Christmas University Challenge 2023: Matches 6-9 (Tuesday 26th - Friday 29th)

Greetings friends! So, the second week of Christmas University Challenge 2023. Only four shows to cover of course; we all know why and need not mention it again. So, just two more teams to meet this week, and then straight into the semis and the final. So, for the last time this year, lets do this...

Tuesday 26th: Middlesex vs Leeds

Middlesex: Heather Phillipson, Lola Young, Dan Renton Skinner, David Hepworth

Leeds: Kenton Cool, Kunle Barker, Claire Cashmore, Mike Begon

A close and low scoring contest at first that either team could've won, until a late run from Middlesex saw them not only run into the lead, but also run up easily a good enough score to come back in the semis. Leeds did deservedly reach three figures too though. Middlesex won the game 175-115, bringing them back.

Wednesday 27th: Royal Holloway vs Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi raced into an early lead, but Royal Holloway recovered very well and, heading into the final minutes, it was either team's game. It was ultimately decided when Mr Chingonyi unluckily buzzed early and offered Salt Lake City instead of the state of Utah; Corpus Christi made no mistake and that proved the difference. Corpus Christi won 180-160, while Royal Holloway exited with their heads held high.

Thursday 28th: Bangor vs Middlesex

Mr Skinner was unable to return, so Ms Phillipson took over as captain and David Heathcote joined the team. And he proved the difference, answering six starters as his took an early lead and never lost it. Bangor did rally to respectability, but the result was never in doubt. Middlesex won 195-85.

Friday 29th: Corpus Christi vs Middlesex

Again, Middlesex raced into a strong lead in the first half and didn't look like losing it. Again, Corpus Christi rallied in the final minutes to a decent score, but the game and the series had already been decided by then. Middlesex won the game and the series 175-80.

Very well done to them indeed, most worthy winners, and thanks to all the teams who took part for another most enjoyable mini series. And well done to AR as well, who did a fine job in his first festive series in charge. There were also signs of Paxo-esque snappiness in him as well that we haven't seen in the student series so far; whether we'll be seeing them there eventually remains to be seen. But I stand by what I've said before: he's doing a good job so far, and hopefully will continue to do so!

Anyway, back to business as usual tomorrow night, with Sheffield vs Aberdeen in the penultimate second round match. And OC and Mastermind return to normality as well. Back with my usual write-up tomorrow night, so, until then, sayonara...

Christmas University Challenge 2023: Matches 1-5 (Monday 18th-Friday 22nd)

Greetings friends! So, the first Christmas UC series of the Amol Rajan era, one that was already noteworthy for all the wrong reasons before it had even begun for reasons you're probably already familiar with, so we won't discuss that more here. I will say that, once again, AR has risen to the occasion just like Paxo did in the Xmas specials with the more sardonic attitude towards the alumni teams. On with the shows themselves, the first week of them...

Monday 18th: King's vs City

King's: Chibundu Onuzo, Lucy Powell, Ayshah Tull, Ali Ansari

City: Zing Tsjeng, Martha Spurrier, Joe Crowley, Sebastian Payne

The series kicked off with a fine contest between two pretty decent teams; shame they had to face each other in the first round really. King's won the contest 155-120, two starters more than their opponents proving key and, unless Tuesday's winners beat their score, they'll be back in the QFs.

Tuesday 19th: Royal Holloway vs UEA

Royal Holloway: Tahmima Anam, Jody Talbot, Liz Sayce, Kayo Chingonyi

UEA: Karen Duff, James Scudamore, Bendor Grosvenor, Mohammed Hanif

Again, both teams gave a pretty fair account of themselves, but Royal Holloway were the better team in the end, pulling away into a strong lead and ultimately winning comfortably. 170-95 the final score, and they'll definitely be back next week.

Wednesday 20th: Dundee vs Bangor

Dundee: Susan Philipsz, Saleyha Ahsan, Holly Hamilton, Keith Harris

Bangor: Andy Clements, Juno Dawson, David Neal, Hywel Williams

Pretty comfortable win for Bangor this one, leading from the off and, though Dundee, again, didn't disgrace themselves, they were easily second best. The final score, 185-75, and Bangor will also definitely be back next week.

Thursday 21st: Corpus Christi Oxford vs Edinburgh

Corpus Christi: Francesca Happe, Michael Cockerell, Alex Bellos, Steve Waters

Edinburgh: Malcolm Fraser, Olly Smith, Ruth Davidson, Freddy McConnell

Very impressive performance from Corpus Christi, Mr Waters especially with a very good eight starters. Edinburgh were a perfectly decent team, as AR rightly said, and would've done better against another team probably. Corpus Christi's final winning score was 265-80, easily enough for a return.

Friday 22nd: Imperial vs Liverpool

Imperial: Mark Silcox, Helen Arney, Anjana Ahuja, Susannah Maidment

Liverpool: Jim Woodcock, Joyce Tyldesley, Ian Ritchie, Ann Limb

A low scoring contest to end the week, with both teams rather struggling with the bonuses, though, again, neither disgraced themselves. Imperial won 110-80, but the score won't be enough to bring them back.

So, Corpus Christi, Bangor and Royal Holloway are definitely coming back next week and, as I said, King's will do so too unless Tuesday's winners beat their score. It's been a good series so far, in spite of the controversy, and hopefully the second week will continue in the same vein.

Back next week, Hogmanay, with my write-up of the second week. Until then, have a safe and Happy Christmas, and sayonara...

Quizzy Mondays update 18/12/23

Greetings friends! So, we're into the final fortnight of the year, which means its time for Christmas UC! Shorter series than usual of course due to the now well-established controversy over one of next week's games. Tonight's first episode was a pretty good first start to the series; I'll be covering it and the rest of the week's games at the weekend.

 

For the rest of the Quizzy Mondays line-up, though, it was business as usual tonight...

 

Only Connect’s final regular show of the year saw the Also Rans and the Video Nasties meet in the penultimate QF. The former led 3-2 after the first round, and 10-7 after the second. A better wall for the Nasties meant it was now 17-all going into Missing Vowels, but the Also Rans just about snuck back ahead in a very close round to win the show 23-22!

 

Mastermind ended in yet another tie-breaker, with Thomas Roebuck and Helen Lippell (OC alumnus) both finishing with 21 points, with Jonathan Phillipson Brown just behind on 20 and Sian Bladon completing the line-up with 15. Helen won the tie-break questions 4-1 to go through.

 

And that's it for the regular series of them this year; both resume alongside regular UC on New Year's Day. OC will be continuing daily for the next fortnight (except Christmas Day itself), with new specials tomorrow (the 19th), Wednesday (the 20th), Boxing Day and next Thursday (the 28th). Mastermind, of course, has its usual celebrity specials scattered across the holiday season over on BBC1.

 

I'll be back on Christmas Eve, hopefully, with a review of the first week of Xmas UC. See you then I guess.

The Return of Deal or No Deal

OK, so you may have noticed that Deal or No Deal has recently been revived by ITV. And, if you have, you're probably wondering A) if I've been watching it, and B) what I think of it.

Well, before I get to those questions, here's a quick summary of the story so far for the uninitiated...

Deal or No Deal originally began airing on Channel 4 in late 2005. Over the years, its initial high ratings gradually melted away before collapsing completely in 2013 due to a combination of no more CBBC on BBC1 and the rise of Tipping Point on ITV.

The introduction of Box 23 at the start of 2014 was presumably designed to claw lost viewers back, but all it ended up doing really was alienating those who'd loyally stuck by the show. After plodding on a few more years, it finally came off air at the end of 2016.

And that was that. Until, in the summer of 2020, Weaver's Week reviewed an episode of the show as part of a chronicling of Noel Edmonds' career. The episode in question was one where the contestant dealt at about £20,000, but missed out on a £50,000-£75,000 finish. And being reminded of episodes like that in a modern day context made me realise how stupidly seriously we took the competitive element of the show.

My interest in the show reignited, and as we were still very much in lockdown at this point, I decided to watch a few episodes online, even re-reviewing a few of them for the forum that, yes, does still exist! I mostly found noticing stuff that hasn't aged well, such as a contestant who, I'm guessing, supported Arsenal going for "Fabregas' number, No 4", which got a pretty big laugh out of me given what that particular player went on to do!

Watching all these old episodes and re-reading their commentary threads on the forum reminded me of how great the original show used to be, and how the dynamic of having contestants from all walks of life playing (and living together in a hotel during the filming) really worked.

It did lead me to conclude, however, that such a format wouldn't work nowadays in the very divided society we currently live in. Memories being fresh in my mind of the revival of The Weakest Link and how it only half worked because the contestants really didn't want to vote each other off. (I caught one episode where the girl who plays Bernie Taylor in EastEnders was a contestant and she looked really scared and upset when announcing who she'd voted for)

And so, when it was announced earlier this year that Deal was going to be revived by ITV, with Stephen Mulhern as the new host and the same format of players being on the show for weeks beforehand before playing their own game, I was very apprehensive about it, to say the least.

Thankfully, my fears have been unfounded. The new series hasn't been groundbreaking, but it hasn't been terrible either. It's been simply just fine, in the same way that the revived Fifteen-to-One was simply just fine.

Anyway, onto the revivial itself.

 

The game itself is largely the same as before: 22 boxes, containing various sums of money from 1p up to a reduced top prize of £100,000. Players open five other boxes in the first 'round', then receive an offer from the unseen 'Banker', which they'll decline because no-one takes the first offer.

 

Another three boxes are opened before they receive another offer, which they'll also almost always decline. (Only one person dealt a second offer in the entire original show) Repeat a further three times for Rounds 3 to 5. Round 6 is a bit different to the original in that the player only opens two of the remaining five boxes before getting another offer which, if they turn down, they only have one more to open before their final offer. If they turn that down, they win what's in their box.

The big difference, as I've already alluded to, is the top prize has been reduced from the original £250,000 to just £100,000 (the second prize in the original). This has meant the games of the revival have been at a lot lower stakes, which has also resulted in quite a lot of gambling which, I suspect, we might not have had in today's current society with the original stakes.

But, those two differences and the change of host aside, it's basically the same show as before. Really, if the show had carried on past 2016, it honestly feels like this is what it could've naturally evolved into.

As for the new host, Stephen Mulhern has been perfectly acceptable. I can't really comment on his performance as I've been mainly watching with the sound off and the subtitles on, but he's done a fine enough job from what I've seen.

As for the games themselves, a lot of them have been low stakes deals for four figures sums, albeit statistically good sums for the board, but there were some pretty good sums won; the highest sum won was, I think, £30,000, won this past Tuesday.

There were also a few blue box wins, including one particularly gutting one where a contestant with MND won just £5. However, a GoFundMe page set up by another contestant for him has so far raised over £100,000!

Anyway, the commission was for just 20 shows, which have been airing for the past four weeks, plus a celebrity special with Michael Owen which aired this very evening. And I'd like to think the series has done sufficiently well that ITV will order more. It's been nice having the show back and, while I've certainly not been following it as closely as before, I've certainly be keeping an eye on it, and will do so again if/when it comes back.

Back tomorrow with a quick summary of OC and Mastermind, so, see you then...

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 6: York vs Birkbeck

Good evening again friends, and welcome to the final Quizzy Monday of 2023! Sort of; there is regular Mastermind and OC next Monday, but Xmas UC, so just a short blog quickly recapping the former two next week. Anyway, an eventful year for regular UC ended tonight, with two teams who won at opposite ends of the first round, but were only actually seperated by 30 points...

York won the final match of the first round, beating Northeastern University 190-120 in a match that was actually a bit closer than that scores suggests. They were the same foursome as before:

Emma Giles, from Cheltenham, studying English Literature

Emma-Mae Smith, from Scunthorpe, studying Linguistics

Captain: Ollie Smith, from Basildon, studying Chemistry

David Bachelor, from Enfield in Middlesex, studying Economics and Politics

 

Birkbeck won a closer and much higher scoring contest against Oxford Brookes in the third match of the third round, the first, as AR pointed out (has he been reading this blog?), to see both teams break 200 in nearly ten years, 220-205 the final score. They were also the same quartet as before:

Danny McMillan, from Belfast, studying Modern Irish History

Olivia Mariner, from London, studying Maths

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

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

 

So, off we set once again then, and it was Mr Bachelor who opened the scoring, and indeed took the first two starters of the game; all three bonuses came from the first set, two from the second. Mr McMillan responded in kind by taking the next two starters; the Londoners also took a full set of their first bonuses, but none of their second. The first picture round, on scripts derived from Brahmi, went to York; two bonuses upped their lead to 65-35. Back came Birkbeck with two starters putting them within five points, before a third in a row gave them the lead; bonuses on women who've played Hamlet saw us both get the first two, but miss the third. The music round, on pop songs discussed in Paul Gilroy's 'The Black Atlantic', also went to Birkbeck; two bonuses meant they now led 100-65.

Another starter and single bonus to Birkbeck was the cue for AR to tell York there was plenty of time left; Mr Bachelor duly buzzed them back into the game, only for no bonuses to follow. A penalty to their opponents allowed them another starter though, which meant they were now 15 behind. But a penalty to them allowed the Londoners to increased their lead and, after the second picture round, on paintings of needlework in art (appropriate with the Stitchers on OC tonight!), Birkbeck led 145-90. Mr Bachelor kept York in the game with the next starter and two bonuses, but another to Mr McMillan, plus one bonus, put the Londoners within sight of victory. But another penalty (for a 'just an' interruption) allowed York back into the game again, and a quick full bonus set put them within 20! Another starter to York, two bonuses put them level, they missed the third... and that was the gong! A 155-each tie!

So, the second tie-breaker of the AR era! (And I honestly don't blame him for half-hinting at it on X as it was pretty dramatic!) Mr McMillan quickly interrupted the tie-break starter, and, after a very cheeky long pause, AR confirmed he was right and had won it!

An excellent dramatic game, a good one to end this year's regular shows on, well done both teams! Well done to Birkbeck, and best of luck in the quarter-finals! Hard lines to York, but a good game to go out on, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr McMillan was, just, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters (plus the tie-breaker) to Mr Bachelor's five. On the bonuses, York managed 16 out of 24 (with one penalty) and Birkbeck 14 out of 30 (with three penalties).

And that's it for regular UC this year; the (shorter than usual) Christmas series starts next Monday, and we resume normal service on New Year's Day with Sheffield vs Aberdeen.

Only Connect continued its quarter-finals with the Thrifters vs the Stitchers. The teams were level on 4-each after the first round, before the latter eked into a 7-6 lead after the second. A better wall gave the Thrifters the lead 16-12 going into Missing Vowels, and they maintained it there to win 22-15. (OC is on as usual next Monday, before pausing for numerous specials, some new, but also quite a few repeats)

 

Mastermind was won by Elliot Hooson, whose 19 points saw him just win ahead of Faye Tryhorn with 18 and Liz Davison with 17. Thomas Wetherill completed the line-up with 14. (Mastermind is also on as usual next week before pausing)

University Challenge 2023-24: Round 2: Match 5: Manchester vs Edinburgh

Good evening again friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! The final full one of the year too, with Brain of Britain ending today; longer than usual summary of that later. For now, though, the penultimate regular UC of the year, and one that on paper looked a bit of a mismatch, until you remember the exact circumstances of both victories.

Manchester won the very first game of the series, on a 175-each tie-breaker, but given that their opponents Trinity have gone on to survive through the repechage to reach the QFs, that is a testament to them being a solid team too. Hoping to follow Trinity into the QFs were the unchanged foursome of:

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

Edinburgh, in contrast, ran riot in the first round and racked up the highest score of the round as they beat a very decent Bangor side 320-105. They were also unchanged from that previous contest:

Matt Stafford, from Ashton-under-Lyne, studying Maths

Frances Hadley, from Lambeth in London, studying Music

Captain: Arun Uttamchandani, from Glasgow, studying Law

Matt McGovern, from Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, studying Mechanical Engineering

 

So, off we set once again then, and Edinburgh appeared to start where they left off as Mr McGovern took the first starter, but they didn't take any of the resulting bonuses on Cyprus. Manchester followed them off the mark with the second starter, and instantly took the lead with two bonuses. A further two bonuses pulled the Mancunians into an early lead, before Edinburgh reawoke with the first picture round, on ethnic groups or polities of the Americas; a full bonus set cut the gap to 55-35. But Manchester pushed on on the buzzer, and had suddenly reached three figures and a near 100-point lead. Mr Hadley did the right thing and took an early buzz, but lost five; Manchester took the points and a full bonus set to boot, which did take their lead to three figures. Edinburgh did take the music round, on British metal bands of the 70s and 80s, and another full house too, but the gap was now 140-55.

And Manchester weren't letting up as Mr Kullmann took the next starter; no bonuses followed, but Mr Senehedheera took the next, which they did better on with one. A third in a row, taken by Mr Kullmann, gave them (and myself) a full bonus set on young England debutants, including 'the one and only' Jude Bellingham, as AR referred to him! The second picture round, on constellations as depicted in the Star Atlas of Pardies, also went to Manchester; no bonuses followed, but they now led 200-55. Edinburgh finally got back into the game, and quickly banged out a full set of bonuses on probability; but any hopes of a spectacular fightback (which you wouldn't have put it past them to pull off given their first round showing) were extinguished as Mr Kullmann took the next starter; just one bonus followed, but it was academical now. Edinburgh did manage a late rally to deservedly reach three figures, but had already been well beaten. At the gong, Manchester won 215-105.

Another good match that was, as AR pointed out, a lot closer than the scoreline suggested; again, what a shame this is a knockout match. Well done to Manchester, an excellent performance that proves them one to watch, as if they weren't already having beaten the very good Trinity team first time out; best of luck to them in the QFs! Hard lines to Edinburgh, who we know are a much more capable team than that, but the starters just didn't fall for them this time; still a fine enough showing though, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Senehedheera was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Messrs Stafford, Uttamchandani and McGovern all got two each for Manchester. On the bonuses, Manchester managed 19 out of 36 and Edinburgh 11 out of 18 (with two penalties).

Next week's match: York vs Birkbeck in the final regular match of the year. The week after, we break for Christmas UC. (And, yes, I am aware of the off-screen controversy of the past few days; I will reserve comment on that until, what's left of, the Xmas series has actually aired)

Only Connect began its quarter-finals with the Gunners vs the Suncatchers. The former led 4-3 after the first round, and 6-3 after a rather tricky second. A better wall gave the Suncatchers the lead 13-12 going into Missing Vowels, but, after a close round, it ended a 17-each tie! Our first one of those since the first episode of Series 17! And it was Mr Warth who got in first for the Suncatchers to take the win.

 

Mastermind was won by Sharon Chambers, for whom a spectacular GK round saw her add a mighty SIXTEEN(!) points to her SS 8 to win with 24 points, one ahead of second placed Graeme Barton with 23. Matthew Harper and Kimia Etemadi completed the line-up with 20 and 10 respectively.

 

Brain of Britain reached its 70^th Grand Final; our contenders were Dan Adler, Eleanor Ayres, Colin Kidd and George Scratcherd. And, after last week’s first round where all four players scored three, this week, we went one better as all four scored four! In fact, it was a very steady scoring show indeed, with all four scoring pretty well on their own questions, with the result that there was only time for four rounds as opposed to the usual five.

 

In the second round, George got slightly left behind as he had five and the others all had six! Then, he fell even further behind in the third, after which, he still had five, while Eleanor had 8, Colin had 9 and Dan had 10.

 

Dan began, what would be the final round, with four of his own, but missed out on 5IARAABP. However, neither Eleanor or Colin were able to take advantage, though George did recover a bit of lost ground on his round. He ended up finishing with 8 points; Eleanor and Colin both had 11, and Dan was the winner on 15! Congratulations to him; a most worthy winner!

 

I believe he will be returning at the start of the next series to contest the triennial Brain of Brains, where he will meet Karl Whelan and Sarah Trevarthen, and, if they invite back a high scoring runner-up like they’ve done in the last few of these, I’m guessing Marianne Fairthorne would be back too.

 

Anyway, that’s Brain of Britain for this series; thanks to all involved, another most enjoyable series!