Episode 79 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.

Are you feeling fantastic?

-Absolutely.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-All right, good.

If you'd like to work on a question from the Eggheads while you

watch at home, Lisa, you've got one.

-Yes, I have. Are you ready?

-Uh-huh.

Another football trivia question for you here. Here we go.

Holland didn't qualify for the 2002 World Cup but still scored

a goal in the finals.

-How did that happen?

-OK, we'll think about that.

We'll find out the answer from Lisa at the end of the show.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are Starbase 24 -

talking of fantastic teams.

This one share a passion for sci-fi and they met through an online

community for Star Trek fans.

-Let's meet them.

-Hello, my name's Susan and I am an administrator.

Hi, I'm Colin and I'm an HR administrator.

Hi, I'm Julie and I'm a senior accounts assistant.

Hello, I'm Alex and I'm an administrative officer.

Hi, I'm Dan and I'm a quality administrator.

So, Susan and team, hello.

-ALL:

-Hello!

-Welcome.

This is exciting. So you didn't know each other in the real world but you

met online, is that right, Susan?

Yeah. Yeah, that's correct.

-Online is great!

-And it was through your shared love of Star Trek or

science fiction in general?

Primarily Star Trek but science fiction in general.

Right. And what is it that you love, Susan, about Star Trek?

I love the space ships,

the possibilities and the narratives that it explores.

Yeah. Favourite actor in there, anyone?

It's got to be Patrick Stewart.

Who plays...?

Jean-Luc Picard.

OK. And, then, I suppose, Spock?

-Leonard Nimoy.

-Leonard Nimoy.

-Fantastic.

-Bless him.

-Fantastic.

-So when you get together, all of you,

do you discuss Star Trek or do you range wider than that?

We range wider than that.

There's a lot of fandoms involved.

Yeah. So you talk a lot about fantasy and different novels and movies and

-all kinds of things?

-It's very all-encompassing.

In actual fact, with science fiction and fantasy,

there's such a broad range and it's far more interesting than reading,

for example, the newspapers where everything's doom and gloom.

Yes, well, you're right about that.

So, I hope you're feeling like you're in the real world here.

Sometimes with these Eggheads we do feel like we're on another planet,

-I must say! Susan, are you ready to play?

-I am, indeed.

Very good. Good luck, Challengers.

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

But if the Challengers fail to defeat the Eggheads, that prize money,

as you know, rolls over to our next show.

Starbase 24,

I can tell you that the Eggheads have won the last five so they are

getting into their stride.

And it means there's £6,000 to play for.

-Are you ready?

-How exciting.

-Yep.

-Oh, yeah!

-It is exciting.

And the first head-to-head battle is on the subject of History.

So, one of you, please, against either Lisa, Beth, Barry, Pat or Chris.

-Susan, what do you think?

-I'm thinking that...

Yes, Julie,

I think you'd be really good with this one because you know loads and

loads about history and you've even got the kings and queens aspect down

-as well.

-Yeah...

OK, it is the opposite of science fiction, I suppose, history, but,

Julie against which Egghead?

You can have any one of them.

-Who do you reckon?

-Chris because he's got the breadth of knowledge...

-Yes.

-And maybe get him first.

-OK.

-Yes, I think that's a very good idea.

-OK, Chris, then.

-Good.

A good strategy to aim to knock out the Eggheads who look like their

brains are on fire. Julie from Starbase 24 to take on Chris,

known as the Steamroller.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our legendary Question Room.

Now, I always assume with science-fiction people, Julie,

that you are always thinking about the future,

but you've thought about the past, as well.

Yeah, I used to do the English Civil War re-enactments,

so I class myself as a historian that covers 800 years from

the 17th century.

OK! So 400 back and 400 forward?!

-Yep.

-How brilliant. And when you did your...?

What was it, your Civil War re-creation...?

-Yeah.

-What were you dressed as?

I was a musketeer.

-OK, so you weren't a Klingon or anything like that?

-No!

-No?

-That was before the Klingons.

-OK. History, Julie.

Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first.

-And good luck to you.

Which of these famous historical sites was built in approximately 3000 BC?

This goes back a bit further than the time you were describing!

-Well, yeah, a little bit.

-All right...

Hmm...

I'm not thinking Taj Mahal...

I know the Chinese did an awful lot.

Stonehenge, that was very old as well.

I think it's between Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China.

Um, I think I'm going to go for the Great Wall of China.

Let's see. Eggheads?

Stonehenge is the earliest one by far.

It's Stonehenge, Julie.

-Is it?

-OK, Chris, your question.

Which country's armed forces blockaded all road,

rail and water links between Berlin and the West in 1948?

That brought about the Berlin Airlift,

the only time coal has ever been air freighted.

It was the Soviet Union, Jeremy.

It was, indeed, the Soviet Union.

That's right. OK, back to you, Julie.

In 1801, the British ambassador Lord Elgin

purchased a series of Greek sculptures

from the occupying forces of which country?

Oh. Now, that would be the Elgin Marbles but...

Egypt or Turkey, I'm thinking.

Turkey.

Turkey's the right answer. Well done, Julie. Chris, over to you.

The Battle of Spion Kop,

after which several football stands are informally named,

was an engagement in which war?

That was the Boer War, Jeremy.

It was the Boer War.

OK, Julie, you need to get this one right.

At which battle in 1568 was Mary, Queen of Scots

defeated and forced to seek exile in England?

Oh... I'm not really sure on this one.

It could be any of them.

But I'm drawn to the Battle of Solway Moss.

The answer is the Battle of Langside, Julie.

So, Chris has taken the round and you've been beaten by our Egghead, sadly.

So, you won't be in the final, Chris will.

Please return to us, both of you, and we'll play on.

All right, Starbase 24 have lost a brain from the final round.

So we've got Klingons on the starboard side here a little bit.

But the Eggheads have not lost any so far.

And the next subject is Music.

Who would like this?

I think I will cope with Music, I think.

-OK, fantastic.

-I will take one for the team.

-I'll go forward and do that.

-OK. That would be fantastic.

-I'll go for Lisa.

-Lisa.

-OK.

Good stuff. So, Alex from Starbase 24 versus Lisa from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions in the Question Room.

So, Alex, I made a reference to Klingons on the starboard bow just now.

Was that a line from Star Trek, do you know?

It may well have been.

I think it's more popular from the song by The Firm, Star Trekkin'.

Yeah, Lisa, I think it is from a song, isn't it?

He's quite right, it's by The Firm, yeah.

And so it's possible that something like, "Beam me up, Scotty,"

was never said in Star Trek, Alex?

I believe it may have been in one of the later films or maybe in the

reboot series, just for the sake of having it in.

How interesting. OK, well,

I wish we could ask you a whole round on Star Trek but then, Lisa,

you might be in trouble with that.

It would depend. I mean,

I wasn't really a fan of the whole universe,

but I am an enormous TNG fan and particularly a Patrick Stewart fan, so...

Good. So, Music, Alex, is the topic.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think I will go second.

And here is your first question, Lisa.

The modern version of which of these musical instruments typically has

four strings?

I've never really thought about how many strings a sitar has until now,

but certainly a double bass has four strings, so we'll go for that.

A double bass is correct.

Well done. Alex, back to you with your question.

With which type of music is BB King most closely associated?

That's quite simplistic.

-That's blues.

-Blues...

Is the right answer. Well done.

Lisa, Aftermath and

It's Only Rock 'N' Roll are albums by which band?

As in, "It's only rock and roll but I like it?"

Um, I think...

I think that is The Stones.

Yeah, Rolling Stones.

Rolling Stones is right.

Well done. All right, your question, Alex.

Billericay Dickie and Clevor Trevor are songs by which recording artist?

Hmm, good one.

It doesn't sound like Billy Bragg's naming conventions for his songs.

I'm going to go with Ian Dury.

Yes, you're absolutely right.

So, well done.

And let's see what Lisa can do here with her third question.

With which instrument is the jazz musician Pee Wee Russell mainly

associated? Lisa...

SHE LAUGHS

It's a bit like when you say "cricket" in a Sport round, Jeremy,

as soon as you say "jazz", my brain just starts to flash all the lights

and all the sirens are going, "Does not compute!"

Um, right...

Now, the rule with these, if there is a rule, is -

if in doubt, say piano.

No, I don't think I can narrow it down to anything particular

just from the name.

So, I shall say piano and get it over with.

Let's see, Eggheads, do we know?

-I don't know.

-I don't know. I don't think he's a piano player.

-Maybe clarinettist.

-No, not a piano...

Pat thinks maybe clarinet.

Clarinet is the right answer, Lisa.

So, Alex, big moment now for the Challengers.

You can get yourself into the final if you get this question right.

I'm The One was a UK number one hit single in 2017 for DJ Khaled, Quavo,

Chance The Rapper and which pop star?

Oh.

That is a difficult one.

I'm tempted to say Lorde.

It's between Lorde and Justin Bieber.

I'll go my first answer. I'll go with Lorde.

Justin Bieber is the answer.

-Oh!

-So we are level after three questions.

Lisa, we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, as you know.

I do not give you alternatives.

Beneath Your Beautiful was a 2012 UK hit single for Labrinth and which

-female singer?

-Oh,

I'm so glad you did it that way round because I was going,

"It's Emeli Sande and who?

"It's Emeli Sande and who?"

Anyway, it's Emeli Sande.

It is Emeli Sande and Labrinth.

Well done. OK, Alex, again, to stay in -

Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter are best known for their association

with which band formed in Coventry in the 1970s?

Well, that's a popular song, Ghost Town,

and they were The Specials.

They were The Specials.

Playing well here. Lisa...

The musician and singer born Barry Alan Pincus in June 1943

is better known by which name?

Oh, well, that will escape me.

The dates would sort of fit for Manilow, wouldn't they?

Let me have a think about that.

Yeah, I never really thought about Manilow not being Barry Manilow's real name.

And in the absence of a better thought, I will go for Barry Manilow.

-Is she right, Eggs?

-She is.

-Yes.

-Yes, Barry Manilow.

This is a good round, isn't it, Alex?

-Indeed, it is.

-Keep your concentration here.

You're playing really well.

The songs Hells Bells and You Shook Me All Night Long

feature on which 1980 AC/DC album?

Oh, now, I knew the band but the name of the album...

I'm tempted to say Back In Black.

I will go for that one.

I will go for Back In Black.

Back In Black is correct.

-Phew!

-OK, Lisa, your question.

The soprano Anna Netrebko was born in 1971 in which country?

Yeah, I can't narrow it down so I will just say Russia.

Russia is correct.

Yeah, correct.

-You didn't even celebrate.

-Luck than judgment, Jeremy.

HE LAUGHS

You're very modest. OK, Alex, to stay in -

what was the title of the Fugees first UK number one single

which topped the charts in June 1966?

I know they released a single Ready Or Not

which was quite high up.

But I don't know if that was the first song or the second one.

I'm going to go for Ready Or Not.

No, it's Killing Me Softly.

-Oh!

-It's that cover version they did that was really good.

Killing Me Softly is the answer.

Well done, Lisa. In the final.

Good round, that.

Well done, Alex, as well. You played really well on Music.

Sorry it wasn't quite enough and you've been knocked out.

Return to us, please, and we will play round three.

As it stands, Starbase 24 have lost two brains from the final round and

the Eggheads, all sitting there still.

The next subject for you is Arts & Books.

So who from Starbase 24 would like this?

-I'll give it a try.

-OK, Dan.

-Brilliant.

-Very good.

A member of Starfleet International against which Egghead?

Um, I'll go for Barry, please.

All right, two science-focused people, it's fair to say.

I think it's a battle of the shirts, myself!

LAUGHTER

So Dan from Starbase 24 versus Barry from the Eggheads,

meeting on Planet Earth.

Please take your positions in our Question Room.

So, Dan, you are a member of Starfleet International?

-Yes, that's right, Jeremy.

-And what does that do?

We're a large organisation but there are a little chapters all over the world.

And would they meet and discuss spaceships or...?

Yeah, there's a little bit of that.

There's also quite a lot of charity work.

All of us from Starbase 24, for example, raise money for Macmillan.

Starfleet International chapters have their own little charities.

So, we sort of do a wide range of community work and support.

But what brings you together is the same is what's brought this team

together, which is just the love of science fiction?

-Yep, that's right.

-Good stuff.

All right, Arts & Books we're on, Dan.

Hopefully a bit of science fiction here.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

OK, here we go.

In which year was the author Harper Lee born?

I want to say...

..1866 because I believe he wrote

To Kill A Mockingbird quite early on, so I'll say 1866.

1886 is your answer but it wasn't that early, I'm afraid.

It was 1926.

And Harper Lee is a woman.

OK, Barry, your question.

J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings

are set in which fictional world?

Well, I like all those fictional worlds,

some more than others,

but I believe The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings

were definitely set in Middle Earth.

-Dan, is he right?

-Yeah, he's right.

And, so, Dan, Westeros, where was that?

That was Game Of Thrones.

-And Narnia?

-The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

Yeah, that was your question, really, wasn't it, Dan?

-Yeah!

-OK, So, Barry, you're right, it's Middle Earth.

And, Dan, your second question...

"He is the very pineapple of politeness" is a famous line by

which of these stage play characters?

I'm not particularly familiar with any of those

so I will take a guess at...

-Mrs Malaprop from The Rivals.

-Barry, is he right?

-Absolutely!

-Well done, you're right, Dan.

Mrs Malaprop from The Rivals.

Yeah!

Good, we've got a cheer starting up on the Challengers' side as well.

OK. And a Mexican wave?

No, maybe not.

That's for the next one. Barry,

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley" is a line by which writer?

Well, if I got this wrong, I could never come back to Glasgow, could I?!

That's Rabbie Burns.

Robert Burns is quite right.

Well done. Dan, we go back to you.

You've got to get this right, Dan,

otherwise we're going to have to turn the lasers on.

Which artistic term describes a painting or sculpture of the Virgin Mary,

an example being Michelangelo's work in Saint Peter's Basilica?

I sort of think of the religious term pious,

so I'm going to go for the middle and say pieta.

Yes, pieta's right.

Really good. Well done.

Now, Barry, you can take the round with this.

Self Portrait With Seven Fingers and The Dead Man are works by which

artist born in 1887?

Well, Jackson Pollock

wasn't renowned for representational art, even with seven fingers,

so I'll discount him.

Wassily Kandinsky, again, was basically non-representational,

especially in his later career.

But Marc Chagall was quite renowned for doing all sorts of strange

figures and floating people and whatever,

so that sounds absolutely like Marc Chagall.

-So I'll go for him.

-Your logic is brilliant, Barry, as ever.

Marc Chagall is correct.

You've taken it with three questions right.

So, sorry there, Dan, knocked out and not in the final.

If you return to us, gentlemen,

we'll play one more round before the final.

Right, Starbase 24 have now lost three from the final round and the

Eggheads have not lost any.

So, let's do it this time.

This is the round before the final.

It's Sport.

So it's Colin or Susan on Sport.

Is this good?

Susan's less bad at Sport than I am.

I wouldn't say I'm brilliant at sports but...

Well, why not give it a go?

-I think so.

-OK!

And against with Egghead? You've got a choice here of Beth and Pat.

-Oh. I'm thinking Beth. Yeah.

-Good stuff.

Susan from Starbase 24 taking on Beth on Sport from the Eggheads.

And, for the last time, please take your positions.

OK, Susan, let's start on Sport.

And you're against Beth. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second.

Beth, your question. Which of these football clubs was relegated from

the Premiership in 2017?

Everton finished...

sort of high-ish, mid-table.

Southampton I think escaped the drop.

But I'm pretty sure Middlesbrough went down.

Middlesbrough's right.

Susan, which of these Formula 1 drivers was born in Brazil?

Well, let me have a think about this one.

Sport's not my strongest subject but I'm sure can get some brain cells to

work on this. Going by the sounding of the names...

I will go for Alberto Ascari.

Alberto Ascari is your answer.

-Let's see.

-Eggheads, do you know?

-Italian, he was.

-He was Italian.

-OK. Prost?

-French.

-French.

-And Senna is Brazil.

-Oh, dear.

-Ayrton Senna.

Not to worry. Beth,

what was the first city outside Europe to host

the summer Olympic Games?

So Melbourne had it in '56

but St Louis held it well before either of the two.

So, St Louis.

St Louis, Missouri, is the right answer.

So, Beth has got two.

You need to get this one right, Susan.

In 2015, the British boxer James DeGale became a world champion

in which weight division?

This is outside my sphere of knowledge,

but once again let's just see whether

I can bring to bear some brainpower on this one.

I'm going to go for welterweights.

Let's see. Beth will know this. You love your boxing.

I do. I thought he was a middleweight.

Super middleweight is the answer, Susan.

-Sorry.

-What a shame.

-So, Beth has taken the round and will be in the final. Well done, Beth.

Come back to us, both of you, and we'll play the final for £6,000.

And this is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for our all-important final round.

As always, 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, Susan, Julie, Alex and Dan, all from Starbase 24,

would you please now leave the studio?

Here we are, Colin. You are playing solo to win Starbase 24 £6,000.

And you've got a Star Trek quote which will help you on your way.

I do, indeed. This is definitely a case of the needs of the one outweigh the

-needs of the many.

-Yeah.

Was that when Leonard Nimoy died?

Yeah, that's when Leonard Nimoy's character Spock died

in the denouement scene of the second Star Trek movie.

-Of course.

-Which is quite a big favourite for a lot of fans.

-And for your wife as well?

-Very much so.

In fact, she will probably sit there and be in tears of joy that I have

actually managed to get the quote in.

And you met her through a bulletin board?

Yes, there was a Star Trek bulletin board at the start of the internet

called Outpost 10 Forward,

which was one that allowed me to be fortunate enough to meet her.

How wonderful. OK, well, I hope we can add to your joy today.

Lisa, Beth, Barry, Pat and Chris,

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

which is to ensure that the Eggheads' reputation continues to grow both on this planet and others.

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

This time they're all General Knowledge.

And, Colin, usually I'd say you can confer but it's difficult with your

team-mates back there.

But, anyway, the question is can your one brain, the needs of the one,

outweigh these five over here, the many?

And would you like to go first or second?

Well, considering how well Alex did, I will take second.

OK, Eggheads, great challenging team today but reduced to one.

Can you win? Here is your first question.

The famous three-wheeled car known as the Reliant Robin was first

produced in which decade?

-It's got to be the '50s.

-'50s.

-It's earlier than the '30s, isn't

-it?

-It's got to be the '50s, hasn't it?

It must be the '50s.

People happy with '50s? We're going to go for the 1950s.

Game on. It's the 1970s.

-Oh!

-I don't know what happened there.

1973.

So, you're a good two decades out.

That is what we call the wisdom of crowds working in reverse.

Colin, fire up the generator.

Here we go. Who played the role of the troubled journalist

Christine Chubbuck in the 2017 film Christine?

This is not a movie I've heard of so I'm going to go by actresses that I

know who play, what I would assume, are characters with gravitas.

I believe Keira Knightley and Rebecca Hall would not play this

sort of character, so I'm hoping that it's Kate Winslet.

No, it's not, it's Rebecca Hall.

So, Eggheads, you've just got a little bit of daylight there.

Which Bronze Age empire had its capital at Hattusa in modern Turkey?

Hittite. Definitely.

-100%.

-I don't go against Barry on this stuff.

-No, no.

-The Hittite empire.

Hittite is correct.

Back on track.

OK, Colin, which of these prestigious American races took

place for the 100th time in 2016?

Indy 500 has been going quite some time but that came to

prominence after World War II.

Plus, motorcar racing I don't think's been going well enough to be

going since 1917.

The New York Marathon is a road race.

I know marathons took off in the '60s and '70s.

But most likely the most prestigious event on there and the most likely

to be the answer is the Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby, let's just check to see if you're right. Eggheads?

-Not sure about that.

-I would've gone for the Indy 500 myself.

Would you really?

I think the Kentucky Derby might even be older than that.

But the Indy 500, as Colin was saying,

if it's 100 years old you'd be racing around in 1917.

I think it only just had its 50th anniversary, the Indy 500.

I don't think it's been going as long as that.

So we rule out the New York Marathon.

-Yeah.

-We're between the Derby and the Indy 500.

The correct answer is the Indy 500.

Wow.

Can't fault your logic, it just took you the wrong way.

So, the Eggheads can take it with this question.

Which American Nobel Prize winner sold their Nobel medal in 2014 at

auction for 4 million?

Who was this?

I think it was James Watson.

-James Watson.

-I think he sold it and Alisher Usmanov purchased it and

-gave it back to him.

-That was nice of him, wasn't it?

-Very nice.

-I think it was that. I think it was James Watson.

-Pretty certain it's Watson.

-Yeah, I remember it being Watson.

He established the helical structure of DNA.

It's James Watson.

If you're right, your two out of three is enough to win the contest.

The correct answer is James Watson.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

It's a shame it was on a kind of a science question at the end there.

I know you would have known that, Colin.

But it's difficult playing on your own.

I tried, that's all I can do.

Yeah, when you said Kentucky Derby, I was right with you.

I thought that must be the answer, but it wasn't, interestingly.

I'd love to know when that started, actually.

You think it might be older, Eggheads?

Yeah, 19th-century sometime, the Kentucky Derby.

1875.

-I thought it was earlier.

-Commiserations, Starbase 24.

The Eggheads are properly into their stride now and this winning streak

continues. It does mean you don't go home with the £6,000.

So, we roll the money over to our next show.

Eggheads, well done.

All five of you here playing strongly.

Who will beat them? Oh, before we go, Lisa, that question?

Oh, yeah! So,

Holland didn't qualify for the 2002 World Cup but still scored a goal in

the finals. And I said, "How did that happen?"

I will tell you how that happened.

It is not Holland the country to whom I am referring,

it is in fact an Irish player called Matt Holland who scored against

Cameroon in Ireland's opening game in 2002,

which is probably doubly galling to the Dutch on the basis that it was

Ireland's defeat of them that knocked them out of the

-2002 World Cup finals in the first place.

-OK,

brilliant question and I'm realising footballers' surnames is the way to

-answer your questions.

-Oh, yes.

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

the brains to defeat these Eggheads over here.

£7,000 will be on the table.

So, the jackpot is getting bigger!

Until then, goodbye.