Four Bristol students to meet their first opponents in University Challenge debut tonight

The University of Bristol team will take on Cambridge’s Gonville and Caius College on BBC Two for this year’s series

3 months ago | UPDATED 2 weeks ago

Four Bristol University students are set to test their knowledge tonight, Monday 26th August, at the first battle of their University Challenge campaign.

The team will face Gonville and Caius College of Cambridge, airing on BBC Two this evening.

Bristol Uni’s team captain, Kevin Flanagan spoke of his excitement about appearing on the show. He said: “It was surreal walking onto the set for the first time and seeing our names in front of the seats.

“It was also really cool meeting the presenter, Amol Rajan, and Roger Tilling who does the voiceover. He’s the one that shouts out ‘Bristol’ and your name when you buzz in, and he’s been doing it for more than 20 years.”

The artificial intelligence PhD student added: “My friends keep asking how we do, hoping I’ll slip up and tell them, but we’re leaving it a surprise!”

via University of Bristol

The other three team members are Bridie Rogers, a medicine student, Ted Warner, studying MSci biology, and Olivia Watts, PhD student in organic chemistry.

There is one reserve team member, Nathaniel Joyce, another MSci biology student.

However, getting a spot on this team of quizzers is far from easy. 200 original applicants were whittled down in a series of trials and tests, ranging from a 100 question paper and a mock University Challenge episode, to acquire the best minds Bristol Uni has to offer.

Since being selected, the team have been training for their debut by watching past series and participating in pub quizzes to give them the best chance of winning the qualification rounds.

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Olivia Watts said: “Playing along with University Challenge a lot you realise it’s not the same as a pub quiz, as so much of it is about speed on the buzzer and taking risks on what the rest of the question will be.”

Aside from their quick thinking, they also need to develop a bond as a team. Biology student Ted Warner said: “More important than learning facts is quizzing as a team. You can tell when people haven’t quizzed together before – and you can tell when they’re mates.”

Bristol University’s last appearance on the show was in 2022, when the team made it to the final – the first time in the university’s history. Sadly, the team was beaten by Durham.

The 2024-25 series of the show kicked off on August 12th, showing the intelligence of the quizzes from Queens, Belfast and Liverpool.

The show will air every Monday on BBC Two, from 8:30pm.

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