After the Show...

So now the first heat of Christmas University Challenge has been screened, the news is out that our team managed to triumph over SOAS, by 155 to 75. Our opponents led in the early stages, and we incurred some five point penalties for incorrect interruptions, but the plan to keep buzzing in early worked well in the end (not that I had any joy with the starter questions, most of which were entirely beyond me; at least I did a bit better with the bonuses). It was extremely interesting to see what was cut out in the editing process, but on that subject, my lips are sealed...

It's a strange experience to have to sit back to listen to your opponents deal with bonus questions. Again, it's a very subjective thing - for me, the easiest question of the entire night was about the singer of 'Band of Gold' - I'd been playing the YouTube video of Freda Payne's performance only a day or so before the show aired. Great song, great singer. But it you don't know something, or you can't recall it in the pressure of the moment, you don't get the points.

I've been struck by the amount of feedback I've received, including requests to do interviews and write articles. Such is the power of television, I suppose. I've also heard from some people I've not been in touch with for years, which really is a bonus. And there was even one of Drew Kavanagh's cartoons of the contestants for our amusement...

We were told as soon as the show ended that our score would probably be high enough for us to get into the semi-finals. The four teams with the highest winning scores (from the seven heats) compete in the semis. But since we were the first people to play, we had to wait for a little while before finding out...