Episode 9 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. This frantic scramble up the intellectual Christmas tree

has reached its penultimate match.

Last time, we saw the team from New College, Oxford

win the first place in tomorrow night's final

in this special season for alumni and staff

of some of our leading universities.

Tonight we'll find out who they'll be playing.

The team from Glasgow University held the lead

throughout their first-round match against Exeter

and were comfortably ahead by 165 points to 125 at the gong.

They knew about Wittgenstein and prime ministers called David

and could teach Father Christmas a thing or two about levers.

Let's meet them again.

Hi. I'm Harry Burns.

I graduated in Medicine from Glasgow in 1974

and now I'm Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

Hello, I'm Susan Calman.

I graduated in Law from Glasgow University in 1996

and now I'm a comedian and writer.

And their captain.

Hello, I'm Neil Oliver. I graduated in Archaeology in 1988

and nowadays I'm a TV presenter and writer.

Hello, I'm Lynn Faulds Wood.

I graduated in French and Spanish in the last century.

I'm a TV watchdog and cancer campaigner.

APPLAUSE

The team from the University of East Anglia

had a score of 195 at the end of their first-round match

against the University of Birmingham, who, halfway through,

hit the kind of slump usually only experienced

after a surfeit of stuffing and brandy butter.

Although they displayed a callous indifference

to the fate of Beatrice Cenci,

they knew the derivation of mistletoe,

they found their way around an advent calendar,

and they performed a triple axel on bonuses about ice rinks.

Let's meet them again.

Hello, I'm John Boyne.

I graduated in Creative Writing in 1995,

and since then I've written seven novels for adults

and three for young readers.

Hello, I'm Razia Iqbal.

I graduated in 1985 in American Studies

and I'm now one of the main presenters

for BBC World Service's radio programme Newshour.

-And their captain.

-Hello, I'm David Grossman.

I graduated in 1987 from UEA in Politics

and now I'm a political journalist.

Hi. I'm Charlie Higson.

I graduated in Literature and Film in 1980

and I now write children's books about zombies.

APPLAUSE

Let's not waste any time reciting the rules.

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

In 2011, UNESCO granted intangible cultural heritage status

to what now-ubiquitous work,

first performed on Christmas Eve 1818

in the church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf in Austria?

-Silent Night?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on London art galleries.

In each case, name the gallery from its address and postcode.

Firstly, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA.

It's not the Natural History Museum?

(Normally I would say that. Try that one.)

The Natural History Museum.

No, that's the Serpentine Gallery.

Secondly, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN.

THEY CONFER

Give me the name of a gallery.

It's The Wallace Collection.

-The Wallace Collection.

-The Wallace Collection.

Correct. Finally, Millbank, SW1P 4RG.

(That's the Tate.)

-Tate?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Go for it.

The Tate.

-Which one?

-Modern.

-No, it's not, it's Tate Britain.

-Oh!

-Bad luck.

-Oh, no!

10 points for this. Identify the play by Shakespeare

in which these lines appear.

"Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes

"Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,

"This bird of dawning singeth all night long;

"And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad."

Twelfth Night?

No. One of you buzz from Glasgow.

Romeo And Juliet.

No, it's Hamlet. 10 points for this.

At Gresham College in London in the 17th century,

an intellectual circle organised itself "for the promoting

"of physico-mathematical experimental..."

The Royal Society.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Glasgow, your bonuses are on shorter words that can be made

from the letters in one of the names traditionally given

to the three Magi or Three Kings.

In each case, give both the word from the definition

and the name of the king.

Firstly, the capital of Morocco.

-Marrakesh...

-Well, it's Balthazar, Caspar and Melchior.

So...

Oh, no, it's not Marrakesh.

It's Rabat.

Rabat. Balthazar.

Rabat and Balthazar.

Correct. Secondly, according to Greek mythology,

the rarefied fluid said to flow like blood in the veins of the gods.

Melchior.

Melchior and...

Melchior.

Rarefied fluid?

-Don't know.

-Don't know.

-Pass.

It's ichor and Melchior.

And finally, the common name of a freshwater fish

of the family Cyprinidae.

THEY CONFER

Oh, Cyprinidae... it must be Caspar. And...

-Carp?

-Yeah, yeah.

Carp and Caspar.

Correct.

Ten points for this.

Kate Bush's Words For Snow in 2011,

Paul Simon's Ways To Leave Your Lover...

50.

50 is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, UEA, are on science in the theatre.

Born 1564, which pioneer of physics is the title character

of a play by Bertolt Brecht?

-Galileo.

-Galileo?

-Yeah.

Galileo.

Correct. Chaos theory, thermodynamics and garden design

are among the themes of which play of 1993 by Tom Stoppard?

-Arcadia.

-Arcadia.

Arcadia.

Correct. Which 1998 work by Michael Frayn

is based on the 1941 meeting

between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg?

-Copenhagen.

-Correct. 10 points for this.

Give your answer either in square metres or square feet.

According to the Christmas Day Trading Act of 2004,

shops in England and Wales over what internal floor area

are not allowed to open on Christmas Day?

5,000 square feet.

No. University of East Anglia?

1,500 square feet.

No, it's 3,000 square feet or 280 square metres.

10 points for this. Binomially speaking,

Perdix perdix in Pyrus communis form what seasonal pairing?

The holly and the ivy.

No.

-Is it...?

-You may not confer. One of you may buzz.

Turtle doves.

No, it's a partridge in a pear tree.

10 points for this.

"When I discovered ready-mades I thought to discourage aesthetics.

"I threw the bottle-rack and the urinal into their faces

"and now they admire them for their..."

Marcel Duchamp?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses will give you the lead if you get them. They're on memory.

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science

Of Remembering Everything

recounts which journalist's experience of winning

the US Memory Championships after just one year of training?

Who was that guy who put...?

-He was always...

-No idea.

I think he played American football.

He put himself into all those positions.

-Don't know.

-Ah, God, I can't remember his name.

-Foster Wallace? No.

-No, no.

We don't know.

That's Joshua Foer.

Its invention traditionally ascribed to the Greek poet

Simonides of Ceos, what two-word term denotes the mnemonic device

also known as the method of loci,

employed by the fictional Hannibal Lecter among others?

Two words.

It's a two-word phrase.

-No, I don't know.

-We don't know. We've forgotten, in fact.

It's the memory palace. And finally,

in a study of 2000 at UCL, the right posterior hippocampus,

the brain area involved in spatial navigation,

was found to be significantly larger than normal

in people with which job?

Taxi drivers, I think.

-Taxi drivers?

-Go for it.

-Taxi drivers.

-Yes, London taxi drivers is correct, yes.

Your picture starter, now.

We're going to see a poster representing a Winter Olympics

held during the 1980s.

10 points - name the location.

Any helpful wording has,

of course, been removed.

Calgary.

No. One of you may buzz from UEA.

Lake Placid.

It is Lake Placid. Let's see the whole thing.

There it is.

APPLAUSE

OK. So you've taken the lead, UEA,

and your bonuses are three more posters from Winter Olympics

held in the 1970s and '80s with the locations omitted.

For each of them, I simply want you to name the city

in which the games were held. Firstly...

Is it the Canadian one at Vancouver?

Calgary or Vancouver?

Montreal? No, they didn't have the...

-Definitely looks Canadian.

-It looks Canadian.

-Canadian. Vancouver? Vancouver.

-Try it.

Is it Vancouver?

No, it's Calgary. Let's see the whole thing. There it is.

And secondly...

-'70s and '80s. There was one in South Korea, wasn't there?

-No...

Was one in Japan?

-Was there a Tokyo?

-But those weren't winter. We don't know.

-Tokyo?

-Tokyo.

No, it's Sarajevo in 1984 - there it is. And finally...

-Ah.

-It's going downhill, isn't it?

THEY CHUCKLE

It's a ski jump.

-The one in Salt Lake City?

-Um...

-Where was Eddie the Eagle?

-Scandinavia, somewhere?

-Where was Eddie the Eagle?

-Come on.

-We don't know.

It's Innsbruck in 1976. Right, 10 points for this.

"His music suffers from lack of emotional range, often deteriorating

"into fairylike prestos and sugary sentimental andantes.

"His violin concerto characterises this criticism,

"yet its charm almost defies it."

These works from Chambers Biographical Dictionary

refer to which German composer, born 1809, whose works include

the Italian Symphony and the Hebrides Overture?

I was going to say Mendelssohn.

-Well, are you?

-I AM saying Mendelssohn.

-Well, you're right.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on education in the United States.

Having a different meaning in the UK,

what name is given to American secondary schools, usually

independent, that educate students up to college entrance level?

-High school.

-No, they're preparatory schools.

What term denotes a type of secondary school in the UK

and in the US means a primary school, or a school stressing

the study of classical languages?

INDISTINCT

-Elementary?

-No, it's grammar. A grammar school.

Sometimes called grammar or elementary schools,

American primary schools are also known

by what name not used in the UK?

-I have no idea.

-No.

-Elementary... Grade school?

-Grade school.

Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

The addition of what letter of the alphabet

transforms the name of a sea port at the mouth of the Red Sea

into that of a former German state

paired with Wurttemberg after World War II?

Aden and Baden?

Correct, B is what I was looking for, yes, I will accept that.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on painters,

specifically those better known for their work in other fields.

Which writer of verse was a draughtsman at London Zoo

from 1830-1832 and is noted for his watercolours of parrots,

many of which were published as lithographs?

No idea.

-We don't know.

-That's Edward Lear.

Gallery Of The Louvre is a work of the 1830s by which US inventor,

who, after studying painting in England, became the first president

of the National Academy Of Design in New York?

-Blank faces all round, I'm afraid.

-It's Samuel Morse.

Finally, which Swedish playwright and novelist is also noted

for stormy expressionist seascapes such as the 1903 work, The City?

-Oh, God, it's...

-Strindberg.

-Strindberg.

-Who?

-Strindberg.

-Strindberg.

-Correct.

We're going to take a music round now.

For your music starter you will hear a Christmas carol

performed by a well-known opera singer.

For 10 points, I want you to give me the name of the singer.

# Angels from the realms of glory

# Wing your flight over all the earth... #

-Is it Katherine Jenkins?

-No. You can hear a little more, Glasgow.

# Once you sang creation's story

# Now proclaim Messiah's birth... #

You may not confer.

Is it Maria Callas?

No, it's Kiri Te Kanawa. So, music bonuses shortly.

Fingers on the buzzers, 10 points for this.

Quote, "For our century, it is he who gave legitimacy

"to the implausible in the art of the novel."

These words of Milan Kundera referred to which literary figure

whose major works were published posthumously after

he died from tuberculosis in Vienna...

-Franz Kafka?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

You'll hear three more world-renowned opera singers

performing Christmas songs for your bonuses.

In each case, I want the name of the singer.

All three are dames of the British Empire. Firstly...

# Joy to the world, the Lord is come

# Let Earth receive her king! #

Is it Joan Sutherland?

It is, yes. Secondly, who is this?

# Fear not said he for mighty dread

# Had seized their troubled mind

# Glad tidings of great joy I bring

# To you and all mankind. #

-Try Lesley Garrett.

-Lesley Garrett.

No, that was Emma Kirkby.

And, finally, who's this?

# It was a winter wine... #

THEY CONFER

-Nellie Melba.

-Janet Baker. 10 points for this.

The East India administrator Stamford Raffles founded

which city in...?

Singapore.

Singapore is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on structures.

Daniel Shechtman received the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry

for the discovery of what type of solid structure,

having a discrete diffraction diagram

but lacking three-dimensional lattice periodicity?

AUDIENCE TITTERS

-We don't know.

-It's quasicrystals.

Which British mathematician has his name attached to certain

two-dimensional theoretical quasicrystals which

result in a tiling of the plane in a non-periodic pattern?

-We don't know, I'm afraid, on that one either.

-It's no cause for shame!

It is amusing, though, you're so mournful about it.

It's Roger Penrose.

Three types of regular polygon can tile the plane

with an infinite number of identical copies of themselves.

Name all three.

Cube, yeah. Cube? Triangle...

-They're polygons, are they?

-Go for it.

-Diamond.

-Come on.

-Er, we don't know.

It's the triangle, the square and the hexagon. 10 points for this.

What precise year saw the reversal of puritan legislation

of the 1640s that had banned celebrations at Christmas?

-1646?

-No.

16...48. 18 40 92.

LAUGHTER

-I'm confused.

-1660, the Restoration. 10 points for this.

Which short musical term derives from the Italian word

for a ladder or staircase?

-Scale?

-Scale is correct, yes, from scala.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on 19th-century US Presidents.

After his second term in office, which President went on a highly

publicised world tour, meeting Bismarck and Queen Victoria?

His tomb in New York is one of the largest mausoleums in the world.

-Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt?

-No, it was Ulysses S Grant.

Secondly, which President survived an impeachment

and later became the only former President to serve in the Senate

when he was elected for Tennessee?

Garfield? I don't know.

-We don't know.

-That was Andrew Johnson.

And, finally, in retirement, which President surveyed

and designed the University of Virginia at Charlottesville,

not far from his home at Monticello?

-Thomas Jefferson.

-Thomas Jefferson.

Correct. Right, we're going to take another picture round -

for your picture starter, you'll see a painting of a well-known scene.

For 10 points, I want the four-word title of the painting.

-Adoration Of The Magi?

-It is, yes, by Peter Paul Rubens.

Your bonuses are three more depictions

of the adoration of the Magi, or Three Kings,

by Dutch or Flemish artists.

-There will be five points for each artist you can name.

-Firstly...

-Looks like Bosch.

-It does, doesn't it?

-Go for Bosch?

-Yeah.

-Bosch?

That is by Hieronymus Bosch.

Secondly...

It must be Bruegel.

-Bruegel, do we say?

-Yeah.

-Bruegel.

It IS by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

And finally...

-I don't know.

-Rubens, I was thinking.

Rubens, should we go for that?

-Try it.

-Rubens.

-No, that is by Rembrandt.

10 points for this. "The king's name is a tower of strength."

Which of Shakespeare's title characters says those words

of himself on the day of his final battle?

-Richard the Third.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on an ancient kingdom.

Tiglath-Pileser was a name shared by three kings of which ancient state

originally centred on a city-state in northern Mesopotamia?

-Ur?

-No, it's Assyria.

In the mid-8th century BC,

Tiglath-Pileser III restored Assyrian military power

in which region of southern Mesopotamia,

ascending its throne under the name of Pulu?

-No idea.

-No idea.

-It's Babylonia.

And, finally, who succeeded Sargon II as king of Assyria in 705 BC?

The failure of his campaign in Judah is the subject

of a poem by Byron.

-We don't know.

-It's Sennacherib -

"the Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold."

10 points for this, answer as soon as your name is called.

Give the dictionary spelling of the vivid,

purplish red colour known as fuchsia.

-F-U-C-S-H-I-A.

-No.

-F-U-S-C-H-I...

-No, it's F-U-C-H-S-I-A.

10 points for this.

The Strait of Bonifacio separates the northern end

of the Italian island of Sardinia from which other island?

-Corsica?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on operas inspired by Russian literature.

The Gambler, and early opera by Prokofiev,

is based on an 1866 story of the same name by which novelist?

-Pushkin.

-Pushkin.

-Pushkin?

No, it's by Dostoevsky.

A Dog's Heart by Alexander Raskatov

premiered in the UK in 2010

and is based on a satirical novella of 1925 by which Russian author?

-No, no idea.

-No idea.

That's by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Finally, the brothers Pyotr and Modest Tchaikovsky

based their 1890 opera The Queen Of Spades

on a cautionary short story by which Russian poet?

-No idea. Try Pushkin again?

-Pushkin.

It was Pushkin, yes. 10 points for this.

Pascal is a leading variety of which common vegetable?

Known scientifically as Apium graveolens,

it's a main ingredient of Waldorf salad.

Lettuce.

-What? Walnut?

-One of you buzz from UEA.

-A grape.

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

In 1773, Elizabeth Linley, a successful soprano

and noted beauty, married which dramatist?

His subsequent works include The Rivals and School For Scandal.

Sorry, it's gone. No, sorry.

-Sheridan.

-It is Richard Brinsley Sheridan, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses this time are on trigonometry.

Given a right-angled triangle with two sides of length one,

what is the length of the third side?

-Two.

-You can confer, of course.

-Two.

-Two.

-Two.

No, it's the square root of two by Pythagoras.

What is the area of the same right-angled triangle

where two sides have length one?

1 x 1 x 1... Is one squared, so it's half...

0.5 of a square of whatever the...

-Come on. What's your answer?

-0.5. 0.5.

-Yes, half is correct.

What is the general name given to a triangle where two sides have

the same length, or, equivalently,

two of the three internal angles are equal?

Equilateral.

No, it's isosceles. Equilateral is all, isn't it?

Right, about three minutes to go, 10 points for this.

An object described as "corniculate" would have what feature

or projections resembling such a feature?

-Horns?

-Horns is correct, yes.

-APPLAUSE

-These bonuses are on merchants.

"The Merchant Of Death Is Dead" was a headline of 1888

that erroneously announced the death of which Swedish inventor and

industrialist, having confused him with his recently deceased brother?

-Nobel.

-Alfred Nobel is correct.

The Merchant of Yonkers is a play of 1938 by which US writer

also known for the novel The Bridge Of San Luis Rey

and the play Our Town?

-I can't remember who wrote it. I can't remember who wrote it.

-No.

That's Thornton Wilder.

And in Shakespeare's, finally, The Merchant Of Venice,

what is the name of the merchant taken to court by Shylock

for his pound of flesh?

I can't remember his name.

-Pass.

-It's Antonio. 10 points for this.

In meteorology, what does a Robinson cup anemometer measure?

-Wind speed.

-Wind speed or wind pressure is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on Israeli soldiers, Glasgow.

Jailed by the British in 1939

for joining the illegal Haganah force,

which defence minister was behind Israel's victory in the Six Day War?

Moshe Dayan.

-Moshe Dayan.

-Correct.

Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001,

who retired from the Army as a Lieutenant-General in 1995

as the most decorated soldier in Israeli history?

-David Ben-Gurion.

-David Ben-Gurion.

No, he was long gone.

It's Ehud Barak.

Benjamin Netanyahu's brother Jonathan died while leading

the Israeli commando rescue raid on which Ugandan airport in 1976?

-Mogadishu.

-No.

Mogadishu's not in Uganda. It was Entebbe. 10 points for this.

The site of a major volcanic eruption in 1997,

Chances Peak in the Soufriere Hills is on...

-Mount St Helens in...

-No, I'm afraid you lose five points.

..is on which island,

a British overseas territory in the Caribbean Sea?

-Montserrat.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on names of countries

that become another word by the substitution of the initial letter.

For example, "France" and "prance".

In each case, give both words from the descriptions.

Firstly, an EU member state

and Paladin of Charlemagne whose death at the pass of Roncevaux

is the subject of an early French epic poem.

Roland and Poland. Poland and Roland.

Roland and Poland.

Correct. Secondly, a Pacific island state to the east of Fiji

and a Latin American dance

in which participants are linked in single file.

-Conga and Tonga.

-Conga and Tonga.

Correct. And, finally, a large Caribbean island

and a low-pitched brass wind instrument.

-Tuba and Cuba.

-Tuba and Cuba.

Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

What is the alternative shorter title of the Vermeer painting

A Lady At The Virginals With A Gentleman?

-A Girl With A Pearl Earring?

-No, one of you buzz from Glasgow.

It's The Music Lesson. 10 points for this.

"Long", "monosyllabic" and "unreadable" are all examples

of what type of adjective,

defined as not possessing the property they denote?

GONG RINGS

And, at the gong, Glasgow University have 115,

the University of East Anglia have 150.

APPLAUSE

Well, you had some great answers there, but not enough of them,

sadly, Glasgow. UEA, your answers were good.

It wasn't half as much fun as listening to you NOT answering,

though! Terrific. Thank you very much and congratulations,

you go through to the final.

You seem more astonished than anyone.

LAUGHTER

I hope you can join us next time for the final,

but until then it's goodbye from Glasgow University.

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from the University of East Anglia.

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye for me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE

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