Episode 6 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

APPLAUSE CONTINUES

Hello. Tonight it's the penultimate first round match

in this Christmas series for the graduates and staff

of some of the UK's leading universities.

Only the four winning teams with the highest scores will progress

to the next stage of the competition, so we already know

that New College Oxford and Liverpool University are through.

To be sure of a place for themselves,

tonight's winners will have to get a score of 155 or more.

Of the four representing the University of Exeter,

the first trained as a scientist and worked for the NSPCC and NHS

before taking his present job.

He's joined by a member of the Exeter staff

working in the UK's leading research centre in its field.

Their captain began his career as a child actor.

After graduating, he turned to script writing

and he's now an author.

And finally, a journalist whose Digested Read newspaper column

has provided so many of us

with that appearance of knowledge so necessary on a programme like this.

Let's say hello to them.

Hi, I'm Martin Crewe,

I graduated in geology from Exeter University in 1981

and then did a PhD in geochemistry in 1986.

I'm now director of the children's charity Barnardo's Scotland.

Hi, I'm Christine Allison

and I hold the Ibrahim Ahmed chair of Kurdish studies

in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter.

And their captain.

I'm John O Farrell, I graduated from Exeter

in English and drama in 1983 and I'm now a writer.

And I'm John Crace.

I graduated from Exeter University in politics in 1979

and I'm now a writer and a columnist for the Guardian.

APPLAUSE

Now, playing them is the team from the University of Glasgow.

Their line-up includes the former medical director

of Glasgow Royal Infirmary

and Director of Public Health for the Glasgow Health Board.

Next to him, a native Glaswegian, of whom it's been said

she can wring humour out of a chicken and bacon bake.

Their captain is a former journalist, whose television career

took off with a series about British battlefields.

And they're joined by the doyenne of consumer broadcasting.

Let's ask them to introduce themselves.

Hi, I'm Harry Burns.

I graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1974

and I'm now Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

Hello, I'm Susan Calman

and I graduated with a degree in law in 1996

from the University of Glasgow

and then I gave it all up to be a stand-up comedian.

And their captain.

Hello, I'm Neil Oliver.

I graduated from Glasgow University in 1988

with a degree in archaeology

and now I'm a writer and television presenter.

And I'm Lynn Faulds Wood

and I graduated in French and Spanish sometime in the last century,

and I'm now a TV consumer watchdog and cancer campaigner.

APPLAUSE

OK, I guess you all know the rules, but I'll just remind you,

starter questions are worth ten points.

They must be answered individually on the buzzer.

If you interrupt a starter question incorrectly,

you get a five point penalty.

Bonus questions are worth 15 points

and you can collaborate on all of those.

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

What word of four letters begins words with the following meanings?

An alternative name for the tropical Asian plant, taro,

the forename of the US author

who created the detective couple, Nick and Nora Charles,

the name of one of Santa's reindeer

and the opening word of Jingle Bells?

-Dash?

-Dash is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, the first set of bonuses, Glasgow, are on a Christmas hymn.

Which Christmas Carol is based on an element of the nativity story

found only in Luke's gospel and in the early 18th century

was the only Christian hymn to be authorised by the Church of England?

THEY CONFER

-We'll pass.

-You could've taken a guess.

It's While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.

Secondly, known for his re-workings of the plays of Shakespeare,

which Irish-born playwright and poet laureate

wrote the words of While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks?

No idea.

Any Irish poet. Have a go.

-Any Irish poet.

-Quick.

-Just any other.

-Any Irish poet. Name an Irish poet.

-Throw me a bone.

-Joyce.

-Joyce.

-James Joyce.

Full marks for unlikeliness! No, it is Nahum Tate.

And which cathedral city in the south of England gives its name

to the setting to which the hymn is usually sung in the UK?

THEY CONFER

-THEY GIGGLE No idea.

-No?

-We're moving on.

-Say Joyce again.

I'm not saying Joyce again. We're passing and we're moving on.

-Oh...

-Too late, you could've guessed any cathedral city,

but it was Winchester. ten points for this.

What beverage links the flower associated

with the Tunisian revolution of 2010,

the Prime Minister at the time of the Great Reform Act

and a hill station in north-east...

I was going to say Earl Grey.

I'm afraid you lose five points.

And a hill station in North East India?

THEY CONFER

You may not confer, one of you may buzz!

-Tea.

-Tea is correct, yes.

Earl Grey was one of the identifying remarks earlier,

but, no, it's Jasmine, Earl Grey and Darjeeling are all types of tea.

Your bonuses are on the shipping forecast, Glasgow. In each case,

give the name of the sea area named after the following.

Firstly, the body of water known in French as the Golfe de Gascogne?

-Er, Biscay.

-Biscay.

-Biscay.

-Correct.

Secondly, the rivers whose tributaries include the rivers

Inni, Sac and Brosna?

No idea.

THEY WHISPER

-Barrone.

-No, it's Shannon.

And finally, the island group whose main town is Torshavn?

-Faroe.

-You have to...

-Sorry, Faroe.

-Faroe.

Faroes is correct, yes. Ten points for this.

Which fourth century Bishop of Myra

had a reputation as a miracle worker,

including raising to life three boys after they were murdered...

-St Nicholas.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Exeter, your first set are on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

Tchaikovsky's score for the Nutcracker,

particularly The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy,

is noted for its use of which percussion instrument,

the sound of which resembles that of a glockenspiel?

THEY WHISPER

Any ideas?

What's like a glockenspiel?

Er... tubular bell?

BUZZER Oh, sorry. Tubular bells?

-We were guessing tubular bells...

-No, it's a celeste.

-OK.

Secondly for five points,

try to answer through your captain if you can.

-I'm sorry.

-The 2010 film The Nutcracker In 3D

turned ETA Hoffmann's original children's story

into a dystopian fantasy and was the work of which Russian-born director?

Russian-born directors.

-(When was it?)

-2010.

Um... Any Russian-born directors?

HE LAUGHS

Can we phone a friend please, Jeremy?

-No.

-No, we don't know.

-It's Andrei Konchalovsky.

And finally, Nutcracker! with an exclamation mark,

which premiered in 1992

is a ballet created by which director and choreographer?

Director and choreographer?

-Matthew Bourne?

-Yes, let's go for that.

-Matthew Bourne .

-Correct.

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

For your picture starter, you'll see a map

showing the location of a popular ski resort.

For ten points, please name the resort.

THEY CONFER

Zermatt.

Anyone like to buzz from Glasgow?

-Chamonix.

-No, it's Saas Fee.

So, picture bonuses shortly, fingers on the buzzers,

here's another starter question.

In chapter one, or stage one of Dickens' A Christmas Carol,

Scrooge displays such fury that he causes a carol singer

to flee in terror after singing which traditional song?

-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

So the place we were looking for in the first starter question

on the picture round was Saas Fee.

It was used as a location for the Bond film

On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

For your bonuses, you'll see a map showing three more ski resorts

that were locations for Bond films.

For each one, simply name the resort. Firstly...

THEY CONFER

-Go for it. Chamonix.

-Chamonix.

-We're going to go Chamonix.

Yes, it was Chamonix, which featured in The World Is Not Enough.

Secondly...

-Don't know.

-No ideas?

-Absolutely no idea.

THEY WHISPER

-Pass.

-That's Cortina, which featured in For Your Eyes Only.

And finally where's this one, please?

That's Switzerland...

THEY WHISPER

-Is that Zermatt?

-Zermatt?

-Is that Zermatt?

-Zermatt.

-No, that's St Moritz,

which was the setting for The Spy Who Loved Me.

Right, ten points for this.

"If there were a verb meaning to believe falsely,

"it would not have any significant first person present indicative."

These are the words of which Austrian-born philosopher

in the 1953 work, Philosophical Investigations?

-Wittgenstein.

-Yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses this time, Glasgow, are on shorter words

that can be made using any of the eight letters of the word Hogmanay.

In each case, give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a traditional Japanese masked drama,

which evolved from Shinto rites?

THEY CONFER

-I can't remember.

-I just can't remember. No.

-Pass, pass.

-It was noh.

-THEY LAUGH

Secondly, gracula religiosa a crow-like South Asian bird,

noted for its ability to mimic the human voice?

THEY CONFER

A mynah? Mynah, isn't it?

THEY TALK INAUDIBLY

-I've given up.

-Er...

-Mynah.

Mynah is correct.

And finally, the name given by the Romans to Anglesey?

Er... Mona.

Mona is correct, yes.

-APPLAUSE

-Right, ten points for this.

The process in which bubbles of vapour are formed

due to the saturated vapour pressure of a liquid being equal

to the external pressure,

usually due to the presence of heat, is known...

-Boiling.

-Yes.

-APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses this time, Glasgow, are on pound coins.

The most common motto on the edge of pound coins is the Latin

"decus et tutamen" taken from Virgil's Iliad.

What do the words mean?

THEY WHISPER

-We don't know.

-They mean "an ornament and a safeguard."

Secondly, appearing on the edge of some pound coins,

the motto of the Order Of The Thistle,

"Nemo me impune lacessit" means what in English?

"None shall touch me with impunity."

"No-one provokes me with impunity", correct, yes.

Appearing on the edge of some pound coins minted in 2011,

"Nisi dominus frustra" is the motto of which British city?

THEY CONFER

-Canterbury?

-Yes, say Canterbury.

-Canterbury.

-No, it's the motto of Edinburgh.

-Oh...

-Ten points for this.

Listen carefully. If Father Christmas,

who weighs 100 kilograms, wishes to move a sack of toys

weighing one metric ton using a lever pivoted about a fulcrum,

what should be the ratio of his distance to the fulcrum...

Ten to one.

Ten to one is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Glasgow, this time are on the solar system.

In each case, name the planet whose minor moons include the following...

Firstly, Themisto, Adrastea, Pasiphae, Leda and Himalia?

-(Neptune.)

-Neptune.

-Neptune.

-No, it's Jupiter.

Secondly, Sycorax, Prospero, Margaret, Perdita and Mab?

HE MOUTHS SILENTLY

-Try it.

-Try Neptune.

-Neptune again.

-No, it's Uranus.

And finally, Skoll, Fenrir, Atlas, Pandora and Pan?

-Neptune.

-Neptune!

-We're going to try Neptune again.

Well, you'd be wrong again, it's Saturn. Ten points for this,

in which novel of 1913 does Gertrude Coppard

meet her future husband at a Christmas party,

marry him the following Christmas

and bear him a son the Christmas after?

THEY WHISPER

You may not confer, one of you may buzz.

It's Lawrence's Sons Snd Lovers.

Ten points for this. For what do the initials IMO stand

when indicating the name of the specialised agency

of the United Nations

that deals with matters pertaining to global shipping?

-International Maritime Organisation.

-Correct.

Right, your bonuses this time, Glasgow,

are on linked novel titles.

In each case, identify the novel from the description.

Firstly, a novel of 2004 by Orhan Pamuk in which a journalist

visits the city of Caas in Eastern Anatolia

in order to cover both the local elections

and the suicide epidemic there among the young women?

THEY CONFER

-No idea.

-No answers?

-No.

-No.

-We don't know.

It's Snow. A novel of 1992 by the Danish author Peter Hoeg

in which a Greenlander investigates the death

of a boy who has fallen from an apartment roof in Copenhagen?

-Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow.

-Correct.

A novel of 1994 by the US author David Guterson that tells the story

of a Japanese-American fisherman accused of murder?

-Snow Falling On Cedars.

-Correct.

We'll take a music round now.

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

Ten points if you can name the song.

BAGPIPE MUSIC PLAYS

-Mull of Kintyre.

-Indeed.

APPLAUSE

For your music bonuses,

we're going to have to sit through three more pieces of bagpipe music.

Five points for each you can identify. Firstly, this song.

BAGPIPE MUSIC PLAYS

-Nominate Allison.

-Skye Boat Song.

-It is the Skye Boat Song, yes.

Secondly, the title of this song, please.

BAGPIPE MUSIC PLAYS

Nominate Allison.

You take the high road and I'll take the low road.

-You take the low road...

-I need the title.

You're giving me the chorus.

-Loch Lomond.

-Loch Lomond,

The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond, that's correct.

And finally, this well-known piece.

BAGPIPE MUSIC PLAYS

Scotland the Brave.

Yes! 10 points for this, listen carefully.

If Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer's nose radiates light

with an intensity of 1,000 candelas in all directions,

what is the total luminous flux of his nose

in lumens expressed as a multiple of pi?

-Pi r cubed?

-No.

Pi r squared.

What time did you stop doing maths?

It's 4,000. 10 points for this.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Give the dictionary spelling of the semi-soft Italian cheese

known as mozzarella.

-M-O-Z-A-R-E-L-L-A.

-Stop, no.

-M-O-Z-Z-A-R-E-L-L-A.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on notable events in the history

of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, Glasgow, and in the world beyond.

In each case, give the year of the following.

Firstly, John Stuart Mill published On Liberty,

Darwin published On The Origin Of Species,

and the Cambridge boat sank.

Has to be about 1865 or something.

-1865.

-No, it's 1859.

The race was scheduled for March 31st

but both boats sank and it had to be re-run on April 1st.

The Titanic sank 13 days later.

-1912.

-Correct.

The Prince of Wales married Diana Spencer on July 29th

and Sue Brown became the first woman to participate in the race

steering Oxford to victory in so doing.

-1985.

-No, its 1981. 10 points for this.

At the 2012 Olympics, the IOC executive board

authorised certain athletes to compete as individuals.

One was from South Sudan, the other three were from

which Dutch Caribbean dependency that ceased to exist in 2010?

-Turks and Caicos.

-No, they're a British dependency.

-Glasgow, anyone want to buzz?

-Dutch Antilles?

I'll accept, the Netherlands Antilles is the formal name, you're right.

These bonuses are on prominent people who give their names

to stations of the Paris Metro.

In each case, name the person from the description.

Firstly, a republican statesman of Italian ancestry

who directed the defence of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war

and helped to found the Third Republic.

-Don't know.

-That's Leon Gambetta.

Secondly, a general often credited with bringing about

the Allied victory at the Battle of the Marne in 1914.

This included commandeering taxi cabs to take troops to the front.

No. No. I can't remember. Pass.

I wondered what you were doing there.

-He was trying to help us out!

-I see. That was Gallieni.

Finally, a major figure of the Romantic movement in France,

The author of Cromwell and Notre-Dame de Paris.

Say something romantic.

Hugo? Pass.

-That's Victor Hugo.

-He said it!

I didn't get an answer. 10 points for this.

"I cannot forecast to you its action.

"It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

Of which country did Winston Churchill say those words

in October 1939?

-Soviet Union.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Exeter, these bonuses are on an author.

In 2012, which British author wrote a letter thanking

the independent booksellers of America for having displayed

one of his works in their shop windows in 1989?

-Salman Rushdie, maybe? Salman Rushdie.

-Correct.

Rushdie's 2012 memoir has what pseudonym as its title?

He used it when in hiding after the fatwa

and it combines the given names of two of his favourite authors?

Joseph... Joseph...

Chekhov? Joseph Anton?

-Joseph Anton.

-Correct, yes, after Conrad and Chekhov.

Finally, whilst working as an advertising copywriter,

what slogan did Rushdie coin for the credit card

provided by an American financial services company?

-That'll do nicely.

-Yeah?

-That'll do nicely.

-Correct.

We're going to take our second picture round.

For your picture starter,

you're going to see a photo of a plant associated with Christmas.

10 points if you can give me the common name of the plant.

Poinsettia.

-One of you buzz from Exeter.

-What did they say?

Doesn't matter what they said, I want to know what you say.

You can't confer, one of you buzz if you can identify it. Come on!

-Fuchsia.

-No, it's a Christmas cactus.

Another starter question as a prelude to the picture bonuses.

it's for 10 points, this is it.

Its themes including the commercialisation of Christmas,

the 2007 documentary film What Would Jesus Buy

was produced by which US film-maker

whose works include Failure Club and Super Size Me?

-Morgan Spurlock.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

You'll be delighted to hear you get picture bonuses

on more Christmas plants.

Five points for each you can identify.

I just need the common name. Firstly...

It's gone right out of my head. Christmas rose, try that.

-Christmas rose.

-It is a Christmas rose, yes.

Secondly...

Nominate Faulds Wood.

It's not fritillaria but I'm going to give that as the answer.

-Make it an answer.

-Fritillaria.

No, It's Christmas Bell, and finally.

-Poinsettia.

-That is poinsettia.

See, it's very different, isn't it? 10 points for this.

Particularly associated with oil exploration

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

what term indicates the situation that occurs in a well

when the formation pressure exceeds the pressure applied to it

by the column...?

Blowback.

No, anyone? You can hear a little more.

-Blow-out.

-Blow-out or a gusher, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses this time, Exeter, are on Dutch scientists.

From that of his native city, what name did the 18th-century scientist

Pieter van Musschenbroek give to his early form of capacitor?

-Any idea?

-A Leyden jar.

-Nominate Allison.

-Leyden jar.

Correct. Born in Alkmaar in 1572,

the Dutch scientist Cornelis Drebbel made significant contributions

to the development of what vessel in England in the 1620s?

-Do you think you know? Nominate Crewe.

-Retort.

No, it's submarine. Finally, a plant physiologist born in Breda,

Jan Ingenhousz is best known for the discovery in 1779

of what process in plants?

-Photosynthesis.

-Correct.

10 points for this.

Nicknamed "Le France-wide-web", which French government-sponsored

interactive video system was switched off...?

-Minitel.

-Minitel is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on an artist.

Created between 1940 and '42 and described by many critics

as one of his greatest works,

Between The Clock And The Bed is a self-portrait

by which Scandinavian artist?

-Munch?

-Edvard Munch.

Correct. Munch said of himself that he suffered

from two of mankind's most frightful enemies,

describing them as "black angels that stood at my cradle."

One of these was insanity. What medical condition was the other?

-Depression.

-It was TB or consumption.

In 1906, Munch exhibited alongside works by artists

associated with which movement much influenced by him?

Its members included Matisse and Derain.

-Nominate Crewe.

-Fauves.

Fauvism is correct, yes. 10 points for this.

Before David Cameron,

who was the last UK prime minister to be known by the given name David?

-David Lloyd George.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Glasgow, are on place names.

In each case, give the name from the description.

All begin with the same three letters.

Firstly, a small landlocked country

that borders South Africa and Mozambique.

-Lesotho.

-No, it's Swaziland.

Secondly, the river that gives its name

to the first free European settlement in Western Australia.

Swan.

Correct, and finally, a linguistic and historical region

of south-western Germany, its medieval dukes

include Frederick Barbarossa.

-Nominate Burns.

-No, I'm sorry.

Un-nominate Burns.

It's Swabia. 10 points for this.

Located near Alum Bay,

which series of chalk stacks forms the westernmost point...?

-The Needles.

-The Needles is correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on a poet.

"Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments

"of the happiest and best minds."

These are the words of which Romantic poet in an essay

entitled A Defence of Poetry?

-Wordsworth.

-No, it's Shelley.

In the same essay, Shelley claimed that which monarch's reign

was to blame for "the grossest degradation of the drama?"

-George IV?

-No, Charles II.

Also in that essay, Shelley states that which Italian poet's work

may be considered as "the bridge thrown over the stream of time

"which unites the modern and the ancient world?"

-Dante.

-Correct, 10 points for this.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Give the dictionary spelling of the word "mettle,"

meaning courage, resilience or fortitude.

-M-E-T-T-L-E.

-Correct.

A set of bonuses now on mountains of the USA.

In which state is Mount Mitchell, located in the Black Mountains?

It's the highest peak in the United States

east of the Mississippi river.

-Quickly.

-Colorado.

-No, its North Carolina.

Mount Elbert and Pikes Peak are among more than 50 mountains

over 14,000 feet in which state?

-Alaska.

-No, that is in Colorado.

Finally, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail,

Mount Katahdin, is in which state?

-Any guesses? Virginia.

-It's in Maine.

10 points for this - in terms of given names, what seasonal pairing

links the protagonist of Truman Capote's Breakfast At Tiffany's

with the author of Pastors and Masters and Parents and Children?

GONG SOUNDS

At the gong, Exeter University have 125 and Glasgow University have 165.

Congratulations. 125 is a perfectly respectable score

to leave with and Glasgow, 165, you will certainly go through

as one of the highest-scoring winning teams - bad luck!

You'll have to come back for a semi-final next time.

I hope you can join us

for the last of the first round matches next time. Until then,

it's goodbye from Exeter University,

it's goodbye from Glasgow University,

and it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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