Episode 144 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 as they are goliaths in the world of TV quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

Taking on the awesome might of our quiz goliaths today are Bank On It.

The team all work for the same bank in Sheffield and they've taken their

name from the title of a health and safety video they used to watch.

Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Kelly.

I'm 25 and I'm a bank manager.

Hi, I'm Joel.

I'm 23 and I'm a banking adviser.

Hi, I'm Chris.

I'm 52 and I'm a bank manager.

Hello, I'm Karen. I'm 36 and I'm a mortgage adviser.

Hi, I'm John. I'm 48 and I'm a district manager.

Welcome, Bank On It.

Kelly, tell us about this health and safety video.

What exactly was its message?

Erm, it's just one of those really old '80s videos that's a bit cheesy.

It's about health and safety, about raids and things like that, so we

used to have a laugh about it. Probably one day would save our lives

but watching it every three months, it gets a bit repetitive, kind of thing.

-So it's not just about trip hazards?

-Oh, no.

-It's about proper armed robberies?

-Oh, yeah. Everything.

-Really?

-Yeah. They'll have armed raiders

coming in, then a line-up and you have to guess... well, know which one it is out of those.

Well, good luck to you. Let's see how you do.

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

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads, however, the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Bank On It, the Eggheads have won the last 23 games, which means

£24,000 says you can't beat them.

-Yeah. Mmm.

-So it's worth being here.

-Yeah.

-The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of arts and books.

Challengers, which one of you wants this?

Erm, you can do it, Karen.

-Yeah, we've got faith in you, Karen.

-I know nothing about arts really.

You've got to do one, so you might as well get it out the way.

-OK, then.

-It's going to be Karen.

Now the tricky bit.

Barry, cos he might not know.

-Yeah. Go on then. Might as well. The new one.

-Barry.

-Barry.

-Right. There we are.

Decision made. Karen from Bank On It against Barry from the Eggheads.

And to ensure there's no conferring, please take your positions in the question room.

So I'm going to ask each of you three multiple-choice questions on arts and books in turn

and, Karen, you can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please.

Karen, good luck. Which of Shakespeare's sonnets begins "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"?

I have absolutely no idea. Erm...

A good friend and team member said, "Go for the middle."

So on that basis I will just go for the middle answer. Sonnet ten.

Sonnet ten. Do you know, team-mates,

-whether she's right or wrong?

-I think it's sonnet eight.

-You think it's eight?

-Chris thinks it's eight.

-Eggheads?

-18.

18 is the correct answer, Karen. Sorry.

But going through the middle seems to work more often than it should, so it wasn't a bad tactic.

Barry, your first question.

Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko were proponents of which school of art?

Willem de Kooning did a wonderful series of paintings on women.

But the style that de Kooning and Rothko used was Abstract Impressionism.

So my answer is Abstract Impressionism.

That is the correct answer. Well, done, Barry.

Your question, Karen.

The Muggle-Wump, who appears in the Roald Dahl books The Twits

and The Enormous Crocodile, takes the form of which creature?

He likes rhyming things, so I would think it would be the one of them that begins with an M.

So on that basis I will go for monkey.

Great. You got it right. Well done.

Barry, in which country was the writer Salman Rushdie born?

I really should know this because I've read quite a lot of Salman Rushdie.

I'm hoping I'm not going to make a complete fool of myself, but my answer is India.

And your answer is right, Barry.

So, Karen, you have to get this right, OK,

or Barry has taken the round and he is in the final, not you.

In February 1842, Charlotte and Emily Bronte moved to which city to study?

I should know this, with them being Yorkshire-based

and reading a lot when I was doing A level English.

Erm...

I don't think it's Stuttgart.

Because the novels are quite romantic and things,

I'm quite drawn to Turin, cos Brussels is not very glamorous, is it?

I'm going to go with Turin.

I follow the logic completely there. Turin is wrong though.

It is Brussels, Karen. So bad luck.

Barry, you will play with your team, with the Eggheads,

and Karen, sadly, you won't. Please both of you come back and rejoin us.

As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain

from that final round. The Eggheads have lost no brains, but it's early.

-The next subject is science. Which of you would like science?

-Oh!

-Oh, a groan.

-Kelly.

-She's been studying her periodic table.

-Wait! Let's talk about it first.

Let's talk about it. Kelly.

Accept it, Kelly.

-Yeah.

-No, I like science. It doesn't mean I know anything about it.

-I'm going to assum... I think it is you, isn't it?

-Unfortunately, it's me.

-Against?

-Erm.

-CJ.

-What do you think, John?

-I think CJ. He looked down as though he were a bit worried.

-Yeah, he's scared.

No, that means he knows a lot.

-He's going, "No, don't pick me. Pick me.".

-Take on CJ!

-Yeah, yeah, go on.

CJ.

OK. Kelly from Bank On It against CJ from the Eggheads, please take

your positions in the question room.

OK, you want to go first or second?

It's multiple-choice questions.

I think I'll go with Karen and go first, please.

Which term refers to something that can be decomposed by bacteria

or other living organisms?

Right. Well, from just listening to the question...

I have a little daughter and I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly.

And I've been buying biodegradable nappies.

So I know that biodegradable does mean it can be broken down.

So biodiversity?

No, cos that means diverse.

No. I think it's biodegradable.

Absolutely right. Well, done, Kelly.

CJ, tanning is a process used in the treatment of which material?

-Don't wear it myself, but it's leather.

-Quite right. It is leather.

Kelly,

the most common soft solders for joining metals are normally

alloys of lead and which other metal?

Ooh, I was reading up yesterday on things that join together,

like what coins are made of and things like that.

But this wasn't one of the things I looked at.

So let's have a look.

See, I did do workshop at school and I did have to solder things,

so you'd think I'd know. I'm going to go with aluminium, please.

-Actually, it's tin.

-Oh!

CJ, which planet with an equatorial

diameter of approximately 49,000km is very similar in size to Uranus?

Well, Saturn and Jupiter

are many, many times bigger.

Erm, both Uranus and Neptune are virtually identical, just like

the Earth and Venus are almost twin planets, and it's Neptune.

It is Neptune, you're quite right. So that means you

need to get this one right, Karen.

The prehistoric Dunkleosteus terrelli, which scientists discovered in 2006,

had a very powerful bite,

was what type of creature?

I really, really wish I went second

because, believe it or not, this is my catchphrase.

I knew both of CJ's answers, so I really wish I'd gone second.

Erm, I've always been told

if you don't know the answer go for the middle, but fish, big bite...

Erm...

I know it's going to be wrong. I'm going to kick myself after,

but I'm going to go with reptile, please, Jeremy.

If you'd gone with the middle, you would've been right.

-Oh!

-Cos it's fish.

-Ah!

-Rubbish.

-Oh, no, not rubbish at all.

Not rubbish. Tough questions.

CJ, that means there's no way back for our banker, so well done.

You're in the final for the Eggheads and, Kelly, you're not.

Please do come back and rejoin your team-mates.

So the challengers have lost two brains from the final round. No need to be downcast, though.

The Eggheads have lost no brains. The next subject is Sport.

Ah, they've got a plan on Sport, I can tell.

-Not a very good plan!

-So who's doing it?

-Jo-el.

-Jo-el.

-Jo-el.

-Jo-el.

-No, Joel.

-I called you Joel.

-It is Joel. That's his Saturday name.

-Jo-el.

-Thank you.

Joel against?

-Judith.

-Judith, please.

Joel from Bank On It versus Judith from the Eggheads.

Please take your positions in the question room.

OK, three questions on sport in turn.

Joel, you can have the first or the second set of questions.

I would like to go first, please.

OK, good luck.

In which sport is cradling an essential skill?

I can quite confidentially say that I haven't got a clue.

Erm, I suppose discus, the action might be classed as cradling

before you throw it, so...

instincts go towards discus.

I'd probably say discus, yes.

-That's my answer.

-OK. It's actually...

You know in lacrosse you've got the net, that stick with the net in.

I think the cradling is when you put the ball in that. Yeah, Judith.

Judith is doing it now.

Judith is cradling. So discus is wrong.

Judith, here's your first question.

Jose Mourinho signed as manager

for which Italian football team in June 2008?

I think that's Inter Milan.

That's right. Well, done.

Joel, what nationality is the tennis Gustavo Kuerten?

Gustavo Kuerten? I don't think it's South African.

I'm going to say Brazilian, I think, Gustavo Kuerten.

Chris the bank manager is pleased, because, Chris?

-He's Brazilian.

-He is Brazilian! Well, done.

Judith, your question.

The water jump and which other jump at Aintree are only negotiated

once during the Grand National?

They go over Becher's Brook twice.

I'm sure they go round the Canal Turn twice.

Erm, I think it's The Chair.

The Chair is correct.

Phew!

So we're where we were with Kelly now, Joel, which is that you've got

to get this question right. Your question, Joel.

For which Formula One team did Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima

begin the 2008 season?

Nico Rosberg?

Er...

I initially thought Williams.

Nico Rosberg.

Erm...

I'll plump for Williams.

-If you get this wrong, you're out of the final.

-I know.

But you got it right. Well, done.

Your question, Judith, to take the round.

Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture

are associated with which sport?

How do you spell "Couture"?

-As you expect... C, O, U, T, U, R, E.

-Mm.

I was reading about ultimate fighting the other day. I'm trying to see

if I'm jogged, my memory's jogged.

It's not, is the answer.

Erm...

I think it might be cycling.

-Is that your answer?

-Yeah.

Any Eggheads know? Chris, do you know?

I think it's ultimate fighting.

-Fighting is the answer, Judith. You got it wrong.

-Oh, that is annoying.

It must have been in that thing I was reading about it.

So we go to sudden death, so it gets that bit harder.

It's not multiple-choice.

Joel, you're first.

Which Wimbledon goalkeeper faced allegations of match fixing

alongside Bruce Grobbelaar and John Fashanu in 1997?

I'm trying remember who the Wimbledon goalkeepers were.

Neil Sullivan. But I think that were a little bit...

That's who David Beckham scored the goal from the halfway line against,

against Wimbledon, Neil Sullivan.

But the other one I can think of is Hans Segers.

I think it's one of them two. Probably neither of 'em.

Erm, I'll go for Hans Segers.

And you're right. Hans Segers. Well done.

Ah ha ha! So, Judith,

you're on the precipice edge.

In which sport might you be picked up by a sag wagon?

Erm...

I don't quite understand the question really.

If you're injured or is it part of the sport?

I'll explain when you give me the answer.

-Erm, I don't know. Carriage driving.

-Is that your answer?

-Mm-hm.

-The well-known sport of carriage driving.

-It is a well-known sport. Prince Philip does it.

-It's cycling.

-Oh, cycling.

-So what happens I think is the...

When this question comes up again in a thousand years' time,

-when the cyclists at the very back have had it and they're absolutely bushed...

-Yes

They will be packed into a wagon, along with their bicycles, I assume.

-Yeah.

-But, Judith, that means that you've lost the round. You're not in the final and Joel, our banker, is.

-Well, done, Joel.

-Hurrray-ay-ay!

Good for you knowing Hans Segers. He probably won't be very pleased that you remembered his name.

Do come back and rejoin your teams.

As it stands, the challengers have lost two brains from the final round.

The Eggheads have lost one brain - Judith. The last subject is Film And Television.

-Oh, yes!

-Things are turning up now for you.

Yeah. Turned a corner now.

Is this you, Chris?

-No.

-No, no, no.

-It's John.

-It's John.

-John.

-John against?

Chris.

We don't even need to confer.

-Pre-arranged.

-So John for Bank On It against Chris from the Eggheads.

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

I'll ask each of you three questions on Film And Television in turn.

-John, would you like the first or second set of questions?

-Erm, I'll go first.

Here we go. In the TV series Friends which supermodel played Joey's room-mate Janine Lecroix?

I'm really not sure about this one.

Erm, I'm going to go for...

the middle one, Elle Macpherson.

Elle Macpherson's right. You got it. Well done.

So it's the district manager who's got the good logic. Oh, poker player as well, aren't you?

-I play a bit of poker, yes.

-Right. Kept a straight face during that.

Chris, Emily Bishop, played by Eileen Derbyshire, is a long-running character in which TV soap?

Well, I remember when she was Miss Nugent working with Leonard Swindley at Gamma Garments.

-It's Coronation Street.

-That's the correct answer.

Well, done.

Your question then, John.

Which actor played Paul, an unlucky tube train driver, in the 2008 British comedy film, Three And Out?

Oh, I've not seen this film.

I know it's about people throwing theirselves in front of trains,

which I can understand at this moment.

Er...

Oh, this is going to be a guess this one, unfortunately.

I'm going to go for...

..Mackenzie Crook.

Well, you got the right answer, John.

It's Mackenzie Crook.

-I knew that!

-See, it's the poker that...

Obviously poker

is a good grounding for Eggheads. It must be. OK, Chris.

He's chasing you hard here.

Chris, your question is as follows.

The 1991 Roger Daltrey film Buddy's Song co-starred which one-hit wonder singer?

Mm, interesting.

Er... Well, I think Lou Bega and Carl Douglas are both American

and the film with Roger Daltrey in would be British.

The British one-hit wonder there is Chesney Hawkes, son of Chip Hawkes.

So I'll say Chesney Hawkes.

Yeah, brilliant play. Well, done. It was Chesney Hawkes, Chris.

So, two each after two questions.

Your third question to keep the pressure on him, John.

What is the setting for the TV comedy series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace?

I enjoy comedies.

Can't say I've ever heard of this one.

Erm...

Well, my auntie gave me some advice,

saying if you don't go, always go for the middle.

So if I'm wrong on this, you can blame me auntie. Is that OK?

-OK.

-I'm going to go for hospital.

Didn't work earlier with one of your team-mates,

but it has worked for you now.

What was your auntie's name?

-Auntie June.

-Ah, Auntie June.

Get knocked out, Chris, if you get this one wrong.

What is the first name of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien series of films?

Well, as far as I knew she was always just referred to as Ripley, but, erm...

She doesn't look like an Alice

and she doesn't look like a Jane, but she does look like an Ellen,

so 50-50, we'll go Ellen.

I'll let CJ tell you whether you're right.

He's absolutely right.

You're right, Chris. CJ loves his... Is it all Alien films?

Well, no, no, just that series.

Right, three each.

We go to sudden death.

Gets harder now cos it's not multiple choice, John, as you know.

Your question.

Bob Hoskins, Ben Kingsley and Pauline Quirk all appeared in which

TV courtroom drama series that aired in the afternoons?

Er, was it Crown Court?

-Is that your answer?

-Yes.

-Correct.

Go on!

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

Which actor, born in 1936, appeared in the films Apocalypse Now, Speed and True Romance?

It wasn't Martin Sheen, was it?

-That's your answer?

-Mm-hm.

No, it wasn't, it was Dennis Hopper. So, well done, John!

The bankers are starting to pull back here.

John, you took on one of our Eggheads, you emerged triumphant.

Good news for the challengers, cos you will play in today's final round.

Please both of you come back to us.

So this is what we've been playing towards.

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 going to be evicted from the studio.

So that is Kelly and Karen from Bank On It.

But also Chris and Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you please now leave us?

Joel, Chris and John, you're playing to win Bank On It £24,000.

CJ, Daphne and Barry, you're playing for something which 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. Bank On It, the question is,

are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three?

Do you want the first or second set of questions?

-Shall we go first?

-First, yeah.

We'd like to go first, please.

Here we go for £24,000.

Vendredi is the French word for which day of the week?

Lundi, mercredi...

Jeudi is Thursday.

I think it's Friday, Vendredi.

It is Friday.

-OK.

-We'll go for Friday.

-Friday.

Oh, I'm feeling tense

as you say that, but you're right.

Friday.

OK, Eggheads, on which part of the body would mules be worn?

-They're shoes.

-Feet.

Yeah, yeah. Yes. On your feet, Jeremy.

Correct.

One each. Back to you, Bank On It.

What unusual name did the musician Frank Zappa give his daughter,

born in 1967?

-Geronimo sounds quite...

-Call someone Moon Unit?

You wouldn't call anybody Moon Unit, would you?

-But where would they think of that answer from?

-67, Moon Unit, before the landings...

Nah, I don't think so. Rufus Tiger?

Rufus Tiger. Frank Zappa. Well, he was more of an American...

He might have an Indian influence, I would have thought. American Indian.

So Geronimo sounds the most logical.

Shall we go for Geronimo?

-Geronimo?

-Yeah. Geronimo.

Geronimo is your answer?

They're in pain at the back there.

It was Moon Unit. He called his daughter Moon Unit.

OK, Eggheads, to take the advantage now, in which country was the US statesman Henry Kissinger born?

He was definitely German.

-Yes.

-Definitely.

-He was born in Germany.

Eggheads, you're right, it's Germany. So you have to

get this question right to have any chance of winning the money.

Considering by some to be one of the lost tribes of Israel and descended from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba,

the Falashas are a Jewish group indigenous to which country?

Well? Lost tribe? Ethiopia's mentioned in the Bible.

Ethiopia is a name in the Bible, isn't it?

Yeah, but then they're mentioned in different terms, aren't they?

Kenya or Saudi Arabia might be not known as what it's...

-Yeah.

-What it's known now.

-Instinct says Ethiopia, but I don't know.

-Ethiopia.

-Go on then, Ethiopia.

-We'll go for Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is your answer.

If you get this wrong, you're out of the game, but you've got it right.

Yes!

Ah! Boom boom boom!

OK, Eggheads, your question.

If you get this right, you've won the contest.

Edward Tudor Pole, who presented the Crystal Maze,

was briefly a member of which band?

-I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.

-I don't think it's the Sex Pistols.

He's not old enough for them.

-And The Clash?

-You want them to be uncertain, guys, and they seem t be.

If it was my choice to go for it, I'd go for The Stranglers.

Yes. Well, you heard CJ's reasoning.

I thought of The Stranglers when it came up,

so, if we're wrong, we're wrong, but we're going for The Stranglers.

-The Stranglers is wrong. It was the Sex Pistols.

-Oh!

So led astray by CJ there, much to your advantage, Bank On It.

We're going to sudden death here and anything can happen.

Here's your question.

The Mosquito Coast stretches from Honduras to which other country?

I'm not sure if it covers Caribbean, you see.

-El Salvador.

-I'm sure...

-Honduras...

-El Salvador had a war in 1970, didn't they?

-Were it on same coast?

That's why I'm thinking that...

They're on the same line, aren't they?

Erm...

Venezuela, I don't know. Just something springs to mind.

Venezuela. Mosquito...

I'm just going on something at the back of me mind.

-It might not be right at all.

-Venezuela.

-If you're going on El Salvador for that reason.

-No.

If there were a war, then it's more logical, in't it?

They're joined together. I know they're joined together..

-Neighbouring countries?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, go for that.

El Salvador. Yeah.

I'm going to go for El Salvador.

Yeah, makes sense, doesn't it?

-We're going for El Salvador.

-El Salvador.

Your answer is El Salvador.

-Eggheads, do you know the answer to this?

-It's Nicaragua.

Spot on. It is Nicaragua. You got that wrong.

Sorry, Bank On It,

because that means that, Eggheads, if they

get this question right, will take the contest and the money will go.

Eggheads, your question.

In 1980, a siege in which country's embassy was ended when the SAS stormed the building?

-It was the Iranian Embassy.

-Iranian Embassy.

-In London?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Isn't there one where? Is it Yvonne Fletcher?

-Pardon.

-WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot outside...

-No, no, no.

-That's the Libyan Embassy.

-Yes.

-It's definitely the Iranian one.

-The siege is the Iranian one.

There was a policeman called Trevor somebody. Trevor...? I can't remember.

But 1980 was the Iranian one, the siege.

I remember watching it on television and it was the Iranian Embassy.

So the country name?

-Iran.

-Iran?

-Yes.

Eggheads, congratulations, Iran is the right answer and you've won.

Commiserations to our challengers.

A doughty performance by the bankers, but the Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

Their winning streak continues and I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £24,000.

I won't rub it in any more.

And it means that that money rolls over to our next show, so, Eggheads, very well done again.

Who will ever beat them?

Join us next time to see if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£25,000 will say they don't. Till then, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]