St John's College, Cambridge v St Edmund Hall, Oxford University Challenge

Christmas University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight we welcome two more teams of distinguished alumni who

have chosen to mark this festive season by attempting to

answer the kind of questions we usually throw at

some of the UK's brainiest students.

We've now played four of the seven first round

matches in the competition.

So we know that a score of 225 or more will guarantee that

tonight's winners go through to the semifinals.

Now, the team from St John's College, Cambridge includes

a novelist and biographer.

He's also written the screenplays for noteworthy films

including Darling, for which he won an Oscar,

John Schlesinger's Far From The Madding Crowd,

and more recently he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick

on Eyes Wide Shut.

He also gave us a seminal account of the student experience

and what follows in both the novel and television series,

The Glittering Prizes.

His colleague has been named Woman Of The Year

by the Sunday Times Magazine, the Huffington Post and Red Magazine,

and she's been listed ninth on the BBC Woman's Hour Power List.

The founder of the Everyday Sexism Project website which has

amassed over 100,000 testimonies of gender inequality worldwide,

she works closely with schools, governments, police forces

and businesses, and was awarded a British Empire medal in 2015.

Their captain is a professor of Creative Writing at the University Of East Anglia.

He's been a judge of the Mann Booker Prize,

and his own novel, The Last King Of Scotland, earned him

a Somerset Maugham award, a Betty Trask award

and the Whitbread First Novel award.

Their fourth player is an actor whose credits include

Prince Hal in Henry IV Parts I and II at the Bristol Old Vic.

He's appeared in numerous film, radio, and television

productions, including Hornblower

and the ITV series Law & Order.

His appearance in the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica earned him

an award from The Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films.

Let's meet now the St John's team.

I'm Frederick Raphael. I was at St John's from 1950 to '54.

I read Classics and Moral Sciences.

And I'm a writer.

I'm Laura Bates.

I graduated from St John's in English in 2007, and I'm

a writer and activist.

And their captain.

My name's Giles Foden.

I had a creative writing scholarship at St John's between 1989 and '90.

And I'm now a writer.

I'm Jamie Bamber.

I read Modern Languages at St John's between 1992 and 1996.

I've been an actor ever since, but I'd like to be a writer

when I grow up.

APPLAUSE

Now, the team from St Edmund Hall, Oxford includes a diplomat

whose career has seen him serve as

British High Commissioner to Swaziland,

Ambassador to Indonesia,

High Commissioner to Nigeria,

and Governor and Commander-in-chief of Bermuda.

With him, an award-winning and bestselling author of over 50

novels, many of which are set in the universes of Warhammer 40000,

Doctor Who, and Marvel Comics.

His Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel formed

the inspiration for several blockbuster movies, and he's

also written extensively for the games industry.

While a student, their captain was president of the Oxford Review.

She then trained as a solicitor, but returned to performing

and writing, and has been appearing on radio,

television and the theatre ever since.

She used her own childhood as the basis for the BBC comedy

The Kennedys, and also writes books for children.

She's won many awards for her work,

including a British Comedy Award, and that most

glittering of prizes, Celebrity MasterChef Champion in 2012.

LAUGHTER

Their fourth team member started her career as a researcher

in Manchester for what was then Granada Television.

She joined Sky News in 1995 and since then has covered many major

events, both from the studio and on location,

including the Japanese tsunami, the insurgency in Iraq,

and the fall of Tripoli, for which she won a Royal Television

Society News Presenter Of The Year award.

She currently presents the evening news, including the press previews.

Let's meet the St Edmund Hall team.

I'm Richard Gozney.

In 1973, I graduated in Geology, then spent 40 years as a British

diplomat before retiring five years ago.

I'm now Lieutenant Governor of the Isle Of Man.

I'm Dan Abnett, I graduated in English in 1987

and I'm a science fiction novelist and comic book writer.

Their captain.

Hello, I'm Emma Kennedy.

I graduated in English in 1989, and I'm now an author and screenwriter.

Hello, I'm Anna Botting.

I studied geography at St Edmund Hall and graduated in 1989,

and I am a journalist and Sky News presenter.

APPLAUSE

Well, the rules are the same as they are for the student series.

Ten points for the start questions which you have to

answer on your own, on the buzzer.

And bonuses are worth 15 points, but they're team efforts.

Right. Fingers on the buzzer. Here's your first starter for ten.

"Well, what shall we hang - the holly or each other?"

These words come from the 1968 film version of which

play by James Goldman,

set at Christmas in the year 1183 in

the Chinon chateau of Henry II?

St Edmund Hall, Abnett.

The Lion In Winter.

The Lion In Winter is right, yes. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on a museum, St Edmund Hall.

2017 marks the centenary of which museum?

Its origins lie in Sir Alfred Mond's proposal for the creation

of a national institution to record events taking place at that time.

The V&A?

No, it's the Imperial War Museum.

Donated by a man whose life it saved,

the first object given to the newly-formed museum was a life

buoy salvaged from which British ocean liner,

sunk by a German submarine on May 7th, 1915?

Lusitania?

The Lusitania is correct.

Which British writer and painter was the subject of a 2017

retrospective at the Imperial War Museum North?

A central figure of the Vorticists' Movement,

he became an official war artist in 1917.

Nash?

No, it's Percy Wyndham Lewis.

Ten points for this.

What eight-letter word results from concatenating the following?

The first two initials of the author of A Room With A View.

The postal code for the state of Massachusetts.

The chemical symbols for nitrogen and uranium.

And the masculine definite article in Spanish.

St John's, Bamber.

Emmanuel.

Emmanuel is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses on meals traditionally

eaten on Christmas Eve.

Firstly, for five points,

the Feast of the Seven Fishes is a Christmas Eve dinner

eaten by both natives and the diaspora of which European country?

-No idea.

-It's a diaspora, so is it Sweden, Denmark, Norway...?

It's got to be a...

Denmark? Is that a diaspora?

-I'd say Norway.

-OK, you go for it.

Norway.

No, it's Italy.

"Wigilia", the traditional Christmas Eve supper of 12 meatless dishes,

is primarily associated with which country of central Europe?

Nominate Bates.

Poland?

Correct. What nine-letter name is given in France

and other French-speaking regions to a feast traditionally

eaten after midnight on Christmas morning?

The name comes from the French for "waking".

-Nominate Bamber.

-Reveillon.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

"The result was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch

"shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you."

Which scientist said that about the experiments

he performed at the university of Manchester with Hans Geiger and

Ernest Marsden in 1909, which led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus?

St John's, Foden.

Maxwell?

No. Anyone like to buzz from Teddy Hall?

-St Edmund Hall, Adnett.

-Rutherford?

It was Rutherford, yes.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on speakers at the 2017 Women's March in Washington DC.

In each case, identify the speaker from the description.

Firstly, born in 1984, an actor and campaigner who played

the title role in the television series Ugly Betty.

In the first speech of the protest, she said, "We will not

"go from being a nation of immigrants to a nation of ignorants."

America Ferrero?

Yes, America Ferrar-A.

Secondly, born in 1944, an academic and activist associated with

the Black Panther Party, and particularly known for her

critiques of the American prison industrial complex.

She used her speech to say, "No human being is illegal."

THEY CONFER

-Any idea?

-No idea.

-No, we don't know that one.

That was Angela Davis.

And, finally, born in 1934, the co-founder of Ms Magazine

and author of Outrageous Acts And Everyday Rebellions,

who said in her speech,

"We will not be quiet, we will not be controlled."

THEY CONFER

-Anyone?

-No.

-No.

That was Gloria Steinem.

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

For your picture starter,

you'll see a short poem.

However, we have removed

all but the last word of each line.

For ten points, I want you

to give me the name of the poet

whose work we've mutilated.

LAUGHTER

Is it Robert Burns?

No. Anyone like to buzz from St John's?

Keats?

No, it's Thomas Hardy's The Oxen.

So picture bonuses in a moment or two.

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

"I'm not going to tell you my whole goddamn autobiography,

"I'll just tell you about this madman stuff

"that happened to me around last Christmas."

These words appear in the opening paragraph

of which 1951 American novel?

-Catcher In The Rye?

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

So you get the picture bonuses, then, St John's.

They follow on from Hardy's poem, which was set on Christmas Eve.

Three more poems evoking winter landscapes,

but again you'll only see the final word of each line.

I need the name of each poet.

All three this time are American.

Firstly, for five.

THEY CONFER

-Whitman. Whitman.

-You think it's Whitman?

-Well, I...

-"Bitchery"?

-Come on, let's have an answer, please.

-Nominate Bamber.

-Whitman? Walt Whitman?

No, it's Sylvia Plath's Winter Trees.

Oh, you're joking.

LAUGHTER Secondly...

THEY CONFER

Emily Dickinson?

Correct. It's There's A Certain Slant Of Light.

And finally...

THEY CONFER

-Frost?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Who was that?

-Frost.

Robert Frost?

It is. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.

APPLAUSE Right, ten points for this.

What general type of event links the following?

George Grosz's painting dedicated to Oskar Panizza,

an unfinished work by Manet

that portrayed a sparsely-attended event for Giles Baudelaire in 1867,

and a painting of human figures at Ornans

that was Gustave Courbet's first monumental painting.

Picnics?

Anyone like to buzz from Teddy Hall?

You may not confer.

The Nativity?

No, it's funeral or burial. Ten points for this.

What medical term for a disordered state of mind

derives ultimately from a Latin verb meaning to go awry during ploughing?

It appears in a two-word phrase associated with withdrawal

in cases of chronic alcoholism.

Cold turkey?

No.

Delirium.

Delirium is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

That well-known Latin phrase, "cold turkey"!

LAUGHTER

Right, you get a set of bonuses, St John's, on the planet Venus.

What two-word term is used to mean both the planet Venus

when it appears before sunrise and a medieval weapon

consisting of a spiked ball attached to a club or chain?

Mace? Mace?

It's a two-word phrase.

-I think it might be morning star.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-I think that's good.

Nominate Bates.

Morning star?

Correct.

Which chemical element shares its name with a Greek-derived word

also used poetically to refer to Venus in the period before sunrise?

What was the first bit of the question?

Can we ask for to be repeated?

A chemical element derived from a Greek word.

-Sorry.

-It's phosphorus.

And, finally, what Latin word refers to Venus in the same aspect?

It's more commonly known as a synonym for the devil.

-Lucifer?

-Possibly, yes.

-Lucifer's the bringer of light.

-Lucifer's good.

-Yes.

OK. Nominate Bamber.

Lucifer?

Correct. APPLAUSE

Ten points for this.

Give any one of the three consecutive years

in which the following events occurred -

the start of the first Balkan War,

the death of the suffragette Emily Davison

after her protest at the Epsom Derby,

and the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.

1914?

Yes, the other ones were 1912 and 1913.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on football this time, St John's.

A statue in Ashton-under-Lyne

honours three FIFA World Cup medal winners,

all born in the borough of Tameside.

Name each person from the description.

Firstly, a full-back who spent the whole

of his playing career at Blackpool.

He managed Leeds United in the 1970s,

and has been a prominent summariser on BBC Radio 5 Live.

-Coleman?

-No, Leeds United in the '70s was managed by that...

He was...

The Damned United...

THEY CONFER

What about Jack Charlton?

At Leeds?

Let's have an answer, please.

OK, go for one of them.

Jack Charlton?

No, it was Jimmy Armfield.

Secondly, a left-side midfielder

who spent most of his career at AS Roma.

He played against France in the 2006 World Cup final,

along with Totti, Toni and Pirlo.

Did he say French?

Sorry, can you repeat that?

No. LAUGHTER

Totti and Toni. Played for Roma, he's French.

HE MUTTERS

-Who did he play for?

-Roma.

-BAMBER:

-He was French...

I've got no idea.

-No.

-It's Perrotta.

And finally, a West Ham and England forward -

the only man to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Well, you know that one.

Um...

-Come on, who is it?

-LAUGHTER

"They think it's all over - it is now."

-Shame!

-No, no, we've got this one.

Um...

He is on the TV all the time. What's his name?

He scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final.

He scored three goals in the World Cup final. Come on.

-LAUGHTER

-National shame awaits us here.

I can't do it.

Um...er...

-We're doomed.

-No. I'm not letting this one go.

LAUGHTER

-Oh, do let it go, please.

-What's his name?

What is his name?

Come on!

It's not coming.

-It's Geoff Hurst.

-Geoff Hurst.

Sic transit gloria, eh?

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

You're going to hear the setting of the Magnificat.

Ten points if you can identify its composer.

CHORAL MUSIC PLAYS

Bach?

It is Johann Sebastian Bach, yes.

APPLAUSE

So, for your music bonuses, St Edmund Hall,

you're going to hear three more settings of the Canticle of Mary.

Simply identify the composer of each. Firstly, for five.

CHORAL MUSIC PLAYS

THEY CONFER

Purcell?

No, that's Schubert.

Secondly, the composer of this late 20th-century work.

SOLEMN CHORAL MUSIC PLAYS

Gorecki?

No, that's Arvo Part. And finally...

CHORAL MUSIC PLAYS

Mozart?

-No, that's Vivaldi.

-Ugh!

Right. Ten points for this. Fingers on the buzzers.

Occurring for example in feldspars and micas,

what after oxygen and silicone

is the most abundant element in the earth's crust?

It's a metal in the boron group of the Periodic Table.

-St John's, Bamber.

-Iron?

Nope. Anyone like to buzz from St Edmund Hall?

-You may not confer!

-Shh, shh!

-One of you can buzz.

-St Edmund Hall, Gozney!

-Calcium.

No, it's aluminium. Right, ten points for this.

For what specific illegal act in New York City on August 7th

1974 is the Frenchman Philippe Petit remembered?

St John's, Foden.

Tightrope walking between the twin towers.

Correct.

APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses are on the theatre director Marianne Elliott.

Elliott's first production for the National Theatre was

a revival of which play by Ibsen, starring Damian Lewis

as the shipbuilder Karsten Bernick?

-Ibsen.

-Ibsen?

What's it called?

Maybe. I don't know.

It's an Ibsen play, isn't it?

-I don't know.

-Go for it.

-Nominate Bamber.

-The Master Builder?

-No, it was The Pillars Of Society.

-Oh.

Secondly, for five points, in 2008

Elliott won the Olivier award for

best revival for her production of

which play by George Bernard Shaw,

with Ann Marie Duff in the title role?

It's often described as Shaw's only tragedy.

-Nominate Raphael.

-St Joan?

Correct.

And finally, an adaptation of a novel by Mark Haddon,

which production by Elliott won seven Olivier awards in 2013,

equalling the record at the time?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Clarissa Baldwin,

a former chief executive of the British charity Dogs Trust,

coined almost 40 years ago which slogan concerning animal...

St John's, Bamber.

"A dog is for life, not just for Christmas"?

Correct. APPLAUSE

Right, your bonuses this time, St John's, are on birds of the order

Galiformes, that is, relatives of the turkey and the partridge.

Firstly, named in part after a historical region of West Africa,

what is the two-word common name of the family Numididae?

Species include the Helmeted and the Vulturine.

-Nominate Bamber.

-Guinea fowl.

Correct. Which sub family of larger game birds

includes the capercaillie and the ptarmigan?

Grouse?

Correct.

Coturnix coturnix has what short common name?

A game bird somewhat smaller than a partridge,

it's a summer visitor to the UK.

-Widgeon?

-No, it's a quail.

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

For your picture starter you'll see a British poet and novelist.

Ten points if you can give me her name.

St John's, Foden.

Rosamond Lehmann?

No. Anyone like to buzz from Teddy Hall?

St Edmund Hall, Kennedy.

Is it Virginia Woolf?

No, it's not. It's Vita Sackville-West,

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

and in the meantime, here's another starter question.

Men And Maggots, Drama On The Quarterdeck,

Appeal From The Dead, The Odessa Steps

and Meeting The Squadron are translations of the titles

of the five sections of which silent film of 1925 directed by...

-St John's, Bamber.

-Battleship Potemkin.

Correct.

So you get the picture bonuses.

You'll recall we saw a portrait of Vita Sackville-West.

It was part of Tate Britain's Queer British Art Exhibition,

marking the 50th anniversary, in 2017,

of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality.

For your bonuses, three more works included in that exhibition.

This time I want the name of the artist for the five points.

Firstly...

Let's have an answer, please.

-No answer.

-That's Edward Burroughs' Soldiers At Rye.

Secondly, who painted this portrait of the writer Lytton Strachey?

Nominate Raphael.

Dora Carrington.

Correct. And finally...

Nominate Raphael.

I don't believe it, Michael Ayrton.

No, it's Bathing by Duncan Grant.

Ten points for this.

What Latin name is commonly given in the Christian church to the

third Sunday in advent?

It is the second-person imperative plural of the verb "to rejoice".

-St John's, Raphael.

-Gaudete?

Correct.

APPLAUSE

You get a set of bonuses on groups of seven.

How is the group of military figures that includes Polinices, Tydeus

and Hippomedon known in the English title of a play by Aeschylus?

Nominate Raphael.

Seven Against Thebes.

Correct. In the seven ages of man passage spoken by Jaques in

Shakespeare's As You Like It,

what specific name is given to the stage described with the words,

"In fair round belly with good cape and lined,

"with eyes severe and beard of formal cut"?

-Nominate Raphael.

-Pantaloon?

No, it's the Justice.

And finally, in 1930 the literary critic William Empson

published an influential work with the title Seven Types of what?

Ambiguity.

Correct. Ten points for this.

Which island group is situated between about 300

and 700km south west of the Moroccan port of Agadir, that is,

between Madeira and the tropics...

St John's, Bamber.

Canary Islands.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on scientific terms.

In each case, give the term from the description.

All three answers begin with the same two letters.

GONG

And at the gong, St Edmund Hall, Oxford have 40

and St John's College, Cambridge have 155.

-I'm afraid you were rather trounced there, weren't you?

-Ah, we were.

They were on good form, and you didn't have to do it,

so thank you very much for joining us.

And St John's, congratulations to you, we shall see

whether that's one of the four highest winning scores

and thus enable you to come back for the semi-finals.

But we'll have to play another game or two to find that out.

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

it's goodbye from St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

ALL: Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from St John's College, Cambridge.

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

APPLAUSE