Episode 73 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.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Suspicious Looking Sausages from Cambridgeshire.

Now, this team met through their children attending the same school,

and they've cemented their friendship

through participating in many of the school's fundraising quizzes.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Ed, I'm a scientific consultant.

Hello, I'm Rosie, and I'm a tourist guide.

Hello, I'm Eddie, and I'm a science entrepreneur.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm a wedding venue owner.

Hi, I'm Chris, and I'm a sales director.

So, Ed and team, hello.

-Hello!

-Great to see you, welcome.

And Ed, just tell me,

the name Suspicious Looking Sausages I'm just puzzling over.

Yes... Well, yes!

You might well be puzzled about that one.

This came from Dave originally,

many years ago,

and it's actually from Blackadder.

-Oh!

-And it's from a scene of Blackadder.

And I think probably, it's best just to leave it at that!

OK, so did we recognise that, Eggs?

Did any... No?

-Lisa, you were nodding?

-It chimed,

I couldn't remember where from until he said Blackadder.

All right. And your connection, then, is kind of a school thing,

and a quiz thing, and all of that, Ed, is it?

Yes. Many years ago, and our children are grown up, now,

from primary school.

But we have quizzed over the years,

and we've won quite a few,

quite annoyed the schools initially, we kept winning for a while,

so they didn't like us coming back.

But that was a while ago, and I thought,

it's time for the Sausages to come and have a crack at something really

-challenging.

-It definitely is time

for the Suspicious Sausages to have a go at this lot.

By the way, you've been travelling, Ed.

And you went to Solomon Islands, and Fiji, and Vanuatu,

and you saw Eggheads on TV,

-is that right?

-In Papua, New Guinea.

In Rabaul, on the television.

And we were absolutely delighted!

Well, what can we say?

That's a good spot, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-How wonderful.

Good luck, Challengers.

Every day there is £1,000 worth of

cash up for grabs for the challenging team.

However, if they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Suspicious Looking Sausages,

the Eggheads have won the last two games

which means £3,000 is on the table for you to win.

-Would you like to try? ALL:

-Yes!

Good! The first head-to-head battle is on Sport.

It's one of you therefore

against Lisa, Steve, Chris,

-Kevin, or Judith.

-Chris?

-That's me then, I think.

-OK.

All right, straight to it.

Chris, our sales director.

-And which Egghead?

-What do you recommend?

I'm going to regret saying Judith, I think.

-Yes, you are!

-But I'm going to say Judith.

She is going to be so cross with you!

So Chris, from the Suspicious Looking Sausages, versus Judith,

who is not a suspicious Egghead at all.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please, for the first time,

go to our legendary Question Room.

So here we go. On Sport.

Chris, would you like to go first or second against Judith?

I will go first, please.

And here is your first question.

Chris, in which sport are coloured balls hit through hoops on a grass

playing court?

Um, not polo.

And I don't think quoits, so I will go for croquet.

Croquet is the correct answer, well done.

Judith,

what is the maximum length of a full-size rugby union ball?

Sort of like that, what's that?

60...

I have to do equivalent of inches.

What's that? It's about a foot?

I've forgotten what the equivalent is!

150 is six inches.

I think a rugby ball is about like that,

so I think it's 300mm.

Hold your hands up. I can't see your hands.

What are you showing us?

A foot, roughly.

OK. It is right.

-Oh, my goodness!

-It seems like a detail...

I suddenly got into a muddle...

You were enjoying that so much!

But I think you're right. I'm a bit like you with the feet and inches.

So a metre is three feet.

So 300mm is about a foot, isn't it?

-Yes.

-It's not going to be two foot long.

150 is six inches, so 300 is about a foot.

I mean, 600 would be sort of like that.

It would be like one of those scenes out of Naked Gun or something.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Chris, your question.

What is the name of the number one-ranked golfer

who withdrew from the 2017 US Masters

after slipping on some wooden stairs

on the eve of the tournament?

I think I can discount Ian Poulter,

so it's between the two, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.

And I think it's Dustin Johnson.

Dustin Johnson is the right answer, well done.

Two out of two.

So Judith, you're behind.

Here's your question. Which team

did Valterri Bottas join

for the 2017 Formula 1 season?

Oh, bother!

I've forgotten to look up these.

Well, let's think.

I think it's Ferrari.

Eggheads, is she right?

-No, it's Mercedes.

-It's Mercedes!

-Oh!

-Were you going to look them up at lunchtime?

-Yes, I was.

-And what happened?

And...I didn't.

LAUGHTER

Oh, dear. All right, Chris,

if you get this one right, you will have knocked Judith out.

Which of these British athletes has been nicknamed the Suffolk Slinger?

I presume, as it's a slinger,

it's javelin or something along those lines?

And the only one of those I recognise,

who I think it's javelin is Goldie Sayers.

So I'm going to go for Goldie Sayers.

Well, that's impressive. You're absolutely right.

Goldie Sayers is the right answer.

Three out of three. These are good quizzers!

I can sense it. Sorry, Judith!

-Off you go to look up the Formula 1 winners!

-Too late.

-Oh, dear!

So, there we are. You took on an Egghead.

Chris, you emerged triumphant.

You will be in the final. Please return to us, both of you.

So as it stands, Suspicious Looking Sausages

have not lost any brains from the final round.

And to our surprise, Judith has been knocked out on Sport.

The next subject is Film & Television.

Now, which one of you would like this? Film and TV.

-Dave?

-Yeah, OK.

-OK, Dave,

wedding venue owner, against which Egghead?

Anyone but Judith.

-What do you think? Chris?

-Let's go for Chris.

-Chris.

-We'll go for Chris!

-Good stuff!

So, Dave, from Suspicious Looking Sausages,

versus our own suspicious looking sausage, Chris.

To ensure...

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions.

OK, so Film and TV.

-Dave, would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

Who first presented the television game show called The Cube,

in 2009?

Not sure about this one.

I don't think it was Fern Britton.

I don't think it was Schofield.

I'm going to go for Dermot O'Leary.

They all could've done it, but it was Phillip Schofield.

Sorry, Dave. Chris, over to you.

What colour

were the famously striking eyes of Paul Newman?

They are blue, Jeremy.

Blue is correct.

Dave, which member

of the EastEnders cast also appeared on The Bill

as Sergeant Nikki Wright?

I don't think it was Gillian Taylforth,

because we hosted her 60th,

and she never mentioned it.

So, must rule her out.

I don't think it was Natalie Cassidy.

I will go for Samantha Womack.

I can't believe Gillian Taylforth didn't mention it

because it was her!

Sorry, Dave!

So Chris can take the round.

In the 2017 film Mindhorn,

the title character is a has-been

actor once famous for playing which type of role?

Don't know the film, but,

has-been actor, probably spent most

of his life playing detectives, so I'll say detective.

Detective is the right answer, Chris.

Well done. Two-nil.

So Chris is in the final. Sorry, Dave.

You've been knocked out.

Come back to us, and we'll see what Round Three holds.

So as it stands, Suspicious Looking Sausages have lost a brain now from

the final. The Eggheads have lost one as well.

We play on with Science.

Who would like Science?

Who else is it going to be? Me, or you?

I think you probably have a better broad science knowledge than I have.

OK, well that's me, then.

-Because we've got two scientists on this team.

-Two scientists! That's right.

-Yes! Interesting. OK.

So, against which Egghead?

And you can have Lisa, Steve or Kevin.

-I think I'll try Lisa.

-Good stuff.

Ed from Suspicious Looking Sausages,

the captain Suspicious Sausage, versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

I'll never get used to this team name!

It is the best team name ever.

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

So, Ed, you're a scientific consultant?

-Yes, that's right.

-Meaning you consult on science?

Well, I do training courses

and write technical books about stuff that I used to do

over the years in universities and industry

-as a biological scientist.

-Brilliant.

OK. Would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

And here we go.

Ed, which of these creatures has the rose-like markings on its body

known as rosettes?

Right. Natural history things are not perfect for me,

but I don't think rhino or zebra, I would guess on leopard.

Leopard is quite right, well done.

Lisa, what is the cube root of 8,000?

Cube root.

Yeah. I'll be with you.

8,000. So ten cubed is 1,000.

15 cubed isn't going to end in a zero, is it?

I think it must be 20.

20 is correct.

20 times 20 is 400.

Times 20 is 8,000.

Ed, what name

was given to the top-secret design department of

the Lockheed company that produced

aircraft such as the U-2 spy plane

and the SR-71 Blackbird?

Yes, nice selection there, it's the skunk works.

Quite right. Well done indeed.

So is that covered by your scientific knowledge?

Well, not particularly, no!

-General Knowledge.

-Very good.

Skunkworks. OK, Lisa,

the unmanned reusable vehicle

called the X-37B

that returned to Earth in May 2017

after two years in orbit belongs to which country?

OK, when you say in orbit, I'm going to have to assume that means orbit

around the Earth.

I'm going to discount Russia,

and on the basis that the USA tends

to send its unmanned vehicles a little further afield

because it's got a more developed space programme,

I'm wondering if this is all part of developing China's space programme.

It's a potentially faulty logic, but I'll say China.

-Do you know this one, Ed?

-It might be USA.

-It is USA.

-That's too bad.

So a little bit of daylight here for our Challengers.

Ed, your question. Get this right, you're in the final.

Which species of goose has the scientific name Anser anser?

Oh, dear.

Um, well, Anser's goose, for sure,

but a prototypical one, I suppose.

I'm just going to have to guess Canada goose.

I'm afraid you're wrong. Greylag is the answer.

So, Lisa, you've got a chance to come back into it.

The infectious agents called prions that cause BSE and scrapie

in livestock are made up of which of these?

BSE is a brain thing, isn't it?

I don't know so much about scrapie.

I mean, I think really the one that

sort of makes sense there is probably proteins.

Um...

This is perfect for my opponent, the biological scientist,

and of course a complete waste for someone like me.

I shall say protein.

-Is she right, Ed?

-Yeah, I was willing her away from that, yes.

Protein is the right answer.

Well done. All right, three questions each you've had,

the scores are level. We go to Sudden Death.

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

So, Ed, we start with you.

Which organisation, founded in London

in 1799, is dedicated to connecting

people with the world of science and is known by the initials RI?

Yes, the Royal Institution.

That's correct, or Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Lisa, your question. Sudden Death.

The term V12 refers to the number

and arrangement of what in a car engine?

Is it valves?

I'll just go through other possible options

before I say valves.

Oh, dear.

No, I think I shall have to say valves.

Well, Chris is shaking his head.

-Cylinders.

-Cylinders.

12 cylinders, six each side in a V-shape,

driving on a common crankshaft.

-Could you call them pistons as well, Chris?

-Well, there's a piston

in every cylinder, yes.

Cylinders, or I could have accepted pistons.

Ed, well done, you're in the final round.

This is good for our Challengers.

So, can the Eggheads come back into this?

Please rejoin your teams.

We'll play one more round before the final.

As it stands, Suspicious Looking Sausages

have lost one brain from the final round,

but the Eggheads have lost two.

What's happening, Eggs?

The next subject for you is Politics.

Who would like this?

-Oh, dear.

-We were discussing this.

I think this is going to be Eddie, isn't it?

-Are you happy to do that?

-Will I do it?

-Yeah.

-Why not?

-OK, Eddie, against which Egghead?

And you've got left Steve and Kevin.

Who do we think? Steve?

-Steve?

-Go for Steve.

-Steve, please.

Good. Eddie from the Suspicious Looking Sausages

takes on Steve from the Eggheads on Politics.

Just this round before the final.

Please take your positions.

So, good luck, Eddie. On Politics.

First or second against Steve?

First, please.

And here is your first question.

Since just after the Second World War,

Italy has had which form of Government?

I don't know that there's a king of Italy.

There was a dictator who suffered

badly at the end of the war,

so I'm going to guess it's an Italian republic.

Republic is the right answer.

Well done. Steve, your question. Steve,

the headquarters of the United Nations is located in which city?

I'm just going to take a minute,

cos I'm distrusting everything I say at the minute.

New York, Jeremy.

That was a very quick minute. New York is right.

OK.

Your question, Eddie.

In 2013, which country held only its second national election,

resulting in a victory for the party led by Tshering Tobgay?

T-S-H-E-R-I-N-G,

and then T-O-B-G-A-Y.

So Tshering Tobgay.

I doubt it was Luxembourg.

It doesn't strike me as a Madagascaran name.

So I'm going to go for Bhutan.

Let's see, Challengers, is he right?

-I think so.

-Yes, you're right.

Bhutan is right.

Wow.

OK, Steve, your question to catch up.

In 2017, who was controversially appointed

to the Supreme Court of the United States?

Yeah, that Donald's pick, it's Neil Gorsuch.

Neil Gorsuch is correct.

So 2-2. Eddie, back to you.

Your third question. A 1977 Gallup poll found that which trade unionist

and leader of the TGWU

was considered the most powerful person in Britain

by 54% of people?

Wow.

I thought I had the answer until you gave me the choices there, so...

Norman Willis and Jack Jones.

Not quite sure.

I'm going to go for Vic Feather.

No, it's not, it's Jack Jones.

I should have known that.

OK, Steve, your question.

You can take the round with this.

According to an index by Transparency International,

which of these was perceived to be

one of the two least corrupt countries in the world in 2016?

Least corrupt.

I think I'll rule United States out.

Least corrupt.

You don't hear people saying bad things about the Danes, so...

I'll try Denmark.

Denmark is the right answer, Steve.

Well done, you've taken the round. Sorry, Eddie.

It can be that quick against these Eggheads.

Steve is in the final.

It has levelled it up in a really interesting way.

Return to your teams. We'll play that final round for £3,000.

So this is what we have been playing towards,

it's 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, Eddie and Dave from Suspicious Looking Sausages

and Lisa and Judith from the Eggheads,

would you now please leave the studio.

Ed, Rosie and Chris,

you're playing to win the Suspicious Looking Sausages £3,000.

Steve, Chris and Kevin, you're playing for something that money can't buy,

which is the Eggheads' reputation

and just to keep a bit of a run going here.

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

They're all going to be General Knowledge and you may confer.

So, Suspicious Looking Sausages,

the question is, can your three brains defeat

these three Eggheads over here?

And would you like to go first or second?

We'd like to go first, please.

OK, Rosie and team, good luck.

Which of these roads is sometimes known

as the North Cheshire motorway?

Well... It's not the M1 or M4, is it?

It can't be the M4.

-It's got to be the M56.

-It's the M56.

-Definitely.

Well, as Southerners, we know for sure it's not the M1 or the M4,

so it's got to be the M56.

M56 is quite right.

Well done.

Over to you, Eggheads.

What is the meaning of the word bellicose?

Bellicose, is that...?

-Happy with aggressive?

-Warlike.

Yeah, the literal translation is warlike, it's aggressive.

Aggressive is correct.

Challengers,

until 1965, what was the Soke of Peterborough?

That's S-O-K-E.

-I've thought it was official of the church.

-Would you?

I was thinking more an administrative area,

-but I don't know.

-It makes sense.

-Do you have any knowledge of it?

But do you know this is an official of the Church?

-No.

-What do you think?

My feeling is it's a person.

We're torn between the other two,

official of the church and administrative area.

I feel we ought to know this.

Any linguistic thing here?

Yeah, I mean, it sounds almost Anglo-Saxon, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-Which is why I think of it as a sort of area.

I quite like that, now.

I'm happy with that.

-You've got the Witton Council...

-Yeah.

So we're really not sure about this, as you've probably gathered,

but we're going to go for administrative area.

Administrative area is your answer.

Let's see, Eggheads, is that right?

-Yes.

-Yeah, you're right.

-Yay!

-Great.

-It would've been easy to go for official of the church.

So they're ahead. Eggheads, your question.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's ship, the SS Great Britain,

is in dry dock in which city?

-Brizzle.

-Bristol, isn't it?

That is in Bristol.

Bristol is correct.

So, third question can be crucial.

Get this right, it'll put some pressure on them.

Which US inventor was responsible

for developing the synthetic fibre known as Kevlar?

-No idea.

-I've got no clue at all.

-We're looking at you, Ed, for this one.

-I haven't got a clue.

I'm trying to think if there's any clue actually in

the initials of the letters,

and there's nothing obvious.

No, I don't think. I mean,

my instinctive reaction is to go for the more exotic name,

-Stephanie Kwolek.

-Yeah, me too. For no real reason.

-There's a K there.

-And there's a K in it!

Absolutely!

So for not the best reasons, I think we'll guess at Stephanie Kwolek.

Stephanie Kwolek is your answer.

If you've got this right, you've got three in a row.

-Eggheads, what's the answer?

-Yeah, Stephanie Kwolek.

-Wow.

-Stephanie Kwolek is the right answer.

OK, well, this is interesting, Eggheads.

You've got yourself back into a bit of a stride,

and now here we are and you have to get this one right or you've lost.

Which American general, nicknamed Old Fuss and Feathers,

captured Mexico City in 1847?

-Winfield Scott.

-It's Scott.

Yeah, Sam Houston was Texas Republic.

Grant was later.

Yeah, it's Winfield Scott.

You said it with certainty and you're absolutely right.

Winfield Scott it is.

Difficult to catch them on their American history, I must say.

So 3-3. Perfect rounds for you both.

We go to Sudden Death again.

Which term taken from the Latin for pearl barley

is used in Italian cooking to refer to both the flour made

from maize and to the thick porridge that it is used to make?

I know this, and I've got...

Is it polenta?

Polenta makes sense, doesn't it?

Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah.

I'm not 100% sure, but we think it could be polenta.

Polenta is quite right.

Yeah, well done.

Well played.

OK, Eggheads, get this wrong,

the contest is over. We're on Sudden Death.

In which year did the Beatles first release the album

known as the White Album?

-'68.

-'68.

-'68.

It's the year after Sergeant Pepper.

-Yeah.

-1968.

-Definitely.

-We think that's 1968, Jeremy.

1968 is correct.

Challengers, the Protecting Veil

is the title of a piece for cello and strings

by which modern English composer?

OK, so we've got...

John Tavener?

-Well, I don't know.

-I can't help.

-Judith Weir? I don't know, who else...

-It could be.

It's not Julian Anderson, is it?

No.

I think it could be John Tavener.

Except he's dead.

I can't add anything to this, I'm afraid.

-Do you want to go for it?

-Tavener?

OK. I don't think this is right, but we're going to go for John Tavener.

John Tavener is the right answer.

-No!

-Yes!

-I'm so glad you got that,

because I was feeling very guilty about the word modern

because I think you thought that meant not dead.

-Yes, exactly.

-But, actually, you can be modern and dead.

So...I'm relieved, here.

John Tavener is right. Well done.

OK, Eggheads under pressure here.

The paintings on the early 16th century work known as the Isenheim

Altarpiece are regarded as the masterpiece of which German artist?

-Grunewald.

-Yeah. Matthias Grunewald.

-Yeah, yeah.

-As soon as you said it.

-We'll go with that?

-I think it's Matthias.

-It is Matthias.

-Matthias Grunewald.

-Matthias Grunewald

is quite right.

They are good!

But you're good, too.

Which British fashion designer was quoted as saying,

"A man should look as if he had

"bought his clothes with intelligence,

"put them on with care and then forgotten all about them"?

Wow. If we're talking about men's designers what about Hardy Amies?

Or a more modern one.

-Or Norman Hartnell?

-Alexander McQueen?

Who is that American?

-Boateng? Yeah.

-Paul Smith.

No, it can't be.

The way it's put almost sounds more traditional, don't you think?

Hardy Amies is quite good...

-I think that sounds quite classic.

-Yes, that sounds right.

So we're going to try Hardy Amies.

Hardy Amies is the right answer.

You're very good.

Eggheads, you've got a real battle on here.

My goodness me!

This is fascinating. I've got no idea who's going to win this.

OK, Eggheads, what is the name of

the palace in Rome that serves as the French Embassy?

Get this wrong, it's over.

Palace in Rome that serves as the French Embassy.

INDISTINCT

No, that's in Florence.

Ah.

-Nothing to go on, is there?

-The Villa Borghese.

The Villa Borghese

-is an art gallery.

-Mm. I'm just clutching at what's in Rome.

The only other one I'm coming up with is the Palazzo Barberini,

but whether that...

I'm not sure I've heard this.

I can't think of other palazzos other than the Barberini.

I mean, there are obviously plenty of palazzos.

May have to go for that, just on the basis that it's the only one we can

-think of.

-Yeah.

Well, we don't know. Just randomly try Palazzo Barberini.

Palazzo Barberini.

Well, three very strong Eggheads here, including Kevin,

world quiz champion 2004,

five, six, nine,

2016 and 2017.

And you've given me Palazzo Barberini.

The correct answer is Palazzo Farnese.

We say congratulations, Challengers,

you've won!

Amazing!

You did absolutely brilliantly!

Well done. Absolutely brilliant.

You completely nailed it and you got answer after answer right in

the final which, at some point, will load the pressure on the other side.

So, good quizzing here.

-Did well.

-Excellent.

And well played, Eggs,

right until the end you were there and then it crashed.

But, my goodness, that was brilliant quizzing.

You properly took them on and you properly won.

Congratulations to the Suspicious Looking Sausages!

What about that? So you've won £3,000.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

Brilliant stuff. Well, what a contest today.

What can I say? A proper quiz.

Wow.

Cudgels at dawn, there.

That was amazing. So you beat them

with a whole series of sausages tossed in their direction.

Well done.

Join us next time on Eggheads

to see if a new team of Challengers can play

as well as our Challengers today.

They were amazing. Until then, goodbye.