Episode 14 University Challenge

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

APPLAUSE

Hello. It's the last of the first-round matches tonight.

13 teams are through to the next stage of the competition and

whichever of tonight's two is ahead at the gong will join them.

If the losers are to qualify for a final chance to go through,

they'll need a score of 155 or more.

Founded in the mid-15th century,

the University of Glasgow has educated the writers

William Boyd and James Herriot, the actor Gerard Butler,

the journalist Andrew Neil and numerous politicians,

including Charles Kennedy, Donald Dewar and Nicola Sturgeon.

There's also a strong rumour that it's where

Doctor Who earned his doctorate.

Tonight's team describe themselves as three Scots and a foreigner

fulfilling a lifelong yearning to visit Salford.

I do hope it's all they dreamed it might be.

Representing around 27,000 students,

and with an average age of 21,

let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Robin Thomson.

I'm from Edinburgh and I study history and Russian.

Hi, my name is Alexander Shishov.

I'm from Riga, Latvia, and I study philosophy.

This is their captain.

Hi, I'm Angus Lauder.

I'm from Glasgow and I study politics and Russian.

Hello, I'm Ethan Simpson from Hawick in the Scottish Borders

and I study engineering.

APPLAUSE

Now, making a very rare appearance in this competition is

the University of East London,

a former polytechnic which gained university status

in 1992 and has campuses based in Stratford and Docklands.

Alumni include the Turner Prize-nominated Chapman brothers,

the presenter Jimmy Doherty, the peers Victor Adebowale

and Margaret Prosser and the rapper Tinchy Stryder.

Their captain is following something of

a family tradition in that she's married to a member of

the Dundee team who were, as we all remember, champions in 1983.

Representing around 16,000 students,

and with an average age of 41,

let's meet the East London team.

Hello, I'm Christopher Ducklin.

I'm originally from Eastbourne in East Sussex

and I'm studying civil engineering.

Hello, I'm Kelly Travers.

I'm from Westcliff in Essex and I'm doing a masters of research.

And this is their captain.

Hello, my name's Jerushah Jardine.

I'm originally from The Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall

and I'm studying for a PhD in peatland ecology.

Hi, I'm Rachel Evans.

I'm from Grays in Essex and I'm studying English literature.

APPLAUSE

The rules are the same as ever so let's just get on with it.

Fingers on the buzzers, here's your first starter for ten.

"His novels are seething whirlpools, gyrating sandstorms,

"waterspouts which hiss and boil and suck us in."

To which Russian author is Virginia Woolf referring?

Born in 1821, his works include Notes From The Underground...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your first bonuses, Glasgow, are on an Italian city.

Which city's cathedral is often cited as the most important

example of Gothic architecture in Italy?

Construction began in 1386 under the Visconti.

Milan?

Milan.

Milan, correct.

What is the main public art gallery in Milan?

Its collection includes Mantegna's The Lamentation Of Christ

and Caravaggio's Supper At Emmaus.

Nominate Shishov.

The Uffizi Gallery.

No, it's the Brera Art Gallery.

And finally, the refectory of Milan's Dominican convent of

Santa Maria Delle Grazie is noted for what work of art begun in 1494?

THEY CONFER

The Last Supper.

Yes, that's correct.

Another starter question now.

Frustration at being unable to verify his claim

that the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird

led the industrialist Sir Hugh Beaver

to found which work of reference?

First published in 1955, it appears annually.

The Guinness Book Of World Records?

Yes, it's now just known as the Guinness World Records, apparently.

Your bonuses are on Tchaikovsky.

"In spite of all its sumptuousness, it did turn out to be rather boring,

"infinitely worse than Sleeping Beauty."

Of which of his ballets did Tchaikovsky say that

after its premiere in 1892?

THEY CONFER

-Nutcracker.

-Correct.

Tchaikovsky confessed that he had wept

a great deal during the composition of which symphony?

He died just over a week after conducting its premiere in 1893.

THEY CONFER

Pathetique?

-Pathetique.

-Could be.

-Pathetique.

-It is the Pathetique, No. 6.

And finally, of which of his compositions did Tchaikovsky

remark that it "will be very loud and noisy,

"but I wrote it without any warm feelings of love

"and so it'll probably be of no artistic worth"?

-The 1812 Overture.

-Is that Tchaikovsky?

-Yeah.

-I would think.

-1812 Overture? OK.

1812 Overture.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Named after a forest in Uganda,

which viral disease is transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus?

Um, Zika virus.

Zika is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses on chemical compounds, East London.

Also known as blue vitriol, what chemical is used in

the fungicides known as Bordeaux mixture and Burgundy mixture?

Any ideas?

-Um, no. Shall we say DEET and just...?

-Yeah, yeah.

DEET.

It's copper sulphate.

Secondly, gypsum, selenite and alabaster

are forms of which metal sulphate?

Aluminium sulphate?

No, it's calcium sulphate.

And finally, calcium sulphate is a coagulating agent used to

make which protein-rich foodstuff usually known by its Japanese name?

-Could that be tofu?

-Oh, yeah, let's go for that.

-Tofu.

-Tofu is correct.

Ten points for this. "He is eternally optimistic

"and he stands up for things.

"He's not afraid of going straight to the top

"and giving them a hard stare."

These are among descriptions recently given of which

fictional character by his creator?

He first appeared...

Paddington Bear.

Yes!

APPLAUSE

No knowledge is ever wasted here.

Your bonuses are on religions in Iran, East London.

In each case, identify the religion from the description.

Firstly, for five, the founder of which religion is thought to

have been born in Persia some time before 500BCE?

Fire is sacred in some of its practices and its followers,

who wear a traditional shirt and girdle,

are known in India as Parsis.

THEY CONFER

Zoroastrian? Zoroastrians.

Zoroastrianism is correct, yes.

Secondly, which faith was founded by Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri,

who was born in Tehran in 1817?

Its central tenet is the oneness of humankind and of all religions.

-Nominate Travers.

-The Baha'i.

Baha'i is correct.

And finally, deriving its name ultimately from the Arabic

for wool, which mystical belief and practice of Islam has both

Sunni and Shia orders and involves seeking a direct experience of God?

We think it's Sufism.

It is Sufism, yes.

We're going to take our first picture round now.

For your picture starter,

you'll see a map with a British city indicated on it.

Ten points if you can identify the city and give me

the Latin name by which it was known in Roman Britain.

It's Bath, Aquae Sulis.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

So, for your picture bonuses,

maps showing three more English towns and cities that date

back to when much of Britain was part of the Roman Empire.

Five points each if you can give me the city or town and give me

both its current English name and its Latin name.

Here's the first.

Is it Chester? I think it's Chester.

THEY CONFER

Sorry, we'll have to pass on that one.

We only know Chester but we don't know the...

It is Chester, you're right. It was called Deva by the Romans.

Secondly...

That's Colchester.

Camulodunum.

Nominate Travers.

It's Colchester, Camulodunum.

Correct. And finally...

-Is that York, Eboracum?

-Eborum, yeah. Oh.

It's Eboracum. Is it Eborum or Eboracum?

Oh, I don't know. What do you think?

-Will I do a nominate...?

-Yeah.

-Nominate Ducklin.

Erm, York and Eboracum.

Correct.

Right, ten points for this.

"Don't disturb my circles"

were reputedly the last words of which...?

-Archimedes.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on films whose titles include

the name of a chemical element.

In each case, name the film from the description.

Firstly, a 1931 film directed by Frank Capra

starring Jean Harlow in the title role.

THEY CONFER

Have we got any films here that we can...?

The Colour Of Gold? I don't know.

THEY CONFER

The Golden Man.

The Golden Man.

No, it's Platinum Blonde.

Secondly, a 2011 biopic.

Meryl Streep in the title role won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

The Iron Lady.

Correct. And finally, a 2015 drama starring Helen Mirren.

It's based on the true story of Maria Altmann,

who sought to regain possession of a Gustav Klimt painting of her aunt.

-The Golden Woman?

-Sounds plausible.

-The Lady...

No, The Golden Painting, The Golden Woman.

It must be something Woman.

An element - it's The Golden something.

-Golden Woman.

-The Golden Woman?

No, it's Woman In Gold, so level pegging,

ten points for this. Historically speaking, what term

referred to the dominions of a prince of the Holy Roman Empire

who held the German title of Kufurst?

In modern-day politics, it refers to all those in an area...

Elector.

No, I'm afraid you lose five points.

In modern-day politics,

it refers to all those in an area or country who are qualified to vote.

-Electorate.

-Electorate is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on autobiographies, East London.

The title of Doreen Lawrence's autobiography, And Still I Rise,

refers to a poem by which African-American writer?

THEY CONFER

Maya Angelou, maybe.

-That's probably right.

-Maya Angelou?

-Maya Angelou.

-Correct.

Which actor and presenter took the title of his 1997 autobiography,

Moab Is My Washpot, from the Book of Psalms?

His most recent memoir, published in 2014, is called More Fool Me.

-Stephen Fry.

-Correct.

Anger Is An Energy - My Life Uncensored

is the autobiography of which singer-songwriter?

The title comes partly from the song Rise by his band Public Image Ltd.

John Lydon.

-Nominate Ducklin.

-John Lydon.

John Lydon, or Johnny Rotten, is correct.

Ten points for this.

Which US composer has provided scores for films including

Martin Scorsese's Kundun, Paul Schrader's Mishima

and Richard Eyre's Notes On A Scandal?

His works also include symphonies drawn from themes in

David Bowie's albums Low and Heroes.

Brian Eno.

No, anyone like to buzz from Glasgow?

Horner?

No, it's Philip Glass. Ten points for this.

Described as the first aeroplane of perpetual endurance,

what is the name of the Swiss aircraft that left Abu Dhabi

in March 2015 in an attempt to fly around the world without fuel...

Solar Voyager.

No, you lose five points.

..relying solely on energy from the sun?

You may not confer. One of you may buzz.

Icarus.

No, it's Solar Impulse.

Ten points for this.

The consort of King Stephen of England, Matilda, was the countess

in her own right of which port now in the Pas-de-Calais department?

From 1803, Napoleon concentrated the Grand Army there

with the intention of attacking Britain.

Amiens.

No, anyone like to buzz from East London?

Calais?

No, it's Boulogne-sur-Mer. Ten points for this.

Which three letters begin the names of an ancient region north of

the Black Sea, a female sea monster inhabiting a cave

near a whirlpool and...

S, C, Y.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses, Glasgow, on vitamins.

Firstly, for five points, what is the common name for cobalamin,

a coenzyme in the oxidation of fatty acids and the synthesis of DNA?

THEY CONFER

Vitamin E.

No, it's B12.

Secondly, what is the common name for pyridoxine,

a deficiency of which causes dermatitis and convulsions?

-Yeah, that's vitamin D.

-D?

-Yeah.

Vitamin D?

No, it's vitamin B6.

And finally, what is the common name for thiamine,

a deficiency of which leads to beriberi in humans?

THEY CONFER

-Is it C? Is it D?

-Could be E.

Just go.

No. Vitamin E.

No, it's vitamin B1.

We're going to take a music round.

For your music starter, you'll hear a piece of popular music.

Ten points if you can identify the singer.

ROCK INTRODUCTION

# Maybe... #

David Lee Roth.

Anyone like to buzz from Glasgow? You can probably hear a little more.

# Not too late

# To learn how to love

# And forget how to hate... #

Pete Townshend.

No, it's Ozzy Osbourne.

So, music bonuses in a moment or two.

Fingers on the buzzers, here's another starter question.

In zoology, members of the class Asteroidea within the phylum

Echinodermata have what common name from the rays, or arms,

that stem from a central...?

Starfish.

Starfish is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, you heard Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train for that music starter.

You're going to get music bonuses - excerpts from three more singles,

all of which were debut solo releases by artists

who had parted ways with successful groups.

For five points each, you have to identify the artist

and the group from which they had departed.

Firstly...

# He was something to observe

# Came in close, I heard a voice

# Standing, stretching every nerve

# Had to listen, had no choice

# I did not believe the information... #

Peter Gabriel and Genesis.

Correct. Secondly...

# Cracked by scattered needles

# The little minute gong coughs and clears his throat

# Madam, you see before you stand

# Hey ho, never be still

# The old original favourite grand

# Grasshoppers green Herbarian band

# And the tune they play is In Us Confide... #

John Lennon and The Beatles.

No, it was Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd - that was Octopus.

And finally...

# What you see ain't what you are getting

# Big make-up

# Little break-up... #

-We should know this.

-I shouldn't know it.

-You got anything?

-No.

Oh, is it that...?

-The one that's on daytime chat programmes.

-Zayn Malik from...

No, it's a woman! Shoosh.

Come on, the one who's on the daytime shows.

# You can take it all because this face is free

# Maybe next time... #

Sporty Spice from The Spice Girls.

No, it was Geri Halliwell and The Spice Girls.

Right, ten points for this.

Later used by Heidegger to mean

"the fear of metaphysical insecurity",

what five-letter term is especially associated with Kierkegaard,

who used it to mean dread, or a desire...

Angst.

Angst is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get three bonuses on the Gettysburg Address

of Abraham Lincoln.

Firstly, for five points, the Address begins with the words

"four-score and seven years ago", referring to what event?

-The Declaration of Independence.

-The Declaration of Independence, yeah?

-What did you say?

-The Declaration of Independence.

-Would it be...?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-The Declaration of Independence.

-That's correct.

In 1950, four-score and seven years after Gettysburg,

which senator publicly claimed that the US State Department had

been infiltrated by more than 200 communists?

McCarthy.

It was Joseph McCarthy.

Also in 1950, which conflict began when Soviet-backed troops

crossed the 38th parallel?

-Korean War.

-Korean War.

-The Korean War.

-Correct. Ten points for this.

Give any one of the common names of Alpha Ursae Minoris,

the brightest star in the Little Bear.

Sirius.

Nope.

Tau Ceti.

No, it's pole star or Polaris or the northern star or the lodestar

or the guiding star, but definitely not Sirius,

which is in the Great Bear.

Right, another starter question now.

"He is a cretin whom we will lead."

To whom do those words of the French politician Adolphe Theirs refer?

Theirs helped him to the presidency of the Second Republic,

but he later became emperor following a self-staged coup...

Napoleon III.

Louis Napoleon, Napoleon III is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, you get a set of bonuses now on properties owned by

The Landmark Trust, a charity that rescues important buildings

that would otherwise be lost.

-Goody!

-Firstly, Houghton West Lodge

stands in the grounds of Houghton Hall,

built by Sir Robert Walpole in which English county?

-Buckinghamshire?

-Walpole...

I think it's one of the home counties, surely.

-Could be Buckinghamshire.

-Well, that's as good a guess as any.

OK, all right, yeah.

-Buckinghamshire.

-No, it's in Norfolk.

-Oh!

In which county is Alton Station?

It's situated in the Churnet Valley,

close to a former seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury.

Anything?

-Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-But then...

Well, that's as good a thing as any.

-Shropshire.

-No, it's Staffordshire.

Government House and the Radio Room are among a number of

Landmark Trust properties on which island in the Bristol Channel?

Islands in the Bristol Channel.

Anything? Anything in the Bristol Channel?

-Isles of Scilly?

-Is it in the Bristol Channel?

I don't think so.

-Could it be the Isle of Man?

-No.

-So the Isles...

The Isles of Scilly.

That's not in the Bristol Channel, it's Lundy.

Ten points for this picture starter question.

You're going to see a painting.

Ten points if you can identify the artist.

Caravaggio.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

So, following on from Caravaggio's Boy Bitten By A Lizard,

you're going to see three more paintings that all feature

the victims of bites from animals.

In each case, I just want you to identify the artist.

Firstly...

THEY CONFER

Should we guess? Yeah.

Michelangelo.

No, it's by Rubens, The Tiger Hunt. Secondly...

It's on the tip of my tongue.

Can't think who it is.

Yeah, I don't know.

-Tintoretto or...?

-Tintoretto?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, Tintoretto?

-Tintoretto.

-No, that's Guido Reni's Cleopatra And The Asp.

And finally...

I think that might be Botticelli.

Botticelli.

Botticelli is correct, well done. Ten points for this.

Endemic to the fynbos biome of South Africa,

the leguminous shrub Aspalathus linearis has what common name?

It produces a herbal tea free from caffeine.

Rooibos.

Correct, or red bush, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get three bonuses on pharmacology, East London.

What inflammatory condition is treated

with antihyperuricemic agents?

Arthritis?

Is it arthritis? Yeah, arthritis.

-Arthritis.

-No, it's gout.

What bacterial process, secondly, do antibiotic macrolides inhibit?

-Shall we say sepsis?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? Unless anyone... Sepsis?

Sepsis?

No, it's protein synthesis.

And finally, what symptom do antitussive drugs suppress?

Is it Latin for tussive, or anything like that?

No, I can't think.

-I want to guess psoriasis or something like that.

-Yeah.

THEY WHISPER

Sickness? Oh! Yeah, you want to say sickness?

-Yeah.

-Go with what everyone else wants.

We'll say nausea.

No, it's coughing.

Ten points for this.

The Story Of My Experiments With Truth

is an autobiographical work by which political leader?

It was first published in the mid-1920s in the Gujarati language.

Gandhi.

Gandhi is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses could give you the lead, East London.

They're all on fog.

Firstly, the Chinese versions of which 19th-century English novel

have been published under a title that translates as

Orphan Of The Foggy Capital?

The English subtitle is The Parish Boy's Progress.

-Oliver Twist.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Oliver Twist.

-Correct.

Fog City is a name given to which major city at the confluence

of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers?

It was Chiang Kai-shek's capital from 1937-45.

Guilin?

-Yeah.

-Go for it.

Guilin, yeah?

Guilin.

No, it's Chungking, or Chongqing.

Fog City is also an epithet given to which US city noted for

pervasive summer fogs that occur when warm,

moist air passes over cold water from the ocean bottom?

-Nominate Travers.

-San Francisco.

Correct.

Ten points for this. What is the only consonant in words

meaning "pertaining to sound",

"the instinctual part of the psyche" and an extinct...

D.

D is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You will re-take the lead if you get these bonuses.

They're on Unesco World Heritage Sites in Catalonia.

Unesco describes the churches of the Vall de Boi in the Pyrenees

as an especially pure and consistent example of what style?

Prevalent in the 11th and 12th centuries,

it is often known in Britain as Norman.

Is it Romanesque?

THEY CONFER

-Romanesque.

-Correct.

Which coastal city south of Barcelona does Unesco cite

for Roman remains, including a circus and amphitheatre?

I'm pretty sure it's Girona, but I'm not...

-That's the only one I know.

-Which one?

-Girona.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Cool.

Girona.

No, it's Tarragona.

And finally, Unesco cites the Palace of Catalan Music in Barcelona

as a masterpiece of what "imaginative and exuberant" style

of the late-19th and early-20th century?

-Art Nouveau?

-Yeah.

-Art Nouveau.

-Art Nouveau is right.

Two minutes to go, ten points for this.

"With a black sweater and ten rows of pearls,

"she revolutionised fashion."

These words, of Christian Dior...

-Coco Chanel.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

You'll re-take the lead if you get these bonuses.

They're on the Bronte sisters.

In each case, name the author and the novel in which

the following locations appear.

Firstly, Moor House, Ferndean and Thornfield Hall.

That's Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte?

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte.

Correct. Secondly, Linden-Car Farm, Ryecote Farm and Stanningley Hall.

THEY CONFER

Nominate Travers.

Wurthering Heights, Emily Bronte.

No, it's The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.

And finally, Thrushcross Grange.

That's Wuthering Heights.

Uh... Sorry?

Nominate Evans.

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte.

Correct, yes.

Ten points for this.

What two-word term means the practice of taking over

a company and selling its resources to make a profit without...?

-Hostile takeover.

-No.

You lose five points.

..without consideration of the company's future.

Vulture capitalism.

No, it's asset-stripping.

Ten points for this.

Which US president served the shortest term

in presidential history?

-William Henry Harrison.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the solar system, East London.

Which planet has an equatorial diameter of 143,000km

and a rotation period of about ten hours?

THEY CONFER

Any ideas? Any advance on Mercury?

-Yeah, Mercury. Go for that.

-Mercury?

-Yeah.

-Mercury.

-No, it's Jupiter.

Which planet has surface gravity of about 9 metres per second squared

and the least eccentric orbit?

-Probably Mars.

-Quickly.

-OK, Mars.

-GONG

APPLAUSE

No, it was Venus, but you've been gonged out anyway.

Well, bad luck, Glasgow.

It was quite keenly fought, I thought, that, and, you know,

you were unlucky how the questions fell in the latter stages,

but thank you very much for taking part.

You definitely won't be coming back as the highest-scoring loser,

but thank you very much for joining us.

East London, we shall look forward very much to seeing you in

the next stage of the competition. Thank you for joining us.

-Thank you very much.

-It was a pleasure to see you here.

-Thank you.

Well, I hope you can join us next time when we'll have

the first of the playoffs between the highest-scoring losers,

-but until then it's goodbye from Glasgow University...

-Goodbye.

-..and it's goodbye from East London University...

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me - goodbye.