Episode 59 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.

I see a gleam in your eyes!

-Yes.

-Is that knowledge or fear?

-Possibly just reflection.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are Lookout Eggheads.

Now, this team all volunteer

for the National Coastwatch Institution,

and are based at various lookout stations along the Dorset coast.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm David and I run an astronomy company.

Hi, I'm John and I'm a retired judge.

Hi, I'm Shelley, I'm a retired senior Crown prosecutor.

Hi, I'm Geoff, and I'm a company director.

Hi, I'm John and I'm a more-or-less retired publisher.

So, David and team, welcome.

-Hi, Jeremy.

-Hi.

-Hello. Great to see you.

Now, Coastguard is the official thing, and David, you're voluntary,

-is that right?

-We support the Coastguard and emergency services

in everything that they do to keep people safe

five miles out to sea and on the coastal path.

So, you sit there with binoculars?

Huge binoculars, yes, we can read the name of ships five miles away.

-Do you really?

-Radar, AIS, all the equipment there.

Are you mainly looking out for people

who are in trouble in the sea, or...?

Yeah, we can often see something happening.

They might be going into rough water and not realising it,

and we're there to help make their day better,

so they can come home and have another go another day.

-OK, good luck, team.

-Thank you.

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

for our challengers. However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

we just roll that prize money over to the next show.

Now, Lookout Eggheads, you may have seen this coming.

The Eggs here have had a very, very, very good phase,

they've won the last 15.

-Oh!

-Is that good or bad?

-I mean, it's...

-Good!

-Potentially...

-Due for a fall!

-..yes, very, very good,

because it means there's £16,000 to win today.

-Come on, team!

-No pressure!

-No pressure!

-Would you like to go for it?

-Yes, please.

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

which I'm thinking might be really good for you.

You can go against either Judith, Dave, Kevin, Barry or Lisa.

Shall I...? Who shall I take on?

-I would think Judith.

-OK, happy with that?

I'll take on Judith, please, Jeremy.

Lovely. OK, John, our retired publisher from Lookout Eggheads,

versus Judith, you're getting quite a lot of run-outs at the moment.

Yes, on geography, I've done it...

-Very popular.

-I've done it a few times lately.

Yes, you have done it a few times. To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our famous question room?

Well, John, I suppose I should ask you

where you do your coast-watching.

I do it at St Alban's Head,

which is the southernmost point of the Isle of Purbeck.

And we have a view of the sea round from Portland Bill,

all the way round on a good day to St Catherine's Point,

-which is the southernmost part of the Isle of Wight.

-Wow!

And you're using a telescope for that, or binoculars?

Binoculars, very large binoculars, mostly.

OK, John, we're on geography, I hope some of that Dorset area comes up.

Would you like to go first or second?

Erm, ladies first, I think, I'll go second.

Here we go, Judith Keppel, our million pound winner.

Your first question. The island of Zanzibar lies in which ocean?

Well, it's off the east coast of Africa.

So, I think that is the Indian Ocean.

Your rule is, always go Pacific.

I thought you were going to go with your rule!

No. Sometimes you have to know when to duck.

Yes. Very rarely, very rarely you don't go Pacific.

OK, one to you. Indian is right.

John, your question. Which of these cities is in Belgium?

Well, Bern is in Switzerland, I think.

Um...

Rotterdam is Holland.

So, I guess it's Antwerp.

Yes. It would be an easy one to go wrong on.

Well done, Antwerp is right.

Judith - what symbol

features on the national flag of Vietnam?

Oh, my goodness, I hate flags.

I don't think it's a temple because I think that's Cambodia.

Erm, Vietnam...

So it's a star or flower.

I'm going to say...

-flower.

-A flower.

Now, let me just think, Eggheads, which flags have flowers on them?

Because I've got it in my mind, one of them

does have some petals and stuff?

Hong Kong's got a flower on it.

Hong Kong, yeah? Vietnam?

-No, it's a star.

-It's a star!

A star - you had the 50-50 and you went the wrong way.

John, a bit of an opportunity for you here.

Beachy Head is a chalk headland located close to which English town?

Well, they don't have headlands on the whole around Great Yarmouth,

because it's in East Anglia, which is rather flat.

Erm, Torquay, no.

It's Eastbourne.

It is Eastbourne.

That's not one of your lookouts, is it?

There are 50 different lookouts around the coast,

and I believe one of them is at Eastbourne.

OK, let's have a look at the scores.

You're ahead, John. Here's your question, Judith.

Approximately how many people

live in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria?

Oh, my goodness. Erm...

I think I'm going to say 182.

So, you went with the lower of the three.

-Yes.

-I always think with Nigeria,

you could almost never guess too high,

it is so populous.

But you've got it right here, Judith,

well done, 182 is the right answer.

OK, so, back to you, John.

Get this right, you're in the final round.

The La Brea tar pits,

where natural asphalt has seeped up from the ground

for tens of thousands of years, are part of which US city?

It sounds as though it's either Spanish or French.

So, on that basis, probably not New York.

My son lives in Los Angeles, and he's never mentioned it,

but then it's not the sort of thing you chat about, is it?

So, I will go for Miami.

Coastwatchers?

-Los Angeles.

-Los Angeles is the answer!

So, you're level after three questions,

and we go to sudden death.

And Judith, your question comes first - as you know,

I don't give you alternative answers.

In Spanish, the name of the South American archipelago

Tierra del Fuego

means land of what, Judith?

Well, I think it's land of fire, isn't it?

It IS land of fire.

So, our Egghead has the advantage.

Back to you, John, your question, to stay in.

HE CHUCKLES

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but you'll love this!

Dorchester...

..is the county town...

..of which county...

..on England's south coast?

Mmm, tricky!

Think about it, don't rush this, OK?

I think it might be Dorset, Jeremy.

Dorset is the right answer!

Judith, back to you.

The Douro Valley is a renowned wine-producing region

in the north of which European country?

And Douro is D-O-U-R-O.

I think it's where port comes from, so, erm...

The Douro Valley... Hang on, I'm now worried that it's in Spain.

Oh, help. I think...

I think it's in Spain.

THEY GASP

Judith, you've said Spain - the answer is Portugal.

-I should have stuck.

-You did... What caused you to doubt there?

I don't know, somebody who lives there.

What, someone who lives there told you?

And I thought they lived in Spain rather than Portugal!

Right, well, that's an easy mistake to make.

OK, John, I'm sensing that the wheels are coming off slightly

here on the Eggheads side, so take advantage.

Which London Underground line

runs from Harrow and Wealdstone to Elephant and Castle?

I seem to remember catching trains

which were going to Elephant and Castle

on the Bakerloo line.

Bakerloo is quite right, well done, you're in the final.

Judith, you've been knocked out.

That's not as easy as it looked to me, looking at it as a Londoner,

that question. Well done, John.

Well done, good work.

Judith, sorry, knocked out, but early days for both teams.

Return to us, please, and we'll play on.

OK, so, good start for Lookout Eggheads,

they have not lost any brains from the final round.

You're there with your binoculars trained on them,

and the Eggheads have lost a brain.

Next subject is arts and books.

So, who would like this?

-I will do that.

-All right, very decisive, Shelley.

Our retired senior Crown prosecutor.

And against which Egghead - anyone but Judith?

May I choose Dave?

You MAY choose Tremendous Knowledge Dave on arts and books.

So, Shelley from Lookout Eggheads, and look out, Dave!

I'd better had look out, hadn't I?

Please go to the question room now!

Shelley, would you like to go first or second on arts and books?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck. Shelley, here we go.

Which of these famous authors died in 2016?

I think John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway have been long gone,

but I think Harper Lee died recently.

-Harper Lee.

-Harper Lee is the right answer, well done.

Back to you, Dave.

The Donmar Warehouse is a theatre in which city?

Donmar Warehouse...

Yeah, I'm going to rule out Bristol and Edinburgh and go London, please.

I've got a feeling it's south London, is it Dulwich or somewhere,

-Eggheads?

-Covent Garden.

Covent Garden?

OK, back to you, Shelley.

James Fox's 1982 novel White Mischief

is primarily set in which country?

It's a very famous legal story, and the answer I believe is Kenya.

You've got it absolutely right, well done, Shelley.

Kenya, it is.

Dave, here's your question.

How does the title character die

in the Shakespeare tragedy Othello?

Right, erm, it's not jumped off a building.

Oh, I'm terrible with my knowledge of this.

Oh, what a terrible question for me!

Can't remember whether he stabs himself or drinks poison.

I've seen the play.

Not getting anything, I've got a total brain freeze here, Jeremy,

I'm going to go drinks poison.

And get it wrong, sorry.

OK, Eggheads in pain over this.

Eggheads, what's happened?

-He stabs himself.

-Stabs himself.

Yeah.

Shelley, you're ahead now.

Who wrote the poem that begins, "Love is like the wild rose-briar,

"friendship like the holly tree"?

I don't recognise the line, Jeremy.

But I would guess Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

It's actually Emily Bronte.

So, we go back to you, Dave,

and you need this.

How many tales are there in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?

I don't think it's as many as 64.

Sorry, I'm going to go 24, I'm not really...

-I'll go 24, thanks.

-You're a bit thrown

after the Othello question?

-Yes, I am, yeah.

-OK. Don't worry, you've got it right, Dave.

Well done, 24.

So, level after three. Shelley, we go to sudden death.

It gets a bit harder, Shelley, I don't give you different options.

In 1937, what became the first published novel of JRR Tolkien?

I will guess The Hobbit.

The Hobbit is correct.

Dave, to stay in.

Which novel by JD Salinger begins with the central character being

expelled from an exclusive private school called Pencey Prep?

Catcher In The Rye?

Catcher In The Rye is right.

Shelley, your question, sudden death.

Who won a 2015 Costa book award for her novel A God In Ruins?

I don't know the answer.

-Want to take a stab at it?

-Nope.

OK. Kate Atkinson.

Dave, for the round.

What does the H stand for in the name of the Lady Chatterley's Lover

author DH Lawrence?

Herbert.

Classic quiz question, that.

Herbert is right, Dave, you've taken the round.

Sorry, Shelley, did you know that one, the Herbert one?

Doesn't matter now, Jeremy.

OK, you don't have to say.

Bad luck, Shelley, you've been knocked out.

Dave will be in the final, it's a really tight contest, this.

Please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

Level after two rounds.

Lookout Eggheads have lost one, the Eggheads have lost a brain as well.

We play on, with film and TV.

Whose subject is this, Lookouts?

-Can you do it, John?

-Yeah. I can try!

-Go on!

-Go on.

-You must have watched some...

That's one I can take.

OK, John, our retired judge, on film and TV.

John, you can choose any of the three from the left there -

Lisa, Barry or Kevin?

I'll do what I can against Barry.

Good stuff. So, John, from Lookout Eggheads.

Barry, I'm thinking it's been a while since you were in the booth?

Yes, there's been a few games recently that I haven't been picked.

Yeah. So, Barry from the Eggheads, and please,

to ensure there's no conferring, go to our question room.

Film and TV, John, and would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second, please.

Barry, your first question. Which of these

is a 2016 film starring Renee Zellweger?

Ooh. You know,

I'm not quite sure.

I don't think it's her wedding.

I'm pretty certain there was a baby involved in this one,

so I'll go for Bridget Jones's Baby.

Bridget Jones's Baby is quite right.

Back to you, John.

And you are a retired judge.

-Yes.

-All right.

That might help with this next question.

Who returned as a judge on the 2016 series of X Factor?

Since I've never watched X Factor, ever,

it's not going to help me with my judicial knowledge, really.

I think I shall go...

down the middle. Dannii Minogue.

Yep, attractive idea.

Let's just check with the Eggheads. Was she ever?

-Yes, she was.

-She was?

-Yes.

-Did she leave?

-Yes.

-And did she come back?

-No.

-No.

So it's Nicole Scherzinger.

Barry, your question.

Which EastEnders character is played by the comedian

turned actor Richard Blackwood?

Now, this is where I need Judith

because I find EastEnders unremittingly miserable

and so I never watch it and I am a big Corrie fan.

I could answer all the characters in Corrie, but on this one,

I haven't the faintest idea.

So it's just going to be an absolute guess

-and I shall go for Jack Branning.

-Let me check then with Judith.

-Is he right, Judith?

-I don't know!

-You do know!

-I do not know!

This is your favourite show.

-But you don't do the actors on it, do you?

-That's the awful thing.

-You don't look at the credits.

-I do look them up,

but if he's a new one, it might be Johnny Carter.

Well, Judith is thinking it's Johnny Carter.

You're saying Jack Branning. The actual answer is Vincent Hubbard.

That's about par for the course then!

OK, so we're in a little cultural black hole here.

Let's see. John, let me give you your question.

In which country where the comedians Mike Myers and Jim Carrey born?

Oh, dear.

I've never heard of either, which makes it slightly more difficult.

Perhaps... Let's try the United Kingdom.

No, they were Canada.

Barry,

if you get this one right, you're in the final round.

Here's your question. Which of these Tom Hanks films took the most money

at the international box office?

Oh, that is an excellent film...

An excellent question.

I wish I had an excellent answer for them.

I think, because of the popularity of the book The Da Vinci Code,

I will go for The Da Vinci Code on the assumption that more people

would have wanted to see the film version.

The answer is The Da Vinci Code.

Barry, you're right. And sorry, John, you've been knocked out there.

Well, I was the sacrificial lamb.

I am so sorry. Barry, you're in the final.

Come back to us, we will play the next round and see what happens.

So, you've now lost two brains from the final round.

And the Eggheads have only lost one.

And this could be a crucial round to just try and pull back,

get it level for the final, Lookout Eggheads.

So, your subject now is sport.

Is that good? We've got Geoff or David.

Yeah... I'll take that, please, Jeremy.

OK, David. And you can have either Kevin or Lisa.

Well, I don't know if you've ever had a teacher-student relationship

on the programme before, but I used to teach Lisa,

so it would be nice to see how we get on.

-Are you up for this, Lisa?

-I'm getting some very bad flashbacks.

Very bad flashbacks!

He can send you to the corner of the room if you get any questions right.

David from Lookout Eggheads versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

This is going to be really good.

Teacher and pupil. Please go, for the last time, to our question room.

Well, this is a bit exciting for us, David.

So we're reuniting teacher and pupil.

Yes. Yes, I taught her when she was no' but a lass.

Lisa, you've got a memory of this?

I'm not that old, Jeremy!

No, I was... Poor David suffered me in his science classes

for about two years when I was 11.

OK, but we are on sport now which may turn the tables slightly.

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

-I'll let Lisa go first.

Lisa, excluding substitutes,

a team in which of these sports has the fewest amount of players?

You did say the fewest amount of players, didn't you, Jeremy?

Yes, I did. The fewest amount of players.

OK, then it's netball.

Netball is correct.

David,

the footballer Gianluigi Buffon has played for Italy over 150 times

in which position?

I don't think he's a striker or midfielder.

I think he's a very flamboyant goalkeeper

and a fantastic goalkeeper.

He is a brilliant goalkeeper. Well done.

Lisa, which golfer won the US Open four times between 1923 and 1930?

OK. 1923 and 1930,

I think we can just about safely rule out Arnold Palmer.

I can't quite shake the feeling that Ben Hogan is slightly more recent

than that. I'll try Bobby Jones.

Let's check with the Eggheads here. Bobby Jones?

-Yes.

-They like it, well done.

She's in the lead. You need this one, Dave.

Which of these teams have New Zealand

not played in a men's rugby union World Cup final?

Gosh!

I'll go England.

Yes, England is correct, so you're level.

A good, tight round on sport.

Teacher versus pupil.

And pupil next.

Britain's Charlotte Dujardin is a famous name in which sport?

She is a dressage specialist so that would make it equestrian.

Equestrian is the right answer.

OK, David, because you went second,

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

Max Whitlock won gold medals in which gymnastics events

at the 2016 Olympics?

Erm...

I've got a feeling that he did a most amazing floor.

So the other Brit got the silver, so I'll go floor and pommel horse.

Floor and pommel horse is the right answer.

Well done, David. Good stuff.

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

We go to sudden death. Just to make it harder, it's not multiple-choice.

Lisa, your question. In which decade did Switzerland

host the men's football World Cup?

I knew it was going to be a football question.

It's always a football question. Right...

I don't know. I'll try the 1970s.

It's 1954, so it's the '50s.

-OK. Well, I'm glad I was well out.

-You were well out.

And, David, your chance not just to get in the final

but to make sure it's level in the final playing for £16,000.

So a big question here.

Which American football quarterback was given a four-game suspension

at the start of the 2016 NFL season

for his part in the so-called deflate-gate scandal?

I've followed American football since the late 1960s.

And it's one of my passions,

so I'm now going to make a complete mess of this,

but I believe it's Tom Brady.

And your answer is absolutely right.

Tom Brady. Well done.

You've just put your former pupil

in her place there.

I'm only glad it wasn't science!

-I'm glad I didn't get the football.

-That's true.

The stakes would have been higher for you both in science!

Lisa, you're out. David, you're in the final.

That levels it up with a big jackpot.

Please return to us and we will play that all-important final round.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our very exciting final round.

As always, it is general knowledge,

but those of you who lost your head-to-heads,

I'm afraid won't be in this round so that's John U and Shelley

from Lookout Eggheads and also Lisa and Judith from the actual Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Well, here we are. David, Geoff and John,

you are playing to win Lookout Eggheads £16,000.

Get your binoculars out.

This is the moment. Barry, Kevin and Dave,

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

But also to keep this amazing run going.

Can you get to 20?

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

They're all going to be general knowledge.

You can confer, gentlemen.

So, Lookout Eggheads, the question is,

can your three brains defeat these three?

Good luck. Do you want to go first or second?

-Go first?

-Yeah. I think so.

-We're going to go first, Jeremy.

And here we go with your first question.

Cottage pie is most commonly made with which type of meat?

-Beef.

-Beef.

-It's not lamb, because that's shepherd's pie.

-Shepherd's pie, yeah.

-Pork?

-It's not pork. It's definitely not.

-It's beef and carrots.

It's beef. Happy?

We're pretty convinced that's beef, Jeremy.

It is beef, well done.

Eggheads,

on July 14th of which year did the storming of the Bastille

take place in Paris?

-1789?

-Yep. That was 1789.

1789 is quite right.

Your question.

Which US state is home to both the American crocodile

and the American alligator?

Is it the Mississippi? I don't know.

Mississippi or Florida. Not California.

I don't remember the crocodile...

in Florida and the Everglades.

-Can we rule out California?

-Yes, we can rule out California.

Did you see the crocodile in the Everglades?

I saw the alligator in the Everglades.

Yeah, I only saw the alligator.

Well, hang on, you don't get alligators even

in Mississippi, do you?

Maybe not, yeah. Maybe not.

I don't think so, I don't know, but I would guess Florida.

So are we going to go with Florida? Definitely not California.

-No.

-So we'll go with Florida.

-Happy with that.

Jeremy, we're going to try Florida.

Florida is the right answer.

Oh, well done!

Well done indeed.

OK, your question, Eggheads.

Which Oscar-winning actress

was the partner of the playwright Sam Shepard

for nearly three decades?

-I believe it's Lange.

-Jessica Lange.

-It's not Meryl Streep or Angelina Jolie.

-I'm pretty sure...

-Pretty sure it's Jessica Lange.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, OK?

We think that's Jessica Lange.

Jessica Lange is the right answer.

Lookout Eggheads,

which of these kings of England adopted the White Hart

as his personal badge?

Don't think it was Richard II.

Which was Henry II? Was he the white ship man?

-I've no idea.

-My knowledge of history...

No, that was Henry I.

William II was the one who was murdered.

-He was Rufus.

-So that's... Oh, sorry, yeah.

Oh, yeah, William Rufus.

Yeah. And he did a lot of hunting.

-I think that...

-Yes, he did, because he was killed in the New Forest.

That's right. I think the White Hart came later.

Why would anybody have a White Hart?

-What...

-Did Richard...

-Well, that's the only connection I can think of.

-What, sorry?

-That they hunted a lot.

-Yeah.

If they were sportsmen or hunters.

And Richard II was the wimpy one, wasn't he?

Yeah. So that probably isn't the one.

If William II was a huntsman,

that's the connection that I can see with the hart.

Yeah. Shall we stay with the local one?

-I'm happy with that.

-We'll try it.

We have very little idea, Jeremy, but we're going to try William II,

possibly with the connection of him being a huntsman.

Let's just turn this over to the Eggheads.

Can you help us eliminate?

Well, I can see why they've gone for William II

because he was famously a huntsman

and wound up being killed in the New Forest when he was actually hunting.

I'm not too sure in the terms of why Richard II adopted the White Hart as

his symbol, I'm not sure what the origins of that are, but it is him.

The answer is Richard II.

Sorry, you've got it wrong, but you're not out.

Here's your question, Eggheads.

Who had a UK number one single in September 2016 with Closer?

-Chainsmokers.

-Chainsmokers.

Yeah, I think it is, yeah. That's Chainsmokers, Jeremy.

Eggheads, the answer is Chainsmokers.

We say congratulations.

You have won.

"Oof!" said somebody on this side.

That... Yeah. There we are. Commiserations.

-You played very well.

-It was great fun.

You fought them to a standstill until the final round

and they just... On Richard II and Chainsmokers, they took it.

And they've done what comes naturally to them

so this winning streak continues.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £16,000.

We'll take that money and roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, really well done.

Who will ever beat you?

So, join us next time to see if a new team of challengers

have the brains to finally take them down.

£17,000 will be here to play for.

Till we quiz again, goodbye.