Episode 67 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.

What sort of form are you on today?

-Sparkling, we hope.

-"Sparkling, we hope."

All right, well, let's see.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Unreliable Narrators. Now, everyone in this team is associated

with the Alliance of Literary Societies,

of which team captain Linda is the chair.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Linda, and I'm a retired university manager.

Hello, I'm Deb, and I'm a validation engineer.

Hello, I'm Phil, and I'm an accountant.

Hello, I'm Robin, and I'm a biographer and historian.

Hello, I'm Mike, and I'm a retired civil servant.

-So, Linda and team, welcome.

-Hello.

-Good to see you.

I'm immediately thinking literary people, Linda, is that right?

Yes. We represent different societies.

We've got about 120 societies in the ALS.

Oh! So, there are a lot of different literary societies

-that come together?

-Yes, yes, loads.

I'm with John Clare, Elizabeth Gaskell,

Sherlock Holmes.

-Deb is...

-Go on, tell us the whole... Let's go through the list.

-Siegfried Sassoon.

-Siegfried Sassoon, the poet.

Dr Samuel Johnson.

-Charles Lamb.

-And Malcolm Saville.

Gosh, what a fantastic collection of potential quiz questions.

I'm hoping Arts & Books comes up!

I notice that there are, I think, more than 400 book festivals

in the country now, so it's a real thing now, isn't it?

Why are you called Unreliable Narrators?

Well, we could be lying when we say we're good.

-It's a literary term.

-Yes.

So, when you get a narrator in a story,

you cannot necessarily believe what they say is true.

-Yes.

-They could be lying deliberately,

or they could be lying subconsciously.

Good luck, team. It's great to see you. Here's what's happening.

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, Unreliable Narrators, the Eggheads have won the last

four games, which means £5,000 is on the table for you to win.

-Would you like to try?

-Yes.

They were sounding a little bit uncertain earlier, so I'm hopeful.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & Television,

and you can choose between Judith, Steve, Kevin, Dave and Lisa.

-OK, I'll do it.

-Thank you, Mike.

All right, Mike at the far end, retired civil servant,

against which Egghead?

-Judith?

-It looks like my team want Judith.

Very good, so Mike from the Unreliable Narrators

versus the usually very reliable Judith.

-Well, we'll see.

-We shall see.

Please go to the famous Question Room now.

So, Film & TV. Mike, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Who plays the role of Michael Corleone

in the 1972 film The Godfather?

I've never seen The Godfather, but I believe that was Al Pacino.

Al Pacino is quite right, and it is a brilliant film.

OK, Judith,

which of these pop stars was a contestant on the 2016 series

of Strictly Come Dancing?

Oh, that was Will Young, who ducked out halfway through,

which was very sad.

Yes, for reasons that were never really explained.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Will Young is the answer.

He danced with Karen Clifton,

who's one of the greatest dancers in the world.

OK, Mike, what is the profession of Albert Finney's character

in the 2000 biographical film Erin Brockovich?

Yet another film that I've never seen.

Erm, so I really haven't got a clue.

So I'll say lawyer.

Lawyer is right, cos Erin Brockovich is a lawyer herself, isn't she?

-Paralegal.

-A paralegal, yeah.

-Julia Roberts, is that?

-Yes, it was, yes.

Mike, you're ahead. Judith,

who plays Prince Albert in the TV period drama Victoria?

Victoria, erm...

I mustn't get muddled up with Young Victoria.

I don't think it's Dan Stevens or James Norton,

I think it's Tom Hughes.

Tom Hughes is correct.

How did you do that, when you haven't seen it

-and you don't know anything about it?

-Well, cos Dan Stevens

was in Downton, and I know he's not in that,

and James Norton was in War And Peace, and all sorts of

other things, and didn't look like the photograph I saw of Victoria.

I see.

OK, Mike, your question, third question.

What was the name of Wendy Craig's character

in the TV sitcom Butterflies?

Well, that one I have seen,

and it's Ria Parkinson.

It is Ria Parkinson.

Well done. So you're three out of three, there.

That's pretty fast work.

Judith, can you stay in?

Which 2016 comic book movie was written and directed by David Ayer?

I'm very bad on those kind of films.

I think, well, Deadpool was 2016, definitely.

I don't know about the others, so I'm going to say Deadpool.

You know what happens if you've got this wrong?

-Yes, yes, I do.

-It's very bad.

It's not terribly bad.

-Well, it's quite bad.

-It's just disappointing, that's all.

It's on the grave side of disappointing.

It is wrong. I'm afraid you've been knocked out.

Suicide Squad is the answer.

Mike, well done, not a single question wrong,

nor any hesitation.

That's really useful, good start for your team.

Come back to us, both of you,

and we'll play the next round.

Well, the Unreliable Narrators may be starting to create

a narrative here. They've not lost any brains from the final round,

and the Eggheads have lost Judith.

Disappointing, it's not a catastrophe, Jeremy.

-You mustn't worry about it.

-It's more serious than it seems.

The next subject is Science.

Who would like Science?

All these literary people with the periodic table,

-how's that going to work?

-Would you be all right doing it, Deb?

-Well, I can try.

-Oh, good. Are you sure?

-Well, yeah.

-Deb, our validation engineer, OK.

Yeah, I know, this is the thing, yeah.

I see, you've got the word "engineer" in your job title,

-that's why you've been chosen.

-Yes, but I'm not an engineer, though!

No, OK. Do choose an Egghead, it can't be Judith.

-Either Lisa or Dave.

-Dave?

-No.

-Lisa?

-Lisa, I think.

-Yeah, Lisa.

-Lisa.

All right, Deb from the Unreliable Narrators versus

Lisa from the Eggheads, on Science.

Please go to the Question Room now.

So, Deb, tell us about being a validation engineer.

Well, I work for a medical device company, and...

we make orthopaedic implants that go inside the human body,

so it's very important that all our systems and processes are validated,

in other words tested.

And I'm responsible for the software side of that,

so making sure that all the software we use in the manufacturing process

is thoroughly tested before it's used.

-Well, that does sound scientific.

-Yeah, it might sound scientific.

-Don't you think, Lisa, seriously?

-Just a little bit.

-I think so.

You're not, and have never been a validation engineer yourself, Lisa,

-have you, just to check?

-I don't think anyone would give me

any job that had "validation" in the title, Jeremy.

Nor me, I'm not very good at validating either!

So, good luck, Deb, on Science,

let's see if you can follow Mike into the final.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I think I'll go first.

Here we go.

An adult human skeleton is composed of approximately how many bones?

OK, erm...

I believe the exact number is argued over by people,

but it's somewhere in the region of 200.

200 is right.

It's almost up your street, isn't it,

-in terms of what you do for your job?

-Yes, it is.

-Orthopaedic stuff.

-Yes.

-OK, Lisa.

Which of these scientists lived during the 4th century BC?

The 4th century BC?

-Yeah.

-Just checking.

-That would be Aristotle.

-Aristotle is the right answer.

Back to Deb.

Which planet takes approximately 88 days to orbit the Sun?

OK, well... The Earth takes 365 days, I believe,

so, it's got to be one that's nearer to the Sun than the Earth is,

which would be either Venus or Mercury.

I'll go for Mercury.

Yes, you're right, Mercury's correct.

You're playing well. Could have come unstuck there.

Lisa, to catch up.

Which of these animals is a type of cat?

Capybara is that big giant swimming rat thing, isn't it?

And a cassowary is a bird.

It must be a caracal.

Caracal is correct.

Anyone seen a caracal?

Well, my daughter, she draws wildlife,

and I've got the most heavenly drawing of a caracal done by her.

They've got the most lovely pussy cat faces, and then big ears,

with completely mad, sort of, tufts coming out of them.

-Oh, really?

-They're absolutely lovely.

-Is that on your wall?

-Yes, in front of my bed.

I wake up and look at a caracal every morning.

That's great. So you would have been able to answer that question?

-Yeah, I would.

-OK, Deb, it's two each, it's poised.

So far your team has not got an answer wrong.

One more, maybe, and get you in the final.

Which of these prehistoric animals, which stood up to 2.5 metres tall,

and could weigh over 250kg,

is nicknamed The Demon Duck Of Doom?

Let me read it again. Which of these prehistoric animals,

which stood up to 2.5 metres tall, and could weigh over 250kg,

is nicknamed The Demon Duck Of Doom?

Right.

I've never heard of any of those.

My Latin's not helping me, and I never did any Greek, so...

The one that is...

..calling to me - I've got no idea if it's right -

is Andrewsarchus.

Andrewsarchus.

I'm drawing a blank on these as well.

Any Challengers know these?

No. Obscure, to say the least.

The Demon Duck Of Doom is actually a nickname for the Bullockornis.

Any Eggheads help us on the logic here?

Just looking at "ornis", that's ornithology.

I would have gone for. That's the only...

But it might not be, it might not be the case that that's got anything to

do with "ornis", leads to a bird.

A bird that looks like a bullock! We're just thinking, here, Deb,

that the "ornis" was the thing that led you to bird,

or would have led to bird.

OK, well, Lisa has a chance to get a place in the final here,

and you've got to hope that

The Demon Duck Of Doom takes her out.

Here's your question.

The Britons David Thouless,

Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz

were awarded which Nobel Prize in 2016?

Right.

It's not physiology or medicine, which makes it a straight 50/50.

Could I just have the question one more time, please, Jeremy?

The Britons David Thouless,

Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz

were awarded which Nobel Prize in 2016?

This is why I don't learn these lists,

there's three names for every prize, you know,

why can't they just award them to one person?

Wasting quizzers' time, I tell you.

It's going to be a straight 50/50...

I will go for physics.

Yes, you got there. Physics is the right answer, Lisa,

you've taken the round. Deb, well fought,

I'm sorry about the Duck Of Doom.

And, you've been beaten by our Eggheads,

so you won't be in the final.

Lisa's managed to level it up,

but I'm sensing we've got a quiz on our hands here.

Please rejoin your teams, and we'll see what happens next.

So, as it stands,

the Unreliable Narrators have lost a brain now

from the final round, and the Eggheads have also lost one.

Quite tense here. The next subject is Sport.

Who wants Sport?

-It's got to be you.

-It's got to be Phil.

-I'll do it.

-Phil, decide who you want to play against.

It can be any of the three gentlemen in the middle.

What do we know about Steve?

-Go for Steve?

-Kevin's good at everything.

Go for Stephen.

Steve is good at everything!

We've got to choose someone!

-Steve?

-Steve.

-OK, Steve.

Right, decision made.

Phil from the Unreliable Narrators takes on Steve, on Sport,

from the Eggheads. Let's see how the balance of power shifts now.

Please go to the Question Room.

So Sport, Phil, would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

OK, good luck, and here is your first question.

For how long was Sam Allardyce manager

of the England football team?

I think he was manager for 67 days.

Yes, we were going to give it to you in minutes.

67 days is right, well done.

You can look pleased with yourself.

You got it right.

Steve, which country won the most gold medals

at the 2016 Paralympic Games?

I think it's a country that tends to do pretty well

at the Paralympic Games,

as opposed to the Olympics this time, and it's China.

Yes, China is correct.

Back to you, Phil. Which team defeated Great Britain

in the semifinals of tennis's 2016 Davis Cup?

This is going to be a complete guess.

I don't think it was Belgium, so I think it was either between

Spain and Argentina.

So, I'm going to guess Spain.

No!

Let's ask your team-mates.

We think it's Argentina.

They all think it's Argentina, and it is Argentina.

I'm sorry, Phil.

Steve may have the advantage now.

The New Zealand rugby union international Julian Savea

usually plays in which position?

I don't know. I think he's pretty quick, though.

I'm torn between two.

I'm not sure at all, I'm going to try wing.

Wing is right. There's something innate about your guessing, Steve.

Phil, we're in a situation. I don't know how an accountant would

-describe it, how would you describe the situation?

-Knee trembling.

Knee trembling?

For an accountant? OK.

Basically, if you get this one wrong, you're not in the final.

Which of these boxers usually fought with a southpaw stance?

Again, I'm going to guess on this one.

I'm going to guess for Ricky Hatton.

Let me check with Steve. Steve, is he right?

I'm not sure, I would have gone Calzaghe myself, but

-I'm not really sure.

-Well, Dave is the one who knows all about boxing.

-Dave?

-I think it's Calzaghe.

-Calzaghe is right.

It's Joe Calzaghe, Phil, sorry.

A little slip-up from your team, you've been knocked out,

beaten by our Eggheads. So Steve will be in the final round.

Advantage Eggheads?

Well, let's see. Please come back,

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

So, as it stands, the Unreliable Narrators

have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost just the one.

And the next subject is Arts & Books.

At last, at last!

I'm so relieved!

Which one of you? Is there going to be a fight?

-I'll do it.

-Are you going to do it, Robin?

-Yes.

-Great.

-Do choose an Egghead.

-I suggest Dave.

-Dave.

-Dave.

OK, I've got it. Robin from the Unreliable Narrators

is going to take on Dave from the Eggheads. This will be fun, Dave.

-Oh, yes!

-THEY ALL LAUGH

To ensure there's no conferring, would you please

take your positions for the last time in our Question Room?

Robin, I know you're very qualified, not just on books, but to quiz,

cos I see you've been on Mastermind more than once.

Yes, I was on the radio one first, and then the TV one in 2007.

And do you remember your specialised subjects?

For the first one, it was English poetry of the 1930s,

and in 2007 it was the life and art of John Piper.

And a finalist on Brain Of Mensa?

Yeah, that was 2000, a long time ago.

I've been going in for it ever since.

So, is that where you get the high IQ,

and then you're taken into a small room and you compete against

-other similar, people?

-Yes, yes.

All done in a rather small scale, it's almost in camera,

and there's no audience to speak of.

No, sure. Well, I hope this is...

This is fun for you so far, and I hope it continues to be fun.

-Thank you.

-And I'm glad Arts & Books came up, in fact not just glad,

I'm relieved. We've got a very literary team.

-So, Robin, would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

Here we go. In which year was the author Charles Dickens born?

Well, I happen to know that.

-1812.

-I thought you would know that, somehow.

1812.

I have an e-reader and I bought all of his books for 49p,

and it showed me that I have downloaded,

I think it might have been four million words.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Astonishing. He died at 58.

-It's just incredible.

1812 is right, well done.

Dave, your question.

Van Gogh's 1889 oil painting

The Starry Night depicts a view from where?

I don't know.

# Starry, starry night... #

Let me read it again.

Van Gogh's 1889 oil painting The Starry Night

depicts a view from where?

I'm going to have to go for a ship.

That's interesting.

Can you not visualise that one?

No, not at all. I'm not very good at visualising art,

you know, if I haven't seen the painting.

I thought it was a view from a bar, so I would have got this wrong,

-but the answer is a hospital.

-Oh, right.

-Eggheads, help,

I'm thinking of the right thing, it's a street scene, isn't it?

More of a wide landscape, I can see where Dave was going with this.

It's more looking up at the sky.

But he was in the asylum at Saint-Remy, in the South of France,

-near Arles.

-Oh, I see. Well, Robin, it has started well for you, here.

Drive home the advantage, here's your question, Robin.

Barabas is a major character

in which of these Christopher Marlowe plays?

I don't think it's Tamburlaine.

I think Barabas was a Jew, so I'll go for The Jew Of Malta.

The Jew Of Malta is right.

-He's playing well, Dave.

-Yeah.

-Alarm bells?

-Yeah, absolutely.

Your question. Who wrote the 2016 novel Conclave,

which tells the fictional story of the election of a new Pope?

All I can go off is

from The Da Vinci Code

and Angels And Demons, and that kind of thing,

The Lost Symbol. All I can go for is Dan Brown.

That's my answer, Dan Brown.

-If you've got this wrong, you are out.

-Mm-hmm.

Sorry Dave, you have got it wrong.

-Robert Harris?

-Yeah. And I can see there's

a bit of petrol in your tank there, Robin, still.

You probably wanted to have all the other questions, didn't you?

I should think. Anyway, Robin, well done, you've levelled it.

You've taken on an Egghead, you've won your place in the final,

and if you both come back and rejoin your teams,

we will play that all-important final round for £5,000.

Well, you fought hard, Challengers,

and 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 who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, it's Deb and Phil from the Unreliable Narrators,

and Dave and Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Linda, Robin and Mike,

you are playing to win the Unreliable Narrators £5,000.

Lisa, Kevin and Steve,

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

to preserve the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge,

and, team, you can confer.

So, Unreliable Narrators, the question is,

are your three brains able to take down these three?

It's going to be General Knowledge, not just your beloved books,

that's the thing! You've got a great chance, here.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

OK, I can feel the Eggheads bracing themselves.

Here's your question. In September 2016, which of these

celebrity couples announced that they would be divorcing?

Erm, do we think it's Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt?

-Yes, definitely.

-Yeah.

-Brad and Angelina.

-Straight there, well done.

Obviously, you've got celebrity news covered.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

-You couldn't really avoid it!

-No, you can't avoid it, you're right.

Eggheads, which of these foodstuffs is a type of sausage?

-Happy with chorizo?

-It's my husband's favourite food, chorizo.

That is chorizo, Jeremy.

Chorizo is the right answer.

Back to you, Challengers.

In astrology, someone born under the sign of Aquarius

could have a birthday on which of these days of the year?

-Valentine's Day.

-It's, it's...

-Is it Valentine's Day?

-Yes, yes.

Because I'm Aquarius.

-Oh, you're Aquarius.

-Yes, two days after.

-Oh! Valentine's Day.

-Wow, you've got an Aquarian on your team!

He's multifunctional!

You've done a lot of good things today already, Robin.

Valentine's Day is right.

OK, Eggheads.

I just sense the uncertainty of the super quizzers here.

Let's see.

Juliana was queen of which country from 1948 to 1980?

-Happy with the Netherlands?

-Mm-hmm.

That was the Netherlands.

Very sure-footed, the Netherlands it was.

We're playing for £5,000. Get this one right,

and you may then win the contest if they get theirs wrong,

otherwise we're going to go to Sudden Death.

My advice is, don't get this wrong,

cos that gives them a way to win.

Which small Greek island in the Cyclades

spans an area of approximately 33 square miles,

and is nicknamed The Island Of The Winds?

-Oh, no... Is it Mykonos?

-Let's think about it.

Greek...

Erm...

Island Of The Winds?

Mykonos sounds small...

It does.

-I don't think it's Lesbos.

-I don't think it's Lesbos.

Could it be Kefalonia?

It's either Kefalonia or Mykonos.

"Aeolian", what's that? Is that...

-Cyclades, that's... Is that on the right?

-What nationality...?

What language is "Aeolian" in?

No, he said Cyclades, didn't he?

-Cyclades.

-No, no, I'm talking about the...

-Kefalonia.

-Kefalonia, oh, right, I see.

Well, if you take the word apart...

English people, we would be taking the word apart...

-Doesn't that mean "wind", or am I just making that up?

-Does it?

-I don't know.

-Yeah, you could be right.

-Oh, "Aeolian".

-Harp, is it harp?

All right, we'll go for that one, it sounds more likely.

Yeah?

Kefalonia.

-Kefalonia is...

-With no great conviction at all.

No, but you had, what was it? "Aeolian" means "winds"?

-"Aeolian", yeah.

-Right, let's just start from that.

Is "Aeolian" "winds"?

Well, "Aeolian" is certainly to do with the winds.

Aeolus was a god of the wind.

God of the wind. So you could see how Kefalonia leads us towards

"Aeolian", because they rhyme.

Well, the crucial... Didn't the questions say the Cyclades?

-Yes.

-Well, the only one of those that's in the Cyclades is Mykonos.

The brain of Kevin went to Mykonos straightaway,

because the others aren't in the Cyclades.

But I sensed your struggle on that.

Mykonos is the answer.

Let's see, has that ended the contest? Well, no, not yet,

because the Eggheads still have to get a question right.

The Canadian musician Abel Makkonen Tesfaye

is better known by what stage name?

I've never heard of K'naan.

Well, I mean, they're all Canadian rappers, singers.

I know I've read The Weeknd's name before, and it was pretty strange.

Can you just say the name again, please, Jeremy?

Yeah, it's three names.

Abel, Makkonen, which is M-A-K-K-O-N-E-N,

and then Tesfaye, T-E-S-F-A-Y-E.

Yeah.

It's an Ethiopian name.

-Yeah.

-Derivation. K'naan is actually...

You could almost make it out of Makkonen, can't you?

Yeah, but I think he's a guy from,

-of Somali origin.

-Right.

It's not Drake.

-No.

-The one who's been the most prominent, along with Drake,

in recent times is The Weeknd,

and I think it's him.

-Yeah, happy with that.

-It would have been where my inkling was,

but I didn't have much more to go on than that.

I'm happy with The Weeknd if everyone else is.

-I think it's him.

-Give it a shot.

Not absolutely certain on it - we're sure it's not Drake -

we think the other two both originate,

in terms of their ancestry,

from the same sort of area of northeast Africa,

so it's a possibility for either of them,

but on balance, we seem to have heard of that more recently

with The Weeknd,

who's been very prominent in the last couple of years,

so our answer is The Weeknd.

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

Abel's stage name is The Weeknd.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

I feel we needed something literary for you on question three,

instead of a Greek island,

for heaven's sake. So, I hope you enjoyed it.

Yes, it was great, thank you.

It's great to see you, and great to see your many strengths

as a quiz team, my goodness.

The Unreliable Narrators didn't quite make it in the end.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and they reign supreme over quiz land,

so, it means you won't be going home with the £5,000.

We will take that money and roll it over to the next show.

Well done, Eggheads. Building up a head of steam, here.

Who will beat you?

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

have the brains to defeat them.

There'll be £6,000 to play for.

It's getting exciting, isn't it? Till then, goodbye.