Reflections on University Challenge

Being invited to appear on Christmas University Challenge gave me a huge thrill. I've been a lifelong fan of the show and I thought my chance of taking part had gone forever when, as a student, I didn't get into the Balliol team (which then exited after a single game). I was pleasantly surprised, to say the very least, to be considered as a notable alumnus of the college. To be asked to captain the team was wonderful. And to realise that I'd be taking part in Jeremy Paxman's final series of the show was the icing on the cake.

Or so I thought. But as luck would have it, things got better and better. My team-mates, Elizabeth, Andrew, and Martin (O'Neill), whom I'd never met before, proved to be delightful. We were clearly going to be short of know-how in some areas, but it made sense to have a plan of campaign. My colleagues were not only receptive to the strategy (basically, answer fast, don't worry about making mistakes, and don't dither or engage in endless debate over bonus questions) but implemented it to perfection. 

We were thrilled to win our first heat against SOAS (the first of the entire tournament) and record a good score, after a number of early setbacks. The idea of the competition is that there are seven heats. The four highest-scoring winners go through to compete in the semi finals. A day or two after our match, we were told we were in the semis - a return to Media City, Salford, was duly booked.

The two semis and the final took place on the same day. First, Hull defeated York and then we took on Exeter College, Oxford, captained by the charming Reeta Chakrabarti. They were a strong team and led for much of the way but Martin O'Neill was in great form and in the end our victory margin was much greater than it felt at the time. I managed to get the spelling questions right but my technique with the buzzer was hopeless in this match, and I only had an hour to wait (involving a quick coffee and sandwich and a change of clothes for all of us) before I was practising for the final against Hull. I'd been very nervous before the previous two matches, but less so before the final. This was Jeremy's grand finale after 29 years as quizmaster, and it went incredibly well. 

Both teams toasted each other - and Jeremy - with champagne and he invited us to his farewell party, which was memorable. We'd arranged, win or lose, to stay overnight, and so we then set off for a celebratory cocktail before having dinner in the company of Sian Reese-Williams, the actor who captained Hull and was (like her team-mates) quite delightful to chat with.

I'll never forget the experience and I wrote an article about it for the Daily Express. It's also illustrated the reach of national television - we were trending on Twitter and featured in several cartoons such as the one above. I've had messages from an extraordinary number of people, including some with whom I'd lost touch. It's all been incredibly gratifying and I'm so pleased that I had the chance to take part. The Master of Balliol has invited the team to a celebratory dinner in the College and as a way of thanking my three marvellous team-mates for being so fantastic, I'll be dedicating Sepulchre Street to them...