More than you ever wanted to know about the UK's longest-running quiz show
Student series
The 2023-4 student series saw Imperial College, London emerge as worthy winners of Amol Rajan's first series as presenter. Imperial have thus become the first institution to have been champion on five occasions since they first won in 1996, edging ahead of Manchester University and Magdalen College, Cambridge (4 wins each). They have also now won three of the last five series.
Christmas series
The now traditional series of Christmas University Challenge ran over the Christmas period with Middlesex beating Corpus Christi, Oxford in the final.
Three-time champions
The 2022-23 student series was won by Durham University in a tight game against Bristol University that was only decided on the final starter. The show was also Jeremy Paxman's farewell after 29 years at the helm.
New presenter
The 2022-23 student series has started and is currently showing at 8:30pm on Mondays. The series will be Jeremy Paxman's 29th series in charge, but it will also be his last. Series 53 of the show, scheduled to begin in 2023, will be hosted by Amol Rajan. Here's an article from The Independent on those that were initially rumoured to be taking over.
Student series
The 2021-22 student series was won by Imperial College, London who beat Reading in an extremely close match. Imperial has now won the series four times, a record they share with Magdalen College, Oxford and Manchester.
Help needed
Can you help track down more fixtures and results from the Bamber Gascoigne series? Click on a row in the table below:
| Series | Start | End | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21/09/1962 | 26/11/1963 | Leicester |
| 2 | 03/12/1963 | 26/05/1965 | New, Oxford |
| 3 | 25/08/1965 | 08/06/1966 | Oriel, Oxford |
| 4 | 07/09/1966 | 03/06/1967 | Sussex |
| 5 | 27/09/1967 | 24/07/1968 | Keele |
| 6 | 02/08/1968 | 13/07/1969 | Sussex |
| 7 | 20/07/1969 | 30/08/1970 | Churchill, Cambridge |
| 8 | 25/10/1970 | 01/08/1971 | Sidney Sussex, Cambridge |
| 9 | 17/10/1971 | 23/07/1972 | University, Oxford |
| 10 | 25/10/1972 | 05/09/1973 | Fitzwilliam, Cambridge |
| 11 | 31/10/1973 | 02/10/1974 | Trinity, Cambridge |
| 12 | 18/11/1974 | 31/10/1975 | Keble, Oxford |
| 13 | 07/11/1975 | 10/12/1976? | University, Oxford |
| 14 | 17/12/1976? | 31/10/1977 | Durham |
| 15 | 07/11/1977 | 20/11/1978 | Sidney Sussex, Cambridge |
| 16 | 27/11/1978 | 11/02/1980 | Bradford |
| 17 | 18/02/1980 | 08/12/1980 | Merton, Oxford |
| 18 | 15/12/1980 | 07/12/1981 | Queen's, Belfast |
| 19 | 14/12/1981 | 23/01/1983 | St Andrews |
| 20 | 30/01/1983 | 18/12/1983 | Dundee |
| 21 | 20/01/1984 | 21/12/1984 | Open |
| 22 | 07/04/1986 | 30/05/1986 | Jesus, Oxford |
| 23 | 13/07/1987 | 04/09/1987 | Keble, Oxford |
Do email me (if this fails then try smb1001 at gmail) if you can fill in any of the many gaps, although it is inevitable that many of the fixtures and results are now lost as Granada only has a handful of recordings from the series before 1980.
Record low
The ninth game of the quarter finals smashed a record when Emmanuel, Cambridge pipped King's, London by 85 points to 80, beating the lowest ever winning score by a huge 30 points. The previous lowest winning score was 115 achieved in Bristol's quarter-final victory over Darwin, Cambridge in 2019, later equalled by St John's, Oxford in 2020. It didn't take the title of lowest combined points for a show, which is still 155 for Wolfson, Cambridge vs St John's, Oxford (40-115) in the 1st round in 2020.
For comparison, the highest losing score of the Paxman era is Clare, Cambridge's 250 in the 2012 Quarter Final.
Bamber Gascoigne, 24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022
I was incredibly sad to learn of the passing of the man who will forever be associated with University Challenge. His erudition and charm were the reason that the show became the British institution that it now is, and he will be sadly missed by the thousands of contestants who appeared on the show under his care as well as millions more at home who remember his firm but scrupulously fair stewardship.
Student champions
The 2020-21 student series was won by Warwick University, the second time that the institution has won the series. Runners-up Magdalene College, Cambridge, matched the achievements of the 1978 team that lost in an all-Cambridge final.
Children in Need
You can rewatch the Children in Need special on iPlayer.
Record low
Episode five of the 2019-20 series was record-breaking for all the wrong reasons. With St John's, Oxford beating Wolfson, Cambridge by 115 points to 40, it smashed the (Paxman-era) record for the lowest number of points in a game by 55 points. The previous low was 210 points, achieved in both the 2005 and 2018 series. It also tied the record for the lowest winning score.
Record breaker
The 2018-19 series took Jeremy Paxman past Bamber Gascoigne's total of 970 shows as presenter (or 971 if the 1992 Granadaland special is added). The game between Clare, Cambridge and St Edmund Hall, Oxford on 10 December 2018 was the 971st that he has chaired, consisting of (up to then) 802 regular student shows, 61 Professionals, 81 Christmas, 18 Reunited, and 9 Specials.
Retrospectives
I've recently added a page of links to articles by institutions reminiscing on their appearances over the years. If you're compiling one then start by taking a look at the series appearance tables (1962-87, and 1994-).
Team photos
Someone was kind enough to send me a picture of Durham's 1977 winning team. Only two series champions left without pictures!
