Episode 27 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.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions

today are Risky Quizness from the West Midlands.

Now, this team all work together

at a multinational bank in

Birmingham. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Dave, and I'm a bank manager.

Hi, my name's Abbas, and I'm a risk analyst.

Hi, my name is Jen, and I'm a bank manager.

Hi, I'm Stuart, and I'm a risk analyst.

Hi, I'm Jay, and I'm also a risk analyst.

So, Dave and team, hello.

-TEAM:

-Hi.

-Great to see you.

So a bank in Birmingham, essentially, Dave?

Yeah, so, the head office for a big bank in the centre of Birmingham.

Oh, so you haven't got customers coming through the door?

No, no, so we work in the head office.

We're all on the similar or the team...

-OK.

-..and we all work together each day,

basically managing sort of risk for the bank.

Managing risk. Well, there is a little bit of risk in the studio,

I'm afraid to say, against these Eggs.

They are in very good form at the moment.

-Do you quiz together?

-Yeah, so, we do a weekly quiz at work.

I do sort of win most of the time.

-You win most of the time?

-Yeah, I win most of the time, yeah.

Excellent, that's very good, that's why you're captain.

Yeah, that's why I'm captain.

I drag some of the others along

that do HELP me to win sometimes, yeah.

And you've also completed a couple of eating challenges for charity.

You know, being not the smallest lad, I can put away a bit of food,

so, yeah,

I'm up for anything that's there to help charity,

and eating's just one of my strong points.

Great stuff. Well, I think the Eggheads, some of them,

have certainly been inclined towards that in the past.

Anyone a good quizzer here,

anyone looking forward to this, or are you all quaking?

-Looking forward to it.

-Yeah.

-Yep, definitely.

-Excellent.

Brilliant. Well, it's great to see you, Risky Quizness.

Like the team name. I wish you all the best.

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.

Now, Risky Quizness, the Eggheads have done rather well,

and they've won the last dozen games.

So there's £13,000 if you win today.

Would you like to try?

-TEAM:

-Yeah.

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

Challengers, you can have Beth, Chris, Pat,

Barry, or Steve.

Who did we sort of put forward for that?

-Was it Jay?

-I think it was me.

I think it was Jay who wanted it, yeah?

But it's whether Politics comes up...

No, let's give it to Jay.

-I think we'll give it to Jay.

-Jay at the end on History.

-Who do you think, Jay?

-Who would you like to take on?

-Beth?

-Go on, Jay.

-We really need to take out the strongest person.

I think we should stick to that strategy.

I don't mind, who do you think?

-Beth.

-Let's go for Beth.

-Yeah?

-OK, yeah.

-All right,

Jay from Risky Quizness playing Beth from the Eggheads on History.

This'll be an exciting round. To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

Jay, have you got a bit of History going on?

Yes, I did study quite a bit of it at university.

I did mainly sociology and politics,

but I did do a few history modules as well.

Brilliant, excellent. And I noticed as well you were crowned

Skegness' under-nine dance champion.

Yes, that's correct. Yeah, I used to throw a few shapes in my time.

Well, good luck with the dancing and the history.

The history probably comes first in this round.

And you can choose whether you go first or second against Beth.

OK, I'd like to go second, please.

Beth, your first question.

Which empire was created by tribes in the region of Anatolia,

now part of modern Turkey?

The Ottoman Empire was around Turkey.

Ottoman is right. Well done.

Jay, over to you.

The Battle of Castiglione,

a crushing French victory which is often said to have ended

the Hundred Years' War, took place in which century?

I'm thinking more towards the 18th century,

I don't know for sure. Yeah,

I'll go for 18th century.

Well, it was a long war, but it didn't stretch that long.

-It's the 15th.

-OK.

Beth, the notorious outlaw Dick Turpin

was hanged on the outskirts of which city in 1739?

The Horrible Histories do a fantastic Dick Turpin song,

tells you all about his life and how he was caught,

when he sent a letter to somebody,

and the postman or someone recognised his handwriting.

And that was when he was in York.

Nothing wrong with using a bit of Horrible Histories

to get the answer. Well done, Beth. York is right.

OK, Jay, your question.

In which field did Anne Bonny

and Mary Read find fame in the 18th century?

And you must get this one right.

I'm drawn towards medicine straightaway.

I don't know for sure.

Yeah, I'm going to go for medicine.

Your answer is medicine. Let's check with the Eggs, here.

-Eggs?

-It's not medicine, they were pirates.

-They were pirates.

-And one of them,

one of them escaped the noose by a useful technique

that only women were capable of. She was pregnant.

Right. So they were actually pirates, Jay,

I'm sorry to say. There's no way back for you in this round.

I'm sorry, it just didn't quite fall for you there, did it?

-No, don't think so.

-Really sorry about that.

Piracy is the answer.

You've been beaten by our Egghead Beth.

Beth will be in the final.

Come back to us, plenty of time for our Challengers. We'll play on.

Well, we had mention of Horrible Histories there, Beth,

which is a great way of learning stuff.

It's fantastic. It's a fantastic way, and they do fantastic songs,

they're so memorable.

The Dick Turpin song was done in the style of Adam Ant.

And was there something to do with his handwriting, then,

-what happened?

-He was in prison, and he was trying to get out,

so he wrote a letter, and the postmaster,

the postman recognised the handwriting

cos he had been the one to teach him how to write to start with.

And he said, "Oh, that's not who he says he is."

He signed it under a pseudonym, and he said, "Well, that's Dick Turpin."

So Dick Turpin was already in prison when he was caught.

-I think that's right, isn't it? Yep. Yeah.

-Yeah, OK.

So Risky Quizness have lost a brain - sorry, Jay -

from the final round.

But don't worry, it's early, no need to change tactics yet.

And also don't give away what the tactics are.

That's important as well.

The Eggheads have not lost any brains so far.

And the next subject for you, Challengers, is Arts & Books.

Who wants this?

So, we did talk about this on the way up, on the train.

Yeah, but it was between me and you.

I'm good at Art...

Well, I'm not GOOD at Arts, I can do Arts.

-Books, I'm...

-Who's more comfy with it out of you two?

I'm...I'm not comfortable. I'm not...

-I'll do it, then.

-You'll do it?

-Yeah.

-OK, Jen, a bank manager,

against which Egghead? Anyone but Beth.

Who do you think? Try and take one of the stronger ones?

Well, any's going to be difficult, isn't it? So...

-What do you think about Steve?

-I'll go for Steve.

-I'll go for Steve.

-All right, he has his off days, not very many of them,

-but...

-Don't know what's round the corner, Jeremy.

Jen from Risky Quizness to play Steve from the Eggheads.

And just to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

Good luck with this, Jen.

Try and level it up for your team of Challengers.

We're on Arts & Books,

and you can tell us whether you go first or second.

Er, I'm going to go first.

Here we go, Jen.

Dead Cert, published in 1962,

was the debut novel by which writer?

The only person that springs to mind

out of those three authors to me would be Dan Brown.

And I'm thinking he's written stuff like The Da Vinci Code,

but I'm not entirely sure.

I haven't heard of Dick Francis or David Nicholls,

so I'm going to go with Dan Brown.

Yeah, he did absolutely write

The Da Vinci Code... but contemporary books so

he doesn't actually stretch as far back as 1962,

Dan Brown. And David Nicholls

might even be a bit younger than Dan Brown.

He's quite a young writer.

So we were looking for Dick Francis here.

-OK.

-And Dick Francis does a lot of horse-based fiction.

-OK.

-He used to be a jockey.

So, I suppose Dead Cert

suggests betting, does it, Eggs, or...?

Yeah, stone-cold certainty.

I think Dick Francis - and Chris'll correct me if I'm wrong -

rode Devon Loch, the horse that spectacularly collapsed.

-I think he did, yeah.

-Yeah.

OK, Steve, let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to you.

The writer Peter Mayle is best known for his 1989 memoir

A Year In... Where?

I think...

I think they made a TV series about it with John Thaw,

it was Provence.

Provence is right. Not Hartlepool.

-No.

-As fun as that would be.

OK, Jen, let's see if we can get you

on the score sheet now.

Lyrical Ballads,

first published in 1798,

is a collection of poems

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and which other poet?

John Betjeman, I haven't heard of.

I've heard of Lord Byron and William Wordsworth.

So I'll probably have to go between those two.

I don't know if Wordsworth is that old, I don't know.

I think I'm going to go with Lord Byron, please, Jeremy.

Lord Byron is your answer.

Well, you're right to rule out John Betjeman, who was 20th-century.

Can we help with Lord Byron and William Wordsworth, Eggheads?

It's a little early for Byron,

he would have been a very, very young man then.

-So which one is it, then?

-It's William Wordsworth.

William Wordsworth is the correct answer, Jen.

I'm so sorry.

So, Steve, you have a chance

to take the round.

Spectacles is the title of a 2015 memoir

by which comedian and presenter?

Well, I don't know this.

But, out of the three,

the only one I can think of

that actually wears spectacles is Sue Perkins.

So, on the basis of that, I'll say Sue Perkins.

Very good truffling around in the question, there.

I think Ruby Wax has worn spectacles.

She has, but not as often as Sue Perkins,

I wouldn't have thought.

-She's worn them less often.

-Yeah.

Sue Perkins is the right answer, Steve, well done.

Jen, sorry, you were beaten by our Egghead,

and as a result will not be able to help your team in the final round.

If you both return to us, we'll play round three.

As it stands, Risky Quizness have lost a couple of brains

from the final round. No cause for panic yet.

If you've got the turbos, the jets, turn 'em on.

This is the moment, though, OK?

Challengers, the Eggheads have not lost any,

and they're in the middle of this run at the moment,

so they need stopping. The next subject for you is Sport.

Who would like this?

-That's a good one.

-I think I'd like to take that.

-Stuart?

-Stu.

-Good stuff.

And, which Egghead?

Any of the three gents in the middle.

-Stick with Barry, I think.

-Stick with Barry?

-Yeah?

-I'll stick with Barry, cos I want to take his shirt from him!

Everyone loves Barry's shirts!

So, Stuart from Risky Quizness

taking on Barry from the Eggheads on Sport.

Please go to our Question Room now, gentlemen.

So, are you going to swap shirts at the end, Stuart?

I don't know about swapping shirts, cos I'm quite keen on my own,

but I'd like to take away Barry's with me as well!

Now, I know you love football, don't you?

I do love football, yes. I'm a big, avid football fan.

And they nicknamed you Statto at school?

That's correct, yes. Among other things,

Statto was one of my preferred nicknames.

Because of your love of statistics and your knowledge of, what,

FA Cup finals, going back years, and all that?

Going back so far, I'd say.

I wouldn't say going back to the 1920s,

but definitely the sort of '90s and early 2000s.

And you did also queue to audition for The X Factor.

That's right, yes. Some time ago now.

Unsuccessful audition, but never mind, eh?

Were you singing or doing statistics?

I was singing. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me do statistics,

else I'd have done a mixture of the two!

That's your dream, isn't it, Barry?

To go on The X Factor just reciting

facts about volcanoes you've visited, or something.

I think I'd have a record for the most people to switch off

a television in one night!

Well, they switch on for you here.

So, Stuart, you're playing the great Barry, known as The Brain.

Would you like to go first or second on Sport?

I would like to go first, please, Jeremy.

And here we go with your first Sport question.

What is the first name of the elder Brownlee brother,

a double Olympic gold medal-winning triathlete?

I have heard of the Brownlees.

I'm not particularly good at Olympic questions.

There's something in the back of my mind ringing Alistair.

I've not got a lot to go on,

but I'll go with Alistair, please, Jeremy.

Alistair is your answer, and it's absolutely correct, well done.

So that the other brother is named what, Eggs?

-Jonathan.

-Jonathan and Alistair, the two brothers.

Barry, which tennis player is nicknamed the King of Clay

due to his Grand Slam success on that surface?

Well, Rafael Nadal has won a load of French Opens, one after the other,

and they are all played on clay, so I think it has to be Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal is the right answer, well done.

So one each.

And we go back to you, Stuart.

Which position in rugby union is traditionally classed

as either blindside or openside?

I was fearing getting a rugby question, Jeremy.

Rugby's not my particular strong point.

I wouldn't say it's a hooker, but I haven't got a clue.

I'd have to go for a guess, and I'll go with flanker,

-please, Jeremy.

-Barry, is he right?

He's totally right.

Well done, Stuart, you're scoring well.

Scoring for the team here.

So Barry, to keep up -

which men's squash player won ten consecutive

British Open singles titles

between 1982 and 1991?

Oh. Well, I was hoping Jonah Barrington

came up, but then Jahangir Khan came up,

who's also had a very successful record.

So it's a question of dates.

I think Jonah Barrington is earlier than that,

so I'm going to say Jahangir Khan.

You're quite right, Barry, well done.

Jahangir Khan is the answer, so two each now.

This can be crucial, Stuart,

here's your question.

At which international cricket ground might a player

open the bowling from the Fort End?

I'm not familiar with the Fort End.

I know a little bit about cricket

but my knowledge doesn't stretch this far, unfortunately.

-I will say Galle.

-OK, Galle.

Galle is the right answer.

Three out of three!

Playing well, maybe you're rescuing your team here.

Barry, you need this to stay in.

Who was the first Dutch cyclist to win the Tour de France?

I know the first of quite a few nations who have won

the Tour de France, but the Dutch one has escaped me.

So let's have a think if any of the names ring any sort of bell.

I think if it was Jan Janssen,

I would have probably remembered the name,

because of the alliteration.

So on the basis that he's alliterative, I'll discount him,

and I'll try Joop Zoetemelk,

and my apologies for my Dutch pronunciation!

OK, I'm told it's "Yoop".

-"Yoop".

-"Zoetemelk" you got completely right.

But it's not him. Oh, Barry, it's Jan Janssen!

Ah! Never...

There we are, so it was the alliterated one.

Well done, Stuart, you've just done

a beautiful operation there in the Sport round.

Just when we thought it was getting difficult for the

Challengers, you've won through. You will be in the final. Please return to us, both of you.

One more round to go.

Now, maybe Risky Quizness are on the turn.

They have lost two brains from the final round,

but they have now knocked out an Egghead.

So this could be crucial, this next round.

It's Music. Last round before the final,

and it's going to be Abbas or Dave.

-It's going to be...

-It's going to be me.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Abbas, OK.

Against which Egghead?

You could either have Pat or Chris, two of the gents here.

We may as well try and knock out Pat.

-Yeah. Let's go for it.

-Have a crack at Pat.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-We'll go for Pat.

-Take a crack at Pat.

So it's Abbas from Risky Quizness

versus Pat from the Eggheads

and for the last time, please go to our Question Room.

OK, Abbas, you ready for Music?

-Yes.

-I know you've met a lot of famous people,

for example the former president of Pakistan.

-Yeah.

-Who was that?

-General Pervez Musharraf.

And did he pop round or something, or...?

It was just like a get-together at my gran's house,

and this was after he resigned as president,

and he was visiting the UK.

So one of my uncles arranged for him to come round the house,

and we all got together.

We had some tea and just had a bit of a chat about Pakistan.

What an amazing thing.

So he's just sitting there in his civilian clothes,

and he's not in power any more,

and presumably he could talk quite freely?

Yeah, we were just talking, just like a general chitchat

about the cricket,

and about how Pakistan has moved forward.

Yeah. And then, I know you're a lover of sport,

and particularly boxing.

Yeah, boxing as well. I mean, I have met quite a few boxers as well,

like Jake LaMotta.

Jake LaMotta's amazing, cos he, I think, was born in the 1920s.

And he was the one who was Raging Bull, the film, was based on.

Yeah. I mean, when I did meet him, he was quite old, I mean fairly old,

so...

And he was a great bloke as well.

We had a conversation about boxing.

I mean, he visited one of our local gyms where we used to box.

Wonderful. You had a kind of

lifetime dream come true there, did you?

It was a dream come true, because I am an avid boxing fan as well,

so I do generally watch boxing as well.

-Do you box yourself?

-I mean,

I used to, but not any more, as you can tell!

I wouldn't say that at all -

you look like you could take Pat out any time!

THEY CHUCKLE SOFTLY

-What are you saying, Jeremy?!

-But it has to be done with quiz questions,

unfortunately! Music, Abbas, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go second.

OK, Pat, it's your question first.

"Don't think me unkind, words are hard to find"

are the opening lyrics to which song by The Police?

Well, my first thought is De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.

I think there was lots in that song about inarticulateness and the

difficulty of saying things, so that's promising.

Message In A Bottle starts off with something about a lone castaway.

I think De Do Do Do is all about a person's inability to articulate

their feelings and express themselves, so I'll go for that.

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da is the correct answer.

# Don't think me unkind... #

-How does it go, Steve?

-Like that.

Yep! You're right.

THEY LAUGH

Someone said, you know, it was in Sting's

quite pretentious phase, and it's a reference to Dadaism.

-Oh.

-Just so as you know.

OK, Abbas, here's your question.

Which of these is the common name for a popular composition

by the German composer Pachelbel?

That's P-A-C-H-E-L-B-E-L.

Pachelbel.

OK.

I'm going to go for Air On The G String.

I'm just trying to work out who that is, is that Bach?

-Yes.

-OK, JS Bach did Air On The G String.

Minute Waltz, Eggheads?

-Chopin.

-Chopin.

Canon In D was the answer.

Is that one that people have at their weddings?

Yes. It's very common at weddings.

It's the theme to Ordinary People, the film Ordinary People.

Oh, yeah. OK. Pat, your question.

Who became the lead singer of the US band Pearl Jam in 1990?

This is a pretty tight, grungy band from the Seattle area,

and Eddie Vedder was their lead singer.

Eddie Vedder is correct.

Well done. He's got two, so,

Abbas, you need to get this right to stay in.

-Yeah.

-By what name is the East Sussex-born musician

Rory Graham better known?

Stig of the Dump.

Now, is Stig of the Dump a musical person, Challengers?

I don't think it's Stig of the Dump.

I think Stormzy's name is Michael.

I'd go Rag'N'Bone Man, personally.

Yeah, Dave, you're right.

Rag'N'Bone Man is the correct answer here, Abbas.

So sorry. The round goes to Pat.

Just before the final,

you've been knocked out by our Egghead.

If you return to us, both of you, rejoin your teams,

we'll see what happens next.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the 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, Abbas, Jen and Jay from Risky Quizness,

and also Barry from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Dave and Stuart, you're playing to win Risky Quizness £13,000.

What a jackpot we've got today!

Steve, Pat, Chris and Beth,

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

which is A, the Eggheads' reputation,

but B, to keep piling up this cash and...

well, I suppose, taunting Challengers with it

because you love to snatch it away!

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

They're all General Knowledge,

you can confer.

So Dave and Stuart, the question is,

can your two brains defeat these four mega brains?

I know you can do it, I'm feeling it could be set for this.

So I wish you well, and would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, Dave,

throughout this contest, you've been as cool as a cucumber.

Good luck to you and Stuart.

What is the name of Colombia's official currency?

We should know this.

I'm trying to pull something from the back of my mind.

I think Colombian dollar, CMD.

Is that the code

for currency for Colombia?

Could be. I don't think it's the peso.

-No.

-That sounds Mexican.

I don't think shilling sounds familiar.

I'd be happy with a punt at dollar, I think.

I'm leaning towards dollar.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. When it first came up, I was leaning towards shilling,

but the more I look at it, the more I think dollar.

-Let's go dollar.

-Are we agreed on dollar?

-Yeah.

Yeah, we're going to go for dollar, Jeremy.

Colombian dollar is your answer.

Eggheads, is this right?

-I'm not sure.

-I think it's the peso.

Yeah, I'd be inclined towards peso.

It's not shilling, that's for sure.

I know a couple HAVE changed to dollar, but...

The answer is peso.

-OK.

-It's hard, I know,

and as bankers you deal with so many currencies

that it's easy to get them mixed up.

Eggheads,

of which organisation did Gianni Infantino

become the new president in 2016?

-FIFA.

-FIFA, I think.

-Yeah.

-Definitely FIFA.

He replaced the big man, didn't he? Sepp.

Yeah, I think it's FIFA.

He took over as head of FIFA.

Head of FIFA is quite right.

The first one is anti-doping, is that right?

Yeah, the World Anti-Doping Agency.

And the second one is athletics.

-It is.

-FIFA is right, so they've gone ahead.

Catch up with this. Which British politician

was nicknamed Fatty Pang by the Chinese media?

-It wasn't Tony Blair.

-It wasn't Tony Blair.

No, it definitely wasn't Tony Blair. Let's think about the other two.

I'm trying to think if I've seen

any of the other two in the media at all.

Fatty Pang...

I'm trying to...

Trying to think if that

sort of rings a bell with anything, or...

It doesn't with me. The only thing I can think with Pang is,

does it fit in with Patten?

Yeah.

Again, this isn't...

..something that we're quite sure of, Jeremy.

So we're going to go for Chris Patten on the basis

that it sounds sort of right.

You're absolutely right, well done.

Chris Patten is the answer, nicknamed Fatty Pang.

So, it's one each, let's see what the Eggheads do now.

Which world champion boxer legally added the word "Marvelous"

to his name in 1982?

-ALL:

-Marvin Hagler.

-Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

-That's him, yeah.

Yeah, that was Marvin Hagler, Jeremy.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler, quite right.

OK, you've got to get this one right.

In Greek mythology, who was the murderous uncle of Perdix?

That's P-E-R-D-I-X.

Well, I thought, before it came up, it was Daedalus.

The only thing that rings a bell with me is Minos and Minotaur,

but that doesn't bring murder

or anything to mind to me, so...

If that was your gut feeling before the answers came up,

-I would stick with that.

-Yeah. Again, it's not a cert.

Erm... I thought of Daedalus before it came up.

I don't know why,

I'm not 100% certain,

but that's sort of what I'd lean towards,

so that's what we'll go for.

OK, Daedalus...

And this to stay in.

The correct answer is Daedalus.

That was brilliant, and particularly cos it was in your head

-before we gave you the options.

-Yeah.

I don't know, it just seemed to spring to my mind when I heard the

question. I must have read it or seen it on the way up here, I think!

Really?! Seen it on the way up here?

Yeah, we were testing all sorts of questions on the way up

so I'm sure that it's...it's just sort of stuck in my memory.

OK, Eggheads, you can take the contest now.

If not, we go to Sudden Death.

Here is your third question.

In which part of the human body would you find the muscles

called the sternocleidomastoids?

That's all one word.

That'd be your neck.

-Yeah.

-Sterno...

The sternum's down there, the mastoids are up here.

Yeah. Got to be right.

You'd find those in your neck, Jeremy.

Right. If you are correct, you've ended the contest.

If you're wrong, we go to Sudden Death.

The brilliant Daedalus answer, has it saved you?

Let's see.

The sternocleidomastoids are in...

..the neck.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Bad luck, because you were a 1 note away from taking them

to Sudden Death in the final round.

Yeah. Close one.

-Close.

-Yeah.

-Very close.

Commiserations, Risky Quizness.

You ran them close, with £13,000 to play for.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally.

You did get three out of three in the final,

and maybe we didn't see your full power today, Eggheads, I don't know.

But this winning streak continues.

It does mean the Challengers don't go home with the £13,000.

We will roll that money over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations.

I don't think you will ever be beaten.

Join us next time to see if a new team can take them down

for £14,000.

Until then, goodbye.