History Series / Eggheads

** Judith and Chris being bad on Sport and openly dreading the prospect of being chosen for it.

* SuddenDeath: When the scores are tied after the standard set of multiple choice questions, questions with no on-screen choices are asked until a victor is found. It may be the case that, in filming, many rounds have gone on for a significant amount of time, but (due to broadcast timing limits) have been cut down to size when broadcast.

* MilestoneCelebration: The show celebrated its 2000th episode on 22 March 2023 with the one-off return of Judith Keppel as an Egghead for this occasion. One of the questions answered in the episode by Vine just so happened to be written by Daphne Fawler.

2008 was when the show saw its first major change. In addition to the "Entertainment" question category being split into separate "Music" and Film & Television" categories, The series saw the introduction of a new presenter - radio personality Jeremy Vine, while Dermot began presenting a spin-off series titled ''Are You an Egghead?'', a tournament where professional quizzers[[note]]who, across the two seasons, included future Egghead Olav Bjortomt, another ex-''Millionaire'' jackpot winner in David Edwards, and Shaun Wallace, Mark Labbett, Jenny Ryan, Paul Sinha and Anne Hegerty, who would all later become Chasers on ''Series/TheChase''[[/note]], would determine themselves if they would become the next addition to the Eggheads. The series aired from 2008 to 2009, with Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another jackpot winner from ''Millionaire'') winning each season and joining the Eggheads. With the addition of Barry, the rotation of Eggheads would alternate in every episode from then on. Dermot and Jeremy would begin alternating their presenting duties on the show. In December 2008, a Celebrity spin-off series began airing, the rather unimaginatively titled ''Celebrity Eggheads''. The series is not in line with the main civilian version and has its own rolling jackpot. Some versions of this have had a slightly different format, such as a longer final. In October 2012, C.J. de Mooi left the series to pursue other roles and was replaced with "Tremendous Knowledge" Dave Rainford, who had previously competed on both series of ''Are You an Egghead?''.

In 2020, the show entered an extended hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with Jeremy Vine citing that the show would return at some point. This was soon confirmed in March 2021 on Vine's self-titled talk show, where the series would not return on the BBC, but rather Creator/Channel5. The revived series premiered in October 2021. The revival saw the addition of a brand new Egghead - Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as ''Series/UniversityChallenge'' and ''Series/TheChase''). In the first series of the revival, Chris Hughes was absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return, which he did so the following season. The format gained a change as well, with a new glossier set and the fact that now four Eggheads and Challengers appeared instead of five each, with three question sets before General Knowledge, due to Channel 5's status as a commercial network which would have meant that the show would have been longer if the original format was kept. The spaces between the contestants are also vaster than in the original(this is likely due to it being filmed during COVID-19 restrictions). The Celebrity editions are now part of the regular series rather than being their own. After Season 24 premiered in October 2022, Judith Keppel retired from the series, citifying that her brain isn’t what it used to be due to her old age at 80 years old. This leaves Kevin and Chris as the only surviving original Eggheads that are still on the show.

In 2020, the show entered an extended hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with Jeremy Vine citing that the show would return at some point. This was soon confirmed in March 2021 on Vine's self-titled talk show, where the series would not return on the BBC, but rather Creator/ChannelFive. The revived series premiered in October 2021. The revival saw the addition of a brand new Egghead - Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as ''Series/UniversityChallenge'' and ''Series/TheChase''). In the first series of the revival, Chris Hughes was absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return, which he did so the following season. The format gained a change as well, with a new glossier set and the fact that now four Eggheads and Challengers appeared instead of five each, with three question sets before General Knowledge, due to Channel 5's status as a commercial network which would have meant that the show would have been longer if the original format was kept. The spaces between the contestants are also vaster than in the original(this is likely due to it being filmed during COVID-19 restrictions). The Celebrity editions are now part of the regular series rather than being their own. After Season 24 premiered in October 2022, Judith Keppel retired from the series, citifying that her brain isn’t what it used to be due to her old age at 80 years old. This leaves Kevin and Chris as the only surviving original Eggheads that are still on the show.

->''"Can anyone beat those [[Main/TitleDrop Eggheads]]?"''

The premise of the game is as follows: a team of quizzing geniuses (the eponymous Eggheads) are challenged in each episode by a team of amateur challengers. If the latter team can win, they take home a cash prize. The prize rolls over by £1,000 for each time a challenging team fails to defeat the Eggheads, thus (for example) if the Eggheads win fourteen games in a row, the next challengers would be playing for a potential £15,000.

* ProgressiveJackpot: If a team fails to win then it rolls over by £1,000 for the next episode. The record jackpot win is £75,000.

2008 was when the show saw its first major change. In addition to the "Entertainment" question category being split into separate "Music" and Film & Television" categories, The series saw the introduction of a new presenter - radio personality Jeremy Vine, while Dermot began presenting a spin-off series titled ''Are You an Egghead?'', a tournament where professional quizzers would determine themselves if they would become the next addition to the Eggheads. The series aired from 2008 to 2009, with Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another jackpot winner from ''Millionaire'') winning each season and joining the Eggheads. With the addition of Barry, the rotation of Eggheads would alternate in every episode from then on. Dermot and Jeremy would begin alternating their presenting duties on the show. In December 2008, a Celebrity spin-off series began airing, the rather unimaginatively titled ''Celebrity Eggheads''. The series is not in line with the main civilian version and has its own rolling jackpot. Some versions of this have had a slightly different format, such as a longer final. In October 2012, C.J. de Mooi left the series to pursue other roles and was replaced with "Tremendous Knowledge" Dave Rainford.

Eggheads is a UK television quiz programme produced by Creator/12YardProductions that first aired in November 2003.

Throughout the show's twenty-year run on television, the format of the show has not seen any change at all, rather the only changes come with the personalities and networks the series has aired on. When the series first premiered, there were five Eggheads, who appeared in every episode - Kevin Ashman, Daphne Fowler, Chris Hughes, C.J. de Mooi and Judith Keppel. Of these, Ashman stood out as being the most accomplished quizzer (he still holds the record for the highest ever Mastermind score and is a regular winner of international quizzing championships) and Keppel was the most well-known to the general public (for becoming the first-ever jackpot winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). The presenter of the series is well-known newsreader Dermot Murnahgan, and it originally aired in a lunchtime slot on Creator/BBCOne, in the slot that was formerly accompanied by fellow game show ''Wipeout''. In November 2005, the series moved to its well-known 6:00 pm teatime slot on Creator/BBCTwo that was previously accompanied by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''[[note]]The BBC lost the free-TV rights to the series to Channel 4 in 2004[[/note]], where it remained until the end of the 2010s, with occasional relocations to 6:30.

2008 was when the show saw its first major change. In addition to the "Entertainment" question category being split into separate "Music" and Film & Television" categories, The series saw the introduction of a new presenter - radio personality Jeremy Vine, while Dermot began presenting a spin-off series titled ''Are You an Egghead?'', a tournament where professional quizzers would determine themselves if they would become the next addition to the Eggheads. The series aired from 2008 to 2009, with Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another 'Millionaire' winner) winning each season, joining the Eggheads. With the addition of Barry, the rotation of Eggheads would alternate in every episode from then on. Dermot and Jeremy would begin alternating their presenting duties on the show. In December 2008, a Celebrity spin-off series began airing, rather unimaginatively titled, 'Celebrity Eggheads'. The series is not in line with the main civilian version and has its own rolling jackpot. Some versions of this have had a slightly different format, such as a longer final. In October 2012, C.J. de Mooi left the series to pursue other roles and was replaced with Dave Rainford.

In 2014, a spin-off series fronted by Jeremy Vine - ''Revenge of the Egghead'' aired on BBC Two, featuring ex-Egghead C.J. playing a role similar to that of the chasers of ''Series/TheChase''. In the main series, Dermot silently left his presenting role and Jeremy became the show's full-time host from then on. That year saw the retirement of Daphne Fowler, who was replaced with the returning C.J. De Mooi, and the addition of a new Egghead - Lisa Thiel, who was part of a winning team on ''Revenge''.

In 2016, after C.J. left for a second time, a spin-off series titled ''Make me an Egghead'' aired on BBC Two, which functioned similarly to ''Are You an Egghead?'', except this time a male and a female Egghead would be chosen to be added to the series. The winners of the series would be Steve Cooke and Beth Webster. Dave Rainford would soon retire from the series in 2018 due to an illness that would cause his unfortunate passing in 2020.

In 2020, the show entered an extended hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with Jeremy Vine citing that the show would return at some point. This was soon confirmed in March 2021 on Vine's self-titled Channel 5 talk show, where the series would not return on the BBC, but rather Creator/ChannelFive. The revived series premiered in October 2021. The revival saw the addition of a brand new Egghead - Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as The Chase). In the first series of the revival, Chris Hughes was absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return, which he did so the following season. The format gained a change as well, with a new glossier set and the fact that now four Eggheads and Challengers appeared instead of five each, with three question sets before General Knowledge, due to Channel 5's status as a commercial network which would have meant that the show would have been longer if the original format was kept. The spaces between the contestants are also vaster than in the original(this is likely due to it being filmed during Covid restrictions). The Celebrity editions are now part of the regular series rather than being their own. After Season 24 premiered in October 2022, Judith Keppel retired from the series, citifying that her brain isn’t what it used to be due to her old age at 80 years old. This leaves Kevin and Chris as the only surviving original Eggheads that are still on the show.

* TheAce: All of the Eggheads, of course, fit this, but particularly Kevin and Pat. Notably, Kevin's strength on History is such that it took him the best part of a decade to get a single question on History wrong, let alone lose in that category's round.

In 2016, after C.J. left for a second time, a spin-off series titled ''Make me an Egghead'' aired on BBC Two, which functioned similarly to ''Are You an Egghead?'', except this time a male and a female Egghead would be chosen to be added to the series. The winners of the series would be Steve Cooke and Beth Webster. Dave Redwood would soon retire from the series in 2018 due to an illness that would cause his unfortunate passing in 2020.

In 2020, the show entered an extended hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with Jeremy Vine citing that the show would return at some point. This was soon confirmed in March 2021 on Vine's self-titled Channel 5 talk show, where the series would not return on the BBC, but rather Creator/ChannelFive. The revived series premiered in October 2021. The revival saw the addition of a brand new Egghead - Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as The Chase). In the first series of the revival, Chris Hughes was absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return, which he did so the following season. The format gained a change as well, with a new glossier set and the fact that now four Eggheads and Challengers appeared instead of five each, with three question sets before General Knowledge, due to Channel 5's status as a commercial network which would have meant that the show would have been longer if the original format was kept. The spaces between the contestants are also vaster than in the original(this is likely due to it being filmed during Covid restrictions). The Celebrity editions are now part of the regular series rather than being their own.

2008 was when the show saw its first major change. In addition to the "Entertainment" question category being split into separate "Music" and Film & Television" categories, The series saw the introduction of a new presenter - radio personality Jeremy Vine, while Dermot began presenting a spin-off series titled ''Are You an Egghead?'', a tournament where professional quizzers would determine themselves if they would become the next addition to the Eggheads. The series aired from 2008 to 2009, with Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another 'Millionaire' winner) winning each season, joining the Eggheads. With the addition of Barry, the rotation of Eggheads would alternate in every episode from then on. Dermot and Jeremy would begin alternating their presenting duties on the show. In October 2012, C.J. de Mooi left the series to pursue other roles and was replaced with Dave Rainford. In December 2008, a Celebrity spin-off series began airing, rather unimaginatively titled, 'Celebrity Eggheads'. The series is not in line with the main civilian version and has its own rolling jackpot. Some versions of this have had a slightly different format, such as a longer final.

All rounds are played over the best-of-five multiple choice questions, with a sudden death section (where there are no multiple choices) being necessary if the scores are tied.

Throughout the show's twenty-year run on television, the format of the show has not seen any change at all, rather the only changes come with the personalities and networks the series has aired on. When the series first premiered, there were five Eggheads, who appeared in every episode - Kevin Ashman, Daphne Fowler, Chris Hughes, C.J. de Mooi and Judith Keppel. Of these, Ashman stood out as being the most accomplished quizzer (he still holds the record for the highest ever Mastermind score and is a regular winner of international quizzing championships) and Keppel was the most well-known to the general public (for becoming the first-ever jackpot winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). The presenter of the series is well-known newsreader Dermot Murnahgan, and it originally aired in a lunchtime slot on Creator/BBCOne, in the slot that was formerly accompanied by fellow game show ''Wipeout''. In November 2005, the series moved to it's well-known 6:00 pm teatime slot on Creator/BBCTwo that was previously accompanied by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''[[note]]The BBC lost the free-TV rights to the series to Channel 4 in 2004[[/note]], where it remained until the end of the 2010s, with occasional relocations to 6:30.

2008 was where the show saw its first major change. In addition to the "Entertainment" question category being split into seperate "Music" and Film & Television" categories, The series saw the introduction of a new presenter - radio personality Jeremy Vine, while Dermot began presenting a spin-off series titled ''Are You an Egghead?'', a tournament where professional quizzers would determine themselves if they would become the next addition to the Eggheads. The series aired from 2008-2009, with Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another 'Millionaire' winner) winning each season, joining the Eggheads.With the addition of Barry, the rotation of Eggheads would alternate in every episode from then-on. Dermot and Jeremy would begin alternating their presenting duties on the show. In October 2012, C.J. de Mooi left the series to pursue other roles, and was replaced with Dave Rainford.

In 2014, a spin-off series fronted by Jeremy Vine - ''Revenge of the Egghead'' aired on BBC Two, featuring ex-Egghead C.J. playing a role similar to that of the chasers of ''Series/TheChase''. On the main series, Dermot silently left his presenting role and Jeremy became the show's full-time host from then-on. That year saw the retirement of Daphne Fowler, who was replaced with the returning C.J. De Mooi, and the addition of a new Egghead - Lisa Thiel, who was part of a winning team on ''Revenge''.

In 2016, after C.J. left for a second time, a spin-off series titled ''Make me an Egghead'' aired on BBC Two, which functioned similarity to ''Are You an Egghead?'', except this time a male and a female Egghead would be chosen to be added to the series. The winners of the series would be Steve Cooke and Beth Webster. Dave Redwood would soon retire from the series in 2018 due to an illness that would cause his unfortunate passing in 2020.

In 2020, the show entered an extended hiatus due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, with Jeremy Vine citing that the show would return at some point. This was soon confirmed in March 2021 on Vine's self-titled Channel 5 talk show, where the series would not return on the BBC, but rather Creator/ChannelFive. The revived series premiered in October 2021. The revival saw the addition of a brand new Egghead - Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as The Chase). Chris Hughes appears to be absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return. The show also appears to have a 'glossier' look than in its BBC incarnation, and the spaces between the contestants are vaster (this is likely due to it being filmed during Covid restrictions).

As is common with quiz programmes, Eggheads has a celebrity version. This is entitled, rather unimaginatively, 'Celebrity Eggheads'. Some versions of this have had a slightly different format, such as a longer final.

Eggheads is a UK television quiz programme, first shown in 2003. Between its inception and 2021, it's broadcasting home was the BBC. From October 2021 onwards, it moved to Five.

The show has gone through a number of changes, albeit mostly in its personalities rather than in its format (the latter with a few exceptions, had remained constant). It's original presenter was Dermot Murnaghan, who solely presented the show until 2008, at which point he alternated this role with Jeremy Vine. From 2014 onwards, Vine became the sole presenter.

The five original Eggheads, from 2003 until 2008, were Kevin Ashman, Daphne Fowler, Chris Hughes, C.J. de Mooi and Judith Keppel. Of these, Ashman stood out as being the most accomplished quizzer (he still holds the record for the highest ever Mastermind score and is a regular winner of international quizzing championships) and Keppel was the most well-known to the general public (for becoming the first-ever jackpot winner on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?).

Barry Simmons and Pat Gibson (another 'Millionaire' winner) joined the series as new Eggheads in 2008 and 2009 respectively, having each won a series of 'Are You an Egghead?' (a rather self-explanatory title). Some time after that, Fowler and De Mooi would leave the show and Dave Rainford and Lisa Thiel would join (the first two to do so without winning any kind of spin-off series). Steve Cooke and Beth Webster later emerged as further winners of a qualifying spin-off series. Rainford sadly died in 2020.

For its Channel Five revival, Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as The Chase) joined as a new Egghead. Chris Hughes appears to be absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return. The show also appears to have a 'glossier' look than in its BBC incarnation, and the spaces between the contestants are vaster (this is likely due to it being filmed during Covid restrictions).

!!GameShowTropes in use:

** Chris' (a former train driver) enthusiasm for anything railway-related.

Arts & Books
Entertainment (ceased in 2008 and replaced with separate Music and Film & Television categories)
Film & Television
Food & Drink
Geography
History
Music
Politics
Science
Sport

* Chris' (a former train driver) enthusiasm for anything railway-related.

** Judith having certain 'rules' that often seem to work. Amongst these are the 'magic right' (choosing the right hand answer as a guess) and choosing the Pacific Ocean if it's an option (this is probably less of a gag than a half decent bit of quizzing advice).

For its Channel Five revival, Olav Bjortomt (an accomplished quizzer and question writer on such shows as The Chase) joined as a new Egghead. Chris Hughes appears to be absent, although Lisa Thiel implied that he would return. The show also appears to have a 'glossier' look than in its BBC incarnation, and the spaces between the contestants are vaster (this is likely due to it being filmed during Covid restrictions).

The show has gone through a number of changes, albeit mostly in its personalities rather than in its format.

The premise of the game is as follows: a team of quizzing geniuses (the eponymous Eggheads) are challenged in each episode by a team of amateur challengers. If the latter team can win, they take home a cash prize. The prize rolls over by £1,000 for each time a challenging team fails to defeat the Eggheads, thus (for example) if the Eggheads win fourteen games in a row, the next challengers would be playing for a potential £15,000.

Eggheads is a UK television quiz programme, first shown in 2003. Between its inception and 2021, it's broadcasting home was the BBC. From October 2021 onwards, it moved to Five.