Episode 21 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.

Here they are, the Eggheads!

Are you on song today?

-Yes.

-All in harmony.

-Excellent.

Well, our Challengers definitely are.

Challenging this team over here

are Tuneless Tuesdays from the West Midlands.

They're all members of the Sutton Coldfield Tuneless choir,

whose motto is, "Sing like no-one is listening."

So let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Lisa and I'm a quality manager at a steel stockholders.

Hi, I'm Melanie and I'm a drama teacher.

Hi, I'm Chris and I'm a technical manager.

Hi, I'm Corinne and I'm a civil servant.

Hi, I'm Susan and I'm a retired local government officer.

So, Lisa and team, hello.

-ALL:

-Hello.

-Great to see you.

Lisa, tell us about the Tuneless Choir.

Tuneless Choir is for people who love to sing,

but can't because they feel they lack practice,

experience, or the courage to do so,

and we sing every Tuesday in a very safe environment

and it is the most wonderfully uplifting experience

-that we all know. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Oh, brilliant.

I'm in exactly that category, I wish I had the perfect voice.

I'm some way short.

Any of the Eggheads feel they would join this

if they were in the Sutton Coldfield area?

-Absolutely!

-Yeah. Is there something you can sing for us?

Yes. One of our recent favourites.

It's hit the top of our playlist every week, so, yes,

we'll be happy to sing that for you.

# We are sailing

# We are sailing

# Home again

# Cross the sea

# We are sailing

# Stormy waters

# To be near you

# To be free. #

That's great! I loved that.

That sounded good to me.

That sounded perfect.

Would you perform that in public?

-Yes.

-I suppose you just did!

Our biggest audience yet, I think!

Yeah. Well, it's brilliant. Thank you so much for that.

Is there any quizzing that's part of all this?

Once we knew we were coming on the show,

we got together and went to a local quiz and we actually won it,

so we're feeling positive for today.

Oh, that does sound very encouraging.

Good luck, Tuneless Tuesdays.

I hope you win.

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, team, the Eggheads have actually done rather well recently

and they have won the last six games.

So, £7,000 will be yours if you win.

-Wow.

-Do you want to try?

-Yes, please.

-Great stuff.

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

One of you needs to go in against Beth, Chris, Pat, Barry or Dave.

-Do you want me to take it?

-Yeah.

-I think you should take it.

-Who shall I go with?

I think I'll take on...

-..Barry.

-Very good.

So, Melanie, Music is, I guess, the perfect,

obvious round for you guys to do.

Melanie from Tuneless Tuesdays is taking on Barry from the Eggheads

and he's musical - in your heart of hearts, aren't you?

Even if it doesn't always come out right.

-Totally!

-Yeah! To ensure there's no conferring,

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

Melanie, as you're the choir leader, this is perfect, isn't it?

I hope so, but you never know!

And you sang Rod Stewart's Sailing, there,

but do you do more olde worlde stuff?

Do you do Mozart, do you do pop, what do you do?

We do a whole range of different songs.

We take requests and we do what the audience want, basically,

so a whole range to suit everyone's tastes and ages and everything.

And given the fact that you don't have to be tuneful all the time,

do you ever tell anybody off for singing the wrong note?

Absolutely not, no.

-Kind of relieved to hear that!

-Yeah.

Barry, we need to book ourselves a place in the choir, don't you?

I think I'd fit in quite well in this choir!

I've got three really good notes, but only three. That's the trouble.

OK, music is your subject here, Melanie.

Would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

In which decade was the first Brit Awards ceremony held?

I don't think it would be as early as 1930.

Um...

I don't think it would be the 1950s,

so I'm going to go 1970s.

1970s is correct.

Barry, All That She Wants

was a UK hit single in 1993 for which Swedish group?

# All that she wants is another baby. #

That was Ace Of Base.

You're definitely in the choir.

BARRY LAUGHS

Ace Of Base is quite right.

OK, your question, Melanie.

Who left the boyband Westlife in 2004?

It was someone that I met at the golf course a couple of weeks ago,

which was Brian McFadden.

You met Brian McFadden on the golf course?

I did. I'm not a golfer myself,

but I went to a charity golf day and he happened to be there,

so he's very nice and came over and shook our hands and we had photos.

-It was good.

-Great!

-And, happily, Brian McFadden is the right answer.

-Thank you.

Barry, "Simply because you're near me"

is the second line of which famous song?

Well, I've sung once and I won't subject our audience

to another time, but, "I'm in the mood for love,

"simply because you're near me,"

so it's I'm In The Mood For Love.

"I'm in the mood for love, simply because you're near me,"

quite right, well done.

Back to you, Melanie.

The song Dancing On My Own provided which singer

with a UK hit single in 2016?

I think I'm getting this mixed up with another one.

I don't think it would be Drake and I don't think it's Calum Scott.

I'm going to go with Justin Bieber.

The answer is Calum Scott.

So, Barry, you have a chance to take the round.

How would one normally play the musical instrument

called the celesta?

I think the celesta was first used by Tchaikovsky

for the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy

and, if I recall, it's a keyboard instrument,

so you'd press its keys.

Press its keys is quite right.

Three out of three for Barry. Sorry, Melanie!

Oh, no!

He took you on the curve, there,

so you're beaten by our Egghead and knocked out.

Please return to us, we'll play Round Two.

Well, Barry, we had a little bit of celesta and Tchaikovsky

and you are pretty much right.

It was actually a year earlier that he used it first

in 1891 in something called Voyevoda. Anyone know that?

-No.

-It's almost like a musical poem that he did.

Then the following year, absolutely, Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy,

bang on, Barry. Well done.

As it stands, Tuneless Tuesdays have lost a brain,

sorry, Melanie, from the final round.

That can happen. The Eggheads are all still sitting there

and you need to get in amongst them now.

The next subject is Film & TV.

Which Tuneless Tuesday would like this?

-I'll go.

-Yeah.

-I'll go.

OK, Susan, our retired local Government officer

against which Egghead, Susan?

-Do you think Beth?

-Beth.

I'm not sure if Chris has got a TV.

Is it Chris who hasn't got a TV?

Chris hasn't got a TV?

Do you hear that? Have you got a TV?

Of course I've got a TV, yeah.

JEREMY LAUGHS

-I don't watch it, but I've got one.

-He's taken umbrage, that's helpful.

We'll have Chris, then, please.

The more you annoy him, the better.

Susan from Tuneless Tuesdays taking on Chris,

who has confirmed that he has got a TV.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

OK, Film & TV, Susan.

Would you like to go first or second against Chris?

First, please.

And here we go with your first.

Which TV drama series, which originally ran between

1966 and 1969 was created by Gene Roddenberry?

Susan, is this...

I know the name.

I'm trying to remember it coming up on credits,

and I think the answer's Star Trek.

That's the only one that fits with the dates, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Star Trek is quite right.

Eggheads, did it then run...

Were there new editions of Star Trek after that,

or was it four years of programmes and that was it?

The original series was relatively brief and then they came back

and they had Star Trek: The Next Generation,

Deep Space Nine, Voyager.

Right. Chris, your question.

In 2009, Tameka Empson first appeared as Kim Fox

in which TV soap?

Not Corrie. I've lost track of Emmerdale completely,

and I've never watched EastEnders in my life.

So since I've never heard of the character, I'll go with EastEnders.

Good logic, Chris, you're right.

EastEnders it is.

-That's annoying, Susan, isn't it?

-It is a bit.

Here's your question.

In which of the Monty Python films does a Frenchman say,

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries"?

I don't think it was Life Of Brian,

I don't think there are any Frenchmen in that one.

The Meaning Of Life, The Holy Grail...

I'm going to go with The Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail is quite right, yeah.

Chris, he had a castle under siege or something?

Yeah, "Hello? Who is it?"

"It is I, Arthur, King of the Britons! Whose castle is this?"

"It's the castle of my master, Guy de Lombard."

"Well, go and tell your master if he'll give us food and shelter

"for the night, he can join us in our quest for The Holy Grail."

"Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he'll be very keen.

"He's already got one, you see."

"He says they've got one!"

-Brilliant!

-I'm not going to do the whole thing.

I forgot you knew every line of Monty Python.

Fantastic. OK, Chris, your question.

What is the name of Jill St John's character in the 1971 Bond film

Diamonds Are Forever?

Chris, was it...

Well, Pussy Galore's in Goldfinger.

Plenty O'Toole and Tiffany Case are both in Diamonds Are Forever.

I think Jill St John was Tiffany Case.

Jill St John was Tiffany Case, you're right.

OK, Susan, your third question.

What is the occupation of Ryan Gosling's character

in the 2016 musical La La Land?

I've seen the film, so I should know.

Erm...

Jazz pianist.

Jazz pianist is the right answer.

Glad you got that right. Three out of three for you, well done.

We go to Chris.

To stay in, Chris,

which composer won Bafta Awards for his soundtracks

to Once Upon A Time In America, The Mission and The Untouchables?

Once Upon A Time In America, that was Ennio Morricone.

Ennio Morricone is quite right, so you've got three each.

The scores are level and we go to Sudden Death.

Susan, it gets a bit harder.

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

-OK.

-Here we go.

Who plays the deceased title character in the 2016 film

Swiss Army Man?

I can't say that I remember the film

or know the film.

No, sorry. Sorry, I just can't think of anything at all.

Ben Affleck.

You're going to kick yourself here.

-It is Daniel Radcliffe.

-Oh, God!

You've got a brilliant connection, which you must say now,

with Harry Potter.

Yeah, my sons James and Oliver

played the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter films.

So yes, what a one to get wrong!

I thought I would leave that piece of information just to not hex us

if Harry Potter came up in this round.

-Oh, dear.

-Did they enjoy it?

Yes, yes, they did.

Do they still love the fact that they've done it and all that?

Yes, and they're still working in the industry, so that's really good.

It must have been great for you.

-It was.

-An insight into some of the greatest films ever made.

I know. Didn't realise it at the time, but, yes, fantastic.

All right, well, I'm sorry we've hit this question.

-That's very annoying.

-It is, it is.

Daniel Radcliffe is the answer.

Oh...

OK, Chris,

you can actually take the round with this.

"If you build it, he will come,"

is a famous line from which 1989 baseball film

starring Kevin Costner?

Isn't it, "If you build it, THEY will come"?

It's Field Of Dreams.

It's the correct quote.

-You got the answer right, but it's not "they", it's "he".

-Is it?

Yeah, "If you build it, HE will come."

Field Of Dreams is correct.

I'm sorry, Susan, he's knocked you out,

particularly with your family film pedigree,

-that's very annoying.

-It is, it is.

You've been beaten by our Egghead, Chris,

who has at least insisted he does have a television

and quoted Monty Python, so we got some value out of him today.

As a result, you won't be able to help your team in the final round.

Susan and Chris, please return to us and we'll see what happens next.

OK, so a little bit difficult here for Tuneless Tuesdays,

you've lost two brains from the final round.

Don't worry, many have gone this way and won from this position,

no question. The Eggheads are all still there

and the next subject for you is Science.

Is Science good for you?

-We think so, yes.

-I think it's me.

OK, it's going to be Corinne.

Against which Egghead, Corinne?

I think I'll take Beth, please.

Brilliant, so it's going to be Corinne from Tuneless Tuesdays

versus our own scientist, Beth from the Eggheads.

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

So Science, Corinne, against Beth,

would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here is your first question.

Onions largely make us cry because amino acids combine

with which element they absorb from the soil?

I'll read it again.

Onions largely make us cry because amino acids combine

with which element they absorb from the soil?

Well, I wouldn't think we'd have much plutonium in the soil.

And arsenic is poisonous.

So, again, I don't think that would be in the soil.

So I think I'll go with sulphur.

Sulphur is correct, well done.

Beth, your question.

What is the common name for the flowering plant

Hypericum perforatum which is believed to help with depression?

Is it...

It's St John's wort, Jeremy.

St John's wort is quite right.

Back to you, Corinne.

Which cat-like forest dweller

is the largest carnivorous mammal native to Madagascar?

Is it...

The lynx is definitely cat-like.

I haven't really heard of the other two.

Madagascar has its own animals.

So I think I'll take a guess at thylacine.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Eggheads?

It's the fossa.

The fossa's the answer, Corinne.

Beth has a chance to take the lead.

In the human body, the thyroid gland secretes hormones

that are primarily responsible for the regulation of what?

Is it...

Yes, it's not blood pressure.

It's not haemoglobin production.

Your thyroid is responsible for your metabolism.

Metabolism is quite right, Beth, well done.

OK, Corinne, you need to get this one right to stay in.

-Yeah.

-Which mathematician and philosopher

invented an arithmetic machine?

An early calculator around 1642.

I trying to think...

I don't think it's Descartes.

Pascal did a lot on arithmetic

and he had a triangle that had a lot to do with arithmetic.

I think I'm going to have a go for Blaise Pascal.

Blaise Pascal is the right answer.

Well done.

Beth, get this right, you're in the final.

An electromyogram is a visual recording of the activity

of which of the following?

Anything with myo as a suffix is to do with your muscles.

Three out of three, Beth, well done. Muscles is the right answer.

Sorry, Corinne, that one wrong answer's had you knocked out.

-Yeah.

-Bad luck to you.

Knocked out by a fossa.

Come back to us, one more round to play.

OK, the Tuneless Tuesdays have lost three brains from the final round.

We may have to deploy the singing again.

That could be the next step.

One more round before the final, and it's History.

So it's going to be either Chris or the team captain.

That'll be me, Jeremy.

OK, Chris, our technical manager, against which Egghead,

-Dave or Pat, in the middle?

-I think we'll take Dave on.

Very good. So Chris from the Tuneless Tuesdays

versus Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads, on History.

For the last time, please go to our Question Room.

So, Chris, first or second on History?

I'll go first again, please.

And here we go with your first question, good luck.

What letter and number were used to name the doodlebug,

flying bombs of World War II?

Well, a B-52 is a bomber

and the F-15 is an American fighter, I believe.

So the doodlebug was actually the V-1.

It was, V-1 is right.

Chris, anything you can tell us about the doodlebug?

Well, yeah, it was basically the first cruise missile.

Very crude affair with a ramjet engine.

V stood for Vergeltungswaffen, or revenge weapon, number one,

and by souping up a Spitfire or a Hawker Tempest,

you could catch up with them,

just get your wing tip under it and tip it over.

That threw all the gyroscopes off and down it went.

That's interesting. You could fly alongside it and give it a nudge?

-Yeah.

-It was called doodlebug cos it made a funny noise.

Yeah. Imagine a moped, basically.

While you could hear the engine going,

you know it wasn't going to come down on you.

As soon as you heard it cut out, hit the deck.

OK, Dave, your question.

Which name was given to the planks of wood laid down on trench floors

in World War I to stop the soldiers sinking into the mud?

Were these...

Not heard of this at all.

I'm also having a major brain freeze, but I'm going to go

-duckboards, please.

-Duckboards is correct.

Chris, King James IV of Scotland was killed at which battle in 1513?

I think Culloden, I think, was Bonnie Prince Charlie...

..and Bannockburn is the one that's sticking out.

So I'm going to go for Bannockburn.

OK. Famous Scottish battles, aren't they?

-Dave, do you know?

-Flodden.

Flodden is the answer, Chris.

So Dave has a chance to take the lead with his second question.

The First Indochina War, from 1946 to 1954,

eventually saw the defeat of which country's occupying forces

from that region?

The country that I most associate with that area is France.

That's my answer, France.

France is right. You're in the lead.

OK, Chris, you need this one to stay in.

What was Julius Caesar's actual first name?

Julius Caesar's actual first name.

Again, I'm not too sure on that.

Julius Caesar...

I think I'm going to go down the middle and I'm going to go Gaius.

Gaius is right, well done.

And, Dave, you can take the round with this.

Which of these cities suffered a great fire in 1824?

Hmm. I've not heard of this at all.

I should have done.

So more than likely it would have to...

redevelop.

Be built again.

Um...

Tough one. I've not heard of this in anything at all.

Again, not really with any basis, but I'll go Belfast.

I've not heard of this at all.

Any Eggheads know? Is it Belfast?

I think it might be Cardiff.

Cardiff, says Barry.

Anybody, Beth? No? Chris?

Edinburgh is the answer.

-I've never heard of that.

-Level after three questions.

A bit of a let-off there, Chris.

So you need to press the opportunity here.

I don't give you multiple choice options. It gets a bit harder.

Chris, in 1959 history was made when the British Prime Minister

at the time, Harold Macmillan,

made a joint television broadcast with which US president?

'59.

Yes, I'm just trying to work out my presidents.

We'll need a first name and a last name.

Erm...

Truman, I'm going to go for.

Is it Harold Truman?

So, Kennedy came in in '60, so it's the president before Kennedy,

which is Dwight Eisenhower.

-OK.

-Or Dwight D Eisenhower.

Yeah, I should have got that one.

OK, Dave, your question for the round.

Which Prime Minister resigned due to ill health in 1957?

-1957?

-Yes.

Right.

Could you just repeat the question, please?

Which British Prime Minister resigned due to ill health in 1957?

Right. I think that was after the Suez crisis,

so, just thinking carefully through it, I'm going to Anthony Eden.

Anthony Eden is your answer for the round.

It's correct. Well done, Dave, you're in the final.

Chris, sorry, beaten by our Egghead and knocked out.

Come back to us, we'll play that final round for £7,000.

OK, this is what we've been playing towards,

it is time from our final round,

and, as always, it's General Knowledge -

but those of you who lost your head-to-heads

can't take part in this round.

So it's all from this side, I'm afraid.

It's Melanie and Chris, Corinne and Susan

from Tuneless Tuesdays, would you please now leave the studio.

Lisa, you are playing to win Tuneless Tuesdays £7,000.

Dave, Barry, Pat, Chris and Beth

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

the Eggheads' reputation, and to keep this run of yours going.

It's looking impressive now.

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

They're all General Knowledge, you may confer.

Sorry, that doesn't help you, Lisa, as the sole player -

but the question for us all is,

can you, with your one brain, defeat these five?

-And would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

OK, here we go.

First General Knowledge question for you, Lisa, good luck.

What is the approximate distance, as the crow flies,

between New York and Los Angeles?

I think...

1,450 miles is not enough to span America.

I'm going to go for 2,450.

I am glad you did. It is 2,450, well done.

Eggheads, who was named

Time magazine's official Person Of The Year 2016?

-That's Donald Trump.

-Donald Trump.

-It is, it's Donald Trump.

It's based on the impact somebody has, and it's Donald Trump.

We think that's Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is the right answer.

Back to you, Lisa.

On a standard London Monopoly board,

what colour is Oxford Street?

I haven't played it for many years.

Um...

I think it's green.

Green is the right answer, well done.

Eggheads, which cricketer's 1976 autobiography

was called Ball Of Fire?

Right.

It's 1976, Tony Greig is the... person around at that time.

Um...

-Now, ooft...

-Ball Of Fire suggests a bowler.

It could be Fred Trueman.

-PAT:

-Len Hutton is known as a batsman.

-Batsman, so Fred Trueman...

Fred Trueman was known as Fiery Fred...

Fiery Fred, yeah, so I'm moving more towards Fred Trueman.

I think it'd be Fred Trueman.

-PAT:

-He was quite prominent, he was on TV.

Yeah, I think, I think...

That would work with the nickname.

-I'm happy with that.

-On balance, Fred Trueman.

OK? We don't know this,

but we're going to try Fred Trueman.

Fred Trueman is the right answer.

Well done, Pat.

So, two each.

You're playing well, Lisa. Get this one right and that may be all the

work you need to do today.

In Greek mythology, which hero died after he was thrown from a cliff

on the island of Skyros?

I have to be honest and say I haven't got a clue.

Greek mythology's not my thing.

I'm going to take a guess

and that guess is...

Perseus.

Perseus is your answer.

-Let's see, Eggheads?

-I think it was Theseus.

Theseus is correct.

You can rarely catch Barry out on his mythology.

Because he was there.

-BARRY CHUCKLES

-Not quite!

-Saw it!

OK, Eggheads, you have a chance now

to take the contest. This is your third question.

Final round, £7,000 we're playing for here.

Here it is.

Which man, who died in October 1995,

is widely believed to have been the so-called fifth man

in the Cambridge Five spy ring?

-Blake. OK.

-No, John Cairncross.

-Cairncross, wasn't it?

-It's Cairncross, I'm sure.

-OK?

-CHRIS:

-Yeah, Blunt was the first man.

And the famous...

Philby, Maclean and Burgess, they're the first three.

Blunt is number four.

OK, I can go with that.

-OK, fine.

-We think that's John Cairncross.

Right, well, they're all spies, aren't they, I think.

Blunt was in that ring.

Mm-hm.

I thought you might go Blunt.

Did you say, Philby, Maclean...

-And Burgess.

-..Burgess were the three who were caught...

-Really prominent.

-..at the time.

Then Blunt came out later and then the fifth man, you're quite right,

was John Cairncross -

and we say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Oh, Lisa, sorry.

The Eggheads doing what they do.

I did feel the pressure and one against five, you know...

You did very well.

Commiserations, Tuneless Tuesdays, it was great hearing you sing.

-Thank you.

-The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and their winning streak continues.

I can tell you, you're definitely better singers

than the Eggheads, that's for sure.

-Hey!

-It does mean...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £7,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Congratulations, Eggs.

Who will ever beat you?

Maybe they are now unbeatable...

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers can do it.

There will be £8,000 here waiting for them.

Until then, goodbye.