Episode 55 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.

Hoping to beat the might of the Eggheads today

are the Drowning Fish from Glasgow.

Now, this team of friends quiz together

at various pubs in the Southside of the city

and take their name from the city's coat of arms.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Nick. I'm a university lecturer in law.

Hi, I'm Richard and I'm a social justice manager.

Hi, I'm Ciaran and I'm a history student.

Hi, I'm Graham and I'm a journalist.

Hi, I'm Andy and I'm an English and Scots teacher.

-So, Nick and team, hello. ALL:

-Hi, Jeremy.

-Great to see you.

Well, tell us first of all about the name The Drowning Fish.

Well, it's from the motto of Glasgow, the coat of arms,

the fish that never swam.

So, if it doesn't swim, it drowns.

So, The Drowning Fish are from Glasgow.

So, on the Glasgow... Can you picture this, Eggheads?

On the Glasgow coat of arms is, what, just a fish in mid air?

Well, there's a tree that never grew and the fish is above it.

So it's the fish that never swam over the tree that never grew.

Got it. And you quiz together?

Yeah, some of us have quizzed together over a few years.

But we've known each other for a longer time than that.

We've played football together, quizzed as well.

So do you have different skills ready for the quiz?

-Have you worked out a strategy here?

-I don't think...

We have a strategy that'll probably fall apart in the first two minutes.

But we've got some ideas.

OK, let's give it a go. Good luck, Challengers.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of cash

up for grabs for our challenging team.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Drowning Fish, the Eggheads have won just the last two games,

which means there's £3,000 on the table for you to win.

-Do you want to try and get it?

-Indeed we do.

-Excellent.

The first head-to-head battle is on History.

Now...

-Ciaran...

-..we've got a history student here.

-Yeah, Ciaran.

-Yeah, Ciaran's going to do it.

-OK.

-Choose the Egghead.

-And you can choose between Lisa, Steve, Chris,

-Kevin and Judith.

-Yeah, we'll go with Judith.

All right. So Ciaran from Drowning Fish

versus Judith, who won £1 million on a history question.

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

in our legendary Question Room?

So, Ciaran, thank you for choosing our Judith.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first.

Ciaran, here's your first question.

Pol Pot presided over a totalitarian regime in which country?

Is it...

Well, I know it's definitely not Iraq or Argentina.

I know he had a particularly genocidal regime in Cambodia.

That's my answer.

Cambodia's right. Well done.

Year Zero they called it, yeah.

Judith.

Anne ruled as Queen of Great Britain in the early part of which century?

-Queen Anne?

-Queen Anne.

It was the early part of the 18th century.

18th century's correct.

OK, Ciaran. Which of these politicians resigned

as British Prime Minister when he was 84 years old?

Well, I know Churchill...

I don't think he resigned. I think he was...

I think in 1945 or 1946,

Atlee was elected instead of him.

I think I will go for Gladstone.

Gladstone is correct.

Yeah, well done.

OK, Judith.

The Condor Legion, which operated in the late 1930s,

was a special unit of which country's Air Force?

The Condor... I think that was Germany.

That's the correct answer. Germany, indeed.

OK, Ciaran, your question. You're level, two points each.

The 19th century Pony Express mail delivery service

ran between California and which other US state?

Well...

I know Maryland is very, very far from California.

It's pretty much the opposite side of the country.

Michigan is right in the middle.

I suppose...

And Missouri is sort of...west.

Not west but middle, sort of the central

part of America.

I think I'm... I'm going to go with Maryland.

A significant railway line,

but I'm going to go with Maryland.

Yeah, it's wrong. I'm just thinking...

I'm just wondering how you would work this out.

-Chris, you'll know.

-Well, yeah. It's Kansas City, Missouri,

because westward expansion had got as far as about the Missouri River.

And from there on for, well, literally, about 13, 14 months

they had this relay service of young lads riding horses hell for leather

right across country into California carrying the mail.

-Oh, I see. From which part of Missouri?

-Kansas City, I think.

-St Joseph.

-Yeah. Oh, Saint Joe.

-Yeah. St Joseph, Missouri.

-Which is right on the...

-Yeah.

-..sort of western border of Missouri.

At the start of the Great Plains, effectively. Right.

Ciaran, but it was Missouri.

So, Judith has a chance to take the History round.

Which of these infamous historical figures was born first, Judith?

Well, John Wilkes Booth is the one who assassinated Lincoln.

So he was probably born in about 1830-ish.

I think it was... It's probably John Wilkes Booth.

If you've got this right, you're in the final round.

Three out of three, Judith. Well done. John Wilkes Booth is correct.

Sorry, Ciaran. I can see you're a very good quizzer as well.

Just missed one on the Pony Express.

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

So please return to us, both of you, and we'll play the second round.

So, as it stands, the Drowning Fish have lost a brain

from the final round. The Eggheads haven't lost one yet.

The next subject for you is Arts & Books.

-So, for this learned team...

-Andy.

-Andy.

-No problem.

-Yeah.

-I think this is good.

-Yeah.

OK, Andy, our English and Scots teacher against which Egghead?

-It can't be Judith.

-What do you think?

-Well, you decide.

-What do you think? Aye, go for Chris.

-Sounds good...

-OK, Chris, please, Jeremy.

Very good. So, Andy from the Drowning Fish to take on Chris

on Arts & Books.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

All right, Arts & Books.

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

I think I'd like to go first, Jeremy.

OK, good luck against Chris, and here we go.

What is the surname of Anastasia, the main female character

in the 50 Shades trilogy of books?

I'm not embarrassed to say that I've never read the books

and I know nothing about them.

And it's going to be a guess based on what I think the character

would be like, so I think I'll go for...

..Steele.

OK, Steele is your answer.

Now, you've got it right. Well done.

It is Steele. Yeah.

OK. Chris, what is the English title of Rodin's sculpture Le Penseur?

It's The Thinker, Jeremy.

-Just like you.

-Yeah, literal translation.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, The Thinker. You're right.

Andy, Falstaff is the central character

of which of these Shakespeare plays?

Again, this is one that's going to be very embarrassing

if I get it wrong.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, that's set in the forest.

Fairies, it's a fantasy.

It's not that. I'm ruling that out.

I don't actually know the plays that well,

but when I think of a Falstaffian character,

I don't imagine Venice, so I'm going to rule that out, too.

And, therefore, I'll go for the Merry Wives Of Windsor.

The Merry Wives Of Windsor is the right answer.

Brilliant elimination. Well done, Andy.

So, you're leaving Chris trailing here.

Chris, can you catch up? What is the name of the golden spaniel

that features in The Secret Seven series of books by Enid Blyton?

Well, Bull's-Eye is Bill Sikes's dog in Oliver Twist.

Snowy's Tintin's dog. So it's Scamper.

Scamper's right.

2-2. Back to you, Andy. Playing well.

"And fare thee weel, my only Luve!

"And fare thee weel, a while!

"And I will come again, my Luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile!"

You'd read that better than me.

But they're the last lines of which Robert Burns poem?

These questions have been meant to embarrass me!

I'll... It's not A Vision.

And I actually know that more from the song... The song lyrics.

I can... I'm trying to imagine.

Of course, A Red, Red Rose and Ae Fond Kiss

are two of the most popular Burns songs.

But I'll think I'll go for...

A Red, Red Rose.

A Red, Red Rose is the right answer.

There was a lot riding on that!

-My reputation.

-Oh, my goodness. I felt the tension there.

Oh, my goodness me!

OK, so, Chris, your question to stay in.

What nationality is Svetlana Alexievich,

who was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature for her polyphonic

writings, which were described as

"a monument to suffering and courage in our time"?

Well, the name itself is actually Russian.

So she must be from a country that alone is not now part of Russia.

Still speaks Russian, so she's Belarussian.

She is indeed Belarussian. You're right.

Level after three questions.

Perfect round for you both. We go to Sudden Death.

Andy, it gets a bit harder. I don't give you different options.

Here we go.

What is the overall title of George Meredith's sequence

of 50 poems published in 1862, inspired by the failure

of his first marriage?

I will say a total guess - To Despair.

No, it's called Modern Love. George Meredith, 1862.

OK, Chris. You can get it with this.

Tracy Tupman is a travelling companion of which title character

of a Charles Dickens novel?

He's a member of the Pickwick Club, travels with Mr Pickwick.

I need a first name and a last name.

-Samuel Pickwick.

-Samuel Pickwick is the right answer.

Well done, Chris. You've taken the round.

Sorry, Andy. Knocked out.

But good play all the way through until the end.

So, not in the final. Chris will be. Please return to us.

And we're going to play the next round.

All right, Drowning Fish have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads are still all there,

getting maybe a little bit of a run together, who knows?

You can stop them, though. The subject is Sport.

-Who wants this?

-Richard?

-Yeah.

-I'll go for that one.

-Richard?

-Richard.

-Yes.

Our social justice manager. Against which Egghead?

-I think I should take on Lisa.

-Yep.

-Yep, we'll take Lisa.

Very good. Richard from the Drowning Fish versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

Please go to the Question Room.

-OK, Richard. Are you ready for this?

-I am.

Well, Richard, would you like to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, Jeremy.

OK, all the best turning this around, Richard.

The British and Irish Lions rugby union squad

toured which country in 2017?

Well...

Having watched highlights of one or two games,

I would have to go for New Zealand.

New Zealand is correct.

Lisa. Which of these Formula 1 world champions was born first?

So, Jenson Button is more or less my age.

He was born January 1980.

James Hunt was born in '46.

'46? I think it's '46. Died '93.

Damon Hill somewhere in the '60s.

So, you did say born first, didn't you, Jeremy?

Yes, born first.

James Hunt.

James Hunt is the right answer. Well done.

Over to you, Richard.

In which year did Wayne Rooney make his debut

for the England football team?

2006 is a bit late

because I remember him being well established by that time

and playing in the European Championship, if memory is correct.

So, I think I'll go for 2003, Jeremy.

-Do your team like that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, you're right.

Well done, Richard. 2003.

Two out of two.

Lisa, how many men have taken 300 or more wickets

for the England Test cricket team?

I think it's quite a hard thing to do.

So, I'm inclined to go the bottom end rather than the top end, really.

I don't know. On that basis, and you know how much I know about cricket,

I'll try five.

Yes, five is right.

It's 2-2.

Richard, in 2017, Fergal O'Brien and David Gilbert

contested the longest frame in professional snooker history.

How long did it last?

Two hours three minutes actually seems inordinately long.

So, six hours and three minutes seems

extremely long as well.

I suppose as a one-off and...

It must be four, given the amount of professional snooker frames

that take place.

It must be very long indeed.

I think I'll have to go down the middle here

and go for four hours and three minutes.

-Eggheads?

-Thought it was two.

Two hours and three minutes is the right answer.

OK, Lisa. You have a chance to book your place in the final now.

Which of these basketball stars spent his entire playing career

at the Boston Celtics?

I have a weird feeling that Larry Bird

played with Magic Johnson

and I think Magic Johnson played other places.

That might be a spurious association.

So, perhaps I'll take him out of the equation.

So, it's a straight fight between the other two.

I like Scottie Pippen's name better.

Let's go with Scottie Pippen.

Yeah, I like Larry Bird's name better.

-That's a terrible shame.

-Yep, Larry Bird is the answer there.

So, Sudden Death.

Here we go again, Richard.

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

In which year did the British team win only one Olympic gold medal

through Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent in the rowing?

As a child, I used to watch quite a lot of the Olympics.

So, '72, '76, '80, '84.

They were very familiar.

But I think it was maybe...

..slightly later than that.

And I'll go for...

1996 in Atlanta.

1996 is quite right. Nicely done!

OK, so pressure on you, Lisa. Here we go.

You need to get this right.

Which French tennis player, known for her flamboyant nature

and original dress sense, won the women's singles title

at Wimbledon six times between 1919 and 1925?

Is that Suzanne Lenglen?

Yes, it is.

Died aged 39. Died young.

Suzanne Lenglen. Over to you, Richard.

What is the nickname of the Australian

men's association football team?

The Socceroos.

The Socceroos is the right answer. Well done.

OK, Lisa, to stay in -

in which decade did the West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts

make his test debut?

Needless to say, I've never heard of him.

I don't know. Well done, Richard. 1980s.

No, 1970s. You're out, Lisa, I'm afraid.

Richard, you're in the final round. Well done.

Maybe the tide is turning on our not Drowning Fish.

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

Bad luck, Lisa. And on James Hunt, you were only one year out.

-He was 1947.

-Yes, my bad.

As it stands, the Drowning Fish have lost two brains

from the final round.

But they are staging a comeback here and they've taken out an Egghead.

And it's getting exciting. The next subject is Film and TV.

-Who wants this?

-I'll do this one.

-Yeah.

-Graham will take it.

Graham, OK. Which Egghead, Graham?

-Kevin?

-Kevin.

-Kevin.

-Let's try and take Kevin on.

-Yeah.

And we'll take on Kevin.

Very good. So, Graham from the Drowning Fish versus Kevin.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please, for the last time, go to the Question Room.

So, you're up against Kevin. He's very good, as you know.

Would you like to go first or second, Graham?

I will go first, Jeremy.

Here we go.

The TV show Loose Women, Graham, is usually broadcast

at what time of day?

Loose Women, I have seen it before.

It's not tea-time. It's not on at breakfast.

I'm pretty certain that Loose Women is on at lunchtime.

Lunch is right. Well done.

Just seen it out of the corner of your eye...

-Yeah, yeah.

-..as you walk past the set.

Kevin, who plays the title role in the 2016 film Doctor Strange?

They've all starred in superhero films fairly recently.

But this particular one is Benedict Cumberbatch.

It is indeed Benedict Cumberbatch. Well done.

Back to you, Graham. The pop star Lee Ryan joined the cast of which

TV soap in 2017 as Woody Woodward?

Now, I was hoping that...

..soaps wouldn't come up.

The one soap whose name came up

when you are mentioning them

was Coronation Street, so...

Lee Ryan... I think I'm going to say Coronation Street.

EastEnders is the answer, Graham. I'm sorry.

JEREMY SIGHS

Kevin, what is the profession of Tom Hanks's character

in the 1993 film Philadelphia?

He... No, he's not a policeman or a surgeon.

No, his character in that is a lawyer.

Yeah, with the brilliant Bruce Springsteen song.

-You're right, lawyer is correct.

-Streets Of Philadelphia.

A moving film. So Kevin is ahead, Graham,

and you need to get this one right to stay in.

What type of animal is Rocket,

the character voiced by Bradley Cooper

in the Guardians Of The Galaxy films?

OK, I've seen both of the Guardians Of The Galaxy films

and my kids would never let me live it down if I said panda.

And they'd never let me live it down if I said hyena.

Rocket is a raccoon.

You're absolutely right. Well done, raccoon is the answer.

No way to guess that if you haven't seen them.

All right, level,

but, Kevin, you have this question in hand.

So to get you into the final,

which of these Sandra Bullock films took the most money at the

worldwide box office using, by the way,

figures unadjusted for ticket price inflation?

Hate this sort of question.

A certain logic in terms of...

..its profile, its prominence says Speed.

But this... The worldwide box office thing can really throw things out

because different countries have different interests.

Anyway, I'm going to say Speed.

Yes, I was thinking like you.

But we're both wrong. It's Gravity.

-Is it Gravity?

-Yeah.

-Really?

It's... They're horrible, those.

It's almost not a fact.

-Yeah.

-All right, so it's level.

Graham, a slight let off there.

And we now go to Sudden Death again.

In 2004, which American talk show host gave every member

of her studio audience a car to mark the opening episode

of her 19th series?

I do know this, thankfully.

But I'll feel very silly if I say I know it and I don't know it.

But I'm pretty certain that's Oprah Winfrey.

It is Oprah Winfrey, well done.

Kevin, who starred as Brian O'Connor

in many of the Fast And Furious films?

Well, I believe it was the...

..the actor who tragically died in a car accident, Paul Walker.

Paul Walker is correct.

Graham, who played Melanie Hamilton

in the 1939 film Gone With The Wind?

OK...

Gone With The Wind, I have seen this.

Was it Vivien Leigh?

-No, it's Olivia de Havilland.

-Oh!

So, Kevin can take the round.

Gary Busey was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his role as which

singer, Kevin, in a 1978 film?

Well, he played Buddy Holly in a biopic about Buddy Holly.

So, Buddy Holly.

Buddy Holly is the correct answer, Kevin.

You've taken the round. Sorry, Graham.

You were so close there.

Oh, so, so close. And you played really, really well.

Appreciation of that. And I'm afraid you're out.

Kevin's in the final. Come back to us.

We will play that final round for £3,000.

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 won't be allowed

to take part in this round.

So, Ciaran, Graham and Andy from the Drowning Fish

and also Lisa from the Eggheads, would you please leave the studio?

Nick and Richard, you're playing to win the Drowning Fish £3,000.

Steve, Chris, Kevin and Judith,

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, gentlemen, and you can confer.

So, Drowning Fish, the question is, can your two brains

defeat these four and stop them getting into a roll

or a streak, or whatever they want to call it?

-Do you want to go first or second?

-We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, Nick and Richard, good luck to you. General Knowledge.

What is the meaning of the word truculent?

-It's aggressively defiant.

-Aye.

It's definitely aggressively defiant.

I think we can rule out quietly happy and cheerfully optimistic.

-So, I'm with you on that one.

-Yeah.

-OK.

We're going to go with aggressively defiant, please, Jeremy.

Aggressively defiant is correct.

Well done.

Eggheads, what shape is cannelloni pasta?

-Tube.

-Tube, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I think we all agreed that's tube, Jeremy.

Tube is correct. Well done.

Challengers, in geometry, which of these angles

would be described as reflex?

60 degrees is acute.

150 is obtuse because it's between 180 and zero.

So reflex is around it, so it's 210.

-There's no way I can argue with you on this one.

-Right.

I think... I think 60 is acute,

150 is obtuse,

and 210 is the answer.

It's a reflex angle, 210 degrees.

-Because it goes past 180?

-Yeah.

-OK.

210 degrees is quite right.

Eggheads, Jack McConnell, First Minister of Scotland

from 2001 to 2007, is a member of which political party?

-Labour.

-Labour.

-Yeah.

I'm reliably informed, Jeremy, that's Labour.

Labour is correct.

So 2-2, and we go back to the Challengers, the Drowning Fish.

What is the capital of Kyrgyzstan?

-I can spell it for you if you want.

-Yes, please. Can you spell it?

K-Y-R-G-Y-Z-S-T-A-N.

-It's not Tashkent.

-Are you sure?

-It's definitely not Tashkent.

That's somewhere else.

This is, what's it called?

-Kyrgyzstan.

-Kyrgyzstan.

Bishkek looks like it.

But I think it might be Dushanbe just because of the name.

Dushanbe, it's unusual for Kyrgyzstan.

You know what I mean? I think Bishkek.

I suppose, on how it sounds, my natural instinct would

be to go for Bishkek.

-But...

-But I think it may be the last one.

What do you think? Bishkek, Dushanbe?

I think I'll go along with you, then.

Right, we don't know this.

We are ruling out Tashkent.

That's some other country near there.

Bishkek sounds attractive. I think...

There's just something in the back of my mind says

it's an unusual capital, Kyrgyzstan.

So, we're going to go with Dushanbe.

All right, let's just go through these.

Tashkent, first of all, Eggheads?

-Uzbekistan.

-Uzbekistan.

-Dushanbe?

-Tajikistan.

-Tajikistan.

Bishkek is Kyrgyzstan.

They're all the so-called "stans",

but Bishkek was the one we were looking for.

It's very difficult to choose between them.

Eggheads, you have a chance to take the contest now on this third

question. In Greek mythology, who is the mother of Heracles?

-Yeah, it's not Danae, is it?

-Yeah.

-No, it's...

-Isn't Leto...

Gemini, the twins, isn't she that one? Or have I got that wrong?

Let me think, because I... I thought...

I might be getting them mixed up.

I can never remember.

I'm sure it's Alcmene.

I thought we knew before the choices came up.

-Let's just have a...

-Well, if you thought it before the choices...

-Danae's Perseus, isn't she?

-Yeah.

-Leto...

-Who's Leto?

That's what's... That's what's bothering me.

The thing is, I'm sure they're both associated

in one way or another with Heracles.

Well, the only one with a serious connection with Heracles is Alcmene.

-Yeah.

-I'd bet my bottom dollar on that.

Well, yeah, I'm torn.

-OK.

-Well, we've got...

Yeah, OK.

Reservations, Jeremy, but personally, I think it is Alcmene.

No, fair enough.

-That's what we're going to say.

-Yeah.

-Leto is the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

-OK...

Alcmene was the mother of Heracles.

You got it absolutely right.

We say congratulations, Eggheads,

you have won.

Well done. Commiserations, but well done.

You played well in the final round there.

And, yeah, the mythology is never-ending, is it...

-Yeah.

-..as far as quiz answers is concerned?

-It goes on and on.

Goes on and on. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

most of the time. And here you are back reigning over quiz land again.

So it does mean you won't be going home with the £3,000, Challengers,

so we roll the money over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

It's starting to look as if you are pretty unbeatable.

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

to take them down. £4,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.