Episode 69 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.

Hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today

are the Laxadaisicals from West Sussex.

This team all play for the East Grinstead Lacrosse Club.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Gemma and a criminal paralegal.

Hi, I'm Andy and I am a physiotherapist.

Hi, I'm Sophie and I'm a marketing executive.

Hi, I'm John, I run a foreign exchange business.

Hi, I'm David and I'm a restaurant owner.

So, Gemma and team, hello there.

-Welcome.

-Hi.

-Hi.

Great to see you. And lacrosse is at the centre of this, Gemma,

-is that right?

-Yes, yeah, definitely.

We all play at the same club,

we train, play matches, have socials.

Has it brought you together as quizzers as well,

or have the Eggheads done that?

We've never quizzed as a team before, really.

Andy's done more quizzing than most of us and we sort of have

fundraisers and, sort of, in our socials we have quizzes sometimes.

Great, well, I know that you were travelling by train

and you started to do some rehearsing of quizzing

in the train carriage and the whole carriage joined in, is that right?

Yeah, we had people sort of piping up occasionally

with the answer. "Oh, cheers!"

"What are you doing tomorrow? Fancy coming on?"

Did they work out what you were doing on the train, that you were coming up here?

Yeah, it sort of became apparent when we said.

All right. That's quite a good way of practising.

Good luck, Laxadaisicals.

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

for our Challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, as you know,

the prize-money rolls over to the next show.

Now, Laxadaisicals, the Eggheads have won the last six in a row,

so that's quite good for you in that it means that the jackpot

is £7,000. Do you want to start playing?

-Yes.

-Great.

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

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

I could try, but I don't know if I'd be any good.

-Do you want...?

-Go on, Gemma.

-OK.

-Start with our team captain.

OK, high-stakes, the team captain goes in, Gemma.

Against which Egghead? Any one of the five.

-Barry?

-Barry?

-Yeah? Yeah, fine. Barry.

-Go for Barry.

-Er, Barry.

Gemma from the Laxadaisicals is going to play Barry on Music.

And to ensure there's no conferring,

please go to our legendary Question Room.

So, Music is the subject, Gemma.

Would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please?

OK, we're away.

Your first question, Gemma, good luck.

In which year did Madonna's Vogue reach the top

of the UK singles chart?

Now, Madonna... Vogue's very '80s.

I don't think it... It's definitely not 2000.

I don't think it's 1990, unless it was the end of the '80s.

I think I'm going to say...

Oh, I think I'm going to go down the middle with 1990.

-Oh, I'm so glad you did, you're right.

-Ah!

Because, yes, it is very '80s but funnily enough,

very '80s kind of puts it in 1990.

-Yeah.

-If you see what I mean? OK, Barry, your question.

What musical term is defined as a composition free in form

and inspiration, usually for an instrumental soloist?

Oh, I think that must be Fantasia.

Fantasia is right.

They may get harder.

Here we are, Gemma, your second question.

The Americans Adam Yauch,

Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz came to fame in the 1980s

under what collective name? Is this...?

Erm... Well, I don't think it was the Backstreet Boys.

Erm...

I think...

I think I'm going to have to go Beastie Boys.

What year were you born in?

-'92.

-OK, so the '80s is before you were born.

-Yes.

-But you're right, well done.

APPLAUSE Beastie Boys it is.

OK, Barry, your question to catch up.

Which band released in 1991 album Screamadellica?

That certainly doesn't sound like a Britpop

so I think I'll discount Pulp.

I think my son had this album

and I think I had the indignity of having to listen to it

at one time, so I think it was Primal Scream.

Yes, in a funny way it's the obvious ones.

It was Primal Scream.

Often the obvious one is not the right one.

We go to your third question.

Gemma, in the late '70s,

who released the albums Death Of A Ladies' Man

and Recent Songs?

Oh, I have... I really don't know. Erm...

For some reason, I don't know why, I'm being drawn to Neil Young,

erm, so I think I'm going to go with Neil Young. Just for my gut.

It's not, I'm afraid.

It's easy to rule out Bowie, but Neil Young has got...

It might be him, but it's not.

-Leonard Cohen, it was.

-Oh, OK.

Don't worry, you're not out yet.

Barry, your question to take the round.

What was the first name of the composer Borodin?

Well, I've come to grief on first names of composers in the past,

but I'm pretty certain that Demetrius Shostakovich and Peter is

Tchaikovsky, or Pietr, and Borodin was Alexander Borodin.

Alexander Borodin is indeed his name,

so you've got the right answer, Barry.

And well done, you've taken the round.

Sorry, Gemma. One wrong answer can be,

can be a bit lethal with the Eggheads in the form they're in,

and you've been knocked out. Please come back to us, both of you,

rejoin your teams and we'll play on.

So, as it stands the Laxadaisicals have lost a brain,

not just any old brain,

they've lost the skipper from the final round.

The Eggheads are still all sitting there,

so someone needs to knock an Egghead out.

Here's your chance. Sport is the subject.

Go on, then.

-Take that?

-Go on.

-Go for it.

-Go on, Andy.

OK. I'll take that.

OK, Andy, our physiotherapist, against which Egghead?

Well, we think it's got to be Chris.

We know Chris isn't very strong on Sport, don't we?

-Yeah? Yeah.

-Happy with that.

-Chris, please.

-OK.

Andy from the Laxadaisicals is taking on Chris from the Eggheads.

-That's made your day.

-Has made my day!

LAUGHTER

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

Sport, Andy. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go. In the Olympic heptathlon competition,

the hurdles event is run over what distance?

OK, um...

The 400 metres hurdles is definitely an event, but not in the heptathlon.

I don't even know there is a 200 metres hurdles, maybe there is,

but for me I think it's the 100 metres.

I remember that from the Olympics.

100 metres is the right answer.

GENTLE APPLAUSE

Chris, which of these pool events at the 2016 Olympic Games

did male competitors not take part in?

That would've been synchronised swimming, Jeremy.

Synchronised swimming is the right answer.

OK. Equal after one question, and we go back to you, Andy.

The cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew

had a successful career as a fast bowler for which county cricket side

from 1978 to 1992?

Cricket not my forte, unfortunately.

Um...

To go into commentary,

I think he would've had to know what he was talking about,

been quite good, and I'd associate,

of those three Yorkshire is probably the strongest cricketing team,

so I'm going to plump for Yorkshire, I think.

Let's see if Chris knows this one. Chris, would you have done the same?

He doesn't sound like a Yorkshireman to me.

I think he played for Warwickshire.

No, OK, both of those are wrong. Anyone else?

-Leicestershire.

-LAUGHTER

Leicestershire, Andy.

OK, so Chris has a little gap in the wall here.

See if you can go through it, Chris.

The footballer Christian Benteke

has played international football for which team?

-I think he plays for the Netherlands.

-Nope.

-Dave?

-Belgium.

Belgium is the answer.

Ah, next door.

Andy, a let off.

Press the advantage. Here we go. Your question...

Which of these races was won four times during the 1960s

and 1970s by the American AJ Foyt?

To win it four times,

you'd have to be quite dominant in a certain car.

I think the Paris-Dakar rally would...

So many things that could go wrong,

I'm going to rule that out, because I think you'd have to be

more than just a good driver, you'd have to not have bad luck.

Indianapolis 500, to win that four times might be difficult.

I'm going to go for the 24 hours Of Le Monde.

'60s and '70s by AJ Foyt. Who's AJ Foyt, Eggs?

A top American racing driver from the time.

It's the Indy, the Indy 500.

Yeah, the Indianapolis 500 is the answer, Andy, sorry.

So Chris has a chance here to take the round with this question.

Chris, the Irish Grand National

is normally scheduled to take place on which day of the year?

Well, it's not Boxing Day.

And given that Ireland is still a fairly religious country

and they do make quite a big thing of Easter,

they probably let their hair down and run the Grand National

on Easter Monday.

I like your logic.

You haven't charged off in the wrong direction.

Easter Monday is the right answer, Chris.

Well done, you've taken the round against Andy.

Andy beaten by our Egghead.

Please both of you rejoin your teams and we'll play on.

So the Laxadaisicals have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads haven't lost any.

And the next subject is Science.

Now, who's the scientist?

-I would've been.

-Might have been me.

-Oh!

-Er... You want to go for it?

-OK.

I don't mind jumping on it if you want.

You'd throw yourself on the sword.

But it is throwing yourself on the sword, isn't it?

-OK, Dave it is?

-Yeah?

-Sure.

-Well volunteered.

-Yeah, Dave's going.

We understand the situation.

-You've got Lisa, Kevin or Dave to choose from.

-Lisa...

-I think we'll take Lisa.

-OK.

Dave from the Laxadaisicals versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

David, would you like to go first or second against Lisa?

I think I would go first, please.

And here is your question on Science...

Danish Jersey is a breed of which animal?

So, yeah, it's not something that springs to mind, but Jersey...

is definitely associated with a cow,

but then Danish are famous for their bacon, aren't they?

I think I will go for pig.

Ah!

Is my reaction.

Cow is the answer.

All right, Lisa, your question.

How many ribs are there in a typical human ribcage?

Well, if you had 24, then you'd have 12 on each side.

I think that seems like too many, we'll go with ten.

Let me go to our physiotherapist, Andy, on this.

-Andy?

-Er, it's 12 on each side, so it's 24.

12 on each side, so it's 24.

How about that? David,

I'm wondering if this could be the turning point for your team.

-Let's hope so.

-On a rib,

how appropriate for a restaurant owner. Here's your question.

The cosmetic surgery procedure called a rhytidectomy

is more commonly known by what name?

Let me just spell it for you,

R-H-Y-T-I-D-E-C-T-O-M-Y.

So, rhytidectomy.

I think the ending means to remove something.

I guess the only thing you're really removing is the tummy tuck,

you're removing fat.

So I guess I'll go for the tummy tuck.

It's not the tummy tuck, I'm sorry.

Face-lift is the answer.

David... OK, Lisa, to take the lead.

Since the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet,

which is the furthest planet from the sun in our solar system?

Yeah, well, when Pluto was in it, it was my very easy method,

just sums up naming planets.

So, yeah, Neptune.

Neptune is right.

All right, she's pulled out an acronym on us, or whatever.

It's a mnemonic, I should say.

And that's always a sign, I think, David,

that they're getting frightened.

So, your question. You've got to get this one right.

Absolutely.

In the world of computing, what is JavaScript an example of?

Well, they're constantly asking you to update it,

so, yeah, I'm going to go with computer language.

Yes, computer language is the right answer.

OK. So, Lisa, you've got an edge here,

if you get this right you're in the final.

What does a leaf described as "glabrous" specifically lack?

Now, which bit's the glabella?

I have an idea that might be a sort of smooth part

of one's body.

I don't think a leaf without veins is going to get all that far,

cos that's sort of how they stay alive

and I would've thought if it was glabrous,

it would be more likely to be waxy.

Well, that's about as far as my logic's going to go, I think,

-so I'll go for hairs.

-Yeah...

BARRY LAUGHS QUIETLY

Your logic is very, very good, Lisa Teal. Hairs is the right answer.

Well done, you've taken the round.

Sorry, David. She is good, isn't she?

-Absolutely.

-Beaten by our Egghead.

OK, so return to us, please - and we'll play the last round

before the final.

As it stands, the Laxadaisicals have lost three brains

from the final round.

If this was lacrosse,

would you switch positions or switch your sticks?

No, I think we just have a pretty good team talk,

-see what happens.

-Yeah. Some orange quarters?

-Yeah. Yeah, they always help.

-JEREMY LAUGHS

The Eggheads have not lost any.

Lots of hope though, still. I promise, you can do it from here.

The next subject for you is Politics.

-So who would like this?

-That's going to have to be John...

OK, John. Good stuff.

Against which Egghead?

You've got either Kevin or Dave.

-Try Kevin?

-Try and take him out.

-I'd like to take on Kevin, please.

OK. John, from the Laxadaisicals,

taking on the great Kevin from the Eggheads,

trying to knock him out on Politics.

Good, good tactic, I think, at this stage.

To ensure there's no conferring, please, for the last time,

go to our Question Room.

We're on Politics. John, is Politics your thing?

Er, it's the one I'm going for.

That's very diplomatic! OK, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

And here we go. In which year did Neil Kinnock become an MP?

OK, well, he was the leader of the Labour Party,

at the same time standing and losing against Margaret Thatcher,

so... Maybe in the early '80s,

so I'm going to say 1970.

1970 is quite right, well done.

He was actually... GENTLE APPLAUSE

He became Labour leader after Michael Foot lost the '83 election,

so he then fought in '87 and '92 - and lost.

Kevin, your question.

The members of the London Assembly are known by what acronym?

The London Assembly. Are they...?

I should know that, really.

I'm pretty sure I've seen AMs for Welsh Assembly members.

It doesn't mean it couldn't be used

in more than one location, though.

If there is a doubling up, it could be what's confusing me.

I'll have to say, I'll have to say L for London members, LMs.

Yeah, I think you made it too complicated,

cos it's Welsh Assembly AMs and it's London Assembly AMs.

-They're Assembly Members, simple as that.

-Oh, OK, yeah.

-AMs.

OK, John. That's handy.

Not many chinks in their armour,

but suddenly Kevin gives you a way through here.

The person who tables an Early Day Motion in the Commons

is known as its what?

I am leaning towards...sponsor.

I'm going to stick with my initial instinct, which is sponsor.

-Is he right, Kevin?

-I think so, yes.

Yes, sponsor it is.

APPLAUSE Two out of two for our Challenger.

All right, Kevin. If you get this wrong, you're out.

What nickname was given to those Conservative MPs during

the early Thatcher years

who supported the Prime Minister's economic philosophy?

Yeah, well, the ones who...

were a bit more socially inclusive, shall we say, were the Wets,

but these, the ones who supported that would've been the Dries.

Yeah, you're absolutely right, the Dries.

OK, so, let's just take stock here, John.

It's not looking bad.

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

and then Sophie will be grateful for a very long time.

Cos she won't have to play alone.

Get it wrong, you let Kevin back in and he could cause

all kinds of trouble. Here's your question.

The 1981 Limehouse Declaration, which effectively launched the SDP,

was so called because it was issued from whose home

in that part of London?

The... The name that I associate,

well, they're probably all associated with them,

but the name I associate with the SDP is David Owen.

Somewhere I think I've heard that it was his house used before,

I can't think where,

but it's the name that's jumping out at me,

so I'm going to say David Owen.

David Owen is your answer.

Well, they were a gang of four, so-called, with William Rogers.

You're right, he was the most high-profile.

Was he living in that part of London?

Was his house used? What do you think, team-mates?

-I wouldn't...

-We would've gone for David Owen, too.

John, you're playing very well, you're right.

David Owen it is, you're the final round, well done.

And you've knocked out Kevin, as well.

So, very, very good play.

Well done, John. You've taken on an Egghead and you've emerged

triumphant, and if you both return to us we will now play

that all-important final round for £7,000.

Well, although the Eggheads are sort of doing their thing,

some odd things have happened in this game,

which I wonder might be omens.

There was the Lisa rib question,

and then Kevin, of 39 Politics head-to-heads

that you've played in the history of Eggheads,

that was only the fourth he's lost.

So those orange quarters did the job.

-Yeah, definitely.

-The team talk and whatever it was you did there

sharpened up the formation, Gemma, and it worked.

And this is now what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round.

As always, it's 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, Gemma, Andy and David from the Laxadaisicals,

and also Kevin from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

All right, Sophie and John, good luck,

you are playing to win the Laxadaisicals £7,000.

Lisa, Barry, Dave and Chris,

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

the Eggheads reputation.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge.

You may confer, so Sophie and John, the question is,

are your two brains able to defeat these four super-sized ones?

And would you like to go first or second?

I think we're happy to go first.

OK, good luck. General Knowledge, and here we go.

In banking in the United Kingdom,

how many digits are there in a sort code?

-Six.

-Definitely six. It's two...

-Then...

-..dash two...

-Two, yeah.

-That's quite often how it's inputted into the computer.

-Yeah.

-I think.

-Yeah, so we're going to say six.

Six is the answer.

And John, I guess it helps that you work in the banking industry.

Yeah, if I got that wrong, money would be going everywhere.

-You wouldn't actually be able to return to the office.

-No.

JEREMY LAUGHS

OK.

Eggheads, which of these British Olympians

has appeared on the West End stage as Billy Flynn

in the musical Chicago?

It's got to be Cousins, hasn't it?

Robin Cousins has been in things like Grease and stuff...

I couldn't imagine it would be Mark Foster at all.

-No. It's got to be Cousins.

-Billy Flynn's a dancer.

Mark Foster, from what I saw on Strictly, not so much.

-Cousins, yeah?

-Yeah...

-We're going for Robin Cousins?

-Yeah.

We're going to go for Robin Cousins, please, Jeremy.

Robin Cousins is correct.

We are back with you, Challengers.

Which star sign falls after Gemini and before Leo in the calendar?

-Leo...

-What star sign are you?

-Aquarius.

I'm February. Leo is July.

July, so, June...

I'm leaning towards Cancer.

I don't know why.

-But I've got nothing else.

-Shall we go Cancer?

I'm trying to rack my brains

and I've got nothing else to offer up, other than...

-Let's go straight down the middle.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Let's go.

OK, yeah, we're not 100% sure on this,

but we're going to say Cancer.

Backstage, do you three know?

Yeah, I'm only just Leo by two days, so...

If you had not been a Leo, what would you be?

I would've been a Cancer.

OK, so Cancer's right. Well done.

THEY LAUGH NERVOUSLY

Eggheads...

How many justices sit on America's Supreme Court?

-Nine.

-Nine, isn't it?

Nine. Nine's the answer, isn't it?

We're giving the answer as nine, please, Jeremy.

Nine is correct.

2-2. Playing for £7,000.

It can often be the third question that just decides it,

so if you get this right, you can sit, watch and hope.

The Outsider, My Life In Intrigue,

is a 2015 autobiography

by which British journalist turned thriller writer?

I mean...

John Le Carre and Frederick Forsyth

are the two that I'm more familiar with.

-Mm.

-Erm...

I wanted to rule out Frederick Forsyth,

and by that same logic, it's almost...

Whenever I've done that in the past, it's been...

-It's opposite, yeah.

-It's been the one that it was.

Erm...

And that is all I have at the moment.

Frederick Forsyth is the one that I was like, oh...

-it doesn't sound like him.

-OK.

So on a couple of times on the train journey up I did that,

that was the one you went, it was the one you ruled out.

Yeah.

Shall we go with Forsyth?

It's all I have to offer.

-Yeah?

-I have nothing more than that.

OK, it's a tricky one,

but we're going to stick with Frederick Forsyth.

Frederick Forsyth is the correct answer.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I don't think we've ever seen that strategy before!

That's brilliant, that beats Judith's rule

of going down the right hands down!

OK, £7,000 on the table.

It's yours if they get this one wrong.

Eggheads, your question.

Ed Straker, played by Ed Bishop,

was a main character in which Jerry Anderson television series?

-It's UFO.

-UFO...

-It's definitely...

-Mm-hm.

-Ed Straker, Ed Bishop there.

-I'm happy with that.

-Terrorhawks was the one with Zelda, wasn't it?

-Yeah...

Yeah, and Space 1999 was Martin Landau and all that.

If it's Straker, Ed Straker...

-Yeah.

-..Ed Bishop, that's UFO.

-Yeah.

-Yeah? All happy?

-Very happy that you know so much about it!

I believe that is UFO, please, Jeremy.

UFO. Well, the omens have been awkward for you.

The rib question, Kevin knocked out,

it's almost set up for you to get this wrong,

but UFO is the right answer, Eggheads, well done.

3-3, scores level in the final round.

We go to Sudden Death, Challengers.

You've played an immaculate final so far,

but it gets now a tiny bit harder

as you chase the £7,000, because I don't give you options.

OK? What is the full name of the New York gallery that is often known

by the acronym MOMA?

Which is M-O-M-A.

-So, M-O-M-A...

-Mm.

I would say M for museum.

-Museum.

-Of...

-Modern art?

-Modern arts?

-Pretty reasonable.

-I think we should...

-Yeah?

-..go with that.

Yeah. So we're going to go with the Museum of Modern Art.

That's right, MOMA is the Museum Of Modern Art, spot-on.

Eggheads, again, get this wrong, it's over.

Kimball O'Hara

is the central character in which book by Rudyard Kipling,

published in 1901?

-Kim.

-It was Kim.

-Kim.

-Yeah.

-Happy with Kim?

-Yeah, definitely.

-I think so!

-Yeah? Kim?

We're going for Kim, please, Jeremy.

Kim is correct.

Back to you, Challengers.

You're doing great in this final round.

Keep at it. John, Sophie, here's your question.

Published in 2016,

the book Moranifesto is a compilation of articles

by which female newspaper columnist?

We had, um,

a couple of questions that came up and someone who writes,

an ex-politician, was Edwina Currie.

-Yes.

-I can't think the link between her and Moranifesto.

-Can we think of any other...?

-Female columnists?

-Columnists...

No.

-No, this one's stumped me.

-OK. Just try that.

-Let's try that.

-Fingers crossed.

-Mm-hm.

Yeah, we're not sure on this one,

so we're just going to go with Edwina Currie.

Obviously you need first name, last name with this.

Strangely the last name is contained in the title of the book,

Moranifesto, so her last name is Moran.

-Caitlin Moran.

-Oh...

-Caitlin is C-A-I-T-L-I-N.

OK.

So, Eggheads, you can take the contest now.

What type of raffle takes its name

from the Italian word for somersault?

-Tombola?

-Tombola, yeah.

-Tombola.

-Are we all happy?

-Definitely.

-Tombola.

-I think so.

We're going to go for tombola, please, Jeremy.

The answer is, and you do seem pretty certain,

and you're right to be certain, because you're correct.

The answer is tombola.

We say, congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

GENTLE APPLAUSE

Oh, I'm just worried Catlin Moran's going to be watching,

throwing her slippers at the TV there and egging you on.

I'm sorry, that was just one of those ones

that fell between the cracks.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

Did any...? Team-mates, did you know Catlin's name?

-Yes.

-Yeah, we did, yeah.

-It rang a few bells.

Well, bad luck. I thought it was going to be yours,

I really thought the omens were pointing your way, but bad luck,

the Eggheads held on there and have won in the end and done what comes

naturally and this winning streak of theirs continues, so it means our

Challengers don't go home with the £7,000.

We will take that money

and we will roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

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

to defeat them - and win, what? £8,000?

Till we quiz again, goodbye.