Episode 66 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. Looking forward to today's challenge?

-ALL:

-Oh, yeah.

-OK.

Up against the might of our quiz Goliaths today are

Wolds Apart from Lincolnshire.

Team member Chris has run a local quizzing league for over

26 years, which the majority of the team regularly compete in.

So they sound serious, don't they?

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm John.

I'm an accounts controller

in a chocolate factory.

Hi, I'm Graeme, I'm a retired

professional horse racing punter.

Hi, I'm Chris, and I'm a retired office manager.

Hello. I'm Keith.

I'm a retired primary school teacher.

Hi, I'm Derek and I'm a primary school PE and sport coach.

So, John and team, hello.

-ALL:

-Hi.

-Great to see you. And you're connected to quizzing,

which sounds very promising, John.

Er, yes, that's correct.

Four of us in the team take part in the local Horncastle Quiz League,

on three different teams - myself and Derek are on one team,

Graeme's on another team and Chris is on a third team.

Now as soon as you say the words quiz league,

the ears prick up on this side, don't they, Eggs?

-EGGS:

-Yes.

-Anyone been near the Horncastle Quiz League?

Or are you too worried about it?

-Too worried!

-Frightened.

So they're sizing you up over there.

-Mmm.

-Now, John, you work in a chocolate factory.

-That's correct.

-But you haven't bought any chocolate.

-No. I haven't.

-Judith wants an explanation.

Yes, why haven't you brought any?

Unfortunately the, the accounts there are very tightly regulated...

So getting samples out is very difficult.

-What a pity.

-Why are you called Wolds Apart, may I ask?

Because we live in or near the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Right. Good luck. 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.

I can tell you, Wolds Apart, that the Eggheads are on a...

..is it a roll, or a run or a streak or what?

Whatever it is, it's impressive because they've won the last 13.

-Oh!

-So you've really caught them at a good moment,

because there's £14,000 to play for.

-Would you like to start?

-Absolutely.

-Good stuff.

Look at them, they are so competitive here, I can tell.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Food and Drink.

So one of you, please, against

either Dave, Steve, Beth, Kevin, or Judith.

I think we've decided what's going to happen here, haven't we, Graeme?

-I thought this might happen.

-That's going to be Graeme for our team.

-He's going to play.

-OK. Graeme against which Egghead, Graeme?

-I think we've already decided that as well!

-Kevin.

-Kevin.

Got a feeling about this contest.

I've got a feeling. Graeme from Wolds Apart taking on Kevin from the

Eggheads, who sometimes struggles on Food and Drink.

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

in our famous Question Room.

So you're on Food and Drink against the great Kevin

-and would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Here we are. Which part of England

is known for its traditional curd tarts?

-Curd tarts.

-Curd, yes - C-U-R-D.

Oh, I don't know this one for sure.

I suspect it's not London.

Because of the clotted cheese I think I would lean towards Cornwall.

So that's my answer, Cornwall.

The answer's Yorkshire.

Kevin, your question.

Which common edible fruit comes from cultivated

trees of the genus malus?

Lemon is a citrus and pear is pyrus,

but malus is apple.

Malus is apple, you're right. So Kevin goes ahead.

Graeme, your question.

From what are Dorset knobs made?

Er, Dorset knobs, I must admit I've never heard of them.

I suspect it's not potato.

I suspect that that may be a type of roll or something like that, so I

shall go for bread dough.

-Is he right, Kevin?

-Yes, I think so, yes.

I think they are a type of bread roll.

Bread dough is right, well done.

Got your first point. Level now with Kevin.

Kevin, to take the lead.

The anise-flavoured alcoholic drink called "arak,"

or less commonly "raki," is traditionally produced

and consumed in which part of the world?

It's not, I don't believe it's either Iberia or the Baltic.

And the spelling would lead me

to the Levant. So the Levant.

The Levant is right.

And by Levant, where do we mean, roughly?

Middle East, roughly, basically, I'd say.

Eastern end of the Mediterranean.

OK. So the Eggheads are on two here.

And our Challengers are on one.

And that means you need to get this question right, Graeme.

The historic Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent

that claims to date back to the 16th century

is particularly associated with which dish?

Mmm. I would think the salmon souffle

I would suspect may be more northern European.

Jellied chicken breasts, I'm less inclined to towards.

Pressed duck sounds like the sort of thing a Parisian restaurant might

specialise in, so I shall go for pressed duck,

although it is a bit of a guess.

Challengers, do you think he's right?

-I'd have gone for that.

-We're hoping so.

They would have gone for that as well.

Pressed duck is correct.

Two out of three. Is it enough?

Let's see. Kevin, if you get this right, you're in the final round.

The rum, ice cream and banana dish called bananas Foster

is said to have been invented in the 1950s in Brennan's restaurant

in which US city?

I've heard of bananas Foster,

but where it originates is another matter.

Brennan's restaurant.

Brennan's restaurant.

Right, I mean, because you can,

there are different ways of making cases for all of these, really.

You could go down the route of where do bananas,

in terms of trade routes and shipping and that sort of thing,

where do bananas come in?

That would lead you more towards Los Angeles or New Orleans.

Brennan is an Irish name,

Boston famously has a very large Irish population, so

it could be, yeah, it could be any of them.

So I'm on the basis that it might have something to do with

a dish whipped up in Hollywood or something like that.

I shall go for Los Angeles.

-You've got it wrong.

-I'm not surprised.

-It's New Orleans.

-Is it really? OK.

-Yeah.

Hard to reach for that one.

OK, three questions each and the scores are level.

Bit of a let off there, Graeme. We go to Sudden Death.

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

What name of a Dutch and Belgian spirit taken from the Dutch word for

juniper refers to the alcoholic drink

that is said to be the ancestor of English gin?

Um, that would be a clear liquor, so that counts out advocaat.

I really have no idea on this.

I'm just going to have to make a wild guess.

Which I'm pretty sure is wrong, but say advocaat.

No, I think probably the logic

would be a word that sort of gives you gin,

and it's jenever.

Or genievre.

-Must admit, I haven't heard of that.

-Taken from the Dutch word for juniper.

OK. Sudden Death.

Kevin has a chance to take the round.

Which famous restaurant on the Costa Brava,

associated with molecular gastronomy

and several times named the world's best restaurant, closed in 2011.

I believe that's El Bulli.

El Bulli is the right answer, Kevin, well done, you've taken the round.

Graeme beaten by our Egghead, Sudden Death, Food and Drink.

So it was a tight first round.

Let's see what happens next, please come back to us.

So as it stands, Wolds Apart have lost a brain from the final round,

the Eggheads have not lost any.

Let's surge at them now, Challengers.

The next subject is Music.

Who would like this?

Was that for me or you?

-Keeping me if Sport comes up.

-Are we going to keep you...

Well if... Yeah, but what if Sport comes up?

Derek's the Sport.

-If you want.

-I'll do it if you want me to.

We're going to go Chris for this round.

OK, Chris, our retired office manager on Music,

against which Egghead? And it can't be Kevin.

-Dave?

-Well, if that's what you want to go for.

Yeah. OK. Dave.

Very good. Chris from Wold's Apart versus Dave from the Eggheads.

Please, go to the Question Room, both of you, now.

Well, Chris, on Music, would you

like to go first or second against Dave?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go. Which song recorded by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys contains

the lyrics - "I'm the new Sinatra and since I made it here

"I can make it anywhere"?

I don't do modern music.

So it's going to be a total guess.

And I will say Talk That Talk.

Dave will tell you this one.

Yeah, its Empire State of Mind.

It's about New York.

So, Empire State of Mind is the answer, Chris.

-OK.

-Dave, the term harmonic curve

refers to the shape of the neck of which instrument?

Don't know. Not heard this at all.

I suppose harp's curve.

Harmonic curve...

Yeah, I'll go harp, but really no validation for it at all.

Not heard the term.

Harp is the right answer.

OK, Chris, your question.

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You

is the title track of an album by which band?

I should know this.

I'm not sure.

Toss up between two of them.

I'll go for AC/DC, but I'm not 100% sure at all.

Let me just check with your team-mates, is she right?

-That's right.

-Absolutely,

it's, yeah. Unmistakably an AC/DC album.

Dave, your second.

"We've gold and soil and wealth for toil

"Our home is girt by sea

"Our land abounds in nature's gifts of beauty rich and rare"

are words from the national anthem of which country?

Right.

Just with the last words, beauty rich and rare,

and the Australian National Anthem is called Advance Australia Fair.

Now also, surrounded by sea would imply Australia.

That's all I've got to go on. Australia, please.

I guess you rule out Canada because it's not surrounded by sea,

could have been New Zealand, but it's Australia,

you're right Dave, well done.

So, Dave has two. You need to get this one right, Chris.

The overture entitled Portsmouth Point first performed in 1926

was an early piece for full orchestra by which British composer?

To be honest, I've never heard of Gerald Finzi.

Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Eggheads?

-I think it's Walton.

It is William Walton.

-That was...

-Chris.

It was between those two.

Bad luck. Dave has won the round, Chris you are beaten by our Egghead,

as a result you won't be helping your team in the final.

Please, both of you return to us and we will play round three.

So, as it stands, Wolds Apart have lost two brains from the final round

and the Eggheads are all still sitting there,

and you're on this run as well.

The next subject is History.

So let's see if we can get one out now.

-Who wants this?

-History.

I think it's going to be me, history.

OK, John, from the chocolate factory.

Against which Egghead?

Well, that's the problem with history,

all the Eggheads are very strong on history.

Yes, they know their stuff, they know their kings and queens.

-What do you think, John?

-I think I'm going to take on Beth.

All right, John from Wolds Apart taking on Beth.

Is this the turning point in the game?

Please take your positions.

Well, John, the other thing that connects your team which we haven't

mentioned is chess, of course.

-That's correct, yes.

-Perfect.

So when you play chess against them as part of the league or the club,

does it take a day to play a game?

-Or how do you do it?

-No.

We have chess clocks so you only have a certain amount of time

to make all of your moves, otherwise

games would go on almost indefinitely.

Because I had a bit of an issue.

I was talking to the Eggheads about it the other day,

where I played Garry Kasparov at chess.

-Right.

-Because he came in to be interviewed on my show.

-Did you win?

-Well, I said,

we've only got three or four minutes

while a record is on to actually play,

so if you give me a very bad starting move to do,

I'll do it and then you can checkmate me.

And he said, "Oh, I don't need to do that!"

So I just played,

I mean, he played very fast,

he played a move every half a second,

and I tried to respond every couple of seconds and he beat me in

a minute and six seconds, so it was a bit of an experience, really.

I've got it all on tape so I can show you it later on.

You can tell me where I went wrong.

Would you like to start now on History?

Ah, I think I'll change tactics and go second.

OK, so Beth gets the first question in the third round.

History the subject.

Beth, which of these is the name of a style of English

Gothic architecture dating from the 13th and 14th centuries?

I think this might be decorated Gothic.

Decorated is correct.

OK, first question to you, John.

Got to do what your team mates haven't done so far

and get the first one right.

Because it's been a pattern so far.

Here we go. According to the chronicler Raphael Holinshed,

what was the gift from the French Dauphin in 1414

that Henry V found very insulting?

Oh! Now this is something I haven't heard.

I would probably rule out tennis balls.

I don't really associate tennis with the 15th century,

more Henry VIII and the 16th century.

Um, puppies are known for being probably quite weak,

so I would guess at a puppy.

A puppy is your answer.

Do the Challengers know this?

We were thinking it was a wooden sword as an insult.

Yeah, I might have guessed a wooden sword. Eggheads, what do you think?

-Tennis balls.

-Tennis balls.

-Really?

-Why was it tennis balls?

-What was going on there?

-I think it was meant to insult him,

as a young and callow king, that he, because he...I mean,

he'd been known for his high living and for preferring to go out with

his friends, sporting, etc, rather than being...

..or developing the kingly virtues.

So this was meant to be a reference to his not being kingly, basically.

So tennis balls is the answer, John.

Beth. In which century did Richard first Earl of Cornwall

build a castle at Tintagel?

This is all purported to be around the myth of King Arthur.

That's where his seat was supposed to be.

So I wonder whether it was quite early on.

Certainly wasn't as late as the 17th,

because the myth of King Arthur's been around for longer than that.

ninth or 13th?

I think it was...

..pretty early on as castles go, let's go with the ninth.

No, the 13th, Beth.

-13th, yeah.

-13th century.

OK, so that gives you a little break here, John.

Here is your second question.

Which of these French military commanders

was made a marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I?

I'm trying to put marshal in front of their surnames -

so Marshal Soult, Marshal Tallard or Marshal d'Esperey.

And I think the one that I've heard of is Marshal Soult,

so my answer is Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult.

Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult is the right answer, well done.

Back with us. It's a good tactic,

you put marshal in front of their names, it worked.

OK, so you're level.

Beth, your question.

In 1814, several hundred thousand gallons of which

substance flooded into London's streets

just off Tottenham Court Road,

destroying houses and killing at least eight people?

Destroying houses?

Before the options came up, I thought maybe sewage.

Which may have led to the

redevelopment of the sewer system in London.

Yes, I'm going to stick with sewage.

-It's beer!

-Oh!

OK. So you have a good chance here,

John, Beth has just got one point,

and we see whether you can get into the final with this question.

What was the name of the group of female medical students

who were pelted with rubbish as they attempted to attend

an anatomy exam in the Surgeon's Hall Riot of 1870?

Right, well, when I hear anatomy, I associate that with Edinburgh.

I know there's a lot of anatomy studied there,

so that's the only thing I've got to

go on so I'm going to go for Edinburgh Seven.

You're a good quizzer, because you're absolutely right.

Edinburgh Seven is correct, well done.

Here we go. Deadlock broken slightly.

You're in the final, John. Beth has been knocked out.

Please return to us. One more round to play before the final.

So the captain fighting back for our Challengers.

Wolds Apart have lost two brains from the final round,

and the Eggheads have now lost one.

The next subject is Arts and Books.

Just this left now.

-I think that has to be Keith.

-OK, Keith.

And which Egghead would you like?

It can be either Steve or Judith.

-What do you think?

-I think this is Judith's best category...

..so I think that means we're going to have to take on Steve.

-OK.

-It's going to be Keith against Steve.

All right. Keith from Wolds Apart taking on Steve from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

All right, Keith. Here we go, Arts and Books.

Let's see if you can level it up by getting into the final round.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Here we go, Keith, good luck.

Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables

was first published in which year?

Ahem, I think this one was quite early.

It could be 1908.

I'd discount 1958.

I think I might just go down the middle with that one, 1908.

-Challengers, what do you think?

-We think it's the earlier one, 1858.

They like the 1858. Actually, 1908 is the right answer. Well done.

Well done. Steve, your question,

the author David Baldacci is best known for which genre of fiction?

I've not read any of his novels, but I'm pretty sure,

out of the three options, he is most closely linked with thrillers.

Thriller is right. One each, Keith, back to you. The term

Glasgow School generally refers to a group of artists and

designers that were working around the end of which century in the

so-called Glasgow style?

Glasgow style.

Um, I think they would be fairly recent.

Rather than 15th or 17th century.

I'd be looking more at the 19th century.

So I'll try 19th century.

19th is correct.

Well done. You're playing well. Two out of two.

Steve on the back foot. Steve, which writer's series

of novels for young adults about the confessions of Georgia Nicolson

includes It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers

and Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas.

I have absolutely no idea.

This really is a one-in-three guess.

I've not read them, surprisingly.

Um, I do tend to see Katie Fforde's name on the book shelves

quite a lot in the children's section,

so one-in-three, Katie Fforde.

Katie Fforde. Anyone know?

Louise Rennison.

Louise Rennison is the right answer.

This is good. You're ahead, Keith, get this one right,

you're in the final, and you've levelled things up.

In Shakespeare's King Lear, what

is the name of the villainous illegitimate

son of the Earl of Gloucester?

Ah. These are all three very Shakespearean names.

And I don't know the answer.

But Edmund is usually the bad guy, in many novels,

-so I'll go down the middle with Edmund.

-That's interesting.

You got it right. Edmund is the right answer, well done.

So you are in the final and you have knocked out Steve.

And that makes it very interesting with £14,000 to play for.

Do return to us, both of you, we will play the final now.

So how exciting this is.

It's what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round. As always, its 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 Graeme and Chris from Wolds Apart

and Steve and Beth from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio.

John, Keith, and Derek, you're playing to win Wolds Apart £14,000.

Dave, Kevin and Judith, you're playing for something

that money can't buy, to keep this run going.

And keep the Eggheads' reputation nice and shiny.

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

This time they are all General Knowledge,

and you may confer, gentlemen.

So the question is - can your three brains defeat these three over here?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'll go first please, Jeremy.

OK, Derek and team, here we go with your first question.

What did Cheryl and Liam Payne

name their son, born in 2017?

-I don't know this one, do you?

-Who are these people?

-I don't know.

-She's Cheryl Cole.

-Oh, right, is it?

-And Liam Payne's the guy out of One Direction.

-Oh.

-Isn't Apple Gwyneth Paltrow's?

-Yes, it is.

I think it's Bear, but with no great degree of confidence.

My instinct is Bear.

Well, I'm happy to go with your instinct on this.

We're not sure, Jeremy,

we've just got an inkling it's a little bit of an unusual name,

so we're going to go with Bear.

Bear is correct.

You're behind, Eggheads.

£14,000 on the table.

Here's your question.

For a right-handed golfer,

which term refers to a shot that is out of control

and curves sharply left to right?

So it goes that way.

You hit it with that hand, it goes that way.

I'd be more inclined to pull.

-Have you ever heard of a flub?

-Not heard of a flub.

Doesn't sound right.

I've heard of pull and slice in relation to golf, but...

I think it's a slice.

That would be my inclination.

My inclination is pull.

I've really not got a definition on the question.

So I'd go pull, but I haven't got any...I can't rule out slice,

to be honest, so do you two want to go slice?

I can't be definite about it.

-It's my inclination.

-OK.

We're very unhappy about it,

but we're nonetheless going to go for slice.

Slice is the correct answer.

-Well done, team.

-It is slice,

it's not pull. OK.

Challengers. Which of these phobias

describes an abnormal fear of snakes?

Is it...

-Snakes.

-The clue's in the first part of the name.

-Yeah.

-Bath...

-Any inklings?

My inkling is the middle one - alektorophobia.

-Keith?

-Why would it be that?

For me, it would be a pure guess, one out of three.

If either of you two have got an inkling...

-Are we going with the middle one, then?

-Looks like it.

THEY MUMBLE

As you can tell, Jeremy, we really don't know,

we're going to go for the middle one - alektorophobia.

Alektorophobia.

That's actually a fear of chickens.

Chickens.

Which one is it, Eggs?

-EGGS:

-Ophidiophobia.

-Ophidiophobia is the answer we were looking for.

Bathophobia is a fear of depths.

-Ah.

-Deep.

So your second question,

we're all over the place in this game, aren't we, today?

See if you can take the lead, Eggheads.

Which architect was engaged to build Blenheim Palace

for the Duke of Marlborough?

Was it...

-Vanbrugh.

-Vanbrugh definitely, yeah.

That is Vanbrugh, John Vanbrugh.

John Vanbrugh is right.

They've taken the lead.

You need to get this one right.

What was the plane in which two French First World War heroes

disappeared while trying to fly between New York and Paris

two weeks before Charles Lindbergh managed the feat?

And you need this to stay in.

-I don't know, I don't know this.

-Sorry, I can't help here.

This isn't something that I've heard of.

Presumably whatever plane it was,

it's going to be the colour of that name.

It's not giving any clue at all.

What colour is the plane going to be?

I would have said of those three it's more likely to be white, but...

-Silver gull.

-You think silver?

-What colour would you make...

-Or the White Bird.

What colour would you paint a plane

if you were going to try to fly like that?

That's not specific is it, the White Bird?

Whereas the other two are specific...

The Silver Gull, the Blue Swift.

They're going across the water, of course.

It's more likely to be a gull.

I'm not, I'm sort of thinking Silver Gull, but...

-I'm coming around to...

-Happy with that?

-A guess.

-OK.

We don't know, Jeremy, but we're thinking

that two of those name a specific bird and the White Bird

is very general, so we'll discount the White Bird

and we are talking about the fact that it's over the water,

so that led us to the Silver Gull.

That's our answer.

So your answer is the Silver Gull.

If you've got this right, we play on,

if you are wrong, the contest is over.

The answer is the White Bird.

I'm sorry, Challengers.

But we have to say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

That was a really unusual final round, because you were struggling.

I could see where you were coming from, Dave,

on the golfing answer, no question,

but I thought the Eggheads are going to get their first question wrong,

then you've got eyes on the money, and then you stumbled

and it was just a funny one.

Commiserations, quizzers.

-Good game, good game.

-Really interesting all the way through.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally,

right at the end there and this winning streak continues.

I'm afraid it means the Challengers don't go home with the £14,000,

so boy, is our jackpot building up. The money rolls over.

Eggheads, well done. Is anyone going to seize this money?

-I can't see it happening.

-I can.

Trying to jinx it. Join us next time to see if a new team of Challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads and win £15,000.

Until then, goodbye.