Episode 74 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.

And are you feeling brainy today?

-Well, yes.

-Virtual silence.

Virtual silence! They're so intelligent they can't even answer

the question. Challenging our resident quiz champions today

are the Heartbeats.

This team met through a cardiac rehabilitation group in Surrey

and takes part in an annual quiz to raise funds for the cardiac unit at

their local hospital. So let's meet them.

Hello. I'm Bernie and I'm a retired financial forensics consultant.

Hi. I'm Bob. I'm a retired social worker trainer.

Hi. I'm Rob. I'm a retired HR director.

Hello. I'm Sue. I'm a retired bilingual PA.

Hello. I'm John. I'm a retired police officer.

So, Bernie and team, hello...

-ALL:

-Hello.

-..and welcome.

I'm guessing that you've all had a cardiac moment of some kind, Bernie,

-is that right?

-That's right, yes. we've all had it and as a result

of our rehabilitation programme,

we joined an exercise group at our local leisure centre

and from that came a charity which is called Heartbeat

which is where we get our name from.

Fantastic. And after any kind of heart attack or cardiac situation,

you've got to get exercising and change your diet, is that right?

Well, it's recommended that you do those things, yes.

And obviously there's medication and certain follow-ups.

The exercise is the most important thing to keeping yourself fit

and able to enjoy life to the full again.

And do doctors also recommend quizzing?

They say avoid stressful situations

so I don't know what we're doing here.

THEY LAUGH

I must say, you all look as if you're in your prime to me.

-Thank you.

-Whatever you're doing is working and I wish you well.

Good luck. Good luck to you, team.

Every day there's £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, Heartbeats, the Eggheads are on quite a roll here.

They've won the last 11 games.

Judith has been doing the shoulder roll.

Yes. She's still practising that. THEY LAUGH

It means that there's £12,000 to play for.

So, that's quite a jackpot.

Would you like to get cracking?

-Yes, please.

-I thought you'd say that.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of science

and you can choose between Judith, Beth, Kevin, Pat or Steve.

Well, that's me, Jeremy.

OK. Bernie on science from the Heartbeats versus which Egghead?

-Which one do you think?

-Would it be Judith?

You wouldn't choose Beth because she's a scientist.

-Oh, right, yes.

-Not Beth so maybe Judith.

-Or Steve?

-Or Steve, yes.

-Keep Judith for Sport or something else?

-Yes.

I'd like to play Steve, please.

So, Bernie from the Heartbeats is going to play Steve

-from the Eggheads on science. All good, Steve?

-We'll see.

-We'll see. Always leave it open-ended, don't you?

-Oh, yeah.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our famous Question Room.

Steve, do you remember your science classes at school?

-Vaguely.

-Do you remember the Bunsen burners?

I know what a Bunsen burner is, yes.

-Completely.

-Any other practicals?

There was a famous experiment where a teacher burnt a peanut which has

lived long in my memory but other than that...

Why did the teacher set fire to a peanut?

Just to show you how quickly it would ignite.

We were all... Somebody got their eyebrows burnt off, I think.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I don't know whether your science teacher ever set fire to peanuts,

Bernie. I've never heard of that before.

Not that I can remember, no.

He was very...

very conservative and looked after and protected us and made sure we

didn't do anything too dangerous.

A lot of goggles in our science class.

There were no goggles in my day, Jeremy.

Right.

Big change from when I went to school in the '60s.

-Good luck in this round, Bernie.

-Thank you.

You're on science. Would you like to go first or second against Steve?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Here's your first question.

After Jupiter, what is the second largest planet in the solar system?

When I was young, Jeremy, I was a very keen astronomer

and I learned a lot about the planets and I know it isn't Mars

because Mars is smaller than the Earth.

Uranus, I believe, is the third or fourth largest,

but the second largest, which is the one after Jupiter, is Saturn.

Brilliant. Saturn it is.

Good quizzing. What do you think, team-mates?

-Pretty impressive.

-Good start.

-They like that.

Steve. In the US and now generally the UK,

a trillion is represented as a one followed by how many zeros?

I think that must be 12, Jeremy.

12 is the right answer.

Back to you, Bernie.

Two of the existing species of rhinoceros are named

after islands in which country?

Rhinoceroses?

I've seen rhinoceroses when I lived in Kenya but I didn't know there

were two varieties and I certainly didn't know they were named after

islands but thinking about this...

..Vietnam, as I'm aware, doesn't have any islands,

but Indonesia has thousands and Japan has...

..quite a few.

So it's between Japan and Indonesia.

I don't know whether there are rhinoceroses in Indonesia but...

there's certainly... Well, probably certainly isn't any in Japan,

so I think I'll go for Indonesia.

Indonesia is your answer.

It is right. I'm just wondering if anyone here can name them?

Steve, can you name the two types?

I think it's Javan and Sumatran.

It is Javan and Sumatran.

-Well done. Well done, Bernie.

-Thank you.

Back to you, Steve. Which two gases together make up approximately 99%

by volume of the Earth's atmosphere?

Well, hopefully for all our sakes, it's nitrogen and oxygen.

What, if it's the other ones, we're in trouble, are we?

-We're in trouble, yeah.

-Which would be the most dangerous combo?

Well, we'd have to be a fish for the middle one and for the last one,

I don't know, some sort of alien.

JEREMY LAUGHS Nitrogen and oxygen is right.

So, level. Playing well, both of you.

Bernie, back to you. Latrodectism is a condition which can be caused by

a bite from which creature?

Latrodectism.

Latro sounds like something to do with milk, from the Latin,

but does that give me any clue?

I'm going to go for snake.

Because they're the more likely biters?

-Well, they probably bite more than the other two.

-Yeah.

It's the wrong answer, though.

The answer is spider.

OK, Bernie, you got that wrong.

Let's see if Steve can take the round on this question.

Which name, taken from Greek mythology,

is used for the star cluster also known as the Seven Sisters?

I'm sure my opponent knows this one, being a big astronomer.

It's the Pleiades.

Pleiades is right, Steve.

Very good quizzing. You probably did know that, Bernie, did you?

-Yeah, I did, yes.

-Sorry about that.

It's always frustrating.

You've been knocked out there by the Seven Sisters

and Steve will be in the final and if you return to us,

we will play the next round.

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

from the final round. The Eggheads are still sitting there.

Not lost many brains in the last few games.

Time to put a stop to that with Sport, which is the next subject.

-Who would like this?

-I'll take it, shall I?

I think it's got to be you.

-I'll take it.

-OK, Bob.

Retired social work trainer.

Against which Egghead and obviously it can't be Steve?

-Judith.

-Again.

That's what you were being saved for.

-THEY LAUGH

-I thought I might be.

She's had a very good record in recent rounds.

11 out of 12 Sport rounds victorious she's been in so it's changing

around here. Bob from the Heartbeats plays Judith from the Eggheads.

Please go to our Question Room.

Sport. OK, so, first or second against Judith

who's playing pretty well these days?

I'd like to go first, please.

Bob, your first sports question.

In American football, the Super Bowl traditionally takes place

on which day of the week?

This is a very difficult question for me.

I don't think it's a Wednesday.

And I don't think it's a Friday.

If I remember rightly I used to stay up late on a Sunday night

to watch it so I'll go with Sunday.

Yes, Sunday's correct.

Judith, in 2016 the trophy for the English Open Snooker Tournament

was named after which player?

Oh.

I think it might be St...

I'm not sure.

I'm going to say Steve Davis.

You've got it right actually. Steve Davis it is.

Back to you, Bob.

In what year did Rafael Nadal win his first French Open title?

It wasn't 2000.

I'm going to say 2010.

Judith, would you have said this?

I think he's won it eight times or something,

some record number of times, so I'd have said 2005.

-Yes, 2005 is the answer, Bob.

-OK.

Chance for Judith to go into the lead on Sport.

Here we go with your question.

In 2010 which Dublin-born cricketer became the first batsman

to score one-day hundreds for two different countries?

I can't believe that Eoin Morgan is anything but Welsh.

It's just cos I know Eoin Morgan is a cricketer

that I'm going to go for him.

So, him, Morgan.

Eoin Morgan is the right answer and you're ahead, Judith.

-Bob, you need to get this one to stay in.

-Yep.

-Don't want to go the same way as Bernie.

-No.

The Dutch footballer Mario Melchiot

played for which Premier League club between 1999 and 2004?

Can you repeat the name again?

Yes. It's Mario and then Melchiot,

which is M-E-L-C-H-I-O-T.

It just came to me, then. I think it was Chelsea.

Chelsea is quite right.

So you're level but Judith has her third question in hand.

You can take the round with this, Judith.

Hill 16 is a famous terrace in which sports ground?

Well...

..Wales and Scotland are both nice and hilly,

so I'm going to concentrate on those two.

I'm going to say Murrayfield.

Judith, the answer is Croke Park.

So we're level after three questions

because of that error by Judith, Bob, and we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a tiny bit harder here cos I don't give you options, OK?

-OK.

-Your first Sudden Death question, Bob.

Chris Ashton and Ben Foden have played international rugby union

for which team?

I think that's England.

England is right.

Judith, Sudden Death. Sport. Your question.

In 2009, whom did Forbes magazine name as the world's first

billionaire sportsperson?

Erm...

Let's think. 2009.

That was Tiger Woods' heyday, wasn't it, roughly?

I think I'm going to say Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods is right. Well done.

Bob, back to you. Sudden Death.

In 2015, who became the first jockey to win successive Grand Nationals

in over 40 years?

This is a guess, I'm afraid.

I'll go with Pat Eddery.

Any of your team-mates know this?

-Is he right?

-AP McCoy?

AP McCoy. No.

Pat Eddery, no. Leighton Aspell is the name.

So you can take the Sport round with this question, Judith.

Britain's Trina Gulliver, nicknamed The Golden Girl,

is a leading competitor and multi-world champion at which sport?

She's a darts champion.

Darts is correct. Well done. You've done it again, Judith.

You've won on Sport.

-Sorry, Bob.

-That's OK.

She's known as The Sport Rocket. THEY LAUGH

You've been knocked out and Judith will be in the final.

Please return to us, both of you, and we will play on.

So as it stands,

Heartbeats have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still beating away there.

They haven't lost any. The next subject is Geography.

Which of you would like this?

-Shall I take it?

-Not me!

-Yes.

-Rob?

-Yeah, that'll be me, yeah.

-OK.

Retired HR director.

Which Egghead would you like to take on? You can have any

-of the three in the middle.

-We'll take Beth, please.

-All right.

So, Rob from the Heartbeats...

THEY LAUGH This won't be a problem.

-Unless, unless, that area of the world comes up.

-Yeah, thanks!

Beth from the Eggheads will compete on Geography.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Beth, I know you're getting qualms on Geography but your record

-is good.

-Apparently.

Your record is something like seven out of eight but it is

-a particular area of the world that we've struggled on.

-Yes.

Southeast Asia. I'm going to get a massive map.

And put it all over your house.

-Yes.

-THEY LAUGH

OK. And it's also countries that have been attributed to being in

-Southeast Asia but aren't, so it goes beyond that.

-Yes.

OK, anyway, anyway, Rob, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

OK. Good luck, Rob. Here is your first question.

What's the approximate population of the Italian island of Sicily?

Right.

Well, five million possibly.

Possibly one million.

I think I'll go for one million, Jeremy.

It's bigger than that. It's five.

Bad luck. And that's more than I would have expected.

OK, Beth, your question.

What is the official language of the island nation of Cape Verde?

Cape Verde Islands are hovering off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic

but they speak Portuguese.

Portuguese is correct.

Your question, Rob. Topeka is the capital of which US state?

T-O-P-E-K-A.

Topeka.

I don't think it's Florida.

I don't think it's Kansas.

I think I'll go for South Dakota, Jeremy.

Again I might have been tempted to go with you but it's wrong.

It's not Florida.

What's the capital of Florida, Eggheads?

-Tallahassee.

-Tallahassee.

Eggheads, South Dakota?

-Pierre.

-Pierre? Is it? Oh!

Kansas is the answer.

Topeka, Kansas.

So, Beth, you can actually take the round with this question.

Liberia is bordered by which ocean?

Liberia is...

in West Africa

so it's got to be the Atlantic.

Yes, it is the Atlantic. Well done, Beth.

You're through on Geography again, can I say?

It's not such a bad subject for you.

-Sorry, Rob.

-She did very well.

Sorry about that. You won't be able to help your team in the final round.

Return to us and we'll play the last round before the final.

So the Heartbeats are getting quite a lot of exercise here, Bernie,

that's for sure. Are you OK on that side?

We're keeping up. Hard to beat them.

You've lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are sitting pretty, you might even say smug.

The next subject is Music.

-Is that me, then?

-Yep.

-That's Sue.

-Sue, our retired bilingual PA against which Egghead?

You've basically got a choice of two - Pat or Kevin, the Titans?

Pat, please.

OK. Sue from the Heartbeats on Music against Pat.

-Good to get a run out, Pat?

-Yes, excellent.

-Very good.

Please, to ensure there is no conferring, for the last time,

go to our Question Room.

OK, Sue, have you volunteered for music or is it your thing?

It wasn't supposed to be my thing but this is a strategic move

-so we'll just hope for the best.

-Don't give your tactics away.

Would you like to go first or second on Music, Sue?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, and here's your question.

In which country was the opera singer Luciano Pavarotti born?

Pavarotti, I think, such a well-known name...

..and a very Italian name, so I imagine it'd have to be Italy.

Italy is correct. Well done.

Pat, who had a UK top five single in 1986 with You Can Call Me Al?

It was a famous video with Chevy Chase

starring alongside Paul Simon.

It was from his Graceland period, so Paul Simon.

You've just reminded me of that video.

Chevy Chase and he was much taller.

-Yes, much bigger man.

-Paul Simon is right.

OK, back to you, Sue.

Which song begins with the lyrics "Get your motor running,

"head out on the highway"?

More Than A Feeling

I'm not familiar with.

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet either.

But from the words, I'm hoping that it's Born To Be Wild.

This is right up Dave... Tremendous Knowledge Dave's street.

He would know everything about these songs.

You are right. Well done.

It's right. Born To Be Wild.

OK. Pat.

"You can check out any time you like"

is a line from which famous song?

"You can check out any time you like,

"but you can never leave" -

Hotel California.

Hotel California is correct.

OK, so, let's look at the scores, two each.

Third question to you, Sue.

Which of these famous hit singles was written by the Cleethorpes-born

musician and songwriter Rod Temperton?

His is not a name that I know.

So...

..it's going to be a guess here.

I'm pretty sure it's not Thriller.

I wouldn't think it's Like A Virgin.

I'm going to opt for When Doves Cry.

Now, I believe Rod Temperton died in 2016,

and therefore there was quite a big playback of some of his songs.

Which was the one here, Eggheads?

-It's Thriller.

-Thriller is the answer.

Thriller was the one that he really made his songwriting name with.

OK, Pat, you can take the round with this.

Which composer wrote the scores for the films Batman Begins,

The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises?

I don't think it's John Williams so I'll eliminate him.

Jerry Goldsmith is a very productive...

..writer of film scores, but before the options came up,

when I hear Batman, my reflex answer for scores would be Hans Zimmer.

I think I'll go for Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer is the right answer, so, Pat, you've taken the round.

Well done. Sue, sorry, knocked out, like your team-mates, I'm afraid.

What will happen in the final round?

Please, both of you, return to us and we will play it for £12,000.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our final round, which as always, is General Knowledge.

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

to take part in this round, so all from this side, I'm afraid.

It's Bernie, Bob, Rob and Sue from the Heartbeats.

Would you please now leave the studio?

All right, John, I'm sorry you lost a few along the way.

-Yes, so am I!

-You're playing to win the Heartbeats £12,000,

a big jackpot. Steve, Pat, Kevin, Beth, Judith,

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

which is the precious reputation of the Eggheads,

and to see Judith do her famous shoulder roll again.

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

They're all going to be General Knowledge and I was going to say,

John, you can confer,

but obviously you haven't got anyone to confer with.

You can speak out loud, for sure.

The question is, can you with your one brain defeat these five?

So, John, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first.

Good luck! Frank Spencer was the main character in which sitcom?

I remember many years ago watching this on television and finding it

a very amusing programme.

So it's Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

Yes, part of my childhood as well.

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is the answer.

OK.

Eggheads, who was the US President when the Dayton Accords

ending the war in Bosnia was signed in 1995?

-Clinton?

-Clinton.

Yes, Bill Clinton. Right?

-Yes.

-That's Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton is correct.

Back to you, John.

What type of creature is Kumbuka who briefly escaped from its enclosure

into a staff-only area at London Zoo in 2016?

Is Kumbuka...?

Ah, yes, recent, yes.

That was a gorilla.

Gorilla is correct.

OK, back to you.

Eggheads, here we go.

The historian Thucydides wrote in which language?

-Ancient Greek?

-Greek, yeah.

OK, he was a Greek, so Ancient Greek.

Ancient Greek is right.

Two each.

The third can be crucial, playing for £12,000.

Get this right, John, and

you may be able to just watch them go into a total batting collapse.

What is the name of the US film studio

co-founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz

which became famous for specialising in low-budget releases

such as The Toxic Avenger?

Doesn't sound very much like Asylum.

It sounds a little bit sort of traumatic so...

I'll go for Troma.

Troma, on the grounds that it sounds like trauma.

Let's see, Eggheads, is he right?

-Yeah.

-You are right!

Is the Troma to do with the word trauma or something else?

I don't think it's connected as such, it may be, it's possible.

I wonder if it's an amalgamation of their names but you can't see that.

Not with that, no.

It's difficult to say. A taste-free zone, Troma.

Your third question, Eggheads.

Which newspaper columnist and author co-wrote the TV sitcom

Raised By Wolves which won the Golden Rose award for Best Sitcom

in 2016?

Is this...?

-It's Caitlin Moran.

-Caitlin Moran, yes.

Yeah, yeah

I think we're reasonably confident, Jeremy, that's Caitlin Moran.

The correct answer...

is Caitlin Moran.

You did look certain, so they've pushed it to a draw

over three questions, John.

I think we suspected they might do that with five of them there.

This is the time to win the money on Sudden Death.

Just keep getting them right, that's all you need to do,

and it gets a tiny bit harder now, cos I don't give you options.

By what name are the United States Navy's sea, air and land teams

commonly known?

Oh, yes.

They are the SEALs.

They are indeed the SEALs, the Navy SEALs.

Eggheads, back to you. Sudden Death.

Which writer famously described

the sight of the English country gentleman galloping after a fox

as the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable?

-Oscar Wilde?

-Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Wilde. Yes.

That's one of those quotes by Oscar Wilde.

Yeah, quite a lot of quotes that are attributed to him are actually not

by him. Luckily for you, this one is one of his.

Oscar Wilde.

Back to you, John, playing a perfect round so far.

All of your team-mates looking on.

£12,000 in it.

What is the name of the US holiday created in the 1960s

to honour African-American heritage and celebrated from December 26th

to January 1st?

Well, the thing that comes to mind immediately is Mardi Gras,

but I don't think it's Mardi Gras.

It's a sheer guess but I would have to guess something like Africa Day

or Africa Week.

Africa Week, Africa Day, let's see, Eggheads?

Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa is the name of the US holiday to honour African-American

heritage over the Christmas period. It's K-W-A-N-Z-A-A.

So, a chance for the Eggheads.

If you get this right, the contest is over.

All five of you, here's your question.

Which chemical element was officially recognised

as the fourth precious metal in 2010,

after gold, silver and platinum?

-Palladium?

-Palladium.

That's the only one I can think of, really.

-Yes, Palladium.

-Yes.

We think that's Palladium.

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

-Do you know this one, John?

-No, I don't!

They do know a lot, don't they?

-They certainly do.

-They're also playing very well at the moment.

The answer is Palladium. We say, congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

I hope you're not feeling too much tension there.

-Not much!

-You concentrated brilliantly, because,

by that stage you might well have seen them give a wrong answer,

but such is the form they're in, it didn't happen.

Good stuff, but commiserations, John and team.

The Eggheads have done

what really does come naturally to them at the moment.

This winning streak continues. Eggheads, well done,

cos yet again you've had a game here

where you haven't lost a single round.

That's what's starting to worry me.

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

to finally wipe the smiles off their very nice faces.

£13,000 says they don't.

Till then...goodbye.