Episode 74 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. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

-Yes!

-Always.

-Well, possibly the other way around.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today are David's WImmin

from Derbyshire. Now, this team met through their involvement

with The Women's Institute, so let's meet them!

Hi, I'm Chrissie, and I'm a retired medical rep.

Hello, I'm David, and I'm a retired civil servant.

Hello, I'm Linda, and I'm a retired insurance underwriter.

Hi, I'm Sheila. I'm retired police staff.

Hello, I'm Diane. I'm a retired primary school headteacher.

-So Chrissie and team, hello.

-Hello!

-Great to see you all!

And I suppose I should ask about the team name, Chrissie, David's WImmin?

-Yes.

-That's David there.

-It is!

Yes!

Yes, how did I do that?

Well, we wanted to quiz as a team with the Women's Institute.

And we actually needed a name

that had W and I in capital letters in it.

-Yes.

-But we also needed a bit of moral support,

which is why we are David's WImmin.

Do you quiz together, Chrissie? That's the key question.

-Yes, we do.

-Occasionally.

-We haven't actually quizzed collectively.

So this one's a first.

But we have quizzed in groups at certain things as well.

Right, well, that sounds particularly menacing.

I think that's already frightened them.

And there is a wealth of experience

I can see on our Challengers team. Good luck to you.

-Thank you.

-Hope you win here. 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.

Now, David's WImmin, the Challengers won the last game.

Now, the Eggheads have had a tough old period, actually,

and they were comprehensively out-quizzed in the last game,

so there's £1,000 for you if you win today.

-Would you like to try?

-We certainly would!

I thought so! The first head-to-head battle

is on the subject of Film & TV.

So, one of you, please, to go in against David, Lisa, Steve, Kevin,

-or Judith.

-Who was it on Film & TV?

Was it me? It might be me, yes!

-It might be me.

-OK, Diane, our retired primary school headteacher,

against which Egghead?

I'm trying to think...

-It's not easy, is it?

-No, it isn't.

A lot of them, they spend time sitting around watching box sets.

Yes, I think they all do, don't they?

-They do, yes.

-They all do that, and they're all good on...

Go up against your favourite, then.

I'll go up against Kevin, then, in that case.

It's a very good strategy! Get into the booth with Kevin.

-Take him out!

-I'll take him down, yeah.

A bit of a cold start for Kevin, yeah.

So Diane from David's WImmin taking on Kevin from the Eggheads.

Let's see what happens here. To ensure there's no conferring,

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

So, Diane, you've been a life model, I gather, as well as a headteacher?

Yes, yes. I started life modelling when I was a student,

because it paid more money than anything else.

And then when I retired as a headteacher,

I actually went back to it.

My daughter saw an advert in one of the local papers and said,

"This would suit you, Mum." So I went back to it,

and I only stopped when the floors got too cold.

JEREMY LAUGHS

That's brilliant! Would you consider that, Kevin?

Some life... I suppose we're talking about nude modelling here?

Yeah, well, no.

My days of doing that are passed, really, Jeremy.

You did it as a student as well.

Whatever the demand may be, I'm afraid, no.

But if enough people asked, you'd consider it?

No.

So Film & TV, Diane. Your choice -

would you like to go first or second against the great Kevin?

I think I'll have to go first, please.

Here we go. Richard Osman has found fame as one of the presenters

of which quiz show?

Well, Tipping Point is somebody else.

The Chase is Bradley Walsh,

so it must be Pointless!

Now, is Tipping Point Ben Shephard?

-Yes.

-Yes, it is, yeah.

Pointless is the right answer.

-Well done!

-Richard Osman's mum, by the way,

Richard Osman's mum is a massive fan of this show.

So, Richard Osman's mum, hi.

-We think you're great.

-Yeah, hi, Richard Osman's mum,

because he was on Have I Got News For You, and he said

the only way she would ever allow the use of nuclear weapons

-is if they cancelled Eggheads.

-Yeah.

Thank you, Richard, we love you!

OK, Kevin. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner,"

is a famous line from which film?

Yes, it's had a bit of a revival in 2017 because it was the

30th anniversary, so there a stage version and all sorts of things.

It's Dirty Dancing.

Dirty Dancing is correct.

OK, Diane. Who was the director of the 2017 film Alien Covenant?

Right, this is the bit where you've got me. Erm...

I think Ridley Scott did the first Alien.

And the other two, I don't know.

So I'm going to go with Ridley Scott,

just because I think he did the first Alien.

Yeah, he's still got a grip on the franchise.

Ridley Scott is right. Well done. Good quizzing.

-Wow!

-Nicely done.

Kevin, in which year was the TV series Gardeners' World

first broadcast on UK TV?

To keep up.

First broadcast on TV?

UK TV, Gardeners' World.

I don't really know, to be honest. I know I'll rule out the 1940s.

But as between the... I don't know how long it's been going.

Gardeners' World...

I'm trying to think if it was on back in the '70s.

It's a long time, if it is.

Would it have started in the '80s, though?

It's not something I would normally do, the gardening stuff,

so it's not something that I would have registered.

Gardeners' World...

Cos we've had Gardeners' Question Time on radio for a long, long time.

When would they have started a TV show?

I'll say the 1980s.

Oh, Kevin!

Judith... Well, Judith knows this.

Yes, cos 2017 was their 50th anniversary,

and there's been a great deal of fuss about it.

-With Monty Don.

-Yeah, I think

it might have been 1968, for some reason. But it was...

No, 1967.

Yes, well...

Confusingly, in 2017, I was asked to give a birthday wish for their 50th.

-So...

-Ah, right.

-Anyway...

-I saw you doing it.

-Yeah!

Kevin, the key thing is, you got it wrong.

-1960s.

-Yeah, just couldn't conjure up anybody from...

I was trying to think in terms of presenters,

and I couldn't conjure up anybody from them.

It's the 50th birthday, that's the key thing.

-That's the big news story.

-Right.

-All right, this is interesting.

Maybe this gamble has paid off

for you, Diane. Get this one right,

-you're in the final round, and you've knocked out Kevin.

-Ooh!

Which superhero is played on TV by Finn Jones?

I have absolutely no idea, and can I apologise now to my grandsons,

who will know this?

Finn Jones...

I don't know any of those people,

so I could go down the right-hand side and do a Judith, I don't know.

I think I'll go down the middle and say Daredevil.

-Kevin, do you know this?

-I think it's Luke Cage.

-No, it's not. It's Iron Fist.

-Oh!

-Iron Fist.

-Oh, yes! Sorry, sorry.

Not on form at the moment, Kevin.

No, no. I do know that really, but I just...

-I snatched at that one. Yeah, sorry.

-OK. So to stay in, Kevin,

your question. Who plays Peter Quill's father in the 2017 film,

Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2?

I think he's meant to be a planet in human form. it's Kurt Russell.

Kurt Russell is correct.

Oh, Diane! Maybe you let him off the hook there.

-Oh! Sorry! Sorry, Team!

-Not many of these chances come.

Don't worry, you're not out.

Not yet, that's for sure. It's Sudden Death now.

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

-Yes.

-So, Diane, your first question.

Which British model plays the role of the Splendid Angharad in the

2015 film Mad Max Fury Road?

Again, I have absolutely no idea, but if it's a British model...

..I'm going to say Kate Moss!

It's not Kate Moss.

-It's Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

-I wouldn't have got that.

Quite hard. I've seen that film, I wouldn't know that.

-I wouldn't have got that.

-Kevin, for the round.

Which influential BBC executive and broadcaster was

nicknamed "Botney" by Private Eye magazine?

Well, I think it's just a... I'm assuming that's B-O-T-N-E-Y.

-Yeah.

-So it's just a kind of inversion of his name - Alan Yentob.

Alan Yentob is right.

The idea being that he had been called Botney but reversed his name

-to appear more exotic.

-Mm.

Kevin, you have taken the round, with Alan Yentob.

What about that? It's not happened before.

Sorry, Diane, knocked out,

but it is early days for our Challengers.

-Never mind.

-Come back to us, please, and we'll play on.

Ah, just a near miss there for David's WImmin in the first round,

so they have lost a brain from the final,

and the Eggheads are all still there, still sitting pretty,

in a manner of speaking. And the next subject for you is Science.

So, David's WImmin, who wants this?

-It is either you or me.

-It's going to be you or me.

-Linda, yeah.

-Linda or...

-Yeah.

-You want to go, Linda?

-Yeah, OK.

-Linda?

OK. Our retired insurance underwriter against...

-Who would you like? Not Kevin.

-Oh, golly.

-Who are we going with?

-Science.

-Lisa?

-Science.

-Lisa?

-Yeah.

-Lisa, please.

-Yes, she has had her issues with Science recently.

-Oh!

I made that sound very serious!

Full newsreader voice there.

Linda from David's WImmin versus Lisa from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room now.

All right, so Science, Linda. Would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

Here is your first question. So, the chemical element titanium

is named after figures from which mythology?

Titanium. Oh, gosh. Erm...

I think it's probably...

..Greek, but I really am guessing at this.

I did various Greek mythology things at school,

but it didn't involve chemical symbols.

I am going to go with Greek mythology, please.

OK, you're right. Well done. Greek mythology.

Lisa, your question. What is the literal meaning of the phrase

"in vitro", as in in vitro fertilisation,

when translated from the Latin? What does it mean?

It means in glass, I think.

-As in, in a test-tube.

-Something like that.

In glass is right.

OK. Back to you, Linda. What is Olympus Mons on Mars?

Olympus Mons...

Yes, two words.

Olympus, and then Mons, M-O-N-S.

Well, Mons would suggest...

..a mountain, but...

Olympus Mons.

What is Olympus Mons on Mars?

On Mars, right. So...

I think I'm going to go for a volcano.

It is a bit hotter than here.

It's a bit nearer the sun.

Yes, I am going to say volcano.

Always the danger of overthinking it, and you haven't.

A volcano is right.

Yes!

Mons was the word, well done.

So, Lisa, to catch up, your question.

Approximately how long does it take an individual blood cell

to make a circuit of a typical human body?

I'll tell you right now, it probably takes longer in mine.

Erm...

I don't know.

I've never really thought about how fast blood is going.

It's got to get all around.

Would the pulse have anything to do with that?

It doesn't, really, does it?

That is just measuring how fast your heart's...

..kind of going. I don't know.

I have nothing to base this on. That's really very annoying.

60 hours would seem sort of long...

..so let's discount that. Erm...

What sounds sensible? Your blood goes all round your body once a

minute, your blood goes all round your body once an hour.

I don't know, but of the two, I like 60 minutes marginally better,

so I will go with 60 minutes.

Yeah, I don't know how one gets to this, really.

It goes at about 3mph or 4mph, the blood, so it is 60 seconds.

-That's interesting.

-So here we are again, Linda,

with your chance to knock out an Egghead on the third question.

Which of these creatures are known for leaving droppings

shaped like cubes?

Shaped like cubes.

Cubes.

I haven't done much trekking, following spores.

I don't think it's a Shetland pony,

because I don't think they would be cube-shaped.

Perhaps they ARE cube-shaped.

Just thinking of...

..of a horse's droppings, which are like a collection of cubes, almost.

Erm...

No, I... Erm...

I think I'll go for wombat, please.

-Eggheads?

-Yes, wombat.

-Wombat is right.

-Yay!

OK, Linda. You've turned the tide a little bit here,

so you have taken on one of the Eggheads and emerged triumphant.

-You will be in the final round. Lisa's been knocked out.

-Yes!

Return to us, please. We're going to play round three.

While we are on the topic of wombat poo,

I have just been informed by our producer, Rob Dean,

who specialises in this subject, square poo is very good

for marking territory, because it doesn't roll away.

-Yeah.

-Oh!

-That... That's a thought.

-Yes.

As it stands, David's WImmin have drawn level.

They have lost a brain, the Eggheads are marking out their territory

here, they've lost one, too. And the next subject for you

in round three is Geography.

Who would like this?

-Was that me?

-I think so, yes.

-I'm afraid that's me.

-Chrissie, the captain.

Which Egghead would you like to take on?

It can be... So, alternates. Dave or Steve or Judith.

-All big brains.

-Judith, please.

Very good. Our multi-million pound...

-Well...

-No!

-Only one!

-Just the one million, OK.

Chrissie from David's WImmin, taking on Judith from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room now.

Chrissie, here we go, on Geography against Judith.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go first, please.

OK, your first question, Chrissie.

What name is given to areas of the seas or oceans

that do not fall under the jurisdiction of any country?

Mmm. I'll think about this, please. Erm...

I don't think it's disputed strata.

Because there's nobody...

..at odds with anybody else.

And I don't really think it's international waters.

I'm going to go for neutral zone, please.

Let me ask the Challengers. Is she right?

-International waters.

-International waters.

International waters is the answer.

Don't worry, Chrissie.

Here we go with Judith's first question.

The region of the UK known as East Anglia is made up of Suffolk

and Norfolk, as well as parts of Essex and which other county?

Judith.

Well, Hampshire's in the south,

and Oxfordshire is sort of in the middle, centre, south.

So it's Cambridgeshire.

It is indeed Cambridgeshire. You're ahead.

Back to you, Chrissie.

Which of these cities is located on the island of Java?

Once again, I have no idea.

Oh, Java.

Don't think it's Manila.

So it is either between Dhofar or Jakarta.

I have probably got this wrong, but I will go for Dhofar.

Java, I believe, is part of Indonesia, is that right, Eggheads?

-Yes, it is, yes.

-So it's Jakarta.

Worry not. Judith, your question.

You can actually take the round with this.

Thailand shares land borders with how many countries?

Well, it's got Burma going down one side.

And it has got Cambodia.

So I have counted more than one, so I'm going to say four.

Four is the right answer, Judith.

Well done. Sorry, Chrissie.

-OK.

-I know we didn't see the best of you there.

You've been beaten by our Egghead,

but Challengers still really in this game.

Come back to us, both of you. One more round to play before the final.

David's WImmin have lost two brains from the final round,

including the skipper. The Eggheads have lost one,

and we have got one more round to play before the final.

It's Sport.

Who is Sport here?

-Has to be Sheila.

-It's got to be me.

-Because Sheila...

-Is the only one left.

And against which Egghead would you like to go?

So you've got Steve or Dave left.

I think you're better going for Steve. Dave is good at Sport.

Yeah. We're going with Steve, please.

Very good. Sheila from David's WImmin

taking on Steve on Sport in the Question Room,

please take your positions.

Sheila, would you like to go first or second?

I will continue the trend and go first, please.

OK, Sheila, here we go.

Which football club won the Premier League title in May 2017?

Sheila, was this...

Football is not a sport that I follow.

And I'm thinking it could be any one of those.

But Chelsea doesn't seem to ring a bell.

But it could be one of the other two.

Manchester...

No, I'm going to go back to Chelsea, believe it or not,

having eliminated it for some reason.

I can't remember it being Manchester City.

I am going to go Chelsea.

OK. Chelsea is the right answer.

As it happens, I watched a lot of those games,

so I am pleased you got it right.

Well done. OK, Steve.

Which of these was not an Olympic sport at the 2016 Games?

I think that's baseball, Jeremy.

Baseball is correct.

Back to you, Sheila. Which golfer, born in Texas in 1939, is quoted as

saying, "My swing is so bad, I look like a caveman killing his lunch?"

Thinking of how old that makes...

How, what... What day was he, what year was he born?

Born in Texas in 1939.

So that puts him well in his 70s now.

I thought Lee Trevino was younger than that, so...

I'm going to eliminate that.

I also think Tom Watson may be younger than that.

But Jack Nicklaus... I'm going to go Jack Nicklaus.

Jack Nicklaus, let's see. Challengers, is she right?

I thought it might be Trevino, but...

-Yeah, Lee Trevino...

-Oh!

-..was born in Texas in 1939.

-Can we do some ages here, Eggheads?

-Sorry, guys.

-Trevino, '39.

Jack Nicklaus was 1940.

'40, OK, so not that much later.

And then Tom Watson, much later?

Not much later, no.

Not much later, but later.

Because he was 59 when he was competing in the Open.

I'd say Tom Watson, 1940s.

-OK.

-Yeah. '40s.

Steve, who won the men's singles title

at the 2017 Australian Open tennis tournament? Is it...

Yeah. After a bit of a lay-off through injury,

it's my absolute all-time hero, Roger Federer.

I didn't know he was your all-time hero.

I love the man. Think he's brilliant.

-Really?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Roger Federer is right.

Well done, Steve.

OK, Sheila, you need this to stay in.

In 2014, which boxer from Sheffield defeated the American Shawn Porter

in California to take the IBF welterweight world title?

As I've lived for most of my life in Sheffield,

anybody that knows me will think, "Why don't you know that?"

I don't know the name Matthew Hatton.

Or Ricky Burns.

I think it is Kell Brook.

So that is the one I am going for, Kell Brook.

Kell Brook. Well, that's handy, so you are based in Sheffield.

Let's check with Dave, he loves his boxing.

-Yes, Kell Brook is right.

-Kell Brook is the right answer.

-Well done.

-Well done.

You can return home with your head held high.

OK, Steve, you can take the round with this.

Eau Rouge is a notorious corner on which Formula 1 racetrack?

Eau Rouge, and Eau is E-A-U.

Is it...

Well, I don't know straight off the bat, but it's Francophone sounding,

so I'm going to rule out Imola.

After that, it's a straight...

Could be either.

Magny-Cours is French, Spa is Belgian.

It's a 50-50, and I am notoriously bad for 50-50s,

but I will try Spa Francorchamps.

Spa Francorchamps is the right answer, Steve.

You're in the final round. Sorry, Sheila,

that one wrong answer has knocked you out.

You are not in the final. If you return to us, both of you,

we will play the final for £1,000.

So, this is what we have been playing towards,

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

But I'm afraid those of you lost

your head-to-heads won't be allowed to take part.

So that's Chrissie, Sheila and Diane from David's WImmin,

and also Lisa from the Eggheads,

would you please now leave the studio?

OK, here we go. David and Linda, you are playing to win

David's WImmin £1,000.

Dave, Steve, Kevin and Judith,

you are playing for something that money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time they are all General Knowledge. You may confer.

So, David's WImmin, the question is,

are your two brains able to beat these four over here?

-Yes, of course.

-Good! That's what we need to hear.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-We'd like to go first.

OK. David and Linda, here we go with your first question.

The alternative therapy, shiatsu, originated in which country?

I've come across it, but it's not something I've indulged in,

but it sounds something like Japanese to me.

Yes. The words sound Japanese, don't they?

-It sounds like a Japanese inflection.

-Yeah.

We're not really sure,

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

Japan is right. Well done.

Over to you, Eggheads. Which Indian location gave its name to a type of

bullet devised there by a British Army officer

in the late 19th century?

-Dum Dum.

-Yeah, because it's Mumbai Airport, isn't it?

-Or was it Calcutta Airport?

-Calcutta, yeah.

Calcutta Airport. So it's Dum Dum, yeah?

-We all happy?

-Yeah.

-Dum Dum, please.

Yes, Dave, Dum Dum is right.

OK. Challengers,

the anemone is the name for a number of species of flowering plants

belonging to which family?

-Gosh!

-Anemone. I'm trying to picture it, to start with.

Well, it has the purply pink petals, doesn't it?

It is spring flowering.

-I think they're rhizomes.

-Does that imply it's an iris, then?

It could be, couldn't it?

Buttercups are usually later than that.

I don't know, I don't know, I'm not a gardener.

And they sort of... They are rooted and they travel, don't they?

-Yeah.

-Um...

Perhaps it is an iris, you know, if it...

If it's a rhizome...

-Yeah. I don't know.

-I am not a gardener in the slightest,

so I'm not...

I know Chrissie would have known this straightaway.

Yeah. Are we going for that one?

-Yeah.

-We're not sure, and I'm certainly not a gardener, really,

but we are going to go for iris.

Iris is your answer.

Let me ask you, Chrissie, do you know this one?

I'm afraid not. I would probably have gone for lily.

Lily... Well, Judith will know.

Well, I think it's buttercup,

because a lily is a bulb and an iris is a rhizome.

And a buttercup is a plant with roots.

-It is buttercup.

-Ah!

Buttercup is the answer.

So the Eggheads have a chance to take the lead now.

In 2015, Mauricio Macri triumphed in which country's

presidential elections?

-Argentina.

-Argentina.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Argentina.

Yeah? All happy with Argentina?

The answer is Argentina, please, Jeremy.

Argentina is correct.

They knew that one.

That means you must get this one right, Challengers,

or the contest is over.

Playing for £1,000, here is your question.

The 1787 composition known as A Musical Joke,

used for many years by the BBC as the theme tune

for the Horse Of The Year Show, was composed by whom?

It's Mozart, isn't it?

Well, he was the musical joke chap, wasn't he, so, yes.

We think that's Mozart.

OK, you went straight there.

Let's see, Eggheads, are they right?

-Yes.

-Mozart is the right answer, well done.

So you've got two out of three. Is it enough to go to Sudden Death?

Eggheads, if you get this right,

you will have taken the round and the contest.

In the 1850s, where were the first British pillar boxes erected?

-Channel Islands.

-Channel Islands? Was it?

Yes. Is that right?

I didn't know that. So, the Channel Islands, yes?

Yes, Jersey and Guernsey, but certainly the Channel Islands.

All right. Kevin has informed me it's the Channel Islands.

Kevin is rarely wrong.

Is it the Channel Islands?

If you've got it right, the contest is over.

The correct answer is the Channel Islands.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

So many rounds had the same pattern, didn't they?

Just the one wrong answer.

And you're getting back into your stride here, Eggheads, I think.

We say commiserations.

-Hope you enjoyed it.

-We've had a fab time.

Well, it's been great seeing you here.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and you are back in charge of quiz land.

It does mean that the Challengers don't get the £1,000, so we take

the money and we roll it over to our next show.

Well done, Eggheads.

Is this the beginning of a streak of success for you?

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

to stop them in their tracks.

£2,000 will be here for them to win.

Until then, goodbye.