Episode 81 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 ready for the curtains to open now?

-Yes.

-Absolutely.

All right. Good stuff.

If you would like to work on a question from the Eggheads

while you watch at home, Chris, I gather you've got one for us.

I have indeed, Jeremy, yes.

What name connects underglaze blue porcelain and black shorts?

Underglaze blue porcelain and black shorts.

OK. We're going to puzzle over that.

We'll find out the answer at the end of the show. Thanks, Chris.

Challenging our resident quiz champions today are

Frank's Friends from West Yorkshire.

Now this team all work together at the Theatre Royal Wakefield,

the smallest Frank Matcham-designed theatre in the UK.

Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Dean and I'm a box office assistant.

Hi, I'm Janine and I'm a learning and participation manager.

Hello, I'm Ann and I'm a part-time box office assistant.

Hi, I'm Helen, and I'm programme and tours manager.

Hi, I'm Kay, I'm a box office assistant.

So, Dean and team, hello.

-ALL:

-Hello.

-Great to see you.

-So Frank Matcham was a designer, then, Dean?

-Yes.

So he built our theatre, 1894, it was.

As well as ours he built quite a few theatres in and around the UK,

London Palladium being the biggest one.

And, yes, ours, our little gem in Wakefield is the smallest

Frank Matcham one, which we're all quite proud of.

-It's lovely.

-He definitely sounds like he must have been

-a quiz answer at some point. ALL:

-Yes.

-Has he come up, Frank Matcham?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Right.

And what sort of dates was he?

-When did he live?

-So he built ours in 1894.

I'm not sure. You might know a bit more about that than me, Ann.

He died in the 1900s.

Was it about 1920 or something like that?

I think so. 1920, maybe.

Good stuff. Do you quiz together, you brilliant theatre people?

Every year at our theatre, when it gets to Christmas time

we have an annual panto Christmas quiz with the cast and crew,

just to get to know each other.

But, yeah, we take that quite seriously, don't we?

-Yeah!

-We are a competitive team.

Does that mean you're in a costume of some kind when you hold the quiz?

Yeah. We're not. Sometimes the cast might be.

-OK.

-No, we're definitely not.

Good stuff. Good luck to you, Challengers.

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

Challengers fail to defeat the Eggheads, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Frank's Friends, the Eggheads have won the last seven.

There's pros and cons here, basically.

They're in good shape, which is bad.

However, they've defeated a lot of other teams,

so there's a good old jackpot now.

£8,000. Would you like to try and win it?

-Yes.

-Excellent!

So we're on our way and the first head-to-head battle

is on the subject not of Theatre, I'm afraid, but Sport.

So one of you, please, against either

Lisa, Steve, Barry, Kevin or Chris.

Shall we do what we said we were going to do?

-Yeah.

-Will you do Sport?

OK. And I'll go against Chris, please.

Oh, OK, you know the programme well, I can tell!

You've got a plan, so, Kay,

who's the box office assistant from Frank's Friends, versus our own box

office assistant here, Chris from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions in our legendary Question Room?

So, it must be fun, Kay, the box office?

Yeah, we have a lot of really great customers that come in and, yeah,

it's really good fun. Good team.

And it's a well-supported theatre in the area?

Yes, very, very good local support.

Oh, fantastic. So, how does it work?

Do people normally come on the day to buy tickets or do they book them a long time in advance?

Oh, book a long time in advance. 12 months in advance for some shows.

And the panto, I guess, is the sell-out, is it?

-Yeah, the sell-out show, yeah.

-All right, well, good luck here.

Kay, you're up against Chris, would you like to go first or second?

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

All right, the Theatre Royal Wakefield takes on the Eggheads

and here is your first question.

The rugby union player Brian O'Driscoll played 133 matches for

which international team?

Rugby's not my best sports knowledge, Jeremy,

but just from the name, I'm going to go Ireland.

Ireland is the right answer, well done.

Good stuff. Chris, on to you.

Which of these tennis players is the oldest?

The one that seems to have been around longest is Roger Federer,

so presumably he's the oldest.

Roger Federer is right. That's one way of doing it.

Kay, your question.

Which of these drivers won his first Formula 1 race

at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix?

Formula 1, again, is not one of my favourite sports.

I think I'm going to just have to plump for one and I will say...

..Daniel Ricciardo.

Let's see if Chris knows this. Chris?

Vague idea it's Valtteri Bottas.

It is Valtteri Bottas,

so Chris has the chance to take the lead.

Which role does Alex Hales usually perform

for the England one-day cricket team?

I've not heard of him as a batsman or a bowler,

-so it must be a wicketkeeper.

-Eggheads?

-Batsman.

-Opening batsman.

-Opening batsman?

-Yeah.

OK, Kay, onto you.

One each. Your third question.

What was the distance of the men's javelin world record

set by Jan Zelezny in 1996?

He was a brilliant javelin thrower and I know it was a really long

distance, so I'm going to discount 78.48

and then it's a toss-up between the other two.

And I'm going to say...98.48m.

And you're absolutely right, well done.

Good quizzing. 98.48.

So, Chris, to stay in, here's your question.

Which of these snooker world champions usually plays left-handed?

I think that's Graeme Dott.

Graeme Dott.

-Steve knows.

-It's Mark Williams, unfortunately.

Any way of getting to that through guesswork, Steve?

-You can't really guess it.

-No, you've got to have seen him.

Mark Williams is the answer, Chris.

You've been knocked out. Well done, Kay!

The curtains open dramatically for our Challengers here.

You've taken on an Egghead

and you've won through, so first round to you.

Come back to us, please. We'll play on.

So as it stands, Frank's Friends have not lost any brains

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost one.

Chris has gone. And the next subject for you is Science.

Who wants Science?

-I'll take it.

-You sure?

-Yes.

-Do you want to do Science?

-Yep. Brilliant.

-Helen?

-Yep.

Against which Egghead? It can't be Chris.

-What do you reckon, Kay?

-They're all really good.

You're our expert, Kay. What do you think?

I think you can choose any of them and it will all be

-as difficult as each other.

-Oh, thanks!

LAUGHTER

Can I go up against Barry, please?

Of course you can. And Barry loves the laboratory, don't you?

-I do.

-It's like the scene from Monster Mash.

LAUGHTER

So Helen from Frank's Friends versus Barry from the Eggheads on Science.

To ensure there is no conferring, please take your positions.

So is your background in science, Helen?

Erm, no, not at all!

It's an arty team, isn't it, because you're theatre-based, so...?

-Yeah.

-This is always going to be a tricky one.

It is, but it's something that I've been quite interested in in a while,

so hopefully the right questions come up.

Very good. And it describes you, doesn't it, Barry?

Just an amateur interest that you have.

Yes, I've maintained it all my life.

I mean, science is the essential building block

for the world we live in, so it's important to know about it.

All right, so let's see how matched we are.

Helen, would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

Good luck to you.

What sort of diet does a rhinoceros have?

Well, I know it doesn't eat meat.

I would assume a rhino wouldn't be catching any flies,

so I'm going to go with herbivorous.

Yes, unless it's sort of spearing flies on its horn.

It is herbivorous.

Well done. OK, Barry, your question.

How many fibula bones are there in the typical human body?

Well, there's one in each leg, so that makes two.

Two is right. It's the thigh bone, is it, or what?

The lower leg bone, tibia and fibula.

Right. Helen, your question.

The chemical compound hydrogen sulphate

has what distinctive smell?

Is it...?

Erm... I'm not familiar with the compound,

but I've never heard of anything smelling like burning rubber

or wet dog, but I know, I think when some volcanoes erupt

there can be a smell of rotten eggs, so I'm going to go with that.

Yes, unforgettable smell.

Rotten eggs is the right answer.

Well done. Barry, back to you.

What kind of creature is a taipan?

I think a taipan is an extremely venomous Australian snake.

Right, and here you disobey the rule of Judith, whose rule is,

if there is an antelope among the options, always go for it.

You see, I have a different rule - if I know it,

I go for the right answer!

Well, snake has served you well.

It is a snake.

You are level after two questions.

Helen, it's going well so far.

The semitendinosus muscle is found in which part of the human body?

Well, it sounds like...

..it would be some type of tendon

and I don't think you have any in your chest,

so I think it's going to either be arm or leg,

so I'm going to take a punt and say arm.

Eggheads, do we know?

-Not too sure.

-Tempted with leg.

They're not sure. Leg is the answer.

-Oh.

-The back of the thigh.

We've done... Every answer seems to be either leg or snake

in this round. OK, Barry has a chance to take the round.

Barry, the snapdragon is a member of which plant genus?

Narcissus are daffodils, myosotis are forget-me-nots,

but I think snapdragons are antirrhinums.

Oh, I thought you were going to be confused by that,

but you're too good. Antirrhinum is correct.

And well done, Barry, you're in the final. Sorry, Helen.

But you played well, there, and if you come back to us,

we'll see what happens in Round Three.

So, Eggheads, the semitendinosus muscle, back of the thigh,

it's one of the three hamstring muscles.

-Oh.

-OK, there we are.

As it stands, Frank's Friends have lost a brain from the final round,

but they've knocked out Chris on the Eggheads' side as well,

so it's level as we go into Round Three, and this is Film & TV.

Now, I'm thinking this is up your street.

Yeah, well, we've said, haven't we, I'll do Film & TV?

OK, Dean, the skipper goes in.

And you can have Kevin, Steve or Lisa.

-Not easy.

-What do you think?

-It's so hard to say.

-Lisa?

Lisa on TV.

Right, yeah. Lisa, please.

Dean from Frank's Friends versus Lisa from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room now.

Good luck, Dean. Team captain going in. First or second?

Erm, I'll stick with what we've done so far and go first.

And here we go, your first question.

"They call it a Royale with cheese" is a line from which 1994 film?

OK, I've not actually seen the film,

but I think it's such a famous line and I know it anyway,

and I'll go for Pulp Fiction.

Absolutely right.

The Travolta character, I think.

Lisa, your question. Of these three characters,

which one has appeared in the most episodes of the TV soap EastEnders?

Oh... Now, let's see.

Phil and Grant were actually around a few years before Peggy.

And then Grant disappeared.

On that basis, I'm going to go for Phil.

Phil Mitchell.

Yes, that's very good, you're right.

Phil Mitchell. Judith would have known that, wouldn't she?

-Oh, yes.

-All right.

One each. Back to you, Dean.

Who presents the Saturday-night TV quiz show Who Dares Wins?

OK, yeah, I've seen the show quite a lot.

We were actually talking about it just earlier on.

So again, I know that one and I'll go for Nick Knowles.

Yes, Nick Knowles is right.

Well done, you're ahead. Lisa, your question.

Who directed the 2017 film King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword?

I think...

..that is Guy Ritchie's take on the legend.

Let me just have a little think before I commit to that.

Yeah, I don't think it's the other two.

I'll go with Guy Ritchie.

Guy Ritchie is right.

Nothing to choose between these two players at the moment.

So, Dean, your third question could be crucial.

What is the profession of Jessica Chastain's character

in the 2017 film Miss Sloan?

Erm... Never even heard of the film, to be honest.

I will go for...

..an archaeologist.

-Challengers?

-I was thinking possibly a lobbyist,

but I haven't seen it either.

I would have said lobbyist.

Yeah. Lobbyist is the answer, Dean.

Two out of three, might be enough to get you to Sudden Death.

Let's see, Lisa can take the round with this question.

Adeel Akhtar won the leading actor prize at the 2017 Bafta TV awards

for his performance in which TV drama?

Oh, I can't remember!

Something is telling me that Adeel Akhtar is quite a young fellow.

I can't remember,

but I will go for, because it's the one leaping out at me,

Murdered By My Father.

Let's see. Eggheads, is she right?

-I think so.

-Murdered By My Father is the right answer,

three out of three. Dean, sorry.

That precious, expensive wrong answer has done for you,

I'm afraid, so come back to us.

We've got one more round to play before the final.

As it stands, Frank's Friends have now lost two brains

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost one.

This is the chance to level up just before the final, and it's Geography,

so which of Frank's Friends wants this?

It's going to be me, I think.

OK, Ann, would you like to take on, let's see, Kevin or Steve?

Kevin is so good, shall we try and knock another one out,

-get rid of Steve?

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

-Try and get rid of Steve.

-Right, OK. Steve, please.

OK, Ann from Frank's Friends taking on Steve,

last round before the final.

Please, for the last time, go to the Question Room.

So, Ann, you got chosen for Geography.

-Yes, that's true.

-Is that because of your cruises?

Could be, I've been to quite a few places.

Whether I can actually remember them all is debatable!

So you've been on ships to the Baltic and the Canaries and so on?

Yes, and I've done the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

Wonderful. And what makes you choose those particular places?

Just a matter of interest, really,

I like to do all these adventurous things when I'm fit enough.

Who knows when I may not be?

Good stuff. Where next?

Still thinking about it at the moment, I'm afraid.

OK, well, winning against Steve is hopefully the answer there.

-That's true, yeah.

-Good luck, Ann.

-Would you like to go first or second?

-First, please.

And here we go with your first question.

Which of these cities lies on the Adriatic Sea?

I think that's Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik is correct.

That's one you've parked in with your cruise ship or not?

Yes, we have been. I also stayed there on land.

OK, great. Steve.

Kowloon is a famous area in which of these cities?

Sorry, you said Kowloon?

Yeah, K-O-W-L-O-O-N.

Yeah, it's Hong Kong, Jeremy.

It's Hong Kong. One each.

Back to you, Ann.

Munich is part of which German state?

Right, I don't think I know.

Erm... I have been to Munich.

I'm going to go for Bavaria.

I don't think it's right, but I'll go for Bavaria.

No, you have got it right, well done.

Oh!

Bavaria is the right answer.

Well done, Ann. OK, Steve, to you.

Which of these countries has the largest population?

See, the thing is here...

Cuba's obviously a large island.

Singapore's tiny, but is Singapore packed to the rafters?

This is the thing.

I'm really torn. I don't think it's Ireland.

I mean, I might be completely off beam here,

but I think Singapore's got a really high population density for the size

of the country.

So it sounds like I'm going to...

..say Singapore, Jeremy.

Yeah, that's interesting.

Let's see the Eggheads, if they disagree.

-Do you?

-Yes, it's Cuba.

You do disagree. Can you give us any numbers on this?

Well, I think Cuba is somewhere, 11, 12 million.

-OK.

-Singapore would probably be somewhere around about five.

Oh, so not much more than Ireland.

Well, I may be wrong, but Ireland would be probably about 4.5.

Yeah, so Cuba is the right answer.

All right, we've got a bit of daylight here, Ann.

Get this right, you're in the final round. It's all you have to do.

Which creature features on the national flag of Ecuador?

Well, I would discount the tortoise,

but both the jaguar and the condor are South American.

Erm, Ecuador...

I'm going to go for the condor.

I really don't know, but I'm going to go for the condor.

You know it's goodbye, Steve, don't you?

-I know it's goodbye.

-Well done, Ann. You are in the final round.

Condor has won Ann her place in the final

and Steve is knocked out by Cuba. Ann, well done,

you've got it and maybe turned it around for your team.

Come back to us, both of you. We'll play the final for £8,000.

OK, this is what we've 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

are not allowed to take part in this round so,

Dean and Helen from Frank's Friends and also Steve and Chris

from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

Janine, Ann and Kay, you're playing to win Frank's Friends £8,000.

Lisa, Barry and Kevin, you are playing for something that money can't buy,

which is the Eggheads' reputation.

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

They are all General Knowledge and you may confer with each other.

So, Frank's Friends, the question is,

can your three brains defeat these three over here?

All right, Janine, Ann and Kay, first or second?

We'll go first, please.

And here we go. Which of these politicians was born first?

Erm, I... What do you think?

Not Tim Farron, that's for sure.

-Tim's relatively young.

-Yeah.

I think it would be Jeremy.

I'm not sure about Theresa,

but I feel like Jeremy has been in politics for longer.

For a lot longer, yeah.

I think they will be quite close, but, yeah.

OK, we're going to go with Jeremy Corbyn.

You're absolutely right, Jeremy Corbyn, born first.

OK, Eggheads, what is the Spanish word for Wednesday?

-Miercoles.

-Miercoles.

It's mercredi in French, isn't it?

Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Yeah, similar-sounding words or similarly based words in a number of

Romance languages.

This one would be Miercoles.

Miercoles is correct.

Challengers, which of these Shakespeare plays

is set in and around Athens?

Well, we have to get this one right.

Erm... I think that it is A Midsummer Night's Dream,

cos they're all Greek names,

the characters have got Greek names within that.

-Yeah.

-Any preference?

I don't know at all.

-So I'm quite happy to go with that.

-I'm sure it's not

Measure For Measure, that's for sure. So, yeah, I'll go

-with that, yeah.

-OK, we think it is A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is your answer,

let's see if the Eggheads know.

-Eggheads?

-Yes.

-Yes, you're right, well done.

As you say, there is a lot riding on that.

Eggheads, Wilhelm I served

as the first Emperor of Germany during which century?

-19th.

-19th, yeah.

I'll take your word for it.

Yeah.

That was... Well, Germany was unified in 1871

and that's when he became the first emperor, 19th.

19th is correct.

Your third question can be crucial.

We've got £8,000 you're playing for here.

Three of you against three of them.

Very well matched here.

Get this right, that may be your work done for the day.

Here we go. Who is the subject of Picasso's portrait

Femme Assise, Robe Bleue, which sold at auction for 45 million in 2017?

Is this...?

-OK.

-Somebody sitting in blue clothes.

So, they're all ladies.

One of them has got to have been his mistress, that's the answer,

-I suppose.

-Unfortunately, I don't know...

-And neither do I.

-..very much about Picasso.

I wonder if it was Olga Khokhlova.

I don't know why I think that.

Well, that's as good a one as any, Ann.

We're going to go with Olga Khokhlova.

Olga Khokhlova...

OK, Eggheads, do we know who Olga Khokhlova is?

-His first wife.

-His first wife, so it could have been her.

What about Francoise Gilot?

Well, these were all partners or mistresses.

Yeah, so it's harder.

How do we choose?

Well, I think it's one... Cos he painted them all,

so I think it's one you've either come across or you haven't.

I'm not certain, but I think it's Gilot. I think it's Francoise Gilot.

What do you think, Lisa?

I think Kevin's usually right about these things.

-Actually, on this occasion, not. Dora Maar.

-Oh.

-So none of us knew.

-So that's a tricky old question.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Dora Maar is the answer.

Eggheads, this for the contest.

What is the stage name of the rapper Colson Baker?

It's not Macklemore, that's Ben Haggerty.

Daddy Yankee rings a bell for me.

I've never heard of Machine Gun Kelly.

Well, he is a rapper, unfortunately I've not come across that real name.

-Daddy Yankee does ring a bell for me.

-Does it?

It's only a very small one, but...

-Any thoughts?

-I might be wrong.

-No, I'm all at sea, my dear,

-I'm afraid.

-Colson Baker...

I don't recognise Colson Baker at all, I'm afraid.

No, just now, getting nothing.

-Nothing at all.

-As I say, it's a very small one.

OK, OK. We...

Well, we're down to one inkling over here, Jeremy, I'm afraid.

We know it's not Macklemore,

but between the other two, not entirely sure,

but we've got an inkling for Daddy Yankee, so we'll say that.

You've said Daddy Yankee.

Because Barry had a glimmer or an inkling or there was one brain cell

firing. It wasn't enough.

Machine Gun Kelly is the answer.

-Oh, sorry.

-That's all right, that's all right.

-That's all right.

Game on, as they say.

We go to Sudden Death, you're playing for £8,000.

It gets a bit harder now. I don't give you alternative answers.

Here's your question. What sobriquet for Margaret Thatcher was first coined by

Yuri Gavrilov in the Red Star newspaper in January 1976?

-The Iron Lady.

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

I think it's the Iron Lady.

I don't know what else they call her.

We're going with the Iron Lady.

The Iron Lady is quite right.

Very good. We're back with the Eggheads now.

If you get this wrong,

the contenders have won their £8,000.

Michelle LaVaughan Robinson, born in Chicago in 1964,

is now known by what name?

-Mrs Obama, isn't she?

-Michelle Obama.

-Yeah.

She was Michelle Robinson.

-Born in Chicago in 1964?

-Yes.

-They just fit, don't they?

-Yes, that's her. Michelle Obama.

-That's... Yeah, I'm sure

-that's right.

-That's Michelle Obama.

Michelle Obama is quite right.

Sudden Death. Back to the Challengers.

Are you feeling tense? I am slightly.

Here we go. In cooking, TVP stands for textured vegetable what?

-Protein.

-Protein.

-It's protein.

-Protein is right.

It comes from soya beans.

Eggheads, again, if you get this wrong, they've won the jackpot.

"Is it getting better or do you feel the same?"...

..are the opening lyrics to which U2 song?

-Do you know that one, gentlemen?

-No.

-It's all right, I'm on it.

It's One.

-OK.

-Fantastic.

-One of us knew it.

-Reliably informed it's One.

Suddenly Lisa plays the card from the top of the deck.

-One is right.

-Well done.

OK, so, level.

Sudden Death. Here we go.

The character Harry Angstrom first featured in which

-1960 John Updike book?

-Right, come on.

I don't know.

-Harry Angstrom.

-I don't know any John Updike books.

-I don't know either.

-It would be a complete guess.

-I can't think.

-I've not seen any that...

Do you know any type...? What's his type of work?

Again, I'm not sure. I don't know.

I think we could be coming unstuck here.

Shall we go with...

..something like...?

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

OK, that's, I believe, John LeCarre.

-Do you know this?

-Is it Rabbit Run?

Rabbit Run is the answer.

Eggheads, for the contest,

the actress Jean Boht married which composer,

famous for his film and television scores, in 1970?

-Carl Davis.

-Yeah, definitely.

Yeah, Carl Davis?

-Yeah, ringing bells as a couple. Go on.

-I believe that's Carl Davis.

In 1970, Jean did marry Carl Davis.

We say congratulations, Eggheads, you have won.

Oh, the Picasso!

That was the one!

But what a great final.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Hope you enjoyed it.

-Yeah, we did.

Been great to see you and to hear about

the Theatre Royal Wakefield as well.

So, commiserations, Frank's Friends.

You've played a great contest. Thank you.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

This winning streak continues, it's impressive now.

It means the Challengers don't go home with the £8,000,

so we roll it over to our next show. Eggheads, well done.

Who will beat you?

Before we go, Chris, you had a question.

I did indeed, Jeremy, yes.

At the top of the show, I asked you what name connects underglaze blue

porcelain and black shorts.

-Go on.

-Well, that name is Spode.

Josiah Spode, who perfected the technique of making underglaze blue

in Stoke in the late 18th century,

and the odious Roderick Spode, leader of the Black Shorts,

which is PG Wodehouse's satire on Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts.

Oh, what a great question.

We got two whole different rivers of information flowing there.

Thank you all - thanks, Challengers.

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

to defeat that lot.

£9,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.