality was Hans Gram, creator of the Gram stain,

a widely used microbiological staining technique that aids

in the identification and characterisation of bacteria?

Hans Gram.

I think he...

might have emigrated to Australia. I mean, America.

So he's going to be American.

I...

-No.

-He didn't?

-No, he didn't.

-Where did he go?

-I don't know how to tell you this.

Just straight out, come out...

The answer is Danish and you've been knocked out, Judith. I'm sorry.

Andy, well done. Sudden Death, you've beaten an Egghead,

and that's two Eggheads down.

Let's see what happens next. Please return to your teams.

OK, game on. Over and Out have not lost any brains so far.

The Eggheads are two down, they've lost two,

they've lost Barry and Judith.

What's going to happen next? Well, we have Film & TV.

So who loves their film?

You want to go for this? And then, do we go nuclear?

-Who's going to do it?

-Tobes will do it...

-You can do it.

-You happy with that?

-And then...

-Go big.

-I'd be tempted to go big.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-Go big?

-Go Kevin.

-Go big.

-I think we're going to go Kevin.

-Ah, OK. So, Toby, yeah?

-That's me.

-Yes.

-OK. Toby from Over and Out is taking on Kevin from the Eggheads,

as they say, going big.

So please go to the Question Room now.

OK, Toby, good luck to you, Film & TV against the great Kevin.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. According to Forbes,

who was the world's highest-paid actress between June 2015

and June 2016, with pre-tax earnings of 46 million?

I'm going to rule Anna Kendrick out.

I'm going to go for Jennifer Lawrence.

Yes, she tops a lot of the lists.

Jennifer Lawrence is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Kevin.

The internet sensation Carpool Karaoke,

in which pop stars sing along to their songs while being driven

round LA was created by which chat show host?

Well, I haven't actually seen this, but I've...

I have come across it.

And I've got an idea that it's actually James Corden.

I think he, having now made his career as a chat show host

in the States, I think he does this.

James Corden is right. Yes, he's done very well stateside.

OK.

Level.

Toby, for which organisation does Jodie Foster's character work

in the film The Silence Of The Lambs?

Now, The Silence Of The Lambs would've been released

probably when I was still under the age of ten.

I have since seen it, but I can't for the life of me remember...

..what Jodie Foster's character did.

Um, I'm going to go for...

..the CIA.

CIA. Team-mates?

-We don't think so.

-FBI.

-I think it's FBI.

-FBI...

It's FBI is the answer.

OK, so let's see whether our own Hannibal Lecter can come back here.

Where is the TV drama series Red Rock set?

That's not ringing any bells at all.

If you haven't heard of it, there's nothing to go on.

I'll say Ireland. I simply have no idea.

I don't know what it is.

-Ireland is the right answer.

-Oh...

Third question, Toby. You need to get this one right.

Andy Kane, best known by his nickname Handy Andy,

gained fame on which TV show?

Was Handy Andy on...?

Now, that is a..

question that I should know the answer to.

I'm going to go for DIY SOS,

because...

..Andy, the handyman, is hopefully good at DIY.

Changing Rooms is the answer, Toby. So sorry.

So, Kevin, you're in the final round.

Maybe the Eggheads are coming back now.

Come back to us, return to your teams

and we will play one more round before that final.

As it stands, Over and Out have lost a brain now from the final round,

Toby's gone. The Eggheads are still two down,

so it's still looking rather interestingly poised.

And the last subject before the final is Sport.

-I'll have that, please.

-Jonny, OK.

I know you're sports mad.

-Who do you want to take on? You can have Dave or Lisa.

-Not Dave.

-Lisa, please.

-OK, very good.

Jonny from Over and Out,

and let's see if it's over and out for Lisa

from the Eggheads on Sport. Please go to the Question Room now.

Jonny, Sport versus the great Lisa,

would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first please, Jeremy.

OK, here is your first question.

Jonny, in gymnastics, how high is the balance beam above the floor?

So, I think the balance beam, I actually...

I actually don't even know that. The balance beam I think is the one,

the one pole as such.

Erm, I'm trying to think about how they mount onto it,

but it's not coming to me.

Er, I will guess at 2.25.

I'm just trying to visualise, is this the one that's almost

solar plexus height? Or chest height?

Well, it's the one that the women do.

So, erm, you know,

you've got these diddy little gymnasts

who are sort of four foot six and they can jump onto it.

Some of them will use a springboard, but mostly they

will mount without, so I think it must be 1.25.

Yeah. 1.25, Jonny.

OK.

Lisa, which of these football teams played in the 2016-17

Premier League?

LISA LAUGHS

I knew it was going to be that end of the table.

Right, that's Bournemouth.

They're all quite tempting, aren't they?

Bournemouth is right.

So she's ahead, Jonny.

Catch up now.

Which of these countries

won its first ever Olympic gold medal in 2016?

I hadn't heard of St Lucia or Madagascar

winning a gold this time around

and I think with the rugby sevens

being the first time in the Olympics,

it will be Fiji.

That's right, and I remember the pictures of them celebrating

cos they were so excited. Fiji's right, well done.

OK, Lisa, your question now.

Chance to take the lead.

Helen Glover, born in 1986, is a famous name in which sport?

Mrs Steve Backshall she goes by these days, I think.

But with Heather Stanning she's a very successful rower.

-It's rowing.

-Rowing is correct.

So she's ahead,

and, Jonny, you need to get this one right to stay in.

In cricket, the shortest completed Test match in history

at Melbourne in 1932 lasted for how many balls?

I'm just trying to divide that by six.

So 256 seems ridiculously short.

Er...

656 is 100 and a bit overs, and then 1,056, obviously...

You get near to doubling that. Erm...

I will go down the middle again with 656.

You're right. Well done.

You've got two out of three.

656 is the right answer,

and that would be an easy one to go wrong on.

OK, Lisa, you still have the initiative here.

If you get this right, you're in the final.

Which capital city hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix in 2016?

I'm fairly sure, but let me just check.

I don't think there is a Grand Prix in Croatia.

And when they run the Russian Grand Prix they run it out at Sochi.

But, yeah, I think they built a really quite scary street circuit

in Baku, I think that's right.

Yeah, Baku.

Baku is the right answer, Lisa. Well done.

So after three questions you have beaten Jonny,

who now goes out the game.

And that means we're poised very equally for our final.

Please come back to us and we'll play it.

This is what we have been playing towards,

it is time for the final round.

As always it's 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, Jonny and Toby from Over and Out,

and also Barry and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

OK, Andy S, Andy K, Nick, you're playing to win Over and Out £7,000.

Good jackpot today.

Lisa, Kevin and Dave, you're playing for the Eggheads' pride.

You're playing for the shirt

and you're playing to make sure this roll continues.

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

OK, so, Over And Out the question is,

are your three brains better than these three over here?

And can you do this without dropping a catch?

THEY LAUGH Do you want to go first or second?

We'll go first, please.

So, General Knowledge. Good luck, guys.

Until 1968, Namibia was known by what name?

First thing that sprang to mind was South West Africa.

Yeah, because it's quite near South Africa, I think, isn't it?

-Namibia?

-I mean, it was a section of South Africa.

-OK.

-For some reason, the first thing that sprang to mind was South West.

Isn't Namibia that side of...?

I think it's South Africa and then Namibia's quite nearby.

-Is it down and left?

-I think so.

Maybe it is. I mean, I bow to you, I don't know.

-We're not overly sure.

-I can't picture it.

-We are guessing a little bit, aren't we?

-Yeah.

-Go for it? South West?

-I'd go South West.

OK, without a great deal of confidence,

South West Africa.

Absolutely right. OK, Eggheads, your question.

Which underground line on the London Tube map is silver-grey?

Is it...?

-Jubilee.

-It's Jubilee.

-Used to live on it. Jubilee.

-District is green, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Then Central's red.

-Central's red, yeah.

-Yeah, so the Jubilee line, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

We're happy with the Jubilee line, please, Jeremy.

Jubilee is quite right.

One each. Back to our Challengers.

Who became the Secretary of State

for Exiting the European Union in July 2016?

I think it's David Davis.

-Not Liam Fox.

-Not Michael Fallon.

-Yeah, sounds familiar, now you've mentioned it.

-Yeah.

Er, bowing to Andy S, go for David Davis, please.

David Davis is right.

Two out of two. Well done.

Eggheads a little bit on the back foot here as we play

for £7,000.

In Norse mythology, how many legs did Odin's horse Sleipnir have?

-It's eight.

-OK?

-Fine with that.

-Eight. Eight legs.

-Yeah? So you're happy with that, Lisa?

-Yeah.

-Eight legs?

-I'm pretty sure.

Yeah? Er, bowing to Kevin,

eight legs, please, Jeremy.

Always a good idea to bow to Kevin.

Eight is correct. DAVE LAUGHS

2-2.

Can't tell how this is going to go, but just get this one right

and it may be a case of sitting back

and watching the batting collapse on the other side.

GENTLE LAUGHTER

Work was a worldwide hit for which singer in 2016?

Is this...?

-Looking at...

-We're looking at you, Andy!

Work...

Modern music, no idea.

Ooh...

I think it's Katy Perry or Rihanna.

A worldwide hit? Who's big worldwide?

-They all are.

-All of them.

-They all are.

Big enough to have a worldwide hit.

Katy Perry's been quite busy, recently, hasn't she?

-Yeah.

-2016. I think Katy Perry.

-OK.

-I think it's Katy Perry.

-You sure?

-Yeah, go for it.

OK, again, not overly confident, but we think it may be Katy Perry.

Katy Perry is your answer.

Now, I was at the Brits, strangely,

in a seat so far up towards the ceiling my nose was bleeding,

and the artist came out and sang,

"Work, work, work, work, work, work."

Just says the word "work", doesn't it?

And I did momentarily pay attention, and it was not Katy Perry.

-It was Rihanna.

-Ah...

It was Rihanna.

So, Eggheads,

your chance to take the contest with this.

Florence Nightingale featured

on which Bank of England banknote between 1975 and 1994?

Was she on the fiver, tenner or 20?

It was the fiver.

-I thought it was 20? Oh, God.

-No, it's not 20.

-It's not 20.

-20 was the, erm...

Right, let's just go... 20 was Shakespeare.

-Yeah.

-I think a tenner was the Duke of Wellington.

And I think a fiver was Florence Nightingale.

-You...

-£50...

-You think Wellington was on the tenner?

I thought he was on the fiver.

-DAVE LAUGHS

-Right, OK.

-Let's have a think about this.

-How soon we forget, don't we?

-Right, so...

-I thought Elizabeth Fry was on the fiver.

-Huh?

-Was that later?

-She was, yeah.

Oh, man!

It's definitely not the 20.

-20 is Shakespeare.

-Yeah, definitely not the 20.

It's either the five or the ten.

-And I can...

-I can see Wellington on it.

Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure he was on the five.

But, of course, there have been different people on the five

-at different times.

-And the tenner changed, didn't it?

Yeah. I can't associate her with the fiver.

But the tenner changed, didn't it?

-Yeah.

-Which is what might be confusing me,

because remember the shape of the tenner?

-Yeah, and Darwin went on to the tenner.

-Yeah.

I'm inclined to go with you.

-OK?

-If you can't... I think we're struggling to make

-a case for the...

-I'm inclined to go with the ten,

now I think about it, Wellington was there like that...

I'm certain it's not the 20...

Yeah, we've ruled that out. And then Wellington was on the...

-fiver.

-Five.

-Five there. And then Nightingale.

-Yeah.

-Shall we go ten?

-I think ten,

but it may be wrong. It may be wrong.

-We'll give it a shot.

-We've had one of our moments there!

Or probably I have.

Erm...

But on balance, we're going to go for £10 note, please, Jeremy.

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

You did start with five and you shifted.

Barry was getting very...

You were getting very excited back there, Barry.

Yes, I think it's a five.

-Oh, really?

-You think it's a five?

-Hmm.

It's lucky you're not in the final round, Barry,

cos the answer is £10.

You've got it right. We say congratulations, Eggheads,

-you have won.

-Played, Kevin.

-APPLAUSE

And they were all set to go five

and then there was just a little, "Hang on, everyone!"

From Kevin, so... Which does happen, he just pulled it back.

-Well done, Kevin.

-Well done, Kevin.

-Well done, Eggheads. Commiserations.

-Hope you enjoyed that.

-We had a great time.

-Thank you.

-They're good. They've done what comes naturally to them.

Increasingly so, this winning streak gets more and more impressive.

It does mean you're not going home with the £7,000,

so we will take that money and roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers can do it.

£8,000 says they can't.

Till we quiz again, goodbye.