Episode 47 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.

-Hello.

-Feeling quizzy?

-Yes.

-You always are.

Taking on our quiz champions today are the Clag Grandmasters.

This friends-and-family team take their name from a shared love of

a card game called clag.

Which is a new one on me, I must admit.

-Let's meet them.

-Hi, I'm Jon,

and I'm an NHS fire officer.

Hi, I'm Matt, I'm a police officer.

Hi, I'm Anne, I'm a retired social worker.

Hi, I'm Dan, I'm a community nurse.

Hi, I'm Jason, and I'm a sales manager.

So, Jon and team, hello.

-Hello.

-Welcome. I've got to ask about clag. Let's just see,

does anyone here know clag?

-No.

-We don't know clag.

They're missing a trick, Jeremy.

-Is it complicated?

-No, not really.

-Deck of cards.

-It's a deck of cards, there's a scoring system,

and you basically bid for tricks.

-OK.

-So it might sound familiar,

but there's a lot of slight subtle nuances.

And it's big in the RAF Police, I understand?

Yes. I met Matthew and Jason in the RAF Police in the early '90s,

-and that's where we started playing clag.

-Good stuff.

And a bit of quizzing there as well, maybe?

We really got into quizzing, I think,

when we used to go on skiing holidays.

We got into it, myself, Matt, Dan and Jason.

So we've not quizzed as a five, but we have all quizzed.

OK. Well, listen, I wish you well.

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

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize-money rolls over to the next show.

Now, Clag Grandmasters, the Eggheads are into their stride.

They've won the last four games on the trot.

So there is £5,000 to win today, which is good.

I hope you take them down.

-Do you want to try?

-Yeah, absolutely.

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

So, it's one of you against either Dave, Lisa, Steve, Kevin or Judith.

-Jason?

-Yeah, I'll take music.

Music, and we will...

Jason, OK, our sales manager.

Which one of them?

-Who looks rusty?

-Dave.

Dave? OK, yep, Dave.

Very good. Have you ever played clag, Dave?

No, I've played brag.

Brag, yeah. THEY LAUGH

All right, so Jason from our Challengers versus Dave from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

So you were up for music there, Jason?

It seems so, yes.

Is that cos you've got the music gene, or...?

Well, no, I don't play any musical instruments.

I like, obviously, a wide range of music.

And you're the reigning clag master?

-I am, yes.

-Meaning you've beaten them all?

Yeah. My first year on the European tour recently,

we were in Germany playing several games a day,

and on the count on the way back, I was the king.

So, does that mean you actually take it quite seriously, then?

You're on a European tour playing it?

Well, it's more about the beer, I think.

OK, music, Jason. And would you like to go first or second?

Can I go first, please?

Jason, your first question.

What is the stage name of the rapper Anna Gilford,

who finished fifth in the 2016 series of ITV's X Factor?

So, Gilford is G-I-L-F-O-R-D.

Yeah, I'm ashamed to say I know that one.

It's Honey G.

Yeah, it is. People were saying she looked like David Cameron.

So all very strange. Honey G is the answer.

Dave. The song City Of Stars, which won a Golden Globe

for Best Original Song in 2017, is from which film?

HE CHUCKLES

I'm just thinking of it in Moonlight and Fences.

Seen all three films, I think it's La La land.

-Definitely. That lovely piano riff, isn't it?

-Yes.

La La Land is right.

Jason.

Kevin Rowland is best known as the front man of which group

that had a UK number one single in 1982?

Um... I know it's not Human League,

and I'm pretty sure it's not Kraftwerk,

so I'm going to go for Dexys Midnight Runners.

Dexys Midnight Runners is the right answer.

Well done, Jason. A bit before your time, really.

I do remember it, vaguely.

Yeah.

OK, Dave.

Which of these is a 1928 work by George Gershwin?

Right. I thought Adagio For Strings was Samuel Barber.

I thought Appalachian Spring was Aaron Copland,

so I'll go for An American In Paris, please.

Nicely done, you're right on all counts.

An American In Paris.

They're good these Eggheads, aren't they, Jason?

-Yes, they are.

-OK, so your question.

Get three in a row, put Dave under some pressure.

Cosima Wagner, the second wife of Richard Wagner,

was the daughter of which other renowned composer?

I was dreading classical music coming up.

I haven't got a clue on that.

So I'm going to go straight down the middle with Johannes Brahms.

OK, Brahms is your answer.

Just trying to think if there's any of getting to this.

Let's see, Eggheads? Kevin, do some dates for us.

When was Richard Wagner born?

1813.

1813.

-Help us out then.

-The answer is Liszt.

The answer is Liszt, OK.

So Liszt was born when?

-1811.

-And Brahms?

1833.

-And Chopin?

-1810.

Isn't it amazing?

I've forgotten what the question is now.

-And Cosima was the daughter of Liszt, that's the question?

-Yes.

All right, Liszt is the answer.

Franz Liszt.

So Dave has a chance to get himself into the final.

Bring The Noise and Don't Believe The Hype

are singles by which rap group, Dave?

It's not De La Soul.

I don't believe it's NWA.

I went to see these in Stratford some years ago,

it's Public Enemy.

Playing with a bit of certainty here, aren't you, on music?

You do love your music. Public Enemy is the right answer.

Well done, Dave, you're in the final. Sorry, Jason.

Just taken on the last curve there.

-Yeah.

-And beaten by our Egghead, and knocked out.

Please return to us, both of you, we'll play on.

OK, as it stands, the Clag Grandmasters

have lost one brain from the final round.

Here are the Eggheads with their, what is it?

Their streak of four. Yeah! Look at that.

A bit of a swagger. You need to stop them, guys.

Play the winning card here. The next subject is Sport.

I'm thinking this could be good for you.

-Yes.

-Who wants that?

-Dan, you're Sport?

-OK.

Dan, OK, our community nurse, against which Egghead?

Judith, please.

Dan from the Clag Grandmasters to play the

Grand Mistress of the Eggs, our Judith, on Sport.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Judith, I have looked out your Sport statistics.

-Yes.

-Well, it's good.

-Good?

-In the history of Eggheads, since the dawn of time,

-you've won 134.

-That doesn't sound very much.

Well, it's more than all of the Eggheads you're playing with today

put together, Judith.

-No!

-Yes.

-Well, it's only cos I get asked all the time...

-Well...

-..and they don't.

Yeah, in the recent sequence of five games, you've won more than one.

-Two?

-Yeah.

But listen. The sequence is - lost, won, lost, won, lost.

So this is the one.

-OK?

-Oh, well, yes, let's hope.

-You're going to win. So, Sport, Dan,

you can see what you've got us into here.

-Do you want to go first or second?

-I'd like to go first, please.

OK. Try not to upset Judith too much.

Here's your question. In the Tour de France,

what title is given to the leader in the competition for points gained

on climbs?

I believe I know it.

I think it's King of the Mountains.

It is indeed. Well done. King of the Mountains.

OK, Judith, your question.

In which year did Gareth Southgate memorably miss a penalty against

Germany at the semifinal of the UEFA European Football Championship,

losing the match for England?

Gareth Southgate.

-Yeah.

-Well, he's still sort of going in some capacity, isn't he?

So it can't be as far away as '86.

I think, hasn't he turned into a coach or something like that?

-I think it might be '96.

-Yes!

Yay! You got it right.

-Hurray.

-OK, 1996 is the answer.

Dan, your question. In rugby union,

how often do the British and Irish Lions typically tour?

I'm not great with rugby.

I think it's a toss-up between every year and every four years.

It's not every ten years, that's too long.

I wish Jason was here now.

I'm going to go for every four years, down the middle.

-OK, let's just check with Jason. Is he right?

-He is right, yes.

Yes, you're right, Dan. Well done.

They were tense back here, when you were thinking about that.

Every four years. Judith, to catch up.

In 1938,

on which horse did 17-year-old Bruce Hobbs

become the youngest jockey to win the Grand National?

Well, Crisp was quite recent.

I mean, much more recent than that, anyhow.

I don't know anything about the other two horses.

I'm going to say Battleship, as it's just before the war.

-I see.

-Well, or something.

Yeah, good thought.

Let's just see, cos the Eggs have been puzzling a bit over this.

-Anyone?

-ESB beat Devon Loch.

Dick Francis' horse... The '50s?

-'56.

-Yeah.

And Crisp were runner-up to Redrum.

OK. But you're right, Judith, Battleship is good.

Good bit of logic there. Just prior to World War II,

that's what was on our mind. OK, two each.

Dan, back to you. Third question, could be crucial.

From which sport do we derive the word foible?

F-O-I-B-L-E.

Oh, that's...

I don't really know the answer to that.

I'm thinking,

I've never heard of foible before, as in a sport. So...

I'm going to go down the middle and go for fencing.

Cos it sounds quite close to foil,

that's the only reason I'm going for that.

Do you know, that's often a very good way of getting the answer,

and you've got it right. Well done. Fencing.

Can anyone help us on the fencing?

Judith, you've been a fencer in the past?

No, I think it might be French.

-Foi-ble.

-Foi-ble?

-And there's a lot of epee and French words in fencing.

I mean, that would've been my logic.

I gather, having racked my brains,

it is part of the sword blade from the middle to the point.

Ah, and is it a French word?

It's the foi-ble, it's the weakest point.

Oh, it is the foi-ble. Oh, the feeble.

So, when you say... Yes, feeble, that's a good point.

So when you say somebody has got a foible, it is a sort of weakness,

is it, Judith, do you think?

I think it's sort of a quirk, isn't it?

-A quirk, yeah, exactly. Exactly, yeah.

-Yeah.

Judith, your third question, to stay in.

In basketball, what name is given to a play in which a player throws

the ball near the basket for team-mate who jumps,

catches the pass and dunks the ball before landing?

If you can imagine that.

SHE CHUCKLES

A banana shot. Well, a banana shot must be the shape of a banana.

I don't know what on earth... I suppose it could be a fadeaway,

cos you throw the thing and then you fadeaway yourself.

Or an alley-oop. I just like alley-oop.

Let's go for alley-oop.

-It is alley-oop.

-Oh, good.

-You've got three out of three.

-Hurray.

So, well done. You're level after three questions.

We go back to you, Dan, and it gets a bit harder.

It gets to Sudden Death now.

OK? I don't know if you have sudden death in clag.

We have a play-off, yes, it can happen.

Right, so you know all about it.

-Yeah.

-I don't give you alternative answers.

Which British rower finally won an Olympic gold medal in 2012,

having won silver at the three previous games?

I believe it's a lady, and I can picture her in my mind.

But I can't for the life of me remember her name.

So... I'm going to have to pass, I'm afraid.

I can't hazard a guess at a lady's name.

-OK.

-OK, sorry, pass.

No problem. Let's just see if your team-mates know.

-Do you know?

-Is it Grainger?

-Something like that?

-Yeah, Katherine Grainger.

OK. So, Judith, a chance to take the round.

Here we go. Can you do it?

Which male tennis player, born in 1952, won US Open titles

on three different surfaces during his career,

the only player to do so?

So, he would be in his heyday in the '70s and early '80s.

Um, what about Jimmy Connors?

He won grass, clay at Forest Hills,

and hard court at Flushing Meadow,

-the answer is Jimmy Connors. You've taken the round, Judith, on Sport.

-Gosh.

-How about that, on Jimmy Connors?

-It always feels like a miracle.

There we are. And this won, loss, won, loss thing is carrying on.

Dan, sorry, knocked out there. Come back to us, both of you.

We'll play another round.

All right. So, if this was a game of clag, what would we do -

-deal differently? Reshuffle?

-Can't reshuffle clag.

We've just got to play on through.

Play on through. Clag Grandmasters have lost two brains from the final round,

Eggs are still sitting there.

They're thinking, I can see what they're thinking, they're thinking they're on a roll.

And you've got to stop them. The next subject is Science.

So, who would like this? Who's the scientist?

-That's got to be me, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

-OK. That's me, Jeremy.

OK, Jon, our NHS fire officer, against which Egghead?

And it's got to be one of the three in the middle.

-I'm going to say Lisa.

-Very good. Jon from Clag Grandmasters,

to take on Lisa on Science. You've had a bit of Science recently.

You heard the man, just play on through.

Play on through. Go to the Question Room, please, and play on through.

So, Jon, fitness is your thing, I know.

Not so much these days, but it used to be, Jeremy, yes.

How many triathlons have you done?

Dozens, I would guess.

Maybe even hundreds. But in my heyday.

OK. Against Lisa on Science, Jon.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll take the first set, please, Jeremy.

And here we go. The green pigment chlorophyll allows plants to absorb

energy from what?

-I think that's light, Jeremy.

-Light is right.

OK, Lisa. By what name is the insect known as the firefly also known?

I never thought I'd have to resort to an Owl City song,

but I'm going to have to do that.

So Owl City did a song called Fireflies,

where I think the lyric references 10,000 lightning bugs.

# As they try to teach me how to dance... #

-Yeah, that's right. Lightning bug.

-You and your lyrics. I mean...

I've heard that song a lot of times and I never picked out the words

-lightning bugs.

-I've got to learn it somehow, Jeremy.

That's amazing how you do that. Lightning bug is right.

Is all your knowledge basically from pop songs?

And Jilly Cooper novels.

One each. Back to you, Jon. Team captain.

The scientific organisation the Royal Institution

was founded at the end of which century?

I'll rule out the 20th. I think that's too late.

16th, possibly too early.

I'm going to go straight down the middle, Jeremy, for the 18th.

Yes, you're right. 18th it is.

OK, Lisa. Of the following objects in our solar system,

which is the largest?

Honestly, I second-guess everything.

I'm fairly certain it's Mercury, she says.

I think Pluto is smaller than pretty much everything else,

they keep reclassifying Pluto.

And the moon, you know...

If something bigger than Pluto or Mercury was going round Earth,

it would be stupid, wouldn't it? I think it must be Mercury.

Mercury is correct.

Back to you, Jon.

Which brownish, black gel-like substance, a native hydrocarbon,

is found in peat beds and is named after the physicist

who first unearthed it?

Again, nothing is coming to me.

I'm going to go with...

..the most famous, I'm going to go for Newtonite.

Lisa, do you know this?

-Not a clue.

-Yeah, Dopplerite is the answer.

Schrodinger was the one with the cat,

and Newton was the one with the Apple.

Dopplerite is the answer. OK.

Lisa, for the round.

Which algebraic term is typically used to describe a symbol with

an unknown numerical value in an equation?

A symbol with an unknown numerical value.

I don't think it can be a denominator.

You know, a denominator tends to be the factor that brings

things together.

If you don't know what it is, you're in trouble.

It sort of seems like it should be variable, because, you know,

if it's in an equation and you don't know what it is,

you're usually trying to work that out.

Yeah. My logic is not going to get any better than this,

and with huge apologies to my mother,

the maths teacher - sorry, Mum, you tried, it wasn't your fault -

-I'll go for variable.

-Let's see.

-Eggheads?

-Yeah.

Yep, we like variable. Variable is right, three out of three.

Jon, sorry, knocked out by Lisa there.

-She's very good.

-Roping around a bit, but in the end...

On the plus side, my mum feels so much better now.

Your mum is pleased. OK, so come back to us.

We've got one more round to play before the final.

So, as it stands, the Clag Grandmasters have lost three brains

from the final round, and here the Eggheads all are.

No-one is out from that side yet.

The next subject is Politics.

So, this is going to be Matt or Anne.

-Who would like this?

-I'll do it, if you like,

-OK.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-OK, Anne.

And you can choose either Steve or Kevin.

There's no easy way here.

It's got to be Steve.

-Yeah, we'll try Steve.

-Very good.

So it's Anne from the Clag Grandmasters

playing Steve on Politics from the Eggheads.

For one last time, please go to our Question Room.

All right, good luck to you against Steve.

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

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. In which year did the SNP win their first seat

in the UK Parliament?

I don't think they were around in the 19th century, I could be wrong.

I am going to go for 1945.

1945 is correct.

Yes.

OK, Steve. In the 2016 EU referendum vote,

what percentage of the votes cast in Gibraltar were for Remain?

I think they famously wanted in, so I'm going to go top of the shop, 96.

That's right. And I have a memory that that was very first result

that came in on the night as well.

So it's quite striking. 96%.

OK, Anne. Where is the European Court of Justice based?

I was expecting Strasbourg to come up.

But, as it hasn't, I think I'm going to say Brussels.

-It is actually Luxembourg City.

-Oh.

-It's difficult, these institutions.

But Strasbourg and Brussels have both got

a European Parliament in them.

-Yes.

-Because they couldn't decide where to put it

and they built two of them.

-Yeah.

-But that's not the same as the European Court of Justice?

No, the European Court of Justice is

the body that applies the rules and

regulations, it's not the same.

This was much confused in the Brexit campaign,

it is not the same thing as the European Court of Human Rights,

which is nothing to do with the EU.

There was a lot of banging on about that, but they're not the same.

And where is the European Court of Human Rights based?

-Strasbourg.

-That's in Strasbourg. Ah, right.

-That's where I think... That's what happened, yes.

-Hence confusion.

So, Kevin is just saying the European Court of Human Rights

is in Strasbourg, Anne.

-Right.

-Which may be where we got into confusion.

-Yes.

-OK, Steve, your question.

Which British Prime Minister's autobiography has

chapter titles including "From Brixton to Westminster,"

"Maastricht", and "Black Wednesday"?

Well, the three things you just said, Jeremy,

can only really apply to John Major.

So, that's me answer.

Yeah, he's the one who got into trouble with Maastricht and so on.

John Major. So, Anne, you need to get this one right to stay in.

Which US President was born in Omaha, Nebraska?

Well, Jimmy Carter was from Georgia, I believe.

I think Richard Nixon was a Californian,

so I'm going to say Gerald Ford.

You're bang on. That's quite right.

Gerald Ford it is, who took over from Nixon when he resigned.

So, level. But Steve has this question in hand.

And you can win the round with this, Steve.

From 2002 to 2013, Mwai Kibaki

was president of which African country?

Can I just have a spelling on that, please, Jeremy?

Yeah, first name is M-W-A-I, then K-I-B-A-K-I.

I'm not 100% with this by any means,

but I'm going to try Kenya.

It's difficult, isn't it?

He's not particularly internationally well-known.

But Kenya is the answer, Steve, you've got it.

You've got three out of three. Anne, sorry, knocked out,

tricky for our Challengers in the final,

but no doubt they can still win.

Come back to us, both of you. We will play the final round for £5,000.

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 your head-to-heads will not be

allowed to take part in this round.

So, Jon, Anne, Dan and Jason, from Clag Grandmasters,

would you please now leave the studio?

OK, Matt. Our police officer here.

You are playing to win the Clag Grandmasters £5,000.

I'm sorry you're doing it on your own.

Dave, Lisa, Steve, Kevin and Judith,

you are playing to just continue this run that the Eggheads are on.

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

they're all General Knowledge.

Normally I say you can confer,

but your team-mates are all stuck back there,

so I'm afraid you're on your own.

Matt, the question is, can you, with your one brain,

defeat these five super brains here?

I'm sure you can do it. Would you like to go first or second?

First, please, Jeremy.

OK, your team-mates are rooting for you.

Good luck.

Which former US vice president was a recipient

of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007?

I'm pretty certain that Al Gore made some film about the environment,

so I wonder if that's linked to this Peace Prize.

I guess the timings would have been about right.

So I'm going to go for Al Gore.

Well, Dick Cheney would still have been vice president then, would he?

-That's right.

-Yeah.

And it's not Dan Quayle, so you're quite right, Al Gore is the answer.

First question for the Eggheads.

Which peninsula in Dorset lends its name to a type of cement,

commonly used in the production of concrete?

-Portland.

-It's Portland.

-It's Portland.

-OK?

That is Portland cement, Jeremy.

Yes, Portland is right.

OK, your question.

Matt, which type of pasta, made in broad ribbons,

has a name derived from the Italian for "to eat greedily" or "devour?"

So there are no obvious ones in there,

I think they're all types of long pasta.

There's something drawing me to pappardelle.

I'm going to go with my instinct - pappardelle.

-Is he right, Eggheads?

-They're all sorts of long ribbon types of pasta,

pappardelle is the widest of them.

But, yeah, it's difficult,

because there isn't an obvious link to stuffing your face.

No. But pappardelle is the right answer.

Well done. Great answer.

Yeah, you did really well there.

It reminds you of the story about the son

who goes to his mum and says "I'm getting married," she says,

"You can't get married, I cook you so much pasta."

And he says, "No, Mum, I'm sorry, you can't talk to me like that,

"I'm going to get married."

And she says, "I cook you your tagliatelle, I cook your fettuccine,

"I cook your pappardelle.

"Why do you say I can't talk to you like that?"

And he says, "No, you can't talk to me like that

"because you're not Italian."

Apologies, Tim.

-Oh, it's lovely.

-OK.

Eggheads, your question. To catch up.

Oh, what's happening? Are we quaking, Eggs?

The actor David Suchet played which iconic role on the West End stage

in 2015?

-It's Lady Bracknell.

-It's Lady Bracknell.

-Yes.

If you're happy, Kevin.

-He did Lady Bracknell.

-Missed that totally.

He's too old for Blanche Dubois, isn't he?

He did a bit of cross dressing, obviously,

you have to for one of those roles,

but he played Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Yes, he did. Lady Bracknell.

-The handbag.

-Well done, Kevin.

OK, level. Two points each. Matt,

get this right and you may not have to do any more work today

to claim the 5,000.

Which term is used in astronomy for the alignment of three bodies

of the solar system

along a straight or nearly straight line?

Don't know the answer to this.

I'm drawn to culmination, things coming together.

So that is my answer.

Culmination is your answer.

Eggheads, what's a culmination?

-Is there a culmination?

-Not sure... No, it's a general word,

-but not sure what that refers to...

-Go on.

-It's syzygy.

Syzygy. Syzygy is the answer.

So two out of three. Is it enough to go to Sudden Death?

Let's see. Eggheads, if you get this right, the contest is over.

Who is the creator of the comic strip character Dick Tracy?

-Chester Gould.

-It's Chester Gould.

-Yep.

Yeah, it's Chester Gould, one of the famous American comic strips.

Started a long time ago.

I'm wishing you had the pasta question,

-cos I think you would've got that wrong.

-Oh, no, we wouldn't.

-We would've debated that.

-OK.

I'm clutching at straws here.

Chester Gould is the right answer. We say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

When there's all five of them,

they have a sort of check and counterbalance system, and it's hard.

You do riot sometimes over an answer, don't you?

Somebody says something and they get shouted down.

But it didn't happen today.

Even on the pasta, you would've got that.

Sorry, Matt. But you played well, and great team to meet,

-and to tell us all about clag. Thank you as well.

-You're welcome.

Clag Grandmasters, you have been beaten by the Eggheads,

who have done what comes increasingly naturally to you,

reigning supreme, winning on the trot.

It's what it's all about.

It does mean our Challengers don't go home with the £5,000,

so we roll the money over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done. I'm starting to think it's going to be a long time

before you get beaten. Join us next time to see if a new team of

Challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

There will be 6,000 to play for.

Until we quiz again, goodbye.