University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 5: Queen Mary vs Oxford Brookes

Good evening friends, and here we go again with University Challenge! It's been a rather low scoring series so far; I remember someone, possible TheUCReview but it might not have been, suggesting somewhere that the reason for this is because the teams this series have been put together in socially distant circumstances and thus haven't been able to gel immediately like teams in past series have. I would understand if this was the case, but let's wait and see the rest of the round before drawing these sort of hypothetical conclusions.

Queen Mary London is appearing for the third time in the BBC series; its first was one of the first matches I covered on this blog back in 2012-13. The second, three series later, was a rare all-female team from a 'mixed' college, and was knockout out in the repechage. This year's team were:

Ab Uthayakumar, from Chessington in London, studying Economics

Marcus Deal, from Hertfordshire, studying Medicine

Captain: Alex McGill, from Driffield in East Yorkshire, studying the Maths of General Relativity

Catherine Dominic, from Hull, studying Medicine

 

Oxford Brookes is appearing in a fifth BBC series; of the previous four, two were second round exits and two saw them reach the QFs, going out in the elimination round and the play-offs respectively. This year's quartet were:

Jacob Springall, from Hickley, studying Languages and Education

Tom Lloyd-Jones, from Oxford, studying Law

Captain: Kirsten Etheridge, from Winchester, studying Popular Music

Richard Kimber, from Oxfordshire, studying Conservation Ecology

 

So off we set, and immediately Oxford Brookes lost five on the first starter; Queen Mary took the points and took one bonus on dramas about miscarriages of justice. They and their opponents both then lost points, with both starters being dropped, before Mr Lloyd-Jones recouped his side's lost points, and they took two bonuses from their first set. Neither side took the first picture starter; the bonuses, on embroidery stitches, went to Oxford Brookes, who took no further points, which nonetheless gave them a lead of 20-10.

Queen Mary then pulled level with a starter that was a bonus last series, asking for a poetry form that shares its name with Jodie Comer's character in Killing Eve; Mr Uthayakumar was honest enough to admit he wouldn't have known it without that clue! The side took two of the resulting bonuses, and one from the next set, which came after a pickup from another penalty from their opponents. A third starter in a row gave the Londoners bonuses on Russian cities, which they took none of. The music starter was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on classical works inspired by travels in Italy, went to Queen Mary, who took one bonus to increase their lead to 70-15.

And Mr McGill then took the next to ensure all four had a starter under their belts; they took two bonuses on early TV technology. It was their game to lose, but Oxford Brookes now recovered with Mr Lloyd-Jones taking the next starter and a full set of bonuses on poets and athletes born in the same city being taken. The Oxonians also took the second picture round, on winners of the Best Comedy Writing BAFTA Craft Award; another full house meant they'd cut the gap to 90-65.

Mr McGill took the next starter though, with what looked like an educated guess; just one bonus was taken, but, when Oxford Brookes lost another five on the next starter, they likely needed just one more starter to secure the win. The Oxonians took the next starter though, and one bonus on animals and philosophy; Mr Lloyd-Jones gave them another starter, but when just one bonus followed again, that was game over. Mr Uthayakumar confirmed this by taking the final starter, and that was the gong; Queen Mary won 115-90.

Another low scoring contest, but, again, two pleasant teams made it an enjoyable and watchable contest. Well done Queen Mary and best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Oxford Brookes, but you gave a reasonable effort, thanks very much for playing.

The stats: Mr Lloyd-Jones was the best buzzer of the night with four starters, while Mr Deal was best for Queen Mary with three. On the bonuses, Queen Mary managed 8 out of 21 (with one penalty) and Oxford Brookes 10 out of 18 (with four penalties).

Next week's match: Strathclyde vs Reading

Only Connect welcomed two family teams, the Discotheques, William Hewstone, Claire Downs and captain Jacob Kingsbury Downs, son of Claire and partner of William, and the Muppets, Fergus Navaratnam-Blair, Sam Navaratnam and captain Sangeetha Nagaratnam-Blair, sister of Sam and wife of Fergus. The teams were tied at 4-each after the first round, before the Muppets opened a 9-5 lead after the second. A better wall saw them extend the gap to 19-11, and they survived a good fightback from the Discotheques in Missing Vowels to win 23-19.

 

Brain of Britain’s first Salford recorded heat was won narrowly by Karl Whelan with 14; Quizzy Mondays alumnus Rachael Neiman-Wiseman finished a narrow second with 13 and will surely be back as a high scoring runner-up. Alan Sharp and Helen West also participated, finishing with 7 and 5 respectively.