Episode 75 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. Storming form, Eggheads?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-I think so. I think so.

Taking on our quiz champions today

are the Diamond Devils from Edinburgh.

Now, this team usually compete against each other

on the baseball field, but they've joined forces

to take on the Eggheads today. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Paul. I'm a trade effluent quality advisor.

Hi, I'm Graham and I'm a postman.

Hi, I'm Bret and I'm a credit risk manager.

Hi, I'm James and I'm a data analyst.

Hi, I'm Gilberto. I'm a commercial photographer.

-So, Paul and team, welcome.

-Hello.

Good to see you. Thanks for coming.

So it's mainly baseball that brings you together, is that right?

Yeah, we're all part of the one sort of club,

but it's three separate teams within that club.

And you play on a conventional baseball pitch of some kind?

-A diamond is what the field...

-The diamond? Oh, I see -

hence the team name! I'm there! I've got it. I've got it.

We're currently trying to build our own purpose-built diamond just now,

but right now we play just at a field in Edinburgh.

Yeah. Do you have to mark it out to play?

-Yeah, right now we do.

-Yeah. And who do you play against?

There's three teams in Edinburgh in the league,

a team in Glasgow... Two teams in Glasgow, sorry,

and a team in Aberdeen is forming, as well, this year.

Do you play different positions?

So if I say, "What position do you play, Paul?"

does that make any sense in this game or not?

Yeah, it can do, yeah.

-And what are you?

-I'm a third baseman.

Yeah, I can relate.

There are how many bases, seven?

-Three.

-Three?

-Yeah.

-Three bases and a...

JEREMY LAUGHS

One, two, three and then you're home?

-Yeah.

-Is that right? OK.

I didn't say seven, Eggheads. Forget that, OK?

-Yes, you did.

-They're logging it all back there and sniggering away.

Anyway, I wish you well. Good luck.

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 our next show and, Diamond Devils,

I don't know if this is good news or bad news,

but the Eggheads have won the last 12 games.

So, you've got to stop them.

£13,000 will be yours if you do.

-Would you like to start?

-Yes.

-Yeah!

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

You can choose between Judith, Steve, Kevin, Pat and Dave.

What do you guys think?

I think you're going to be doing that one, right?

I'll take it. OK.

Who do we want to take on?

-We'll go for Graham.

-Graham, OK.

-Our postman?

-Yep.

And, Graham, choose an Egghead. Any one of the five.

Some of them will be looking a little bit frightened at this stage,

but it's hard to know which.

I'll take Judith.

So, Graham from Diamond Devils is going to take on

Judith from the Eggheads. To ensure there's no conferring,

please go to our Question Room now.

Graham, would you like to go first or second on Film & TV?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go. Good luck.

Which actor starred as Owen Grady in the 2015 film Jurassic World?

I...think that was Chris Pratt.

Good play. Yeah, it was Chris Pratt. Well done.

Judith, Caroline Quentin regularly played a character called Dorothy

in which TV sitcom?

I think it was the Vicar of Dibley.

No, it is not,

because that was dominated by Dawn French.

That's who I thought she was.

Yeah, no, Caroline Quentin is not Dawn French.

No.

That's exactly who I had in mind.

-Oh, dear, are you having one of those days?

-Yes, I am.

-Brain freeze.

-It's only...

It's early here in the round, still.

It's Men Behaving Badly.

Oh, she was one of the girls in it.

Right, I think this looks quite good for you, Graham.

I don't know what's going on on the Eggheads' side,

but it might be to your advantage.

Your question - the first series of the television drama Mad Men

was set at the start of which decade?

I've never actually seen it but it was about an advertising agency

and I'm sure I've seen clips of it and I recognise the sort of dress.

I would say it was probably the '50s.

Do you know? I've seen it and I would have given that answer,

and I'm ashamed to say I would have been wrong.

It's the '60s.

-OK.

-OK.

Your question, Judith.

Which of these Alfred Hitchcock directed films was made first?

Well, Rebecca had Laurence Olivier in it looking quite young.

North by Northwest, Cary Grant.

I think it must be Rebecca.

It is Rebecca, well done. So you're actually level now.

Graham, try and get this right, put the pressure on.

The screenwriter and director Richard Curtis

was born in which country?

Well, I've no idea about this at all.

It's going to have to be a guess.

Erm...

I'm going to have a guess at South Africa.

-It was New Zealand.

-Oh, OK.

So you've got one out of three and, Judith,

despite the slightly shaky start, you can take the round on this.

Who directed the 2004 biographical film Beyond The Sea

and played the lead role of the singer Bobby Darin?

I can't see Kevin Spacey being Bobby Darin, or Tom Hanks.

Maybe it's Joaquin Phoenix.

Any Challengers know this? Is she right?

-Anyone see this?

-It's not something I've seen, no.

The answer is Kevin Spacey.

-Really?

-Yes, it is.

I just can't see him being Bobby Darin.

Well, it's level after three questions.

We go to Sudden Death, Graham.

You got a slight let-off there, and it gets a bit harder now

-because I don't give you different options, OK?

-OK.

Which animated film based on a popular children's toy

was the highest grossing movie at UK cinemas in 2014?

I've no idea. I'm going to have a guess at WALL-E.

-No, The Lego Movie.

-Oh, of course!

Judith, for the round,

who won Best Actress Oscars for her performances

in Gaslight and Anastasia?

Is it Ingrid Bergman?

Let's check with the Eggheads. Is she right?

-Ingrid Bergman.

-You're right, Ingrid Bergman it is.

So, Judith, you're through to the final. Well done.

Graham, sorry, you've been knocked out by our Egghead.

If you come back to us, both of you,

and rejoin your teams, we'll play on.

So, Diamond Devils have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost one yet and the next subject for you

is Arts & Books.

Who would like this? Can't be Graham.

A slightly silent response.

I'm thinking I'm not going to be able to help on this one at all.

I don't think I'll be able to help on this one much.

-I don't know anything.

-Me neither, so...

I'll go for it if you want. I'll go for it.

-Paul?

-Yeah, I'll go for it.

-Oh, right. Now, that's the easy bit.

Now choose an Egghead.

-I'll go for Dave.

-Good stuff.

Paul from the Diamond Devils is taking on

Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads.

Please, both of you, go to our Question Room.

Paul, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first.

Here we go, Paul. Good luck.

Which of these is a title in the Narnia series of books by CS Lewis?

When I first heard the question, I was hopeful.

I think, based on the other titles,

I'm going to have a stab at The Magician's Chair.

It's Nephew. The Magician's Nephew.

OK, Dave.

What is the surname of the character named Uriah

in the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield?

It's Uriah Heep.

It is Uriah Heep.

OK, back to you, Paul.

Le Douanier, the nickname of the French painter Henri Rousseau,

translates into English as what job title?

Is this...?

Again, this is not my...

Not my area.

I don't think it would be customs officer.

I'm going to take a stab at taxidermist.

I don't know if he was in real life a customs officer,

but this was his nickname.

-Oh.

-He probably was a customs officer, was he?

He was a Sunday painter.

-So he was a customs officer Monday to Friday.

-Right.

OK, he painted, apparently, on the Sunday, and in the week,

says Judith, he was a customs officer, Paul.

-There you go.

-There we go.

Over to Dave.

What are the names of the two brothers

in Harold Pinter's play The Caretaker?

Caretaker...

It's weird with Pinter, there, because I know all the plays

but just don't bother getting into the characters.

I'm not getting a handle on any of the names at all to do with Pinter.

I'm going to go Clifford and Tom.

It's wrong - Aston and Mick.

I would not know. Sorry.

So he's still ahead, Paul, but you need to get this one right.

In Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky,

what word describes the Bandersnatch?

I'm trying to remember now!

Nothing is jumping out. I was hoping something would pop out at me

when you read them out there but...

I'm struggling again.

I think I'm going to go for...

..rumptinous.

It is the frumious Bandersnatch.

Frumious is the word.

Anyone do any of the rest of it for us?

Beware the frumious Bandersnatch,

its jaws go something, and something Snicker-snack.

Yeah, yeah, that's true.

We'll rack our brains here and have a think about it.

Meanwhile, Dave, well done, you've won the round.

Paul, sorry, you were knocked out by our Egghead there on Arts & Books,

which I know was not your choice of round.

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

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the...

-Frumious Bandersnatch.

-No.

Something Jubjub bird.

-The Jubjub bird.

-Oh, yeah.

-And shun the frumious Bandersnatch.

That's the Lewis Carroll poem.

And, by the way, on the Henri Rousseau, Le Douanier,

he was not actually a customs officer, OK?

He was a toll collector.

-Well, same sort of thing.

-Well, no...

Well, it's like he was the guy at the motorway service station

and people nicknamed him the customs officer

to give him status he did not have.

-Oh, right.

-So it was a little bit of a joke by his friends.

I'm just saying... I'm not correcting you, I'm just...

No, you are. And rightly.

LAUGHTER

-And rightly.

-Always very dangerous to correct them over here.

It all starts kicking off.

Anyway, look, Diamond Devils,

you've lost two brains from the final round -

but there's still plenty of time to win, and you seriously can win,

even with one in the final, and there's £13,000 to play for.

The next subject is History.

Who wants this?

Shall I take it? I'll take that one.

-OK, so it's Bret.

-Yes.

-Against which Egghead, Bret?

Pat or Kevin or Steve?

-Think Steve?

-Steve.

-I'll try against Steve.

Very good. So Bret from the Diamond Devils, originally from Oklahoma?

-Yes.

-Good stuff.

And Steve from the Eggheads, originally from...?

-Bolsover.

-Bolsover.

So Oklahoma against Bolsover.

Please take your positions in our Question Room.

So, Bret, Oklahoma and then UK?

Well, a brief stint in Russia in between.

I met a Scottish girl in Russia and then found my way here.

Fantastic, so you're living in what part of Scotland?

-Edinburgh.

-Great stuff.

And do you go back to Oklahoma much or not?

Probably every couple of years,

so due to go back this summer coming.

It must be exciting, in a way,

to have baseball in Scotland where you live,

rather than having to only see it when you go back to the USA.

It was, yes. It was one of the first things I looked up

when I moved here, was if there was a baseball league,

and the first weekend I was here that I could go play,

-I made my way down.

-OK, good stuff.

Bret, you're against Steve and it's History.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first.

In the words of the saying "divorced, beheaded, died,

"divorced, beheaded, survived,"

What was the fate of Anne of Cleves?

Was she...?

Just trying to remember my order now of the wives.

So, the last...

She was neither of the last two.

I remember Jane Seymour was third.

Anne Boleyn was second, so it must have been the fourth.

And she was...

Oh, if I remember right she was beheaded very quickly.

I believe it's beheaded.

Let's just check with the Eggheads

because they love the wives of Henry VIII. Eggheads?

-Divorced.

-Divorced.

-Which one was she?

-Fourth.

-Number four.

-Four, yeah.

Divorced is the answer, Bret.

Steve, your question.

Marie Antoinette was the Queen consort

of which French King?

That's Louis XVI, Jeremy.

Louis XVI is correct.

So, back to you, Bret.

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama

was born in which century?

I don't think it's the 19th.

I think he was before then.

So I'm trying to think.

Let's see, Columbus was in the 15th.

I don't think da Gama was much later than him.

I will say 15th.

I'm not sure, I think 15th.

You've got it exactly right. 15th is right.

Steve, which of these 19th-century events happened first?

I think it must be Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert.

And you've got to that through what process?

Well, she came to the throne in '37, she was married not long after,

maybe 1840 or something like that.

The Battle of Balaclava was part of the Crimean War,

about 1854, something like that,

and the Suez Canal opened in about 1869,

so hopefully my maths works out.

Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert was indeed the first of those events

in the 19th century.

They're good, aren't they, Bret?

-Yes.

-They do know their stuff.

It's part of the joy of playing this game.

Your question, your third question. You need this one.

What surname was given to the ten children

produced by the future William IV

and his lover, the actress Dorothea Jordan?

I'm just trying to think my timeline of when William IV was, and...

I'm not really sure so much if I get the timeline, if that will help.

I'll take a guess with FitzPatrick.

-Steve?

-Just based on the fact he's a royal,

I'd have probably gone FitzClarence.

Yeah, FitzClarence is the correct answer.

Bret, sorry, you've been knocked out on History.

No way back, in this round, so Steve will be in the final.

Please return to us, rejoin your teams,

and we'll play one more round before that final.

So, as it stands,

Diamond Devils have lost three brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any, and the next subject is Music.

Paul and team, who wants this?

It's got to be Gilberto or James.

-OK.

-You need to be last.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. OK. Let's do it.

-I'll take it.

-OK, Gilberto.

Against either, let's see, Kevin or Pat.

50-50.

OK, I'll leave... I'll take Pat and you can get Kevin.

It doesn't matter. Everyone's in.

We'll see you in the final round, Gilberto, it doesn't matter.

Erm...

-Pat.

-Sure. So, Gilberto from the Diamond Devils.

Pat, any experience of baseball?

I've watched a bit. I played a long time ago.

I played a bit of rounders - sort of like a junior version of the game.

OK. All right, gentlemen, for the last time,

please go to our Question Room.

So, Gilberto, we've got quite a multinational team,

because you're originally from...

-Venezuela.

-Venezuela - tell us about that.

What can I tell you? It's a beautiful country.

Mmm. And did you leave when you were young?

No, I left 13 years ago.

I know one Venezuelan really well, and her name is Karen Clifton,

and she was the dancer on Strictly.

I don't know if you watch it - but she is Venezuelan.

-Yes, yes. I know.

-Karen Hauer, her name was before that.

-Yeah.

-OK, well, listen, good luck against Pat.

-Thank you.

Is music your thing?

No, but I have to sacrifice myself.

JEREMY LAUGHS OK.

So, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Eggheads are playing well at the moment,

but don't give up, guys.

"You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips"

is the opening lyric to which song?

Gilberto, is it...?

Can you repeat the phrase again?

"You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips".

I think I'll go for the middle - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.

What do you think, team-mates? Is he right?

-I think so.

-Anyone sing it?

-Can anyone do that?

-God, no!

Righteous - if we had Lisa here - Righteous Brothers...

# You never close your eyes any more

# When I kiss your lips. #

Something like that. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.

It's just a guide, that's all, I'm just singing it as a guide.

Anyway, you're right, Gilberto, that's the main thing. OK, Pat.

Which musical features a song that asks the question,

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?"

Well, there is a prominent Maria in West Side Story,

but I think...

the Maria in this song title is a novice nun in The Sound Of Music.

The Sound Of Music is correct.

OK. Gilberto.

Who sang with Dolly Parton on the 1983 UK top-ten single

Islands In The Stream?

I think it's a tricky one.

She usually...

..sings along with Kenny Rogers, but, erm, I'm not sure here.

But, erm...

I will say Kenny Rogers.

Yes, it is Kenny Rogers.

A famous video of them singing it live.

OK, Pat, your second question.

In 1985, John Parr had a UK top-ten single with which song?

I'd better be a little bit careful here.

Alive And Kicking, I think, is Simple Minds -

maybe, like, somebody like that.

John Farnham, I think, sang You're The Voice.

Did John Parr sing St Elmo's Fire?

It was famously featured in...

..in a movie, wasn't it?

So I think I'll have to go for St Elmo's fire.

Let's just see. Eggheads, is he right?

-Yes.

-And what was the film he referred to?

I think it's called St Elmo's Fire.

Oh, it's not Breakfast Club?

It's one of the Brat Pack films of the time.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-St Elmo's Fire is the right answer,

so it's level after two questions.

Your third, Gilberto. You're playing well here.

Benjamin Britten's work The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra

is subtitled Variations And Fugue On A Theme Of whom?

-Can you repeat the question, please, Jeremy?

-Yeah.

Benjamin Britten's work The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra

is subtitled Variations And Fugue On A Theme Of whom?

I think it's...

..Henry Purcell.

You're absolutely right.

Well done. Henry Purcell.

OK, you're playing well on Music.

So, if Pat gets this wrong, he's out.

Which Coldplay album originally featured the singles Speed Of Sound

and Fix You?

Hmm. I can rule out Mylo Xyloto -

I think that was later in their career.

So it's between Parachutes and X&Y.

Hmm...

What was the order of their albums?

Was it Parachutes and then A Rush Of Blood To The Head

and then X&Y and then Mylo Xyloto?

I'm not sure.

I have a feeling Parachutes is early and X&Y is middle-career

for Coldplay.

And I have a feeling those songs are sort of middle-period Coldplay.

The early songs are, like, Yellow and Clocks.

Hmm.

Could I have the question one more time, please?

Which Coldplay album originally featured the singles

Speed Of Sound and Fix You?

Well, it all depends on whether I've got my feeling

for the sequence of these albums correct,

but I do think that Parachutes is early, X&Y is in the middle,

and Mylo Xyloto is late in their career.

I think those are middle period songs, so I'm going to go for X&Y.

X&Y is right.

So, level after three questions - and we go to you, Gilberto.

Sudden Death. It gets a bit harder.

I don't give you alternative options. Good luck.

What title is shared by a Liverpool folk song...

..a musical by Lionel Bart,

and a UK number-one single for Rod Stewart?

For Rod Stewart. Erm...

That's a tricky question. Erm...

I'm trying to think. And a Rod Stewart song...

No. Pass.

-Nothing?

-No, no, sorry.

-It's Maggie May.

-Maggie May, yes.

The musical was based on the folk song,

which was also recorded by the Beatles on Let It Be.

-Sorry.

-The Rod Stewart song was different.

OK, Pat, for the round, which stage show,

about a successful 1960s American band,

won the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical?

Hmm...

'60s band.

That's a crowded field.

What could we have?

The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons...

All sorts of candidates.

Jersey Boys, that's tempting, for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

2009...

I think my best chance is to assume

it's Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and to go for Jersey Boys.

Jersey Boys is the right answer.

You're in the final, Pat. Well done.

Sorry, Gilberto. One false move there and - it happens -

the Egghead was all over you and you've been knocked out.

If you return to us, we will play that final round for £13,000.

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 it's all from this side -

Paul, Graham, Bret and Gilberto from the Diamond Devils,

I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave the studio.

OK, James, you are playing to win Diamond Devils £13,000,

and good luck. Dave, Pat, Kevin, Steve, Judith,

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

which is the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They are all General Knowledge.

Usually I say you can confer but you are, unfortunately, alone.

So, James, the question is, can your one brain defeat these five?

It's been done before. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. First appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013,

the American professional dancer with the surname Manrara

has what first name?

Not really playing to my strengths with this one,

if I'm perfectly honest, so...

Never watched an episode, so it's going to be a little bit tough,

so I'm going to have to try and see what I can do.

Janette seems...

It doesn't seem like the sort of name a dancer would have,

so I'm worried that... That make sense?

So I think I'm going to go for Aliona.

-It is Janette.

-Oh...

She's American, and a brilliant, brilliant dancer.

Janette Manrara.

OK, Eggheads,

which of these is an essential ingredient of a basic Mornay sauce?

-Cheese.

-Cheese.

-Cheese.

That is cheese.

Cheese is correct.

They have taken the lead, which is inconvenient.

In biological classification, which principle taxonomic rank

comes between genus and order?

It's the sort of thing Paul could have helped with, I'm sure.

This is more his specialist subject, I think, rather than mine.

I think I'm going to go for...

..class.

OK, let's see with these Eggheads.

Do you know this?

-Family.

-Family.

Almost went for family. I should have stuck with that idea.

Family is the answer.

So, Eggheads, you can take the contest with this question.

What is the name of the BBC radio music quiz

that was first hosted by Ned Sherrin in the 1980s?

-Counterpoint.

-Counterpoint.

-It should be Counterpoint.

It is Counterpoint. He did host it, definitely.

-Yeah.

-No question about it.

-He was the original host.

-Yeah, he definitely hosted it, yeah.

That is Counterpoint.

If you're right, you've taken the contest,

because there's no way back for our Challenger.

The answer is Counterpoint.

That's your second correct answer in this round,

and we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Oh, commiserations, James. Sorry.

They are in quite a lethal mood at the moment,

slogging out around the pitch.

-They are.

-Home runs.

Hit it out of the park, as they'd say.

Well, thank you for playing. I hope you enjoyed it.

-Thank you, I did.

-OK. Good stuff.

And the rest of the team, did you enjoy it back there?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, don't... I'm sorry if they've...

They're playing so well at the moment.

It's kind of wonderful to watch, in a strange, beguiling way,

seeing you do what comes naturally to you.

You've continued your winning streak.

It means the Challengers are not going home with the £13,000.

We'll take that money and we'll roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. Who on earth will beat you?

I can't imagine it ever happening. Well, maybe it will.

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

have the brains to finally defeat them.

There will be £14,000 to play for.

Until then, goodbye.