Episode 8 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, a place on the most fearsome quiz team in history.

Yes, the Eggheads. Let's meet today's contestants

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

Hello, my name's Kathryn Johnson. I'm a manuscripts librarian.

I come from Fleetwood, in Lancashire,

and I now live in Northwood, in Middlesex.

Hi, I'm Amber Marshall,

I'm a freelance trainer in substance misuse.

I live in Birmingham, but I'm originally from Gloucestershire.

Welcome to you both. How are you feeling, Kathryn?

If this is fun, it's a funny idea of fun.

It feels like fun afterwards though?

Yes, I'll keep on saying that to myself.

Now, you've done a lot of quizzing.

You've done Mastermind. What was your specialist subject?

Well, the one that seemed to get all the attention was my first round,

which was, specialist subject, Victorian and Edwardian poisoners.

Oh, fantastic. Immediately I want to ask a follow-up.

Who's your favourite one? Probably poor old Dr Crippen, really.

I really felt quite sorry for him.

Suddenly, look, all the quizzers over here are just logging,

pulling out their Crippen file, that's how they work.

Amber, what about you, what have you quizzed on before?

I've been on a few.

I've been on The Chase, Fifteen To One, Only Connect.

And some kind of way back ones -

BrainTeaser, Memory Bank, Beat the Nation, I'm The Answer.

Oh, wow, so you were in a lot of television studios? A few.

Is this the friendliest? Of course. I'm glad you said that.

Good luck to you both.

This is where you need to prove you could be an Egghead.

Just like on Eggheads, both of you will compete over

a series of different rounds where your knowledge will be tested

on the regular Eggheads categories.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Film Television.

I'm going to ask each of you three multiple-choice questions

on Film and TV in turn.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins the round,

but the prize for winning a round on this show is that you gain

an extra brain for the final. Not just any old brain,

one of these five, sparkling Eggheads.

So, you can bring one of them in to help you.

Before the show we tossed a coin and, as a result of that, Amber,

you have the option as to whether you'd like to play first or second.

I'd like to play first, please.

Good luck to you both. Amber, your question.

In 2008, which TV presenter married a man who was

a founder member of the group Busted and a former winner of

"I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!"?

Now, I know Fearne Cotton is married to a musician,

but I don't think it's Busted

and then I'm really going to regret that if it is.

The other two - I have no clue who they're married to at all.

So it's do I go for the one that

I know is married to a musician at least?

Go on, I'll say Fearne Cotton in case it's a bad...

in case it's a bum steer. JEREMY LAUGHS

Emma Willis is the right answer. Oh, drat!

And who was the bloke? Matt Willis.

Oh, of course. The clue was there.

Fearne Cotton is married to Jesse Wood, who is a musician,

he's one of Ronnie Wood...Rolling Stone...Ronnie Wood's progeny.

OK, your question, Kathryn.

In a classic sketch about class,

which comedian famously says the phrase, "I know my place."

I do know this one.

It's Ronnie Corbett,

he was famously the shortest one, he was only about, what, 5'2"?

So he was at the end. Can you remember who the other two were?

John Cleese and Ronnie Barker.

I think that's right, Ronnie Corbett,

bless him, is the answer.

Your question, Amber, to catch up.

Idris Elba provides the voice for which character in

the 2016 version of The Jungle Book?

Ooh, I've not seen it.

Well, King Louie's the orangutan,

Bagheera, I believe, is the panther and Shere Khan is the tiger.

So, who would Idris Elba sound best as?

He's got a great voice.

I'm going to go for Bagheera, cos he's got kind of an edge,

like a kind of malevolent edge to him.

Any Eggheads know this?

I think it's Shere Khan. Shere Khan.

Shere Khan is the answer.

If you get this right, Kathryn, you've taken the round

and you get to choose an Egg.

Which Daniel Craig Bond film was directed by Marc Forster?

I've seen all of those and, unusually for me,

I've actually seen them at the cinema.

I'm ashamed to say I seldom take much notice of the director,

which is probably a bad idea.

I don't think it was Casino Royale.

I'm going to go for Quantum Of Solace.

Do you happen to know this one, Amber? I'm afraid I don't.

It would be a similar kind of random guess, I'm afraid.

Quantum Of Solace is right.

So you have pulled ahead there, crucially, Kathryn.

Well done, you've won the first head-to-head.

OK, and you get a chance now to gain an Egghead, to choose

somebody for the final. There they all are, sitting pretty.

I would like Pat, please, because he knows everything.

He does, he doesn't have many weak points, that's true, Pat.

I try to hide them. JEREMY LAUGHS

As it stands, Kathryn has an Egghead, she's got Pat.

Amber, at the moment, will be unassisted in the final.

Let's see if we can change that. The next category is Geography.

Kathryn, you won the first head-to-head,

you can choose first or second.

I'll choose second, please.

Here we go, Amber, with your question.

What colour is the diagonal cross on the flag of Jamaica?

Well, I'm fairly sure that all three colours are on the Jamaican flag

and I think the cross is yellow.

Yellow is correct, well done, first point. Back to you, Kathryn.

The Ravenglass

and Eskdale Railway is

a tourist attraction in which national park?

Oh, I have been on this on a holiday where it rained from start to

finish and it's in the Lake District.

The Lake District is correct. It always rains, doesn't it?

On our holidays, it certainly did. Chris, come on. Tell us about it.

Well, it goes from Ravenglass, up the Esk Valley.

It was originally built to carry

minerals and three-foot gauge,

closed down just before

the First World War and

it was reconstructed as a 15-inch

gauge miniature railway

and has been running ever since.

I didn't know you knew about trains.

One point each. Your question, Amber.

Langelinie Quay is a feature of which city?

So, quay is Q-U-A-Y, obviously.

And it's Langelinie, which is L-A-N-G-E-L-I-N-I-E.

Langelinie Quay.

I've been to both Bruges and Gdansk and I don't remember that,

but I didn't go to the riverside in Gdansk,

I haven't been to Copenhagen.

I know that's where the statue of The Little Mermaid is,

that could be on Langelinie Quay.

Based on the fact that I've never heard of it,

I'm going to go Copenhagen.

Copenhagen is correct.

Nicely done. OK. So you're ahead now.

Kathryn, the Gulf of Trieste is at the head of which sea?

Well, it's not the Baltic and it's not the Black Sea.

So I'm fairly certain it's the Adriatic.

Adriatic is the right answer.

Two points each, nothing to choose between you so far in this round.

Your question, Amber.

Which of these is an island at the south-eastern corner of Lundy?

I think it's Rat Island.

Something at the back of my head is saying Rat Island.

It doesn't sound like a great tourist destination.

Rat island is your answer, do you know this one, Kathryn?

I didn't know it, I would've probably guessed that, I think.

Where are we talking about here? Where is Lundy? Remind us.

It's in the Bristol Channel.

Anyone been to Rat Island or Wolf or Otter?

Anyone know? No. Oh, wow. You don't know.

It wouldn't be Otter, unlikely to be Wolf,

so it's Rat Island, obviously.

I love the logic. It's quite right,

Rat Island is right. Three out of three, Amber. Coming on strong.

Kathryn. As a result of the creation of South Sudan

in 2011, what became the largest African country by area?

They're all fairly large. I don't think it's Namibia.

I'm fairly sure it's not Chad, so I'm going to go for Algeria.

Algeria is right.

So, after three questions, you're level on your multiple choices.

It gets a bit tougher now.

We go to Sudden Death, I don't give you alternative answers.

And we start with you, Amber.

Lake Powell, created by the flooding of Glen Canyon is a reservoir

on which US river?

I want to say Colorado or...

See, Colorado's long, but I don't know of Lake Powell.

Rio Grande, Mississippi, Missouri.

There's so many rivers to choose.

Based on the fact there's a canyon, I'm going to say Colorado.

Based on the fact there's a canyon, I'm going to say Colorado.

Colorado is correct.

Is this to do with the Grand Canyon, no, it's not, that's different?

There's loads of dams on the Colorado,

it barely reaches the sea any more, they've diverted so much water.

Right, Kathryn, this to stay in.

Roseau is the capital of which of the Windward Islands?

Roseau. R-O-S-E-A-U.

First thing is to work out which ones the Windward Islands are.

I'm struggling here. I'd say I'm going to take a punt

and say Martinique.

You're in the right part of the world, but it's not that,

it's Dominica.

And you'll now see that everywhere, won't you?

That's one of three I was thinking of. And that was, yeah.

Well, Sudden Death is sudden, Amber's pulled ahead.

Well done, you've won the head-to-head.

So, you even it up and you can

choose your own Egghead.

It can't be Pat. Any of the others.

Could I have Dave, please?

You certainly may have Tremendous Knowledge Dave.

Dave, looking forward to this? Oh, absolutely.

Happy to help and hopefully I can be of some use.

It's almost the most pressure you guys come under, isn't it?

Because it comes down to the best player, but tactics

will play a big part, so hopefully those tactics will work out for you.

So, as it stands, Kathryn has one Egghead to help her in the final,

Amber also has one.

The next category for you - our third head-to-head - is History.

Amber, you won the last one, you can choose to go first or second.

I'll go second this time, please.

And here is your question, Kathryn.

What was the name of the supreme policy-making body of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union?

I'm going to go straight for the middle one, which is the Politburo.

Politburo is correct.

Amber. The main delegations to the

Dumbarton Oaks Conference in 1944,

which eventually led to the formation of the UN were from

Britain, the USA, Russia and which other country?

I believe that was France.

I was looking at this thinking, "Which would I guess?"

and I suppose France and Italy were still

in serious trouble in the Second World War.

The answer is China, actually. Oh!

China. So, Kathryn you're ahead.

Which of these US forces was Chester W Nimitz in charge of

during World War II?

Well, I believe he was a navy man, so that cuts out

the ground troops in Europe.

And I don't think it was North Atlantic submarines,

so I'm going to go for the Pacific Fleet. Let's find out.

Chris or Barry, one of you two. Barry?

Totally. Absolutely. Show us your workings, Eggs.

He was in charge of the Pacific Fleet

when they won the Battle of Midway,

which effectively ended the war for the Japanese fleet.

What do we need to know about Midway?

The Americans sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and they

only lost one of their own and that effectively destroyed the

power of the Japanese fleet and from then on the Japanese were

fighting a war, a defensive war, rather than an aggressive war.

OK, so Nimitz is a really important person. Very.

Pacific Fleet is the right answer. Well done, Kathryn.

You've got two and that means you do need to get this right, Amber.

Margaret, who was Queen of Scotland from 1286 to 1290,

was known by what sobriquet?

Well, based on the fact that I haven't heard of the Lady of Spain

or the Maid of Norway and I have heard of the Dowager of Denmark,

but then that could be somebody completely different,

I'm going to go with Dowager of Denmark.

Eggheads? Maid of Norway.

Maid of Norway is the right answer.

Amber, sorry, so no way back for you in this round.

We say congratulations, Kathryn, you've won the final head-to-head.

Might be decisive, but we don't know.

You can choose another Egghead.

You can't have Dave or Pat, you've already got Pat.

I'm going to choose Barry, please.

OK, Barry, known as The Brain.

So, Kathryn, you've got Pat and Barry in the final round.

Amber, you've got Dave.

Let us play that final round.

So, this is what we have been playing towards,

it is time to find out who is one step closer to becoming

an Egghead and who will be eliminated from our search.

So, Kathryn and Amber, I'm going to ask each of you three questions

in turn, as per normal, and this time the questions

are all General Knowledge.

But in this final round, you'll have the backing of the Eggheads

that you've won over the course of the show,

so, Kathryn, you'll have the help of Pat and Barry

and, Amber, you'll have Dave right behind you there.

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

before giving an answer to a question,

but I must say you can only use them once.

So you have to use them wisely.

Now, Kathryn, you won the last round

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

I'm going to go second again.

OK, so we start with you, Amber.

The Scottish athlete Allan Wells won an Olympic gold medal

in 1980 in which track event?

I'm definitely going to call on

Dave's sport knowledge for this one.

It's a shame to use him

so quickly, but, yeah.

If you had picked, I don't know, a track event and maybe football

and golf I could have guessed, but no.

All right, well, knowing Dave as I do, I think he'll be on solid

ground here, but let's try.

Dave, the question is - the Scottish athlete Allan Wells won

an Olympic God medal in 1980 in which track event?

And you've got 100, 200 or 400 metres.

I believe he was a silver medallist in the 200 metres,

behind, I think it was... No, Pietro Mennea, the Italian.

Yeah, so he won the silver in that,

but he just beat Silvio Leonard, the Cuban.

I believe, in the 100 metres final.

So, my recommendation, Amber,

if you want to take it, is 100 metres, please.

Well, given the level of detail, you'd be rather...

I'm going to ignore Dave... ..you'd be rather brave to disagree.

So, your answer? So, Dave said 100, I'm going to go 100, please.

100 metres is quite right.

Well done, Dave. Thank you!

No problem. That's the advantage

of having an Egghead,

but you've now, of course, not got any left, Amber.

Over to you, Kathryn, you've got two Eggheads behind you.

Here's your question.

Moored on the Thames, HMS Belfast, serves as a branch

of which museum organisation?

I'm pretty certain it's not the Victoria and Albert Museum,

and it's not really the museum of London's kettle of fish,

so I'm going to go for the Imperial War Museum.

You're 100% right. Well done.

The Imperial War Museum and you haven't even used an Egghead there.

OK, Amber, you're playing alone now.

Your question.

What is the name of the woman who married Jeremy Corbyn in 2013?

Oh, I'm trying to dredge this up.

Now, if it hadn't been Jayne with a Y,

I would've gone for Jayne,

but it's got a Y in it

and that doesn't look familiar.

I'm going to go down the middle and say Laura.

I think what might have foxed you initially

was that there is a Jane Corbin

but it's not... You're right to avoid Jayne in this context,

it's actually a BBC colleague of mine who reports on Panorama,

so that name... That's what that was.

Yeah, so there's an echo, dangerous echo there,

but she's not relevant here.

Laura is the right answer. Nicely done.

Two points to you. Second question now to Kathryn.

Very tense here.

What architectural term is used to describe

a monumental gateway to ancient Egyptian temples?

Well, minaret is the...

..can't think of the exact shape,

in Islamic buildings.

A ziggurat is a stepped pyramid,

so I shall go for pylon.

OK, that's always good elimination, if it's the one you don't recognise

it can be the right answer.

Has she triumphed here on pylon?

I'm taking your answer, it's just for the sake of it...

Eggs, where would you have gone with this?

BOTH: Pylon.

Ah, well done. You didn't even use them. Pylon is right.

So you've got two Eggheads still in play there, Kathryn.

Amber, you're playing alone, your third question,

you're playing well though.

The ancient Roman toga was a direct adaptation of

a garment worn by which Italian people?

Ah. There is no clue at all there in any of the words or...

Etruscans.

Would you have gone there, Dave? That's what I would have gone for.

You would've gone for that as well? Yeah.

You're playing brilliantly, Amber,

Etruscans is right.

Three out of three.

So... JEREMY LAUGHS

Interesting. Although you are in a stronger position,

you could also go out on this question, Kathryn.

Here it is.

A demyship is a type of scholarship awarded

at which college at Oxford University?

A demyship. D`E`M`Y`S-H-I-P, all one word.

I'm going to call upon Pat for this,

because I'm really not sure.

OK, there's a lot riding on this, Pat,

because if Kathryn gets this answer wrong, she's out.

A demyship is a type of scholarship awarded at which college

at Oxford University? Christ Church, Balliol, Magdalen?

I'm afraid I've never heard of a demyship,

so I can't give you any sort of

positive steer on this.

Demy, I wonder whether we can extract

any meaning from that, any clue.

Demy, is it after a person? I don't know.

Well, back to first principles.

In my time at Oxford, I stepped out with men from Christ Church

and Balliol and I can't remember, looking at notice boards,

ever seeing - on announcements of scholarships and so on -

ever seeing "demy".

Which is not to say they didn't exist there.

So I shall go for Magdalen.

OK. You're not bringing in Barry on this one?

You can use two Eggheads

if you want to. Can I use

two Eggheads? Does Barry know?

SHE SIGHS HEAVILY

Go on, I'll go for broke, I'll try Barry as well.

BARRY SIGHS, KATHRYN LAUGHS

So, Barry, I'll read it to you again. Thanks so much, Barry.

A demyship is a type of

scholarship awarded at which college

at Oxford University, Barry?

Christ Church, Balliol, Magdalen? There's a lot of pressure

on your young shoulders now, Mr Simmons.

Well, I'm sorry, Kathryn, I've never heard of this term before,

but the only thing I can offer is that Magdalen is,

of those three, I believe, the largest college. Yeah.

So, on the principle

that the largest college

may have more different types

of scholarships than the other,

my inkling would be Magdalen, but I really don't know.

No, I'm going to stick with Magdalen.

I'm going to stick with Magdalen.

Magdalen is the right answer.

There we go, Barry.

You did your bit.

It was mostly down to you though,

Kathryn. Well done.

Ooph. The pressure here.

So three questions each. The scores are level, but not only that,

you've all been reduced to zero Eggheads behind you

so you're playing alone now as we go to Sudden Death.

I'm not going to give you alternative answers,

it gets a bit harder.

Amber. In the 1980s TV ads, which book was written by JR Hartley?

Oh, that would be Fly Fishing.

Fly Fishing is quite right.

What was it advertising, do you remember?

Well, it was the Yellow Pages ad... That's right.

..and he was ringing up all the shops trying to find it

and eventually he got a copy. Fly Fishing

is the right answer, well done. OK, Kathryn, to stay in.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban named their first child together

after which day of the week?

Oh, Lord.

I can vaguely remember this being in the news.

But vague is the mot juste,

so I'm going to choose...

Oh.

Thursday.

If you've got it wrong, the contest is over.

I suppose it's a one in seven. Yeah.

Do the Eggheads know back there?

I have a feeling it might be Sunday,

because I think the name was Sunday Rose,

which was pilloried as Sunday roast.

JEREMY LAUGHS It doesn't ring bells anywhere.

Barry's right, actually.

Sunday is the answer. Ah.

So, on Sudden Death, Amber has pulled ahead.

Well done, Amber, you have won.

Well, commiserations, Kathryn.

You were ahead for much of that and you had two Eggheads as well

and it was that Magdalen question which caused you to use them both.

I was gambling that if they'd known it, that I would have gone out then

if I got it wrong, so it's a gamble.

It was a very, very tight quiz between both of you.

It's just a cigarette paper, isn't it?

Well done, Amber. You won through.

Dave, your answer on the sprinting was perfect in every detail.

Thank you, Dave!

So, Amber, you've proved that winning comes as naturally to you

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

to joining our quiz Goliaths,

but what you've got to do now is to try and get up

on the leaderboard.

We're going to give you three points for each round you've won today,

so that is three points you've got already, cos you won one round.

You're now going to get the chance to add to those points by answering

quickfire questions for two minutes.

We give you one point for each correct answer.

And if you have a look at our leaderboard there,

you'll see where your final score puts you.

Now, we've only got three names on it,

so I'm betting you will be in the top four.

The big question will be whether after we've got ten names up there,

you're still in the green area, cos those will be our semifinalists.

All to play for. Are you ready? As I'll ever be.

All right, good luck. Your time starts now.

Which board game takes its name from the Latin word meaning I play?

Ludo. Correct.

The folklore of which country features a swamp-dwelling monster

called the bunyip?

America.

No, Australia.

For what does the letter B stand in the name

of the 19th-century US President Rutherford B Hayes?

Bernard.

No, Birchard. Which musical features rival gangs

called the Jets and the Sharks?

West Side Story.

Correct. In British history, which King married Catherine of Braganza?

Henry III.

No, Charles II. Which Shakespeare play features the line,

"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

Tempest.

No, As You Like It. In which TV soap was Trevor Jordack

murdered and buried under the patio?

It was Trevor Jordache and it's Brookside.

Brookside is correct, thank you.

In which 1969 film does Dustin Hoffman

play the role of Ratso Rizzo?

Midnight Cowboy.

Correct. The dodo, the flightless bird

native to Mauritius became extinct in which century?

19th.

No, 17th. Oh. What is the official currency of Vietnam?

The dong. Correct.

In which sport are Lucas Glover and Jim Furyk famous names?

Boxers.

No, golf. In 1970, Clint Eastwood had a UK top 20 single

with I Talk To The... what?

People?

No, Trees. Of which US city is Staten Island a borough?

Um... New York.

Correct. In the TV series Thunderbirds, what is the name

of the father of the Tracy brothers?

Oh, Jim.

No, Jeff. The head of which monarchy is featured on the Penny Black,

the world's first... Victoria. ..adhesive postage stamp.

Victoria is correct. What relation was the poet laureate

Cecil Day-Lewis to the actor Daniel Day-Lewis?

Father.

Correct. What was the name of the green duck

operated by the ventriloquist Keith Harris?

Orville. Correct. The juice of which fruit is used to make

the alcoholic beverage perry?

Pears.

Correct. In which country was the jockey Frankie Dettori born?

Italy.

Correct. Eggplant is the American name for which foodstuff?

Aubergine.

Correct. In which West Coast US state is the resort of Malibu?

Um, California.

Correct. Which rock band take their name

from the Latin phrase meaning "the state in which"?

BUZZER RINGS Status Quo.

I'm sorry, that was out of time, but it was indeed Status Quo.

After a bit of

a difficult patch,

you came on strong there with a whole series of answers.

So, let's see.

13 points.

13 correct answers,

which we add to your three points which you've already got,

giving you a grand total of 16 points.

Let's just see where you are on the leaderboard.

You are third. So, feel good?

Not really, but never mind.

I know there were ones...for example,

the Shakespeare one you knew.

And thank you for the Jordache. JEREMY LAUGHS

I couldn't let it slide. It's always good to actually

correct the question. I shouldn't have wasted the time.

Brilliantly done though. You are well and truly on our leaderboard.

So, we'll see if you stay there as the other names come on.

There's no way of telling. It's a good score. Thank you both.

Great game today.

Join us next time to find out who else might have

what it takes to become an Egghead.

Till then, goodbye.

What's new on BBC Two?

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GAVEL BANGS