Episode 72 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 a team of five quiz challengers

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

You might recognize them as they are the Goliaths of TV quiz shows.

They are the Eggheads.

Taking on the might of our quiz Goliaths today

are the Superbugs. The team met through working together

at the microbiology department

at Clatterbridge Hospital in the Wirral. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Dave, I'm 42 and I'm a biomedical scientist.

Hello, I'm Paul, I'm 53 and I'm a medical laboratory assistant.

Hi, I'm Neil, I'm 54 and I'm a biomedical scientist.

Hi, I'm Lindsey, I'm 38 and I'm a biomedical scientist.

Hello, I'm Clive, I'm 47 and I'm a biomedical scientist.

Welcome to you, Superbugs.

Tell me, what does a biomedical scientist do in layman's terms?

In layman's terms, when the doctor takes a sample off a patient,

we work in the background and we determine the problem.

If there's an infection, we decide which bug causes it

and what the appropriate treatment would be.

-So a lot of pressure. Presumably all the time, it's faster, faster?

-Yes.

But I suppose some of these tests just take the time they take.

You can't rush a bug.

You can't rush a bug. Neil,

you've quizzed at the highest level on television.

Once upon a time, yes.

Back in 1978 I was on Mastermind.

Even before Chris!

-How did you do?

-I got to the final.

-I came third.

-Third, a very good performance. Let's see how you do

against the Eggheads. Some real quizzing credentials there.

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.

Superbugs, the Eggheads have won just the last game,

which means £2,000 says you can't beat the Eggheads.

Our first head-to-head is on History.

Any one of you can play this,

it being the first head-to-head.

-History.

-I think we'll ask Clive.

-It's me, isn't it?

-It is.

-You're the specialist

on that and which Egghead would you like to play?

I'll go against CJ.

OK, CJ. Let's have Clive and CJ into the question room please.

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

-I'd like to go first please.

Here you go.

Which woman, born in 1884, was the niece of one American president

and the wife of another?

American history's not something I've studied, unfortunately.

I don't think it's Betty Ford,

she's probably a bit too late for being born then.

Um...so it's a choice of the other two.

Eleanor Roosevelt.

-Eleanor?

-Yes.

-Yes, it's the right answer. Well done.

-Goodness.

Presumably niece of Teddy and married to FDR?

Yeah.

OK, CJ, in which century was the first Boer War fought?

I'm going to trip myself up here

but I thought they were both in the 19th.

Um...

Well, I'm going to use Judith's philosophy.

It's the first question

so I'm going for the obvious answer, I'll go for 19th.

It is the 19th, the first Boer War fought in the 19th century.

Clive,

which hill-top monastery

was the site of a series of World War Two battles in 1944

and was famously destroyed by Allied bombing?

Again, I'm afraid I'll have to take a guess.

I've never heard of Melk.

Mont St Michel sounds like a monastery.

Monte Cassino is a battle I've heard of.

I'll go for Mont St Michel.

Mont St Michel.

It's the one you heard of, it's Monte Cassino.

OK, CJ,

your second question, chance for the lead.

Terra Natalis was the name given to a region on the eastern coast

of which modern country by Vasco de Gama after he first sighted it

on Christmas day in 1497?

How are you spelling Natalis, please?

N-A-T-A-L-I-S.

I'm just trying to think which one...

Did he ever get to India?

Hold on, Natal.

I more associate De Gama with South Africa so that's what I'll go for.

Yes, it's the right answer, South Africa.

CJ linked Natalis and modern day Natal, would that be the link?

-Yep.

-Terra Natalis, Natal, South Africa's the right answer,

which means you've got to get this,

Clive. Which ancient Roman province

covered the northwest of modern-day Romania?

Is it...? Trying to think.

I'll go for Dacia.

Well done, it's the right choice. Dacia is correct.

Kept your hopes alive. CJ, though, can win it

if he tells me the correct answer to this.

Who was the youngest of Queen Victoria's nine children?

Get ready for a blind one-in-three guess.

The youngest of Queen Victoria's nine children

was, without a shadow of a doubt, Arthur.

The youngest of Queen Victoria's nine children was,

-without a shadow of a doubt, Eggheads?

-Beatrice.

-Beatrice.

So, good news for Clive. There we are.

CJ didn't have a clue and he picked the wrong one.

So it's all square after those three multiple choice questions.

Clive, we go to sudden death so I've got to hear an answer from you.

The Wanganui Campaign and the first Taranaki War

were features of which larger conflict

that took place between 1845 and 1872?

Gosh, I really don't know.

They sound a bit...

Australian or New Zealand to me

but I can't think of a war down there.

I really don't know.

-American Indian wars? It's a guess.

-OK.

It's not the right answer, Clive.

You were on the right track with your first thoughts.

It is the Maori Wars, or New Zealand Wars, Kiwi Wars.

The Maori Wars took place between

1845 and 1872. So, a chance again for CJ.

Whose last words in 1793 were supposedly an apology

to her executioner for stepping on his foot?

Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette is the correct answer, CJ. You have won the round,

you're through to the final round. Bad luck,

Clive. Marie Antoinette has taken CJ through to the final round.

Would you please come back and join your teams?

First blow for the Eggheads, one brain missing from the Superbugs

in terms of the final round. Let's play another head-to-head.

This one is Arts & Books.

Hands up, that's a good way of doing it, Paul.

Who would you like to play for the Eggheads, Paul, if it is to be you?

-Chris, I think.

-Chris, please.

-Chris

on Arts & Books. Makes a change from Entertainment.

Very welcome change, actually.

It's brought a smile to his little face.

Let's have Paul and Chris into the question room.

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

-I'd like to go first.

OK, it's Arts and Books.

You've decided to kick off, this is your question. What name is given

to the thin blade of cane or metal in a wind instrument

that vibrates with the player's breath?

It's a reed, Dermot, and it makes a wonderful sound.

It's a different sound to any other sound. It's beautiful.

It is a reed, beautiful answer, well done.

Chris.

Which term refers to a humorous play

based on the exploitation of unlikely situations?

It's French for stuffing,

of all the strange things for it to come from, it's farce.

-Is that where it's from?

-Yeah.

-I didn't know.

-French for stuffing.

Farce, it's the right answer. OK,

one each. Paul, second question.

The 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor is based on a novel by which writer?

I think...

I shall go for Robert Burns

on the basis that I think he was born earlier than the other two.

But I am not at all sure of this. So Robert Burns.

Robert Burns, Lucia di Lammermoor.

It's based on a novel by Walter Scott.

Walter Scott, so nothing for Paul. Chris.

Bill Mason is the central character of which 1951 science fiction novel?

Yes. He's in hospital for an eye operation and his eyes

are bandaged when the meteorites strike the rest of the world blind

in The Day Of The Triffids.

It is the right answer, The Day Of The Triffids. OK,

it means you've got to get this, Paul.

Which Hollywood actor made his London stage debut in February 2008

in Speed The Plough

at the Old Vic?

There again, I am not sure what the answer to this is

but I will go for William Hurt, on the basis that he is

the name that I am most familiar with.

-So William Hurt.

-OK, William Hurt

in Speed The Plough.

Also starring Kevin Spacey, isn't it?

Erm, it's Jeff Goldblum.

Jeff Goldblum is in Speed The Plough

at the Old Vic, which means

we end the round there. You've just got one out of those three.

Chris has got two correct, he doesn't face another question.

You'll be in the final round, Chris, and sorry, Paul, no place for you.

Would you come back and join your teams?

Two of the Superbugs have been zapped by the Eggheads.

Two rounds to go though.

Our next subject is Entertainment. Who'd like to play this, Superbugs?

Dave, Neil or Lindsey - one of you three.

-That'll be me.

-OK, Lindsey. Who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

Choices are Daphne, Kevin or Judith.

I think I'll choose Kevin just cos I like the colour of his shirt.

Yes! Hold on a minute! It's almost the same colour, eh, Kevin?

-Very close.

-Separated at birth.

OK, let's have Lindsey and Kevin into the question room, please.

OK, Lindsey,

do you want to go first or second?

I'm gonna go second, Dermot.

OK, Kevin,

Entertainment, first question is yours.

Who hosted the TV series Blind Date between 1985 and 2003?

I'm not doing the voice, it's Cilla Black.

It is the right answer, Cilla Black.

Lindsey, first question to you.

Which British actor played the role

of Robert McCall in the 1980s' TV series, The Equaliser?

I never really watched the programme

but I'm almost...positively sure it's Edward Woodward.

If I can say it!

Too many woods in there!

Edward Woodward is the right answer.

Kevin, next one for you.

Who won a 2000 Best Supporting Actor Oscar

despite delivering most of his lines in Spanish?

It was Benicio Del Toro. In Traffic.

Benicio Del Toro is the right answer, Kevin. Two to you.

Lindsey, "we've gone on holiday

"by mistake"

is a much-quoted line from which 1980s' British film?

Again, I'm not entirely sure.

I don't think it's a Fish Called Wanda, I've seen that.

Erm...Withnail And I, I've never actually seen

but my husband is always telling me I should watch,

so I think I'm gonna go with Withnail And I.

Yeah, you should watch it now, it's the right answer.

"We've gone on holiday by mistake".

Kevin, third question to you.

"I bought a ticket to the world but now I've come back again"

is a line from a well-known ballad by which 1980s' group?

I'm not too good on lyrics as you might have guessed by this stage.

I don't know it. I'm going for Spandau Ballet.

I'm hoping it's from True or one of those.

Spandau Ballet.

-It is the right answer, Kevin. CJ, it is from...

-True.

As Kevin hoped there

but wasn't certain about it.

-There was something there but I wasn't sure at all.

-OK.

Spandau Ballet. Means you've got to get this, Lindsey.

This to keep your hopes alive.

In which TV detective series

is the central character assisted by DS Hathaway?

Right, I've seen a little bit of Lewis recently.

Midsomer Murders I've never watched, although I did like John Nettles.

A Touch Of Frost I've never watched.

I think it's Lewis. I'm sure it's his sidekick.

OK, Lewis.

It is - it's the right answer!

So you go into sudden death. Hopes very much alive there, Lindsey.

OK, Kevin,

who plays the general manager, Charlie Edwards, in the TV series,

Hotel Babylon?

Ah.

Never actually seen it.

I know it used to be

Tamsin Outhwaite who played the, um, sort of manager

but she's gone and this other guy has taken over.

I know that much but...

No, um...

This isn't right, I'm just gonna say a name.

I think it might be James something.

James McGee. I don't know.

It's not James McGee. That's incorrect.

Do you know by chance, Lindsey?

I don't actually. It's not the actor who's Robbie Williams' friend?

It is actually.

You're on the right track. If you can dig it out. It bears no...

-Is it Jonathan Wilkes?

-No.

He is a mate of Robbie Williams.

They had fun and frolics in LA. Do you know?

-Max Beesley.

-Max Beesley!

-OK. Right.

-Max Beesley plays Charlie Edwards in Hotel Babylon.

Eggheads didn't get that. Lindsey, then,

it means you can win it if you give me a correct answer here.

"I love it when a plan comes together"

was a favourite saying of which member of TV's The A-Team?

I used to watch this a lot as well.

The only name I can come up with is BA Baracus

-and I don't think it was him. BA Baracus.

-BA Baracus.

Mr T.

It's not. It's not. Would you know it, Kevin, if it was yours?

I'm not too sure but I can remember the line.

Was it the one played by Dirk Benedict -

the one they called "Faceman"?

No, no, no, no.

-Howling Mad Murdock?

-Man in charge, wasn't it? Hannibal Smith.

Hannibal Smith. "I love it when a plan comes together". Well,

a let-off for Kevin,

but anyone can win it, clearly. Kevin,

which 1964 Carry On film featured the characters,

Horsa and Hengist Pod?

"Infamy, infamy" and all that. Carry On Cleo.

It is Carry On Cleo. How do you know those?

Carry On Cleo is correct. Features the characters

Horsa and Hengist Pod.

It means you've got to get this, Lindsey.

Two teenage bikers named Tetsuo and Keneda

are principal characters in which influential Japanese anime film

of 1988?

Anime film? That's sort of...

Erm...

I'm thinking Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles

for some reason. I don't know whether...

-I'll go with that.

-OK, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It's incorrect, Lindsey. Kevin?

-Is it Akira?

-It's Akira. Japanese anime film -

one of those cartoon-like things, I guess.

It's incorrect, Lindsey.

Kevin got his right, which means he is playing in the final round.

After a slip-up, he's made it through.

Bad luck, Lindsey. Great round. Would you both

rejoin your teams?

Well, as it stands after that, the Superbugs have lost three brains.

The Eggheads are all still there

and your last chance to knock one out with this round, it's Sport.

And Dave or Neil, Sport.

-I think that could be you, Dave.

-I would think so.

-Is it?

-It is.

OK, Dave. Who would you like to play from the Eggheads?

It is going to be Daphne or Judith.

I think I'll take on Judith.

OK, Judith, Sport.

Dave and Judith take your positions in the question room.

OK then, Dave. Do you want to go first or second?

I think I'll go first please, Dermot.

Best of luck. It's Sport, here's your question.

Which term is used to describe rugby union players

who generally do not participate in the scrum?

Well, I used to play rugby at school

so I know the forwards are in the scrum.

Never heard of the sides, so it'll have to be the backs.

Backs is the right answer, yes, of course.

Judith,

in boxing, what name is given to an illegal blow

to the back of the neck?

I think...

I think that's a rabbit punch.

Rabbit punch?

Yes, that's right, Judith. One for you.

Dave,

the University Oval is a venue for Test-match cricket

in which country?

Cricket's not my strongest subject.

In fact it's gonna be a pure guess.

I'll go for South Africa.

The University Oval is in...

..New Zealand. It's in New Zealand.

Judith, your question can put you in the lead if you get it.

Puissance is a competition in which sport?

-Oh, that I know is show jumping.

-OK,

show jumping. Puissance is the right answer, yes, as you well knew.

Which means you've got to get this, Dave.

Italian football club Juventus inherited their famous striped kit

from the design of which English team in the early 20th century?

Strangely enough I was talking to a friend about this the other week

and it's Notts County.

Just as well you were. That is a really tricky question, isn't it?

Notts County is the right answer.

Did you and your friend work out...?

I mean, why Notts County? How did that come about?

I think Juventus...

didn't have a kit so Notts County lent them theirs and they've kept it,

-just black-and-white stripes, ever since.

-OK,

you've got to hope Judith gets this wrong. In which sport

does the scorer hold up lollipops

at the end of each bout of play?

I don't think it's curling.

I'm trying to visualise a bowls match.

And I can't.

I'm just gonna bet on archery.

-3 - 1, bet on archery.

-OK.

Archery.

-It's incorrect.

-What is it?

-It is bowls.

-It's bowls.

-It's bowls.

Little white things...

Lollipops to show how many bowls you have in the scoring, up to four.

I see. Great news for you, Dave.

Judith did get it wrong which means we go to sudden death.

Anything can happen.

Dave, here you go.

The current Alpine skiing programme at the Winter Olympics

consists of five events, slalom, giant slalom, super-G, combined

and what else?

I can only think of one thing.

I'm not sure if it's right but...downhill?

Right answer. Well done.

Good, good, good, Dave. OK, Judith.

In 1992, who became the first non-American team

to win the baseball World Series?

It was probably some Canadian team.

I don't know their name.

I should think they're the Montreal something-or-others.

I don't know. No idea.

-Falling on your sword?

-Yeah, falling on the sword.

-OK.

Take a pass, Eggheads.

-Toronto Blue Jays.

-Toronto Blue Jays.

Canada wasn't from Montreal, so you wouldn't have got with a guess.

It means -

I think justice has been done - Dave, you're in the final round.

Judith, you won't be playing in the final round.

Would you both please come back and join your teams?

So this is what we've been playing towards.

It's time for the final round which is General Knowledge.

Those who lost their head-to-heads

won't take part in this round,

so Paul, Lindsey and Clive from the Superbugs

and Judith from the Eggheads, would you all leave the studio now?

So, Dave and Neil, you're playing to win the Superbugs £2,000.

Kevin, CJ, 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 can confer. It was important that you won, Dave.

Superbugs, the question is, are your two brains

better than the Eggheads' four? And, Dave and Neil,

would you like to go first or second?

I think we'll go first, Dermot.

Good luck, Superbugs. Your first question.

Which popular showbiz figure celebrated his 80th birthday

in February 2008?

-Well, Des Lynam isn't 80.

-Sure?

Quite sure. I'm sure it's Bruce Forsyth.

Yes, that's it. I seem to remember

a television special celebrating Bruce Forsyth's 80th birthday,

so Bruce Forsyth is our answer.

Yeah, I'm sure the younger Tarby and Des Lynam won't thank us

for putting them in that list! Bruce Forsyth is the right answer.

OK, Eggheads,

who is the father of daughters called Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches

and Pixie?

That's Bob Geldof.

Fancy calling your daughters that?!

Doing very well on it from what I see in the tabloids!

Bob Geldof is the right answer.

OK, Superbugs,

in 1977,

who became the first woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar?

I haven't heard of any of them.

I'm not sure I've heard of many of them. I've heard of Sally Potter.

I wouldn't even hazard a guess.

Well, we can't think of any of them.

I'm not aware of the others at all. Sally Potter...

..I've a feeling may be more recent than that.

Shall we say Sally Potter?

I warned you.

We're not at all sure.

But I think we're settled on Sally Potter.

OK, first woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar.

It's not Sally Potter, it's incorrect. It's Lina Wertmuller.

Lina Wertmuller. Any Egghead tell me a bit more of the film?

I think it was for a film called Seven Beauties.

Correct, yes. Seven Beauties.

So there we are. Nothing there for the Superbugs.

See how the Eggheads do with their second question.

When did the Soviet Union pull its last troops out of Afghanistan?

They went in in 1979 and came out 10 years later.

1989.

1989 is correct, Eggheads.

So, is that a turning point?

You've got to get this, Superbugs.

The sweet fizzy wine called Lachryma Christi or Tears of Christ

is produced from grapes

grown on the slopes of which Italian volcanic peak?

Right.

-Well, wine is my subject actually.

-Good.

I don't think they grow wines on Stromboli.

They certainly grow wines on Etna

but I'm fairly sure that it's...

Lachryma Christi is from the Naples area so it's Vesuvius.

Vesuvius. I see, yes, OK.

In the Naples area, Lachryma Christi or tears of Christ...

Yeah. Vesuvius is the right place. Well done, well worked out.

But that slip-up on the second question as we can see there

means the Eggheads have an opportunity here.

Eggheads, which word derived from the Greek for "bad"

means government by the worst people?

That's kakistocracy.

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

Well, well played, Superbugs.

Bad luck with that middle question there.

Just means, as they so often do,

the Eggheads have been able to pinch the game.

Thanks very much for playing.. It's been a pleasure having you here,

and to all the Superbugs there back in the question room.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them.

They still reign supreme over quiz land.

You won't be going home with £2,000,

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.

£3,000 says they don't. Until then, goodbye.

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