University Challenge
BBC2/iPlayer
EDINBURGH lost to Manchester in tonight’s University Challenge - but the Scots team won through to the next round as one of the highest scoring runners-up.
The final score was Manchester 200, Edinburgh 155. Edinburgh needed 145 for a pass through to the second round of the long-running quiz.
Host Jeremy Paxman introduced Edinburgh as one of the UK’s most popular universities. “Perhaps because there is a persistent rumour students really know how to enjoy themselves,” he added.
Alumni of Edinburgh include Sir Walter Scott, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, JM Barrie, plus politicians Gordon Brown, Ruth Davidson and Amber Rudd.
As last year’s winners and three times semi-finalists, the pressure was on Edinburgh to put in a strong performance.
Also with a point to prove was Manchester, one of only two institutions, alongside Magdalen College, Oxford, to win the TV competition four times.
On Edinburgh’s team were Zak Jeffcoat, from Edinburgh, studying architectural history; Matthew Fricker from Shipley, maths and physics; Niamh Clarke (captain), Hollywood, County Wicklow, physics and meteorology; and Nicholas Winter, London, maths.
READ MORE: University of St Andrews wins big
Lining up for Manchester: Ralph Scott, Aberystwyth, studying for a PhD in politics; Patrick Jones-O’Brien, Pennsylvania, linguistics and social anthropology; Alex Spacey (captain), Hampshire, PhD history; and Andrew Snedden, Surrey, PhD in neuromuscular disease.
Manchester got off to a flying start before Jeffcoat halted their progress by naming Evelyn Waugh’s autobiography, A Little Learning. After that the spoils were almost evenly distributed, with Edinburgh just ten marks behind at one point.
READ MORE: Your starter for ten
A run of success by Manchester was met with a late rally from their opponents. It was not sufficient to win, but enough to take Edinburgh through to the next round alongside fellow highest scorers, Imperial College, London, and Exeter.
Next week: Magdalene College, Cambridge v University College, Oxford.
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