Episode 5 University Challenge

University Challenge!

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight sees another first-round match

with one of Cambridge's newest colleges playing one of Oxford's oldest.

The winners go through to the second round. The losers could play again if they score well enough.

Homerton College, Cambridge only got full college status last year,

but it dates back to a dissenters' society established in London in 1730 which was based

at Homerton in Hackney, hence its name.

Formerly single-sex, it started admitting men in the 1970s

and in 2001 broadened its intake to include students taking courses other than Education Studies,

as their captain puts it, "shaking off its reputation as the cradle of the nation's geography teachers."

Alumni include Sandi Toksvig, Jan Ravens, Cherie Lunghi and Nick Hancock.

Tonight's four play on behalf of 1,200 students. Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Jack Euesden, I'm from Sheffield

and I'm reading Natural Sciences.

Hi, I'm Frances Conner, I'm from Downpatrick in County Down

and I'm studying for a PGCE in Modern Languages.

-Their captain.

-Hello, I'm David Murray from Ripon in North Yorkshire

and I'm reading for the MPhil in European Literature and Culture.

I'm Thomas Grinyer from Southampton and I read Chemical Engineering.

APPLAUSE

Now, Balliol College, Oxford was established in 1263 by John Balliol, a loyal supporter of Henry III.

It's had something of a turbulent past, resisting Henry VIII in his struggle against Rome

and being forced to sell its silver during the Civil War to support the Royalists,

but it flourished in the 19th century under Benjamin Jowett.

A Balliol rhyme has him saying, "All there is to know, I know it,

"I am the Master of this college, what I don't know isn't knowledge."

Balliol has the only college bar still entirely run by students

and their captain often pulls pints there.

All four have passed the Breathalyser tonight. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm Liam Shaw, I'm from Shropshire and I study Physics.

Hi, I'm Andrew Whitby, I'm from Brisbane, Australia,

and I'm working towards a DPhil in Economics.

-Their captain.

-I'm Simon Wood from Aldershot. I'm studying Chemistry.

I'm James Kirby from Warwickshire, reading for a Masters in History.

APPLAUSE

You all know the rules. I'll remind you that starter questions are worth ten points, they're solo efforts.

Bonuses are team efforts worth 15 points

and incorrect interruptions to starters incur a five-point penalty.

Here's your first starter for ten.

What short adjective links the salt flats in New Mexico where the first nuclear weapon was detonated,

an inlet of the Barents Sea off northern Russia

and the main branch of the River Nile which joins the Blue...

-White.

-Correct.

You get the first set of bonuses, Balliol. They're on secrets.

Firstly for five points, The Secret Pilgrim, John Le Carre's novel of 1990,

sees the final appearance in print of which character, introduced in Call For The Dead in 1961?

-Smiley.

-George Smiley.

Correct. The Secret Notebooks of which writer who died in 1976 were published in 2009

with two posthumously discovered stories, The Capture Of Cerberus and The Incident Of The Dog's Ball,

featuring perhaps her best-known character?

WHISPERING

-Anyone? Any famous authors from that period? Enid Blyton?

-Iris Murdoch maybe?

-Iris Murdoch.

-No, Agatha Christie.

The Secret Garden, first published in 1910, is a novel for children

by which Manchester-born author and playwright?

-Burnett. Frances...

-I'll accept. Do you happen to know her full name?

-Frances Hodgson.

-Yes, well done.

Ten points for this starter.

"In barrenness...I hold a high place among English poets, excelling even Gray."

These are the words of which poet, referring to the 26-year gap

between his Last Poems of 1922 and his first collection, A Shropshire Lad?

-Housman.

-AE Housman is correct, yes.

So your first bonuses, Homerton, are on a European city.

The Red Cross was founded in the 1860s in which European city, later the HQ of the League of Nations?

-Geneva.

-Correct. Which philosopher and political theorist was born in Geneva in 1712

and wrote major works there, including Discourses On The Origin Of Inequality in 1755?

-Rousseau.

-Correct. Based near Geneva, the Organisation Europeenne Pour La Recherche Nucleaire

is commonly known by what acronym, formed from its earlier full name?

-CERN.

-CERN is right. Another starter question.

"He had the mental abilities of a great king, but the inclinations of a petty tyrant."

These words refer to which King of England whose epithets included Softsword and Lackland?

-John.

-Correct. Here are your bonuses. They're on 20th century history, Homerton.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 between Britain and France dealt with the partition

of which Empire after the end of the First World War?

-The Ottoman.

-Correct. The Hoare-Laval Pact of 1935,

later repudiated by Britain because of the outcry it created,

effectively legitimised which act of aggression?

Abyssinia. The Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

-The Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

-Correct.

Which two foreign ministers give their names to the pact of 1939

that agreed among other things to the partitioning of Poland?

WHISPERING

-Ribbentrop and Molotov.

-Correct.

Another starter question now.

What can be defined as an exothermic reaction front in a gaseous medium,

often but not necessarily emitting light?

In internet-based communication, the same word indicates a hostile or insulting interaction.

-Flaming.

-Flame is correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time are on the platinum group metals, Balliol.

Platinum is often found alloyed with its five close relatives,

the so-called platinum group metals. Name three of them.

Palladium, rhodium...

-Palladium, rhodium... What's underneath?

-I don't know.

-They want three?

-Yeah.

-Palladium, rhodium...

-I think you either know this or you don't.

Palladium, rhodium and, uh...ruthenium.

Very good, very good. The other ones are iridium and osmium.

For five points, which object made of pure platinum was presented to the French National Assembly in 1799

as a result of the world's first International Scientific Conference held in Paris a few months earlier?

WHISPERING

-Nominate Whitby.

-The kilogram?

No, it wasn't. It was the standard metre.

Finally for five points, although it is chemically inactive and unaffected by common acids,

platinum can be dissolved in a mixture known by what two-word Latin name to produce chloroplatinic acid?

Royal acids? Is that not called royal acids?

- So, "regis"... What's the Latin? - Aqua regis.

-Aqua regis.

-Aqua regis, aqua regia is correct. A picture round now, the first one of tonight's match.

It's a flag. I want you to tell me which organisation the flag represented.

The Thirteen Colonies.

No. One of you may buzz from Oxford if you know.

-Canada?

-No, it's the flag of the East India Company,

so picture bonuses in a moment or two and another starter question in the meantime. Listen carefully.

When typed on a keyboard, what is the second character of the names

of Emile Zola's open letter of 1898,

the capital of Chad,

Chicago's largest airport

and the main character...

-Apostrophe.

-Apostrophe is right, yes.

The bonuses are on more colonial flags.

The East India Company was responsible for the colonisation of much of India.

Your bonuses are three flags of British colonies or territories.

In each case, give me the name of the colony or territory represented by the flag. Here's the first.

South Africa?

What was it called?

-Cape Colony?

-Shall we go with that?

-Cape Colony?

-No, that's South Africa. Secondly...?

-That's got to be in India somewhere, hasn't it?

-Ceylon?

-Yeah, Ceylon.

-Ceylon?

-That is Ceylon, yes. And finally...

-What is that? A tiger?

-Try Burma.

-Burma.

-No, that's British Malaya. Ten points for this. Answer as soon as you buzz.

Give three rhyming words that mean respectively: a fortified wine whose varieties include fino and oloroso,

an adjective placed before the word Christmas in greetings

and the second largest city of Northern Ireland.

-Sherry, merry and Derry.

-Correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time are on the Welsh alphabet, Homerton.

The Welsh alphabet contains eight digraphs or pairs of letters

representing a single sound which do not appear in the English alphabet.

Three consist of a double letter with double-L the most familiar. What are the other two?

There's double-D. I'm guessing... Would it be double-F?

-F?

-Double-D and double-F? I'll try double-D.

-Double-D.

-And?

-Double-F.

-Correct. In terms of dictionary entries,

which digraph comes between C and D in the Welsh alphabet?

CH?

- CW? - Or is it CH?

CW or CH?

CW seems more Welsh.

-CW.

-No, it's CH.

The Welsh alphabet regards seven letters as vowels -

the A, E, I, O and U which also occur in the English alphabet and which two additional letters?

-W and Y.

-Correct. Another starter question now.

"Simply one of the most objectionable books that we ever read in any language whatsoever"

and "the most indecent novel ever written" were two verdicts on which novel of the 1890s?

A third suggested that one word of the title be changed to "obscene".

-Jude The Obscure.

-Yes.

You take the lead if you get these bonuses on secret police forces.

In 1950, Wilhelm Zaisser was appointed the first Minister for State Security and the first head

of the GDR's internal security force, known by what abbreviation?

The Stasi.

-The Stasi.

-Correct. Replaced by the Central Nacional de Informaciones in 1977,

DINA was the secret police of which South American country?

-- Argentina or Chile? - I'd go for Chile because of Pinochet...

-Yeah, OK.

-Chile.

-Correct. Replaced by the OGPU in 1922,

which organisation was established in 1917 under the Soviet regime

to investigate counter-revolutionary activities?

It might be the Okhrana.

You have a better idea.

-Try Okhrana.

-Nominate Kirby.

-Okhrana?

No, the Cheka. Another starter question. Described as essential

by US sociologist Talcott Parsons because they allow individuals to predict what others will do,

what term denotes the culturally established and socially enforced expectations of...

-Norms.

-Norms or normative behaviour is right, yes.

This time, Balliol, your bonuses are about the comparative areas of foreign countries,

helpfully provided for American readers of the CIA World Factbook.

For example, Iraq is said to be slightly more than twice the size of Idaho

and Mauritius is 11 times the size of Washington DC. Let's see if you can work out some other countries.

Which member of the European Union is said to be slightly smaller than Rhode Island?

Luxembourg?

Is it a member of the EU?

Rhode Island's not that small.

-It could be Belgium, but Luxembourg...

-I think Luxembourg's probably right.

-Luxembourg.

-Correct. Kazakhstan is said to be slightly less than four times the size of which state

in the south of the US?

-Texas?

-Yeah.

-Texas.

-Correct.

Georgia in the Caucasus is said to be slightly smaller than which state to the east of Georgia in the US?

-Is that South Carolina or Virginia?

-I think Tennessee.

I think Tennessee's to the left...

-I think it's South Carolina.

-You're right.

-South Carolina?

-Correct.

A music round now. For your starter, you'll hear music from a TV series.

Ten points if you can name the actor for whose performance this piece was composed.

TV THEME MUSIC

-Matt Smith.

-It is.

Unique to the 11th Doctor Who. For your bonuses, you'll hear three more themes composed by Murray Gold

for the BBC's revamped Doctor Who series.

Firstly, name the character for whom this piece was composed as a motif.

THEME MUSIC PLAYS

Amy Pond maybe?

-Amy Pond?

-No, that's Donna, Catherine Tate, the companion in Series Four.

Secondly, the character for whom this is a motif?

THEME MUSIC PLAYS

-I'd go for...Rose Tyler?

-Rose Tyler?

-Yeah.

Is it Rose Tyler?

-No, that's the Master.

-Is it?

-Yes.

And finally, the specific event this piece of music signifies?

DRAMATIC MUSIC

-Regeneration?

-Regeneration?

Possibly. Yeah, I think that's right.

-The Doctor's regeneration.

-I'll accept that. Do you know which one?

I'm giving you the points anyway. You just had to say "regeneration". It was the 10th Doctor.

Another starter question now.

Four Strong Winds by Ian and Sylvia, Heart Of Gold by Neil Young,

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell and Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

are among songs that appear in a list of the top ten essential tracks of which country?

-Canada.

-Yes.

Right, your bonuses are on a religious movement, Balliol.

From a Dutch word meaning "mumbler", what term was used from the 14th century for those radical Christians

who held opinions similar to the reformer John Wycliffe?

-Lollard.

-Sorry?

-Lollard.

-Nominate Kirby.

-Lollard.

Correct. A reaction to the Lollards,

Henry IV's statute De Heretico Comburendo legitimised what penalty for heresy to be carried out

by the secular authority?

-Burning them.

-At the stake, yes.

Sir John Oldcastle, who led a Lollard rebellion in 1414, is said to be the model for which character

in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2 and Henry V?

-Falstaff.

-Correct.

Another starter question.

The names of a county in eastern England and of a city in the Ruhr area of Germany

differ only in their final letter.

For ten points, give both names.

-Essex and Essen.

-Correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time, Homerton, are on animals.

Platyrrhine or flat-nosed from the New World

and catarrhine or downward-nosed from the Old World are the two sub-groups of which animals?

-Primates.

-Primates?

-Yeah.

-Primates.

-No, they're monkeys.

Which large Old World monkey is a type of baboon and is distinguished

by its scarlet face with bright, blue-ridged cheeks, especially in the males?

-Mandrill.

-Correct. The rhesus is a species of which monkey found only in Asia,

except for one species, the so-called Barbary ape from Africa?

WHISPERING

-Macaque.

-Correct. Another starter. Noted for her contributions to the field of abstract algebra,

which German mathematician gave her name to a theorem that states

that each symmetry of a system leads to a physically conserved...

-Emmy Noether.

-Emmy Noether is right, yes.

These bonuses, Balliol, are on two-dimensional shapes.

In each case, I want the size of their symmetry group -

the number of rotations and reflections they possess in total,

including the identity symmetry in which the shape is left unmoved.

Firstly, the letter Z?

WHISPERING

Two?

-Is that right?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Two?

-Two, yes, that's right - the identity and one rotation.

Secondly, an equilateral triangle?

-It's going to have one, two, three reflections.

-Three rotations.

-Six plus the identity, so that's seven.

Is one of the rotations just itself?

-So it's six?

-Yeah.

-Six.

-Correct. And finally, a regular octagon?

It's going to have eight, seven... So it's going to be 16?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? That's right, isn't it?

-16.

-16 is correct, yes.

Ten points for this starter.

Which member of the United Nations is the only one

whose English name contains three successive consonants together and in alphabetical order

and is also the first country on an alphabetical list of members?

-Afghanistan.

-Afghanistan is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on the deaths of Roman Emperors, according to Suetonius in Lives Of The Caesars.

The death of which Emperor in AD 68 provoked, according to Suetonius,

"such great public joy that the common people ran through the city dressed in liberty caps"?

Nero...?

-Nero.

-Correct. Secondly, dying at the age of 63 in AD 54,

which Emperor, according to Suetonius, "towards the end of his life gave unambiguous indications

"that he regretted both his marriage to Agrippina and his adoption of Nero"?

-Claudius.

-Correct.

On the day before he died in AD 41 aged 28, which Emperor dreamt

"that he was standing in the heavens next to Jupiter's throne and that Jupiter pushed him with his big toe,

"so that he fell headlong to Earth"?

WHISPERING

Anyone got any ideas?

-No.

-I think we need an answer, please.

-Augustus.

-No, it was Caligula. A second picture round now.

For your starter, you will see a painting. Ten points if you can give me the name of the artist.

-Renoir.

-It is Renoir, yes.

His painting of Venice. Your picture bonuses are three more depictions of Venice.

Five points for each artist you can name. Firstly...?

WHISPERING

-Caravaggio?

-No, that's Canaletto.

Secondly...?

-Turner?

-Yeah, I was thinking Turner.

-Turner.

-That is JMW Turner. Finally...?

WHISPERING

-Monet?

-Try it.

-Monet.

Monet is right. Ten points for this.

What female given name links a genus of shrub noted for its flowers,

a nymph who turned herself into a laurel bush when pursued by Apollo

and the author of The Birds...

-Daphne.

-Daphne is correct, yes.

Your bonuses, Homerton, are on a surname.

The composer and playwright Jonathan Larson won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for which Broadway musical?

He died on the morning of its off-Broadway preview.

WHISPERING

-Oklahoma!

-No, it's Rent.

Established by the explorer Carl Larsen in 1904, Grytviken was the first land-based whaling station

and permanent habitation on which British administered island in the South Atlantic?

-South Georgia.

-Correct. The American cartoonist Gary Larson created

which much-syndicated single-panel cartoon series, published from 1980 until his retirement in 1995?

The Far Side.

-The Far Side.

-The Far Side is right. There's four minutes to go and ten points at stake for this.

What is the family name of the Earls of Orrery,

the fourth of whom gave his title to a mechanical model of the movement of the solar system

and whose great-nephew gave his name to a law of physics?

-Cavendish.

-No. Anyone like to have a go from Balliol?

-Hamilton?

-No, it's Boyle. Ten points for this.

In the hierarchy of biological classification, which taxonomic rank comes between phylum and order?

Examples include...

-Class.

-Class is right, yes.

Your bonuses now are on abbreviations.

What two-letter abbreviation can signify both an imperial weight and, in cricket,

a run made after the ball has touched any part of the batsman, except his hands or the bat?

-LB.

-Correct. For what two-word phrase does the abbreviation LBO stand

when it refers to the purchase of a company that's financed by borrowed capital?

-Leveraged buyout.

-Leveraged buyout.

-Correct.

LBA is the code for which UK international airport?

It began operations as Yeadon Aerodrome in 1931.

-Leeds Bradford.

-Leeds Bradford International is correct. Ten points for this.

Concerning the doomed relationship

between Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex, which Benjamin Britten opera was commissioned to celebrate...

-Gloriana.

-Gloriana is correct.

Your bonuses are on US state capitals. Identify the cities that share their names with the following

and give the states of which they're the capitals. Firstly, a British military commander of World War Two,

a town in the Welsh Marches and the author of Anne Of Green Gables.

-Montgomery.

-What state?

Alabama?

-Montgomery, Alabama.

-Correct. Secondly, the author of the song Leaving On A Jet Plane

and the dukedom held by Lord Peter Wimsey's brother?

I don't know.

-We don't know.

-Denver, Colorado.

Finally, a nude by Manet, a sports venue in Ancient Greece and an exhibition centre in London?

-Olympia, Washington.

-Olympia, Washington is right. Two minutes to go. Ten points for this.

MacLeod's Tables, Blaven, The Storr and The Quiraing

are among the notable hills on which Scottish island?

-Skye.

-Skye is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on the figurative use of the names of metals.

Which metal links the Age of Zeus in Greek myth,

the fir tree Abies alba and the formal method of serving food?

-Silver.

-Yes. Terms meaning "impudent", "musically strident" and the No.2 wood golf club

all derive from the name of which alloy?

-Iron.

-No, it's brass. A snake similar to a rattler,

the tree Fagus sylvatica purpurea and a fine handwriting all derive their common names from which metal?

-Copper.

-Correct. Level pegging, ten points for this.

Although both men and women wore the toga in Ancient Rome until after the 2nd century BC,

what name was given to the later, loose outer garment worn by women to indicate their marital status?

-Stola.

-Stola is right.

You take the lead. Your bonuses are on a position.

What position is offered to the homeless Davies by Aston and Mick

in the three-character play of 1960 by Harold Pinter,

the position also being the play's title?

-Come on, let's have it.

-The Dumb Waiter.

-No, it's The Caretaker.

In November 1834, while Sir Robert Peel was in Italy,

which former PM led a caretaker government with himself as Home, Foreign and Colonial Secretary?

-Wellington.

-Correct. Joe Mercer, Howard Wilkinson and Peter Taylor all held what post as caretakers?

-Come on!

-Pass.

-It was the England football manger.

Ten points for this. In Dante's Divine Comedy,

which mythological creature does he describe

as "the infamy of Crete, detested brood of the feign'd heifer"?

-Minotaur.

-The Minotaur is correct. Here are your bonuses on British islands and their wildlife.

-GONG

-And at the gong, Homerton have 200, Balliol have 205.

You very nearly did it, Homerton, but you couldn't lose by a narrower margin.

I'll have a quiet bet that you'll be back as a high-scoring losing team. Thank you very much for joining us.

Well, you like to live dangerously, but we'll definitely see you in the next stage, Balliol.

-I hope you can join us next time, but until then, it's goodbye from Homerton College.

-Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from Balliol College.

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me.

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