Episode 45 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.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

Tibial Pursuit from West Yorkshire.

Now, this team all work together in the X-ray department

of Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital

and regularly quiz together at the Hop pub. Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Conor and I'm a senior radiographer.

Hi, I'm Kane and I'm a diagnostic radiographer.

Hi, I'm Katie and I'm also a diagnostic radiographer.

Hi, I'm Jordan and I'm a reporting radiographer.

Hi, I'm Mark and I'm a diagnostic radiographer.

-So, Conor and team, hello. ALL:

-Hi.

Great to see you. So you're all basically

-doing the same kind of thing, Conor?

-Yeah, pretty much.

We have slight variations

but predominantly we're doing much of the same.

-Radiography.

-Yeah, so radiography.

So all kinds of medical imaging.

So it ranges from mainly X-rays, which is what all of us guys do,

but the profession itself includes CT scans, MRI scans, ultrasounds,

-all sorts of stuff.

-I love the Tibial Pursuit.

Just remind me, tibial is in the foot, right?

-No, so your tibia is your shinbone, so the main bone...

-Thereabouts.

-Yeah.

-Between the knee and the foot.

-Somewhere below the knee. Yeah.

OK. Challengers, good luck.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our challenging team.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, we just take the prize money

and we roll it over. So, Tibial Pursuit,

the Eggheads had a bit of a bad run

and they've got themselves back in gear and they've won the last two,

so there is £3,000 to play for today.

-Would you like to give it a go?

-Yeah, we'll do our best.

-Brilliant.

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

So it's one of you

choosing between Lisa, Steve, Barry, Kevin and Chris.

-Who wants to do it?

-So that'll be Mark?

-OK?

-I'll take it.

-OK, Mark.

-Yeah.

-And who would you like to take on, Mark?

Who do you reckon? Steve maybe?

-Steve.

-It might be an opportunity to get Kevin out.

-Yeah?

-OK.

-Let's go for it.

-Yeah.

-What's the plan?

-The plan is Mark's going to take on Kevin.

All right. So, Mark from Tibial Pursuit taking on Kevin,

the Grand Master, from the Eggheads, on Film & TV.

And just to ensure there is no conferring,

would you please take your positions in our legendary Question Room?

Well, Mark, this might be a good choice, actually, because Kevin...

I was just looking at the stats

-and you've lost the last two Film & TV rounds.

-I have.

So there we are, Mark.

His motherboard is sparking a little bit.

We'll see how you do here.

Good luck. Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go, Mark. Good luck. The Oscar-winning 1980 film Raging Bull

is set in the world of which sport?

I've not seen that film myself...

..but with the name Raging Bull I don't think it's baseball.

Badminton, I can rule that one out.

I have to go boxing.

Exactly. It is boxing.

Robert De Niro.

OK, your question, Kevin.

The 1957 film Bridge On The River Kwai, is set in which war?

Well, it's set around the building of the Siam Railway in World War II,

or Burma Railway, if you prefer.

World War II is quite right. Yes, indeed.

OK, Mark, in which year was the TV comedy, The Office first broadcast?

Oooh!

I'm a big fan of The Office. I really do like Ricky Gervais.

2001, I'll have to go with.

2001 is quite right.

Yeah. But you were... Let's just think, how old were you, then?

2001, I would have been five years old.

Your parents let you watch it, did they?

Yeah. Sat me down to watch it.

OK, Kevin.

Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin

famously performed which role on US TV?

Johnny Carson was one of the longest running,

and probably THE most famous, still,

although he was in the relatively early days...

..on TV of being a talk show host.

So talk show host.

Talk show host is right.

So 2-2.

Keep up the pressure here, Mark.

The 2016 film Passengers starring Chris Pratt

is set on which mode transport?

I've not seen this film but I have seen trailers for it.

It's not an aeroplane, it's not a train,

it is a spaceship it's set in.

Yes, I saw it and I can confirm

there was definitely a spaceship in it.

You're quite right.

OK, 3-2.

Kevin, you need this one to stay in.

Who plays Jane Tennison in the TV series Prime Suspect 1973?

Well, this is the sort of origin story of the police career

of the character later played by Helen Mirren

in the other Prime Suspect,

but I think in this one it's Stefanie Martini.

It is Stefanie Martini. Well done. So three out of three for you both.

We go to Sudden Death.

And, Mark, it gets a bit trickier here cos I don't give you options.

-OK?

-OK.

As of 2017, Bradley Cooper has starred in how many Hangover films?

There's three Hangover films, I think.

Yeah, three.

-Three's my answer.

-Three's right.

-Yeah.

-Well done.

Kevin,

who plays US President James Marshall

in the 1997 action film Air Force One?

I have seen that but I saw it when it came out

and there were a number of... Which is obviously a long time ago.

And there were a number of similar types of films around that time.

I could be mixing them up, you see.

-On the edge.

-Yeah, I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'll have to say Harrison Ford.

-Well, you haven't lost three in a row for six years.

-Mm.

But the answer is Harrison Ford. Well done. You're still in it.

You nearly knocked out a world quiz champion there.

Six time world quiz champion, Mark.

Keep pressing, keep pressing.

Viola Davis won a best supporting actress Oscar in 2017

for her performance in which Denzel Washington directed film?

Not too sure on this one, Jeremy.

I can't think of any Denzel Washington directed films...

..at all of the top of my head.

I'll just have to take a guess at a film.

Split - but I know that's not correct.

Split, no. Fences.

Fences.

OK, Kevin. For the round,

who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1947 and 1950 for her performances

in To Each His Own and The Heiress?

Er, and she's now over 100 years old and got a damehood

in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2017.

-Olivia de Havilland.

-Yeah, I thought you'd get that right.

Olivia de Havilland it is.

So you have won through on Film & TV

and avoided the hat-trick of losses, Kevin.

Well done. You're in the final.

Mark, sorry, you've been knocked out, beaten by our Egghead.

-Return to with us, please, we'll play round two.

-Thank you very much.

So as it stands, Tibial Pursuit have lost one brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any so far.

And the next subject is Science.

Science! Is that not good?

-Yeah.

-Who's going to do this?

Are we thinking Jordan? You seemed confident.

I'll have to take it.

Jordan? OK.

Our radiographer against anyone but Kevin.

I'll take on Lisa.

Take on Lisa. OK. So Jordan from Tibial Pursuit

to pursue Lisa from the Eggheads on Science.

Please go to our Question Room.

So Science we're on, Jordan.

Do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Good luck. Here we go. Which of these trees is native to Africa?

I've heard of all three.

I think giant redwood is North American.

So for me it's between baobab and the eucalyptus.

I'm going to go with...

I think it's baobab.

I think you're absolutely right.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-I think eucalyptus is Australia.

Yeah. OK, Lisa, which of these animals is a type of cat?

I forget what an oryx is.

That's annoying. But the cat you're looking for is the ocelot.

Ocelot is right.

Well done. I can't remember...

Anyone seen an oryx lately?

It's another antelope.

It's got a spiral horn.

Okapi, it's the same family as a giraffe.

It's an unusual kind of animal.

OK, back to you, Jordan.

In the human body, what's known as the white of the eye?

I've not heard the first one before.

The retina is at the back, which I think captures the light.

I'm going to go with sclera.

It is sclera. Well done.

Lisa, approximately what percentage

of the Earth's atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide?

It ain't 40 cos a lot of us wouldn't be breathing.

Is it as high as 4%?

I hate this. This just feels elementary and horrible.

And I should be getting it straightaway

and it is a horrible shame on my character that I'm not.

I don't know.

-4%.

-OK.

Barry has got his head in his hands.

Barry, explain.

It's 0.04%

99% of the Earth's atmosphere is made up of just two gases,

nitrogen and oxygen.

And just over 1% is made up of everything else,

of which argon is the most.

But it's a very, very small amount of carbon dioxide.

But if it was 4% we'd be roasting, absolutely roasting,

because of the greenhouse effect.

The answer is 0.04%, Lisa.

-So this is good, Jordan.

-Fantastic.

Press the advantage.

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

Here's question. In astronomy, what are the Geminids?

It's not a term I am familiar with

so I'm going to take a punt at Jupiter's rings.

No, meteor shower.

Anyone help us with Geminids?

Well, all the ones that end in ids are meteor showers.

There's the Leonids, the Perseids, Geminids, the Orionids,

and the name comes from which constellation

they appear from in the sky,

so these ones come from Gemini, obviously.

Well, there's a way back in for you here, Lisa.

Your question. In 1995,

Michael Foale became the first person born in the UK to do what?

1995.

See, I knew he was an astronaut, that's as far as I'd got.

First person from the UK.

I really wish Jordan had got that last question

because I'm just in a sea of embarrassment and horribleness now.

OK, 1995. I mean, that's a decent bet for sending an email

because that was kind of when they started.

Erm, I feel like it's not spacewalk.

I don't know why I feel that.

Normally I'd go with what my first instinct tells me,

but I don't have a first instinct.

No, Jordan deserves this one anyway. Send an email from the ISS.

-No, walk in space.

-Fair enough.

-You're out, Lisa.

-That's all right.

-Jordan, well done.

-Thank you very much.

So we have got the scientist in on Science,

which is I'm sure a relief to our Challengers here.

You're in the final. Lisa is not.

Come back to us. We've got the third round to play.

As it stands, Tibial Pursuit have lost one brain from the final round.

Well done cos you've actually taken a brain out from this side as well,

from the Eggheads. And the next subject is Sport.

So who would like this?

-It's definitely you.

-Yeah.

I think we're all in agreement that that's going to me.

OK, Conor, the team captain.

Another radiographer. Let's see.

It's going to be Steve or Barry or Chris.

They're all good quizzers, but I think I'll take on Chris.

That's going to go down well.

Twice on the trot.

I smell conspiracy.

I'll have nothing to do with conspiracy, I'll root it out.

Yep, he's pleased. So Conor from Tibial Pursuit

versus Chris from the Eggheads on the beloved Sport.

To ensure there is no conferring, please go to our Question Room.

So, Conor, you're known as the face of Leeds radiology.

Er, yeah, You could say that, Jeremy.

Because when they do a photoshoot saying,

"This is our new piece of equipment,"

they stand you next to it?

Yeah, for some reason I seem to get called out of the department

every now and then for a photoshoot.

You'll have to ask my bosses

if you want the answer to why it's always me that gets picked.

-I'm not really sure.

-Same for you, Chris, isn't it?

When we wheel out, you know, face of the Eggheads.

Funnily enough, if we're talking medical machinery,

I was actually inside an MRI scanner when it was still just a test rig

at Siemens when we made the Horizon documentary,

-The Search For Mastermind's Brain.

-And what did they find in there?

Nothing. Well, not nothing, but nothing out of the ordinary.

No. OK, so we're on Sport. Let's see if there is any part

of Chris's brain that's dedicated to that, Conor.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And here we go with your questions.

Of these three athletes,

who was the first to win a World Championship gold medal?

OK, athletics isn't really my strong point.

I know that Steve Cram and most of his success in the early 1980s.

Colin Jackson was more in the '90s.

Linford Christie, I'm going to guess he was more the late 1980s.

So, answer is Steve Cram.

Yeah, brilliant. Steve Cram it is.

Well done.

Chris, which of these footballers is the tallest?

Well, Jermain Defoe is no real size, is he?

But the great tall gangling one there is Peter Crouch.

Yes indeed. Peter Crouch is right.

So we go back to you, Conor. The rugby union player Billy Vunipola

usually plays in which position?

Well, there's two Vunipolas, I think.

Billy. There's Billy and there's Maco.

I think Maco is a prop.

And I think Billy... I think he's a number eight.

Number eight is correct.

And that's a tough old question so you've done well there.

OK, Chris, you're under pressure here, aren't you?

How much money was the winner of the ladies singles competition

awarded at Wimbledon in 2016?

Oh, there was a lot of controversy about it, wasn't there?

I think it was a million. One million.

You are wrong.

It's two million.

So, Conor, you're 2-1 ahead.

Get this right and you'll be in the final round.

-All right.

-Here we go.

Although he was able to occasionally switch stances, which of these

boxers is predominantly regarded as having had a southpaw stance?

I'm really stumped here.

Boxing is one thing I've not really got much of an interest in.

So, in that case, I'm going to have to go was the only boxer

I've actually heard of, so I'll go with Sugar Ray Leonard.

They're all boxers.

It's not him. You are close because one of the most famous fights

of all time was Hagler-Leonard.

And the answer is Marvin Hagler.

-All right.

-Chris, you have a chance here.

The spin bowler Imran Tahir

represents which international cricket team?

Well, for historical reasons,

going back to the days of indentured labour in Africa,

I'll say South Africa.

I don't know if that's the logic, but it is the right answer.

South Africa is correct.

Well done, Chris.

So you pulled it back there.

And it's level after three.

And, Conor, now we test you a bit more cos we go to Sudden Death.

-Yeah.

-I don't give you alternatives. Here we go.

The Spanish defender Carles Puyol

spent his whole professional career with which football club?

Erm, that would be in Barcelona.

Barcelona's quite right.

Chris, to stay in, which rugby union team defeated

England in March 2017, ending their 18 match unbeaten record?

Well, I want to say Scotland, but I'm thinking to myself...

Yeah, Scotland.

Ireland, Chris.

-Ireland.

-Conor, you're in the final.

Well done. This is good for our Challengers.

You took on an Egghead, you knocked him out on Sport.

Please return. We'll play one more round before the final.

So Tibial Pursuit have lost one from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost two brains now.

Oh, dear, Eggs.

Can we get back on our feet?

Let's see. The next subject is Arts & Books.

Who would like that?

I heard somebody sigh.

Nobody is a very good at Arts & Books, really.

-No.

-I think we need to keep Kane for the final.

-Yeah. It's OK.

Yeah, I'm going to take Arts & Books.

OK, Katie, against which Egghead?

Now, you can have, Katie, either Steve or Barry.

-I think I'll take Steve on, if that's OK.

-All right.

So Katie from Tibial Pursuit versus Steve from the Eggheads.

Art & Books, last round before the final.

Let's see what Katie can do here. Please go to the Question Room.

Art & Books, Katie. Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

So, good luck. Let's see if we can get you into the final.

Here we go. In which part of the book, Katie,

would you usually find a prologue?

Erm, I don't think it would go in the middle and I don't think

it would be at the end. I'm pretty sure it goes at the beginning.

-I'm going to go for that.

-Brilliant.

Beginning is right.

Steve, who is the central character

in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Kidnapped.

That's David Balfour, Jeremy.

It is David Balfour.

OK, Katie.

What nationality was the painter Georgia O'Keeffe?

Ooh, I'm not sure on that one at all.

No clues at all either with the answers there.

So I'm going to take a bit of a guess

and I'll say that she's British.

Now, I'm trying to work out how we get to this.

Any Challengers know this?

-I think it's American.

-Yeah, American.

-Eggheads, American?

-Yes.

-Painter, still with us or not?

No, she was very long-lived but she died in the '80s.

OK. American is the answer, Katie, sorry.

So, Steve on to you to take the lead.

Which of these writers died aged 94 in 1950?

That's George Bernard Shaw, Jeremy.

It is George Bernard Shaw.

Well done.

Seamus Heaney was quite recent, actually.

-Yeah, very recent.

-Certainly in this century, yeah.

So he's pulled ahead, Katie,

and you must get this one right to stay in.

The villainous King Antiochus is a character in which Shakespeare play?

Oh, gosh, again, Shakespeare not one of my top subjects.

I think the only one I've heard all is The Winter's Tale.

Given that this name is a I'm going to guess

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, but I'm not sure at all.

Let's just see with the Eggheads. Are these all Shakespeare plays?

-Yeah.

-OK, so, then, they're not the best-known ones.

-No, they're not.

-To say the least.

But you've got it absolutely right, Katie.

It's Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Well done. Steve, your question.

You can take the round.

Who wrote the political novels House Of Cards,

To Play The King and The Final Cut?

I've not read 'em but I do believe it's Michael Dobbs.

If you've got this right,

you've taken the round with three correct answers.

It is Michael Dobbs, Steve. Well done. Sorry, Katie.

Steve is in the final. Level as we go into the final.

How exciting. Return to us and we'll play it.

So this is what we've been playing towards.

It's the final round. And, as always, it's General Knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

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

So that's Katie and Mark from Tibial Pursuit

and Lisa and Chris from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

Conor, Kane and Jordan,

you're playing to win Tibial Pursuit £3,000.

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

the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They're all General Knowledge,

gents, and you can confer.

So, Tibial Pursuit, the question is,

can your three brains crack the Eggheads here?

-Give it our best shot.

-Would you like to go first or second?

I think... Shall we go first?

OK, Kane and team, good luck.

You can do this. The starting point for swimming the English Channel is

usually in which English county?

Surely you'd imagine it's Kent.

-Yeah.

-That's going to be the shortest distance.

The boat goes from Dover, and Dover's in Kent,

-and the Channel Tunnel.

-Yeah.

-You'd imagine Kent.

OK. We'll go for Kent for that one.

Kent is right.

Eggheads, what name is given to the plastic card system

for public transport in London that was introduced in 2003?

-Oyster card, everybody?

-Hopefully.

I think we go Oyster card, yeah?

The other two sound very fancy,

but I think the answer to this is Oyster card.

All right. Well, let's get our train man on it.

-Chris?

-It's the Oyster card, yeah.

Oyster card is right.

Challengers, in January 2016,

which member of One Direction became the first to be a father?

-I think this is...

-Liam's just had a...

-Liam's just had a baby with Cheryl Cole.

-I'm pretty sure Louis

-had one earlier.

-Harry doesn't have a baby, I don't think.

Louis Tomlinson.

-Happy with that?

-I don't know much about One Direction.

Liam, very recent.

Louis had one before him, Harry's not, so...

-Yeah, we'll go on that.

-We think that's Louis.

Your knowledge of One Direction is impressive.

Louis's right.

OK, Eggheads, to catch up.

Who was Prime Minister of New Zealand before Bill English

and after Helen Clark?

-John Key.

-John Key.

-He was there for several years.

Because Bill English took over from John Key.

Well, they are all prime ministers

of New Zealand but the one before

was John Key.

John Key's right.

So 2-2. Nothing to choose between you at the moment.

Just keep this up.

What is the approximate population of California?

It's the most populous state.

Is it definitely?

America has a population of roughly about 260 million, so...

And what cities have you got?

You've got LA, San Diego,

Sacramento, San Francisco.

By size, it's not far off the UK, is it?

Is there any we can rule out?

I imagine it's more than nine.

-If there's eight million people in New York...

-Yeah.

..there's going to be more than nine in California.

Is 39 million too much or...

-I think 39.

-I'd be swayed towards 39 of the three, but...

-I'm fairly happy to go for 39.

-It's 50-50 to go for 19, 39,

but it's a huge state.

Should we go 39?

OK, we're not too certain.

We definitely think it's more than nine million,

but we're going to go for 39 million.

You're right. 39 million.

Well done. Three out of three.

OK, Eggheads, get this wrong, you've been defeated.

Elspeth Huxley's book The Flame Trees Of Thika

was set in which country?

-It's Kenya.

-I've read it.

-They did a TV series of it.

-It's Kenya.

-There was

a quite well received TV series

about it and I'm pretty certain...

we're all pretty certain it was set in Kenya.

If you've got this wrong, the contest is over.

But the answer is Kenya. Well done.

So 3-3.

And we go to Sudden Death in the final round, playing for £3,000.

Gets a bit harder. I don't give you alternatives.

All right, guys? Good luck.

Which mythological creature, endowed with a hide

that was impervious to weapons, was Heracles instructed to kill

in what's usually said to be the first of his 12 labours?

I don't even know where to start with mythology.

Think of creatures - Medusa, Cyclops...

I mean, it won't be Medusa.

She's not really impenetrable to weapons.

It's going to have to be something more animal like.

The only mythological creature I can think of off the top of my head is,

what, a centaur and a Kraken.

-What's the Minotaur? Is that...

-Minotaur is a much better shout.

-Minotaur is a much better shout.

-More furry.

I don't think we're going to come up with a better answer than that.

Right, well, go for it, then.

So definitely not our strongest subject this,

but we're going to go for Minotaur.

Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Is it Minotaur?

-No, that was killed by Theseus.

It's the Nemean lion.

-The Nemean lion.

-Wouldn't have got that.

Sudden Death. It could end here.

Eggheads, the DC comic book character Hal Jordan

is best known by what superhero alias?

-Green Lantern.

-Green Lantern.

-Green Lantern.

Yeah. We're all agreed again on this.

We believe Hal Jordan was the Green Lantern.

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

They do seem certain, don't they?

-I think it's right.

-You know this as well?

I'm pretty sure it is. Yeah.

The answer is Green Lantern.

We say congratulations, on Sudden Death, Eggheads, you have won.

Often getting to that third correct answer will take you to the money.

It's just that they're just getting a bit of a spring in their step,

I think, again. The Nemean lion.

-Yeah, never even heard of it.

-We'd never get that.

Yeah, I would've said Minotaur or Hydra or something.

He did fight the Hydra. The Hydra was the second one.

-Oh, was it?

-The Lernean Hydra.

OK. Well, I'm sorry, Tibial Pursuit.

Brilliant team name as you unleashed the X-ray on them

but it didn't quite work.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally.

They reign supreme over quiz land.

It does mean our Challengers don't go home with the £3,000.

So we'll take the money and roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done again. Just getting back into your stride.

I can tell, little bit of a swagger here.

Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers have the brains

to take them down. £4,000 is here for them to win.

Until we quiz again, goodbye.