University Challenge

Revision as of 22:00, 21 March 2008

Synopsis

Very few quiz programmes could be said to make up part of the fabric of the nation, but University Challenge is certainly a contender.

Two teams of four students, each team drawn from one university, compete in a question-and-answer quiz so old-school that Adam and Eve themselves may have taught there.

All eight contestants individually attempt to buzz or ring in to answer the "Starter For Ten", valued at, er, ten points for their team; however, an incorrect interruption merits a five-point deduction.

Host of the original programme, Bamber Gascoigne.

The team producing a correct answer then may attempt to answer up to three more questions upon a different common theme, as a team, for varying amount of points apiece (although always three questions for five in the modern era).

Recipe for success

Repeat for twenty minutes or so. Pepper with occasional visual or musical rounds and bang a big gong at the end. The pace of the game starts slow (a minute or more for a starter and a set of bonuses), but picks up towards the end (under 45 seconds for a full stanza) as the host performs an impersonation of a horse-racing commentator. An excellent pair of teams will score 500 points between them in a game (sadly, a rare occurence these days), so a score of 200+ is good and 250+ very good. Jeremy Paxman once claimed in his usual inimitable style that a score of 300+ means that the team needs to get out more!

The traditional set, replete with scarves. The "one-above-the-other" effect is created via split-screen.

Pass the Baton

Two series from the Bamber era (1986/87) featured eight individual weeks of tournaments. Teams played two-day matches, Monday/Tuesday or Wednesday/Thursday. The first day was a standard game, with the scores carried forward to a second match to play a curious confection called Pass the Baton. The Baton - a vertical cylindrical stick with six lights that slid along the desk - began the programme with the leftmost player of each team, and the player from the trailing team picked from a list of about 60 categories. Bamber would ask questions from that category on the buzzers, for five points each, open only to the people with The Baton. First person to give two correct answers gained a traditional set of bonuses for their team, and The Baton moved down the line.

Whoever was trailing when the baton was passed got to choose the next category. There was a limited supply of questions (about five) in each category, so when a category was exhausted Bamber would always choose "mixed bag". The Baton had six lights, and when one team had completed their six answers they got a points bonus. Both Batons would reset to nothing, and we would begin all over again. Highest aggregate score after 25 minutes of this progressed to the weekly final, for a place in the last eight.

When the winning teams from 1986 and 1987, Jesus College Oxford and Keble College Oxford respectively, returned for the 'Reunited' series in 2002, they stated that the 'Pass The Baton' game had been very confusing and therefore difficult to play - indeed, only Bamber really seemed to understand it! It was clearly an attempt to update the programme in order to increase viewing figures, but it ultimately had the opposite effect and was one of the main reasons why the programme was axed in 1987. As with so many other shows, they should have remembered the old 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' rule, which fortunately they did adopt when the show was revived in 1994, hence the show's continuing success to this day!

The big picture

These days, each contest forms part of a series-long tournament, with the fourteen winners of the first-round matches going through to the last sixteen, accompanied by the winners of two repechage matches between the four highest-scoring losers; it's all single elimination from then on. Winning teams get a lovely piece of glassware (latterly, a huge lump of etched metal) and also sometimes get friendlies against their tournament-winning counterparts from America or New Zealand, or even their own university dons. And... er, that's it.

A modern University Challenge team. The captain always sits in the third seat from the left.

With the demise of Mastermind in the late 90s, there remained no finer source of hard questions on TV for your "Bloody hell, I actually got one right!" satisfaction. Even now that Mastermind has returned (based in Manchester and with a famously abrasive news anchor hosting - now wherever could they have got that idea from?), UC still stands head and shoulders above its local rival in this respect. And just how can those sweet, innocent-looking students know so much about all those obscure subjects?

The question remains whether the science questions are "much too hard" or "much too easy" - whether it's possible to write a set of questions which have the same relative difficulty in all the different topics. Both sides have been argued in the past. Since 2006, the overlong starters have been trimmed and are much more within the gettable "hard puz quiz" sphere. This is a merciful reaction to the fact that the producers liked to boast that each series the questions got "10% harder", while ignoring the evidence that the average points scored per match was also heading south and Paxo was having to dip into his secret pile of "Easy Starters" rather too often.

The current inquizitor, Jeremy Paxman

The composition of the ideal University Challenge team (in terms of what subjects the team members should study and whether the show shouldn't be restricted to undergraduates in the first place anyway) is the subject of many a heated pub debate. Well, it is if you drink in the same pub as us.

Yet another millennium makeover

Even stalwarts like University Challenge feel the need to modernise and in the year 2000 they gave it a new set and new music, but the format has been kept the same. When we say "new set and music" what we actually mean is "slightly nicer looking set and old tune done in a more classical style." We can't say we're fans of the new music - the old one was refreshingly bouncy, but this remix seems to emphasise the upper class nature of the quiz rather too much.

High marks for the new set though, the main new bits being a reddy-brown colour scheme and a background that's a combination of artwork, lighting and mirrors, best described as a sort of giant academic lava lamp. The colours changed to a blue-and-purple scheme during 2004.

In 2002, an enjoyable "Reunited" series invited back former winners and notable teams, although the way that winners were decided (the four highest-scorers playing two semis and a final) was most abrupt.

2003 saw the start of University Challenge: The Professionals, which ran for four series as a summer filler and meant that for a while the show carried on pretty much all year round in one form or another. There was even a yuletide mini-tournament in 2004, and another over the new year in 2005-6.

Key moments

Jeremy Paxman getting ever-so-uppity with students who really ought to know the answers. Well, he thinks so anyway.

Watching contestants of advanced years (ringers? surely not!) especially ones who have returned to university solely to try to appear on University Challenge. At least two contestants have gone this far to get on the programme.

Spotting contestants who you think will turn out to be the next Stephen Fry, Clive James or David Mellor (all UC alumni). Other famous people to have appeared as contestants include author Sebastian Faulks, journalist John Simpson, historian Dr David Starkey, actress Miriam Margoyles, politician Malcolm Rifkind and screenwriter/actor Julian Fellowes. Fry, Simpson and Starkey have all appeared on the programme during the Paxman-era to present the trophy to winning teams.

A young Stephen Fry

Also, in an early 2007 match, Paxman asked, "Which planet is principally made of iron, but shares its name with a different metal?" One contestant buzzed and said, "Pluto". Paxman laughed at this, but the contestant argued, "Plutonium. It does share its name with a different metal - you can't argue with that!" Paxman was once again forced to back down (albeit slightly), this time by saying, "Well, I suppose it does, if you want to treat it that liberally, but I'm not going to accept it - the answer's 'Mercury!'"

In the 2003 Professionals series, Lembit Opik, who was competing on behalf of the House of Commons team, claimed at one point that he had buzzed before the opposing team, even though their buzz and answer had been accepted. Paxman duly explained that, when the fastest contestant had buzzed, the other buzzers would cut out electronically, therefore Opik had not been quick enough on the buzzer on that occasion. "I'll have you before a select committee!" declared an indignant and clearly unconvinced Opik. "Well, possibly - but I don't think we can argue with electronics!" retorted an unrepentant Paxman. The House of Commons team went on to achieve the lowest-ever score for the Paxman-era: 25 points!

The Clergy team singing 'The Red Flag' on one edition of the first 'Professionals' series - and soon after that, on the next regular series, a music student sang 'I Feel Pretty!'

Catchphrases

At the beginning of the programme: "University Challenge! Asking the questions - Bamber Gascoigne!" or "Jeremy Paxman!" depending on the era.

Bamber Gascoigne era:

"Here's your starter for ten, no conferring!"
"Must hurry you..."
"Well remembered!"

Jeremy Paxman era:

"Oh, do come on!" or "Let's have an answer!"
"You may not confer, one of you may buzz!"
"And at the gong..."
"And it's goodbye from me - goodbye!"
"I'm sorry - if you buzz, you must answer!"
"No - you lose five points..."

Music

The theme music is called College Boy by Derek New, and the current version is performed by the Balanescu Quartet.

Inventor

Based on the US format College Bowl by Don Reid. The format has its ultimate origin in the Second World War when Reid (who actually hailed from Canada) first devised it as a recreational activity for the US military.

Trivia

In 1970, a Mrs Westgate from Southampton complained to listings magazine TV Times about the Cambridge team on UC: "I missed the introduction and could not be sure whether I was looking at boys and girls - or girls and boys. How nicely masculine the other team looked though."

The 1972 winners were awarded "a magnificent prize of 19 etchings by British artist Elizabeth Frink".

A 1975 first round match featuring a University of Manchester team (including David Aaronovitch) tried to derail the proceedings by answering every question with the name of a revolutionary ("Trotsky", "Lenin", "Karl Marx" or "Che Guevara"). This was in protest of the programme's perceived Oxbridge bias which allows their colleges to enter singly.

The BBC incarnation grew out of a 1992 one-off that was produced as part of BBC2's "Granadaland" theme night.

The glass-effect background behind each team in the first modern incarnation read "University Challenge" in different lettering and symbols, including Greek, Cyrillic and Braille.

Special editions have included a Red Dwarf-themed edition, cleverly re-titled Universe Challenge, with Bamber back in the chair; and two "Comic Relief" specials hosted by Angus Deayton.

The potential points total for a set of bonuses has not always been fixed at fifteen. In the early days, University Challenge followed College Bowl's lead and had a varying score for bonuses (ten, fifteen or twenty points), which was announced by the chairman before reading out the starter question.

Contrary to the impression you might get from watching Jeremy Paxman's reaction to unexpected responses, it's actually the producer who adjudicates on borderline answers. When Paxman appears to be umming and ahhing over whether to award points or not, he's really just waiting for a signal in his earpiece.

University Challenge features in David Nicholls' bestselling comic novel Starter For Ten, which has been made into a feature film.

Famous questions

During a 2007 quarter-final between the University of Manchester and Wadham College, Oxford, the former team were asked "Which distribution emits a probability density function f (x) equals 1 over square root of 2 pi times e to the power of minus x squared divided by 2?" The Manchester captain Kieran Lavin very deliberately asked "Could you repeat the question please?" and amidst the laughter Paxman adamantly said "No!"

In a match between Kings School of Medicine and Dentistry, London and Keble College, Oxford in the late 1990s, one of the questions was "Thuma, Towcher, Long-man, Lech-man and Little-man are Old and Middle English names for which parts of the human body?" One of the Kings contestants answered "Penis" (the correct answer was "Fingers"), to which Mr Paxman responded, "How many penises did they teach you we have nowadays?!"

Something similar happened in a 2000 match, when Paxman asked the teams, "The names 'Cheesemongers', 'CherryPickers', 'Bob's Own', 'The Emperor's Chambermaids' and 'The Immortals' are or have been used for which groups of men?" One unfortunate contestant from UMIST buzzed in and said, "Homosexuals". Paxman's (somewhat shocked) response was, "No! They're regiments in the British Army - and they're going to be very upset with you, UMIST!"

Ceci n'est pas une feuille de chêne

In 1998, Paxman showed a British tourist sign: "For ten points, simply tell me what it is". New Hall's contestant Lydia Wilson buzzes in: "It's an oak leaf" There is laughter from the audience. Paxman is disgusted. "Anyone can see it's an oak leaf! I was asking what it was!" Wilson is not fazed. "You asked me what it was - You should have said: 'What is it for?' not 'What is it?'" "It's a sign, signifying the National Trust. Actually on a point of pedantry you may be right." Wilson was voted Woman's Hour's "Woman of the Week" for standing up to Paxman.

In 2007, producers managed to confuse the audience by showing two picture questions on castles in the wrong order. Photos of Warwick and Arundel were transposed in the edit, although it is not known whether they were displayed to the teams correctly. As the winning margin was 30 points and only 5 points at most were at stake, the result would not have changed.

Records

The highest match score of all time was University College, Oxford's 520 points in 1987, versus Reading. The highest score PE (Paxman Era) was Open University's 415 points against Charing Cross in 1997.

The lowest score for the regular series was achieved by the girls of New Hall, Cambridge. Their 35 points (coming back from -15) were scraped together in a show aired in 1997, beating a 40-point low previously kept by Birkbeck College, London. Bradford University also scored 35 in 2004, as did the Royal Naval College and the Lawyers in the 2003 Professionals series. However, the all-time low for the Paxman era was also achieved in the 2003 Professionals series, when the House of Commons team, which included Austin Mitchell and Lembit Opik, scored only 25. In 2006, Robinson College, Cambridge scored 40 points. Other teams to score only 40 have included Oxford Brookes University (1998); St Andrews University (2001 and 2004); Keele University (2002) and Queen's University, Belfast (2005). In addition, two teams have scored only 45 points, namely St Hilda's, Oxford (2006) and Corpus Christi, Oxford (2007).

At its peak, the programme pulled in 12 million viewers. Not bad considering it was pretty much the antithesis of the usual slick-pattered, come-and-have-a-go, big money game show usually associated with commercial TV in those days (and in these days, indeed). The series was axed in 1987 when those ratings fell to 1 million.

Stephen Fry must surely hold the record for the most appearances (after the hosts) on the programme. He represented his university in the 1981 series, reaching that year's final, and has since reappeared on several celebrity specials, including the 1992 one against Keble College, Oxford, and at least one of the Angus Deayton-hosted Comic Relief specials, and he presented the trophy to the winners of the Reunited series. He also took part in the 'Young Ones' spoof of the programme.

The oldest contestant on the regular series to date was the then-73-year-old Mrs Ida Staples. She was on the 1997 Open University team, who were that year's defeated finallists.

During the Paxman-era, every single first match of the 14 regular series so far has seen the losing team qualify among the highest-scoring runners-up, usually due to a strong comeback by one of the teams. An amazing coincidence? No, just the result of the producers picking an exciting match to be the first broadcast in each new series.

Champions

1963 Leicester
1965 New College, Oxford
1966 Oriel College, Oxford
1967 Sussex
1968 Keele
1969 Sussex
1970 Churchill College, Cambridge
1971 Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
1972 University College, Oxford
1973 Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
1974 Trinity College, Cambridge
1975 Keble College, Oxford
1976 University College, Oxford
1977 Durham
1978 Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
1979 Bradford
1980 Merton College, Oxford
1981 Queen's University, Belfast
1982 St. Andrews
1983 Dundee
1984 Open University
1985 Jesus College, Oxford
1986 Keble College, Oxford
1995 Trinity College, Cambridge
1996 Imperial College, London
1997 Magdalen College, Oxford
1998 Magdalen College, Oxford
1999 Open University
2000 Durham
2001 Imperial College, London
2002 Somerville College, Oxford
2003 Birkbeck College, London
2004 Magdalen College, Oxford
2005 Corpus Christi College, Oxford
2006 Manchester
2007 Warwick
2008 Christ Church College, Oxford

University Challenge Reunited
2002 Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1979

University Challenge: The Professionals
2003 Inland Revenue
2004 British Library
2005 Privy Council Office
2006 Bodleian Library

Challenge Matches
1992 Celebrity Alumni team* beat Keble College, Oxford 1986 team
1997 Magdalen College Oxford 1997 beat Imperial College London 1996
1999 Magdalen College Oxford 1998 beat Leicester 1963

*Alumni team consisted of previous UC contestants: John Simpson, Charles Moore, Stephen Fry (captain) and Alistair Little.

Merchandise

University Challenge: The First 40 Years (paperback)

University Challenge Quiz Book (paperback)

See also

Sixth Form Challenge

Schools Challenge

Web links

Wikipedia entry

Sean Blanchflower's page - includes some excellent statistics and features, including an interview with David Elias (former question setter)

Chris Harrison's page

Pictures

Details of the next game appear over a typical Bamber-era student audience/rabble.

Picture 2 - A more recent picture of Bamber Gascoigne.

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