Semi-Final 2 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Halley's Comet hoves into view roughly every 75 years -

so one sighting a lifetime, if we're lucky, is about all we'll get.

As frequent, but far more thrilling, is an all-female fixture on

University Challenge - but that's what lies ahead of us tonight as

we play the second semifinal to find out who'll be taking on

Leeds University for the series championship tomorrow evening.

Now, the team from St Anne's College, Oxford beat

Manchester University in the first match in this series

by 185 points to 55.

Hoping to repeat that performance are a science journalist

and broadcaster who's reported on everything from birth rates

among African elephants to fossilised parrots in Siberia,

a historian who's also a broadcaster with

a particular interest in the historical context of art objects.

Their captain is a chemist and authority on solar-powered

conversion.

She's been at the helm of numerous scientific organisations.

And their fourth member is a broadcaster journalist,

formerly with the BBC and Al Jazeera English.

Let's ask them to introduce themselves again.

Hello, my name is Rebecca Morelle.

I read chemistry at St Anne's and graduated in 2001 and now I'm

a science correspondent at BBC News.

Hello, I'm Janina Ramirez.

I read English language and literature at St Anne's

from '98 to 2001,

and I'm now an art historian, a broadcaster and writer.

And this is their captain.

Hello, I'm Mary Archer.

I read chemistry at St Anne's from 1962 to 1966,

and I'm currently chairman of the Science Museum Group.

And I'm Jackie Rowland.

I graduated in modern languages from St Anne's in 1986.

And for the past 25 years I've been working as

a television correspondent.

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St Hilda's College, Oxford, came away from their first-round match

with 225 points to the 65 earned by Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Their line-up remains the same and comprises a psychiatrist

and psychotherapist, a former principal

of Somerville College, Oxford.

She is also an authority on the protection of personal data

within the NHS.

Her colleague is a specialist in the literature of ancient Greece

and Rome, particularly concerned with sexuality, women and gender.

Their captain is a prolific, award-winning and bestselling

author and their fourth player is also an author, having written more

than 19 books for children and adults, as well as being

a familiar voice on Radio Four's Round Britain Quiz.

Let's meet the St Hilda's team again.

Hello, I'm Fiona Caldicott.

I graduated from St Hilda's in 1966 in medicine.

I now chair a large teaching hospital trust in Oxford

and I'm the national data guardian for health and care.

Hello, I'm Daisy Dunn.

I read classics at St Hilda's from 2005 to 2009.

And I'm now an author and journalist.

-And let's meet their captain.

-Hi, I'm Val McDermid.

I graduated in 1975 from St Hilda's with a degree in English.

And I'm a crime writer.

Hello, I'm Adele Geras.

I read modern languages between 1963 and 1966, and I'm a writer.

APPLAUSE

Well, the rules are the same as they always are,

so fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first starter for ten.

The penultimate day of 2016 is the 200th anniversary of

the marriage at St Mildred's church on Bread Street in

the city of London of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin to which poet?

-Shelley.

-Correct.

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Your bonuses, St Hilda's, are on Charles Dickens's

A Child's History Of England

and, in each case, name the historical figure described.

All three lived in the same century. Firstly, for five,

"the first merry proceeding was - of course -

"to declare that he was one of the greatest, the wisest

"and the noblest kings that ever shone like

"the blessed sun itself on this benighted earth."

Merry... Was "merry" King Cole?

He was a merry old soul.

King. I don't know.

Any ideas?

Same century. 19th century.

-I think one of the Henrys. Henry VIII?

-Try Henry VIII.

We'll try Henry VIII?

Henry VIII?

No. It was Charles II or Dickens's judgment on Charles II.

Described as "Chief Justice of the court of King's Bench, a red face,

"swollen, bloated, horrible creature with a bullying roaring voice and

"a more savage nature perhaps

"than was ever lodged in any human breast."

-Judge Jeffreys.

-Correct.

"First, an orange girl, and, then, an actress who really had good in

"her and of whom one of the worst things I know is that she actually

"does seem to have been rather fond of the King."

-Nell Gwyn.

-Correct.

Ten points for this.

Queen's Ware and Black Basalt are

ceramic bodies invented by which industrial innovator

and campaigner against celebrity?

-Josiah Wedgwood.

-Correct.

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Your bonuses are on the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

In each case, listen to the quotation and identify

the actor whose character speaks those lines.

"Don't like her? What's wrong with her?

"She's beautiful, she's rich, she's got huge...tracts of land."

LAUGHTER

THEY CONFER

-Terry Gilliam.

-I don't know.

-Terry Gilliam.

-No, that's Michael Palin.

"There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred, even those

"who arrange and design shrubberies are under

"considerable economic stress in this period of history."

-Eric Idle.

-It was Eric Idle as Roger the Shrubber and, finally,

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

-John Cleese.

-John Cleese is right.

Right, ten points at stake for this.

Which US actor and model starred in Serge Gainsbourg's 1976 film,

Je T'aime Moi Non Plus?

Oh, no. Jane Birkin.

No. I'm afraid you lose five points.

..opposite the British actress Jane Birkin.

He made his name in underground films by Andy Warhol

such as Flesh, Trash and Heat and is mentioned in

Lou Reed's song Walk On The Wild Side.

It's Joe Dallesandro.

Oh, are you buzzing because you knew the answer?

I've given it to you now. It's too late.

-I was wrong anyway.

-Right.

Ten points for this. Answer as soon as your name is called.

Fingers on the buzzers.

Name both of the elements discovered by Marie Curie

during her investigation of radioactivity.

-Radium and polonium.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the first millennium of the common

or Christian era.

In each case, identify the century during which the named people

lived and died.

Firstly, Saints Cyril and Methodius,

who together were known as the Apostles of the Slavs,

the Byzantine Emperor Basil I

and Kenneth MacAlpin, the first King of Scots.

-We've got to find the century.

-Yeah.

Fourth. I think it's fourth or fifth.

MacAlpin's going to be the fifth.

-Fifth.

-No, that was the ninth century.

-OK.

Secondly, the Chinese poets Li Po and Du Fu,

the Japanese empress Koken

and the Frankish king Pepin the Short.

Pepin the Short.

THEY CONFER

It's going to be seventh or...

-Seventh.

-No, it's the eighth century. The 700s, though.

And five points for this.

The Neo-Platonist philosopher Plotinus,

the Sassanid ruler Shapur I

and Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra.

-Sounds old.

-Yeah.

-First or second?

-First because it's the first millennium. Say first.

First.

-No, it's the third.

-Oh!

Right, we're going to take a picture round.

For your picture starter, you'll see a map.

For ten points, please give me the name of the republic whose

territory lies within the red outline.

Uzbekistan.

Good heavens, no. St Anne's? One of you buzz.

France.

No, it's Kiribas.

Right, ten points for this.

Born in Pembrokeshire in 1876,

which painter is noted for her self-portraits and domestic scenes?

A student of James Whistler, she's increasingly been recognised

as one of the foremost British postimpressionists.

-Is it Gwen John?

-It is Gwen John, yes.

APPLAUSE

So you'll be pleased to hear that you get the picture bonuses.

Kiritimati atoll or Christmas atoll,

which forms part of the Republic of Kiribati,

is the first point of dry land to experience New Year.

For your bonuses, you'll see maps with three locations highlighted.

In each instance, I want you to tell me

the name of the city highlighted and what time and date

it will be in the UK

when each of these locations experiences New Year?

Firstly, this US state capital.

Is it Nevada?

THEY CONFER

So, the 1st of January at eight o'clock in the morning...

1st of January in the UK?

So it's eight o'clock in the morning, 1st of January.

I'm afraid not, that was Phoenix, in fact, in Arizona.

And so it was seven o'clock on the 1st of January.

Secondly, this capital of an autonomous country...

THEY CONFER

Two hours behind us? Two hours behind us, I think.

-Cos Iceland's the same as us.

-Is it?

We think it's two o'clock in the morning

and that's Greenland, Nunavik.

No, it's three o'clock in the morning on the 1st of January,

and it's Nuuk in Greenland.

And finally...

THEY CONFER

-Moscow?

-Moscow?

Moscow's before.

Five?

Four, five...

Five.

So, they get it on seven o'clock on Hogmanay.

No, it's nine o'clock on Hogmanay, and it's Moscow.

Right, ten points for this.

Derived from the Italian

for boat or barge,

what term is used for a Venetian gondolier's song

or a composition typified by gentle rocking rhythms in...

Barcarole.

Correct.

These bonuses are on the works of Seamus Heaney, St Hilda's.

So. "The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them

"had courage and greatness."

These words begin which of Heaney's works?

A translation of a poem said to be

the earliest European vernacular epic.

-It's Beowulf.

-Correct.

Commissioned to mark the centenary in 2004

of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, Heaney's play The Burial At Thebes

is a reworking of which tragedy by Sophocles?

THEY CONFER

Antigone.

Correct. Published posthumously in 2016,

Heaney's story of a Trojan prince venturing into the underworld

to find his dead father is a translation of book six

of which epic poem by Virgil?

The Aeneid.

Correct. Ten points for this.

In their dictionary spellings, which accent appears on the

Italian word for "because", the French for summer

and the Spanish for Saturday?

Acute.

Acute is correct.

These bonuses are on scientific terms, St Hilda's.

They all begin with the same Greek prefix -

in each case give the term from the description.

Firstly, in astronomy,

the point at which the moon is furthest from the earth.

In a general sense, it means a high or culminating point,

for example, of power and success.

THEY CONFER

Apogee.

Apogee is right.

Also known as programmed cell death,

a biological mechanism that allows the controlled destruction

of cells as part of an organism's natural growth?

THEY CONFER

Miosis.

No, it's apoptosis.

And, finally, in anatomy, a type of sweat gland

found in the armpits and perineum.

THEY CONFER

No, it's gone. Apostrophe.

Apocrine.

Ten points for this music starter.

You're going to hear a piece of classical music,

all you have to do is identify the composer.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

Handel.

Handel is right, it's from the Music For The Royal Fireworks.

Your music bonuses are three more pieces inspired by fireworks.

In each case, for five points, I want the composer

of the work you hear.

Firstly, this French composer.

PIANO PLAYS

THEY CONFER

Debussy.

It is Debussy.

Secondly, another French composer...

PIANO PLAYS

THEY CONFER

Ravel?

No, that's Erik Satie.

And, finally, this Russian composer.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

THEY CONFER

-Shostakovich?

-No, it's Stravinsky.

Ten points for this.

"It makes everyone a tourist

"in other people's reality

"and, eventually, in one's own."

These words of Susan Sontag referred to what device?

Its modern form was developed from the 1820s.

Camera.

Correct.

St Hilda's, these bonuses are on the biographer Kathryn Hughes.

Kathryn Hughes's first published work deals with members of what

profession during the Victorian era?

Fictional examples include Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre.

-Governesses.

-Governesses.

-Governesses.

Correct.

Born in Warwickshire in 1819,

which prominent novelist is the subject of Hughes's

award-winning biography subtitled The Last Victorian?

THEY CONFER

-I think we'd better have an answer, please.

-Sorry.

That's about George Eliot.

And, finally, which writer on household management

is the subject of a 2005 biography by Hughes?

Born 1836, her forenames were Isabel and Mary.

Mrs Beeton.

Correct. Ten points for this.

The School For Lovers is the subtitle of which opera buffa...

Cosi Fan Tutte.

Correct.

You get a set of bonuses, St Hilda's, on SI derived units.

Firstly, the SI derived unit of illumination begins the name

of which EU member state?

THEY CONFER

It's Luxembourg.

Correct. The SI derived unit of luminous flux

appears within the surname of which celebrity chef?

Born in London in 1966,

his published works include Kitchen Chemistry.

THEY CONFER

Heston Blumenthal.

Correct.

And, finally, the SI derived unit of the electromotive force

begins the name of which major figure of the Enlightenment,

born in Paris in 1694?

-Voltaire.

-Voltaire.

Voltaire is correct.

Ten points for this starter question.

In conservation biology, the acronym CITES, CITE-S...

Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.

-Correct.

-Yay!

Your bonuses are on the Old Testament.

In the book of Daniel, the words "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin"

are the origin of what English expression meaning

a sign of impending doom?

The writing is on the wall?

-BELL RINGS

-Oh, sorry.

-That's all right.

Redundant. The writing is on the wall.

Correct.

Give the two words that complete this sentence from the

King James Bible, an interpretation of the word tekel.

"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art..."

"Found wanting."

Correct.

The writing on the wall is revealed to which Babylonian king

who dies soon afterwards?

He's the title figure of a painting by Rembrandt.

Nebuchadnezzar.

No, it's Belshazzar.

We're going to take a second picture round now.

For your picture starter, you're going to see an engraving

after a portrait of an 18th-century English poet.

Ten points if you can identify the poet.

Keats.

No, anyone like to buzz from St Hilda's?

You may not confer!

Shelley?

No, it's Thomas Grey, so picture bonuses shortly,

ten points at stake on this starter question.

Fingers on the buzzers.

At midnight on the 31st of December, in a tradition believed to bring

good luck, people in Spain consume what fruit...

One for each...

Grapes.

Grapes is correct, yes.

So, you get bonuses on the picture round,

2016 saw the 300th anniversary of the birth of the poet

and classicist Thomas Gray,

perhaps best known for the Elegy In A Country Churchyard,

a work which has long provided inspiration in diverse media.

Your bonuses will be about works that felt the influence

of Gray's elegy.

Firstly, for five points,

which British artist painted this watercolour

of the Stoke Poges church, near to which Gray was living

when he wrote the elegy and widely believed to have inspired it?

THEY CONFER

West?

No, that's Constable.

And, secondly, from what film is this still taken?

Its name is derived ultimately from a phrase appearing in the elegy.

THEY CONFER

-Let's have it.

-All Quiet On The Western Front.

No, it's Paths Of Glory,

as in "the paths of glory lead but to the grave".

And, finally, identify this author and the title of his novel,

whose title also comes from a line in the elegy.

THEY CONFER

We don't know.

That's Thomas Hardy, who wrote, of course,

Far From The Madding Crowd.

Ten points for this.

Molecules of which gaseous element are produced at normal temperature

and pressure by the action of sulphuric acid on zinc?

Hydrogen.

Correct.

So, you get a set of bonuses on tennis matches

played on the final day of the 2016 Wimbledon tournament.

Name the player in each case.

First, the Guernsey-born British tennis player who won the

mixed-doubles final with her Finnish partner Henri Kontinen.

-Don't know.

-No.

Don't know.

That's Heather Watson.

Secondly, the British player who won his second Wimbledon title

in as many days when he added the men's wheelchair singles

to the doubles title he'd won alongside Alfie Hewett.

No.

That's Gordon Reid.

And, finally, the Canadian player who was beaten by Andy Murray

in the men's singles final.

Come on now.

Canadian.

It's gone straight out of my head.

SHE MUTTERS

No.

It's Milos Raonic.

Ten points for this.

First seen at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904

in a production directed by Stanislavski,

which play by Anton Chekhov sees

an aristocratic woman and her family lose their estate to the son of a...

Cherry Orchard.

Correct.

There's about 3.5 minutes to go and a set of bonuses for you

now, St Hilda's, on Paris entertainment venues.

Founded in 1680, what is Paris' oldest theatre

and is it still the only one with a repertory company performing

both classical and modern drama in French?

The Comedie-Francaise.

Comedie-Francaise.

Correct. Sharing its name with a type of public

outdoor swimming pool,

which dining and cabaret venue is home to the troupe of

dancers known as the Bluebell Girls?

-Lido.

-Lido?

It's the Lido.

Correct. The Theatre de la Ville en Place du Chatelet

was formally named after which Parisian actress

who performed there and also managed the theatre from 1899

until her death in 1923?

THEY CONFER

-Is it Josephine Baker?

-Try it.

Is it Josephine Baker?

No, it's Sarah Bernhardt.

Ten points for this.

When the Scottish physicist

William Cullen

let ethyl ether boil into a partial vacuum

at the University of Glasgow in 1748,

it was the first known artificial example of what process?

Vacuum distillation?

No, anyone to buzz from St Hilda's?

It's refrigeration or evaporative cooling.

Ten points for this.

Directed by Burr Steers,

which film of 2016 was described by one reviewer as an energetic...

The Revenant.

No, you lose five points.

..energetic and occasionally inspired mashup

of Jane Austen and George Romero.

Jane Austen With Zombies?

No, it's Pride And Prejudice And Zombies.

Shocking you don't know. Ten points for this.

Who acceded to the throne of Great Britain in the year that

Martin Van Buren became US President?

Queen Victoria.

Correct.

Your bonuses, St Hilda's, are on politics.

In each case, give the single word that completes these titles,

all three answers end in the letters I-S-M.

Firstly, George Bernard Shaw's 1928 work,

The Intelligent Woman's Guide To...what?

THEY CONFER

Socialism.

Correct. Secondly. Hannah Arendt's 1951 work Origins Of...what?

-Sexism?

-Feminism.

-Feminism.

Feminism?

No, it's totalitarianism.

And, finally, Edward Said's 1993 work Culture And...what?

Imperialism?

Imperialism.

Correct. Ten points for this.

In Roman history, what term

denotes a victory celebration

of lesser magnitude than a triumph?

In modern usage...

-Ovation.

-Ovation is correct.

These bonuses are on taxonomy, St Hilda's.

The botanical term division is equivalent

to what taxonomic rank in zoology?

Species.

Species?

No, it's a phylum.

Its name meaning jointed foot,

what phylum contains the largest number of species?

THEY CONFER

Sorry, we don't know.

They're arthropods.

And, finally, to which phylum do mammals belong?

GONG

APPLAUSE

Chordate.

And at the gong, St Anne's College, Oxford, have 75,

St Hilda's College, Oxford, have 165.

Well, St Anne's, we shall have to say goodbye to you -

never really got into your stride today, did you?

But thank you very much for joining us.

And St Hilda's, we should look forward...

Many congratulations to you.

..to see you in the final. Thank you.

I hope you can join us next time for the final, but until then,

it's goodbye from St Anne's College, Oxford.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

It's goodbye from St Hilda's College, Oxford.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me, goodbye.

APPLAUSE