Episode 2 Make Me an Egghead

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 - do you have the brains to join them?

Hello and welcome to Make Me An Egghead.

We've launched a nationwide search

to find the greatest quiz brains in Britain.

By the end of the series, two people will emerge as champions

and win the ultimate prize for quizzing enthusiasts.

Yes, a place on the most fearsome quiz team in history, the Eggheads.

So, let's meet today's contestants,

both hoping they've got what it takes to become an Egghead.

Hi. I'm Marianne Fairthorne.

I'm a quantitative analyst from London.

I'm Dani Harvey, I'm a stay-at-home mum.

I now live in London, but I'm originally from Lincoln.

Great stuff. Well, welcome to you.

And I notice, Marianne, you said quantitative analyst.

-There's actually an extra... Say it again for me.

-Quantitative.

-It really is quantitative?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-That's what makes it so difficult.

Feels like there's an extra bit in there. Yeah.

-Do you love your quizzing, Marianne?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant. And you too, Dani?

-Yes, I'm a huge fan of the show.

So, Dani, tell me about your quizzing past.

Well, a long time ago, I used to write quizzes

at a holiday hotel in Weymouth.

So, I'm hoping that some of those facts and figures

have stayed in my head.

Yeah, quiz mastering is great training, guys, isn't it?

We know that.

And I did appear on the National Lottery Jet Set

-in 2005 and I won three holidays.

-OK.

And I was also on the Weakest Link and I came third on that.

-Lovely. And, Marianne, you've been on Mastermind.

-Yeah.

-And you were a serious champion.

-Yeah.

Your specialist subjects were...

Empress Livia, Catalhoyuk and Caterina Sforza.

-Catalhoyuk?

-Yeah.

-Where's that?

-It's near Konya in central Turkey.

Right. So, we've got some, I think, formidable quizzers here, Eggheads.

OK. Good luck, both of you.

Contestants, this is where you need to prove

that you could be an Egghead.

Just like on Eggheads,

you're both going to compete over a series of different rounds

where your knowledge will be tested on the regular Eggheads categories.

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

Now, I'm going to ask each of you

three multiple choice questions on music in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins the round.

It's kind of obvious.

The prize for winning a round, though - this is the crucial thing -

is that you gain an extra brain for the final.

Not just any old brain, you gain one of these brains over here,

one of the Eggheads.

Before the show, we tossed a coin.

As a result of that, Dani, you have the option as to whether

you would like to play the Music round first or second.

I'll go first pleased, Jeremy.

So, here we go, Music, multiple-choice, starting with Dani.

Matt Bellamy became famous as the lead singer of which band?

Matt Bellamy, well, I don't think that it's Coldplay

as I believe that's Chris Martin.

I think that Thom Yorke is the lead singer of Radiohead.

And so, by default, I'm going to go for Muse, please.

Muse is correct.

Marianne,

which song by Lady Gaga starts with the lines,

"We are the crowd, we're coming out"?

Well, I think the reference to coming out and things

makes Born This Way sound reasonably likely.

Born This Way is actually incorrect.

Anyone know Gaga here, Lisa?

Struggling. I might have gone with Paparazzi.

It is Paparazzi.

Back to you, Dani.

In 1979, which classical guitarist

had a top 20 hit in the UK with Cavatina?

Not familiar with any of those names, unfortunately.

I'm just going to go with Julian Bream,

straight down the middle.

Any Eggheads know?

-ALL:

-John Williams.

-John Williams is the answer.

-BARRY:

-The theme from The Deer Hunter.

Yeah, that's the key thing.

It was the theme from The Deer Hunter.

-Directed by?

-Michael Cimino.

Michael Cimino.

You see them raring to go. They're raring to get stuck in here.

Dani has one. Marianne,

get this right, you're level.

The conductor Trevor Pinnock best known for the performance

of Baroque music is a soloist on which instrument?

This is a bit of a difficult one.

I guess conductors playing a keyboard instrument

might make a little bit more sense than something.

So, I'm just going to say harpsichord.

Harpsichord is the right answer.

OK. So, you're back level with each other.

I can tell this is going to be a good contest.

Dani, which prolific songwriter has credits that include

Baby One More Time for Britney Spears,

I Kissed A Girl for Katy Perry,

and Shake It Off for Taylor Swift?

It's an interesting bit of trivia,

but I'm afraid I don't know the answer.

I'm sure they're all prolific songwriters,

but Cathy Dennis is the one that's probably more familiar to me.

But, then, having said that, would I therefore have heard of them?

Um...

For some reason, I'm now thinking Dr Luke.

So, I'm going to say Dr Luke.

The answer is not Dr Luke,

it's Max Martin, Dani.

So, one point each.

Marianne, get this right,

you've got the chance of bringing an Egghead onboard.

Marianne, your question.

Which composer's opera L'Orfeo, first staged in 1607,

is one of the earliest to still be performed in the modern repertoire?

Well, Monteverdi certainly has done one of the very earliest operas.

I can't remember whether Orfeo is his really famous early one or not.

But I shouldn't ignore my first answer,

so I'm just saying it is Monteverdi.

Barry will know this. Barry?

Yes, it is Monteverdi.

Claudio Monteverdi is the right answer.

So, we say congratulations, Marianne.

You've won the first head-to-head.

And as a result, you gain an Egghead for the final round.

So, you can take your pick of any of the five there.

Let's be completely unoriginal and have Kevin.

-Are you up for this, Kevin?

-Always up for it.

You've been chosen.

So, Marianne has one Egghead to help her in the final.

Dani doesn't have one yet.

And the next category for you is Arts & Books.

Now, Marianne, as the winner of the first head-to-head,

you get to decide if you'd like to play first or second.

I think I'll play first, please.

And here we go with your first question.

The Hugo Awards are given for works in which genre?

I've heard it and I'm pretty sure it's crime or science fiction.

I'm just trying to think back into...

I think it's science fiction.

Let's see whether the Eggheads know.

-Is she right?

-Yes.

-She is.

Marianne, you're right. It's science fiction.

Dani, mounting the comeback now.

I'll do my best.

The artist Mark Rothko died in which year?

I don't know, unfortunately.

For some reason, I don't think it's as late as 1990.

But I think that some of his paintings were from the '50s.

So, therefore, I'm going to go for 1970.

1970 is quite right.

So, you're equal after one question.

And we go back to you, Marianne.

Which of these art galleries was originally intended

as an administration building for the cities magistrates?

Well, Uffizi means offices, doesn't it?

So, I think I'll go Uffizi.

Wow. That was stunningly quick.

-Is she right? ALL:

-Yes.

You're right. Uffizi, it is.

Well done. Back to you, Dani.

Eilis Lacey is the main protagonist of a 2009 bestselling novel

by which Irish author?

I'm not sure why, but the name Colm Toibin is calling to me.

It's as good an option as any, so I'm going to say that, please.

Colm Toibin, it is. Nicely done.

This is tight, isn't it?

Third question to you, Marianne.

Thomas Hardy's fictional place Christminster

is based on which city?

On the one hand, he did write stuff about the West Country a bit.

But I think he also might have wrote a bit about university cities.

So...

I might regret this, but I'm going to say Oxford.

Oxford is correct. Well done.

Three out of three.

She's making it hard for you here, Dani.

You've got to get this one right

to have a chance of grabbing an Egghead in this round.

Which of these is the title of a 1946 Famous Five book

by Enid Blyton?

I'm trying to remember whether Five Go Off In A Caravan

is actually a Famous Five book or whether that's the...

humorous take that French and Saunders and co did.

I can't remember.

But, I'm going to go with it, Five Go Off In A Caravan.

-Five Go Off In A Caravan is the right answer.

-Well done.

JEREMY CHUCKLES

Nicely played. So, Eggheads, what about this?

-Very good.

-A tight contest here. They approve.

Three questions each, the scores are level.

We go to Sudden Death. Just do make it that bit harder,

these questions will not be multiple choice.

Marianne, I'll start with you.

Although, perhaps better-known for her trilogy,

who was the author of the five novels

known collectively as The Underland Chronicles?

Ursula Le Guin.

No, it's not.

The trilogy referred to is The Hunger Games

and it's Suzanne Collins.

OK, Dani, you get this right,

you've got the round.

Which illustrator served as the first Children's Laureate

between 1999 and 2001?

I'm not sure, but I'm going to go with Quentin Blake.

Marianne, is she right?

Yeah.

Said reluctantly. But you're right. Well done. Quentin Blake, it is.

Congratulations, Dani. You have won the head-to-head.

So, you've drawn level with Marianne here.

You gain an Egghead for the final round, which one would you like?

It's a difficult decision. I'm going to go with Pat, please.

-Pat, you've been chosen.

-It makes me feel special.

It's good, I'm pleased, very pleased.

So, we've got Kevin and Pat playing on opposite sides in the final.

Things are heating up.

Marianne has one Egghead to help her in the final, Dani also has one.

Biting my nails here. The next category is Science.

And, Dani, because you won the last round,

you can choose whether you go first or second.

I'd like to go first, please, Jeremy.

OK, good luck.

CH4 is the formula for which gas?

Well, ozone, I think, is O3.

Carbon dioxide is CO2, so I'm going to go with methane, please.

Methane is correct.

Marianne, approximately what percentage

of the human body's oxygen supply does the brain use?

Well, it's quite a lot, so it won't be 5%,

50% sounds incredibly high, so I'll just go 20.

20% is the right answer.

You're both playing well.

Second question to you, Dani.

Petit mal and grand mal

are names for two types of what medical condition?

Well, I didn't think that there were two types of glandular fever,

so I'm going to rule that out.

I'm going to pick the wrong one, aren't I?

Let's say haemophilia.

-Eggheads? ALL:

-Epilepsy.

Yes, it is epilepsy. OK, so one each.

You have a chance to take the lead here, Marianne.

Harp, star and fan are all examples of which type of bridge?

I can imagine with cable-stayed

it's the fan shape and the heart shape,

I just think the patterns would be in cables

rather than fixed structures,

so it sort of sends me towards cable-stayed a bit.

Cable-stayed is right. Good logic there.

OK, Dani, your third question,

and you need this one.

The newly hatched of which dangerous creature immediately seeks

shelter in trees after birth?

For some reason, I can't imagine a crocodile hiding in a tree.

But then if scorpions are often in a desert, then there aren't many trees

for them to hide in.

I'm going to go with crocodile having originally ruled it out.

I'm going to say crocodile.

Crocodile is your answer, yeah, having ruled it out.

-Eggheads.

-I'd fancy komodo dragon.

Komodo dragon is the answer, Dani.

So it means we say congratulations, Marianne,

you've won the final head-to-head.

And you get to choose

another Egghead to help you in the final round.

So, who would you like? It can't be Pat or Kevin.

Well, Dave and I know different types of things,

so I'd like to pick Dave, please.

-Dave.

-Yeah, that's fine.

You've been picked a couple of times now.

-I'm being worked...worked hard.

-You are being worked hard.

So, Marianne, you've got Kevin and Dave in the final round.

Dani, you've got Pat. Why don't we play that final round?

So, this is what we have been playing towards.

It's time to find out who's one step closer to becoming an Egghead

and who will be eliminated from our search.

Marianne and Dani, I will ask each of you three questions in turn.

This time, the questions are all General Knowledge.

Now, in this final round, you will no longer be playing alone.

You're going to have the backing of the Eggheads that you've won over

the course of the show, which means, Marianne,

you're going to have the help of Kevin and Dave over there

and, Dani, you will have the assistance of Pat.

You'll be able to call on your respective Eggheads for advice

before giving an answer to a question.

However, you can ask each of your Eggheads for help only once.

So, use them wisely.

Marianne, you won the last round,

you get to choose whether you want to play first or second.

Just for a change, I'd like to play second, please.

So, Dani, over to you.

The costume designer Jenny Beavan was famously referred to as

a bag lady whilst winning a BAFTA for which film?

I remember the incident, because I believe that it was Stephen Fry

that referred to her as a bag lady, but I don't recall the film.

Um... But of those three, I would go with The Danish Girl.

OK, so not calling on Pat for this one,

The Danish Girl, though, is the wrong answer.

It is Mad Max - Fury Road,

which had a lot of kind of futuristic outfits in it.

And, of course, Stephen Fry, I think, knew her

and they were friends and he was saying, "She's a friend of mine."

OK, Marianne, your question.

Which of these names has been shared by a Blue Peter dog,

Blue Peter parrot and Blue Peter presenter?

I think I'd like help with this one.

-You want to call on an Egghead?

-Yeah.

Which of those two would you like to choose?

Is it going to be Kevin or Dave

who knows about Blue Peter?

-I don't know. I'll try Dave.

-So, Dave, what do you think?

Right, Marianne, I don't really know the answer,

but let me have a think.

If I had to go for it, Marianne, I would go for Barney.

There's definitely been

a Blue Peter presenter called Barney,

I think it's a more logical name

for a dog or a parrot than Zoe.

Children's TV is not my forte, but Barney would be my inkling.

Now, you have a choice here, Marianne, you've heard Dave's view.

You can also ask Kevin,

but then you lose both of them.

You can take a different view

entirely. Over to you.

I have no reason to try and overrule Dave, so I'll go with Barney.

Barney is right. Well done,

Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Thank you, Dave.

Right, so, Marianne is in the lead.

Therefore, Dani, you've got to pull it back.

What type of architectural feature is a mansard?

I do know this one - it's a mansard roof.

Yes, it is a mansard roof. Well done.

Still with Pat

to play as well.

But Marianne has a chance to go into the lead.

The Today newspaper launched in 1986

and stopped publishing in which year?

1995, 1999 or 2003? Which is it?

I wouldn't have thought it was as long ago as 1995,

but I'm not really sure about this.

The question is whether

I have a go at it or not.

I'm just going to say 1999 and be done with it.

And I really probably shouldn't have done that, but I will.

OK, so you've gone it alone there, you've not called in Kevin.

Did you rule out '95 for some reason?

Not a good reason, no, I just had

a feeling it probably wasn't.

-I've got a feeling it probably is...

-OK, fine.

-..1995.

So, 1995 is the correct answer.

Kevin is still to play for you,

Marianne.

Back to Dani, see if you can take the advantage here.

In the Indian numbering system, one lakh - L-A-K-H -

is the same as which specific amount?

I have an inkling, but I think now

is the time to bring Pat into play.

-Pat.

-I don't think it's as low as 1,000,

so it's between the two big numbers.

Ten or 100. One is a crore, I think, and one is a lakh.

I'm afraid I can't offer any certainty on this at all.

A lakh.

I would tilt towards 100,000,

but I really am not confident at all.

I'm going to go with Pat and say 100,000.

-Your decision. You're going 100,000?

-Yes.

-100,000 is correct.

-Good man. Thank you, Pat.

Well done, Pat. Well done, Dani, for choosing.

Sometimes their tilts are worth more than human tilts.

OK.

So, Dani is in the lead

and you have to get this right,

Marianne, or it's over for you, I hate to say that.

Which duke holds the right

to maintain the UK's only legal private army?

Unless I'm going mad, because of the whole situation,

it's the Duke of Atholl.

The whole situation as in sitting in this studio?

Yeah. Sitting in this studio,

forgetting probably half I knew,

but the Duke of Atholl

is what I believe it to be.

Even though this is potentially your last moment in the contest,

you are saving Kevin...

-Yeah.

-..for some future moment.

Yeah, because I do think it is this

and if I'm not prepared to go

for anything, then I'm not going to get very far anyway, so...

-OK, if you've got this wrong, the contest is over for you.

-Yeah.

Let's just try the Eggs back there, do you know, Eggs?

-BOTH:

-That's right.

You're right.

Well done, it is the Duke of Atholl.

Wow, you're playing a steady game there, if I may say so.

So, after three questions each, scores are level.

You didn't run away with it there, Dani.

She's held you back and we go to Sudden Death.

It gets a bit harder, these questions are not multiple choice

and we start with Dani.

Sudden Death question for you.

What is the first name of Zara and Mike Tindall's daughter,

born in January 2014.

I think it's Mia.

Mia is correct. Nicely done.

This is the problem with letting Dani go first.

You're just on the back foot here, but hang on in there. Marianne.

How many minutes are there in a day?

In an hour there are, obviously, 60 minutes.

So, OK, so 60 x 4...

Yeah, this is harder than it should be because of the pressure.

So, 60 x 4 is 240,

60 x 20

is 1,200.

So - 1,440.

1,440 is the right answer.

Not easy to do mental arithmetic

with all of these lights and everything else. Well done.

Dani, back to you, this is a great game.

Which popular video sharing website was co-founded by Jake Lodwick

and Zach Klein in 2004?

I'm trying to think of how many video sharing websites I know.

There's a few, aren't there?

I mean, there's YouTube, I think...is Vimeo one as well?

2004. I'm just going to say YouTube.

Vimeo is the right answer.

Vimeo, and the name is an anagram of movie.

So, here we go.

Get this right and you've triumphed, Marianne.

Here's your Sudden Death question, you've still got Kevin back there.

See if you can do it without Kevin.

The name of the mythical island of Avalon

is taken from the Old Welsh for what?

Ask Kevin, please.

Have you got any suspicion of what the answer is or not?

No, I don't know this.

OK, Kevin, do you know the answer?

I honestly don't know either, Jeremy.

Anything I say will be a guess.

Let's say,

and it's a pure guess, so I'll...

Blessed.

Avalon, the Old Welsh for blessed.

You don't have to accept that, Marianne. That's Kevin's best guess.

Well, I know that there are Fields of Avalon in Glastonbury

and it does mean, you know,

something that's sort of... Like, blessed or sacred

or something like that would sound good enough to me.

So, I'll stick with what Kevin says.

OK. Kevin's looking a tiny bit unblessed.

It's a pure guess. I don't know.

It is a proper guess, but then it's all you've got.

If you get this right, you've beaten Dani.

If you get it wrong, we play on.

It's actually much more material than blessed,

it's not a word like that.

It means apple or apples.

No, I couldn't have got that, could we?

Bad luck, Kevin.

So, you saved Kevin up there

and didn't quite happen.

-You can't believe you're still in it, Dani?

-Certainly not.

All right, well, you can turn it around, let's see.

Here's your question.

Which unit of the British Army officially has a beige beret?

The British Army is something that, I'm afraid,

I really don't know anything at all about.

Something like the infantry or artillery or something like that.

I'll say infantry.

No, the answer is the SAS.

OK, Marianne,

for the contest.

In 1942, the Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton

became the second wife of which British-born actor?

You get this right, you've taken the contest.

That's Cash and Cary, so it's Cary Grant.

They were known as Cash and Cary, as a couple.

They were nicknamed Cash and Cary, they divorced three years later

and the answer is indeed Cary Grant.

So, well done, Marianne.

You have won.

Commiserations, Dani.

-That could have gone either way. You played well.

-Thank you.

Marianne, you love your quizzing, I can tell.

-Not so much now, that was very stressful.

-Yeah.

Well, the mathematical one can go badly wrong, as we know.

Yeah, and especially with my job,

I'd never be allowed into work again if I got that wrong.

60 x 24, yes, exactly.

Well, you've proved that winning comes as naturally to you

as it does to our Eggheads and you are one step closer

to joining our quiz Goliaths,

but your work today isn't quite finished.

The good news is you are guaranteed a place on our leaderboard.

The top four places at the end of the heat's going to make it through

to the semifinals. So you get three points

for each round you've won today - you won two, so six points.

As the winner of our first heat in the women's competition,

you're guaranteed the top spot,

but only time will tell how long you stay there.

You can now add to your points,

we're going to give you a quick-fire question round for two minutes,

each correct answer you will score a point for.

I've got to accept your first answer. Are you ready to play?

I guess I have to be.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

Which 1972 book features the characters Fiver, Bigwig and Hazel?

Watership Down.

Correct. In which 1996 film does Geoffrey Rush

play the pianist David Helfgott?

-Shine.

-Correct. In the Roman army, how many cohorts made up a legion?

-Ten.

-Correct. In Greek mythology, who is the mother of Oedipus?

-Jocasta.

-Correct.

A battle won by Napoleon on the 14th of June 1800

gives its name to which chicken dish?

-Marengo.

-Chicken Marengo, correct.

In which city was the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born?

Salzburg.

Correct. The golfer Greg Norman is nicknamed the great white what?

-Shark.

-Correct. With which pop group did Kimberley Walsh find fame?

Sugababes.

No, Girls Aloud. How many US states

have just four letters in their name?

Two.

No, three.

Which 1976 film had the tag line -

"His whole life was a million-to-one shot"?

Pass.

It was Rocky.

Which Andrew Lloyd Webber musical features the characters

Rusty and Electra?

Starlight Express.

Correct. Henry Stanley's question "Dr Livingstone, I presume?"

was posed in 1871 in which continent?

Africa.

Correct. What is the highest mountain in Japan?

Mount Fuji.

Correct. In the classical work The Planets by Holst,

which planet is described as the Magician?

Uranus.

Correct. In 1990, which Nobel Prize was Mikhail Gorbachev awarded?

-Peace.

-Correct.

On which date is Burns Night celebrated?

-January 25th.

-Correct.

Which Grand Slam tennis tournament takes place at Flushing Meadows?

-Uh, that's the US Open.

-Correct.

In which decade did Kofi Annan become secretary general

of the United Nations?

Is that the...2000s?

No, 1990s. BUZZER RINGS

You played well there, my goodness...

So, you scored

14 points there. 14 correct answers, which we add to your previous six,

we get 20 points. Let us now, dramatically, see our leaderboard.

And this is all rather exciting,

cos you are not only at the top of it,

you are the only name on it. Good work.

So, we're going to find out who joins you there and whether

they start to knock you down, but, my goodness,

you played very well there, Marianne.

How did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I lost my way a bit after I got one wrong in the middle.

-I think those were quite get-able as well, but, yeah.

-Girls Aloud?

Yeah, cos I had...it was probably one of those two in my mind

and then that threw me off and I had a little phase wrong.

But, in my experience, everyone will go through that, so...

And you can go and have a cheeky Marengo right now.

-Well, I'm vegan, so unlikely.

-OK, OK, point taken.

What a great contest. Thank you, Dani, as well.

Join us next time to find out who else might get on the leaderboard

and join Marianne there and have what it takes to become,

eventually, an Egghead.

Till we play again, goodbye.