Episode 3 University Challenge

University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello, two more teams have cheerfully decided to view the

next 30 minutes as a challenge

as opposed to an ordeal, imposition or walking nightmare, I suppose.

Whichever of them is ahead at the gong will come back and do it

all over again in the second round.

The University of Liverpool received its royal charter in 1903 and

is widely regarded as the original redbrick, the term referring to

the material used for the Victoria building,

its original purpose built headquarters.

It now has around 23,000 students who, in the past,

have included the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy,

the former head of MI5 Stella Rimington,

the footballer Steve Coppell and TV producer Phil Redmond.

The four playing tonight have a rather crusty average age

of 29, they're really, really old.

And they'll know doubt be aware that Liverpool University got to

the semifinals of the last series.

So let's find out if they've got what it takes to go one step

further. Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Nick Kurek, I'm from Shrewsbury in Shropshire and

I'm studying Microbiology.

Hi, I'm Guy Nicholls.

I'm originally from Cambridgeshire and I'm studying Egyptology.

And this is their captain.

Hi, I'm Gethin Hopkin, I'm from Somerset and I'm studying Medicine.

I'm Pauline Rowe, I'm originally from Widnes and I'm studying

for a PhD in Creative Writing.

APPLAUSE

Now, also with a student population of around 23,000,

the University of Warwick reached the second round of the last

series but were series champions back in 2007.

It's one of the institutions founded last century after the

Robbins Report and which often get called plate-glass universities.

Former students include the actors and writers Ruth Jones and

Stephen Merchant, the former Children's Laureate Anne Fine,

the presenter Simon Mayo and the comedian Frank Skinner.

Alert viewers will already have recognised their captain as

a Countdown champion in 2013, it's on Channel 4 apparently.

With an average of a mere 20 let's meet the Warwick team.

Hi, I'm Sophie Hobbs from Birmingham and I'm studying French and History.

Now then, I'm Sophie Rudd from Immingham and I'm studying for a

masters degree in Computer Science.

And this is their Captain.

Hello, I'm Giles Hutchings, I'm from Farnham in Surrey and I'm

studying Maths.

Hello, I'm Thomas Van, I'm from Geneva in Switzerland and I'm

studying History.

APPLAUSE

Well, the rules never change, it's ten points for starter questions.

You have to answer those on the buzzer by yourselves.

Bonuses are worth 15, they're team efforts and there's a five

point penalty if you interrupt a starter question incorrectly.

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

Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire is the location of the museum

dedicated to the life and work of which writer?

Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get first blood and the bonuses are on museums and galleries,

Warwick. Firstly, for five points,

which gallery occupies part of the site of the former Millbank Prison,

which at one time served as a holding facility for all

British prisoners sentenced to transportation?

Australian Museum?

Something to do with Australia, I guess.

Do you have any ideas?

-Um, no.

-Is that the Courtauld Institute of art?

Australia.

Courtauld Institute of Art?

No, it's Tate Britain.

In which county is the Bowes Museum? Including

a renowned collection of European artwork it's housed in a

nineteenth century building designed in the manner of a French chateau.

-Bowes.

-B-O-S-E? I don't know. - B-O-W.

-It's the county. What county?

-Bucks?

Buckinghamshire?

No, it's in County Durham. It's behind the castle.

And finally, designed by Inigo Jones,

the Queen's House in Greenwich is one of three buildings that together

house which museum established by an act of parliament in 1934?

-Is that the Royal Observatory?

-Is that a museum?

You might as well say that, it's in Greenwich so it could be.

Royal Observatory?

No, it's the National Maritime Museum.

Ten points for this.

Catherine Astley, Blanche Parry and Elizabeth Throckmorton were

among the personal attendants of which monarch?

The latter attendant was briefly imprisoned in the

Tower of London after her clandestine marriage

to Sir Walter Raleigh.

Elizabeth I.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the goals of life according to Hinduism.

Firstly, for five, often translated as righteousness,

which goal indicates the religious and moral path that should be

followed according to one's status and station in life?

This term is also used in Buddhism and Jainism but with

different interpretations.

Nominate Kurek.

Caste?

No, it's Dharma.

Secondly, the second aim is Artha or the pursuit of wealth.

This is closely linked to a blend of statecraft and which social

science known in Sanskrit as Arthashastra?

Sociology?

No, it's economics. And finally,

what is the ultimate aim, also known as Nirvana?

A term more usually associated with Buddhism, it signifies enlightenment

or the liberation of the soul from the cycle of death and rebirth.

-Nominate Kurek.

-Moksha.

Moksha is correct, yes.

Ten points for this.

In logic what two word term denotes the process of applying the

logical function to all possible combinations of inputs and outputs?

A result is obtained by filling each cell of a matrix...

Truth table?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

You take the lead,

you get a set of bonuses on the films of Marilyn Monroe.

In each case name the film from the description.

Firstly, for five points, a 1955 comedy in which Marilyn's

dress is seen to billow up as she walks above a subway vent.

Its title indicates declining interest in

a monogamous relationship.

-The Seven Year Itch.

-Correct.

Secondly, a 1953 film noir in which Marilyn's character, Rose, schemes

to murder her husband. The single word title refers to a scenic

honeymoon destination.

Oh, gosh. I think I've heard of this but I have no idea.

Scenic.

Lake?

No, it's Niagara.

And finally, a 1959 film with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon as

musicians fleeing a gangster as Josephine and Daphne.

They join an all girl band in which Marilyn plays the ukulele.

-Some Like It Hot.

-Yes.

Ten points for this.

Born in 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

which feminist author's works include The Secret Garden in 1973?

Her writing explores the nature of identity, women's fantasies

and the relationships between women of different generations.

Susan B. Anthony?

No, anyone like to buzz from Liverpool?

Gloria Steinem?

No, it's Nancy Friday. Ten points for this.

The common name of which bird derives ultimately from the

ancient name of the River Rioni in present day Georgia?

A game bird, larger than a quail or partridge, they can often be

seen feeding in flocks in grain fields where there's cover nearby.

Pheasant?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses are on mass extinctions of the Palaeozoic era.

Firstly, for five points, which mass extinction was marked by both

the Kellwasser and Hangenberg events?

The period in question is sometimes called the Age of Fishes.

Devonian?

Devonian, is that an extinction?

I think there was, yes.

The Devonian extinction?

Devonian is correct.

Which mass extinction event took place around 450 million years ago

with two peak dying times separated by hundreds of thousands of years?

Around 85% of sea life was wiped out by an ice age.

Cambrian was an explosion of more types of life.

- There's KT and they mentioned two things.

I don't know what KT stands for...

KT?

No, it's the Ordovician.

And finally, the Ordovician extinction was the second

largest mass extinction of marine life.

What was the largest, beginning in and named after the last period

of the Palaeozoic era?

I think it's Cretaceous, yes.

Cretaceous?

No, it's the Permian.

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

For your picture starter I'm going to show you

a current national flag from which we have removed everything

but its five pointed stars.

Or, in heraldic terms, what are known as its mullets.

For ten points I want you to tell me which country's flag this is.

Oh, the Philippines?

Correct! There it is, yes, well done.

APPLAUSE

You almost hesitated too long there.

So you get a set of picture bonuses now.

I want you to identify three more current national flags from

just the configuration of stars thereon.

Firstly, for five.

-Is it Burkina Faso?

-Burkina Faso. Yes, it is.

Oh, no, it is Ghana.

-Is it, do you think?

-Yes, it's Ghana.

Ghana.

No, Ghana has a black star, it's Senegal. Let's see the whole thing.

Secondly, which nation is this?

-Oh, so that's Fiji?

-Is it Fiji? I don't recognise it.

Fiji has the stars I think. And it's got the ensign in the corner.

Fiji.

No, that's Tuvalu. We'll see the whole thing now.

And finally.

-That's the Dominican...Oh, no, it's Panama.

-Is it Panama?

-Yes, it's Panama.

-Panama.

It is Panama. We'll see the whole thing, there it is.

Right, ten points for this.

In 2015 mathematicians at the University of Washington discovered

the fifteenth convex form of which polygon able to tile the plane,

meaning identical copies of it can cover a flat surface with

no overlaps or gaps?

Hexagon.

Anyone like to buzz from Liverpool?

Decagon?

No, it's a pentagon.

Ten points for this. Speaking at the 2015 Hay Festival, which

British writer declared that, "Poverty is as much a moral failing

"today as under the Tudors."?

His works include an account in various forms of the

15 year occupation of his driveway by the elderly Mary...

-Alan Bennett.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the calendar.

Firstly, the High Court of Justice in England and Wales divides

the year into four terms from the feast day of a saint.

What name is given to the term that in 2016 begins on the

3rd of October?

Michaelmas.

Michaelmas is correct.

Secondly, a fourth century bishop of Poitier who was

a proponent of Orthodoxy against Arianism,

which saint gives his name to the term that begins in mid-January?

Shall we try... Stephen?

Stephen.

No, it's Hilary.

And finally, the name of which Christian doctrine is given

to the term that runs from June to July?

-Trinity.

-Correct.

Ten points at stake for this starter question.

The background to this speculative novel is a plebiscite in

which northern England votes to join an independent Scotland.

Give the dictionary spelling of the word plebiscite.

P-L-E-B-I-S-C-I-T-E.

Well done.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses this time, Warwick,

are on the Russian choreographer Michel Fokine.

Which short solo ballet did Fokine create in 1905 for Anna Pavlova?

She took it as her signature piece and is said to have danced it

around 4,000 times.

I have no idea.

There's Giselle but that's not a Russian thing.

Tarantella?

-Is that like a dance?

-That's a folk dance.

Giselle?

No, it's the Dying Swan, the swan.

Secondly, premiered in 1911 and set to music by Weber,

which short ballet depicts the romantic dream of

a young woman after she's returned from a ball?

-Is it Cinderella something?

-Is it Cinderella?

Should we say that?

Cinderella.

No, it's the Spirit of the Rose.

And finally,

first performed in 1909 and set to music by Rimsky Korsakov, which

ballet by Fokine takes its name from the heroine of the 1001 Nights?

Scheherazade.

Correct. We're going to take a music round now.

For your music starter you'll hear part of a well known pop song.

Ten points if you can give me the title of the song.

# Darkness falls across the land... #

Thriller.

Indeed it was, by Michael Jackson.

APPLAUSE

You heard a bit of Vincent Price's spoken interlude in Thriller.

For your music bonuses I want you to identify three more well

known songs from their spoken word parts.

In each case for the five points I need the title of the song.

Firstly, for five.

# You know, someone said the world's a stage and each must play a part

# Fate had me playing in love with you as my sweetheart... #

Are You Lonesome Tonight.

It is Are You Lonesome Tonight, that was Elvis Presley of course.

Secondly.

# So now I'm alone Now I can think for myself

# About little deals and issues

# And things that I just don't understand

# Like a white lie that night

# Or a sly touch at times. #

SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS

Cars by Gary Numan?

No, it's Are Friends Electric?

And finally.

# You broke my heart

# Cos I couldn't dance

# You didn't even want me around

# And now I'm back to let you know I can really shake 'em down. #

We don't know.

That's The Contours - Do You Love Me. Ten points for this.

Marlon James' Man booker winning novel

A Brief History of Seven Killings recounts the failed assassination...

Jimi Hendrix.

No, you lose five points. The failed assassination attempt

in 1976 on the life of which singer and songwriter during an

armed gang's invasion of his home in Kingston?

-Bob Marley.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

So you get the bonuses, Liverpool.

If you get them all you take the lead. They're on physics.

A Carnot cycle is the most efficient heat engine cycle consisting

of two isothermal processes and two of what other form?

Endothermal?

No, it's adiabatic.

Which inequality is named after a German physicist born

in 1822 and applies to real engine cycles, implying

a negative change in entropy to the cycle?

Any German physicists?

We don't know.

It's a Clausius inequality.

And finally, which law states that not all the supplied heat in

the heat engine can be used to do work?

-BOTH:

-It's the second law of thermodynamics.

Is it the second law of thermodynamics?

Correct.

Ten points for this.

Derived in part from the Latin for hinge what two word

collective term has been given since antiquity to justice,

prudence, temperance and fortitude?

Virtue.

Anyone like to buzz from Warwick?

The four virtues?

No, they're the cardinal virtues.

So ten points at stake for this starter question.

The archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli developed the use of plaster

to make casts recreating the forms of humans, plants and animals

during his term as director of the excavations of what site...

Pompeii?

Pompeii is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses this time, Warwick, on literary magazines.

From 1953 until his death in 2003 the American writer

George Plimpton was the co-founder and editor of which magazine

noted for its series of long form author interviews?

-Is that the New Yorker?

-Maybe.

Don't know.

The New Yorker?

No, it's the Paris Review.

Which London based review of literature and art was founded

and edited by Cyril Connolly with contributors including

George Orwell and W H Auden?

Times Literary Supplement maybe?

- It won't be the London Review of Books, will it?

London was mentioned, OK. I can't think of anything else.

London Review of Books?

No, that was Horizon.

And finally, author of the memoir

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, who is the founder of

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and the monthly magazine The Believer?

Could this be Lewis Carroll?

No, C S Lewis. The Narnia guy.

-C S Lewis?

-It's much later, no, it's Dave Eggers.

Ten points for this. Fish in the Dark in 2015 was the Broadway debut,

as both author and actor, of which US comedian?

A co-creator of Seinfeld he played a fictionalised version of himself...

Larry David.

Yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on the year 1915, Warwick.

In January 1915 which country sent claims known as the 21 demands

to China in an attempt to increase its control over that

country's economy and internal affairs?

-Probably Japan.

-Is it, do you think?

-I think.

-Japan?

-Correct.

In April 1915 the allies signed the secret Treaty of London with

which member of the triple alliance inducing it to declare war on

Austrio-Hungary the following month?

-Italy.

-Correct.

In July 1915 the United States sent troops to occupy which

Caribbean island country in order to protect US assets?

The occupation lasted until 1934.

-Cuba or Grenada, I think.

-Grenada's the '80s.

Cuba?

No, it was Haiti.

Ten points for this.

Which letter of the alphabet links the naturally occurring unit

of electric charge,

the mathematical constant sometimes known as Euler's number and...

-E.

-E is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on rice, Warwick.

Comprising hot rice with seafood, meat and vegetables,

the Dutch dish known as Rijsttafel has its origins in which

present day country, formerly a Dutch colony?

-Possibly Indonesia?

-Indonesia would make sense, yes.

-Indonesia?

-Correct.

Which Cajun dish combines rice with a variety of ingredients and

is sometimes said to derive its name from the French for ham?

-Jambalaya?

-Correct.

Typically used in risotto, which short grain rice is named

after a village in Italy's Piedmont region?

I don't know. - I thought it was risotto rice.

- I just thought it was short grain rice.

-Any idea?

-Nope.

-No, sorry, don't know.

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

For your picture starter you'll see a detail of a well known painting.

Ten points, please, if you can identify the artist.

Uh, Seurat.

Seurat, we'll see the whole thing.

It is indeed a bit of

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

So, we're going to take picture bonuses, Warwick.

Three more details showing dogs in well known paintings.

In each case five points if you can give

me the title by which the whole work is usually known.

Firstly...

Oh, this The Laughing Cavalier, I think.

I thought that was just a face though.

-Maybe not then.

-It's a portrait of someone.

Is it the Gainsborough one of the husband and wife?

- No idea.

No, sorry, don't know.

It was the Gainsborough one of the husband and wife,

but it was Mr and Mrs Andrews, I needed them for the title.

Secondly.

Oh, is that Olympia?

Is it? It's a bed one, isn't it?

-Or is it one of the Venuses?

-Olympia's on a bed, I think.

Olympia?

No, it's Titian's Venus of Urbino.

We'll see the whole thing, there it is.

And finally.

Is that the Arnolfini?

That does certainly have a dog.

- And it's got the green dress.

The Arnolfini Wedding?

Correct, yes. We'll see the whole thing, there.

Well done. Ten points for this.

Who became the first US President to leave the country while in

office when he travelled to view progress in the construction

of the Panama Canal in 1906?

Theodore Roosevelt?

Yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Warwick, are on painkillers and analgesics.

Firstly, the principal alkaloid of opium,

which analgesic can be administered orally, intramuscularly,

subcutaneously and intravenously?

-Morphine.

-Correct.

Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen can

relieve pain through the inhibition of which enzyme?

-Dopamine.

-It's going to be one of those, isn't it?

-The other one.

-Melatonin.

-Serotonin. Could be serotonin.

-Serotonin?

No, it's the Cox enzyme. And finally, which common analgesic can

be used to ease moderate pain and reduce fever?

It's also known as acetaminophen.

-Oh, this is paracetamol.

-Is it?

-I think.

I think I've heard that name come up in terms of paracetamol.

Paracetamol?

It is paracetamol, yes.

Ten points for this.

Flowing from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal,

which river is known as Jamuna in Bangladesh and Tsangpo in Tibet?

Its Sanskrit name means Son of the God of Creation.

Ganges.

No, anyone want to buzz from Liverpool?

You may not confer, one of you can buzz.

Brahmaputra?

It is the Brahmaputra, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on philosophy this time, Liverpool.

The Theaetetus is a work of around 369BC by which philosopher?

-Plato.

-Correct.

In the Dialogues, Socrates states that he is

a member of what profession, that of his mother,

because he helps others to bring forth conceptions about knowledge?

-Midwife.

-Correct.

In this Dialogue which epic poet does Socrates call the great

master of tragedy?

Who wrote Antigone?

Euripides?

No, it's Homer.

Right, ten points for this.

In modern Japanese characters signifying song, dance and skill are

written together to form the name of which genre of stylised theatre?

Kabuki?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on astronomy,

specifically constellations of the zodiac.

Firstly, for five, about 55 million light years away,

the nearest large cluster of galaxies lies primarily

within which constellation of the zodiac, which gives the

cluster its usual name?

-Oh, gosh.

-I think it might be Taurus. I'm not sure.

That sounds right.

Taurus?

No, it's Virgo.

Secondly, the centre of our galaxy is within which constellation

of the zodiac?

-The Milky Way?

-No, no, the centre.

Um.

-Ugh, need an answer.

-Sagittarius, Capricorn.

-Come on.

-Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is right.

Which constellation holds the Crab Nebula and the star Aldebaran?

-That's Taurus.

-I think that is Taurus.

Crab isn't that...No, go.

-Taurus?

-Taurus is right.

There are about three and a half minutes to go and ten points

for this. What event in British history is often used

to describe the staged works of writers such as

George Etheridge, George Farquhar and William Congreve?

The Restoration?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Warwick, are on administrative districts in

England that are named after natural features.

Name the ceremonial county, for example West Sussex,

in which each of the following is located?

Firstly, Sedgemoor District Council is in which county?

Sedgemoor, nope.

Yorkshire?

No, it's in Somerset. Secondly, in which county is Wyre Forest?

-It'll be somewhere in the south.

-In the south.

Suffolk?

No, it's in Worcestershire.

Finally, in which county is the district of Breckland?

I've never heard of this.

-I know counties, not districts. - Hereford?

-Hereford.

No, it's Norfolk. Ten points for this.

At about 74 million square kilometres the surface area

of the Indian Ocean is close to that of which planet of the solar system?

Jupiter?

No, Warwick?

Mercury?

Mercury is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on six letter words whose only vowel is the

letter O. In each case give the word from the description.

Firstly, an artistic style whose exponents include

Fragonard, Boucher and Tiepolo?

-Rococo?

-Correct.

Secondly, Pan Paniscus, a rainforest ape known as the Pygmy Chimpanzee?

Bonobo.

-Bonobo?

-Correct.

And finally, a variety of half fermented Chinese tea whose

name means black dragon.

Oolong.

Oolong is right, ten points for this.

Meaning "west" in Arabic,

what term denotes the region that comprises the Atlas mountains

and the coastal plain of the countries from Libya to Morocco?

Maghreb?

The Maghreb is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses this time, Warwick,

are on countries that do not share a land border but are connected

by a bridge or tunnel, for example France and the UK.

Firstly, completed in 2000,

the Oresund Bridge connects which two countries?

Sweden and Denmark?

Correct.

24km in length, the King Fahd Causeway links which two countries?

I think Bahrain and Saudi.

-Oh, the king, it might be.

-Bahrain and Qatar? Or Kuwait?

-Saudi Arabia.

-Saudi Arabia.

-Bahrain and Saudi Arabia?

-Correct.

Finally, two bridges across the Johor Strait link which two

countries?

Singapore and Malaysia is the obvious choice.

Singapore and Malaysia?

Correct, ten points for this.

Publius Servilius Casca Longus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and

Lucius Tillius Cimber are among those who took part in what

act on the 15th of March 44BC?

The assassination of Julius Cesar.

Correct, 15 points for these bonuses.

They're on imperial and metric units, Liverpool.

What imperial unit corresponds to 746 watts or 33,000 foot

pounds of work...

GONG

APPLAUSE

It was one horse power.

But, um, I'm afraid to say Liverpool you're going to be saying

goodbye to us. But thank you very much for taking part.

Warwick, congratulations, 235 is a very impressive score and we

shall look forward to seeing you in round two.

I hope you can join us next time for another first round match.

But until then it's goodbye from Liverpool University...

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

..and it's goodbye from Warwick University.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.