Episode 25 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.

You ready to quiz with some bells on?

-Absolutely.

-Very good.

Cos taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are The Vandals Of Bathampton, from North Somerset.

Now, this team are all members of the Bathampton Morris Men.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, my name's Richard,

and I'm a retired chartered surveyor.

Hi, I'm Steve and I'm a university technician.

Hello, my name's Thom and I'm a university lecturer.

Hello, my name's Paul and I'm a retired accountant.

Good day, my name is Stephen

and I'm an international education consultant.

Richard and team, hello.

-Hello.

-Great to see you, Richard, and fantastic outfits today.

Yeah, well, we're all members of Bathampton Morris Men.

We were founded in 1934 in Bathampton by Mrs Oakey.

She was a teacher at the primary school.

She kept the young boys, taught them to dance, and they kept doing it,

-so we've been dancing for over 80 years now, as a side.

-Wonderful.

And any of you been in it all the time?

No, obviously not. LAUGHTER

You've got the word "vandals" in your team title, though.

That's... One of the dances we do is called The Vandals Of Hammerwich.

And we thought we'd do this as a tribute.

-Homage?

-Homage to that particular dance, yes.

-The Homage to the Vandals.

-Yes.

So, you're hoping to set about this lot with,

-well, you've bought your sticks along?

-We have.

OK. That might be handy in the science and geography rounds.

OK. I'm feeling like we need to see some dancing, but the desk prevents.

So maybe you can dance through the medium of quiz.

-Let's hope so.

-Good luck, Challengers.

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

However, if the Challengers fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money rolls over to our next show.

Vandals Of Bathampton, here is the thing,

the Eggheads are on a proper roll.

They've won the last ten games.

Well, it's good, isn't it?

-Cos it means there's £11,000 for you to win.

-Wow.

-Would you like to try?

-Yes, please.

-We would.

-Excellent.

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

And it's one of you against either Judith, Kevin, Pat, Beth, or Dave.

Film & TV, chaps. I think that rules me out.

That was me, wasn't it? Unfortunately.

Captains, don't you think I should challenge?

I'd pick Judith, I think.

-You think?

-Or Kevin.

-Oh...

Up to you, eventually, you're in charge.

THEY LAUGH

-What do you think, Richard?

-I will challenge Judith.

OK. Fine.

So, Richard from The Vandals Of Bathampton

-is taking on Judith right away.

-That is good.

-Good with you, Judith?

-Yes.

-Excellent.

To ensure there's no conferring, would you both please now

take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

Film & TV, Richard.

Would you like to go first or second against Judith?

I will go first, please, Jeremy.

And here is your first question.

Which of these channels was first to be broadcast on British televisions?

Well, I think Channel 4 and Channel 5

are fairly late incomers, commercial stations.

So I will go with BBC Two.

BBC Two is quite right, well done.

Judith...

On receiving an Oscar for best director in 1998,

which film director shouted, "I'm the king of the world"?

-1998?

-Yes.

I don't know. Erm...

I'm missing something, obviously. I'm missing an allusion, obviously.

Erm...

Steven Spielberg.

Oh, Judith.

The allusion, I think, is it may have been a line in Titanic.

-Oh, Titanic, so James Cameron?

-James Cameron.

-Oh, dear. Yeah.

-Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.

We've got water in the engine room again, Judith.

Yes, I have, and I've seen... I saw Titanic.

Of course you have. Well, this is going well for your team, Richard.

So far, so good, yes!

Here's your second question.

Who plays the title character in the 2011 action film The Mechanic

and its sequel, The Mechanic: Resurrection?

I don't think it's Sylvester Stallone, he's, erm...

No, he would be too old by then.

I'm not sure about Jeremy Renner,

but Jason Statham is a big star so I'm going to go for him.

Jason Statham.

Jason Statham is quite right, well done, two out of two.

OK. You need to get this right, Judith...

-I know.

-..otherwise it's going to be a very rapid dispatch.

-It is.

-Here we go.

In 2015, Louis Theroux made a feature length documentary film

about which religious group?

Oh, yes. I think that was the Scientologists.

It was the Scientologists, well done. You're off the mark.

But, Richard, you can take the round with this question.

In The Simpsons, Marge's sisters, Patty and Selma,

are revealed to be huge fans of which 1980s action-adventure series?

I don't really know this one, but knowing The Simpsons a little bit...

..I can't imagine that they'd be great fans of MacGyver and Automan,

so I'm going to go for Knight Rider.

MacGyver is the answer.

This gives Judith a way back in.

You need to get this right, Judith.

The US TV series Boardwalk Empire

is loosely based on a book by which author?

I've heard of... I've never seen it, but I've heard of it. Erm...

Oh, dear me. I don't know the author.

-John Grisham.

-No, not John Grisham. Eggheads?

-Nelson Johnson.

-Nelson Johnson, says Kevin.

Nelson Johnson is the answer. Judith, you've been knocked out.

Well done, Richard! Hey!

The bells are working here.

You've taken on an Egghead and you've emerged triumphant,

so that's a first scalp to The Vandals.

Please return to us. We'll play on.

Good start for our Morris dancers.

The Vandals of Bathampton have not lost a brain.

They've knocked out Judith. The Eggheads are quaking now.

£11,000 we're playing for.

-Stakes are high, guys.

-Yeah!

Well done, team captain.

So the next subject is Music.

Who wants this?

Ooh, Music...

Who did we discuss for this?

-Was that me?

-I think it was Steve first...

INDISTINCT CONFERRING

Steve? OK.

-Play us a tune, Steve.

-What do you think?

Well, you're the great tactician.

LAUGHTER

Pat or Dave, I think.

-Pat.

-Pat?

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

-Going for Pat.

Going for Pat, said with a great sense of purpose here.

Steve from the Vandals of Bathampton

to take on the great Pat from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions now.

Steve, you've quizzed before.

Yes, yes, working for a local pub.

Any notable moments?

Well, quite a few years ago now, I won a beach towel.

I can't say that it was for first prize,

-but I'm still using that towel today.

-You've never done that, Pat!

-You've never won a beach towel.

-No. No, I haven't.

It rankles, but...that's the way it's gone!

LAUGHTER

We won't mention his £1 million.

OK, Steve, would you like to go first or second on music?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

Lance Bass and Joey Fatone were original members of which boyband

formed in the 1990s?

Well, I can rule out Take That straightaway,

but then I think it's going to have to be 50-50

between *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.

I've got a leaning towards Backstreet Boys.

Let's see if Pat knows. Pat?

-I think it's *NSYNC.

-*NSYNC is the answer. Sorry, Steve.

Pat, over to you.

What is the occupation of Lovely Rita

in The Beatles song of the same name

that appears on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

Is Rita a...

I think it's Lovely Rita meter maid.

-Meter maid.

-Yeah. Nothing can come between us.

Meter maid is right.

Steve, at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival,

which artist memorably told the crowd,

"You are now watching the greatest living rock star on the planet"?

I don't think any of them are noted for being particularly shy,

but I think of those it was Kanye West.

Kanye West is right. Well done.

Pat, which of these composers was still alive

at the beginning of the 21st century?

-So the beginning of the 21st century.

-21st century. Erm...

That's Philip Glass.

Yes, Philip Glass.

What sort of age was he, going into the millennium?

-Going into the millennium?

-Yeah.

-Er...

He'd have been about 60-65 then.

Philip Glass is right. That means, Steve,

cos he's played a perfect round so far,

you need to get this right to stay in.

Which of these musical notes lasts the longest?

Of course, if I saw them written down on music paper

that would be easy. Erm...

Depends how many little bars they have

attached to their up or down stroke. Erm...

Minim, crotchet, semibreve... Semibreve, I think, is quite small.

Crotchet, minim...

I'm going to go for minim.

No! Or is it?

Let's check with the Morris men here. Do you know?

Bit of a difference of an opinion here.

-Yeah?

-We're talking about semibreves here, Jeremy.

Yeah, you're thinking semibreve.

The answer is semibreve...

actually, Steve, sorry. I know, if you'd seen it on the page,

you would have got it, I'm sure.

So we say well done, Pat.

Pat's in the final round,

although he has never won a beach towel in a quiz.

You'll always have that, Steve.

Come back to us.

We're going to play round three.

So, as it stands, The Vandals of Bathampton have lost a brain

from the final round now. The Eggheads have lost one, too.

It's perfectly level as we go into our third round

and the subject is History.

Richard, who's doing this? History.

-Who are we going to?

-It's Stephen, isn't it?

It was Steve.

I'll take it if you like.

-Yeah.

-I'll take it.

-Yeah, go for it.

-I'll take it, Jeremy.

Stephen, our international education consultant, against...

It could be either Dave or Beth or Kevin.

-Beth, I think.

-OK.

Yeah, I'm going to go with Beth, if I may.

OK. The newest of the Eggheads, there.

Stephen from The Vandals of Bathampton to play Beth, on History,

from the Eggheads. Please take your positions.

History, Stephen. Would you like to go first or second against Beth?

I'm going to go first, please, Jeremy.

OK. Good luck. Here we go.

Which of these was built in the 1st century AD?

I can't say with any certainty on those three.

The Colosseum at Rome I've been to, the others I haven't.

Babylon sort of sounds to me as though it's been around

a bit longer than most things.

I'm going to go for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

I think maybe Giza and Babylon were back in prehistory,

what do you think, Beth?

Yeah, the Pyramids of Giza are about 4,000 years old,

-something like that.

-Right. And anyone, Eggheads, here,

know the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, history of those?

Well, there's a lot of mythology to do with those,

but we're going back to about the 6th, 7th century BC.

It is the Colosseum at Rome, Stephen.

OK, thank you.

Beth, your question.

In which modern-day country is the city

where the October Revolution of 1917 took place?

In 1917 there was a revolution in Russia.

Russia is quite right.

Stephen, in British history,

what was the name of the monarch who ruled jointly with her husband

from 1689 until her death in 1694?

I'm reckoning it wasn't Elizabeth so I'm going to...

toss a coin between Mary and Anne and I'm going to go for Mary.

Let's check with the Challengers.

-Challengers?

-Yes.

The king in question was...?

-William and Mary.

-William, so it was William and Mary.

Mary's right. Still in there.

Beth, your question. Which palace in Istanbul served as the residence of

the Ottoman sultans from the 15th until the 19th centuries?

The Palace of Knossos is in Crete

and the Winter Palace is in Saint Petersburg, I think,

but the Topkapi Palace is in Istanbul.

Topkapi Palace is quite right, Beth, well done.

Good quizzing. OK, so two to Beth and one to you.

Stephen, you must get this one right to stay in.

Which Dutch explorer is remembered for his discovery

of large parts of Australasia?

Well, I probably should know the answer to this,

having lived in Australasia for just the 16 years...

and I'm going to go for Abel Tasman.

Yeah, you're right. Abel Tasman it is.

You were in Australia, were you, or...?

New Zealand, largely, but Australia, Melbourne,

for a couple of years, within 15 of New Zealand, yeah.

Wonderful. Abel Tasman, from whom we get Tasmania, I'm guessing.

-Indeed.

-OK, so level, but, Beth, have a chance here

to take the round on your third question.

In which year is Queen Victoria reputed to have said,

"We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist."?

I'm trying to think of what this possibly might be related to.

I wonder whether it's something to do with the Boer Wars.

Erm, it's not a quote I'm familiar with...

but I'm...I'm drawn to one.

Going to go with 1879.

-1879 is your answer.

-Mm-hm.

But you were thinking Boer War in '99 and you drifted off?

Hmm, uh, yeah.

-You should've stayed with 1899.

-I should've stayed with it!

-For all the reasons you said!

-Yeah, yeah!

-1899, it was to do with the Boer War.

-Got me wars muddled up.

Yeah, so it's not 1879, and it means we go to Sudden Death,

cos we're level after three questions.

-How about that, Stephen?

-Yes, I'm happy with that at the moment,

probably above all expectation.

All right, let's see how you do here.

We're on History, we're on Sudden Death, and it's a bit harder,

cos it's not multiple choice.

Stephen, your question. In which century did John Blenkinsop

design what has been described as

the first practical steam railway locomotive?

I'm going to go with the 19th century, Jeremy.

19th is quite right.

Beth, to stay in -

which flower was the emblem of the royal houses of Lancaster and York?

Oh, them together was a Tudor rose.

Rose is right.

Stephen, Sudden Death. Your question.

Which country, a potential bridgehead for military expansion

into the Balkans, did Italy invade and occupy in 1939?

Er, I'm not...

..convinced this answer's correct necessarily,

but I'm going to go for Greece.

-No, Albania.

-Argh!

Beth, between 1867 and the end of World War I,

the so-called Jewel Monarchy was a constitutional arrangement whereby

which two countries, one an empire and one a kingdom, shared a ruler?

Hmm...

One that would fit... Let's go, um, with Austria and Hungary.

Austria and Hungary is the right answer, Beth, well done,

you're through to the final.

Stephen, you've been knocked out by our Egghead,

and if you return to us, we'll play one more round before the final.

So, the Vandals of Bathampton have lost two brains now

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost just the one.

And the next subject, the last before the final, is Arts & Books.

-Who would like this?

-Arts & Books...

-Shall I take that one?

-I think you're...

-I think if you could...

-..a very good choice.

-Well done, Thom.

-I'll take that one.

-OK, Thom, university lecturer.

Against which Egghead? And you can have either Kevin or Dave.

-Dave?

-Dave?

-Yeah, Dave, we're going to go with you.

Very good. Thom from the Vandals versus Dave from the Eggheads.

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

Thom, I gather Prince Charles pours milk on your cereal.

Well, he did once when we were at naval college.

He'd come and sat right opposite me when we were having breakfast.

It was amazing, the breakfast cereal selection trebled

-when he was in the college, and...

-LAUGHTER

He's not been doing this regularly, it was just a one-off occasion.

No, no, we're not the best of chums, but, uh, we...

I'm sure he remembers it with the same fondness that I do.

Yeah, it's a very good story.

So Arts & Books and, Thom, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'm going to differ from my colleagues

and I'm going to go second, please, Jeremy.

So the first question to Dave.

In the 1001 Nights,

the cave hiding the loot of the 40 thieves

can only be accessed with which verbal command?

I think that's "Open Sesame".

"Open Sesame" is correct.

Over to you, Thom.

Which of these major art movements came first?

Well, pop art, of course, was the 1960s and thereabouts.

Cubism was espoused amongst others by Picasso

at the beginning of the 20th century

and Impressionism became part of the scene

from the late 19th century onwards, so it's Impressionism, Jeremy.

I love your answer. Impressionism's quite right.

-I think we might have a quizzer here, Dave.

-Yes, we do.

A 1983 novel by Dick King-Smith telling the story of a girl

who can make wishes using a magic coin is titled the Queen's what?

A magic coin? I've not heard of this novel at all.

The one that sounds best is The Queen's Eyes,

but it could be any of them. Queen's Eyes, please.

No, it's The Queen's Nose.

-Never heard of it.

-So, back to you, Thom.

Did you know that, Thom?

Perhaps I'm not going to confess!

All right, then - I didn't.

LAUGHTER

Keep him guessing. Here's your question to take the lead.

Which of these Shakespeare plays

is based on accounts of real historical figures?

Well, Romeo and Juliet,

we know they had full names, we know where they were based.

Macbeth - "Where the place? Upon the heath. There to meet with Macbeth."

I think there's a lot of fiction there,

so I'm going to go for Measure For Measure.

Oh, how interesting - you veered away from the right answer.

Macbeth is the answer.

-Oh, on the heath?

-Yeah, real kings, real people

it was based on. Macbeth.

Dave, you can take the lead with this.

Laurent Binet's 2010 debut novel, HHhH,

tells the story of the assassination of which Nazi leader?

And the aitches, let me just tell you,

it's capital H, capital H, small h, capital H. Is it...

Erm, my Nazi history is gone. Erm...

No, this is bad for me.

I'm going to eliminate Hess.

I'm trying to remember which one was assassinated.

It could be Heydrich. I'm going to go Himmler, Heinrich Himmler,

but, again, I just couldn't get a handle on who was assassinated

-at the time.

-Heinrich Himmler.

Well, the aitches suggest him because there's four aitches

in the title and he is Heinrich Himmler,

but it's not the right answer.

-It's Reinhard Heydrich.

-Yes, I thought it would be, yes.

-You thought it would be?

-Yeah, well, just tried to see who was assass...

-It's my bad.

-OK.

-No problem.

So, Thom, get this right, you're in the final round,

otherwise we go to Sudden Death.

Which fictional road is featured in the title of a 1751 painting

by William Hogarth?

Well, Hogarth did a number of paintings and engravings

which had a moralistic message,

and I think one of the main messages he wanted to give was

to fight against the use, the excessive use, of gin,

so I think it was Gin Lane.

Brilliant answer. Gin Lane is quite right.

-You've taken the round from Dave. Sorry, Dave.

-No problem!

There we go. Dave is knocked out, Thom is in the final.

Come back to us, both of you, and we will play that final round

for £11,000.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round. As always, it's 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 Steve and Stephen from the Vandals of Bathampton,

and also Dave and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Richard, Thom and Paul, you're playing to win

the Vandals of Bathampton £11,000. Big jackpot today.

Beth, Pat and Kevin, you're playing for something that money can't buy -

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

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Vandals of Bathampton, the question is,

can your three brains defeat these three?

Simple as that. You've done really well to get it to 3-3.

Would you like to go first or second now?

-I think first.

-Yes.

-We'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, here we go. General Knowledge, your first question, Challengers.

Which major visitor attraction was opened in 2001 in Leicester?

Oh, I think it's the National Space Centre, isn't it?

-Yes, I think so.

-The Eden Project is in Cornwall.

-Yep.

The Museum of Science and Industry, I don't think so, not Leicester.

-I think it's the National Space Centre.

-Yes.

It's the National Space Centre, Jeremy.

National Space Centre is the right answer. Well done.

Eggheads, your question.

Which of these materials is produced using a man-made fibre?

-Polyester.

-Polyester.

-Polyester?

-OK.

We think that's polyester.

Polyester is correct.

Back to the Challengers.

What word is used to describe a word or phrase that reads the same

backwards as forwards?

Is that "onomatopoeic"?

Same backwards as forwards is a palindrome, isn't it?

-Palindrome.

-Yeah, yeah.

I'm not sure we even know what a lipogram is...

but we're pretty sure we know what a palindrome is,

and I think palindrome is the right answer.

Palindrome is right.

Yeah, like, "Rats live on no evil star,"

my dad always used to tell me.

Let's just check with the Eggheads. Lipogram?

It's a sentence or a sequence of words

-in which a particular letter is omitted, I think.

-Omitted.

-I think so. I think that's what it is.

-OK, there we go.

Palindrome is right, that's all that matters.

Two out of two so far, well done.

£11,000 we're playing for.

This can go wrong very quickly, as the Eggheads know.

Here is your question - who was King of England from 1272 to 1307?

Edward I.

-Yeah.

-OK?

-1272-1307?

-Correct.

-That was Edward I.

-Edward I.

I'm afraid Kevin can do those ones in his sleep, slightly.

All right, 2-2.

Get this right and your work today may be done.

Get this right, they get theirs wrong, you've won £11,000.

You're playing well.

Which hormone is produced by the pineal gland,

mainly in the hours of darkness?

Pineal is P-I-N-E-A-L.

-Oh, God. I really don't know.

-It's not insulin, is it?

We know it's not insulin.

OK. Melatonin is something you get from sunshine, isn't it?

-Yes.

-So it may not be melatonin.

-You don't...

-But it might be that it's sensitive to light,

or lack of light, and, sort of, that points us towards...

Gastrin, with pointings?

So you think it might be...?

Gastrin, gastrin is in your gastric juices.

Our thinking is that melatonin is something that happens

when you're out in the sunshine, you get more of that.

Insulin, we're pretty sure it can't be,

so we're going to go for gastrin.

-Ah...

-It's melatonin.

Your logic was working really well there,

because melatonin and sunlight,

it's that relationship with light is the key thing here,

and it is... Well, Beth will know this. Is melatonin sleep-related?

It is sleep-related, and I think you may be confused with melanin,

which is the one that's produced,

which is what you've got in your skin.

Ah, that's what makes you brown.

Makes you brown, yeah. Melatonin's to do with sleep regulation.

If you want the other two, insulin is to do with sugar,

produced by the pancreas, and gastrin is a gut hormone,

so it's to do with gut regulation.

Melatonin is the answer.

Sleep regulation is what it does.

So you've left the Eggheads with a way of winning the contest

on this one question - what is the first name of the Mr Davis

after whom tennis's Davis Cup is named?

Dwight.

-Oh, is that it, Dwight?

-Dwight rings a bell.

-Dwight Davis.

Cos it's Samuel Ryder and Godfrey something else,

-but I'm pretty sure it's Dwight.

-OK, yeah.

-OK?

He was Dwight Davis.

He was Dwight Davis, you say.

If you are right, the contest is over.

Challengers today are playing for £11,000.

They've done well to get three in the final.

Mr Davis's first name was Dwight.

We say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

I'm sorry, Vandals of Bathampton, you give them a little way in...

-Yeah.

-..they take it.

I thought you were heading for melatonin, there, I must say.

Yes, should have stuck with that.

You sort of stopped on melatonin and then went to gastrin suddenly.

-Gastrin, and there we are.

-There we go.

-But it's been great fun.

Thank you, well, thanks for, also, the outfits.

There aren't enough colourful outfits from our Challengers

and you did it today, that's for sure.

Commiserations, Vandals of Bathampton,

but the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and your winning streak continues.

It does mean you're not going home with the £11,000,

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

Eggheads, very well done. Can you be beaten?

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

have the brains to do it. There'll be £12,000 waiting for them here.

Until then, goodbye.