Misplaced Pages

University Challenge: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 14:39, 13 December 2017 view source86.130.177.171 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit Latest revision as of 19:12, 10 December 2024 view source Crazyseiko (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users9,833 edits ITV (1962 to 1987) 
(425 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|British TV quiz (since 1962)}}
{{about|the British series|the New Zealand series|University Challenge (New Zealand)}}
{{about|the British series|the New Zealand series|University Challenge (New Zealand TV series){{!}}''University Challenge'' (New Zealand TV series)|the ''Peep Show'' episode|University Challenge (Peep Show){{!}}University Challenge (''Peep Show'')}}
{{merge from|Christmas University Challenge|discuss=Talk:University Challenge#Proposed merge with Christmas University Challenge|date=September 2017}}
{{pp-dispute|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}} {{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox television {{Infobox television
| show_name = University Challenge | image = University Challenge TV card.png
| genre = ]
| image = University Challenge TV card.png
| presenter = {{plainlist|
| genre = ]
* ]
| presenter = ] <small>(1962–1987)</small><br />] <small>(1994–)</small>
* ]
| voices = Don Murray-Henderson <small>(1962–1971)</small><br />] <small>(1971–1987, 1994–2001)</small><br />] <small>(2001–)</small>
* ]
| country = United Kingdom
}}
| language = English
| voices = {{plainlist|
| num_series = 46
* Don Murray-Henderson
| num_episodes = 1,671 <small>({{as of|2015|10|26|lc=yes}})</small><ref>This figures included all episodes from both the ITV and BBC series, as well as the 2002 ''Reunited'' series and all special episodes. The figures does not include the spin-off ''University Challenge: The Professionals''.</ref>{{clarify|date=October 2016}}
* ]
| location = ] <small>(1962–2013)</small><br />] <small>(2013–)</small>
* ]
| runtime = 30 minutes
}}
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 53
| num_episodes = 1,792<ref>This figure included all episodes from both the ITV and BBC series, as well as the 2002 ''Reunited'' series and all special episodes. The figure does not include the spin-off ''University Challenge: The Professionals''.</ref>{{clarify|date=October 2016}}
| location = {{plainlist|
* ] (1962–2013)
* ] (2013–present)
}}
| runtime = 30 minutes
| theme_music_composer = Derek New | theme_music_composer = Derek New
| opentheme = "College Boy" performed by the ] | opentheme = "Ting A Ling" performed by ] (1962–1963)<br/>"College Boy" performed by: Derek New (1963–2000)<br/>the ] (2000–present)
| company = ] | company = {{plainlist|
* ] (1962–2009)
| distributor = ]
* ] (2009–2020)
| channel = ] <small>(1962–87)</small><br />] <small>(1994–present)</small>
* ] (2021–present)
| picture_format = ] <small>(1962–2000)</small><br />] <small>(2001–present)</small>
| audio_format = ] <small>(1962–87)</small><br />] <small>(1994–present)</small>
| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|1962|9|21}}
| last_aired = present
| related = '']''<br />''University Challenge: The Professionals''<br />'']''
}} }}
| channel = ]
| first_aired = {{start date|df=y|1962|9|21}}
| last_aired = {{end date|df=y|1987|12|31}}
| channel2 = ]
| first_aired2 = {{start date|df=y|1992|12|28}}
| last_aired2 = present
| related = {{plainlist|
* '']''
* ''University Challenge: The Professionals''
* '']''
* '']''
}}
}}
'''''University Challenge''''' is a British television ] which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ] from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster ]. The BBC revived the programme on 21 September 1994, the programme's 32nd anniversary, with ] as the quizmaster. Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the ] in 2023, after which he was succeeded by ].


The current title holders are ], who won a record fifth title in the final of the ] on 8 April 2024. On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, which aired on 17 July 2023.
'''''University Challenge''''' is a British ] which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ] from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster ]. The BBC revived the programme on 21 September 1994 with ] as the quizmaster.


The show has always been produced by the same company (originally named ], renamed ] in 2009 and renamed again ] in 2021), under licence from Richard Reid Productions and the ] Company.<ref>{{cite web|title=Richard Reid Productions|url=http://www.universitychallenge.com/|website=University Challenge|access-date=27 April 2016}}</ref> It was recorded at ] in ] from its inception until the studios closed in 2013; it is now recorded at ] in ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salfordnow.co.uk/2020/12/17/christmas-tv-specials-filmed-in-salford/|accessdate=26 April 2021|title=Christmas TV specials filmed in Salford this year|work=Salford Now|first=Callum|last=Metcalfe|date=17 December 2020}}</ref>
The current title holders are ], who won the ] in 2017.

The show is produced by ] (re-branded as ] in 2009), under licence from Richard Reid Productions and the ] Company.<ref>{{cite web|title=Richard Reid Productions|url=http://www.universitychallenge.com/|website=University Challenge|accessdate=27 April 2016}}</ref> It was recorded at ] in ] from its inception until the studios closed down in 2013; it is now recorded at ] in ].


==History== ==History==

===Format continuity=== ===Format continuity===
Despite periodic changes to the sets, studio layout, and presentation, University Challenge has evolved in a manner that has preserved a remarkably high level of continuity from 1962 to the present. Some commentators have cited this as an essential element of its success.<ref name=mount>See by Harry Mount, the Daily Telegraph, 7 April 2014.</ref> Elements of this continuity include: Despite periodic changes to the sets, studio layout, and presentation, ''University Challenge'' has preserved a high level of continuity from 1962 to the present. Some commentators have cited this as an essential element of its success.<ref name=mount>See by Harry Mount, the Daily Telegraph, 7 April 2014.</ref> Elements of this continuity include:
*The long service of its quizmasters, with only two presenters over more than half a century of broadcasting history; *The longevity of its quizmasters, with only three presenters in the programme's history;
*The instantly recognisable split-screen presentation during the starter question phase, which appears to place one team physically above the other (parodied by an actual double-decker set in the mock edition of the programme in '']'' – see below). In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was double-decker, removing the need for the electronically generated effect, although it returned for the revived series and has been used ever since; *The split-screen presentation during the starter question phase, which appears to place one team physically above the other. In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was two-tiered, although the split-screen effect returned for the revived series and has been used ever since;
*Long serving voiceover announcers, with only three in more than half a century – Don Murray-Henderson from 1962 until his death in 1971, then ] until his death in 2001, then ]; *Long serving voiceover announcers, with only three in the programme's history – Don Murray-Henderson from 1962 until his death in 1971, then ] until his death in 2001, then ]. Tilling's delivery typically becomes increasingly high-pitched as the episode progresses;<ref>{{youTube|HjFENtIZCjM|Roger Tilling Interview BBC Breakfast April 2017}}</ref>
*The theme tune ''College Boy'' by Derek New has been with the series since the 1960s (although the first series used ''Ting A Ling'' by ]).<ref name=mount/> ''College Boy'' was originally scored for an ensemble of ], ], ], brushed ], bass drum and double bass. The original theme returned for the early Paxman era episodes, and was later replaced by a string quartet arrangement of the theme recorded by the ]. *The theme tune "College Boy" by Derek New, which has been with the series since the 1960s (although the first series used "Ting A Ling" by ]).<ref name=mount/><ref name="ting">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3wF_vf1JDI|title=University Challenge Intros - 1962-2022 (UK, NZ & Aus)|publisher=University Challenge|date=26 Jan 2022|accessdate=21 August 2023}}</ref> "College Boy" was originally scored for an ensemble of ], ], ], brushed ], ] and ]. The original theme returned for the early Paxman-era episodes and was later replaced by a ] arrangement of the theme recorded by the ].


===ITV=== ===ITV (1962 to 1987)===
] hosted the original series of ''University Challenge'' from 1962 to 1987 and the 1992 Granadaland special.]]
The programme had its beginnings in an American television quiz show called '']''. Cecil Bernstein, brother of ] who founded ] in 1954, had seen the programme in the United States and liked the format. It was decided that Granada would produce a similar programme with competing teams from universities across the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Made in Manchester: University Challenge celebrates 50 years on our screens |last=Taylor |first=Paul |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/tv_and_showbiz/s/1588567_made-in-manchester-university-challenge-celebrates-50-years-on-our-screens |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=12 September 2012 |accessdate=12 September 2012}}</ref> From its inception in 1962, ''University Challenge'' was hosted by ]. The show was a cult favourite with a small but loyal core audience, and was one of a select few ITV shows that were transmitted without any advertising breaks. Originally, the series started off in many areas, being broadcast at peak times or just after the nightly news around 22.30; by the early 1970s, the series was relegated to irregular timeslots by the various ITV regional companies, appearing anywhere in the schedules; daytime, weekends, or even late at night. In the absence of a regular networked slot, audience figures would often fall, leading the producers to make changes to the long-standing format of the programme. In October 1983 ] decided to broadcast the series no longer, with Thames following suit, which resulted in no broadcasts in the London area.<ref>The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Oct 12, 1983; pg. 14;</ref> The series was given a rest for the whole of 1985, before returning in April 1986, when it was finally networked by ITV and stripped across the weekday slot of 3pm. The Gameplay was revised, initial games were staged over two legs; the first in the classic format and the second played as a relay, where contestants selected questions from specific categories such as sport, literature and science, passing a baton between players whenever a "lap" of two correct answers was scored. The final series was also network but broadcast around 11am during the summer holiday period. Even so, the new networked time did little to save the series from the axe. The last ITV series was broadcast in 1987.
The programme had its beginnings in an American television quiz show called '']''. Cecil Bernstein, brother of ] who founded ] in 1954, had seen the programme in the United States and liked the format. It was decided that Granada would produce a similar programme with competing teams from universities across the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Made in Manchester: University Challenge celebrates 50 years on our screens |last=Taylor |first=Paul |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/tv_and_showbiz/s/1588567_made-in-manchester-university-challenge-celebrates-50-years-on-our-screens |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=12 September 2012 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019041342/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/tv_and_showbiz/s/1588567_made-in-manchester-university-challenge-celebrates-50-years-on-our-screens |url-status=dead }}</ref> From its inception in 1962, ''University Challenge'' was hosted by ], who died in 2022. The programme's first match was a match between the ] (featuring a pre-famed Ian Channell, better known as ]) and the ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=University Challenge - 1963 |url=https://blanchflower.org/uc/uc63.html |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=blanchflower.org}}</ref> The show was a cult favourite with a small but loyal core audience, and was one of a select few ITV programmes that was transmitted without any advertising breaks. Originally, the series started off in many areas, being broadcast at peak times or just after the nightly news around 22:30; by the early 1970s, the series was relegated to irregular timeslots by the various ITV regional companies, with some broadcasting the show during daytime, at weekends or late at night. In the absence of a regular networked slot, audience figures would often fall, leading the producers to make changes to the long-standing format of the programme. ] stopped broadcasting the show in October 1983, with ] following suit shortly afterwards.<ref>The Times (London, England), Wednesday, 12 Oct 1983; pg. 14;</ref> Thames resumed screening the series in 1984 however they only screened the Quarter-finals To the final in December 1984, when it was networked for the first time.


The programme was not broadcast in 1985 and returned in April 1986, when it continued to networked by ITV and broadcast at 15:00 on weekdays. The gameplay was revised, initial games were staged over two legs; the first in the classic format and the second played as a relay, where contestants selected questions from specific categories such as sport, literature and science, passing a baton between players whenever a "lap" of two correct answers was scored. The final series was also networked, but broadcast around 11:00 during the summer holiday period. Even so, the new networked time did little to save the series from the axe. The last ITV series was broadcast in 1987.
The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge could each enter as separate teams up to five of their constituent colleges, which are not themselves universities: they have far fewer students – numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands – than most universities. This was one ostensible inspiration for an unusual 1975 protest. A team from the ] (which included ]) came second to ] when they started a round by answering every question "]", "]", "]" or "]",<ref name=UNperMD>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m49vh|title=Your Starter for Ten: 50 Years of University Challenge|author1=] (presenter)|author2=Jo Meek (producer)|publisher=BBC ("Radio 4 Extra")|accessdate=24 April 2016}}</ref> possibly in the hope of making the resulting show unbroadcastable.<ref>{{Cite news |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco |last=Gallagher |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 June 2009 |accessdate=6 January 2012}}</ref>

It did, however, get broadcast, although only portions of the episode still exist in the archives of Granada TV. Granada banned the University of Manchester for several years.<ref>{{Cite news |title='University Challenge' Won By Manchester Team for Third Time |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/19/university-challenge-won-manchester_n_1364276.html |work=] |date=19 March 2012 |accessdate=19 March 2012}}</ref>
The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge could each enter up to five of their constituent colleges as separate teams, which are not themselves universities: they have far fewer students – numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands – than most universities. This was one ostensible inspiration for a 1975 protest, in which a team from the ] (which included ]) came second to ], when they started a round by answering every question "]", "]", "]" or "]", in the hope of making the resulting show unbroadcastable.<ref name=UNperMD>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m49vh|title=Your Starter for Ten: 50 Years of University Challenge|author1=] (presenter)|author2=Jo Meek (producer)|publisher=BBC ("Radio 4 Extra")|access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco |last=Gallagher |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 June 2009 |access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref>
It was, however, broadcast, although only portions of the episode still exist in the Granada Television archives. Granada subsequently banned the University of Manchester for several years.<ref>{{Cite news |title='University Challenge' Won By Manchester Team for Third Time |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/19/university-challenge-won-manchester_n_1364276.html |work=]|date=19 March 2012 |access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref>


===BBC=== ===BBC===
] hosted ''University Challenge'' from 1994 to 2023 and '']'' from 2011 to 2022.]]
University Challenge was eventually revived in 1994 by the ], although still produced by Granada Television (now as part of the ITV Studios), using the original format with minor differences and presented by ].
] hosted the 2003 and 2005 '']'' editions of ''University Challenge''.]]
] hosted the 2019 ''Comic Relief'' edition of ''University Challenge''.]]
] hosted the 2020 and 2021 '']'' editions of ''University Challenge''.]]
''University Challenge'' was revived by the ] in 1994, although still produced by Granada Television (branded since 2009 as ITV Studios), using the original format, with minor differences, and presented by ].

During the show's hiatus, a special edition of the show was made by the BBC, as part of a themed evening of programmes dedicated to Granada Television. It was presented by Bamber Gascoigne and broadcast on ] on 28 December 1992. The teams included one of students from ], which had fielded the winning team in the final 1987 season, and a graduates team of celebrity alumni who had previously appeared on the programme as students, including journalist ] and actor ]. This show was preceded by a short documentary about the show's history. Bamber Gascoigne's final appearance as host was in ''Universe Challenge'' in 1998 (see below).

Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the ] in 2023, after which he was succeeded by ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minelle |first=Bethany |date=18 August 2022 |title=Amol Rajan replaces Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host |url=https://news.sky.com/story/amol-rajan-replaces-jeremy-paxman-as-university-challenge-host-12675786 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818122123/https://news.sky.com/story/amol-rajan-replaces-jeremy-paxman-as-university-challenge-host-12675786 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=Sky News}}</ref> In October 2022, an ITV documentary, ''Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's'', explored how ] has impacted him<ref>{{Cite web |last=MD |first=Peter Grinspoon |date=2018-08-24 |title=Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't |url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476 |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=Harvard Health |language=en}}</ref> and revealed that Paxman recorded his last episode of ''University Challenge'' on 15 October 2022, which aired on 29 May 2023.<ref>{{Citation |title=Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's – Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's |url=https://www.itv.com/hub/paxman-putting-up-with-parkinsons/10a2082a0001 |language=en |access-date=2022-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-04 |title=TV tonight: Jeremy Paxman on Parkinson's, dissecting brains and quitting University Challenge |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/04/tv-tonight-jeremy-paxman-on-parkinsons-dissecting-brains-and-quitting-university-challenge |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>


On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, which aired on 17 July 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First look images of new University Challenge set and host Amol Rajan |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2023/university-challenge-first-look-new-set-amol-rajan |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Two - University Challenge, 2023/24, Trinity College, Cambridge v Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nxvc |website=] |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>
During the show's hiatus, a special edition of the show was made, not by Granada but by BBC Television, as part of a themed evening of programmes dedicated to Granada Television. It was presented by Bamber Gascoigne, and screened on BBC2 on 28 December 1992. The teams included one of students from ], which had fielded the winning team in the final 1987 season; and a graduates team of celebrity alumni who had previously appeared on the programme as students, including journalist ] and actor ]. This show was preceded by a short documentary about the show's history. Bamber Gascoigne's final appearance as host was in ''Universe Challenge'' in 1998 (see below).


====Postgraduates==== ====Postgraduates====
The show has, since its revival in 1994, featured a number of teams of ] and ], whose participation has been criticised.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Nicole Martin|title=University Challenge 'needs upper age limit' &#91;print version: Your starter for 10: how old are these students?&#93;|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/14/nstudents114.xml|newspaper=]|date=17 December 2007 |origyear= 14 December 2007|page=14 | location=London}}</ref> The ] (OU) won the 1999 series with a team whose ages averaged 46. In the quarter-final, they narrowly beat a slightly younger team from part-time and mature student specialist ]. Birkbeck won the competition in 2003, also with a substantially mature team. Host ] said that the OU team was not in the spirit of the competition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Paxman Slams 'Quiz Professionals'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/361491.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=5 June 1999}}</ref> The team publicly replied by challenging him to specify in what way this was "contrary to the spirit of the quiz – or of the university".<ref>"How Lance Left Paxman at a Loss for Words" – Mensa Magazine, August, 1999</ref> Since its revival in 1994, the programme has featured a number of teams of ] and ], whose participation has been criticised.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Nicole Martin|title=University Challenge 'needs upper age limit' &#91;print version: Your starter for 10: how old are these students?&#93;|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/14/nstudents114.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214211352/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F12%2F14%2Fnstudents114.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 December 2007|newspaper=]|date=17 December 2007|orig-year=14 December 2007|page=14|location=London|access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref> The ] won the 1999 series with a team with an average age of 46. In the quarter-final, they narrowly beat a slightly younger team from part-time and mature student specialist ]. Birkbeck won the competition in 2003, also with a substantially mature team. Host ] said that the Open University team was "not in the spirit" of the competition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Paxman Slams 'Quiz Professionals'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/361491.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=5 June 1999}}</ref> The team publicly replied by challenging him to specify in what way this was "contrary to the spirit of the quiz – or of the university".<ref>"How Lance Left Paxman at a Loss for Words" – Mensa Magazine, August, 1999</ref>


====Ineligible contestants==== ====Ineligible contestants====
In 2009, ], part of the team from ], was accused of not being a student when the show was filmed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/university-challenge-winners-dethroned/2000957.article|title= University Challenge winners dethroned|publisher=Broadcast|author=Michael Rosser|date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Kay, who had completed a ] degree the previous summer, had been planning to go on to study for a ], but he did not have sufficient funding so dropped out. He then became an ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7917481.stm|title= BBC in University Challenge probe|publisher=BBC|date=1 March 2009|accessdate=1 March 2009}}</ref> The team, whose captain ] was dubbed the "human ]",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/University-Challenge-winners--stripped.5030768.jp|title=University Challenge winners stripped of title – for having zero common sense|publisher='']''|author=Brian Ferguson|date=3 March 2009|accessdate=3 March 2009}}</ref> won the competition but was subsequently disqualified and the trophy awarded to the runners-up, the University of Manchester.<ref name=BBC-Disqualification>{{cite press release | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/03_march/02/challenge.shtml | title = University Challenge: a joint statement from the BBC and Granada | date = 2 March 2009 | accessdate = 2 March 2009 | work = BBC Press Office | publisher = BBC}}</ref> In 2009, ], part of the team from ], was accused of not being a student when the show was filmed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/university-challenge-winners-dethroned/2000957.article|title= University Challenge winners dethroned|publisher=Broadcast|author=Michael Rosser|date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Kay, who had completed a ] degree the previous summer, had been planning to go on to study for a ], but dropped out as he did not have sufficient funding. He then became an ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7917481.stm|title= BBC in University Challenge probe|publisher=BBC|date=1 March 2009|access-date=1 March 2009}}</ref> The team, whose captain ] was dubbed the "human ]",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/University-Challenge-winners--stripped.5030768.jp|title=University Challenge winners stripped of title – for having zero common sense|newspaper=]|author=Brian Ferguson|date=3 March 2009|access-date=3 March 2009}}</ref> won the competition but was subsequently disqualified and the trophy awarded to the runners-up, the University of Manchester.<ref name=BBC-Disqualification>{{cite press release | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/03_march/02/challenge.shtml | title = University Challenge: a joint statement from the BBC and Granada | date = 2 March 2009 | access-date = 2 March 2009 | work = BBC Press Office | publisher = BBC}}</ref>


A few days later, it was also revealed that Charles Markland, a member of the ] from ], had transferred his studies to ] halfway through the series. He said that his team captain had contacted a researcher concerning the situation, and had been told that this was not a problem and that the same team should be maintained for continuity purposes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7922672.stm|title= University quiz hit by new claims|publisher=BBC|date=4 March 2009|accessdate=4 March 2009}}</ref> It was also revealed that Freya McClements, captain of the 2004 winning team from ], was at the time studying at ]. Although it was mentioned in a BBC news story at the time, no action was taken because the BBC stated that the facts had not been brought to their attention.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Holmwood|first=Leigh|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/03/university-challenge-winners-break-rules|title=Previous University Challenge winners appear to break rules|publisher='']''|date=3 March 2009|accessdate=4 March 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3622739.stm|title=Scholar tops university quiz|publisher=BBC|date=13 April 2004|accessdate=4 March 2009}}</ref> A few days later, it was also revealed that Charles Markland, a member of the ] from ], had transferred his studies to ] halfway through the series. He said that his team captain had contacted a researcher concerning the situation, and had been told that this was not a problem and that the same team should be maintained for continuity purposes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7922672.stm|title= University quiz hit by new claims|publisher=BBC|date=4 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> It was also revealed that Freya McClements, captain of the 2004 winning team from ], was at the time studying at ]. Although it was mentioned in a BBC news story at the time, no action was taken because the BBC stated that the facts had not been brought to their attention.<ref>{{cite news|last=Holmwood|first=Leigh|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/03/university-challenge-winners-break-rules|title=Previous University Challenge winners appear to break rules|newspaper=]|date=3 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3622739.stm|title=Scholar tops university quiz|publisher=BBC|date=13 April 2004|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref>


====Editing==== ====Editing====
In 2016, at the ], Jeremy Paxman revealed that, when students were unable to answer several consecutive starter questions, those questions were often deleted before the show is broadcast. He explained that this was done to make a better programme and because "you as a taxpayer do not want to think your money is being wasted."<ref>{{Citation In 2016, at the ], Jeremy Paxman said that, when students were unable to answer several consecutive starter questions, those questions were often deleted before the show is broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2016/oct/05/your-starter-for-10-is-university-challenge-cheating-us |title=Your starter for 10 is University Challenge cheating us? |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 October 2016 |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125212620/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2016/oct/05/your-starter-for-10-is-university-challenge-cheating-us |url-status=live |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>
| last =Lambert
| first =Laura
| author-link =
| last2 =Hughes
| first2 =Tammy
| author2-link =
| title =Come on, just answer the question! Jeremy Paxman reveals parts of University Challenge are edited out when students continue to give a run of wrong answers
| newspaper =Daily Mail
| pages =
| year =
| date =3 October 2016
| url =http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3819876/Come-just-answer-question-Jeremy-Paxman-reveals-parts-University-Challenge-edited-students-continue-run-wrong-answers.html
| access-date =3 October 2016 }}</ref>


===In popular culture=== ===In popular culture===
*In an episode of the BBC comedy series '']'', first broadcast on 15 December 1980, ] plays Bamber Gascoigne in a sketch that pitches two teams of criminals representing prisoners from ] and ]. The teams score "points" (remission of sentence) by "]" on possible suspects involved in a crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00cys6q|title=BBC Two – Not the Nine O'Clock News, Series 3, Episode 8|website=BBC|access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>
*In 1984, an episode of '']'', entitled "]" (a play on Bamber Gascoigne's name), centred on a parody of ''University Challenge'' with a match between the fictitious teams of Scumbag College and ]. The cast included Stephen Fry, who participated in the real competition in 1980 while at Cambridge, and fellow alumni and ] members ] and ] as part of the "Footlights College" team and ] as the host.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jess Denham |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/rik-mayall-dead-actor-and-comedians-funniest-moments-9515759.html |title=Rik Mayall death anniversary: Funniest moments from Blackadder to The Young Ones &#124; Features &#124; Culture |publisher=The Independent |date= |accessdate=18 April 2016}}</ref>
*In 1984 an episode of '']'', entitled "]" (a play on Bamber Gascoigne's name), centred on a parody of ''University Challenge'' with a match between the fictitious teams of Scumbag College and ]. The cast included Stephen Fry, who participated in the real competition in 1980 while at Cambridge, and fellow alumni and ] members ] and ] as part of the "Footlights College" team, and Griff Rhys Jones as the host. The teams are arranged physically one above the other, in a parody of the show's split-screen format.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jess Denham |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/rik-mayall-dead-actor-and-comedians-funniest-moments-9515759.html |title=Rik Mayall death anniversary: Funniest moments from Blackadder to The Young Ones &#124; Features &#124; Culture |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=18 April 2016}}</ref>
*A quiz themed around ] ] ] '']'', broadcast in 1998, was entitled ''Universe Challenge''. It opened as if it were a regular episode, but with Chris Barrie imitating{{clarify|reason=Did Barrie imitate Paxman's style and mannerisms or was it an impersonation?|date=March 2017}} Jeremy Paxman. Gascoigne comes from behind with a blaster gun and blows him out of the chair so that he can host. This was Bamber Gascoigne's last appearance as host.<ref>{{IMDb title|469215|Universe Challenge (1998)}}</ref>
*A quiz themed around BBC science fiction situation comedy '']'', broadcast in 1998, is entitled ''Universe Challenge''. It opens as if it were a regular episode, but with ] impersonating Jeremy Paxman. Gascoigne comes from behind with a ] and blows him out of the chair to take over as host. This was Gascoigne's last appearance as host.<ref>{{IMDb title|469215|Universe Challenge (1998)}}</ref>
*In a list of the ] drawn up by the ] in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, ''University Challenge'' was placed 34th.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000151593/ | title=The BFI TV 100 (2000) – a list | work=IMDb | date=11 Apr 2011 |origyear= 12 Feb 2013 | accessdate=9 November 2014 | author=deadmonger}}</ref>
*In a list of the ] drawn up by the ] in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, ''University Challenge'' was placed 34th.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/list/ls000151593/ | title=The BFI TV 100 (2000) – a list | work=IMDb | date=11 April 2011 |orig-year= 12 February 2013 | access-date=9 November 2014 | author=deadmonger}}</ref>
*The quiz was the subject of the hour-long BBC Two documentary ''The Story So Far'', first broadcast in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00793tb|title=The Story So Far, University Challenge - BBC Two|publisher=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=12 December 2016}}</ref>
* '']'' is the title of a novel, first published in 2003, by British author ]. The plot is about a first-year student, Brian Jackson, who attempts to join his university team competing in ''University Challenge''. Nicholls also adapted the novel into the film '']'' in 2006, starring ] as Jackson, with ] portraying Gascoigne.
* In 2014, a two part documentary narrated by ] called 'Class of 2014' outlined a brief history of the programme and the team selection process both within the universities and by the production staff. The documentary attracted some criticism due to the large emphasis on Oxbridge and Manchester during the programme.<ref>http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0032741-university-challenge-criticised-for-oxbridge-bias.html</ref>
*]'s '']'' presented a parody of ''University Challenge'', set in a future where students are 'too lazy to learn'; this parody was later referenced in an episode of the real series of ''University Challenge'' by the team captain of ], John Joseph Perry, who, not knowing the real answer, simply answered "Venezuela?"{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} *In 2006 ]'s '']'' presented a parody of ''University Challenge'', set in a future where students are 'too lazy to learn'; this parody was later referenced in an episode of the 2007–08 series of ''University Challenge'' by the team captain of ], Joe Perry, who, not knowing the real answer, simply answered "Venezuela?"{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}
*The quiz was the subject of the hour-long BBC Two documentary ''The Story So Far'', first broadcast in November 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00793tb|title=The Story So Far, University Challenge – BBC Two|publisher=bbc.co.uk|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>
* '']'' is the title of a novel, first published in 2003, by British author ]. The plot is about a first-year student, Brian Jackson, who attempts to join his university team competing in ''University Challenge''. Nicholls also adapted the novel into the film '']'' in 2006, starring ] as Jackson, with ] portraying Gascoigne.
* In 2014, a two part documentary narrated by ] called 'Class of 2014' outlined a brief history of the programme and the team selection process both within the universities and by the production staff. The documentary attracted some criticism due to the large emphasis on Oxbridge and Manchester during the programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0032741-university-challenge-criticised-for-oxbridge-bias.html|title=University Challenge criticised for Oxbridge bias|date=14 July 2014|access-date=30 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202072448/http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0032741-university-challenge-criticised-for-oxbridge-bias.html|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In March 2017 semi-finalist team captains Bobby Seagull of ] and Eric Monkman of ] appeared on BBC One's '']''.<ref></ref><ref></ref> In August 2017 the two were featured on BBC Radio 4's '']'' programme<ref></ref> ahead of hosting their own show, ''Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure'', on 21 August.<ref></ref>
* In March 2017 semi-finalist team captains ] of ], and ] of ], appeared on BBC One's '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/university-challenge-monkman-seagull_uk_58d8e3a8e4b02a2eaab5703f|title=Monkman Vs Seagull: A Potted History of the University Challenge Captains' Bromance|date=27 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-03-29/eric-monkman-belted-out-the-imperial-march-on-the-one-show-because-monkman|title=Eric Monkman belted out the Imperial March on The One Show, because Monkman}}</ref> In August 2017 the two were featured on BBC Radio 4's '']'' programme<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05br52h|title=Monkman and Seagull on 'divine inspiration' for puzzles, Today – BBC Radio 4|website=BBC|date=7 August 2017 }}</ref> ahead of hosting their own show, ''Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure'', on 21 August.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40811103|title=University Challenge stars get own show|date=3 August 2017|work=BBC News}}</ref>
*In 2024, Amol Rajan's reply "We need ], I’m afraid" was widely sampled by music producers, becoming a ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/13/we-need-jungle-im-afraid-how-university-challenge-went-viral-on-the-rave-scene|title='We need jungle, I'm afraid': how University Challenge went viral on the rave scene|first=James|last=Tapper|newspaper=The Observer |date=13 January 2024|via=The Guardian}}</ref>


==Game play== ==Gameplay==
] ]


===Teams=== ===Teams===
Teams consist of four members and most represent a single ]. The exceptions to this are ] of the ] and the ], which enter independent teams. While a number of other British universities have constituent colleges, only those where some teaching is undertaken at the college-level may enter independent teams. The competing teams each year are selected by the show's producers, based both on scores from a general trivia quiz and the producers' judging of the suitability of the teams for television.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradley|first1=Wendy|title=I’m gutted about University Challenge. And it’s got nothing to do with Paxman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/gutted-university-challenge-paxman-diversity|accessdate=25 March 2015}}</ref> ] has appeared most frequently in the post-1994 format,<ref>{{cite web|title=Most Appearances (1994–2015)|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_apps.html|website=University Challenge Fansite|accessdate=25 March 2015}}</ref> though Oxford, Cambridge and London have had colleges representing the universities in every series.<ref>{{cite web|title=Appearances, 1995–2015|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/teams_list.html|website=University Challenge Fansite|accessdate=25 March 2015}}</ref> Teams consist of four members and most represent a single ]. The exceptions to this are ] of the ], the ], the ] and formerly the ] which enter independent teams. While a number of other British universities have constituent colleges, only those where some teaching is undertaken at the college level may enter independent teams. The competing teams each year are selected by the show's producers, based both on scores from a general trivia quiz and the producers' judging of the suitability of the teams for television.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bradley|first1=Wendy|title=I'm gutted about University Challenge. And it's got nothing to do with Paxman|website=]|date=15 September 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/15/gutted-university-challenge-paxman-diversity|access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref> Oxford and Cambridge ("Oxbridge") colleges are prevalent in the competition: for instance, of the Christmas series between 2011 and 2022, Oxbridge colleges represented one-quarter of teams and three-quarters of winners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/18/bbc-called-to-defend-elitist-format-of-university-challenge|title=BBC called to defend 'elitist' format of University Challenge|work=]|last=Weaver|first=Matthew|date=18 December 2023|accessdate=9 April 2024}}</ref>

The contestants are identified by their surnames during gameplay, apart from at the beginning when they introduce themselves with their full names, where they are from and what they are studying.

The teams generally consist of mixed genders, mostly young adults but with some mature students also appearing.


===Tournament structure=== ===Tournament structure===
The current tournament format used for each series is that of a direct ] starting with 28 teams. The 14 first-round winners progress directly to the last 16. Two matches, involving the four highest scoring losing teams from the first round, whose losing scores often exceed winning scores in other first-round matches, fill the remaining places in the last 16. Teams in the quarter-final round (last 8 teams) have to win two matches in the round to progress to the semi-finals. Equally, teams must lose two quarter-final matches in order to be eliminated from that round. The pairings for matches are often chosen in order to keep stronger teams apart.<ref>{{Cite book|title=On University Challenge (Illustrated) |url=http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |publisher=Jacob Funnell |accessdate=15 July 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820093946/http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |archivedate=20 August 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The current tournament format used for each series is that of a direct ] starting with 28 teams. The fourteen first-round winners progress directly to the last sixteen. Two ] matches, involving the four highest scoring losing teams from the first round, whose losing scores often exceed winning scores in other first-round matches, fill the remaining places in the last sixteen. Teams in the quarter-final round (last eight teams) have to win two matches in the round to progress to the semi-finals. Equally, teams must lose two quarter-final matches in order to be eliminated from that round. The pairings for matches are often chosen in order to keep stronger teams apart.<ref>{{Cite book|title=On University Challenge (Illustrated) |url=http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |publisher=Jacob Funnell |access-date=15 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820093946/http://lystellion.livejournal.com/84288.html |archive-date=20 August 2011}}</ref>


===Question format=== ===Question format===
"Starter" questions are answered individually "on the buzzer" without conferring and are worth 10 points. "Your starter for 10" became the programme's most famous catchphrase and inspired ]' 2003 novel '']'' and the 2006 ] based on it starring ]. The team answering a starter correctly gets a set of three "bonus" questions worth a potential 15 points over which they can confer. Sets of bonus questions are thematically linked, although, apart from Picture and Music bonus questions, they rarely share a connection with the preceding starter question. Generally, there are three separate bonus questions worth 5 points each, but occasionally a bonus will require the enumeration of a given list with 5, 10 or 15 points given for correctly giving a certain number of items from the list (''e.g.'', "there are seven ]. Give 5 for 5 points, 6 for 10 points or all 7 for 15 points"). An incorrect ''interruption'' of a starter results in a 5-point penalty (during the Gascoigne era, this took the form of 5 points awarded to the opposing team; currently, 5 points are deducted from the interrupting team). Starter questions are answered individually and are worth ten points. The catchphrase "your starter for ten" inspired ]' 2003 novel '']'' and the 2006 ] based on it starring ]. An incorrect interruption of a starter question incurs a five-point penalty; during the ITV series this took the form of five points being awarded to the opposing team, whereas in the BBC series five points are deducted from the interrupting team.


It is the team captain's responsibility to give the answer to the bonus questions unless another member of the team is specified with the phrase "Nominate ". The team member so named may then give the answer instead. The team answering a starter correctly gets a set of three bonus questions worth a potential fifteen points, for which they can confer. Sets of bonus questions are thematically linked. They rarely share a connection with the preceding starter question, except when they are bonuses following a picture or music question. Generally, there are three separate bonus questions worth five points each, but occasionally a bonus will require the enumeration of a given list with five, ten or fifteen points given for correctly giving a certain number of items from the list (for example, "there are seven ]. Give five for five points, six for ten points or all seven for fifteen points"). It is the team captain's responsibility to give the answer to the bonus questions unless another member of the team is specified with the phrase "Nominate ". The team member so named may then give the answer instead.


In the course of a game there are two picture rounds (occurring roughly one quarter and three quarters of the way through) and one music round (at the halfway point), where the subsequent bonuses are connected thematically to the starter; if a picture or music starter is not correctly answered, the accompanying bonus questions are held back until a normal starter is correctly answered. Usually, in the recent contests, the first picture round focuses on science and technology, geography and languages, while the second picture round centres about art, film, television and literature. The 2010 Manchester University team included a visually impaired student, Rachael Neiman, and the picture rounds in episodes involving the team were ]s for which she was provided with ] transcriptions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.southmanchesterreporter.co.uk/news/s/1191481_blind_rachaels_new_challenge |title=Blind Rachael’s new Challenge |last=Bentley |first=Paul |author2=Kathryn Faulkner |date=4 February 2010 |work=South Manchester Reporter |accessdate=10 March 2010}}</ref> Pieces of music played for the music round may be classical or popular – for example, on 25 July 2011, the pieces played were winners of the ]. Occasionally, audio clips other than music (e.g. speech, animal sounds or other field recordings) are used. In the course of a game there are two picture rounds (occurring roughly one quarter and three-quarters of the way through) and one music round (at the halfway point), where the subsequent bonuses are connected thematically to the starter; if a picture or music starter is not correctly answered, the accompanying bonus questions are held back until a normal starter is correctly answered. Usually, in the recent contests, the first picture round focuses on science and technology, geography, and languages, while the second picture round focuses on art, film, television, and literature.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} The 2010 Manchester University team included a ] student, Rachael Neiman, and the picture rounds in episodes involving the team were ]s for which she was provided with ] transcriptions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/blind-rachaels-new-challenge-882298 |title=Blind Rachael's new Challenge |last=Bentley |first=Paul |author2=Kathryn Faulkner |date=4 February 2010 |work=South Manchester Reporter |access-date=10 March 2010}}</ref> Pieces of music played for the music round may be classical or popular – for example, on 25 July 2011, the pieces played were winners of the ]. Occasionally, audio clips other than music (e.g. speech, animal sounds or other field recordings) are used.


The pace of questioning gradually increases through the show, becoming almost frantic in the last minute or so before the sound of a ], which signals the end of the game. At this point, the game immediately ends, even if Paxman is halfway through asking a question. In the event of a tied score at the sound of the gong, a "sudden death" question is asked, the first team to answer correctly being deemed the winner; this is repeated until one or other of the teams answers correctly, or a team loses by giving an incorrect interruption. The ending of the programme is usually signified with Jeremy Paxman saying "It's goodbye from (''name of losing team, who wave and say goodbye''), it's goodbye from (''winning team, likewise''), and it's goodbye from me: goodbye!" However, in the final episode of the seasons, Jeremy Paxman ends the show with "It's goodbye from (''name of the season's winner, who wave and say goodbye''), and it's goodbye from me: goodbye!" The pace of questioning gradually increases through the show. The sound of a ] signals the end of the game. At this point, the game immediately ends, even if the quizmaster is halfway through asking a question. In the event of a tied score at the sound of the gong, a ] question is asked, the first team to answer correctly being deemed the winner; this is repeated until a team either gives a correct answer to a question or is deducted five points for an incorrect interruption to a question. The ending of the programme is usually signified with the quizmaster saying, "It's goodbye from (, who say goodbye), it's goodbye from (, likewise), and it's goodbye from me: goodbye!" Afterwards, during the closing credits Amol Rajan routinely walks over and confers with the losing team.


===Production=== ===Production===
While the starter questions are being read out, the teams are shown on screen one above the other by means of a split-screen effect. When a player buzzes in, the shot zooms in to that player, accompanied by a voiceover identifying the player by team and surname, for example "Nottingham, Smith". The voiceovers are performed live in the studio by ] and become noticeably more energetic towards the end of the programme. The 1985 series experimented with an actual two-tier set, which was discontinued the following year. While the starter questions are being read out, the teams are shown on screen one above the other by means of a split-screen effect. When a player buzzes in, the shot zooms in to that player, accompanied by a voiceover identifying the player by team and surname, for example "Nottingham, Munro". The voiceovers are performed live in the studio by ] and become more energetic towards the end of the programme. The 1986 series experimented with an actual two-tier set, which was discontinued the following year.


==Notable contestants== ==Notable contestants==
]
''Notable contestants in the regular student competition. Special Celebrity Christmas editions, where all competitors are distinguished, are excluded.''
Notable contestants in the regular student competition. Special Celebrity Christmas editions, where all competitors are distinguished, are excluded.''


===Entertainers===
{{col-start}}
*] – ], 1980
{{col-2}}
*] – ], 1968<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/clive-james-16-my-dress-sense-baroque-glory|title=Clive James: 'At 16, my dress sense was in the first full flower of its baroque glory'|first=Clive|last=James|date=10 December 2016|access-date=12 December 2016|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
*] – ], 1975
*] – ], 1963<ref name='brandreth'>{{cite book|title=Have You Eaten Grandma?|first=Gyles|last=Brandreth|page=135|publisher=Penguin|date=2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZxnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|access-date=31 March 2019|isbn=978-0241352656|author-link=Gyles Brandreth}}</ref>
*] – ]
*] – reserve for ], 1973
*] - ], 2007
*] – ], 1968
*] (Ian Brackenbury Channell) – ], 1963<ref>{{youTube|2oZk6DWlw8I|Granada TV's "University Challenge" 1962/3}}</ref>

===Authors===
*] – ], 1972 *] – ], 1972
*] – ], 1969 *] – ], 1969
*] – ], 1980 *] – ]

*] – ]<ref>Blake Morrison , ], 29 May 2010</ref>
===Politicians===
*] – ], 1968<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/clive-james-16-my-dress-sense-baroque-glory|title=Clive James: ‘At 16, my dress sense was in the first full flower of its baroque glory’|first=Clive|last=James|date=10 December 2016|publisher=theguardian.com|accessdate=12 December 2016|via=The Guardian}}</ref>
*] – ], 2001
*] – ]
*] - ], 1995
*] – ], 1995 *] – ], 1995
*], ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-05/meet-the-chasers-mark-labbett|title=Meet the Chasers: Mark Labbett|publisher=radiotimes.com|accessdate=12 December 2016}}</ref>
*] – ], 1978 *] – ], 1978
{{col-2}}
*] – ], 1963
*] – ] *] – ]
*] – ], 1967
*] – ], 1966

===Journalists===
*] – ], 1975
*] – ], 1987
*] – ], 1968<ref>Blake Morrison , ], 29 May 2010</ref>
*] – ], 1978 *] – ], 1978
*] – ], 1966
*] – ], 1967
*] – reserve for ], 1973
*] – ], 1964 *] – ], 1964

*] – ]
===Others===
*] – ], 1968
*] – ], 2009 *] (Quizzer / TV personality) – ], 2020
*] (Teacher / Education campaigner) – ], 2007
*] (Ian Brackenbury Channell) – ], 1963<ref>{{youtube|2oZk6DWlw8I|Granada TV's "University Challenge" 1962/3}}</ref>
*] (Academic) – ], 2001
{{col-end}}
*] (Academic) – ], 2010
*] (Civil Servant) – ], 1998
*] (Quizzer / TV personality) – ], 1997<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-05/meet-the-chasers-mark-labbett|title=Meet the Chasers: Mark Labbett|publisher=radiotimes.com|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>
*] (Academic / TV presenter) – ], 2017
*] (Academic) – ], 1996
*] (Quizzer / TV personality) – ], 2003
*] (Teacher / TV presenter) – ], 2017
*] (Quizzer) – ], 2002
*] (Academic) – ], 2009


==Winners== ==Winners==
The ] and ], have the highest number of wins, with four each, and are also the only ones to successfully defend the title the year after their win (Manchester's 2009 win came only after the original winner was disqualified). Trinity College, Cambridge, hold three titles, and a further seven institutions have two titles: Durham, Sussex, the Open University, Imperial College London, Sidney Sussex (Cambridge), Keble (Oxford), and University College (Oxford). The ] and ] have both enjoyed four wins each, with ] having won a record five times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/252554/imperial-wins-university-challenge-historic-fifth/|title=Imperial wins university challenge|website=Imperial|date=8 April 2024 }}</ref> The University of Manchester and Magdalen College, Oxford are also the only teams to successfully defend the title the year after their win (Manchester's 2009 win came only after the original winner was disqualified). Trinity College, Cambridge and Durham University hold three titles, and a further six institutions have two titles: Sussex, the Open University, Sidney Sussex–Cambridge, Keble–Oxford, University–Oxford and Warwick. At the time of Magdalen College, Oxford's third win in 2004, no other institution had won more than twice; the trophy in use since 1994 was given to the college in perpetuity and a new once created for use from 2005.


===ITV series===
{{col-start}}King's College, London
{{col-2}}

===Original series===
{| class=wikitable {| class=wikitable
|- |-
!width=20|Year !width=40|Year
!width=250|Winners !width=500|Winners
!width=250|Runners-up !width=500|Runners-up
|- |-
|1963 |1963
Line 156: Line 194:
|1965 |1965
|] |]
|]
|N/A
|- |-
|1966 |1966
Line 196: Line 234:
|1975 |1975
|] |]
|]<ref>http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/uc75.html</ref> |]
|- |-
|1976 |1976
Line 208: Line 246:
|1978 |1978
|] <small> (2) </small> |] <small> (2) </small>
|] |]
|- |-
|1979 |1979
Line 242: Line 280:
|] |]
|} |}
<small>Information in this table was obtained from {{Cite book|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/winners_teams.html|title=University Challenge Series Champions|last=|first=|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=|accessdate=26 February 2008}}</small>
{{col-2}}


===New series=== ===BBC series===
{| class=wikitable {| class=wikitable
|- |-
!width=20|Year !width=40|Year
!width=250|Winners !width=500|Winners
!width=250|Runners-up !width=500|Runners-up
|- |-
|] |]
Line 293: Line 329:
|- |-
|] |]
|] |]
|] |]
|- |-
Line 310: Line 346:
|] |]
|] <small>(2)</small> |] <small>(2)</small>
|] (Disqualified) |] (Disqualified)
|- |-
|] |]
|] |]
|] |]
|- |-
|] |]
Line 345: Line 381:
|- |-
|] |]
|]
|Ongoing
|]
|Ongoing
|-
|]
|]
|]
|-
|]
|] <small>(3)</small>
|]
|-
|]
|] <small>(2)</small>
|]
|-
|]
|] <small>(4)</small>
|]
|-
|]
|] <small>(3)</small>
|]
|-
|]
|] <small>(5)</small>
|]
|-
|} |}
{{col-end}}

{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}


===Most series wins===
{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable"
!width=20|Rank
|+Most series wins
!width=500|University/College
!Rank
!width=20|Number of wins
!University/College
!width=500|Win year(s)
!Number of wins
!Win year(s)
|- |-
|1
|rowspan="2"|1=
|]
|5
|], ], ], ], ]
|-
|rowspan="2"|2
|] |]
|4 |4
|], ], ], ] |], ], ], ]
|- |-
|] |]
Line 369: Line 431:
|], ], ], ] |], ], ], ]
|- |-
|rowspan="2"|4
|3
|] |]
|3 |3
|1974, 1995, ] |1974, ], ]
|-
|]
|3
|1977, ], ]
|- |-
|rowspan="7"|4= |rowspan="6"|6
|] |]
|2 |2
Line 395: Line 461:
|1984, ] |1984, ]
|- |-
|] |]
|2 |2
|1977, ] |], ]
|-
|]
|2
|], ]
|} |}

{{col-End}}
<small>Information in these tables obtained from Blanchflower – University Challenge Series Champions.<ref name=blanch>{{cite web|author=Sean Blanchflower|title=University Challenge Series Champions|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/uc75.html|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref></small>


===Lowest scores=== ===Lowest scores===
Not much is known about the lowest scores from the Bamber Gascoigne series, except that the lowest score ever was amassed in 1971-2, when a Sussex team, fresh from two series wins, managed only 10 points.<ref name="University Challenge - Statistics">{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|title=University Challenge – Lowest Scores|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|accessdate=21 February 2012}}</ref> This is also the lowest score ever achieved on the programme. However, a low score was also achieved by Victoria University of Manchester in their first round match in 1975 when for much of the recording they answered only with the names of ]s as a protest against the Oxford and Cambridge Colleges being able to enter separate teams.<ref>{{cite web|author=Paul Gallagher |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco &#124; Television & radio |publisher=The Guardian |date= |accessdate=18 April 2016}}</ref> Little is known about the lowest scores from the Bamber Gascoigne series, except that the lowest score ever was in the 1971–72 season, when the ], fresh from two series wins, managed only 10 points.<ref name="University Challenge - Statistics">{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|title=University Challenge – Lowest Scores|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> However, a low score was also achieved by ] in their first round match in 1975 when, for much of the recording, they answered only with the names of ]s as a protest against the Oxford and Cambridge colleges being able to enter separate teams.<ref>{{cite news|author=Paul Gallagher |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jun/21/university-challenge-rules-television |title=BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco &#124; Television & radio |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=18 April 2016}}</ref>


Under quizmaster Jeremy Paxman, a low score of 15 was achieved by the ] in a quarter-final against ], whose team captain ] amassed 15 correct starter questions. However, the Corpus Christi team were later disqualified from the competition after it was found that team member Sam Kay had been ineligible for the last three matches.<ref name="Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title">{{Cite book|title=Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/02/gail-trimble-university-challenge-team-lose-title|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=31 August 2009 | location=London | first=Leigh | last=Holmwood | date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Therefore, the lowest score officially achieved against eligible opponents under quizmaster Jeremy Paxman was by ], who totalled 30 in a semi-final against the eventual series champions the ], in an episode televised on 9 February 2009. This was also matched in the grand final by ] against ] on 18 April 2016. Under Jeremy Paxman, the lowest score achieved by a student team is also 10 which, coincidentally, was also achieved by a team from the University of Sussex, in the first round of the ] when they faced the ] who scored 245. In the same series, the lowest winning score for a student team was achieved, by ], who scored 85 in a quarter final against ] who scored 80. The second lowest losing score is 15, which was achieved by the ] in a 2008–09 quarter-final against ], whose team captain ] amassed 15 correct starter questions. However, the Corpus Christi team were later disqualified from the competition after it was found that team member Sam Kay had been ineligible for the last three matches.<ref name="Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title">{{Cite periodical|title=Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/02/gail-trimble-university-challenge-team-lose-title|magazine=The Guardian|access-date=31 August 2009 | location=London | first=Leigh | last=Holmwood | date=2009-03-02}}</ref> Therefore, the second lowest score officially achieved against eligible opponents under quizmaster Jeremy Paxman was by ], who totalled 30 in a semi-final against the eventual series champions the ], in an episode televised on 9 February 2009, just two weeks after the Corpus Christi vs Exeter match. This was also matched in the grand final by ], against ], on 18 April 2016.


Before these matches, the lowest score was 35, reached by ], 1997.<ref name="UC lowest scores">{{Cite book|title=University Challenge – lowest scores|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|accessdate=26 February 2008}}</ref> This score would have been lower if all fines for incorrect interruptions had been applied.<ref>On the TV programme ''The 100 Most Embarrassing TV Moments Ever'', the New Hall performance was repeated and a member of the team said that they stopped losing points.</ref>{{better source|date=November 2013}} Before these matches, the lowest score was 35, reached by ], 1997.<ref name="UC lowest scores">{{Cite web|title=University Challenge – lowest scores|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_lowscore.html|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=www.blanchflower.org|access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref> This score would have been lower if all deductions for incorrect interruptions had been applied.<ref>On the TV programme ''The 100 Most Embarrassing TV Moments Ever'', the New Hall performance was repeated and a member of the team said that they stopped losing points.</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2013}}


The lowest score during the ''Professionals'' series was achieved by the ] team, who scored 25 in 2003. In the 2014 ''Christmas University Challenge'' series, a team of alumni from ] also finished with 25. The lowest score during the ''Professionals'' series was achieved by the ] team, who scored 25 in 2003. In the 2014 '']'' series, a team of alumni from ] also finished with 25.


The lowest winning score was probably achieved in the "Christmas University Challenge" series in 2016, as a team of notable alumni from ] scored 75, five points more than the alumni from ]. Both teams conferred excessively and gave incorrect bonus answers. An all-time record low score for the series was achieved in the final of the 2017 ''Christmas'' series, when ], beat the ] 240–0. The previous year's ''Christmas'' series saw the lowest winning score of all time, 75, scored by the ], who defeated their opponents, the ], by just five points.


===Highest scores=== ===Highest scores===
] scored 520 points in the final ITV season in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_hiscore.html|title=University Challenge - Statistics|publisher=blanchflower.org|accessdate=12 December 2016}}</ref> ], scored 520 points in the final ITV season in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/stats_hiscore.html|title=University Challenge Statistics|author=Sean Blanchflower|website=blanchflower.org|access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>
In the Jeremy Paxman era, the team from ] scored the highest score, 415, in the semi-final in 1997 against ]. In the Jeremy Paxman era, the team from ] scored the highest score, 415, in the semi-final in 1997 against ].


===Specials=== ===Specials===
Line 439: Line 502:
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|1984 |1984
|1984 Christmas special |1984 Christmas special
| |
| |
Line 454: Line 517:
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|1992 |1992
|Celebrity match |Pro-Celebrity match
|Celebrity Past Contestants <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |Celebrity Past Contestants <small>(], ], ], ])</small><small>(Appropriately enough, all the celebrities studied at ] making this an ] match.)</small>
|Keble College, Oxford <small>(A team of current students from the college, as they were the "defending champions", having won the last series of the show, back in 1987.)</small> |Keble College, Oxford <small>(A team of current students from the college, as they were the "defending champions", having won the last series of the show, back in 1987.)</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
Line 468: Line 531:
|The last 4 ] finalists from the ] era: Claire Ockwell, Andrea Weston, Colin Cadby (Captain) and Anne Ashurst (series champion) |The last 4 ] finalists from the ] era: Claire Ockwell, Andrea Weston, Colin Cadby (Captain) and Anne Ashurst (series champion)
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|1997
|1998
|College Bowl Challenge |College Bowl Challenge
|USA |USA
Line 480: Line 543:
|1998 |1998
|Universe Challenge |Universe Challenge
|'']'' Fans: <small>(Darryl Ball, Kaley Nichols, Steve Rogers , Pip Swallow, Sharon Burnett ) |'']'' Fans: <small>(Darryl Ball, Kaley Nichols, Steve Rogers , Pip Swallow, Sharon Burnett )</small>
|'']'' Cast: <small>(], ], ], ], ])</small> |'']'' Cast: <small>(], ], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|1998
|1999
|Journalists Special
|Tabloids
|Broadsheets
|- valign=top
|1999
|Challenge |Challenge
|Magdalen College, Oxford, 1998 |Magdalen College, Oxford, 1998
|Leicester, 1963 |Leicester, 1963
|- valign=top
|1999
|Journalists Special
|Tabloids <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Broadsheets <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2002 |2002
Line 497: Line 560:
|Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1979 |Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1979
|Keele, 1968 |Keele, 1968
|- valign=top
|2003
|] match
|The Townies <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|The Gownies <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2003 |2003
Line 502: Line 570:
|] |]
|] |]
|- valign=top
|2003
|] match
|The Townies: <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|The Gownies: <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2004 |2004
Line 521: Line 584:
|Christmas Special 1 |Christmas Special 1
|Television <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |Television <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Radio <small>(], ], ], Roger Bolton)</small> |Radio <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
| |
|Christmas Special 2 |Christmas Special 2
|Critics <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |Critics <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Theatre <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Theatre
|- valign=top |- valign=top
| |
Line 542: Line 605:
|] |]
|] |]
|- valign=top
|2005
|Christmas Special 1
|News <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Politics <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Special 2
|Writers <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Actors <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|
|Christmas Specials: Final
|Writers
|News
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2006 |2006
Line 556: Line 634:
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2012 |2012
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], Yan Wong)</small> |] <small>(], ], ], Yan Wong)</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2013 |2013
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2014 |2014
|Champion of Champions |Champion of Champions
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2014 |2014
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2015 |2015
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top |- valign=top
|2016 |2016
|Christmas University Challenge |Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small> |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ]) |] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2017
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2018
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2019
|] 2019 Match
|Team Freeman <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Team Manford <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2019
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2020
|] 2020 Match
|Team BBC <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Team ITV <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2020
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2020/christmas-university-challenge-line-up|title = Christmas University Challenge announces line up}}</ref>
|- valign=top
|2021
|] 2021 Match
|Team BBC <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|Team ITV <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2021
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], Phil Swanson)</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|- valign=top
|2022
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(], ], ], Martin O'Neill)</small>
|] <small>(Katharine Norbury, ], ], Graeme Hall, Sarah Peverley)</small>
|- valign=top
|2023
|Christmas University Challenge
|] <small>(David Heathcote, ], ], ], ])</small>
|] <small>(], ], ], ])</small>
|} |}


<small>Some information from this table was obtained from the web pages listed in {{cite web|title=Special Series|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/results.html|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|accessdate=26 February 2008}}</small> <small>Some information from this table was obtained from the web pages listed in {{cite web|title=Special Series|url=http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/results.html|publisher=Sean Blanchflower|access-date=26 February 2008}}</small>


==Transmissions== ==Transmissions==
{{col-start}} {{col-begin}}
{{col-2}} {{col-2}}


Line 600: Line 728:
! Series !! Start date !! End date !! Episodes ! Series !! Start date !! End date !! Episodes
|- |-
| ''']''' || 21 September 1962 || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 21 September 1962 || 26 November 1963 || 62
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 3 December 1963 || 26 May 1965 || 60
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 25 August 1965 || 8 June 1966 || 42
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 7 September 1966 || 3 June 1967 || 40
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || 24 July 1968 || ?? | ''']''' || 27 September 1967 || 24 July 1968|| 44
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 2 August 1968 || 13 July 1969 || 45
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 20 July 1969 || 30 August 1970 || 46
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 25 October 1970 || 1 August 1971 || 41
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 17 October 1971 || 23 July 1972 || 41
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 25 October 1972 || 5 September 1973 || 39
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 31 October 1973 || 2 October 1974 || 40
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || October 1974 || 31 October 1975 || 40
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 7 November 1975 || 10 December 1976 || 44
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 17 December 1976 || 31 October 1977 || 36
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 7 November 1977 || 20 November 1978 || 43
|- |-
| ''']''' || ?? || 20 January 1980 || ?? | ''']''' || 27 November 1978 || 4 February 1980 || 40
|- |-
| ''']''' || 17 February 1980 || ?? || ?? | ''']''' || 18 February 1980 || 8 December 1980 || 37
|- |-
| ''']''' || 1981 ||1981 || ?? | ''']''' || 15 December 1980 || 7 December 1981 || 39
|- |-
| ''']''' || 10 January 1982 || 16 January 1983 || ?? | ''']''' || 14 January 1982 || 16 January 1983 || 43
|- |-
| ''']''' || 1983 || 18 December 1983 || ?? | ''']''' || 30 January 1983 || 21 December 1983 || 39
|- |-
| ''']''' || 1984 || 21 December 1984|| ?? | ''']''' || 20 January 1984 || 27 December 1984<ref>https://x.com/woodg31/status/1740092799142478054/photo/1 TV listings for 27th Dec 1984.</ref>|| 34
|- |-
| ''']''' || 7 April 1986 || 30 May 1986 || 40 | ''']''' || 7 April 1986 || 30 May 1986 || 40
Line 699: Line 827:
| ''']''' || 11 July 2016 || 10 April 2017 || 37 | ''']''' || 11 July 2016 || 10 April 2017 || 37
|- |-
| ''']''' || 17 July 2017 || 2018 || 37 | ''']''' || 17 July 2017 || 23 April 2018 || 37
|-
| ''']''' || 16 July 2018 || 22 April 2019 || 37
|-
| ''']''' || 15 July 2019 || 20 April 2020 || 37
|-
| ''']''' || 13 July 2020 || 5 April 2021 || 37
|-
| ''']''' || 12 July 2021 || 4 April 2022 || 37
|-
| ''']'''|| 29 August 2022 || 29 May 2023 || 37
|-
| ''']'''|| 17 July 2023 || 8 April 2024 || 37
|-
| ''']'''|| 12 August 2024 || ||
|} |}
{{col-end}} {{col-end}}
Line 706: Line 848:
The producers of the programme have taken the more recent inclusion of mature students to its logical conclusion by making two series without any student participants: ''University Challenge Reunited'' (2002) brought former teams back together, while ''University Challenge: The Professionals'' (from 2003) matched occupational groups such as civil servants, architects and doctors against each other. In 2003, the former was won by the 1979 team from ], the latter by a team from the ]. The 2004 ''Professionals'' series was won by the ], and the 2005 series by the ]. In 2006, ''Professionals'' was won by staff of the ] of the University of Oxford. The producers of the programme have taken the more recent inclusion of mature students to its logical conclusion by making two series without any student participants: ''University Challenge Reunited'' (2002) brought former teams back together, while ''University Challenge: The Professionals'' (from 2003) matched occupational groups such as civil servants, architects and doctors against each other. In 2003, the former was won by the 1979 team from ], the latter by a team from the ]. The 2004 ''Professionals'' series was won by the ], and the 2005 series by the ]. In 2006, ''Professionals'' was won by staff of the ] of the University of Oxford.


The show has seen numerous specials, including those for specific professions and celebrity editions, such as ''Universe Challenge'', presented by former host and Red Dwarf fan, Bamber Gascoine, where the cast of '']'' challenged a team of their "ultimate fans" to celebrate ''Red Dwarf'''s 10th anniversary on the air. The cast was ] (captain), ], ], ] and ]. The cast, who at times seemed amazed at the fans' knowledge, lost, but by only 15 points, 280–295. The show has seen numerous specials, including those for specific professions and celebrity editions, such as ''Universe Challenge'', presented by former host and Red Dwarf fan, Bamber Gascoigne, where the cast of '']'' challenged a team of their "ultimate fans" to celebrate ''Red Dwarf'''s 10th anniversary on the air. The cast was ] (captain), ], ], ] and ]. The cast, who at times seemed amazed at the fans' knowledge, lost, but by only 15 points, 280–295.


===Similar programmes=== ===Similar programmes===
''Sixth Form Challenge'', hosted by ], appeared briefly between 1965 and 1967. The sixth form contestants represented leading ]s and ]s. An untelevised version, '']'', continues to run at junior and senior secondary school levels. ''Sixth Form Challenge'', hosted by ], appeared briefly between 1965 and 1967. The sixth form contestants represented leading ]s and ]s. An untelevised version, '']'', continues to run at junior and senior secondary school levels.

'']'' was a quiz show for teams representing higher education institutes in Ireland, televised by ] from 1991 to 2001.


===Other countries=== ===Other countries===
'']'' ran in New Zealand for 14 seasons, from 1976 until 1989, with international series held between the previous years' British and New Zealand champions in both 1986 and 1987. It was hosted by ]. The series was revived in 2014 with Tom Conroy as host. '']'' ran in New Zealand for 14 seasons, from 1976 until 1989, with international series held between the previous years' British and New Zealand champions in both 1986 and 1987. It originally aired on ] and was hosted by ] from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1989. From 1978 to 1979, Sinclair was briefly dropped from the show and was replaced by ] lecturer Charles Higham, Sinclair returned in 1980 and from 1981 to 1982, the show briefly moved to ], it moved back to TV1 in 1983 and remained on the network until the series original conclusion in 1989. The series was revived in 2014 by ] and aired on ] with Cue TV owner Tom Conroy as host and ran until its second conclusion in 2017.


''University Challenge'', hosted by Dr. Magnus Clarke, ran in Australia on the ] from 1987 until 1989. In the 1988 series, the ] defeated the ] in the final by 245 points to 175.<ref>{{youtube|sm8lDOY5o8E|University Challenge Australian Grand Final 1988 NSW v Melbourne Part 1}}</ref> ''University Challenge'', hosted by Magnus Clarke, ran in Australia on the ] from 1987 until 1989. In the 1988 series, the ] defeated the ] in the final by 245 points to 175.<ref>{{youTube|sm8lDOY5o8E|University Challenge Australian Grand Final 1988 NSW v Melbourne Part 1}} {{Dead link|date=September 2021}}</ref>


''University Challenge India'' started in summer 2003, with the season culminating in the finals of March 2004 where ] (SPCE), Mumbai, beat ] (ISB), Hyderabad. The 2004–2005 season finale saw a team of undergraduate engineering students from ] (NSIT), Delhi, beat a team of management students from the ]. The Indian winners of the 2003–2004 season went on to beat the finalists from the UK show, ]. UC India is produced by ] India, and Synergy Communications, co-owned by ], who also hosted the show.<ref>{{cite web |title=Siddhartha Basu: The quizmaster on his latest programme on BBC, the University Challenge (UC)|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?221139 |date=18 August 2003|publisher=]}}</ref> ''University Challenge India'' started in summer 2003, with the season culminating in the finals of March 2004 where ] (SPCE), Mumbai, beat ] (ISB), Hyderabad. The 2004–2005 season finale saw a team of undergraduate engineering students from ] (NSIT), Delhi, beat a team of management students from the ]. The Indian winners of the 2003–2004 season went on to beat the finalists from the UK show, ]. UC India is produced by ] India, and Synergy Communications, co-owned by ], who also hosted the show.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Siddhartha Basu: The quizmaster on his latest programme on BBC, the University Challenge (UC)|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?221139 |date=18 August 2003|magazine=]}}</ref>

University Challenge inspired the format of two ] shows: ''Universiteitsstrijd''<ref>{{Cite web|title=De Universiteitsstrijd gemist? Start met kijken op NPO Start|url=https://www.npostart.nl/de-universiteitsstrijd/VPWON_1259288|access-date=2021-03-27|website=www.npostart.nl|language=nl}}</ref> (the Netherlands), which ran for one season in 2016 on ], and {{Interlanguage link|De Campus Cup|lt=''De Campus Cup''|nl}}<ref>{{Citation|title=(Her)bekijk Campus Cup|url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/a-z/de-campus-cup/|language=nl|access-date=2021-03-27}}</ref> (Belgium), which ran since 2019 on ].


==Notes== ==Notes==
Line 722: Line 868:


==External links== ==External links==
* – a rare insight into the personalities of a University Challenge team * – a rare insight into the personalities of a University Challenge team
*{{BBC programme}} *{{BBC programme}}
* *
* at ] * at ]
* *
* – a tribute * – a tribute
* *
* {{IMDb title|id=0177465|title=University Challenge}} * {{IMDb title|id=0177465|title=University Challenge}}
* {{Screenonline TV title|1330354|University Challenge}}
* *


{{University Challenge}} {{University Challenge}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2012}}


{{authority control}}
]

]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 19:12, 10 December 2024

British TV quiz (since 1962) This article is about the British series. For the New Zealand series, see University Challenge (New Zealand TV series). For the Peep Show episode, see University Challenge (Peep Show).

University Challenge
GenreQuiz show
Presented by
Voices of
Theme music composerDerek New
Opening theme"Ting A Ling" performed by Duke Ellington (1962–1963)
"College Boy" performed by: Derek New (1963–2000)
the Balanescu Quartet (2000–present)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series53
No. of episodes1,792
Production
Production locations
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkITV
Release21 September 1962 (1962-09-21) –
31 December 1987 (1987-12-31)
NetworkBBC Two
Release28 December 1992 (1992-12-28) –
present
Related

University Challenge is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. University Challenge aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC revived the programme on 21 September 1994, the programme's 32nd anniversary, with Jeremy Paxman as the quizmaster. Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the 52nd series in 2023, after which he was succeeded by Amol Rajan.

The current title holders are Imperial College London, who won a record fifth title in the final of the 2023-24 series on 8 April 2024. On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, which aired on 17 July 2023.

The show has always been produced by the same company (originally named Granada Television, renamed ITV Studios in 2009 and renamed again Lifted Entertainment in 2021), under licence from Richard Reid Productions and the College Bowl Company. It was recorded at Granada Studios in Manchester from its inception until the studios closed in 2013; it is now recorded at Dock10 studios in Salford.

History

Format continuity

Despite periodic changes to the sets, studio layout, and presentation, University Challenge has preserved a high level of continuity from 1962 to the present. Some commentators have cited this as an essential element of its success. Elements of this continuity include:

  • The longevity of its quizmasters, with only three presenters in the programme's history;
  • The split-screen presentation during the starter question phase, which appears to place one team physically above the other. In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was two-tiered, although the split-screen effect returned for the revived series and has been used ever since;
  • Long serving voiceover announcers, with only three in the programme's history – Don Murray-Henderson from 1962 until his death in 1971, then Jim Pope until his death in 2001, then Roger Tilling. Tilling's delivery typically becomes increasingly high-pitched as the episode progresses;
  • The theme tune "College Boy" by Derek New, which has been with the series since the 1960s (although the first series used "Ting A Ling" by Duke Ellington). "College Boy" was originally scored for an ensemble of tubular bells, flugelhorn, harpsichord, brushed hi-hat, bass drum and double bass. The original theme returned for the early Paxman-era episodes and was later replaced by a string quartet arrangement of the theme recorded by the Balanescu Quartet.

ITV (1962 to 1987)

Bamber Gascoigne hosted the original series of University Challenge from 1962 to 1987 and the 1992 Granadaland special.

The programme had its beginnings in an American television quiz show called College Bowl. Cecil Bernstein, brother of Sidney Bernstein who founded Granada Television in 1954, had seen the programme in the United States and liked the format. It was decided that Granada would produce a similar programme with competing teams from universities across the United Kingdom. From its inception in 1962, University Challenge was hosted by Bamber Gascoigne, who died in 2022. The programme's first match was a match between the University of Leeds (featuring a pre-famed Ian Channell, better known as The Wizard of New Zealand) and the University of Reading. The show was a cult favourite with a small but loyal core audience, and was one of a select few ITV programmes that was transmitted without any advertising breaks. Originally, the series started off in many areas, being broadcast at peak times or just after the nightly news around 22:30; by the early 1970s, the series was relegated to irregular timeslots by the various ITV regional companies, with some broadcasting the show during daytime, at weekends or late at night. In the absence of a regular networked slot, audience figures would often fall, leading the producers to make changes to the long-standing format of the programme. LWT stopped broadcasting the show in October 1983, with Thames following suit shortly afterwards. Thames resumed screening the series in 1984 however they only screened the Quarter-finals To the final in December 1984, when it was networked for the first time.

The programme was not broadcast in 1985 and returned in April 1986, when it continued to networked by ITV and broadcast at 15:00 on weekdays. The gameplay was revised, initial games were staged over two legs; the first in the classic format and the second played as a relay, where contestants selected questions from specific categories such as sport, literature and science, passing a baton between players whenever a "lap" of two correct answers was scored. The final series was also networked, but broadcast around 11:00 during the summer holiday period. Even so, the new networked time did little to save the series from the axe. The last ITV series was broadcast in 1987.

The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge could each enter up to five of their constituent colleges as separate teams, which are not themselves universities: they have far fewer students – numbering in the hundreds rather than thousands – than most universities. This was one ostensible inspiration for a 1975 protest, in which a team from the University of Manchester (which included David Aaronovitch) came second to Downing College, Cambridge, when they started a round by answering every question "Che Guevara", "Marx", "Trotsky" or "Lenin", in the hope of making the resulting show unbroadcastable. It was, however, broadcast, although only portions of the episode still exist in the Granada Television archives. Granada subsequently banned the University of Manchester for several years.

BBC

Jeremy Paxman hosted University Challenge from 1994 to 2023 and its Christmas spin-off from 2011 to 2022.
Angus Deayton hosted the 2003 and 2005 Comic Relief editions of University Challenge.
David Baddiel hosted the 2019 Comic Relief edition of University Challenge.
Kirsty Wark hosted the 2020 and 2021 Children in Need editions of University Challenge.

University Challenge was revived by the BBC in 1994, although still produced by Granada Television (branded since 2009 as ITV Studios), using the original format, with minor differences, and presented by Jeremy Paxman.

During the show's hiatus, a special edition of the show was made by the BBC, as part of a themed evening of programmes dedicated to Granada Television. It was presented by Bamber Gascoigne and broadcast on BBC2 on 28 December 1992. The teams included one of students from Keble College, Oxford, which had fielded the winning team in the final 1987 season, and a graduates team of celebrity alumni who had previously appeared on the programme as students, including journalist John Simpson and actor Stephen Fry. This show was preceded by a short documentary about the show's history. Bamber Gascoigne's final appearance as host was in Universe Challenge in 1998 (see below).

Paxman relinquished his role as host following the conclusion of the 52nd series in 2023, after which he was succeeded by Amol Rajan. In October 2022, an ITV documentary, Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's, explored how Parkinson's disease has impacted him and revealed that Paxman recorded his last episode of University Challenge on 15 October 2022, which aired on 29 May 2023.

On 21 April 2023, the BBC unveiled a new set and title card, which debuted on Rajan's first episode, which aired on 17 July 2023.

Postgraduates

Since its revival in 1994, the programme has featured a number of teams of postgraduate and mature students, whose participation has been criticised. The Open University won the 1999 series with a team with an average age of 46. In the quarter-final, they narrowly beat a slightly younger team from part-time and mature student specialist Birkbeck, University of London. Birkbeck won the competition in 2003, also with a substantially mature team. Host Jeremy Paxman said that the Open University team was "not in the spirit" of the competition. The team publicly replied by challenging him to specify in what way this was "contrary to the spirit of the quiz – or of the university".

Ineligible contestants

In 2009, Sam Kay, part of the team from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was accused of not being a student when the show was filmed. Kay, who had completed a chemistry degree the previous summer, had been planning to go on to study for a Doctor of Philosophy, but dropped out as he did not have sufficient funding. He then became an accountant. The team, whose captain Gail Trimble was dubbed the "human Google", won the competition but was subsequently disqualified and the trophy awarded to the runners-up, the University of Manchester.

A few days later, it was also revealed that Charles Markland, a member of the 2008 winning team from Christ Church, Oxford, had transferred his studies to Balliol College halfway through the series. He said that his team captain had contacted a researcher concerning the situation, and had been told that this was not a problem and that the same team should be maintained for continuity purposes. It was also revealed that Freya McClements, captain of the 2004 winning team from Magdalen College, Oxford, was at the time studying at Trinity College, Dublin. Although it was mentioned in a BBC news story at the time, no action was taken because the BBC stated that the facts had not been brought to their attention.

Editing

In 2016, at the Henley Literary Festival, Jeremy Paxman said that, when students were unable to answer several consecutive starter questions, those questions were often deleted before the show is broadcast.

In popular culture

  • In an episode of the BBC comedy series Not the Nine O'Clock News, first broadcast on 15 December 1980, Griff Rhys Jones plays Bamber Gascoigne in a sketch that pitches two teams of criminals representing prisoners from Wormwood Scrubs and Parkhurst. The teams score "points" (remission of sentence) by "grassing" on possible suspects involved in a crime.
  • In 1984 an episode of The Young Ones, entitled "Bambi" (a play on Bamber Gascoigne's name), centred on a parody of University Challenge with a match between the fictitious teams of Scumbag College and Footlights College, Oxbridge. The cast included Stephen Fry, who participated in the real competition in 1980 while at Cambridge, and fellow alumni and Footlights members Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie as part of the "Footlights College" team, and Griff Rhys Jones as the host. The teams are arranged physically one above the other, in a parody of the show's split-screen format.
  • A quiz themed around BBC science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, broadcast in 1998, is entitled Universe Challenge. It opens as if it were a regular episode, but with Chris Barrie impersonating Jeremy Paxman. Gascoigne comes from behind with a blaster gun and blows him out of the chair to take over as host. This was Gascoigne's last appearance as host.
  • In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, University Challenge was placed 34th.
  • Starter For Ten is the title of a novel, first published in 2003, by British author David Nicholls. The plot is about a first-year student, Brian Jackson, who attempts to join his university team competing in University Challenge. Nicholls also adapted the novel into the film Starter for 10 in 2006, starring James McAvoy as Jackson, with Mark Gatiss portraying Gascoigne.
  • In 2006 Armando Ianucci's Time Trumpet presented a parody of University Challenge, set in a future where students are 'too lazy to learn'; this parody was later referenced in an episode of the 2007–08 series of University Challenge by the team captain of SOAS, Joe Perry, who, not knowing the real answer, simply answered "Venezuela?"
  • The quiz was the subject of the hour-long BBC Two documentary The Story So Far, first broadcast in November 2006.
  • In 2014, a two part documentary narrated by Richard Osman called 'Class of 2014' outlined a brief history of the programme and the team selection process both within the universities and by the production staff. The documentary attracted some criticism due to the large emphasis on Oxbridge and Manchester during the programme.
  • In March 2017 semi-finalist team captains Bobby Seagull of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Eric Monkman of Wolfson College, Cambridge, appeared on BBC One's The One Show. In August 2017 the two were featured on BBC Radio 4's Today programme ahead of hosting their own show, Monkman and Seagull's Polymathic Adventure, on 21 August.
  • In 2024, Amol Rajan's reply "We need jungle, I’m afraid" was widely sampled by music producers, becoming a viral phenomenon.

Gameplay

Screenshot of Amol Rajan's first episode, featuring Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of Manchester.
From a 2023 episode of University Challenge

Teams

Teams consist of four members and most represent a single university. The exceptions to this are colleges of the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of London and formerly the University of Wales which enter independent teams. While a number of other British universities have constituent colleges, only those where some teaching is undertaken at the college level may enter independent teams. The competing teams each year are selected by the show's producers, based both on scores from a general trivia quiz and the producers' judging of the suitability of the teams for television. Oxford and Cambridge ("Oxbridge") colleges are prevalent in the competition: for instance, of the Christmas series between 2011 and 2022, Oxbridge colleges represented one-quarter of teams and three-quarters of winners.

The contestants are identified by their surnames during gameplay, apart from at the beginning when they introduce themselves with their full names, where they are from and what they are studying.

The teams generally consist of mixed genders, mostly young adults but with some mature students also appearing.

Tournament structure

The current tournament format used for each series is that of a direct knockout tournament starting with 28 teams. The fourteen first-round winners progress directly to the last sixteen. Two repechage matches, involving the four highest scoring losing teams from the first round, whose losing scores often exceed winning scores in other first-round matches, fill the remaining places in the last sixteen. Teams in the quarter-final round (last eight teams) have to win two matches in the round to progress to the semi-finals. Equally, teams must lose two quarter-final matches in order to be eliminated from that round. The pairings for matches are often chosen in order to keep stronger teams apart.

Question format

Starter questions are answered individually and are worth ten points. The catchphrase "your starter for ten" inspired David Nicholls' 2003 novel Starter for Ten and the 2006 film based on it starring James McAvoy. An incorrect interruption of a starter question incurs a five-point penalty; during the ITV series this took the form of five points being awarded to the opposing team, whereas in the BBC series five points are deducted from the interrupting team.

The team answering a starter correctly gets a set of three bonus questions worth a potential fifteen points, for which they can confer. Sets of bonus questions are thematically linked. They rarely share a connection with the preceding starter question, except when they are bonuses following a picture or music question. Generally, there are three separate bonus questions worth five points each, but occasionally a bonus will require the enumeration of a given list with five, ten or fifteen points given for correctly giving a certain number of items from the list (for example, "there are seven fundamental SI units. Give five for five points, six for ten points or all seven for fifteen points"). It is the team captain's responsibility to give the answer to the bonus questions unless another member of the team is specified with the phrase "Nominate ". The team member so named may then give the answer instead.

In the course of a game there are two picture rounds (occurring roughly one quarter and three-quarters of the way through) and one music round (at the halfway point), where the subsequent bonuses are connected thematically to the starter; if a picture or music starter is not correctly answered, the accompanying bonus questions are held back until a normal starter is correctly answered. Usually, in the recent contests, the first picture round focuses on science and technology, geography, and languages, while the second picture round focuses on art, film, television, and literature. The 2010 Manchester University team included a visually impaired student, Rachael Neiman, and the picture rounds in episodes involving the team were word puzzles for which she was provided with Braille transcriptions. Pieces of music played for the music round may be classical or popular – for example, on 25 July 2011, the pieces played were winners of the Eurovision Song Contest. Occasionally, audio clips other than music (e.g. speech, animal sounds or other field recordings) are used.

The pace of questioning gradually increases through the show. The sound of a gong signals the end of the game. At this point, the game immediately ends, even if the quizmaster is halfway through asking a question. In the event of a tied score at the sound of the gong, a sudden death question is asked, the first team to answer correctly being deemed the winner; this is repeated until a team either gives a correct answer to a question or is deducted five points for an incorrect interruption to a question. The ending of the programme is usually signified with the quizmaster saying, "It's goodbye from (, who say goodbye), it's goodbye from (, likewise), and it's goodbye from me: goodbye!" Afterwards, during the closing credits Amol Rajan routinely walks over and confers with the losing team.

Production

While the starter questions are being read out, the teams are shown on screen one above the other by means of a split-screen effect. When a player buzzes in, the shot zooms in to that player, accompanied by a voiceover identifying the player by team and surname, for example "Nottingham, Munro". The voiceovers are performed live in the studio by Roger Tilling and become more energetic towards the end of the programme. The 1986 series experimented with an actual two-tier set, which was discontinued the following year.

Notable contestants

Pro-Celebrity edition, 1992.

Notable contestants in the regular student competition. Special Celebrity Christmas editions, where all competitors are distinguished, are excluded.

Entertainers

Authors

Politicians

Journalists

Others

Winners

The University of Manchester and Magdalen College, Oxford have both enjoyed four wins each, with Imperial College London having won a record five times. The University of Manchester and Magdalen College, Oxford are also the only teams to successfully defend the title the year after their win (Manchester's 2009 win came only after the original winner was disqualified). Trinity College, Cambridge and Durham University hold three titles, and a further six institutions have two titles: Sussex, the Open University, Sidney Sussex–Cambridge, Keble–Oxford, University–Oxford and Warwick. At the time of Magdalen College, Oxford's third win in 2004, no other institution had won more than twice; the trophy in use since 1994 was given to the college in perpetuity and a new once created for use from 2005.

ITV series

Year Winners Runners-up
1963 University of Leicester Balliol College, Oxford
1965 New College, Oxford Worcester College, Oxford
1966 Oriel College, Oxford University of Birmingham
1967 University of Sussex King's College London
1968 Keele University Jesus College, Cambridge
1969 University of Sussex (2) University of Essex
1970 Churchill College, Cambridge Christ's College, Cambridge
1971 Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Trinity College, Oxford
1972 University College, Oxford Keble College, Oxford
1973 Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
1974 Trinity College, Cambridge Balliol College, Oxford
1975 Keble College, Oxford University of Hull
1976 University College, Oxford (2) King's College London
1977 Durham University New College, Oxford
1978 Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (2) Magdalene College, Cambridge
1979 University of Bradford Lancaster University
1980 Merton College, Oxford Queens' College, Cambridge
1981 Queen's University Belfast University of Edinburgh
1982 University of St Andrews University College, Oxford
1983 University of Dundee Durham University
1984 The Open University University of St Andrews
1986 Jesus College, Oxford Imperial College London
1987 Keble College, Oxford (2) University College, Oxford

BBC series

Year Winners Runners-up
1995 Trinity College, Cambridge (2) New College, Oxford
1996 Imperial College London London School of Economics
1997 Magdalen College, Oxford The Open University
1998 Magdalen College, Oxford (2) Birkbeck, University of London
1999 The Open University (2) Oriel College, Oxford
2000 University of Durham (2) Oriel College, Oxford
2001 Imperial College London (2) St John's College, Oxford
2002 Somerville College, Oxford Imperial College London
2003 Birkbeck, University of London Cranfield University
2004 Magdalen College, Oxford (3) Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
2005 Corpus Christi College, Oxford University College London
2006 University of Manchester Trinity Hall, Cambridge
2007 University of Warwick University of Manchester
2008 Christ Church, Oxford University of Sheffield
2009 University of Manchester (2) Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Disqualified)
2010 Emmanuel College, Cambridge St John's College, Oxford
2011 Magdalen College, Oxford (4) University of York
2012 University of Manchester (3) Pembroke College, Cambridge
2013 University of Manchester (4) University College London
2014 Trinity College, Cambridge (3) Somerville College, Oxford
2015 Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Magdalen College, Oxford
2016 Peterhouse, Cambridge St John's College, Oxford
2017 Balliol College, Oxford Wolfson College, Cambridge
2018 St John's College, Cambridge Merton College, Oxford
2019 University of Edinburgh St Edmund Hall, Oxford
2020 Imperial College London (3) Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
2021 University of Warwick (2) Magdalene College, Cambridge
2022 Imperial College London (4) University of Reading
2023 University of Durham (3) University of Bristol
2024 Imperial College London (5) University College London

Most series wins

Rank University/College Number of wins Win year(s)
1 Imperial College London 5 1996, 2001, 2020, 2022, 2024
2 Magdalen College, Oxford 4 1997, 1998, 2004, 2011
University of Manchester 4 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013
4 Trinity College, Cambridge 3 1974, 1995, 2014
Durham University 3 1977, 2000, 2023
6 University of Sussex 2 1967, 1969
University College, Oxford 2 1972, 1976
Keble College, Oxford 2 1975, 1987
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 2 1971, 1978
The Open University 2 1984, 1999
University of Warwick 2 2007, 2021

Information in these tables obtained from Blanchflower – University Challenge Series Champions.

Lowest scores

Little is known about the lowest scores from the Bamber Gascoigne series, except that the lowest score ever was in the 1971–72 season, when the University of Sussex, fresh from two series wins, managed only 10 points. However, a low score was also achieved by Victoria University of Manchester in their first round match in 1975 when, for much of the recording, they answered only with the names of Marxists as a protest against the Oxford and Cambridge colleges being able to enter separate teams.

Under Jeremy Paxman, the lowest score achieved by a student team is also 10 which, coincidentally, was also achieved by a team from the University of Sussex, in the first round of the 2021–22 series when they faced the University of Birmingham who scored 245. In the same series, the lowest winning score for a student team was achieved, by Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who scored 85 in a quarter final against King's College London who scored 80. The second lowest losing score is 15, which was achieved by the University of Exeter in a 2008–09 quarter-final against Corpus Christi, Oxford, whose team captain Gail Trimble amassed 15 correct starter questions. However, the Corpus Christi team were later disqualified from the competition after it was found that team member Sam Kay had been ineligible for the last three matches. Therefore, the second lowest score officially achieved against eligible opponents under quizmaster Jeremy Paxman was by Lincoln College, Oxford, who totalled 30 in a semi-final against the eventual series champions the University of Manchester, in an episode televised on 9 February 2009, just two weeks after the Corpus Christi vs Exeter match. This was also matched in the grand final by St John's College, Oxford, against Peterhouse, Cambridge, on 18 April 2016.

Before these matches, the lowest score was 35, reached by New Hall, Cambridge, 1997. This score would have been lower if all deductions for incorrect interruptions had been applied.

The lowest score during the Professionals series was achieved by the House of Commons team, who scored 25 in 2003. In the 2014 Christmas University Challenge series, a team of alumni from Newcastle University also finished with 25.

An all-time record low score for the series was achieved in the final of the 2017 Christmas series, when Keble College, Oxford, beat the University of Reading 240–0. The previous year's Christmas series saw the lowest winning score of all time, 75, scored by the University of Nottingham, who defeated their opponents, the University of Bristol, by just five points.

Highest scores

University College, Oxford, scored 520 points in the final ITV season in 1987. In the Jeremy Paxman era, the team from Open University scored the highest score, 415, in the semi-final in 1997 against Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School.

Specials

Year Special Event Winners Runners Up
1978 College Bowl-University Challenge World Championship University Challenge "all-stars" Stanford University
1979 College Bowl-University Challenge World Championship Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Davidson College
1984 1984 Christmas special
1986 International best of three series Great Britain (Jesus College, Oxford, 1985) New Zealand (University of Auckland, 1985)
1987 International best of three series Great Britain (Keble College, Oxford, 1986) New Zealand (University of Otago, 1986)
1992 Pro-Celebrity match Celebrity Past Contestants (Alastair Little, John Simpson, Stephen Fry, Charles Moore)(Appropriately enough, all the celebrities studied at Cambridge colleges making this an Oxbridge match.) Keble College, Oxford (A team of current students from the college, as they were the "defending champions", having won the last series of the show, back in 1987.)
1997 College Bowl Challenge University of Michigan Imperial College London, 1996
1997 Mastermind Challenge Magdalen College, Oxford, 1997 The last 4 Mastermind finalists from the Magnus Magnusson era: Claire Ockwell, Andrea Weston, Colin Cadby (Captain) and Anne Ashurst (series champion)
1997 College Bowl Challenge USA UK
1998 Champions' Challenge Magdalen College, Oxford, 1997 Imperial College London, 1996
1998 Universe Challenge Red Dwarf Fans: (Darryl Ball, Kaley Nichols, Steve Rogers , Pip Swallow, Sharon Burnett ) Red Dwarf Cast: (Robert Llewellyn, Danny John-Jules, Chris Barrie, Chloë Annett, Craig Charles)
1998 Challenge Magdalen College, Oxford, 1998 Leicester, 1963
1999 Journalists Special Tabloids (Jane Moore, Peter Hitchens, Ann Leslie, Tony Parsons) Broadsheets (Decca Aitkenhead, Libby Purves, Boris Johnson, Richard Ingrams)
2002 University Challenge: Reunited Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1979 Keele, 1968
2003 Comic Relief match The Townies (Jeremy Beadle, Gina Yashere, Danny Baker, Johnny Vaughan) The Gownies (David Baddiel, Frank Skinner, Stephen Fry, Clive Anderson)
2003 University Challenge: The Professionals The Inland Revenue Royal Meteorological Society
2004 International "Grand Final": UK vs India Sardar Patel College of Engineering (SPCE), Mumbai: (Nirad Inamdar, Bharat Jayakumar, Nishad Manerikar, Shrijit Plappally) Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge: (Laura Ashe, Darren Khodaverdi, Lameen Souag, Edward Wallace)
2004 University Challenge: The Professionals British Library Oxford University Press
2004 Christmas Special 1 Television (Monty Don, Martha Kearney, Andrew Neil, Clare Balding) Radio (Henry Blofeld, Jenni Murray, Ned Sherrin, Roger Bolton)
Christmas Special 2 Critics (Waldemar Januszczak, Russell Davies, Brian Sewell, Andrew Graham-Dixon) Theatre (Adrian Noble, Harriet Walter, Tim Rice, Ken Campbell)
Christmas Specials: Final Critics Television
2005 Comic Relief 2005 Match The South (Sarah Alexander, Hugh Grant, Stephen Fry, Omid Djalili) The North (Colin Murray, John Thomson, Armando Iannucci, Neil Morrissey)
2005 University Challenge: The Professionals Privy Council Office Romantic Novelists' Association
2005 Christmas Special 1 News (Kate Adie, Nick Robinson, Michael Buerk, Bridget Kendall) Politics (Mark Oaten, Diane Abbott, Tim Yeo, Stephen Pound)
Christmas Special 2 Writers (Tony Marchant, Andrew Davies, Iain Banks, Jimmy McGovern) Actors (Robert Powell, Samuel West, Janet Suzman, Martin Jarvis)
Christmas Specials: Final Writers News
2006 University Challenge: The Professionals Bodleian Library Royal Statistical Society
2008 University Challenge: The Professionals Ministry of Justice National Physical Laboratory
2011 Christmas University Challenge Trinity College, Cambridge (Robin Bhattacharyya, Daisy Goodwin, John Lloyd, Edward Stourton) University of Warwick (Vadim Jean, Daisy Christodoulou, Christian Wolmar, Carla Mendonça)
2012 Christmas University Challenge New College, Oxford (Rachel Johnson, Patrick Gale, Kate Mosse, Yan Wong) University of East Anglia (John Boyne, Razia Iqbal, David Grossman, Charlie Higson)
2013 Christmas University Challenge Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Helen Castor, Mark Damazer, Lars Tharp) Emmanuel College, Cambridge (Hugo Rifkind, Mary-Ann Ochota, Simon Singh, Rory McGrath)
2014 Champion of Champions University of Manchester (Henry Pertinez, Gareth Aubrey, Tristan Burke, Adam Barr) Magdalen College, Oxford (Matthew Chan, Freya McClements, Jim Adams, Sarah Healey)
2014 Christmas University Challenge Trinity Hall, Cambridge (Tom James, Emma Pooley, Adam Mars-Jones, Dan Starkey) University of Hull (Rosie Millard, Malcolm Sinclair, Jenni Murray, Stan Cullimore)
2015 Christmas University Challenge Magdalen College, Oxford (Robin Lane Fox, Heather Berlin, Louis Theroux, Matt Ridley) University of Sheffield (Sid Lowe, Nicci Gerrard, Adam Hart, Ruth Reed)
2016 Christmas University Challenge St Hilda's College, Oxford (Fiona Caldicott, Daisy Dunn, Val McDermid, Adèle Geras) University of Leeds (Louise Doughty, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Kamal Ahmed, Steve Bell)
2017 Christmas University Challenge Keble College, Oxford (Paul Johnson, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Katy Brand, Anne-Marie Imafidon) University of Reading (Anna Machin, Martin Hughes-Games, Sophie Walker, Pippa Greenwood)
2018 Christmas University Challenge Peterhouse, Cambridge (Dan Mazer, Mark Horton, Michael Howard, Michael Axworthy) University of Bristol (Philip Ball, Laura Wade, Misha Glenny, Iain Stewart)
2019 Comic Relief 2019 Match Team Freeman (Luisa Omielan, Robert Rinder, Martin Freeman, Kerry Godliman) Team Manford (Darren Harriott, Vick Hope, Jason Manford, Emily Atack)
2019 Christmas University Challenge University of Leeds (Jonathan Clements, Henry Gee, Richard Coles, Timothy Allen) Wadham College, Oxford (Jonathan Freedland, Tom Solomon, Anne McElvoy, Roger Mosey)
2020 Children in Need 2020 Match Team BBC (Dane Baptiste, Anita Rani, Dara Ó Briain, Steve Pemberton) Team ITV (Iain Stirling, Charlene White, Fay Ripley, Joel Dommett)
2020 Christmas University Challenge The Courtauld Institute of Art (Tim Marlow, Lavinia Greenlaw, Jacky Klein, Jeremy Deller) University of Manchester (David Nott, Juliet Jacques, Ade Edmondson, Justin Edwards)
2021 Children in Need 2021 Match Team BBC (Angela Barnes, Mishal Husain, Rick Edwards, Jon Culshaw) Team ITV (Russell Kane, Denise Welch, Kaye Adams, Ranj Singh)
2021 Christmas University Challenge University of Edinburgh (Catherine Slessor, Thomasina Miers, Miles Jupp, Phil Swanson) Hertford College, Oxford (Soweto Kinch, Elizabeth Norton, Adam Fleming, Isabelle Westbury)
2022 Christmas University Challenge Balliol College, Oxford (Elizabeth Kiss, Andrew Copson, Martin Edwards, Martin O'Neill) University of Hull (Katharine Norbury, James Graham, Sian Reese-Williams, Graeme Hall, Sarah Peverley)
2023 Christmas University Challenge Middlesex University (David Heathcote, Lola Young, Heather Phillipson, David Hepworth, Dan Renton Skinner) Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Francesca Happé, Michael Cockerell, Alex Bellos, Steve Waters)

Some information from this table was obtained from the web pages listed in "Special Series". Sean Blanchflower. Retrieved 26 February 2008.

Transmissions

ITV series

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 21 September 1962 26 November 1963 62
2 3 December 1963 26 May 1965 60
3 25 August 1965 8 June 1966 42
4 7 September 1966 3 June 1967 40
5 27 September 1967 24 July 1968 44
6 2 August 1968 13 July 1969 45
7 20 July 1969 30 August 1970 46
8 25 October 1970 1 August 1971 41
9 17 October 1971 23 July 1972 41
10 25 October 1972 5 September 1973 39
11 31 October 1973 2 October 1974 40
12 October 1974 31 October 1975 40
13 7 November 1975 10 December 1976 44
14 17 December 1976 31 October 1977 36
15 7 November 1977 20 November 1978 43
16 27 November 1978 4 February 1980 40
17 18 February 1980 8 December 1980 37
18 15 December 1980 7 December 1981 39
19 14 January 1982 16 January 1983 43
20 30 January 1983 21 December 1983 39
21 20 January 1984 27 December 1984 34
22 7 April 1986 30 May 1986 40
23 13 July 1987 4 September 1987 40

BBC series

Series Start date End date Episodes
24 21 September 1994 29 March 1995 27
25 1 November 1995 1 May 1996 27
26 12 November 1996 4 June 1997 27
27 10 September 1997 21 April 1998 27
28 2 September 1998 27 April 1999 31
29 13 September 1999 9 May 2000 31
30 4 September 2000 2 April 2001 31
31 23 July 2001 11 March 2002 31
32 2 September 2002 31 March 2003 31
33 15 September 2003 12 April 2004 31
34 13 September 2004 9 May 2005 31
35 19 September 2005 15 May 2006 31
36 7 August 2006 16 April 2007 31
37 9 July 2007 3 March 2008 31
38 7 July 2008 23 February 2009 31
39 6 July 2009 5 April 2010 37
40 5 July 2010 4 April 2011 37
41 4 July 2011 19 March 2012 37
42 16 July 2012 29 April 2013 37
43 15 July 2013 7 April 2014 37
44 14 July 2014 13 April 2015 37
45 13 July 2015 18 April 2016 37
46 11 July 2016 10 April 2017 37
47 17 July 2017 23 April 2018 37
48 16 July 2018 22 April 2019 37
49 15 July 2019 20 April 2020 37
50 13 July 2020 5 April 2021 37
51 12 July 2021 4 April 2022 37
52 29 August 2022 29 May 2023 37
53 17 July 2023 8 April 2024 37
54 12 August 2024

Spin-off shows

The producers of the programme have taken the more recent inclusion of mature students to its logical conclusion by making two series without any student participants: University Challenge Reunited (2002) brought former teams back together, while University Challenge: The Professionals (from 2003) matched occupational groups such as civil servants, architects and doctors against each other. In 2003, the former was won by the 1979 team from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, the latter by a team from the Inland Revenue. The 2004 Professionals series was won by the British Library, and the 2005 series by the Privy Council Office. In 2006, Professionals was won by staff of the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.

The show has seen numerous specials, including those for specific professions and celebrity editions, such as Universe Challenge, presented by former host and Red Dwarf fan, Bamber Gascoigne, where the cast of Red Dwarf challenged a team of their "ultimate fans" to celebrate Red Dwarf's 10th anniversary on the air. The cast was Chris Barrie (captain), Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn, Chloë Annett and Craig Charles. The cast, who at times seemed amazed at the fans' knowledge, lost, but by only 15 points, 280–295.

Similar programmes

Sixth Form Challenge, hosted by Chris Kelly, appeared briefly between 1965 and 1967. The sixth form contestants represented leading public schools and grammar schools. An untelevised version, Schools' Challenge, continues to run at junior and senior secondary school levels.

Challenging Times was a quiz show for teams representing higher education institutes in Ireland, televised by RTÉ from 1991 to 2001.

Other countries

University Challenge ran in New Zealand for 14 seasons, from 1976 until 1989, with international series held between the previous years' British and New Zealand champions in both 1986 and 1987. It originally aired on TVNZ 1 and was hosted by Peter Sinclair from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1989. From 1978 to 1979, Sinclair was briefly dropped from the show and was replaced by University of Otago lecturer Charles Higham, Sinclair returned in 1980 and from 1981 to 1982, the show briefly moved to TVNZ 2, it moved back to TV1 in 1983 and remained on the network until the series original conclusion in 1989. The series was revived in 2014 by Cue TV and aired on Prime with Cue TV owner Tom Conroy as host and ran until its second conclusion in 2017.

University Challenge, hosted by Magnus Clarke, ran in Australia on the ABC from 1987 until 1989. In the 1988 series, the University of New South Wales defeated the University of Melbourne in the final by 245 points to 175.

University Challenge India started in summer 2003, with the season culminating in the finals of March 2004 where Sardar Patel College of Engineering (SPCE), Mumbai, beat Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. The 2004–2005 season finale saw a team of undergraduate engineering students from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), Delhi, beat a team of management students from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode. The Indian winners of the 2003–2004 season went on to beat the finalists from the UK show, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. UC India is produced by BBC World India, and Synergy Communications, co-owned by Siddhartha Basu, who also hosted the show.

University Challenge inspired the format of two Dutch-language shows: Universiteitsstrijd (the Netherlands), which ran for one season in 2016 on NTR, and De Campus Cup [nl] (Belgium), which ran since 2019 on Canvas.

Notes

  1. This figure included all episodes from both the ITV and BBC series, as well as the 2002 Reunited series and all special episodes. The figure does not include the spin-off University Challenge: The Professionals.
  2. "Richard Reid Productions". University Challenge. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  3. Metcalfe, Callum (17 December 2020). "Christmas TV specials filmed in Salford this year". Salford Now. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ See Don't ever change, University Challenge by Harry Mount, the Daily Telegraph, 7 April 2014.
  5. Roger Tilling Interview BBC Breakfast April 2017 on YouTube
  6. University Challenge Intros - 1962-2022 (UK, NZ & Aus). University Challenge. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. Taylor, Paul (12 September 2012). "Made in Manchester: University Challenge celebrates 50 years on our screens". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  8. "University Challenge - 1963". blanchflower.org. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  9. The Times (London, England), Wednesday, 12 Oct 1983; pg. 14;
  10. Mark Damazer (presenter); Jo Meek (producer). "Your Starter for Ten: 50 Years of University Challenge". BBC ("Radio 4 Extra"). Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  11. Gallagher, Paul (21 June 2009). "BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  12. "'University Challenge' Won By Manchester Team for Third Time". HuffPost. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  13. Minelle, Bethany (18 August 2022). "Amol Rajan replaces Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host". Sky News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  14. MD, Peter Grinspoon (24 August 2018). "Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't". Harvard Health. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  15. Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's – Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson's, retrieved 4 October 2022
  16. "TV tonight: Jeremy Paxman on Parkinson's, dissecting brains and quitting University Challenge". the Guardian. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  17. "First look images of new University Challenge set and host Amol Rajan". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  18. "BBC Two - University Challenge, 2023/24, Trinity College, Cambridge v Manchester". BBC Online. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  19. Nicole Martin (17 December 2007) . "University Challenge 'needs upper age limit' [print version: Your starter for 10: how old are these students?]". The Daily Telegraph. London. p. 14. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  20. Paxman Slams 'Quiz Professionals'. BBC News. 5 June 1999.
  21. "How Lance Left Paxman at a Loss for Words" – Mensa Magazine, August, 1999
  22. Michael Rosser (2 March 2009). "University Challenge winners dethroned". Broadcast.
  23. "BBC in University Challenge probe". BBC. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  24. Brian Ferguson (3 March 2009). "University Challenge winners stripped of title – for having zero common sense". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  25. "University Challenge: a joint statement from the BBC and Granada". BBC Press Office (Press release). BBC. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  26. "University quiz hit by new claims". BBC. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  27. Holmwood, Leigh (3 March 2009). "Previous University Challenge winners appear to break rules". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  28. "Scholar tops university quiz". BBC. 13 April 2004. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  29. "Your starter for 10 – is University Challenge cheating us?". The Guardian. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  30. "BBC Two – Not the Nine O'Clock News, Series 3, Episode 8". BBC. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  31. Jess Denham. "Rik Mayall death anniversary: Funniest moments from Blackadder to The Young Ones | Features | Culture". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  32. Universe Challenge (1998) at IMDb
  33. deadmonger (11 April 2011) . "The BFI TV 100 (2000) – a list". IMDb. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  34. "The Story So Far, University Challenge – BBC Two". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  35. "University Challenge criticised for Oxbridge bias". 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  36. "Monkman Vs Seagull: A Potted History of the University Challenge Captains' Bromance". 27 March 2017.
  37. "Eric Monkman belted out the Imperial March on The One Show, because Monkman".
  38. "Monkman and Seagull on 'divine inspiration' for puzzles, Today – BBC Radio 4". BBC. 7 August 2017.
  39. "University Challenge stars get own show". BBC News. 3 August 2017.
  40. Tapper, James (13 January 2024). "'We need jungle, I'm afraid': how University Challenge went viral on the rave scene". The Observer – via The Guardian.
  41. Bradley, Wendy (15 September 2014). "I'm gutted about University Challenge. And it's got nothing to do with Paxman". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  42. Weaver, Matthew (18 December 2023). "BBC called to defend 'elitist' format of University Challenge". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  43. On University Challenge (Illustrated). Jacob Funnell. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  44. Bentley, Paul; Kathryn Faulkner (4 February 2010). "Blind Rachael's new Challenge". South Manchester Reporter. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  45. James, Clive (10 December 2016). "Clive James: 'At 16, my dress sense was in the first full flower of its baroque glory'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  46. Brandreth, Gyles (2018). Have You Eaten Grandma?. Penguin. p. 135. ISBN 978-0241352656. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  47. Granada TV's "University Challenge" 1962/3 on YouTube
  48. Blake Morrison I contain multitudes, The Guardian, 29 May 2010
  49. "Meet the Chasers: Mark Labbett". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  50. "Imperial wins university challenge". Imperial. 8 April 2024.
  51. Sean Blanchflower. "University Challenge Series Champions". www.blanchflower.org. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
  52. Sean Blanchflower. "University Challenge – Lowest Scores". www.blanchflower.org. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  53. Paul Gallagher. "BBC tightens University Challenge rules in response to fiasco | Television & radio". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  54. Holmwood, Leigh (2 March 2009). "Gail Trimble's Corpus Christi stripped of University Challenge title". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  55. Sean Blanchflower. "University Challenge – lowest scores". www.blanchflower.org. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
  56. On the TV programme The 100 Most Embarrassing TV Moments Ever, the New Hall performance was repeated and a member of the team said that they stopped losing points.
  57. Sean Blanchflower. "University Challenge – Statistics". blanchflower.org. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  58. This was played under College Bowl rules, with Art Fleming hosting
  59. "Christmas University Challenge announces line up".
  60. https://x.com/woodg31/status/1740092799142478054/photo/1 TV listings for 27th Dec 1984.
  61. University Challenge Australian Grand Final 1988 NSW v Melbourne Part 1 on YouTube
  62. "Siddhartha Basu: The quizmaster on his latest programme on BBC, the University Challenge (UC)". Outlook. 18 August 2003.
  63. "De Universiteitsstrijd gemist? Start met kijken op NPO Start". www.npostart.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  64. (Her)bekijk Campus Cup (in Dutch), retrieved 27 March 2021

External links

University Challenge
Series
Hosts
Related series
In popular culture
Categories: