The Grand Final University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight is the climax of our Christmas competition

for people who are old enough to know better.

14 teams of alumni from British universities

have generously given up their time

to compete for nothing more than the glory of their alma maters

and a glass of whatever beer is on offer

at our local discount warehouse.

Now only the best two remain.

They are the team from Keble College, Oxford, firstly,

who swept past Durham University in the first round

before coming up against tougher opposition

from St John's College, Cambridge, in the semifinals.

Their knowledge of the writers Michael Bond and Edith Wharton

saw them through with a score of 160 to 105.

Representing Keble again,

one of the country's foremost economics experts,

an award-winning novelist and screenwriter.

Their captain is a comedian, writer and actor

and their fourth member supports women who want to work in science.

Let's meet the Keble College team again.

Hello, I'm Paul Johnson.

I graduated with a degree in PPE in 1988

and I'm now Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Hello, I'm Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

I graduated from Keble in 1986 with a DPhil in English literature

and now I'm a children's writer.

And this is their captain.

Hi, I'm Katy Brand. I'm a writer, actor and comedian

and I graduated with a degree in theology in 2000.

Hi, I'm Anne-Marie Imafidon.

I read maths and computer science up until 2010 at Keble

and now I run social enterprise Stemettes.

APPLAUSE

Now, playing them is the team from Reading,

who saw off Brunel University London in round one,

before squeaking past University College London in the semifinals.

They were strong on feminism and on UNESCO World Heritage Sites,

but it was their knowledge of bran

that won them the match on the gong.

Playing again tonight are an evolutionary anthropologist,

an expert in human relationships,

a presenter on the BBC's Autumnwatch and Springwatch.

Their captain is a politician and women's rights activist

and their fourth member is a bestselling gardening writer

and broadcaster.

Let's meet the team from Reading University again.

Hello, I'm an Anna Machin.

I gained a degree, a PhD in archaeology,

from the University of Reading in 2006,

and today, I'm an academic, science writer and broadcaster.

Hello, I'm Martin Hughes-Games.

I got a degree in zoology back in 1978.

I'm now a keen motorcyclist and sometime wildlife presenter.

And this is their captain.

Hello, I'm Sophie Walker.

I graduated in 1993 in French and English.

I was a reporter, a disability rights activist

and now I lead Britain's newest political party,

the Women's Equality Party.

And I'm Pippa Greenwood.

I got my masters degree from Reading in crop protection,

back in the 1980s, and I'm now a gardening writer and broadcaster.

APPLAUSE

OK, you all know the rules, so let's just get on with it.

Ten points at stake for this starter question. Fingers on the buzzers.

Listen to the quotation and answer the question that follows.

Quote, "Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation,

"I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."

To which event of December, 1941,

do those words of Winston Churchill refer?

-The Battle of Britain?

-No.

-Dunkirk?

-No, it's the attack on Pearl Harbor.

So, ten points for this starter question.

From the French for "dawn",

what six-letter word means a poem or piece of music

appropriate to the early morning?

-Aubade.

-Aubade is correct.

APPLAUSE

The first bonuses, Keble, are on New Year's traditions.

Firstly, for five points,

traditionally eaten at New Year in the southern US,

Hoppin' John is a dish made from rice

and what type of bean, a subspecies of the cowpea?

THEY CONFER

-Is it black-eyed peas?

-Correct.

Year-crossing noodles is a traditional Japanese New Year dish

of which thin buckwheat noodles?

They are said to symbolise resilience and longevity.

THEY CONFER

-Ramen?

-No, they're soba noodles.

And finally, in Greece,

which fruit is traditionally broken on the doorstep

to welcome the New Year, thought to be in reference to an ancient myth?

THEY CONFER

-Pomegranate?

-Correct. Ten points for this.

Cilurnum and Congabata are among locations

on or near which major structure in Britain?

The former location is often known as Chesters,

while the latter overlooks the Solway Firth.

-Is it Hadrian's Wall?

-It is.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Keble, are on snobbery

and the words of the author Rosemary Hill.

Quote, "It's a witty read based on the good-natured assumption

"that everyone is a snob about something

"and, to that extent, we're all ridiculous."

These words refer to the 1979 work Class by which popular novelist?

SHE MOUTHS

-Jilly Cooper?

-Correct.

"Many a host has been known to shove the Complete Cookery Course

"back on the shelf when the doorbell goes,

"leaving French country cooking lying casually by the stove."

These words of Rosemary Hill contrast the perceived standing

of which two female authors?

THEY CONFER

-Is it Delia Smith and Elizabeth David?

-It is.

Finally, born in 1905,

which novelist does Hill describe as the snob's snob?

She notes that his obsession with heredity

and recondite forms of etiquette was epitomised

by his insistence that his name be pronounced to rhyme with "mole".

THEY CONFER

-Anthony Powell?

-Anthony Powell is correct. Ten points for this.

Aba, Onitsha, Kano and Kaduna are major cities

in which populous African country?

-Nigeria.

-Nigeria is correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on astronomy, Keble.

What term specifically denotes the point of an orbit

at which an object is closest to the sun?

THEY CONFER

Heliopause?

No, it's a perihelion.

Secondly, what term indicates either of the two points

along the orbit of a planet or satellite

that are nearest to or furthest from the body it orbits?

THEY CONFER

-Pass.

-Apsis.

And finally, what term denotes the point in the orbit

of a moon or satellite at its furthest from the Earth?

THEY CONFER

-Pass.

-That's its apogee.

We're going to take a picture round. For your picture starter,

you'll see a map on which five capital cities have been marked.

The initial letters of their English names may be combined

to form a word relating to the holiday season.

Ten points if you can work out what the word is.

-Snow.

-No.

-Santa?

-No, it's "carol".

Cairo, Algiers, Rabat, Ouagadougou and Lisbon.

So, picture bonuses shortly. Ten points at stake for this.

Active from the late 12th century,

Saxo Grammaticus wrote the first major work

on the history of which European country?

Ending with the conquest of Pomerania by Canute IV in 1185,

it is thought to be a source of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

-Denmark?

-Denmark is, of course, correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, we're going to take picture bonuses

in the vein of the picture starter. Three more sets of cities.

Again, the initial letters of their English names can be combined

to make a word with seasonal connotation,

should you care to do so. Five points for each you can work out.

Note that, from here, the cities may not necessarily be capital cities.

Firstly, for five.

THEY CONFER

I think the one in Florida's Tallahassee.

OK, so a seasonal word with T.

And then the one up the east coast, what's that?

THEY CONFER

Um, "Yule"?

No, it's "snow".

Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Orlando and Washington DC.

Secondly.

THEY CONFER

-Have you got any cities?

-No.

Mumbai and maybe Islamabad, we were thinking.

So, something seasonal with an M and an I.

THEY CONFER

Have a try, come on.

Something Christmassy with an M and an I.

Four letters.

-Mint.

-No, it's magi.

Mumbai, Astana, Gyeongju and Islamabad.

And, finally...

THEY CONFER

Is that Naples in Italy?

THEY CONFER

Edinburgh. Edinburgh, Naples.

-Is that Hamburg?

-I don't know.

THEY CONFER

What's next? So, an N and an E.

THEY CONFER

-"Santa".

-No, it's "angel".

It's difficult, isn't it, because they don't read left to right.

It's Ankara, Naples, Gdansk, Edinburgh and Lyon.

Ten points for this.

What word of four letters begins the surnames

of Earl Rivers in Shakespeare's Richard III,

Sarah in the French Lieutenant's Woman

and Jane Austen's Emma?

-Dash?

-No. Anyone like to buzz from Reading?

-Is it Hunt?

-No, it's Wood.

Woodville, Woodruff and Woodhouse.

Ten points for this.

January, 1806, saw the Times newspaper use an illustration

for the first time, as it reported

the funeral of which military figure?

-Nelson?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Keble, your bonuses are on women who were born on New Year's Day.

Name each one from the description.

I need their first name and their surname.

Firstly, an Anglo-Irish author, born 1768.

Her novels include Castle Rackrent and The Absentee.

Maria Edgeworth. Maria Edgeworth.

-Nominate Cottrell-Boyce.

-Maria Edgeworth.

-Correct.

Secondly, a seamstress, born 1752.

A popular legend credits her with designing

the first flag of the United States of America.

THEY CONFER

-Pass.

-It's Betsy Ross.

And, finally, born in 1956,

a French politician who was appointed Managing Director

of the International Monetary Fund in 2011.

THEY CONFER

-Christine Lagarde.

-Correct. Ten points for this.

Born in New York state in 1907

and dying in East Sussex in 1977,

which surrealist artist was a model and muse

to fellow US artist Man Ray?

She was noted for her own work as a fashion and war photographer.

-Was it Lee Chappelle?

-No. Anyone like to buzz from Keble?

You may not confer. One of you can buzz.

-Lee Miller?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

Keble, you'll be pleased to know

that your bonuses are on winning words

in the Scripps National Spelling Bee

which has been staged annually in the US since 1925.

Winners are generally aged between 12 and 14.

In each case, give the dictionary spelling of the word,

so confer and answer through your captain

unless your captain chooses to nominate you. Bad luck if so.

First, a German loan word which means "protolanguage".

Spell "Ursprache".

THEY CONFER

-Nominate Anne-Marie.

-LAUGHTER

A-U-S-P...

No, it's U-R-S-P-R-A-C-H-E.

Secondly, a Greek-derived word meaning "wavy-haired".

Spell "cymotrichous".

It's going to begin with a P, isn't it?

THEY CONFER

I'm going to nominate you. Nominate Johnson.

-P-S-I...

-No.

It's C-Y-M-O-T-R-I-C-H-O-U-S.

Amazing! These children are not normal, are they?

LAUGHTER Finally, the winner in 2017,

from a French adjective pertaining to a country in North Africa

and meaning "a ribbed crepe fabric of silk or wool".

Spell "marocain".

THEY CONFER

I don't know. Forget I said anything.

-One R and two Cs?

-Yeah, go for that.

-Nominate Johnson.

-It's not fair.

M-A-RO-C-C-A-I-N.

No, it's one C. GROANING

You've only been beaten by 12-year-olds.

We're going to take a music round now.

For your music starter, you'll hear a live recording

of a piece of classical music. For ten points,

I want the two-word English title by which the piece is normally known.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

-Radetzky March?

-It is the Radetzky March, yes.

APPLAUSE

That recording was from the 2017 Vienna New Year's Concert.

Your music bonuses are three more recordings

from recent New Year's Concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic.

This time I just want the composer of each piece, please.

Firstly, for five.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

Any ideas? Any ideas?

Does it mean anything to you?

THEY CONFER

-Strauss?

-Yeah, go for Strauss.

-Strauss?

-No, that's Liszt's Mephisto Waltz. Secondly...

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

THEY CONFER

Mendelssohn?

No, that's Wagner's Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin.

And finally...

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS

That's Tchaikovsky, isn't it?

Tchaikovsky?

It is, indeed. The Waltz from Sleeping Beauty.

Right, ten points for this. Answer promptly.

Name two of the four British Prime Ministers from 1901 to 1951

who served less than five years in total.

You may not confer.

Campbell-Bannerman and Balfour.

Correct, yes. The other two were Bonar Law and Chamberlain.

Well done.

APPLAUSE

Right, these bonuses are on the current decade

as a setting for science-fiction films, Keble College.

Which dystopian film of 1975 is set in a 2018

in which global corporations control the world...

BUZZER You don't need to buzz.

You can confer indeed.

..control the world, having replaced state governments

and the populace is distracted by an ultraviolent sport?

THEY CONFER

-Rollerball.

-That's correct.

Based loosely on a story by Stephen King,

which 1987 film takes place between 2017 and 2019

and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger

as an unwilling contestant on a deadly game show?

THEY CONFER

-The Running Man.

-Correct.

Which dystopian film of 1982 depicts Los Angeles in 2019,

where androids called replicants are manufactured for use in menial work?

-Blade Runner.

-Blade Runner is correct.

APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

Castanea is the Latin name of which genus of trees belonging to the...

-Chestnut.

-Chestnut is correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on common words marked "origin unascertained"

in the Oxford English Dictionary.

In each case, give the word from the definition.

Firstly, a five-letter word for a very short space of time.

It is part of the proprietary name of a type of envelope.

THEY CONFER

-Jiffy.

-Jiffy is correct.

Secondly, a four-letter word

meaning to perceive, discern, catch sight of, to recognise.

By another etymology,

the same word denotes a slender shoot issuing from a branch or stem.

THEY CONFER

-Twig.

-Correct.

Finally, a four-letter word meaning to carry as a burden or load.

It often precedes the word "bag".

THEY CONFER

Tote. Tote.

-Tote.

-Correct. Ten points for this.

In the year that the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty was dethroned,

which decisive battle was fought in northern England

about five miles from York?

Bosworth?

No, you're out by about 150 years there.

-I knew he'd say something like that.

-LAUGHTER

Come on, anyone want to buzz from Keble?

It's Marston Moor, 1644. Ten points for this.

Which Gothic novel by Sarah Perry was named book of the year...?

-Essex Serpent.

-The Essex Serpent is right.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on the writer Angela Carter, Keble College.

The winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize,

what is the title of Carter's 1984 novel

which tells the story of Fevvers,

a six-foot Cockney trapeze artist with wings?

Nights At The Circus.

-Nights At The Circus.

-Correct.

The story of several generations of a theatrical family,

the twins Nora and Dora Chance appear

in which novel of 1991 by Carter?

Wise Children.

-Wise Children.

-Correct.

The title story of Carter's 1986 collection Black Venus

concerns Jeanne Duval, the mistress of which 19th-century French poet?

-Do you want to guess?

-Rimbaud.

-Rimbaud?

-No, it's Baudelaire.

We're going to take another picture around now.

For your picture starter,

you are going to see a photograph of a queen consort.

For ten points, I want the three-word name

by which she is commonly known after the ducal house of her birth.

-Sorry.

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

-Um...

-No, if you buzz, you must answer.

I'm going to have to offer it to Reading.

Come on, Reading, one of you buzz.

Is it Queen Mary of Battenberg?

No, it's not. It's Mary of Teck or May of Teck.

She became Queen Mary of England, of course, when she married George V.

So, here we go, with another starter question.

Based on the lives of classical composers,

Mahler, Lisztomania and The Music Lovers are films by which...?

-Ken Russell.

-Ken Russell is correct.

APPLAUSE

So, you get the bonuses that you were going to get

on that picture round, had you got the starter right.

Queen Mary Land in Antarctica is named for Mary of Teck

and your picture bonuses are portraits of three more people

who give their name to territories in and around Antarctica.

I just need the name of the person for the points. Firstly...

THEY CONFER

Frederick Land?

No, that's John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich,

who gives his name to the Sandwich Islands.

Who's the second, please?

THEY CONFER

Queen Caroline?

No, that's Queen Maud of Wales or Maud of Norway, as she became.

And finally, who's this?

THEY CONFER

Er, we think he looks like a George.

-LAUGHTER Do you?

-Yes.

Well, I'm afraid you're mistaken there.

-It's James Clark Ross.

-Oh.

-Ten points for this.

What familial relationship links the author

of the Frederica Quartet and Possession: A Romance

with that of The Peppered Moth and The Needle's Eye?

-They're sisters.

-Sisters is correct, yes.

AS Byatt and Margaret Drabble.

So, you get a set of bonuses, this time on chemistry.

In each case, give the single word

that completes the extract from a Nobel Prize citation.

To Marie Curie in 1911,

by recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry

by the discovery of the elements radium

and which element, named after her homeland?

Polonium.

-Polonium.

-Correct.

Secondly, to Walter Norman Haworth in 1937

for his investigations on carbohydrates and which vitamin?

I need a single letter only, please.

THEY CONFER

-K?

-No, it's C for Charlie.

And finally, to Frederick Sanger in 1958,

for his work on the structure of proteins,

especially that of which hormone?

THEY CONFER

-Testosterone?

-No, it's insulin.

Now look, Reading, it's no good just sitting there, giggling.

You've got to buzz in with some answers.

-We thought we'd give them a chance.

-It's a starter question.

In 2016, scientists at the collaborative research group

LIGO, L-IGO...

-Gravitational waves.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

-You've got to be quicker on the buzzer than that.

-Apparently so.

Right, 15 points for these bonuses.

Your bonuses are on the films of David Lean.

In each case, name the film from its description.

Firstly, released in 1942, a collaboration with Noel Coward,

based on the story of a British destroyer, HMS Torrin,

in the Second World War.

In Which We Serve.

-In Which We Serve.

-Correct.

An historical romance, secondly, released in 1970,

set in Ireland in the period following the Easter Rising.

It stars Leo McKern as the father of the title character

played by Sarah Miles.

Oh, God. I'm going to die for not knowing this.

THEY CONFER

-Pass.

-That's Ryan's Daughter.

And finally, a comedy of 1954, based on a play by Harold Brigstock,

in which Charles Laughton plays the eponymous Salford bootmaker.

-Hobson's Choice.

-Correct.

One and a half minutes to go. Ten points for this.

Eight silver balls on stalks... Stop giggling!

Eight silver balls on stalks

alternating with eight gold strawberry leaves decorate

the coronets of which rank of the British peerage,

intermediate between marquis and viscount?

-Earl.

-Earl is correct. You're going to see the bonuses,

this time on US presidents who entered the White House

without previous experience of elected public office.

In each case, name the President from his date of birth

and other positions held.

Firstly, born 1822, Lieutenant General

and Commander of the Union Army from 1864.

THEY CONFER

-Come on.

-Could be Sherman.

-Sherman?

-No, it's Ulysses S Grant.

Secondly, born 1874, director of the United States Food Administration

and United States Secretary of Commerce.

THEY CONFER

-Pass.

-That was Herbert Hoover.

And finally, born 1890, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

Eisenhower.

-Eisenhower.

-Correct. Ten points for this.

Examples of what form of musical composition

include Saint-Saens' Egyptian, Mozart's Jeunehomme and Coronation

and Beethoven's Emperor?

-Quartets.

-No, anyone want to buzz from Reading?

There's no conferring. Just buzz, one of you.

Somebody buzz.

GONG

READING CHEER

APPLAUSE

I think, Reading, you've achieved something

hitherto unachieved in this series.

READING CHEER You got zero points!

What a total whitewash!

LAUGHTER

Never mind. You were unlucky, perhaps, with the questions.

-Yes, very.

-Well, you can say that, I suppose.

At least you take it in good humour.

Keble College, 240. Terrific score. Congratulations to you.

You are the winners of the Christmas/ New Year,

2017/ 2018 series of University Challenge

for people who have other things to do with their time than be students.

Thank you very much indeed.

It only remains for me to thank all the teams

who've taken part in this series and to thank you for watching.

Next time, we resume the students competition,

-but until then, it's goodbye from Reading University.

-Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from Keble College, Oxford.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.