Episode 43 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

put their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads. We're not exaggerating, are we, Eggs?

-No.

-Not at all.

-Unbeatable.

JEREMY LAUGHS

Hoping to get one over on our quiz champions today

are the Stand Up Guys.

Now, the majority of this team met

while studying at the University of Edinburgh,

and regularly quiz together at various pubs around the city.

So let's meet them.

Hi, I'm David, and I'm an investment manager.

Hi, I'm Sanj, and I'm an accountant.

Hi, I'm Douglas, and I'm also an accountant.

Hi, I'm Stuart, and I'm a postgraduate student.

Hi, I'm Euan, and I'm a structural engineer.

-So, David and team, hello.

-Hello.

-ALL: Hello.

So, basically friends, quizzers, coming together here.

Yeah, friends from university, football team and work, so, yeah.

And remind me why you're called the Stand Up Guys.

So, the first quiz we entered when we formed, there were

no seats left in the bar so we had to stand for the whole quiz

and that's how it all started.

-Did you win that one?

-We came a respectable third

and won a bottle of wine.

And subsequently you've quizzed and come second?

Yes, we have. That's right. So we're thinking third...

Can you see a pattern here, Eggs?

Third, second...

-First.

-Yeah.

I wasn't even going to say it because I think we just need

to let that thought settle with them.

Unnerve them a bit. You've got all bases covered?

-You've got Music and Science?

-Yeah, I think we do.

We're quite a rounded team.

OK, well, good luck to you, Challengers.

-Thank you.

-Every day there is

£1,000-worth of cash up for grabs for our Challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads we roll the prize money

over to the next show.

The last team to play them snatched all the money, I'm afraid,

because the Eggheads had a bit of a 'mare.

Didn't you? And it means there is £1,000 for you to play for today.

-Would you like to crack on?

-Absolutely. Brilliant.

Good stuff. So the first head-to-head battle is on

the subject of Music.

So it's one of you against either Lisa, Beth, Barry,

-Pat or Chris.

-Sanj?

-I think Euan is maybe better.

-I can take this one.

-Let's go for that.

-Go on, Euan.

OK, our engineer's going in on Music, against which Eggheads?

You can have any one of them.

-Go for it.

-Lisa?

-Lisa?

I'll play Lisa.

That's a...cold start for you today.

-Straight in.

-OK.

All right? She's up for it.

And we may even get Lisa to sing.

Euan from The Stand Up Guys standing up against Lisa from the Eggheads.

Please go to our legendary Question Room.

So Music, and you are up against Lisa.

And would you like, Euan, to go first or second?

I'd like to go first.

-That's the easiest question I'm going to ask you.

-Great.

Here's your question. Which of these stage musicals set in Berlin?

Probably the only thing I didn't want to come up on this Music round

was this kind of thing.

Erm... I...

I really don't know. I think I'm going to have a bit of a punt and go

for... The Phantom of the Opera.

I think The Sound of Music is a lot of rollicking around the hills.

Yeah.

The Phantom of the Opera, I thought might be Paris.

-Is it?

-Paris.

-Paris.

Cabaret is...

Well, it is sort of wartime, isn't it?

It is early-'30s Berlin, just before the rise of the Nazis.

Yeah. Oh, so it's pre-Hitler.

So, Cabaret it is.

OK, Lisa. In which year, Lisa,

did Beyonce have her first solo UK number one single?

That's actually quite hard.

Erm, I'm a bit torn between 2003 and 2008.

It's a question of remembering how long Destiny's Child were going for.

And when she started. Now, I think it was Crazy In Love.

Was that the comeback number one or was that her first number one?

Now, I had 2005 in my head. That's really annoying

because I'm now obviously between two stones.

OK, let's have a think.

Yeah, OK, I think I can fairly safely rule out '98

because she is younger than me, Beyonce.

And I think she would have been...

Destiny's Child would just have been getting off the ground then.

2003...

Even that might just be too young.

OK, 2008.

-2003 is the answer.

-Oh, no, gutted!

So, Euan, this is good.

-Yeah.

-I'm back in.

-Got away with it.

Yeah, you're back in. Back in the game.

Here's the question. What was the title of Oasis's 1994 debut album?

'94...

Erm...

I've not actually heard of Be Here Now.

I think there is a few singles from What's The Story

that are around 1996.

So would that...?

Or is it Definitely Maybe?

It's really between all three of them, isn't it?

I'm going to have another bit of a guess at...

I'm going to go Be Here Now, actually.

OK, Be Here Now is your answer. The debut...

Do you know, lads?

-I would have guessed What's The Story.

-Yeah, we'd have guessed that.

Well, that is the absolutely brilliant defining album by them

but it was their second. The answer is Definitely Maybe, Euan.

So, Lisa, your question.

"When your day is long and the night,

"the night is yours alone," are the opening lines to which song by REM?

Oh, good. Back on firm ground with a lyrics question.

That's Everybody Hurts.

Everybody Hurts is the answer.

OK, so she's scored.

So, Euan, you need this one.

-Yeah.

-Big Love and Go Your Own Way are UK hit singles by which band?

This is one of the questions I really, really should know.

Erm...

I don't think it's Pink Floyd.

I'm sorry, it's going to have to be another guess.

I'm going to go Led Zeppelin.

Argh!

Well, you're right it wasn't Pink Floyd.

Big Love, Go Your Own Way, are Fleetwood Mac.

Euan, so sorry, you have not scored and you are out and Lisa is in the

final round but it's early days.

Please return to us and we'll play on.

OK, as it stands, The Stand Up Guys have lost a brain from the final

round. Yet to find our seat at the bar here.

-But we're going to do it. We're going to.

-We're going to.

It started badly for the last team, and then they beat them.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

The next subject is Politics.

All right, guys.

Well, I'm going to rule myself out of that one straightaway.

Stuart, you said you were happy to do it.

-Yeah, I'm happy to do it.

-You go for it.

-OK.

-Who is that, Douglas?

-Yeah.

-All right, Douglas, accountant, against which Egghead?

Anyone but Lisa.

Well, my gran warned me against picking Barry so I might not do that.

HE LAUGHS

The word's out among grannies.

Actually she will probably be quite impressed, so I WILL go Barry.

THEY LAUGH

He loves to play. So,

Douglas from The Stand Up Guys versus Barry from the Eggheads.

Every granny is concerned about Barry.

Now you've put me on the spot cos I would't want to upset your gran.

Yeah, well, if Gran is watching, we're sorry if what follows is not good.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, Barry, you've got to try and do this

-without upsetting Douglas's granny.

-I'll do my best.

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

I'll go first, please.

All right, here we go. Politics, your first question.

Which of these Russian and Soviet leaders was born first?

Well, I'll rule out Putin to start with,

so it's between Brezhnev and Gorbachev.

I think Brezhnev was certainly before Gorbachev

because Gorbachev was the one who helped dissolve, well, not helped,

allowed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

So I think I'll go Brezhnev, please.

Leonid Brezhnev is the right answer. Well done. OK.

Barry, James Ramsay MacDonald was the first leader of which political

party to serve as Prime Minister of the UK?

James Ramsay MacDonald was famously the first leader

of the Labour Party to serve as Prime Minister.

Indeed so. Labour is right.

Douglas, Donald Trump was accused of refusing to shake the hand of which

world leader in March, 2017?

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not Theresa May

because I think he held her hand. I am not sure if he met Hollande.

So I think it's Angela Merkel.

Yeah, you're playing well. It is indeed Angela Merkel.

It was a very embarrassing moment in that sofa room, wasn't it?

I think she sort of initiated the handshake that didn't happen.

Barry, in Irish politics, Oireachtas is the Gaelic name for what?

OK, well, the Prime Minister

I'm pretty in Irish politics is the Taoiseach.

I'm not quite sure what an MP is

but I think Oireachtas is the Gaelic name for the parliament.

I seem to remember you're quite good on your parliaments.

Did you do the Iceland one and the Greenland one and the Finland one?

-Yes.

-The Kipling and...

The Iceland one is Althing, the oldest one in the world.

Anyway, you've got it right. Well done. Parliament.

He's playing well, Douglas, but so far your granny

is very proud of you.

-Get this one right...

-Maybe I should have taken her advice.

This is good, it's going well.

Which Prime Minister of the UK was famously described by Edmund Burke

as not merely a chip off the old block, but the old block itself?

Well, I don't think it's Neville Chamberlain.

Partly drawn to Pitt the Younger because I've got "the Younger"

in the title. I'm not sure about Churchill,

so I think I'll go for Pitt the Younger, actually.

Pitt the Younger is quite right.

Barry, to stay in.

What was the nickname of US District Judge John Sirica who presided over

the trials of the Watergate burglars in 1973?

I think Judge Roy John was an aside to Judge Roy Bean,

so I shall discount that.

And although Watergate was a long time ago, I seem to vaguely

remember John Sirica was called Maximum John.

Yes, he was called Maximum John.

Well done. Three out of three for you both.

With the scores level, we go to Sudden Death.

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

-OK.

-So, Douglas, here we go.

Which politician, the MP for Clacton,

left Ukip in 2017 and served as an independent MP?

I believe this is Douglas Carswell.

-It is!

-He was a Tory before.

It is. Went Tory, went Ukip, went independent.

Douglas Carswell. Correct.

Barry, to stay in. Which man, born in 1809, was nicknamed

the Great Emancipator?

Oh. Oh, 1809!

That's Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln is right.

Douglas, who served

as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party

from 1975 to 1991?

I'm struggling now.

I'll go for a complete guess and I'll say Oliver Letwin.

No, I think he's a somewhat different generation.

Oh, well. He might have been at university in 1975.

I'm not sure. This is a guy called Willie Whitelaw.

Didn't know him.

Barry. You can take the round with this.

At the 1977 Conservative Party conference,

who famously said, "Half of you may not be here in 30 or 40 years,

"but I will be, and I want to be free."

I think he was 16 years old at the time when he said that.

I think he subsequently became the MP for Richmond,

before moving on to Foreign Secretary,

and I'm pretty certain that was William Hague.

William Hague is the right answer.

-Oh! Sorry, gran!

-Sorry. Sorry, gran.

I don't believe it.

I don't believe it. Oh, Barry,

-what have you done?

-She will be furious.

Which part of the country does she live in?

She lives in Airdrie.

You're going to have to stay clear of there for a while, Barry.

Well done, though, you're in the final. Sorry, Douglas, you were

beaten by our Egghead, but you played very, very well

on Politics, may I say? So return to us, gentlemen.

Rejoin your teams and we'll play round three.

So, as it stands, The Stand Up Guys have lost two brains from

the final round, but they still look confident.

-Absolutely.

-You still look as if you're in command of the agenda.

The Eggheads have not lost any so far,

but they had a shocker last time, so let's see if we can rock them back

on their heels. The next subject is Arts & Books.

So, David and team, who wants this?

-So, it's not a strong point for any of us.

-We're all terrible at this.

No, we're not great at this.

-What do we think?

-I would think Sanj.

I think Stu is probably going to be better in the final.

Oh, no.

Don't put that kind of pressure on me.

I really don't want to do Arts & Books. It's not my forte.

By default, I'll take Arts & Books.

Sanj, OK, another accountant.

Against either Beth, Pat or Chris?

I will take Beth.

You're going to take Beth. Fine.

Sanj from The Stand Up Guys takes on Beth from the Eggheads.

Is this the moment they turn the tide?

Let's see. Please go to the Question Room.

Arts & Books, Sanj.

Would you like to go first or second against Beth?

I'll go first.

Here we go.

The artist Francisco Goya was born in 1746 in which country?

I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure about this one.

The name sounds Spanish so I'm tempted to go for Spain.

But it would be a guess, to be honest.

It feels like it would be too obvious.

Let's just go Spain.

Yeah, Spain it is.

-Oh, great!

-Really!

Beth, in Herman Melville's Moby Dick,

what is the name of the one-legged sea captain who hunts relentlessly for the white whale?

They are all characters in Moby Dick.

It's not a book I've read, actually.

But I think it's Captain Ahab.

It is Ahab, yeah. I read it at college.

Very long. That's all I remember.

Sanj, which of these is an epic poem by John Milton?

When you say an epic poem,

Inferno comes to mind but, again,

I'm not entirely sure where I'm getting that.

Wait a minute, I think Inferno is by Dante.

So let's rule that one out.

Paradise Lost?

Let's go Paradise lost.

You've got it right. Well done.

Because Pilgrim's progress is Bunyan.

-It's Bunyan and Dante the other two, isn't it, Eggs?

-Yeah.

Beth, your question.

In Shakespeare's Othello, who says, "Oh, beware,

"my lord, of jealousy.

"It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on"?

I don't think Othello said it himself.

I'm thinking the "my lord" bit

that would be probably either his wife or servant.

I'm terrible at Shakespeare plays.

Erm...

I will go with Iago.

Yeah. Exactly. Iago it is.

Well done. Not his wife.

OK, she's hard to throw off, isn't she, Sanj?

-Oh, yeah!

-Get this one right, see if you can cause Beth some trouble.

Which of these is a famous work by Raphael?

Raphael.

I don't know why The Birth Of Venus is jumping out at me.

It might just be the only one that's vaguely familiar.

I don't...

It would be a guess. Erm...

I'll go Birth of Venus.

I'm trying to work out who that is.

It's actually the School Of Athens is Raphael.

Cezanne is The Large Bathers and Botticelli is The Birth Of Venus.

So you've got two out of three, Sanj.

Beth has a chance to take the round.

The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee, Beth,

famously stolen from a Boston art gallery in 1990,

is a major work by which artist?

Storm On The Sea Of Galilee.

Don't think it was Vermeer.

But Rembrandt and Caravaggio were...

They did biblical scenes.

But Caravaggio, I think did more people, and I think Rembrandt

may have done more scenes.

So I think I'll stick with my first thought of Rembrandt.

Rembrandt is the answer, Beth.

You've taken the round on that.

Well done. Sanj, beaten by our Egghead.

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

But don't worry, they are not out of it yet.

Come back to us, we'll play on.

OK, Stand Up Guys. You have lost three brains from the final round.

David, any change of formation or tactics?

I think we saved the best till last.

That will be Stuart, not me.

But we'll see what comes up.

Here we go. The Eggheads have still not lost any brains.

What will happen next?

It's Geography.

Stuart or David?

You are pretty confident on Geography, aren't you?

-Reasonably.

-But that's the risk of leaving me.

-That's a huge risk.

-We have the utmost faith in you, David.

-You'll do it.

-So you're going, David?

Actually, Stuart is going to take on Geography.

-And he's going to win.

-Right.

And you can take either of the two gents on this side of the table,

-Pat or Chris.

-Who do you fancy?

Known as The Shark and The Steamroller.

Take The Shark.

JEREMY LAUGHS

I'll go for Chris, please.

You're going for Chris? OK.

So, Stuart... Well, he's The Steamroller.

But anyway, Stuart from The Stand Up Guys versus Chris from the Eggheads.

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

OK, good luck, Stuart. You're playing a great Egghead here.

Good old Chris. Would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

And here we go. Which of these upland areas is located in Wales?

Well, I can discount, straight off the bat, the Cairngorm Mountains.

That either leaves the Cheviot Hills or the Cambrian Mountains.

And I think it is the Cambrian Mountains.

It is the Cambrian Mountains. Well done, Stuart. Good stuff.

First point to you. One out of one.

Chris, lying on the ancient Silk Route,

in which country is the city of Kashgar?

It's just in the extreme west of China.

It is, China is right.

Stuart, the Bulgarian seaport of Varna is located

on which body of water?

I think, because of its location...

..I'm fairly confident it's not the Mediterranean Sea.

So it's between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

I think it's the Black Sea.

You're playing really well. Black Sea is right.

That's not easy, either.

Choosing between seas.

Chris, which of these islands is the largest?

Well, Jamaica is no real size, half the size of Cuba.

Iceland is quite large, but I think Borneo is even larger.

So it's Borneo.

Yes, you've got it right. Again, not easy.

Borneo it is.

2-2. Stuart, Arnhem Land is an area in which part of Australia?

So Arnhem is A-R-N-H-E-M.

Unfortunately it has got to be a guess.

And I'm guessing Northern Territory.

-Let's see. Lisa, do you know this?

-Of course I don't, Jeremy!

Always ask her Australia questions.

Northern Territory's right. What about that?

Is this the turning point?

Let's see. Chris could go on this question.

Here we go, Chris.

Mount Godwin Austen is an alternative name for which mountain?

That the alternative name for K2.

Karakoram 2.

K2 is correct. So, 3-3 after three questions.

Perfect scores so far.

And, Stuart, we go to Sudden Death again.

So it gets a bit harder, no options.

Which of the world's deserts, Stuart,

is often said to take its name from the Mongolian for waterless place?

There is a TV show out at the moment called Marco Polo

and I'm sure the desert must feature in it,

but I'm struggling to remember what it's called.

I don't know. For an answer, I know it's wrong,

but I'll guess the Sahara desert, but it's not right.

No, it's the Gobi. Gobi desert.

Chris, for the round. Sheringham,

Wells-next-the-Sea and Brancaster

are places on the north coast of which English county?

They are all in Norfolk.

Where the turkeys come from.

Beautiful. Norfolk.

Norfolk is correct. You've taken the round on Sudden Death.

Stuart, sorry. We nearly got one of you into the final there.

-Almost.

-Didn't quite happen.

Return to us and we will play the final round for £1,000.

So this is what we've been playing towards, the climax.

Our final round. As always, it is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who've lost your head-to-heads won't be

allowed to take part in this round.

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

Sanj, Douglas, Stuart and Euan from The Stand Up Guys,

would you please now leave the studio?

All right, David, you're playing to win The Stand Up Guys £1,000.

Lisa, Beth, Parry, Pat, Chris,

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

the Eggheads' precious reputation.

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

They are all going to be General Knowledge.

Normally I say you can confer, but sadly you're on your own.

David, the main question is, can your one brain defeat these five?

And it will give everyone's granny something to write home about.

-Let's hope so.

-Let's hope so. Do you want to go first or second?

Let's mix it up... Actually, let's not mix it up. I'll go first.

OK, here we go with your first question.

What name is given to the art or practice

of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes?

I'm not a keen gardener, but...

..I'm going to root out Ikebana, if that's how you say it.

And also I'm kind of pulled towards topiary.

-Is that how you say it?

-Topiary.

Just something about it is leading me towards that answer.

So, yeah, topiary.

Topiary is the right answer.

Well done. Eggheads, help us - macrame, what's that?

Knotting threads and cords, isn't it?

-Ikebana?

-Flower arranging.

Flower arranging.

So well done.

Because those other two words were confusing.

Eggheads, the Trossachs is a picturesque wooded valley

in which part of the UK?

-Scotland?

-THEY CONFER

That's in Scotland.

Scotland is correct.

Your question, David.

Who was the 40th President of the United States of America?

I was about to say let's rule out Barack Obama, but...

..I think he might have been 44th or 45th.

I think we are around that number at the moment anyway.

So let's rule Barack out.

My political knowledge is not great, it's not my strong point.

The other two, obviously, are quite a bit further back in history.

I'm actually going to go back on what I said and I'm going to guess

Barack Obama.

Barack Obama. Now, I think you were on the right track with your...

Was he 45, Barack Obama?

-Which one was he?

-44.

-44. Because I know George Bush Snr and George

Bush Jr call other 43 and 41 as a kind of family joke.

So you go one back from George Bush Snr and you get Ronald Reagan

and that's the answer.

Eggheads, in Greek mythology,

who was the father of Ariadne?

-Minos.

-She lived on Crete, didn't she?

-She did.

-Did she give the string to...?

-She did give the string to...

-Was she Minos's daughter?

I suppose that's the only issue.

It wasn't Agamemnon.

..The Minotaur?

-Theseus?

-Yes.

And Ariadne gave him the string and ended up in the soup.

Certainly Minos was the king that was there.

I think Creon was the king of Athens.

-Agamemnon is from...Mycenae.

-I'm sure it's Minos.

He's the only one we can put in the right place.

Go with that? We're going to go with Minos.

Minos is right.

So they are ahead. And it means, David,

you've got to get this one right to keep the contest alive.

Which of these orders of chivalry was formally established by James

VII of Scotland, or as he was also known, James II of England, in 1687?

Nothing sticks out at the moment.

But the Garter,

I don't know. I think...

Something about that is coming to my head.

I think I'm going to have to go for order of the Garter.

Order of the Thistle is the answer we were looking for.

We have to say, David,

congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Oh, Stand Up Guys, what can I say?

Because you had third place a while back in a quiz,

you had second place but it was in the stars.

-I know.

-You were going to come first in this one.

And I don't... I can't explain it.

But then the Eggheads, this is good for the confidence because they've

had a bit of a bad time, which I mustn't mention.

So the Eggheads have done what comes naturally again.

They are just getting into their stride again.

They are reigning supreme over quizland again.

It does mean you won't be going home with the £1,000.

So we roll that money over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

Just getting it back together, aren't you?

Join us next time and see if a new team of Challengers can stop them in their tracks.

£2,000 will be here to play for.

Until we quiz again, goodbye.