Eggheads (game show)

Eggheads
Genre	Game show
Presented by	Dermot Murnaghan (2003–2014, 2016) Jeremy Vine (2008–16)
Starring	Kevin Ashman Daphne Fowler (2003–14) Chris Hughes Judith Keppel CJ de Mooi (2003–12, 2014–16) Barry Simmons (2008–) Pat Gibson (2009–) Dave Rainford (2012–) Lisa Thiel (2014–16) Steve Cooke (2016–) Beth Webster (2016–)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	17 (Regular) 6 (Celebrity Specials)
No. of episodes	1558 (Regular) (as of 19 August 2016) 56 (Celebrity Specials) (as of 20 December 2013)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	12 Yard BBC Scotland (2010–)
Original release
Network	BBC One (2003–04) BBC Two (2005–)
Release	10 November 2003 (2003-11-10) – present
Related
Are You an Egghead? Revenge of the Egghead Make Me an Egghead

Eggheads is a BBC Television quiz show that airs on weekdays. It was first broadcast in 2003 chaired by Dermot Murnaghan. In 2008 Jeremy Vine became joint chair, and subsequently sole chair before Dermot returned in 2016. In each episode, a team of five quiz and game show champions (the Eggheads) is challenged by a team of five contestants for prize money.

The most prize money that has been won is £75,000, in 2007. Some teams have been reduced to one contestant for the final round, but have still beaten five Eggheads. Occasionally, one remaining Egghead will beat five challengers. Only once have the Eggheads lost four games in succession and only twice has a team of all five challengers won the final round.

Occasional teams of celebrities challenge the Eggheads in short series, with their own rolling prize fund.

The show has resulted in three spinoff series: Are You an Egghead? (2008), Revenge of the Egghead (2014) and Make Mean Egghead (2016).

Hosts

The show began in 2003 with Dermot Murnaghan as the presenter. From 2008, Jeremy Vine presented when Murnaghan was hosting the spinoff series. After the spin-off show finished, Murnaghan and Vine continued to host the series on a rotational basis, with Murnaghan typically hosting the first half of each series and Vine taking over for the second half. From series 16 Vine became presenter, before being replaced permanently by Murnaghan.

Format

Rounds

The show is played in five rounds. The first four rounds each focus on one subject category (of nine) while the final round tests general knowledge. In the first four rounds, the challengers choose a member of their own team to play, and an Egghead against whom they wish to compete. The players for that round then leave the studio to go into the "Question Room". The challenger is given the choice of going first or second. Both players are asked in turn three multiple-choice questions. If there is no winner, the round goes into sudden death with no choices given for answers.

The player who wins each round earns a place in the final round, while the losing players are eliminated from the game.

The general knowledge round is then played the same way as the previous rounds but challengers, if more than one remains, can confer. If they win they take the prize money; if the Eggheads win, the prize money is increased by £1,000 for the next quiz.

Subjects

There are nine possible subjects for the first rounds. They are Arts & Books, Film & Television, Food & Drink, Geography, History, Music, Politics, Science, and Sport. Music and Film & Television were introduced in Autumn 2008 through a split of the Entertainment category. Subjects can appear in any order, although at least one of Sport, Music or Film and Television will appear in every episode.

"Eggheads"

In the first eight series, the team consisted of only five Eggheads who each appeared in every episode and did not rotate. At the end of 2008, a sixth Egghead was added and appearances rotated. From series 15, five of eight possible Eggheads appear each episode, and later in 2016, two brand-new Eggheads (one male and one female) joined the panel after a spin-off series entitled Make Mean Egghead.

Current Eggheads

• Kevin Ashman (2003–present) is the eight time winner of the British Quiz Championship, the winner of the third series of Fifteen to One in 1989, the 1995 Mastermind (including all-time record score), the 1996 Brain of Britain (including all-time record score), its 3-yearly Brain of Brains and 9-yearly Top Brain in 1998, the Fifteen to One: Millenium Edition in 1999, the twelve time Brain of London winner, the twice Gold Medallist for quizzing at the Mind Sports Olympiad, the two time Master Brain, and the winner of Sale of the Century, Quiz Night, Trivial Pursuit and The Great British Quiz. Since joining Eggheads, he has won six European Quizzing Championships and five World Quizzing Championships as well as being the Captain of the England quiz team and being ranked the number one quizzer in the world.
• Chris Hughes (2003–present) won Mastermind and International Mastermind in 1983 and participated on The Weakest Link in 2001 where despite answering every question correctly, was the last contestant voted off. Since joining Eggheads, he won Brain of Britain in 2005.
• Judith Keppel (2003–present) was first British winner of £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2000.
• Barry Simmons (2008–present) won £64,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2005, a winning member of Masterteam in 2006 and a semi-finalist on Mastermind. He joined Eggheads in 2008 after winning the first series of Are You an Egghead? beating in the final Shaun Wallace, who would become one of two original chasers in The Chase. Since joining Eggheads, he won Brain of Britain in 2012 which garnered controversy amongst listeners. He is currently a member of the Scotland Quiz Team.
• Pat Gibson (2009–present) won £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2004, Mastermind in 2005 and Brain of Britain in 2006. He is a four time winner (2007, 2010, 2014, 2015) of the British Quiz Championship, and a four time winner (2007, 2010, 2011, 2013) of the World Quizzing Championships. He took part in Are You an Egghead? twice losing in the quarter-finals to Mark Kerr in the first series in 2008 but winning the second series in 2009 beating David Edwards in the final to join the Eggheads. He also won Mastermind Champion of Champions in 2010. He has amassed 21 international quizzing medals and was ranked the second strongest quizzer in the UK, behind Kevin Ashman.
• Dave Rainford (2012–present) appeared on Remote Control in 1991 and won £250,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2005 and was a previous contestant on Are You An Egghead where he was a semi-finalist in the first series in 2008 losing to eventual winner Barry Simmons and a quarter-finalist in the second series in 2009 losing to David Edwards. He replaced CJ de Mooi who took a break from Eggheads.
• Steve Cooke (2016–present), won the men's contest in Make Me an Egghead.
• Beth Webster (2016–present), won the women's contest in Make Me an Egghead.

Former Eggheads

• CJ de Mooi (2003–2012, Revenge of the Egghead (2014), 2014–2016) won the original The Weakest Link Bad Loser Special in 2000,100% in 2001, Beat the Nation in 2002 and Fifteen to One. He is also a Mensa chess champion. He took a break from the show from August 2012 until May 2014. His last appearance on his first run on the show was on 31 August 2012 during Series 13. He was the sole Egghead on Revenge of the Egghead, which aired on BBC2 in 2014. In May 2016, he confirmed on Twitter he is leaving the show again to pursue an acting career in South Africa.
• Daphne Fowler (2003–2014) won Going for Gold in 1988, Brain of Britain in 1997 and two series of Fifteen to One in 2001 (including second highest score). She has now retired from Eggheads, with her last appearance being in May 2014. She was replaced in the team by returning Egghead CJ de Mooi.
• Lisa Thiel (2014–present), a previous contestant on The Weakest Link in 2001 where she made the final but lost, The Chase in 2012 and part of a winning team on the Egghead's spinoff Revenge of the Egghead in 2014. She quit in 2016 due to family commitments.

Graphical representation

This chart displays when each presenter and Egghead was active. The black bars denote the start of each series.

Teams who have defeated the Eggheads

The highest amount any team has won to beat the Eggheads is £75,000 in 2007 (Series 8, Episode 14) by at team of Oxford Brookes University students, Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Team name	Episode	Prize money	Cumulative (at end of each Series)	Notes
Unicorn Inn	Series 1, Episode 13	£13,000
Folically Challenged	Series 1, Episode 15	£2,000
Unlikely Lads	Series 1, Episode 21	£6,000	£21,000
Streatham Massive	Series 2, Episode 10	£19,000
Spaghetti	Series 2, Episode 30	£19,000	£60,000
The Rotor Heads	Series 3, Episode 21	£21,000	£81,000
Densa	Series 4, Episode 11	£20,000
Wapping Black Sheep	Series 4, Episode 14	£3,000	£104,000
Radio Ga Ga	Series 5, Episode 6	£17,000	£121,000
Second Class	Series 6, Episode 3	£37,000
Mancunian Candidates	Series 6, Episode 10	£7,000
Russell's Raiders	Series 6, Episode 14	£4,000	£169,000
West Yorkies	Series 7, Episode 18	£29,000
Seville Servants	Series 7, Episode 19	£1,000	£199,000	#1 Eggheads lose twice in a row
Beer today, Gone tomorrow	Series 8, Episode 14	£75,000		Biggest win on the show so far
Preston Quizmasters	Series 8, Episode 17	£3,000
Museum of London/Museum in Docklands team	Series 8, Episode 50	£33,000
Taxidermists	Series 8, Episode 51	£1,000		#2 Eggheads lose twice in a row
Blue Vibe	Series 8, Episode 63	£12,000
Beer and Skittles	Series 8, Episode 68	£5,000	£328,000
Weakly Players	Series 9, Episode 15	£27,000
Sean and the Sheep	Series 9, Episode 35	£20,000
Tap Heads	Series 9, Episode 48	£13,000
The Rat Pack	Series 9, Episode 54	£5,000		Eggheads lose to a single opponent for the first time
Lads Wot Lunch	Series 9, Episode 65	£12,000
South Wales Warriors	Series 9, Episode 70	£5,000
Loser's Corner	Series 9, Episode 76	£6,000
Meet your Waterloo	Series 9, Episode 83	£7,000		#2 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Flexi Funksters	Series 9, Episode 99	£16,000		#3 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Cubbington Players	Series 9, Episode 112	£13,000
Act One	Series 9, Episode 120	£8,000		Final team to play (and defeat) the original set of 5 Eggheads
Bere Heads	Series 9, Episode 145	£25,000
The Abbey Revellers	Series 9, Episode 146	£1,000		#3 Eggheads lose twice in a row
The Bald & The Beautiful	Series 9, Episode 152	£6,000
Eclectic Mix	Series 9, Episode 159	£7,000	£499,000
The Oxford Imps	Series 10, Episode 2	£3,000
Chummie Brummies	Series 10, Episode 31	£29,000
One Sense Less	Series 10, Episode 54	£23,000		Team made up of profoundly deaf contestants
The Midweek Marauders	Series 10, Episode 64	£10,000
Beached Boys	Series 10, Episode 66	£2,000
Sally Warboys	Series 10, Episode 69	£3,000
The Hanging Gale	Series 10, Episode 82	£13,000
The Cartoonists	Series 10, Episode 91	£9,000		First team with all five challengers to win the final round against single Egghead (Kevin)
Insight Radio	Series 10, Episode 92	£1,000		#4 Eggheads lose twice in a row and #4 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Ocean's Five	Series 10, Episode 93	£1,000		#1 Eggheads lose three times in a row
Bognor Regis + 2	Series 10, Episode 94	£1,000		#1 Eggheads lose four times in a row
The Eggitors	Series 10, Episode 98	£4,000
Pembroke Globetrotters	Series 10, Episode 115	£17,000
PRS Plus	Series 10, Episode 121	£6,000	£621,000
The Wise Owls	Series 11, Episode 3	£37,000		The team donated their winnings to the Sussex Wildlife Trust
Work I.T. Out	Series 11, Episode 5	£2,000
Shabba	Series 11, Episode 35	£30,000		#5 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
The Black & White Stripes	Series 11, Episode 52	£17,000
Loiners by Proxy	Series 11, Episode 57	£5,000
The Middleton Moonrakers	Series 11, Episode 58	£1,000		#7 Eggheads lose twice in a row
Scrum 5	Series 11, Episode 72	£14,000
Comedy of Errors	Series 11, Episode 75	£3,000		#6 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Glamorgan Poppies	Series 11, Episode 86	£11,000
The Apple Turnovers	Series 11, Episode 93	£7,000
Get It With Letters	Series 11, Episode 122	£29,000
Chessboxers	Series 11, Episode 124	£2,000
The Flying Doctors	Series 11, Episode 130	£6,000		#7 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Lancashire Hotpots	Series 11, Episode 141	£11,000		#8 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Bar 5	Series 11, Episode 157	£16,000	£812,000
Living by Numbers	Series 12, Episode 6	£9,000
Culture Vultures	Series 12, Episode 24	£18,000
Who Cares Wins	Series 12, Episode 38	£14,000
The Internal Marketeers	Series 12, Episode 63	£25,000
Chad Acad	Series 12, Episode 66	£3,000
Cornish Monkeys	Series 12, Episode 72	£6,000		Team donate money to Wild Futures, primate welfare and conservation charity
Millennium Marvels	Series 12, Episode 84	£12,000
Loose Connection	Series 12, Episode 85	£1,000		#8 Eggheads lose twice in a row
She Who Must Be Obeyed	Series 12, Episode 91	£6,000
The Tramlines	Series 12, Episode 96	£5,000
The Lions' Den	Series 12, Episode 97	£1,000		#9 Eggheads lose twice in a row
5 A Day	Series 12, Episode 124	£27,000
Blackpool Rockers	Series 12, Episode 141	£17,000
The Five Marketeers	Series 12, Episode 145	£4,000		#9 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
The Brocketeers	Series 12, Episode 149	£4,000	£964,000
The Royal Harmonics	Series 13, Episode 12	£23,000
Dobbin	Series 13, Episode 19	£7,000
Shelford 5	Series 13, Episode 22	£3,000
The Wonderyears	Series 13, Episode 30	£8,000		Over £1,000,000 has now been paid out in prize money since show first started
Phoenix Nights	Series 13, Episode 37	£7,000
The Bell Boys	Series 13, Episode 38	£1,000		#10 Eggheads lose twice in a row
A Tale of Two Families	Series 13, Episode 41	£3,000
Bucks Quiz	Series 13, Episode 44	£3,000
The Melting Pot	Series 13, Episode 47	£3,000
Lightning Can Strike Twice	Series 13, Episode 53	£6,000		#10 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
The Family Connection	Series 13, Episode 65	£12,000
Dad's Army	Series 13, Episode 83	£18,000		#11 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
The Hole in the Wall Gang	Series 13, Episode 85	£2,000
UNOS	Series 13, Episode 89	£4,000
The Quad Runners	Series 13, Episode 118	£29,000		#12 Eggheads lose to a single opponent.
Handel with Care	Series 13, Episode 120	£2,000		Team donated winnings to Southampton Choral Society.
Team Scotia	Series 13, Episode 136	£16,000	£1,111,000
Two and a Half Tandems	Series 14, Episode 22	£26,000		Team donated winnings to Life Cycle UK.
Bright Sparks	Series 14, Episode 33	£11,000
Streetwise	Series 14, Episode 49	£16,000
The Business Men	Series 14, Episode 90	£41,000		2nd highest amount won by a challenging team. #13 Eggheads lose to a single opponent. 100th team to defeat the Eggheads.
The Crooked Spires	Series 14, Episode 95	£5,000
The Clevelanders	Series 14, Episode 106	£11,000
Beer Run Quizzers	Series 14, Episode 108	£2,000
Doctors' Notes	Series 14, Episode 113	£5,000
Business Belles	Series 14, Episode 119	£6,000
No Direction	Series 14, Episode 130	£11,000		#14 Eggheads lose to a single opponent.
Neither Big Nor Clever	Series 14, Episode 134	£4,000
The Sensational Alex Fairley Band	Series 14, Episode 136	£2,000		#2 Eggheads get first 2 questions wrong in the final round. Has happened once before in series 11 episode 154.
Rambling Badgers	Series 14, Episode 139	£3,000	£1,254,000
Green Giants	Series 15, Episode 12	£13,000		#2 All five challengers win the final round against a single Egghead (Judith)
The Amnesiacs	Series 15, Episode 17	£5,000
The Hound Dogs	Series 15, Episode 20	£3,000
Cardigan Carnage	Series 15, Episode 22	£2,000
The Soroptimists	Series 15, Episode 31	£9,000		Winnings donated to various local, national & international charities.
Collegiate Quizzers	Series 15, Episode 44	£13,000
Stumped	Series 15, Episode 53	£9,000
Burns Baby Burns	Series 15, Episode 55	£2,000
Meat Bingo	Series 15, Episode 69	£14,000
Team 42	Series 15, Episode 70	£1,000		#11 Eggheads lose twice in a row
Cave Aged	Series 15, Episode 77	£7,000
Shipmates	Series 15, Episode 81	£4,000	£1,336,000
Quizzical	Series 16, Episode 6	£25,000
The Courtiers	Series 16, Episode 19	£13,000
Five Diamonds	Series 16, Episode 30	£11,000
Capita Ovorum	Series 16, Episode 31	£1,000		#12 Eggheads lose twice in a row
Golden Girls	Series 16, Episode 36	£5,000
The Baked Bean Tin	Series 16, Episode 46	£10,000
Washy Posse	Series 16, Episode 49	£3,000
Ducking and Diving	Series 16, Episode 57	£8,000
The Lumberjacks	Series 16, Episode 59	£2,000
Words in Action	Series 16, Episode 75	£16,000
Bob's Buddies	Series 16, Episode 91	£16,000	£1,446,000
A Clearer Head	Series 17, Episode 20	£29,000		5 ladies with alopecia play bare-headed and donate their winnings to Alopecia UK
The Westenders	Series 17, Episode 29	£9,000
Hayling Hackers	Series 17, Episode 34	£5,000		#15 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Ludophiles	Series 17, Episode 37	£3,000
The Simms Roaders	Series 17, Episode 48	£11,000
The Criminal Element	Series 17, Episode 62	£14,000		Team consisting of crime writers Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Martyn Waites & Doug Johnstone.
We Quiz You Not	Series 17, Episode 70	£8,000		#16 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Acorn Antiques	Series 17, Episode 85	£15,000		#17 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
He is Heavy, He's my Father	Series 17, Episode 95	£10,000	£1,550,000	#18 Eggheads lose to a single opponent
Rambling Away	Series 18, Episode 2	£7,000
Harwell and the Dekatrons	Series 18, Episode 6	£4,000

Celebrity Eggheads

The first series of Celebrity Eggheads was 5 editions that ran from 15 to 19 December 2008, and was presented by Dermot Murnaghan.

On 7 December 2009, 10 more editions of Celebrity Eggheads began. These were also the first shows to feature Pat Gibson, the seventh Egghead. The first nine episodes aired until 19 December, with the tenth episode airing in March 2010.

From 13 December 2010, 10 Celebrity Eggheads episodes were aired for a third series.

Then, from 12 to 23 December 2011, including a Sunday show on 18 December, the format returned for a fourth series.

From 10 to 21 December 2012, a further ten episodes aired.

From 9 December 2013, a further 10 episodes were scheduled.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes		Host	Eggheads	Notes
			Series	Cumulative
1	10 November 2003	19 December 2003	27	27	Dermot	Chris, Daphne, CJ, Kevin and Judith	Aired at 12:30 on BBC1, adjacent to the BBC News at One in Wipeout's old slot
2	6 September 2004	16 December 2004	36	63
3	23 May 2005	7 November 2005	30	93			Episodes in this series and subsequent series aired largely at 6pm on BBC2 with occasional sojourns at 5:15 when Pointless airs at 5:45 and 6:30 when Two Tribes is on
4	8 November 2005	12 December 2005	25	118			100th episode (16 November 2005)
5	10 April 2006	6 June 2006	40	158
6	25 September 2006	27 October 2006	25	183
7	5 March 2007	10 September 2007	80	263			250th episode (22 August 2007)
8	11 September 2007	28 February 2008	80	343
9	29 February 2008	23 March 2009	160	503	Dermot (Eps. 1–80) Jeremy (Eps. 81–160)	Chris, Daphne, CJ, Kevin, Judith and Barry	Jeremy's debut (6 October 2008) Barry's debut (2 December 2008) 500th episode (18 February 2009)
10	24 March 2009	26 February 2010	155	658	Dermot (Eps. 1–75) Jeremy (Eps. 76–155)
11	1 March 2010	6 April 2011	160	818	Dermot (Eps. 1–80) Jeremy (Eps. 81–160)	Chris, Daphne, CJ, Kevin, Judith, Barry and Pat	Pat's debut (1 March 2010)
12	7 April 2011	13 April 2012	160	978
13	16 April 2012	14 March 2013	140	1118	Dermot (Eps. 1–60) Jeremy (Eps. 61–140)	Chris, Daphne, CJ, Kevin, Judith, Barry, Pat and Dave	1,000th episode (18 May 2012) CJ's final episode (31 August 2012) Dave's debut (27 September 2012)
14	9 April 2013	27 May 2014	140	1258		Chris, Daphne, Kevin, Judith, Barry, Pat and Dave	Daphne's final episode (27 May 2014)
15	28 May 2014	3 February 2015	100	1358	Dermot (Eps. 1–50) Jeremy (Eps. 51–100)	Chris, CJ, Kevin, Judith, Barry, Pat, Dave and Lisa	CJ's return (28 May 2014) Dermot's last episode (30 September 2014) Lisa's debut (3 October 2014)
16	4 February 2015	21 January 2016	100	1458	Jeremy
17	22 January 2016	19 August 2016	100	1558			1,500th episode (27 April 2016) CJ's last appearance
18	26 September 2016	TBC	85	1643		Chris, Kevin, Judith, Barry, Pat, Dave, Lisa, Steve, and Beth	Steve and Beth's debut

Spin-offs

Are You an Egghead?

Main article: Are You an Egghead?

On October 20th, 2008, a spin-off called Are You an Egghead? debuted on BBC Two. The first series was won by Barry Simmons and lasted between 20 October to 2 December 2008 while the second series was won by Pat Gibson and lasted between 12 October to 23 November 2009.

Revenge of the Egghead

On 24 February 2014, a new spin-off series of Eggheads was launched called Revenge of the Egghead. It was presented by Jeremy Vine and saw the return of CJ de Mooi, who left Eggheads in 2012. In each episode, de Mooi faced a team of five contestants hoping to win thousands of pounds. The series ran for a 6-week period, between 24 February and 4 April 2014.

Main game

Each contestant, in turn, is asked a general knowledge question. If their answer is right, £200 is added to the prize fund but if their answer is wrong and de Mooi knows their answer is wrong, he presses a red button in front of him to answer the same question. If he gets it wrong and the contestant gets it right, an additional £100 is added to the prize fund. If he gets it right, the contestant is asked a multiple-choice question by de Mooi. If they get it right, gameplay continues as normal but if they get it wrong, they lose one of their two lives. If a contestant loses both of their lives, they are out of the game. When time runs out, the surviving players move on to the final round, along with the total number of lives remaining for all players, for a chance to win an equal share of the prize fund.

Final round

The final round starts out with de Mooi answering ten general knowledge questions. The number of questions he gets right becomes the target that the team has to beat. The team can confer on every question. Every wrong answer means that the team loses one of their lives and if they lose all of their lives, they leave with nothing but if they beat the target, they win an equal share of the prize fund.

Make Me an Egghead

Main article: Make Me an Egghead

A 25-part spin-off series ran from 22 August to 23 September 2016, with the search for two new members for the Eggheads line-up: one male, one female. The series was won by Steve Cooke and Beth Webster.

External links

• Eggheads at IMDb
• Eggheads at BBC Online
• Eggheads at 12-Yard Productions
• Eggheads at UKGameshows.com
• Celebrity Eggheads at BBC Online