University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 8: Darwin vs St Andrews

Alright everybody, here we go with some Bank Holiday/regular working day UC action. Normally, this would be around the time OC and Mastermind would be coming back as well, but they of course haven't been filmed yet, though not long now probably. Brain of Britain is still going, with Dag Griffiths, a former finalist and also winner of Fifteen-to-One, winning today's show by a large margin. On with UC...

 

Darwin College Cambridge has only appeared once on UC before, but what a performance it was, as under the captaincy of Jason Golfinos, they reached the semi-finals two series ago before losing to St Edmund Hall. This year's team were:

Toby Barber, from Cambridge studying Plant Sciences

Noah Kessler, from Houston, Texas, studying Genetics

Captain: Kerry Milowicki, from Cleveland, Ohio, studying Film and Screen Studies

Dominic James, from Kidlington in Oxfordshire, studying Early Modern History

 

St Andrews University, in contrast, is appearing for the 16th time in the BBC series; it's last appearance was three series ago, where they were unlucky to draw and lose to eventual winners St John's in the first round. This year's quartet were:

Tom Sherlock, from Hertfordshire, studying International Relations and Modern History

Max Holtzman, from Maine, studying Maths and Theoretical Physics 

Captain: Ahzha Martin Khemsar, from Glasgow, studying Economics

John Er, from New York, studying Philosophy

 

So off we set again, and it was St Andrews who got off to the better start, with Mr Sherlock doing the honours and all three bonuses being taken. Mr Sherlock took the next two starters as well, and all but one of the resulting bonuses went with it, before Mr Khemsar added the fourth. The Scots side also took the first picture round, on German state capitals, after which they already led 100-0.

 

Darwin finally broke their duck on the next starter, Mr James doing the honours, and they proved their worth by taking all three of their first bonus set. Asked for a county, a mention of Oakham was a pretty easy giveaway for 'Rutland', which Mr Sherlock took; the bonuses also had a pretty easy gimme, asking, indirectly, for the name of Jodie Comer's character in Killing Eve. St Andrews had that and the other bonuses too. Darwin took the next two starters, but missed all of the first bonuses before getting two from the second set. The music round, on US musicals bought to the UK by Sonia Friedman, went to St Andrews; another full set gave them a lead of 150-55.

 

And the lead was only going one way, as Mr Sherlock took the next starter, and two bonuses went with it. The Scots side began to runaway on the buzzer now, and Mr Er made sure all four of them had contributed a starter to the game. Darwin eventually broke back into the game with the second picture round, on artworks collected by suffragist Louisine Havemeyer; they took a full house, but were still trailing 220-80.

 

Now it was just a question of how high both teams could go. St Andrews showed no sign of letting up as Mr Sherlock took the next starter, and Mr Holtzman the next. The Scots side got a laugh out of Paxo by jokingly suggesting Anthony Trollope wrote 'The Wind in the Willows'! A late penalty allowed Darwin to take the final starter, but there was no time for bonuses. At the gong, St Andrews won 255-90.

 

A good match, not a close one, but another watchable one. Well done to St Andrews on an impressive first performance, and best of luck to them in the second round! Hard lines to Darwin, who did well when they did get in, and I suspect would've done better against a different team, thanks to them for playing.

 

The stats: Mr Sherlock was comfortably the best buzzer of the night with SEVEN starters, while Mr James was best for Darwin with three. On the bonuses, Darwin managed 8 out of 12, and St Andrews 24 out of 42 (with that one penalty).

Next week's match: York vs King's College London

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 7: Bristol vs Corpus Christi

Good evening everybody, and welcome back to this year's University Challenge. After a week when I've been reminiscing on my past days commenting on Deal or No Deal, and realising that we on the forum took the competitive element of the show way too seriously. I suspect, were we to go back and commentate on a lot of those old shows nowadays, we'd look on them very differently. I may say more about this here at some point. On with tonight's show, a rematch of a QF from four series ago...

 

Bristol University is appearing on the show for the seventh series running, and the sixteenth time overall; they've never though got beyond the QFs, which they've reached seven times. Last year's team were somewhat unfortunate to lose a low scoring first match to Birmingham. This year's team were:

Dom Owens, from Petersfield in Hampshire, studying Statistics

Robert Pye, from Wolverhampton, studying Chemistry

Captain: Zizzy Lugg-Williams, from Cardiff, studying French

Benjamin Salmon, from Finchley in London, studying Politics and International Relations

 

Corpus Christi College Oxford has only appeared four times before, but all have been notable: firstly they won the show in 2004-05, then lost heavily in the second round in 2006-07, won again in 2008-09 under the stewardship of Gail Trimble only to later be stripped of the title after that incident that we do not talk about, and finally they were quarter-finalists again in 2016-17. This year's quartet were:

Libby Cherry, from Stroud, studying English

Michael Zaayman, from Pretoria, South Africa, studying Chemistry

Captain: Tyron Surmon, from Tonbridge in Kent, studying History and Politics

Shaun Webb, from Ealing in London, studying Ancient and Modern History

 

So off we went once again, and Mr Owens was unfortunate on the first starter, forgetting his answer after buzzing and losing five; Mr Webb took the pickup in what would be a productive night for him, and the Oxonians had one of the resulting bonuses. Mr Webb went on to take the next two starters as well, and half of the bonuses were converted, quickly taking them up to 50. Bristol opened their scoring properly with the first picture round, on ONS travel to work areas, which cut the gap to 50-15.

 

Mr Webb resumed his buzzing brilliance on the next starter, and, thankfully, the resulting bonus set on fictional wolves had no mention of that infamously long and graphic Family Guy cutaway. Bristol did pull a starter and bonus back, but there was little stopping Mr Webb, another starter and a full bonus set putting them within one starter of 100. But Bristol took the music round, on female solo nominees for the Best Rap Album Grammy, which reduced their arrears to 90-50.

 

That man Webb gave Corpus Christi the starter they needed to reach 100; just one bonus followed, before Mr Zaayman identified the quagga, giving us this week's Brain of Britain crossover question (today's episode narrowly won by OC alumnus Brett Bostock). Another starter to Mr Webb and one bonus put them just one close to a 100 point lead. But Bristol fought back now with two starters in a row, including the second picture round, on paintings of violinists, after which they trailed 145-95.

 

A third starter in a row went to the Avonsiders, as did two bonuses, and when Mr Salmon gave them a fourth in a row, and another two bonuses, they were suddenly just ten behind! But they got no further, as Ms Cherry steadied Corpus Christi's ship with 'rhinestone'; two bonuses followed, and when Mr Webb had the next, that was game over. At the gong, Corpus Christi won 175-135.

 

Another good close contest between two reasonably good teams, well played both. Well done to Corpus Christi on a worthy win, and well done Bristol as well on a fair performance; their score that probably won't get them into the play-offs, especially with another team already on it, but we'll see.

 

The stats: Mr Webb was by far and away the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT starters, while Mr Salmon was best for Bristol with four. On the bonuses, Bristol managed 14 out of 21 (with one penalty) and Corpus Christi 17 out of 28 (with two penalties, including a 'just an interruption').

 

Next week's match: Darwin College Cambridge vs St Andrews

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 6: Balliol vs Clare

Evening everybody, and welcome back to University Challenge. Now no longer the only one of the BBC's heavyweight quizzes on on Mondays now. Brain of Britain returned last week, minus the audience for obvious reasons, with serial quizzer Graham Barker today's show by a very big margin (for BoB). On with UC, and the first Oxbridge match of the series, as well as, I believe, the latest the first Cambridge side to debut has done so...

 

For Oxford, Balliol College have appeared in seven prior BBC series, the most notable being 1998-99, when they controversially lost their first match thanks to a very badly researched question, and 2016-17, where they won the series, beating Eric Monkman's Wolfson in the final. This year's team were:

Chun Hei Hung, from Hong Kong, studying Economics and Politics

Selen Scholefield, from Bath, studying Classics

Captain: Michael O'Connor, from Blackheath in London, studying Philosophy and Politics

Lily Crowther, from Royal Leamington Spa, studying History

 

For Cambridge, Clare College have appeared six times before, the best performance being two runs to the QFs, including 2011-12, when they lost the best BBC era UC match (thus far) to eventual winners Manchester 270-250. This year's quartet were:

Sam Ahmed, from South West London, studying Linguistics

Liam McKnight, from Shropshire, studying Linguistics

Captain: Ellie Dunstone, from Oxford, studying Cancer Genomics

Henri van Soest, from Ostend in Belgium, studying Land Economy

 

So off we set once again, and Mr van Soest very quickly got the match up and running, with the Cambridge side taking just one bonus from their first set. Balliol duly got going too thanks to Ms Crowther, and they also took just one bonus from their first set. The two sides swapped starters at first, with the bonuses also very similar. After the first picture round, on European train route diagrams, taken by Clare, the Cambridge side led 60-35.

 

Two successive starters and half of the bonuses that went with them allowed Balliol to take a ten point lead, but Clare fought back with another starter and two bonuses to give them a ten point lead in return. And we were already into the music round, on works by members of the Mighty Five composers; the starter was dropped, the bonuses eventually went to Balliol, who took one, and the lead back, 85-80.

 

A second starter in a row to Mr O'Connor, plus one bonus on the work of writer Angela Carter, took them into three figures. But then two successive penalties, including one for a 'just an' interruption, reduced them back into doubles; Clare picked up the second starter, and retook the lead with a full bonus set on ornithologist Peter Davis. The second picture round, on paintings of ladies in the bath by female artists, went to Balliol; two correct gave them the lead back, 110-105.

 

So, a final sprint to decide the winners. Mr van Soest struck first with 'Erskine May', giving Clare the lead back, and they took two bonuses on geography. Back came Balliol with Ms Scholefield, and a full set of bonuses gave them a ten point lead. And when Ms Crowther took the next, Balliol were nearly there, but just one bonus kept Clare a starter and full house in touch. The starter came, but just one bonus came with it. And that was the gong; Balliol won 150-135.

 

A low scoring, but close and enjoyable contest between two well-matched teams. Well done to Balliol, through to the next round, and well done too to Clare, whose score will I suspect be on the borderline for the play-offs; we shall see.

 

The stats: Ms Crowther and Mr van Soest were the joint best buzzers of the night, with four each for their respective teams. On the bonuses, Balliol managed 14 out of 27 (with two penalties), and Clare 13 out of 21, and, for the first time this series, all eight players answered at least one starter correctly.

 

Next week's match: Bristol vs Corpus Christi Oxford

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 5: Reading vs Birkbeck

Good evening folks, and welcome back to my new slightly streamlined series of UC blogs, somewhere in between those I wrote back when I started this blog and those you've got used to over the past few years. Speaking of the old days of this blog, I've found myself drawn back towards Deal or No Deal recently following Weaver's Week's series of posts on Noel Edmonds' life and career; it helps that there are a lot more eps online than there used to be. Will maybe come back to that on here at some point. For now, though, on with UC...

 

Reading University has appeared on five previous BBC series, always reaching the second round until its last appearance in 2015-16, when they went out in the first round. This year's team were:

John Wilson, from Maidenhead, studying Teaching

Rosie Mammatt, from Pembrokeshire, studying Physics of the Environment

Captain: Lesley Rees, from Boston in Lincolnshire, studying Speech and Language Therapy

Elizabeth McCall, from Reading, studying Economics

 

Birkbeck of London were regulars in the first nine years of the BBC series, winning in 2002-03, before then disappearing until last series, when they lost in the first round to Edinburgh. This year's quartet were:

Jonathan Taylor, from London, studying Environment and Sustainability

Nicky Clarke, from Leicestershire, studying Early Modern History

Captain: Jonathan Williams, from London, studying Classics

Joshua Mutio, from St Helen's, studying PPE

Off we set again then, with Mr Williams opening the scoring for the night with 'Goethe'; the London side took two bonuses from their first set. The Londoners dominated the early exchanges, Mr Williams and Ms Clarke taking two of the first four starters each; their record of two bonuses from each set ended on the fourth set, with just one. Reading opened their account with the first picture round, on national coats of arms with animals supporting both Dexter and Sinister; they took one, which left the scores at 75-15.

 

But Birkbeck kept up their dominance of the buzzer race, with Messrs Mutio and Taylor ensuing all four of their players had contributed a starter. Their bonus rate was hit somewhat when they failed to take any from a set on freshwater fish. Not that it mattered: when Ms Clarke correctly answered 'Swahili', they already had a 100+ lead. After the second music round, on pop songs featuring Bobbye Hall on percussion, the Londoners led 155-15.

 

Paxo felt the need to tell Reading there was plenty of time left, a sure sign that something is wrong. Mr Wilson did at least respond with a second starter, and the Royals took two of the ensuing bonuses on trees. But it proved a one-off, as Birkbeck duly resumed their buzzer work, having already surely amassed enough points to come back even if Reading did catch them. A full set of bonuses on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar took them to 200 points, and, after the second picture round, on Jewish entertainers who performed in the Borscht Belt resorts, they led 245-35.

 

It had long been game over, now it was just a question of how high both teams could get. Mr Williams had another Birkbeck starter, giving them a bonus set on members of Mr Trump's first cabinet, of which they knew all the names but could only recall one. Ms Mammatt did take another starter for Reading, and two bonuses lifted them out of the Sub 50 club. Birkbeck had the final starter, but fell just short of 300. At the gong, Birkbeck won 295-50.

 

A very one sided contest, but still an enjoyable half hour. Very well done to Birkbeck, who look a pretty solid outfit, well balanced with all four players contributing, could be one to watch later on. Credit too to Reading, who I suspect would've done better against another opponent and must be a reasonable team to have made it onto the show.

 

The stats: Mr Williams was the best buzzer of the night with six, while Mr Wilson was best for Reading with two. On the bonuses, Reading managed 5 out of 9 (with the night's one penalty), while Birkbeck managed 29 out of 45.

 

Next week's match: Balliol Oxford vs Clare Cambridge

University Challenge 2020-21: Round 1: Match 4: Imperial vs Strathclyde

Alright everybody, welcome to the fourth week of this year's University Challenge. Now that Brain of Britain has been able to successfully remount and film the rest of this year's contest, which resumes next Monday, it's almost certain that UC should be able to do so as well at some point. But we'll cross that bridge when its safe to; for now, on with tonight's show, a rematch of another first round match from three series ago.

Imperial College London, formerly part of the University of London but not anymore, are, of course, the defending champions, having won their third title last series, the first two being in 1995-96 and 2000-01, and they were also runners-up in 2001-02. This year's team were:

Justin Wong, from Hong Kong, studying Maths

Katie Marrow, from the Peak District, studying Physics

Captain: Michael Kohn, from North London, studying Maths

Imran Rahman, from Petaling Jaya in Malaysia, studying Theoretical Physics

Strathclyde University has never made it beyond the second round of UC, doing so twice, firstly in 2003-04, captained by future Mastermind winner Aidan McQuade, and again in 2017-18, where they also beat Imperial in the first round before losing to Emmanuel of Cambridge. This year's foursome were:

Cameron Welsh, from Glasgow, studying Statistics

David Curran, from Glasgow, studying Civil Engineering

Captain: James Whittle, from Glasgow, studying Power Systems

Tom Starr-Marshall, from London, studying Speech and Language Therapy

So off we set once more, and Strathclyde's token Englishman Mr Starr-Marshall was first off the marks with 'red'; the Scots side got nothing from the first set of bonuses. Imperial responded in kind, and did manage one of their bonuses, only to surrender those five points to a slip-up. Strathclyde didn't pick it up, but did take the next starter and also just one bonus. The first picture round, on deltas and the rivers they empty, was more to the Scots side's liking, a full set, giving them an early lead of 50-10.

Imperial bounced back with a second starter on the board and a full bonus set of their own on art. The Scots side responded though with a third successive full bonus set on winners of the Hugo TV award. Strathclyde started to get a run on the buzzer going, taking another starter and two bonuses. A penalty for Imperial handed them a third in a row, and took them into three figures. The music round, on Atlanta rap and hip hop music, went to Strathclyde, but they got nothing from the bonuses (much to Paxo's relief!), leaving their lead at 115-30.

The Scots side were dominating the buzzer race, but they weren't exactly following through on the bonuses, just one bonus from their next two sets, which nonetheless took their lead past 100. Imperial finally broke back into the match, and showed they still had some hope with a full set. The next starter asked for two of the three Olympic host cities in the southern hemisphere; Mr Wong buzzed first and one answer came, but his second wasn't quick enough, so over to Strathclyde, who took two bonuses. The Londoners did take the second picture round, on portaits of artists' assistants, one of which I'm amazed they let be shown on BBC2 this early(!); a full house took the score to 165-75.

And onwards Imperial pushed, a second full set in a row on films beginning 'The Big' taking them into three figures. A third starter in a row went to them, but just the one bonus on Canadian provinces seemed to suggest there was a bit much for them to do in the time left. This was confirmed as Strathclyde took the next starter and a full set of bonuses on bones. Which left Imperial with the job of getting a good score for the repechage; two final starters and four out of six bonuses gave them a good chance. At the gong, Strathclyde won 190-155.

Another fine contest, two good teams both of whom fully deserve another match. Well done to Strathclyde, who are definitely through, and I would guess Imperial's score will be good enough for the play-offs, so hopefully they return too.

The stats: Mr Welsh was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with five starters to Mr Kohn's four. On the bonuses, Imperial managed a solid 17 out of 24 (with two penalties) and Strathclyde 16 out of 33.

Next week's match: Reading vs Birkbeck