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[lystellion]

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On University Challenge (Illustrated)All kinds of things about the show and our three matches for anyone interested

Comments

Re: University Challenge

[anonymous]

Thanks for replying to my post. I'm Prakash Patel by the way. I'm quite flattered you can remember that far back about that Turner painting (and correctly too!).

I'm quite sure the that the Durham team have coaching - we were backstage when the Manchester v Durham semi-finals was being recorded, which they left the "Collins Gem Book of Facts" for us to read. Edinburgh are also not a bad team, being the only university to appear on University Challenge more than Warwick. Losing to any of those teams would be not embarrassing, which makes CCO's achievement quite astonishing.

Your team's progress prior to the quarter-finals mirror our own, having beaten a Cambridge college comfortably in the first, and winning by a 5 point margin against UEA in the second. That was a very tense game against extremely fast players, where we didn't lead until the final minute, which I seemed to celebrate quite wildly - the relief was intense! Which is quite out of character for me as people who have met me find me melancholic, but I guess I enjoy the attention of the cameras. But in that match we learnt the lesson of buzzing in ridiculously early, perhaps even before thinking of the answer.

Personally, many of the starter questions in our quarter-final against Aberystwyth just flew over my head (which was also the case with the latter two rounds), which was in stark comparison with the first two rounds which I could have answered or attempted to answer every third starter. Luckily for us, we had Daisy on the team, who was beginning to assert her dominance on the game.

I was the only scientist on the team, but there was only three science starters in that round. I'm eternally grateful that Rory Gill got two of them. Hence it may be possible to win without one, especially as some of the questions do have hooks that non-scientist could grab onto.

You are quite right that being well-read is a great advantage, having three members who have read far more fiction than I could possibly imagine. This advantage showed up very often. And I think it also helps if you took history and geography to A-level, attended a school that taught Latin grammar and the classics, and also went to Sunday School. My humble schooling was unable to provide these things.

We weren't spectacular until our semi-final against UCL, recorded after Manchester's wallop of Durham. Incidentally, the Mancunian home crowd were intially cheering for us very loudly when the Manchester coach pointed out "We want Warwick to win, they're the weaker team!". That was until we were 150+ points up.

After earning the "deathless glory" of being university challenge, there is now hardly anything material to show for it, except for some VHS copies of the show, various websites and our memories. The university did not receive the UC trophy until late June (2 1/2 months after the final was televised) and was promptly removed by March the following year. We have no replica trophy from Granada to acknowledge our win. Although I really should not be bitter at all, as this is the stuff fairytales are made of.

Talking about howlers, I failed to recall that an orrery was a model of planets around the Sun in the final, answering "stars" instead. However, the rest of the team do like to coax poor old Rory Gill into reminding us of the *seven* pillars of Islam.

Be glad you didn't progress far enough to embrace Ann Widdecombe very awkwardly...

Re: University Challenge

[lystellion]

It's amazing how close your match against UEA was, it goes to show what little boundaries can separate a series. It's interesting how you say you came across differently on screen to how you are in life. I think that that needs to be kept in mind when people form judgements about people on the TV. They're not under normal circumstances.

I smiled when I read about the Durham team and their book of facts. I did try a little of that fact-learning myself, and it's hopeless. Unless you know things in context, you probably will end up forgetting them. Prime example: prior to the CC match, I read about palindromes in the green room in my trusty Schott's Original Miscellany. Our knockabout bonuses were coincidentally also on palindromes, and I'd not remembered a thing!

I tried learning about prime ministers of the 18th & 19th centuries as 'revision', and the only ones I remembered anything about (like rough time in office) were the ones that I could actually attribute historical events to. Which turned out to be about 4 or 5 at most. That's why UC is a little more than just 'random facts', it's mostly 'random facts in context'. It takes a long time to accumulate knowledge in context, and that's why coaching and pre-match preparation can only get a team so far.

I know what you mean about having good games and bad games. Once every dozen shows or so a game comes along on TV where I feel I could run away with 5-8 starters, screaming things at the TV well before anyone on the teams on show. And other games I feel totally ridiculous for long periods, not even knowing any questions for 5 minutes. It's really strange how it works, but even Trimble was quiet for the first half of the final last night.

My humble school was able to provide a nice amount of stigma and ridicule for knowing things, the catchment area including the 8th most deprived ward in the entire country. So I'm with you there, Prakash! As I remember Daisy Christodoulou sounded very down to Earth, though, so I'm guessing she wasn't privately educated?

It's a shame they don't give you anything material for winning! Granada were a bit tardy in getting some photographs to us. We had our photo taken behind Paxman sitting at his desk in the quarter-finals, but they never sent us a copy. I do have the polythene EXETER and FUNNELL strips that they use on the desks, though. They're proudly decorating my room.

I can't believe it, but now you mention it, I remember that orrery one, because I'm sure I remember getting that one right. Which was often remarkable for me, especially then, because you were ever such a fast team.

I remember that kiss on the cheek of Ann Widdecombe! That still makes me smile. You were braver than your teammates, they didn't even try!

I really hope Granada do another 'reunited' type series. I relish the prospect of seeing your team play someone like a Corpus Christi or Christ Church. Have you found being on UC gets you anywhere with employers and things? I doubt it will make a huge amount of difference, but I've always figured it will be something for the CV. I will of course not mention all the particulars of our matches... =p

Re: University Challenge

[lystellion]

A guy at the BBC may be interested in talking to you, scroll to the bottom of this page: http://www.blanchflower.org/uc/index.html