Episode 60 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.

Here they are, the Eggheads.

Feeling intrepid, or stay at home?

Intrepid.

OK. Challenging our resident quiz champions today are Flying Five.

Now, this team from Glasgow work together selling holiday packages to

travel companies. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Mark, and I'm a travel consultant.

Hi, I'm Heather and I'm a reservations consultant.

Hi, I'm Jon, and I'm an AirPlus consultant.

Hi, I'm Angela and I'm a worldwide travel consultant.

Hi, I'm Michael and I'm a tours consultant.

So, Mark and team, welcome.

-Hello.

-Good to see you. I'm guessing you are very intrepid,

because you do travel all day long.

Agents come on and ask us for holidays.

We sell exotic holidays - Dubai, Mauritius, Bangkok -

and we put together the appropriate package for them.

Oh, brilliant. And you must be absolute wizards when it comes to

booking your own, I'm assuming?

Well, yes, we can see where the cheaper deals are, yeah!

Now, interestingly, Mark,

you have got every British Rail timetable since 1974.

Yes, it was a passion of mine.

It used to be a joke when I started in travel

that I went to bed not with a woman but with a British Rail timetable.

-Well, that's your kind of thing, Chris.

-Absolutely.

-Well, yeah.

-Can you see the way Chris has just suddenly bloomed?

-Exactly.

-A full set would be, sort of,

a catalogue of slow and sad decline, though, wouldn't it?

-Yeah, it would be.

-Oh, really, what, pre-Beeching,

so you've got them before they shut lines down?

No, I've just got... I really became interested when I was about

seven or eight, just collecting them.

I've always been fascinated by timetables and memorising them,

that type of thing.

OK, well, good luck. I hope you can derail this team here,

get them stuck at the airport, or whatever it is travel people do.

-Take them off track.

-Yeah, exactly.

Every day, there is £1,000 worth

of cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

If you fail to defeat the Eggheads, we roll the prize money over.

Now, the last few teams have failed, Flying Five.

I can tell you that the Eggheads have triumphed

in 16 games on the trot,

and it means there's £17,000 to win.

-Would you like to try?

-Yes. Absolutely.

-Yes.

-OK.

The first head-to-head battle is on Politics.

You can choose between Chris, Dave, Kevin, Barry and Lisa.

-Politics.

-What do you think?

-What do you think, guys?

-Do you want to pick Michael?

I'm happy to do it, aye.

-You want to do that?

-Yeah.

-You want to do it, Michael?

-Yeah, I'll go for it.

-Michael?

OK, our tours consultant.

Which Egghead? Any one of the five, Michael.

I will go for Kevin.

You're taking out the top man?

-I think so, yeah.

-All right, very good.

Michael from Flying Five is going to aim directly at

Kevin from the Eggheads on Politics.

Please both of you go to our famous Question Room now.

Well, good luck, Michael, against the great Kevin.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And, Michael, here is your first question.

After the death of her husband in 1974,

Isabel Peron took over as president of which South American country?

It is the home of Diego Maradona, Argentina.

Argentina is the right answer.

OK, Kevin,

which of these actresses was made a special envoy

by the UN High Commissioner for refugees in 2012?

Erm, I...

I mean, Angelina Jolie has done a lot in that line,

but I'm not aware of either of the others

having that sort of role, so I'll have to go with Angelina Jolie.

Angelina Jolie is correct.

Michael, which a American politician made the so-called Checkers speech

in 1952 when he defended himself against accusations of corruption?

Definitely not Ronald Reagan.

The obvious answer would be Nixon.

I think I'll go with...

I'll go with JFK, John F Kennedy.

-Ah, you just swerved the wrong way.

-Ach... Yeah.

Yeah, it's not Ronald Reagan.

Amazingly, Richard Nixon goes right back.

Richard Nixon is the right answer.

Kevin, your question.

What is the name of the lower house of the Russian parliament?

I believe it's called the State Duma.

Do you know the other two?

The Althing is Iceland, and the Diet is used in...

I mean, it's probably best known for Japan, but there are others.

Duma is right in Russia's case.

Back to you, Michael, so you need this one.

The Haldane Reforms of the early 20th century,

named after the British Secretary of State who oversaw them,

led to major changes to what?

I don't think it's health service.

Erm, I think...

I'll go with education.

The Haldane Reforms were actually the Army.

Oh.

Michael, we say bad luck, you've been beaten by Kevin,

beaten by our Egghead,

and, as a result, you won't be in the final round.

But don't worry, it's very early days for the Challengers.

Both of you come back and rejoin your teams, and we will play on.

As it stands, Flying Five have become the Flying Four!

You have lost a brain.

The Eggheads are all still there on this roaring form that they're on.

Take a lump out of them, it all may change.

The next subject is Film & TV.

So, who would like this one?

-Will I go with that one?

-Yeah.

-Angela or Jon?

-Angela.

-Angela?

OK, Angela, our worldwide travel consultant, against which Egghead?

-Lisa, please.

-Very good, very decisive.

So, if I booked a holiday with you, it would be, like, immediate!

-Yes.

-"This is where you're going."

Angela from Flying Five versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

Angela, I gather you've taken part in a calendar to

-raise money for breast cancer?

-Yeah, that's right.

And anything unusual about it?

It was naked!

And what sort of response did you get to that?

-Erm, really good, really positive.

-I bet.

-yep.

I bet. And I hope it raised a lot of money.

-It did.

-We were going to do a naked Eggheads calendar, Lisa, weren't we?

And then we realised quite what a money-spinner that wouldn't be.

-Yeah.

-For Halloween, yeah.

Dave says, "For Halloween."

Yeah, you won't catch me doing a Demi Moore any time soon.

OK. Well, anyway, look, Film & TV - would you like go first or second?

Can I go second, please?

Of course you may, and here we go with Lisa's first question.

What do panellists usually say on the TV programme Dragons' Den

when they decide not to invest in a proposal?

On air, at least, they say, "I'm out."

"I'm out" is right.

Angela, your question.

"Leisure rules" is a tagline from which film of the 1980s?

OK, so I actually don't know this one,

but my instinct is to go with Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

It doesn't sound like Predator, does it?

No.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is right.

Yay.

Lisa, which comedy writer co-created the sitcoms Father Ted

and Toast Of London?

So, the one that works with Graham Linehan, then.

Erm...

Sam Bain, usually in partnership with Jesse Armstrong...

John Sullivan, I think, did most of his work on his own.

But I'm fairly sure I've heard

Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews together.

Arthur Matthews.

Arthur Matthews is right.

Well done.

OK, back to you, Angela.

In the TV series Game Of Thrones,

which member of the Lannister family is played by Peter Dinklage?

I've never watched Game Of Thrones.

Erm...

God, everybody's always talking about it.

This is just going to have to be a complete guess.

Erm...

Tywin?

Tywin is incorrect, Angela.

It's Tyrion.

OK, Lisa, who played Ryan's daughter in the 1970 film of that name?

Oh, I was really hoping that would come back to me

when the names came up.

1970...

Ah, who's it ringing the bell for?

Glenda Jackson.

Oh, let's see. Eggheads, do you know?

Sarah Miles.

Sarah Miles is the answer.

-Oh, too bad.

-They all said it as one.

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

-Yep.

If you get it right, we go to Sudden Death.

All Is Lost, Truth, and A Walk In The Woods,

are films starting which actor?

Robert Redford.

Robert Redford is the right answer!

Well done, you. So, two each, scores level.

We go to Sudden Death, and, just to make it that bit harder,

these questions are not multiple-choice,

and we start with you, Lisa.

Who played a 1950s Hollywood actor called Baird Whitlock,

the star of a Roman epic in the Coen Brothers' 2016 film "Hail, Caesar!"?

All sorts of people were in it.

Is it Clooney?

Ooh.

No, for want of being able to think about this...

Come on. See the poster.

I can still only see George Clooney!

Well, George, you're going to have a lot to answer for

if you're not the answer. George Clooney.

George Clooney is correct.

LISA EXHALES

OK. A bit of pressure now, Angela.

Get this right to stay in.

Which Oscar-winning actress played the title role in the 2016 film

Florence Foster Jenkins?

I have no idea.

Erm...

I'm...I'm just going to hazard a guess here and say Gwyneth Paltrow.

No. Any of your colleagues know?

Meryl Streep.

Meryl Streep is the answer, Mark says,

and, yes, that is the answer.

So, sorry, Angela, you've been knocked out there by Lisa.

Lisa, you're in the final round.

Angela, you're not.

And we're looking for a turnaround moment now from the Challengers.

Please rejoin your teams and we'll see what the next round brings.

So, as it stands, Flying Five have lost two brains

from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any.

And let's see what you can do now on Food & Drink.

Now, Mark, who wants this?

-Mmm...

-I'll do Food & Drink. I'll give it a go, yeah.

-We'll give it to Heather.

-OK, Heather, good stuff.

The reservations consultant, against which Egghead?

Against Dave, please.

Very good. So, Heather from Flying Five against Dave from the Eggheads,

with a bit of flying food!

Could be.

-Some bread rolls thrown through the air.

-Absolutely.

To ensure there's no conferring, go to our Question Room, please.

Heather, Food & Drink, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck, Heather, here we go.

What symbol was launched by the UK food industry

in the year 2000 to reassure shoppers about the quality of

the food they were purchasing?

Squirrel sounds tempting,

but I think because of the farming it's got to be red tractor.

Yes, it is red tractor. Well done.

Dave, your question.

Basmati is a variety of which foodstuff?

Rice.

Rice is right.

You're making quick work of this, you two.

Heather, in Japanese cuisine,

what name is usually given to a single portion meal served in a box?

Sashimi is like sushi.

Kimchi I've never heard of before.

But bento sounds like something quite quick and easy,

so I'm going to go bento.

Let's check with our Japanese man, Barry, who's been to every answer.

It is a Bento box, absolutely right.

Have you ever eaten a bento in Japan?

I have indeed. I've eaten them all.

But I didn't like kimchi - it's Korean cabbage.

Oh, is it?

It's quite strongly flavoured with vinegar.

Heather, bento is the right answer. Well done.

Dave, your question.

Which of these is a main ingredient in the Greek pastry Spanakopita?

Can you spell it for me, please?

All one word - capital S, P-A-N-A-K-O-P-I-T-A,

Spanakopita.

I'm not entirely sure on this.

Erm...

My mate at the Red Lion, Fish Man, who runs a chip shop in Stockport,

he would know if it was sardines, and I don't think it's that.

Erm...

Minced lamb, no.

I'm going to go for spinach.

Your mate in the chip shop in... What was that?

My mate in the chip shop, we call him Fish Man.

-Yeah.

-So, erm, he...

He'd know about sardines and fish,

and he's never mentioned anything about a pastry made of fish, so...

I love that, the way of eliminating it -

because your friend hasn't mentioned spanakopita,

it can't be that answer!

Well, you are right anyway, it is spinach,

-so you can rest easy there.

-Yeah. Thank you.

Sounds like they're clutching at straws here, Heather.

Get this right, and let's see if this could be the turning point.

The town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia,

became well-known for producing which type of spirit?

This is a hard one. Erm...

Bundaberg is B-U-N-D-A-B-E-R-G.

OK.

I can't imagine it being tequila, cos that's really South America.

Australia?

I'm going to go for rum.

Is she right, Dave?

-Yes.

-Is it... They call it Bundaberg Rum, Dave?

-Yeah. They do, yep.

-They do, yeah, so you're right.

-Well done, Heather, three out of three, nicely done.

-Thank you.

And rapid-fire as well.

-OK, Dave, back to you.

-Yep.

You need this to stay in.

Fartons are a type of baked product associated with the cuisine

of which country?

It sounds lovely. F-A-R-T-O-N-S.

Fish Man can't help me here.

Erm...

It doesn't sound particularly Spanish or Finnish.

I'm going to have to go...

with the instinct of Vietnam.

Oh...

Let's see. Well, you travel industry people,

you've presumably had fartons before, have you?

-No.

-No.

You've never suffered from that?

Never suffered from it, no.

Spain is the right answer, Dave.

-Never heard of it.

-Well done.

Hey, you're on your way, Heather.

You're in the final round, that's great.

That's a really good moment to win as well.

You've taken on an Egghead. You've just rattled them a bit here.

What will this lead to? Please come back to us,

and we'll play the last round before the final.

OK, so, Dave, there, knocked out by a large farton.

Any Eggheads who want to have a guess at what they actually are,

-the Spanish food?

-I've...

I've heard of them in relation to Spain,

but I can't remember what they are.

Is it something to do with bread or pastry?

Yeah, they're a sort of confectionery, sweet, rather spongy,

and they're glazed with sugar,

and you dip them in a drink called orxata.

-Oh, yeah, yeah, orxata.

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah.

And in the '90s, there was a spin-off called the Flaky Farto.

-OK.

-Right.

If this is the moment you get on the route to £17,000,

this will be memorable to say the least.

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

You can all have a huge banquet of fartons later.

As it stands, Flying Five have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have just lost the one, but is this a turning point?

Let's see. The next subject for you is Sport.

Who would like Sport?

-If could be you, Mark.

-Yeah. I think it'll have to be me.

OK, Mark, our travel consultant and team captain,

against either Barry or Chris.

I think I'm going to have to go for Chris.

So, Mark from Flying Five plays Chris from the Eggheads on Sport,

and just for the last time,

gentlemen, please go to the Question Room.

Mark, would you like to go first or second?

I'm going to choose to go first, if you don't mind, please.

Not at all, Mark, and here we go.

In which year did Princess Anne compete at the Olympic Games?

OK. Princess Anne was into three-day eventing equestrianism.

I don't think it was 1964 cos that was Tokyo.

I don't think it was '68 because it was Mexico.

I'm relatively confident it was 1976.

Yeah, do you remember where that was?

The 1976 Games were in Montreal, Canada.

Absolutely right. '76 it was.

Chris... I'm sensing you're up against a good player here, Chris.

According to ITF rules,

exactly how many feet high should the centre of the net be

on a tennis court?

That... Four...

Three feet, Jeremy.

Three feet is right, well done.

That looks quite high, cos it's going up to your shoulders.

Well, I'm sitting down!

Oh, I see. I hadn't realised.

I thought you were standing up in there.

-OK.

-Have you ever been round here?

-JEREMY LAUGHS

I try not to.

OK, Mark,

in Australia, the Brisbane Heat is a team in which Sport?

OK, Brisbane Heat, right.

I have a... I definitely don't think it's ice hockey.

There's something telling me, at the back of my mind,

that they're a cricket side.

Yeah, I'm going to plump with my original thought and go for cricket.

You're right, it is cricket.

Good stuff. Back to you, Chris.

Belmont Park, host of the Belmont Stakes Horse Race,

is located in which country?

Belmont Park?

Well, it's not Ireland.

Erm....

I don't think it's Australia either,

I think it's one of the tracks in the USA.

Yes, it is USA.

-He's playing well, isn't he, Mark?

-Yeah, he is, very well.

Keep the focus. Here's your question.

In the 1960s and '70s, the British sportsman Rodney Pattisson was

a multiple Olympic medallist in which sport?

Again, let's do it by the power of elimination here.

I don't know he was a sailor.

I...

My mind, sort of, ebbed towards archery.

So, I'm not 100% sure, but I will go with archery.

It's actually sailing.

Oh.

So, you've got a chance, Chris, to take the round here.

In golf's Open Championship,

what does the highest-finishing amateur receive

at the end of the tournament?

Highest amateur.

Well, if he was highest,

I think he'd be insulted by a bronze medallion.

I think the winner would get a gold plate, so I'll say a silver medal.

Is he right, Eggheads?

-Yeah.

-Yes, it is.

-You're right with silver medal.

Sorry, Mark, he's just nicked it there at the end on Sport,

and will be in the final,

and the team captain of our Challengers has been knocked out.

What does that mean in the final round, playing for £17,000?

Come back to us, and we'll find out.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round

which, as always, is General Knowledge,

but, I'm afraid, those of you lost your head-to-heads won't be allowed

to take part in this round.

So, that's Mark, Angela and Michael from the Flying Five,

but also Dave from the Eggheads -

would you please now leave the studio?

Well, the Flying Five are now the Flying Two,

but you are playing, Heather and Jon, for £17,000.

Lisa, Barry, Kevin, Chris,

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

the Eggheads' reputation,

and, at the moment, it is pretty golden, I have to say,

but is this the end of the run?

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

They're all General Knowledge, and you two can confer.

So, Flying Five, the question is,

can your brains defeat these ones over here?

And, Heather and Jon, do you want to go first or second?

First, please.

OK. Good luck to you both.

Here we go, playing for £17,000.

In the United States,

what fictitious name is often given to an unknown person,

particularly an unidentified body?

-I know John Doe is used for that kind of phrasing, as well.

-Uh-huh?

John Bull, I've definitely never heard of.

-What about the first one?

-No, it's John Doe.

-Definitely?

-Uh-huh. Yeah.

OK. OK.

John Doe.

John Doe is absolutely right, well done.

OK, Eggheads, your question.

In North America,

what name is given to the tradition of welcoming alumni

back to their former schools?

Prom's the high-school dance, isn't it, at the end of the school year?

Confirmation is reciting the creed in front of your bishop.

Confirmation is a religious ceremony,

so it's got to be homecoming.

It's the only logical one.

Are we happy with homecoming?

I think it really fits.

OK, Jeremy, well, prom is a dance at the end of the school year,

and confirmation is a religious ceremony,

so the only one that fits, as Lisa pointed out, is homecoming.

Homecoming is the right answer, well done.

OK, back to you, Jon and Heather.

In the TV sitcom Frasier,

what is the name of Frasier and Lilith's son?

-You watch this.

-Yeah, I watch it all the time...

-So...

-..so I know that Niles is the brother...

-Yes.

-..Martin's the dad, and Frederick's the son.

Is Martin definitely the...?

Uh-huh. He's the old man...

And a dog called Eddie.

OK, here, you definitely know. Yeah.

Frederick. Eh, Frederick.

You're right, well done.

Frederick is right.

You're playing in a very sure-footed way, which is excellent.

Eggheads...

on a standard dartboard, what number is directly opposite 11?

Oh, gosh. I've been meaning for years to learn this one.

You used to play darts, didn't you?

Yeah, I...

Not for a long time, but, yeah, it's not 18.

-If you're looking at it like a clock face...

-Mm-hmm.

..11 is the equivalent of nine o'clock, halfway up the left side.

Oh, yes, it is, yes.

Um, now 18...

-It's further round than that.

-..is only two across from 20.

-It's up near the top.

-North-east.

And 12 is also one of those top angles, I'm sure.

I'm pretty sure it's six.

Well, after having had a lengthy explanation of the dartboard from

our esteemed darts correspondent, we're going to go for six.

Dave would know this. Dave?

I'd go six.

Six is the right answer.

You're running them close.

Get this one right and you may not have to do any more work today.

Plantar fasciitis is a medical condition that affects

which part of the body?

Plantar is P-L-A-N-T-A-R,

and then fasciitis is F-A-S-C-I-I-T-I-S.

Plantar makes me think it's definitely, like, joints and things,

-but I'm more swayed towards heel.

-Mm-hmm.

That's what I was thinking, yeah.

Like, plantar fasciitis, it's difficulty walking, isn't it?

That's what I was thinking when I saw that as well.

-Shall we say heel?

-OK.

Definitely?

-Let's go for it.

-OK.

Is it the heel?

Heel is your answer.

I've got a friend who has had this, and it made it very difficult

for her to walk.

-Heel is right.

-Yes.

Three out of three in the final round.

Well done. Playing for £17,000.

Eggheads, you need to get this question right.

In which year was the Queen's Christmas speech first televised

and broadcast to the nation?

I'm sure it's not as late as '67 or '77.

-Let's go for 1957.

-She came to the throne in 1952.

-'52, yeah.

So, five years after, would that seem a reasonable time?

It would seem reasonable to me.

-Well...

-It surely can't be as late as '67.

Yeah. I mean, I don't know, I have no idea, actually,

but, on balance, I would say '57.

Yeah, black and white,

-405 lines, yeah.

-Are we all agreed?

I'll have to defer to the old men on this one.

Yeah.

Yeah, we don't know,

so it's guessing.

OK, well, we're not 100% certain

but the other two years just seem too late for us,

so we're going 1957.

1957 is your answer.

If you've got this wrong, they've won £17,000.

If you've got it right, we go to Sudden Death.

-But we say well done, Eggheads, you are right.

-Brilliant.

1957 is correct,

so, soon after she came to the throne.

Whoo! I'm feeling the tension here.

But you've played so well. We've done our multiple choice questions.

We go to Sudden Death now because it's level.

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

So, Jon and Heather, here's your first.

In which US state is the city of Flint which made national and

international news due to a water crisis that began in 2014?

It sounds like something, sort of...

So, like, Yellowstone.

Uh-huh, in the...

Somewhere in that central, like...

-Nevada.

-I know California didn't have any issues with water.

It's definitely not Colorado,

-so something out from that.

-No.

It would be on the West Coast,

-cos that's the hottest.

-Do you think it's West Coast?

Uh-huh, cos that's the hottest area.

I think it's California.

If I was picking another one,

it'd just be picking it for the sake of changing it,

so if you think California...

-Let's go with California.

-We'll try California.

We'll say California.

California is your answer.

It is Flint, Michigan.

The water crisis that began in 2014.

It's not over. If the Eggheads get this right, though, it will be.

Sudden Death we're on.

Eggheads, your question, to take the contest.

The notorious Calton Jail, which was demolished in the 1930s,

was in which Scottish city?

-Calton Hill?

-Well, Calton Hill's in Edinburgh.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-It was actually on Calton Hill, yeah, yeah.

Well, being born in Edinburgh,

I know that Calton Hill is on...in Edinburgh,

so Calton Jail is in Edinburgh.

If you're right, the contest is over.

Very closely-fought final round,

but Edinburgh is the right answer.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

-Oh, you were so persistent there.

-I know.

So, listen, commiserations, Flying Five.

You played great. I need to ask, Mark, did you know Flint, Michigan?

-I bet you did.

-No, I didn't, unfortunately.

OK, so, we don't have to say if Mark hadn't been knocked out,

-he would have known.

-Yeah.

-That's a relief.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

If it's any consolation,

they're having one hell of a winning streak at the moment.

So, it does mean you're not going home with the £17,000.

We will keep the money, and we'll roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, again, I say, well done,

not just in winning but in only losing one along the way.

Really impressive, isn't it?

And it's got to be stopped.

Let's see if a new team of Challengers can do it next time.

They'll win £18,000 if they do.

Until then, goodbye.