Episode 86 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.

Here they are, the Eggheads.

Can you be beaten?

-No.

-We try not to be.

-We're invincible.

Yeah, they really do try not to be.

Taking on our awesome quiz champions today are

The Percies from Berkshire.

This team quiz together regularly at The Perseverance in Wraysbury,

where team member Nick is the landlord.

Let's meet them.

-Hello.

-I'm Len and I'm a retired managing director.

Hi, I'm Rob and I'm a chartered accountant.

Hello, I'm Alan and I'm a senior credit officer.

Hello, I'm Stewart and I'm a company director.

Hi, I'm Nick and I'm a publican.

-So, Len and team, hello. ALL:

-Hello.

-Great to see you.

It all centres on The Perseverance pub, then, Len?

Yes, it does, it's the very best pub in Wraysbury,

and we go there every Thursday where Nick, the landlord,

he's also the quizmaster.

Oh, I see, so Nick, you fix the questions, do you?

-I do.

-Fix is the wrong word, sorry.

No, it's the right word!

You have to give them a challenge. It would be no fun if it was easy.

No, you're right. So it's a tough one, is it, then?

-It can be.

-Yeah.

And do you play against each other normally, or together?

No, four of us are in one team.

Myself, Robert - he's my son - and the other two chaps,

we've known each other for the best part of 30 years now.

-Brilliant, and it's a classic village pub, is it?

-Yeah.

How wonderful. Good luck, Challengers.

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

but if the Challengers fail to defeat the Eggheads,

that prize money, as you know, rolls over.

Now, Percies, it's quite interesting here.

the Eggheads have won a dozen games in a row,

and someone's got to come along and stop them,

and we think it should be you.

If you do, you'll win £13,000.

-Wow.

-So, would you like to try?

-Absolutely.

-Brilliant.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Arts & Books.

So, it's one of you, please, against either Dave, Beth, Barry,

Pat or Judith.

Me. Stewart.

OK, Stewart, I sense a strategy here.

Who would you like to take on, whose e-reader is out of charge?

I'll take on my fellow Mancunian, Dave.

Very good. So, Stewart from the Percies is taking on,

as we call him, Tremendous Knowledge Dave from the Eggheads, who's been

banned from pubs in Manchester for breaking their quiz machines.

To ensure there's no conferring,

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

OK, so you're on Arts & Books, Stewart,

and would you like to go first or second against our Dave?

I'll go first, please.

Here we go with your first question.

The writers Jules Verne and HG Wells are famous for their works

in which genre of literature?

That'll be science fiction.

Yes, indeed, science fiction.

Dave, what type of animals

are featured prominently in the Roald Dahl book

Esio Trot.

-Esio Trot?

-Yes, two words, E-S-I-O and then T-R-O-T.

Like tortoise backwards, you mean?

I wouldn't be able to comment.

I can't help you with a question.

I'll go tortoises, please.

Tortoises is right.

I was about to say tortoises and then I stopped myself.

OK, here we go. Stewart,

which famous poem begins with these lines -

"Once upon a midnight dreary

"while I pondered weak and weary

"over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore"?

I've heard the lines, but...

I can eliminate If.

I'm going to go with The Raven.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is correct.

I think Allen Ginsberg is a much more modernist writer.

-Modern writer.

-Yeah.

OK, Dave, your question, to catch up.

Which of these is a book by Jack London?

I thought Walden was Thoreau.

Moby-Dick was Herman Melville.

So I'll have to go Call Of The Wild, please.

Call Of The Wild is quite right.

2-2.

Stewart, your third question, can be crucial.

In which year did the artist Francis Bacon die?

I don't think it was that long ago

so I'm going to go with 1992.

I've got a memory of it in the not-very-distant past as well.

1992 is correct.

Three out of three, well played, Challengers,

nothing wrong yet.

Dave, to stay in. Letters From Iceland is a 1937 travel book

in prose and verse by Louis MacNeice and which other poet?

-Letters From Iceland?

-Letters From Iceland, Dave.

Right, I'm going to rule out Dylan Thomas.

It's either Eliot or Auden.

Louis MacNeice.

Right, I'm just trying to think of Louis MacNeice and his,

um...

It's either Auden or Eliot.

Right. Phew.

With no certainty at all, I'm going to go with TS Eliot.

No, no, no, it's WH Auden.

-OK.

-So, you're out, Dave, well done, Challengers.

Stewart, you're in the final round.

Confident play, you took on an Egghead, you emerged triumphant

and you will be in the final and Dave won't.

So, come back to us, please, and we'll see what the next round holds.

As it stands, the Percies haven't lost any brains

from the final round. The Eggheads have lost one.

Good start, Challengers.

-Yippee!

-And your next subject is Geography.

So, who wants Geography?

I think that's going to be me, Jeremy, I think.

OK, gosh, you're organised, you guys.

Alan, then, against who?

And it obviously can't be Dave.

I think it's going to be Judith.

Brilliant. Alan from the Percies to take on Judith, on Geography.

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

So, Geography, Alan, any favourite places you travel?

Oh, whenever I can get away, Jeremy,

I like Egypt, in particular.

I'm a bit of a history buff so I love Egypt,

it's the biggest open-air museum in the world.

And you've been inside one of the pyramids?

Yes, indeed. Not a very, um...

Not a very pleasant experience because you have to bend down

very low to get in, and if you're claustrophobic, which I am,

it's a bit tricky.

But amazing, the history of those monuments.

Absolutely, and you just can't appreciate the scale of it

on television.

You've got to be right up in front of it to actually see the scale.

Judith, have you been to Egypt?

Yes, I had my first honeymoon in Egypt.

-Did you?

-Yep. Got the most ghastly food poisoning.

Oh, dear, was that an omen?

And it was unbelievably hot.

We got up to the Aswan Dam and beyond

and it was more than 120 degrees.

We went slightly too late in April.

-Yeah.

-And we slept on the deck.

-I mean, not a very romantic honeymoon, really.

-JEREMY CHUCKLES

So, Geography. Alan, would you like to go first, or second?

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

And here we go.

Which of the world's oceans is sometimes referred to

as the Antarctic Ocean?

I would say that would be the Southern Ocean.

Southern Ocean is quite right, yes.

Judith, your first question.

What name is given to places such as Letchworth

that were built to specific plans in the 20th century?

I think that they were Garden Cities.

Yes, they were Garden Cities.

We go back to you, Alan, for your second.

The Ionian Islands are part of which country?

For sure they're Greece.

For sure they are, Greece is right.

Judith.

Camden is a borough in which part of London?

Um, that is North London.

North London is right.

OK, third question.

Alan, the Camargue is a marshy region

in the delta of which French river?

I'm pretty sure it's not the Seine or the Loire,

so I'll go with the Rhone.

Good for you, the Rhone is right.

Confident play. Goodness me,

our Challengers have not got a question wrong yet.

OK, Judith, to stay in,

let's see if the same thing that befell Dave befalls you.

Kenya is named after what?

Well, I don't think it's a desert because it isn't IN a desert.

Um...

What's the mountain? There is a Mount Kenya, I think.

I think I'm going to say a mountain.

A mountain because of Mount Ken-ya, or Mount Keen-ya.

Is there a River Kenya?

I'm sure there are rivers.

I don't think so.

We like that, actually at this end, a mountain is right,

-Judith, well done.

-Oh, that's lucky because that was a guess.

Three each, the scores are level.

Alan, we go to Sudden Death.

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

Camps Bay Beach is a tourist attraction

in which Southern African city?

Camps Bay Beach.

Well, it's a pure guess because I just don't know the answer

so I'm going to go with Cape Town.

Yeah, Cape Town's right, the most southern.

Egghead, the Armorican Massif

is a flattened erosional upland occupying

some of the west of which European country?

So, Armorican is

A-R-M-O-R-I-C-A-N.

I really don't know.

Um...

I can't get anything from the word.

Armorican.

I really don't know, I'm going to say Hungary.

It's funny because I was looking at it thinking the same as you -

Armorican, what can I get from the word?

Then I realised the keyword is massif. Every time we say massif,

we seem to have to go to France.

So the answer is France.

Oh, no, because I thought of Massif Central,

but I mean massif is a sort of international word.

-Yes.

-Not necessarily French.

I'm sorry, Judith, you've been knocked out by a massif!

Alan, you've taken on an Egghead and you've won through.

This is looking good for the Challengers

with £13,000 to play for.

I don't know who's done the strategy on this side but it's working.

Come back, please, we'll play round three.

And it's going very well for the Percies here,

they've not lost any brains from the final round.

the Eggheads have lost two.

And a big jackpot. The next subject is Film & TV.

Who would like this?

Yes, I'll take that.

OK, the publican himself going in.

Nick. And it's against one of the three in the middle.

I think I'll pit my wits against Barry.

Nick from the Percies taking on Barry from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room.

Nick, have you ever had a moment in the pub where someone famous has

walked in and you've just clocked them?

It's happened a few times, actually, Jeremy.

We've been quite lucky in that respect.

We had Tilda Swinton walked in one time.

And she was down in the area with her family visiting,

I think they were going out for Windsor Great Park

and popped in for something to eat. And she was very complimentary.

Very good. And she just ordered food and sat down, did she?

Yeah, yeah. Thankfully they reserved a table cos there was a few of them

but, yeah, they came in and they had their meal.

I can't remember what it was that she ate, but she was very,

very complimentary and everybody said that she was lovely.

Brilliant. OK, well, against Barry, Film & TV.

I've no idea if Miss Swinton will come up,

but it would be amazing if she did.

-Would you like to go first or second, Nick?

-I think I'll go first.

Now, if you can knock Barry out, you really will be in a good position.

Here's your question. Who plays the role of Nick Morton

in the 2017 film The Mummy?

Ah, I don't think it's Michael Fassbender.

Um, I'm aware that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt have been

in a few films together but I think it's Tom Cruise.

It is Tom Cruise, well done, first one to you.

Barry, Harold and Albert are

the names of the two principal characters in which TV sitcom?

Well, it was Harold Steptoe and Albert Steptoe,

so it was Steptoe And Son, a much-loved series.

Indeed, Steptoe And Son.

OK, one each.

Nick, back to you. Which of these BBC Breakfast presenters took part

in Strictly Come Dancing in 2016?

Um, being a publican, I rarely get a chance to watch Breakfast television

so this will be a bit of a guess

and I shall go for...

..Steph McGovern.

Steph McGovern is actually a very good Irish dancer

because I've seen her do that, but it's not her.

Naga Munchetty is the answer.

OK, Barry, your question.

The 1978 comedy film Animal House

is set in which sort of institution?

Well, I've seen this film and I believe Animal House

was a fraternity, and fraternities

are found in colleges.

College is right.

So he's pulled ahead.

First maybe kink in the armour of our Challengers.

Let's see, if you get this one wrong, the Eggheads are coming back.

Nick, your question.

In 1955 who became the first person to be seen in vision

reading the news on BBC television?

I don't know. Um...

The name Kenneth Kendall is jumping out at me.

Um...

We'll go with Kenneth Kendall.

Difficult, isn't it? Kenneth Kendall

is the right answer.

Played really well there, Nick.

So, Barry, you can take the round with this question.

Which of these films was directed by Fritz Lang?

Ah, this is one of the all-time great films.

I've watched it twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I do believe Fritz Lang directed Metropolis.

That's right, Metropolis is the right answer.

You've got it right and you've knocked out Nick.

Sorry, Nick, you've been knocked out by our Egghead.

Are they storming back here? Let's find out. One more round to play before the final.

So, as it stands, the Percies have lost a brain from the final round.

The Eggheads, though, have lost two.

And the last subject before the final is Politics.

Who would like the Politics round?

-That's Robert.

-I think that's me.

-Robert, OK.

Our chartered accountant.

And you can have, let's see, it's going to be Beth or Pat.

I think we'll go for Beth.

Rob from the Percies versus Beth from the Eggheads, on Politics.

Just this round before the final. Please go to the Question Room.

Beth, do you follow Politics much?

A little bit, yes.

Yeah. Watch elections and all that?

Oh, I try to do, but they're on a bit late for me!

Yes, as a young mum.

Yeah, I fall asleep by midnight.

Oh, I'm not a young mum, I'm a mum of young people.

-I wouldn't say I was terribly young.

-We're having more and more elections

-at the moment, so it's hard to keep up with them.

-Yeah, definitely.

All right, Rob, on Politics, against our Beth.

Would you like to go first or second?

I would like to go first, Jeremy.

So, here we go with your first question.

In 2016, Paolo Gentiloni became the Prime Minister of which country?

I'm not sure, hm...

I know that Italy and Spain had elections.

Gentiloni.

Paolo.

Sounds Spanish to me, but I'm not entirely sure,

I'm going to go for Spain.

Ah, no, it's Italy.

Paolo Gentiloni.

OK. The title, Beth,

Aelodau'r Cynulliad is given to members of which political assembly?

Aelod y Cynulliad.

-I can spell it if you want.

-I'm going to need some spelling, please.

A-E-L-O-D

and then a lower case Y,

and then a capital C-Y-N-U-L-L-I-A-D.

Oh. Well, from that...

..it would point me towards the Welsh Assembly.

Welsh Assembly is correct.

We go back to you, Rob.

Who, in 2016, described Nigeria and Afghanistan

as possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world

whilst talking to the Queen?

I think that was David Cameron.

David Cameron, yeah.

Did someone read his lips or something? I'm trying to remember.

I think so, it might have been picked up on a mic.

Yeah, I think it was on a mic, or off the record.

Well done, you got that right, David Cameron.

Beth, who served three terms as Prime Minister of Ireland

between 1979 and 1992?

1992.

I think Bertie Ahern may have come after this person.

Hm, so it's between Albert Reynolds and Charles Haughey.

Not something that I know...

..immediately, but I think

Albert Reynolds was around at the time, so, Albert Reynolds.

-No, he was, I believe, later.

-Oh, was he? OK.

Eggheads, is that right?

-Later.

-That could be why I can remember it.

Charles Haughey is the answer.

OK. So, level, that's handy for you, Rob.

-Yeah.

-Get this right, put some pressure on.

In which year were live televised debates with the main party leaders

first broadcast in the build-up to a UK general election?

I'm pretty certain that was 2010.

2010 is right, very, very recent.

OK, Beth, to stay in.

Which of these is a term used to denote a political trendsetter,

or an electoral area with a record of indicating

how the country will vote as a whole?

They are bellwether.

Bellwether is right, as in bellwether constituencies.

So, level after three.

Rob, you go first now with Sudden Death questions.

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

Which politician was once described by the novelist Malcolm Bradbury

as the Bertie Wooster of Marxism?

Ah. Tony Benn.

-Tony Benn is right.

-Ah, OK.

-Hurray!

Tony Benn is right.

That is a very good answer, well done, well done.

So, Beth, on the edge, here.

Which man, born in 1948 in Washington DC,

said in a TV interview in 1999,

"During my service in the United States Congress

"I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Oh...

I'm trying think of people who were born in 1948.

Somebody in Congress.

Born in Washington.

My brain has suddenly lost all its American politicians out of it.

I'm going to have to go with Bill Clinton.

-Ooh.

-No, no, no.

-No. Eggheads?

-Al Gore.

-Al Gore.

-Oh, yeah.

Because he was famously ridiculed for saying that and I think

he was ridiculed for saying he inspired Love Story as well.

He made a series of claims.

Because this was the run-up to 2000, when he was against George Bush.

Couldn't think of any other politician other than presidents,

so I was completely floundering with that one.

OK, so, Beth, you're out.

And well done, Rob, this is really good for the Challengers.

Very well played because you had a difficulty in the first question,

I thought that might have done for you. It didn't, you held on there.

Tony Benn was a brilliant answer.

So, Rob and Beth, please come back, rejoin your teams,

we'll play the final round for £13,000.

So, this is what we have 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 Nick from the Percies.

But it's also Dave, Beth and Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you now please leave the studio.

Well, what a final today.

Len, Rob, Alan and Stewart, you've played brilliantly so far.

You're now playing to win the Percies £13,000.

On this side, we have two phenomenal quizzers,

we've got a Brain Of Britain, Pat, you're a Mastermind champion,

you're somebody who's won £1 million on Millionaire.

You're a British quiz champion,

there's all kinds of medals on that side but they don't matter now.

-No pressure!

-These two know they need to win to save the jackpot

and you have to beat them. So, good luck.

Would you like to go first or second?

I think we'll... We're on a roll so we'll stick with first.

OK. Len and team, here we go.

Which breed of dog takes its name from a Chinese phrase

which roughly translates as lion sun dog?

I'm pretty sure Akita is Japanese.

-Corgi is Welsh.

-Corgi's Welsh.

-Yeah.

-Ah, who wrote that...

-Shih Tzu is a Chinese word.

-Sun Tzu was the Chinese historian.

It was...yeah.

-So, Tzu is probably...

-Chinese.

-Yeah, yeah.

Shall we go with that?

Yeah. Shih Tzu, yeah.

-We'll go with Shih Tzu.

-Shih Tzu is correct.

Well done. It's easy to go wrong on the first one.

And you haven't.

Eggheads, in which year was the TV personality Simon Cowell born?

Well, he's not as old as me, so that would rule out at 1949.

How old do we think he is?

Mid-40s maybe?

Mid to late 40s.

Mid to late 40s.

Maybe...

'69 would seem to fall there.

-'59?

-It's a tricky one.

41, 58?

No, he's not as old as that.

I think it's got to be 1969.

48 or 58, we've got two choices.

What do you think?

It's difficult, it's difficult to age some of these people

because of the way they dress

and present themselves and they're all made up,

it can be a bit difficult.

I think I'd prefer 48 to 58.

So would I, yeah, definitely.

-And that would be...

-'69.

1969.

Yeah. That's 40...

OK, we're not entirely sure about this but we're going to go for 1969.

1969 is your answer, so not quite 50 yet.

The key question here, Eggheads,

is Simon Cowell older or younger than me?

The answer is that he's older than me so you've got it wrong,

it's 1959.

Here's your second question.

Mons Calpe is an obsolete name for which British overseas territory?

Well, mons is Latiny-French for mountain.

If mons is a Latin word for mountain...

Yeah, or French.

The Romans were probably in Gibraltar but they would not

-have been in the other two.

-Absolutely.

I thought it was Gibraltar.

I would go with Gibraltar.

It's a guess, but some perverted logic says Gibraltar.

It's more than a guess, it's correct, Gibraltar is right,

and for the right reasons as well.

You're playing well. Two out of two.

Eggheads, if you get this wrong, you've crashed.

Give Me Some Lovin' was a UK top ten hit single in 1966

for which group?

I think that was The Spencer Davis Group.

It doesn't sound like The Animals.

The Lovin' Spoonful,

What A Day For A Daydream.

The Animals, House Of The Rising Sun.

We've Got To Get Out Of This Place.

No, I'm reasonably certain that's The Spencer Davis Group.

Yeah, I think it might be.

-OK.

-Yeah.

We're going for The Spencer Davis Group.

The Spencer Davis Group is your answer, and it's correct.

So you're still in it, Eggheads,

you've got a point.

If you get this one right, you've won £13,000,

it's that simple because there's no way back for them.

Nick has got his fingers crossed, the publican is watching you there.

It's drinks at the bar if they win, isn't it, Nick?

Absolutely.

Here's your question.

Which actor, who went on to win two Oscars,

played Dr Philip Chandler in the US TV drama series St Elsewhere?

-Has anyone seen that?

-No.

I don't know what it is.

Tom Hanks has won Oscars and Denzel Washington has won Oscars.

I'm sure Tom Hanks has won more than two Oscars.

-Yeah, I think Denzel Washington...

-I don't recall Tom Hanks in a...

I would rule Tom Hanks out.

Well, Denzel Washington won an Oscar in Glory.

Kevin Spacey has won Oscars as well, hasn't he?

I'm not sure if Kevin Spacey has actually won Oscars.

We discount Tom Hanks because I'm sure he's won more than two Oscars.

I would be inclined to go with Denzel Washington.

Has he been in a hospital drama?

-We don't know.

-I think he has.

Kevin Spacey's done a lot of his work on the stage, as well.

-Yes.

-So he hasn't won that many Oscars.

Well, we've sort of discounted Tom Hanks because we think he's won

more than two Oscars.

Kevin Spacey perhaps hasn't won that many.

And that just leaves us, because we don't watch American dramas,

so we're going to go with Denzel Washington.

Denzel Washington is your answer.

If you've got it right, if you have got it right,

it's three in a row and there's no way back for the Eggheads,

the contest is over and you've won £13,000.

If you've got it wrong, I go back to them.

Let me just have a look at these faces over here.

They don't look too happy. It's not good.

The correct answer is Denzel Washington!

We say congratulations, Challengers, you have won.

Actually, here's the interesting thing,

-all three of them have won two Oscars.

-Really! Wow.

So, in putting that fact in, it was not an eliminating factor.

-We were lucky.

-Isn't that great?

I had a vague recollection that Denzel Washington was in

something medical and I knew he'd won at least one Oscar.

-I know Tom Hanks, I thought he'd won more.

-Yeah.

-But I couldn't remember what for.

-All right, Percies, well done.

-You've played really well.

-Thank you.

-It's not a fluke, you've just

outquizzed them and you were strong in the rounds leading up.

I thought you'd gone, Rob, when you had your Italian,

but you came back with Tony Benn. Well played, Percies.

-Thank you.

-Really well done. You've just won £13,000.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads.

How do you feel about that, Nick?

Hurray!

He's going to be setting a really tough quiz next time.

Some serious boozing at The Percy.

Yeah. We all want to get down that pub.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if they can start to rebuild

and whether a new team of Challengers can stop them.

Till then, goodbye.