Here we list the shows that were not a standard part of the student, Christmas, Professionals, or Reunited series. For the results of the many specials during the Bamber Gascoigne era, such as the annual Christmas special in which the previous series' champions took on a team of their professors see each individual series.

28th December 1992
Keble, Oxford70155Graduates

A special show, shown on BBC2 as part of a 'Granadaland' evening, was arranged to set the team who won the final Bamber Gascoigne series, Keble College, Oxford (though with the four champions replaced with a new team of undergraduates) against four celebrities ("Graduates") who had appeared on the show as students (Alastair Little, John Simpson, Stephen Fry, Charles Moore). Repeated on 4th August 1993.

1st January 1997
Imperial, London 1996125265Michigan

Punctuating the 1997 season there was a transatlantic match between the 1996 champions, Imperial College, London, and the 1996 winners of College Bowl, the US equivalent.

23rd December 1997
Mastermind205260Magdalen, Oxford 1997

In the Christmas break of the 1998 series there was a match between the four finalists of the "final" series of Mastermind (Clare Ockwell, Andrea Weston, Colin Cadby, Anne Ashurst) and the 1997 champions Magdalen College, Oxford (Colin Andress, Gwilym Thear, Jim Adams, Alison Reeves).

30th December 1997
United Kingdom155300United States of America

Also during the festive hiatus of the 1998 series there was a match between the "four most outstanding contestants from last year's series" from University Challenge and its US equivalent College Bowl. Representing the UK were Martin Heighway (Open), Stephen Pearson (Manchester), Cormac Bakewell (Queen's, Belfast), and Colin Andress (Magdalen, Oxford). College Bowl sent Eric Tentarelli (Cornell), Robert Margolis (Texas at Dallas), John Harris (Virginia), and Mark Staloff (Harvard).

21st December 1998
Leicester, 1963145220Magdalen, Oxford, 1998

Continuing the Christmas specials, during the 1999 series was a match between the winners of the first ever series, Leicester (Madalene Moore, nee Hall, John Hewitt, Geoffrey Ford, Oliver Andrew), and the champions of the 1998 series, Magdalen College, Oxford (Paul O'Donnell, Phil Jones, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Alex de Jongh).

 
1st January 1999
Tabloids210165Broadsheets

The participants in the 1999 season's now-traditional 'special' were: Jane Moore (The Sun), Peter Hitchens (The Express), Ann Leslie (Daily Mail) and Tony Parsons (The Mirror) for the Tabloids, and Decca Aitkenhead (The Guardian), Libby Purves (The Times), Boris Johnson (Daily Telegraph) and Richard Ingrams (The Observer) for the Broadsheets.

14th March 2003
Gownies185190Townies

On Comic Relief Day 2003, BBC2 held a match between four graduates (David Baddiel, Frank Skinner, Stephen Fry, Clive Anderson) and four non-graduates (Jeremy Beadle, Gina Yashere, Danny Baker, Johnny Vaughan), hosted by Angus Deayton.

23rd, 24th, 26th December 2004
Television130100Radio
Stage120165Critics
Television100195Critics

Christmas 2004 saw a series of three special shows between celebrity teams representing various aspects of the media. They were:
Television: Monty Don, Martha Kearney, Andrew Neil, Clare Balding
Radio: Henry Blofeld, Jenny Murray, Ned Sherrin, Roger Bolton
Stage Adrian Noble, Harriet Walter, Tim Rice, Ken Campbell
Critics Waldemar Januszczak, Russell Davies, Brian Sewell, Andrew Graham-Dixon
The teams played semi-finals followed by a Boxing Day final.

11th March 2005
North150180South

On Comic Relief Day 2005, the tradition was continued with a BBC2 match between "North" (Colin Murray, John Thomson, Armando Iannucci, Neil Morrissey) and "South" (Sarah Alexander, Hugh Grant, Stephen Fry, Omid Djalili), again hosted by Angus Deayton.

30th, 31st December 2005, 1st January 2006
Politics105180News
Actors105185Writers
News45190Writers

As in 2004, 2005 saw a series of three special shows between celebrity teams. They were:
Politics: Mark Oaten, Diane Abbott, Tim Yeo, Stephen Pound
News: Kate Adie, Nick Robinson, Michael Buerk, Bridget Kendall
Actors: Robert Powell, Sam West, Janet Suzman, Martin Jarvis
Writers: Tony Marchant, Andrew Davies, Iain Banks, Jimmy McGovern
The teams played semi-finals and a final.

19th April 2014
Magdalen, Oxford80230Manchester

As of 2014, two institutions have won the series four times, and a special "Champion of Champions" game pitted Magdalen College, Oxford against Manchester, each consisting of one member from each of the winning teams. They were:
Magdalen, Oxford: Matthew Chan (2011), Freya McClements (2004), Jim Adams (1997), Sarah Healey (nee Fitzpatrick) (1998)
Manchester: Henry Pertinez (2009), Gareth Aubrey (2006), Tristan Burke (2012), Adam Barr (2013)

15th March 2019
Team Freeman8575Team Manford

For Comic Relief 2019, David Baddiel hosted a show between two teams of celebrities. They were:
Team Freeman: Luisa Omielan, Robert Rinder, Martin Freeman, Kerry Godliman
Team Manford: Darren Harriott, Vick Hope, Jason Manford, Emily Atack

12th November 2020
Team ITV45110Team BBC

A special show was held for Children in Need 2020 between teams representing ITV and BBC, with Kirsty Wark presenting. They were:
Team ITV: Iain Stirling, Charlene White, Fay Ripley, Joel Dommett
Team BBC: Dane Baptiste, Anita Rani, Dara Ó Briain, Steve Pemberton

19th November 2021
Team ITV60110Team BBC

As in 2020, a special show was held for Children in Need 2021 between teams representing ITV and BBC, with Kirsty Wark presenting. They were:
Team ITV: Russell Kane, Denise Welch, Kaye Adams, Ranj Singh
Team BBC: Angela Barnes, Mishal Husain, Rick Edwards, Jon Culshaw