Episode 141 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've won some of the country's

toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads!

And challenging our resident quiz champions today are

the Official Retrievers.

The majority of the team work in the insolvency trade, and

for the past 20 years they have been taking part in charity quizzes. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm John, 49, a civil servant.

Hi, I'm Richard. I'm 56 and I'm a civil servant.

Hello, I'm John.

I'm 61 and I'm also a civil servant.

Hello, I'm Nigel.

I'm 44 and I'm a business development manager.

Hello, I'm Bob.

I'm 62 and I'm an auctioneer.

Welcome, Official Retrievers!

And you're all doing insolvency and that kind of thing?

Pretty much so, yeah. Apart from Bob at the end, who's our auctioneer.

He sells the things.

So, you go into houses, take stuff out and, Bob, you sell it?

I sell the stuff they take off people, yeah, that's right!

So, you go in when people have fallen on hard times or gone bankrupt?

Yeah, the bankruptcies are all compulsory, and so

the Insolvency Service, the official retriever, deals with all of them at first instance.

And then we also deal with compulsory liquidations, when companies go into

liquidation and they're dealt with in the public sector.

There's a lot of money up for grabs here. You can get it if you answer the questions correctly.

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, and I can

tell you, Official Retrievers, that the Eggheads have won the last

20 games, so it's £21,000 that you're playing for.

21 grand says you can't beat the Eggheads.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film & Television.

-Are we going to have a talk about this?

-It's you, isn't it, John?

-I'm all right for Entertainment?

-What do you reckon?

-It's you, John, that is.

-I think it's you, John.

-Shall I go with Film & Television?

-Yes.

OK, Jeremy. OK, it's going to be me.

-John T?

-Indeed.

-Against?

We did have a game plan, but it's slightly altered...

You haven't even started yet!

-I think we'd chosen Judith, hadn't we?

-We'll take Judith, then.

-OK.

John from the Official Retrievers against Judith.

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

the question room.

I'm going to ask each of the three multiple-choice questions on

Film & Television in turn.

You choose, John, the first or second set.

It's going to be first for me, please.

Here we go, good luck. Ben and Susan are

the central couple in which TV sitcom?

Well, it's certainly not

not One Foot In The Grave - they're aged and miserable.

Del Boy Trotter is a bit of

a wide boy. We see him around quite a bit in the office!

I think the answer to that question is My Family.

I think you're right, well done!

Judith, the names of the American astronauts Scott Carpenter,

Virgil Grissom, Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn

were used as the names of the brothers in which TV series?

The Waltons is sort of older, isn't it,

than astronauts?

I always think The Waltons have been on for ever and ever.

I've never heard of ChuckleVision, so let's have a go at ChuckleVision.

There's a bit of ChuckleVision going on here!

-Oh, dear, wrong answer!

-The right answer is Thunderbirds.

I don't think I've ever watched Thunderbirds. I'm like that

judge in the height of Beatlemania who said,

"Who are The Beatles?"

"Who are The Buttles?"!

I mean, I realise I've got to that stage!

Your question, John. Who plays the title role in the 2008 film Hancock?

I don't think it's Tom Cruise.

I think I've seen his face

on the buses that I've passed. I think it's Will Smith.

You're right, it is Will Smith.

Judith, Raymond Baxter, William Woollard and Judith Hann

were presenters during the 1970s of which TV show?

My brains have left me!

I'm crying now,

but I'm laughing crying rather than crying crying.

Raymond Baxter, William Willard...

I thought he was an opera singer!

-It's William Woollard.

-Woollard.

-And who's the other one?

-Judith Hann.

What you're watching is the quiz equivalent of rope-a-dope!

I think it's Tomorrow's World. Oh, please let it be Tomorrow's World!

You're right, Judith, well done! Back on track.

Well done. Phew!

OK, your question, John.

The 1967 DA Pennebaker documentary film Dont Look Back follows which

singer on his 1965 tour of England?

I'm not really sure

about this, I have to say.

But I don't think it's Jimi Hendrix.

I'm minded to go for Bob Dylan.

Spot on with Bob Dylan. You've got that right, and because you got that

right, there's no way back for Judith, so, John, you've emerged

triumphant against the Egghead. You will be in the final round.

Judith, you won't.

Please, both of you come back to the studio.

As it stands, the Eggheads have lost one

brain from the final round, while the challengers have lost no brains.

The next subject is Music.

Who would like to take on Music, and against which Egghead?

I'd have thought John more than Bob.

-You're a pretty good '60s man.

-Yeah, go on.

Who says the questions are on the '60s?!

We're going to have to make a choice.

What if Science comes up?

-We'll worry about Science after this.

-Go for it.

-OK, it's going to be John.

-It's going to be John.

Not with the greatest will in the world, but he's going to go.

Music really is your subject?

So, how did that happen?

The categories have changed a little bit from previous

series, and the Entertainment one was a global sort of subject, and I was

going to do all of that, but now it's been split into TV, Films and Music,

-so I can't go again.

-You're still in it, so that's the main thing.

-Yeah, that's fair.

-So, John, you're on Music.

-Unfortunately!

-But you were down to do Science.

-Yeah.

-Something's unravelling here, isn't it?! Which Egghead?

-Daphne.

-Daphne. Daphne, yeah.

-We're going to bring on Daphne.

John from the Official Retrievers against Daphne from the Eggheads.

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

OK, three questions on Music in turn.

John, would you like the first or second set?

Always the gentleman, I'll go first, please!

"Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees

"and marmalade skies" is the opening line of which Beatles song?

Well, luckily it's The Beatles, so that's a start.

At least it's not too modern!

I do believe it's Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

And you were so worried about this category!

That's only the first question!

Yeah, but you got it right, well done!

Daphne, your question. In which decade was

Pass The Dutchie a UK number-one hit single for Musical Youth?

I don't know!

I keep telling you, all this era, all three of them, passed me by!

When you have children... Yes.

Umm, because

I don't know, I'll go straight down the middle and say the 1970s.

John, you'll know this one.

-I will, yeah.

-Go on, sing it for us.

I think it's...

-# Pass the dutchie from the left-hand side! #

-That's right.

-All kids and all in the...

-'80s.

In the '80s, Daphne. Well, that's handy.

This is going the opposite way you thought it might.

John, your second question.

In 1990, The Only One I Know became the first UK top-ten hit

single for which indie band?

I haven't a clue.

It's much too modern,

and I can't even eliminate

any of them.

I'll go with The Charlatans.

You're right.

Come on, John Boy!

Daphne, the 808, also known as the Roland TR-808,

beloved of record producers around the world, is a type of what?

If you get this wrong, you're out.

Well, I'm just

hoping TR stands for tape recorder, so I'm crossing my fingers

and going for that.

I don't know what TR stands for, because the answer's a drum machine.

-Oh, right!

-So, you are wrong and you are out!

-I am!

-How interesting! John, all your worries about

not being able to compete there, and you've just taken her apart.

Well done! You emerge triumphant against our Egghead, so John, you

will play in the final round, and, please, both of you,

come back and rejoin your teammates.

The Eggheads have lost two brains from the final round,

whilst the challengers still have not lost any brains.

Our next subject is History, and I know your plan has gone to pot.

-Got somebody on History?

-We've got a specialist.

Just gone back on track, I think!

It's going to be my friend here on my left. Who are we going to play, then?

Oh, come on, let's see if we can rattle another plug!

-What shall we do then, take Kevin?

-We'll take CJ.

-CJ, please.

OK, Richard from the Official Retrievers is

going to take on CJ from the Eggheads.

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

I'll ask each of you three questions on History in turn.

Richard, would you like the first set or the second set?

I'll go first, please, Jeremy.

And here we go. Lady Caroline Lamb, notorious for her affair with

Lord Byron, was the wife of which British Prime Minister?

I don't think William Pitt the Younger

had time to get married -

that's why they called him the Younger.

He died very young.

Gladstone went looking for ladies of dubious reputation, as far as

I remember, so it's Lord Melbourne. He was a lamb.

You're right, it was Lord Melbourne.

Good!

And not that easy.

Here we go, CJ. How are you feeling?

-I'm not looking forward to this.

-OK.

Having been born there, Richard II

was known as Richard of which French city?

He's really one of the forgotten kings,

isn't he, Richard II?

And I'm not sure I've heard this.

Oh, dear.

Let's start my inevitable downward slide with Richard of Bordeaux.

It's not downwards. You got it right, well done!

OK, next one to you, Richard. So, you're level.

Which Royal Navy aircraft carrier was hit and sunk by the German U-boat U-81 in November 1941?

That's a sticky one.

Ark Royal was badly hit, but I'm not sure she was sunk.

I'm going for HMS Indomitable.

And it's wrong. It was

HMS Ark Royal.

So, CJ, your chance to take the advantage.

John Hampton was an English politician who played a leading

part in the opposition to the rule of which king?

Oh, dear.

I'm not sure about this, but there is one name that's eeking me.

I don't think it's Edward VI.

I'm going to work on the basis that I know virtually

nothing about Richard III, so I'm going to go for Charles I.

Charles I is the correct answer, CJ, well done!

So, you have two points and, Richard, you have one.

You need to get this right, Richard, or you'll not be in the final.

The royal House of Lancaster's reign over England began in

the last year of which century?

The only House I can remember that actually began

in the last year of a century

was when Richard of Bordeaux died

and was succeeded, I believe, by Henry IV of the House of Lancaster,

so it'll be the 14th.

Lovely!

You're right!

It's tight here. CJ, if you get this right,

you're in the final. If you don't, we go to sudden death.

CJ, in 1911, William Waldorf Astor

became the owner of which national newspaper?

Well, I really don't have much to go on here.

So, apologies if I'm going to

let my team down and humiliate

myself in sudden death, but I'm going to go for The Times.

And what's your reasoning there?

He strikes me as rather a conservative figure,

and The Times is a conservative newspaper. Not quite

as much as The Telegraph, admittedly.

-That's the one I'm going to go for.

-It was The Observer.

you're wrong, which means we go to sudden death.

Richard, you survived

your problem with the second question, so let's see if you

can take the round now. Not multiple choice now,

so I'm going to need an answer from you.

What was the nickname given to the son of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier,

who succeeded him as president of Haiti?

He was another member, not only of the Duvalier family,

but presumably the Doc family, because he was known as Baby Doc.

He was indeed known as Baby Doc, you're quite right.

Just pulling clear now, unless you can hold him, CJ.

Which British king was the last to hold the title Emperor of India?

Oh, dear.

Well, let's see. They became independent in '47.

Would they have had an emperor up until the end?

I don't know. I'm hoping...

I'm hoping that the title had gone

earlier rather than later.

It just seems a bit antiquated for later.

It's George V or George VI.

I'm going to go for George V.

Your response, Eggheads?

-Oh, dear!

-It was George VI.

Oh, dear. George VI it was. So, CJ,

with that wrong answer you lose your place in the final.

Richard, you will join your team in the final, well done!

It looked a bit sticky, but you came through.

Good History knowledge. Both of you, come back to the studio.

We press on. The Eggheads have lost three brains from the final round.

The challengers have not lost any.

What is going to happen here, with £21,000 to play for?

The last subject is Arts & Books.

-Which of you wants that?

-And we have...

-It looks like it's mine.

-..an auctioneer,

whose gavel is now about to drop on this table, and we're going to take...

Who did we say, chaps?

You can do Kevin or Barry, Arts & Books.

I could be committing suicide, but we'll try Kevin.

Well, it's always worth a try!

Bob from the Official Retrievers against Kevin from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions in the question room.

Three questions. Do you want the first or second set?

I suppose I had better bat first as well.

Bob, what do potters call the action of shaping clay on a wheel?

Well, as I play cricket a lot, I tend to drop

a lot, so I don't think it's dropping.

It certainly isn't catching.

I believe it's throwing.

It is throwing, well done.

Kevin, your question.

In Greek drama, what name is given to a group of actors who comment on

the central action of the play?

That's the origin of the word chorus,

so it's chorus.

Chorus is correct, Kevin.

Your question, Bob. Atlas Shrugged is the title

of a 1957 novel by which writer?

Well, I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea at all,

so it's going to be a pure guess.

Purely and simply because...

For no other reason than I like

the name Ayn, that sounds likely, I'll go for Ayn Rand.

Great stroke of luck, or guesswork, for you. Well done!

Ayn Rand is correct, well done!

Kevin, back to you.

Which cartoonist provided the illustrations for

Hunter S Thompson's classic book Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas?

Now, I was really, really hoping that both Scarfe and Steadman

weren't going to come up on that one.

It's not Ronald Searle.

I'm not at all...

I'm really, really not at all sure about this, but I'm going to

go for Ralph Steadman.

Is the correct answer. Well done, Kevin!

He's a hard man to beat, Bob!

He certainly is, yeah.

Here's your next question. As what is the British artist

Nicholas Hilliard, born in 1547, most famous?

Well, he certainly wasn't

a manuscript illuminator,

and he certainly wasn't involved with stained glass.

He was one of the world's most famous and popular miniaturists.

You're quite right. He was a portrait miniaturist, well done.

Three out of three for our auctioneer.

Kevin, get this right or you're not in the final.

John Self is the central character in which novel by Martin Amis?

Not a Martin Amis fan either, I'm afraid!

-Sorry, Barry!

-Why are you apologising to Barry?

Because he'll be left on his own if I get this wrong, that's why!

The Rachel Papers was his...

I don't say it was necessarily his first book, but it was his first

early success when he was about 24.

And I don't think...

..the central character in that was called John Self.

So, rightly or wrongly, I think I'll rule out The Rachel Papers.

But Money or The Information?

I honestly don't know, I'm torn 50-50 between those two, so I've got

to go for one, so I shall go for The Information.

If you get this wrong, the whole of the other team

will be there for the final round with £21,000 to play for.

Kevin, you did get it wrong.

It's Money, not The Information.

So, Bob, well done!

The Egghead who gets most questions right has been

eliminated. That means there's only one Egghead left in the final.

Challengers, you will have Bob playing with you in a moment's time.

Please, both of you, come back to join us.

So, this is what we've been playing towards. It's 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 be allowed to take part.

So, and this is really quite remarkable, I'm just going to turn this way

and say, Judith and Kevin and CJ and Daphne, you're gone, I'm afraid!

We've only seen this twice before in the history of Eggheads.

This is only the third time that the whole of

the challengers have been left with one Egghead to play against!

I wonder who that can be?!

OK, guys, leave the studio, please.

Our challengers work in insolvency, and it looks as if

the Eggheads have been almost compulsorily liquidated here!

Just Barry left! John T, Richard, John W,

Nigel and Bob, you are playing to win the Official Retrievers £21,000.

Barry, on your own there, you're playing for something that money

can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

The questions are all General Knowledge, and you are allowed to confer.

Official Retrievers, the question is, are your five brains

better than the Eggheads' one?

Official Retrievers, first or second set of questions?

It's gone well so far, and on the basis that if we get one

one wrong, we'll have to get his three, perhaps we're going to go first.

First question. What is the name of

the UK agency that carries out CRB checks?

-The diddle?

-Well, we reckon middle for diddle.

It certainly isn't the Car Registration Bank.

The one down in the middle. We're in agreement?

It is the Criminal Records Bureau.

That's the one we want? Straight down the middle, please.

The Criminal Records Bureau.

Is the right answer, well done.

Barry, a rough, tight embrace is often referred to as what?

I don't think I'd fancy being squeezed

by a tiger, and a clinch by a wolf

doesn't sound attractive either, but I've had the odd bear hug

in my time, so I shall go for a bear hug as a tight embrace.

Bear hug is the correct answer.

Difficult at this moment to have a bear hug,

given that you're there on your own!

Next question is for the Official Retrievers. In August 2007, a statue

was unveiled on Parliament Square in London of which world leader?

Churchill was already there.

Churchill's there.

Do we think it's JFK, then?

-No, it's Mandela.

-It's Mandela, is it? It's Mandela?

-Are we all sure about this, yeah?

-90%.

-Are you sure?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Mandela.

We're going to go down the middle again, for...

Ready, team? Nelson Mandela?

-Yeah.

-Mr Nelson Mandela.

You've got it right again.

-Thank you.

-Nelson Mandela.

The pressure on Barry, on his own.

The five Studebaker brothers together founded a company

that would become famous for the production of what?

One of my dreams when I was a young child was

to own one of the classic American cars, and of the

many cars who I admired, Studebaker was certainly up there amongst them.

So, I think the answer to this one certainly must be automobiles.

Automobiles is the correct answer.

Two points each.

I've just got a feeling this is going to be very tight.

In which year was San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge completed?

It's the early one. It's the early one.

Which one? It's not going to be 1947.

It's not '47. I think it's '27.

It was the time of the Great Depression.

You would go early, would you?

I think it's '27. You think '37?

-I don't know.

-I think it's 27.

Are we going to go for that? Are we happy?

We're not 100% sure. We think

'47 is too late. We're not going down the middle this time, are we, chaps?

We're going to go for 1927.

Maybe took that a bit too quickly. It's 1937.

Sorry, guys.

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed.

It's not over, challengers, because Barry has to get this correct.

And if he doesn't, we go to sudden death.

If you do, Barry, well, that's it for our Official Retrievers.

Sortilege is the act of predicting the future by doing what?

I've heard this word before. I don't think it's examining leftovers,

because the word haruspicy, for some reason, comes into

my mind for that. So, that would leave me with drawing lots or

throwing feathers. I've never heard of an act of divination, of

predicting the future, by throwing feathers, so because I don't think

it's examining leftovers, and I've never heard of throwing feathers,

I'm going to go for drawing lots.

If you've got it right, you've taken the prize money from them.

If you've got it wrong, we go to sudden death.

It's a big, big prize we've been playing for,

and the Official Retrievers have played an impeccable game, and

we listened to your logic, and it was impeccable,

because you're right.

It's drawing lots. Congratulations, Eggheads, you've won.

Well, it's no consolation at all, but the two other teams

who got into this particular permutation both lost as well.

-We enjoyed ourselves.

-You did brilliantly.

You came storming through right up until the very end.

Barry, well done, because it takes a lot of nerve,

the newest Egghead here. So, there we are, you've got your stripes!

Commiserations, challengers.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally. Their winning streak continues,

and I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £21,000, which means that

the money rolls over to our next show. Eggheads, congratulations!

Who will beat you? I'll address that to Barry, if you don't mind!

Join us next time to see if the new challengers have

the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£22,000 will say they don't.

Until then, goodbye.

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