University Challenge 2023 Grand Final - Durham v. Bristol

The Teams

Durham

Harry Scully

Chloe Margaux

Alex Radcliffe (capt.)

Bea Bennett

Bristol

Sam Kehler

Jacob McLaughlin

Tess Richardson (capt.)

Alejandro Ortega

JP, in this, his final introduction to a University Challenge match, paid tribute to the fact that the final brings us full circle. I don’t think it’s going too far to say that these two teams have proven to be the best in the competition, and promised an intriguing battle of the buzzers.

I surprised myself by getting a Science question right with the very first starter, knowing that the world’s first nuclear reactor was built on an unused tennis court in the University in Chicago. While I was setting off on my final lap of honour of the series Harry Scully won the first buzzer race to give the same answer. Very early examples of Science Fiction only provided one correct answer, but Durham were up and running. A sort of backhandedly complimentary description of Charles II gave Bea Bennett the next starter. The Turner Prize in 2021 promised little and delivered less for Durham. Encouraged by their buzzer success thus far, skipper Alex Radcliffe was in very early for the next starter, to which the answer was cat. To me, a family of proteins would be Mummy protein, Daddy protein and Baby protein, but funnily enough none of these were the answer to the bonuses. Durham managed the one. You could say that Bristol were fortunate that Durham were having little joy with the bonuses – despite having taken the first three starters consecutively they had only accrued 40 points. But this would be more than enough if Bristol could not challenge their dominance of the buzzer. For the picture starter we were shown a map with the site of a battle and its date. Sam Kehler broke Bristol’s duck by buzzing in to identify that the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI had been killed in the battle. More battles and dead royals brought a full house, which meant that for all Durham’s good work the gap now stood at just fifteen points. The next starter was an example of one with a long preamble where the answer suddenly becomes clear, and as JP mentioned the titles of the movies Roma and Satyricon, Harry Scully won the buzzer race to answer Fellini. A good full house of bonuses on literary criticism followed, which meant that Durham led by forty again at the ten minute mark, by 65 – 25.

If Scully don’t get yer, Radcliffe will. I certainly seemed that way as the Durham skipper won the buzzer race to answer that several definitions given us by JP all referred to protocol. Only 1 bonus followed on the B-52’s – hardly surprising considering the youth of all the participants. Finally Jacob McLaughlin took his first starter, recognising several things all beginning with r-o-s-e-n. Triangular countries according to the calculations of Tom Alps were the subject of the next set of bonuses. No, I didn’t get it either. Bristol did, they took a full house to reduce the gap to thirty points. So to the music starter. A quick blast on an organ was enough to allow Alex Radcliffe in with Saint-Saens. More organ heavy works provided nowt for any of us. Still the Durham buzzer onslaught continued with the next starter. This time it was Harry Scully in with the word lumen. I didn’t really understand what the next set of bonuses meant, but they were all about notable American academics and their works. Durham took one, which took their lead to fifty five. Jacob McLaughlin took the next starter for Bristol with the Isle of Arran and Andorra. Effects in Physics yielded just one bonus, at a time when Bristol desperately needed another full house. Alex Radcliffe came in too early for he next starter and lost five, but none of us knew that MOBA stands for Museum of Bad Art. Sam Kehler recognised the colours and description of the flag of Belgium. Ignatius Sancho, an 18^th century man of letters, brought a further ten points. This mean that at the 20 minute mark the score stood at 100- 85. Durham led, but the gap was back down to 15.

So it was that Durham did what they’d done before when Bristol threatened- buzzed early and took the next starter, with Harry Scully identifying the work of Kandinsky for the second picture starter. Three more paintings of rowers yielded one bonus. Harry Scully struck again for the next starter, recognising parts of the eye. Durham then took two bonuses on, literally, rocket science. It was funny they knew Tsiolkovsky but not Goddard. So, with Durham now leading by 55, surely the title was in the bag? Nobody knew the work Learning from Las Vegas for the next starter. Sam Kehler knew that Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire. Two bonuses on philosophy narrowed the gap to 35. Sam Kehler took a double knowing of an experiment that simulated a prison environment. Two bonuses on world events of the 1060s narrowed the gap to 15. With little time left, bearing in mind we needed a few minutes for the presentation formalities, suddenly the next starter became of paramount importance. Asked which distance was the race in the medal ceremony for which John Carlos, Peter Norman and Tommie Smith made one of the most famous Olympic photographs of all time, Sam Kehler won the buzzer race. But. He answered 400m, losing 5 and allowing Harry Scully to answer 200m. On such small margins, and his was cruel luck for Sam Kehler, whose buzzes had kept Bristol in the hunt. Here was time for one bonus on refrigerants before the gong. Durham won by 155 – 120.

I predicted that it would be a close contest, and it was, even though a times it really didn’t feel as close as it was. I can only apologise to Bristol for cursing them with the Clark tip. As JP said, they should take a great deal of pride from the way that they have played the series. So should Durham, who were presented with the trophy by Jung Chang – among other distinctions she is the author of the excellent Wild Swans, a book I can recommend. Worthy University Challenge champions, 2023.

A final word of thanks, though to Jeremy Paxman. Since 1994 he has made the show his own, so much so that it is difficult to envisage anyone else in the chair.

Interesting Fact That I Didn’t Already Know Of The Week

Sunday on the Pot With George is an exhibit in the Museum of Bad Art