Episode 80 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, and you are on form at the moment, aren't you?

-Very much so.

-Yeah.

-You really are.

Challenging the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Waterbed Warriors from South Wales.

Now, everyone in his team shares a mutual appreciation

for the waterbed, either selling them or sleeping on them.

They've even taken the name "warriors" from the fact

that they've been defending waterbeds for years

and trying to get everyone to believe them

when they say that they are better than normal beds. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Terry and I'm a waterbed sales manager.

Hi, I'm Jayne and I'm a civil servant.

Hello, I'm David and I'm a waterbed company director.

Hello, I'm Natalie and I'm a civil servant.

Hi, I'm Bart and I'm a sales manager.

-So, Terry and team, hello.

-Hello.

Lovely to see you, and, Terry, you are a waterbed sales manager?

-Correct, yes.

-So...

I don't know, how many Eggheads have slept on a waterbed? Have you...?

-No?

-I've slept on one.

-Barry, of course!

BARRY LAUGHS Known as "He's Been To Every Answer".

So... I must admit, I haven't.

And I'm assuming it's a great big giant bag of water.

-Actually everyone thinks that. It really isn't.

-Right.

The actual technology with a waterbed is inside the bag,

and it's the number of fibre layers

and where they are and how they're tethered.

And of course, the heat in there

is controlled from each side of the bed.

-You can heat the water up?

-You have different temperatures on each side if you want,

and different firmnesses on each side if you want.

-And is it made of leather, or plastic...?

-It's vinyl.

-Vinyl?

-Vinyl.

-Right.

So do you use them at home yourself, Terry?

-Absolutely, we've got three in the house.

-And are they very large?

-Can they be large?

-They can be whatever size you want,

but the majority of waterbeds

are five foot by six foot six, or six foot by six foot six.

I might need a large one.

Is it circular or is it square?

-It's an oblong, but it can be seven feet long for you.

-OK.

And they're made to order on whatever size.

What happens if the pillow falls off the end?

-We do a water pillow, as well. Water pillows don't move.

-Really?

So you would have... Would that be Velcro, or...?

No, water pillows are so heavy that they don't move,

so therefore you mustn't do pillow fights with them,

you'll knock each other's heads off.

And the upside, for those of us who haven't tried them,

is what? Better back and better posture?

Yeah, anyone with bad backs, they're good for.

Allergies, because of course you can't get dust mites

in an ordinary bed.

People are supposed to throw their mattresses away every six years. They don't.

So they're breathing the skin that they've shed every night.

-You don't do that in a waterbed.

-Right, OK.

Well, look, this is, it's more than a pillow fight

we've got today with these Eggheads, but, Challengers, good luck.

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

for our challenging team.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads though,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Now, Waterbed Warriors, the Eggheads have won the last six games,

so they are steaming along here

and you need to give them a serious puncture.

£7,000 if you can let the water out. OK?

Are you ready? LAUGHTER

We certainly are, thank you.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Geography.

So one of you, please,

against either Lisa, Steve, Barry, Pat or Chris.

We've worked it out and it's David who's taking Geography and...

-Who are you going to...?

-Not Barry. Erm...

Not Barry.

Need someone.

-Oh, gosh.

-Steve or Chris.

-Steve, Lisa or Chris.

-Chris, then.

It's Chris, please.

Right, Dave from the Waterbed Warriors,

versus Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

So here we are on Geography, against the great Chris,

and I think you might have sold him a waterbed. Don't you think, Chris?

-It's something to think about, Jeremy, yeah.

-Yeah.

-I'll be working on it.

OK, would you like to go first or second, David?

I'll go first, please.

Here is your question.

Which of these UK cities has the largest population?

Ely's a very small country town, really, sort of city. Erm...

It's got to be Liverpool.

It is Liverpool, well done.

Chris,

the Massif Central is an upland area of which country?

It's in the middle of France, Jeremy.

France is right, Chris. Well done.

OK. Back to you, David.

After Sicily, what is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea?

Malta's fairly small.

I... Sardinia's below...

I'm going for Cyprus.

Let's see if the Eggheads know. Is that right?

-I'd have gone for Sardinia.

-I think it's Sardinia.

Yeah, Sardinia is the right answer.

Chris, question in hand.

Can you take the lead?

Which city is often referred to as "the frying pan of Europe",

due to the high temperatures recorded there?

Well, Nice is on the Mediterranean,

which would keep temperatures down a wee bit.

Milan's on the Lombardy Plain, which can get quite hot.

And because it's far south, I'll go with Seville.

Yes, Seville is correct. So he's taken the lead, David.

You need to get this one right.

The Republic of Karelia is a part of Russia that borders

which other independent country?

So, Karelia.

K-A-R-E-L-I-A.

I'm pretty sure it's not the Ukraine or Finland,

-so I'm going for Kazakhstan.

-Well, let's check with Chris,

cos this will be a bit of a World War II history here,

-Chris, which you love.

-Well, yeah.

The Karelia Suite by Sibelius, a great Finnish piece of music,

-so it's Finland.

-And was that...?

-Cos there was trouble, argy-bargy, wasn't there?

-Oh, yeah.

Well, Finland became independent

and the Russians really wanted Finland back.

And there was the Winter War in 1939.

Finland is the answer there.

Sorry, David, knocked out by Chris...

-Right.

-..who may even get even better if he gets a waterbed.

As a result, you will not be able to help your team in the final round,

so, David and Chris, come back to us, please, and we'll play Round Two.

So, as it stands, the Waterbed Warriors have lost one brain

from the final round. The Eggheads have not lost any so far.

And it's Arts & Books now, Terry and team.

Oh, we know who this is now.

-I'll take that.

-OK.

-I'll take that for the team?

Who's taking History, then? Cos I would've taken Art & Books.

-OK, you're taking that then, are you?

-OK.

-So it's Jayne, please.

OK, Jayne.

Civil servant, against anyone but Chris.

Who shall I go for? Er, Lisa?

-I thought you were going to take History.

-OK.

-Lisa.

OK, Jayne from the Waterbed Warriors

taking on Lisa from the Eggheads.

Let's see who makes a splash here. Please take your positions.

OK, Arts & Books. Good luck, Jayne.

Let's see if we can get the Challengers back into this

and would you like to go first or second?

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

Jayne, your first question is

what did Rip Van Winkle do for 20 years in the short

story of the same name by Washington Irving?

-I...

-JAYNE SIGHS

I think he slept.

So sleep. I'll go for sleep.

Sleep is correct.

Lisa,

Which of these writers was born first?

Hm.

Not sure on Defoe's dates.

Erm, Roald Dahl was born in 1916...

I think it might be Daniel Defoe.

On that basis, we'll go for Daniel Defoe.

Daniel Defoe is correct, well done.

Jayne, your question.

What is the name of the central character in John Bunyan's

The Pilgrim's Progress?

JAYNE SIGHS

It's not a book I've read, but...

I don't think it's Christian.

Erm...

I don't think it's Joshua, so I'm going to opt for Virgil.

It's actually a story about, I suppose, Christian life or whatever.

-Christian is the answer.

-Oh...

-OK.

So, Lisa, your chance to take the lead.

The British artist Peter Blake is usually credited with

designing the cover for which of these studio albums?

Lisa...

I think he did Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is correct,

which recently had a 50th.

OK, so you need this one, Jayne.

The artist Sir Peter Lely, best known for his paintings

of the English aristocracy, was born in which year?

So he is Sir Peter Lely. L-E-L-Y.

I don't think it's 1618. That just seems too early.

Erm...

I'm going to plump for 1818.

So more recent. Let's...

It's not somebody I've heard of. Eggheads, can you help with this?

Born in 1618.

I believe he famously painted Cromwell "warts and all".

Cromwell "warts and all". So he goes right back to the 1600s.

-Oh...

-The answer is 1618, Jayne.

Sir Peter Lely has knocked you out, all those centuries back,

and Lisa's in the final round.

Come back to us and we're going to play Round Three.

As it stands, the Waterbed Warriors have...sprung a leak here.

The Eggheads have so far not lost any brains at all.

The next subject for you is Music.

I'll take this.

-OK, Nat's going to take that one.

-I don't want to be left on my own.

-OK, Natalie...

-You've got to...

I'll take whatever comes last, no problem.

Against which Egghead?

You've got the three in the middle here.

-What do you think? What about that...?

-What do you think, Terry?

-No, I'm drawn to that shirt.

It's got to be... It's got to be you, Barry.

So it is Natalie from the Waterbed Warriors versus Barry

with the alluring shirt from the Eggheads,

and please take your positions.

Barry, any good music you've discovered recently?

Ariana Grande.

-Oh, yes, she was wonderful in that Manchester concert.

-I never listened to her

before the Manchester, but afterwards I fell in love with her.

-Yeah, no...

-And her music, as well.

-She is quite something.

How about you, Natalie? What are you listening to?

Usually anything David makes.

Any music he makes on his guitar is fine by me.

-This is your partner, David...

-Husband, Jeremy. Husband.

-Husband.

-Husband.

-So you listen, you sit around, listening to David's music.

-That is dedication.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Brilliant.

OK. Well, there we go.

I don't know if we can guarantee you a question on David's music

-in this round, but, Natalie, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-I'll go first, please.

So, here we go. Your first question.

What is the usual translation of the title of Richard Strauss's opera

Der Rosenkavalier?

Is it...?

I'm trying to think of a literal description.

I don't know for sure.

From the sound of it, I would say...

The Knight of the Rose.

The Knight of the Rose is quite correct. Well done.

Barry,

which of these UK number one singles was released first?

Oh, goodness me.

BARRY LAUGHS

I'm all at sea on this one. Er...

I think Feargal Sharkey is probably the oldest of those acts

to get a number one, so I shall go for A Good Heart.

And you're right, A Good Heart by Feargal Sharkey.

So, Natalie, your question.

Witness is the title of a 2017 album by which singer?

Witness. Is it...?

2017...

I'll go for Katy Perry.

Yes, it is Katy Perry.

Good answer.

Barry, to catch up.

Salvador Sobral won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest

representing which country?

Salvador Sobral.

Well, I make a point of always missing the Eurovision Song Contest

because I really believe it's unmitigated tripe

from beginning to end, but I believe the winner came from Portugal.

Portugal is correct. Well done.

Yeah, and it was a rather plaintive, lovely song he sang, actually,

-written by, I think, his sister maybe.

-Yes.

It was a moment where...it wasn't so crazy.

OK, so, here we are and it's your third question now, Natalie.

Can be crucial. Which Elvis Presley song was adapted

from an American Civil War ballad called Aura Lea?

And it's two words, A-U-R-A and then L-E-A. Aura Lea.

I'm not altogether sure and I'm not sure whether I'm really looking at

the translation or more the time period of the original.

I will go for Love Me Tender.

-Let's see. I think Terry knows this. Terry?

-I didn't, actually, Jeremy.

I would have gone Crying In The Chapel for some reason.

But I don't know why.

Love Me Tender is the right answer.

-Well done.

-It's a miracle!

Barry.

Which composer's only completed opera was entitled Genoveva?

And this to stay in, Barry.

Well, Beethoven's only opera was Fidelio.

Berlioz wrote The Trojans and he may have written other ones.

But I think Genoveva was Robert Schumann.

Genoveva was indeed Robert Schumann. Well done, Barry.

Nice play. So, three questions each.

The scores are level.

-That's a shame, Natalie, isn't it?

-Indeed.

If he'd just slipped up there, it would have got you

into the final round.

OK, Sudden Death now, Natalie. It gets a bit harder.

-I don't give you alternative answers.

-OK.

In classical music,

Lang Lang is a world-famous soloist on which musical instrument?

So it's two words, both beginning with L, both the same, Lang Lang.

Obviously, I don't know.

Erm... I'd say violin.

-Piano.

-OK.

Barry can take the round with this.

The Joan Baez song Diamonds And Rust concerns her former relationship

with which famous singer?

Well, I listened to a lot of Joan Baez in my protest days.

And I do know she had a very early relationship with Bob Dylan,

so that will be my answer.

Bob Dylan is the right answer, Barry. You're in the final round.

Sorry, Natalie. Knocked out.

Looking difficult for our Challengers,

but not by any means impossible.

Return to us, please, and we'll see what The Waterbeds can do.

So, as it stands, The Waterbed Warriors have lost three brains

from the final round.

As yet, the Eggheads have not sprung a leak

and the next subject is Science.

That will be Bart's.

-OK, Bart.

-And against...

So, it's Steve or Pat.

OK. Pat, please.

Right, Bart from The Waterbed Warriors takes on

Pat from the Eggheads.

Last round before the final. Take your positions, please.

Bart, I think this is a good round for you, isn't it?

-I hope so.

-Because you love electronic music.

-Yes.

And video games and I did geology and archaeology at university,

so I've got a kind of fair grounding in science, I hope.

So, Bart, would you like to go first or second against Pat?

Pain up front, I'll go first please.

Here we go with your first question.

What name is given to the world's largest bivalve mollusc?

HE CHUCKLES

That's got to be giant clam.

Yes, it is a giant clam.

Pat, Lithobius forficatus, the common centipede,

typically has how many pairs of legs when fully grown?

Er... Even for a centipede, I think

1,500 pairs of legs would be a logistical problem.

I think millipedes have more legs than centipedes.

I'm not sure centipedes tend to have actually...

They don't generally deliver on 100 feet, which would be 50 pairs.

The common centipede...

So, assuming that's the sort of chap I've seen...

..wriggling around underneath a stone...

150's a lot of pairs, isn't it?

I'll have to go for 15.

15 is the right answer.

Bart,

which gas makes up about 90% of the atmosphere of Jupiter?

Ooh...

Hm...

I'm going to say it's not carbon dioxide.

And Jupiter, if I'm right...

I'm going to say nitrogen.

-Ooh!

-I can hear some gasps on this side.

-Hydrogen.

-Hydrogen is the answer.

Yeah.

Pat, your question.

What type of diet did the Coelophysis genus of dinosaurs have?

I'll have to ask for a spelling, please.

Yes, Coelophysis is C-O-E-L-O-P-H-Y-S-I-S.

I think, for a dinosaur, or certainly a dinosaur of any size,

a frugivorous diet, eating fruit, might be a challenge.

Erm... Fruit tends to be transient and low-ish volume

so it would take a lot of fruit to keep a big dinosaur going.

No, this is difficult.

This is boiling down to a fairly blind guess, really.

One temptation is to go for frugivorous just

because of the novelty,

because you hear about lots of carnivorous

and herbivorous dinosaurs.

Perhaps there was a specialist who did subsist on fruit.

I don't think it could have been that big, though.

I've no real reason to pick between any of them,

so I'll go for frugivorous

on the assumption that there were fruiting trees at that time.

I love it. Just for the sheer novelty of it.

-Carnivorous is the answer, Pat.

-Oh.

So, level, third question

to you, Bart. Bit of a let off there.

Press the advantage.

Which device in a smartphone or a tablet computer automatically

detects changes in orientation so that when the unit is turned

the appropriate view can be displayed on the screen?

It's not an oscillator.

It's not an antenna... It's an accelerometer.

Accelerometer is quite right.

-Doesn't sound like it, but it is.

-Marvellous!

OK, you're ahead now.

Pat needs this to stay in.

Announced by astronomers in 2012

as the largest galaxy cluster ever seen in the distant universe,

it was given the name El Gordo which translates into English as what?

Well, I think around Christmas time in Spain, they have a special...

..lottery that they call El Gordo.

And it's the fat one.

The fat one is correct.

So, level, after three.

And we go to Sudden Death.

And you start, Bart, with this question.

Native to Siberia, Alaska and the Rocky Mountains,

the Melissa Arctic is what type of insect?

Something in my head says butterfly, but I've got no idea why.

I'm going to say butterfly.

Butterfly is correct.

Playing well.

To stay in, Pat,

in the SI system of units, what is the name of the unit of equivalent

dose of ionising radiation named after a Swedish physicist?

Well, in radiation, we've got the Becquerel. He's a French chap.

We've got Gray. I think he was British.

We've got Sievert.

And we've got the rad, so they've a...

They've an abundance of different units.

I think it's the Sievert.

Sievert is right.

Back to you, Bart.

The powerful ALMA telescope is located at an altitude

of 5,000 metres in which South American country?

5,000 metres, so it's got to be in the Andes.

Which gives us...

..Chile or Peru?

I've got a friend from Chile, so I'm going to say Chile just to say that.

JEREMY LAUGHS Chile's correct.

Well done.

Pat...to stay in,

the Swedish botanist and physician Carolus Linnaeus,

who formalised the modern system of binomial nomenclature,

lived during which century?

He's either 1600s or 1700s.

I think I'll go for 1700s,

which is the 18th century.

18th is quite right. 1707-1778.

So, Bart, you've got to battle on here.

Which bird of prey, found in the British Isles,

has the scientific name Pandion haliaetus?

I've got a friend who is going to absolutely nail me if I get

this wrong because he's obsessive with bird watching.

Erm...

I've got to just hazard a guess. Osprey?

Osprey is the right answer.

Great quizzing here, Bart.

OK, back to you, Pat.

Fantastic round, this.

For what does the letter I stand in Ito or ITO,

the name of the chemical compound commonly used in touch screens,

flat screens and solar panels?

Chemical compound?

Well, it could either be a chemical elements like Indium...

..or it could be something like inorganic.

We've got OLEDs, which are organic light-emitting diodes.

Could you have inorganic...

..something something?

I'm afraid I think I'm running out of inspiration here.

I think I'm going to have to go with the element indium.

Indium is the right answer.

And ITO is indium tin oxide and it's used because it conducts

electricity and bonds to glass easily and is transparent.

OK, Sudden Death. You're playing brilliantly, Bart.

Here's your question.

In 1824, Jons Jacob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist,

was the first to isolate and describe

which non-metallic chemical element in the carbon family?

History of chemistry is something that never really kind of...

I just didn't do enough reading about that.

Obviously, there's compounds of carbon,

but I can't think of any element that relates to carbon.

Obviously, my knowledge isn't enough. Erm...

Carbon-14?

No. Pat, do you know the answer?

No, I'd be guessing selenium or something. I'd be guessing.

The answer is silicon.

And actually, silicon makes up 27.7% of the Earth's crust

and is the second most abundant element after oxygen.

Pat, your question for the round.

In physics, which law states that the volume of a fixed mass

of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature

provided the pressure remains constant?

I think that's Charles' law.

-Let's check with the Eggheads. Eggs?

-Yes.

-Yep.

-Yes, it is Charles' law. Well done. Oh, Bart!

You played so well.

-Really.

-Thanks.

That was just one of the best Science rounds

I've ever seen on Eggheads. Really, really, really well done.

Sorry, Pat is a fearsome player as well.

So, come back to us and we'll see what the final holds.

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for our 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, all from the Challengers' side,

Jayne, David, Natalie and the brilliant Bart

from The Waterbed Warriors, would you please now leave the studio?

So, Terry, you're playing to win The Waterbed Warriors £7,000.

Lisa, Steve, Barry, Pat and Chris,

you are playing for the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They're all General Knowledge, Terry.

Normally I say you can confer, but that's going to be tricky.

But the real question here is can you, with your one brain,

defeat these five over here on the Eggheads' side?

And, Terry, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

All right, so, Terry, seller of waterbeds,

here is your first question.

In which city was the radio broadcaster Ken Bruce born?

OK, not a big radio fan.

Erm...

My feeling is Cork, so that's my answer.

-He is quite Scottish.

-Scottish?

-Yeah, I'm afraid.

Oh, well, I'll have to duck when I go from here now, then!

He was born in Glasgow where we are based now.

-Sorry about that.

-Not at all. He may...

Yeah, his accent is a bit Scottish.

OK, Eggheads.

In Australia, what is the approximate population

of the greater Darwin area?

Eggheads, is it...?

I wouldn't have thought it was many.

-Darwin's quite a small place, isn't it?

-145,000, I would say.

Yeah, I would say that.

I think it must be bigger than 14,000.

But certainly not 1.4...

-I'd go for 145.

-Yeah, so would I.

-Lisa?

I'm going to keep my mouth shut and let the people that know

something about it talk about it, really.

So, Pat, you've got the casting vote, then, really.

Well, 14-and-a-half seems just a bit too small so maybe 145?

If it's greater Darwin, you'd assume it's...

Yeah, add some suburbs and whatever.

As you can tell, Jeremy, we're not absolutely sure.

But process of elimination leads us to 145,000.

145,000 is the right answer.

-Well done, team.

-Well done, gentlemen.

Back to you, Challenger.

Manchester United played against which football club

in the 2017 Europa League final?

OK... Need to think a little bit more

because if I'd thought about the first one,

Bruce would have led me to it, wouldn't it? Erm...

OK, I don't follow Manchester United, as you can probably gather.

I don't think it's Ajax.

Erm... Valencia?

The problem is my brain is leading me to Lyon,

but Valencia is the one that's more likely for the quality

of the football, I would have thought, isn't it? Erm...

You should always go with your gut, I suppose, so we'll go Lyon.

Lyon is your answer. I'm afraid it's wrong.

-It's Ajax.

-Ha! The one I...

The one you ruled out.

OK...

So, you can take it with this question, Eggheads.

Which of these London landmarks was designed by the architect John Nash?

-Marble Arch.

-Marble Arch, definitely.

-Tower of London is much too early.

-Tower of London's Norman.

-And Nelson's Column is Railton and Baily.

-Railton and Baily.

Tower of London, yeah, that was William the Conqueror.

Yeah, I think we've got pretty unanimous agreement

with this one, Jeremy. Marble Arch.

Marble Arch is your answer.

If you've got this right, there's no way back for our Challenger.

The correct answer is Marble Arch.

We say congratulations, Eggheads.

You have won.

It's hard when they're all five there.

It's hard when you don't know the answers, Jeremy.

-LAUGHTER

-Actually, the Bruce one, I should have got that from Bruce.

Oh, I'll tease him about that when I see him at Radio 2.

-All right, well, commiserations, Waterbeds.

-Yeah, thank you.

And some great warlike behaviour from... Particularly from Bart.

That really was stunning, Bart.

On any other day against any other Egghead,

you might well have been in the final and maybe Bart would have

known about Ken Bruce and it could all have turned out differently.

-Definitely.

-But here we are.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

This winning streak continues.

It does mean the Challengers don't take the £7,000 away,

so we roll it over to our next show.

Eggheads, genuine congratulations.

You played very strongly today.

Who will beat you?

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

can take them down, stop the run.

There will be £8,000 to win.

Until then, goodbye.