Ah, it's good to have University Challenge back after all these weeks. It feels like ages since it was last on, mainly because it has. Since the last series ended in March, I've had to make do with recordings of the last series, and various old editions on YouTube.
Anyway, all that waiting ended earlier this evening when the series returned. Competing were the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and the University of York.
Trinity Laban is quite a recent institution, having been founded in 2005 by the merger of the Trinity College of Music, and the Laban Dance School. The college was making its debut on the programme. Playing for them were:
Claire Barton, from New Zealand, studying Performance Voice
Diccon Cooper, from New Quay in Wales, studying Jazz Double Bass
Captain: Sam Draper, from Stroud, studying the Violin
Amber Jackon-Bond, from Lichfield, studying Dance Theatre
York is a bit older, having been founded in 1963. The university has not missed a series of UC since 2004. Their best performance was in the 2010-11 series, where they surprised many by reaching the final, where they were trounced by Magdalen College Oxford. Last year, they were soundly beaten in the first round by eventual semi-finalists UCL. This year's team were:
Alex Leonhardt, from Porthcawl in Wales, studying Political Philiosophy
Robin Virgo, from Stamford, studying Chemistry
Captain: Rebecca Woods, from Chester, studying Psycholinguistics
Edward Haynes, from Kenilworth, studying Biology
York got off to the better start, but then Mr Virgo interrupted two consecutive starters incorrectly, dropping their score by ten. Trinity Laban recovered, and took the lead after the first picture round.
There were quite a lot of dropped starters, with a run of three straight after the first picture round. I got my first question of the series, with a question about the Shakespeare play in which Cinna the poet is murdered.
The music round saw the return of popular music to UC for the first time in a while. There was none at all in the latter stages of the last series, possibly because the producers considered it too easy for students. Anyway, the music round was to listen to two pieces of music by different bands, both of whom shared a member, and then identify that member. I got the one with Alex James (Blur and Fat Les), but the teams combined to get neither the starter, nor any of the bonuses (Trinity Laban got the bonuses through a seperate starter).
After that, the scores were fairly even for most of the second half, until, after the second picture round, York began a surge, and began to run away with the contest. All four York players contributed to the surge, which is a sign of a good team working well together. Trinity Laban did get one more starter, dragging their score into three figures, but York were out of sight by now. In the end, York won 185-105.
Jeremy Paxman told Trinity Laban that a three figure score is very respectable for a debut performance, and that he hoped they'd send another team again soon. Couldn't agree more; Trinity Laban didn't disgrace themselves, but York were the better team overall.
The stats: Robin Virgo answered the most starters correctly for York (five in all); the side answered 15 bonuses correctly out of a possible 34, and incurred two penalties for interrupting incorrectly. Diccon Cooper's three starters was best for Trinity Laban, who answered 7 bonuses correctly out of 24. All eight players answered at least one starter correctly, which is always good to see.
So, not a spectacular start to the series, but not a bad one either. Will need to see York play again before we can reach any conclusions about their progression prospects. In recent years, the winners of the first match of the series have played their second match in the latter half of the second round, so we probably won't see York play again for a while to come.
Next week: St George's College, London vs King's College, Cambridge
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