Edinburgh v St Catharine's, Cambridge University Challenge

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions -

Jeremy Paxman.

Hello, another bout of intellectual

snowballs lies ahead of us

with two more teams of

distinguished alumni preparing

to battle it out for a place

in the semifinals.

We've now played four of the seven

first-round matches

and as only the four teams

with the highest winning scores

will go through, we already know

that the University of Kent

will definitely appear again,

and a score of 190 or more

will guarantee

that tonight's winners do so too.

Now, Edinburgh University is

represented first

by a scientist whose specialism is

the overlap between

genetics and evolution.

He's also a world expert

on the genetics of snails,

with which we apparently share

a distant ancestry,

a revelation that on reflection

isn't quite as surprising

as it first seems.

With him,

an academic and broadcaster,

who's researched landscape evolution

in Australia, Africa

and Antarctica. More recently,

alongside her present role

in Edinburgh, she's appeared

on TV series such as Coast,

Rough Science

and The Nature Of Britain.

Their captain has starred

in several television dramas

such as the Emmy-award-winning

series Capital

and the Bletchley Circle, as well as

the BAFTA-award-winning comedy

The Detectorists, and films such as

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.

In the theatre she's twice been

nominated for an Olivier Award.

Finally, a journalist

who began her career

writing for Edinburgh University's

student newspaper.

Since graduating, she's been

associated with one newspaper,

for which she's been

a commissioning editor

and a correspondent based in Berlin

and later Delhi.

She also writes an occasional column

about bikes

and is the author of Bicycle - The

Complete Guide To Everyday Cycling.

Let's meet the Edinburgh team.

Hello, my name is Steve Jones.

I graduated in Zoology

from Edinburgh in 1966

and I spend most of my time,

nowadays,

writing popular science books.

Hello, I'm Hermione Cockburn,

and a I graduated in 1993

with a BSc in Geography

and then again in 1998

with a PhD in Geomorphology.

I'm currently the scientific

director of Dynamic Earth

in Edinburgh.

And this is their captain.

Hello, I'm Rachael Stirling.

I graduated with an MA in History

of Art from Edinburgh in 1999.

And I'm now an actress

living and working in London.

My name is Helen Pidd

and I graduated

with a degree in German in 2004,

and I'm now the North of England

Editor of the Guardian.

Now, playing for

St Catharine's College, Cambridge,

first is a chemist, a recipient of

the Royal Society of Chemistry's

President's Award - he's delivered

the Royal Institution's

Christmas Lectures and made

numerous TV appearances

as a specialist in his field.

He's also the author

of several textbooks

which will be very familiar

to students of chemistry.

Next, a former teacher turned

writer, whose works include

the bestselling novel Chocolat,

she's been a judge for

the Whitbread and Orange

literary prizes

and says she'd like to make it known

she's open to offers

involving exotic travel.

For two decades, their captain

has covered some of the biggest

national and international stories

for the BBC,

both in the studio and in the field,

as correspondent for Europe,

New York and the Middle East.

In doing so, he's won a BAFTA,

a Sony and an RTS award.

Finally, an international musician

who was born in Sarajevo

and won the BBC Music Magazine

Newcomer of the Year in 2011.

She's performed in venues

across Europe, the US and Japan,

released her own albums

featuring the works

of Janacek, Schubert and Ravel,

and recently made her debut with

the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Let's meet the St Catharine's team.

Hello, I'm Peter Wothers,

I graduated in 1991,

reading Chemistry

and now I'm a teaching fellow

in the Department of Chemistry

in Cambridge.

Hello, I'm Joanne Harris,

I graduated from

St Catharine's in 1985

in Modern and Medieval Languages

and now I write books.

And this is their captain.

Hello, I'm Matthew Price,

I graduated from St Catharine's

in '94, having studied Geography

and I'm currently

the Chief Correspondent

for the Today programme on Radio 4.

Hello, I'm Ivana Gavric,

I graduated in Music

from St Catharine's

and now I'm a concert pianist.

Same rules as the students,

10 points for starter questions,

they must be answered

individually on the buzzer,

bonuses you can confer on,

they're worth 15 points.

Fingers on the buzzers - here is

your first starter for ten.

Which influential radio series

was first heard in 1951

and ran until 1960,

with a last show of all

being transmitted in 1972...?

The Goon Show.

Correct.

Right, the first set of

bonuses are on chemicals

and children's literature.

Firstly, what two-word Latin term

denotes a solution of

ammonium carbonate in alcohol,

sometimes carried by Victorian

police constables

to revive fainting women?

Sal Volatile.

Correct.

"When they started in 1919, women

were still sniffing sal volatile,

"and when they ended,

boys had begun sniffing glue."

These words refer to books

about which fictional schoolboy,

brother to Ethel and Robert?

Jennings? You try it?

It's a guess.

Jennings.

No, it was Just William,

William Brown.

And finally, "There's nothing like

eating hay when you're faint,

"I should think throwing cold water

over you would be better,

"or some sal volatile." These words

in Through The Looking Glass

form part of an exchange between

Alice and which royal figure?

The Red Queen.

No, it's the White King.

10 points for this.

In November 2016, Anglo Saxon graves

thought to be the oldest

of their kind in Britain,

were unearthed

in which English county?

Possibly dating to the 7th century,

the site is part of

an early Christian community

on the River Wensum,

southeast of Fakenham.

Norwich, Norfolk.

Yes, I only wanted the county,

so it's Norfolk.

15 points for these bonuses

for you, Edinburgh.

They are on a piece of

classical music.

In order to make room

for more company,

women were asked to refrain

from wearing hoops

and gentlemen from wearing swords

at the world premiere

of which oratorio at the Fishamble

Street Music Hall in Dublin

in April 1742?

That's Handel - Messiah.

Handel's Messiah.

Correct. Which British monarch

is thought to have

initiated the practice of standing

during the performance

of the Hallelujah Chorus,

having done so during

the Messiah's London premiere

in 1743?

George III.

George III.

No, it's George II.

"The kingdoms of this world

are become the kingdoms

"of our Lord and of his Christ, and

he shall reign for ever and ever."

These lines from

the Hallelujah Chorus are taken

from which book of

the New Testament?

Revelations?

Shall we go Revelations?

Try something.

Matthew, Mark, Luke?

Luke? Christmas Story.

Which one?!

Book of Romans!

No, it's from Revelation.

In 1958,

to what was the US journalist

Edward R Murrow referring when

he said, "This instrument can teach,

"it can illuminate, yes, and it can

even inspire, but it can do so..."?

Television.

Correct, yes.

Three questions on distinctive

buildings, Edinburgh.

Completed in 1930, which building

stands over 1,000 feet high

at 405 Lexington Avenue

in Manhattan

and was the first to use

Nirosta metal on its exterior,

a mixture of chrome,

nickel and steel?

Chrysler.

Chrysler Building.

Correct. Barcelona's Casa Mila,

with its undulating balconies

and surrealistic chimneys is

the largest civil building

designed by Gaudi.

It's commonly known by what name,

that translates as "the quarry"?

We have not a Scooby-Doo.

It's La Pedrera.

And finally, designed by the

Chinese-born architect CY Lee

to resemble a growing bamboo stalk,

what was the first skyscraper

to exceed half a kilometre

in height?

Is it the Burj?

B-U-R-J.

In...?

The Burj.

No, it's Taipei 101, formerly

the World Financial Centre. Right,

we'll take our picture round now,

for your first of them.

For your picture starter

you'll see a map of France on

which a particular wine region

has been highlighted. 10 points

if you can identify that region.

Champagne.

It is, yes.

OK, for your picture bonuses

I want you to identify three more

common festive tipples

from maps showing the regions

where they are exclusively produced.

Firstly, this drink

which has had

Protected Designation of Origin

since 1933.

Sherry?

Shall we try it?

Sherry.

Correct. Secondly, this drink

which has had

its protected appellation

since 1936.

Cognac or Armagnac?

Cognac.

Cognac is correct.

And finally, this drink, which

has had its protected appellation

since the 1750s.

Port.

Port is correct, yes,

in the Douro Valley.

10 points for this.

What three letter begin the names

of an aromatic herb

with an aniseed taste,

a major sports club in Istanbul,

an Irish revolutionary brotherhood

founded in 1858...

G-A-L.

No, you lose five points as well

for an incorrect interruption.

And a railway station in the

south-east of the city of London.

You may not confer,

one of you can buzz, Edinburgh.

V-I-C.

No, it's F-E-N. So, 10 points

at stake for this starter question.

Not overburdened

with festive sentiment,

which film opened in the US

on Boxing Day 1973?

Based on a novel by

William Peter Blatty

and directed...

The Exorcist.

Correct.

You get three questions

on number theory in 2016.

January 2016 saw the announcement

of the largest prime number

so far discovered,

namely 2 to the power 74,207,281 -1.

How many digits comprise

this number?

You can have two million

either way.

We're going to try 200,000,000.

No, it's 22,338,168.

Secondly, this number is an example

of a class of prime

named after which French monk

born in 1588?

We don't know.

They do, over there.

I could hear them whispering

between themselves.

It's Mersenne. And finally,

born in the 4th century BCE,

which Greek mathematician proved

that the number of primes

is infinite?

Anyone?

Pythagoras.

Pythagoras.

No, it's Euclid.

10 points for this.

"If anyone wishes to see in how

little space a human being can move,

"how little air he can breathe,

"how little of civilisation

he may share, and yet live,

"it is only necessary

to travel hither."

These words of

Friedrich Engels refer

to which British city?

Manchester.

Indeed!

Good old Northern editor!

Right, your bonuses are on food

and drink in Charles Dickens's

A Christmas Carol. Revealed by

the Ghost of Christmas Past,

which character is Scrooge's

former employer?

He is seen serving negus,

a traditional hot drink

of port, sugar, lemon and spices,

to his guests.

Fred.

It's Mr Fezziwig.

Secondly, which character

is first encountered

sitting on a throne of turkeys,

geese, game, poultry and brawn -

great joints of meat,

suckling pigs, wreaths of sausages

and much more?

The Ghost of Christmas Present.

Correct.

In the final stave, Scrooge refers

to what beverage of hot red wine,

oranges, sugar and spices? Its name

refers to the member of the clergy

whose robes its colour

is said to resemble.

Gluhwein.

Sorry!

No, it's Smoking Bishop.

We'll take a music round now.

For your music starter, you'll

hear a piece of classical music.

10 points if you can identify

the composer.

Grieg.

It is Grieg, yes.

You probably know what it is too,

don't you?

I do.

What is it?

Piano Concerto.

Yes, which one.

A minor.

Correct.

In 1887, Edvard Grieg gave

a copy of his piano concerto

as a Christmas present

to the composer Frederick Delius.

Your bonuses are three more

classical works,

this time all conceived

and given as Christmas gifts

to the composer's

friends and family.

All you have to do is identify

the composer of each work,

all three of them are German.

Firstly...

Try Schumann?

Schumann.

No, it's Mendelssohn.

That was one of his

Six Children's Pieces,

written as Christmas presents for

the children of a family friend.

Secondly...

Brahms.

No, that's one of Schumann's

romances. Three Romances

written as a Christmas gift

for his wife Clara. And finally...

Anyone?

No.

Brahms?

Give me a name,

give me a German composer.

Brahms.

No, it wasn't, that was part of

Wagner's Siegfried Idyll.

10 points for this.

The full moon

of which month has traditionally

been known in the US

as the Oak Moon, Cold Moon

or Long Nights Moon?

October.

Nope.

One of you want to buzz

from St Catharine's?

December.

Correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on six-letter words

that can be created

from the letters in the word

frankincense.

In each case,

give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a term commonly used

for the inverse of one of

the main three

trigonometric functions.

We'd better have an answer, please.

We've got nothing.

We don't have pens and paper either,

so we can't work it out!

It's arcsin.

And secondly,

any of a group of phosphoproteins

that together form the major

protein constituent of milk.

The group is used in the production

of cheese,

and in the manufacture

of paints and glues.

Lactates?

Lactase.

Lactades?

..Tase, ase, ase.

I'll nominate you, Peter.

Lactase.

No, it's casein.

And finally, a small fox

with conspicuously large ears,

native to the Sahara Desert.

I don't know that one.

Good on small foxes?

We don't know, I'm afraid.

That's a fennec.

10 points for this.

Born in 1789,

which English artist

did Constable dismiss

as a "painter of pantomimes"?

His works are often grandiose

landscapes and cityscapes,

peopled with a myriad

of tiny figures...

George Martin.

No, I can't accept that, no...

Sorry, Martin...

Anyone like to buzz from Edinburgh?

You lose five points,

I'm afraid, as well.

They include The Plains Of Heaven

and The Fall Of Nineveh.

Somebody Martin?

That's not good enough.

You obviously knew it, Joanne,

but it was John Martin, of course,

not George Martin, who was

the Beatles' producer, wasn't he?

So, 10 points at stake for this.

1066 in Normandy,

Anaconda in Johannesburg

and Stress Express in eastern China

are examples of what

recreational structures

listed on rcdb.com?

This comprehensive website provides

statistics such as length,

drop, g-force and speed.

Roller-coasters.

Correct.

Your bonuses are on

German dramatists now, Edinburgh.

Born in 1898,

which dramatist advocated that

audiences should not identify with

the characters on stage,

but should experience theatre

with critical detachment?

The so-called alienation effect.

Brecht.

Bertolt Brecht.

Correct.

Written in the 1830s and first

produced posthumously in 1879,

what was the last work of

the dramatist Georg Buchner?

It concerns an army barber whose

jealousy of his partner's affair

causes him to erupt into violence.

Woyzeck?

Woyzeck.

Correct. Finally, which German

playwright, poet and novelist

was awarded the Nobel Prize

for Literature in 1999?

He caused controversy in 2006,

just before the publication

of his work Peeling The Onion,

when he revealed that he had been

a member of the Waffen-SS.

Gunter Grass.

Correct.

A picture round now.

For your picture starter you'll see

a photograph of a noted academic

who was also an author

of enduring fiction.

10 points if you can name him.

Tolkien.

No.

Lewis.

No, it's MR James.

So, we'll take another

starter question

and we'll take the picture bonuses

in a moment or two.

10 points at stake for this,

fingers on buzzers, please.

Which US director's last film

was an 1987 adaptation of The Dead,

the final short story in James

Joyce's collection, Dubliners?

A pivotal role in the film

was taken by his daughter Anjelica.

John Huston.

Correct.

Now, you saw a picture of MR James

a moment ago, he is noted

both as a medievalist scholar

and as a writer of ghost stories.

For your bonuses, three writers,

each of whom has made

a notable contribution to the genre

of ghost fiction.

Alongside an image from an

adaptation of one of their works.

First, I want the name of this

author and the title of his work,

here adapted as an opera.

No, we don't know.

It's Henry James, it was an adaption

of The Turn Of The Screw.

Secondly, this Irish writer and

the original title of his story,

which was rather loosely adapted

as the film on the right.

We're just going to go

James Joyce again.

No, that was Sheridan Le Fanu

and Carmilla.

And finally, this writer

and the work adapted here

for the silver screen.

Oh...

It's Susan Hill...

Yes, it's The Woman In Black.

Susan Hill.

And...

The Woman In Black.

Correct. 10 points for this.

In terms of cultural organisations,

if Germany is Goethe

and Spain Cervantes,

China is which historical figure?

Confucius.

Correct.

Your bonuses are on women

born in the 1870s, Edinburgh.

In each case, name the person

from the description, please.

Firstly, an author

born in Pennsylvania in 1874.

Her works include Wars I Have Seen

and The Autobiography

Of Alice B Toklas.

Could it be Gertrude Stein?

I think it's a bit early.

Gertrude Stein?

Gertrude Stein.

Correct.

Secondly, an educator

born in Rome in 1870,

she's noted for

a system based on spontaneity

and freedom from restraint.

Montessori.

Nominate Jones.

Sorry, sorry. Montessori.

Correct, Maria Montessori.

And finally, a suffragette

born in Blackheath in 1872,

she died after a highly visible

protest during the 1913 Derby.

The one who was killed

by the King's horse.

It's not one of the Pankhursts,

definitely not.

What was the other one?

Come on.

Oh, God.

Try it, I don't know.

Pankhurst, Emmeline, wrong.

It's Emily Davidson.

Davidson!

There's about two and a quarter

minutes to go and 10 points at stake

for this. Who's this?

Born in Scotland in 1797,

he proposed an explanation

of the causes of earthquakes,

named geological eras, such as

the Pliocene, and popularised

the concept of uniformitarianism.

Charles Lyell.

Correct, yes.

These bonuses are on Buddhism.

In which country is

the World Heritage site of Taxila,

a major city of the historical

region of Gandhara,

a centre of Buddhist learning

from the 5th century BCE?

I would say India or Nepal.

Nepal?

Nepal.

No, it's Pakistan.

Destroyed by Islamic invaders

in the 12th century,

the ruins of Nalanda, sometimes

described as a Buddhist university,

lie southeast of Patna

in which Indian state?

Try Rajasthan.

Rajasthan.

No, it's Bihar.

And finally, founded by

the prominent reformer Dengio,

Enryaku-ji was a major centre

of Buddhist learning

from the 9th century. It lies close

to which former Japanese capital?

Edo.

Edo.

No, it's Kyoto.

10 points for this.

Which poet's works

include the 1954 poem -

The Cultivation Of Christmas Trees.

It was the last of his

Ariel poems,

celebrating the different aspects

of the festive season.

Ted Hughes.

No, anyone like to buzz

from Edinburgh?

Auden.

No, it was TS Eliot.

10 points for this.

Set against the backdrop of

a wintry Wyoming landscape,

the bounty hunter John Ruth

and his fugitive captive

seek refuge during a blizzard

in which 2015 film

by Quentin Tarantino?

I'll tell you - it's The Hateful

Eight. Ten points for this.

Listen carefully, what is the only

single-digit positive integer

that is not a factor...

At the gong,

St Catharine's College have 60,

Edinburgh University have 115.

Well, thank you all very much

for taking part,

you didn't need to do it,

any of you.

So, it was great fun.

St Catharine's, we're going to

be saying goodbye to you, but thank

you very much for joining us.

And, Edinburgh, I think we're

going to probably say goodbye

to you as well cos only the four

highest-scoring winning teams

go through and I doubt 115 will be

anywhere near good enough for that.

You spent too long conferring!

Anyway, I hope you can join us

next time for another

first-round match, but until then,

it's goodbye from

St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

ALL:

Goodbye.

It's goodbye from Edinburgh

University. ALL:

Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me, goodbye.