Episode 28 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 ready to roll? ALL:

-Yes.

Good stuff. Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Black Loch Buzzers.

Now, this team all either work or fish

at the Black Loch fishery in Falkirk.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Scott and I'm a service engineer.

Hi, I'm Daniel, I'm a retired project manager.

Hi, I'm Davie. I'm a full-time foster carer.

Hi, I'm Brian and I'm a financial adviser.

Hi, I'm David and I'm a ground worker.

-So, Scott and team, hello. ALL:

-Hello.

-Good to see you.

Scott, you run this famous fishery, is that right?

-That's correct, yes.

-OK, and it's the Black Loch fishery in Falkirk.

It sounds wonderful. Describe it for us.

Yes. It's 124 acres of water, so it's a reasonable size.

The fishing is mainly done from boats

and it's all fly fishing for trout.

And some of your customers joining you today.

Yes. Well, David and Davie both work at the fishery,

and Daniel fishes at the fishery,

and Brian does insurance for the fishery.

Excellent. Well, I am hoping some fish questions come up.

Now, they do sometimes in the Science round.

Just explain why you've got the word buzzers in your team name.

What's a buzzer?

A buzzer is predominantly a trout's main food source.

If you know a bit about entomology, insect life...

-Wish I did!

-OK.

The buzzer is the main source

which can hatch all year round in the water.

Oh, so it's like a kind of fly, is it?

Yeah. It goes from the juvenile to adult stage

and that is the trout's main food source. So as fly fishermen,

we try and imitate the buzzer at its larvae stage

and its adult stage and tie flies accordingly, to try and...

Oh, I see, so that's what goes on the end of the hook, is it?

-It's something that looks like a buzzer?

-Yes.

Right - and talking of baiting the hook,

are you ready to take these Eggheads down?

Have you been quizzing a bit yourselves?

We have been doing our best.

If the subjects come up that we are hopefully prepared for,

we'll do well -

but we are under no illusion as to the quality of our opponents.

They are good - but they sometimes get overconfident.

-Good luck, team.

-Thank you.

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, Black Loch Buzzers,

the Eggheads are very confident at the moment

because they have won the last 13 games!

So, 13 on the trot.

We're hoping you can stop them today.

We feel like it's time.

If you do, there's £14,000 for you all right?

So would you like to get cracking?

-Yes, please.

-OK, cast the line?

Yes, let's do that.

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

One of you needs to go against

either Judith, Kevin, Pat, Barry or Steve.

I'll take the lovely Judith, then, please.

Oh, right. OK, Scott, so you're the Film & TV man?

-Yes.

-Very good. Quick decision there, Judith, wasn't it?

That was, yes. Premeditated.

You've done a bit of film and TV recently?

Yes, I have. More or less successfully.

Oh! Let's not give too much away.

Scott, from the Black Loch Buzzers,

taking on our own buzzer, here, Judith.

To ensure there's no conferring,

for the first time would you please take your positions

in our famous Question Room?

OK, Film & TV. Scott, would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

All right, here is your first question.

Good luck, Scott, for the Challengers.

What is the name of the robot who frequently appears in animations

on the television quiz show Catchphrase?

Mr Chips.

Mr Chips is quite right, well done.

OK, Judith.

Which of these is a film viewing guidance rating

used by the British Board Of Film Classification?

I think it's 12A.

Yes, you're right, Judith. 12A is correct.

The other two aren't.

Scott, which former Friends actress

played the role of Gale Weathers

in all four of Wes Craven's Scream films?

Could you ask me that question again, please?

I will, indeed. Which former Friends actress played the role

of Gale Weathers in all four of Wes Craven's Scream films?

I don't think it's Jennifer Aniston.

-Lisa.

-Lisa Kudrow is your answer?

-Yes.

-It's not, it's Courteney Cox.

Oh.

So it gives Judith a chance here.

"To protect the sheep you've got to catch the wolf

"and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf,"

is a quote from which film starring Denzel Washington?

No idea. I haven't seen any of those.

Um...

I think it's...

From the quote, it could possibly be about training,

so I'm going to say Training Day.

Eggheads, is she right?

-Yes.

-Yeah, you are. You are right.

Training Day. I don't know how you do that.

She's ahead, Scott.

So you need to get this one right.

Which American actress won the Best Actress Oscar in 1932

and the best supporting actress Oscar 39 years later in 1971,

for the film Airport?

-You need this.

-I definitely do.

It's not one that is coming clear right away.

I am thinking with the age, I will go with Gloria Stuart.

Gloria Stuart is your answer.

Let's just check this with the Eggheads. Eggheads, who was it?

-Helen Hayes.

-Helen Hayes -

and what was the Best Actress Oscar for?

It was a film called The Sin Of Madelon Claudet.

That was '32 -

and then she won it for Airport in the '70s?

Yes. She played an elderly passenger on the plane that got into trouble.

OK. One of those disaster movies.

Yeah, it was the first of a string of Airport movies.

Gloria Stuart is wrong, Scott.

Sorry. Helen Hayes is the right answer.

Judith, well done. You've gone through to the final round.

Scott, team captain, has been lost early.

What's going to happen next? Please return to us.

We will play Round Two.

As it stands, Black Loch Buzzers have lost one brain

from the final round.

The Eggheads have still not lost any

and the next subject is Science.

So, who would like Science?

-You, David?

-I'll take it.

-David will try that one.

-David, at the end.

Good stuff. Against which Egghead? It can't be Judith.

-Take on your first choice. Whoever your first choice is.

-It'd be Barry.

-Barry.

-Right.

-Barry.

-OK, it's going to be David from the Black Loch Buzzers

against Barry, our own Barry from the Eggheads.

Just to ensure there is no conferring,

please take your positions.

Well, you've won a lot of competitions for fishing,

-I gather, David?

-Yeah, I do a lot of fly fishing,

local competitions at different waters.

Wonderful. What's the appeal, for those of us who don't do it?

It is just getting out, fresh air,

catch a few fish and just enjoy yourself, really.

Lovely. I hope you can do the same here on Science.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

OK, trying to hook Barry, here, on Science.

A molecule of common table salt contains an atom

of which metallic element?

Well, I've really not got a clue on this one.

I would go straight down the middle for sodium.

Sodium is quite right.

What's the chemical formula, Barry, there?

NaCl, sodium chloride.

OK, Barry.

A Nobel prize is awarded in which of these scientific disciplines?

Well, it SHOULD be awarded for botany and ecology,

but the only Nobel Prize there is for medicine.

Medicine - and there are other categories, aren't there,

like... Oh, is there one for physics?

Physics, chemistry, peace, literature, economics.

Well, OK, back to you, David.

The modern fire extinguisher was invented

by the British Army captain George William Manby

in the early part of which century?

Er, was it the 19th?

Yes, brilliant! 19th it is.

Good quizzing.

Barry, to catch up.

In 1961,

which astronaut piloted the American space capsule called Freedom 7?

That's an interesting one. It's not Neil Armstrong.

Freedom 7?

I always get confused over this as to which one of those two it is.

Alan Shepard was the first American in space.

I'm going to go for Alan Shepard.

Alan Shepard is quite right.

Well done, Barry.

Quizzing well, these Eggheads, aren't they?

OK, David, your question.

This could be decisive, the third question.

What name is given to the process commonly used in industry

to make ammonia?

Again, Jeremy, I'm not too sure on this one.

I'll go for the Haber-Bosch process.

You're quite right.

Haber-Bosch it is.

Eggheads, do we know about the Frasch process?

It's for the production of sulphur.

That one. So, it's extracting it from various minerals.

OK. Bessemer, Pat, do you know?

-Steel production.

-Steel production.

So, sulphur, steel and ammonia.

Well done, you got that right, David.

Puts Barry on the spot here.

Which year is sometimes described as Albert Einstein's miracle year,

it being the year he published four significant scientific papers,

including his theory of special relativity?

I think he also published a paper on the photoelectric effect

which won him the Nobel prize

and his annus mirabilis was definitely 1905.

1905 is correct, well done, Barry.

Never going to catch you on that one.

We go to Sudden Death. You've done a perfect round so far, David -

and it gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives, OK?

-Are you composed?

-Yeah, I'm ready.

Here we go. In medicine, an ECG is used to measure

the electrical activity of which part of the body?

Is it the heart?

The heart is right, well done.

Barry, a solution is described

as acidic if it has a pH lower than what number?

Well, neutral on the pH scale is seven,

and anything below that is acidic and anything above that is alkaline.

So it has a pH lower than seven.

Correct. Seven is right.

David, the two elements

in the first row of the periodic table are helium

and which other?

No, my head's blank.

Helium and one other element on the first row of the periodic table.

-No.

-No?

-No.

No, I will need to pass on that one.

OK. Any Challengers know?

-Hydrogen.

-Hydrogen is the answer.

Hydrogen. OK, Barry, you could take the round with this.

Which sensory organ is distinctively enlarged

on the desert dwelling fox, the fennec?

F-E-N-N-E-C - which sensory organ?

Well, the fennec is a creature that lives in the deserts of North Africa

and it is renowned for having particularly large ears,

so the answer is the ear.

The ear is correct. Barry, well done on Sudden Death.

You've taken around. Sorry, David.

Just that hydrogen moment knocked you out.

-It's difficult in there, isn't it?

-Yeah, pressure.

Yeah, pressure. Come back to us, rejoin your teams, please.

OK, the Black Loch Buzzers have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

Third round for you, gentlemen, is Sport.

Who would like this?

-I'll take that.

-Brian.

-I'll take that.

-OK, Brian,

our financial adviser, against which Egghead?

-I'll try Steve.

-So, Brian, from the Black Loch Buzzers,

against Steve from the Eggheads. Please take your positions.

Brian, you like your football?

I love it. Love playing it.

Still play it now?

Still playing three, four times a week, I love it.

You must be a fit man.

Well, I had two stents fitted last year,

so one of the incentives to get fit was to get back on the park.

Great. They didn't say to you don't ever play football again?

It was the opposite, the surgeon said build your fitness back up

-and there's no reason why you can't go back on the park.

-Wonderful.

So, how do you find it, playing, then?

I love it, because, obviously, playing in the past

with blocked arteries, it's a wee bit easier now.

Do you want to go first or second, Brian?

I'll go first.

And here we go. Which tennis player wrote the 2002 autobiography

You Cannot Be Serious?

Well, that sounds like a very famous line that John McEnroe

used quite a lot, so I will go for John McEnroe.

John McEnroe is quite right.

"That ball was on the line!"

Steve...

Val d'Isere is an important destination for which sport?

-I think that might be skiing, Jeremy.

-It is skiing.

OK, back to you, Brian.

The Busby Babes was a nickname

commonly given to a group of players in which football team?

Well, tragically, that was the team that was devastated

by the plane crash, and it was Manchester United.

That's right, in the '50s. Manchester United is quite right.

OK, Steve, your question.

In 2015, it was announced that which African country

would host the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 2022?

Hmm.

I don't remember this.

For the first time?

I'm going to say...

-..Nigeria.

-Do you know this, Eggheads?

I think it must be South Africa.

South Africa. Oh, right.

South Africa is the answer.

Well, you're ahead, Challenger.

Get this right, you're in the final round.

Which boxer defeated Sugar Ray Leonard in the 1980 bout

known as the Brawl In Montreal?

I think it was before Mike Tyson's time.

So it is either Marvin Hagler or Roberto Duran.

I'll go for Marvin Hagler.

OK. It was an absolutely brilliant fight,

one of the greatest boxing fights of all time

between Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard,

which Sugar Ray Leonard won.

That's not the reference here.

Roberto Duran is the answer.

So, have you missed the chance?

Let's see. Steve, you've got to get this right to stay in.

At Hockenheim in 1982,

which Formula 1 driver famously kicked and punched

fellow driver Eliseo Salazar

after he had been forced off the course?

Well, it's too early for Senna.

I suppose it could be Niki Lauda...

I think Nelson Piquet was famously volatile.

So it might be skewed logic, but I will say Nelson Piquet.

Let's check with the Eggheads, is this right, Eggheads?

I think so, yeah. Yeah.

-Yeah?

-I think it's right.

-They like that.

Nelson Piquet is the right answer.

After three questions, you're level.

Don't worry, Brian.

It was that Marvin Hagler answer, wasn't it?

-I'll never forget that.

-It caused the trouble.

Don't worry, you're still in, and we go to Sudden Death.

OK, it gets a bit harder, I don't give your alternatives.

Which village in New York State

hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics?

Which New York...?

No, I don't know a lot about the Winter Olympics.

I'll go with Greenwich Village.

That's New York City, I don't know whether they would have the space.

Let's just see whether Steve knows this.

-Steve?

-I think it's Lake Placid.

Lake Placid is the answer we were looking for.

So, Sudden Death, Steve has a chance now.

Roger Clements, nicknamed Rocket,

is a famous name in which American sport?

I will say baseball.

If you've got this right, you're in the final round.

The correct answer is baseball.

Well done, Steve.

You've beaten Brian. Sorry, Brian.

You're out, as well.

Please return to us, gentlemen, and we will play Round Four.

One more round before the final.

So as it stands, a little bit of difficulty here

for the Black Loch Buzzers. How are we feeling, Scott?

We're throwing out the line and the fish aren't biting at the moment.

Not looking great at the moment.

But, er, quietly confident.

I think you're right to be.

Sometimes with fishing you can have a period of hours

-when nothing...

-Yes.

-..goes on the line

-and then suddenly all the fish come in.

-I hope that happens today.

Yeah, I know that's a big part of fishing.

So they've lost three from the final round, our Challengers,

and the Eggheads are still all there,

and they're in the middle of this run that they're on, as well,

which means were playing for £14,000.

The last subject before the final is Politics.

So it's going to be Davie or Daniel.

I think David.

Davie, sorry.

Do you want to leave Daniel...

How do you feel with General Knowledge?

Kevin or Pat?

This was one of the subjects that nobody wanted, actually!

I'll play that. I will go for Pat.

Davie, our full-time foster carer

taking on Pat in the middle, on Politics.

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

OK, Davie, on Politics, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first.

And here we go with your first question,

which of these US politicians

was appointed Secretary of State in 1997?

I don't think it was Condoleezza Rice.

Madeleine Albright?

All right, Madeleine Albright. So let's just think,

so Clinton was elected in '92

and then '96, so it was under Clinton -

and you are right, the others were later.

Madeleine Albright is quite correct, well done.

-Well done, David.

-Good answer.

Pat, since 2005,

all UK general elections have been held in which month of the year?

It's not something I give much thought to -

and they are always held in the same month?

Common sense would suggest that May would be attractive

because the weather is both more pleasant for the campaigners

and also there is less risk of snow

and transport paralysis affecting the turnout...

but, er, I'm trying to think.

Casting my mind back to the last election.

No, it escapes me.

I've just drawn a blank.

I think I will have to go on the basis of logistics

and say that May is the more sensible time to hold an election.

Yes, May is correct.

All held in May.

OK, Davie.

Hazel Blears was a member of Parliament

for which political party from 1997 to 2015?

-Could you give me that name again?

-Hazel Blears

was a member of Parliament for which political party

from 1997 to 2015.

I don't think it was the Labour Party.

Er...

I'm not too sure, I think I'll just go down the middle,

the Liberal Democrats.

She was actually Labour.

Yeah, she was in Gordon Brown's government

and fell out with him slightly.

Pat, your question.

Who did Franklin D Roosevelt defeat

in the US presidential election of 1932?

This would be the start of his unprecedentedly long

tenure as president.

Dwight D Eisenhower was a military man until after World War II...

..and Lyndon B Johnson was president in the 1960s.

So I think it is the humanitarian and very clever man who perhaps

nevertheless wasn't entirely successful as a president,

Herbert Hoover, that he defeated.

Herbert Hoover is correct.

Herbert Hoover is probably responsible for saving more lives

than any other single person in history,

because after the First World War,

he was the head of the food relief campaign

to push food over into devastated Europe,

and he was so successful with that that he saved

millions and millions of people's lives.

Wow, how interesting.

Herbert Hoover is the right answer, Pat.

So that means, Davie, you've got to get this one right.

In September 2016,

the Labour Party held their annual conference in which city?

I'm not too sure.

Er...

Bristol?

I think it was Bristol.

That's not a particularly Labour area,

although that's not any reason why it shouldn't be Bristol.

Liverpool is a bit more heartland,

I guess that's the only clue I can think of in the question.

Liverpool is the answer, Davie.

So, Pat has taken the round.

Davie, sorry, beaten by our Egghead.

It is looking tricky for the Challengers

with one person in the final.

Please return to us, we will play that final round for £14,000.

OK, here we go.

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, I'm afraid it's, from the Challengers,

Scott, Davie, Brian, and David from the Black Loch Buzzers,

would you please now leave the studio?

-Daniel, good luck here.

-Thank you, Jeremy.

I don't know if they have kept you back deliberately

or maybe your subjects just didn't come up, did they?

-They didn't come up.

-OK.

Well, you're playing now to win the Black Loch Buzzers £14,000,

and that jackpot is high because the Eggheads are in good form.

Steve, Barry, Pat, Kevin and Judith,

you're playing for the Eggheads' reputation, of course.

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

This time they are all General Knowledge.

You can confer.

So, Daniel, the question is, is your one brain able to defeat these five?

And it will be talked about for a long time at the Black Loch fishery

-if you can do it.

-I like a challenge.

It can be done, we've seen it done from there before.

Just keep focused, just like you do with your fishing.

-Yup.

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

I think I'll go first, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck.

The three principal ingredients in a traditional pancake batter

are milk, eggs and which other?

Sorry, could you repeat the question?

The three principal ingredients in a traditional pancake batter

are milk, eggs and which other?

They're all essential,

but I would think it would be a funny pancake without flour.

Flour is what we are looking for, that's right.

Flour is the answer.

Eggheads, which of these is a prime number?

-Seven.

-Seven.

-Everyone happy the seven?

-Yeah, yeah.

That is seven.

Only divisible by one and itself, seven is correct.

Barry got so excited by that question.

He hears the word prime, he's uncontrollable.

OK, Daniel, your second question.

In the standard UK version of the board game Monopoly,

each player begins with how much money?

Well, I must admit I'm not a player of games...

..so, in this instance, it will have to be a total guess.

I will go for 1,500.

Yes, now I was looking at this thinking it might be 500,

because, of course, it's an old game and 500 would have been a lot in old

money. But the answer is 1,500, you've got it absolutely right.

Well done. Eggheads, your question.

Which sporting figure's 2009 divorce from the former model Slavica Radic

involved a reported a 1 billion settlement?

Was Tiger Woods married to Elin Nordegren?

It's not Tiger Woods, no.

I think it's Bernie Ecclestone.

Roman Abramovich's first wife, I think, was called Yulia.

I thought Bernie Ecclestone.

-I think it is.

-Expensive divorce.

I think it's Bernie.

-I know he was married to some sort of...

-Ex-model.

Slovakian or Slovenian.

-Some tall girl who towered over him.

-Exactly, yeah.

I think it's Bernie Ecclestone.

I'd have said Bernie Ecclestone.

-On... OK?

-Yeah.

-On balance, Jeremy, we think that's Bernie Ecclestone.

Bernie Ecclestone is the right answer.

So, 2-2.

-Your third question. Are you feeling the tension?

-No, I'm fine.

Well done. Very good.

The famous 18th-century clowning pioneer,

Grimaldi, had what first name?

This first three in a row.

I know the... I know of Grimaldi.

I just haven't heard his first name.

So, as I guess,

I will avoid going to the right and I will go to the left

-and I will say Jacob.

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

I think it's Joseph.

Joseph is the right answer, Daniel.

Known as Joey the Clown.

Eggheads, you can take it with this question.

Third question, final round.

Which former French Prime Minister

fled to Spain at the end of the Second World War

before being returned to France and executed as a traitor

in October 1945?

Laval?

It's Laval, isn't it?

That was... The other two, we should exonerate,

they weren't involved in anything like that at all.

This was Pierre Laval.

The answer, Eggheads, is Pierre Laval.

We say congratulations, Eggs.

You have won!

There we go, I'm sorry, Daniel.

-It has happened to a lot of great teams.

-It's been a great day.

-We've thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Have you enjoyed it?

-We have, yes.

Well, thank you so much for coming

and teaching us a little bit about fishing.

We all want to go to the Black Loch fishery now.

I'm sure you'll be made welcome any time that you want to come.

Thank you. Commiserations to the Black Loch buzzers,

the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them -

this impressive winning streak becomes even more impressive.

It does mean the Challengers don't go home with the £14,000,

so we will keep the money, roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, brilliant work again, all five of you.

It is really so impressive - but will it be brought to an end

by our next team of Challengers? Let's see.

They'll be playing for £50,000.

Until then, goodbye.