Episode 2 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Welcome to the second match

in our festive reversal of fortune series,

which allows students to take a break from World of Warcraft

and re-runs of The Only Way Is Essex,

so they can be amazed at what old people know.

CHUCKLING

We've invited graduates and staff

to compete on behalf of the institutions

that honed their intellects, forged their characters

or, at least, pay their wages.

The University of Newcastle is represented by a man

who has piloted aircraft, climbed mountains and sailed oceans.

They also have a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society,

who is both the voice of British gardening

and the face of British weather.

Their captain is a successful businesswoman

who writes for the FT under the guise of Mrs Moneypenny

and who also finds time to be a stand-up comedian.

And fourthly, they have a former Head of EMI Music UK,

who's also currently the chair of the BPI, which owns the Brit Awards.

But in case we've missed anything out,

let's ask them to introduce themselves.

Hi, I'm Tristan Gooley,

I studied Politics and History at Newcastle in the mid '90s.

These days, I'm a writer and natural navigator.

Hello, I'm Peter Gibbs.

I studied Geography and Physics at Newcastle, back in the late '70s.

And I now wave my arms around in front of a weather map on the telly.

And their captain.

Hello, I'm Heather McGregor.

I graduated from Newcastle in 1984

with a degree in Agricultural Marketing

and I now run an executive search company in London.

Hello, I'm Tony Wadsworth,

I graduated from Newcastle in Economics, in 1977,

and I work in the music industry.

APPLAUSE

Their opponents combine graduate and staff of Loughborough University

and, between them, they reflect the fact that it is one of the UK's foremost institutions

for developing sporting talent.

First up, one of the heroes of last summer

after he competed in the 200 metres double kayak event,

a football manager whose teams have included

Fulham and Northern Ireland,

their captain is one of Britain's greatest athletes,

with 11 gold medals in five Paralympic Games

and six times winner of the London Wheelchair Marathon,

and the fourth member is a senior academic

in the English and Drama department,

who could no doubt run and swim and sail as fast as anyone

if he'd just get his nose out of a book.

Let's meet them.

Hi, my name is Jon Schofield,

I graduated from Loughborough with a degree in Human Biology.

I'm also a flatwater kayaker

and recently won a medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

Hi, I'm Lawrie Sanchez,

I graduated in 1982 from Loughborough

with a degree in Management Sciences.

I also went on to score the winning goal in the 1988 Cup Final.

And their captain.

I'm Tanni Grey-Thompson,

I graduated in '91

with a degree in Politics and Social Administration

and I'm now a crossbench peer in the House of Lords.

Hi, I'm Nigel Wood,

I've been Professor of Literature at Loughborough since 2002.

APPLAUSE

Whether you need it or not, I'll give you a reminder of the rules.

Starter questions have to be answered alone,

on the buzzer, they're worth ten points.

Bonuses are worth 15 points and you can confer on those.

If you interrupt a starter question incorrectly,

you incur a five-point penalty.

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

Leopold Stokowski conducted the music for which film of 1940,

consisting of animated sequences set to pieces...?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Fantasia.

Correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, Loughborough, the first bonuses are on extracts

from the Queen's Christmas messages.

In each case, name the year in which she was speaking.

Firstly,

"The King agreed to commission a new translation of the Bible

"that was acceptable to all parties.

"This was to become the King James, or authorised Bible,

"which next year will be exactly four centuries old."

-THEY WHISPER: 2010.

-2010, yeah?

2010.

Correct.

Secondly, "The Prince of Wales represented Britain

"when the people of Hong Kong marked their return to China,

"in spectacular fashion."

-THEY WHISPER:

-1997?

-2001.

It was about '99...

So was it 2000?

I don't think 2000, I think it was 19...

2000.

2000, what do you think?

'99, I think it was 99...

'99? Right.

1999.

No, it's 1997. That was the handover of Hong Kong.

And finally, "Each Christmas, at this time,

"my beloved father broadcast a message to his people

"in all parts of the world.

"Today, I'm doing this to you, who are now my people."

-THEY WHISPER:

-That'd have been early on.

-1954?

-1954?

OK.

1954.

No, it's 1952.

Right, ten points for the starter question.

Both published in December 1845,

The Fir Tree, about a tree anxious to grow up

and The Snow Queen, about a boy with a splinter

of an enchanted mirror in his heart,

are works by which Nordic author?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Andersen.

Correct, yeah.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses this time, Loughborough,

are on Mediterranean islands.

Its name meaning 'the larger one',

which island of the Western Mediterranean has an area

similar to that of Greater Manchester and Cheshire combined?

-THEY WHISPER: Something 'grande'.

-Yeah, Mallorca.

Mallorca?

Correct. Slightly larger than Rhodes,

which Greek island off the coast of Turkey

is closest in area to Greater London?

-THEY WHISPER: Samos.

-Samos.

I'd say Samos, yeah.

Samos.

-Samos?

-Yeah.

Samos.

No, it's Lesbos. And finally,

slightly larger in area than Wales and Cornwall combined,

what is the largest island in the Mediterranean?

-THEY WHISPER: Crete.

-Crete.

Crete.

No, it's Sicily. Right, ten points for the starter question,

"The first hole made through a piece of stone is a revelation."

Those are the words of which sculptor, born in Yorkshire in 1898?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Sanchez.

Moore.

Henry Moore is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Loughborough, these bonuses are on shorter words

that can be made using any of the eight letters

of the word 'yuletide'.

In each case, give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a stringed instrument

associated with the composers John Dowland and Thomas Campion.

-THEY WHISPER: Lute.

-Lute.

-Lute.

Lute.

Correct. Secondly, a diacritical mark that may be placed

about the letter 'a' in Portuguese and the letter 'n' in Spanish.

-THEY WHISPER: No...

-No.

We don't know.

It's a tilde.

And finally, a generic word for substances

including kermes, woad, indigo, saffron and madder.

-THEY WHISPER:

-Dye, dye.

-Dye.

-Dye.

Dye.

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

For your picture starter, you're going to see the Latin version

of the title of a popular carol.

For ten points, I want the first line of the carol in English.

BELL

Newcastle, McGregor.

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.

Yes!

APPLAUSE

So you're off the starting mark

and you're going to see the bonuses for this picture round.

Three more Latin versions of carol titles.

For each one, I simply want the first line of the carol in English.

Firstly...

THEY WHISPER: Something 'shepherds'.

Yes.

It was Shepherds...

When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night?

Yeah, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.

Yes, I'll accept that. Secondly...

THEY WHISPER: Night something.

-Silent Night?

-All Through The Night?

Silent Night or is that too...?

Who said that classical education never leaves you?

I know, I know. Yes.

Come on, we need an answer.

Yeah, well, let's guess at Silent Night.

No. It's It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.

See if you can get this one.

-THEY WHISPER:

-What's this one?

-No idea.

-No.

Come on, let's have it, please.

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful?

No, it's God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen. You already had Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.

LAUGHTER

Ten points for this. Listen carefully and answer as soon as your name is called.

How many litres does Father Christmas' sack need to hold

in order to deliver a cubic present of side-length ten centimetres

to each of the world's two billion children?

BELL

Newcastle, Gibbs.

A million?

No. Loughborough?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Three million.

It's two billion.

Right, ten points for this.

In January 2012,

after locating a chemical receptor in the taste buds on the tongue,

a team of scientists in the United States announced

that along with sweet, sour, bitter, salt and savoury...?

BELL

Newcastle, Gibbs.

Umami.

I don't know what you're talking about. No.

..they had discovered which previously unrecognised sixth taste?

One of you buzz, Loughborough.

It's fat or fatty. Never mind, I'm afraid you lose your five points, Newcastle.

So ten point for this.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Give the dictionary spelling of the word 'quaff',

meaning 'drink heartily'.

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Q, U, A, double F.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses, Loughborough, are on railways in the 20th century.

In each case, I want the decade in which the following took place.

Firstly, the opening of the first section of the New York Subway

and of the Trans-Siberian Railway

from Moscow to Vladivostok, via north-east China.

-THEY WHISPER: 1920s?

-Yeah, 1920s.

-1920s.

-1920s.

1920s.

No, it's the 1900s. 1904, in fact.

The completion of the Trans-Iranian Railway,

financed entirely by local capital,

in Britain, the Mallard set the world speed record

for steam traction.

-THEY WHISPER: 1950s.

-I'd say so.

1950s.

No, it's the 1930s.

And finally, the publication of the Beeching Report in Britain,

and the opening of the first 'bullet train' line in Japan?

-THEY WHISPER: The '60s.

-'60s?

-The '60s.

-1960s.

-Correct.

Right, ten points for this. First performed in 1911

and often given the English title Thou Art The Ruler Of All Minds,

Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of which country?

Its words and music were composed

by the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Sri Lanka.

Anyone like to buzz from Newcastle?

BELL

Newcastle, Gibbs.

-India.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses, Newcastle, are on atomic theory.

Which type of radiation consists of high energy photons

emitted in the decay of an atomic nucleus?

THEY WHISPER: Gamma, gamma.

Well, I will defer... Uh?

-No.

-What do you think?

-I think gamma.

-Gamma.

-Yes, yes.

-Gamma.

-Gamma is correct, yes.

Named after a German physicist,

what device for detecting radiation consists of a tube of inert gas

which becomes ionised upon the passage of radiation,

leading to an electrical signal which is then amplified?

-THEY WHISPER: Geiger.

-Geiger.

-Geiger.

-Correct. Geiger counter.

And finally, what kind of radioactive decay

causes the decaying nucleus to increase in atomic number by one,

and leaves the mass number unchanged?

-THEY WHISPER: Beta?

-It's not Alpha, I don't think.

-Try beta.

Beta.

Beta?

Beta is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, turn for a music round.

For your music started, you'll hear a well-known Christmas song.

Ten points if you can name the singer.

# Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer... #

BELL

Newcastle, Gooley.

Cliff Richard.

No, you can hear a little more, Loughborough.

# ..Had a very shiny nose

# And if you ever saw it

# You would even say it glows

# All of the other... #

BUZZER

-Loughborough, Grey-Thompson.

-Harry Connick Junior?

No. Thank heavens we don't need to hear any more.

No, it's Barry Manilow.

LAUGHTER

So, we are going to take another starter question

and when someone gets a starter question right,

then, we'll have the music bonuses.

So fingers on buzzers, please.

Boston in 1897, New York in 1970, Berlin in 1974,

Chicago in 1977 and London in 1981,

what sporting event was initiated in these cities

in these respective years?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Grey-Thompson.

London Marathon... Marathon!

Indeed, it's correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You would have been in trouble if you hadn't got that.

So following on from Barry Manilow's Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer,

three more versions of that deathless classic

for you to enjoy, or endure.

Five points for each artist or band performing.

Firstly, who's this?

MALE VOICE: # Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer

# Had a very shiny nose

# A shiny nose

# And if you ever saw it

# You would even say it glows

# It glows

# All of the other reindeer

# Used to laugh and call him names

# They called him names

# They wouldn't let poor Rudolph

# Join in any reindeer games... #

No idea.

It's Ringo Starr. God, we've got two more of these.

Secondly, this group.

MALE VOICE: # Oh, Rudolph The red-nosed reindeer

# Had a very shiny nose

# And if you ever saw it

# You would even say... #

Oh, put us out of our misery, come on!

THEY WHISPER: It's Marvin Gaye.

Marvin Gaye.

No, that's The Temptations. Finally...

FEMALE VOICE: # Rudolph The red-nosed reindeer

# Had a very shiny nose

# And if you ever saw it

# Why, you would even say it glows... #

-THEY WHISPER:

-Dolly Parton?

-Yeah, yeah.

Dolly Parton.

Yes!

Right, ten points for this.

Fingers on the buzzers.

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce,

The Sublime Object Of Ideology,

and Living In The End Times

are among the works of which Marxist and cultural theorist

born in Ljubljana in 1949?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Slavoj Zizek.

Indeed, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on quotations.

"Man is certainly stark mad, he cannot make a flea,

"and yet, he will be making gods by dozens."

These are the words of which 16th-century French writer,

best known for his essays?

HE WHISPERS: Rabelais. Rabelais.

Rabelais.

-No, it's Montaigne.

-Oh!

Secondly, "Whom the mad would destroy, they first make gods."

Bernard Levin rephrased the Latin proverb in 1967

in reference to which national leader, who, two years before,

had unleashed the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution?

THEY WHISPER: Lenin. Lenin.

Lenin.

Now, it's Mao Zedong.

And finally, "Religion may in most of its forms be defined

"as the belief that the gods are on the side of the government."

These are the words of which British philosopher, born 1872?

THEY WHISPER: Bertrand Russell?

Right...

Bertrand Russell?

Yes!

APPLAUSE

Another starter question now. From a Latin word

meaning 'fixed' or 'binding',

what term denotes the process by which a legislative body

approves a measure introduced by another body?

An example is the need for the US Senate

to give formal consent to treaties or agreements entered...

BELL

Newcastle, Wadsworth.

Ratification?

Correct!

APPLAUSE

Right, Newcastle, these bonuses are on photography.

Published in 2012, In The Moment features the work

of The Guardian's Tom Jenkins,

a specialist in what photographic genre?

-THEY WHISPER: War?

-War?

-War?

-What was the name again?

-Tom Jenkins.

-Yeah, go for war.

-Yes.

War?

No, sport.

A Life Beyond Limits, published in 2009,

is a biography of which influential US photo journalist

who died in 1965?

She's best known for her work for the Farm Security Administration

during the Depression.

HE WHISPERS: No, no idea.

No, we have no idea.

It's Dorothea Lange.

And finally, to coincide with his inaugural exhibition in China,

2012 saw the publication of Private View,

a collection of celebrity images

by which London-based photographer of Italian extraction?

HE WHISPERS: Mario Testino?

Yeah, Mario Testini.

Yes, I'll accept that. It's Mario Testino.

We're going to take a picture round now.

For your picture starter, you'll see a photo of an animal.

All you have to do for ten points is to name the animal.

BUZZER

Loughborough, Sanchez.

Speak!

Monster gecko.

No.

BELL

Newcastle, Gibbs.

Kimono dragon.

Um, no... It's komodo dragon, it's not a kimono dragon. I'm sorry.

You didn't have the right name, so I can't accept that. I'm sorry.

So... Uh, it's ruthless here.

Right, ten points for the starter question.

Which philosopher's conviction that only a select few

are able to free themselves from ignorance and achieve true knowledge

is exemplified by the Allegory Of The Cave, described...?

BELL

Newcastle, Gooley.

Plato.

Plato is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, following on from the komodo dragon,

it's among several species that are able to breed

through parthenogenesis, sometimes called 'virgin birth'.

CHUCKLING

For your picture bonuses, you'll see three more photos of animals

that can breed through virgin birth,

so five points for each genus you can identify.

Firstly...

THEY WHISPER: Genus...

Right, that... At the other end...

-Crickets.

-But what's the genus?

-Is cricket not a genus?

-I don't now, we can try.

Cricket? Cricket?

A cricket?

No, that's an aphid. You know, they hide in gardens,

like the person next to you...

THEY LAUGH

Secondly...

THEY WHISPER: Is that a crayfish?

-Or a lobster.

-Or a lobster.

Yeah. Is there a clever answer to this?

SHE LAUGHS

-Lobster.

-Yeah.

A lobster, a crayfish?

Well, which?

You mean it's one or the other, Jeremy?

You tell, give me an answer!

SHE LAUGHS

-A lobster.

-No, it's a crayfish.

LAUGHTER

Finally...

-THEY WHISPER: It looks like a gecko.

-Gecko.

-Yeah.

A gecko.

That is a gecko, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, ten points for the starter question.

What five-letter adjective links the Roman Emperor from AD 306

with rulers of Russia from 1762,

Prussia from 1740 and Wessex from 871?

BUZZER

Loughborough, Sanchez.

-Great.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Never has anyone on this programme looked so unhappy to get an answer right.

LAUGHTER

Just surprised.

OK, here are your bonuses.

They're on plays about artists, Loughborough.

John Logan's 2009 play Red depicts the life of which artist,

during a period at the end of the 1950s

when he'd been commissioned to create a series of paintings

for the new Four Seasons Restaurant, in Manhattan?

-THEY WHISPER:

-Was it Warhol?

Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol.

Warhol.

No, it's Rothko.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz's 23-scene play The Painter

depicts the life of which British artist from 1799 onwards,

just as his work was becoming known?

-THEY WHISPER: Blake. William Blake.

-William Blake.

William Blake.

No, it's JMW Turner.

And finally, Stephen Sondheim's musical

Sunday In The Park With George

was inspired by a painting by which French artist, born 1859?

-I nominate Wood.

-Seurat.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

OK, another starter question now. Counting the letters in each word,

the phrase 'Can I have a white Christmas?'

gives the first six digits of which transcendental number,

ubiquitous in mathematics and physics?

BELL

Newcastle, Gooley.

-Pi.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on physiology, Newcastle.

In its case, give the generic name

of the following fat-soluble vitamins.

Firstly, what single letter denotes the vitamin

that's required for prothrombin synthesis?

Dietary deficiency results in delayed blood clotting and haemorrhaging.

-THEY WHISPER:

-Um... C... Cholesterol and scurvy.

-C. You get scurvy and you bleed...

-Right.

-Try C.

C?

No, it's vitamin K.

What letter denotes the vitamins that are terpenes,

such as tocopherol, and are important antioxidants

preventing the oxidation of fatty acids in cell membranes?

THEY WHISPER: No idea.

This is not a vitamin, is it?

Say it again...

Vitamin B?

No, it's vitamin E.

And finally, what letter denotes the vitamin

that is retinol and its carotenoid precursors?

It's required for the synthesis of the visual pigments.

THEY WHISPER: D...

-D?

-Not D?

-D?

-Uh-huh.

Vitamin D.

No, it's vitamin A. And there's about 4:15 minutes to go, and ten points for this.

"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

These words of Colonel Henry Lee are from a eulogy of which figure,

who died in 1799?

BELL

Newcastle, Wadsworth.

Washington?

Correct!

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Newcastle, are on architecture.

Often called 'architecture's Nobel',

which annual prize is awarded to a living architect

and is named after the Chicago family who founded it in 1979,

through their Hyatt Foundation?

-THEY WHISPER: Is it the Stirling?

-Stirling?

I nominate Gooley.

Is it the Stirling?

The Stirling Prize is a British Prize, it's the Pritzker Prize.

Pritzker laureates receive a bronze medallion

inscribed with the words "firmness, commodity and delight".

These recall the fundamental principles

of which Roman writer on architecture?

THEY WHISPER: Roman writer on architecture?

-Pliny?

-Yes, say Pliny.

Let's have it, please.

Pliny.

Pliny?

No, it's Vitruvius.

The 2003 Pritzker Prize went to the Danish architect Jorn Utzon,

perhaps best known for his design of which building,

on which construction lasted from 1959 to 1973?

-THEY WHISPER:

-Yeah.

The Sydney Opera House.

Yes. Ten points for this. Which English composer wrote the cantata Saint Nicolas,

with the text by Eric Crozier,

for the centennial celebrations of Lancing College, in Sussex, in 1948?

It was also performed in June of that year at the first Aldeburgh Festival.

BELL

Newcastle, Wadsworth.

Britten?

It was Benjamin Britten, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on kings of England.

If you get them, you take the lead.

All three of these kings have the same regnal name.

Which King of England, who ruled for 56 years,

was described by Dante in the Divine Comedy

as one of the "negligent rulers" and "the King of the simple life"?

THEY WHISPER: George III?

He didn't rule for 56 years.

Come on!

Didn't he?

-Just give an answer.

-George III.

No, he didn't rule for 56 years.

Try it, just try it.

-You think you won't be right...

-George III?

No, it was Henry III.

The great-great-great grandson of Henry III,

which king established the Lancastrian dynasty

and was believed by contemporaries to have suffered from leprosy?

THEY WHISPER: Just go for one.

It's a Henry, isn't it? Henry VI.

Henry VI.

No, it's Henry IV.

And finally, which king was said to have inherited his recurrent mental illness

from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France?

THEY WHISPER: George...?

Yeah, George III.

No, that was Henry VI.

Right, ten points for this.

Used as an expression to denote an outcast,

what name is given in the Book Of Genesis

to the son of Abraham by his wife's maidservant Hagar, and was given by...?

BELL

Newcastle, McGregor.

Ishmael.

Ishmael is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses could give you the lead there.

They're on Winter Olympics.

In 1948, which resort in Eastern Switzerland

became the first to host the Games for a second time,

having done so first in 1928?

THEY WHISPER

-Come on!

-Klosters?

No, it's St Moritz.

1992 was the last time

that the Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year,

with the Winter Games being held in Albertville, in France,

and the Summer Games in which city?

-THEY WHISPER: 1992...

-1992.

-Los Angeles?

-All right.

Los Angeles?

No, it's Barcelona.

In which country is Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Games?

THEY WHISPER: Russia.

Russia.

Russia is correct, yes. That gives you the lead.

Right, ten point for this. According to the title his novelty song,

Spike Milligan was "walking backwards for Christmas..."

BELL

Newcastle, Wadsworth.

HE CHUCKLES

Sorry, if you buzz, you must answer.

I'm going to have to disallow that and fine you five points.

And I'm handing it over to Loughborough, you get the rest of it.

"..walking backwards for Christmas across" which stretch of water?

Come on, let's have it!

BUZZER

Loughborough, Schofield.

GONG

The Thames.

It wasn't the Thames, it was the Irish Sea.

So, we have absolutely level pegging then at the gong,

which means that it goes to whichever team

answers a starter question correctly.

However, if you buzz in while I'm reading it incorrectly,

you will lose five points and the other team doesn't even have to go

to the trouble of answering the question. Understand?

So fingers on the buzzers, here it is.

Published between 430 and 424 BC,

the works of which historian were divided by later editors

into nine books named after the Muses?

No-one seems to know that.

BUZZER

Loughborough, Wood.

Tacitus.

Uh...no.

Uh... Newcastle, one of you buzz?

BELL

Newcastle, Gooley.

Herodotus.

It was Herodotus, yes.

APPLAUSE

That means you win it.

Congratulations to you, Newcastle.

Loughborough, you were in the lead right till the dying stages.

And, you know, it was a good performance, 110.

120, well done. We should look forward to seeing you back again next time

if you're in one of the four high-scoring totals.

We don't know yet.

But thank you both, all of you, very much for taking part You're all good sports.

So it's goodbye now from Loughborough University.

ALL: Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from Newcastle University.

ALL: Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd