Episode 56 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.

Now, before we start, Kevin has a teaser for you.

So, Kevin, what is it?

Well, it's a film one, and it's about that...

always shown at Easter almost, classic, The Great Escape.

I'm hoping this isn't giving a spoiler

because nearly everybody's seen the film.

But at the end of the film,

three of the characters successfully do get away.

So, the question is -

what are the nationalities of those three characters?

Not the actors, the characters.

OK, we're going to find out the answer to that

at the end of the show.

You don't have to answer that question, Challengers.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

Hare Of The Dog from Lancashire. Now, this team battle it out

every Monday night at the pub quiz in the Hare and Hounds in Blackburn.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm John, I'm a semi-retired graphic design lecturer.

Hi, my name's Jeff and I'm a wallpaper printer.

Hi, I'm Julian and I'm a supermarket assistant.

Hi, I'm Lee and I'm a quality technician.

Hi, I'm Paul and I'm a wallpaper packer.

So, John and team, hello.

-Hello!

-Welcome. You've come together in this pub, John?

Yes, every Monday night.

We don't play in the same teams,

so this is the first time we've got together as a quiz team.

And what's the atmosphere like at the pub quiz?

-Competitive.

-Good.

-And friendly.

-So, you know the show, you know what they're capable of,

-these Eggheads?

-Yeah, I'm afraid we do.

And you like a bit of live comedy John, I know?

-Yeah, I love it, yes.

-Good,

and these five are capable of a bit of comedy from time to time.

-Not intentional!

-Not deliberate.

Not always deliberately!

-Are you ready to play?

-Yes.

-Good stuff.

-Definitely.

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.

Hare of the Dog, the Eggheads have won the last three on the trot,

so they're picking up a bit of speed.

And it means there's £4,000 for you to win if you can take them down.

-Would you like to try?

-Oh, yes!

Good, the first head-to-head battle is on Politics.

So, one of you against either Dave,

Lisa, Steve, Kevin or Judith.

-Politics, chaps?

-Politics!

-Julian, are we thinking?

-Do you want me to have a go at that?

-You want Paul to have a go?

-Do you want to have a go at that, Paul?

-It's not our strongest round, is it?

-No.

-I'll do Politics.

-You sacrifice yourself for the team?

-Yes, I'll sacrifice myself.

-All right, Paul.

Choose an Egghead.

Who looks vulnerable?

Never easy, never easy.

Who looks vulnerable? Lisa.

-Lisa looks vulnerable.

-Oh, straight into the comedy, yeah!

So, Paul from Hare of the Dog versus Lisa from the Eggheads on Politics.

But to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions now

in our legendary Question Room.

So, Paul, you are a wallpaper packer.

That's correct, Jeremy.

Meaning you work in a warehouse, do you?

No, I work on the actual shop floor of the factory.

I work on the finished end of the machine,

as the wallpaper is made and comes through.

And I wind it, put it in to wrap it and then put it into boxes.

Fantastic, and so many different varieties these days,

-aren't there?

-Yes, yes, there certainly is.

The way you print them as well, the machinery is so advanced.

Yes, you may be better speaking to Jeff about that

but we have lots of...

We have gravure printing and we have screen printing at work.

Does it go off all over the world or over the UK, or just locally?

No, it's all over the world. We have offices all over the world now.

All right, I can't hang wallpaper, that's for sure.

I tried once and it was an absolute disaster.

So, Politics, Paul. Would you like to go first or second?

Second, please, Jeremy.

Here we go.

Lisa, in 2010, Amber Rudd became the MP for Hastings and Rye,

representing which political party?

Amber Rudd is a Conservative.

That's right. All right, Paul, your first question.

The EEC, a forerunner of the European Union,

was founded in which year?

Oh, that's tough.

I would think '37's too early.

'87's too... I'll go for '57.

Yes, absolutely, 1957, well done.

-Well done, Paul.

-Good start.

All right, Lisa. Which British Prime Minister

has been criticised for what critics have referred to as

their sofa government style of decision making whilst in office?

Well, sofa government sort of implies a cosy,

"What do you think? What do you think? What do you think?"

style of consultation.

I can't really make that work with Margaret Thatcher.

Or she'd have been known as the Velvet Lady.

I'm not really liking it for Tony Blair either.

I could be wrong, but I will try David Cameron.

-How interesting.

-It is Blair, then.

Well, it absolutely is Blair. It was the big thing about him.

-I didn't know that.

-The Chilcot Inquiry and all kinds of stuff found

that he didn't really listen to people outside his close circle.

Tony Blair is the answer.

OK, Paul, your question.

In 2007, who did the Lib Dem MP Vince Cable say had undergone

a remarkable transformation in the past few weeks

from Stalin to Mr Bean?

That's...

Politics isn't my strongest subject, I'm afraid.

But I'm going to go for Gordon Brown.

You're absolutely right, it was Gordon Brown,

cos he was Prime Minister.

Unforgettable line, he's pulled ahead here, Lisa.

Your question. What was the name of the controversial honours list

that was announced by Harold Wilson following his resignation in 1976?

I've heard of the Lilac List.

And I looked at Lavender List and thought, oh, hang on...

Perhaps it's that. I'm sure I've heard of the Lilac List, though.

I think on balance, I will go with the Lilac List.

Oh, you're having a 'mare.

-Oh, it's the Lavender List?

-Yeah, it is.

-Oh, man!

I think it's Marcia Falkender, is that who it was?

Judith, you explain to us what this is.

-Well, it was drawn up by Marcia Falkender.

-Yeah.

On lavender-coloured writing paper.

-And she was his adviser, secretary?

-Secretary. Yes.

Right, Lavender List is the answer, Lisa. You've been knocked out.

Paul, what about that? You've taken on an Egghead, you've won.

-That's unbelievable.

-You've just done it!

Made it look easy, on Politics as well.

Lisa, you're out of the final round.

-If you're going to tank it, tank it in style.

-Yeah, why not?

Come back to us, please, and rejoin your teams.

Good start for Hare of the Dog.

-They're cheering in the pub, no doubt about it.

-They will be!

So, you've not lost any brains from the final round.

Well done, Paul. And the Eggheads have lost Lisa.

The next subject, guys, is Music.

So, John, who wants this?

-There's a few of you on music. Which?

-Either Jeff or Lee.

-I'm happy to go for it.

-I think you're better off, Jeff, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Yes?

It's either me or Jeff.

-Sounds good.

-I think Jeff.

-Jeff.

-OK, Jeff, good, I can continue my wallpaper questions.

-I've got stuff to ask you.

-You're on a roll!

Yeah, I'm on a roll! Who said that? That was brilliant!

That's the best joke we've had on Eggheads

for the last 700 programmes!

OK, Jeff, who do you want to take on?

I'm thinking Judith.

-Music?

-Yes. Judith.

All right, Jeff from Hare of the Dog versus

Judith from the Eggheads. Please go to the Question Room now.

-Good luck, Jeff.

-Thank you, Jeremy.

And you're another wallpaper maker, so we can now do

all our wallpaper questions we've always wanted to know.

Do you do flock wallpaper still?

Very rarely. It's something that we tend to send out

to other manufacturers.

Are there different textures that come off the printer

or does it just print onto the same material all the time?

No, no, many, many, varied, different textures

using different papers or substrates.

Quite a complicated process.

We use what we call rotary screen printing.

-And how big are the machines? They must be enormous.

-Very, very large.

From the start of the machine to the finishing end where Paul works,

it's probably the size of two football pitches.

Wow! Two football pitches, can you imagine?

That's incredible. All right, Music, Jeff.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll take Paul's lead and I'll go second, please, Jeremy.

All right, Judith, your question.

The stage musical My Fair Lady is set in which city?

Well, it's in London.

-London is correct.

-Yes.

-Were you doubtful?

Well, it seemed to be so obvious, I was doubtful.

Yeah. Jeff, your question. Who's played the drums

in the Rolling Stones for over 50 years?

I'm pretty sure it's Charlie Watts.

It is indeed Charlie Watts.

Absolutely, Keith Richards...

-Well, the other two are both guitarists.

-Guitarists,

-lead guitar, rhythm guitar.

-Somebody told me that...

I think I was watching a documentary on the Stones,

that the unusual thing about them is you don't have a rhythm section of

Charlie Watts playing with the bassist, who had been Bill Wyman.

It's just Keith Richards and Charlie Watts,

and Charlie Watts plays along with Keith Richards.

Isn't that interesting? Completely different way of...

Probably safer than trying to get Keith Richards to follow anyone,

-I should think.

-Yeah, possibly.

Judith, "Is it my imagination

"or have I finally found something worth living for?"

are the opening lines to which Britpop song?

I'm just trying to relate it to the titles.

Well, I think it would be

either Cigarettes And Alcohol or Connection...

..relating it to the titles. And I think

I'm going to say Connection because I think that sounds more likely.

-No, it's not.

-Parklife.

No, it's not Parklife, that's different, it's the other one.

-It's Cigarettes And Alcohol by Oasis.

-Oh, right.

Challengers, this is good!

If you get this right, Jeff, you'll take the lead.

More Life is a 2017 album by which recording artist?

Not my favourite genre.

I don't think it's Beyonce.

I'm going to plump for Drake.

-Let's see whether the Challengers know. Is he right?

-I think so.

Yes, you're right, well done, Jeff. You've taken the lead.

Oh, Judith.

-You're on the edge as well here.

-Hmm.

Anything You Can Do and Cheek To Cheek are songs written by whom?

# Anything you can do I can do better. #

I think it's Cole Porter.

-No!

-Eggheads?

-Annie Get Your Gun, it's Irving Berlin.

Annie Get Your Gun, it's Irving Berlin.

-Oh, blast!

-Judith, that was...

I thought that was your home territory, that.

-You've gone as well.

-No, it's before my time!

What is going on? We've got a bit of a batting collapse here.

Judith is out as well. Well done, Jeff,

you took on an Egghead and you won, there's no way back for her.

-So, you're in the final round.

-Thank you.

This is looking a bit lively, isn't it? 2-0.

Come back, we'll play round three.

Well, what's happening here?

-John?

-Bit of a pasting.

-Pasting!

-Getting a bit of a pasting, Eggheads.

They're all coming out now!

Yeah, every time you lose a round, we're having a pun.

As it stands, Hare of the Dog have not lost any brains

from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost two.

It's just mayhem over there!

The next subject is Sport.

-So, who would like this?

-It's got to be...

-Shall I take Sport?

-Lee, I think.

-It's Lee.

-Lee or Julian, isn't it?

-Do you want to take Sport?

-I'll take Sport, Jeremy.

-OK, Lee.

Bit of confidence here in the challenging team.

And you can take on either Dave, Steve or Kevin.

I'll have a try at Steve, I think.

All right, Lee from Hare of the Dog playing Steve on Sport.

Is this a turning point for the Eggheads

or is the rout going to get even worse,

and we're going to unload another pun?

To ensure there's no conferring, please go to the Question Room.

All right, Lee, I know you don't work in a wallpaper yourself,

but we're starting to stack up a lot of wallpaper related lines here.

-Yeah.

-John says he can see a pattern developing.

-Oh!

-He's good at those, is John!

So, if you can knock out Steve, you really are starting to press them.

Would you like to go first or second on Sport?

I'll carry on and do what the other boys have done.

I'll go second, Jeremy.

Eggheads having an awful day today, let's see.

Steve, your question. In 2016,

which female tennis player surpassed Roger Federer's record

for the most number of matches won in singles Grand Slam events?

If it's 2016, Jeremy, it must be Serena Williams,

-I'd have thought.

-Serena is right.

Serena Williams. OK,

back to you, Lee. In 1997,

which Spanish golfer became the first person from outside the UK

to captain Europe's Ryder Cup team?

Golf I'm not very strong on, Jeremy,

but I think it would be too early for Sergio Garcia.

Olazabal, I don't think so, I'm going to go for Seve Ballesteros.

The much missed Ballesteros is the right answer.

Seve Ballesteros.

One each. Steve, back to you.

Kevin De Bruyne has represented which country

in international football?

Kevin De Bruyne...

That's Belgium, Jeremy.

It is Belgium, well done.

OK, Lee.

The married couple Chris and Gabby Adcock won gold medals

at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in which sport?

Hmm, could you repeat that question, Jeremy, please?

The married couple Chris and Gabby Adcock won gold medals

at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in which sport?

Really not sure. Um...

But I shall have a stab at figure skating.

-Eggheads, do we know?

-Badminton.

-Badminton is the answer.

Badminton, all right...

Steve, get this right, you're in the final round.

Emmitt Smith, born in Florida in 1969,

is a famous name in which sport?

Emmitt Smith.

What was the year again, sorry, Jeremy?

Born in Florida in 1969.

I don't think it's ice hockey,

and I don't recognise his name in athletics.

I'm going to try American football.

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

American football is the right answer, Steve.

Well done, three out of three. Sorry, Lee.

Knocked out by our Egghead, they're just pushing back now.

Return to us, one more round to play before the final.

As it stands, Hare of the Dog have lost one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost two.

Still behind and let's see what this round brings, it's Geography.

So, get another Egghead out, you've got a good chance in the final.

-Who wants this?

-It's up to you.

-Julian?

-Do you want me to take it?

No, how do you feel about it?

I think you should stay in the final.

I think we should save Julian for the final.

Yeah, I think I'll take a hit for the team there.

OK, John. Great stuff, against which Egghead?

And there's only two left, it's Dave or Kevin.

-It's got to be Kevin.

-All right,

John from Hare of the Dog to take on Kevin,

the Grand Master from the Eggheads on Geography.

And please go to the Question Room.

Well, we've got no end of wallpaper puns now, John.

You're facing the most decorated Egghead.

-Oh!

-All right, so, John, good luck against Kevin, here we go.

Get this round under your belt, who knows?

Geography, do you want to go first or second?

Go first, I think.

Here we go with your first question.

The Golden Gate Bridge lies on the northern edge of which US city?

OK, well, it's not Chicago.

Neither do I think it's Los Angeles, I'm going to go for San Francisco,

-Jeremy.

-San Francisco is quite right.

-Come on!

Kevin, in which part of the world

is the historic town of Jericho?

Well, it's in the West Bank area of, well, Israel-Palestine.

Anyway, it's Middle East.

Middle East is correct.

OK, back to you, John.

Harlem is an area in which New York borough?

Well, it's not Staten Island.

I've been to New York about 20 times.

Brooklyn, it's not Brooklyn either.

It's on Manhattan Island.

Manhattan is quite right, well done.

-Go on, John!

-Good play, two to you.

One to Kevin. Kevin, your question.

Which of these UK cities is the most northerly?

Right, OK. Well...

Sometimes you have to be a bit careful with this sort of question

because of the curvature of the Earth,

but in this case, I'm pretty sure it's Aberdeen.

Yes, it's Aberdeen. Back to you, John, for your third question.

The flag of which African country features a silk cotton tree,

also known as the God tree, in the centre?

Hmm...

I knew it was too good to last!

I'm not sure.

I'm going to take a punt on this and say...

..Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea, let's see if the Challengers know, Challengers?

We'd have guessed at Lesotho, I think.

Lesotho, I'm trying to visualise.

Kevin, can you help us with Lesotho's flag?

Well, the Lesotho flag has changed a few times in the last few decades.

It's got a symbol in it, but it's essentially

-a traditional tribal hat.

-Yeah.

The one that's got the tree is Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea is the right answer.

Good play! Well, he's played well there, three out of three, Kevin.

Under pressure now. Got to paper over the cracks here.

-Ah!

-The limestone formations, known as pancake rocks,

are a feature of which country?

You've got me there.

I really don't know, I don't think I've heard of those.

Hmm...

Limestone.

Without having heard of them,

it's obviously going to come down to a one in three.

-I'll try Ireland.

-Ireland...

Because there are some big limestone...

I'm worried about that because I thought maybe I would have heard it.

But I can't get anything from it at all.

Yeah. It's on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, Kevin,

you've been knocked out. Well done, John! Oh, I say,

I say, I say! This is now...

..very, very lively.

OK, we have sadly at this point run out of wallpaper puns completely.

But, John, you've taken on maybe THE Egghead and you've knocked him out,

which is great news for you in the final.

Please come back and we'll play it.

Well, Challengers, you are giving them a pasting at the moment

and this is what we've been playing towards.

It is time for the final round. As always, it's General Knowledge.

It's set in a really interesting way now,

because those who lost your head to heads are not allowed to take part.

So, that is Lee from Hare of the Dog,

but it is also Lisa, Kevin and Judith from The Eggheads.

Please leave the studio.

John, Jeff, Julian and Paul,

you are playing to win Hare of the Dog £4,000.

Dave and Steve, you're playing in a last ditch effort here

to defend the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They're all General Knowledge and you can confer.

Gents, so, Hare of the Dog, the question is,

can your four brains finish off these two over here?

You know it won't be easy.

Good luck, do you want to go first or second?

I think we'll go second, please, Jeremy.

So, we start with you, Eggheads, Steve and Dave.

Which celebrity chef named his fifth child River Rocket in August 2016?

-Jamie Oliver's got five kids, hasn't he?

-If we're talking daft names,

-it's got to be.

-Also five kids as well.

-I don't think the other two have five kids.

-Yeah.

So, we're happy with Jamie Oliver?

-Happy with that, mate.

-Can we have Jamie Oliver, please?

Jamie Oliver's the right answer.

OK, over to you. Who replaced Sam Allardyce

as the manager of Sunderland Football Club in July 2016?

-David...

-Yeah, Moyes definitely.

-David Moyes, yes.

-100%?

-Yes.

We think it's David Moyes, Jeremy.

David Moyes is correct, one each.

We go back to the Eggheads.

The Altamira Cave, renowned for its wall and ceiling paintings,

is located in which European country?

-Spain.

-Spain.

-I thought it was Spain.

-Yeah.

We believe that to be Spain, Jeremy.

It's good, you both know it. Spain is right.

Challengers, which band

whose lead singer Larry Blackman wore a trademark red codpiece,

had a UK hit single with Word Up in 1986?

-Cameo.

-Cameo?

-Yeah, Cameo.

We're all agreed on Cameo, Jeremy.

Cameo's right. Well done! I've never heard of Cameo.

This is terrible, I guess we could have ruled...

Dave, you and I like the same music,

we could have ruled out the other two.

Errol Brown's Hot Chocolate and Jimmy...

Oh, Commodores! No, Lionel Richie.

But what was Cameo, then?

Cameo was the one with the codpiece,

and I think when it was on Top Of The Pops,

it attracted some of the biggest complaints.

-OK! I have to look that up.

-Yeah.

All right, so two each.

Third question, Eggheads.

The actress Judy Loe,

whose roles include Jan Goddard in Casualty and Holby City

is the mother of which successful film actress?

Judy Loe, spelt L-O-E.

It's Kate Beckinsale, yeah,

-cos it's Richard Beckinsale's widow, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Yeah, so Kate Beckinsale.

The answer's Kate Beckinsale, please, Jeremy.

You're playing in a very sure-footed way.

Kate Beckinsale is the right answer.

So far, defending the money, the £4,000.

You need this to stay in, Challengers.

Don't let it end here, after everything you've done.

The University of Notre Dame, or "Noter Dame", is in which US state?

-It's not Alabama.

-No.

Take your time.

Because it's the Catholics... Oh!

More leaning towards...

I'm leaning towards Indiana.

-Are you?

-But I don't know...

For what reason?

It's a big Catholic place, but I don't know, Rhode Island.

-It's on that bit.

-We're ruling out

-Alabama?

-Alabama's not...

I haven't heard of it in Rhode Island.

Well, I think it's Indiana.

-Do you want to...?

-That would be my...

-OK.

-Not 100%.

-No, no.

We'll go 50-50 on that.

We're not 100%,

but I think we're going to go for Indiana.

Indiana is your answer.

Is this the end of the contest?

If you've got it wrong, it is.

It's not Alabama,

you were right to rule that out.

-Eggheads, do you know?

-It's Indiana.

Indiana is the right answer.

-Yes!

-Well done. So, three questions each and the scores level.

This is a great contest today.

We go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder because it's not multiple-choice.

And we start with you, Eggheads. Steve and Dave.

Which prestigious prize did Jean-Paul Sartre decline

in October 1964,

explaining that he always refused official distinctions

and did not want to be institutionalised?

-Nobel Prize for Literature, isn't it?

-Don't need to say a word, mate.

-Yeah, are you happy with that?

-I'm very happy with that.

Nobel Prize for Literature.

We believe that's the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Completely right, well done, Dave.

Nobel Prize for Literature.

This is the trouble with going second!

You're on the back foot a bit, but you've not misstepped so far,

that's for sure. So, your question.

Which chemical element, discovered in 1843, has the symbol Er?

Where's Lee when you want him?

Even Lee'd struggle on this.

-Er.

-Do you remember the one? Well...

It's a fantastic answer, Einsteinium wouldn't come in, would it?

I've a feeling that Einsteinium was 1910 or something like that.

Could it be named after Ernest Rutherford,

could it be Rutherfordium or something like that?

At that time, yes.

-Is there such a thing?

-I think there is.

-I could be making it...

-Well, I don't think it's Einsteinium,

so I think we'll go with that one.

It's Er for Ernest Rutherford, I don't know if it's Rutherford,

-I don't know if there's...

-I don't think we're going to get this.

I don't think we'll come up with owt else, so...

No, we haven't got anything else, I'm afraid.

Right? Yeah, go on.

It's a shot in the dark, this, Jeremy,

but I think we're going to go for Rutherfordium.

Rutherfordium?

OK. Now, if you've got it wrong, the contest is over.

Let's just work through this.

Eggheads, don't say the answer, but Rutherfordium

we had come up the other day. Is that Ru?

-Rm.

-Rf, I think.

-Rf, And now they mentioned Einsteinium or...

-That's Es.

-Es, do you know what Er is?

-Erbium.

-The answer is erbium on the periodic table.

And that answer means I have to say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

Played well.

Always helps a little bit when they know it,

cos I always think if it was the other way round,

it wouldn't have caught them.

But erbium, is that radioactive or what?

-Do we know?

-It's one of these four elements that was discovered

in a Swedish village called Ytterby, and they all took the name from it,

like ytterbium, and terbium and erbium.

I can't tell you much more about it, to be fair.

OK, well, that's quite a lot to know.

Eggheads, they are good even when there are just two of them.

-Certainly are.

-You've been a brilliant team of challengers.

My goodness, you just whipped through them in the early stages.

Knocked out Kevin. But in the end, the final round,

this last-ditch defence has been successful.

We say commiserations.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

-Fantastic.

-Thank you.

-We loved learning about the wallpaper.

We needed a wallpaper-related team name, I think.

So, the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them

and here they are, reigning supreme over quiz land.

It does mean that you won't be going home with the £4,000,

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

Who will beat you?

Now, Kevin, you had a question.

It was about The Great Escape

and the nationalities of the three characters

who successfully get away at the end of the film.

The tricky bit is that two of them are played by American actors,

but they weren't playing Americans.

So, one of the three was British, played by John Leyton,

pop singer and actor.

Another was Polish, played by Charles Bronson.

And the third one, with an extremely dodgy accent,

was Australian played by James Coburn.

OK, brilliant question, brilliant answer.

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

to bring this run the Eggheads are on to an end.

There'll be £5,000 to play for.

Until then, goodbye.