Episode 71 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 the team of five quiz challengers

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

You might 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

Dramarama from Buckinghamshire.

The team came together through a love of quizzing and amateur dramatics,

and each year attend a quiz run by the Ballinger Players Amateur Dramatics group. Let's meet them.

Hello, I'm Brian. I'm 38 and I'm an IT consultant.

Hello, I'm Sarah. I'm 44 and I'm a managing director.

Hi, I'm David. I'm 28 and I'm a journalist.

Hello, my name's Lindy. I'm 47, and I'm a mum at home.

Hi, I'm Pete. I'm 46 and I'm an credit controller.

Love the team name.

And tell me, first of all, about the acting, then, and the theatre.

All on stage, or do you do different things?

Some of us are performers and some are purely there for moral support.

And what applies to you, Brian?

Definitely the moral support.

What productions have you been putting on?

-Mostly comedies.

-Uh-huh.

I've been involved in that group since I was 17.

-And my mum is now in it.

-OK, well, mostly comedies.

Let's hope this is a tragedy for the Eggheads. Every day, there's £1,000 up for grabs for our challengers.

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

So, Dramarama, I mention tragedy...

the challengers won the last game, proving it CAN be done.

Look at those glum Eggheads. That means £1,000 says

you can't beat the Eggheads. OK,

the first head-to-head battle is on Politics. Who'd like to play?

It can be any one of you at this stage.

Do you want me to go on first, or not?

-I don't.

-Me? Me? Yup.

-David.

-Looks like me.

OK, David, which Egghead would you like to play?

Judith? I'll take on Judith, please.

All right. To make sure there's no conferring, David, could I ask you both to go to the question room.

-So, David, are you an actor or a supporter?

-I'm a supporter.

Ah, I see, and any particular skills you bring to it?

Yeah, I turn up for the Ballinger quiz night.

-And how do you do in that?

-We usually finish second.

Oh. You don't want to finish second here. There's only two teams in it.

I think that could be a potential problem.

-OK, would you like to go first or second?

-First.

OK, best of luck, David, first question to you. Between 1919

and 1933, the Weimar Republic was the government of which country?

Well, the Russian Revolution was '17, so that's going to be the Communists

in Russia...and I've no idea who controls Greece

but I know that the Weimar Republic was very much against Adolf Hitler,

and he didn't like it particularly, so that'd be Germany.

Germany is the right answer. Good stuff. OK, Judith.

In terms of area, what is the smallest country

in the European Union?

I think, it's got to be Malta,

which is a small island in the Mediterranean.

I can't believe that Malta is bigger than Belgium or Finland.

OK.

It is Malta. It's the right answer, well done.

David...

Since 1997, what is the duration of Prime Minister's Questions each Wednesday?

Well, prior to Tony Blair, it was twice a week for 15 minutes.

He rolled that into a half-hour session once a week. 30 minutes.

Well done! You know your House of Commons procedure.

It's the right answer.

Judith, the Labour Party's Election manifesto of which year

was described by Gerald Kaufman, as the longest suicide note in history?

1983, that would have been Mrs Thatcher.

I think it's '83...

Because I think...

Neil Kinnock rather unexpectedly lost in '91.

I think it's 1983.

1983, it's the right answer, Judith, yes.

There weren't elections in 1971 or 1991 - another clue to it.

And mainly, Eggheads, because of what?

Unilateral nuclear disarmament.

The unilateral nuclear disarmament in that manifesto.

Very old Labour. OK, there we are. You got it in the end.

David, which Austrian foreign minister was one of the organisers

of the Congress of Vienna, which devised the settlement of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars?

Bismarck was the Iron Chancellor in Germany, and he was a Prussian.

So, it's not Bismarck. But I have no idea between the other two.

So, it's going to have to be a random guess.

I think what sounds more Austrian is Metternich, so I'll guess Metternich.

-But it is a guess.

-OK, Metternich,

the organiser of the Congress of Vienna? It IS the right answer.

Very well done, David.

Means Judith has to get this.

What name is given to the heavy metal suitcase,

containing the secret codes needed to launch America's nuclear weapons,

which accompanies the President 24 hours a day?

Well, they're all things you kick or hit, aren't they?

I mean, they're all missiles.

I don't know, it's just the Puck sounds neater.

It's sort of clunking to call it the Football or the Baseball.

-I think the Puck is kind of neat.

-The Puck?

It's the Football.

That's very clumsy.

It is the football. There we are, the Football.

Which means, David, you're through to the final round.

You'll be playing for the money. Would you rejoin your teams?

So, you're all still there at this point, Dramarama, one Egghead gone.

Our next head to head is Entertainment. Who'd like to play?

-Think it's got to be Sarah, hasn't it?

-Yes.

-Sarah.

-Yes.

Which Egghead would you like to play? It can't be Judith.

-I think you should go against Chris.

-OK, I'll go against Chris.

OK, entertain us, Chris.

OK, let's have Sarah and Chris into the question room, please.

OK, Sarah, do you want to go first or second?

I'd like to go second, please.

Very clear about that. That puts you in first, Chris, then.

What is the name of the panther in the 1967 film, The Jungle Book?

Well, Shere Khan is the tiger and Baloo's the bear,

so it's got to be Bagheera.

Bagheera, yes, is the panther. It's the right answer.

Good start for Chris. OK, Sarah.

Which British singer won five Grammy Awards in 2008,

including Best New Artist?

OK, well, I don't think it was Leona Lewis,

because she hasn't won much of anything, especially a Brit.

I don't know who Adele is.

But I've got a feeling, I remember the newspapers,

that it was Amy Winehouse. So I'll say Amy Winehouse.

OK, five Grammy awards, for Amy Winehouse, it's correct.

Well done, good start, Sarah. OK, there we are, one each.

Chris, Sign Your Name and Wishing Well, were UK Top Ten hit singles

for which singer in the 1980s?

I don't think it was Michael Jackson, doesn't ring any bells.

It doesn't sound mimsy enough for Boy George, all things considered.

So I'll say Terence Trent D'Arby.

Mimsy? Yeah, OK.

The answer is Terence Trent D'Arby. That's correct, well done, Chris.

OK, back to you, Sarah.

Blousey Brown, Cagey Joe and Leroy Smith are characters

in which stage and film musical?

OK, well, I've seen all three of those shows.

I helped produce Bugsy Malone once, I've seen Mary Poppins

heaven only knows how many times on TV,

and I've also seen Showboat several times,

because I used to review things for local papers,

so I'm 99.9% certain it's Showboat.

-Too many musicals in your head. It's Bugsy Malone.

-Goodness!

They're Bugsy characters - Blousey Brown, Cagey Joe and Leroy Smith.

-Oh, OK.

-Well, a chance, then, for Chris.

Rod, Jane and Freddy were a singing trio who regularly appeared on which children's TV programme?

You're determined to dredge the lower reaches of my psyche!

And, God help me, it was Rainbow.

Rod, Jane and Freddy were in Rainbow. You're in the final round.

Bad luck, Sarah.

Just the brain freezing there, or whatever.

-Short circuiting there on Bugsy Malone.

-Yeah.

I don't get to put another question. The mistake lets Chris win. Chris will be a delighted Chris,

-winning at Entertainment.

-Hmm.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Rather unfortunately for Dramarama it means it's all square now.

Both have lost one brain from the final round.

Our next subject today is Sport.

And who'd like to play this one, Dramarama?

-Brian.

-It's got to be me, I think.

OK, Brian, and who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

-It can be Daphne, CJ or Kevin.

-It's got to be CJ, I think.

-That wasn't working then, was it?

-Let's have Brian and CJ into the question room, then.

Brian, do you want to go first or second?

I'll go first, please.

Good luck, Brian. Which ex-cricketer is known by the nickname Beefy?

Well, I know that Ian Botham appears

on certain advertisements with Allan Lamb,

advertising beef, so it's got to be Ian Botham.

It's the right answer. Ian Botham is correct.

CJ,

the phrase "three strikes and you're out" is derived from which sport?

No doubt going to happen to me in a moment, but this is baseball.

That's correct - baseball. Three strikes and you're out. OK, Brian,

which rugby union team play their home matches at Welford Road?

Rugby union, not one of my subjects, particularly, in sport.

I'm going to go for Leicester Tigers.

OK, Leicester Tigers.

Yeah, it's the right answer. Well done, Brian.

Two to you. CJ,

which football team won the European Cup in 1971, 1972 and 1973?

So...the European Cup's a football competition, then, is it? Right.

You've worked that much out.

I'm going to rule out Ajax

for no other reason than the fact

if it was Ajax, they'd no doubt have cleaned up.

I've really got no idea.

Purely on the basis that I've ruled them out,

I'm going to go for Ajax.

Phew! It's the right answer, yes.

How did you get it? OK, well, Brian,

can you tell me which tennis player

won the Grand Slam of mixed doubles titles with Ken Fletcher in 1963?

Little before my time.

I'm more familiar with the Borg era of tennis.

Tough choice between Billie Jean King and Margaret Court.

Perhaps a bit early for Billie Jean King.

I'm going to go for Margaret Court.

It is Margaret Court.

It's the right answer.

CJ,

which horse won five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups in the 1930s

and the 1934 Grand National?

I don't know, Dermot.

The one that I've heard of the most,

so let's hope that's because it was very prolific,

is Cresta Run. So I'll go for that.

OK, Cresta Run.

How prolific was Cresta Run, Eggheads?

-In what way, prolific?

-Not as prolific as Golden Miller.

Yes, the answer comes.

Golden Miller. One you've never heard of, Golden Miller.

So there we are.

Another Egghead bites the dust and Brian strolls into... Well, you had to work quite hard.

But you are in to the final round, playing for the money today.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

Well, Eggheads, you're in a bit of a slump.

Which means, Dramarama,

can you beat the Eggheads again?

You're going very, very strongly.

As it stands, the Eggheads have lost two brains from the final round. Dramarama have lost one.

We play our last head-to-head before the final round. This one's Science.

Who wants to play from Pete or Lindy?

What do you reckon?

-Science.

-Captain's decision.

Definitely not for you, Lindy?

-Not for me at all.

-Well, Peter, then.

-You're in the chair.

-It's you, Pete. And Kevin or Daphne await.

-Any preference?

-Godfathers! How do you choose between those two?

How do you choose, indeed?

-I'll take on Kevin, please, Dermot.

-OK, Kevin. Of course you can.

Let's have you both in the question room.

This is a very important round for the Eggheads,

because they're down in the head-to-heads in this game.

But Kevin has never lost,

-in the entire history of Eggheads, at Science.

-Ah!

But the form they're in at the moment, that could change.

Records tumbling all round.

So let's see if you can do it, Pete.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'll go first, please, Dermot.

Good luck.

The hamstring is a muscle in which part of the human body?

Ah, this is quite fortunate, because human biology

is the part of science I do know quite well.

I'm going to go with leg. I'm 100% sure it's leg.

Leg - the hamstring?

Yes, it is. Course it is. It's the right answer.

Kevin,

what name is given to the relatively shallow submarine platform that forms a border around a continent?

That's the continental shelf.

Shelf is correct.

Pete, what is the term

for numbers that are equal to the sum of all their factors, excluding the number itself?

I would certainly rule out periodic numbers, I think. Um...

I've not heard of the term, so I'm not going to choose that one.

I'm sure prime numbers...

I don't think... No. I'm going to go with perfect numbers, I think.

OK.

Perfect numbers, perfect answer.

Kevin, the drug digoxin, an extract from the foxglove plant,

is primarily used to treat defects of which human organ?

-Can you spell...?

-Yeah. D-I-G-O-X-I-N.

Right, well, foxglove, I mean...

Maybe that's another name for digitalis, or maybe...

Digitalis comes from the foxglove.

Maybe this is another name for that, or a slightly different variant.

But I would associate that with the heart.

-So...heart.

-What, it kind of speeds up the heart, or something?

Speeding up is what it would do, yes.

OK, whatever. It is the right answer, yes, heart is correct.

So it's two each and back to you, Pete.

Which bird of prey is the only one in Africa that hunts on foot

rather than by flying?

Um...

I think I'll rule out buzzard straight away,

because I'm sure they're...

I'm sure they're similar to vultures,

and possibly in the same family group - I don't know -

but I can't imagine them hunting on foot.

Something draws me to secretary bird.

I'm sure I've heard something about the secretary bird

that's unusual.

I think I'll go with secretary bird, please.

OK, secretary bird. Crucial question.

Given this is one of Kevin's strongest subjects,

you don't want to slip up here.

And you haven't. It is the right answer - secretary bird.

Hunts on foot,

rather than by flying.

-Hunts snakes.

-Ah, OK. Well, is it going to catch Kevin?

Kevin, what name is given to a coil of wire through which an electric current can be passed

to create a magnetic field?

I believe that's a solenoid.

I can almost hear the electricity buzzing in your brain.

It's the right answer.

So, Pete, for the first time in this game

we go to Sudden Death,

which means we remove those answers you've seen up to this point -

those potential answers - nothing for you to have a crack at if you don't know it straight off.

Can you tell me this?

What is the name of the oath

that doctors traditionally took before beginning their practice?

No, I'm sorry. I can't... I can't think of an answer.

Nothing coming to you.

The oath doctors took before beginning their practice.

Nothing? Is that a pass, then, Pete?

-Yeah. I can't think of an answer. I'm sorry.

-Pass on that. Kevin,

-it could have been your question. Do you know it?

-Hippocratic oath.

-The Hippocratic oath.

The bit of it I like, given some of the doctors that I know,

they have to promise to live an exemplarity personal and professional life.

-How sweet.

-I'm sure most of them do.

-Yeah, most of them do, yeah.

So there we are, the Hippocratic oath.

So a chance for Kevin to keep that 100% record.

Kevin, what name is given to the extinct Pleistocene smilodon,

a large, short-limbed cat of North and South America with immense upper canine teeth?

A smilodon is a... Well, you wouldn't want to see it smile.

It's the sabre-toothed tiger.

Sabre-toothed tiger is the right answer, Kevin.

You're through to the final round.

Bad luck, Pete. Everything went blank, didn't it,

faced with that question? You were going really well up to that point.

Please come back and join your teams.

So time for the final round now which, as always, is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid

those who lost their head-to-heads can't take part in this round.

So Sarah and Pete from Dramarama and Judith and CJ from the Eggheads,

would you all leave the studio now, please?

So, Brian, David and Lindy, you're playing to win Dramarama £1,000.

Kevin, Daphne and Chris, you're playing for something which money can't buy -

the Eggheads' reputation.

I'll ask each team three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge and you are allowed to confer.

Dramarama, the question is are your three brains better than the Eggheads' three brains?

Brian, David and Lindy, would you like to go first or second?

-What do you reckon?

-You're team captain.

-Team captain decision.

-You make the choice.

-Well, I think we'll go first.

OK, good luck. Let's see if the Eggheads can be beaten again.

Which former All Saints singer married Oasis front man Liam Gallagher on Valentine's Day

in 2008?

Which former All Saints singer married Oasis's Liam Gallagher

-on Valentine's Day in 2008?

-I was worried they'd bring up

-both Appletons on the screen.

-It's the Appletons, yeah.

I'd say one of the Appletons and there's only one Appleton there.

I think the Appleton rings a bell.

Yeah. And I would have gone for Nicole Appleton.

-I would have gone for Nicole Appleton.

-I'm convinced.

-So am I.

Nicole Appleton.

Nicole Appleton, yes, married Liam Gallagher.

Eggheads,

first question to you, then.

In 1998, Sepp Blatter became the president of which international organisation?

It was FIFA.

Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA.

That's correct, Eggheads.

Back to you, Dramarama.

Second question. In which year

did China implement its one child per couple policy?

-I think 1980's too late.

-I can remember this

from the '70s. I don't know if it was implemented in the '60s,

-but I do remember it in the '70s.

-You remember it?

Yeah. I'm that old. I remember it in the '70s.

I think it was before 1980.

I remember discussing it at school in the '90s,

so I was going to guess '80. So I've got no idea!

I do remember it in the '70s.

-1970, then.

-But I don't know if it was the end of the '70s

or if I remember it because it was the end of the '60s.

-So I'm...

-In the '60s, weren't they trying to just grow the population?

Therefore the Maoist policy was to just become really powerful.

If I was doing the solo round, I'd go for 1980, but that's...

-Well, that's the one.

-But if you remember it in the '70s...

-I do.

-I was only born in 1979.

-It might have been '78, '79, going into '80.

Ah, yes, but...

they're a Communist government, they tend to decide things and do them.

1970's very early in the '70s, isn't it?

I don't know. I'm not 100% sure.

I just remember talking about it. But I could have forgotten,

with the mist of time, and got the date wrong.

It's a tough choice.

We'll...

-Have we ruled out 1960?

-We'll take a punt,

and go straight down the middle for 1970.

OK, 1970. The year in which China

implemented its one child per couple policy, you think.

It's 1980.

-Oh!

-It is 1980.

And you were so close to going for that.

That was an agonising decision.

1980, Eggheads.

Do you...?

It was all part of the reform movement after Mao died in '76.

-Then Deng Xiaoping and the reformers came in and it was during that period...

-I see.

So 1980, not 1970. So a chance for the Eggheads to take the lead.

How old was Mary, Queen of Scots,

when she succeeded to the throne on the death of her father?

-Yeah.

-That's right.

He died in 1542, which was when she was born. It's six days, Dermot.

Six days is the correct answer, Eggheads.

Yes, six days. So it means

you've got to get this, Dramarama.

In the military, what name is given to a small case for needles,

thread and other small sewing items?

-Housewife...

-Housewife is the first thing that...

Housewife just seems such a modern phrase.

I think phrases in the military tend to be really old and archaic.

-Governess sounds a little...

-I'm sure it's housewife.

-Yeah?

Let's go for housewife, then.

Two of you thought it was.

-Governess...

-Always go with your instincts.

It depends whether the phrase was invented by the officers or the men.

If it was the men, it'd be housewife. The officers would have had servants.

-How old is it?

-How...

-Chambermaid - it was a chamber, wasn't it?

-Like a bedroom.

-Yeah, true. I'd go for housewife.

Governess... That's the only reason I'm thinking it's that.

-But as far as I know, it's a housewife.

-OK.

-I'd go for housewife.

-OK, as you can gather from that...

-It's agonising, isn't it?

I'm feeling for you! You have to get this.

-We're not 100%...

-But that's what we're going for.

We're not 100% sure, but we feel... that it should be housewife,

-so that's what we're going to plump for.

-OK, all agreeing on that.

Housewife...

-is the right answer.

-Well done!

-Well done, guys.

-But...

so close to getting that one child per couple policy, didn't get it, which means

the Eggheads have a chance to wrap the game up if they give me the correct answer to this one.

Eggheads, which prison is featured John Gay's work The Beggar's Opera?

-Newgate?

-That's what I thought, but I'm not going to influence you two.

-It's not Wormwood Scrubs.

-No.

The Fleet was the debtors' prison.

-But...

-They were highwaymen.

-Yeah, Macheath is a highwayman.

He's in there for robbery and... I think it's Newgate.

Yeah, that's what I instinctively...

It's Newgate, Dermot.

Had a bit of debate about it.

Just making sure that we all felt the same.

It is the right answer, Eggheads. You've won.

Well, you're very generous,

applauding the Eggheads there, because, Dramarama, you came within a whisker of beating them.

-You were that close.

-Nearly is not close enough, Dermot.

Well, no, it's not close enough, but it makes for a very good game and I hope a good day out for you.

Thank you very much for playing. You've been a great team

and some very good quizzing there.

But it was not to be on the day.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them, and they reign supreme over Quiz Land once again.

I'm afraid you won't be going home with the £1,000, which means the money rolls over to our 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.

£2,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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