Well, that was... certainly... something, was it not? I make no apologies for using the same opening sentence as last week's review, as it's a lot more fitting this week. It was an Oxbridge match, which guaranteed it would be memorable in some way; but who saw that coming?
Balliol College Oxford is 750 years old this year, having been founded by John de Balliol (hence the name) in 1263. Alumni include political figures such as Asquith, McMillan, Heath and BoJo. It last sent a team two years ago, where they reached the QFs before eventually bowing out to U.C.L., and also became the first team to beat the same team twice in one series (beating Homerton College Cambridge in the first round, and the QFs). This year's team were:
George Corfield, from Lamberhurst in Kent, studying Medicine
Michael Bennett, from Ickenham, studying Political Theory
Captain: Amy Vickers, from Chiswick, studying History
Robin Edds, from Luxembourg, studying Physics and Philosophy
Peterhouse is the oldest college in Cambridge, founded in 1284, and is also the uni's smallest college. Alumni include the inventor of the hovercraft Christopher Cockerell, and everyone's favourite ranter David Mitchell. The last team from the college appeared three years ago, where they impressively reached the semi-finals, before losing to eventually winners Magdalen College Oxford. Tonight's quartet were:
Mark Smith, from Colchester, studying Theology
Edmund Zimmer, from Twickenham, studying Classics
Captain: Alex Davis, from Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, studying Physics
Melanie Etherton, from Exeter, studying Natural Sciences
Mr Smith, who I noticed was wearing a clerical collar, buzzed in too early on the first starter, giving Balliol an immediate lead. The Oxford side were very much in control during the first phase, getting the starters, but not as many bonuses as they could. After the first picture round, on HTML codes, Balliol led by 70-(-5).
Peterhouse got off the mark with the next starter, with Edmund Zimmer getting 50 Shades of Grey! (We'll inquire no further!) George Corfield was unlucky to drop five for Balliol on a question about a sporting event; 'rowing' wasn't specific enough when 'the Boat Race' was what was sought. Peterhouse took the points. They also took the music round, on bands who took their names from artists or art movements.
Peterhouse had now recovered from the shaky start, but Balliol still let by 90-45, and Amy Vickers pulled them further ahead with the next starter. However, Peterhouse had now made it into gear, and began to close the gap in. The second picture round was on actors who have received the EGOT, and George Corfield gave us the comedy moment of the night, buzzing in on the starter, and simply saying 'James', much to Paxo's disbelief! Edmund Zimmer took the points with 'James Earl Jones'.
Balliol's lead was now 130-100. And falling, as Peterhouse got another starter, and a clean sweep of bonuses reduced the gap to five. And the next starter gave them the lead. And, from that point, Peterhouse shot into gear, and raced away, with Messrs Zimmer and Davis acing the buzzer race, and pulling the side well into the lead.
George Corfield pulled one starter back for Balliol, but the side just fell short of equaling Christ Church's score. One more starter would get them into the repechage. But Peterhouse didn't give them the chance to get that starter, as they swept up the remaining starters, and built up a very impressive score, considering the shaky start. At the gong, they had won by 250-145. What a recovery!
Last week's trouncing was fascinating viewing, but that was just plain remarkable. Poor Balliol definitely didn't deserve to go out at this stage, given their good showing early on. But, as Paxo said, Peterhouse really went for it when they woke up, and they definitely deserve the win. Edmund Zimmer ended the match with eight starters, and the side answered 23 bonuses correctly out of 42, with that one penalty at the start. Amy Vickers' five starters was Balliol's best, and the side managed 12 correct bonuses out of 27, also with one penalty. A very unlucky first round exit for the Oxford side.
Next week's match: York vs Bath
Right, I've found an internet cafe, so although I haven't actually seen the episodes I can give the scores:
ReplyDeleteLiverpool: 223
Keele: 80
Peterhouse: 228
Balliol: 165
Liverpool and Peterhouse looking like strong contenders, though I think Liverpool aren't quite as strong as they seem - think of Imperial last year. Peterhouse, though, could go quite far. Bad luck to Balliol, as well - we've had a lot of pretty strong losers this year.
I'm going to answer a few questions that were asked earlier, because I suspect people are more likely to see comments on the newest review:
First, as regards subject spread - we were quite lucky in that the four highest scores had a decent spread between them. Our tryouts proceeded in two stages - the best ten or so from the first did the second, which consisted only of questions our captain hadn't got. That seemed quite sensible. After that, we just had a couple of practice sessions and hoped for the best, really.
Second - there are two reasons I don't include negs. First, I don't know how I'd go about it without making the formula more complicated than I'd like. Second, I think negs are pretty often not actually bad things. If you're not getting any negs it probably means you aren't being aggressive enough on the buzzer (or that you do genuinely just know everything, but that seems unlikely). It's impossible to separate out those that are bad judgements from those that are good, so I figure leaving them out entirely is best.
“It was an Oxbridge match, so sparks were bound to fly in some way.” On the evidence of this game, I have to agree – this was truly spectacular on many levels.
ReplyDeleteMany of the starter questions in this one, for me, fell into the category of “I know them, and I know them fairly quickly, but whether I would have won the buzzer race is another matter”. A particular case in point is Mr Zimmer’s spontaneous buzz-in on the “filibustering” starter, for which I am forced to take my hat off to him. I also enjoyed the duopoly that Zimmer and Davis exercised over the buzzers in the latter half of the game; with a very strong Holmesian double act onside, Peterhouse have very bright prospects ahead of them if they keep their duopoly up in the next round.
(I say “Holmesian” because a favourite trick of Doctor Who writer Robert Holmes was to create formidable, dramatic or comical double acts in much of his work.)
Hard lines to Balliol, though, certainly. One more starter would definitely have seen them into the repechage places, and one more bonus would have put them in a tussle with Christ Church for the fourth place. Amy Vickers almost deserved to win the game by herself purely on the merit of her “US states without U/S/A” answer! I thought of Ohio straight away, but was nowhere near thinking of a second answer by the time she came in with her two. The applause that followed that buzz-in is the longest I’ve ever heard for a correct answer to a starter, and it was well merited!
Paxman’s blank stare of complete disbelief at George Corfield’s “James” answer will surely go down as one of the classic Paxmanisms. I was kicking myself that I couldn’t identify the James Earl Jones picture, partly because his voice was one of the defining voices of my young years (that’s his portrayal of Mufasa in The Lion King, rather than his Darth Vader voice).
When I first heard that Balliol was to be taking part in this series, I was very intrigued, because if it hadn’t been for a teacher at my Sixth Form College, I might have seriously considered applying there. This teacher led a trip to Oxford for students who were deemed to be potential Oxbridge applicants, and showed us around a number of colleges; Balliol was one that he deliberately avoided, not that I know why! I eventually did have a visit to Balliol College, among others, and left with very good perceptions of the college – although when it came to filling out my (ultimately unsuccessful) Oxford application, I didn’t put Balliol as my first preference. If my preferred college appears in this series, I’ll flag it up!
Was anyone else shocked by Zimmer's extraordinary hooter in profile view?
ReplyDelete