Episode 83 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 Shades Of The Night.

This team are all part of Paralympics GB men's goalball squad,

who play at the highest level of elite goalball in the European A League.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Adam, and I'm a trainee music teacher.

Hi, I'm Caleb, and I'm a massage therapist.

Hello, I'm Dan, and I'm a sports therapist.

Hi, I'm Matthew, and I'm a professional athlete.

Hi, I'm Chris, and I'm a strength and conditioning coach.

-So, Adam and team, welcome.

-Hello.

-Good to see you.

Thanks for coming in.

Adam, tell us about goalball, what kind of sport it is.

So, goalball is a Paralympic sport for blind and visually impaired

players. And the aim of the game is to throw a ball weighing 1.25 kilos, with bells inside,

to try and score in the other team's goal.

But everyone is blindfolded, so everyone is even.

So hence the team name, Shades Of The Night.

-You all have your eyes covered?

-We thought we'd try and be a bit clever with that.

So, yeah, hence the name.

What's the competition level like in the European A League?

So we've just been promoted from the B to the A League,

so the A League has lots of the world's best teams in it -

Lithuania, Finland, Turkey.

We've got the A League championships next September,

where we will be playing those

likes of teams, and Paralympic champions, Paralympic runners-up,

world champions. It's a tough league.

I think we had the female goalballers in a while back.

Any Eggheads here for that, remember that?

-We did, yeah.

-So we had a great introduction to the sport then.

And all got quite excited about it.

I know, Adam, you were in London 2012, were you?

-How was that?

-Amazing experience.

Goalball has ballooned from then,

it's gone from quite a small sport to a much bigger sport in the country,

and we normally play in front of teams of, audiences of about five,

ten people, so we were in front of 7,500 people.

It was amazing.

Brilliant. Well, good luck, team,

Every day there is £1,000 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.

So, Shades Of The Night, the Eggheads are on absolutely storming form,

they've won the last 20 games.

Very nice.

Exactly. I think it's good. It cuts both ways,

you don't want to meet them in this form - on the other hand,

the jackpot is very high. £21,000 if you win.

-Do you want to crack on?

-Let's go for it.

OK, let's get the ball into play,

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

You can choose either Judith, Beth, Kevin, Pat or Steve.

-What are we thinking?

-Caleb was...

I'm geography.

-Caleb geography?

-OK.

-Who are you going for?

-What do you guys reckon?

-I'm not sure.

-Shall we go Beth?

-Yeah?

Beth.

OK, so we're going to have Caleb going up against Beth, please.

Very good. So it's going to be Caleb from Shades Of The Night

playing Beth on Geography.

Got a bit of Southeast Asia, maybe.

-Yeah.

-It's been an area of difficulty, shall we say,

but maybe it's cleared up by now.

Let's find out. Please,

both of you take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

Caleb, you're up against Beth.

Beth, you've been struggling with your Southeast Asia on Geography

but I gather you've got it worked out?

Yeah, I went to the doctor's, he's given me some cream for it and

-it's starting to clear up.

-OK.

That's really encouraging.

Caleb, would you like to go first or second on Geography?

Can I go first, please?

Good luck. Here is your question.

What is the technical name for a line of longitude?

Caleb, is this...

I don't think it's hemisphere.

I think I'm going to go for meridian, please.

Meridian is quite right, well done.

OK, Beth, over to you.

What does the M stand for in the American time zone MST?

I think that's Mountain Standard Time.

It is indeed, Mountain Standard Time.

So back with you, Caleb, our Challenger.

In which country is there a city called Durango,

which is the capital of a state with the same name?

I don't think it's Spain.

So it would be Mexico or Philippines.

I'd like to go for Philippines, please.

Let's see if our Eggheads know this.

-Eggs?

-Mexico.

It is Mexico,

actually, Caleb.

Beth, you have a chance to take the lead.

Ownership of the Frisian Islands is divided between Denmark,

Germany and which other country?

Frisian just makes me think of Fresian cows.

It's likely to be in the same environs

as the other two countries.

Denmark and Germany, did you say?

Denmark and Germany are the other two.

I think they may share

sovereignty with the Netherlands.

Ownership of the Frisian Islands is divided between Denmark,

Germany and the Netherlands, you're right, Beth.

So she's taken the lead, Caleb.

-Yeah.

-You need to get this one right to stay in.

The Canadian province of Manitoba is bordered by Ontario to the east and

which other province to the west?

Not too sure about this but I think

I'm going to go for British Columbia.

British Columbia is your answer.

Any of your team-mates know here?

-Any ideas?

-I'd have guessed Alberta.

-I'd probably have guessed the same.

-I think it's Saskatchewan.

-You think it's Saskatchewan?

Caleb, it's not British Columbia, I'm afraid,

it is Saskatchewan.

But a lot of different opinions among your team-mates,

-if it's any consolation.

-Yeah.

Beth, you've taken the round on Geography.

So you'll be in the final. Caleb, sorry, you were beaten by our Egghead.

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

OK, as it stands, Shades Of The Night have lost a brain

from the final round. No need to panic yet, guys.

The Eggheads are still sitting there with all five brains.

Second-round subject for you is Music.

-Music.

-This is the debate over here.

-You know my thoughts.

-I genuinely think Chris might be better for this.

Of the questions that might come up.

-Your decision.

-Just cos of the questions that might come up.

The type of music.

You know a lot of bands. OK, so who to take?

So you're the trainee music...

Yeah, I know, but whenever I'm in the gym with Chris, he goes,

-"What music is this?" And I'm like, "I have no idea."

-OK.

-So I think Chris might just know...

-He's the pop master.

-Yeah.

So if that comes up...

-I hope so.

-All right, so...

We're going to take Chris.

OK, Chris on your side...

Who are we going to go against?

-That's a good point.

-Anyone but Beth.

I'm going to play Steve.

Chris from Shades Of The Night taking on

Steve "The Man With 10,000 Books" Cook,

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

please take your leave of us and go to the Question Room.

Chris, you're the strength coach for the team.

I am indeed, yeah.

-So you do the training and all the fieldwork?

-I do, yeah.

I get them through their paces.

It must be pretty tiring.

It is very tiring for them, not for me.

You just run around with a whistle, do you?

Not quite like that, but I do try to motivate them a little bit,

when we do testing, yeah.

You accent is sounding a bit German, is that right?

That's correct. I'm actually originally from Germany

but I've lived in the UK longer than I've lived in Germany now.

Right, so you came over in your 20s or your teens?

In my 20s, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Good stuff.

-Living now with a wife and four children, so it's been fantastic.

And is there music in the house, that's the key thing?

There's always music in the house.

We are a very big musical family.

And you play the guitar yourself?

-I do indeed, yeah.

-So, Music, Chris, would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

OK, here is your question.

The stage musical A Chorus Line is set in which US state?

That is a difficult one. I don't know the answer, but

I think...

..I'm going to go for New York.

Yeah, that's where all the theatres are, a lot of them, I suppose.

New York is right.

OK, Steve, your question.

Which of these is the title of an album by Stevie Wonder?

I don't actually know this.

I know What's Going On is Marvin Gaye.

That's The Way Love Is, I'm not really sure, but I do know that

Signed, Sealed & Delivered is a Stevie Wonder song.

So I'll have to assume that it's an album and say,

Signed, Sealed & Delivered.

Signed, Sealed & Delivered is right.

Back to you, Challenger.

Which of these songs was a UK number-one hit single for the band

Little Mix in 2016?

I'm going to go for Still Falling For You.

Steve, do you know this?

Well, Still Falling For You was Ellie Goulding,

Side To Side, I think, is Ariana Grande, so it's Shout Out To My Ex.

It is Shout Out To My Ex, Chris.

Let's hope that's not expensive for you and your team.

Steve, which British musician, in a long solo career,

has had UK top-40 hits with Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,

Knocking On Heaven's Door and Behind The Mask?

Eric Clapton, Jeremy.

Yes, it is Eric Clapton.

You're being very business-like today, Steve.

Straight off the top of your head with the answers.

Chris, it means you need to get this one.

-Yeah.

-Which duo had the UK number one in 1992 with the EP Abba-esque?

1992 duo...

I'm going to go for Pet Shop Boys.

Now they are similar eras, similar sound, maybe,

-it's not Pet Shop Boys. But I can see how you would be misled.

-Ah!

It was Erasure.

Sorry, Chris. Knocked out by our Egghead.

And Steve will be in the final.

Please return to us and we'll see what round three brings.

Looking a bit tricky at the moment for Shades Of The Night.

It's been a hard couple of rounds, hasn't it, Adam?

Yeah, not easy. But we'll keep going, see what happens.

Yep, do, and at this stage normally in a tournament,

would you switch formation?

Well, we play always with three players.

And switching formation probably isn't easy,

-but we might have a think about who plays where.

-Yeah, OK.

So you've lost two, the Eggheads are all still sitting there.

Let's see if we can change that. History is the round.

History. Who wants this?

-No-one wanted History, did they?

-One of Dan's subjects, wasn't it?

I think that'll probably have to be me, then, won't it?

Dan, are you going to go for it?

-I'll take one for the team.

-You know some wacky facts.

-That's the best thing, isn't it?

-Who's it going to be - Dan?

It's going to be Dan. Who would you like?

Dan, you can have Pat or Kevin or Judith.

I'm feeling Judith, maybe.

Let's see. So Dan from Shades Of The Night is feeling Judith

from the Eggheads. Please, if you can go to our Question Room,

and we'll play History.

Dan, I was looking at your kind of CV,

and I see there's quite a bit of skydiving in there?

Yeah, definitely. One of the most exciting things I think I've done,

-probably, yes.

-I was trying to work out how that's going to help with

the History round but let's not worry about that at the moment.

The key thing is, tell us about it.

Tell us why you did it and what it was like.

I did it for a charity, for a blind charity.

And just to raise awareness of the charity as well.

It was good fun. Jumped out, there was 45 seconds of freefall.

And the chute goes quite quickly, though, but it's good fun.

-Definitely good fun.

-Good luck, Dan.

Would you like to go first or second?

I was going to go first but I think I'll go second,

because first hasn't been working. So I'll go second.

Judith, your question. Who was King of England at the time of the

great famine of 1315?

-1315?

-1315.

Definitely not George IV, not Henry VIII, Edward II.

Edward II is quite right, well done.

Dan, over to you. Which of the following was best known for

inventing a machine gun?

Nothing's really jumping out at me.

Can you repeat the names please?

Which of the following was best known for inventing a machine gun?

I'm clutching at straws, really,

but I'm going to go for the third answer you gave,

with Maxim as a surname.

Hiram Maxim.

Hiram Maxim is the right answer, well done.

Judith, your question.

In an 1862 peace treaty,

Vietnam ceded much of its territory to which country?

1862?

Yes.

Well, it certainly became very French at some point.

Because the Battle of Dien Bien Phu

is when the French sort of lost it.

I think that's perhaps when it ceded a lot of its territory to France.

France is correct.

Dan, we return to you.

The coronation of King George V took place in which year?

OK, so I was thinking very early 1900s when it first came out,

so 1907 is jumping out at me.

1911 and 1915...

No, I'm going to say 1907.

I'm afraid you are four years out.

It's 1911. It's the middle one.

Judith has a chance to take the round with this question.

Anne Boleyn grew up in which castle in Kent?

Oh, I think I know Leeds Castle

because we used to live quite near there.

I think it's Hever.

The correct answer is Hever Castle.

Judith, well done.

Sorry, Dan, beaten by our Egghead there.

They are playing well.

Have you got answers wrong yet, Eggs, I'm trying to think?

No, you haven't.

Oh, dear, we need something bad to happen on this side of the studio.

Dan, you've been knocked out.

Please come back to us, both of you.

We'll play one more round before the final.

As it stands, the Shades Of The Night have lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any and we've just got one more

subject before the final. It's Film & TV.

Who would like this? It's between Matthew or the skipper, Adam.

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

Yeah, come on, let's do it.

Matthew? OK. Our goalballer.

Against which Egghead?

It's either of the two big beasts here - Pat or Kevin?

I'll take on Pat.

Matthew from Shades Of The Night is taking on the great Pat

from the Eggheads. One more round to just make this count.

So if you can get Pat out, then who knows?

You are playing for £21,000.

Please, for the last time, go to our Question Room.

So how did you get into goalball, Matthew?

I went down the local college,

I was, like, studying there and they started the team and I thought,

"I'll go along" and a year later

got selected for GB and never looked back since.

How wonderful, so you were almost straight into the team then?

I, literally...

I think I'd been playing about three or four months before I got

scouted and then went along to a training session and then a year in my life later

I've practically been all over.

And has it meant a lot to you, to do it?

Oh, I've absolutely loved it.

-It's me life at the minute.

-And what is it, when you...?

I'm just trying to picture playing it, because you've got the shades on

your eyes, so you can't see anything, you're doing it all through hearing,

-aren't you?

-You're listening for the ball,

but to help you on the floor there are lines with string underneath, so

you can click them with your shoes or feel with your hands, just so you

can orientate yourself on court.

Yeah, and presumably team-mates shouting as well?

Only when you've got the ball.

If you haven't got the ball, they can't make any noise.

Oh, I see, so you can only shout when you've got it?

Yeah, as long as your team has got the ball,

you can talk until your team releases the ball and then after that it's silence

until the other team collects the ball.

How interesting. OK, well, good luck, I hope you do really well here. Film & TV, Matthew.

-Thank you.

-Would you like to go first or second against the great Pat?

I'll go first, please.

And here is your first question.

The 1970s and 1980s children's programme, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop,

hosted by Noel Edmonds, was usually broadcast on which morning?

I don't think it was a Thursday.

With it being a kids' programme it will probably be more...

I'm going to go for a Saturday.

Saturday is quite right.

Yeah, that was my weekend.

I didn't think that was going to sound as sad as it did!

LAUGHTER

After that, it's just like sitting around waiting for something else

to happen.

OK, Pat, for which of these animated films did John Goodman provide

one of the main character's voices?

He did a marvellous job voicing Sully,

a legendary scarer, in Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc is quite right.

Do you watch those shows?

I watched them in enormous detail

for Mastermind: Champion of Champions.

Oh, of course, that was your... Pixar films, yeah.

I recently turned on the television at random and I was

on the Disney Channel and it was the start of the fantastic warehouse

door sequence, which is one of the great achievements in animation.

Because actually, I think, I watched them as a parent with my kids,

but I do think that adults who have no excuse to go and see those modern

animations are really missing out, aren't they?

They're stunning.

Pat, well done, you have got it right.

Monsters, Inc.

Matthew, the 1970 film Love Story was advertised with the tag line

"Love means never having to say" what?

Love means never having to say...?

Goodbye.

Ah, it is not goodbye.

It's love means never having to say you're sorry.

OK, Pat, to take the lead,

the 2013 film Filth, starring James McAvoy, is based on a novel by which writer?

I'm not sure how tightly this is linked to Trainspotting,

but it's certainly by the same author

and that's Irvine Welsh.

Irvine Welsh is correct, so you have taken the lead.

Matthew, we go back to you.

You need to get this right to stay in.

-No pressure.

-Keep your team alive here.

Who was the host of the mid-1990s TV competition -

The Big Big Talent Show?

I've never heard of them, to be honest.

But I'll go with Jonathan Ross.

You've got it absolutely right.

Well done to you, Matthew.

Jonathan Ross.

But Pat can take the round with this question cos he had one in hand.

Which British-born actor played the role of Prince Michael of Moldavia

in the TV soap Dynasty?

I'm not sure of this.

In my time, I saw a few episodes of Dynasty, or "Die-nasty".

But I'm certainly not on top of the plot or all the actors in it.

I've a suspicion

Michael Praed may have been in it.

I think both he and Jason Connery are linked to Robin Hood as well.

That doesn't really help me. Maxwell Caulfield...

I'm a bit concerned here, I'm not confident at all.

I think I'll go for Michael Praed, "Pride".

Yes, I said Michael "Prayed", but you can have it either way.

The only important question is whether it's right.

Let's see, Eggheads.

-Yep.

-Yes, they like that, Michael Praed it is, Pat, so three out of three.

Oh, they are so hard to beat on this form.

Matthew, I'm sorry, you've been knocked out as well.

If you both return to us, we will see what happens in the final round.

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, that's Caleb, Dan, Matthew and Chris from Shades Of The Night,

I'm sorry, but would you please leave the studio?

OK, Adam, you are playing to win Shades Of The Night £21,000,

a really handy jackpot today.

Steve, Pat, Kevin, Beth, Judith,

you are playing for something which money can't buy,

the Eggheads' precious reputation.

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

This time they are all General Knowledge and I normally say, Adam,

you can confer, but in this case, obviously, that would be awkward!

-Yeah.

-The main thing is, can your one brain defeat these five?

Good luck. Adam, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go, Adam, with your first question.

Which of these names is a slang term for a private investigator?

Private investigator...

Now...I wouldn't say Niall.

I think I'll rule that one out.

Paddy, Shamus or Niall.

I think I'm going to go for Paddy.

It's actually Shamus...

..although would you say that?

-It tends to be an American...

-It's an American thing, is it?

Yeah, if you see the old gangster films from the...

..'20s, '30s, '40s, that sort of time,

it is sometimes used as a term for a private detective.

OK, that's actually a tricky question.

-Yeah, I've never heard of it.

-All right, so Shamus is the answer.

Eggheads, over to you.

Which poet wrote the line, "audentes fortuna yuvat",

which is often translated as "fortune favours the brave"?

It's Latin.

-The other two are Greek.

-Yeah.

-Fortune...

-But it's not Homer or Euripides, in that case.

-Virgil.

-OK?

-Is that the only Latin?

Could we just have it again, Jeremy? Just to...

Which poet wrote the line "audentes fortuna yuvat," which is often

translated as "fortune favours the brave?"

-OK?

-Think so.

Well, Euripides and Homer were both Greek and Virgil was a Roman writer

who wrote in Latin, and that is Latin, and that seems like

a good basis on which to go for Virgil.

All right, very impressive quizzing as ever, Eggheads.

Virgil is the right answer.

Adam, we go back to you.

A full set of human adult teeth usually includes four what?

Now, I should really know this.

I took science up until GCSE, so can I bring that knowledge back?

Canines, I think, are the ones at the back.

My girlfriend is a medical student, so she'll really be angry with me if

I get this wrong!

Molars and premolars...

I don't think premolars.

Oh, no, could canines be the ones at the front?

Canines or molars?

I think I'm going to go for canines.

Canines is your answer.

Let's check with the Eggheads. Is it, Eggs?

-Yes.

-Yes, you are right.

Phew.

Are they these ones here?

Yes, the pointed ones.

Pointed, vampire ones.

-Two above, two below.

-Two above, two below.

OK, Eggheads, to take the lead,

what is dried and salted to make Portuguese bacalao?

I think it's cod.

Salted cod. Yeah, yes, it is.

I've had it.

It's not very nice. Well, it's not to my taste.

That is dried and salted cod.

Codfish is correct.

So they are in the lead.

You must get this one right, Adam.

Get this right, just to hold them off.

Which English comedian has performed stand-up tours

called Noodle Meister,

Fizzy Logic and Sonic Waffle?

OK, so the names of those tours are quite out there.

Can I have the names of the tours again?

Yes, let me just do the whole thing.

-Thank you.

-Which English comedian has performed stand-up tours called

Noodle Meister, Fizzy Logic and Sonic Waffle?

Hmm, I'm going to rule out Ross Noble, to start.

It's between Bill Bailey and Michael McIntyre.

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

I totally understand that choice because it is the kind...

It's the kind of stuff he does.

He does music and speaking and a whole load of stuff, a melange.

Is he right? Has he kept you in it, Bill Bailey?

Any of you Eggheads know?

-Not sure. I think so.

-I think it sounds right.

Yes, they all like that.

It is wrong. It's actually Ross Noble.

It's the one I ruled out.

And it's guessing...

It's hard to find a way there.

There isn't any way back for our Challenger in this round, so we have

to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Oh, Adam,

and many teams have had this happen to them in recent days and weeks.

-Down to one.

-Yeah, it was tough,

but they're a great team and it was always going to be difficult to beat them.

And I know it's very hard not being able to confer as well,

-when you've got your four team-mates at the back.

-Yeah.

Commiserations, Shades Of The Night,

it's been brilliant to meet you and hear about goalball again.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

this winning streak continues.

It does mean the Challengers don't go home with the £21,000.

So the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, can anyone ever beat you?

I'm starting to think they can't.

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

to finally defeat the Eggheads and take what will be £22,000.

Until we quiz again, goodbye.