Let's start then with my favourite matches from each stage of the contest:
- First Rounds + Play Offs: Think I'll say Peterhouse's recovery to a huge win over Balliol, followed by Trinity's trouncing of Christ Church.
- Second Round: Has to be Clare's tie-break win over Christ Church, with Southampton's trouncing over Bangor the following week a close second.
- Quarter-Finals: The preliminary victories of the two eventual finalists.
- The Final Three: Trinity beating Manchester again, followed by the Final.
It's also notable that there were no post-'92 institutions in this series. I believe this is the first time this has happened. Also, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Warwick did not send a team this series, the first absence for St Andrews for some years.
Let's check some records now then; Southampton have the highest score of the series, 335, and the biggest victory of the series, 275, both from their second round match against Bangor. Keele have the lowest score of the series, 40. Manchester have the highest losing score of the series, 205. And Trinity are the first team to go undefeated in the contest since G. Trimble's Corpus Christi team.
Now, here is a selection of the best comedy moments of the series.
- The Bridge over the River Kwai. ("Very funny!") Also, "Panna cotta?!"
- Some great lines from our friend Filip 'opaltiger' Drnovšek Zorko, about French science fiction and music needing lyrics in order to be identified!
- Max Planck. And Paxo swearing!
- Jeff! ("If only it were, eh?!")
- "James?" (Paxo glares!) "Don't know his surname!" "Well, then it's not right is it?!"
- My favourite starter of the series: the Elvis taxon.
- "The Iron Law of Oligarchy"
- "Kissinger?! That really wasn't worth saying!" Also Celine Dion and General Wade.
- "Slovenia!"
- Well known classical pieces on the ukelele!
- "What else is it going to be?!" "OK, let's see if you get these bonuses right!"
- Clare answering a bonus with "Jeremy Paxman"!
- "Simon Rattle" "I thought you were shaking your head because it was so easy!"
- "Some people find these questions very difficult; no need to dismiss them with such contempt!"
- Joseph Greenwood's 'Brian Jackson' moment!
- The arithmetic music round!
A fine series of University Challenge overall. It's been great to cover on here. Thanks to all who took part, and to the contestants who posted on here, primarily Messrs Evans, De Caux, Loxham, Parry-Jones and Drnovšek Zorko. And also Jim Gratrex for his continuing comment as well.
Now next Saturday, we have a Champion of Champions match, between Magdalen College Oxford and Manchester. If I understand correctly, it's one from each of the four series winning teams from both. Should be good viewing!
Well, this is an excellent summary of the series. An interesting point is that your two "matches of the second round" were filmed within the same session, one after the other, so audience members saw both the closest match and the widest margin of the series. Watching the tie-break obviously wasn't the most relaxing way to prepare for our own match! The Simon Rattle thing was pretty funny, as I thought that the year given immediately after I buzzed ruled out my answer, to the extent where I nearly just passed without even offering the answer. If anything, I think it took a bit of the tension out of us. And finally, the arithemetic music round - a great idea, but not quite so fun if you're almost 100 points down against a team containing arguably the player of the series, and watching to get a move on, as well as being so nervous that concentrating for more than five seconds is a task in itself! Nonetheless, as an occasional change from opera and suchlike, I think it's fine.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the moment of the series was Joseph Greenwood guessing at a random endurance racing event (Le Mans was a decent, if far too obvious, stab), and also the banter between JP and Ralph Morley. While I would have loved to get further than we did, I am hugely thankful that (after our first round loss) we made it to the later stages, where I feel that the teams get to know each other, the production crew, and JP a lot better, resulting in a great atmosphere. While winning the thing would be brilliant (and congratulations to Trinity, who were without doubt not only the best team in the series, but one of the best all round teams ever), it really is a case that an extended run of taking part is what it's all about. Bring on the next series!
I have to echo Matt’s words – this is a terrific summary of the series.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting thing that we’ve noticed is that our friends from Clare had four quite close matches – including, of course, the tiebreaker (which, since I was watching it from backstage and we’d got to know both teams involved, is probably my most exciting UC moment ever) – but none of our six games was anything resembling close! When Filip “speculated” earlier this year that Southampton were bridging the gap between four very strong quarter-finalists and three slightly weaker ones, he was certainly right on all counts. We may not have been able to touch Somerville or Manchester when it came down to it, but there’s no great shame in losing to teams of their calibre at such a crucial stage of the series – plus, as Matt has mentioned, we made plenty of good friends from those and plenty of other teams backstage, and we still see a few of them on the quizzing circuit. That’s a good legacy.
My comedic highlight of the series, apart from those listed above, has to be Mr Greenwood’s “Alastair Campbell / Malcolm Tucker” moment. We’ve also got Loughborough speculating that Laurence Olivier once played Fagin in Oliver!, and SOAS tuning out after their second quarter-final and forgetting to say “Goodbye” on cue! Of our moments on set, it has to be either the Simon Rattle moment, the musical numbers game, or our desperate guess that there is an actual astrophysical network called Skynet. The personal highlight for me would have to be either identifying phosphorus by its atomic number and nothing else (thus putting all my chemistry training into practice!), or identifying Martin Scorsese by two film titles and nothing else (thus putting my nine-year-old self’s obsession with the cinema and film credits into practice).
Thanks again for a thoroughly enjoyable 37-week-long account of the series. It’s been a pleasure and an honour to be a part of it.