Episode 128 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.

You might recognise them.

They're Goliaths in the world of TV quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

And, taking on the awesome might of our quiz Goliaths today are

the Media Moguls.

The team work together in the media advertising industry.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Claire-Louise. I'm 32 and I'm a stay-at-home mum.

Hi, I'm Joe. I'm 35 and I'm a client director.

Hi, I'm Mike. I'm 33 and I'm a media director.

Hi, I'm Richard. I'm 39 and I'm a communications manager.

Hi, I'm Jonny. I'm 28 and I'm a media researcher.

So welcome, Media Moguls.

-Hello!

-Claire-Louise, you're married to Joe?

-Yeah.

-And Richard's sister?

-Yeah.

-Are you a Media Mogul, Richard?

I've been involved in advertising

for my organisation, St John's Ambulance.

-Yeah. I hope you do really well. Good luck!

-Thank you.

Every day there is £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers.

If they don't defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

Media Moguls, the Eggheads have won the last

seven games which means £8,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

-It's not bad, is it?

-No!

You could be lucky today. Take a look at them.

What do you think?

You see weakness there?

-Yeah.

-In patches?

Yes, definitely patches.

The first head-to-head battle will be on the subject of food and drink.

Who wants this one? And against which Egghead?

It's you, isn't it?

-Me with Kevin?

-Yeah, good for me.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna pick Kevin.

Claire-Louise from the Media Moguls

against Kevin from the Eggheads.

To ensure there's no conferring,

please go to the Question Room.

Claire-Louise, it's three multiple choice questions

and you can choose whether you have the first or the second set.

First set, please.

Claire-Louise, which fish is particularly well-known

for its salty taste when it's preserved in a tin?

Um...

Salmon and tuna aren't particularly salty fish.

I'm gonna go with anchovies.

I don't like anchovies, especially on pizzas. Anchovies.

And anchovy is right.

Salty, on pizzas particularly.

Kevin, the Italian canapes known as crostini

consist of a savoury topping on pieces of toasted or fried what?

Er, that's bread, Jeremy.

You're right. It is bread, Kevin, well done.

One apiece. Back to you, Claire-Louise.

Which word, now used to mean

a "jumble", comes from the name of a French meat stew in the Middle Ages?

Ooh! I've never heard of any of these.

Um...

Trying to think of my French...

OK, I'm going to go with Mishmash.

OK, that's your answer, as in "un mishmash".

Yep.

It's actually Gallimaufry.

Bad luck. Kevin, over to you.

Which beverage is often referred to

in America as Java?

I think it used to be a slang term

in the British army for a long time as well.

Er, tea, it's tea.

Your answer is 'tea'.

-It's wrong. It's coffee.

-Oh.

Tea was always char in the British army, from the Hindi.

I've just got it, sorry. Mental slip, mental slip.

That one seemed...

It's an example of a question that seemed so obvious to me,

-I didn't really think about it.

-We'll have a special plaque -

the moment Kevin got one wrong!

OK, Claire-Louise,

here's your third question. In the US, if a dish is served "a la mode",

what is it topped with?

Um, it's ice cream. You often get apple pie a la mode so, ice cream.

Ice cream it is. Well done.

Kevin, if you get this wrong,

you're not in the final. Here's your question.

In Japan, how is a bento meal

traditionally served?

I believe bento meals are served in boxes,

so, "in a box".

You've pulled it back, well done.

You're now level after three questions

so we go to Sudden Death.

This is not multiple choice.

Claire-Louise, here we go.

The name of which Italian wine grape translates into English

as 'black bitter'.

Black bitter... Ooh.

Italian wine grapes. Not very good on my Italian wine, to be honest.

All my wine is gone. I'm going to say Brunello,

even though that's a type of wine not a grape, but, yeah, say that.

OK, it's Negro Amaro.

-Ah.

-Negro Amaro.

Kevin, this for the round.

What is the name of the famous restaurant,

a meeting place for millionaires, princes and opera singers,

on Paris's Rue Royale,

that opened in 1893? If you get this right,

you are in the final.

I'm just trying to...

Not being a millionaire, a prince or an opera singer,

I've not actually popped in there myself.

I'm going to have to guess,

and say Maxim's.

Maxim's.

It's now owned by Pierre Cardin and it IS Maxim's... Very, very good.

Well done, Kevin. You did really well, Claire-Louise.

You won't be in the final.

Kevin will be.

Do come and rejoin your teams.

So the challengers have lost one brain from the final round.

Eggheads have lost no brains.

Next subject is music.

Who wants music?

It's gonna have to be Jonny.

OK, I'll take this one.

-Jonny, media researcher?

-Yes.

Against?

We'll go for Barry.

There's nowhere to hide, Barry,

now you're an Egghead. So Jonny

from the Media Moguls against Barry,

our new Egghead, on music.

Please go to the Question Room now.

Jonny, multiple choice questions.

You can choose the first or second set.

The first set of questions, please.

OK, in May 2008,

it was reported that which singer had been robbed

of first place in the 1968

Eurovision Song Contest due to a rigged vote?

I think I remember seeing this in the news

and I think it's Cliff Richard.

It is Cliff Richard. What was the song?

-Not sure I know.

-Congratulations?

-Anybody?

-Congratulations.

-Congratulations!

So, Barry, here we go. Music. "Common time"

in musical notation is a time signature

indicating how many beats to the bar?

I seem to think common time is 4/4, so it's four beats to the bar.

Yes, it is, well done.

Four is correct.

Back to you, Jonny. Which group sang with Fun Boy Three

on the 1982 UK hit single

It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It?

I'd only have been two at the time.

Fairly certain it's not,

er...Culture Club.

Don't think it's Bucks Fizz. I'm gonna go with Bananarama.

For a two-year-old, a very good answer.

You're right, Bananarama it is.

Barry, Union Of The Snake

was a 1983 UK top-ten hit single

for which band?

Well, I know some of the Human League songs

and that doesn't ring any bells.

So that leaves me with Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet.

Not sure, so I'm afraid I'll have to take a guess,

and I'll... Duran Du...

I'll go for Spandau Ballet.

Aye aye aye!

You've just blown your street cred in some of our major cities...

It's Duran Duran. Sorry about that, you got it wrong.

OK, back to you, Jonny.

If you get this right, you've taken the round.

And you're in the final.

Which term refers to the expressive fluctuation of speed

within a musical piece?

Hm. I should know this

cos my parents are classical musicians.

Um, it's a bit of a guess, but I'll go with rubato.

Barry, is he right?

I think he is, yes.

Yeah, you are. Well done.

Very good play - three out of three.

That means that you will be in the final, Jonny.

Barry, you won't.

Please rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the challengers

and the Eggheads have lost one brain each from that final round.

Our next subject is history.

Who wants this?

Yeah, it should be cos...

Looks like me. I'm the oldest, so...

-OK, Richard.

-Been around for most of it!

Try CJ.

All right, CJ, how about it?

-I'd rather not if you don't mind.

-He doesn't have a choice, actually.

Richard from the Media Moguls against CJ from the Eggheads,

please go to the Question Room.

Three questions, multiple choice.

Richard, first or second set?

I'll have the first set, please.

Here we go. During WWII,

the Battle of Arnhem took place in which country?

Well, it wasn't Italy. I'm pretty sure about that.

The question is whether it was Belgium or the Netherlands.

I'll go with the Netherlands.

Good choice, you're right. Well done.

CJ, what term was historically used

to refer to a member of a tribe not belonging

to the Greek civilisation?

Why am I doubting this?

Barbarian.

Is correct.

Nothing too complicated there,

at this stage. Second question,

Richard, in 1519, the conquistador

Hernan Cortes took which emperor hostage,

forcing him to swear allegiance

to King Charles of Spain?

I'm going to guess this. Montezuma II.

A brilliant guess, you're right!

Pressure on CJ.

All right, CJ, here we go. Which historical figure

did the Vicomtesse de Beauharnais

marry in 1796?

Um, I think that was one of the wives of Napoleon.

-Is Napoleon your answer?

-Yes.

-It's correct.

-She was Josephine.

-She was Josephine.

-She was Josephine, was she?

Richard, here's your next question. The first general income tax

was introduced in 1799

by the government of William Pitt the Younger

in order to finance war against which country?

1799?

Sounds vaguely Napoleonic, so let's go with France.

I love the just wham, bam and you're in there,

and you're right again.

Brilliant game-play here.

CJ, in January 1919,

the revolutionary socialist group known as the Spartacists

staged an abortive revolt in which European capital city?

Haven't heard of this. Um...

So, I'm going to go on the basis of the country about

whose history I know the least and I'll go for Madrid.

Madrid is the wrong answer,

it's Berlin.

So, Richard, well done.

You took on an Egghead and you won.

It means that CJ won't play in the final and you will.

Both of you come back to the studio.

So the challengers have lost

one brain from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost two brains.

The last subject is arts and books,

which of you wants this?

-You do arts and books.

-I don't mind, yeah.

-Against Chris?

-Do you think?

-Yeah, I'm happy to do it.

Cool, let's try that, then. OK, Jeremy, yeah.

OK, choose an Egghead.

-Can't be Kevin, CJ or Barry.

-Chris, please.

Chris on arts and books.

It makes a change from "adjectival" sport!

Chris from the Eggheads against

Joe from the Media Moguls,

please go to the Question Room.

Joe, multiple choice questions, three of them.

You can choose the first or second set.

I'll choose the first set please, Jeremy.

Here's your first question. What is the term for the heavy base

that supports a statue or vase?

For some reason I'm thinking of French with both plume and plage

and I think they're distractions.

Whereas there's something possibly Greek about plinth

-and plinth is what I'd say, my answer.

-And plinth is correct.

Well done, Joe.

Chris, over to you. Although he was born in Spain, Pablo Picasso

spent the majority of his working life in which country?

Well, he did most of his work in France.

Absolutely bang on. One apiece...

back to you, Joe.

Don't Stop Me Now and Born to Be Riled are books

by which Top Gear presenter?

I don't think I could name any books by James May.

I think Richard Hammond wrote My Crashy-wash.

That would leave Jeremy Clarkson.

-My answer is Jeremy Clarkson.

-And you're right, well done.

It is Jeremy himself.

Is it My Crashy-wash?

-Something to do with his crash.

-I think he did,

but I don't think it was called that.

My Life on the Edge? Something like that.

My Crashy-wash is a brilliant title!

He may use it now!

Chris, according to Alfred Lord Tennyson,

in the poem Loxley Hall,

"In the spring, a young man's fancy

"likely turns to thoughts of..." what?

-Er, it's love.

-It is.

OK, so two each and the third question now, Joe,

which novel by Virginia Woolf follows a day

in the life of its central character as she prepares to host a party?

I'm reminded of The Hours, the film, and I think it's Mrs Dalloway.

Is that because there's a connection?

I think there's an opening line in the film The Hours that makes

a reference to Mrs Dalloway and I think one of the characters

is Virginia Woolf.

And you're right, it is Mrs Dalloway. Well done, Joe.

Chris, if you get this wrong, you're not in the final.

What Italian term

describes the technique used by artists of scraping off one layer

of colour to reveal another?

Well, it's from the Italian for to scratch and it's sgraffito.

You're quite right, it is.

Three each after three questions. We now move to Sudden Death.

Joe, your question. Which artist painted the 1884 work

Une Baignade, Asnieres, known in English as Bathers at Asnieres?

I will need a first name and a surname, here.

I think that's where you've got me, it's the first name.

I'm not even confident of the surname. I'm going to say

Georges Seurat.

That is the correct answer.

Chris, your question. Marabou Stork Nightmares

is a novel by which British author?

If you get this wrong, Chris, you're out.

Why would anybody write...?

Why would anybody have nightmares about Marabou storks?

Oh, dear, oh, dear...

Anthony Burgess.

The answer is Irvine Welsh and that means, Chris,

you will not be joining us in the final.

More great play from our challengers here, doing really well.

Joe, well done.

Do come back and rejoin your team-mates in the studio.

This is what we've been playing towards. Time for the final round

which, as always, is general knowledge.

I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't take part in this round.

So, that is Claire-Louise from the Media Moguls, but also,

it's Chris and Barry and CJ from the Eggheads.

So would you please leave the studio.

So, Joe, Mike, Richard and Jonny, you're playing to win

the Media Moguls £8,000.

Judith and Kevin, you're playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

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

This time, the questions are all general knowledge,

you are allowed to confer.

Media Moguls, the question is,

are your four brains better than the Eggheads' two?

So, first or second?

-What do you think?

-First.

-We'll go first, please, Jeremy.

Your question, then. What are kirby grips used to hold in place?

I've a feeling it's hair.

-You think so?

-It's not paintings.

-Jonny.

-I don't think it's surgical stitches.

-I think it's for hair.

By elimination, we're saying hair, Jeremy.

It is hair, well done.

Eggheads, your question.

What is the Italian equivalent of the form of address "miss"?

-Signorina. Signorina.

-Signorina.

-It's signorina.

Buongiorno, signorina!

Buongiorno. You're right.

-Bella!

-Yeah, you've got it.

Well done, that's it. You got the point.

OK, Media Moguls.

Of what is diplococcus an example?

It's a kind of bacteria.

I think it's a cold.

Must be a type of bacteria, then.

A type of bacterium, Jeremy.

You're right as well. Well done. Bacterium is the answer.

Second question to the Eggheads.

The bighorn, native to western North America,

is a wild type of which animal?

-Sheep?

-Never heard of a bighorn goat

or a bighorn deer, but I have heard of a bighorn sheep.

OK, Kevin says it's a sheep.

-You sound like you're doubtful.

-Well, I don't know what it is.

-You're not sure?

-He says it's a sheep.

I'm sure he's right.

Always right.

He's right, it's sheep.

Two points each. Media Moguls, what is the term for a bet

in which the first two places in a race must be predicted correctly?

I got a forecast this year at the dog racing but, um...

I suspect it's not a superba.

Perfecta sounds more like something, you know, if you're predicting

the first two places, you've got to be very good, haven't you?

It's quite a cheesy name.

Is that a good thing?

Well, majora sounds less likely to catch on, maybe. I don't know.

-Yeah, you're right.

-Unless it's an old term...

So what are you saying, Jonny?!

I'm saying I definitely don't know.

OK.

Seems it's still perfecta or majora.

I don't think either one of us knows exactly, do we, so...

OK, well we seem more inclined to perfecta because...

-there seems to be some logic there.

-Yep.

It is a guess. None of us knows, but we're thinking perfecta.

Perfecta is your answer?

-It's correct.

-Get in!

Eggheads, if you get this wrong, they've got the money, the £8,000.

In which year did the BBC's teletext service Ceefax go live?

It's gotta be '74.

I would have thought '64.

Well, '64 there were only...

two channels.

-That's when BBC2 started.

-Yup.

It's gotta be '74, hasn't it?

I would have thought it must be '74.

Come on, shall we?

Shall we say - risk - '74?

Well, I can't believe that it'd have started...

'54 was relatively early days still, anyway.

'64, as I say, BBC2 was only just starting.

I mean, it's possible, it's possible.

Is it technically possible?

I think things like teletext started up in the '70s, so it's gotta be '74.

-OK.

-I don't KNOW it, but...

We're a bit doubtful, but we think it MUST be 1974.

-Is the right answer.

-Oh, phew.

It's more hard now,

cos we go to Sudden Death.

Here's your first Sudden Death question.

The Christian sect known as the Seventh Day Adventists

observe which day of the week as the Sabbath?

Anyone feel confident with this one?

For some reason, I'm thinking Saturday.

Isn't Saturday kind of more a Jewish kind of day, as well?

It's a Christian sect and therefore

-I'm guessing that it must possibly buck some sort of trend.

-I agree.

No day of the week, then? No Monday to Friday?

-I think it's unlikely.

-They're not a Thursday group.

-A Thursday group!

-I'd say Saturday. Saturday, please, Jeremy.

Now, if you've got this right, you put the big pressure

on the Eggheads.

You got it wrong, you know what they're like.

-But you're right.

-Get in!

Saturday.

If you get this wrong, Eggheads, they've got the £8,000.

On the flag of the Soviet Union,

what symbol was placed above the hammer and sickle?

Star?

-Yeah, only had a star on apart from that.

-Well, we both said star.

We both think it's a star.

Star is correct.

Red star with gold border.

Your question, Media Moguls.

In Greek mythology, who was the mother of Antigone?

OK, I've got no idea, but if it's mythology, she's got to be a god

of some kind. Or goddess, sorry.

It's the famous story in clay, Antigone.

I can't remember

which story it relates to.

So would it be kind of Aphrodite or Hera?

Hera, is that?

Hera is the mother of all gods, I think.

So, Hera or Aphrodite?

Aphrodite? I dunno, yeah.

Aphrodite was the first thing that sprang to mind originally,

but I've no idea.

Um, we're torn between Hera and Aphrodite,

cos they're the two goddesses we can think of at the moment.

And, of the two, Aphrodite is more prominent in our heads.

Aphrodite.

You're wrong.

Eggheads, do you happen to know?

It was Jocasta.

Jocasta is the answer...

who was also, through Oedipus, her paternal grandmother.

OK, well, I'm sorry to put you through this, Media Moguls.

If they get this answer right, the money evaporates. The £8,000.

Here's your question, Eggheads.

Which comedy duo were known in Germany as Dick and Doof?

-Laurel and Hardy.

-Laurel and Hardy?

-Yes. It's "fat and thin".

-Ah, yup.

-Laurel and Hardy.

-It means fat and thin?

-Mm.

It means "fat and thin", so it's Laurel and Hardy.

It actually means "fat and stupid", but you're right on the answer.

Eggheads, it is Laurel and Hardy and that means

our brilliant challengers go away empty-handed. Eggheads, you've won.

Really well done, Media Moguls, you took them to the wire.

It could have gone either way.

-Could've done.

-Did you know the Laurel and Hardy question?

-I think we could've guessed that one.

-I was thinking Tom and Jerry, actually!

Well, bad luck. The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £8,000,

so that 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.

£9,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.

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