Episode 1

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0:00:18 > 0:00:21- CHEERING AND APPLAUSE - Christmas University Challenge.

0:00:21 > 0:00:23Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

0:00:27 > 0:00:31Hello. For once, students can put their feet up -

0:00:31 > 0:00:33do they ever do anything else? -

0:00:33 > 0:00:35for this Christmas series of University Challenge,

0:00:35 > 0:00:38in which graduates - some of whom were contemporaries of Erasmus -

0:00:38 > 0:00:41demonstrate they're as sharp as ever they were

0:00:41 > 0:00:43for the glory of the institutions that made them.

0:00:43 > 0:00:46How will they fare when asked the kind of things

0:00:46 > 0:00:48we expect students to know?

0:00:48 > 0:00:49Ten teams have agreed to compete,

0:00:49 > 0:00:52and they'll play in five first-round matches,

0:00:52 > 0:00:54the first of which is tonight.

0:00:54 > 0:00:56The four winning teams with the highest scores

0:00:56 > 0:00:58will go through to the semifinals,

0:00:58 > 0:01:02and the chance of some real achievement in their lives at last.

0:01:02 > 0:01:05First up, a team who were all graduates of the University of York,

0:01:05 > 0:01:09one of the so-called "plate glass" institutions founded in the 1960s.

0:01:09 > 0:01:13They include one of the world's leading experts in infectious diseases

0:01:13 > 0:01:17and a Visiting Professor of Zoology at Oxford University,

0:01:17 > 0:01:20a performer who's won both the Funny Woman Award

0:01:20 > 0:01:23and the Best Joke Award at the Edinburgh Festival,

0:01:23 > 0:01:26one of the UK's leading political commentators,

0:01:26 > 0:01:29also known for his charity work on BBC radio and television,

0:01:29 > 0:01:32and the final team member is a contributor to numerous

0:01:32 > 0:01:36television and radio programmes and author or that invaluable

0:01:36 > 0:01:40self-help manual, How To Clone The Perfect Blonde.

0:01:40 > 0:01:44Now let's ask them to introduce themselves in the time-hallowed manner of this programme.

0:01:44 > 0:01:46Hello, I'm Chris Dye.

0:01:46 > 0:01:48I read biology in the 1970s

0:01:48 > 0:01:51and I now work at the World Health Organization.

0:01:51 > 0:01:54Hello, I'm Zoe Lyons. I did psychology at York University.

0:01:54 > 0:01:58I graduated in 1992, and I'm now a stand-up comedian.

0:01:58 > 0:02:00- And their captain. - I'm Steve Richards.

0:02:00 > 0:02:03I did history at York, graduated in 1981.

0:02:03 > 0:02:07Now a political columnist for The Independent, and broadcaster.

0:02:07 > 0:02:09Hello. I'm Richard Hollingham

0:02:09 > 0:02:12and I graduated in 1991 with a degree in

0:02:12 > 0:02:14applied and environmental biology,

0:02:14 > 0:02:16and I'm a science journalist and author.

0:02:16 > 0:02:17APPLAUSE

0:02:20 > 0:02:25Now, their opponents are all graduates of the University of Manchester.

0:02:25 > 0:02:28The first of them is the co-founder and chairman of one

0:02:28 > 0:02:31of Britain's leading companies specialising in urban renewal.

0:02:31 > 0:02:34He also happens to be the current Chancellor of Manchester.

0:02:34 > 0:02:38Next to him, someone who used a degree in astrophysics to good effect,

0:02:38 > 0:02:43and has now become one of the UK's most successful card players.

0:02:43 > 0:02:46Their captain is the longest-serving art critic in the national press

0:02:46 > 0:02:50and the award-winning presenter of numerous television programmes on the arts.

0:02:50 > 0:02:54And finally, a former big cheese on programmes like Inside Story

0:02:54 > 0:02:59and Panorama, now that walking oxymoron, a professor of journalism.

0:02:59 > 0:03:02But let's hear from them in their own words.

0:03:02 > 0:03:05Hi. I'm Tom Bloxham, I was studying politics,

0:03:05 > 0:03:09modern history at the University of Manchester, I finished in 1986

0:03:09 > 0:03:12and now I work for a company called Urban Splash - property developers.

0:03:12 > 0:03:14Hello, I'm Liv Boeree.

0:03:14 > 0:03:18I studied physics with astrophysics, graduating in 2005,

0:03:18 > 0:03:21and now I'm a poker player and TV presenter.

0:03:21 > 0:03:22And their captain.

0:03:22 > 0:03:24I'm Waldemar Januszczak when I'm in Poland.

0:03:24 > 0:03:27In England, I'm "Wal-da-mar Jan-us-ack".

0:03:27 > 0:03:30I studied art history in Manchester in the 1970s,

0:03:30 > 0:03:32and now I'm an art critic.

0:03:32 > 0:03:36Hello. My name's Steve Hewlett. I studied liberal studies in science,

0:03:36 > 0:03:40which in English means history and philosophy of science and biology.

0:03:40 > 0:03:42Sounds better than it was, I can promise.

0:03:42 > 0:03:45I write for the Guardian and present a media show on Radio Four.

0:03:45 > 0:03:47APPLAUSE

0:03:49 > 0:03:53OK, well, the rules are the same as they are for the students, of course.

0:03:53 > 0:03:55Ten points for starter questions, 15 for bonuses.

0:03:55 > 0:03:58Starter questions are solo efforts, bonuses are team efforts.

0:03:58 > 0:04:02If you interrupt a starter question with an incorrect answer,

0:04:02 > 0:04:03you lose five points.

0:04:03 > 0:04:06Fingers on the buzzers. Here's your first starter for 10.

0:04:06 > 0:04:08"When a man is tired of London,

0:04:08 > 0:04:12"he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford."

0:04:12 > 0:04:15These are the words of which literary...

0:04:15 > 0:04:17- Samuel Johnson.- Correct. In 1777.

0:04:17 > 0:04:19APPLAUSE

0:04:19 > 0:04:23So, York, you get the first set of bonuses. They're on world rulers.

0:04:23 > 0:04:27I will read a list of rulers who were on the throne or in power

0:04:27 > 0:04:31during the first year of a given century.

0:04:31 > 0:04:35In each case, all you have to do is to name the century.

0:04:35 > 0:04:37Firstly for five, King Cuthred of Kent,

0:04:37 > 0:04:42the Tang Chinese Emperor Deh-Dzung, and the Emperor Charlemagne?

0:04:42 > 0:04:44THEY CONFER

0:04:44 > 0:04:49- Tenth century or something like that?- Yeah. Tenth century.

0:04:49 > 0:04:53No, it was the ninth century. Secondly, for a possible five, Wenceslas II of Bohemia,

0:04:53 > 0:04:58Philip IV of France and James the Just of Aragon?

0:05:00 > 0:05:03THEY CONFER

0:05:03 > 0:05:05- 13th, or...?- 13th or 14th?

0:05:05 > 0:05:08- Shall we give a guess for 14th? - Yeah.

0:05:08 > 0:05:09- 14th.- Well done.

0:05:09 > 0:05:14And finally for five, Boris Godunov of Russia, Pope Clement VIII,

0:05:14 > 0:05:15and the Mughal Emperor Akbar?

0:05:16 > 0:05:1917th. 17th.

0:05:19 > 0:05:20- 17th.- Correct.

0:05:20 > 0:05:23- Another starter question now. - APPLAUSE

0:05:23 > 0:05:27The Inn, Enns, Drava, Tisa and Sava are among tributaries of which river,

0:05:27 > 0:05:31formed by the confluence of the Breg and the Brigach,

0:05:31 > 0:05:33both of which rise in the Black Forest?

0:05:37 > 0:05:41- The Rhine?- Anyone like to buzz from York?

0:05:41 > 0:05:43You may NOT confer. One of you may buzz.

0:05:45 > 0:05:47But you're not going to. It's the Danube. Ten points for this.

0:05:47 > 0:05:53If the full name of W begins with T, with what letter does

0:05:53 > 0:05:56the full name of K begin, in terms of chemical symbols?

0:06:00 > 0:06:02- P.- Correct, yes.

0:06:02 > 0:06:04APPLAUSE

0:06:06 > 0:06:11Piece of cake for you, that one, surely. Right, your bonuses this time are on popular magazines, York.

0:06:11 > 0:06:17Founded in 1967, which publication featured an interview in 1010 with General Stanley McChrystal,

0:06:17 > 0:06:20then commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan,

0:06:20 > 0:06:24which was widely interpreted as being critical of President Obama's team?

0:06:24 > 0:06:27THEY CONFER

0:06:32 > 0:06:34- Wire.- Wire? - Something like that.- Wire?

0:06:34 > 0:06:40No, it's the Rolling Stone magazine. Secondly, published since 1952 and describing itself as

0:06:40 > 0:06:44a "unique multimedia magazine", which publication's writers have included

0:06:44 > 0:06:49Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons, and editors such as Steve Sutherland and Conor McNicholas?

0:06:49 > 0:06:50THEY CONFER

0:06:54 > 0:06:56- NME.- Correct.

0:06:56 > 0:06:59A former editor of the NME, Nick Logan, founded which publication

0:06:59 > 0:07:04in 1978, whose writers included Miranda Sawyer and Neil Tennant?

0:07:04 > 0:07:06- Was it The Face?- I'd guess The Face.

0:07:06 > 0:07:08- The Face?- No, it's Smash Hits.

0:07:08 > 0:07:1010 points for this. In which opera by Verdi

0:07:10 > 0:07:13is the title character a hunch-backed court jester,

0:07:13 > 0:07:15cursed by the Count of Monterone?

0:07:19 > 0:07:21- Rigoletto?- Correct.

0:07:21 > 0:07:23APPLAUSE

0:07:23 > 0:07:26Your bonuses are on swords, York.

0:07:26 > 0:07:28In Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass,

0:07:28 > 0:07:31the beamish boy uses the vorpal sword

0:07:31 > 0:07:32to slay which creature?

0:07:35 > 0:07:37You don't need to buzz, just tell us.

0:07:37 > 0:07:40- Jabberwocky.- Jabberwocky. - The Jabberwock is correct.

0:07:40 > 0:07:43In an eponymous song, which paladin of Charlemagne wields Durandal,

0:07:43 > 0:07:46a sword he attempts to break when he's close to death

0:07:46 > 0:07:48to avoid it being captured by the Saracens?

0:07:51 > 0:07:53- We don't know.- It's Roland.

0:07:53 > 0:07:57And finally, for a possible 5, in Malory's La Morte d'Arthur,

0:07:57 > 0:08:00which knight throws Excalibur to the Lady Of The Lake

0:08:00 > 0:08:02on the death of King Arthur?

0:08:03 > 0:08:04- Gawain?- Ga-what?

0:08:04 > 0:08:05Gawain?

0:08:05 > 0:08:07- Gawain?- No, it's Sir Bedivere.

0:08:07 > 0:08:10Maybe you'll get going with this picture round, Manchester.

0:08:10 > 0:08:14Your picture starter is some lines from Shakespeare,

0:08:14 > 0:08:16translated into another language.

0:08:16 > 0:08:1810 points if you can identify the play they come from

0:08:18 > 0:08:21AND the language of the translation.

0:08:29 > 0:08:31No talking.

0:08:31 > 0:08:32BUZZER

0:08:33 > 0:08:36Twelfth Night, Portuguese?

0:08:36 > 0:08:39No. I think you've had long enough to look at this, York.

0:08:39 > 0:08:41Will any of you have a go? You'll kick yourselves.

0:08:41 > 0:08:45It's Hamlet in Esperanto. We'll see the whole thing. There it is.

0:08:45 > 0:08:46LAUGHTER

0:08:46 > 0:08:48So picture bonuses shortly.

0:08:48 > 0:08:5010 points for a starter question in the meantime.

0:08:50 > 0:08:52Answer as soon as you buzz.

0:08:52 > 0:08:55Give the pronunciation of all three of the common homophones

0:08:55 > 0:09:00that mean, "Mark that shows a proposed insertion in a text,"

0:09:00 > 0:09:02"Unit of measure for precious stones,"

0:09:02 > 0:09:05and "Metaphorical means of persuasion..."

0:09:05 > 0:09:08- Carrot.- Correct, yes.

0:09:08 > 0:09:10APPLAUSE

0:09:10 > 0:09:13Right, so you get the picture bonuses.

0:09:13 > 0:09:15Following that Esperanto translation

0:09:15 > 0:09:18of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy,

0:09:18 > 0:09:20your picture bonuses are the titles of three

0:09:20 > 0:09:23of Shakespeare's plays in Esperanto.

0:09:23 > 0:09:26In each case, I want the name of the play in English. Firstly, for 5.

0:09:29 > 0:09:31THEY LAUGH

0:09:31 > 0:09:36THEY CONFER

0:09:36 > 0:09:37Ooh, that's a good idea.

0:09:37 > 0:09:40Shall we try it? Merry Wives Of Windsor. We are...

0:09:40 > 0:09:41No.

0:09:41 > 0:09:42..guessing knowledgeably.

0:09:42 > 0:09:46No, I'm afraid you're definitely NOT guessing knowledgeably.

0:09:46 > 0:09:47No, I'll show you.

0:09:49 > 0:09:51Secondly...

0:09:52 > 0:09:54The something of something.

0:09:54 > 0:09:56So what's the of?

0:09:56 > 0:09:58Merchant Of Venice?

0:09:58 > 0:09:59Merchant Of Venice.

0:09:59 > 0:10:01The Merchant Of Venice.

0:10:01 > 0:10:03No, it's the wrong number of words, isn't it?

0:10:04 > 0:10:06And finally...

0:10:07 > 0:10:09Oh, this could be The Merchant Of Venice.

0:10:09 > 0:10:11It could be, yeah.

0:10:11 > 0:10:14- The Merchant Of Venice. - Yes, it is. Yes.- Hurrah.

0:10:14 > 0:10:17Right, 10 points for this. In Greek mythology,

0:10:17 > 0:10:20the maenads or "raving ones" were the female followers of which god?

0:10:20 > 0:10:21BUZZ

0:10:21 > 0:10:24- Dionysus?- Yes!

0:10:24 > 0:10:27APPLAUSE

0:10:28 > 0:10:32You storm away to a set of bonus questions on chickens.

0:10:32 > 0:10:33Firstly, for 5 points.

0:10:33 > 0:10:37Known for its aggressive males, which breed of domestic fowl

0:10:37 > 0:10:40is thought to be named after a province of northwest Java?

0:10:40 > 0:10:43It also gives its name to a weight division in professional boxing.

0:10:43 > 0:10:46Yeah, it's bantam.

0:10:46 > 0:10:49Correct. Originating from a town between Lyon and Geneva,

0:10:49 > 0:10:52which French breed became, in 1957,

0:10:52 > 0:10:56the first chicken to be protected by an appellation d'origine controlee?

0:11:01 > 0:11:02Lyonnaise chicken?

0:11:02 > 0:11:04- Valance? - No, it's a Poulet De Bresse.

0:11:04 > 0:11:07And finally, what name links a young chicken reared for eating

0:11:07 > 0:11:09and the painter regarded as a leader

0:11:09 > 0:11:12of the French Classical tradition in the 17th century?

0:11:12 > 0:11:15In which...? The 17th? Erm...

0:11:15 > 0:11:16- Poussin.- Of course!

0:11:16 > 0:11:18LAUGHTER

0:11:18 > 0:11:20Right, 10 points for this.

0:11:20 > 0:11:23"Man owes his entire existence to the state

0:11:23 > 0:11:25"and has his being within it alone."

0:11:25 > 0:11:26These are the words

0:11:26 > 0:11:29of which German philosopher in a work of 1830?

0:11:32 > 0:11:34Hegel?

0:11:34 > 0:11:36- Hegel is right, yes. - APPLAUSE

0:11:36 > 0:11:41Your bonuses, Manchester, this time are on diagnostic medical tests.

0:11:41 > 0:11:44Firstly, the sweat test measures the amount of sodium chloride

0:11:44 > 0:11:48in sweat produced under standard conditions.

0:11:48 > 0:11:51What genetic disorder is it used to diagnose?

0:11:51 > 0:11:54THEY CONFER

0:11:59 > 0:12:02GENETIC disorder?

0:12:02 > 0:12:04- Let's have it, please. - Diabetes?

0:12:04 > 0:12:06No, it's cystic fibrosis.

0:12:06 > 0:12:10The Heaf and Mantoux tests are skin tests routinely used

0:12:10 > 0:12:12to screen for which infectious disease?

0:12:12 > 0:12:14Tuberculosis.

0:12:14 > 0:12:15- Tuberculosis?- Correct.

0:12:15 > 0:12:19The urea breath test is used to detect Helicobacter pilori.

0:12:19 > 0:12:23With which condition is the presence of this bacterium associated?

0:12:28 > 0:12:30Ugh.

0:12:30 > 0:12:33- Diabetes.- No, it's stomach ulcers.

0:12:33 > 0:12:3410 points for this.

0:12:34 > 0:12:37Shared by 12 popes between 140 and 1958,

0:12:37 > 0:12:41what name is the Latin form of an English word

0:12:41 > 0:12:44meaning dutiful, religious or devout?

0:12:46 > 0:12:47Benedict?

0:12:47 > 0:12:49No. Anyone like to buzz from York?

0:12:51 > 0:12:52It's Pius.

0:12:52 > 0:12:5410 points for this.

0:12:54 > 0:12:59"The wino bar" is an anagram of the title of which 1915 novel?

0:12:59 > 0:13:01Set largely in Nottinghamshire,

0:13:01 > 0:13:04its characters include Tom Brangwen and Anna Lensky.

0:13:06 > 0:13:08You may not confer!

0:13:10 > 0:13:13Women In Love? Sorry, I was trying to think quickly.

0:13:13 > 0:13:16York? Not quickly enough or accurately enough.

0:13:16 > 0:13:18York, come on.

0:13:18 > 0:13:19One of you buzz.

0:13:19 > 0:13:22No, I'll tell you. You had the right author. It's The Rainbow.

0:13:22 > 0:13:2310 points for this.

0:13:23 > 0:13:26What adjective links two-word terms meaning,

0:13:26 > 0:13:30in chemistry, ethanol that contains one percent of water by weight,

0:13:30 > 0:13:32in politics, a majority over all rivals combined,

0:13:32 > 0:13:33and, in physics,

0:13:33 > 0:13:37the lowest temperature that is theoretically possible?

0:13:38 > 0:13:39Absolute zero?

0:13:39 > 0:13:43Yes. "Absolute" is the word I was looking for, but I'll accept that.

0:13:43 > 0:13:46Right, so you get a set of bonuses on ancient artefacts, York.

0:13:46 > 0:13:49Made of marble, the Salamis Tablet,

0:13:49 > 0:13:51discovered on the Greek island of that name in 1846,

0:13:51 > 0:13:55is an example of which device,

0:13:55 > 0:13:59believe to have been used by Babylonians from around 300 BC?

0:14:00 > 0:14:02Any idea at all?

0:14:03 > 0:14:07- Astronomical?- Yeah.- Some kind of astronomical chart, or...?

0:14:07 > 0:14:10A sextant.

0:14:10 > 0:14:13- A sextant, for navigation. - Sext...?- SexTANT.

0:14:13 > 0:14:17- A sextant.- No, it's a counting board, or calculation device.

0:14:17 > 0:14:21A series of coloured strings and knots, thought to have been used

0:14:21 > 0:14:26mainly for recording data or for counting, the quipu, Q-U-I-P-U, was

0:14:26 > 0:14:31the invention of which civilisation which had no written language?

0:14:40 > 0:14:45- Come on, let's have a go, please. - Aztec.- No, it's the Incas.

0:14:45 > 0:14:49Soroban is the ancient calculating device known in English

0:14:49 > 0:14:53by which name, probably deriving from the Hebrew word for dust?

0:15:01 > 0:15:03- No.- We don't know.- It's abacus.

0:15:03 > 0:15:05Right, we're going to take a music round now.

0:15:05 > 0:15:08For your music starter, you'll hear a piece of classical music.

0:15:08 > 0:15:12All you have to do is give me the name of the composer to get ten points.

0:15:13 > 0:15:17ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS

0:15:36 > 0:15:38Bach.

0:15:38 > 0:15:42Correct.

0:15:39 > 0:15:42APPLAUSE

0:15:42 > 0:15:45That was his Fantasia in G, one of the organ pieces

0:15:45 > 0:15:48selected for the Royal Wedding in April 2011.

0:15:48 > 0:15:51For your bonuses, three more pieces played in Westminster Abbey

0:15:51 > 0:15:53as the guests were arriving for the ceremony.

0:15:53 > 0:15:56All this time by British composers.

0:15:56 > 0:15:58In each case, simply name the composer.

0:15:58 > 0:16:02ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

0:16:12 > 0:16:13Vaughan Williams.

0:16:13 > 0:16:18No, that was Elgar, Serenade For Strings. Secondly...

0:16:18 > 0:16:21ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

0:16:33 > 0:16:34Vaughan Williams?

0:16:34 > 0:16:38No, that was by Benjamin Britten, Courtly Dance V. And finally...

0:16:38 > 0:16:40ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

0:16:45 > 0:16:48You'd better know this!

0:16:45 > 0:16:48- Vaughan Williams!- Correct. Yes.

0:16:48 > 0:16:50APPLAUSE

0:16:50 > 0:16:53Ten points for this. Which city's being described?

0:16:53 > 0:16:55Lying on a coral outcrop in the Indian ocean,

0:16:55 > 0:17:00it's first known European visitor was Vasco Da Gama in 1498.

0:17:00 > 0:17:03It's separated from the mainland by Tudor Creek

0:17:03 > 0:17:06and Kilindini harbour and is the second largest city in Kenya.

0:17:09 > 0:17:11Zanzibar.

0:17:11 > 0:17:15Oh, no. York, one of you buzz.

0:17:15 > 0:17:17- Mombasa.- Mombasa's right.

0:17:17 > 0:17:23Ten points for this. Your bonuses now, York. They're on Jane Austen.

0:17:23 > 0:17:27In each case, give the full name of the character

0:17:27 > 0:17:28and the work in which she appears.

0:17:28 > 0:17:32Firstly, which of Austen's heroines do we first meet at the age of ten?

0:17:32 > 0:17:33The author writes,

0:17:33 > 0:17:38"Though there might not be much in her first appearance to captivate,

0:17:38 > 0:17:41"there was at least nothing to disgust her relations."

0:17:45 > 0:17:48- No, we don't know.- That's Fanny Price in Mansfield Park.

0:17:48 > 0:17:51Which character does the author describe as

0:17:51 > 0:17:53"Sensible and clever, but eager in everything.

0:17:53 > 0:17:55"Her sorrows, her joys could have no moderation.

0:17:55 > 0:17:59"She was generous, amiable, interesting.

0:17:59 > 0:18:01"She was everything but prudent."

0:18:04 > 0:18:06Elizabeth in Pride And Prejudice.

0:18:06 > 0:18:10No, it's Marianne Dashwood in Sense And Sensibility.

0:18:10 > 0:18:15Finally, "handsome, clever and rich with a comfortable home and happy disposition."

0:18:15 > 0:18:17Which heroine had lived nearly 21 years in the world

0:18:17 > 0:18:20"with very little to distress or vex her?

0:18:25 > 0:18:27- We don't know. - It's Emma Woodhouse in Emma.

0:18:27 > 0:18:29Ten points for this starter question.

0:18:29 > 0:18:33Which decade saw the publication of George Eliot's Middlemarch

0:18:33 > 0:18:36and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, the first performance of Bizet's Carmen...

0:18:39 > 0:18:401850s.

0:18:40 > 0:18:44No, you lose five points. ..and the first impressionist exhibition in Paris.

0:18:44 > 0:18:46One of you may buzz from Manchester.

0:18:46 > 0:18:48- 1870s.- Correct.

0:18:48 > 0:18:51APPLAUSE

0:18:52 > 0:18:56Your bonuses are on explosions, Manchester.

0:18:56 > 0:18:59Often regarded as the largest in recorded history,

0:18:59 > 0:19:03the eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815 took place on

0:19:03 > 0:19:07the island of Sumbawa in which country?

0:19:12 > 0:19:14- Indonesia.- Correct.

0:19:14 > 0:19:17Resulting in what was thought to be the loudest man-made

0:19:17 > 0:19:22explosion up to that point, the detonation of 19 mines began

0:19:22 > 0:19:27which battle of June 1917, a victory for General Plumer's second army?

0:19:36 > 0:19:39- Nominate Steve.- Vimy Ridge?

0:19:39 > 0:19:41No, it was Messines. It became known as Plumer of Messines.

0:19:41 > 0:19:44In December 1917, which port in Nova Scotia was

0:19:44 > 0:19:47devastated by the explosion of the French ship, Mont Blanc,

0:19:47 > 0:19:50the largest manmade explosion of the pre-atomic age?

0:20:00 > 0:20:05- Saint John?- No, it's Halifax. Ten points for this starter question.

0:20:05 > 0:20:08Listen carefully. Names denoting the current geological era,

0:20:08 > 0:20:13the President of France from 1995 to 2007 and the writing system used

0:20:13 > 0:20:18in Bulgarian and Russian, all begin and end with which letter of the...

0:20:20 > 0:20:21- C.- C is correct, yes.

0:20:21 > 0:20:24APPLAUSE

0:20:24 > 0:20:27Get these bonuses, you'll take the lead. They're on Russian opera.

0:20:27 > 0:20:31Which Russian ruler wrote the libretti for several operas

0:20:31 > 0:20:34including Fevey, a fairy-tale opera with music by Pashkevich,

0:20:34 > 0:20:37first staged in St Petersburg in 1786?

0:20:42 > 0:20:44- Catherine The Great.- Correct.

0:20:44 > 0:20:48Noted for a much-performed overture and based on a poem by Pushkin,

0:20:48 > 0:20:51which fairy-tale opera by Glinka

0:20:51 > 0:20:54was first staged in St Petersburg in 1842?

0:21:02 > 0:21:06- Nutcracker?- No, it was Ruslan and Ludmilla.

0:21:06 > 0:21:09Finally, also based on a work by Pushkin, Dargomyzhsky's opera,

0:21:09 > 0:21:10The Stone Guest,

0:21:10 > 0:21:14orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov and first staged in St Petersburg in 1872,

0:21:14 > 0:21:17is a version of the story of which legendary figure?

0:21:22 > 0:21:25- Ivan The Terrible? - No, it was Don Juan, Don Giovanni.

0:21:25 > 0:21:28We're going to take another picture round.

0:21:28 > 0:21:30For your picture starter, you'll see a painting.

0:21:30 > 0:21:33Ten points if you can name the artist please?

0:21:36 > 0:21:38Rembrandt.

0:21:38 > 0:21:40It is Rembrandt van Rijn, his Mother Reading.

0:21:40 > 0:21:44Your bonuses are three works in which the artist

0:21:44 > 0:21:46has depicted his mother.

0:21:46 > 0:21:49All were painted in Europe within 30 years of each other.

0:21:49 > 0:21:52Five points for each artist. Firstly for five.

0:21:54 > 0:21:58- Van Gogh?- That is correct. Portrait Of The Artist's Mother. Secondly.

0:22:08 > 0:22:11- Is that Vuillard?- It is Vuillard, yes. And finally.

0:22:13 > 0:22:16- Whistler.- It is Whistler, of course.- Well done.

0:22:17 > 0:22:20APPLAUSE

0:22:20 > 0:22:22Another starter question.

0:22:22 > 0:22:25In 2010, an unmanned spacecraft from which country was the first

0:22:25 > 0:22:28to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth after...

0:22:28 > 0:22:32- Japan.- Japan is correct, yes.

0:22:32 > 0:22:34Get these bonuses and you'll be level-egging.

0:22:34 > 0:22:37They're on prime ministers and war.

0:22:37 > 0:22:40"Roll up that map, it will not be wanted these ten years."

0:22:40 > 0:22:43Which Prime Minister said that on hearing of Napoleon's

0:22:43 > 0:22:45victory at Austerlitz?

0:22:57 > 0:23:00- Come on, let's have it, please. - Palmerston?

0:23:00 > 0:23:01No, it was Pitt the Younger.

0:23:01 > 0:23:05"We are within measurable distance of a real Armageddon which would

0:23:05 > 0:23:09"dwarf the Ulster and Nationalist Volunteers to their true proportion.

0:23:09 > 0:23:13"Happily, there seems to be no reason why we should be anything more than spectators."

0:23:13 > 0:23:17Which Prime Minister wrote those words?

0:23:23 > 0:23:25- Gladstone?- No, it's Asquith, in 1914.

0:23:25 > 0:23:31And finally, "We hear war called murder. It is not, it is suicide."

0:23:31 > 0:23:34Which Prime Minister wrote those words in 1930?

0:23:43 > 0:23:45Come on.

0:23:48 > 0:23:51- Was it Ramsay MacDonald? - Yes, of course it was.

0:23:51 > 0:23:53Right, 10 points for this.

0:23:53 > 0:23:56Which work of 1949 was described by the Irish Times as

0:23:56 > 0:24:00"a play in which nothing happens...twice."?

0:24:02 > 0:24:04- Waiting For Godot?- Yes.

0:24:06 > 0:24:09Your bonuses will give you the lead. They're on a British novelist.

0:24:09 > 0:24:13According to the Collins Dictionary, dystopian modernity and bleak,

0:24:13 > 0:24:17man-made landscapes are among the defining features

0:24:17 > 0:24:20of an adjective derived from the surname of which

0:24:20 > 0:24:23British novelist, born in China in 1930?

0:24:28 > 0:24:29Do we know? Anyone?

0:24:29 > 0:24:32- No, we don't know.- JG Ballard. The adjective is Ballardian.

0:24:32 > 0:24:36Ballard wrote two works of fictionalised autobiography.

0:24:36 > 0:24:39The first was The Empire Of The Sun. What was its sequel?

0:24:47 > 0:24:49- We don't know. - The Kindness Of Women.

0:24:49 > 0:24:52Finally for five, "This author is beyond psychiatric help.

0:24:52 > 0:24:54"Do not publish."

0:24:54 > 0:24:57This was reputedly the response of a reader at Ballard's

0:24:57 > 0:25:02publishers to which of his novels, filmed in 1996 by David Cronenberg?

0:25:02 > 0:25:05Crash, was it?

0:25:05 > 0:25:08- Crash.- Correct. You take the lead. Ten points for this.

0:25:08 > 0:25:09Answer as soon as you buzz.

0:25:09 > 0:25:16Peru and Guinea-Bissau are among six sovereign states with English names that end in the letter U.

0:25:16 > 0:25:20The other four are in the Pacific. Ten points to name three.

0:25:22 > 0:25:27- Palau, Tuvalu and...- Quickly.

0:25:31 > 0:25:35I'm sorry, I can't accept that. You may not confer. One of you may buzz.

0:25:35 > 0:25:37Quickly.

0:25:39 > 0:25:41You were on the right lines. Bad luck.

0:25:41 > 0:25:45Vanuatu and Nauru were the other ones. Another starter question.

0:25:45 > 0:25:49Pronounced differently in each case, which sequence of five letters

0:25:49 > 0:25:55ends three common words meaning vocalist, digit and red-haired?

0:25:55 > 0:25:59- Er, Inger.- I-N-G-E-R is correct, yes.

0:26:02 > 0:26:05Here are you bonuses. That gives you the lead again.

0:26:05 > 0:26:08They're on nebulae named after animals.

0:26:08 > 0:26:12Barnard 33 is a dark nebula within the larger nebula of Orion.

0:26:12 > 0:26:16What's its common name after its resemblance to part of an animal?

0:26:18 > 0:26:19- Come on.- Horsehead?- Correct.

0:26:19 > 0:26:23Another dark nebula, designated Barnard 72,

0:26:23 > 0:26:27in the constellation Ophiuchus, has what common name?

0:26:32 > 0:26:34- Crab?- No, it's the Snake.

0:26:34 > 0:26:38Finally, a supernova explosion in the constellation of Taurus was

0:26:38 > 0:26:40observed on Earth in the year 1054.

0:26:40 > 0:26:44It left behind a pulsar rotating 30 times per second

0:26:44 > 0:26:46and what surrounding nebula?

0:26:46 > 0:26:50- Crab nebula.- Correct. Useful having an astrophysicist, eh?

0:26:50 > 0:26:51Ten points for this.

0:26:51 > 0:26:54Thought to be the first of its kind in the world,

0:26:54 > 0:26:57the surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat was

0:26:57 > 0:27:01introduced in October 2011 in which EU member state?

0:27:03 > 0:27:08- Denmark.- Correct. Your bonuses this time are on the House of York.

0:27:08 > 0:27:11The first Duke of York, Edmund of Langley,

0:27:11 > 0:27:14was the fifth son of which English monarch?

0:27:14 > 0:27:16- No idea?- Come on.

0:27:19 > 0:27:21- We don't know.- It's Edward III.

0:27:21 > 0:27:27Killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, Richard Plantagenet, the third Duke of York,

0:27:27 > 0:27:31had two sons who became King of England. For five points, name both.

0:27:34 > 0:27:37- Come on, we can't hang around. - Henry and William.

0:27:37 > 0:27:39No, Edward IV and Richard III.

0:27:39 > 0:27:45Finally, the House of York ruled England from 1461 to 1485...

0:27:45 > 0:27:46GONG

0:27:46 > 0:27:50York have 120, but Manchester have 125.

0:27:55 > 0:27:59Well, who knows what might have happened if we'd gone on another five minutes, but...

0:27:59 > 0:28:01Actually, thank all of you very much.

0:28:01 > 0:28:04It's very sporting to put your heads above the parapet

0:28:04 > 0:28:08and risk having them chopped off. York, we shall have to say goodbye to you.

0:28:08 > 0:28:11Manchester, if that's one of the four highest winning scores,

0:28:11 > 0:28:16we look forward to seeing you in the semifinals. Thank you all very much.

0:28:16 > 0:28:18I hope you can join us next time.

0:28:18 > 0:28:21- It's goodbye from York University...- Goodbye.

0:28:21 > 0:28:25- ..goodbye from Manchester University.- ALL: Goodbye. - And goodbye from me. Goodbye.

0:28:25 > 0:28:27APPLAUSE

0:28:34 > 0:28:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:37 > 0:28:40E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk