Episode 4 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.

Feeling a little bit battered and bruised, are we?

-Mm.

-A little.

All right, ready to play again, as they always are.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

the Racquet Scientists from Manchester.

The team are members of the Northern Lawn Tennis Club in Didsbury.

-So let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Rambali, I'm an engineering consultant.

Hello, my name is Kai, I'm a surgeon.

Hi, I'm Karen, and I'm a property manager.

Hi, I'm Damian, and I'm a writer and critic.

Hi, I'm Yussef, and I'm a doctor.

-So, Rambali and team, hello. ALL:

-Hello!

Nice to see you. Thank you for coming in.

Do you have actual scientists, Rambali?

Yes, we do. I'm a scientist and there are two doctors in the team.

-So that is Kai and Yussef down the end?

-Yes.

We've got quite a lot of international dimension, haven't we?

-Because you're originally from India.

-Yes, I am.

-And then Kai originally from Malaysia.

-That's right.

Karen, Australia.

Damian and Yussef, UK.

So you've got all angles covered here, I'm thinking.

Pretty much, I think, yeah!

LAUGHTER

You quiz, that's the key thing.

We do, yeah. We quiz together at the Northern

and a place called the Cornerhouse in Manchester

which has closed down now, five years ago.

The tennis connection is stronger than the quizzing connection,

but I think we've got enough here.

OK, very good. You could always quiz while you're playing tennis,

-but that could be... That can be difficult, actually!

-Yeah.

-What's it like to face these five?

-It's a bit daunting.

Because we've seen them for years. They're really good.

And we've seen worse odds in tennis, as well.

-Have you got a secret plan?

-We've got it all worked out.

-We'll see how it pans out.

-OK. Good luck to 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 the next show.

Now, Racquet Scientists, my reference to them

being a little bit battered is that they lost the last game.

The challengers won, so the jackpot today is £1,000.

And would you like to try and win it?

-Absolutely.

-Good stuff.

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

And you can choose between Beth, Kevin, Chris, Steve and Lisa.

-Who's going to take it?

-I think Yussef.

-Yussef, yeah?

-Are you ready to go on science?

-I'll do it.

-Come on, you can do it!

-OK.

-We'll go Yussef on Science, please.

OK, against which Egghead? Any one of them.

Who looks unscientific?

Did we say Steve? Do you want to take Steve on, on Science?

Hm.

Steve's looking away, so I think...

LAUGHTER

-I'm nervous!

-We'll go for Steve.

Yeah, he does that when he's nervous.

He glances for the exit, yeah.

That was a good bit of reading of body language there.

Yussef from the Racquet Scientists is playing Steve from the Eggheads.

Please, to ensure there's no conferring,

take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

So, Yussef, you are definitely one of the scientists, you are a doctor?

Yes.

But you've also danced on the ceiling?

Yes. That was one of our apres-ski moments.

We all go skiing every year

and the group picked me up to the ceiling one time

at a bar, apres-skiing,

and so I danced on the ceiling to Dancing On The Ceiling.

Oh, they were playing the Lionel Richie song Dancing On The Ceiling

and, at that point, your friends all turned you upside down?

I believe they were.

Listen, if you win this round, we're doing it again.

Right! As long as you join me.

Yeah. It's actually quite a high ceiling in here.

Science is the subject. You're playing Steve.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, Jeremy.

OK, here we go. Your first question.

Britain's only venomous snake, the adder, is a member of which family?

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

-..python.

-Python is your answer.

OK, let us see with your team-mates, do they know?

Because I'm thinking, Karen, with your Australian background,

you will know all about snakes.

LAUGHTER

-We have more than one!

-Yeah.

We only have one. I've never even seen one here.

I didn't even know there was a poisonous snake in England.

No. There is literally only one, you know.

-One, literally.

-I think we were thinking viper.

-Yeah.

Yeah, they're saying viper.

Viper is the answer, Yussef.

-Ah.

-Viper.

OK, Steve, your question, to take the lead.

What name is given to the complex of ganglia and radiating nerves

of the sympathetic system located near the pit of the human stomach?

The only one that seems to work is solar plexus, so I'll say that.

Solar plexus is correct. You would have known that, Yussef, I know.

That's your thing as a doctor.

Let's hope you get some more medical questions here.

In a piston engine, which of these parts is said to have a big end?

Could you repeat the question, please?

Yes. Yussef, in a piston engine,

which of these parts is said to have a big end?

Connecting rod.

It's the right answer. Well done.

-Well done.

-Good man!

So, you've had snakes and motors.

We've got to get you on to medicine soon.

Steve, your question.

Under normal circumstances, which of these measures

most closely approximates the terminal velocity

of a skydiver in a free-fall position?

I have absolutely no idea.

Um. 700 seems very fast.

HE EXHALES

I've got to say something. I'll say...120.

Eggheads, do you know this?

Well, 120mph is right if we're talking about in the atmosphere.

Baumgartner came down from outside the atmosphere,

and reached a higher speed because of no atmospheric resistance.

But, ordinary jump-out-of-a-plane type skydiving, yeah,

terminal velocity's 120mph-ish.

Hence why that question started with "under normal circumstances".

120mph is correct, Steve, well done.

OK, Yussef, pressure's on here.

You've got to get this right to stay in.

In which year were canaries finally phased out of British coal mines

as an early warning protection against poisonous gases?

I'm going to go for 1986.

Right, the later of the three?

You're absolutely right! '86 is right.

Brilliant play. What made you...

Because I would have thought that sounds so retro.

Things always happen, in my experience of occupational issues,

is they happen late on,

-so the other years seemed far too early to me.

-Yeah, fascinating.

OK, you're right.

So, level with Steve, but he has this question in hand.

Steve, this for the round.

What type of bird is the garganey, an occasional visitor to the UK?

It's G-A-R-G-A-N-E-Y, Steve.

I think it's a duck, Jeremy, so that's my answer.

Duck is the right answer, Steve, well done.

Sorry, Yussef. It's that wretched adder that knocked you out.

And you won't be in the final, Steve will.

Please return to your teams, we'll play the second round.

So, we had a bit of free fall going on there.

120mph if you're a normal free-faller.

If you're Felix Baumgartner, who went into space,

it's more like 833mph, his top speed as he fell.

As Chris says, without the atmosphere.

OK, so, as it stands,

the Racquet Scientists have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads are all sitting there, just trying to recover their poise

after the thing we can't mention, the last contest.

The next subject for you is Sport.

Who would like this?

-Um. I'll take on Sport, yeah.

-OK, Rambali.

And you can take anyone on, except Steve.

I think we've discussed this beforehand,

and I'd like to take on Chris, please.

I'm sensing that the plan is in action here.

It's rolling out. Rambali takes his racquet on to court against Chris.

On Sport. Please go to the Question Room now.

Rambali, I saw you jump at Sport there,

so I'm thinking it's your thing?

Sports and science, actually.

I probably should have taken them on for the team in the last round,

but I was hoping sports would come up.

Oh, did you know about the adder?

I think the adder was probably the easier one.

I think Yussef got the difficult ones right, actually.

That's true enough. What are your favourite sports?

Er, tennis, obviously. I follow cricket, football,

Olympics, mostly the athletics in the Olympics.

All right, so, Rambali, Sport we're on,

would you like to go first or second?

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

OK, he's taking you by surprise there, Chris,

you've got the first question. Here it is.

Which of these South African golfers was born first?

Well... Gary Player goes back a long way.

Ernie Els is more recent, so is Retief Goosen.

So it's Gary Player.

It is Gary Player, you're quite right.

Is golf your thing, Rambali?

Absolutely not.

Here's your question.

In Rugby Union, which of these is a score worth three points?

In Rugby Union.

I've heard of a try and a drop goal, but I'm not sure.

Is a try worth three points?

I think the drop goal is a bit like the penalty, isn't it?

I'm going to say try, but I'm not sure.

Let's see. Team-mates? Damian, do you know this?

I think it's conversion.

It's a drop goal.

Who says drop goal?

Kai. Yeah, Kai is right. Drop goal is the answer.

Chris has a chance to go two ahead here.

In football, what name is given to the technique of kicking the ball

with the kicking foot wrapped behind the standing foot?

Yeah, nutmeg is kicking the ball through the legs of an opponent,

so it's not nutmeg.

Rabona means nothing to me.

Is Catenaccio an Italian footballer who perfected the technique?

Possible. I'll go Catenaccio.

Catenaccio. Steve knows this. Steve?

It's Rabona.

I think I've seen a clip of a footballer called David Dunn

who tried a Rabona and fell over. All very embarrassing.

-Yeah.

-The famous... Do you remember that moment?

-Yeah.

Rabona is the answer, Chris.

Get this right to catch up, Rambali.

The ball used in which sport is held together

by 108 double stitches in waxed red thread?

(Waxed thread?)

Could you repeat the question, Jeremy, please?

The ball used in which sport is held together by 108 double stitches

in waxed red thread?

Obviously cricket and baseball have threads on them.

I'm just a little bit confused between cricket and baseball now

because you put me off with the red thread.

I'm going to say cricket.

Cricket is your answer?

Funnily enough, I've got one of these, given to me

by an American friend. It's on my bedside table.

It is baseball. Because the baseball is white and the thread is red.

-Ah!

-I'm thinking in cricket, maybe the thread is...

Probably black or white, and it's a red ball.

The ball is red, yeah, that's right.

So, baseball is the answer.

So we go back to Chris.

Chris, for the round.

Which NBA basketball player set a record in November 2016

with 13 three-point baskets in a single match?

Never heard of Stephen Curry in connection with basketball.

But there's a vague inkling for LeBron James.

So that's my answer, LeBron James.

-No, the answer is Stephen Curry.

-Is it? Mm-hm.

OK, Rambali, you've got a chance to pull back.

You need to get this one right, now, and take him to Sudden Death.

Which boxer, born in 1883 and nicknamed the Boston Terror,

earned a reputation as the greatest boxer never to win a world title?

The Boston Terror? Er...

Born in 1883.

Boxing's not really my thing, to be honest,

and I haven't heard of the Boston Terror.

I'm going to say Joe Walcott, but it's a complete guess, I'm afraid.

-Chris, do you know?

-Sam Langford.

Sam Langford is the answer, Rambali.

So, Chris has taken the round with his single correct answer

and will be in the final.

Please return to us. We'll see what Round Three brings.

So the Racquet Scientists have lost another brain from the final round.

They've lost two now. The Eggheads are still sitting there.

The next subject is Geography. Who would like this?

Which Racquet Scientist wants this?

-Er, Geography.

-I'm afraid that's you, Kai.

Yeah. I think it's going to be Kai that will take the Eggheads on.

OK. Kai, our surgeon, against whom?

And it can be either Kevin or Beth or Lisa?

Do you want to take Lisa on? I think Beth's quite good at Geography.

-They're all good.

-I'll fancy my chances.

-It is?

-Lisa.

-All right, great stuff.

-How do you feel about that, Lisa?

-I would fancy his chances, too!

LAUGHTER

Have we got through our Australian thing?

I suppose at least it's not Karen.

That makes it slightly less embarrassing.

You've had a number of issues with Australia, Karen, but hopefully,

they're behind us now.

Kai from the Racquet Scientists

playing Lisa from the Eggs on Geography.

Please take your positions.

Kai, you're a surgeon.

-Yes.

-Any particular speciality?

I do urology, so that covers things like kidney cancers,

kidney stones, that's my subspecialty.

I also do erection issues, prostates.

OK, glad we brought that up!

LAUGHTER

You can have my card later, if you need it!

LAUGHTER

You're originally from Malaysia, Kai?

Yes, yes. Originally. My parents are all in Malaysia.

Yeah. I make my ritual visit every year.

Lisa, that's dangerously close to the part of the world

which has caused us a bit of trouble in Geography, shall we say?

You'd think I'd be slightly better on Malaysia,

given that it's actually where my grandmother's from.

She's not lived out there for a very long time

but that's where she was born.

-She still very much regards Malaysia as her country.

-Right.

I thought you had some Chinese heritage?

She is of Chinese parentage,

-but she was actually born and raised in Malaysia.

-Fascinating.

Well, how about that for a tangential connection.

Kai, we're on Geography, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, Jeremy.

All right. Which French city is the administrative centre

of the department called Nord?

Nord is N-O-R-D.

Nord. Now...

..I've been to Cannes. I don't think that's it.

I'm trying to think. Nord.

Sounds northern.

I'm going to say Lille.

Yes, well done, it is Lille.

Good man.

Lisa, your question.

What is the English translation of Zhujiang

in the local name of a major Chinese river?

I think the one you hear the most is probably the Pearl River.

Yeah, Pearl.

OK. You're right. Pearl it is.

You can see where this is going, can't you, these questions?

We see the drift inexorably to that part of the world.

OK, your question, Kai.

What is the straight-line distance from Manchester to Berlin?

In a straight line.

To Berlin.

I think 138 seems a bit short.

908 seems too much.

In fact, 654 seems too much.

GENTLE LAUGHTER

I'm going to say...138.

Pretty close, you think?

Anyone here know? Been? Done it? Flown?

-I'd have thought 654.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Eggs?

-654.

654 is the answer.

138, where would that get you to? Manchester...

That would get you into France, basically?

Well, if you go in a straight line to Berlin,

that'd dump you in the middle of the North Sea.

Yeah, we think you'd be in the sea with that, Kai.

OK. Lisa.

Which South African city is the home

of the country's Houses of Parliament?

Now, South Africa has three different capitals

because they have different administrative centres, I think,

stashed away in all three.

I think the three they split it between is actually

Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein.

And as only one of those is there, maybe that's the one to go for.

On the basis of that logic, I think I might have to go for Cape Town.

No, I'll do my best with the logical path I've got and say Cape Town.

Cape Town is the right answer. Well done.

I suppose the simple way is to think

where would they rather spend their time?

Well, you know South Africa much better than I do, Jeremy.

I think if Pretoria was in there, that would have been a stinker

because that's, I think, like Whitehall,

-that's where their administration is.

-OK.

So, that means, Kai, you need to get this one right to stay in.

Maybe if you get this right,

it's the sign of the tide turning for our Racquet Scientists.

What is the name, Kai, of the official currency of Sudan?

Well, it's not the pound.

It's not the franc. I'm going to have to go rial.

-It's the pound, Kai.

-Tsk, oh.

-It really is the pound.

I'm sorry, that means you've been knocked out by Lisa.

Well done, Lisa, through to the final again.

Please return to us. We've got one more round to play.

So it's looking awkward for the Racquet Scientists,

-but by no means impossible, is it, Eggheads?

-Not at all.

-Not at all.

You've lost three brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still all there, they haven't lost any.

And the last subject before the final is Music.

Who would like Music? It can be either Karen or Damian.

-Yeah, that's me!

-Oh, it's you, Karen, is it?

-Super-enthusiastic, yes.

-OK. Good.

You've got two Eggheads left to choose between, Kevin and Beth.

-Um.

-Shall we go Beth or Kevin?

It's up to you.

-I'd say take on Beth.

-All right. OK, Beth.

-Beth, run-out for you?

-Yep.

-Very good.

Karen from the Racquet Scientists, Beth from the Eggheads to do battle.

Please go to our Question Room.

OK, Karen, Music. And would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

Good luck, Karen, here we go.

Elton John is famous for performing on which musical instrument?

Right, um, I do know this one. It's piano.

Unmistakably so, yeah. It's the piano.

Beth, your question.

"I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath,

"scared to rock the boat and make a mess,"

are the opening lines to which hit single?

I'm going to need the line again, please?

"I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath,

"scared to rock the boat and make a mess." Opening line.

I'm pretty sure that's not Poker Face.

I've got the chorus running around my head, not the opening lines.

Um...

That sounds like it could be Roar by Katy Perry.

The sentiment's correct and the answer's correct, too.

Roar is right. Well done, Beth. OK, Karen.

Adele's hit song Chasing Pavements was included

on which of her albums?

Could you repeat the name of the song?

Adele's hit song Chasing Pavements, which of her albums was it on?

I've got a 33% chance with this one!

25, I think that's the latest one.

And she's got the other two, 19 and 21.

Chasing Pavements, I'm afraid I haven't heard of it.

So I'm going to go for the earlier album.

I'll go for 19, please.

19 her age when she recorded it.

Yes, it's one of her oldest songs, it is 19!

-Whoo.

-Well done.

OK, Beth, to catch up.

Bruno Mars was born and raised in which US state?

Bruno Mars.

Ah. A Bruno Mars song was at number one when my son was born.

I think he was raised in...Hawaii.

You're absolutely right. Hawaii it is.

-Was that a guess or did you know that?

-I vaguely knew.

But it's...

There's not many from Hawaii. There's Jack Johnson, I guess.

-Yeah.

-My theory is you only get music where it rains.

Liverpool, Manchester...

I suppose that's a bit insulting for Australia, Karen, I am sorry.

OK, here's your question.

Nuages, Fetes and Sirenes are the three movements

of an orchestral composition called Nocturnes

by which French composer born in 1862?

Erm, Nocturnes?

The one who comes to mind is Frederic Chopin.

It is actually Claude Debussy.

Bother.

So a chance for Beth to take the round with this third question.

Which artist married Canadian-born jazz singer Diana Krall in 2003?

This is the very marvellous Elvis Costello.

He's very marvellous, and the right answer. Elvis Costello is correct.

Well done, Beth. You're in the final round.

Sorry, Karen. Beaten on Music there.

If you both return to your teams, we're going to play that final.

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 head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So Rambali, Kai, Karen and Yussef from the Racquet Scientists,

would you please now leave the studio?

Damian, you are playing to win the Racquet Scientists £1,000.

Lisa, Steve, Chris, Kevin and Beth,

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

the Eggheads' reputation, and to get this show back on the road.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge.

I usually say you can confer

but, obviously, that's difficult on your own.

Damian, the question is,

can your one brain defeat these five in a famous victory?

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go second, Jeremy.

OK, Damian going second, so this is your question, Eggs.

What colour are the six stars on the national flag of Australia?

-Go with white?

-White.

-Yeah.

-White.

-They are white.

-They are indeed white.

That was Karen's question, of course. I put that in for you.

LAUGHTER

Damian, which of these terms refers to a style of upwards-opening door

used in the design of some motorcars?

Oh, I don't know. Um.

I don't think it will be goose-wing.

So I'm thinking it will either be bat-wing or gull-wing.

I'm going to go for gull-wing.

I'm glad you did. It is gull-wing, well done.

Well done. Bat-wing would be tempting.

Eggheads, the 16th century poem called The Lusiads

has become a national epic of which European country?

-Portugal.

-Portugal?

-Yeah.

Yeah, the Lusiads refers to the classic, or the Roman name

for Portugal which was Lusitania, that area. It's Portugal.

Is there nothing you don't know, Eggheads? Portugal's right.

They're playing well but had a bad game last time

and they might still be in a panic.

Keep pressing here, Damian.

Which British Prime Minister's term in office

was the briefest of the 20th-century?

Again, I don't really know, um...

I...I don't think it was Andrew Bonar Law.

I don't actually know about Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

But I do know that Alec Douglas-Home was Prime Minister

for a short period of time, so I'm going to go for him.

-Alec Douglas-Home.

-OK, Alec Douglas-Home is your answer.

Let's just go through the dates, this is quite an interesting one.

Firstly, on Douglas-Home, he was Prime Minister after Macmillan.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

-And for how long?

For a bit under a year. He came to power in '63,

and then Labour won the '64 general election under Harold Wilson,

and took power.

So it's not a bad answer but is it the correct answer?

-I think it's Bonar Law.

-What were his dates?

Well, '22 through into '23, it was only a few...

Over the end of the year, just a few months.

Campbell-Bannerman, about three years

in the first decade of the 20th century.

-The answer is Andrew Bonar Law.

-Oh.

OK.

This gives the Eggheads, because they went first,

the chance to take the contest on this question.

Andre Courreges, who died in 2016,

was best known as a designer of which items?

Clothes? Clothes.

-Fashion designer.

-I think he's a fashion designer.

-Yeah.

Although he did also design toilets.

Fair enough.

-Yeah, OK?

-Yep.

We think he was best-known as a fashion designer, so it's clothes.

OK. Lisa threw in toilets at the and there,

that wasn't going to put you off. Was that a serious...?

It's genuine. It comes from Peter Mayle's book, A Year In Provence.

So, trying to buy a Pierre Cardin loo and couldn't,

because they found they'd been discontinued.

But they found out that Courreges also made toilets.

Pierre Cardin also obviously better known as a clothes designer.

It's why you're an Egghead, you read the book and remember that fact.

I read that book and I've forgotten it.

The answer, Eggheads, is clothes. We say congratulations, you have won.

When they're all five there, it is tricky.

-They're formidable.

-They are formidable.

I thought the toilet reference at the end

might throw them into confusion, but no.

They knew it was clothes. They knew it all, actually, today.

-Very well done.

-They had a bad game in the last game,

so they're back on track. But commiserations, Damian.

I know the plan wasn't quite to end up alone.

-A pleasure, anyway.

-Played well.

Commiserations to all the Racquet Scientists,

thanks so much for joining us.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and they are back in control of quiz land.

It does mean you're not going home with the £1,000,

so we start to build up the jackpot once again.

The money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

Are you now the formidable force, unbeatable even? Let's see.

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

have the brains to take them down. £2,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.