University Challenge

University Challenge results, 1963-1965

These are the results of the second series of University Challenge which ran weekly on ITV, starting in the week of 3 December 1963 and ending on 26 May 1965 after a run of 62 shows. For its first 7 months, the show was broadcast on Tuesdays at 19:00 in the Anglia region, moving to Fridays at around 22:00 for 8 weeks, finishing with 5 months of what was to become its signature slot of Wednesdays at 19:00, a sign of the show's success in that it acted as the warm-up for ITV's top show, Coronation Street, filmed in the same studios at Granada in Manchester.

The series also included the first Christmas Special, starting the tradition of a game between the winners of the previous series and a team of "professors and lecturers" from the same institution.

The first round had a 'winner-stays-on' format, with a team qualifying for the quarter-finals if they won three in a row. In actuality ten teams won three in a row so an additional two games were played in a 'Preliminary Round' before the quarter-finals to reduce that to eight. Unlike the first series the quarter-finals and semi-finals were single-game knockouts, but the final was again 'best-of-three'.

Early on in the series, Peterhouse, Cambridge lost to Christ Church, Oxford in a closely fought game. After the show, the Peterhouse team pointed out that two of the answers they'd given were in fact correct, and so the producers agreed that they could return later in the series. They then lost that match to Leeds.

For the whole of the Bamber era TV schedules differed between the different ITV regions, and the show was often broadcast at different times and on different days in different parts of the country, and sometimes the regions were even a week or two out of sync with each other. Where the date differed, I try to use the date the show was broadcast in the Anglia region in the tables.

There are many gaps that I've been unable to find, so please do contact me if you can assist.

First round
03/12/1963	St Andrews			St Anne's, Oxford
10/12/1963	St Anne's, Oxford	80	410	Peterhouse, Cambridge
17/12/1963	Peterhouse, Cambridge			Christ Church, Oxford
31/12/1963	Christ Church, Oxford			Queen Elizabeth, London
07/01/1964	Christ Church, Oxford			York
14/01/1964	Selwyn, Cambridge			Trinity, Dublin
21/01/1964	Selwyn, Cambridge			St Hugh's, Oxford
28/01/1964	Selwyn, Cambridge			UEA
04/02/1964	Churchill, Cambridge			St Peter's, Oxford
11/02/1964	St Peter's, Oxford			University, Dublin
18/02/1964	St Peter's, Oxford			Royal Holloway, London
25/02/1964	Keele			Exeter
03/03/1964	Exeter			Reading
10/03/1964	Exeter			Corpus Christi, Oxford
17/03/1964	Corpus Christi, Oxford			Leeds
24/03/1964	Leeds			Peterhouse, Cambridge
31/03/1964	Cardiff			Hull
07/04/1964	Cardiff			New Hall, Cambridge
14/04/1964				Newcastle
21/04/1964	Newcastle			Magdalen, Oxford
28/04/1964	Newcastle			Southampton
05/05/1964	Southampton			Emmanuel, Cambridge
12/05/1964	Emmanuel, Cambridge			Durham
19/05/1964	Durham			Liverpool
26/05/1964	Durham			LSE
02/06/1964	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford			Sheffield
09/06/1964	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford			Birkbeck, London
16/06/1964	Birkbeck, London			Sussex
23/06/1964	Birkbeck, London			Birmingham
30/06/1964	Manchester			Edinburgh
07/07/1964	Edinburgh			Bristol
30/10/1964	Edinburgh			University College North Wales, Bangor
06/11/1964	King's, London			Nottingham
13/11/1964	King's, London			Glasgow
20/11/1964	Glasgow			New, Oxford
27/11/1964	New, Oxford	285	65	Imperial, London
04/12/1964	New, Oxford
11/12/1964	Queen Mary, London	215	205	Jesus, Cambridge
18/12/1964	Queen Mary, London	200	215	Worcester, Oxford
30/12/1964	Worcester, Oxford	200		Queen's, Belfast
06/01/1965	Worcester, Oxford	200	130	St John's, Cambridge
13/01/1965	Lincoln, Oxford	170	110	Queen's, Dundee
20/01/1965	Lincoln, Oxford	65	220	Jesus, Cambridge
27/01/1965	Jesus, Cambridge	90	270	Aberystwyth
03/02/1965	Aberystwyth	110	245	Queen's, Oxford
10/02/1965	Queen's, Oxford	145	245	Gonville and Caius, Cambridge
17/02/1965	Gonville and Caius, Cambridge	200	165	Leicester
24/02/1965	Gonville and Caius, Cambridge
03/03/1965	Sidney Sussex, Cambridge			University, London
10/03/1965	Sidney Sussex, Cambridge	185	225	Oriel, Oxford
17/03/1965	Oriel, Oxford	240	70	Westfield, London
Preliminary round
24/03/1965	Christ Church, Oxford	195	70	Birkbeck, London
31/03/1965	Edinburgh	170	85	St Peter's, Oxford
Quarter-finals
07/04/1965	Edinburgh	180	110	Christ Church, Oxford
14/04/1965	New, Oxford	300	65	Selwyn, Cambridge
21/04/1965	Durham	170	90	Gonville and Caius, Cambridge
28/04/1965	Worcester, Oxford	150	130	Peterhouse, Cambridge
Semi-finals
05/05/1965	New, Oxford	315	50	Edinburgh
12/05/1965	Worcester, Oxford	185	175	Durham
Final
19/05/1965	New, Oxford	270	45	Worcester, Oxford
26/05/1965	New, Oxford	180	60	Worcester, Oxford
Special
25/12/1963	Leicester Students			Leicester Staff

The series champions from New College, Oxford, were David Lewis (History), Nicholas Montagu (Classics, Ancient History & Philosophy), Graham Mitchell (Chemistry) and Francis Lambert (Latin American History) who received a set of prints of The Rake's Progress by William Hogarth. They returned to play a team of New College Dons in the next series.

Oriel ended the series having won two games and so returned in the next series with two wins under their belt. They went on to win that series.

Winning teams advancing to the next round are in bold.