Episode 1 University Challenge

Christmas University Challenge. Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

APPLAUSE

Hello. Welcome to the first match

in a special Christmas series of this competition,

in which we all wear - mercifully, metaphorical - furry antlers

and the programme attempts to slither down the chimneys

of alumni and staff of some of the UK's leading universities

and university colleges.

Everyone competing has already made a mark in their own field,

but seemed to feel they've not done enough showing off on television.

You'd think, wouldn't you, they're old enough to know better?

The 14 teams... or do I mean victims?

No, I mean scintillating polymaths.

..were chosen not by the institutions,

but by our producer during one of his brief intervals of sobriety.

There'll be seven first-round matches

and the four winning teams with the highest scores

will go through to the semi-finals

to compete for the solitary mince pie and bottle of cooking sherry

which awaits the best of them.

Now, the graduates of Bristol University include

a presenter of wildlife programmes, a commentator on economics,

their captain has been described

as the most effective of Britain's eco-warriors,

and finally, a scion of our film industry.

But let's ask them to introduce themselves

in the traditional manner.

Hi, I'm Steve Leonard.

I'm pretty sure I qualified as a vet at Bristol in 1996

and since then, I've been working as a wildlife presenter

and dog plumber.

I'm Ruth Lea,

I read Quantitative Economics at Bristol over 40 years ago,

and I now give economic advice to the Arbuthnot Banking Group.

-And their captain...

-Hello, my name is Tony Juniper.

I read Zoology and Psychology at the University of Bristol,

graduating in 1983.

Since then, I've been a campaigner for nature.

Hi. I'm Tim Corrie.

I read French and Drama in Bristol in the early '60s

and I'm an agent and Deputy Chairman of BAFTA.

APPLAUSE

The University of Leeds is represented by

a leading science writer, a broadcast journalist,

a captain who is an award winning actor/comedian and impressionist,

and they're joined by a food writer

who certainly didn't come here for the catering. Let's meet them.

Hi, I'm David Adam.

I graduated from Leeds in 1993 with a degree in Chemical Engineering.

I'm now a journalist,

and I'm writing a book about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Hi, I'm Libby Wiener, I graduated in History from Leeds in 1981

and I'm now a Political Correspondent for ITV News.

And their captain....

Hello, I'm Alistair McGowan, I read English at Leeds

and graduated in 1986.

I now spend my life doing impressions of various people,

from Mock The Week's famous host Dara O'Briain

to the rather wonderful Gyles Brandreth from The One Show.

But my first job in television was on Spitting Image,

where I provided voices for several puppets,

including Hugh Grant, Chris Eubank and, yes...

Jeremy Paxman.

-LAUGHTER

-It was you, was it?

-It was me!

Right, and finally?

Hello, I'm Jay Rayner,

I graduated with a degree in Political Studies in 1987.

I'm now a broadcaster, writer and journalist,

perhaps best-known for saying snarky things about people's cooking.

APPLAUSE

OK. I'll just remind you of the rules.

Starter questions have to be answered individually.

They're worth 10 points.

Bonuses are team efforts, you can collaborate on those,

they're worth 15 points.

And if you interrupt a starter question incorrectly,

I'll fine you five points.

Right, fingers on the buzzers. Here's your first starter for 10.

The Battle Of Life, The Chimes and The Cricket On The Hearth

are among the Christmas books of which writer?

They were all published in the 1840s.

-Evelyn Waugh.

-No.

-BUZZER

-Thomas Hardy.

No, it's Charles Dickens!

Right, 10 points for this starter question.

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper,

"half have never voted for a president.

"One hopes it's the same half."

These are the words of which satirist and political writer,

the author of several novels,

including The City And The Pillar and The Golden Age?

-Gore Vidal.

-Yes.

Right, so you get the first set of bonuses, Leeds.

They're on the 1823 verse, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas,

generally credited to Clement C Moore.

In each case, identify the reindeer mentioned in the poem

whose name corresponds to the following...

Firstly, which reindeer shares a name with the term denoting bodies

including Lovejoy, McNaught, Kohoutek, Bennett and Hale-Bopp?

-Comet?

-Comet.

Correct. Which reindeer's name is also that of an animal

named in the title of an 1924 opera by Leos Janacek?

THEY WHISPER

-Er...Janacek?

-Think of any operas.

-Don't know, move on.

-No, move on?

-Say Prancer.

-Prancer? No, it must be Donner or Blitzen, surely.

-Blitzen.

-No, it's Vixen. As in the Cunning Little Vixen.

And finally, which reindeer shares a name

with the figure in Virgil's Aeneid

who prompts Dido to fall in love with Aeneas?

Any Greek specialists? No idea.

-Cupid?

-Cupid? He's not a reindeer, is he?

-He might be.

-You've got children.

-I don't know.

-Cupid.

Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

Which of the six principal organs of the United Nations

is the only one in which all member nations have equal representation?

Its powers include appointing the non-permanent members

to the Security Council...

-UN General Assembly.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on quotations about politics.

Firstly, for five points.

"I've come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter

"to be left to the politicians."

These are the words of which European head of state

who died in 1970 soon after leaving office?

-Willy Brandt?

-Yes.

Willy Brandt.

No, it's Charles de Gaulle. Secondly, for five points.

In 1988, which former British Prime Minister commented,

"I don't think that modesty is the outstanding characteristic

"of contemporary politics."

Macmillan?

-Died in 1998, was it?

-Macmillan?

-Macmillan.

-No, it was Edward Heath.

And finally, C Northcote Parkinson once claimed,

"It is now known that men enter local politics

"solely as a result of being unhappily..." what?

-Married.

-Married.

-Married.

-Correct. 10 points for this.

Friendly hedgehogs, iron phosphate, copper rings, tea tree oil,

diatomaceous earth and beer traps

are among preventive measures used...

-Slugs and snails.

-Yes, I will accept that.

Slugs was the only one you needed to give me.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So, you get a set of bonuses, Bristol, on a play by Shakespeare.

Which of Shakespeare's plays concludes with the following lines,

"A great while ago, the world begun,

"with hey, ho, the wind and the rain,

"but that's all one, our play is done,

"and we'll strive to please you every day."

THEY WHISPER

Romeo and Juliet.

No, it's Twelfth Night!

Secondly, Twelfth Night has the alternative title What You Will,

a title also used by which other poet and dramatist

for a play first performed in 1601?

THEY WHISPER

-Guess.

-Ben Jonson.

-Ben Jonson.

No, it's John Marston.

Directed by John Madden,

which film of 1998 concludes with a fictionalised account

of the inspiration behind the writing of Twelfth Night?

-Shakespeare In Love.

-Correct, yes.

Try to answer through your captain, but that's the right answer.

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

For your picture starter, you'll see a map with a town marked on it.

For 10 points, tell me not the name of the town,

but of the figure associated with it

and the country in which it's located.

You may not confer.

Helsinki.

Anyone like to buzz from Leeds?

-Malmo?

-No.

I wanted the name of the person associated with it,

which is Santa Claus, and it's Finland, it's Rovaniemi,

rather than Helsinki. So, picture bonuses shortly,

when someone gets a starter question correct.

Fingers on the buzzers. Here we go.

Its existence brought to popular attention in the West

by the 19th century French naturalist Henri Mouhot,

which World Heritage Site lies close to the town of Siem Reap,

around 100km south of its country's border with Thailand?

-Angkor Wat.

-Angkor is correct, yes.

Right, so you now get the picture bonuses, Leeds.

Santa Claus was the figure we asked you about

in the starter question a moment ago.

That was Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi

in the Lapland region of Finland.

You'll now see three maps of American states

featuring places called Santa Claus.

Firstly, for five points, in what state is this,

known as America's Christmas hometown?

-That is...Iowa.

-It's not Iowa, it's not Iowa.

Indiana, then.

-South Dakota, North Dakota.

-North Dakota?

-I'm going to guess North Dakota.

-Indiana, is it?

North Dakota.

-North Dakota?! It's nowhere near. No, it's Indiana.

-Yes.

Secondly, where is this,

a former tourist attraction, but now derelict?

-I have no idea. Is it Nevada?

-It's Nevada, isn't it?

-Or is it Arizona?

-Arizona?

-We just need the state, or do we need the place?

-State.

-The state.

-Arizona.

-Correct.

And finally, where is this, boasting thoroughfares such as

Dasher Street, Rudolph Way and Candy Cane Street?

LAUGHTER

South Carolina.

South Carolina.

No, that's Georgia. 10 points for this starter question.

During which century did Pope Julius I set December 25

as the date for the Feast of the Nativity,

or Christmas Day, as it's since become?

He became Pope in the year

that Roman Emperor Constantine the Great died.

-Fourth century.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on the Christmas messages of US Presidents.

Name both the President and the year in which

the following words were spoken.

Firstly, for five.

"The Christmas spirit lives tonight in the bitter cold

"of the front lines in Europe,

"and in the heat of the jungles and swamps

"of Burma and the Pacific Islands."

-Was that Roosevelt?

-Roosevelt, '44.

President Roosevelt, 1944.

Correct. Yes, Franklin Roosevelt, of course.

"This has been a year of peril,

"when the peace has been sorely threatened,

"but it has been a year when peril was faced and when reason ruled.

"As a result, we may talk at this Christmas

"just a little bit more confidently of peace on Earth,

"goodwill to men."

-JFK?

-The President and the year, please.

JFK? '69?

President Kennedy, 1963.

-It was President Kennedy, but 1962.

-Oh!

-And finally,

"As we celebrate this last Christmas of the 20th century,

"let us resolve to build a future

"where all people learn to love one another

"and to live together in harmony."

It must be Clinton, 1999.

President Clinton, 1999.

Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

In November 2011, a NASA mission was launched

to land and operate the car-sized rover Curiosity

on the surface of...

-Mars.

-Mars is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on city architecture, Leeds.

Named after a 19th-century military commander,

which city north of Wellington in New Zealand

has a prominent concentration of Art Deco buildings,

having been rebuilt in that style after a major earthquake in 1931?

-Crookston?

-No, I think Nelson.

-Nelson, not Crookston?

-What do you think?

-Crookston.

-Say Nelson.

-Nelson.

No, it's Napier.

Founded in the early 1600s, which US state capital

is known for its hundreds of adobe brick homes,

built primarily in the Spanish pueblo and territorial styles?

New Mexico's...

-New Mexico.

-New Mexico?

-New Mexico.

-No, it's Santa Fe.

Established on the outskirts of Jaffa, which city in Israel

is noted for its Bauhaus architecture,

with more buildings in that style than any other city in the world?

-Haifa?

-Jaffa? Yes.

-Haifa?

-I don't know.

-Haifa.

-No, it's Tel Aviv.

10 points for this.

"I thought 10,000 swords must have leapt from their scabbards

"to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult,

but the age of chivalry is gone."

Those words of Edmund Burke referred to which royal figure,

executed in 1793?

-Marie Antoinette.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

If you get these bonuses, you're on level pegging.

They're on the numerology of the carol The Twelve Days Of Christmas.

In each case, I want the present given for the first time

on the day described as follows...

Which present is given for the first time on the unique day

whose square equals its double?

THEY WHISPER

-Two turtle doves.

-Correct.

Which present is given for the first time on the unique day

that's an even cube?

THEY WHISPER

12 drummers drumming.

No, it's eight maids a-milking.

And finally, which present is given on the day of Christmas

whose number is both a Mersenne prime

and double Mersenne prime?

THEY WHISPER

Swans.

It is, seven swans a-swimming, yes.

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

For your music starter, you'll hear an excerpt from a Christmas carol

composed by a well-known German composer.

10 points if you can name the composer.

# Hark! The herald angels... #

-Mendelssohn.

-Mendelssohn is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, you take the lead and, following on from Mendelssohn,

your bonuses are three Christmas carols, the music for which

has been written or adapted by well-known British composers.

Five points for each composer you can name. Firstly...

# O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie

# Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by... #

-Benjamin Britten?

-No, it's Vaughan Williams. Secondly?

# There is no rose of such virtue

# As is the rose that bare Jesu

# Alleluia... #

-We're going to go for Britten again.

-It is Britten, yes. And finally?

# In the bleak midwinter,

# Frosty wind made moan... #

-Ruth will answer.

-Well, she might! I think it's Harold Darke.

No, it isn't. It's Gustav Holst. 10 points for this.

Born in 1886, the Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch

coined the terms "waggle dance" and "round dance"...

-Bees.

-Bees is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on names of countries that become another

proper name by the substitution of the initial letter.

For example, Malta and Yalta.

In each case, give both words from the descriptions.

Firstly, the host nation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup,

and a Turkic language of west central Russia.

THEY CONFER

Qatar and Tatar.

Correct. Secondly, the country that seceded from Colombia in 1903

and the capital of Bahrain?

-We don't know.

-It's Panama and Manama.

And finally, the country to the west of Nigeria

and the author of the 1917 work The State And Revolution.

-Benin and Lenin.

-Yes! Right, 10 points for this.

The Penrose Triangle is an impossible figure that inspired

Ascending And Descending, a 1960 work by which Dutch artist,

who is known for realistic detailed...

-Escher.

-Escher is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You will retake the lead if you get these bonuses.

They're on historical figures who share surnames with

members of England's World Cup winning team of 1966.

In each case, give the surname of the following.

Firstly, a lollard priest executed in 1381 for his part

in the Peasants' Revolt led by Wat Tyler.

-Moore.

-No, it was Ball. John and Alan.

Secondly, a botanist who accompanied Captain Cook around the world

from 1768 to 1771.

He gives his name to a large island of the Canadian Arctic.

-Baffin?

-No, it's Banks. Joseph Banks and Gordon Banks.

and finally, the US President whose administration

is memorable for constitutional amendments introducing

both Prohibition and women's suffrage?

THEY CONFER

-Truman?

-No, it's Wilson, Woodrow and Ray. 10 points for this.

"One is not born a woman. One becomes one."

Which French author made that statement

in a 1949 treatise regarding...

-Simone De Beauvoir?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Leeds, you will be pleased to hear you get three bonuses on festive food.

What now-ubiquitous Christmas foodstuff is believed to have been

first brought to Britain in 1526 by the Yorkshireman,

William Strickland who acquired a quantity from Native American traders?

Cranberries?

-Cranberries.

-No, it's turkeys.

-Oh!

A Christmas favourite in Spain,

what is the name of the nougat made of toasted sweet almonds

and honey, said to have been produced in Spain for 500 years?

-Montelimar?

-Montelimar.

No, that's in France. It's turron.

Having its first recorded association with Christmas

in the writings of an 18th-century illuminist,

Italians have adopted which sweet bread

as a Christmas tradition?

-Panettone.

-Panettone.

-Correct. 10 points for this.

Which section of the small intestinal of vertebrates

precedes the bile and pancreatic ducts and begins...

-Duodenum.

-Correct.

These bonuses, which will give you the lead again, are on sleep.

For what do the letters REM stand in the stage of the human sleeping

cycle characterised by vivid dreaming?

-Rapid eye movement.

-Correct.

After a Greek letter, what name denotes the low-frequency,

high-amplitude waves that appear increasingly in the dreamless

advanced stages of non-REM sleep?

-Alpha waves.

-No, they're delta waves. Into how many stages

is the non-REM sleep phase usually subdivided,

each indicating a deeper sleep than the previous one?

-Three.

-No, it's four. 10 points for this - what nine-word slogan

was coined by Clarissa Baldwin-Rose, who joined Dogs Trust

in 1974, and later became...

-BELL

-Bristol, Leonard!

A dog is not for Christmas, it's for life?

I'll accept that, you got the sense of it. It's "A dog is for life,

"not just for Christmas." Your bonuses this time are on Europe

in 1912, In each case, name the country that ruled over

the following present-day capitals on Christmas Day 1912.

Firstly, for five points, Reykjavik...

THEY WHISPER

INAUDIBLE

Erm, Den...Denmark.

Denmark is correct. Secondly, Ljubljana...

INAUDIBLE Austro-Hungary.

Austro-Hungary. Austria?

Correct. Finally - Riga...

Soviet Empire.

No, just before, it's Sweden.

-Sweden.

-It wasn't the Russian Empire.

The Russians had it after the First...Second World War.

-1912, erm...?

-Go, anyway.

Pick one? Sweden?

-No, it's Russia.

-Sorry!

-A second picture round now.

For your starter you will see a photo of that now ubiquitous

phenomenon, the Christmas market. For 10 points, simply name

the British city where this one's being held.

-Manchester.

-Anyone like to buzz from Bristol?

You may not confer - one of you may buzz.

Bristol, Leonard...

-London!

-No, it's Birmingham!

Pictures bonuses shortly. 10 points for this starter in the meantime.

Fingers on the buzzers. The Cherry Blossoms, or more recently

the Brave Blossoms, is the nickname

for the national rugby union team of which country?

-Japan?

-Japan is correct?

APPLAUSE

So, you get the picture bonuses - three more photographs

of Christmas markets located in Europe. In each case, simply

name the city - firstly, where's this?

I have no idea.

Could it be Munich?

-A German city?

-German city. It's Bonn,

-Frankfurt, somewhere.

-It's not one of those, no.

-OK, just give one.

-Munich?

Erm, er, Kiev.

No, it's Nuremberg. Secondly, this capital city?

-Never been there.

-Is that Brussels?

-Could be Brussels, I think, yeah.

Er, Brussels.

No, it's Vienna, that's the Rathaus there.

And finally, in which capital is this market?

-It hasn't the Eiffel Tower...

-Is it Paris?

-Oh, is that Notre Dame?

-That looks like Cologne Cathedral.

-Go on.

-Is it not...?

-WHISPERING

-Italy...

-I don't know. I have no idea.

-Italy...

-Say Madrid.

Er, so we've got several versions.

-So, er, er...

-I'd just like one.

-Yes, indeed.

-Erm, Cologne.

-No, it's Prague. 10 points for this -

a yellow pigment consisting originally of lead antimonate

is named after which Italian city, the capital of Campania,

where it was originally...

-Siena?

-I'll have to fine you five points.

..where it was originally manufactured?

One of you may buzz, Bristol?

You may not confer!

It's Naples, as in Naples yellow. 10 points for this, fingers on buzzers.

What six-letter word can be preceded in biology by

"mitochondrial", in statistics by "decision"

and in printing by "dot"?

-Matrix.

-Matrix is right, yes!

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on science and invention in the 1730s, Leeds.

In 1735, which Swiss mathematician successfully solved both

the Basel Problem and the Seven Bridges of Koenigsberg problem?

THEY WHISPER

Fermat? You think Fermat?

Fermat.

No, it's Euler. Its compound is used to colour glass since

ancient times - which metallic element did the Swedish chemist

Georg Brandt isolate around 1735? He named it after the German word

for goblin...

Coloured glass - no ideas?

Silicon? Really?

Silica... Silica.

No, it's cobalt. Contrary to Orson Welles' claim

in The Third Man, the invention of what device is generally

credited to Franz Ketterer in the Black Forest during the 1730s?

-Cuckoo clock.

-Correct. Two-and-a-half minutes to go.

Another starter question - what object is depicted in front

of the face of a bowler-hatted man in Rene Magritte's...?

-An apple.

-An apple is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Leeds, are on former students

of the University of York. Firstly, creator of the ITV drama series

Foyle's War, which author's works include the Alex Rider series

and The House Of Silk, a new novel featuring Sherlock Holmes?

-Anthony Horowitz. Oh...

-An... Sure?

-Come on.

-Anthony Horowitz.

-Correct. Born 1952, which poet

and novelist's works include A Spell Of Winter, The Siege

and Counting The Stars?

No, not Ian McMillan?

-Ian McMillan.

-No, it's Helen Dunmore. Born 1952,

which author's works include Wild Swans and Mao: The Unknown Story?

Jung Chang.

-Yeah.

-Jung Chang.

-Yeah.

-Jung Chang.

-Correct. 10 points for this -

which poet addresses his baby son Hartley

in two of his best-known poems, Frost At Midnight...

-Hardy. No, it's not...!

-No. Anyone? I'm afraid you lose five points.

..and The Nightingale?

One of you - you may not confer!

-Kipling.

-No, it was Coleridge.

So, 10 points if you can get your hands on the buzzers now.

After the lowest sediments that it carries to the sea,

what is the English name of the river often called

the Cradle of Chinese Civilisation?

Yangtze?

No - one of you...

-The Yellow River?

-The Yellow River is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on rivers of North America.

St Paul, Minnesota and Memphis, Tennessee, are among the cities

on which major river of North America?

Mississippi? Mississippi?

-Mississippi?

-Correct. Which tributary of the Mississippi

passes through Pueblo, Colorado, Wichita, Kansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma?

Colorado? Colorado River?

-Colorado.

-No, it's the Arkansas.

Which tributary of the Mississippi flows through Sioux City, Iowa,

Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Kansas?

What's that?

-Yeah, so try it? The Missouri.

-Correct. 10 points for this -

which economist and former European Commissioner became Italian

Prime Minister in November 2011?

Monti.

-Correct.

-You get a set of bonuses this time, Bristol,

on verse forms - the 39-line verse form known as the sestina

is associated with Dante and which of his Italian contemporaries

-whose works were often addressed "to Laura"?

-Sonnet.

No, it's Petrarch. Caudate, or tail rhyme, features

in Tonight - a work by which of the romantic poets?

GONG

Shelley. Bad luck!

APPLAUSE

135 is a perfectly respectable score. Thank you for joining us -

you were all great sports, and 140 - if it's one of the four highest

scores, you will be back as a semi-finalist. We'll see.

Thank you very much, and many congratulations to you, Leeds.

-So, it's goodbye from the University of Bristol.

-Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from the University of Leeds.

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE

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