Last night eight students of diverse backgrounds and specialisms, ranging from a Kolkata-born postgraduate studying for a master’s in applied computation and engineering to a young man from North Finchley in
London studying law, are pitched against each other in a contest to establish Britain’s brainiest university, with both teams being led by a female captain. For the millions who watch television at a time of their choosing, I won’t spoil your enjoyment by revealing the winners of this year’s series of University Challenge (Imperial College London played University College London), but safe to say that’s climax to a competition which began last July did something to restore the reputation of Britain’s seats of higher education . Derided by the forces of conservatism as hotbeds of woke-obsessed seditionaries, where free speech is discouraged, and denounced as being in hock to the funding of foreign potentates seeking to launder their public image, our universities have been used as ciphers for the ills of cancel culture and woke ideology for some time. It is convenient for some to forget that they are also famed for pioneering work in the splitting of the atom, the development of penicillin and the invention of the internet, and the searing intelligence and unfailing good grace of the contestants in University Challenge serves as a welcome reminder of what is commendable about a university education and, indeed, about young people. For 62 years, the show has remained almost entirely unchanged, its format so simple that it isn’t even explained before the contest starts, and never has its uncompromising parade of cleverness and good manners been needed more. From Michael Gove’s renouncing of “experts” to the lazy tropes about Britain’s intellectual elite, our culture doesn’t automatically value brainpower in the way it once did. Don’t expect people to be impressed that you know, for instance, which French scientist created what is widely recognised as the first photovoltaic cell, consisting of platinum electrodes coated in silver chloride in an acidic solution (one of the questions in this past series). Much easier, more lucrative and a whole lot more fun to be an influencer or a reality TV star. Read Next Of course University Challenge is elitist - that's the whole point Maybe, however, the tide is turning. This series, in which the questions have been made even more difficult and arcane, has been one of the most popular, and a large portion of credit for that must go to its presenter, that paragon of ubiquity, Amol Rajan . As the person who gave Amol his first
Job in journalism, I may be biased, but I am not alone in recognising that he has made what could be a forbidding 30 minutes of television into a more accessible, enjoyable experience (for the viewers, at least). The asides to contestants, the conversational exchange at the end of the show, and the occasional interjection of Amol’s own knowledge and passions, not to mention his glottal stops and personalised shirt cuffs, may not be to everyone’s taste, but there is no question that his engaging approach to the role of quizmaster has breathed new life into a quiz show that many might regard as anachronistic and irrelevant. His gift for inclusivity and informality is there in his
Social Media presence, where, improbably, he has been able to invest University Challenge with a modicum of cool appeal, a quite remarkable achievement for a show where the questions are sometimes as impenetrable as the answers are obscure. The programme even went viral with a clip of Rajan’s answer to a question on
UK dance
music. “We need jungle,” he said, inspiring a thousand internet memes. There have been only three presenters in the history of University Challenge – the late Bamber G ascoigne , the redoubtable Jeremy Paxman and now Rajan. It is a programme that has survived TV’s race to the bottom to become a genuine national treasure, and even if most of us can answer only a handful of questions in each programme, we can marvel at those who know, for instance, that the French scientist was, of course, Edmond Becquerel. Bravo!