Manchester v UEA University Challenge

-APPLAUSE

-Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions,

-Jeremy Paxman.

-TOY TRAIN HORN HONKS

Hello. The season of goodwill

is tested to breaking point again tonight

as two more teams of alumni

play for a place in the semifinal stage

of this short, sharp contest.

The two winning scores so far are University College London with 155

and Trinity College, Cambridge with 140.

But as only the four teams with the highest winning scores

will go through to the semifinals, nothing has been decided yet.

Manchester University can boast 25 Nobel laureates

among its staff and students, but rather more pertinently,

it's won the University Challenge trophy four times,

an achievement that has been equalled,

but not yet bettered.

Tonight's team include a comedy performer

and former researcher for what was then Granada Television,

the producers of University Challenge,

and she obliged us by taking part

in an un-televised rehearsal of the programme.

Apparently, on that occasion, I was a tad dismissive of her efforts.

Sounds very unlikely,

but let's hope she's raised her game a bit in the interim.

She's acted, written plays and made numerous appearances

on programmes such as Never Mind The Buzzcocks and QI.

Her colleague is a writer whose credits include

the award-winning comedies The Thick Of It, Peep Show, Babylon,

Fresh Meat, Smack The Pony and That Mitchell And Webb Look.

He was also the author of that invaluable Guardian column,

Malcolm Tucker's Election Briefing, in the run up to the 2010 election.

Their captain is a political activist

and internationally recognised health adviser

who was awarded an MBE in 2005

in recognition of her campaigning work for equality.

And finally, it's one of the pleasing ironies of the television industry

that when this studio is not recording University Challenge,

it's often playing host to Manchester's fourth member,

a barrister who's specialised

in cases of international fraud and money laundering.

More recently, however, he has become the Judge Dredd

of the ITV daytime schedules,

dispensing apparent justice in his eponymous show.

Let's meet the Manchester team.

Hello. I'm Lucy Porter

and I graduated with a 2:1 in English in 1994

and I'm now a comedian and writer.

I'm Jesse Armstrong.

I graduated in 1995 with a degree in American history

and I'm now a comedy writer.

Their captain.

Hi. I'm Christine Burns.

I left Manchester with a master's degree in computer science in 1976

and I went on to become an IT consultant

and then an equality specialist.

Hello. I'm Robert Rinder.

I did my first degree at Manchester in politics and modern history.

I'm a barrister and a television judge.

APPLAUSE

Now, the University of East Anglia is based in Norwich.

It was established in 1963.

Their first player rejoices in the title of Master Inventor

and specialises in smart grid technologies and metering,

home energy monitoring and something called the Internet of Things,

although, sadly, time prevents us

from going into how jolly useful all of that is.

With him, a writer whose first job

was helping to answer the fan mail for the Muppets.

An alumnus of the creative writing course for which UEA is famous,

she is now an author and critic

and her journalism is published widely on both sides of the Atlantic.

Their captain held several ministerial roles

in the last Labour government.

In Ed Miliband's Labour Party,

she was shadow secretary of state for energy.

Their fourth player has had prominent roles on television,

in commercials, on stage, in films

and even video games as the voice of James Bond.

For most of us, though, he's associated with his character

in perhaps the world's greatest soap opera.

Let's meet the UEA team.

Hello. I'm Andy Stanford-Clark. I live on the Isle of Wight.

I have a BSc, a PhD

and an honorary professorship from UEA, all in computer science.

I work for IBM as a Distinguished Engineer.

Hello. I'm Erica Wagner.

I did the creative writing MA at UEA in 1990.

I'm a writer and journalist.

-And their captain.

-Hello. I'm Caroline Flint.

I graduated in American history and American literature in 1983 from UEA

and I've been the Member of Parliament

for Don Valley since 1997.

Hello. I'm Tim Bentinck.

I graduated from UEA in history of art in 1975

and I've been a professional actor since leaving

the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1978.

Um, if you don't recognise my face,

you might recognise the voice as that of David in The Archers.

APPLAUSE

Right, the rules are the same as ever.

Ten points for starter questions.

You must answer those alone on the buzzer.

15 points for bonuses. You can confer on those.

They're team efforts.

Five-point penalties for incorrect interruptions to starter questions.

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

Meanings of what four-letter word include a layer of humus

formed in alkaline or neutral conditions,

to ponder, cogitate or turn over in the mind,

in Scotland...?

-Mull.

-Mull is correct, yes. APPLAUSE

You get the first set of bonuses, Manchester.

They're on illustration. Firstly, for five points,

the German-born American cartoonist Thomas Nast

is noted both for his work espousing the abolitionist cause in the US

and for his defining depiction of which figure of popular folklore

in Harper's Weekly from 1862?

-Anything?

-Um...um...the figure of America.

-Uncle Sam?

-Uncle Sam.

-Uncle Sam.

-No, it's Santa Claus. LAUGHTER

Originally depicted by the illustrator John Leech

in the drawing reflecting folkloric concepts of Father Christmas,

who is the third visitor to Ebenezer Scrooge

in Dickens' A Christmas Carol?

-The Ghost of...

-Christmas Future, isn't it?

The Ghost of Christmas Future, isn't it?

Yeah, Christmas Future, the Ghost of.

No, it's Christmas Present. The Ghost of Christmas Present.

Father Christmas And The Wrong Chimney

shows the eponymous figure

with his head stuck in the chimney of a steam roller

and is by which British illustrator

synonymous with overcomplicated machinery for achieving simple ends?

-Heath Robinson?

-Yeah? Heath Robinson.

Heath Robinson is correct.

Right, ten points for this. APPLAUSE

Which mountain is this? A dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707...

Etna.

No, I'm afraid you lose five points.

It is the highest peak in its country,

rising to 3,776 metres.

Close to the Pacific Ocean.

Its snow-capped, symmetrical cone is a pervasive image

that often appears in works of art, for example, the 36 Views by Hokusai.

-Krakatoa.

-No, it's Mount Fuji.

-Oh.

Right, we take another starter question, then.

Fingers on the buzzers.

What is the more familiar two-word name

of the theorem which appears as Proposition 47 of Euclid's Elements?

The name refers to a Greek mathematician and philosopher

born around 570BC.

-Pythagoras's theorem.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on neologisms cited during 2015

by the website wordspy.com.

Firstly, the tendency for people who assert their individuality

using deliberately anti-mainstream dress and grooming

to end up all looking very similar, thus becoming the new mainstream.

These words define a paradox named after which chiefly urban subculture?

-Normcore or, um...

-SHE STUTTERS

-No idea.

-Shall we go for that?

-Special...

No, no, cos normcore is more...

-Hipster.

-Hipster chic.

-Or....

-Try your one.

-No, I don't think it is.

I think it is something hipsterish. I don't know.

-SHE STUTTERS

-We'll go for normcore.

-No, it was the hipster paradox.

-Sorry. Hipster paradox.

The believe that one's personality and values

will not change much in the future,

despite knowing they have changed significantly in the past.

This is the definition of an illusion that refers to

which 1992 work by Francis Fukuyama?

-End Of History?

-The End Of History? The End Of History?

-Yeah.

-The End Of History.

-Correct.

And finally, a room or office that contains no electronic technology,

particularly devices with internet connections,

is named after which 1854 work by Henry David Thoreau?

Oh. Oh.

-Walden?

-Walden?

-Walden?

No...no...nominate Jesse. I can't.

-Walden.

-Yes, it's a Walden Zone. APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

The name of a figure present at the Nativity

and a historical region of central France

may be combined to form the name of which broadcaster?

Her publications include Recipe For Life

and The Complete AGA Cookbook.

No conferring.

No. I was going to say Mary Berry.

HE LAUGHS Silly! It's right.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

She's just very self-deprecating. She knew all along.

You HAVE raised your game.

LAUGHTER Right, your bonuses now, Manchester,

are on NASA in January 2015.

At the beginning of 2015,

NASA's Dawn spacecraft was in the approach phase

of its journey to which dwarf planet,

the largest body in the asteroid belt?

-Ceres.

-Correct.

What is the name and number of the European space probe

which disappeared in 2003

but was located intact on the surface of Mars in 2015

by NASA's Reconnaissance Orbiter?

-Beagle?

-Beagle. Beagle 2.

Beagle 2 is correct.

And finally, in January 2015,

NASA's Kepler space telescope discovered eight exoplanets

orbiting in the habitable or life zone

around their respective stars.

This zone is also known by the name of which fairytale character?

-Goldilocks.

-Correct. APPLAUSE

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

Still plenty of time to get going, UEA.

For your picture starter,

you're going to see a recent starting line-up

of a national football squad.

For ten points, I simply want you to identify the country in question.

-England.

-Yes, it is England. Yes. APPLAUSE

It was the England women's team

who, in 2015, achieved the best result

by a senior England team in international competition since 1966,

taking third place at the seventh Women's World Cup.

For your picture bonuses, you'll see starting 11s

of three more countries that reached the knockout stages

of the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Again, in each case,

I simply want you to identify the country in question.

Firstly, for five.

A surprise. Um...

-Shall we say...?

-Christiane is going to be...

-South American, isn't it?

-Argentina?

-Yeah?

-Andressa Alves.

-We're going to go for Argentina.

-No, it's Brazil.

Marta is the giveaway there. Secondly.

-Looks like America.

-America.

-USA. Looks like it.

-USA did well.

-Concur?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, USA.

-No, that's Australia. The Matildas.

And finally.

-Let's go for USA.

-Let's just say USA anyway.

-Klingenberg. That sounds...

-Sounds German, doesn't it?

Heath. That's like...

That sounds USA to me.

-We're going to go with USA again?

-What do you think? Yeah?

-Yeah, USA.

Correct. Ten points for this. APPLAUSE

Accompanied by a video of Nativity imagery

directed by the musicians Godley and Creme,

which controversial English pop group reached number one in December 1984

with the song The Power Of Love?

-Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on British paintings

in the Louvre, Manchester.

Depicting the capital of hell

as described by Milton in Paradise Lost,

Pandemonium is a work of 1825

in the sublime style by which British artist?

-No idea.

-1825? I mean, I don't even...

-Nothing. I've got nothing.

-No.

-Let's just say Turner and Constable for every answer.

-OK.

THEY LAUGH

-Pass.

-John Martin.

The Portrait of Master Hare, a work of 1788

depicting a young boy with long ringlets

is by which English painter,

appointed the first president of the Royal Academy 20 years earlier?

-Gainsborough?

-Gainsborough?

-Gainsborough.

No, it's Sir Joshua Reynolds.

And finally, a work of around 1818,

Weymouth Bay with Approaching Storm is by which English painter?

His work was much admired in France

and influenced two generations of French painters.

-Turner.

-No, it was Constable.

-Oh.

-Ten points for this.

"To work with a stupid director

"who tells you to do the wrong thing, it's just unbearable."

Referring to some of his later films,

these are the words of which actor who died in July 2015?

He received an Oscar nomination

for his early role in David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia.

-Peter O'Toole.

-No.

Anyone like to buzz from Manchester?

You may not confer! One of you can buzz.

I'll tell you. It's Omar Sharif. Ten points for this.

The modern version of which seasonal item

originated in Germany as a prop in a medieval play about...?

-LAUGHTER

-The Christmas tree.

Did you not buzz then? It just happened magically?

-It felt that way, but...

-LAUGHTER

Well, you're right.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Right, you get bonuses on popular books on the sciences.

Described by one reviewer

as leading to the sort of existentialist ponderings

more commonly fuelled by late nights and a bottle of red,

the title of Carlo Rovelli's 2015 bestseller

offers seven brief lessons in what?

-No.

-His book was about...

-Anything?

-Time travel.

-No, it's physics.

A popular science book of 1997 by Simon Singh

has what title referring to a mathematical conjecture

solved in the early 1990s by Andrew Wiles.

-Fermat's Theorem.

-Yeah, Fermat's.

-Oh, Fermat's Theorem.

-It's Fermat's Last Theorem.

-Oh.

Published in the US as Fermat's Enigma.

I can't give you the points, I'm afraid.

This is the final question in this bonus set.

In the title of Nick Lane's 2002 work,

what is the molecule that made the world?

-Carbon?

-Carbon?

-Yeah.

-I'd say, yeah.

-Carbon.

-No, it's oxygen.

-Oh.

Right, ten points for this starter question.

"Fallacious logic does not necessarily prevent people

"from being swayed by an argument." Quote.

What is the dictionary spelling of the word fallacious?

-F-A-L-L-A-C-I-O-U-S.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses, this time on Christmas curmudgeons, Manchester.

In Dr Seuss' 1957 book for children How The Grinch Stole Christmas,

what is the name of the fictional town

from which the Grinch steals?

-Oh, God.

-Don't know. Can't remember.

-Oh.

-Lucy?

-It's just...

-It's not there.

-You can't remember it?

-Oh, God, that's going to...

-Give us a guess.

-Um, no, I haven't got a clue.

-I don't know.

-Um...

Bibbity.

Bibbity.

-No, it's Whoville.

-Whoville!

In which 1946 film does Lionel Barrymore play a banker

who, on Christmas Eve, tries to close down

the savings and loans company established by George Bailey,

played by James Stewart?

-It's A Wonderful Life.

-That's correct.

And finally, in Dickens' A Christmas Carol,

what is the name of Scrooge's generous nephew

who, through the actions of the Ghost of Christmas Present,

Scrooge sees hosting the Christmas party

he has refused to attend.

-I can't remember the book.

-Not Bob Cratchit?

-No, it's not.

-That's the...

-I can't remember the name.

-Mr Cratchit.

All right, Mr Cratchit.

No, it's Fred. Right, we're going to take a music round now.

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

by an English composer.

Ten points if you can identify the composer.

# The ruler of this house... #

Benjamin Britten.

No. You can hear a little more, Manchester, but you may not confer.

# Long on may he reign

# Many happy Christmases he live to see again. #

Elgar.

No, it's Vaughan Williams. Part of his Fantasia On Christmas Carols.

So, music bonuses in a moment or two.

Ten points at stake for this starter question.

Fingers on the buzzers, please.

Which film of 1972 by Woody Allen

was inspired by a 1969 manual by the US physician David...?

Um, Everything You Need To Know About Sex

(But Were Too Afraid To Ask).

I'll accept that.

It's Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex

-(But Were Afraid To Ask).

-Thank you very much.

So, you then get the music bonuses, Manchester.

We just heard Vaughan Williams' 1912 Fantasia

on the melodies of several traditional English carols.

Your music bonuses are three more classical works

that quote or otherwise incorporate

the melodies of traditional Christmas songs.

In each case, I'm looking for the composer

of the derived piece you hear, not of the original carol.

Firstly, for five, the French composer of this piece,

which quotes the melody of a traditional Epiphany carol.

UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

-We're guessing Bizet.

-We're guess...

-No, I think it's Bizet.

-It is Bizet. You're right, yes.

It's quoting The March Of The Three Kings.

Secondly, the German composer of this song,

which incorporates the melody of a medieval carol.

VIOLIN AND PIANO PLAYS

Brahms?

-No, it wouldn't be...

-Brahms.

-We'll give it Brahms, yeah.

-We'll say Brahms.

-Brahms is correct, yes.

It's the Sacred Lullaby.

And finally, the Central European composer of this piece,

which quotes a traditional Christmas lullaby.

PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

-Dvorak?

-Dvorak, yeah.

-Dvorak?

-Yes.

-Sounds like it.

We think Dvorak.

I'm afraid you think wrong. It's Chopin.

UEA, it looks bad, I agree. LAUGHTER

There's no disguising that. But there's still plenty of time.

-We're only halfway through the contest.

-Way ahead.

Ten points for this.

The discipline of human-factors engineering

is also known by what single-word, Greek-derived term?

It's concerned with the design of devices and systems.

-Ergonomics.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, Manchester, your bonuses this time are on sporting achievements.

All three occurred on Sunday June 7, 2015.

On June 7, 2015, on achieving a career milestone

of running the 100 metres in 9.97 seconds,

which sprinter became the first British athlete

to have recorded both a sub-ten-second 100 metres

and a sub-20-second 200 metres?

-I don't know runners.

-Is it Mo Farah?

-No, no, no, 100 metres.

-I don't think so.

-100 metres.

-100 metres. Yeah, I don't know sprinters.

No, we can't remember,

-so we'll just say Mo Farah.

-No, we...

Well, I'm afraid you'll be wrong there. It's Adam Gemili.

And on the same day, at London's Lee Valley VeloPark,

which cyclist broke the hour record by completing a distance of 54.526km,

so breaking the record set five weeks earlier

by fellow British cyclist Alex Dowsett?

-Bradley Wiggins?

-Not Chris Hoy?

-Chris Hoy.

-Chris Hoy or Bradley Wiggins.

-Between which...?

-I'd go Chris Hoy.

-We'll go for Chris Hoy.

No, you should have gone for Bradley Wiggins. Bad luck.

Also on the same day,

which tennis player's 28-match winning streak

came to an end when he was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka

in the French Open men's finals?

-HE STUTTERS

-Yeah, it would be, um...

-The current number one.

-Djokovic.

-Djokovic, yeah.

-Djokovic.

It was Novak Djokovic. APPLAUSE

Ten points at stake for this. Fingers on the buzzers, please.

In the usual version of the traditional song

The 12 Days Of Christmas,

on how many of the days were the new gifts NOT of an avian variety?

Three.

Anyone like the buzz from UEA? Come on.

You may not confer, but you can just work it out and buzz.

-Four.

-No, it's six.

Rings, maids, ladies, lords, pipers and drummers.

Right, ten points for this.

The chemical symbol for oxygen

and the symbols for the derived SI units

of electrical conductance, force and power

can be combined to spell what form of precipitation?

Fog.

Anyone like to buzz from UEA?

Rain.

No, it's snow.

Ten points for this.

Which game of skill is traditionally played

with 181 black and 180 white pieces or stones?

-Go.

-Go is correct, yes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-We can confer.

-HE CHUCKLES

LAUGHTER Only got 140 points to go.

-Minus and plus.

-It's very good. LAUGHTER

-Right, your bonuses, UEA, are on Marie Curie.

-Oh.

Discovered in 1898 by Pierre and Marie Curie,

which element of the oxygen group

was named after Marie Curie's country of birth?

-Deuterium?

-Pardon?

-Deuterium?

-What do you think?

-What do you reckon?

-Deuterium, he says.

-No, it's the country of birth.

-Country of birth.

-So, where was Marie Curie born?

-Switzerland?

-Was it Switzerland? Czechoslovakia?

-Swissium? Austrium?

-Marie Curie, French. Francium. Francium.

-Francium?

-Francium.

-No, it's polonium. She was born in Poland.

In 1911, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

for the discovery of polonium and which other radioactive element?

-Radium?

-Radium?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Radium?

-What?

-They think radium. Radium.

-Correct.

Marie Curie became the first woman in her own right

to be accorded the honour of interment

in which neoclassical building in Paris' 5th arrondissement?

The Pantheon.

-Pantheon.

-The Pantheon is correct. APPLAUSE

Right, second picture round now.

For your picture starter, you will see a still from a film.

For ten points, I'd like you to identify the film

and the name of the actor in the photograph.

-It's Orson Welles in Citizen Kane.

-It is indeed, yes.

APPLAUSE

This year saw the centenary of Orson Welles,

so for your picture bonuses,

you're going to see three more stills from films featuring Orson Welles.

Five points for each if you can identify the film.

Firstly, this 1966 film.

Thomas. He's playing Thomas Wolsey.

-Is it A Man For All Seasons?

-A Man For All Seasons.

It is A Man For All Seasons, where he played Cardinal Wolsey.

Secondly, this film, from 1958.

Is that The Third Man?

No, no, it's the one in South America where he...

A Touch Of Evil.

-A Touch Of Evil.

-Correct.

And finally, this 1949 film.

-That's The Third Man.

-That is The Third Man, as Harry Lime.

APPLAUSE

Right, another starter question now.

Tarija, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra,

lying to the east of the region known as the Altiplano,

are among the largest cities of which country of South America?

-Peru.

-Anyone like to buzz from Manchester?

-Colombia.

-No, it's Bolivia. Ten points for this.

What five-letter word links the group of galaxies

to which the Milky Way belongs,

an administrative body in a tier below national government

and an anaesthetic that affects a restricted area of the body?

-Local.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses, Manchester, on political leaders elected in 2015.

In February 2015,

Sergio Mattarella succeeded Giorgio Napolitano

as holder of which largely ceremonial office?

President of Italy.

-President of Italy.

-Correct.

In January 2015, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

narrowly defeated the incumbent candidate

to become the first female president of which country?

Oh.

HE WHISPERS TO HIMSELF

Oh, is it something like...? It's something like...

It's something like Poland or something, isn't it?

-No, cos weren't they very right wing?

-No, it's not Poland.

That was a very right wing government there. Kitarovic?

-Come on.

-Is it Latvia?

-Go on. Take a guess.

Latvia or Poland or something. I can't...

-We'll say Latvia.

-No, it's Croatia.

And finally, in May 2015,

the Centre Party leader Juha Sipila...

..was named as the prime minister in a three-party coalition

of which European country?

-Slovakia maybe.

-Yeah, go for that.

-Slovakia.

-No, it's Finland. Ten points for this.

"Out of his surname, they've coined an epithet for a nave

"and out of his Christian name, a synonym for the devil."

These words of Macaulay, in an essay of 1827,

refer to which figure in Italian history?

-Machiavelli.

-Correct.

-Way!

-APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on chemical substances.

Calamine lotion typically has, as a major ingredient,

the oxide of which metal with the atomic number 30?

Magnesium. Magnesium.

-Magnesium.

-No, it's zinc.

The carbonate of which metal is used to treat mental disorders,

including bipolar disorder?

Sodium?

Um...

-Lithium.

-Lithium.

-Lithium.

-Correct.

The green deposit known as verdigris

primarily consists of the carbonate of which metal?

-Copper.

-Correct. APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

Differing by a single letter and easily mistyped,

which two words mean one who organises,

directs or plots something

and a receptacle for animal fodder, a symbol of the birth of Jesus?

-Manager and manger.

-Correct. APPLAUSE

You've got a set of bonuses, this time on unusual plots in opera.

First performed in 1924, the opera The Cunning Little Vixen

sees a fox briefly become a suffragette

and is by which Czech composer?

-Janacek or...?

-Um...

Let's have it, please. GONG

APPLAUSE Too late.

And at the gong,

the University of East Anglia have 35,

but Manchester have 195.

I think that's a pretty conclusive result, don't you?

-It was close.

-No, it wasn't. LAUGHTER

But thank you very much for joining us.

You didn't have to do it and you're good sports to do so.

Manchester, 195.

That is the highest score of a winning team so far,

so I would be surprised if we don't see you back

in the next stage of the competition.

Thank you very much for joining us.

I hope you can join us next time for another first-round match,

but until then, it's goodbye from the University of East Anglia.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

It's goodbye from Manchester University.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE