Episode 7 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight, we welcome the last two teams

competing in the first round of this all-too-brief seasonal series

for graduates of some of the UK's leading universities and university colleges.

Only the four winning teams with the highest scores

from these first-round matches will go through to the semifinals.

So, we already know that Emmanuel College, Cambridge,

Manchester University and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,

will play again. Keele University could do so as well,

unless tonight's winners can beat their score of 140.

Now, first on the team from King's College, London is a scientist

who researches multiple sclerosis and spinal injury in particular

and appropriately for this contest, is an authority on brain cells.

With him, a multi-award-winning novelist whose ghost story

The Woman in Black has been terrifying the nation for 30 years.

Their captain is a comedian, actor, impressionist,

writer and translator who describes himself as

either multi-talented or indecisive, or possibly both.

And finally, a journalist who dispenses invaluable financial

and property advice in the press and on television.

Let's meet the King's team. Hello. I'm Arthur Butt.

I graduated in physiology from King's College in '86.

I'm currently Professor of Neurophysiology

at the University of Portsmouth.

Hello. I'm Susan Hill.

I graduated from King's in 1963 in English

and I've been a writer ever since. And this is their captain.

I'm Rory Bremner. I graduated in French and German in 1984

and I haven't had a proper job since.

Hello. I'm Anne Ashworth and I also graduated in French and German

in the 1970s and today, I'm an assistant editor at the Times.

APPLAUSE

Their opponents from the University of Southampton

include a journalist who edited Granta

and the Observer Sports Monthly

before taking up his current position in 2008,

a Liberal Democrat peer and campaigner in the fields of

poverty and social care.

Their captain is a familiar writer and broadcaster

on all things horticultural,

and their fourth member has been head of the Number 10 policy unit

and chief adviser on political strategy for the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Let's meet the Southampton team.

Hello. I'm Jason Cowley. I graduated in 1989 in English and philosophy.

I'm now a journalist, author and Editor of the New Statesman.

Hello. I'm Claire Tyler. I graduated in law and politics in 1978.

I'm now a member of the House of Lords

and Chair of the Children and Family Court Advisory Service.

And this is their captain. Hello. I'm Stephan Buczacki.

I graduated in botany at Southampton in 1968

and I now work as a writer, broadcaster and expert witness.

Hello. I'm Matthew Taylor.

I graduated in sociology in 1983

and I'm now Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts.

APPLAUSE

I'm sure you don't need a reminder, but I will tell you again

for the benefit of anyone who's new to the series

that starter questions are individual efforts.

You answer them by buzzing in and you can't confer

and you mustn't interrupt a starter question incorrectly

or you'll lose five points.

And bonus questions are team efforts, you can confer on those.

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

In 1961, Robert Frost became the first poet

to give a recitation at what event?

Maya Angelou in 1993...

The American presidential inauguration. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right. The first set of bonuses, King's, are on toothache.

Quote. "There was never yet philosopher that could endure

"the toothache patiently." These are the words of Leonato,

the father of Hero in which play by Shakespeare?

You don't need to buzz. Oh, sorry. Much Ado About Nothing. Correct.

"My curse upon thy venom'd stang,

"That shoots my tortur'd gums alang."

These words open which poet's address to the toothache,

probably written in the 1780s?

WHISPERING

Robert Burns. Correct.

"The man with toothache thinks everyone happy

"whose teeth are sound.

"The poverty-stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man."

These are the words of which Irish dramatist?

WHISPERING

Shaw?

Shaw? It was George Bernard Shaw, yes.

APPLAUSE

Fingers on buzzers. Here's a starter question.

Which US humorist detailed his experiences working as an elf

in the New York department store Macy's over the Christmas period

in The SantaLand Diaries? His essay collections include

"Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim"

and "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls."

Nobody knows? It's David Sedaris. Ten points for this.

Around 1670, the German alchemist Hennig Brand

heated black, fermented urine concentrate with sand

and isolated a transparent, waxy substance that glowed in the dark,

was capable of spontaneous ignition and gave off dense, white fumes.

Which element had he discovered?

Phosphorus. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right. These bonuses are on management-related expressions

using information from wordspy.com.

Firstly, referring to a traditional Christmas cake,

what two-word term denotes those in positions

just below the highest level in a company or organisation?

Second tier? Second tier. No need to buzz.

Second tier. No, they're the marzipan layer.

Secondly, referring to middle management in general,

what two-word term derives from a joke about a large carnivore

that hid near an IBM office and got away with eating

a manager a day for a year because nobody noticed?

LAUGHTER

Any ideas?

WHISPERING

A bear? A bear.

Known as lion food. The BBC's full of them.

After a marine bird of the family Laridae,

what word describes a manager who, quote, "Flies in,

"Makes a lot of noise, poops all over everything and then leaves?"

Seagulls?

Yeah.

Seagull. Seagull manager is correct. Yes. Ten points for this.

In the title of a stage work, novel and film respectively,

which two words precede the name of an Italian physicist and astronomer,

a Tamil boy from Pondicherry

and a fictional Jewish man born on the same day as Jesus?

The life of. Yes, life of.

Right. A set of bonuses. King's, on terms of endearment.

Denoting a natural product,

what term of endearment has been recorded in English

since the mid-14th century

and occurs as such in Chaucer's The Miller's Tale?

WHISPERING

Is it sweet? Honey?

Natural product. Honey, maybe?

WHISPERING

Honey. Correct. What term of endearment is also the name of

the ruined Cistercian monastery south of Dumfries

in reference to an embalmed part of the remains of John de Balliol

being buried there alongside those of his wife?

WHISPERING

Go for sweet? Sweet.

Sweet. No, it's sweetheart. Which single-word term of endearment

served as the title of John Schlesinger's 1965 film,

the winner of three Oscars,

including best actress for Julie Christie? Darling.

Darling is right. Didn't know you cared(!)

A picture round now. You're going to see a map showing a country

that gained independence on New Year's Day

in the early 19th century. For ten points, I want the names of both the countries shown

and the country by which it was ruled prior to independence.

Is it Ukraine? No!

LAUGHTER

WHISPERING

You can't confer.

One of you can buzz if you recognise which country it is.

Is it Haiti and France? It is Haiti and France, yes.

APPLAUSE

They've obviously got a different map over there.

So, you get a set of bonuses, Southampton.

For your picture bonuses, they're maps showing three more

countries that gained independence on 1st January.

Firstly, for five, name this country

and the country from which it gained independence on 1st January, 1984.

WHISPERING

Is it East Timor? East Timor!

East Timor.

Nowhere near East Timor.

It's Brunei, which gained independence from the UK.

Secondly, the name of this island nation

and the country from which it gained independence on 1st January, 1962.

Christmas Island?

Christmas Island, Australia.

No, it's Western Samoa from New Zealand.

Finally, this country and the two countries from which it gained

independence on 1st January, 1956.

Somalia. Chad. Sudan. Sudan.

WHISPERING

Britain? Sudan.

Go for it. OK. Let's have an answer, please. Sudan, Britain and France.

No, it was Sudan though,

but it was governed in a condominium between Egypt and the UK.

Right. Another starter question.

To which king do these words refer? "He lost the lands gained in France

"by his father and became embroiled in the Wars of the Roses."

"Although lacking the qualities required in an effective monarch,

"he proved to be an outstanding patron of education,

"founding the college..."

Henry VI. Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on astronomical names, Southampton.

Verrier's Planet was one of the names proposed for which planet

whose existence was predicted by the French astronomer,

Urbain Le Verrier, in 1846?

1846.

I wouldn't have thought Pluto? Uranus, not Pluto.

Uranus? Go for it.

Uranus. No, it's Neptune.

In 1614, the German astronomer Simon Marius

proposed the mythological names of four of the moons of which planet,

his rival Galileo having simply numbered them one to four?

WHISPERING

Jupiter? What was the answer to the last one?

Go for it. Go for what you think. Jupiter. Correct.

Originally called 2003 UB313, which dwarf planet is now named after

the Greek goddess of strife and discord?

Is it Pluto?

Pluto. No, it's Eris. Ten points for this.

Also known by the word spheroidal, what common three-word term

describes a joint of the body in which the rounded surface

of a bone moves within a depression of another bone,

the hip and shoulder being examples?

Ball and socket. Ball and socket is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Southampton, are on French artists born in the 1790s.

Firstly, for five, which French artist died after a riding accident

in 1824? Noted for paintings of horses and for his sympathetic

portraits of mental patients,

his best-known work is The Raft of the Medusa.

It's...

It starts with a G. I can't remember his name.

WHISPERING

Any ideas? No. We don't know.

It's Gericault. Ville d'Avray and Macbeth and the Witches

are among the works of which prolific French landscape painter

noted for his generosity towards other artists?

Poussin? Poussin. Poussin.

No, it's Corot. And finally, The Massacre at Chios

and Liberty Leading the People

are works by which French Romantic painter?

No? I can't... We don't know.

That's Delacroix. Right. We're going to take a music round now.

For your music starter, you're going to hear a piece of popular music.

Ten points if you can identify the band.

# For everything I long to do... #

Pet Shop Boys. Correct.

APPLAUSE

They were chosen to play in the New Year

at this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay.

Your music bonuses, three more Hogmanay headline acts

from recent years, all this time Scottish.

In each case, five points if you can identify the band, please.

Firstly, for five, this band who played out 2011.

# I'm moving on up now

# Getting out of the darkness

# My light shines on

# My light shines on. #

Not Wet Wet Wet, is it? No, it's Primal Scream.

Secondly, this band who played out 2012.

# Alive and kicking

# Stay until your love... #

Simple Minds. Correct. And finally this band who played out 1999

and 2005.

# When I get that feeling

# I can no longer slide

# I can no longer run... #

Texas. Correct. Ten points for this.

Derived from a male given name,

which adjective links the first practical reflecting telescope,

monophonic liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church,

traditionally used to accompany the text of the mass,

and the solar dating system proclaimed by the Pope in 1582

and now in general use?

Gregorian. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on native British reptiles.

In each case, name the reptile from the binomial and description.

Firstly, Lacerta vivipara. A four-legged reptile

around 15cm long and generally brown in colour.

It's found in a wide range of habitats, including heaths,

moorland, dry-stone walls and sea cliffs.

The common or viviparous lizard. Correct.

Coronella austriaca. Grey or dull brown in colour,

it's Britain's rarest reptile, found only in a small number

of heathland areas in southern England.

Smooth snake. Correct. Vipera berus. Found throughout Britain,

particularly in heath and moorland areas, it's distinguished

by a dark zigzag along the back.

The adder or viper. Correct.

Ten points for this.

First formally named and described in 1984 by researchers

at the US National Institute of Mental Health,

what precise three-word term denotes that syndrome

manifested in depression-like symptoms

whose onset coincides with decreasing daylight hours?

SAD. Which stands for?

Ah. LAUGHTER

Seasonal Affective Disorder. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right. Your bonuses, King's, are on monarchs.

"I am monarch of all I survey,

"My right there is none to dispute,

"From the centre all round to the sea,

"I am the Lord of the fowl and the brute."

These are the opening lines of a poem by William Cowper

about which historical figure?

WHISPERING

Canute? Canute, possibly. Any other guesses?

King Canute. No, it was Alexander Selkirk.

"Who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?"

In which of Shakespeare's tragedies do those words occur?

WHISPERING

Macbeth? Macbeth.

No, it's Othello. According to Flanders and Swann,

what vehicle is "monarch of the road, observer of the Highway Code"?

A London bus. Yes. Ten points for this.

Meanings of what six-letter noun include, in chemistry,

a piece of apparatus used for distillation,

sublimation or decomposition by heat

and in more general speech, a sharp or witty reply?

Retort. Correct.

APPLAUSE

OK. Southampton, your bonuses this time are on works about war.

The Vietnam War memoir Dispatches by Michael Herr,

published in 1977, was a key influence on the screenplay

of which film of 1987 of which Herr was a co-author?

(Was it Platoon?)

Platoon? Platoon. No, it was Full Metal Jacket.

Which US literary historian described his 1975 work,

The Great War and Modern Memory, as an elegiac commentary?

WHISPERING

You've nominated me? Nominate Cowley. Paul Fussell. Correct.

First published as a whole issue of the New Yorker,

which work by the US journalist John Hersey recounts an event

of 6th August, 1945, and its aftermath?

(Hiroshima?)

Nominate Cowley. I don't know.

Hiroshima is the event.

Yes, Hiroshima is correct. Yes. Right. Ten points for this.

Who was both the last British Prime Minister to have been born

during the reign of Queen Victoria

and the last to have served in the First World War?

Harold Macmillan. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on subtitles, Southampton.

Published posthumously in 1914,

which novel originally carried the subtitle,

"Being the story of 12 months in Hell, told by one of the damned

"and written down by Robert Tressell"?

The Baggy-Trousered Philanthropist. The Baggy-Trousered Philanthropist.

I'll accept that. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.

"The Children's Crusade - A Duty-Dance with Death"

is the subtitle of which 1969 novel

about the experiences of Billy Pilgrim, which include

both time travel and the firebombing of Dresden?

Slaughterhouse-Five. Correct.

What is the four-word subtitle of Tolkien's The Hobbit?

The rings? No, not the Hobbit.

WHISPERING

No. It's "There and Back Again".

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

For your picture starter, you'll see a photograph

of two major sports figures. Ten points if you can name them both.

Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Correct. APPLAUSE

So, Nadal finishes 2013 as world number one in tennis,

despite his loss to Djokovic at the end of the year

World Tour Finals tournament in London.

For your bonuses, you will see three other players

who qualified for that tournament in 2013.

Firstly, for five, this Spanish player.

Ferrer? Ferrer. Correct. Secondly, who's this Swiss player?

WHISPERING

I don't know. Sorry. That's Wawrinka, Stanislas Wawrinka.

And finally, who's this Argentinian player?

Um, any guesses?

Don't know. Galtieri.

LAUGHTER

It'd be an interesting change of career. It's Juan Martin del Potro.

Ten points for this.

What fabric links the furry outer skin that covers

the antlers of reindeer, an influential rock band

whose members included John Cale and Lou Reed and...

Velvet Under... Velvet. Velvet is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on mathematics this time.

In a moment of inspiration on Broome bridge in Dublin in 1843,

William Hamilton inscribed into stone the fundamental rules

of multiplication for which system of numbers?

Do you have a clue?

Prime numbers. No, they're the quarternions.

Which of the algebraic axioms of a field do the quarternions

fail to satisfy?

Don't know. It's commutation.

As inscribed by Hamilton, the product of the quarternions

I, J and K, in that order, is equal to what?

Choose another letter. Just choose another letter.

Zero. No. It's minus one. Ten points for this.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Assuming that none of the letters are placed on premium squares,

what would be the Scrabble points score for the word "toboggan"?

12. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Southampton, these bonuses are on wine and wordplay.

The name of which sparkling wine is an eye rhyme for a word meaning

"pasta in the form of sheets or wide strips"?

Prosecco. Prosecco. No, it's champagne. Eye-rhyme with lasagne.

Which sparkling wine, secondly, has a name that is

an anagram of the Spanish word for cow, the ungulate mammal?

Cava? Cava.

Cava. Correct.

The first five letters of the name of which sparkling wine spell a word

meaning "written language without metrical structure"?

Has to be the one we haven't had. Prosecco?

Go for prosecco. Prosecco. Correct. Five minutes to go.

The name of which Canadian province preceded the word "clipper"

to describe a sweeping low-pressure weather system

common in winter in central Canada...

Boston. No, you lose five points.

..and the upper midwestern United States?

WHISPERING

You may not confer. One of you can buzz.

Alberta. Alberta is correct.

APPLAUSE

Right. Your bonuses are on former republics this time.

In 1894, Sanford Dole became the first and only president

of which republic? After its annexation by the United States,

he became its first governor.

WHISPERING

Come on. Let's have it, please.

Alaska. No, it's Hawaii.

Which future US state was declared an independent republic in 1777,

the same year that the Green Mountain Boys

fought in the battles of Hubbardton and Bennington?

We don't know? Don't know. That's Vermont.

Which republic, finally, was annexed by the United States in 1845,

having gained independence after the Battle of San Jacinto

nine years earlier?

New Mexico. No, it's Texas. Ten points for this.

In Greek mythology, the winter season came about when it was

decreed that which figure, abducted by Hades,

should spend part of each year in the Underworld?

Persephone. Persephone is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on cities with French names.

In each case, give both the city and its country or state.

Firstly, the national capital

whose French-derived name means "free town".

French... Free town.

Ville... Libre... Libreville.

Libreville. Yes, but where?

Which country?

Come on. Libreville.

Um...

No, sorry. Gone. You have to answer, I think.

It's Libreville and it's Gabon. You'd worked it out but you didn't know the country.

The national capital whose name means low land.

Basseterre...

Guadeloupe.

Is it Guadeloupe? Quickly. Basseterre, Guadeloupe.

No, it's Basseterre and St Kitts and Nevis.

Finally, the city named after a Cyprus boundary post

and the US state of which it is the capital.

WHISPERING

Louisiana?

Baton Rouge.

And Louisiana? Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Correct. Ten points for this.

The triple-marker test is a blood test used in the prenatal diagnosis

of which condition, indicated by a total of 47 chromosomes,

rather than the usual...

Down's syndrome. Down's syndrome is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Southampton, these bonuses are on Gothic literature.

In which novella of 1886 does the London lawyer Gabriel John Utterson

investigate the abnormal occurrences in the life of an old friend?

1886? 1886. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Correct. Often described as a study in narcissism,

in which novel of 1890 is the eponymous antihero attracted to

the ill-fated actress Sibyl Vane? Picture of Dorian Gray.

Correct. Also known as The Garden of Evil, Bram Stoker's 1911 work,

The Lair of the White Worm,

was adapted for the screen in 1988 by which British film director?

David Lee? David Lee? No. No?

Come on. No. No, we don't know.

It was Ken Russell. Ten points for this.

Which 1982 work by the English playwright Caryl Churchill

includes the characters Dull Gret, taken from a painting by Bruegel,

Chaucer's patient Griselda and Pope Joan?

I'll tell you, it's Top Girls. Ten points for this.

During the 1960s, Hans Bethe, Donald Glaser

and Murray Gell-Mann were among the winners of which Nobel Prize?

Physics. Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Southampton, are on a Roman god.

Named in honour of a Roman god,

which ancient winter festival was first celebrated

on 17th December and later extended to a period of seven days?

Saturn? No, it's Saturnalia.

As the God of sowing, Saturn was identified with which Greek deity,

the youngest of the 12 Titans?

Coeus? Coeus?

Coeus. No, it's Cronus.

Discovered by Cassini in 1672, Saturn's second-largest moon

is named after which Titan,

the consort of Cronus and the mother of Zeus?

WHISPERING

Eos. No, it's Rhea. Ten points for this.

In Orwell's 1984, a narrow scarlet sash around the hips

is the emblem of which organisation?

The Thought Police. No. Anyone want to buzz from King's? Quickly.

Is it Black Hand? No. No, it's the Junior Anti-Sex League.

Ten points for this. Answer as soon as your name is called.

What is... At the gong, King's College London have 105,

Southampton University have 185.

APPLAUSE

Well, you were in the lead early on, weren't you?

Then it all started to go wrong. Bad luck.

Southampton, congratulations. That's a very good score

and we shall look forward to seeing you in the semifinals.

We now know the four teams who will play again are...

I hope you can join us next time for the first of the semifinals

of this Christmas series. As a seasonal gift,

here are tonight's eight in their glorious youth. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE