Eggheads

You get home from a long day at work and want to watch something that doesn't require too many brain cells or attention. What do you turn to?

Eggheads is your average, slow-paced multiple choice pub-style quiz show. Right from the get-go you get a formula: The presenter uses the same words and phrases each episode, and each time there is a different group of contestants who are connected in some way - graduates from the same college, nuns from the same convent, worm charmers from the same worm charming club. You get the point. The questions are all very similar, but are all very difficult, with the exception of the first question in each round. Don't expect to know most of the answers. The topics range from Food and Drink to History to Film and Television.

The points system is also formulaic. Four of the five challengers get to face head-to-head their choice of one of five Eggheads, a team of expert quiz winners who rotate from a larger selection of Eggheads, which ranges from about six to eight depending on the season. Each head-to-head winner gets to compete in the final round, and each loser has to sit outside. By the end of the show, it's usually three against two, or one against four, usually with an advantage for The Eggheads, because, well, they're better than the contestants. If the constants win their set of three questions (followed by a Sudden Death round if there's a tie), they win the prize money, which increases by one thousand pounds for every episode the contestants lose. The prize money often gets to around, but rarely over, 20-ish thousand pounds.

The Eggheads are all amiable, with the exception of the know-it-all CJ, who is always pulling faces when the head-to-head challengers get their answers wrong. Still, they're a joy to watch and their personalities are all memorable. The first host, Dermot, was a bit dry. The co-host in the later series, Jeremy, is more fun, but still sticks heavily to the formula.

The show is a good time-waster, but it lacks the suspense of its competitors like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, not only because the prize money is less, but because it's quite dull by nature. Nevertheless, I watch it every weekday simply because it's something familiar, routine, and regular.

6/10

"So tune in next time to see if a new team of challengers have what it takes to beat The Eggheads! Twelve thousand pounds says they don't. Until then, goodbye."

As a big fan of general knowledge quizzes, I tune in to Eggheads even though I am not totally swayed by it. Even so, it is probably better than most BBC quiz shows, and that includes the irritating and past its sell-by-date Weakest Link.

Let's be positive to begin with and state the good points:

1. It has two of the best quizzers in the country, Kevin Ashman and Daphne Fowler.

2. It shows how lucky Judith Keppel got with her Millionaire win. She is well above average for her general knowledge, but if she had to go through the 15 questions on WWTBAM again, I'd place money on her not winning - even if she had another ten attempts. But fair dos and congratulations to her.

3. You can join in with the fun and answer questions before the rest of your family. Well, usually.

4. Occasionally the opponents really do have the Eggheads on the ropes, and there is a smidgen of tension as we await the outcome.

Now, since I'm struggling to think of the good points, here are the bad points.

1. Most of the questions are pretty easy, just to give the opponents a chance, and then hope one of the Eggheads will slip up. Also, the caliber of people on the public side is pretty poor sometimes.

2. The people going on to the show should really sort out their tactics better. Play Kevin on entertainment, Daphne on sport, although these pair are pretty good on everything anyway.

3. Judith and CJ are strange choices. Their general knowledge is well below the other three, but like I've said before - they are well above average.

4. Will Chris stop going on about trains and railways - and why do so many questions regarding his pet subjects keep coming up? Is he the question-setter?

5. The set is horrible - too much like the Weakest Link.

6. Kevin and Daphne are not given the opportunity so show their talent.

7. There are not enough questions, and too much talking.

Although 2003's "Eggheads" is relaxed, chatty and doesn't put half the amount of pressure "The Weakest Link" puts on its contestants, this really is quite a dull, predictable show and very incompetent when compared to "The Weakest Link" which still takes the nation by storm to this day - 6 and a half years on from its original broad-casted episode in 2000.

The presenter Dermot is nice and encouraging and everything but does he ever stop wittering on?!!! He can't keep his mouth closed for longer than 10 seconds at the most! He cannot get through a single show without dramatizing the fact that the eggheads have won again... and again... and again. Why can't he just see the simple fact that these are just ordinary people - he talks about the prim and proper Judith Keppel, the rather stuck-up, "O riff-raff, do be qwaht" smartypants CJ De Mooi who doesn't make himself look clever at all but just plain cocky, the somewhat dreary Chris Hughes (who looks as if he might fall asleep at any moment), the sweet, gentle Daphnie Fowler and Kevin Ashman as if they are all superheroes, as if they know absolutely everything, as if they are even royalty sometimes! The eggheads are seldom beaten as well! I'm sure that if this debuted in the late 1980s or something then it would look perfect upon the screen but this is 2007! Meaning it's at least 18 years out of date! Having said all of that, mind you, the youngest egghead, CJ De Mooi, would've probably been a young child back then wouldn't he? I do mildly admire this show (lifeless, predictable and exaggerative as it is), depending on what mood I'm in but it simply cannot reach the enormous standards and amazing quality of "The Weakest Link" even if they are different shows!

A reasonable quiz in that it is better than many now available for entertainment. Mastermind has become rather boring, the question subjects are so mundane,(TV programmes, pop groups.) Not quite the selection of intellectual specialities it used to have.

Anyway, Eggheads is quite entertaining with a touch of added humour (always good in my book) Some of the visiting teams do appear to have been vetted for little other than novelty value. The questions do seem to vary in their difficulty quotient rather, especially in the head-to-head extra questions.

There are always 3 stronger cast members, Chris with his trains, Keven (had to be) who looks as if he would rather not be there at all, Daphne, CJ's surrogate Mum(Tell him to sort out his hair, he looks more like Widow Twankie as the weeks go on!) Then there is The Posh Traveller, Judith, and the non-conformist CJ 'Do I look good in this' Da Mooi. They seem to hit on the right answers more by luck than judgement. Anyway 'A nice little earner' Passes the time. Thanks

This is a show we never miss; it provides both entertainment and a degree of enlightening knowledge.

Sure, there are irritating aspects in the annoying blue set and occasional robot-like host Jeremy Vine. Currently (January 2013) we are viewing 2009 episodes in Australia and Dermot Murnaghan is a far better host. He shows far more empathy for both the challengers and the Eggheads and seems not bound to a fixed script.

The Eggheads themselves are pretty much a cross section of humanity. Chris, down to earth, shooting straight from the shoulder; Daphne, always cheerful, but with a memory like a steel trap; CJ, playing a part totally unlike his real self; Barry, a bit of a mystery with what often appears to be a forced smile; Kevin, similar to but not as forceful as Chris and finally, Judith, who also has a mighty memory but seems off her game in these 2009 episodes.

Overall, this is a show worth watching and long may it continue to grace our screens.