Series 44 of ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'' began on 14 July 2014 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. This was the 21st series to be broadcast on the BBC. It was won by the team from

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

The Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

made its first ever University Challenge appearance in this series.

Results

*Winning teams are highlighted in bold. *Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated. *Teams with orange scores had to win one more match to return in the next round (current highest scoring losers, teams that won their first quarter-final match, teams that won their second quarter-final match having lost their first, or teams that won their first quarter-final match and lost their second). *Teams with yellow scores indicate that two further matches had to be played and won (teams that lost their first quarter-final match). *A score in ''italics'' indicates a match decided on a tie-breaker question.

First round

Highest Scoring Losers play-offs

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

* The trophy and title were awarded to the Gonville & Caius Cambridge team of Ted Loveday, Michael Taylor, Anthony Martinelli, and Jeremy Warner. Loveday later claimed that he had "learned his answers on Wikipedia". * The trophy was presented by

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...

, who claimed to have known "about 35%" of the answers.

Spin-off: Christmas Special 2014

Each year, a Christmas special sequence is aired featuring distinguished alumni. Out of 7 first-round winners, the top 4 highest-scoring teams progress to the semi-finals. The teams consist of celebrities who represent their alma maters.

Results

*Winning teams are highlighted in bold. *Teams with green scores (winners) returned in the next round, while those with red scores (losers) were eliminated. *Teams with grey scores won their match but did not achieve a high enough score to proceed to the next round. *A score in ''italics'' indicates a match decided on a tie-breaker question. First Round

Standings for the winners

Semi-finals Final The winning

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

team of

Tom James Thomas James (c. 1573–1629) was an English librarian and Anglican clergyman. Thomas, Tommy or Tom James may also refer to Sports *Tom James (rower) (born 1984), British rower *Tom James (rugby union, born 1987), Welsh rugby union footballer *To ...

Emma Pooley Emma Jane Pooley (born 3 October 1982) is a British-Swiss athlete in multiple sports. A former professional cyclist who specialised in time trials and hilly races, she later transferred to endurance running, duathlon and triathlon, and was four- ...

Adam Mars-Jones Adam Mars-Jones (born 26 October 1954) is a British novelist and literary and film critic. Early life and education Mars-Jones was born in London, to Sir William Mars-Jones (1915–1999), a Welsh High Court judge, and Sheila Cobon (1923–199 ...

and Dan Starkey beat the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

and their team of Rosie Millard, Malcolm Sinclair,

Jenni Murray Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, (''née'' Bailey; born 12 May 1950) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's '' Woman's Hour'' from 1987 to 2020. Early life Murray was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yo ...

and

Stan Cullimore Ian Peter Cullimore is an English musician and journalist. He played guitar, between 1983 and 1988, for the Hull-based indie rock band The Housemartins. Early life He was born in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire. He moved to Birmingham, where he wen ...

References

External links

University Challenge homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Challenge 2014-15

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2014 British television seasons 2015 British television seasons