Episode 3 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight is the third match in this seasonal contest to find

a team of university graduates whose general knowledge and powers

of recall have been whetted rather than blunted by the passage of time.

So far, Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Lancaster University

have notched up scores of 185 and 160, respectively.

We're about to find out if tonight's teams can beat those scores.

The University of Keele is represented

by a historian and biographer of Clement Attlee and Harold Macmillan

who has a book on Tony Blair in the pipeline.

By a staunch advocate of the protection

and promotion of the rights of children.

Their captain should have little difficulty in leading his team

tonight, having already commanded the Icebreaker, HMS Endurance

and the Destroyer, HMS Nottingham.

And their fourth member is either a curse or a blessing to parents

whose offspring have grown-up playing Warhammer fantasy games.

Let's meet the Keele team.

Hello, I'm Francis Beckett, I graduated from Keele University

in 1969 in history and philosophy,

and I'm now an author and journalist.

I'm Dr Maggie Atkinson.

I graduated from Keele in doctorate of education in 2008,

and I'm Children's Commissioner for England.

And their captain.

Hello, I'm Ian Moncrieff,

I graduated in geography and geology in 1977.

I retired from the Royal Navy as a rear admiral in 2010,

and I'm now the chief executive of the UK Hydrographic Office.

I'm Steve Jackson,

graduated from Keele in 1972 with a degree in biology and psychology,

currently professor of game design at Brunel University.

APPLAUSE

Now, the graduates from the University of Aberystwyth

include a former paratrooper turned MP

and the leader of the Plaid Cymru group in Westminster.

Their captain has been a leading member

of the Association of Chief Police Officers

and their fourth member is a director of an organisation

with 21,000 members, all with IQs in the top 2% of the population.

Let's meet the Aberystwyth team.

I'm Dan Jarvis, I studied international politics

in the mid-90s, and after 15 years in the British Army,

I'm now the Member of Parliament for Barnsley Central.

Noswaith dda. I'm Elfyn Llywd,

I graduated in law in 1974.

I'm a barrister and also a Member of Parliament.

And their captain.

Hello, I'm Tim Brain,

I graduated in history in 1975

and received my PhD in 1983.

I'm a retired Chief Constable of Gloucestershire,

and I am now an author and academic.

Hi, I'm Chris Leek, I studied marine biology at Aberystwyth

in the late '70s, and I now work for British Telecom

and I'm a director of Mensa.

APPLAUSE

I'll just remind you all of the rules.

Ten points for starter questions.

They have to be answered on the buzzer, under solo effort.

If there is an incorrect interruption to a starter question,

there is a five-point penalty.

Bonuses, though, are team efforts, so you can confer on those.

So, fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first starter for ten.

"Even Lendl smiled."

Uttered on July the 7th, 2013...

Murray winning Wimbledon.

That's correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, you get a set of bonuses.

The first set of bonuses, Keele, they're on Christmas films.

Played by the character actor Henry Travers in Frank Capra's

1946 film, It's A Wonderful Life,

what is the name of the guardian angel sent to the aid

of the troubled George Bailey, played by James Stewart?

No? No ideas?

We'll guess at Gabriel.

No, it was Clarence Odbody.

What is the full name of the lead male character

in Tim Burton's 1993 animated feature,

The Nightmare Before Christmas?

No, no idea.

It's Jack Skellington.

And finally, executive produced by the Coen Brothers,

what is the title of the 2003 film in which a foul-mouthed drunken

robber poses as Father Christmas in order to steal from shopping malls?

No idea! Sorry!

No? No guesses?

No.

That's Bad Santa.

Right, ten points at stake for this.

Associated with the poets Andrew Marvell, Stevie Smith

and Philip Larkin, which city beat...

Hull.

Hull is correct. Became the next City Of Culture.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses now, Keele, are on a sporting venue.

Which ground has hosted a cricket test on Boxing Day every year

but one since 1980?

It was the venue of the first Test match in 1877.

The Oval.

No, it's Melbourne Cricket Ground. On Boxing Day at the Oval?!

LAUGHTER

The MCG, Melbourne Cricket Ground,

saw the highest team innings total in first-class cricket

made by Victoria against New South Wales in 1926.

How many runs did Victoria make?

You can have 50 either way.

It must be in the 600s, 700s.

560.

No, it's 1107.

LAUGHTER

And finally, a controversial incident

at the last ball of the match at the MCG in 1981

led to what form of bowling being banned in one-day internationals?

New Zealand had needed a six off the last ball to tie the match.

Bodyline bowling.

No, that was much earlier. It's underarm bowling.

Ten points for this.

Listen carefully, answer as soon as your name is called.

What is the airspeed of Father Christmas' sleigh,

flying with a ground speed 275kmph

into a 75kmph headwind?

125.

Anyone like to buzz from Keele?

You may not confer. One of you may buzz.

150.

No, it's 350kmph.

You add the two together.

And now, another starter question.

The aardvark is the first animal listed

in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Which is the second?

Oh! Er, aavasay.

No.

Aberystwyth, one of you buzz?

It's an aardwolf. Too late, sorry.

Ten points for this.

Ending with the transportation of a man called Michael to Botany Bay

for stealing Trevelyan's corn as his lover, Mary,

watches his ship sail away,

which Irish folk ballad and sporting anthem...

Bantry Bay.

No. You lose five points too.

Which Irish folk ballad and sporting anthem

recalls the eponymous fields where their "love was on the wing?"

No? It's The Fields Of Athenry.

Ten points for this.

A gamer's identification, a computer hacker's handle, a graffiti artist's

tag, a nom de guerre, stage name, screen name, pen name, nickname...

Pseudonym.

Pseudonym is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, you get a set of bonuses,

this time on the year 1769 in science and technology.

An improvement on Hargreaves' spinning jenny,

who in 1769 patented the spinning frame,

a mechanical device that produced yarn from fibre?

Arkwright.

Correct.

In April 1769, Captain Cook arrived in Tahiti to observe

what specific astronomical phenomenon?

It last occurred in 2004 and 2012 and won't recur until 2117.

Full solar eclipse.

No, it's a transit of Venus.

And finally, in 1769,

which engineer obtained his first patent for, quote,

"a new method of lessening the consumption

"of steam and fuel in fire engines"?

Stevenson.

No, it was James Watt.

We're going to take a picture round now.

For your picture starter,

you will be shown the dimensions in inches of a Christmas gift.

It's a games console and accessories, if you want to know,

but what I want to know is the total area in inches squared

of this flat, L-shaped surface.

THEY WHISPER

You may not confer.

52.

No. Aberystwyth, one of you wish to buzz?

76.

76 inches squared is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, you're storming off the mark. For your bonuses,

you'll see the dimensions of three more Christmas gifts.

This time, I want the total VOLUME of each gift.

5 points for each you can work out.

Give your answers in terms of pi where applicable,

and again, we're giving the dimensions in inches

as an act of kindness to all you older folk there.

LAUGHTER

Firstly, in terms of pi and cubic inches, the volume of this football.

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Nominate Leek.

We'll try 216 pi.

No, it's 288 pi,

but I did like the way you nodded knowledgeably,

-Chief Constable!

-LAUGHTER

Secondly, again in terms of pi and cubic inches,

the volume of this encased poster.

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

JEREMY CHUCKLES

Nominate Leek.

I'll try again. 240 pi.

It is 240 pi.

You don't need to buzz, you were spot-on.

And finally, the volume in inches cubed of this Rubik's Cube.

Nominate Leek.

64.

It is 64 inches cubed. Well done.

APPLAUSE

Another starter question now.

Number 10 Glebe Street in Auchentogle

has been named as the home of which comic strip family?

Created by the writer...

The Broons.

The Broons is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on ancient musical instruments.

The timbrel or tof was the principal percussion

instrument of the ancient Israelites

and most closely resembled which modern-day instrument?

Tambourine.

Correct.

Listed by the German composer Michael Praetorius

in the early 17th century as coming in four principal sizes,

the sackbut most closely resembled which modern-day instrument?

Clarinet.

No, it's the trombone.

And finally, with modern versions still being used in Asian and

European folk cultures, the shawm,

a double-reed instrument originating in the Middle Ages,

was a precursor of which modern-day instrument?

Bassoon.

No, it was the oboe.

10 points for this.

A meeting in the US during the Second World War

saw Saint-Saens' The Swan performed as a duet

with Albert Einstein on the violin and on the piano,

which British amateur astronomer and musician

who died aged 89 in 2012?

Patrick Moore.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses, Aberystwyth, are on shorter words that can be

formed from any of the letters in the title, A Christmas Carol.

In each case, give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a noun meaning the purification of the emotions

by vicarious experience, especially through drama.

Catharsis.

Correct.

Secondly, an adjective describing language

that is bitterly cutting or scornfully ironic.

Caustic.

No, it's sarcastic.

A woman who is the head of the family,

household, or tribe, finally.

Matriarch.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

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

For your music starter, you'll hear an excerpt from an opera.

For ten points, I want the title of the opera and the composer.

# Chi son

# Chi son

# E che faccio

# Come vivo... #

Turandot - Puccini.

No, Aberystwyth?

# Vuole... #

No conferring.

Puccini - Madame Butterfly.

No, it's Puccini - La Boheme.

Yes, Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen,

so we'll take the music bonuses in a moment or two. Ten points for this.

Which sculptor created the Gates of Hell, commissioned in 1884

for the future Museum of the Decorative Arts in Paris?

Unfinished at his death, it nevertheless

resulted in independent works such as The Thinker and The Kiss.

Rodin.

Rodin is correct. So, you get the music bonuses, then, Keele.

Act one of Puccini's La Boheme is set on Christmas Eve.

For your bonuses, you're going to hear three pieces of music from operas associated

with notable performances during the Christmas period.

First, which opera is this?

It was performed on Christmas Eve in New York in 1903,

previous stage performances having been restricted

to its country of origin.

MUSIC PLAYS WITH SINGING IN GERMAN

It's Wagner.

THEY CONFER AS MUSIC CONTINUES

The opera?

Or is it Shostakovich?

What's the opera?

We have to name the opera.

MUSIC FADES OUT

No.

That was Wagner's Parsifal.

Secondly, I want the name of this opera.

It premiered in Weimar on the 23rd of December 1893.

MUSIC PLAYS WITH SINGING IN GERMAN

One of Strauss?

Is it Strauss?

Rosenkavalier - but was that Strauss?

Who wrote Der Rosenkavalier?

MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

-Rosenkavalier?

-I think it's Der Rosenkavalier.

Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss?

No, it's Humperdinck's Hansel Und Gretel,

or a piece thereof, about the witch being dead.

Finally, I want the name of this opera.

It premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve, 1871.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

-Verdi's Aida.

-Correct.

Right, ten points for this.

Meanings of what six-letter word include glaring and amusing mistake,

and South American monkey, named after its loud call.

-Howler.

-Yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Keele, are on a shared surname.

In each case, I want the given name

and surname of the authors of the following.

Firstly, Summer And Smoke and The Glass Menagerie,

both written in the 1940s.

Tennessee Williams.

Correct. Secondly, the 2009 autobiography,

Climbing The Bookshelves,

the 1981 Politics Is For People, and the 2003 work

God And Caesar: Personal Reflections On Politics And Religion.

No.

That's Shirley Williams.

And finally, Arius, Heresy And Tradition,

Dostoevsky: Language Faith And Fiction

and Faith In The Public Square - all published since 2001.

We're trying Rowan Williams.

-It was Rowan Williams, yes.

-APPLAUSE

Ten points for this starter question.

Which branch of mathematics concerns

the effects on a function of an infinitesimal change

in the value of the independent variable?

Its name in Latin means small stone.

Is it differential calculus?

All I wanted was calculus, but, yes, that's fine.

OK, you get a set of bonuses then, Keele, on natural phenomena.

Pahoehoe, coulee and a'a are all names for flows of what material?

Lava.

Correct.

What class of volcanic eruptions

are named after an observer and supposed fatality

of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79?

Pyroclastic.

No, they're plinian eruptions.

And finally, which Indonesian volcano

experienced a cataclysmic plinian eruption in 1883,

leading to tsunamis detected in the English Channel?

-Krakatoa.

-Correct.

We're going to take a second picture round now.

For your picture starter, you'll see a winter scene

that exemplifies the style of an artistic movement.

For ten points, please name the movement.

Impressionism.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

That was Monet's Lavacourt Under Snow.

For your bonuses, three more wintry scenes,

each exemplifying a specific artistic style or movement.

That's what I want you to give me in each case, please.

Firstly, the style or movement this work represents.

Pointillism.

Pointillism is correct. Secondly...

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Expressionist.

That is correct. And finally, this, please.

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Geometrical?

No, that's Art Deco.

10 points for this. Paris Is Burning,

the 1990 film documentary by Jennie Livingston

is often credited with bringing

which dance craze to wider public attention?

Break dancing.

No.

Salsa.

No, it's vogueing. I'd love to see you guys doing it!

-LAUGHTER

-Ten points for this.

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is a port on which major body...

Caspian Sea.

-Well done.

-APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on marzipan in Germany, Aberystwyth.

Which city in Schleswig-Holstein

gives its name to a protected designation of marzipan,

characterised by high almond content?

Keele?

No, it's Lubeck.

Now known as Kaliningrad, which former German city

gives its name to a variety of marzipan

that is seasoned with bitter almonds

and briefly baked after being shaped?

No, sorry.

OK, it's Konigsberg.

And finally, a seasonal cake often containing marzipan, stollen,

is especially associated with which city on the River Elbe,

capital of the state of Saxony?

Hanover.

No, it's Dresden. Right, 10 points for this.

Newtonian, Schmidt, Cassegrain and Galilean are among the types...

Telescope.

-Telescope is right.

-APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses now, Aberystwyth, on Salvador Dali.

Born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova in 1894, Salvador Dali's wife

of 40 years, Gala, was first married to which French surrealist poet?

No.

It's Paul Eluard.

And secondly, what insulting anagram of Salvador Dali's name was

devised by the surrealist writer Andre Breton to denote Dali's

apparent commercialism and desire for financial reward?

-Nominate Jarvis.

-Is it Sold Out?

No, it's Avida... Sold Out's not an anagram of Salvador Dali!

No, it's Avida Dollars.

In 1945, Dali designed a surreal dream sequence for which

film by Alfred Hitchcock?

Shall we have it, please?

-No, we can't get one.

-It's Spellbound.

Fingers on the buzzers, here's another starter question.

-LAUGHTER

-Listen carefully, answer as soon as your name is called.

If it takes ten elves five hours to make 200 toys,

how long does it take five elves to make 60 toys?

LAUGHTER

I thought you were working it out, Mr Leek?!

I was. I'd forgotten the second half of the question!

JEREMY LAUGHS

Three hours.

Three hours is correct, yes!

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Right, your bonuses are on

additions to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.

In each case, give the word or term from the definition.

Firstly, in computing, the action of moving the pointer

onto an element of a graphical user interface or web page.

No.

That's a mouseover.

The collective genomes of all the microorganisms inhabiting

a specific environment, especially that of the body.

No.

That's a microbiome.

And finally, give me, please

the name given to an association of universities

regarding themselves as having the highest level

of academic standards and achievement in Britain.

-The Russell Group.

-The Russell group is correct.

Two-and-a-half minutes to go.

Adding which two letters

to the French word for the English Channel

gives the French word for Sunday?

D and I.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Aberystwyth, are on British history.

In each case, name the Prime Minister in office

on Christmas Day in the year given.

Firstly, the Prime Minister on Christmas Day, 1813.

He continued in office for a further 13 years.

Liverpool.

Correct. The Prime Minister on Christmas Day, 1863, please.

Aberdeen.

No, it was Lord Palmerston.

And finally, the Prime Minister on Christmas Day, 1913.

Askwith.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Situated north of Cadiz, Sanlucar de Barrameda

is a centre for the production

of which general type of fortified wine?

Sherry.

-Sherry is correct, yes.

-APPLAUSE

Bonuses are on units named after scientists, Aberystwyth.

Born in Cumberland in 1766,

which scientist gives his name to a unit of atomic mass?

Bacharals.

No, it's John Dalton.

Born in London in 1791,

which scientist gives his name to a unit corresponding to

the magnitude of the charge of one mole of electrons?

Watt.

No, it's Faraday.

Born in 1623, which French scientist

gives his name to the SI unit of pressure?

We'll try Bar.

No, it's Pascal.

You don't need to buzz when it's a bonus.

Right, another starter question now.

"Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,

"vanities, vanities, all is vanity."

These words appear in the opening chapter of which book of...

Ecclesiastes.

-Correct.

-GONG SOUNDS

And at the Gong, Aberystwyth University have 95,

Keele have 140.

Well, we're going to be saying goodbye to you, for sure,

Aberystwyth, and possibly to you, as well,

if you're not among one of the four highest scoring winners, Keele.

But thank you both very much for playing.

You didn't have to do it,

and it was jolly sporting that you did. Thank you.

I hope you can join us next time.

We leave you with a reminder

of how sweet and innocent they all were as students.

Not that they're not like that now, of course. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE