Episode 44 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.

And, Lisa, you've got a little teaser for us for people at home

-to ponder through the show.

-Oh, yes!

So, we know there are 92 teams

in the top four divisions of the English football league.

Only one of those 92 teams has a name

in which none of the letters can be coloured in.

No closed loops. So the question is which team?

So, we're going to find out the answer to Lisa's brilliant question

at the end of the show. That is a cracker, Lisa.

Now, taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are Dougie's Pals from Staffordshire.

This team all work together

at the Douglas Macmillan hospice in Stoke-on-Trent.

Let's meet them.

Hi. I'm Mike.

I'm a volunteer fundraiser and ambassador.

Hi. I'm Pauline and I'm the clinical governance manager at the hospice.

Hi. I'm David and I'm a chief executive.

Hi. I'm Fiona and I'm a lottery, sales and marketing manager.

Hi. I'm Kev. I'm the social work team manager.

-So, Mike and team, hello. ALL:

-Hello.

-Good to see you.

And I was just struggling,

thinking is it Dou-gie's Pals or Doug-ie's Pals, Mike,

-which one is it?

-Well, it's Doug-ie's.

Doug-ie's. OK, now.

Now, the reason you call it that is because of something called

the Dougie Mac. Tell us what that is.

Well, the Douglas Macmillan hospice

is an end-of-life charity in Staffordshire, in Stoke-on-Trent.

More fondly known locally as the Dougie Mac.

Oh, OK. And you have connections through that, do you?

Yeah, I'm a volunteer

and the rest of the team all work for the Dougie Mac.

Very good. Do you quiz together?

-That is the crucial thing.

-Not very often,

but the team did have a bit of a work-out last Friday

at a charity fundraiser for the hospice.

Good. We're looking forward to seeing you take these Eggs on today.

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.

So, Dougie's Pals, the Eggheads have won just the last game.

They've been having a bit of an on-off time,

which means you might be able to catch them out here.

£2,000 if you do.

-Would you like to start?

-Yes, please.

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

So it is one of you against either Lisa, Steve,

Barry, Pat, or Chris.

Right, team. I think this is a no-brainer. Do you?

So, OK. That will be me. The captain leading from the front.

-OK, Mike.

-And it'll be the man from Crewe himself, Chris.

Very good.

So, Mike from Dougie's Pals is playing Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our legendary question room.

All right, good luck against the great Chris,

known as The Steamroller.

Mike, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go.

In the which of these sports are some of the markings on the court

known as tramlines?

Well, I don't think there are any lines on a croquet court.

Just a few hoops.

But I do believe tramlines are associated with tennis.

Tennis is right. Well done.

Chris. In 2017,

Alun Wyn Jones was appointed captain of which rugby union team

in the Six Nations championship?

Well, a name like Wyn Jones has got to be Wales.

It is Wales, yeah, although

-that sort of logic can sometimes take you astray, can't it?

-Yup.

One each. Mike.

In 1980, the Australian Allan Jones became the became the Formula 1

world champion, driving for which constructor?

So, 1980.

I'm pretty sure it's not Brawn GP.

So, it's a choice between Tyrrell and Williams.

But I'm going to go for Williams.

And Williams is right.

He's playing well, challengers, isn't he?

Very sure footed. Chris, your question.

In 2017, who became the first footballer

to score 100 Champions League goals?

That's not domestic, is it? Erm...

Was it Ronaldo, was it Messi?

It was Lionel Messi, surely.

No!

-You know this, Mike.

-It is Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is Ronaldo.

Ronaldo!

It was quite a big moment.

OK. Mike, over to you. You can win the round with this question.

In 1938,

Great Britain defeated the United States four games to one

in the first amateur World Series in which sport?

Right, amateur World Series.

I don't think there's a world series ice hockey,

so I'm going to go between baseball and basketball.

And I'm going to choose baseball.

-Chris, would you have gone that way?

-Yeah, World Series baseball.

Yeah, I think the words World Series take you in that direction.

And you're absolutely right.

Three out of three. How about that?

That's all you have to do.

Three out of three.

Simple as that. Knock them all out, take the money, go back home.

There we go. Sorry, Chris, you're out.

Come back to us. We'll play round two.

So, as it stands, Dougie's Pals have not lost a single brain

from the final round. The Eggheads, oh, dear, down to four.

The next subject is Arts And Books.

Which of Dougie's Pals wants this?

Now this was one of the toughies, wasn't it?

-So...

-Yeah.

-I think we...

-I think you should...

You're going to take one for the team, Kev?

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

-So, we're going to nominate Kev.

OK. Kev. Now, against whom, and it can't be Chris.

-It's got to be somebody else.

-Arts And Books. Well, not Steve.

How about Lisa?

-OK. Lisa.

-She's brilliant at everything, though, isn't she?

Very good.

So, Kev from Dougie's Pals to take on Lisa on Arts And Books.

To ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions.

So, you're a record collector, Kev?

Yeah, yeah, I've got a few.

It's been a couple of years since I've been collecting, though.

With me daughter, like,

as soon as her toys started to fill up the house,

my toys went away in the loft.

Yeah, I say another,

because, Lisa, we've had quite a few people who like their vinyl,

-haven't we?

-Yeah, that'd be familiar issue

that Kev's having with my husband.

Every time we've moved houses, he's earmarked a room for his records,

and I then had a baby, and it disappeared,

and then I had another baby, and that room disappeared.

Cos they take up a bit of space, that's the thing, don't they, Kev?

-Just a bit, yeah.

-Yeah. How many have you got?

Just one at the moment, but we've got another one on the way.

No, hang on, records.

-Oh, records!

-LAUGHTER.

I thought you were on about children.

I'm not interested in children!

-A couple of thousand.

-A couple of thousand?!

-Here or there, yeah.

-OK. Arts And Books.

Kev, do you want to go first or second against Lisa?

I'll go first, please.

It's like a bit of dialogue out of Fawlty Towers there for a second.

OK, here is your question.

Which phrase is a translation of the artistic technique

known as trompe l'oeil?

It's going to be a guess on this one.

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

..deceives the eye.

And you've got it bang on, well done. Yeah.

Lisa, which writer referred to people knowing

the price of everything and the value of nothing

in both an 1890 novel, and an 1892 play?

It's a cynic, isn't it? A man who knows the price of everything

and the value of nothing.

Erm, I think that's Oscar Wilde.

It is indeed the great Oscar Wilde.

One each. Back to you, Kev.

When was Samuel Johnson's ground-breaking work,

A Dictionary Of The English Language, first published?

I'm familiar with the name.

And the work.

The date, however...

Going to take a guess...at 1655.

-Lisa?

-I think, and I can only ever do this from Blackadder III,

it might be 1755.

1755 is the answer, Kev.

-Oh, sorry.

-So, Lisa has a chance to take a lead in this round.

Which name was given to Victorian artists

such as Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and Lord Frederick Leighton,

for their love of classical subjects

and for their great success at the time?

Classical subjects and their success at the time...?

Can you just read the question for me one more time,

-please, Jeremy?

-Which name was given to Victorian artists,

such as Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Lord Frederick Leighton

for their love of classical subjects

and for their great success at the time?

I suppose on the success at the time element of the question...

..the relevant answer would be Olympians.

I feel like I've heard them all in that sort of context,

which is slightly irritating.

But I'll try Olympians.

Olympians is right.

They've gone spectacularly out of fashion, those guys,

haven't they? But they certainly were celebrated.

Kev.

In which field did the London-born Edward Burra

have a successful career in the 20th century?

You must get this one right to stay in.

Edward Burra. And that's B-U-R-R-A.

It's not ringing any bells at all, this one.

Edward Burra.

Again, guesswork here.

I'm going to go with...

Going to go with sculpting.

I can see why you've done that, because you think, well,

if he's a sculptor, it's more likely I wouldn't have heard of him.

Not a playwright. Not a sculptor either,

actually, it's a painter.

So, the answer was painting and, Lisa,

you've taken the round, Arts And Books.

Bad luck, Kev. Beaten by our Eggheads and as a result,

not in the final. Return to us, both of you.

We're going to play round three.

Anyone know about Edward Burra here?

-Yeah.

-Pat!

-I've seen his pictures.

They're strange, stylised things,

like semi-human figures with big bendy noses, and birdlike figures.

Suggestion of Cubism about it, a suggestion of modernist stuff.

Yeah. Died in 1976.

Did urban scenes,

and painted quite a lot of scenes from Harlem in the 1960s.

-Oh.

-Really?

As it stands, Dougie's Pals have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one as well.

It's quite well matched.

Just keep the pressure up here,

cos they're still reeling from the last game.

The next subject for you is History.

So, who would like this?

Right, so, History.

Right.

That's going to be Fiona or Pauline.

And then if Science comes up next...

Well, no, it might not come up, so...

It might not come up at all, no.

Shall I go for it?

And who do you think...

-OK, Pauline.

-Pauline.

-Our clinical governance manager against...?

Let's see. We've had Lisa, and we've had Chris.

So the three gents in the middle.

The three gents.

I know it's not appetizing.

How about Steve, what do you think?

Well, he's a very nice man, so I'll go with Steve.

He is a nice man.

-Don't put that rumour about!

-LAUGHTER

Just be... Just be kind to me.

Oh, they never are!

They smile, but they never are.

Pauline from Dougie's Pals to play Steve from the Eggheads,

who's going to try and be kind.

Well, I'm just upset they looked at me and thought, "You're history."

LAUGHTER

Please take your positions in our question room.

You were looking into your ancestry, Pauline,

and you discovered you were a descendent of whom?

Aelfhere Wolfgate,

who was the Earl of Mercia and chief adviser to King Aethelred.

Now, whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know.

So, that was Aethelred The Unready?

-Yes.

-Was he unready cos of your relative?

It might have been.

LAUGHTER

Anyway, as a clinical governance manager, you're always ready.

So you've set a new trend, there.

OK, History, Pauline, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

And here we go. Which of these historical rulers

was crowned by the Pope on Christmas Day in the year 800?

I don't think it was Ivan The Terrible.

It could've been either Charlemagne or Alexander The Great,

so it's going to be a guess.

I'm going to go with...

..Alexander The Great.

Now let's just see if Steve knows this. Steve, is she right?

-It's Charlemagne.

-Charlemagne is the answer there, Pauline.

Over to Steve we go. Which monarch knighted Winston Churchill?

I don't do well with Winston Churchill questions.

Obviously, it can't be Victoria.

Edward VIII weren't there long enough.

It's got to be Elizabeth II, he says confidently.

Yeah, and it is Elizabeth II,

so I'm just thinking here, she took the throne in '52,

he could have been knighted before then,

but then it wouldn't have been Edward VIII, would it?

-It would've been somebody else.

-Yeah.

-Elizabeth II is right.

Pauline, your question.

In which industry did Viscount Nuffield

make a huge personal fortune in the 20th century?

I haven't the foggiest idea.

So it's going to be a total guess.

Nuffield...

I don't think it was shipbuilding

and I don't think it was carmaking,

so I'm going to go with coal mining,

because there was an awful lot of money made in that century.

Let's see if your team-mates know. What do we think?

I think it is carmaking.

Did he have something to do with Austin Rover or something?

Was it, Eggheads?

-Yes, indeed.

-Austin Rover Morris.

Cars, Pauline. SHE GROANS

Sorry, carmaking.

It's just bad luck. Unlucky.

Steve. In the 18th century,

where was the series of Carnatic wars fought

between British, French, and local forces?

-That's India, Jeremy.

-You didn't even have to think about it.

-Some I know.

-Some you know.

IN STEVE'S NORTHERN ACCENT: Some you don't know. This is one you know.

-LAUGHTER

-Do I sound like that?!

No, not at all. India is right.

You've taken the round.

Sorry, Pauline, and I know it's not your strongest subject there.

You were in on an off subject,

beaten by our Eggheads and won't be in the final.

Come back to us. One more round to play before the final.

So, advantage Eggheads, but will it last?

Dougie's Pals have lost two brains from the final.

The Eggheads have still just lost the one.

One more round to play before the final, and it is Music.

So...

WHISPERING

What do you want to do?

David, we know it's your strength, but...

-do we save you for the final?

-You do it.

-And Fiona?

-I'll do it.

We're going to go with Fiona.

OK, good.

-And shall we say...

-Barry?

It's Barry or Pat.

-Yeah.

-Go on, Barry.

With that shirt.

LAUGHTER

So, Fiona from Dougie's Pals takes on Barry from the Eggheads.

And let's see how you both do on Music.

Please go to the question room.

So does music suit you here, Fiona?

I'm going to give it a good go. Yes, I like a bit of pop music.

Anything post 1980s, I should be OK.

Well, that's the opposite of you, Barry.

You're pre-1980.

-Yes, mostly.

-Going back to the... Middle Ages, really.

LAUGHTER

Oh, you're so kind, Jeremy!

No, but I think you do your bit of your classical and opera and stuff?

Yes, and musicals.

Yeah. How are you on musicals, Fiona?

Yeah, I do like the musicals.

I go to a few.

I went to see Mamma Mia recently,

and I'm going to see Les Mis, so, yeah!

Well, good luck, and it's Music,

and let's see if we can get you into the final, and level things up.

Would you like to go first or second?

Oh, I'll go first, please.

All right. Here we go.

On an instrument such as a guitar or violin,

what term is used for the part that supports the strings,

and transmits vibrations to the body of the instrument?

I actually know the answer to this.

I used to play the violin, and the answer is bridge.

-Bridge is quite right. Well done.

-Well done.

The guitar as well. OK, Barry.

The Kinks were formed in which British city in the early 1960s?

Oh, my goodness, me. I should know this instantly.

The years I spent listening to The Kinks' music, which I really like,

and I can't remember where they were from!

Well, on the basis that I remember Waterloo Sunset,

I shall go for London.

Yeah, I think that that logic is right.

It is London. I just had a momentary panic thinking it was Birmingham

for some reason, but London's right.

The Davies brothers. Fiona.

Which 2001 hit song starts with the words "Her name is Noelle,

"I have a dream about her"?

I know the answer to this one as well. This was just my era.

And it's Teenage Dirt Bag.

You are right!

-I won't sing it for you, though.

-LAUGHTER

-Who was Teenage Dirt Bag by? I can't remember.

-I've forgotten.

-Barry, do you know?

-Don't be silly.

LAUGHTER Lisa?

Wheatus.

-Wheatus!

-That was it, yes. Yes.

There we go.

Right, back to the world.

Belinda Carlisle was the original lead singer

of which of these groups?

Well, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I know this,

but I remember Belinda Carlisle very much in The Go-Go's.

The Go-Go's is right.

We've got you both on good territory, haven't we?

OK, Fiona, here's your question.

Which future solo star's first band was called Bluesology?

Can you repeat the question for me, Jeremy, please?

Which future solo star's first band was called Bluesology?

Bluesology.

I don't think it's Ricky Martin.

That wasn't really his genre of music.

I don't know. Bruce Springsteen or Elton John.

I'm just singing the Elton John song about the blues, but...

Oh, I think it might be Bruce Springsteen.

Now, let's just think, because Elton John was in a few things,

what else was he in?

Did he have a little bit of time with either Long John Baldry or...?

Long John Baldry, that's who it was. Yeah.

Played sort of backing music on a lot of these K-Tel songs as well.

Yes, exactly. What is the answer here?

-It is Elton John.

-Elton John, Fiona.

Oh...

OK, you can take the round with this, Barry.

The opera, I Masnadieri, that had its premiere

at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in 1847, was written by whom?

-1847.

-1847, well that's too early for Puccini, so I'll discount him.

But it could be Meyerbeer or Verdi.

I don't know. Verdi wrote about 20, 24 operas,

of which I only know the names of about a dozen of them.

So it could well be him.

And on the basis that Verdi was I think more prolific than Meyerbeer,

I'll go for Verdi.

LAUGHTER

That's quite a good way of working it out.

Giuseppe Verdi is the right answer, Barry. Well done.

Just a kind of stumbling elimination there. He got to it.

Sorry, Fiona. He's got three out of three.

He likes his music. And you've been knocked out.

Come back to us, both of you.

We'll play the final round, for £2,000.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round.

As always, it's general knowledge.

But those of you who lost your head-to-heads

are not allowed to take part in this round, so that's Pauline,

Fiona, and Kev from Dougie's Pals.

And also Chris from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave the studio?

Mike and David, you're playing to win Dougie's Pals £2,000.

Lisa, Steve, Barry, Pat,

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

which is to restore the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They're all general knowledge.

You can confer, gentleman.

So, the question is, can your two brains defeat these four?

And, Mike and David, would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first, Jeremy.

Good luck to you both. You can do this.

What is the name of the character played by Grace Jones

in the 1985 James Bond film A View To A Kill?

-May Day.

-It ain't Pussy Galore, that's right.

Yeah.

Well, they're all characters from James Bond films, Jeremy, but...

..it's definitely May Day.

May Day is right.

Well done.

All right, Eggheads, your question.

The modern acronym MAMIL refers to a middle aged man in what?

It's M-A-M-I-L.

-LAUGHTER

-Lycra!

Can we just say Lycra and get this over with,

because I've got disturbing images in my brain.

We think that's Lycra.

A Middle Aged Man In Lycra is quite right.

Not me. I don't wear it!

Any of you guys? Loads of those around Stoke on Trent,

we just had our Dougie Mac bike ride with over a thousand in Lycra.

Oh, really? OK.

Not good. Not pretty.

LAUGHTER

OK, back to you, challengers.

Which of these terms was used for a merchant who sold supplies

to soldiers?

Well, I don't think it's Ostler.

-I think that's got something to do with horses.

-Yeah.

So, is there a something in the Army about somebody who supplies...

Suppleton or something?

I don't know. If I was going to go for either one,

I think I would go for a Sutler.

-I don't know.

-It's a hunch.

-It's a hunch, yeah.

We are in hunch territory, Jeremy, to be honest.

But we're going to go for Sutler.

Well done, you've got it right.

I like the way you quiz.

Two out of two.

Over to you, Eggheads.

Slip up, could be fatal.

In fashion, the American Bruce Weber is chiefly known for

his work in which role?

Photographer?

-I don't know.

-Don't know.

Let me think. Bruce Weber.

I think it's photographer.

If you think it's photographer...

Have you got any thoughts at all, Lisa?

No, I haven't. And it's annoying me. But totally prepared to go with...

I mean, we could go wrong here,

it could turn out he was a journalist.

I can't help you at all here,

I really can't.

-I can't think of him as a hairdresser, if that helps.

-OK.

-OK. I think he rang a bell.

-Yeah, you go for it.

-Go with it.

-We hope he's a photographer.

-OK.

You had a little bit of knowledge here at this end of the desk.

And drew a few blanks at the other end.

But photographer is right.

-ALL:

-Well done, Pat.

-Well done, Pat.

It's a shame you didn't knock Pat out,

because that would have caused all kinds of confusion.

Now, get the third one right, and maybe you're on target for £2,000.

According to the official registration code

found on European fishing boats,

the letters FE refer to which port?

FE.

Well...

I don't associate Folkestone... With fishing boats, did you say, Jeremy?

Let me read it again.

According to the official registration code

found on European fishing boats, the letters FE refer to which port?

I don't associate Folkestone with fishing.

So I think we can discount that.

Is it too simplistic to say there's an E at the start of Fleetwood?

And therefore it might be Fleetwood.

And it's a fishing port, isn't it?

You're right. Fleetwood is definitely...

not as big as it used to be.

And Fraserburgh...

You're the Scotsman.

-Fraserburgh is in Scotland?

-It's definitely Scotland, Mike.

It's not in the middle of Scotland, is it, hey?

Shall we go with your hunch?

-Fleetwood, then?

-Yeah.

We've edged towards Fleetwood, Jeremy.

Fleetwood is your answer. They've both an E somewhere, I suppose.

All of them have got an E somewhere.

Do you know this?

Well, the largest fishing fleet there would be Fraserburgh,

so I've just got a sneaky feeling it might be that.

The answer is you were...

wrong to rule out Folkestone.

It is Folkestone.

FE.

Fleetwood is FD.

Fraserburgh is FR.

So it gives the Eggheads a chance on their third question

to take the contest, and here we go.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

was given its royal status by which monarch?

Was it Victoria?

-I don't know.

-It was set up in her era.

-Was it?

Sure it were.

It's older,

much older than any children's ones, so...

-yes, I think I would go for that.

-I don't know it.

But have you known it being called anything other

than the RSPCA?

No, never.

And it is an old, it is a very old society.

Certainly can't be as young as George VI and Elizabeth,

I wouldn't have thought so.

Pat?

I don't know either, a vague preference for Victoria,

but no evidence though.

I'm uncomfortable with the answer,

but not uncomfortable enough to go against all three of you.

Well, what do you think?

LAUGHTER

-I don't know.

-I'm not sure.

-I'm just getting some sort of chiming

with the Royal Society in 1936 in my head,

and I don't know why.

It's bothering me.

Well, it wouldn't be George VI even if it was 1936.

Yeah, might just be, but it would be pretty tight, wouldn't it?

Yeah, it would, very tight.

I don't even know why I'm getting it, so...

I'm not going to go against three of you. No.

I mean, I've no idea why I'm chiming,

it might be that I've got it mixed up with the NSPCC or something.

No, that is quite modern, the NSPCC.

So, let's just not be hanging up on anything.

Well, we've got another if we're wrong, don't we?

As I say, it's only vague, but I don't really know why,

so I'm happy...

We're going to bet on it being pretty old.

-I'm very happy to go with what you're saying on this.

-OK.

We don't know when it was founded,

but we think it's quite an old charity,

so we're going to go for Victoria.

If you've got it right, the contest is over.

Ruled out Elizabeth, thought maybe George VI,

in the end, for you, it did go to Victoria...

in a fairly certain way, and you're right to say Victoria.

That is the answer. We say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won! APPLAUSE

Founded in 1824, royal status 1840.

It's just a random...

I just didn't feel very comfortable with that and I didn't know why,

but you don't go against those three.

Well, you were just... feeling your way there.

But, anyway, you got there, as you so often do, Eggheads, well done,

and commiserations, challengers.

Been great to hear about the Dougie Mac. Thank you very much.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them, most of the time.

And here you are, reigning again over Quizland.

It does mean that the challengers don't go home with the £2,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations.

Who will beat you?

Before we go, Lisa, the question, that amazing question!

OK, so yes, of the 92 teams in the English Football League,

there's only one where you can't colour in any of the letters

when it's written down, so for everyone who's been

frantically writing down teams and colouring in the letters,

you can put your pencils down. The answer's Hull City.

Hull City! You're right, there are no closed loops.

Got it. Baffled me.

-Did you get that?

-We did.

-You did!

-We did!

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£3,000 says they don't.

Until then, goodbye.