Episode 8 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 our resident quiz champions today are

the Knights Templemen from Buckinghamshire.

Now, this team normally quiz against each other

at the Mitre pub in Buckingham,

but they've joined forces to take on the Eggheads.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Rog. I'm a journalism lecturer.

Hi, I'm Steve. I'm a product specialist.

Hello, I'm Karen, and I'm a senior developer.

Hi, I'm Phil. I'm a retired IT manager.

Hi, I'm George, a retired information manager.

-Rog and team, hello. ALL:

-Hello!

-Good to see you.

And it's all around the Mitre pub, then, Rog?

It is arranged around the Mitre,

and we're named after Keith Templeman,

our landlord, who sadly died last year.

He always wanted to put in a team on Eggheads -

here we are in his honour.

-Oh, how nice. So he used to watch this crowd...

-Absolutely.

-..when he had the time?

-Absolutely.

-He was probably a busy man.

-He was a fine quizzer as well.

Oh, right. Now, you quiz at the Mitre?

-That's right.

-But you quiz normally separately, I understand.

That's right. Sunday night we're different teams.

But, as I say, we've come as a super-team.

So you've taken the cream of the crop from inside the pub?

-Just so, just so.

-And I'm sensing you're familiar with the show,

so you've been having a look at their strengths and weaknesses?

-Absolutely right.

-And I wish you luck.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Have a great time playing.

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.

So, Knights Templeman, the Eggheads have won the last four games.

They're getting into their stride now,

which means there's £5,000 for you to win.

-Would you like to try? ALL:

-Yes.

OK, Rog and team, the first head-to-head battle

is on the subject of Arts & Books, and you can choose between

Judith, Kevin, Pat, Chris and Lisa.

-Karen, I think.

-Yes.

-I think...

-Do you want to do that, Karen?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Who do you want to go for?

OK, Karen against whom?

-I would suggest...

-Who looks unread?

-..Pat perhaps?

-Yes.

-Yes, Pat.

-Yeah, Pat.

-Very good.

So, Karen from Knights Templeman to play Pat from the Eggheads.

You haven't had that many run-outs recently, Pat.

-No, no.

-See you in the booth.

-Yes.

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

in our famous Question Room?

So, you were the choice for Arts & Books, Karen.

Yes, that's right.

Any particular period, or fiction, or anything you like especially?

Fiction... Well, I like sort of quite modern fiction,

-I think, really.

-OK, Karen, your choice, would you like to go

-first or second against Pat?

-I'll go first, please.

And here we go. In which city is Arthur Miller's 1955 play

A View From The Bridge set?

Now, I don't know this,

so I'm going to have to take an educated guess on it.

Although he's American, I don't think it's New York.

I will say Paris.

It's the obvious one actually, it is New York.

SHE SIGHS

So, New York is the answer, Karen.

Pat's question.

What are described in Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 as being

"nothing like the sun"?

I think that's my mistress' eyes.

My mistress' eyes is the correct answer.

OK, Karen, your question.

The ferrule forms a small but essential part

of which piece of artistic equipment?

Well, a ferrule is on the end of a walking stick quite often.

I don't think it's going to be the canvas.

I'll go for brush.

I'm glad you did. You're right, it is brush.

Pat, your question.

The Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi

made his career in which country?

I know one of his pieces was famously suspected of not being

a sculpture when it was imported to the United States.

But I think he was based in France, and I think there are historic,

quite close links, for some reason, between France and Romania.

So, I'll go for France.

France is right.

France it is.

Karen, back to you, and you need to get this one right.

The wealthy Hugo Mallinger is a character

in which George Eliot novel?

Oh, I haven't read any George Eliot!

So...

I will say Silas Marner.

Daniel Deronda is the answer, Karen.

Daniel Deronda.

So, Pat has won through and will be in the final round.

Difficult early start for our Challengers,

but plenty of time still.

Please rejoin your team-mates. We'll play on.

So, as it stands, the Knights Templeman

have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have not lost any yet.

And the next subject for you is Science.

-Who's the scientist?

-Science...

-I'll take that on, if you want?

-Yeah.

-Do you fancy that, George?

-Yeah, I reckon I'll take that on.

-Okey doke.

-Who shall we go for?

Our retired information manager George against anyone but Pat.

-Lisa?

-Yeah, yeah. I think that would be sound.

-I'd like to take on Lisa, please.

-OK.

George from the Knights Templeman versus Lisa from the Eggheads on

Science, and please go to the Question Room.

George, do you have a science background?

Yes, I went to university in Edinburgh,

not a million miles from here, obviously, in the studio.

I studied an interesting degree called chemical physics,

but that was an awfully long time ago.

Well, but then that's two sciences sorted, isn't it, Lisa?

-So far, yeah.

-Chemistry and physics.

-Yeah.

-And you did historical English.

-Yeah, or English historically.

Yeah, basically, there was no science involved.

Good luck hitting the heights with Lisa here,

and would you like to go first or second on Science?

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

Here we go with your first question, George.

In most types of barn owl, the face is predominately what colour?

Barn owls are not my favourite subject.

They're almost ones you can see in the dark,

so I shouldn't think they'll be black.

I think yellow is...unlikely.

I'd prefer, I think, to go for white, Jeremy, please.

White is right.

Lisa, in what state does the element

neon exist at room temperature?

I hate this.

This programme just makes you question everything you ever knew.

It's horrible!

Why do I put myself through this again?

I think it's a gas. Gas.

Gas is the correct answer, Lisa.

And we go back to you, George.

In chemistry, a change in what aspect

of a universal indicator substance

is used to gauge the acidity or alkalinity of a solution?

This is a relatively straightforward one,

if my brain is functioning normally,

because I don't think it's anything to do with temperature,

nor does it do shape, but I do think its colour changes.

So I'm going for its colour.

Colour is the right answer. Its colour.

OK, Lisa, back to you. What is the approximate melting point

in degrees Celsius of lead?

OK.

So, not, obviously, in such common usage any more,

since they've found out that lead does rather bad things to you.

But I would be sort of inclined to go lower rather than higher,

on the basis it had lots of historical applications,

and I don't know how hot they could get things.

No, I'm... I could sit here all day and not find a better basis

for narrowing it down. So, if we turn back to history and say that,

OK, you know, they're working with relatively primitive tools,

and they could get lead to form a lot of different shapes

by melting it and letting it solidify again...

Let's try 327.

327 is right.

SHE EXHALES

Back to our Challenger.

Get this right, put a bit of pressure on Lisa, George.

Which member of the crew of Apollo 17,

the last Apollo mission to land on the moon,

had earlier flown on the Apollo 10 mission?

I think I may have to take a punt on this,

because I don't know the answer.

Eugene Cernan has been in space more than twice,

though whether or not that was Apollo 10 and Apollo 17,

I don't know.

But on the basis of he's the name that is most familiar,

we will go, Jeremy, with Eugene Cernan, please.

I thought this Apollo question would be good to you, and indeed it is.

Eugene Cernan is right.

Well done, George, three out of three on your Science.

Now, Lisa, pressure on.

Turquoise is an opaque blue to green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate

of aluminium and which other metal?

Presumably, it's got to be something that makes it go blue-green,

which would imply copper.

I can't make any connection between the colour of turquoise

and nickel or zinc, so on that basis, I'll go for copper.

Copper is the right answer.

Well done, three out of three for you both.

And with the scores level, we go to Sudden Death.

George, it gets a bit harder,

I don't give you different options, OK?

-OK.

-So, here we go.

In terms of mobile telecommunications technology

and mobile phones, what does the "G" in 3G and 4G stand for?

There are all sorts of possibilities there.

Again, it's not one...

It's one of these terms you tend to use and bandy around,

but it could be so many things.

But I think I have to go with what should be the obvious answer,

I hope, is generation.

Generation is right, well done.

Yeah, you have third-generation, fourth-generation.

OK, Lisa, to stay in. We're on Sudden Death here.

The name of the element selenium is taken from the Greek word for which

celestial object?

Named after the moon.

It is named after the moon.

You're still level, it's still Sudden Death.

And we go back to you, George.

The constellation Horologium, one of the 88 modern constellations,

is so-called because it's said to resemble what object?

Well, judging by the name,

it would have to be something to do with time of some description.

So...

I am going to have to guess a clock face.

Yep, that's right, clock face.

Lisa, in the categorisation of the three primary types

of lightning, IC, CC and CG, what does the "CG" stand for?

Well, I think I'd ridden my luck far enough anyway.

I couldn't even begin to guess.

No, George deserves this, hold my hands up - pass.

-Really?

-Yeah, really.

Do you know, George?

Not the faintest clue, but if I had to guess...

cumulus generated?

-No. Anyone know here?

-Would it be cloud-to-ground?

-Cloud-to-ground.

-Ah!

-Cloud-to-ground, yeah, simple as that.

-Interesting.

So, well done, George, you played really well there.

-Thank you very much.

-And Lisa held on in, but in the end

the history and the English didn't help you.

I think that was only fair, really.

So, you've taken on an Egghead, you've emerged triumphant.

George, you'll be in the final round.

Please return and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the Knights Templeman have lost a brain

from the final round.

The Eggheads have also lost one now,

because the Knights are fighting back.

And the next subject for you, Knights, is Music.

So, who wants this?

-Music, well... George.

-It's got to be Steve.

-It's got to be me, I think.

-Steve, I think you're in the frame, man.

Steve, music, against which Egghead, Steve?

-I'm going to go for Judith.

-Judith, OK.

So, it's going to be Steve from the Knights Templeman

versus Judith from the Eggheads.

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

Well, Steve, I thought you'd be chosen for music,

because I know you play the guitar and other things.

-Yes, that's right.

-And you played with Billy Idol?

I did back in 1976 at Sussex University,

-when he was William Albert Broad.

-Lovely.

OK, well, I hope you do well in this round against Judith.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, if you don't mind.

Good luck.

The dance music known as acid house first became popular at the

end of which decade?

That would be the end of the 1980s.

It was indeed the '80s, yeah.

Judith, your question.

Which female singer had three songs in the top ten

of the very first UK Official Singles Chart,

published in November 1952?

Well, I think Aretha Franklin is too modern.

I mean, she's too young, as it were.

I think it must be Vera Lynn.

Vera Lynn is right. Very good.

Your question, Steve.

Which song by the folk singer Ewan MacColl

has been covered on record by many singers and groups,

including Rod Stewart, The Dubliners and The Pogues?

Dirty Old Town.

Dirty Old Town is right.

-Can you play that on your guitar? I bet you can.

-I can.

Judith, which group released the greatest hits album Snap in 1983,

one year after they disbanded?

Pink Floyd.

-The Jam is the answer.

-The Jam, right.

-The Jam, The Jam.

-OK.

Your question, Steve.

In 1939, Dmitri Shostakovich was commissioned to write

a celebratory piece of music intended to be played

as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded

through the capital of which country?

I would go for Poland.

It's not Poland, it's Finland.

Chris will tell us why.

Well, there was a Russo-Finnish war in 1939.

Russia always resented losing Finland,

which until 1919 had been

more or less part of the Russian Empire.

-And the Finns fought them off.

-The Finns fought them off, yeah.

The so-called Winter War, yeah.

Right, so that answer means, Judith, you have a chance to stay in

if you get this right.

Which band had a UK top ten hit in 1987 with True Faith?

I absolutely no idea.

New Order.

You're absolutely right! I don't know how you did that!

-Because it's the magic right.

-It is the magic right, well done.

New Order is the right answer.

So, level after three questions, two points each.

Steve, we go to Sudden Death.

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

Crash, high hat and ride are types of which percussion instrument?

They're cymbals.

Cymbals is right.

Judith, which song by Ed Sheeran begins with the lines

"White lips, pale face, breathing in snowflakes"?

No idea. I really don't know.

Snow.

-The A Team is the answer.

-Mmm.

I'm sorry, Judith, not in the A Team today.

Steve, you're through on Sudden Death, you're in the final round.

Well done. Cause for celebration for your team.

That's good news for you!

What's happening here? Are the Eggheads falling apart?

Do return to us, and we'll see what happens in the last round

before the final.

So, as it stands, the Knights Templeman have lost one brain

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost two now, Eggheads.

And the next subject is Politics.

So this round and then the final. Who wants Politics?

-That'll be me, I think.

-Very good, Phil.

-So...

Which Egghead? You can have, Phil, either Chris or Kevin.

Yes... Very strong players.

I'll go for Chris, I think, because I have empathy with him.

He'll be pleased to hear that.

Phil from the Knights Templeman is going to

take on Chris, with whom he has empathy.

And to ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions

in the Question Room?

OK, Phil, Politics. Would you like to go first or second?

I'll serve first, please, Jeremy.

Here we go. Good luck. In order to take their seat in the Commons,

MPs must swear by Almighty God that

"I will be faithful and bear true allegiance" to whom?

Well, it seems an inappropriate oath to the Prime Minister.

The Mother of Parliaments sounds a bit abstract.

I'm going to say the monarch, Jeremy, please.

-The monarch is the right answer. Well done, Phil.

-Thank you.

Chris, which British political figure

was photographed standing outside a gold lift in Trump Tower

in New York alongside Donald Trump,

days after the latter's presidential election victory?

Oh, yeah, they've been very chummy of late, haven't they?

It was Nigel Farage.

Nigel Farage is right. Well done.

Phil, Jean Chretien first became Canadian Prime Minister

in the early half of which decade?

Ooh!

I wouldn't consider myself an expert on Canadian politics,

so I'm going to do what, in the Eggheads' case is logical deduction,

but in my case is a stab in the dark.

I'll go for the 1980s.

No, it's the 1990s.

OK.

I'm sorry. Chris, to take the lead,

who was the last 20th century British Prime Minister

to hold office while being a member of the House of Lords?

Well, Anthony Eden became the Earl of Stockton

when he retired from politics.

Harold Macmillan was a nice old gentleman

who retired to Birch Grove near Horsted Keynes.

But Alec Douglas-Home was Lord Home of the Hirsel, or some such,

so it's Alec Douglas-Home.

Alec Douglas-Home is correct.

I think he was Lord Home of the Hirsel, you're absolutely right.

So, Chris is in the lead, and it means, Phil,

-you need to get this one right.

-Indeed.

In 1991, Leonid Kravchuk became the first president of which country?

These are all republics formed after the meltdown of the Soviet Union,

and I just don't know what the sequence

of them being formed is.

HE EXHALES

What are we going to go for here?

I'm going to go with Estonia.

-Kravchuk is a Ukrainian name, Phil.

-Right...

-Ukraine is the answer there.

-OK. Thank you.

And that means you've been knocked out by Chris, I'm afraid.

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

And, in fact, if you come back to us, gentlemen,

we will play that final round for £5,000.

Chris, you had some facts on Macmillan and Eden.

Judith, you've got some slightly different facts.

Well, yes, Macmillan was the Earl of Stockton,

-after he became Prime Minister.

-Not Anthony Eden?

-No.

-Anthony Eden was the Earl of Avon...

-That's right.

-..after he became Prime Minister.

-Absolutely right.

And Lord Douglas-Home became an MP as he became Prime Minister.

-He had to renounce his title.

-Yeah.

All right, this is what we've been playing towards,

it is 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, that's Karen and Phil from the Knights Templeman,

and also Lisa and Judith from the Eggheads -

would you please now leave the studio?

Rog, Steve and George, you're playing to win

the Knights Templeman £5,000.

Chris, Pat and Kevin, you're 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're all General Knowledge.

You can confer, gentlemen.

So, Knights Templeman, the question is,

are your three brains able to defeat these three in open combat?

-You don't have to answer that!

-Let's hope so.

Indeed, let's hope so. Rog, Steve and George,

-do you want to go first or second?

-We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Here is your first question.

Which actress did Bruce Willis marry in 1987?

-It wasn't Mira Sorvino.

-No.

-Far too young.

-Far too young.

-Yes. Absolutely right.

OK, and Marisa Tomei...

-I know nothing about her.

-I've never...

-It doesn't ring any bells.

-It doesn't ring any bells.

-I'm fairly certain it was Demi Moore.

-It's got to be Demi.

I think it was Demi Moore.

Demi Moore is right, well done.

Over to the Eggheads. First question.

Which of these expressions from the French for "cold blood" is used to

describe someone who is cool and composed?

-Sang-froid.

-I think so.

That is the literal translation of sang-froid.

Sang-froid is correct.

OK, Knights Templeman,

playing in memory of your landlord.

Here is the second question.

In August 1934, which famous American criminal

was transferred to the then recently-opened

prison on Alcatraz Island, becoming prisoner number 85-AZ?

-OK, Dillinger was killed in Chicago.

-Correct.

-End of story.

Clyde Barrow was killed...

-As in Bonnie and Clyde.

-That leaves Al Capone as the only one left.

-Yep.

-I'm sure the other ones are both dead.

-OK.

I think it's Al Capone.

I was visiting Alcatraz on holiday a couple of years ago, and, yes,

Al Capone is quite right. Well done.

Your second question, Eggheads.

In the classic British version of the board game Cluedo,

what title was given to the female character

whose surname was White?

-Mrs. Mrs White.

-Mrs White...

-Yeah.

OK? Happy with Mrs?

It was Miss Scarlett. Yeah.

She is, was, Mrs White.

Mrs White is right.

So, two each.

Tense final round. £5,000 we're playing for.

Challengers, in 1990, the newsreader Michael Buerk

became the host of which radio programme?

OK, You And Yours is Winifred Robinson.

OK. Start the Week is, I think, Libby Purves...

-No... Or Melvyn Bragg.

-I think it was Melvyn Bragg. OK.

-The Moral Maze.

-It's got to be The Moral Maze.

It's got to be The Moral Maze.

OK, we think it's The Moral Maze, Jeremy.

It is The Moral Maze. Three out of three, you're doing really well.

You may not need to do any more work today

if they get this wrong, these Eggs.

Which of these state nicknames is commonly seen

on vehicle licence plates from the US state of Arkansas?

The Last Frontier is Alaska. Land of Lincoln is Illinois.

So it's got to be The Natural State.

-Yeah, it's certainly not Land of Lincoln.

-No.

Some states have two or three, and they...

Just occasionally have been known to, not quite swap,

but something that you'd associate more with somewhere else becomes

taken over. But I think, yeah...

I think The Last Frontier is Alaska.

Arkansas, nothing to do with Lincoln.

So I think The Natural State sounds like the logical one.

Well, we think, by a process of elimination

as much as anything else, that it must be The Natural State.

If you've got it wrong, it's over, and they win £5,000.

But the answer is The Natural State. Well done.

Three each. We go to Sudden Death in the final round.

You've done brilliantly so far.

Challengers, keep it up.

I don't give you alternatives now.

What is the meaning of the Latin phrase "vox populi"?

-Voice of the people.

-Voice of the people, yes.

The voice of the people.

The voice of the people is quite right.

For a journalism lecturer, perfect question!

"Vox pop", as they call it.

Eggheads, the A1 road runs from Edinburgh all the way south,

to which city?

-It's the old Great North Road.

-It's London, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Does it go all the way to London?

It doesn't get subsumed by the M1 or anything, no?

-No, I don't think so.

-It's the A1(M) down to Welwyn.

-But then it's just the old A1.

-To London? Yeah.

Where else is it going to stop, Peterborough?

-Yeah, yeah.

-London.

-We think that's London.

The old Great North Road, yeah.

London is the right answer. Sudden Death, your question.

The British nickel brass

threepence coin, introduced in 1937, had how many sides?

-It's 12-sided.

-12?

-Yeah.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-12.

-Yeah.

-OK.

We believe it's 12, Jeremy.

12 is quite right. You're quizzing really well.

Eggheads, they're worried now.

Which female media personality and journalist became editor of the

Independent on Sunday newspaper in 1999?

We've got a bad track record with this sort of thing, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-It couldn't possibly be somebody like

Janet Street-Porter, could it?

-No, it's not Janet Street-Porter.

-You don't think so?

I don't think so, no.

-Yeah...

-Right.

She's never mentioned it, has she, on Loose Women, so...

Rosie Boycott? Would she fit the bill at all?

-She might do.

-She is a journalist.

-She might do, yeah.

I don't know. She's just another name, that's all.

I quite like that. When you said that, something...

-Yeah, all right?

-I've no idea,

I just offered her as a name, that's all.

No, no, but I think when you said that, that suddenly...

I mean, it may just be power of suggestion, I don't know.

But that made me think, "Oh, actually..."

-Any other thoughts?

-No, I'm a bit blank on this one, I'm afraid.

-OK, shall I go for it? I mean, we'll have to...

-Yeah.

We don't know. We don't actually know this at all.

I bet Rog would have preferred this one.

-Shall we try it? Shall we try that?

-Yeah, try it.

We'll try Rosie Boycott.

Rosie Boycott is your answer. Rog, do you know this?

I think I would have said Janet Street-Porter.

Kevin would have said Janet Street-Porter,

-but Chris overruled him.

-Yeah.

It's all hanging on this.

If you've got it wrong, they've won.

The correct answer is Janet Street-Porter.

We say congratulations, Challengers, you have won!

Ooh, Eggheads, I don't know what happened there!

-There we go.

-When I saw that question... You've got a very bad...

We've got a very bad track record on that. For some reason...

It's actually... It's something on which the information

is actually very difficult to find, I've found.

I only remember it because I asked her for a job.

-Ah!

-And she, in terms of...

Because your profession is journalism -

in terms of media personality, all respect to Rosie Boycott,

but that's not how she would have gone into that job, is it?

Just so. Yeah, absolutely.

There would have been a stronger journalism angle, quite simply.

But, Chris, you had an interesting point there.

You said, "I watch Loose Women,

"and I've never heard her mention it."

Anyway, what a way to remember your old landlord Keith, Rog.

Absolutely right. Absolutely right.

We are proud for him.

Listen, well done, guys. I hope you enjoyed that.

-It was terrific.

-Fantastic!

-How do you feel? You've beaten them!

-It's terrific!

-And they were just starting to get into

-a bit of a roll, as well!

-Wonderful team.

-Yes.

You played really well, because it's difficult

when you take a hit early on to recover your composure.

So, congratulations, Knights Templeman, you've won £5,000,

you are officially cleverer than the Eggheads!

It's official, seriously!

You certainly proved they can be beaten, anyway.

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

will be just as successful. That was a really good contest, wasn't it?

Many congratulations. Goodbye.