Episode 111 Eggheads

These five 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 Challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

You might recognise them as they've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads. And taking on our awesome quiz champions today

are the Tube Challengers.

They met one another on an internet forum

dedicated to tube challenging, which is an activity

where the participants set out to break various world records

associated with the London Underground. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Anthony. I'm 43 and I'm an airline cargo manager.

Hi, I'm Kevin. I'm 49 and I'm an air freight forwarder.

Hi, I'm Sam. I'm 20 and I'm a ticket office clerk.

Hi, I'm Andy. I'm 32 and I'm a pharmacy assistant.

Hi, I'm Steve. I'm 21 and I'm a maths student.

So welcome, Tube Challengers.

Anthony and Kevin, you are the world record holders,

but just explain in what.

We're the current world record holders

for visiting all of the London Underground stations in one day.

If you go to the end of a line, do you come straight back down the same line?

No, you'd never break the record that way. When you get to the end of the line,

either take a bus or run, or find the quickest possible way

to get from one station to another when you're at the end of the line.

-Steve, you're a former record holder?

-Yeah, that's correct.

-How long did you take?

I took 18 hours, 35 minutes and 38 seconds

and I did that with Sam to the right here.

-18 hours 35. And what's your record then?

-Our time is 18 hours, 20 minutes and 26 seconds.

And how do you fit into this, Andy?

Well, I hold one of the other challenges,

I hold the Docklands Light Railway record.

And that's finding a day when the service is running properly?!

No, that's travelling all the actual stations on the Docklands Light Railway of which there are 39.

OK, good luck. Every day there's £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our Challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So Tube Challengers, the Eggheads have won the last 11 games,

which means £12,000 says you can't beat them.

The first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of Tube Transport.

I'm kidding! Film and Television.

Which one of you wants to play Film and Television?

-Who's good on Film and Television?

-It's going to be me or you, Sam.

-What do you reckon?

-I'll put myself forward.

-You're gonna do it. OK.

-Well done.

I'm gonna go for this one.

The captain steps up to the oche.

-Against who?

-I think actually I'll go for Chris

and hope more TV comes out than film.

So I'll go with Chris.

OK. Anthony from the Tube Challengers

against Chris from the Eggheads and to ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the question room?

Let's ask our questions about Film and Television.

Three multiple-choice questions. Anthony, first or second set?

Could I go first, please?

Anthony, who sang and danced to the title song

in the 1952 film Singing In The Rain?

Who sang and danced to the title song

in the 1952 film Singing In The Rain?

I hope I'm right on this one. I'm not 100% certain.

I'm pretty certain it isn't Maurice Chevalier, the Frenchman.

It was definitely one of the Americans, I believe.

And out of the two, I believe it was Gene Kelly.

Brilliant. Gene Kelly was right.

Chris, which actress

played Lara in the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago?

That was Julie Christie.

-And a scorching performance, wasn't it?

-It was, yeah.

One each, well done.

Anthony, in the 1970s,

Farrah Fawcett played Jill Monroe

in which US TV series?

I've watched all of these over the various years.

It's definitely not Moonlighting or Dallas.

It's Charlie's Angels.

Yes, and she was and is a brilliant and talented actress,

Farrah Fawcett. ..Chris,

who starred as Simon Sparrow in the 1954 film Doctor In The House?

Talking films of my era now. That was Dirk Bogarde.

Well done, you're right. Dirk Bogarde it was.

Two points apiece. Anthony, get this,

you put the Eggheads under pressure.

How old was John Gielgud when he won

the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the 1981 film Arthur?

OK, I'm not 100% sure, but I know he was fairly old.

It's certainly not 57 and I don't think he was as young as 67.

So I'm going to plump for 77.

You're good. You're right.

Well done.

So, Chris,

let's see if you're going to be shunted out.

Which stately home was used as the location

for the television drama series Brideshead Revisited?

That was Castle Howard, Yorkshire.

Yes, it was, indeed. Well done. So three points each.

Anthony, we move now to sudden death

and to make it that bit harder, these questions are not multiple choice. Here we go.

Who starred as the title character in the 2008 film Drillbit Taylor?

Oh, goodness, I've heard of the film,

I've seen the trailer for it, but I'll be honest, I don't have a clue.

So I'm going to have to take a bit of a guess,

I'll just go for Owen Wilson.

Where did it come from, that amazing guess?

Just made it up, at the back of my mind somewhere.

You're right! Well done.

Do you know what the film's about?

-Anyone?

-No.

It's about a sort of a soldier of fortune

who's hired by a couple of lads to protect them from bullies.

-Bullies.

-Teach them how to deal with bullies.

Children who hire a bodyguard to protect them from a bully.

Chris, if you get this wrong, you're gone.

Ethel, Lionel and John were members of which famous acting dynasty?

They were three of the Barrymores.

They were indeed and we could have said Drew as well.

-You could. She's a Barrymore.

-John's granddaughter.

Anthony, which 2005 film

was based on the true story of Laurence Harvey's daughter,

a one-time model who became a bounty hunter in South Central Los Angeles?

I really haven't got a clue on this one.

Erm...

I'll just have to guess, I don't know. Treasure Hunt.

No. It's Domino.

Chris, your question now for the round.

Which magical character from children's TV,

played by Geoffrey Bayldon in the 1970s, had a toad named Touchwood?

-Nay, my brother, 'tis Catweazle! 'Tis but my brother.

-It is, indeed.

You've taken the round. You've got one more point than our Challengers.

Anthony, you won't be joining us

in the final round,

but both of you please come back to the studio now.

As it stands, the Challengers have lost one brain

from the final round whilst the Eggheads have lost no brains.

Our next subject is Science.

Who wants this?

Well, I think it would have to be me. I do like the subject.

-Being the pharmacy assistant as well.

-It'd definitely have to be me.

Pharmacy assistant versus whom?

-CJ.

-Judith, I would say.

-Which one of them looks flaky?

I think I'll go for Judith.

Andy from the Tube Challengers versus Judith from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring take your positions in the question room.

Andy, do you want the first or the second set of questions?

The first set of questions.

Andy, in the field

of animal behaviourism,

what is the scientific term for the top male in a dominance hierarchy?

Well, I don't believe it's a king pin

and I certainly don't think it's a top dog.

I think I've seen this on those nature programmes.

I believe it's an alpha male.

You're right. First point to you.

Judith, which sea creature

is well known for walking in a distinctive sideways motion?

Sea urchins clamp themselves to a rock

and you don't want to tread on them.

Cuttlefish, I think, kind of shimmer, so it's a crab.

-They shimmer, but not sideways?

-Not sideways.

You're right, it's a crab.

Andy, your question.

What name is given to the oscillation of an object at its natural frequency of vibration?

Well, I know it's not reduction, and between the two that are left

I believe I read somewhere that resonance vibrates,

so I'm gonna go for resonance.

And you are completely right.

Well done, Andy.

Judith, which part of the human body is affected by the disease trachoma?

I think that's a terrible disease that's prevalent in Africa,

and it's the eye.

It is, and you're right. Well done.

OK, Andy, your third question.

keep the pressure on Judith by getting this one right.

What in the natural world is the Laccaria amethystea

-or Amethyst Deceiver?

-Ooh.

-What is that?

I'm not entirely 100% sure on this one.

I'm not... I'm just gonna have a guess and say it's a snake.

No, it's not a snake, it's fungus.

Fungus is the answer.

Judith,

your question. If you get this, you take the round.

The 19th century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis

had a lasting influence on which aspect of hospital life?

Well, I think hygiene was taken care of by Lister,

and I can't think of anybody who dealt with nutrition

and it's always been rather a bugbear in hospitals,

so I imagine it was anaesthesia.

You're wrong. It was hygiene.

Oh, dear.

He did the what?

Semmelweis was the chap who insisted that doctors and midwives

wash their hands before and after childbirth

and he prevented the spread of puerperal fever

and saved loads of lives of women during childbirth.

Asepsis rather than antisepsis.

He's a real hero.

Sorry, Judith, you're wrong. So it's deadlock now,

two points apiece after three questions each.

That means we go to sudden death and just to make it harder,

these questions are not multiple choice.

Andy, here is your first sudden-death question.

Which part of London was chosen as the Prime Meridian of the world

at a conference of 25 countries in 1884?

Prime Meridian of the world, wow...

I believe it's Greenwich.

Is the correct answer, Andy. Well done.

Challengers broken through,

what will Judith do?

Judith, which extinct creature was originally given the scientific name

Didus ineptus, due to the belief that it was clumsy and dim-witted?

Spelt D-I-D-U-S and I-N-E-P-T-U-S.

Well, the dodo was always thought to be very stupid

because it encouraged its own extinction by being incredibly friendly

to the people who came, arrived on its island, so I think it might be the dodo.

The dodo is correct.

Andy,

what is the name of the theoretical process of scientifically modifying an inhospitable planet

to make it more compatible for human life?

Wow. I believe this is like a Star Trek question,

which they usually do on some of the episodes. I'll go for terraforming.

Absolutely right. Well done, Andy.

Good answer! OK, Judith, you're under pressure now.

What name is given to eyes of creatures such as flies or beetles,

that are made up of hundreds of tiny units

rather than just the one cornea and one lens typical of humans?

I can't remember.

Can't remember.

Is that your final answer?

-Yeah, I'm afraid so.

-Really, no answer at all? OK.

It's in the back of my mind somewhere but I simply can't fish it out.

-All right. The answer is compound eyes, Judith.

-Yep.

A very hard-fought round.

Andy, you took on one of the Eggheads, you emerged triumphant.

Good news for our Challengers. Andy will be able to play in today's final round. Congratulations.

So please, both of you come back, rejoin your team-mates.

So as it stands, the Challengers and the Eggheads have lost one brain each from the final round.

Next subject, Sport. Who's the sporty one?

Which one wants to take it?

Will I take the bull by the horns?

-Can't have Andy or Anthony.

-I'll take that one on, please.

OK, Kevin. And you can't choose Chris or Judith on Sport.

I'll take on CJ, please.

So it's Kevin from the Tube Challengers versus CJ from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring, take your positions in the question room.

Three multiple-choice questions on Sport.

Kevin, first or second set?

I'll try the first set, please.

Kevin, which football player made his Liverpool first-team debut in November 1998

and has scored in the finals of the League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup and Champions' League?

I think Morientes is probably a little bit too late for that

and Gerrard's probably a bit early, so I'm gonna go for Michael Owen.

No, actually Gerrard is the answer there.

It wasn't Michael Owen. Sorry about that.

CJ,

in the annual Cambridge versus Oxford University Boat Race,

two starting stations are called Surrey and what?

Do you know, I don't think I've ever heard this?

I know the names of all the crews including the reserve crews.

I'm not sure I've come across this,

but there is one that seems to be fairly obvious.

-I'm gonna go for Middlesex.

-Why is that obvious?

Because it's in the south...

-ish... sort of? I don't know.

-Unlike Devon.

-Yeah, which is in the north.

Yeah...Well, you're right anyway.

Kevin,

at the 2004 Olympics, which Jamaican-born athlete

running for Slovenia reached the semifinals of the 100 Metres at the age of 44?

Well, the only name I recognise is Merlene Ottey.

I know she run for Jamaica,

but I don't know if she changed nationalities

and maybe run for Slovenia as well.

I'll go for Ottey.

You're absolutely right. Great answer.

Merlene Ottey.

Back to you, CJ.

In which sport might the trudgen style be used?

-It's a swimming stroke.

-What does it look like?

I've no idea, I just know it's a swimming stroke.

-Daphne?

-It's the old-fashioned name for the crawl.

The old-fashioned name for the crawl, OK.

CJ, you're right.

Two points to one.

-So you really need this or you're out, Kevin.

-Yeah.

Which heavyweight boxer, who won 68 of his 81 bouts by knockout,

was known as the Heywood Giant?

I don't think it's George Foreman.

I'm not 100% on this. Boxing's not my strongest category.

I'm going to guess at Jack Johnson.

It's not Jack Johnson, Kevin, I'm sorry.

It's George Foreman who was known as the Heywood Giant.

So, CJ, well done.

Kevin, you were beaten by our Egghead.

You won't be able to help your team in the final round.

Would you please both come back and rejoin your team-mates?

The Challengers have lost two brains from the final round,

the Eggheads have lost one brain.

Don't worry. This can still go your way.

The last subject is History. Which of you wants

to take on History and against which Egghead?

-Steve or Sam?

-I can't do History.

I think it's gonna be best if we give it to Sam.

-OK, I will.

-All right, Sam. You said that with confidence, right?

Yeah, yeah, I'm confident.

A 20-year-old on History, against which Egghead?

-I would say Daphne.

-Kevin or Daphne?

-I'll take on Daphne then, please.

Daphne, OK. So we're going to have Sam from the Tube Challengers against Daphne from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions.

So, Sam, another of our Tube Challengers, playing Daphne.

Multiple-choice questions, three of them, and you can

choose the first or the second set.

I'd like to go first, please.

Sam,

which type of weapon used by knights and cavalry soldiers

had a long wooden shaft and a pointed metal head?

OK, I haven't heard of a flail so I wouldn't go for that one.

So that just leaves lance and mace.

The first one I looked at was lance so I'll have to go with that.

-Because it was the first one you looked at?

-No, the first one

that attracted my attention.

You're right, that's a good enough reason. Well done. Daphne,

during World War Two, the Morrison air-raid shelter,

designed to be used indoors, was shaped like which item of furniture?

Well, I think it was like a table

and you were supposed to get underneath it.

It was. Correct. Thank you, right answer.

Back to you, Sam.

-Hang on in there.

-OK.

Which European country ruled Cambodia from 1863 untill 1953?

OK. I really don't have any idea.

I would say maybe, erm...

-France?

-Is that your answer?

-Yeah.

Eggheads, how's she done?

Right, she's got it right.

Lovely job.

Daphne, in which year was the city of Constantinople renamed Istanbul?

Well, I think there was a musical song, wasn't there?

"Istanbul not Constantinople now." So, 1930.

Is the correct answer. Well done, Daphne.

So keep pressure on here, Sam, by getting this one right.

The Condottiere admiral and statesman, Andrea Doria,

was ruler of which Italian city in the 16th century?

OK, that's rather tricky.

Let's go for Naples.

It's wrong, I'm afraid, it's Genoa.

So, Daphne, this for the round.

Who suffered a disastrous defeat against Caesar

on the plain of Pharsalus in the year 48 BC?

I'm just trying to remember, erm...

some little thing that will...

I...am going to go for...

..Pompey.

What was the little thing that you were trying to remember?

I had a feeling that Pompey was one of Caesar's rivals?

But... was he? Is it right?

It is right, Daphne.

Good play by you, well done.

Sam, you were beaten by our Egghead there.

As a result, you won't be able to help your team in the final round.

Please, both of you, come back to the studio now.

This is what we've been playing towards. Our Tube Challengers

have been round pretty much the entire network and lost a few.

It's time for our final round, General Knowledge.

Those of you who lost your head-to-heads

can't take part in this round so that is Anthony, Kevin, and Sam

from the Tube team, and Judith from the Eggheads.

Please, would you leave the studio.

There is a lot of money at stake, £12,000. Andy and Steve,

you are playing to win that for the Tube Challengers.

Kevin, CJ, Daphne, and Chris, you're playing for something

which money can't buy, which is the Eggheads' reputation.

I will ask each team three questions in turn, all General Knowledge.

Now, Steve, you're a maths student, does that suit you?

Well, my general knowledge is OK. I wouldn't put that down to the maths

but... we'll see how it goes anyway.

So the question is are your two brains better than the Eggheads' four?

Andy and Steve, you can choose

the first or second set of questions.

D'you want to go first or second?

Shall we go second and mix it up a bit or...?

-It's up to you.

-Let's go second.

-OK, yeah. We'll go second.

So first one to you, Eggheads.

Which product was introduced into the UK in 1960

and marketed through parties held in people's homes?

Which product was introduced into the UK in 1960

and marketed through parties held in people's homes?

-Since Ann Summers isn't there, erm... go for Tupperware?

-Yes.

Cos Avon Cosmetics came to your door.

That's Tupperware, Jeremy.

It is Tupperware. Well done. First question

to the Eggheads. Here's yours...

In 1986 The Chicken Song was a UK number one hit single

for characters from which TV show?

-Definitely Spitting Image.

-Definitely.

-I remember seeing it.

-I could even sing it for you.

-I don't remember it but...

You're right, it was Spitting Image. How does it go?

# Swing a chicken in the air, da da da da da da da... #

Yeah.

-It was a parody of holiday songs.

-"Stick a dead cow up your nose."

One all. Well done,

Tube Challengers.

Here we go, question two. What title, Eggheads, is given

to daughters of the Spanish sovereign?

-< Go with infanta?

-What title is given to daughters

-of the Spanish sovereign?

-That's infanta.

Infanta is the correct answer, well done.

Your second question.

Mount Carmel is a high ridge that shelters which modern port?

Mount Carmel is a high ridge that shelters which modern port?

Haifa is in Israel,

Piraeus is, I think, Greece, and Tripoli is Italy.

Carmel, what are we thinking it sounds like?

-I dunno.

-Carmel is C-A-R-M-E-L.

-C-A-R-M-E-L?

Yeah.

I don't know which is high around it.

I don't know anything about the location of them, really,

apart from the country, so Carmel,

what sort of place would you say Carmel's nationality sounding?

Carmel, it doesn't really sound Italian.

-It sounds French, doesn't it?

-So, that's Haifa...

Haifa's Israel, and Piraeus is Greece, Tripoli Italy.

-Italy.

-Carmel...

Israel. I don't know.

-We'll go for Haifa?

-Yeah. We think the answer's Haifa.

-Haifa's your answer?

-Yeah.

-You're right.

-Yes!

And I guess there's a Bible connection, is that a clue there?

-Israel... I don't know where it appeared.

-It is.

It does feature in the Bible at some stage.

The other two are Athens and Libya so it wouldn't be in those.

You're neck and neck. Two questions, two points each.

All that needs to happen

now is they get this one wrong, you get yours right,

and you go home with £12,000.

-That sounds very nice.

-It's really simple.

Eggheads, in May 2006 which British sportswoman

became the first female to sail single-handed,

non-stop, the wrong way around the globe?

In May 2006 which British sportswoman became the first female

to sail single-handed, non-stop, the wrong way around the globe?

We think that's Dee Caffari, Jeremy.

-That's your answer?

-Yeah.

It's the correct answer, well done.

As you let them go first, they've now put you under pressure.

-No pressure!

-No pressure at all!

Get this right to stay alive.

What was the name of the chimpanzee who returned unharmed

after being fired into space from Cape Canaveral in January 1961?

Slightly before my time.

Slightly before mine as well, unfortunately.

It doesn't sound like it would be the first one, they don't sound like Ham.

Pam doesn't sound like the name of a chimpanzee, does it?

No. I would go...

-What are you thinking?

-I'm thinking maybe Jam, but I'm not sure.

That's the one

that stood out for me. I'm 50% but that's the one that stood out at me.

It's a pure guess but we'll go for Jam.

-The answer is Ham.

-Oh!

Named after, Eggheads?

Well, it says here, the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. H-A-M.

Didn't know that!

Tricky bit of very obscure general knowledge.

I'm sorry, Tube Challengers, the Eggheads have won.

Which is sort of what comes naturally

to our Eggheads at the moment. Well done to you, your winning streak continues.

So you won't be going home with the £12,000, sorry, Tube Challengers.

What a great and fascinating team you were.

The money rolls over to the next show. Eggheads, congratulations. Who will beat you?

Join us next time to see if the new Challengers

have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£13,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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