Meet the ‘Pearfect Quizzers’, the UoB quiz team who starred on Eggheads

Can you beat the greatest quiz team in Britain?

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Eggheads is one of the classic quiz shows that appears regularly on daytime TV. On October 21st, four friends who met at the University of Birmingham appeared on an episode, under the quiz name ‘The Pearfect Quizzers’.

The team was made up of team captain Jack Preece (Trainee Maths Teacher), William Rogers (MA History of Warfare student), Callum Garland (Technical Analyst), Eleanor Muston (English Literature student) and reserve player, Tom Watts.

The Pearfect Quizzers faced Chris, Olav, Kevin and Lisa in a bid to win the £11,000 that was up for grabs. Will and Ellie made it the final, but unfortunately lost out against some of Britain’s brainiest quizzers.

The Tab Birmingham spoke to Will about the team’s experience.

How long have you all been quizzing together?

“We’ve been quizzing for almost a year now at the University of Birmingham Quiz Society, of which I am now president. Jack and Callum have graduated but we do weekly quizzes with them and have an in-person tournament in Birmingham in a few weeks. We were also regulars at the Bristol Pear pub quiz, from which we got our team’s name, and still regularly attend with varying success!”

How did your appearance on ‘Eggheads’ come about?

“It was Jack’s idea to go on the show as it’s his favourite program, so we agreed to do it with him. After a fairly long and drawn-out application process, we were selected to appear and headed down to the studios in London.”

What was the experience like?

“The experience was very relaxed, much more so than when I tried to do University Challenge last year. The producers were lovely and gave us some food beforehand, but there were the obvious nerves of appearing on TV.

“Most of the producers were young adults so we felt like they enjoyed having young people around!”

What was it like to meet Jeremy Vine and the ‘Eggheads’? Were they intimidating and friendly?

“Jeremy Vine was friendly but was in and out of the studio very quickly after the recording.

“The Eggheads were fairly chatty, especially Kevin, and attempted to calm our nerves whilst we were waiting for the production crew to set up.”

Image credit: Facebook / William Rogers

What was it like to get a question right (or wrong)?

“We were all very relieved to get our first questions right and I was obviously delighted to win my round. As there was no pressure on us, it felt like a bonus to have two of us in the final.

“Jack and Callum were obviously disappointed but not too gutted because they just didn’t know the answers.”

[In the final, the Pearfect Quizzers were asked ‘The circular UK traffic sign for no entry for vehicular traffic is red and which other colour? Blue, Black or White? After some deliberating, their answer was blue.]

“Ellie was pretty gutted with the no entry sign question and wasn’t looking forward to watching it back. The most frustrating thing is that we were so close to winning and lost it on a fairly easy question.”

Were there any funny or unusual rules you had to follow?

“Not particularly. We weren’t allowed to wear white, black, or blue as it blended in with the set, and this limited most of the boys’ wardrobes.

“They also told us to not say ‘I don’t have a clue’ or ‘I have no idea’, instead just have a think and make an educated guess.”

Are there any future plans for the Pearfect Quizzers?

“Ellie and I are applying for the University Challenge team this year, so hopefully you may see us again fairly soon. We are entering a tournament soon and have Mark Labbett’s team in the first round which should be a fun experience.

“Otherwise, just running the society and trying to inspire more people to take up quizzing in Birmingham!”

Make sure to check out the ‘Pearfect Quizzers’ appearance on Eggheads here!

Featured image via Twitter @eggheadsTV

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