University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 6: Strathclyde vs Reading

Good evening friends, and welcome back to University Challenge! Tonight's edition started with Paxo reminding us of the special measures taken to keep the participants safe, and also revealed that, as the show will, again, be filmed over two academic years, graduates will be allowed to continue to play after completing their degree, which was, of course, banned after what happened in 2009. And with that info, on with tonight's show...

 

Strathclyde University is appearing in its seventh BBC series, and for the fourth time in five series; last year, its team made it all the way to the play-off quarter-finals before losing to Magdalene, which was its best run in the BBC era. This year's team were:

Nicolas Kirsch, from Potsdam, Germany, studying Data Analtyics

Andrew Laird, from Denny near Falkirk, studying Chemical Engineering

Captain: Martin Monaghan, from Whiteinch near Partick, studying Physics

Rihanna McGhee, from Gourock in Inverclyde, studying English and French

 

Reading University has also appeared six times before in the BBC revival, but has yet to reach the QFs; last year's team were unlucky to face Birkbeck of London in the first round and were soundly beaten by the team who would later lose to Strathclyde. This year's foursome were:

Alex Skopic, from Springville, Pennsylvania, studying English Literature

Margaret Ounsley, from Reading, studying Poor Law History

Captain: Michael Hutchinson, from Caversham (originally Andover), stuyding for a PGCE

Sylvain Jesudoss, from Thanjuvar, India, studying Marketing

 

So off we set again, and Paxo was maybe a touch lenient to accept Ms Ounsley's offer of 'showers' for 'rain' for the first starter, but accept it he did, and the Berkshire team took a full set on films whose titles begin with 'My'. Ms Ounsley took the second starter, and Mr Hutchinson the third, only one of the resulting six bonuses gave them more points. The first picture round, on departments of France with shared name elements, gave Strathclyde their first points; a full set of their own cut their deficit to 50-25.

It then increased again, though, as the Scots side lost five and Mr Hutchinson took the points, followed by two bonuses. Strathclyde recovered well though, with two starters in a row taken by Messrs Laird and Monaghan and three of the six resulting bonuses. Mr Hutchinson maintained breathing space for his side taking the next starter and two bonuses with it. Neither side identified the singer Daddy Yankee for the music starter; the bonuses, on reggaeton collaborations, went to Strathclyde, who took one bonus to reduce the gap to 90-70.

Mr Monaghan identified Philip II of Spain for the next starter to cut the gap to 10 and give his side a chance of the lead, but they got nothing from the resulting bonuses on ratios. Back came Reading with Mr Hutchinson once again taking the points, putting them into three figures, and two bonuses maintained their slender lead. Strathclyde came back again and took two bonuses to also reach three figures. The second picture round, on stills from folk horror films, went to Reading, who took another two bonuses to increase their lead to 130-100.

And it was that man Mr Hutchinson who once again did the honours for the next starter, and a full set of bonuses on the Isle of Lewis pretty much confirmed victory for the Biscuitmen. Two further starters for the impressive Reading captain confirmed the win; no points came from either of the bonus sets, including one on Latin mottos of English football clubs not dissimilar to one Alex Guttenplan's Emmanuel team encountered many years ago, but it didn't really matter now. Mr Laird did take the final starter for Strathclyde, but the gong went before they could answer the first bonus; Reading won 175-110.

A good contest I thought, either teams' game until Reading pulled away in the final third. Well done to them, Mr Hutchinson in particular who was very good on the buzzer, and best of luck in the next round! Hard lines to Strathclyde, but they gave a good account of themselves, thanks for playing!

The stats: Mr Hutchinson was easily the best buzzer of the night with EIGHT(!) starters, while Mr Laird was best for Strathclyde with three. On the bonuses, Strathclyde managed 9 out of 19 and Reading 16 out of 30, and both sides incurred one penalty each.

Next week's match: Durham vs Trinity Cambridge

Only Connect pitted the Debuggers, Patrick Knowles, Rohit Gupta and captain Jacob Warbrick, against the Steelers, Henrietta Ford, Jennifer Martino and captain Andrew Fisher. The latter led 5-3 after the first round, which increase to 10-5 after the second. A better wall increased the Steelers’ lead to 20-10; the Debuggers fought back valiantly in the final round, but ultimately fell just 1 short, the Steelers won 21-20.

 

Brain of Britain was won comfortably by Alan Hodgson with 14 points, 10 ahead of second place Paul Hood on 4; Colin Atkinson and Gaetana Trippetti also competed and both finished with 3.

 

And don't forget Mastermind returns next Monday at 7:30 with new host Clive Myrie!

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.

University Challenge 2021-22: Round 1: Match 4: Emmanuel vs St Andrews

Good evening friends, and here we go again! England vs Scotland tonight, with two teams hoping to give us a livelier contest than we got between the two nations at Wembley back in June! Winners would go straight through, runners-up would have to wait and see for the play-offs. It's been a rather low scoring start to the series so far, so maybe tonight's match would up the ante a bit...

Emmanuel College Cambridge is appearing on its seventh BBC series tonight, and its fourth in six years. Its most successful run, of course, being when it won the series under the captaincy of Alex Guttenplan in 2009-10, its second most being a semi-final appearance under Bobby Seagull's captaincy in 2016-17. This year's team were:

Nicole Pullinger, from Hong Kong, studying English

Nicholas Thatte, from Oxford (originally Greece), studying Physics

Captain: Kara Malcolm, from Guildford (originally Capetown), studying Engineering

James Wrathall, from Mistley in Essex, studying Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 

St Andrews is appearing for the seventeenth time in the BBC series; of its previous sixteen appearances, its best was a semi-final run in 2003-04. Its greatest success came in the ITV series though, winning in 1982 and runners-up in 1984 to an Open University team captained by Brain of Britain and Fifteen-to-One champ Barbara Thompson. This year's St Andrews foursome were:

Alastair Fennell, from Edinburgh, studying Physics

Harry Alderson, from Shelford in Cambridgeshire, studying Physics

Captain: Jack Wigg, from Glasgow, studying Maths

Aine McMenamin, from London, studying Classics

 

So off we set once again, and the first starter was a gimme to anyone who's seen the film version of 'Starter for 10', as you'll have known instantly that Patrick Watts was played by Benedict Cumberbatch; Mr Thatte waited for the more obvious clue of Sherlock Holmes before buzzing correctly. Emmanuel took two bonuses from their first set, and all three of the second set that came next. St Andrews got going on the third starter, answered by Ms McMenamin, and they took just one of their first set. They also took the first picture round, on the outlines of equatorial countries; another sole bonus cut the gap to 45-30.

Emmanuel increased that gap again as Mr Wrathall took the next starter, but got nothing from bonuses on recent sporting achievement (I got two). St Andrews then lost five on two successive starters; Emmanuel picked up both, but only got one bonus from both of the resulting sets, amongst them an unfortunate suggestion that Joan Collins was born in 1893! St Andrews got going again as Mr Fennell won the race to identify Oliver! for the music starter; the bonuses, on musicals whose book, music and lyrics were all written by the same person, gave them two correct answers, to reduce the gap to 85-40.

Another starter to the Cambridge side increased it, and they took a full bonus set on piracy. St Andrews needed to get a move on if they were to stand a chance, and get a move on they did, two successive starters and five out of six bonuses took them right back into the game. They also took the second picture round, on paintings by French impressionists of their contemporaries, and took two bonuses to cut the gap to 110-105.

It increased again when the Scots side lost another five, but Emmanuel didn't pick up this time. Ms Pullinger did make a very good quick buzz on the next starter, but just one bonus left the door ajar for their opponents. Mr Wigg duly ensured all four St Andrews players had contributed a starter, and they took a full set of bonuses to put the teams level! A straight shootout to the end now; Emmanuel blinked first, but none of the resulting bonuses kept their opponents in the game. Mr Fennell capitalised as he took the final starter, and one bonus was enough to see his side home and dry. At the gong, St Andrews had snuck the win, 140-135.

Another good close match between two well matched teams, well played both; the second 140-135 of the series too! Well done St Andrews and best of luck in the next round! And well done Emmanuel too, and hopefully 135 will bring you back in the play-offs, we shall wait and see, but thanks for now!

The stats: Mr Wrathall was best on the buzzer with four starters, while Mr Fennell and Ms McMenamin got three each for St Andrews. On the bonuses, Emmanuel managed 11 out of 24 and St Andrews 15 out of 24 (with three penalties), so the bonuses just about won the game.

Next week's match: Queen Mary London vs Oxford Brookes

Only Connect pitted the Golfers, Evan Lynch (UC alumnus), George Charlson and captain Frances Clark-Murray, against the Wildlifers, Harry Kanagaratnam, James True and captain Lucy Harry, wife of Harry. The Golfers led 5-2 after the first round, and 9-4 after the second. Two perfect walls left it as you were, 19-14, going into Missing Vowels, and the Golfers maintained and increased their advantage to win 27-17.

 

Brain of Britain’s third heat was a lower scoring one than the first two; Mark Manson won with ten points, Bernadette Stott, Lisa Tulfer and Caroline Markovitch also competed and finished with 6, 4 and 2 respectively. Highlight was an audio question about I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue that I could’ve answered without the clip!