Episode 68 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.

Eggs, are we hard-boiled today?

-Scrambled.

-Sunny side up.

Scrambled, sunny side up, a whole load of different...egg attitudes.

Well, taking on our quiz champions today

are the Arrgheads. Now this team are all members

of the Auld Reekie Roller Girls,

a roller derby team in Edinburgh. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Lisa. I'm a disability employment adviser.

Hello, I'm Mairi, I'm a clinical hypnotherapist.

Hello, I'm Jean, and I'm a software developer.

Hi, I'm Suzanne, I'm an international education manager.

Hello, I'm Tink. I'm a parasite biologist.

So Lisa, and team, welcome. Great to see you.

And normally you would have your skates on, right?

Yeah, and all our pads, there's a bit more protection than we have today!

And tell us about

the actual sport and what you do when you're kitted up like that.

It's a full contact sport, you play on quad roller skates.

It's a bit like rugby on roller skates, that's how a lot of people describe it,

but with the tactical side of chess.

And so there is a ball, or a puck, or something?

No, we use each other as the ball, if you like.

You score points by getting past other people. So...

And we try to stop that happening by hitting folk out of the way.

Oh, brilliant. So it's just a gigantic ruck, basically.

Yeah, a little bit, yeah.

So, do you play in different positions?

Yeah - most of us play as blockers,

or you can play as a jammer, which is a points-scoring person,

Blockers are the ones that hit everybody else out of the way.

And Auld Reekie is a place near Edinburgh, is it?

It's just an old nickname, really, for Edinburgh.

It's what Edinburgh used to be known as, Auld Reekie.

Good stuff. And you all do other things which we can talk about as we go,

-but good luck.

-Thank you.

-Good luck to you.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our Challengers.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads, that prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Arrgheads, in recent history the Eggs had a bit of trouble,

and they then sort of gathered themselves

and they're now charging, they're really going at full tilt -

they've won the last five.

-Oh!

-So they're feeling a bit confident,

-and that means there's £6,000 for you if you win today.

-OK!

OK? Want to get cracking?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

-All right, skates on.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Geography.

You can have Judith or Dave, Kevin, Barry, or Lisa.

-OK, so we're going Sue?

-Yeah, that's me.

That'll be Sue.

This sounds organised here.

-You've got a plan, I can tell.

-We have.

All right. So Suzanne is first out of the dugout.

Which Egghead? Any one of the five.

-What do you think?

-It's your choice.

Judith?

So, Suzanne from the Arrgheads versus Judith from the Eggheads.

Please go to our very famous Question Room now.

Suzanne. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, so here is your question. Good luck.

Which is the smallest country on mainland Africa?

OK.

I don't think that's Egypt...

I'm going to go with Chad.

Do you know,

you've travelled in Africa, so have I - I might have even gone Chad,

it sounds like it's the smallest.

-Oh, no...

-It's Gambia.

Oh...

Judith, your question.

The River Liffey flows through which capital city?

It throws - flows, sorry, can't speak -

through Dublin.

Dublin is the right answer.

Suzanne, I know you're well- travelled

cos I can see you've been...what,

Vietnam, Cambodia, Czech Republic? Everywhere.

Yeah. So I used to live in all of those countries,

I used to teach English language overseas,

and now I work in international education, welcoming students to the UK.

Oh, how brilliant.

OK, this is more local.

What is Kintyre, in Scotland?

Mmm... Well, I'm familiar with MULL Of Kintyre.

I'm going to say it's a peninsula.

Yeah, you've got it, absolutely right.

A peninsula.

OK, Judith, your question now,

to take the lead.

Which of these countries has the highest average temperature?

Oh, that's interesting. Erm...

Well, you always think of Norway and Switzerland

as being covered in snow and freezing cold...

..but Japan is also quite snowy and cold,

and has high mountains.

On the other hand it sort of stretches further south, I think, as well.

So that might average out the temperatures. Erm...

So I think I'm going to say Japan.

Yes, you trod very carefully there...

But you ARE right, it is Japan.

Suzanne, you need to get this one right.

The Red Fort is a Unesco World Heritage Site

in which of these Asian cities?

This is something I think I SHOULD know...

but I don't.

Red is considered a lucky colour in China,

so I wonder if it might be...Beijing.

I'll go for Beijing.

Beijing is your answer. Judith, is it?

No, it's Delhi.

-No...

-It's Delhi, Suzanne.

I'm sorry, no way back after two wrong answers.

So Judith will be in the final, she's come through on Geography there.

And if you return to us, both of you, rejoin your teams, we'll play on.

Right, the Arrgheads have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any thanks to Judith winning on Geography there,

and we play on with Music.

So who wants this, Lisa?

-That's me!

-Oh, great. OK.

The captain goes in.

Against which Egghead? You can have anyone but Judith.

I would like to take on Lisa, please.

Brilliant. So Lisa does a very mean version of The Final Countdown,

don't you, but I won't ask you for it now...

-And many other songs.

-And many other songs.

-None of which are commercially available!

We've got two Lisas here, how am I going to deal with it(?)

Lisa from the Arrgheads, Lisa from the Eggheads.

Not helping, is it?

You're wearing different coloured tops,

that's how I'm going to work it out. OK, please go to our Question Room now.

So Lisa, tell us what you do when you're not roller derbying.

I'm an employment adviser for people with additional support needs.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-And a mum as well?

Yes, I have an 11-year-old and a two-year-old.

Well, you can give Other Lisa some tips!

Lisa, you're just starting on that journey.

-I'm on the cusp of having to deal with two children, yes.

-JEREMY CHUCKLES

And I gather

music helps you through the day, Lisa the Arrghead. You love your music.

Yeah, I listen to a lot of music, I hope it's going to help with this!

-All right. Would you like to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

Here we go. Which of these musicians

was the lead singer of The Clash?

OK...

So, I'm pretty sure the answer is John Lydon.

Let's just see from your team-mates here. Team-mates...?

-It's Joe Strummer.

-His other name, John Lydon, was Johnny Rotten.

So he was the Pistols.

Ramone was the Ramones, and Strummer was The Clash,

-Joe Strummer is the answer.

-OK.

OK, Lisa. Lisa Egghead.

Which hymn is traditionally sung each year before the FA Cup final?

Yes, your typical footballers, they go with the worst tune of the lot,

it's Abide With Me.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I quite like that. What, you think it grinds out a bit?

I just don't like it as much as the other two. It's personal preference.

It would be a bit odd to have 22 grown men

singing Lord of The Dance...

-Oh, it'd be class!

-It would be class as well, you're right.

Abide With Me is the right answer from our Egghead.

So back to our Challenger Lisa.

Which of these stage musicals

was performed first?

OK...

I'm not massive on musicals, but I'm going to rule out The Lion King

cos I think that's probably too new.

Erm...

West Side Story is Shakespearean, so...

or based on, so that's probably...

Well, an adaptation's probably older, so I'm going to go Cabaret.

Oh, you lost confidence, you talked yourself out of the answer!

It's West Side Story.

Back to Lisa the Egghead.

Which Guns N' Roses song, Lisa, begins with the lines

"She's got a smile that it seems to me

"reminds me of childhood memories,

"where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky"?

So welcome to the Jungle is "Welcome to the jungle,

"we've got fun and games".

Paradise City is, "Take me down to the paradise city".

So yeah, it's Sweet Child o' Mine.

Lisa, you're nodding.

Yeah, I knew that before it came up, yeah.

I'm thinking I won't ask you to sing it, Lisa...

Probably safer. You'll get the Sheryl Crow version, which wasn't very good.

-It's more famous for the guitar riff at the start, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Sweet Child o' Mine is quite right.

So, Lisa, sorry, our Challenger,

you've been knocked out. But you can still mastermind things

-as the team captain. OK?

-OK.

And you've got plenty of power in the tank, I know.

So come back to us, both of you, and we'll see what happens in the next round.

So, the Arrgheads have lost two brains from the final round -

it's not a crisis yet, but if we were playing roller derby, I reckon you could bundle them now.

Can we switch, can we do that(?)

THEY LAUGH Believe me, they would run a mile!

The Eggheads have not lost a brain so far -

I stress "so far". And now we've got Arts & Books.

Who would like this?

-It's between you two...

-It's going to have to be Mairi, I think.

OK, it's Mairi.

Mairi, OK.

And, you can have, Mairi,

any of the three gentlemen in the middle.

-What do you say, Captain?

-Mairi and Barry.

-Mairi and Barry! Match made in heaven.

-You're really making things easy for me today.

All right. So Mairi from the Arrgheads

plays Barry from the Eggheads. It IS like a poem, isn't it?

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

Well, Mairi, the first thing to say is that

I'm glad I pronounced your name right.

-Yes. You'd get a row from my mum if you didn't.

-HE CHUCKLES

So tell us about being a clinical hypnotherapist.

Oh, it's great fun, you get to meet all sorts of people,

and I really like working with children.

You can use their imagination

and really get into their world, and help them with all sorts of problems.

So it's about giving up smoking, and anxiety...

-Not the children!

-No, yeah, if they're smoking at eight,

that WOULD be a problem. Yeah.

Yeah, all sorts of things. Phobia, anxiety... You know.

Barry, you got any phobias? I don't think you have, have you?

Er, yes, I do.

-Go on.

-I'm actually terrified of moths.

Are you? I've got a thing about moths as well.

Whenever there's a moth in my room, my wife has to deal with it.

We have a rule in the house - anything larger I deal with,

so mice, snakes, rats, anything like that, birds, no problem at all.

Anything small, my wife deals with.

JEREMY LAUGHS

So coincidentally, Mairi, we've both got a bit of a moth thing.

Cos there were a lot of moths in my house when I was a child

-and they used to land on my face in the night.

-Ooh...

-Could you cure us?

-Yeah, well, I'll just see you in the green room afterwards.

-Fine.

-Mates' rates.

-We may be making an appointment!

-We'll have a queue.

Our moth therapy session!

OK, Arts & Books. I hope we don't open an old book and a moth flies out.

Would you like to go first or second, Mairi?

Erm... I'll mix it up and go second, please.

OK. So first question to Barry.

Desdemona is the wife of which Shakespearean title character?

Desdemona was unfairly accused of adultery,

and she was strangled by her husband Othello.

Othello is the right answer.

Mairi, here's your first question.

Which of these novels was written by William Golding?

Thankfully, I DO know this,

erm...

My daughter's got Swallows And Amazons on her shelf at the moment,

next to read,

but I think it is Lord Of The Flies.

It is indeed Lord Of The Flies,

with the tale of the conch and all that.

Barry, your question.

A werewolf named Remus Lupin

appears in which series of books?

I believe I have seen the film in which Remus Lupin is in

and I'm sure he was in a Harry Potter.

There's no end of quiz-related questions from Harry Potter.

Harry Potter's the right answer.

How are you on your Harry Potter, Mairi?

-Massive fan. Yeah.

-Oh, you would have got that?

Here is your next question.

In which country was the poet Robert Frost born, in 1874?

OK...

Erm, I'm really hoping this isn't a trick question,

and I think it is the USA.

Yeah, you're playing well. USA's right. Well done.

The team can go crazy, that's fine.

-Come on, Mairi!

-You can clap. They're liking this.

So two out of two...

you've drawn level with Barry, that's good.

Barry's third question.

Which of these writers was only 4'6" tall?

Er...Alexander Pope, I believe,

was known as the Wasp of Twickenham,

which I think might have been some reference to his height

but I'm pretty certain Alexander Pope was only 4'6" tall.

Alexander Pope is the right answer.

I didn't know that. Very interesting.

OK.

So he's got slight advantage here

cos you let him go first, Mairi. But don't be put off,

just get this one right, and you'll take him to Sudden Death.

Work No. 227: The lights going on and off,

which consists of an empty room

which is filled with light for five seconds

and then plunged into darkness for five seconds,

is a Turner Prize-winning work by which artist?

You couldn't have asked me about Damien Hirst

and a shark in formaldehyde

or cow in formaldehyde or anything(?)

OK. Erm...

SHE EXHALES

I think I'm going to take a bit of a guess, and say Steve McQueen.

Barry, is she right?

-I'm afraid she's not, I believe it was Martin Creed.

-Oh, no!

-Martin Creed is the answer.

-Oh...

Just at the end there

you've been knocked out, Mairi, sorry.

-OK.

-On a light going on and off.

SHE SIGHS

Oh, how irritating, I thought you were going to overwhelm him there.

You were beaten by our Egghead, though - Barry will be in the final,

Mairi, you're out. Please rejoin your teams,

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

OK, as it stands

the Arrgheads have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any,

but Barry and I have both declared our moth phobia, or "mottephobia" as it's known.

-We will see moths everywhere now!

-We will.

Now, let's see if you can get one round back, that would be really handy.

Last one now before the final is Film & TV.

..That's OK.

-It's going to be Jean.

-That'll be me.

-All right,

Jean, our software developer.

Against which Egghead? And you can have either Kevin or Dave.

What do you guys think about Dave?

-Yeah.

-Dave, please.

Very good. Jean from the Arrgheads versus Dave from the Eggheads.

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

So apart from roller derby,

cooking is your thing, Jean?

Absolutely, yes. I always say that my biggest hobby is probably eating.

And what kind of dish is your... What's your signature dish?

Erm... Probably Indian food,

so I think... Like, my chicken jalfrezi gets VERY good reviews.

And is that very hot?

Er... No, no, I always make a kind of medium.

-Do you?

-Yeah. So you get the flavours through.

Yeah... I don't know, Dave, do you go for super hot?

Er... Madras hot. Medium. Medium heat.

I've got a thing about heat.

Have you ever had a phall, Dave?

Yes, I have, yeah.

Did you have er... insurance for that?

Well, no. Erm...

-It's the hottest one, isn't it?

-I'm not going to be too rude or graphic about it, but er...

it was a tough night, that one.

THEY LAUGH

Again, I'm not going to er...

elaborate.

I think possibly, Jean, Dave and I are sort of hot curry people

but I always order jalfrezi, actually,

-it is a beautiful dish, isn't it?

-It really, really is.

All right, well, Film & TV is your subject here, Jean,

would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here's your first question, Jean.

Who plays the role of Kathy in the TV drama series EastEnders?

So, I'm really not a soap person, unfortunately.

So, I'm going to go for Laurie Brett.

Team-mates, you know. Do you know?

Yeah, we all know.

-You watch EastEnders, do you?

-I've actually never watched EastEnders,

but I know that fact, somehow.

Cos she feels like she goes back to the '80s, almost.

-Yeah.

-Let's ask Judith, cos Judith loves EastEnders. Judith?

It's Gillian Taylforth.

She came back. I mean, she went out, did she come back in lately?

Yes, she did, yeah. Gillian Taylforth is the answer, Jean,

I'm sorry. She took some time out and then she returned.

Quite dramatic.

Dave, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig,

Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones all starred in which 2016 film?

I think it's Ghostbusters.

It was female-dominated, wasn't it?

Yes, it was, yeah. It was a reboot.

Ghostbusters is right.

OK, Jean, time to strike back.

In which Alfred Hitchcock film does Kim Novak play the roles

of both Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton?

Again, this is not my strong point

and I haven't actually seen these movies.

I'm going to go with Marnie.

I love Hitchcock, but I might have struggled with this myself.

The answer is Vertigo.

-OK.

-But she...

What I remember about Vertigo is the Salvador Dali graphic scenes,

is that right?

That was an earlier one.

Oh, that was Spellbound.

Yes, Spellbound.

So, why did she play two roles in Vertigo?

Because James Stewart is a detective who becomes...

He's following a woman who he becomes obsessed with.

She dies, and then he meets another woman, also played by Kim Novak,

who looks quite different to begin with,

but he basically wants her to become the one who's dead.

So he gets her to recreate her appearance.

It's extremely psychological.

-Yeah.

-It often tops critics' polls of best films

or best Hitchcock film.

It's a strange film, in a lot of respects,

-and not to everybody's taste, by any means.

-Yeah.

In San Francisco, was it filmed?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. So, Vertigo is the answer, Jean.

We go to Dave, he can take it on this question.

The Oscar-winning 2015 film The Big Short was set in which industry?

I'm not sure.

Erm...

The Big Short.

I'm going to go fashion, but I'm not sure at all.

OK, I thought you'd go straight there.

Do you know this, Jean?

I do, yes, it's banking.

It's banking, Dave. Because "short", as in shorting money.

Yes, I didn't think.

I was confusing it with another film.

So, that's handy, Jean, but you've still got to get this one right.

Here's your question. Which of these comedy series

was written by Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan?

Erm, I haven't actually seen these.

Erm...

I'm going to go for Fleabag.

OK, team-mates, you know?

Yes, it's Catastrophe.

Catastrophe is the answer.

I've got some idea that it's about a marriage breaking up

or something, is it? Or it's an American couple?

-Big fan, here.

-Yeah, it's not really a marriage breaking up.

It's about a couple who are, sort of, thrown together quite early on

with a lot of responsibility.

-Right.

-And they're quite disastrous.

OK. Is it good, is it worth watching?

Yeah, it's hilarious. It's brilliant.

Catastrophe is the answer, Jean, sorry. So, Dave has knocked you out.

And that's a run of Eggheads victories, but, in mitigation,

they are playing very well at the moment,

and you're certainly not out of it yet.

So, Jean and Dave, come back and we'll play the final.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round.

As always, General Knowledge.

But, I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So, that's Lisa, Mairi, Jean and Suzanne from the Arrgheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

So, Tink, you're one of the roller derby team as well?

I am, I'm actually a referee now.

-Oh, really?

-Yes, I played for six years

and I've been refereeing since the beginning of April.

Is that even less safe?

You just get caught in the middle?

It is because you're watching the game

while they're throwing themselves off the track,

so, yeah, you need to jump over them sometimes.

And I know you also powerlift.

-I do.

-And enjoy welding.

I do a bit of welding. I haven't done it for a wee while,

but, yes, I like just lifting heavy things.

Among other hobbies - archaeology and coastal rowing.

-Yes.

-And motorbiking.

Your hobbies is the most interesting list of hobbies we've ever had.

I've been around for quite a long time

so I've tried quite a few things over the years.

Not as long as me and I haven't done all that!

I'll give anything a go.

Now you're doing something even more remarkable,

you're going to try and win the Arrgheads £6,000

and beat the Eggheads from a position of one on five,

which... The great thing is if you do it,

we'll talk about it for ages cos it doesn't often happen.

-We wish you well.

-Thank you.

Lisa, Barry, Kevin, Dave and Judith,

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

the Eggheads' reputation, and to keep this roll going.

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

Teams can confer. I'm sorry, that doesn't help you.

But, Arrgheads, the question is,

can you with your one brain defeat these five?

And would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second, please.

Here we go. Eggheads, your question.

How did Theresa May describe the referendum vote

in favour of Brexit in her keynote speech

at the Conservative Party Conference in 2016?

-I don't think I've heard this.

-No.

I would have gone quiet revolution, myself, but...

-But it wasn't silent revolt, was it?

-No.

And it wasn't a coup.

I don't think she would describe it as a coup.

You couldn't describe it as a coup and it wasn't silent.

Do you think it was silent?

The other two are both plausible, I think.

-Yeah, they are.

-I don't think it will be the coup.

Well, they both mean the same thing, come to think of it.

I think she would have used "quiet revolution" as her words,

rather than revolt.

I think she might have used revolution

-more than she'd use revolt.

-Yeah. What do you think, Kevin?

I can't really choose between the two, unfortunately,

because they are both plausible.

If we're going to have a vote, I'd bet on quiet revolution.

I'll go with quiet revolution.

I'd go with quiet revolution as well.

-I'll go with the majority.

-All right.

-OK.

-I think that's a majority verdict, anyway, isn't it?

Right, this is our version of democracy in action.

And we don't think, of the three,

that it's very likely that she would have said "peaceful coup".

I don't did she would have used the word "coup".

As between the other two, it's a sort of 50-50, really.

But on balance,

we'll go for "quiet revolution".

You are right.

Quiet revolution.

OK, Tink, your question.

If something is rubescent, it is becoming which colour?

I would say red.

Red is correct.

You made quicker work of that one!

All right, let's go back to our meeting of the Kremlin here!

Eggheads, in Greek mythology, what was Cassandra?

Prophetess.

That nobody paid any attention to!

We'll be a bit quicker on that one. She was a prophetess.

Prophetess. Was she warning of doom the whole time?

And no-one paid any attention.

-Right.

-She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo,

but when she refused to sleep with him,

Apollo actually spat in her mouth,

and then said, "No, you'll still be a prophet,

"but nobody will then believe you."

Ah, brilliant.

That's the correct answer.

The Eggheads are ahead.

But you can draw level. Tink, your question.

Which golfer defeated Lee Westwood in the final day's singles matches

to secure the Ryder Cup for the USA in 2016?

Erm, I don't know an awful lot about golf.

Tiger Woods is the big, big name in there.

I'm not sure that it was him, though.

Erm... I'm going to go with Patrick Reed.

Let's see, Eggheads, is she right?

I think it's Ryan Moore.

It is Ryan Moore.

-OK.

-So it's your first wrong answer in the final.

Because the Eggheads went first,

they can take it with this question.

In traditional Jewish cookery, what is schmaltz?

I have lived in fear for years

of getting a Jewish cookery question wrong,

-but schmaltz is poultry fat.

-Poultry fat, yeah.

-It's what?

-It's poultry fat.

Oh, right.

Cos it's like schmaltz the phrase.

Schmaltz is a type of fat. It's poultry fat.

Tink, do you think they're right?

-I have no idea.

-It's tricky.

Barry does a bit of cooking or your wife does, Barry?

-Which is it?

-She's certainly used schmaltz in the past.

She used schmaltz in the past and he doesn't look very uncertain here.

Poultry fat is the right answer.

Poultry fat it is.

Eggheads, we say congratulations, you have won.

Yeah, I thought you might get that, Barry.

And I'm sorry, Tink, that it didn't quite work on the...

-It's OK.

-What was it, the second question?

How soon we forget, what was it?

Yeah, it was golf.

-Oh, golf!

-Yeah.

-A very hard question.

-The thing about golf

-is either you know it or you don't.

-Well, with that one, certainly.

-Yeah.

-Because Patrick Reed did participate in that team

and was quite successful.

It was quite a good choice, but, as I said, in that particular match,

-it was Ryan Moore.

-All right, well,

what a great team to come in and visit us. Thank you so much, Tink.

-It's been good fun.

-Good stuff, thank you for playing.

Commiserations, Arrgheads.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and, actually, as well, five of you in the final is quite something.

This winning streak continues.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £6,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

Who will beat you? Are you going to get to 10,000?

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

have the brains to bring them down. £7,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.