Episode 145 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 may recognize them as they've won some of the country's toughest quiz shows. They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our resident quiz champions today are the Bere Heads,

a team of friends and family who

regularly take part in their local pub quiz at the Edgcumbe Hotel in Bere Alston in Devon.

Let's meet them.

-Hello, I'm Mick. I'm 46 and I'm a primary school teacher.

-Hi, I'm John.

I'm 52 and I'm a stock controller for a large engineering company.

Hi, I'm Jim. I'm 30 and I'm an office and accounts manager.

Hello, I'm Malcolm.

I'm 64 and I'm an IT technical team leader.

Hi. I'm Ed. I'm 49 and I'm a carer.

Welcome, Bere Heads. So you all do different kinds of things but you quiz together.

-Yes, that's right.

-Which is promising from this game's point of view.

I'm a primary school teacher and I did teach at the local primary school at Bere Alston.

John and I were at college together and we live near each other

in Plymouth but we still go regularly with the others to the Bere Alston quiz.

And I used to live there.

-And Devon is beautiful.

-Yeah.

We'll try and keep it a secret or everyone's gonna be down there.

So can no-one mention how beautiful Devon is again, in this game at all?!

Good luck. It could be an exciting game, this one.

There's £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers.

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

And the reason I say it could be exciting is that, Bere Heads, the Eggheads have won the last 24 games.

In fact they've been winning ever since Barry joined them.

So £25,000 says you can't beat them.

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

Which one of you wants to play Music and against which Egghead?

We hadn't expected this.

It's not one we'd anticipated and I can't remember who we actually said.

-I think it had better...

-I think Jimmy is the strongest.

-OK.

-If it's classical he's gonna be all over the place.

We'll hand you the poisoned chalice.

-Who do you think we should pick?

-Daphne?

-Daphne?

Me against Daphne.

So, Jim against Daphne.

-OK.

-Oh, gosh.

-To ensure there's no conferring, would you please take your positions in the question room?

Three multiple choice questions in turn.

Jim, you can choose the first or second set.

I'll go first, please.

Your first question, Jim. In which country was the singer Sharleen Spiteri born?

I'm fairly confident I know that answer.

I believe it's Scotland.

And you're right. It was Scotland.

Next question for you, Daphne. Which girl's name appears in the title of

the traditional song that features the line,

"You'll look sweet, upon the seat, of a bicycle made for two"?

That's more like it.

My era. Daisy.

That's it, well done.

One point each.

Over to you, Jim.

"If" was a UK number one hit single in 1975 for which actor?

I can't say it's one I know.

Slightly before my time.

Um... out of those three

I don't think it's William Shatner,

I don't think it's Bill Cosby.

I'll go for Telly Savalas.

Interesting choice. Why did you choose him?

Well, I've got it in my head that he...

sang a song but it's really pretty much a guess.

I don't really know the answer.

-And you know the cop he played, obviously?

-Oh, yeah, Kojak.

It's the right answer. Well done.

OK, Daphne. Who was the third member of the 1990s grunge band, Nirvana, with Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl?

I don't think it's Eddie Vedder

because isn't he something to do with Pearl Jam?

But of the other two...

I really don't know

so I'll go for the one I can pronounce, Chris Cornell.

Daphne, it is the unpronounceable one in the middle.

It's not Chris Cornell.

And you're gonna have to get back to your Nirvana albums

and listen to them all over again.

No, thank you!

So that means our Bere Heads have got the edge in this round.

Jim, if you get this one right, you're in the final and Daphne is not.

"A British Tar" and "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore"

are songs from which Gilbert and Sullivan opera?

I can't say it's one I know again. It's going to be a bit of a guess.

I'll go for...

HMS Pinafore.

-That was a guess, was it?

-It was.

Just before you guessed it I thought, this guy, there's

something about him, he's gonna guess the right one, and you did!

There's something about this team here.

First round to our Bere Heads.

Daphne, no way back for you so I won't ask you the next question.

Well, done, Jim. Please, both of you, come back to the studio.

As it stands, the challengers have lost no brains from the final round

while the Eggheads have lost one brain. The next subject is Sport.

-What do you think, captain?

-Well...

Who wants it and against which Egghead?

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-What if we get...?

-Are we gonna go with Chris then, as we said?

-Yeah.

-I'll be playing this one, Jeremy, and I'd like to play Chris.

So, Ed, from the Bere Heads, a carer from Devon, versus Chris from the Eggheads on sport. Chris!

-He's like that!

-There are four things certain in this life.

Trouble, death, taxes and... SPORT!

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

Ed, I know you spend your time caring for your wife in Devon.

That's correct, yes.

She's been quite poorly over the last two years but thankfully quite stable at the moment and hopefully

-we will be sat out in the garden in the summer enjoying this.

-Terrific.

OK, well, good luck in this round, and to your team as well.

Three questions, multiple choice, you can choose the first or second set.

I'd like to go first please, Jeremy.

Your question, Ed. In July 2006, Ruud Van Nistelrooy

left Manchester United to sign for which Spanish football team?

I believe that one was Real Madrid, Jeremy.

Great confidence you answered that with and you're right, Real Madrid.

Chris, to you. Which British driver announced his retirement from Formula One in July 2008?

I actually saw this on the news.

I believe it was David Coulthard.

David Coulthard is correct. One each.

Back to you, Ed. Which country won tennis's Davis Cup in 2007?

This is a difficult one.

I do remember Sweden doing well in previous years but I don't think

they won it in 2007.

And although Russia

are strong in the male tennis at the moment...

I think I'll have to go for the USA, Jeremy.

Unerring to the correct answer. Well done, Ed, you are right. USA.

This team have not put a foot wrong so far.

The Bere Heads.

Which city hosted the Winter Olympics at which Britain's

Robin Cousins won a gold medal in the figure skating?

When in doubt, go for the middle one.

I remember the Winter Olympics being in Sapporo in Japan, so...

or was it Lake Placid?

I'll go with my original instinct, Sapporo.

It was Lake Placid, that was the answer.

You got it wrong.

I don't want to jump ahead of ourselves here, Ed,

but £25,000 is a lot of money.

What would you spend your bit on?

It would go on my wife and I going on a holiday to France, or a good part of it anyway.

Great, OK. Here's your third question.

If you get this right, you are in the final and Chris is not.

Which British two-time WBO heavyweight champion is nicknamed the Dancing Destroyer?

My mind's thinking Herbie Hide's too old

to be now called the Dancing Destroyer.

Um...gut feeling.

I genuinely don't know a definite answer

but I have a feeling it's Danny Williams

so that's the one I'll go for please, Jeremy.

OK, Danny Williams is your answer.

The answer we were looking for was Herbie Hide.

That was the nickname.

Chris, yours to keep it level

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

The spoon, Chris, is a former name for which golf club?

Well, if it's called a spoon that postulates it being metal,

which rules out the three-wood.

And a pitching wedge is, I think,

another wooden club,

it's wedge-shaped for knocking stuff down a hole.

So as it's the only one that appears to be made of metal,

I'll say the four-iron.

It's the three-wood.

Which means you're not in the final and Ed is.

Another good break for our challengers.

Closer to the money.

Both of you come back to the studio now.

The challengers have lost no brains from the final round,

the all-important final round where they'll be playing for £25,000. Eggheads have lost two brains.

Next, Geography. Which of you wants this?

-I'll do it.

-OK, John it is.

-Yep.

Who's he gonna play?

Kevin, Judith or Barry.

Want to try Barry?

OK. I'll go for Barry, please.

So it's John for the Bere Heads against our newest Egghead, Barry.

Please take your positions.

I'll ask each of you three questions.

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

I'd like to go first, please.

Which coastal city is served by Ben-Gurion international airport?

OK, well,

I know that Ben-Gurion was a

founder member of the state of Israel

and I know that Tel Aviv is in Israel

so I think my answer would be Tel Aviv.

And it would be right - first to you. Well done.

Barry, what is the approximate area of the Sahara Desert in square miles?

The Sahara Desert covers most of North Africa.

North Africa is probably 2,000,

maybe 2,500 miles wide

by maybe 1,000 deep.

So the answer must be 3.5 million.

It looks very, very big

but it is the right number, you're quite right.

3.5 million miles squared.

Back to you, John.

Which city is the capital of North Korea?

OK. North Korea is much in the news lately.

Having read news reports about it I'm fairly confident

that the capital of North Korea is actually Pyongyang.

That's my answer.

And you're right to be confident because it is.

Pyongyang.

Barry. Corno Grande is the highest peak in which mountain range?

Well, the highest mountain in the Caucasus, I think, is Elbrus,

and in the Carpathians I think it's Verakova

so Mount Corno Grande is the highest mountain in the Apennines.

Well, you really are an Egghead for knowing all that. My goodness.

You're right, Apennines.

He's a hard man to beat on geography, we're discovering.

John, here's your question.

Which country borders Burkina Faso on its northern side?

Burkina Faso is in the area of Africa known as the Sahel.

I know Nigeria is...

just somewhat south of that.

So I would say... my answer would be Nigeria.

It's wrong. It's Mali.

Mali.

So, Barry, you have a chance to take the round.

The first round the Eggheads will have taken in this game.

In which English county is the forest of Marston Vale, Barry?

I'm beginning to understand why CJ doesn't like

English counties questions.

I'm not sure there's any forests in Kent.

I know there's some in Essex but I know those so I will discount Kent.

Shropshire's quite hilly, but I think that might also be covered in forest.

I think Bedfordshire... no, Bedfordshire doesn't sound right.

Shropshire sounds right for a forest

with the name of a vale because there are vales in Shropshire.

So my answer is Shropshire.

And your answer is wrong. It's Bedfordshire.

Two points each after three questions.

We go to sudden death.

John, no multiple choice, gets a bit harder. Your question, John.

Which city in north-western India, the capital of Rajasthan, is sometimes referred to as the

pink city because of its rose-coloured buildings?

In Rajasthan.

The pink city.

I'm going to have to make a stab at this, but I think it's Rawalpindi.

It's not Rawalpindi, it's actually Jaipur.

Your question, Barry. This to book yourself a place in the final.

Zimbabwe has borders with South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and which other country?

Zimbabwe.

Borders with South Africa,

Zambia, Botswana...

So we haven't done anything on the

east coast of Africa.

Above South Africa on the east coast of Africa is

Mozambique, so I shall say Mozambique.

Brilliant play, Barry, with your mental map coming out.

You almost unfolded it there in your mind.

Mozambique is the answer so you will be in the final.

John, sorry, you played a very strong round there

but you have been knocked out by an Egghead, which we know does happen.

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

Please come back to your team mates.

As it stands, the challengers have lost one brain from the final round

whilst the Eggheads have lost two brains.

Our last subject now is Film & Television.

Moving up to our big final round.

Do you know who's having that?

-Yes, I'll have that.

-OK, Mick is having it. Against which Egghead?

Judith, please.

Right, Mick from the Bere Heads against Judith from the Eggheads.

Bere versus Eggs, let's see. Please take your positions.

Good luck. Three questions on Film & Television in turn.

Mick, you can choose the first or second set.

First please, Jeremy.

Who played Patrick Trench, Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour

in the TV sitcom One Foot in the Grave?

Yes, I think I know this one.

Better known for his other job as a presenter, as yourself,

it's Angus Deayton, I believe.

Timothy Spall was certainly not in that.

He was in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and several other things.

So I'm gonna go Angus Deayton.

Spot on. Well done, it was Angus.

Judith, Peter Davison and Christopher Timothy starred together

in which long-running TV comedy drama?

Peter Davison and who?

Peter Davison and Christopher Timothy.

I think that was the thing about the vets in Yorkshire,

All Creatures Great and Small.

And you're quite right, it was.

Back to you, Mick, for the Bere Heads. £25,000 to play for.

Who was the winner of the 2008 TV series The Apprentice?

I've never ever seen this and I was going to.

But I do recall

that this year's winner was a man so I'm going to rule out Claire Young.

Alex Wotherspoon is the thing that's coming into my head

and not Lee McQueen.

Any relation to Steve McQueen?

So I'm going to go Alex Wotherspoon but it's not by any means certain.

It was Lee McQueen.

OK, Judith, your chance for an advantage now.

Tom Cruise was nominated for Best Actor Oscars for Jerry Maguire and which other film?

I don't know why but I think it might have been Vanilla Sky.

It was Born on the Fourth of July.

So you've let Mick back in.

Who directed the Rush Hour series of films?

Again, I don't know this.

Rush Hour.

Was it Jackie Chan was in Rush Hour?

Christopher Nolan. Pure guess.

No, it was Brett Ratner.

So, Judith, if you get this right

then Mick is out of the final and you are in.

Texas Pete, Bulk and Skeleton were characters in

which animated TV series first broadcast in the UK in 1982?

-What were they called again?

-Texas Pete, Bulk and Skeleton.

I'm going to risk it

and think that maybe the Bulk character was Bananaman.

OK, Bananaman is your answer.

-Is she right, Chris?

-Super Ted.

Originally made in Welsh by S4C.

We move to sudden death with the two of you equal.

It can end suddenly here, Mick, as you know. So, here's your question.

Frances de la Tour played Miss Ruth Jones in which TV sitcom?

Um...

Rising Damp.

Correct, well done.

For you now, Judith, which pop group officially launched

the British TV channel, Five, on Easter Sunday 1997, with the song, The Power of Five?

Absolutely no idea.

Oh, I don't know, Duran Duran or something?

-No, they were big in...

-The 1980s?

Yeah, '87. 1983 probably.

The Spice Girls. They were big in 1997.

So that means, Judith,

you're not in the final round and our Bere Head is.

Well done, Mick, it was a tough one.

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

Good news for the challengers, so Mick will be in the final round.

Both of you come back to the studio.

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 in this round.

So that's John from the Bere Heads, and Daphne, Chris and Judith from the Eggheads.

Would you please leave the studio.

Mick, Jim, Malcolm and Ed, you are playing to win the Bere Heads £25,000.

Barry 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.

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

-Mick, Jim, Malcolm and Ed, £25,000, do you want to go first or second?

-First, please.

In Germany, what type of building is know as Rathaus?

We're all four agreed on that, we're certain it's the town hall.

Town hall is correct.

One point to you, well done.

Cerise is a shade of which colour, Eggheads?

It's probably red.

I'm thinking of cerulean, which is blue.

I think it's probably red.

Cerise is a kind of pinkish colour, unless I'm mixing them up entirely.

-So red?

-Right.

We'll go for red, Jeremy.

And you're right. Red is correct.

Back to you. "Now what I want is facts -

"teach these boys and girls nothing but facts", is the opening line from which Charles Dickens novel?

It's not David Copperfield.

It's a line I've heard before and I've never, ever seen an

adaptation of Dombey and Son, but I have of Hard Times.

On that basis alone.

So you'd rather go for Dombey?

-No, I think Hard Times.

-OK. We're not sure about this,

but we're going to plump for Hard Times.

Hard Times is correct.

Eggheads, which actor was America's most decorated combat soldier of World War II?

-Definitely Audie Murphy.

-Yeah.

They made a film of it and he played himself, called To Hell and Back.

It was Audie Murphy.

It was Audie Murphy, you're quite right. So two each.

Bere Heads, which spice from the fennel family,

used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, is know as devil's dung, due to its extremely pungent smell?

-The only one I...

-Middle East.

Asafoetida's got a terrible smell, whether it's Indian...

-Anybody else got?

-I don't know if hyssop's in the fennel...

Haven't got a clue.

But it doesn't sound

-Middle Eastern.

-It doesn't sound Middle Eastern.

If you're sure asafoetida smells that's the best thing to go for.

-It's got a bad smell.

-Malc thinks asafoetida

and we'll go with his knowledge

as the smelly one. So we're going for asafoetida.

You got the word right. Well done.

-Well done, Malc.

-Got it.

So, Eggheads, pressure on you.

If you get this question wrong, the Bere Heads have won £25,000.

Which Scottish engineer, inventor of the first electric clock,

patented the basic principles of the fax machine in 1846?

I think it was Bain.

James Nasmyth invented the steam hammer.

And Murdoch was involved with gas lighting.

He was indeed, yes.

I think I've heard his name in connection

with it before and we know

that the other two did other things, not to say that they couldn't have

been involved. I think Bain.

I'm happy with that.

We hope, we hope, we're reasonably confident that it's Alexander Bain.

If you're wrong they've got £25,000, you know that?

The answer to the question is Alexander Bain.

So, we keep in our stressed positions here.

With £25,000 in play, we go to sudden death.

You get one wrong, they get one right, that's it, you've gone.

Here's your question. Which building in the United States has 17.6

miles of corridors and was the world's largest office block when it was completed in 1943?

We're all certain it's the Pentagon.

You're right. You're right.

Eggheads, if you get this one wrong they have won £25,000.

What was the profession of Luke Hansard,

after whom the official report of parliamentary proceedings is named?

Right.

Was he a doctor?

Funnily enough, that was the first thought that came into my mind.

I don't know why.

I don't think it's anything as obvious

-as bookseller or printer.

-No, not a printer.

I keep on coming back to doctor because it came into my mind as well.

Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah.

-The fact that we both thought of it straight away, sort of.

-Yeah.

I mean, we both had a sort of instinct for doctor straightaway, although we don't actually know it.

So we're hoping it's doctor.

OK, your answer is doctor.

Eggheads that's the wrong answer, it was printer.

Challengers, you've just won £25,000!

Well, Ed, we can go back to our conversation.

You can take your wife on holiday to France.

Excellent, I'm looking forward to it already.

I hope you have a great time, you've been a lovely team to have in.

You are officially cleverer than the Eggheads. You proved they can be beaten.

Join us next time on Eggheads to see if a new team of challengers will be just as successful.

Until then, it's been a great game today, hasn't it? Goodbye.

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