Category : Factual
& Arts TV
Date : 13.04.2004
Printable version
Magdalen
College, Oxford has become the first institution in the history
of University Challenge to win the contest three times.
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In last night's final on 91Èȱ¬ TWO - chaired by Jeremy
Paxman - Magdalen took the title with 190 points to Gonville
& Caius, Cambridge's 160.
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200 teams had applied to take part in the series, 28
qualified for the series.
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It was the first Oxford v Cambridge final for nine years.
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In 1995 Trinity College, Cambridge beat New College,
Oxford by 390 to 180.
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Gonville and Caius failed to get off their starting
blocks last night, as a wrong answer took them to minus 5 points whilst
Magdalen stormed ahead with 50.
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They slowly closed the gap between them until the teams
were neck and neck with 65 points, but Caius never quite managed to
take the lead.
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They trailed just behind Magdalen throughout but fought
back to close the gap.
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With three and a half minutes to go, Magdalen were
ahead by 165 to 130.
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But Magdalen maintained their lead and at the gong
took the title with 190 to Caius' 160.
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In the final the teams tackled questions on subjects
as diverse as medieval history, classical architecture, plants, severe
punishments, historical events, welcomes, the crow family, asteroids,
a Greek island, an English academic, Swiss cantons, saints and flower
parts.
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The trophy was presented by best-selling author Bill
Bryson who described it as a very exciting match.
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"I watched it from the floor and so I had the luxury
of seeing all eight contestants at once. You realise that the difference
between a successful buzzer and the rest is a nanosecond," he said.
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Paxman: "Honestly, how many
could you answer?"
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Bryson: "I couldn't even get the nooky question!
It amazes me how it all drains away with just the tension of being here.
It's a stiff challenge for anybody."
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Paxman: "What would you say about the accusation
that universities are dumbing down?"
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Bryson: "There are at least eight who haven't!
No, seriously, a whole series of students... I think it's extremely
encouraging."
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University Challenge is a Granada Production for 91Èȱ¬
TWO.
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Notes to Editors
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The Teams
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Gonville & Caius, Cambridge: Edward Wallace (Captain)
from London, studying Pure Mathematics; Lameen Souag, Algerian American,
studying Mathematics; Rosemary Warner, Huddersfield, studying Bio Chemistry;
Laura Ashe, Leeds, studying for a PHD in Medieval Literature.
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Magdalen, Oxford: Freya McClements (Captain) from County
Derry, Northern Ireland, studying Modern History; Dave Cox, Ipswich,
studying Mathematics; Matt Holdcroft, Bristol, studying Classics; Josh
Spero, London, studying Classics.
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Sample questions
Q: What two letters link a unit of Avoirdupois weight equivalent
to 437.5 grains with a magazine indicted in 1971 on charges including
"conspiracy to corrupt the morals of liege subjects of Her Majesty
the Queen by raising in their minds inordinate and lustful desires"?
Holdcroft (Magdalen): GQ?
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Paxman (laughs): No!
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Warner (Caius): LB?
Paxman: No, it's OZ.
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Q: It's like "a piece of drama, but has
pulled off the trick of dispensing with a script... It's where the entire
realist movement in 20th century art was leading". To which television
series do these words, part of an appreciation by a broadsheet columnist,
refer?
Holdcroft (Magdalen): Big Brother.
It was the correct answer - quote from Caspar Llewellyn Smith, The Observer,
13 July 2003.
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Q: "The shape, the efficiency, the simplicity
is really the endpoint of Cartesian perfection". Of what vehicle
did the broadsheet columnist Zoe Williams write in 2003: "the perfect
clunk-click of symbiosis that people associate with nooky is completely
expressed..."?
Magdalen: Concorde?
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Caius: Aston Martin?
Paxman: no, the bicycle.
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Quote from the Guardian, 15 July 2003.
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Route to the final
Gonville & Caius: 210 v Reading: 140
Gonville & Caius: 195 v Strathclyde: 140
Gonville & Caius: 180 v St John's, Oxford: 165
Gonville & Caius: 220 v London Metropolitan: 190
Magdalen: 160 v Nottingham: 110
Magdalen: 165 v Sussex: 130
Magdalen: 190 v Royal Northern College of Music: 130
Magdalen: 265 v St Andrews: 85
