University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 3: Birkbeck vs Oxford Brookes

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to the new look Quizzy Mondays! The new look UC hasn't gone down too well with some for various reasons (some understandable, some not worth dignifying with comment), but I've enjoyed it so far, apart from the mistake the scorers made last week that I spotted when rewatching it at the weekend! (See my Twitter X thread for more info) Anyway, on with the third contest of the series tonight...

Birkbeck were regulars in the early days of the BBC era, but, after winning it in 2002-03, disappeared for 16 series, eventually returning in 2019-20; the following series, they reached the QFs with a team 3/4s of whom won the last series of UC. This year's foursome were:

Danny McMillan, from Belfast, studying Modern Irish History

Olivia Mariner, from London, studying Maths

Captain: Samir Chadha, from Ealing, studying Creative and Critical Writing

Margherira Huntley, from South London, studying Law and Political Economy

 

Oxford Brookes is the post 1992 institution to have appeared on the show the most times, five previous ones in total; the first four saw its team win at least their first match, a run that was broken by a low scoring first round defeat two series ago. This year's quartet were:

David Caldecott, from Henley-on-Thames, studying Biology

Lara Gardner, from Ledbury in Herefordshire, studying Human Biosciences

Captain: John Manton, from County Tipperary, studying Fine Art

James Broadbent, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, studying International Relations and Politics

 

So, off we set once again then, and Oxford Brookes got off to a bad start with a penalty straight away; Mr McMillan took the pickup, and Birkbeck took all three bonuses. The Oxonians did bounce back with a starter and full set of their own, triggering an early run of the sides swapping starters. After the (rather late) first picture round, on flags featuring stars and stripes, which Oxford Brookes took a clean sweep of, the teams were level on 65-each. The Oxonians then pulled away a bit, but, in spite of two penalties of their own, Birkbeck were never out of sight of them. The music round, on songs from biographical musicals, went to the Londoners; one bonus levelled the scores again, 110-each.

The nip and tuck continued as the two teams, not just kept getting starters, but generally getting the bonuses that went with them too; an excellent feat. After the second picture round, on stills from non-European winners of the Best non-English langauge film BAFTA, which Birkbeck took all three of, the Londoners led 160-155. Another starter and full house pushed them closer to 200, but Oxford Brookes responded with a perfect 25 of their own. And then another to take them past 200! Only for Birkbeck to take one too to put THEM past 200 too and into the lead! The final starter went to Mr Chadha, and that was the gong! Birkbeck won a fantastic game 220-205!

An utterly superb game, with both teams breaking 200 for the first time since the QFs of the 2013-14 series; very well done both of them! Well done Birkbeck, who'll take some beating in the second round; best of luck there! Hard lines to Oxford Brookes, but their score all but guarantees they'll be back in the play-offs; best of luck to them there!

The stats: Mr McMillan was easily the best buzzer of the night with SEVEN(!) starters, while Mr Manton was best for Oxford Brookes with four. On the bonuses, Birkbeck managed 24 out of 30 (with two penalties) and Oxford Brookes 24 out of 27 (with one penalty); both utterly fantastic rates, well done again to both! It's going to take something to top this for Game of the Series!

Next week's match: Southampton vs Christ Church Oxford

Only Connect’s third heat was contested by the Antiphons, James and Felicity Barnard and captain Andrew Lay (who I think was on UC many years ago), and Drop of Red, Jezz Sterling, Jane Kendrick (an finalist on the revived Fifteen-to-One) and captain John Clarke (who I believe was the winner of a very early series of Countdown). The former led 6-2 after the first round (I claim the ‘over the head’ question earlier than they did), and 11-7 after the second. A better wall saw Drop of Red pull the scores level on 17 each going into Missing Vowels, but the Antiphons just edged a round where both teams lost points to win 21-20!

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 2: Aberdeen vs Birmingham

Good evening again friends, and welcome to Week 2 of the new season of Quizzy Mondays! Tonight, the second match of the Amol Rajan era of UC, which, rather pleasingly, is a rematch of the very first one of the Paxo era! The winners would join Manchester in the second round, while the runners-up would maybe make the play-offs if they could score high enough.

Aberdeen were the winners of the previous match 29 years ago, and went on to reach the semis of that tournament before losing to eventual champions Trinity College Cambridge. Its last appearance was a first round defeat ten series ago. This year's foursome were:

Archie Broomfield, from Edinburgh, studying Politics and International Relations

Zachary Eisler, from South Queensferry, studying History

Captain: Emily Osborne, from Bristol, studying Economics

Callum McClements, from County Fermanagh, studying Medicine

 

Birmingham lost that first round match, but went through as high scoring runners-up, and went on to reach the QFs before losing to eventual runners-up New College Oxford. It's last appearance was two series ago, where they also went out in the QFs. This year's quartet were:

Archie Bennett, from Staffordshire, studying Biochemistry

Faiz Ahmed, from Bangalore, studying Medicine

Captain: Will Rogers, from Stratford-upon-Avon, studying the History of Warfare

Sam Hastings, from Chelmsford, studying Physics

 

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Broomfield who identified Scott Joplin for the first starter as soon as 'king of ragtime' was mentioned; Aberdeen took a full set of bonuses to get started, but Birmingham set off the mark on the next starter, and two in a row gave them the lead. The Dons retook it with the first picture round, on extracts from Grimm fairy tails, after which they led 40-35. The two sides then swapped starters for the second quarter, staying close to one another, but with Birmingham having the slight advantage. The music round, on top albums of the 2010s, went to Aberdeen, after which the teams were level on 90-each.

Both sides quickly moved into three figures, but neither could pull away from the other, until Aberdeen took the second picture round, on paintings of Vesuvius, after which they had a slight lead of 145-125. A crucial buzz from Mr McClements put them in poll position, leaving Birmingham needing to go for it. Mr Ahmed did the right thing and buzzed early on the next starter, but was wrong and lost five; Mr McClements did the honours, and Aberdeen were within sight of victory. Birmingham did take another starter, but no bonuses followed, and that was game over. Aberdeen took the final starter, and that was the gong; they won 190-125.

An excellent follow-up to last week's show, with AR continuing to settle nicely into the role (even if his quick speed will take a bit of getting used to again) and a contest that could've gone either way until right at the end. Well done to Aberdeen, a fine first showing, and best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Birmingham, who the game just got away from late on and whose score I fear won't be enough for the play-offs, but a respectable performance, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Eisler was the best buzzer of the night with six starters, while Mr Bennett was Birmingham's best with three. On the bonuses, Aberdeen managed 18 out of 33, and Birmingham 11 out of 24, with both sides incurring two penalties, and, for the second week in a row, all eight players got at least one starter right each.

Next week's match: Birkbeck London vs Oxford Brookes

Only Connect’s second first round match pitted the Roadies, Aidan Bartlett, Sophia Shaikh and captain Chris Fletcher, against the Stitchers, Elizabeth Down, Thea Ralph and captain Rachel Jung. The latter led 5-0 after a rather tough first round, and 10-2 after the second. A better wall increased that lead to 17-6 going into Missing Vowels, and they easily saw it home to win 24-8.

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 1: Match 1: Trinity vs Manchester

Good evening my friends, and welcome to the new season of Quizzy Mondays! Except, this is, of course, no usual season opener, as today was the first University Challenge of the post-Paxo era! And, I have to say, my first impression from tonight's show is that the show is in very safe hands indeed! Mr Rajan did a fine job, and will surely only get better deeper into the series once he's properly settled. Not sure about the new opening titles though, a bit too fast moving for my liking, and Amol reading the questions off a hidden screen instead of the traditional cards will take some getting used to as well (but, hey, that's the way all quizzes are going; even the revived Fifteen-to-One used an iPad instead of cards); the new set is fine enough though. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of this series already! Anyway, the match itself...

Trinity College Cambridge have won UC three times, in 1974 under Bambi, and 1994-95 and 2013-14 under Paxo; its last appearance was two series ago when they went out in the quarter-finals. This year's foursome were:

Sarah Henderson, from North London, studying Japanese

Agnijo Banerjee, from Dundee, studying Maths

Captain: Ryan Joonsuk Kang, form Seoul, studying Organic Chemistry

Jeremi Jaksina, from Bialystok, Poland, studying Genetics

 

Manchester have also won three series, 2005-06, 2011-12 and 2012-13, and they also had the 2008-09 series retroactively awarded to them after that scandal that we do not talk about. It's last appearance was also two years ago, where they lost to Exeter in the first round. This year's quartet were:

Bluma De Los Reyes-White, from Franklin, Massachusetts, studying Genetics

Ilya Kullmann, from London, studying Medicine

Captain: Hiru Senehedheera, from Letchworth Garden City, studying Materials

Dan Grady, from Burton-on-Trent, studying Maths

 

So, off we set once again with the first show of the new era, and already, we notice how AR reads the questions out so much more quickly than Paxo was (forgivably) doing so last series, and the contestants seem to be reacting to this and not conferring as much as well, which is good to see. Mr Banerjee had the honour of the first starter of the new era, identifying Bishop Berkeley; Trinity took one bonus from the opening set of the series. Manchester followed with a starter and sole bonus of their own, before Trinity incurred the first penalty of the new era. The two sides swapped starters, including the first picture round, on Russian titles of samizdat works, after which Manchester led 40-35. Trinity had the better of the buzzers in the second quarter though and, after the music round, on pieces of classical music on a theme of another composer (a nice early-Paxo era throwback, the music round of his second final!), the Cambridge side led 110-55.

The next starter, asking after a county cricket team, suddenly became obvious once Edgbaston was mentioned; Mr Kullman was first to identify Warwickshire. Manchester recovered well in this quarter, reaching three figures as well, but Trinity maintained their advantage and, after the second picture round, on paintings depicting stringed instruments, they led 155-105. Both sides took a starter and two bonuses each, which left Trinity ahead by 50 with not long left, but AR was right to say they were still in it. A starter and full bonus set later, and they were indeed just 25 behind now; a second in a row followed, but just one bonus left them still ten behind! Mr De Los Reyes-White took what was surely the final starter, but their first bonus answer was wrong, and that was the gong! A 175-each tie!

So, a tie-breaker to start the series! And it was Mr Senehedheera who identified the Guerilla Girls to give his side the win!

A great start to the new series, and the new era; two very strong teams, both of whom will surely be back again. Well done to Manchester, and best of luck in the second round! Hard lines to Trinity, but you'll surely be back in the play-offs, so best of luck there!

The stats: Mr Banerjee was the best buzzer of the night with four starters, while Messrs De Los Reyes-White and Senehedheera were joint best for Manchester with three each. On the bonuses, Trinity managed 18 out of 27 (with the night's one penalty) and Manchester 15 out of 28, and all four players got at least one starter right, which is good to see on opening day.

Next week's match: Aberdeen vs Birmingham (the second show of the new era is the same teams as the first of the Paxo era!)

Only Connect returned tonight as well of course, and began its nineteenth series with the Cribbagers, Liz Jaggs, Helen Jewell and captain Stephen Othen, against the Gunners, Michael Tigchelaar, Eleanor Younge and captain Stanley Thomas. The latter led 4-2 (there’s a joke in there somewhere!) after the first round, and 9-4 after the second. A better wall saw that lead increase to 19-8 going into Missing Vowels, which they maintained their advantage in to win 25-11.