University Challenge 2019-20: Round 1: Match 6: Edinburgh vs Birkbeck

Evening all. An interesting match up tonight, between two institutions whose last appearance on the show saw them win the series; one was just last year however, the other was way back in the red set era! The winners would go through to the second round, while the runners-up would be aiming for 100 or more to get onto the play-off board.

Edinburgh University was founded in 1582, making it the fourth university in Scotland at a time when only Oxford and Cambridge existed down south. Alumni include quite a lot of writers, including AC Doyle, RL Stephenson and JM Barrie, quite a lot of politicians, including former PM Gordon Brown, my Dad and quite a lot of my friends. Last series, of course, they won the series, winning a good contest against St Edmund Hall. This year's foursome were:
Richard Moon, from North London, studying Classics
Adam McLauchlan, from Edinburgh, studying Chemistry
Captain: Emma Williams, from Brighton, studying Linguistics
Isaac Stevens, from Sutton Coldfield, studying German and History

Birkbeck is a college of the University of London specialising in higher education, mainly operating in the evening to allow for students to hold down jobs too. Alumni include the first Labour PM Ramsay McDonald, current Labour bigwig John McDonnell, TS Eliot and hotel stayer Bear Grylls. Having regularly appeared in the early days of the BBC era, tonight's team was its first since its series win in 2002-03; they were:
Rob Anderson, from Geneva, studying Cognition and Computation
Rosemary Barnett, from Buckinghamshire, studying Historical Research
Captain: Nooruddean Janmohamed, from London, studying Medieval History
Ian Kernohan, from County Antrim, studying History of Art and Architecture

Off we set again then, and Mr Moon was first in to start the game with 'The Leaning Tower of Pisa'; the reigning champs took two of their opening bonuses. Mr Anderson opened Birkbeck's account with 'Dip', and they matched Edinburgh's tally with two bonuses on US presidents. The Scots side duly retook the lead with Mr McLauchlan offering 'heartburn', and took just the one bonus on mnemonics (or 'pneumonics' as Paxo called them!). A repeat performance followed as Mr McLauchlan took another starter and another sole bonus followed. The first picture round, on musical notes, went to Edinburgh, who took a pair of bonuses, taking their lead to 70-20.

It increased as Mr Anderson lost five after making the understandable mistake of thinking Elvis Presley was born in Memphis; Edinburgh couldn't capitalise. Edinburgh returned the favour by dropping five on a last millisecond interruption, and Birkbeck did pick up the points this time; bonuses on elements discovered in Switzerland gave them one bonus. I guessed Solihull for the next starter asking after a borough between Birmingham and Coventry; Mr Stevens did so too, and we were both right. Edinburgh duly took a full bonus set on Anglo Saxon kingdoms. Mr Janmohamed kept his side in the game by taking the next starter; bonuses on Irish philosophers gave them two correct answers.

The music round, on acts notably critiqued by music critic Ellen Willis, went to Edinburgh, who took one bonus, taking their lead to 105-50. Back came Birkbeck though, with Mr Janmohamed offering 'curlew', and a full set of bonuses on gardening took them right back into procedings. Mr Moon duly increased Edinburgh's lead though with 'willow', but a bonus set on the 1956 Olympics didn't give the Scots side any further points. Poetry about railways proved more to their liking on their next set, just the one bonus, and another saw them mistake their alumnus RL Stephenson for WT McGonagall, something Paxo suggested the former's aficionados might not find very funny!

The second picture starter, on allegorical paintings depicting the three stages of life, went to Edinburgh, who took two bonuses, which took their lead to 150-75. Birkbeck would need to run the show from now on to stand a chance of catching up; Mr Kernohan duly came in with 'Simon Sebag Montefiore', and two bonuses just about kept them in the game.

But when Mr Kernohan duly got beaten by a swerve on the next question and lost five, that was game over; Edinburgh didn't know the French Horn to be the instrument lampooned by Flanders and Swann in their classic 'Ill Wind'. Not that it mattered, as Mr Moon took the last starter of the game, and the side took one of the two bonuses there was time for. At the gong, Edinburgh won 165-90.

A good enough match I thought, even if a bit low scoring and slow in places. Unlucky Birkbeck, but a fair enough effort, thanks very much for playing. Well done Edinburgh though, and best of luck in the second round.

The stats: Mr McLauchlan was the best buzzer of the night, with five starters to Mr Moon's four, while Mr Janmohamed was best for Birkbeck with three. On the bonuses, Edinburgh converted 14 out of 29 (with one penalty), while Birkbeck managed 10 out of 15 (with two penalties).

No show next week, so we're back, I'd guess, on September the 2nd, and an anonymous source tells me Only Connect may be back with it! Still haven't totally decided if I'm going to do full blogs on that this series, I'll keep you posted.