Selwyn College, Cambridge v St Andrews University University Challenge

APPLAUSE

Christmas University Challenge!

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

APPLAUSE

Hello.

Last time, we saw Keble College Oxford beat Durham University

in the first match of this short, seasonal series

for teams whose student days are behind them.

Really quite far behind them, in some cases.

LAUGHTER But who are still willing to play

for the honour of the institutions that nurtured them.

There'll be seven winning teams from these first round matches

but only the four with the highest winning scores will go through to

the semifinals, and Keble College's score of 220

has set the bar pretty high.

Selwyn College Cambridge aims to reach the semifinals

by fielding a fellow of the Royal Society,

the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Women's Engineering Society.

Her work in computer technology has had a revolutionary effect

on everything from the BBC microcomputer

to the tablets and smartphones in use today.

Next to her, the co-author of the BAFTA nominated BBC sitcom Cuckoo

starring Greg Davis.

His other credits include the award-winning film Crocodile,

and he's currently under commission with the Royal Court and the RSC

while writing a drama film about David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

Their captain has spent 14 years in prison.

As a governor, one hastens to add, LAUGHTER

as well as working with a number of charities

connected with penal reform, including the Howard League.

He broadcasts regularly on related subjects,

and his book about Mary Ann Cotton,

one of Britain's earliest known female serial killers,

inspired the ITV drama series Dark Angel.

Their fourth player is a stand-up comedian,

a prolific journalist and blogger,

and, as a broadcaster,

she can be heard on Radio Four's Front Row and Woman's Hour.

Her latest book is

The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons From Russian Literature.

She also tells us that her surname is a Yiddish term meaning fathead,

an appellation we fervently hope she won't try to prove tonight.

LAUGHTER

Let's ask them to introduce themselves.

Hi. I'm Sophie Wilson.

I graduated from Selwyn College

in computer science, way back.

I'm best known for designing the instruction set

of the Arm microprocessor.

In the picture, you see the very first Arm processor, Arm One.

In my hand is a white piece of paper.

On it's a small black dot,

which the nearest modern equivalent of that processor.

It's 70,000 times smaller.

I still design microprocessors.

Nowadays, they're the ones in the green cabinets on your streets

bringing you broadband.

Hello. I'm Robin French.

I studied French and Italian at Selwyn,

and now I'm a playwright

-and a screenwriter.

-And their captain.

I'm David Wilson.

I received my PhD from Selwyn in 1983,

and I'm now Emeritus Professor of Criminology

at Birmingham City University,

and I sometimes present TV programmes.

I'm Viv Groskop.

I graduated from Selwyn in Russian and French in 1995,

and I'm now a writer and comedian.

APPLAUSE

Now, playing on behalf of St Andrews University,

first, a winner of the National Poetry Competition

and the Cholmondeley Award for poetry,

given by the Society of Authors.

He's a judge on literary awards panels himself,

and has translated from the German more than 60 works

by writers including Goethe, Rilke and WG Sebald.

His colleague's five-year involvement

with the Edinburgh Fringe from 1976

is credited with turning it into the world's largest arts festival.

He later became managing director of Scottish Television,

and was rector of St Andrews from 2011 to 2014.

Having been a print journalist,

their captain joined the BBC in 1985.

In addition to news reporting, he's made numerous documentaries,

offers topical analysis on politics in a regular BBC column,

and is a frequent commentator on events

like the Royal Opening of the Scottish Parliament.

Their fourth player is a scientist,

who happily should also be strong on the arts.

A former literary editor of Scotland on Sunday,

he's written for most of the broadsheets,

and as a novelist has been a contender for the Man Booker Prize,

the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

Let's meet the St Andrews team.

Hello. I'm Michael Hulse,

I graduated in German from St Andrews in 1977.

I'm a poet and translator,

and a professor at Warwick University.

Hi. I'm Alistair Moffat

and I graduated, just, in 1972 in medieval history,

and I'm a writer.

-And this is their captain.

-Hi. I'm Brian Taylor.

I graduated English in 1977 from St Andrews, and these days,

I'm the political editor of BBC Scotland.

Hello. I'm Andrew Crumey.

I graduated maths and theoretical physics in 1983,

and I'm senior lecturer in creative writing at Northumbria University.

APPLAUSE

OK. The rules are the same as ever.

Ten points for starter questions, 15 for bonuses.

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

Which member of the second triumvirate

wrote the Res Gestae as a record of his achievements?

According to the Gospel of Luke,

he ordered the census that caused Mary and Joseph

to travel from Nazareth...

Pontius Pilate.

Nope.

You lose five points.

..that caused Mary and Joseph to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Augustus.

Caesar Augustus or Octavian is correct. Yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses now, St Andrews,

on Christmas in 19th-century fiction.

In which novel of 1861 does Mrs Winthrop urge

the reclusive title character to attend church at Christmas,

presenting him with lard cakes?

Its subtitle is The Weaver Of Raveloe.

We're going to go for Silas Marner.

Correct.

"It was a short, cold Christmas,

"and we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean

"whose freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armour."

These words describe a departure from Nantucket

in which novel of 1851?

-Moby Dick.

-That's Moby Dick.

It is, yes. And finally, a short story first published in 1892,

The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle, concerns the discovery of

a missing jewel after a Christmas goose is dropped in the street.

Who was the author?

That's Conan Doyle.

That's Conan Doyle.

It is indeed, yes.

APPLAUSE

Ten points for this. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

Edward Snowden, Bridget Bardot and Marge Simpson are among those

who since 1993 have appeared in what context on Channel 4?

Christmas message. Alternative Christmas Message.

The Alternative Christmas Message is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses this time on famous Rudolphs.

Firstly, for five points,

Rudolph Marcus won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

for his theoretical work on the transfer of

what elementary particles between molecules in solution?

Nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide.

No, it's electrons.

Which anti-war film of 1921 features Rudolph Valentino as

an Argentinian libertine

who's moved to join the French army in World War I?

Its title refers to figures described in the New Testament.

-Don't know.

-Apostles?

The Apostles.

No, it's The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse.

And finally the sprinter Wilma Rudolph was the first US woman

to win three track and field gold medals at a single Olympics,

doing so in 1960 in which city?

Is it... It's not Melbourne, is it?

Oh, Tokyo, Tokyo!

Tokyo.

No, it was Rome.

Ten points for this.

Meanings of what eight letter noun include in politics

the opposite of reform, progress or revolution...

Conservative.

No. You lose five points.

..in chemistry, the interaction of undergoing chemical change,

and in medicine an adverse response to a drug?

Reaction.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your first set of bonuses, Selwyn, are on scientists.

In each case, a centenary or half centenary of their birth

fell in 2017.

Firstly, for five,

born 1917, the US Nobel prize-winner Robert Woodward

demonstrated the first laboratory synthesis of which vitamin complex,

also known as cobalamin?

-Any American scientists that you can think of?

-Don't know.

No, we're given the name of the scientist, the name of...

Vitamin C?

Vitamin C.

No, it's vitamin B12.

Secondly, born in 1817,

Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac is credited with

the discovery of gadolinium and which other element?

With atomic number 70, it was the last of four elements

to be named after the same village in Sweden.

Oh...

Think of villages in Sweden... Borg?

Er...Lanthanum?

Lanthanum?

No, it's ytterbium.

And finally, born in Warsaw in 1867,

which scientist's publications include

Isotopie And Isotopic Elements,

and Rays Emitted By Compounds Of Uranium And Thorium?

Born in Poland...

Not many, I can't think of scientists...

-Curie?

-Curie.

Marie Curie?

Marie Curie is correct, yes. APPLAUSE

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

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Your picture starter is a borderless map

showing the flight path of Santa's sleigh between two capital cities.

Assuming he's travelling along a geodesic,

in other words the shortest distance between two points on a sphere,

this path crosses the territory of four countries.

For ten points, name all four.

It's Iran...

..Afghanistan,

Pakistan and India.

No. Anyone like to buzz from Selwyn?

Iran, Afghanistan,

Pakistan,

and Burma.

No, it's Iraq is the one that you both missed. Bad luck.

Right, we're going to take the picture bonuses in a moment or two.

Another starter question in the meantime.

Referring to his influence on 20th century poetry,

whom did Ted Hughes describe as "the father of us all?"

Although sometimes classed as a war poet...

Auden.

No, you lose five points.

Although sometimes classed as a war poet,

the First World War is largely a background presence

in his depictions of rural England,

as in the poems The Owl and The Team's Head Brass.

He died in...

Edward Thomas.

Edward Thomas is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

So you'll be pleased to hear you get the picture bonuses

about sleigh flights.

Three more maps showing the path between two capital cities

as the sleigh flies. That is, along a geodesic.

This time you'll be given the countries at either end,

and simply have to name the three countries

whose territory will be crossed in between.

Firstly, for five.

Bolivia...

Brazil, Bolivia...

Paraguay...

OK. Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.

That is correct.

Let's see the borders on the map.

Yes, there we go. And secondly...

OK, Mali...

Mali's one of them.

-Or is it Chad?

-Chad.

Chad.

-Algeria goes a long way down, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-Niger?

-Niger's next to it.

-It's three, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I think Niger is right.

OK. Mali, Chad and Niger?

Yeah. I think so.

We'll try Mali, Chad, and Niger.

Correct, yes.

There you are, you can see them now.

And finally...

Ukraine...

Macedonia? It'll be three.

Romania, Ukraine...

I think Moldova must be there.

Ukraine...

Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.

OK. Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.

Correct!

APPLAUSE

Right, ten points for this.

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

How many Christmas trees would be

required to provide one tree per household

for a town of 75,000 inhabitants

if the average family size is 2.5 people per household?

20,000.

Anyone like to buzz from St Andrews?

You may not confer.

One of you can buzz.

12,500?

No, it's 30,000.

-Oh...

-Right, ten points for this.

Born in Glasgow in 1964,

which academic has published books

on Hamburg in the early 20th century,

the Rothschild banking house,

and the diplomat Henry Kissinger?

His works as a broadcaster include the television...

Niall Ferguson.

Correct.

-APPLAUSE

-Yes!

These bonuses are on the BFI, and Sight And Sound magazine's

list of the 50 greatest films of all time.

In each case, name the film from the description.

Firstly, at number ten on the list,

a semiautobiographical work of 1963 by Federico Fellini

about a film director in creative paralysis.

-8 1/2.

-Exactly.

According to Sight And Sound, dreams, nightmares,

reality and memories coexist within the same timeframe.

8 1/2.

Correct.

At number three on the list, a 1953 film by Ozu Yasujiro,

described by Sight And Sound as a truly universal film

about family, time, and loss.

Anybody? No?

Pass.

That's Tokyo Story.

And at number one on the list, a 1958 film by Alfred Hitchcock

starring James Stewart, in which, according to Sight And Sound,

paranoia and obsession have never looked better?

-Rear Window? Rear Window?

-Yeah.

Rear Window.

-No, it's Vertigo.

-Oh!

Ten points for this.

"It was a great success on television.

"There were heated exchanges in the letters columns

"about whether you should or shouldn't put Beaujolais

"in the fridge." These words of Mike Leigh refer to...

Abigail's Party.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on a museum director, Selwyn.

In 2017, who replaced Nicholas Serota

as director of the Tate Gallery group?

She'd previously been director of the Manchester Art Gallery

and the nearby Whitworth.

-Anybody?

-No.

Pass.

It's Maria Balshaw.

Secondly, for five points,

Balshaw's notable commissions at the Whitworth

included a 2009 group exhibition of live works

led by which performance artist born in Belgrade in 1946?

The Whitworth was emptied of its entire collection

for the duration of the event.

-Nominate Groskop.

-Marina Abramovic.

Correct.

And finally, following an award-winning refurbishment,

Balshaw reopened the Whitworth in 2015,

with a major solo exhibition of work by which British artist?

It included her 1991 installation Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View.

-Is that Rachel Whiteread?

-Yes, go for it.

Rachel Whiteread?

No, it's Cornelia Parker.

Ten points for this music question coming up now.

You're going to hear a song from a musical.

Ten points if you can give me the title of the musical, please.

# When the moon...

Hair.

Hair is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

That musical about hippies fighting against the draft opened in 1967,

the year of the so-called Summer Of Love.

Your music bonuses are three more songs released

during the summer of 1967.

This time, I want the band performing in each case.

Firstly for five...

# We skipped the light fandango... #

Procul Harum.

Procul Harum.

Correct.

Secondly...

# One pill makes you larger

# And one pill... #

Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit.

That's correct. And finally...

# It's all too beautiful

# It's all too beautiful...

Small Faces.

Small Faces is correct.

APPLAUSE

That means you've taken the lead, Selwyn.

Congratulations. Right, tem points for this.

On June 9th, 2017,

who said, "You live by the sword, you die by the sword,"

perhaps slightly overdramatising the loss of

the South Yorkshire seat he'd held as MP...

Nick Clegg.

Indeed, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses this time on the solar system.

In 1807, which asteroid became the fourth to be discovered?

It has a giant crater at its southern pole,

is thought to have an iron-nickel core,

and is considered to be the second most massive

in the solar system's main belt?

Any idea?

Ceres?

Ceres?

No, it's Vesta.

The third asteroid to be discovered shares its name

with which space probe?

The latter crossed the main asteroid belt

before reaching its target in July 2016.

Pass.

Juno.

And, finally, which was the second asteroid to be discovered?

It's ranked third in mass,

with a highly inclined and moderately eccentric orbit?

A chemical element is named after it.

Cerium, probably. Ceres.

I think Ceres.

-No, it's Pallas.

-Pallas.

Right. Ten points for this.

Which element was first discovered

by the Swedish chemist Johan Arfwedson in 1817,

through analysis of the mineral petalite?

A soft, silvery metal,

it's used in the treatment of bipolar disorder,

and in the manufacture of...

Lithium.

Lithium is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

Right, you get a set of bonuses, St Andrews, on an abbreviation.

For what to do the letters OP stand

in the context of productions of dramatic works

written in earlier periods of English?

The concept was pioneered by the linguist David Crystal,

and his son, the actor Ben Crystal.

Out of print? Out of print.

You sure?

What is it?

Out of print?

Out of print.

No, it's original pronunciation.

In agricultural science, the letters OP commonly refer

to which broad group of pesticides that include malathion?

-Nominate Crumey.

-Organophosphates.

Correct.

For what Latin words do the letter OP stand

when referring to musical compositions?

You can give either the singular or the plural form of the word.

Opus.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

In May 2017, a work by which US artist

sold for over 110 million at Sotheby's?

The subject of a 1996 film directed by Julian Schnabel,

he died from a heroin overdose at the age of 27.

Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Basquiat is correct, yes. APPLAUSE

Well done, well done.

Right, a set of bonuses this time on world events of January 2017.

On January 19th,

Adama Barrow was sworn in as president of which African country?

The ceremony took place in the country's embassy

in neighbouring Senegal,

as his predecessor Yahya Jammeh refused to step down.

Is that Sudan... Is it one of the Sudans?

-Gambia?

-The Gambia?

What do you think?

Neighbouring Senegal would be...

-Gambia?

-Just go for it.

Gambia.

The Gambia is correct.

January 8th saw the death of which former president of Iran,

who'd held power from 1989 until 1997?

-Ahmadinejad?

-Ahmadinejad, yes.

Ahmadinejad?

No, it was Rafsanjani.

And finally on January 1st, 2017,

which Portuguese politician and diplomat succeeded

Ban Ki-Moon as Secretary General of the United Nations?

-We should know this.

-Exactly.

-We should know this.

This is...

Come on...

Alvarez.

No, it was Antonio Guterres.

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

For your picture starter,

you'll see an illustration

of a short story

first published in 1844.

For ten points,

I'd like the title of that story.

The Snow Queen?

-The Snow Queen is correct, yes.

-Well done!

APPLAUSE

The illustrations by Katharine Beverley

and Elisabeth Ellender, from a 1929 edition.

Your picture bonuses

are three more early 20th century illustrations

of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales.

Again, for the points, I just want the title of each story.

You can give your answer in English or Danish.

LAUGHTER

Firstly, for five.

Sleeping Beauty?

-Sleeping Beauty perhaps?

-Mm...

No. Don't think so...

Oh, The Tinderbox!

The Tinderbox.

It IS The Tinderbox, yes, well done.

Secondly...

The Magic Lantern?

Magic Lantern. Magic Lantern?

The Magic Lantern?

No, it's The Nightingale.

And finally...

Oh...

The Matchstick Girl or something?

Is that The Matchstick Girl?

Is it called The Little Match Girl?

The Little... The Matchstick Girl.

You got the right thing.

It's The Little Match Girl it's normally called.

APPLAUSE

Ten points at stake for this starter question.

Listen carefully. Rearranging the six letters of the plural form

of a unit of weight approximately equivalent to 28g

gives the acronym of which organisation created in 1945?

UNESCO.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on a poet, Selwyn.

Released in the UK in 2017,

directed by Terence Davies and starring Cynthia Nixon,

A Quiet Passion is a biographical film based on the life

of which writer?

A Quiet Passion...

Don't know.

No, I don't know.

-A writer?

-I don't know...

-Well...

Oh, you're looking so generously at me there, but I don't know!

-Pass!

-We want an answer, come on!

-Pass!

It's Emily Dickinson.

The first line of a poem by Dickinson,

what is the five word title of the theme composed

by Michael Nyman that the features in Jane Campion's film The Piano?

Is it, "Grief is a thing...?"

Something like that.

"Grief is a thing with feathers?"

No, it's, "The heart asks pleasure first."

Almost the exact opposite, actually. LAUGHTER

Which word completes Dickinson's lines,

"Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me.

"The carriage held just but ourselves and..."?

Pass.

Immortality.

Four minutes to go. Ten points for this.

The visionary Frank Owen is a leading character

in which polemical novel published shortly before the First World War?

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.

Correct. APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses on British Christmas traditions, St Andrews.

In which year was the first of the Christmas trees

donated by the city of Oslo installed in Trafalgar Square?

You can have a year either way.

46? What is it?

Yes, 46? OK.

I'm going to say 1946 on that one.

Yes, we'll accept that. It was 1947.

And, secondly, in which year was the first Royal Christmas Message

broadcast by radio? Again, you can have a year either way.

-35?

-35.

1935.

No, you're just outside the gap, there. It's 1932.

And, finally, in which decade did John Millington deliver the first

in the ongoing series of Royal Institution Christmas lectures?

Decade?

-On film?

-I don't know.

First decade...

Say the '20s?

1920s.

No, it's the 1820s. Bad luck!

Ten points for this.

What substance is called

elurra in Basque,

kar in Turkish,

yuki in Japanese,

chion in Greek,

and nix in Latin?

Frankincense.

Anyone like to buzz from St Andrews?

Cod.

-Cod?!

-Well, you said Basque!

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

The playwright and novelist David Storey died in March 2017.

Which sport is the subject of his 19...

Rugby league.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses, Selwyn, are on scientific terms.

In each case, give the term from the description.

All three begin with the same three letters.

One of the four fundamental interactions of nature,

it is felt by hadrons but not by leptons.

A single word answer is sufficient.

Gravity?

Gravity?

-No, it's a strong interaction or nuclear force.

-Strong...

Secondly, the first antibiotic to be effective in treating tuberculosis.

Streptomycin.

Nominate Sophie Wilson.

Streptomycin?

Correct.

Finally, the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere.

Stratosphere.

Stratosphere.

Correct. Ten points for this.

APPLAUSE

Which opera of 1871 features Gloria all'Egito,

a triumphal march and chorus to celebrate the military victory

of Radames, the Egyptian...

Aida.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

15 points for these bonuses, then, Selwyn.

They're on Hanukkah, also known as the Feast Of Dedication,

the Feast Of Lights, and the Feast Of The Maccabees.

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that begins on the 25th day of Kislev,

and is celebrated for how many days and nights?

-Anybody?

-I don't know, six?

Six?

It's eight.

Used to light the eight other candles on the menorah candelabrum,

over the course of Hanukkah, what is

the name of the ninth candle the servant candle?

Pass.

It's the Shamash.

Finally, what portmanteau name was given in the US

to the first day and second night of Hanukkah

when it fell on November 28th, 2013?

-Whoa... No idea. Anybody?

-No.

Pass.

It was called Thanksgivukkah.

LAUGHTER Right, ten points for this!

Born in Cairo, in 1910, which chemist's determination

of the structure of penicillin...

GONG

APPLAUSE

And at the gong, St Andrews have 90,

Selwyn College Cambridge have 145.

APPLAUSE

Well, you were storming away there at the start, St Andrews,

but they caught up magnificently, I thought.

Selwyn, many congratulations to you.

We shall look forward to seeing you

if you come back as one of the highest scoring winners

in these first-round matches.

Congratulations on winning!

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

but until then it's goodbye from St Andrews University.

-ALL:

-Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from Selwyn College Cambridge. ALL:

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE