Episode 65 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.

Smiling but also looking menacing, I think.

-No!

-Wherever you're watching, if you want to solve a question,

Dave has a teaser for you.

Yes, Dagen H refers to which particular event in Swedish history?

-Dagen H.

-Yep.

-An event in Swedish history.

We'll have the answer for you at the end of the show.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions

today are The Chefs.

Now, this team of students

from the University of Nottingham

take their name from their shared love of cooking.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Freddie and I'm a classics student.

Hi, I'm Dan and I'm a physics student.

Hi, there, my name is Joe and I'm a philosophy student.

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

Hi, I'm Daniel and I'm studying architecture.

-So, Freddie and team, hello.

-Hello.

-Great to see you.

So University of Nottingham, Freddie.

Yes. Yes. We are currently third years

and we'll be graduating soon.

And have you got lots of different subjects covered here?

Yeah, we've got quite a wide range of topics, I think,

so hopefully we've got enough knowledge in general

-to beat the Eggheads here today.

-And crucially, cooking, you all cook.

Yeah, I mean, me and Joe are actually going to write

our own student cookbook, hopefully, one day.

We're quite big on cooking in the house.

We've got our own, like, speciality meals, each of our own.

I think Joe quite likes...

My speciality's a mushroom risotto.

-Really?!

-What time's dinner?

-LAUGHTER

We didn't have this at... when I was at college.

-It's just... It was just Pot Noodle.

-No, no, no.

So you're properly using, you know, the stove and everything.

I think we like to think we're better than we actually are,

but, yeah, we rate ourselves quite highly, don't we, guys?

Brilliant. Good luck, Challengers.

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

but if the Challengers fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money just rolls over to the next show. Now, Chefs,

these eggy Eggheads have won the last 12 games.

OK? And we need you to fry them up and cook them and serve them today.

And if you do, you will win £13,000.

-Wow.

-Right.

So it's a serious amount of money as a jackpot.

Would you like to get cracking?

Yeah, let's do it, guys.

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

So it's one of you, please, against Dave,

Lisa, Steve, Kevin, or Judith.

All right. Film & TV guys, what do you reckon?

Shall we go with Dan, yeah?

-Yeah.

-We'd like to have Daniel for TV.

OK, Daniel.

Against which Egghead, Dan? Look at them all there.

Ready to be broken open.

Go for Steve, I think.

-I think we're going to go for Steve.

-Good stuff.

Daniel from The Chefs to play Steve from the Eggheads.

Film & TV the subject.

Is this going to be the day the jackpot goes?

Please take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

So, Daniel, do you want to go first or second?

I think I'm going to go second.

OK, good luck to you both and, Steve, we start with you.

Which TV character is famous for using a sonic screwdriver?

Is it...

Well, actually you couldn't have given me a better question, Jeremy,

cos I've watched Doctor Who from being a small child

and I know full well he has a sonic screwdriver.

So my answer is The Doctor from Doctor Who.

The Doctor from Doctor Who is the right answer, Steve, well done.

Daniel,

who plays the role of John in the TV comedy series Car Share?

Is it...

Er, I think I've got this one.

My mum's a big fan of him.

It's Peter Kay.

Peter Kay is correct.

One each. Back to you, Steve.

In which part of the UK is the TV drama series Happy Valley set?

Yeah. It's Raquel, isn't it, Sarah Lancashire.

I think it's Yorkshire.

Yorkshire is right.

OK, Daniel.

The archaeologist Dr Rene Belloc appears in which of these films?

Um...well, I mean, I've seen Jurassic Park.

Er, and Jaws but not the Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

Well, seeing as Jurassic Park is all about dinosaurs,

I'm going to go with that, so Jurassic Park.

Is he right, Steve?

I'm not exactly sure with the title of the character,

but because you've said archaeologist,

I would probably be inclined towards Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Daniel, is the answer.

So back to Steve for his third question,

and you can take the round with this, Steve.

Which film, for which Susan Sarandon won an Oscar,

is based on a book by Sister Helen Prejean? Is it...

Yeah, it's quite a moving film actually, Jeremy.

It's Dead Man Walking.

Very good. Susan Sarandon was indeed in Dead Man Walking.

Dead Man Walking is the right answer. He's got three out of three.

That's... I know that's tough on you, Daniel,

so you're beaten by our Egghead and you won't be in the final.

Please return to us, both of you. Early days. We'll play on.

-OK. Well, Daniel, sorry, but that can happen.

-Yeah.

And The Chefs have lost a brain from the final round,

but it's really, really early and just keep pressing now,

Freddie and team. Keep the hob on.

Keep the gas on. The next subject is Science.

-Science.

-I guess that's me, then.

-I think that's you.

-Are you sure?

-Who are you going to take on?

Did we say Judith before?

I think Judith would be good.

I think I'll have this one, Jeremy, and, I think, take on Judith.

-OK, Dan.

-Oh, no, really?

Your, your subject is?

-Physics.

-Physics, OK.

-Hopefully it comes up.

So, Dan, from The Chefs versus Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room.

Here we are on Science.

Good luck, Dan, don't be intimidated by Judith.

-I won't be.

-Would you like to go first or second?

Er, I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, here is your question.

Which of these is a condition that occasionally affects elephants?

Is it...

Well, I'm not familiar with this exact syndrome,

but guessing by the fact that you wouldn't really

ever get a floppy tusk

and a floppy trunk is probably necessary for survival,

I suppose floppy ears syndrome would be the...

answer that would lead it me to, so I'll go for that.

It's a very good question and it's trickier than it looks.

-The answer is floppy trunk syndrome...

-Really?

-..Dan.

All right, Judith. Which of these bones

are located in the human hand?

Well, vertebrae are in your back.

Intercostals must be something to do with your ribs...

I think it's metacarpals.

Metacarpals is right.

Right, Dan. What word taken from

the Latin refers to the region of

completely dark shadow cast by the Earth or Moon during an eclipse?

So my understanding of zenith is it's more of a...

..sun-related. I would assume that's seeing...

Something doing with seeing the sun.

Umbra is something to do with being dark,

I don't know the Latin origins of it.

And again, they're all something... They're all to do with...

..circles, I can tell you that much.

But I'd have to go for umbra just because it's got that association in

my brain with darkness and shadow.

Is he right, Challengers? What do you think?

-Think so.

-Yeah, they like it.

Yeah, umbra is correct, well done.

OK, so level.

Judith, your second question.

The process of anodising, in which a metal is given

a protective oxide layer by means of electrolysis,

is most often carried out on which of these metals?

Oh, dear. I don't know.

I thought I knew and I'm not sure that I do.

I'm going to say aluminium.

Aluminium is the right answer, Judith. Well done.

She's not making this easy, Dan, is she?

-No.

-Get this one right and there's still hope.

Get it wrong and you are out.

Which of these birds' names is derived from its distinctive method

of propelling itself across the water?

So...the answer doesn't immediately jump to mind.

I don't know this.

I'll just go for cruiser swan because clipper and steamer,

the steamer duck doesn't make any sense for transport.

Clipper goose seems inefficient to clip the water,

if that's what it means.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Clipping the water to sort of bounce

-along it.

-Yeah, that seems...

Let's see. Judith, do you know this one?

I would have said steamer duck.

I have some sort of instinct about steamer duck.

All right.

It is steamer duck, Daniel.

Oh, dear, knocked out by Judith.

She is good. Scientists on Science, Judith, again.

Another scientist on Science.

Wow! Where will this end?

Please return to us and we'll play round three.

As it stands, The Chefs have lost two brains from the final round.

So the plan to just sizzle and crackle the Eggheads

from the word go hasn't worked, but you can still win, definitely.

We're still confident, I think, aren't we, boys?

Yeah, stay confident, that's good.

All right. So for our brilliant students,

the next subject is Arts & Books.

Now, who would like this?

Arts & Books.

-Probably Joe, right?

-Definitely.

-Who are you going to take on?

-Lisa or Kevin?

-Dave, Lisa or Kevin?

-Take on Kevin.

-Try and knock him out.

-Or Dave.

-Yeah.

THEY CONFER

Your decision. Your decision, Joe.

Jeremy, that will be my category. I'm going to take on Lisa, please.

OK, Joe from The Chefs to take on Lisa from the Eggheads.

Round three can be crucial. Please go to our Question Room.

-Joe, you're a philosophy student.

-That's right, yeah.

All right, good stuff.

Well, Joe, you are playing on Arts & Books.

I know that might take you outside your comfort zone,

but would you like to go first or second?

Can I go second, please, actually?

OK, a philosopher goes second, that's going to get us all thinking.

Right. Lisa,

which of these artists was born in the USA?

I think that's Jackson Pollock.

Jackson Pollock is correct.

Was he just big splashes, basically?

He used to do all sorts of things to his paintings,

-some of them less savoury than others, I believe.

-Yeah.

All right.

Your question now, Joe.

Which classic children's book opens with this line,

"Once there were four children

"whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy"? Is it...

I'm pretty sure it's The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

I'm just going to double-check the names...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I'm going to go for

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

Yeah. Completely right. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

Brilliant.

Lisa, the full title of Agatha Christie's novel

that became the film The Mirror Crack'd

is The Mirror Crack'd from what?

Assuming it's a straight lift from Tennyson,

it would be the mirror crack'd from side to side.

Side to side is quite right.

And we go to Judith, cos you and I were talking about Tennyson

-the other day, weren't we?

-Yes, it's the Lady of Shalott.

The Lady Of Shalott and what's that verse,

that famous verse that begins with the word out?

"Out flew the web and floated wide,

"The mirror crack'd from side to side,

" 'The curse has come upon me,' cried the lady of Shalott."

Oh, amazing!

-And we agreed it's still amazing to read?

-Oh, I love it.

One of my favourite poems.

Do you know it, Lisa? Do you read it sometimes?

I do. I dare say Judith did a perfect rendition there,

-so there's no need, but it's one of my favourites.

-Yeah.

OK, side to side is right.

So, back to you, Joe.

Which of these well-known authors

died in the same year as Shakespeare?

Pretty sure it's not Charles Dickens.

That leaves me with the other two.

I think I'm going to go for, if that's you pronounce it, Moliere.

-It's Cervantes.

-Sure.

OK. So...

..potential advantage and, in fact, a round-winning question

for Lisa now.

Donald Farfrae is a character in which Thomas Hardy novel?

I don't know how central a character he is,

which is bothering me slightly,

cos I probably made a stab at it if it was...

..a central character.

Um, I don't read Hardy for the simple reason

I find him terminally boring.

Um, I don't know.

And I don't think I've got a way of narrowing it down either.

Because I don't really know what most of these are based on.

It sounds sort of vaguely Scottish, but I didn't know

Hardy had any set in Scotland, it's possible that he does.

I think I will go with the one with which I am least familiar, overall,

although, as I say, my familiarity is not great,

and go for Jude The Obscure.

Jude The Obscure.

I see Judith very upset by what you've said about Thomas Hardy.

Yes, I rather like Thomas Hardy.

-Do you know the answer?

-I think it's The Mayor Of Casterbridge.

The Mayor Of Casterbridge.

-OK.

-The Mayor Of Casterbridge

is the right answer and that gives you a way back in, Joe, here,

but you need to get this one right.

Who wrote the long poem Ash Wednesday,

published in its entirety in 1930,

in an attempt to come to terms with his religious struggles

after his conversion to Christianity?

So, you mention Christianity.

I'm pretty sure CS Lewis was Christian.

He did write a book about God, I think.

You know, I'm really not sure about the other two at all.

Just because I have that one kind of link...

CS Lewis writing some kind of book on,

I think, religion and Christianity.

I'm going for CS Lewis.

It's the obvious thing because, yes,

the Christian dimension in Shadowlands and all that.

TS Eliot is the poet

who combines the poetry and the faith.

So it's TS Eliot, this one.

So sorry, Joe, you've been beaten by Lisa.

Lisa's in the final round

and we're going to see if the Challengers can rescue it,

cos we've got one more round before the final.

The Chefs have lost three brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any so far.

The next subject for you and the last one

before the all-important final is Politics.

Now, who wants this?

It's going to be Fred or Freddie.

THEY CONFER

-Go on.

-All right, Jeremy, I think that's going to have to be me.

It's not my area of expertise, but I'll give it a go.

Understood. I'm sure you've got lots of politics going on at university.

Freddie then, against which Egghead?

You've got two left, you've got Dave or Kevin.

I mean, I think I said before I came on the show

that I'd always love to take on Kevin,

but I think we've all lost so many brains already,

I think I'm going to go for Dave and hopefully knock out Dave.

He looks a bit nervous. I'm trying to get in his head here.

Yeah. Yeah, he does.

He looks like he's hiding something.

Freddie from The Chefs versus Dave from the Eggheads.

Please, for the last time, go to our famous Question Room.

So Politics, Freddie. Do you want to go first or second?

I think I'll go first, Jeremy.

Good luck. Who did Nicola Sturgeon

succeed as leader of the SNP in 2014?

Yeah, I don't think it's John Swinney.

I'm pretty sure it's Alex Salmond.

Alex Salmond is quite right, yeah. He was leader for a long time. OK.

Dave, in which month of 2017 did Theresa May

call for a snap general election?

Right. Let me have a think about this,

cos it could go quite easily wrong.

Usually it's about six weeks, isn't it, to a build-up to an election.

Um...yeah.

I do think it was April.

Yeah. April is right.

One could go wrong there.

You can do, yeah, but as I said, it's usually six weeks,

six weeks of campaigning, isn't it?

-So...

-OK. Your question, Freddie.

Nursultan Nazarbayev became he President of which country in 1990,

a position he would go on to hold for over 25 years?

Well, I don't think it sounds too Greek, to honest with you,

so I'm leaning towards the other two options.

It's quite a tough question this one, but I'm going to have to go

straight down the middle and say Kazakhstan, I think.

Yes, Kazakhstan is correct. Well done.

Well done. OK, Dave, in politics,

what is the term for the doctrine and practice

of unlimited centralised authority and sovereignty,

as vested especially in a monarch or dictator?

Right. Dogmatism sounds like you're being dogmatic

and just going on the same path. Doesn't really fit that definition.

Completism, again doesn't really hit me.

I like absolutism because you've got absolute monarchy,

so absolutism is my answer.

I thought totalitarianism would come up or something like that,

but absolutism is a bit more obscure, but it is the right answer.

Well done. 2-2.

You're playing well, Freddie.

See if we can get you into the final here.

The first time the UK had a referendum about whether to remain

in the Common Market,

it was during the term of office of which Prime Minister?

Yeah, I know it's...

I'm pretty sure it's...

around the later half of the 20th century,

but obviously all these Prime Ministers are around that time.

I'm leaning towards...

It's between James Callaghan and Harold Wilson, I think.

I'm going to say James Callaghan.

Ah, you've gone the wrong way, I'm afraid.

I was leaning towards Harold Wilson at first.

I changed my mind actually, so it's frustrating, but...

Harold Wilson is the answer. OK, Dave,

which British Prime Minister was born in 1852?

1852.

-That's a very good question.

-1852.

OK. Right, well, let's have a look at dates here.

Cos if it's David Lloyd George,

that would mean he was in his 60s when he became Prime Minister,

but obviously, there were no old-age pensions,

um, things like that.

Now, Asquith was slightly earlier as the Prime Minister,

but again, could conceivably be there.

Bonar Law was in 1923 and was a very short-term one,

so I can't see him being 71.

Now, just because of the longevity of the career beforehand,

I'm going to go David Lloyd George.

Oh, now, you've gone the wrong way,

but I loved your analysis of it.

-It was Herbert Henry Asquith.

-OK.

So, after three questions, the scores are level.

This is good, Challengers.

You've taken an Egghead to Sudden Death.

Freddie, it gets a bit harder though.

-I don't give you different options for the questions, OK?

-Yep.

Which regulatory body was described by Ed Miliband in 2011

as a toothless poodle?

Which regulatory body?

Trying to think of...

..who regulates...

..TV. Urgh!

Got in my head.

I'm just, I'm going to go, I'm going to say Ofcom.

It's not. I mean, you've gone TV to Ofcom,

which is the right connection,

but if you'd started with the newspapers,

you would've gone to the right answer.

-Do you know, Challengers?

-We were guessing with,

we were toying between YouGov and Ofcom.

Well, YouGov's a part of pollsters.

-Yeah.

-Press Complaints Commission.

The PCC is the answer, cos I think they were in the middle

of that hacking scandal and all that.

So, Dave, Sudden Death.

You have a chance to take the round on this question.

The headquarters of the European Central Bank are in which country?

I think they're in Frankfurt, in Germany. Germany.

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

The answer is Germany.

So Dave is in the final.

Freddie, team captain on the Challengers' side, knocked out.

It's looking difficult, but it's not impossible.

Please return to us, both of you, and we'll see what happens

in the final round with £13,000 to play for.

So how exciting this is. It's what we've been playing towards.

It's time for our final round.

As always, it's General Knowledge.

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

are not in this round, so that is

Freddie, Dan, Joe, and Daniel from The Chefs.

Would you, please, now leave our studio?

So, Fred, you are playing to win The Chefs £13,000.

Dave, Lisa, Steve, Kevin and Judith,

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

which is the Eggheads' reputation, and to keep this run going.

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

This time, they're all General Knowledge.

Normally, I say you can confer.

Obviously that's tricky today.

But the real question at the heart of this, Fred,

is whether your one brain can defeat these five

and I bet it can.

-It's been done before.

-It's been done before more than once.

Would you like to go first or second?

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

So the Eggheads have the first question and here we go.

What name is given to a monument to commemorate a person or persons

not actually buried at the site?

-I think it's a cenotaph. Cenotaph?

-Yeah, yeah.

-It might be cenotaph.

Cenotaph, yeah.

The literal translation is empty tomb and it's cenotaph.

Didn't realise that. Cenotaph is the right answer. Well done.

And now we go to you, Fred.

The Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla is most famous

for revolutionising the music of which traditional dance style?

Oh, that's a tricky one.

Music's probably not... not my strong point.

Argentinian.

I wouldn't associate the waltz with being something Argentinian.

I don't know. I seem to associate tango with something being

more South American. So I think I'm going to go with my gut,

and I think I'll go for tango on that one.

Yep, there is an Argentine tango.

You're absolutely right. Tango is the right answer. Well done.

-OK, Eggheads.

-Who played the role of

Newt Scamander in the 2016 film

Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them?

-Eddie Redmayne.

-Eddie Redmayne.

-Eddie.

Yeah, joining the Potterverse bandwagon, it was Eddie Redmayne.

Eddie Redmayne is right.

So, we move

back to you, Fred.

Old Rowley was a contemporary nickname for which British monarch?

Ooh, that's a difficult one.

I mean, I do a history degree, but that sort of...

I focus mainly on the modern stuff,

so that's quite a difficult question, that.

So I think, I think I heard you say before, "When you don't know,

"go down the middle." So I'm going to go, and go with Charles II.

Charles II is the right answer.

Well done. Two out of two.

Now, we just need them to just have a little problem.

Scleritis is a name for an inflammation

in which part of the human body?

-Eyes.

-It must be the eyes.

-Eyes.

-Sclera in the eye.

-Yep.

-Yeah.

-OK with eye?

-Mm.

We believe that's the eye, Jeremy.

Eye is right. Scleritis is an inflammation of the eye.

OK, they've got their eyes on the target here.

They've got three out of three, so you need to...

Because you let them start, you must get this one right

to stay in the contest for £13,000.

And here's your question, Fred.

Which company's model 1873 rifle became renowned

as "the gun that won the West"?

1873.

Winchester... I think Winchester's more of a shotgun, I think.

Rifle, shotgun...

Remington, I haven't heard of.

Smith & Wesson, I have heard of,

but I'm not quite sure what they specialise in.

I think I'm just rambling here,

cos I don't think I'm going to come to it,

so I think I'll go with the one I know.

I'm going to go for Winchester, cos I think it's a rifle.

"The gun that won the West".

I would've gone for Remington, I must say, but I would've been wrong.

-Winchester's the right answer.

-Well done.

Your team love that.

Look at that team.

OK, well, it's a shame they got their three right,

cos sometimes they can come unstuck on their first three,

and then you would've won £13,000 and game over.

It's not game over, though. We go to Sudden Death.

You're playing really well, Fred. So the Eggheads now have

the first Sudden Death question and as you know, Eggs,

I don't give you alternatives.

Which international award, given annually since 1979

to recognise the contributions of a living architect,

is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Architecture?

-Pritzker Prize.

-Pritzker Prize.

-Yeah, it's the Pritzker Prize.

-Pritzker Prize, yeah?

-That is the Pritzker Prize.

Pritzker is right.

The Pritzker Prize.

All right, it's all about staying in.

-They're good, aren't they?

-They are good, yeah.

Would you have got that?

-I don't think so, no.

-OK.

Which member of the pop band The Monkees

regularly wore a woollen hat?

That's a horrible question, because I've listened to The Monkees,

I love some of their songs, my dad is a big fan.

Unfortunately, I don't know any of the members.

I'm thinking Ray Davies, but I know that's The Kinks.

I don't know why he would've done both.

But I don't really... I don't think I've got a better answer than that.

No, I'm going to have to say Ray Davies, even though I'm very unsure.

-Eggheads?

-Mike Nesmith.

Mike Nesmith is the answer.

But it's a hard reach, given that they're 30 years

-before you were born or something like that.

-Yeah.

So, there we go on Sudden Death.

We have to say congratulations, Eggheads. You have won.

Commiserations to you, Fred.

You did what would have, on other days, won you the contest

to get three right in the final round, but I'm sorry,

the Eggheads are really on storming form at the moment,

so you're meeting them in their best form, their best shape.

This winning streak of yours continues.

It does mean that the Challengers don't go home with the £13,000.

We take that money, we roll it over to our next show

and we say congratulations, Eggs. Who will beat you?

Oh, Dave, you had a question.

Yes, I did.

It was Dagen H.

It was the name given to which particular event in Swedish history?

-Go on, then.

-Right, in 1967,

Sweden changed from driving on the left to driving on the right.

Obviously, it's quite rare around the world for that to happen,

-so that's the answer.

-Wow. Thank you. Dagen H.

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

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

We're going to have our own Dagen H if they do.

£14,000 says they can't do it,

but they get surprised sometimes, don't they?

Until we quiz again, goodbye.