APPLAUSE
Christmas University Challenge.
Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.
Hello. Two more teams of alumni
are preparing to ding-dong merrily for our entertainment
in this short, sharp seasonal series for grown-ups.
We're playing seven first-round matches
of which tonight's fixture is the third.
But only the four highest-scoring winning teams
will go on to the semifinals.
Now, the first player on the team fielded by Pembroke College,
Cambridge is both a columnist for the London Evening Standard
and a writer whose bestsellers include The Templars
and The Plantagenets. He's also presented
the Netflix series Secrets of Great British Castles.
With him, an athlete who won a gold medal
in the 2003 World Championships
and an Olympic silver the following year
before going to work on conflict issues in Bosnia and Iraq.
Their captain is a very familiar face on television
having presented Channel 4's T4, E4's Tool Academy,
the BBC quiz Impossible and the podcast Science(ish).
Their fourth player is a musician
who at 17 won the BBC's Young Musician of the Year competition.
Since then, she's performed
as a soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras
and collaborated with Yehudi Menuhin and Dame Cleo Laine.
Let's meet the Pembroke College, Cambridge team.
Hi. I'm Dan Jones. I graduated from Pembroke in 2002
having read history, and I'm now a historian and a journalist.
I'm Cath Bishop. I graduated in modern and medieval languages
from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1993.
After a career as an Olympic rower and a diplomat,
I now work as a leadership consultant.
And their captain. Hi, I'm Rick Edwards,
graduated in natural sciences from Pembroke, Cambridge in 2001
and I'm now a writer and broadcaster.
Hello. I'm Emma Johnson. I read music and English at Pembroke
and I'm a solo clarinettist, composter and arranger.
APPLAUSE
Playing them is the team from King's College, London,
which includes the co-founder of the Institute of Making,
which describes itself as a multidisciplinary research club
for people interested in making anything from soup to cities.
She's a panellist on Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet
and has recently presented BBC Four's The Secret Story of Stuff.
With her, a journalist, broadcaster and award-winning science writer
whose works include Geek Nation
and, more recently, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong.
At the age of 25, their captain
became one of the UK's youngest TV news editors.
Since then, she's presented numerous programmes
including The Westminster Hour and Any Answers? on Radio 4,
and on television, The Daily Politics.
She's also an author.
And finally, an Ivor Novello award-winner
whose scores for television and cinema include Jeeves and Wooster,
The Crying Game, Poldark, and The Full Monty,
for which she won an Oscar.
Let's meet the King's College, London team.
I'm Zoe Laughlin, I did my PhD in materials at King's College, London,
and I'm an artist, designer and materials engineer.
Hi. I'm Angela Saini, I received a Masters in science and security
from King's College, London in 2008,
and now I'm a science journalist.
And their captain. Hello. My name's Anita Anand.
present programmes about politics on Radio 4
and the Reith Lectures, and I write books about history and politics.
graduated from King's College with a BA in English.
Hello. I'm Anne Dudley. I was a postgraduate student at
King's College, studying for a Masters degree in musical analysis,
and now I'm a composer.
APPLAUSE
The rules never change on this show
so I'll just tell you that it's 10 points for starters,
15 points for bonuses,
and if you interrupt a starter question incorrectly
you face a five-point penalty.
Fingers on the buzzers, here's your first starter for 10.
According to a tradition cited in the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
what seasonal item was created in the 19th century
by a Munich housewife who got fed up with being repeatedly asked,
"When will it be Christmas?"
The advent calendar. Correct.
You get a set of bonuses on Christmas-time gift-bearers.
Firstly, portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick,
the friendly La Befana in Italian folklore
derives her name from which Christian festival
observed on January 6th?
THEY CONFER
Pass.
It's Epiphany.
Secondly, known by similar names in other Nordic countries,
the Swedish julbok is a pre-Christian gift-bringer
in the form of what ruminant?
What's a ruminant? t's like a cow.
Reindeer? Cow? Reindeer?
Try reindeer.
Reindeer. No, it's a goat.
In which country does St Basil the Great,
one of the fathers of the Orthodox Church,
bring gifts at Christmas time?
THEY CONFER
Russia. No, it's Greece.
Right, ten points for this.
What seasonal plant links
the American writer played by Joseph Cotton in The Third Man,
a disembodied head in the TV series Red Dwarf,
and the socialite...
Holly. Correct.
Right, these bonuses, King's, are on photographs.
What popular title is given to the 1985 portrait
of the 12-year-old green-eyed refugee
later identified as Sharbat Gula?
It featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine.
t's the National Geographic girl n Afghanistan.
s it called Girl of Afghanistan? s that what it's called?
- Isn't it...? - Afghan Girl?
Er...shall we?
The Afghan Girl. Correct.
Give the word that completes the title of a 1951 photograph
by Ruth Orkin.
It shows a young woman, Ninalee Craig,
walking down a street and being noticed by a crowd of men.
American Girl in...
Paris?
American Girl in Paris? Yeah.
Paris. No, it's Italy.
And finally, the art dealer Robert Fraser,
often known as Groovy Bob,
appears handcuffed to which public figure
in a photograph that became the basis for
Richard Hamilton's work entitled Swingeing London 67?
THEY CONFER
Pass. He was handcuffed to Mick Jagger. Ten points for this.
Listen carefully. Each cracker on a Christmas dinner table
contains a coloured paper crown
taken from a choice of six colours.
How many crackers must be pulled
to be certain of obtaining at least two crowns the same colour?
Seven? Correct.
APPLAUSE
Right. Your first set of bonuses, Pembroke College,
are on trees listed on the website
of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association.
In each case, give the two-word name of the variety
from the description.
Firstly, "The traditional Christmas tree found in many of our homes.
"It is a Scandinavian variety
"with pointed mid-green needles standing on tiny pegs
"and long cylindrical brown cones which hang down."
THEY CONFER
Norwegian spruce? Correct.
"Introduced into Britain in 1830,
"it is a native of Washington and Oregon,
"where it grows to a great height.
"It has long, upswept blueish-grey needles
"at right angles to the twig."
THEY CONFER
Redwood pine?
No, it's the red fir, or noble fir.
Nearly, but not quite.
And finally, "a native of once-extensive Caledonian forests,
"it is our only native timber-producing conifer
"and has twisted blue-green needles found in pairs."
Scots pine? Correct.
We're going to take a picture round now.
For your picture starter, you're going to see
the tune of a Christmas carol in the key of C major
as it would be on a piano roll for a player piano.
The notes are to be read from left to right
with notes in a higher vertical position
being of higher pitch.
For ten points I want you to give me
the opening line of the carol represented.
"Joy to the world."
Joy to the world is correct!
For your bonuses, you're now going to see three more piano rolls
representing well-known festive tunes in the key of C major.
Firstly, I want the opening line of the carol
usually sung to this tune.
THEY CONFER
s it Hark The Herald Angels Sing? I don't think so.
THEY SING
In The Bleak Midwinter?
THEY SING
Oh, go for Hark the Herald.
"Hark the herald angels sing."
No, it's "Once n royal David's city".
Secondly, the usual three-word name of this carol.
ANNE SINGS
The First Noel.
The First Noel. Correct.
And finally, the title of this Christmas song.
Note that here, you're seeing the chorus.
THEY CONFER
Oh, it's Jingle Bells.
Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells is correct.
Ten points for this.
Which two rhyming words end the first and second lines
of Clement C Moore's 1822 poem A Visit From St Nicholas?
It begins, "Twas the night before Christmas."
Mouse and house.
Correct.
Right, you get three bonuses on the work of Ursula K Le Guin
who died in January 2018.
Which 1969 novel by Ursula Le Guin
concerns the frigid planet Gethin
and the race of androgynous people
who may become either male or female?
THEY CONFER
The Wizards of Earthsea?
No, it's The Left Hand of Darkness.
Secondly, which minor figure from Virgil's Aeneid
is the title character of a critically admired novel of 2008?
She's a daughter of Latinus and becomes the wife of Aeneas.
THEY CONFER
Dido? No, it's Lavinia.
And finally, featuring a wizard called Ged,
which fictional world is the setting
for Le Guin's popular series for young adults?
Earthsea. Correct.
Right, ten points for this.
Which 20th-century artist is the subject of a poem by Margaret Atwood
that includes the lines
"Here in the souvenir arcade you're everywhere:
"the printed cotton bags, the pierced tin boxes,
"the red T-shirts..."
Picasso.
No, you lose five points.
"..the pierced tin boxes, the red T-shirts, the beaded crosses,
"your coiled braids, your level stare..."
Anyone want to buzz from Pembroke?
Dali?
No, it's Frida Kahlo.
Ten points for this.
Meanings of what four-letter word include
a body segment of an annelid,
the structure of benzene, a device for identifying...
Ring.
Ring is correct.
Your bonuses are on transuranic elements.
In each case, identify the element from its anagram.
Firstly, "alumni crew"
is an anagram of the name of which transuranic element,
named after the US physicist who invented the cyclotron?
I can't spell, so this is no good.
THEY CONFER
We should guess this.
Don't spend too long on it. Keep going.
Er, pass, sorry.
That's Lawrencium.
"Punier comic" is an anagram of which transuranic element
named after a Polish astronomer?
THEY CONFER
Er, Copernicus.
No, it's copernicium.
And finally, "not meringue" is an anagram of which element
named after the inventor of X-rays?
THEY CONFER
Argentinium.
No, it's roentgenium.
Right, ten points for this.
What seasonal name in English
corresponds to the given names of the following people?
The composer of Aida and Rigoletto,
the manager of FC Barcelona between 2008 and 2012,
the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens,
and the Puerto Rican actor noted for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac?
Is it Josep?
It is Joseph, yes.
APPLAUSE
Right, you get a set of bonuses on the TV series Sex and the City
which in 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of its first broadcast.
I need the given name and birth surname
of each character.
First, which character in Sex and the City
shares a surname with the Stockport-born jurist
who presided at the trial of King Charles I in 1649?
Pass.
Carrie Bradshaw. John Bradshaw was the person who presided.
Which character shares a surname
with the closest city to the 1644 Battle of Marston Moor?
THEY CONFER
don't think this is our specialist area.
That's Friends. Pass.
It's Charlotte York.
And finally, which leading character shares a surname
with a political philosopher born in Wiltshire in 1588?
Just say Mr Big. I've no idea.
Yeah. Mr Big.
Who's Mr Big?!
Yes. It's Miranda Hobbes.
Thank you. Right. Ten points for this. Who's this?
The first artistic director of London's Globe Theatre
and the recipient of the 2016 Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor...
Mark Rylance?
It is Mark Rylance, yes.
APPLAUSE
These bonuses are on the British primatologist and anthropologist
Dame Jane Goodall. Firstly, born in Kenya in 1903,
which anthropologist and archaeologist
was a major influence on Jane Goodall's career and researchers?
THEY CONFER
Louis Leakey. Correct, Louis Leakey is right.
Which director made Jane, the 2017 biographical documentary
about Goodall?
His other films include On The Ropes and The Kid Stays In The Picture.
Pass. That was Brett Morgan.
And finally, in which African country
is the Gombe Stream Research Centre, founded in 1965 to promote
Goodall's ground-breaking findings about chimp behaviour?
THEY CONFER
Uganda? No, it's in Tanzania, apparently.
Right, we're going to take a music round now.
For your music starter, you'll hear a song first released in 2011.
Ten points if you can name the solo artist singing.
# Swinging in the backyard Pull up in your fast car
# Whistling my name
# Open up a beer and you say get over here... #
Lana del Rey. It is indeed, yes. Well done.
APPLAUSE
That was her Video Games.
For your music, you're going to hear three more pop songs
that reference items you might find under the tree on Christmas morning.
In each case, name the band performing. Firstly:
# I've got a bike You can ride it if you like
# It's got a basket A bell that rings
# And things to make it look good
# I'd give it to you if I could... # Er, nominate Jones.
Is it the Bonzo Dog Band?
No, it's Pink Floyd, Bike.
Very good guess, though.
It was a terrible guess, actually.
I thought Pink Floyd and I thought, "It can't be that obvious."
But I was wrong. OK, secondly.
# To my dog on wheels I'll tell my pleasures and woes
# To my dog on wheels I'll tell my secrets and more... #
Belle and Sebastian. It is - Dog On Wheels. And finally:
# Come on, Barbie, let's go party
# I'm a Barbie girl In a Barbie world... #
Er, Aqua. Aqua is correct, Barbie Girl. Yes.
APPLAUSE
No shame at all. Right, ten points for this.
"For one glorious seven-week spell, he frightened Australians rigid.
"He was a bogeyman, a monster, a man who sacked their sporting cathedrals
"and then ruined Christmas."
These words refer to which sportsman
who announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018?
Alastair Cook. Correct.
APPLAUSE
These bonuses are on psalms, King's.
Firstly, what five words begin the psalm that contains the line,
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
"I will fear no evil"?
The Lord Is My Shepherd. Correct.
Secondly, what Latin word appears at the start of Psalms 66 and 100?
It's particularly used in reference to the latter
when set to music.
didn't even understand the question.
Pass. It's Jubilate.
And finally, what Latin word is often used to refer to Psalm 95,
which opens with the words "O come let us sing unto the Lord"?
Hosanna. No, it's Venite.
Ten points for this.
Published in 2018, Fascism: A Warning
is the work of which former US Secretary of State?
Her family...
Condoleezza Rice? Er, no, you lose five points.
Her family fled Czechoslovakia in 1939 when she was a young girl.
s it Madeleine Albright?
It is Madeleine Albright, yes.
APPLAUSE
You get three bonuses on the librettist Alice Goodman.
Goodman wrote the libretti for
the first two operas of which US composer,
the second of which, The Death of Klinghoffer,
was first performed in 1991?
John Adams.
John Adams. Correct.
Secondly, Goodman's 2017 collection History Is Our Mother
contains her translated libretto for a production at Glyndebourne
of which opera by Mozart?
The original version from 1791
was written by the German Emanuel Schikaneder.
Magic Flute.
That is correct. And finally, which English poet was married to Goodman
between 1987 and his death in 2016?
His collections include For The Unfallen and Mercy And Hymns.
THEY CONFER
Pass. That was Geoffrey Hill.
Right, we're going to take a picture round now.
For your picture starter you're going to see
a photograph of an artist.
Ten points if you can give me his name, please.
David Hockney.
David Hockney is correct.
Now, David Hockney was one of the
first subjects of the South Bank Show,
which turned 40 in 2018.
For your picture bonuses, I simply want you to identify three more
people profiled in that first series.
First, this writer.
WHISPERED CONFERRING
t could be, yeah. Pinter?
That is Harold Pinter, yes.
Secondly, this film director.
Is that a young David Lee?
Think it's a Polish guy.
I don't know. Pass.
Uh, uh...
Do you have an idea?
Polish...
Karol Reiss?
No, that's Ingmar Bergman.
And, finally, this conductor.
Leonard Bernstein.
No, that's Herbert Von Carrion.
Right, ten points for this.
Oak, crab and custard
can all be followed by what...
Apple.
Apple is correct, yes.
These bonuses are on shorter words that can be formed
from the letters of the name Santa Claus.
Identify each term from the definition.
Firstly, named after a figure in Greek mythology,
the first or uppermost of the bones in the human vertebral column,
supporting the skull.
Uh, Santa Claus... Can be made out of Santa Claus? Yes.
It's not ulna, is it? No, that's in the arm.
Spinal? No, that's Santa Claus, no.
Uh...
Column.
No, it's Atlas.
Secondly, a microscopic space in the human bone matrix
in which osteocytes are located.
Secal?
No, that's lacuna.
And, finally,
the Latin name for the ankle bone
articulating with the lower leg.
Hmm. We don't know. Pass.
That's the talus. Ten points for this.
There are about four minutes to go.
What five-letter word can mean both
a string used to accentuate the rhythm in a sitar,
and to speak tediously in a dull monotone?
Drone.
Drone is correct, yes.
You get a set of bonuses on debut albums of 1978. The album name
is that of the band or artist in each case.
Running With The Devil and Eruption
are tracks on which hard rock debut album
of 1978 named after the Dutch-born brothers
who founded the band in question?
Van Halen?
Correct.
Another Girl, Another Planet is perhaps the best known track
on which eponymous 1978 album?
Pass.
It was The Only Ones.
Fronted by Mark Knopfler,
which prominent band released its self-titled debut album in...
Dire Straits.
Dire Straits is correct.
Ten points for this.
In nautical terms, what seven-letter word is the opposite of windward?
Leeward.
Leeward is correct.
You get a set of bonuses now...
..on holidays celebrated on December 25th
that are unrelated to Christmas.
Which Asian country marks the birth of a national founder
on Quaid-e-Azam Day on December 25th?
Myanmar?
No, it's Pakistan.
Good Governance Day has been celebrated on the
25th December since 2014 in which large Asian country?
China.
No, it's India.
Constitution Day is an unofficial holiday
celebrated on December 25th
on which island state?
Japan.
No, it's Taiwan.
Ten points for this.
Generally attributed to the same author
as the Gospel According to Luke,
what is the fifth book of the New Testament?
Acts.
It is the Acts of the Apostles, yes.
Your bonuses this time are on novels with kinship terms in their titles.
In each case, name the work from the description.
Firstly, a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell about the relationships
of Molly Gibson, the daughter of a doctor,
with others, including her stepmother and stepsister?
Uh...pass.
Yeah, pass.
It's Wives And Daughters.
Secondly, which psychological thriller
of 1964 by Sheridan Le Fanu
concerns the teenaged orphan Maud Ruthyn?
Pass.
It's Uncle Silas.
And, finally, a novel of 1862 by Ivan Turgenev,
its characters include Arkady, Bazarov and Nicolay.
The Brothers Karamazov?
No, that's by Dostoyevsky,
it's Fathers And Sons.
Or Fathers And Children. Ten points for this.
A shortened form of a title meaning "Barbarian subduing general",
what six letter term is often used
to indicate the defacto leaders of Japan
from the late 12th century to 1867?
Shogun.
Shogun is correct, yes.
You get a set of bonuses on similar words.
According to legend, at which of the seven hills of Rome
were Romulus and Remus deposited
by the River Tiber?
You need to be quick, come on.
Pallantine.
Palatine is the word.
Palatine, sorry. I can't accept that, I'm sorry, you were wrong.
GONG
APPLAUSE
At the gong...
I'm sorry to be harsh there, King's, but there we are.
I've got to accept what you say.
Not what you meant to say.
Pembroke College, Cambridge, 85. It's not a BAD score...
t's not a good score, is it, Jeremy?
No, it's not, it's a pretty useless score, really,
but I was just trying to be nice to you. Thank you.
But we won't bother! t felt empty to me.
It was a bit empty. But you had some good answers I thought.
King's, congratulations to you,
150 points may well be enough to come back
as one of the highest scoring winners. We'll see.
But thank you very much for joining us.
I hope you can join us next time for another first round match, but until then,
it's goodbye from Pembroke College, Cambridge...
ALL: Goodbye.
..it's goodbye from King's College, London... ALL: Goodbye.
..and it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.
APPLAUSE