Episode 57 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.

-How are you?

-All right.

-Very well.

They just say, "All right,"

like ordinary citizens, as if they're nothing special.

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

Now, this team are a Drifters and Motown tribute act

hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. So, let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Gillie and I'm a vocal entertainer.

Hi, I'm Paul and I'm an entertainer.

Hi, my name is Newton. I'm an entertainer and a salsa teacher.

Hi, I'm Stevie and I'm an entertainer.

Hi, I'm Carlton and I'm a medical salesman.

-So, Gillie and team, welcome. ALL:

-Hi.

-And fantastic outfits, may I say.

-Thank you.

Carlton, I know you're an additional member sometimes,

-when needed, right?

-That's right.

-OK. Tell us about the outfits.

We thought, actually once we're in the studio or doing our songs,

something nice and bright. Make us look kind of sexy, you know.

Definitely, and more importantly,

tell us about why you love Motown and the Drifters so much.

I've been at it 50 years now

and I've been into the Drifters and Motown for that length of time

-and my favourite song writer is Marvin Gaye.

-Yeah.

Do we dare ask for some singing? Will that put you off completely?

-Oh, please. Please.

-Maybe it WILL put them off. Go on.

-Would you like to hear a little thing?

-We'd LOVE to!

-OK.

One, two, three four.

# Up on the roof

# Up on the roof

# When this whole world starts getting me down

# And people are just too much for me to face

# Up on the roof

# I climb way up to the top of the stairs

# And all my cares just drift right into space

# Up on the roof

-# On the roof it's peaceful as can be

-Ah

# Ah

-# And there the world below can't follow me

-Ah

# So let's go up on the roof

# Up on the roof. #

-Bravo! Lovely.

-So amazing.

And I heard that in, isn't it in the musical Beautiful about Carole King?

-Yeah, the story about Carole King, yeah.

-Yeah.

-She wrote quite a few songs for the Drifters.

-That's right.

-Good luck, guys.

-We're looking forward to it.

-Good luck.

Can't wait to see you play. Really wish you all the best.

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, Let's Drift, they are on a roll, and they've won the last 13.

-Wow!

But we're hoping that's unlucky for them

-cos there's £14,000 if you win today.

-Really? Wow!

Do you want to have a crack at it?

-We'll have a crack.

-Good stuff.

I'm hoping Music comes up, but the first round is on Arts & Books

and you can choose from Judith, Steve, Kevin, Pat or Dave.

Ooh, Arts & Books.

INDISTINGUISHABLE DISCUSSION

-Yes, let's do it.

-OK.

-Kevin?

-It's going to be Newton?

-Yeah.

-OK, Newton. And taking on Kevin?

-Kevin, that's right.

-Love it.

-Going straight for the top man.

-Let's do it.

Let's do it, let's do it.

Newton from Let's Drift versus Kevin from the Eggheads on Arts & Books.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our famous Question Room.

We were just totting up some numbers, Kevin,

-and we've worked out this is your 800th head-to-head.

-Oh, right, OK.

-We won't say how many you've won, but it's quite a lot.

-Ah, good.

Newton, good luck.

I know you would beat Kevin on the salsa, cos that is your thing.

-Absolutely.

-You were UK salsa champion one year?

-Yeah, quite a few years ago but I've still got it.

-You've still got it!

We'll break into a salsa any moment. Meanwhile, we're on Arts & Books.

Newton, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second. I'll be a gentleman.

OK, Kevin has the first question.

In which work of science fiction is the Earth destroyed

to make way for a hyperspatial express route?

I think that's, effectively, the opening sequence

of a Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is quite right.

Newton, your first question.

In which Shakespeare play does Miranda say, "O wonder!

"How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is!

"O brave new world that has such people in't"?

I'm going to say Romeo And Juliet.

Let's check with Kevin. Is that right, Kevin?

No, it's The Tempest, this one.

-It is The Tempest, Newton.

-OK.

Quite hard, those Shakespeare quotes.

Trying to figure them out is difficult. And that's, Kevin,

I guess where we get the phrase "Brave new world" from.

Where Aldous Huxley got his title from, yes.

Yeah. Here's your question,.

Which of these works of art was created first?

They're all... In chorological terms, they're all fairly distanced.

That's The Last Supper, Leonardo.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, is the right answer.

OK, Newton, you need to get this one right to stay in.

Here we go.

The poem Leisure by W H Davies begins with the words,

"What is this life if, full of care

"We have no time to stand and..." what?

Hmm. I would say...

Um...stare.

-Yes, you got it! You nailed it.

-There you go.

-All right.

Kevin could take the round, though, with this question.

The writer Stephen King was born in which US state,

also a setting for many of his works?

A great many of his works, actually. It's Maine.

OK, Maine is the right answer, Kevin. Well done, you've taken it.

He's got three out of three. I'm sorry. Letting him go first

is sometimes a bit risky, Newton. But well played.

-OK.

-He's knocked you out. Kevin will be in the final.

Please return to us and we'll see what happens next.

-So, 800 head-to-heads, Kevin.

-Uh-huh.

86 Arts & Books rounds

-and you lost 6.

-OK.

-There we are.

-Brave of you to take him on.

-Yeah.

-And well done for the try.

Let's see if you can now turn it around, Let's Drift.

You have lost a brain from the final round, but it's very early days.

The Eggheads are still all sitting there

and we've got Geography for you now.

-So, who would like Geography?

-Geography. Who was the one talking

-about Geography? You?

-Yeah.

-I'll give it a shot.

-Who's it going to be?

-It's going to be me.

-Carlton?

-Yeah.

-All right. And which Egghead? Can't be Kevin.

-I would say David.

Dave. Yeah, David. We've gone formal now. That's good!

-Try and rattle him.

-Posh.

Carlton from Let's Drift taking on Tremendous Knowledge Dave

from the Eggheads on Geography.

Please, gentlemen, go to our Question Room now.

When you perform with these guys, Carlton, what do you do?

Um, I kind of just do the dance moves and look pretty.

How often do you get out with them then?

Um, it's only been maybe two or three times.

-I'm not needed all that much.

-Sure.

-But it is good fun when I am.

-Must be amazing to do it, to see the reaction to those songs.

-Yeah.

-And what else do you get up to?

-I model part-time as well.

-You've been doing a bit of that, Dave, as well.

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

You and me. DAVE LAUGHS

-A model, yeah.

-They call me The Body. Body 2.

-No-one's called us yet.

-Yeah.

-All right, Carlton, good luck.

Geography against Tremendous Knowledge Dave, as we call him.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go. The geomagnetic north pole, Carlton,

is a point in which country?

This is going to have to be a guess, I think.

I can't even really rule any out.

Um... Yeah, actually, I'll go for...

I think I'll go for Canada,

simply because I think it's possibly the closest to the North Pole.

-Canada is the right answer.

-Ah.

-Very good.

-Yeah, it just goes up and up and it never stops.

-Yeah.

-OK, Dave.

What is the approximate population of Ethiopia?

Hmm, that's a tough question.

I don't know whether to go high or low.

But Addis Ababa's quite a sizeable city.

I think Somalia's around 10 million,

so I don't think it's as low as that.

I think it's between 50 and 100 million.

Really bad question for me. Um, I'm going to go...

um, 100 million.

Eggheads, do you know?

We think that's the closest.

-Yeah, 100 million is about right.

-Well...

-You struggled with that but you got there.

-Very hard.

Carlton, your question.

Which is the largest lake in England?

Again, it's going to have to be a bit of a guess. Um...

I will go for Windermere,

simply because I have been past it a few times

and, obviously, it is very large

and that is the main one that I tend to hear about,

so Windermere is my answer.

I love the way you play. You're absolutely right.

Windermere is right.

Gifted. OK.

So two to you, Carlton,

and we go back to Dave. Jordan has a coastline, Dave, on which gulf?

It's not Taranto. I didn't think it went as far as Oman.

I think I'm leaning towards Aqaba.

Again, not with certainty, but I'll go the Gulf of Aqaba, please.

-Eggheads?

-Aqaba.

-That's right.

-Aqaba, you say.

It is correct, Dave, well done.

It's annoying when the Eggheads get every single question right,

isn't it? Cos they haven't got one wrong yet.

Well, thanks, Jeremy.

Yeah, well, I'm trying to help here!

You haven't either, Carlton, so hang on in there. Here's your question.

The port of Ceuta in North Africa is an exclave of which country?

-Um...

-"Exclave" is E-X-C-L-A-V-E.

Um...I imagine, at some point...

Obviously North Africa isn't too far from Spain,

that they may have, you know, conquered that area at some point.

The word possibly sounds a bit Spanish, so I will go with Spain.

OK, I'm wondering which country it's in or near.

I guess it's appended to a country.

-Anyone tell me which African country it's near?

-Morocco.

-Morocco?

Spain is the right answer. Three out of three, Carlton.

-Dave, back to you.

-Yeah.

-See if you can stay in.

Tahiti is the largest island in which group?

Don't believe it's the Greater Antilles or the Azores.

Just checking there,

but I think that will be French Polynesia, please.

-French Polynesia is the right answer.

-Oh!

So, after three questions each, the scores are level.

We go to Sudden Death, Carlton. Gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternative answers.

The island of Bermuda is in which ocean?

-The Atlantic Ocean.

-Atlantic is the right answer. Well done.

You're still in. To stay in, Dave...

-Mm-hmm.

-The African town of Entebbe is located on which lake?

Er... Lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria is correct, in Uganda.

OK, Carlton,

-doesn't get any easier, does it?

-No.

The city of Malaga lies on which Spanish Costa?

I really don't know, but I will say Costa del Sol.

Costa del Sol is correct. JEREMY LAUGHS

It was a good one to guess.

-Dave, to stay in.

-Yep.

Dakar is the capital of which African country?

-Senegal.

-Senegal is right. Well,

not a single question wrong in this round so far.

Carlton, what type of weapon features

on the flag of Saudi Arabia?

Um...I'm trying to picture it.

I really can't think. Um, a scythe.

A scythe.

I can't accept that. It's a sabre. It's a sword.

Sabre is the answer.

But you were close.

Dave, you can take the round with this question.

The city of Baltimore is located

on the estuary of the Patapsco river above which major bay?

Er, Chesapeake Bay.

-Is he right, Americans?

-I believe he is.

Yeah, we've got confirmation from Let's Drift.

You are right on Chesapeake Bay, Dave.

Carlton, you fought so well there.

-Ah, I tried.

-Knocked out on Sudden Death.

-Oh.

Come back to us, gentlemen, and we'll play the next round.

If we get into any more trouble on this side,

-we're going to get them to sing. Don't you think?

-Yes.

That's got to happen.

Or is that likely to cause many people to stop watching?

Likely to cause us to get up and walk out!

Well, that might be another way of winning the jackpot.

So, Let's Drift have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost any.

-And did you even get a question wrong there, Dave?

-No.

-He pushed me to the limit.

-And Kevin didn't either.

So, I can only apologise for the way they're playing

and it's a feature of a number of recent games. Still, don't give up.

That's the key thing. The next subject for you is Film & TV.

-Who would like this? I'll take that.

-That's...

-I'll take that one.

-Gillie, yeah?

-I think I'll take that one.

-OK, great stuff, Gillie.

Against which Egghead? And you can have Steve or Judith or Pat.

I think I will challenge Judith.

-Very good.

-Me?

-Yes.

So, Gillie from Let's Drift and Judith, our own Judith,

from the Eggheads, please both of you go to the Question Room now.

OK, Film & TV against Judith.

-Gillie, would you like to go first or second?

-I think I'll go first.

Here we go. Good luck, Gillie.

The TV personality Rod Hull found fame

appearing on screen with which animal?

I think that was Emu. I think it was the Emu.

Yeah, it was Emu. Well done.

OK, Judith.

In which year was the sitcom Gavin & Stacey first broadcast?

Well, definitely not 2012.

I think it went all the way back to 2001.

That's the first wrong answer from an Egghead in this contest.

-It was 2007...

-Oh!

-..I'm sorry to say, Judith,

so you've fallen behind. OK, Gillie,

press the advantage. This is your comeback moment.

In 2012, who became the oldest man

to win an acting Oscar for his role in the film Beginners?

This is a difficult one, this is.

It's either between Christopher Plummer or...Robert Duvall.

I think I'll go for Christopher Plummer.

-Judith, do you know this one?

-Um, no. Ian McKellen.

-No, Gillie's right. Christopher Plummer it is.

-Hmm.

-Playing well.

Judith, you need this to stay in.

Who plays the role of the oil rig worker Mike Williams

in the 2016 film Deepwater Horizon?

-Don't know.

-Don't say, "Don't know", you haven't seen the options.

I still don't know.

-You've got to get this right, Judith.

-I know I have.

-I haven't seen it.

-Sorry.

-Oh!

I have absolutely no idea.

Um...Mark Wahlberg.

Mark Wahlberg is your answer.

-Eggheads, is she right?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-You're right.

-Oh!

-I don't know how you did that.

I thought you were going to say, "I'm going down the magic right."

No, I've abandoned the magic right. It's not so magic now.

No, it's not magic anymore.

OK, Gillie, if you get this right, you will have knocked out Judith.

Your question. Which British game show, first broadcast in 1979,

was based on the US show the Match Game?

The Generation Game - that was more to do with, er...

GILLIE MUMBLES

The Match...

I will go with, er...Blankety Blank.

Blankety Blank is the right answer. Well done.

You got three out of three. You've taken on one of our Eggheads

and you've successfully knocked her out.

-So, Judith, sorry. Sin bin for you.

-Yeah.

Gillie, well done. You will be in the final round.

That's a bit of a turning point, maybe, is it, for the Challengers?

Please come back and rejoin your teams.

Well, maybe things are shifting here.

Let's Drift have lost two brains from the final round,

but the Eggheads have now lost one.

And the last subject before the final is History.

Who would like this? Stevie or Paul?

-Paul?

-Paul.

PAUL LAUGHS

-Try it.

-Paul.

-Paul is it you? OK. And you can take on Pat or Steve.

-It's going to be Pat.

-Pat.

-OK, very decisive on this side.

Paul from Let's Drift, on History, versus Pat from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room now.

This is History. Hope it suits you, Paul.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I would go first, please.

Here we go. Which of these was a type of historic warship

with three banks of oars?

Well, they all have Ts in them, but it means not much to me.

I'm just going to take a stab at this one.

Trireme.

You're very instinctive. I love the way you play, your team.

You've got it right again. Well done.

It's like Carlton - every guess was right. Trireme is correct.

Maybe the "tri" is the key part

of the word. Pat, your question.

The historic agreement known as the Auld Alliance

principally involved France and which other country?

And "Auld" is A-U-L-D.

I think this was an arrangement

between Scotland and France

against their eternal common enemy, England.

So, I think the answer is Scotland.

That's not a recent thing, is it?

No, back in the, I don't know, 1200s, 1300s, that sort of time.

I was kidding. Yes, you are right. Scotland is the correct answer.

OK, so we go back to you, Paul.

Which English king declared war on France in the 14th century

to begin the Hundred Years' War?

I'm going to stab again. Henry V.

Now, here you have gone astray. It is Edward III. Bad luck.

Let's see if Pat can take advantage. Pat, your question.

How old was the Egyptian queen Cleopatra when she died,

after a reign of 22 years?

Well...

She had a child with Caesar called Caesarion.

What was the interval after that to Caesar's death and the...

arrival of Mark Antony into Egypt?

Hmm, Caesar dies in 44 BC,

then we have a triumvirate battling it out

to take over with the Battle of Actium.

Mark Antony flees to Egypt.

Huh...

It's a tricky one, really.

She's such a fabulous figure,

in the sense of almost unreal, from history.

Um, she could be almost any age.

She reigned for 22 years so, obviously then, we've got,

from those three answers,

we've her taking up her reign at the age of 7,

the age of 17 or the age of 47.

Well, I think she was the ruler when she had a child with Caesar,

so I think we can probably discount 69.

Because she would have to had to have been 47 plus

and, probably, back in those days, well beyond childbearing age.

So, did she come to power at the age of just seven?

Or did she come to power at the age of 39?

Hmm...

I'll say she was 39.

You've got that. 39 is the right answer.

So, he's pulled ahead a little bit

and you need to get this one right, Paul.

The British chieftain Caractacus led a rebellion

against Roman rule in Britain during the reign of which emperor?

Hmm... This is a bit of a stretch,

but I'll say Augustus.

-Let's see if the Eggheads know. Is this Augustus, Eggheads?

-No.

-Rebellion?

-No, Augustus was before the Romans invaded Britain,

apart from a couple of forays by Julius Caesar.

This was in the early days of the Roman rule,

which was under Claudius.

And is that when we talk about I, Claudius by Robert Graves,

that famous book - is that what this is about?

That only comes in a bit to I, Claudius.

It's mostly about the machinations in Rome itself.

But it's the same Claudius.

Sorry, Paul, it is Claudius, I'm afraid.

That means Pat has knocked you out.

So, the Eggheads will be strong in the final but not undefeatable,

not by any manner of means.

If you come back to us, we will play that all-important final round,

for £14,000.

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 Paul, Newton and Carlton from Let's Drift,

and also Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Gillie and Stevie, you're playing to make sure

Let's Drift take that £14,000 home with you.

Dave, Pat, Kevin, Steve,

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

which is the Eggheads' reputation and to continue this amazing roll.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge

and, gentlemen, you can confer.

So, Gillie and Stevie, the question is,

are your two brains able to defeat these four?

We know you can outsing them.

-Can you do it with General Knowledge?

-We'll give it a go.

Great stuff. Would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, please.

All right, your first question.

Where in the body is the spleen located?

-Abdomen.

-Abdomen.

-We'll say abdomen.

-Spleen's definitely here.

-Yeah.

Oesophagus is... Yeah, abdomen.

We'll go abdomen.

Abdomen is the right answer. Well done.

Eggheads, your question.

The banshee is a type of supernatural being

from the mythology of which country?

Do you know this one, Pat?

-Any idea?

-Any idea, Pat?

-Should be Ireland.

-OK.

-All agreed?

-Yeah.

We're pretty happy that's Ireland, Jeremy.

Steve, Eggheads, it's Ireland. You're right.

OK, back to you, Let's Drift.

Testament Of Youth is a memoir by which writer?

-Virginia Woolf?

-Virginia Woolf is what popped into my head, yeah.

THEY DISCUSS QUIETLY

Um, yeah.

GILLIE MUMBLES

Er, we'll go with Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf. Is it Virginia Woolf?

No, it's Vera Brittain.

-Vera Brittain, who was the mother of...?

-Shirley Williams.

Shirley Williams, the politician.

OK, so a chance

for Eggheads to take the lead in the final round.

£14,000 we're playing for.

The culinary term "sweetbread"

refers to the pancreas and which other part of an animal?

-Thymus.

-Thymus.

-Thymus, I think.

-Yep, yep.

-The thymus.

-That's it.

-Thymus.

-Go for thymus gland.

Yeah, we're all singing from the same hymn sheet, Jeremy.

We're thinking it's thymus gland.

I don't know how you know this stuff.

-How do they know this stuff?

-Misspent youth.

Misspent youth, is it, how you get these quizzy answers?

Thymus gland is right.

So, the situation is... I won't say it's critical.

-Yes, critical.

-We could describe it as "grave".

-Grave!

Get this one right, guys, to stay in.

Sam Allardyce left his job as England football manager

after he was secretly filmed by employees of which newspaper?

This to stay in.

I think it's either The Telegraph or The Sun.

-But it would be the English Sun, rather than the Scottish Sun.

-Yeah.

-Wouldn't it be? Don't know. What do you think?

-Yeah...

I don't think the Guardian would...

I think I can see a black and white heading above it.

-I'm thinking The Telegraph.

-Telegraph?

-But...

-It's more like The Sun would do something like that.

-Yeah.

Well, it's up to you. I think, maybe... It's a toss-up, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I think it's a toss-up between The Sun and The Telegraph.

-Go for The Sun?

-OK.

-Try it? We may as well try it.

-We'll try The Sun.

OK, The Sun is your answer, and I could hear the discussion there.

You were thinking it felt like it was The Telegraph

but it's more The Sun's kind of thing and...

-It'll be the Guardian.

-If you've got it wrong, the contest is over.

-The answer is The Daily Telegraph.

-Oh!

You were so close in your discussions there.

I'm sorry, Challengers,

we have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won!

There was a second there when you were going to say The Telegraph.

-Yeah.

-I'd seen the headline.

-Ay! Ah!

-But that's it, you can only try it.

-Oh, sure, got to give it a go.

-Yeah, got to give it a go.

Yeah, and brilliant to see -

I was going to say The Drifters, cos that's what it felt like -

-but Let's Drift. Wasn't it great to hear the song?

-Absolutely superb.

Thank you, guys. And a pleasure trying to beat you.

Well, in a funny way, it's good to see them

when they're on top form like this,

although it is very frustrating as well

to see them win one contest after another.

-But you gave it your best shot there.

-We did, yeah.

And commiserations, Let's Drift. The Eggheads have done their thing.

This winning streak continues

and it does mean the Challengers don't go home with the £14,000,

so we'll take that money, we'll roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Only lost one today.

I'm wondering if you will ever lose again. I'm serious.

Join us next time to see if it might just happen.

Will a team of Challengers be their undoing?

£15,000 says they won't.

Till we quiz again, goodbye.