OK, what did you make of the new series of University Challenge then, with Amol Rajan occupying the seat that Jeremy Paxman once graced? Actually, if it was the same chair, it was a bit big for Amol, and I’m sure there’s a metaphor there somewhere.
But really, the whole thing was just fine. Amol was cheerful rather than intimidating. He lacks Jeremy Paxman’s cherishable incredulity and he doesn’t have a long nose to look down at people with, which is nobody’s fault.
Amol was fortunate. The contest ended with a draw, with a penalty shootout to follow. Beginner’s luck
There was less brusqueness and less mobility with the eyebrows, though he did manage a scathing ‘What!’ when Trinity College Cambridge suggested the end of a book title was Gone With the Wind (they were only kidding). And he brought himself into the frame by declaring that there should be more cricket questions.
Nobody liked the slate-effect screen which he had to read the questions off. What you want for a quizmaster are actual cards, which you can deploy to good effect when exasperated. You can’t slap down a screen. It also means there’s less eye contact with the teams.
Talking of whom, the interesting thing about the Trinity Cambridge v.s. Manchester university match was the number of contestants from abroad – Seoul and Poland and Massachusetts, USA, for instance. It turns out that University Challenge reflects the nature of modern British universities.
As for the questions, they seemed hard…that is to say, most threw me. But, as ever, the obvious ones – like which king was Anne Hyde married to – were the ones the students couldn’t answer. And if I am allowed to be picky, I’d like a University Challenge that was confined to undergraduates: bringing in PhD students seems like cheating.
But Amol was fortunate. The contest ended with a draw, with a penalty shootout to follow. Beginner’s luck. Incidentally, would Jeremy P have used the word ‘phenomenal’ to describe the performance? I think not.
Amol started off by saying that ‘a few things have changed… but all the important things remain the same: The format is still simple, the questions are still complicated and the teams are still terrifyingly knowledgeable’. Well, ye-es.
Would I be in quite such a rush to watch University Challenge without the prospect of Jeremy Paxman looking sneery? To be honest, no. But then I bet fans thought the same when the really bright Bamber Gascoigne was succeeded by Jeremy P.
Oh and Amol’s orange tie and handkerchief managed to steal the show.
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