Episode 58 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.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are the Wild Things from London.

Now, team captain Viv has hand-picked a team

of her quizziest friends in a bid to beat the Eggheads.

So let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Viv and I am a photography technician.

Hi, I'm Bernadette and I'm a copywriter and editor.

Hi, I'm Debbie and I'm an accountant.

Hi, I'm Tony.

I'm a volunteer and friendship administrator.

Hello, I'm Roger and I am a retired IT manager.

So, Viv and team, welcome.

-Great to see you.

-Hi, Jeremy.

You're a quizzer, Viv, is that right, first of all?

Yes, that's correct, yes.

And tell us about your quizzing history,

because I know there's quite a lot of it.

Well, I actually started presenting and compiling quizzes in 1987

and carried on presenting them right through until the 2000s.

And you were DJing at the time?

Yeah, I started DJing in 1978.

-Under the name...?

-Viv Acious.

Viv Acious. Brilliant.

And presumably, DJing in '78 means you were playing really good music?

Absolutely brilliant music.

It was at the cusp... As well as, like, rock and alternative stuff

it was the cusp of, like,

the joining together of punk, new wave, heavy metal,

-all that sort of stuff.

-Wonderful.

-It was fantastic.

Well, Dave and I are completely in sync on that.

-Yes, we are.

-We believe there was a certain period of about three years

when all the good music was made.

-Absolutely.

-So you were playing it.

So how did you choose the team, Viv?

Well, I've known Bernadette and Debbie from the '80s,

either working together, playing softball,

and Debbie introduced me to Tony and to Roger.

And should I ask why you're called Wild Things?

Is it to do with Debbie's surname?

Well, partly to do with Debbie's surname, yes.

-Because she's Debbie Wild.

-Debbie Wild, yeah,

but also we were pretty wild in the '80s and, you know,

and I think we try to be a bit so these days,

but not as rampant, I don't think,

-not AS wild.

-Listen, you can be wild, you can be rampant,

you may need to be to overwhelm these Eggheads.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Every day there is £1,000-worth of cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

If you fail to defeat the Eggheads, the money stays here

and rolls over to the next show.

Now, Wild Things, it's a bit exciting, actually, at the moment.

The Eggheads have won the last 14.

So they've got this sort of sense that they are unstoppable.

-Right.

-And you need to derail them.

And if you do, you win £15,000.

-Ooh!

-So would you like to get cracking?

-We would.

-Yes.

Very good. And the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Arts & Books

and you can have either Judith or Steve or Kevin, Dave or Lisa.

I'm happy to do Arts & Books

but sport would be my better choice, but...

You are good at Arts & Books.

We'll just have to take a risk on the sport.

But who are we going to go up against, that's the question.

So is that Bernadette?

I'm good for Arts & Books, Jeremy.

I know you're a copywriter and editor,

-so that seems like the obvious choice.

-OK.

So any one of the five, Bernadette.

I think I'd like to go up against Judith, please.

Brilliant. OK.

Bernadette from Wild Things. Judith, one of the wildest Eggheads,

no question,

I think it's fair to say.

To ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions in our famous Question Room.

So Bernadette, you're a copywriter and editor.

-I am.

-So you're guarding the apostrophe, are you?

I'm absolutely guarding the apostrophe.

You couldn't have made a better comment.

Because there's a worrying misuse of all kinds of things at the moment.

I regard the apostrophe as being like the last leaf left on the tree.

Um, it's like a wind is blowing through English punctuation,

and commas and semicolons are being blown away,

and there's the apostrophe.

Yeah, oh, it's so interesting, this.

OK, well, you're the perfect person in your team for Arts & Books.

Would you like to go first or second against Judith?

I think I'd like to go first, please.

And here we go, Bernadette, good luck.

In the title of a Roald Dahl book,

what word describes the glass elevator?

Now, I have to admit, I don't immediately know this.

Great sounds a little bit ordinary.

Magnificent sounds a little bit pompous. Amazing...

..kind of goes with it. I'm going to go for the amazing glass elevator.

OK. Let's just check with your team-mates.

It was the follow-up to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, this,

-wasn't it, team?

-We think it's "amazing", yes.

You think it's amazing? OK.

Because I had great in my head.

-Eggheads?

-Yes, it's the Great Glass Elevator.

-It's the Great Glass Elevator, Bernadette, sorry.

-OK.

Judith, over to you.

The Night Watch was painted by Rembrandt during which century?

That was, he was 16 something, wasn't he,

so that's the 17th century.

It is the 17th century, well done.

Bernadette. Your question.

Which British novelist, who died in 1963,

wrote a series of books known as

the Space Trilogy or the Cosmic Trilogy,

which began with the book Out Of The Silent Planet?

OK, I know it's definitely not James Joyce.

Kenneth Grahame, of course, is the Wind In The Willows,

I know CS Lewis was very prolific...

..so I'm going to go for CS Lewis.

CS Lewis is the right answer.

-Holy smoke!

-Well done. It's a hard old question, that.

Because of course, he's better known for other stuff, isn't he?

-Exactly, yes.

-OK, Judith.

In the Beatrix Potter story the Tale Of Samuel Whiskers,

two rats attempt to make a cat into what type of pudding?

My mother used to think it was so frightening,

she wouldn't read it to me.

Because the noise of the roly-poly pudding being rolled across

the attic floor, that's Tom Kitten being rolled about by the rats,

so it's the roly-poly pudding.

Yeah, every detail in place, well done,

roly-poly pudding is right.

So back to you, Bernadette.

You must get this one right to stay in.

In the Roy Lichtenstein painting Oh, Jeff...I Love You, Too...But...

What object is the woman portrayed holding?

The obvious answer would be the gun.

I think, however, that it's the telephone receiver.

It is, it's an old-style telephone receiver.

Well done.

Ha ha, a look of relief on your face.

Well done. And it's hard to do home territory as your subject, I know.

So fear not, you're level with Judith.

Judith, you can take the round with this answer.

In Walt Whitman's poem I Hear America Singing,

which worker is described as singing as he makes ready for work

or leaves off work?

I don't know. I think it might be the mason,

because America being a young country, doing a lot of building...

I'm just going to bet on the mason.

The mason. This is tricky.

Eggheads, do you know?

-Don't know, no.

-They are a bit stumped here.

The mason is the right answer, Judith.

You've got three out of three. Sorry, Bernadette,

she does play a tight game, old Judith.

And you've been knocked out. You won't be in the final round.

If you both come back to us, rejoin your teams,

we will see what happens next.

So the Wild Things have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads are still all there.

Let's see what you can do now.

Sport is the subject.

-How about that?

-Bernadette was our sports person!

Oh, that was you, you were going to do Sport?

So who would like this?

-I can't do Sport.

-I can't do it.

-You've got no-one on Sport?

-No-one on Sport.

-Which of you feels more comfortable, less anxious,

-about doing it?

-I feel very anxious about doing Sport.

-OK.

-Roger, well done.

I'll do it reluctantly.

Look, Judith has had some...

You would probably say Sport is not your strongest,

but you've had some incredibly whizzy victories.

-It's become my strong point!

-It has become your strong point.

-Oddly enough.

-Just through sheer knowing about gymnastics.

Which Egghead would you like? It can't be Judith.

-OK, which Egghead?

-I don't really know.

I thought maybe Lisa, but I don't know.

-Stephen.

-OK.

-Steve.

Steve, all right, Steve. Apparently.

OK. I'm sensing this is quite a big decision for your team.

Roger from the Wild Things is taking on Steve on Sport from the Eggheads.

Shaky today, Steve, or not?

It's the first time I've been picked on Sport, so I'm quite excited.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Ever, in the history of Eggheads?

-Yeah.

-I don't believe it.

-Seriously.

-So there we are.

It's worth it, if only for that.

To ensure there is no conferring, please both of you go to our Question Room, now.

Are you ready for some stats, Steve?

-If you must, Jeremy.

-So we've got nine subjects and you've already done

Food & Drink, History, Arts & Books, Film & TV, Geography, Science,

Politics and Music. So this is... It's now "Eggheads bingo" moment.

-I've got the set, yes.

-You've got the set.

You've done all of them. You've played a total of 30 rounds...

-Right.

-You've only lost three times.

-Right!

-Once in Politics and twice in...

-TV & Film.

-That's right.

-Just so you know.

-Yeah, the scars are still deep!

He hasn't lost yet on Sport, Roger,

but that's because he hasn't played Sport.

So you may have lucked out here.

I'm reckoning this is a brilliant bluff and you're going to suddenly

-get three correct answers.

-You're very kind but, no.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go second and delay the agony.

All right. You know, Steve,

this is exactly the kind of competitor to beware of.

-Totally, yeah.

-Here's your question, Steve.

What colour medal did Jessica Ennis-Hill win

at the 2016 Olympics?

Yeah. She was very unlucky.

She fell away just at the end and she ended up with a silver.

Silver is correct.

Don't be put off by his sure-footed play, Roger,

he's internally in great confusion, I think.

Roger, a duathlon is made up of which two sports?

Good Lord.

I don't think it would be swimming and cycling,

that sounds a little bit odd.

Really a guess but I'm going to go for swimming and running.

-Steve, is this right?

-I'm really not sure.

I might have gone running and cycling, myself,

but I'm really not sure with that.

Yeah, it's not a particularly popular...

Is it an Olympic sport, Eggheads, or not?

-No.

-It is running and cycling, Roger.

-Damn.

Sorry. Obviously a little bit obscure.

Steve.

For which club was Dixie Dean playing in the 1927-28 season,

when he scored

a record 60 goals in the top division of English football?

Yeah, I think that was...

He was quite prolific for Everton in his day, Jeremy.

Two out of two, Everton is right.

No sign of weakness yet.

-Roger, keep plugging away.

-Hmm.

Which British tennis player reached the women's singles final

of the French Open on five occasions during the 1960s?

Well.

They all sound like possibles.

Christine Truman, to me, is the most famous,

but I'm going to go for Angela Mortimer.

I don't know why, just a hunch.

But, Roger, it's Ann Jones.

Oh, well.

Really sorry. Steve is playing particularly well at the moment.

So 31 rounds on Eggheads and only three losses, Steve, well done,

you're in the final. Roger, I know it wasn't your strongest subject.

Do return to us and rejoin your teams.

So the Wild Things have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any.

The next subject is Science.

Who wants science?

-That'll be me, I think.

-OK, Viv.

Against which Egghead?

Not Steve or Judith, so somebody from the left.

I think Lisa's a scientist.

-Is she? Oh!

-I think, at my peril, I would like to play with Lisa.

All right. Were you saying Lisa is a scientist, or...?

I think she is, but I'm not sure.

Let's knock out the scientist.

-Are you a scientist?

-Not in the slightest!

LAUGHTER

I've got that one wrong already!

That's good, there's no points riding on that!

So Viv from Wild Things,

versus Lisa, the non-scientist from the Eggheads,

please go to our Question Room.

Science, Viv, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

And here's your first question.

Myxomatosis was deliberately introduced to Australia in 1950

to control the population of which creature?

I do know this one.

It's definitely not budgerigars, I used to have one called Joey.

Found out it was a girl because it laid an egg.

And not koala.

I think the correct answer is rabbits.

I'm so glad Joey was spared.

Rabbit is the right answer.

OK.

Lisa. Which of these is the name given to a mechanical model showing

the sun and orbiting planets?

Bizarrely, it's probably the most difficult word to say, of the three.

It's an orrery.

It is an orrery, and I think I saw one at the Kelvingrove, Lisa.

Have you been there and looked around there?

-I have. It's great.

-It's because we are, obviously, filming in Glasgow

and it's down the road.

-Yeah.

-There is an orrery, isn't there?

-Yeah.

Viv. We're back with you.

Which term is often used to collectively describe

the giant planets in the solar system?

Well, the giant planets are Jupiter and Saturn,

it's definitely not Venusian.

Jovian, I think, relates to a large size...

I think I'm going to go with Jovian.

I like your logic - you're quite right.

Jovian is correct.

The sort of question Barry would like.

OK, Lisa, your question. What type of bird is a twite?

T-W-I-T-E.

Awful lot of finches in the world, so I suppose that's a decent

percentage guess. Yeah, I've not got a huge amount to go on.

This is one of those, you've heard it or you haven't, I think.

I'll try hawk.

THEY GASP

Oh, the Eggheads have uttered the sound of the twite!

-Eggheads?

-Finch.

Finch, how do you know that? Is it just a fact?

It's like antelope.

I see. Always go finch, Judith says!

-Ah.

-A very obscure quizzing rule.

-I did say it was a percentage guess.

-If in doubt, go finch.

It has a distinctive twit call from which its name derives.

Yeah, I can hear a little echo of it in my head now!

There's a little bit of twitting going on here.

-Little bit.

-OK.

This is good now, Viv.

You're about to become Acious.

Just get this right. In mathematics,

the Riemann Hypothesis of 1859 raised important implications for

the distribution of what?

Could you spell Riemann?

Riemann is

R-I-E-M-A-N-N. Riemann hypothesis.

Um...

I'm going to go with prime numbers, Jeremy.

Let's see. Eggheads?

Yeah, I think that's right. I think so, yes.

Prime numbers is the right answer, Viv.

You got three out of three.

Sorry, Lisa.

I blame the twite fully.

Knocked out by a solitary twite.

So return to us, and this may start to look a lot better

for the Challengers. Let's see what happens next.

So, well done, Viv, that was good.

The Wild Things have now pulled a brain back.

They've lost two, but the Eggheads have now lost one!

So game on. And the last subject before the final is Film & TV.

-Who would like this?

-It's got to be me.

-Yeah.

-OK, Debbie, OK.

-It's not strong, but...

-OK.

-I'll do it.

-You're taking on either Dave or Kevin.

Well, I think I'm going to have to go for Tremendous Knowledge Dave!

Great idea. Film & TV,

Debbie from the Wild Things versus Dave from the Eggheads,

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

Here we go, Debbie. Get this round and then it's equal in the final

and we are playing for £15,000.

So you can do it. Just stay focused.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. The BBC TV drama House Of Cards,

starring Ian Richardson

as the manipulative Chief Whip Francis Urquhart,

was first broadcast in which year?

1970's too early because there are lots of references to

Margaret Thatcher, and her premiership, in it.

I think also 1980 because she was

sort of midway through it, so I'm going to go for 1990.

I'm glad you did. You're right, well done.

Well done, Debbie. Dave, your question.

What is the name of Ross and Rachel's daughter

in the TV comedy series Friends?

Oh.

Don't like it.

I don't think it's Jill.

I think Amy, on balance, is a more American name.

So I'm going to have to go, put myself out of my misery,

I'll go Amy. Amy. Please.

You've gone wrong.

-It's Emma.

-Yep.

Debbie. Get this right, then the pressure's on.

When unadjusted for inflation,

what is the highest-grossing James Bond film of all time

at the worldwide box office?

Hmm. Didn't like Quantum Of Solace as much.

Loved Skyfall and equally liked Spectre.

I'm going to go for, cos I think of the three it was the best, Skyfall.

Skyfall's right. You're playing really well.

So, Dave, you have to get this right to stay in.

-Yep.

-What is the subtitle of the 2016 sequel

to the Roland Emmerich blockbuster Independence Day?

Not entirely sure, but I don't think it's Collision Course

or Winter's War. I'm going to go Resurgence, please.

Resurgence is right.

He's playing a good game, Debbie, but you've got the advantage still.

Just get this right, you're in the final, and you've levelled it.

Here's your question. Take your time.

Which character is played by Tom Burke in the BBC TV series

The Musketeers?

Right. Well, I'll be totally honest - I don't know,

I never watched this series.

So...

I always think that Porthos is often the forgotten Musketeer when people

are asked to name them, so that's what I'm going for, Porthos.

It's not. It's Athos.

So a chance for Dave to come back and take it to Sudden Death.

Here's your question. The American Dennis Muren has won multiple Oscars

in which category, Dave?

Not heard of his name in any category.

So I'm going to have to go for a guess.

Dennis Muren...

Right, well, there's no point in me trying to get anything out of it.

I'm going to go straight down the middle - visual effects, please.

OK, Eggheads, is he right?

-No idea.

-I think I'd have guessed at that as well.

Do you know this one, Debbie?

No, but, just to be contrary, I'll go editing.

OK. No, it is actually visual effects.

So, after three questions, the scores are level.

We're going to Sudden Death, Debbie, OK?

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

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

Which Oscar-winning actress

is the mother of Shiloh Nouvel, born in 2006?

I've got a face in my mind but I can't put a name to it.

Oh... Come on, Debbie.

Nope, sorry, I'm going to have to pass.

-I'm really sorry.

-OK.

-Angelina Jolie.

-Oh...

She won best supporting actress for Girl, Interrupted.

OK, we go over to you, Dave,

you can take the round with this on Sudden Death.

Jet, Lightning and Panther were characters in which British TV show,

first seen in 1992?

Gladiators.

The correct answer is Gladiators.

So we say, well done, Dave, you have taken that round.

Sorry, Debbie, you were so close to it there.

She was in my mind, she was my first thought, Angelina Jolie,

and then I moved off of it. It's my own silly fault.

Sorry, though. And if you return to us, we will play that final round

for £15,000.

And this is what we have been playing towards.

It's time for our final round - as always, General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads are not allowed

to take part in this round.

So that's Bernadette, Debbie and Roger from the Wild Things,

and Lisa from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

OK, Tony and Viv, here we are.

-Yeah.

-And you can win from this position.

Tony, you said at the beginning you were a friendship administrator?

It's a charity for elderly people - elderly, lonely people.

-Right.

-And we have telephone friends and letter friends who exchange

letters and have phone calls on a regular schedule during the week.

Oh, how brilliant. So they're able to get a bit of company

-or just a conversation...

-It's just by the phone but, yeah,

you wouldn't believe how lonely some people are.

Some of the letters and stuff that I read is just...

Some of it is just really heart-warming,

but some of it is really heartbreaking as well.

Yeah. And youngsters helping out as well?

Yeah, the range of volunteers on the phones ranges from, like,

mid-20s to... There's one volunteer who's over 100 -

had their 100th birthday last Monday.

Oh, how brilliant. Well, what a great thing.

OK. You're playing to win the Wild Things £15,000.

Dave, Kevin, Steve, Judith,

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

the Eggheads' reputation, and to continue this stupendous roll.

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

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You may confer. So, Viv and Tony,

the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

And, Wild Things, do you want to go first or second?

I think we'll go first.

Good luck. Here we go. Your first question.

Tom Croft and Courtney Lawes have represented England at which sport?

I've never heard them mentioned as football or rugby union.

I would go for cricket.

Well, that's a woman. Courtney Lawes is a woman.

Yeah, but there is women's cricket.

Yeah, the same as football, as well.

Yeah, but... Oh, true enough, yeah.

I would say, if it was me, I would say cricket.

-OK.

-I think we're going to go for cricket.

Cricket. OK, let me check with Bernadette,

who I know is the sporting person.

Do you know this, Bernadette?

I absolutely know this. This is rugby union.

And is Courtney a man or a woman, Bernadette?

A very tall guy who...

A very fast back for England.

Rugby union is the answer, as Bernadette says.

Eggheads, your question. In which decade did Gerry Rafferty

have a UK top-five single with Baker Street?

-78.

-78.

-Wasn't It?

-Yup, 1978.

Yeah, yeah.

-OK? Happy with that?

-Yeah.

Yeah. OK.

We think that was the 1970s, Jeremy.

It was the 1970s.

Here's your question. Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth,

the hotel at which John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged

one of their bed-in for peace sessions,

is in which city?

I think that's...

I thought it was in Paris and it...

-Yeah, I did as well.

-So...

But I think, then,

John and Yoko, they're more likely to be...

It wouldn't have been Cape Town, that's for sure.

-Yeah, no.

-I'd say Montreal.

-Yeah.

-Are we sure?

-I think I'd say Montreal too.

Yeah, we think Montreal.

Montreal is the right answer.

Well done. Back to you, Eggheads.

Which of these phrases appears on the new Bank of England £5 note,

introduced in 2016?

-It's Winston Churchill.

-It's Churchill, isn't it?

So it's got to be the only one of those.

It's blood and toil.

-OK?

-Yeah.

Well, the new £5 note contains a picture of Winston Churchill,

and the only one of those three phrases that would be associated

with him would be "blood, toil, tears and sweat".

Yeah, the logic is good.

"Blood, toil, tears and sweat" is the answer.

So the £5 note has Winston Churchill's face on it?

-Yeah.

-All right.

Two to them, one to you.

To stay in the contest you must get this one right.

Here is your question. Which post in the Royal household

did Desmond Shawe-Taylor take over in 2005?

Could you repeat it again, please, Jeremy?

Which post in the Royal household did Desmond Shawe-Taylor take over

in 2005? Shawe-Taylor is a hyphenated surname.

2005, do you think that's digital?

I was kind of thinking that, yeah.

I mean, again, I couldn't say which one.

Privy Purse? I mean, I don't know anything about the Royals.

No. Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, I mean,

I think that's with the galleries and they open it up to people,

-don't they?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That was, what's his name?

The fifth spy.

Didn't the Queen start, like, e-mailing or...?

-Yeah, she did, yeah.

-Was that in 2005?

It might have been earlier than that.

Shawe-Taylor sounds more like a sort of a...

Either Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures

or Keeper of the Privy Purse.

I'm just guessing.

-I'd go for Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures.

-OK, well...

-OK.

-I'll go with yours.

-No, no, we'll go for...

OK, we'll go for Head of Digital Engagement.

Head of Digital Engagement.

-Head of Digital Engagement.

-Yeah.

You were zeroing in on Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, there.

On the basis that it's a double-barrelled name...

It sounded like the kind of guy who...

That was, I think, might have been quite good logic

cos the answer is Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures.

-Challengers, I'm so sorry.

-It's all right.

No way back, and we have to say congratulations, Eggheads,

you have won.

Commiserations,

Wild Things, commiserations.

They are on very good form at the moment.

Again, only lost one from this game, which is a bit of a habit, too.

And they've done what comes naturally to them,

they've snatched the jackpot away, so the winning streak continues,

we keep the £15,000 in the studio and roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, very well done.

Getting a bit tired of saying this to you.

You seem unstoppable at the moment.

Almost, dare I say it, unbeatable.

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

to finally take them down.

This jackpot is getting bigger and bigger.

It's going to be £16,000 on the next show.

Till then, goodbye.