0:00:17 > 0:00:20APPLAUSE
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Christmas University Challenge. Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Hello. Tonight we welcome the last two teams competing
0:00:31 > 0:00:34in the first round of this seasonal series in which we spread
0:00:34 > 0:00:38a little Christmas cheer by asking difficult questions of graduates
0:00:38 > 0:00:41and staff of some of the UK's leading universities and,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44in the process, making us all glad it's them, not us.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Only the top four winning teams from these first-round matches
0:00:47 > 0:00:48will go through to the semi-finals
0:00:48 > 0:00:51so we already know that New College, Oxford,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54and the universities of Liverpool and Glasgow will play again.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57If either of tonight's teams is to progress further,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01they need to beat the 155 scored by Newnham College, Cambridge.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04First, on the team from the University of Birmingham is a man
0:01:04 > 0:01:08who's been awarded the CBE for his work on the nation's oral health.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Alongside him, an award-winning writer whose work includes
0:01:11 > 0:01:15the television dramas Bodies, Cardiac Arrest, and Line Of Duty.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Their captain began her political career while still at university
0:01:18 > 0:01:21when she was elected as the first female Conservative
0:01:21 > 0:01:24on the National Union of Students Executive.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25She's now a government minister.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30They're joined by a member of the University's staff whose main interest lies in the prehistoric.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Which was, of course, when this programme was in black-and-white. Let's meet them.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Hello, I'm Barry Cockcroft.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38I graduated in dentistry in 1973.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I'm now Chief Dental Officer for England.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Hi, I'm Jed Mercurio. I graduated in medicine in 1991.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50- I'm now a television scriptwriter. - And their captain.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Hi, I'm Anna Soubry and I graduated in 1977 in law,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and I'm now the Member of Parliament for Broxtowe.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58And I'm Henry Chapman.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01I'm a senior lecturer in archaeology and visualisation
0:02:01 > 0:02:02at the University of Birmingham.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07APPLAUSE
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Now, playing them is the team from the University of East Anglia.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They're fielding a writer whose multi-award-winning output
0:02:13 > 0:02:15includes The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Next to him, a former BBC arts correspondent
0:02:18 > 0:02:20now involved in news and documentaries.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Their captain began his career in BBC radio before moving to
0:02:24 > 0:02:26television to cover the everyday story of political folk
0:02:26 > 0:02:28in the Westminster village.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30And they're joined by a former member of the modestly titled
0:02:30 > 0:02:34band The Higsons, who's now a novelist. Let's meet them.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Hi, I'm John Boyne. I graduated in creative writing in 1995.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Since then, I've published seven novels for adults
0:02:43 > 0:02:44and three for young readers.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46I'm Razia Iqbal.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50I graduated in 1985 in American studies and I now present
0:02:50 > 0:02:53the BBC World Service's flagship current affairs programme, Newshour.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55- And their captain. - Hello, I'm David Grossman.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57In 1987 I graduated in politics.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I'm now political correspondent on the BBC Newsnight programme.
0:03:01 > 0:03:02Hi, I'm Charlie Higson.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05I studied English and American literature and film studies
0:03:05 > 0:03:06in the late '70s.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10And I now do TV comedy and write children's books without zombies.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER
0:03:14 > 0:03:16OK, the rules are unchanging.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Starter questions are all solo efforts. You answer those on the buzzer.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23If you interrupt a starter question incorrectly, there's a five point penalty.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25And bonus questions are worth 15 points
0:03:25 > 0:03:29and they're team efforts. So, your first starter for ten.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30Fingers on the buzzers.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Friends Forever in 1992. Share The Spirit in 2000.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35Welcome Home in 2004.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40One World, One Dream in 2008. And Inspire A Generation in 2012...?
0:03:40 > 0:03:41BUZZER
0:03:43 > 0:03:46The, er, Olympic slogan.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Correct. Summer Olympic slogans, yes.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50APPLAUSE
0:03:50 > 0:03:54So, the first set of bonuses go to you, Birmingham. They're on snow.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57"At Christmas, I no more desire a rose
0:03:57 > 0:04:00"Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth."
0:04:00 > 0:04:02In which of us Shakespeare's plays
0:04:02 > 0:04:05does Berowne say those words to the King of Navarre?
0:04:08 > 0:04:10THEY CONFER
0:04:15 > 0:04:17(Say Twelfth Night, say something.)
0:04:17 > 0:04:19(Say A Winter's Tale.)
0:04:19 > 0:04:21(Yes.) A Winter's tale.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23No, it's from Love's Labours Lost.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Secondly, "But where are the snows of yesteryear" is perhaps
0:04:26 > 0:04:30the best-known expression of which 15th century French poet
0:04:30 > 0:04:34banished from Paris for being a vagrant and criminal?
0:04:35 > 0:04:38THEY CONFER
0:04:43 > 0:04:45- Pass.- That's Francois Villon.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And finally, "Blondes make the best victims.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51"They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints."
0:04:51 > 0:04:55These are the words of which British film director?
0:04:55 > 0:04:57THEY CONFER
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- Alfred Hitchcock.- Correct. Ten points for this.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02An old English word meaning "dung"
0:05:02 > 0:05:04and an old Saxon word for "twig"
0:05:04 > 0:05:06are thought to form the derivation
0:05:06 > 0:05:08of the name of which plant, traditionally...?
0:05:08 > 0:05:10BUZZER
0:05:10 > 0:05:12- Mistletoe?- Correct, yes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14APPLAUSE
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Your bonuses, UEA, are on Chinese philosophy.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24Firstly, for five points, born 551 BCE, which thinker's sayings
0:05:24 > 0:05:28were collected by his pupils in the Lun Yu or Analects?
0:05:28 > 0:05:30It forms the principal source for his philosophy.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34- Who wants to say Confucius?- Let's go with that. We don't know any other.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35- Confucius?- Yeah, go on.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36- Confucius.- Correct.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Studying under the grandson of Confucius, which philosopher added
0:05:39 > 0:05:43to Confucianism the doctrine of the original goodness of human beings?
0:05:45 > 0:05:47- Tao. Try Tao.- Tao.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Tao?! No, it's Mencius.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54The definitive texts of Confucius and Mencius known as The Four Books
0:05:54 > 0:05:58served as the basis for the Chinese civil service examinations
0:05:58 > 0:06:00from 1313 until which decade?
0:06:02 > 0:06:03The revolution?
0:06:05 > 0:06:07The 1950s or something.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:06:08 > 0:06:15- The revolution, go for that.- '60... - The '60s, then.- '64?- Go for '60s.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19'64? The decade... 1960s.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21No, it's the 1900s. 1905, in fact.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Ten points for this. Identify the poet who wrote these lines -
0:06:25 > 0:06:27"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
0:06:27 > 0:06:30"Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32"Along the cool sequester'd vale of life,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35"They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
0:06:35 > 0:06:36BUZZER
0:06:37 > 0:06:38Thomas Hardy.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Anyone like to buzz from Birmingham?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43BUZZER
0:06:43 > 0:06:44Byron.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46No, it was Thomas Gray in his Elegy.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Hardy borrowed the lines for his novel, of course.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Ten points for this. Meanings of what word include, in dentistry,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54the withdrawal of the gum from the neck of a tooth,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57in astronomy, the movement of an object away from an observer,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02and in economics, a decline of activity over a sustained period of time often defined as...?
0:07:02 > 0:07:04BUZZER
0:07:04 > 0:07:06- Recession. - Recession is correct. Yes.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08APPLAUSE
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Birmingham, these bonuses are on pairs of words
0:07:11 > 0:07:14whose spellings differ by the addition of the letter X
0:07:14 > 0:07:18after the second letter, for example "foes" and "foxes".
0:07:18 > 0:07:21In each cases, give both words from the definitions.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Firstly, religious adherents who aren't members of the clergy
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and the state of having loose rules or lose bowels.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31- Laxity...- Laity.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33- Laity and laxity.- Correct.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38Vietnamese New Year and the main body of matter in a book.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39(Tet and text.)
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- Ted and tet.- (Tet and text.)
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Nominate Mercurio.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47- Tet and text.- Correct.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51And, finally, Unang, Imperial, Nilgiri and Keemun,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53and US state whose cities include Amarillo,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Brownsville and Corpus Christi.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57- (Texas.)- (Texas and teas.)
0:07:57 > 0:08:00- Texas and teas.- Correct.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02We're going to take the picture round now.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05For your pictures starter, you'll see a phrase in a foreign language.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Ten points if you can identify the language
0:08:07 > 0:08:08and the meaning of the phrase.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11BUZZER
0:08:13 > 0:08:18"Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year" in Spanish.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21Anyone like to buzz from Birmingham?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25BUZZER
0:08:25 > 0:08:29"Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year" in Portuguese.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33It is merry Christmas and a happy New Year and it is in Portuguese, yes.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39So, your bonuses are "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year" in three more official EU languages.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42In each case, simply name the language. Firstly...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51(Is it Dutch? Is it Dutch?)
0:08:51 > 0:08:52(Is it Norwegian?)
0:08:52 > 0:08:55- (Oh, yes. Maybe Norwegian.) - (I don't know.)
0:08:55 > 0:08:57- (No, Norway...) - (Dutch?)
0:08:58 > 0:08:59Dutch.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02No, that's Irish. Secondly.
0:09:08 > 0:09:15THEY CONFER
0:09:17 > 0:09:19- (Serbian or Croatian?) - (Yes, Serbian.)
0:09:19 > 0:09:24- Serbian.- No, that's in Maltese. And, finally this language, please.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26(It's Finnish.)
0:09:26 > 0:09:30- Is it? Danish?- Finnish.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34- Finish.- It is Finnish, yes. Right, ten points for this.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Coined in 2009 and used in the House of Commons in 2012,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41what neologism denoting a perpetual state of poor performance
0:09:41 > 0:09:42was first heard in lines spoken
0:09:42 > 0:09:45by the fictional Malcolm Tucker in the television...?
0:09:45 > 0:09:46BUZZER
0:09:46 > 0:09:49- Omnishambles. - Omnishambles is right, yes.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51APPLAUSE
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Right, these bonuses are on a Christmas carol.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Firstly, for five points, which carol has words
0:09:58 > 0:10:01by the 19th-century English priest John Mason Neale
0:10:01 > 0:10:05and celebrates the good deeds of the patron saint of the Czech Republic?
0:10:05 > 0:10:07THEY CONFER
0:10:07 > 0:10:08- Good King Wenceslas.- Correct.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Wenceslas' submission to the German King Henry the Fowler
0:10:12 > 0:10:14provoked a conspiracy in which
0:10:14 > 0:10:16he was murdered by his brother, Boleslaw.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19During which century did those events occur?
0:10:21 > 0:10:22Well, it's not this one.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25The 12th or 13th? I think it's quite a long time ago.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27The 12th or 13th at this end?
0:10:28 > 0:10:3013th.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32- 13th century. - No, it was the 10th century.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And, finally, the carol mentions "the feast of Stephen."
0:10:35 > 0:10:37According to Western Christian tradition,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40on what date is St Stephen's Day celebrated?
0:10:40 > 0:10:42(26th December, Boxing day.)
0:10:44 > 0:10:4526th December.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Correct, Boxing Day, yes.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Right, ten points for this. Seretse Khama was the first president of which African country
0:10:51 > 0:10:54which gained independence from Britain in 1966...?
0:10:54 > 0:10:55BUZZER
0:10:56 > 0:10:57Ghana.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58No, you lose five points.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Since then, all his successors have come to power in free elections
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and it has transformed itself into a middle-income country
0:11:05 > 0:11:08largely through the export of diamonds.
0:11:08 > 0:11:09BUZZER
0:11:10 > 0:11:11- Botswana?- Correct.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14APPLAUSE
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Right, these bonuses are on eponymous adjectives
0:11:17 > 0:11:19from the names of literary figures,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21for example "Orwellian",
0:11:21 > 0:11:24in the words of the Times columnist Ben Macintyre.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Firstly, noting that his eponymous adjective
0:11:27 > 0:11:29cannot be applied to the person himself,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32of which playwright does Macintyre say, "I only met him once.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35"There were no ominous pauses in the conversation.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37"There was no oblique and enigmatic dialogue.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39"The atmosphere could not have been less sinister."
0:11:39 > 0:11:41THEY CONFER
0:11:41 > 0:11:43- Pinteresque.- Yes, Pinter is the person I'm looking for.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46I'm looking for the person in each of these, but that's correct.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Of which playwright does Macintyre say,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52"His aficionados insist his eponymous adjective means
0:11:52 > 0:11:55"'mixture of quixotic seriousness and harsh laughter.'
0:11:55 > 0:11:56"To me, the word means
0:11:56 > 0:12:00"'not nearly as funny as it was when it was first written.'"
0:12:07 > 0:12:10THEY CONFER
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Let's have an answer, please.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16What's he called?
0:12:16 > 0:12:18- No.- It's not Dickensian.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Oh, it's... Dario Fo... Fo...
0:12:21 > 0:12:24- I'm going to nominate you. - No, don't.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26- I'm going to nominate Mercurio.- Fo.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28No, it's George Bernard Shaw, Shavian.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Of which 19th-century novelist does Macintyre say,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33"He was amusing, energetic and good company,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35"yet his name has come to denote
0:12:35 > 0:12:37"all that is grim, decayed and doom-laden"?
0:12:37 > 0:12:41- Dick... Charles Dickens. - Correct, yes. Ten points for this.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45"Being the story of 12 months in hell told by one of the dammed
0:12:45 > 0:12:47"and written down by Robert Tressell."
0:12:47 > 0:12:50This was the original subtitle of which novel,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53first published 1914 and, in an unabridged version in 1955,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57that became a classic of the British Socialist movement?
0:12:58 > 0:12:59BUZZER
0:12:59 > 0:13:02- The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists?- Correct.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04APPLAUSE
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Right, these bonuses, East Anglia, are on an Italian noblewoman.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12An inspiration for numerous literary works,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14what was the given name of the young woman
0:13:14 > 0:13:19who was beheaded on the orders of Pope Clement VIII in 1599,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22for the murder of her abusive father, Francesco Cenci?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26THEY CONFER
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Lucrezia Borgia.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34No, it's Beatrice.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Born in Bologna in 1579,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39which Baroque artist is noted for a painting of Beatrice
0:13:39 > 0:13:42now in the Galleria Nazionale in Rome?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45His works include the ceiling fresco Aurora.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49We're looking for a fresco artist.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53I don't know.
0:13:53 > 0:13:5615th century? Titian or something. One of that lot.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58No, no.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00Fra... Fra Angelo?
0:14:00 > 0:14:01Fra Angelico.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05- Let's have an answer, please. - Nominate Iqbal.- Fra Angelico?
0:14:05 > 0:14:06No, it's Guido Reni.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Finally, Reni's painting of Beatrice
0:14:08 > 0:14:11is thought to have been the inspiration for The Cenci,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15a verse tragedy of 1819 by which Romantic poet?
0:14:18 > 0:14:21THEY CONFER
0:14:21 > 0:14:23- Poet.- Italian?- Byron?
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- Try it.- Byron.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29No, it's Shelley. We're going to take a music round now.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32For your music starter, you'll hear a modern Christmas song.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35For ten points, simply give me the name of the artist singing.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37# Who's got a beard that's long and white
0:14:37 > 0:14:39# Santa's got a beard that's long and white
0:14:39 > 0:14:41# Who comes round on a special night
0:14:41 > 0:14:43# Santa comes round on a special night... #
0:14:44 > 0:14:45- Bob Dylan.- Yes.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48APPLAUSE
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Your bonuses are three more singer-songwriters,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53this time performing their own festive compositions.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Five points for each you can identify. Firstly.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00# I knew of two sisters whose name it was Christmas
0:15:00 > 0:15:04# And one was named Dawn, of course
0:15:04 > 0:15:07# The other one was named Eve
0:15:09 > 0:15:11# I wonder if... #
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- Elvis Costello.- Yes. Secondly, who's this?
0:15:14 > 0:15:16# It's Christmas
0:15:18 > 0:15:24# And the spotlight's shining on Christmas
0:15:25 > 0:15:31# And the spotlight's shining on us... #
0:15:37 > 0:15:38- Any idea?- Chrissie Hynde?
0:15:38 > 0:15:40No, it's Rufus Wainwright!
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- THEY LAUGH - Finally, who's this?
0:15:43 > 0:15:45# It's coming on Christmas
0:15:45 > 0:15:48# They're cutting down trees
0:15:48 > 0:15:51# They're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy... #
0:15:52 > 0:15:54- Joni Mitchell. - It is Joni Mitchell, yes.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Ten points for this - Father Christmas and his sleigh
0:15:57 > 0:16:02can travel the 40,000 kilometres around the globe in 12 hours.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07To the nearest day, how long would it take him to fly, non-stop,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09the 400,000 kilometres to the moon?
0:16:15 > 0:16:173,650.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Birmingham, anyone like to have a buzz?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23(Only if he repeats it.)
0:16:23 > 0:16:25LAUGHTER
0:16:26 > 0:16:27WHISPERING
0:16:27 > 0:16:30You may not confer. One of you can buzz. Doesn't look as if...
0:16:32 > 0:16:36- Three thousand, one hund-... - No, it's five days. Ten for this.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Which medical condition
0:16:37 > 0:16:40has been associated with the British Royal Family
0:16:40 > 0:16:42because of the number of Queen Victoria's descendants.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Haemophilia.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Correct, yes, well done.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48APPLAUSE
0:16:48 > 0:16:51These bonuses, UEA, are on an electronic device.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56What device is formed of a p-n semiconductor junction,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59which when forward biased, leads to electrons and holes recombining,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03with energy being released in the form of photons?
0:17:03 > 0:17:07- A cathode ray? A cathode tube? - No idea.- TV tube?
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- A television tube? - No, it's a light-emitting diode.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14On account of its lower wavelength, what colour LED is used in modern
0:17:14 > 0:17:18optical disc storage technology, such as HD DVD?
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Blue?- Blue.- Blue.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Correct. What name is given to the effect of the creation
0:17:24 > 0:17:28of an electrical voltage in a semiconductor p-n junction
0:17:28 > 0:17:29in the presence of light?
0:17:29 > 0:17:33- Photovoltaic?- Give it a go. - Photovoltaic?
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Correct. Ten points for this. A Moment Of War,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39by Laurie Lee, For Whom The Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and Homage To Catalonia, by George...
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- Spanish Civil War?- Correct.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47APPLAUSE
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Your bonuses are on the seasonal works of an author and poet.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53"'Peace on Earth!' was said, we sing it.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55"And pay a million priests to bring it.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00"After 2,000 years of mass, we've got as far as poison gas."
0:18:00 > 0:18:02These lines conclude Christmas, 1924,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05a work by which poet and novelist?
0:18:05 > 0:18:06Siegfried Sassoon or..?
0:18:07 > 0:18:12THEY CONFER
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Come on.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Come on, let's have an answer, please!
0:18:27 > 0:18:28Sassoon.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30No, it's Thomas Hardy.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32First published in The Times on 24 December, 1915,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36which of Hardy's poems is inspired by a traditional legend
0:18:36 > 0:18:40of animals kneeling in their stables at midnight on Christmas Eve?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46THEY CONFER
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- Come on.- The Nativity.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00No, it's The Oxen.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06Originally called The Century's End, 1900, and dated 31 December, 1900,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08which poem by Hardy begins,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12"I leant upon a coppice gate when frost was spectre grey."
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- I don't know anything about Hardy. - No, nor do I!
0:19:16 > 0:19:18We don't know.
0:19:18 > 0:19:19The Darkling Thrush.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23In the children's book by J Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Olive, The Other Reindeer, is actually what sort of animal?
0:19:31 > 0:19:33A moose?
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Nope. Birmingham, one of you buzz.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40Dog.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43It was a dog! Yes!
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Right, your bonuses this time, Birmingham, are on British history.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Name the Prime Minister who said these words and give
0:19:52 > 0:19:55the year in which they were uttered. "Roll up that map,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58"it will not be wanted these ten years."
0:20:05 > 0:20:10THEY CONFER IN WHISPERS
0:20:10 > 0:20:14- Any ideas?- Chamberlain, 1939.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15Chamberlain, 1939.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18No, it was William Pitt the Younger, in 1805.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Secondly, "I hope we may say that, thus, this fateful morning
0:20:22 > 0:20:24"came to an end all wars."
0:20:24 > 0:20:27THEY CONFER
0:20:27 > 0:20:28David Lloyd George, 1918.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31David Lloyd George, in 1918.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Correct. Finally, "I have nothing to offer
0:20:34 > 0:20:37"but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
0:20:37 > 0:20:42- Churchill, 1940...- 1940?- '40. - '40?- Yep.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Winston Churchill, in 1940.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Correct. Right, a second picture round now.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50For your starter, you'll see a photograph of a familiar scene
0:20:50 > 0:20:51at this time of year.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55For ten points, name the city in which it's located.
0:21:00 > 0:21:01New York.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05It is. It's the Rockefeller Plaza. You get the bonuses, well done.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09We follow on from that ice rink with three more photographs
0:21:09 > 0:21:13of outdoor ice rinks. Name the city it's located in, please.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Firstly, for five...
0:21:17 > 0:21:21- It could be Paris. - Brussels or somewhere? Prague?
0:21:21 > 0:21:23- Come on.- Paris?- I think Paris.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- Paris.- It is Paris, yes.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Secondly, where's this?
0:21:28 > 0:21:31- Is it Toronto?- Is it North American?
0:21:33 > 0:21:37- Dubai(?)- Toronto?- Toronto, maybe.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Toronto.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41It is Toronto, yes! And finally, where's this?
0:21:43 > 0:21:46That's Somerset House. London.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48- London.- Yes, Somerset House.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Ten points for this... In the tetrapod
0:21:51 > 0:21:54circulatory system, what is the large vein
0:21:54 > 0:21:58with superior and inferior branches that carries...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Erm...vena cava.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05Correct, yes.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Your bonuses this time are on science in the 1730s, Birmingham.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11A work on differential calculus, which scientist's
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Method Of Fluxions was first published posthumously in 1736?
0:22:16 > 0:22:18THEY CONFER
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Come on, if you're going to go through, you have to hurry.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Leibniz, Leibniz.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29- Nominate Mercurio.- Leibniz.
0:22:29 > 0:22:30No, it was Newton.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32The discovery of which supernova remnant
0:22:32 > 0:22:34in the constellation of Taurus
0:22:34 > 0:22:38is generally credited to the English astronomer John Bevis in 1731?
0:22:40 > 0:22:41Crab.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42- Nominate Mercurio.- Crab Nebula.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Correct.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46In 1735, which Swedish biologist
0:22:46 > 0:22:49published the groundbreaking work of classification
0:22:49 > 0:22:51known by the Latin title of Systema Naturae?
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- Linnaeus.- Linnaeus.- Linnaeus.
0:22:54 > 0:22:55Linnaeus is correct.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Five minutes to go and 10 points for this starter question.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Answer as soon as your name is called.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Give the dictionary spelling of the fragrant gum resin known as myrrh.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06BUZZER
0:23:08 > 0:23:11M-Y-R-R-H.
0:23:11 > 0:23:12Correct.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13APPLAUSE
0:23:13 > 0:23:14You retake the lead.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Your bonuses are on New Year's Eve in 19th-century fiction.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22In which novel of the 1860s does a ball held on December 31 1809
0:23:22 > 0:23:24prompt Natasha Rostova to declare,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27"It's the loveliest time I ever had in my life?"
0:23:28 > 0:23:29War And Peace.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Correct. In which novel by George Eliot does the eponymous hero
0:23:32 > 0:23:34adopt Eppie, a two-year-old girl,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36after she wanders into his home on New Year's Eve?
0:23:38 > 0:23:39THEY CONFER
0:23:42 > 0:23:43Silas Marner.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Correct. Which of Hans Christian Andersen's tales
0:23:45 > 0:23:46begins on New Year's Eve
0:23:46 > 0:23:48with the poor, little girl
0:23:48 > 0:23:51wandering the snow-covered streets in the dark,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53too scared to go home to her father?
0:23:53 > 0:23:55The Little Matchstick Girl.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56The Little Match Girl, yes.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Ten points for this.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59The Sebou and Oum Er-Rbia
0:23:59 > 0:24:02are the longest rivers in which African country,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06rising in the Middle Atlas, they both flow into the Atlantic Ocean?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10BUZZER
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Libya.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16No. University of East Anglia? One of you buzz?
0:24:16 > 0:24:17BUZZER
0:24:17 > 0:24:18Morocco.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Morocco is correct. Your bonuses are on geometry.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24In geometry, what short word describes a smooth curve
0:24:24 > 0:24:28joining two points, in particular referring to any portion
0:24:28 > 0:24:30of the circumference of a circle?
0:24:30 > 0:24:31An arc.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Correct. What term denotes a plane figure bounded by a circular arc
0:24:35 > 0:24:37and its corresponding chord?
0:24:39 > 0:24:40Come on.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Pass.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44It's a segment. And finally, what term indicates
0:24:44 > 0:24:47the portion of a circle enclosed by two radii and an arc?
0:24:55 > 0:24:56Don't know.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59A sector. Three minutes to go. Ten points for this.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Listen carefully. Answer as soon as your name is called.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04If the 24 days of an advent calendar
0:25:04 > 0:25:07are randomly assigned 24 different pictures,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09six of which contain a reindeer,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12what is the probability of revealing a reindeer on Christmas Eve?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14BUZZER
0:25:14 > 0:25:15One in three.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17- Anyone like to buzz? - BUZZER
0:25:17 > 0:25:18One in four.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Of course.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Your bonuses are on history.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26An adversary of the Junto Whigs, Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30served as Lord Treasurer under which monarch?
0:25:32 > 0:25:35THEY CONFER
0:25:35 > 0:25:36George III.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37No, Queen Anne.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40After the accession of George I, Harley was impeached for his part
0:25:40 > 0:25:44in the Treaty of Utrecht, ending Britain's involvement in which war?
0:25:44 > 0:25:45Peninsular War?
0:25:46 > 0:25:47Peninsular War.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49No, the War of the Spanish Succession.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51The impeachment denounced Harley for designing
0:25:51 > 0:25:54the destruction of the ancient rights of which principality?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57It's now an autonomous community of Spain.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00THEY CONFER
0:26:00 > 0:26:01Andorra?
0:26:01 > 0:26:02No, it's Catalonia.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Which poet wrote these lines?
0:26:04 > 0:26:06"And London shops on Christmas Eve
0:26:06 > 0:26:08"are strung with silver bells and flowers
0:26:08 > 0:26:11"as hurrying clerks, the City leave..."
0:26:11 > 0:26:12BUZZER
0:26:14 > 0:26:15John Betjeman.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18John Betjeman is correct, yes. His Christmas poem.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21These bonuses, UEA, are on a US financier.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Born 1837, Charles Tyson Yerkes assembled the consortium
0:26:25 > 0:26:31that funded the mass transit system of which major city of the Midwest?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34THEY CONFER
0:26:34 > 0:26:35Chicago.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Correct. Part of the University of Chicago,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39The Yerkes Observatory houses
0:26:39 > 0:26:43the world's largest example of what specific type of telescope?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46THEY CONFER
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- Radio telescope. - No, a refracting telescope.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Based on the life of Charles Yerkes, The Financier and The Titan
0:26:53 > 0:26:57are novels by which author, also noted for Sister Carrie?
0:26:58 > 0:26:59THEY CONFER
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Theodore Dreiser.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Correct. Ten points for this.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Perpetual Peace is a far-sighted essay of 1795
0:27:06 > 0:27:09on the prevention of war by which German philosopher
0:27:09 > 0:27:12whose major work was the Critique Of Pure Reason?
0:27:15 > 0:27:16BUZZER
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Kant.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19It was Immanuel Kant.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Yes, so you get a set of bonuses this time on place names.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26Kutaisi was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Colchis
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and is today the second largest city of which country?
0:27:34 > 0:27:35THEY CONFER
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Come on.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Turkey.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39No, it's Georgia. The Rann of Kutch
0:27:39 > 0:27:43is a salt marsh around the size of Wales close to the Arabian Sea.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45It spans the borders of which two countries?
0:27:48 > 0:27:49GONG
0:27:49 > 0:27:51And at the gong, Birmingham University have 115
0:27:51 > 0:27:53and East Anglia have 195.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Congratulations, UEA. You will go through
0:27:58 > 0:28:01as one of the four highest-scoring winning teams.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03So you will have to come back, I'm afraid.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04Bad luck, Birmingham.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Although you did lead pretty conspicuously at one point,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09but you all faded after about the halfway point.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11But thank you very much for joining us.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14So now we know that those teams competing in the semifinals
0:28:14 > 0:28:17of this Christmas University Challenge are
0:28:17 > 0:28:18New College Oxford,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20the University of Liverpool, the University of Glasgow
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and tonight's winners the University of East Anglia.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I hope you can join us next time for the first semifinal,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29but until then, it's goodbye from the University of Birmingham.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32- Goodbye.- It's goodbye from the University of East Anglia.- Goodbye.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.
0:28:34 > 0:28:35APPLAUSE
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd