Eggheads (TV series)

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 the sole presenter.

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 Me an Egghead.

Current Eggheads

Former Eggheads

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 a team of Oxford Brookes University students, Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow.

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.

Are You an Egghead?

On October 20, 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. Lisa Thiel appeared on the show as part of a winning team before becoming an Egghead herself shortly afterwards.

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

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.