University Challenge

[hellywelly4]

A team with an average age of 20 were pitted against a team with an average age of 37. The older team won, although the younger ones did answer quite a few. Does anyone else think, as I do, that the older students should have a separate contest? Perhaps for the over 25s or over 30s - they have so much more life experience. I really didn't enjoy the contest tonight.

[Mamyalynne]

Gail was Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

[jim360]

Gail was at Corpus Christi Oxford, and led her team to a series victory -- but for some technical and wholly unwanted fuss about one the team's members being no longer at the college at the time of the last recordings.

[goodgoalie]

Gail Trimble was the captain of Corpus Christi, Oxford. They won, but were disqualified as one of their team had finished his studies during the time the show was recorded.
She was also on Only Connect as team captain of The Meeples, with her husband.

[jim360]

I suppose we could also mention players such as Guttenplan, or Christodoulou from Warwick, way back when. Superhuman quizzers are capable of carrying a team all the way on occasion. What I think lets Darwin and Golfinos down is that a fair few of the bonuses tend to go begging. Think they missed out on about half of them last night, which could just make the difference later.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Generally UC favours youth: they may know less than the good oldies, but when they do know the answer they're quicker on the buzzer. On the rare occasions I do well it's because I'm lucky with the starters - like the students just don't know the answer.

I thought this years Christmas quiz for the oldies a bit disappointing (though nice to see Howard get a prize at last). The alumni are largely picked from BBC employees and the degree of general ignorance was in some cases quite surprising as in when a team of four didn't got a clue about something I would have thought to be fairly common knowledge.

[jim360]

I was disappointed that Paxo didn't suggest that Howard had threatened to overrule one of his teammates.

[Prudie]

I would like to mention the totally gorgeous (in a very boyish way) captain of the overall victorious Manchester team a few years back (3 or 4??). He was so cute, wonder what he's doing now....

[ToraToraTora]

questions were a lot harder when I was on the show under bamby years ago.

[jim360]

Were they now? A few examples I've seen suggest otherwise, but I guess it's always easy to be selective.

[goodgoalie]

I was amazed that Peterhouse led by Howard won the Christmas edition, as he was a classic example of not being 'switched on'; in fact, he often seemed to be hardly involved or listening to the questions - why they made him captain, I have no idea. Seniority? I lost count of the number of times I shouted out (and not just to him, to plenty of the other contestants in other teams) WAKE UP!
They were often rescued by the very good contestant on his left.

[andy-hughes]

Prudie - // I don't consider being able to recognise a Sister Sledge song the height of academia. //

It is for me!!