Episode 71 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 get one over on our quiz champions today

are the Auld Bailies from Edinburgh.

Most of this team met at university.

They quiz together at the Bailie Bar in Stockbridge.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Neil, and I'm a commercial real estate lawyer.

Hi, I'm Russell and I'm an employment lawyer.

Hi, I'm Phil, I'm a private client solicitor.

Hi, I'm Graeme and I'm a chartered surveyor.

Hi, I'm Geoff and I'm a commercial properties solicitor.

So, Neil and team, hello, welcome.

-Hi, Jeremy.

-Hiya.

-Thanks for coming in.

Just get this clear, Auld is part of the old nickname for Edinburgh,

-is that right?

-That's right, Jeremy.

Which is what? Is it Auld Reekie?

-Auld Reekie, yep, yep.

-Auld Reekie, OK.

-Old nickname for Edinburgh.

Didn't that come up the other day, Eggs?

-We had a reference to that, I think.

-We did indeed.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

And Bailie is where you quiz.

Purely the bar that we drink and quiz in.

All right. Do you quiz together a lot?

As often as we possibly can, maybe once a month or so.

Tremendous, tremendous.

I notice that it says here you take sports day very seriously, Neil.

So much so that you tore your calf muscle in the dads' race.

Yes, much to the hilarity of my children and my embarrassment.

There was a sports day near me a while back

where somebody actually did that thing

of - what is it, cruciate ligament or something -

and he collapsed and all the other dads

were just jumping over him and running on!

So, I hear what you're saying.

I'm sensing a competitive team here.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

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

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

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Now, Auld Bailies, the Eggheads have won the last eight games.

They've also had, we were thinking,

only one player knocked out in the last three, or something amazing,

so they're on good form - but that's good, too,

because there's a good jackpot.

£9,000 to play for.

-Would you like to try?

-Yes, please.

-Yes, please.

-Brilliant.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film and TV.

You can choose between Beth, Chris, Pat, Barry and Lisa.

-You going to go for it?

-Who's doing it first of all?

-Graeme?

-Yes, good.

-We're going to choose Graeme.

-OK, Graeme, our chartered surveyor.

Choose an Egghead, Graeme.

Any one of the five, all looking a bit goggle-eyed.

Shall we go for Barry?

Sounds good. I'll go for Barry, please, Jeremy.

Good stuff. So, Graeme from Auld Bailies, taking on Barry,

who loves a run out.

Yes - my last head-to-head was a Film and TV, as well.

People have maybe got your number, Barry.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our legendary Question Room?

Graeme, your hobby is the great outdoors.

Yes, indeed. I really enjoy salmon fishing in particular.

Oh, so fly fishing and all of that?

Yes, that's right.

You get out as much as you can?

I try to, but within the limits of work and being a family man.

And I'm hoping when the weather is not so good,

you stay in and watch films and TV?

Well, a wee bit, but we'll see how I get on.

Good luck against Barry.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Which of these films was directed by Steven Spielberg?

That's a good one.

The Godfather, I'm pretty sure was Francis Ford Coppola.

Raging Bull, I have no idea.

Given the era, I'll go with Jaws please, Jeremy.

Yeah, his first really big film.

It was Jaws, you're absolutely right.

I'm thinking - and this is just off the top of my head,

that Raging Bull might have been Scorsese, but I don't know.

-Barry, was it?

-I think it was, yes.

With Robert De Niro.

So, Jaws is right.

Well done, Graeme. Barry, over to you.

The comedian and presenter Bill Oddie

has become famous for presenting TV programmes on which subject?

Well, Bill Oddie is a huge fan of wildlife

so I would guess he would be

presenting programmes on that subject,

so I'll go for wildlife.

-Yeah, because he was Springwatch and Autumnwatch.

-Absolutely.

Very good at it he is, too. Very enjoyable to watch.

He's one of the greats. Wildlife is right.

Over to you, Graeme.

In which TV drama series does Jerome Flynn

play the role of the policeman, Bennett Drake?

That's pretty tough.

I don't watch any of those programmes,

so I'm going to hazard a guess.

I know that Gillian Anderson is in The Fall.

I don't really know the other two,

so I'm going to go for a guess, I'm going to go for True Detective.

True Detective is with Matthew McConaughey,

and it's an American programme.

There could be a policeman played by Jerome Flynn, but there isn't.

-I'm afraid it's Ripper Street.

-OK.

Barry, your question, to take the lead.

Mark Sinclair is the real name of which actor?

I think Brad Pitt has always been Brad Pitt. I'll go for Vin Diesel.

Yes, Vin Diesel is right.

OK, so he's ahead, and you've got to stop him now, Graeme.

Don't get this wrong.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

is the theme tune to which TV sitcom?

Well, I remember this one from the '80s,

and I'm pretty confident that it's Cheers.

It is Cheers, the great Boston -

it was a Boston bar, wasn't it, Graeme, I think?

-Yes, I think it was.

-Yeah, it was brilliant.

So, you're level, but Barry can take the round with this.

Who plays the role of the teacher Helen Justineau

in the 2016 film The Girl With All The Gifts?

Now, I've not seen this film, so I don't know.

I don't think it would be Emily Blunt,

because she's been in lots of other things recently,

so maybe she's not had time to make this film.

Just because I like watching her, I'll go for Gemma Arterton.

Gemma Arterton is the right answer.

-Oh!

-Your gift of the guess is amazing, Barry.

Well done, you're in the final.

Sorry, Graeme, one misstep there and you've been knocked out, I'm afraid.

-OK.

-You were beaten by our Egghead and he will be in that final round.

Come back to us and we'll play on.

Our Challengers, the Auld Bailies

have lost a brain, then, from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

Barry is through to the final, as he often is.

The next subject for you is Science.

Who is the scientist in the quizzing team?

Do you want to take one for the team?

-Yeah, sure.

-Geoff.

-Geoff's our man.

Commercial property solicitor.

Choose an Egghead - it can't be Barry.

-Beth or Lisa?

-Yeah.

I'll choose Beth, please, Jeremy.

OK, Geoff from the Auld Bailies is going in

against Beth from the Eggheads on Science.

Please go to our Question Room now.

OK, Geoff, Science - would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first please, Jeremy?

Yes, you can, and here we go, Geoff.

Good luck against Beth.

Which of these animals is now extinct?

Well, I was hoping there would be one that came up that I recognised.

I've never heard of a screaming hairy armadillo

or a goblin shark,

but I'm pretty sure that a sabre-toothed tiger is extinct

so I'm going to go with the sabre-toothed tiger.

Sabre-toothed tiger is the right answer.

OK, Beth, your question,

what type of life form carries out the process of photosynthesis?

Not actually my area of expertise,

as I drifted off in my botany lessons,

so these are plants.

Plants is right. Photosynthesis is what, converting light into...?

-Energy.

-Energy.

OK, we go back to you, Geoff.

Which of these celestial objects is a star in the Orion constellation?

I know Betelgeuse better as the 1980s film,

but I'm going to go with Ceres.

OK, now this is the kind of thing Barry majors on -

or, actually, can any Egghead actually tell me?

-It is Betelgeuse.

-It is Betelgeuse - a star in Orion is Betelgeuse.

Beth, we go back to you.

In which year was the scientist Nikola Tesla born?

He did a lot to do with electricity, or early electricity.

He had a lot to do with Western housing in the States

and the Edison Western housing arguments...

I wish I knew what year he was born, though.

Erm, so that...

That would have been late Victorian so 1856 would be too late,

1756 probably too early, so 1806.

-Let's see if the Eggheads know. Eggs?

-1856.

-1856 is the answer.

-Oh, really? Oh, OK.

A big rival of Thomas Edison.

Yes, he was in parallel with Thomas Edison in a way.

-Yeah.

-OK, back to you, Geoff.

Including the core, mantle and crust,

which element is thought to be

the most abundant metal on earth by mass?

I think the mantle is predominantly molten iron

so I'm going to go with iron.

Iron is right. Well played.

Back to you, Beth. You need this one to stay in.

Which of these planets in our solar system

has a system of rings encircling it?

Neither of the planets between us and the sun have any rings,

so the answer's Neptune.

Neptune is right. Well played.

So, two each after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death with the scores level.

Just to make it that bit harder, it's not multiple-choice, Geoff.

Which metallic element with the atomic number 13 was briefly more

expensive than gold until methods of producing it much more cheaply were

developed in the 1880s?

I'm trying to think what might be difficult to produce

and perhaps has become more common.

Erm...

I'm going to say aluminium.

Aluminium is the right answer.

OK, Beth, to stay in, your question.

Atoms or molecules with at least one unpaired electron

are commonly known as what?

I...

I think they're ions.

-No, they're free radicals.

-Oh.

Free radicals is the answer.

You've been knocked out by our Challenger so, Geoff,

on Sudden Death, you took the round and you will be in the final.

Sorry, Beth, you're out. Come back to us, both of you.

It's level now, it's getting exciting.

OK, the Auld Bailies have levelled it up.

They've lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost a brain, as well, and the next subject for you,

Challengers, is Arts & Books.

I know you're good quizzers.

We'll have someone pretending they know nothing about Arts & Books!

Like we had in the last round.

You've got English.

Russell's going to take that one.

Russell, employment lawyer.

Which Egghead, Russell?

I'll try Lisa, please.

Russell from Auld Bailies to play Lisa on Arts & Books from the Eggheads

and please again go to our Question Room.

I know you're a keen reader, Russell, is that right?

I try my best, when I've got time, yes.

Lovely. Did you get volunteered for Arts & Books there or...?

Yes, it wouldn't have been my first choice.

Sport would be my first choice but it's a team effort so we'll give it a go.

Russell, would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please, Jeremy?

And here is your question.

In the books by Herge, what is Tintin's job?

I don't think he was a teacher

and I'm trying to remember the picture of him from the books.

I think I'm going to have to go for archaeologist from my vague

recollection of what he looked like in the books.

Certainly archaeology happening in a lot of Tintin books,

I remember that. He's actually running around as a reporter.

OK, here's your question, Arts & Books, Lisa.

What type of play is Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor?

"Oh, mistress fooled, you are undone!"

The clue is in the word "merry," it's a comedy.

Comedy's right, Lisa takes the lead.

OK, Russell, back to you.

The poem, Solitude, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

begins with which line?

I'm desperately trying... I've heard of it before but I can't remember

any of the detail of it so I'm just trying to

think if any of them can be ruled out.

I think it's going to have to be a guess and I think my guess will be,

"When you are old and grey and full of sleep."

I'm afraid that's the wrong answer.

It is, "Laugh and the world laughs with you."

So, Lisa, your second question.

You can take the round with this.

The poem called The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

is inscribed on which famous landmark?

Unless it's a really famous thing associated with

one of the other two, I would have thought the percentage guess

here was the Statue of Liberty.

I don't know where you'd inscribe anything on Big Ben,

or the Tower of Pisa.

I'll try the Statue of Liberty.

If you've got this right, you taken the round.

The correct answer is the Statue of Liberty.

Well done, Lisa, you've done it again, you're in the final again.

Russell, I'm sorry, beaten by our Egghead.

They're playing well but they are not unbeatable as a team here,

gentlemen. Come back to us, both of you,

and we'll see what happens in the last round before the final.

As it stands, Auld Bailies have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one, so this is probably the moment to pitch

into them and level it up.

The last round before the final is History.

-So, whose is this?

-By default, that's me, Jeremy.

OK, it's going to be Phil, our solicitor, against,

you can choose either Pat or Chris.

-I'm thinking Chris.

-Chris.

Chris, please.

So, it's going to be Phil from the Auld Bailies

against Chris on history.

-Mm-hm.

-To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our Question Room.

Chris, I know you love your History rounds.

-I like them, yeah.

-And you've done 78 history rounds in the history of

-Eggheads?

-Have I?

-Yeah.

Which is a heck of a lot, and you've won a heck of a lot.

-68.

-So, I've dropped ten.

-Not bad.

-I worked that out, yeah, ten,

so we'll find out now if it's going to be 11 or 69.

OK, Phil, good luck against Chris.

He's got his weak points but he's got his strong points as well.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And here we go then with your first History question.

Which US President is often referred to as the father of his nation?

I really wish I'd done O-grade, which I didn't.

I'm between Lincoln and Washington,

I'm not sure.

I'm going to go for Abraham Lincoln.

I think... I'll defer to the Eggs on this,

-Chris can tell us. Lincoln was later, Chris, wasn't he?

-Mmm.

George Washington was the first actual president

of the United States as we know it but he wasn't the first

American president because there were presidents

of the American Confederation before that but George Washington

-is father of the nation.

-Yes, father of his nation is George Washington.

OK, Chris, your question.

Which of these historic figures was a king of England,

Norway and Denmark?

That was Canute, Jeremy.

Was he the one who sat by the seaside?

Well, his courtiers had been flattering him something rotten

that he could command the sea,

so he had his throne placed on the seashore for the tide to come in

and wet him and he said, "Look, it wets me the same as it'll wet you."

-It's Canute, yeah.

-Canute is correct.

OK, Phil, to get on the scoresheet, here we go.

In Roman society, what name was given to slaves who were trained as teachers?

I don't know, again. I'm going to answer Pedagogue.

I'm glad you did, you're right. Pedagogue is right.

I've always wondered what that word meant.

Thank you for helping me. So, you're level.

Chris, you can take the lead with this question.

How old was Napoleon Bonaparte when he died?

Hang on.

1769 to 1822.

That's 31.

It's 52.

Yes, 52 is right.

So, it's 2-1

and you need to get this one right, Phil, to stay in.

Who was the head of the Allies' Fighter Command

during World War II's Battle of Britain?

You'll be surprised to hear I'm not sure.

The only name that rings any sort of bell

is the middle one so I'm going to answer, David Stirling.

David Stirling. OK, this is the kind of question that Chris loves.

-Chris, go on.

-David Stirling actually founded the SAS,

it grew out of the long range desert group in North Africa.

Bill Slim was actually the Field Marshal in charge in Burma

during the retaking of Burma

but the head of the Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain

was Stuffy Dowding, Hugh Dowding.

Hugh Dowding is the right answer so, Phil, sorry,

your team have to lose you from the final. Chris has knocked you out.

It means that it's advantage Eggheads in the final

but no way are these Challengers out of it.

Please return to us, gentlemen.

We'll play the final round for £9,000.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the 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, that's Russell,

Phil and Graeme from the Auld Bailies

and Beth from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio.

OK, Neil and Geoff, you're playing to win Auld Bailies £9,000.

Lisa, Barry, Pat and Chris,

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

the Eggheads' reputation, but also,

to get the jackpot to £10,000

so we can see Barry's celebratory jazz hands.

Don't do it yet!

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

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

Gents, you can confer.

So, Neil and Geoff, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four and stop this infuriating roll

that they're on? Would you like to go first or second?

-Let's go first.

-We'd like to go first, Jeremy.

Here we go with your first question.

The Glitter Ball trophy is the prize awarded to the winner

of which TV reality show?

Well, we think this is maybe one that's evaded you, Jeremy,

but we're thinking Strictly Come Dancing.

Ah, the pain of that!

Yes, you're right on both counts.

Strictly Come Dancing. Well done.

OK, Eggheads.

Medicare and Medicaid are government health insurance schemes

in which country?

-USA.

-For the moment anyway!

-Are you all happy with that?

-Mm.

That's the USA, Jeremy.

Yes, it is, Pat, USA well done.

So, one each.

£9,000, we're playing for, and here's your second question.

Who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature?

Definitely?

We think that was Bob Dylan, Jeremy.

Bob Dylan is the right answer.

Eggheads, your second question.

Bruxism is the technical term for what?

This is B-R-U-X-I-S-M.

-Teeth grinding.

-Yeah.

-100%.

-It's teeth grinding.

-Somnambulism is sleepwalking,

-I don't know about nail-biting.

-Onychophagia.

It's teeth grinding.

What did you say was nail-biting?

-I think it's onychophagia.

-Onychophagia.

You've said teeth grinding and that is the correct answer.

You've got to make their teeth grind, Challengers.

Stop them getting the jackpot to 10,000 because then they just start walking with a swagger!

So, get this right, you've played well so far in the final round.

Get this right and the pressure's definitely on them.

Here's your question, your third question.

In Norse mythology, who was the father of the god, Balder?

Which is B-A-L-D-E-R.

-Do you have any idea?

-Not immediately.

-Loki, I've not heard of.

-No.

Thor is the king of the gods.

Odin - thunder?

I don't think so.

-I'm leaning towards Odin.

-Mm.

-Yeah?

-We're in trouble here.

Not one we know, Jeremy, but we're going to plump for Odin.

OK, that's Geoff,

just saying Odin off, I was trying to work out the logic.

Um, Thor feels like the chief god

and I don't think that would be the answer.

Loki, I'm not as familiar with

so, um, it's...

I see the logic.

You've got it right, so you've got three out of three.

Odin is the right answer.

Eggheads, if you get this wrong, we reset the jackpot,

we give £9,000 away and you go home in tears.

Here's your third question.

Full Moon Fever is a bestselling 1980s album by which singer?

I have no idea at all, I'm afraid.

-1980s?

-JEREMY: Full Moon Fever.

It doesn't ring a bell for Bruce Springsteen with me.

I could be wrong but it doesn't register as a Springsteen album.

Smokey Robinson is classic.

It sounds Tom Petty sort of stuff.

The Moon is a bit rural, it could be Tom Petty.

It could be Smokey Robinson, Full Moon Fever.

-Of the three, Tom Petty.

-It seems to have a ring of Tom Petty.

-A bit of a guess though.

-It's more Tom Petty-ish.

Smokey Robinson's more Motown-ish and Springsteen's the Boss.

I think we can sort of discount Springsteen

and then we're just reduced to a pick between the other two.

-And...

-My vote's for Petty.

-Anybody else?

-Petty.

If you'd ask me and I was on my own, I would have said Petty.

OK, that's what we're doing.

We haven't heard of the album.

We're binning Bruce Springsteen and we're picking Tom Petty.

Full Moon.

Does that take us back to the '50s and that kind of Smokey Robinson

Motown thing that's almost ageless?

No, it doesn't, you're quite right, it's Tom Petty.

Tom Petty is the answer, so after three questions,

we now go to Sudden Death.

Just remember to make it that bit harder, I don't give you alternatives,

OK? So, think about each answer before you say it.

Which city has a district called Kelvinside,

known for a distinctive accent?

I think we're sitting pretty confident.

I think we'd be disappointed if we got this one wrong.

We think it's possibly Glasgow.

It is indeed, Glasgow.

There have been lots of visiting teams who've messed that one up,

let me tell you. Glasgow's right.

OK, Eggheads, again on the back foot here.

They have not got a question wrong so far in the final round.

Here is your question.

Sudden Death. £9,000, the jackpot.

In the 1930s, the Queen's house in Greenwich, designed by Inigo Jones,

became part of which National museum?

-The National Maritime Museum is there.

-Yeah.

I'm pretty certain it's that, yeah.

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, yeah.

No rival brands? No?

I'm pretty confident on that one.

Shall we go with it?

And the phrasing is just National Maritime Museum? Yeah?

OK, we're going for the National Maritime Museum.

National Maritime Museum is quite right,

so level still in the final, Sudden Death, £9,000.

Gustavus Adolphus, who was known as the Lion of the North,

was the king of which European country in the 17th century?

Norway, Denmark or Sweden?

No, I think you may be overthinking about north.

Gustavus Adolphus sounds more dramatic.

I'm thinking...

Sorry, could we ask you to repeat the question please, Jeremy?

Gustavus Adolphus, who was known as the Lion of the North,

was the king of which European country in the 17th century?

Too early for Germany?

-I'm thinking Prussia.

-Prussia.

-Does that spring to mind?

-Yeah.

No pressure!

OK, a stab in the dark here but we're going to try Prussia.

OK, let's just check with the Eggheads.

They've said Prussia, are they right?

No, it's Sweden.

It is Sweden, so you were tracking north.

They were on the right lines when you started thinking like that.

Sweden is the answer, which gives the Eggheads, all four of them,

a chance here to take the contest.

Who was serving as British Prime Minister when Richard Nixon became president of the USA?

That's 1970.

Would that be Harold Wilson?

-It could be.

-Let's make sure.

Is it definitely 1970?

Our elections and their inaugurations...

The inauguration is what marks the reign of a president

and that's January, so we think that's January '70?

Yes, I think it's '70.

They would hold the election in '69, would they?

No, they hold them in even years.

Kennedy's election was in 1960.

So, 60, 64, 68.

If you're counting it from election then it probably is late '70s.

'68 election, so it's January '69 he was inaugurated,

so who was the British Prime Minister in January 69.

-'It sounds like Wilson.

-It's Wilson.

Then Heath comes in at the start of '70.

I'm happy with Wilson.

It's Harold Wilson.

The answer is, indeed, Harold Wilson.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won!

-Did you know that one?

-No.

I think you would have got that one.

You were very good quizzers, you guys.

Commiserations. How are you feeling after that?

That was a very enjoyable experience.

Well, I heard the word "Sweden" from you halfway through your deliberations,

so I know it was there but commiserations Auld Bailies.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

This winning streak you're on continues and it means the Challengers don't

go home with the £9,000, so we roll the money over to the next show.

Eggheads, well done!

Who will beat you and you only lost one today.

The jackpot next time is £10,000.

Barry, are you going to do the jazz hands?

Why not?

Hey!

OK. The jackpot in five figures for the next programme.

I hope you can be there. We'll see if a new team of Challengers

can put a stop to this.

Until then, goodbye.