Episode 8 University Challenge

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

APPLAUSE

Hello, 14 teams of graduates gamely accepted our invitation to

give up their cosy evenings of Kerplunk

and mulled wine around the fire and to entertain us instead

by competing on behalf of the institutions which have them

on their collective consciences.

Now only the four highest-scoring teams remain to compete

in two semifinals, the first of which is tonight.

In the usual way of things,

there's a place in the final for tonight's winners.

Last time, the team from Emmanuel College, Cambridge,

proved they knew what was on television in 1967,

when the Clash released their first single,

and what David Attenborough thinks about the song thrush.

Such wide and deep learning earned them 185 points,

which was 100 ahead of their opponents from Reading University.

Hoping to be similarly impressive tonight, their team again comprises

a broadsheet journalist,

a TV broadcaster, an author of books on science and a man who finished a

disappointing seventh in this year's Rory McGrath lookalike contest.

Let's meet them again.

I'm Hugo Rifkind and I studied Philosophy at Emmanuel in the

late 1990s, and now I'm a columnist and a leader writer for the Times.

I'm Mary Ann Ochota, I studied Archaeology

and Anthropology from '99 to 2002,

and now I present programmes about archaeology and anthropology.

And this is their captain.

I'm Simon Singh, I completed a PhD in Particle Physics in 1991,

and I now write books about science.

Hello, I'm Rory McGrath, I graduated in 1977 in Modern Languages,

and currently I'm not appearing in pantomime.

APPLAUSE

Now, the team from Southampton University also ended

on a score of 185 at the expense of King's College, London with 105.

So tonight's match could be close,

or on the other hand, it might not be.

What they don't know about British lizards isn't worth knowing,

and again tonight they're fielding a journalist and editor,

a campaigner who sits in the House of Lords, a horticulturalist

and broadcaster, and a former policy pointy-head for New Labour.

Let's meet them again.

Hello, I'm Jason Cowley, I graduated in English and Philosophy in 1989,

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

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 Families Court Advisory Service.

And here's their captain.

Hello, I'm Stefan 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

OK, you all know the rules,

so let's just get on with it. Fingers on the buzzers.

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar,

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four,

Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities,

Joseph Heller's Catch-22

and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

all begin with which two words?

BELL RINGS

"It was." Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on literary figures

born on New Year's Day, Emmanuel College.

Matthew Arnold's poem Thyrsis commemorates the death

at the age of 42 of which poet, born on New Year's Day 1819?

His works include Dipsychus and

Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth.

Thomas Chatterton, was it? Thomas Chatterton?

Er, Thomas Chatterton?

No, it's Arthur Hugh Clough.

Secondly, Aspects of the Novel

and Two Cheers for Democracy are among the non-fiction works of

which literary figure, born on New Year's Day, 1879?

His last novel was published in 1971, the year after his death.

THEY WHISPER

I've no idea, I'm afraid. Somerset Maugham, was it?

Somerset Maugham? No, it's EM Forster.

And finally, born on New Year's Day 1919,

which writer was described in his obituary in the New York Times

in 2010 as "either a crackpot or the American Tolstoy who had

"turned silence itself into his most eloquent work of art?"

THEY CONFER

Harold Pinter? Harold Pinter? Harold Pinter?

No, it's JD Salinger.

10 points for this, fingers on the buzzers.

"She's older than the rocks among which she sits.

"Like the vampire, she has been dead many times

"and learned the secrets of the grave."

These words of the art critic Walter Pater refer to which

Renaissance painting in the collection of the Louvre in Paris?

BELL RINGS

Is it the Mona Lisa? It is, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, Emmanuel, these bonuses are on linked expressions.

Firstly, for five, what alternative name

for the poisonous plant wolf's bane is derived from

the apparent resemblance of its sepals

to an item of ecclesiastical clothing?

Monkshood. Monkshood. Yeah?

Monkshood. Correct.

What term for an object that is not entirely wholesome or

satisfactory dates from a 19th century cartoon in Punch that

depicts a clergyman eating breakfast?

ALL: Curate's egg. Curate's egg.

Exactly, and finally, what two-word term is associated with

an unflattering carving on a 15th-century misericord

in St Mary's Church in Nantwich, in which the carpenter supposedly took

his revenge on the vicar who was slow to pay for his work

by applying the clergyman's features to the rear end of a fowl?

Duck's arse?

Duck's arse, yeah. Duck's arse?

Duck's arse?

No, it's a parson's nose. LAUGHTER

You're a very crude man.

You laid a trap for me there.

10 points for this.

Originally meaning "to submit an animal for a medical examination,"

what short verb is used in more general speech to mean

"investigate the credentials of a candidate,

"particularly one for a post where trustworthiness is critical?"

BUZZ

Vet. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Southampton, your first set of bonuses

are on the MP Austin Mitchell.

Firstly, for five points, in 1977, Austin Mitchell became MP

for a constituency centred on which East Coast fishing port?

Grimsby. Correct.

The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise is a 1972 work

by Austin Mitchell that describes life in which Commonwealth country?

THEY CONFER QUIETLY

Pavlova Paradise.

Commonwealth. It's New Zealand. Australia.

It's New Zealand, isn't it, Pavlova?

New Zealand. Correct, yes, he was an academic there, I think.

While a journalist at Yorkshire Television, Mitchell chaired

a memorable discussion in 1974 between Don Revie and which

other football manager who'd just been dismissed by Leeds United?

Brian Clough. Correct.

We're going to take a picture round now.

For your picture starter, you'll see an image of a snow globe

featuring a stylised depiction of the skyline of a US city.

For 10 points, please name the city.

BELL RINGS

Seattle.

Seattle is correct, yes.

The Space Needle being the giveaway there.

So, following on from Seattle,

three more stylised depictions of US skylines in snow globes.

I want the name of the city in each case, please. Firstly this image.

Chicago? God, I've no idea.

Is that Chicago? Could be.

Or is it...? It's a city in America.

Is it San Francisco and it's like a funny bit of the bridge?

It's got hills. Like a bridge...

No, but there's two of them, there's another one there, see?

That could be the end of the bridge.

I'm going to go with Chicago, unless...?

Yeah. OK, Chicago?

You're right. This one.

Oh, Washington DC.

Washington DC, yeah? Er, the capital.

Washington DC?

Correct, and finally, this one, please.

Oh, St Louis? St Louis? Yes, St Louis.

St Louis.

St Louis, the Gateway Arch, yes, well done. 10 points for this.

What is the mechanical advantage of a lever with a central pivot

whose input force is 12m from the centre

with an output force 2m from the centre?

BELL RINGS

Six? Correct.

APPLAUSE

Insultingly easy.

Your bonuses now are on metallic elements, Emmanuel College.

Atomic number 78, which element is often used to refer collectively to

the rare metals group that includes rhodium, ruthenium and palladium?

Er, is it lanthanum?

Lanthanides, actinides? Lanthanides?

It might be actinides, actually. 78 is, er, 78 is...

I'm happy to go with lanthanides. I'm just guessing.

I know it, 78, 78 is...

platinum. But I don't think that describes a group.

OK. Lanthanides.

No, he was right. It is platinum, yes.

The international prototype standard kilogram of mass is made from

an alloy containing 90% platinum and 10% of which platinum group element?

Rhenium? OK, rhenium.

No, it's iridium. And finally,

its name denoting the unpleasant smell of some of its compounds,

which platinum group metal is the densest naturally occurring element?

Osmium. Osmium. Osmium.

Correct. 10 points for this.

Whom did Churchill describe as

"The prince of literary rogues who

"always preferred the tale to the truth and smirched or

"glorified great men according as they affected his drama?"

BELL RINGS

Shakespeare. No, you lose five points.

The author in question is best known

for his five-volume History of England,

and for narrative poems such as The Lays of Ancient Rome.

BUZZ

Macaulay. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on 20th century poetry, Southampton.

According to Louis MacNeice,

what precise London location is populated by, quote,

"Cranks, hacks, poverty-stricken scholars

"in pince-nez, period hats or romantic beards?"

Fleet Street.

Fleet Street. It might as well be!

No, it's the British Museum Reading Room.

Which institution in Brussels appears in the title of a poem

by Auden that discusses Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus?

Brussels.

What's in Brussels? Don't know. Erm...

What is there? I can only think of the EU.

No. No, pass.

It's the Musee des Beaux Arts.

Finally, which poet describes the moment of stepping into an empty church with the words,

"Hatless, I take off my cycle-clips in awkward reverence?"

Which period are we talking about?

20th century. Is it Ted Hughes?

No, no, no. Betjeman. Betjeman. Betjeman.

No, it's Philip Larkin. 10 points for this.

Meanings of which five-letter word include

an undulation of a ski slope,

a dynasty of Asian rulers

and an influential person in business...? BELL RINGS

Mogul. Mogul is right, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Emmanuel College, are on siblings.

What was the surname of the siblings Vaslav and Bronislava who

danced together in the 1909 Paris season of the Ballets Russes?

The sister later choreographed Les Noces and Les Biches.

No idea. Pass? Yeah. Pass.

It's Nijinsky and Nijinska.

Which US dancer and film star had a 27-year performing partnership

with his sister Adele, the longest,

although not the best remembered of his career?

Erm, Fred Astaire? Fred Astaire, yeah. Fred Astaire.

Correct. Which Austrian composer was about six when his father Leopold

took him and his sister Maria Anna, known as Nannerl,

to play at the Bavarian court in Munich?

ALL: Mozart? Yeah, Mozart.

Mozart is right.

10 points for this starter question.

Which two letters link the internet abbreviation of the country

whose territory includes New Britain, an online resource

to encourage the creation and distribution of e-books,

and the BBFC rating between U and 12A?

BELL RINGS

PG? Correct.

These bonuses, Emmanuel College, are on British travel writers.

Which Italian city features in the title of a memoir

written in the form of a diary by Norman Lewis,

recounting his work as an intelligence officer in 1944?

I've read this. Venice? Florence? Erm...

Milan? Venice, Florence, Milan, Turin, Bologna. Verona. Naples.

It's totally gone, I can't remember. North Italian? Florence.

Is it North Italian? I can't remember. I don't know.

No, I think it's Venice! Venice?

No, it's Naples. Naples '44.

Which soldier and author led the party that in 1944 captured

General Kreipe, the commander of the German forces in Crete?

His travel memoir, A Time of Gifts, was published in 1977.

No, we've no idea, I'm afraid. That was Patrick Leigh Fermor.

And finally, the name of which Italian mountain range

appears in the title of the memoir by the travel writer Eric Newby

about the months following his escape from a POW camp in 1943?

Shall we say Apennines? Apennines. Apennines?

Correct, Love and War in the Apennines. Time for a music round.

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

For 10 points, I want you to identify the singer, please.

# Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements? #

BUZZ

Adele. It is Adele, yes. Chasing Pavements.

APPLAUSE

Now, in 2008, Adele topped the BBC's Sound Of poll.

Each winter, this asks music critics and industry figures to pick

new musical talent to watch out for in the year ahead.

For your music bonuses, three more artists or bands who were voted

Ones To Watch in this poll, and who, like Adele, went on to success.

In each case, simply identify them.

Firstly, for five, this band, who were tipped as the sound of 2004.

# I came across

# A fallen tree

# I felt the branches of it looking at me

# Is this the place

# We used to love?

# Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

# Oh, simple thing Where have you gone? #

Keane, just say it. Keane.

Correct!

Secondly, this singer who was named The Sound Of 2006.

# Girl, put your records on

# Tell me your favourite song

# You go ahead, let your hair down

# Sapphire and faded jeans... #

2006? 2006. Who was around then?

# Just go ahead Let your hair down... #

Do you know what it is?

Do you know who it is? Have a stab.

It's not Duffy, is it? Try it. Try.

Duffy.

No, that's Corinne Bailey Rae.

And finally, this singer, who was picked out as The Sound Of 2010.

# Handle bars

# Then I let go

# Let go for anyone

# Take me in

# And throw out my heart... # 2010? 2010.

# And get a new one... #

We don't know, do we? # Next thing, we're touching

# You look at me

# It's like you hit me with lightning... #

We don't know.

That's Ellie Goulding.

I love the way you asked whether it was 2010 or 2009,

as if it makes any difference. Right, ten points for this.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

What is the smallest positive integer with three prime digits?

235.

Anyone want to buzz from Southampton?

150.

No, it's 222. Right, another starter question, now.

Ten points for this.

In October 2013, who was described

as the youngest Man Booker-winning author

with the longest novel?

Eleanor Cayton?

Eleanor Catton, yes. I'll accept that.

Right, you get a set of bonuses then, Southampton.

They are on Canadian provincial capitals.

In each case, name both the capital and its province.

Firstly, named in reference to Queen Victoria,

which Canadian provincial capital shares its name

with a royal title commonly used

to denote the prosecution in criminal proceedings?

It's Regina. Regina! What's the province?

Regina... Is it Alberta? Alberta, I think.

Regina, Alberta.

No, it's Regina, Saskatchewan.

Words meaning the gait of a horse between walk and canter

and the first name of the Iron Chancellor

may be made using the seven letters

of the name of which provincial capital?

Iron Chancellor, Bismarck. Bismarck. Chancellor...

No, listen, Ottawa. Ottawa.

Ottawa.

No, its Toronto and, of course, it's the capital of Ontario. Oh!

So, the gait of a horse between a walk and a canter

you wouldn't get from your formulation.

And thirdly, for five points,

which Canadian provincial capital shares its name

with that of the British Foreign Secretary

at the beginning of World War II?

Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Correct. Ten points for this.

The BHPS is the British Society for the preservation

of which small mammals

whose numbers are thought to have declined

by more than one third since 2003?

Hedgehogs.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on a German artist, Emmanuel College.

The Hat Makes The Man and Napoleon In The Wilderness

are works by which German artist?

Born 1891, he is noted

for his exploration of the irrational in art.

THEY WHISPER

Oh, is the thing that's always... I don't know. ..on student bedrooms.

Who do you think it is? You know, the bowler hat and the...

No, that's Magritte, isn't it? He's Belgian. Is it Munch?

Yeah, no. He's Norwegian, I think. Nothing. Klimt? Klimt.

Go... No, try Max Ernst.

Max Ernst.

Correct!

In 1919, Ernst became associated with which art movement,

founding a group of like-minded practitioners in Cologne?

Cubism? Modernism? I've no idea.

Not Cubism.

HE WHISPERS INDISTINCTLY

What about Bau... Oh, no, that was Gropius. Try Surrealism.

Surrealism? Yeah. We'll go with surrealism.

No, it's Dada.

He became a surrealist after moving to Paris.

And finally, in 1941,

Ernst married which US collector and gallery owner,

a sponsor of both Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko?

THEY WHISPER Gertrude Stein?

Gertrude Stein over here. It could be.

I would have said Jane Austen!

Gertrude Stein.

Interesting idea!

No, it's Peggy Guggenheim. Ten points for this.

George VI was the last British king to have acceded to the throne

without having been Prince of Wales.

Prior to him, who was the last king to do so?

William IV?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

He succeeded his brother.

Your bonuses, Southampton, are on mathematics.

In mathematics,

what type of representation writes every positive integer

as a unique sum of distinct powers of two

with non-negative integer exponents?

Just let's get through them.

Pass. It's binary.

Secondly, how many summands are required

to write 100 as a sum of distinct powers of two

with non-negative integer exponents?

Just guess. Just say 50, I've no idea. 50.

No, it's three!

And finally...!

Haven't a clue!

And finally, for five points, if repetitions are allowed,

what is the maximal number of summands required

to write 100 as a sum of powers of two

with non-negative integer exponents?

Go on. Seven. LAUGHTER

It's 100!

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

You'll see an illustration of a scene from a play by Shakespeare.

Ten points if you can name the play, please.

Othello.

No.

One of you may buzz from Emmanuel.

Merchant of Venice?

No, it's The Winter's Tale.

It's when the statue of Hermione seems to come to life.

So picture bonuses in a moment. Another starter question.

Fingers on the buzzers, all of you.

In the field of data entry and electronic publishing,

for what do the letters OCR stand?

Optical character recognition.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

So, you get the picture bonuses

following on from illustrations of a scene from The Winter's Tale.

Your bonuses are three more depictions

of characters from that play.

Firstly, for five, who are this couple from a Victorian engraving?

Do we know anything about The Winter's Tale? I have no...

No, nothing.

I've got... Wait, hang on.

Oh, he didn't tell as any...

just Hermione. We could pluck one name out of the air

but to pluck two would be tough, I think.

Antonio and Maria. Antonia...

Antonio. Antonio and Maria.

No, it's Florizel and Perdita.

Secondly, the character shown here in a Georgian engraving.

I think we're really just... Bart Simpson?!

No, we're just going to give up again, I'm afraid.

That's Autolycus.

And finally, the character played here

by the Victorian actor Johnston Forbes Robertson.

This is all from Winter's Tale? It's all Winter's Tale, yes.

Yeah, I'm sorry, we're going to have to say no idea again.

That's Leontes. Ten points for this.

Deposed in 1797, Ludovico Manin

was the last holder of which title, as chief magistrate of Venice?

Doge. Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on courtroom drama, Southampton.

In each case, name the film from the description.

Firstly, a 1957 film by Stanley Kubrick

based on the trial of French soldiers in World War I

who refused to continue an impossible attack.

It's three word title is taken from Thomas Gray's elegy.

In A Churchyard? Country Churchyard? Do you think?

That was In A Country Churchyard. That was the title, yeah.

A Country Churchyard.

No, it's "paths of glory lead but to the grave."

In 1961, a film in which an American court

tries Nazi judges accused of war crimes.

Its title refers to the German city in which the trial takes place.

Nuremberg? Nuremberg.

Something to do with Nuremberg? Nuremberg?

Oh, I don't know. Try it. Go for it.

Nuremberg.

It's Judgment At Nuremberg.

And finally, a 1957 Oscar-nominated film directed by Sidney Lumet.

It's three word title refers to the members of the jury.

12 Angry Men. 12 Angry Men. 12 Angry Men.

Correct. Four minutes to go, ten points for this.

The Greenwich Meridian crosses one British motorway. Which one?

M20.

Anyone like to buzz from Emmanuel?

M25.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on shorter words

that can be made using any of the nine letters

in the word hailstorm.

In each case, give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a person who has strong feelings and opinions

about what is right

and tries to control the behaviour of other people.

Hailstorm. Can you get moralist out of hailstorm?

A three-letter word. What? Moralist.

A three-letter word. Is it three letters? No, no.

I don't think... I think it's any number.

Moralist. Moralist. Moralist. Moralist?

Correct.

Secondly, the fruit of forest trees such as beech, oak or chestnut.

It's mast. Mast, yes, correct. Mast.

Correct. And finally, an extremely small amount,

or the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.

Oh... Theta.

Eh... Iota. Iota. Iota, yeah. Yeah?

OK, iota.

Correct. Ten points for this. Listen carefully.

Mark Rylance's 2013 production

of Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Vic

starred James Earl Jones as Benedick

and which British actress as Beatrice?

Vanessa Redgrave?

Correct. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on Scottish lochs, Southampton.

Part of the Trossachs National Park,

which, in terms of surface area, is Scotland's largest loch?

Loch Ness? Loch Ness? Loch Lomond?

Loch Ness? No, I think it's Loch Ness. Yeah. Loch Ness.

No, it's Loch Lomond.

Located in Argyll and Bute, which is Scotland's longest freshwater loch?

If we don't know, go... That must be Ness. Loch Ness. Loch Ness.

No, it's Loch Awe.

Situated in the Highlands,

which is Scotland's largest loch in terms of volume?

Oh, no, that's Loch Ness again! Let's try Loch Ness.

Correct! LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

Imperial, Hungarian, horseshoe, Chevron, Dali, walrus and pencil

are all types of what form...?

Moustache.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Emmanuel College, are on miracles.

In his 1748 enquiry concerning human understanding,

which philosopher called a miracle "a violation of the laws of nature?"

Hume, isn't it? Hume? Could be.

We'll go with Hume.

Correct. The Book Of Miracles is a work

by which 17th-century religious figure,

a founder of The Society Of Friends?

Oh, erm...

HE MOUTHS

Is it Brigham Young?

I don't know. Oh, no, no...

Brigham Young is a...

a Mormon. So it's a Quaker, right? Mm.

Do we know any Quakers? THEY MUTTER

No, sorry. No idea, I'm afraid.

That was George Fox.

And finally, the 1962 film The Miracle Worker

told the story of the teacher Anne Sullivan

and which of her pupils?

Helen Keller. Helen Keller?

Yeah, Helen Keller.

Correct. Ten points for this.

St Kitts and Nevis, Zimbabwe, Belize and Vanuatu

are among the countries that joined the United Nations

during which decade?

1970s?

Anyone like to buzz from Emmanuel?

You may not confer. One of you may buzz.

'60s.

No, it's the 1980s. Ten points for this.

Meaning robotic, docile or conformist,

what adjective derives from the title

of a 1972 novel by Ira Levin set in a fictional suburb...?

Robot?

No. You lose five points.

..set in a fictional suburb in Connecticut?

You may not confer!

Inert.

No, it's Stepford. Ten points for this.

A small rocky hillock south of Ardnamurchan Point

represents which extremity of the island of Great Britain?

The most westerly point?

Westernmost is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Emmanuel College, these are your bonuses on archaic occupations.

The term pettifogger, originating in the mid-16th century denotes...

GONG CHIMES And at the gong,

Southampton University have 105.

Emmanuel College, Cambridge have 175.

APPLAUSE

Well, we're going to have to say goodbye to you, Southampton.

But 105 is a perfectly respectable score.

Thank you for joining us.

And Emmanuel, we look forward to seeing you in the final.

I hope you can join us next time, for the second semifinal.

But until then, it's goodbye from Southampton University. Goodbye!

It's goodbye from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Goodbye!

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE