Series 48 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 16 July 2018 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 ...

. The

University of London Institute in Paris The University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP; ) is a central academic body of the University of London located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is the only British university institute in continental Europe. History The institute wa ...

and

Darwin College, Cambridge Darwin College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded on 28 July 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and wo ...

appeared for the first time 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. *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

In what was the most closely contested final University Challenge had seen for the past decade,

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

had leads of 40 to -5 and 80 to 40 before

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

fought back to take a commanding 125 to 70 lead with around seven minutes left. St Edmund Hall, however, mounted a comeback of their own and took a 5-point lead with under a minute remaining. However, Robbie Campbell Hewson correctly answered the difficult ensuing starter question, identifying that the first three letters of the birthplace of

William Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. She won the Whitbread Awards priz ...

and

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

(LIV of Liverpool) equalled 54 when spelt using

roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

, to give Edinburgh a 5 point lead of their own. Edinburgh then successfully answered two bonus questions and allowed the clock to run down sufficiently to snatch victory. * The trophy and title were thus awarded to the Edinburgh team of Matt Booth, Marco Malusà, Max Fitz-James, and Robbie Campbell Hewson. * The Edinburgh team were the only Scottish champions in the Paxman era and the first since 1983. * The trophy was presented by

Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – '' The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', ''Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pu ...

Spin-off: Christmas Special 2018

First round

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. *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.

Standings for the winners

Semi-finals

Final

The winning

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

team of

Dan Mazer Daniel Gideon Mazer (born 4 October 1971) is a British director, screenwriter, producer, and comedian. He is best known as the long-time writing and production partner of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and worked with him on his three unorthodox cha ...

Mark Horton Mark Horton may refer to: * Mark Horton (archaeologist) (born 1956), British maritime and historical archaeologist, television presenter and writer * Mark Horton (bridge) (born 1950), British author, journalist and expert on bridge * Mary Ann Horto ...

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

, and

Michael Axworthy Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000. Personal life and fami ...

beat the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and their team of

Philip Ball Philip Ball (born 1962) is a British science writer. For over twenty years he has been an editor of the journal ''Nature'', for which he continues to write regularly. He is a regular contributor to '' Prospect'' magazine and a columnist for ' ...

Laura Wade Laura Wade is an English playwright and screenwriter. She is known for her 2018 play '' Home, I'm Darling''. Early life and education Laura Wade was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where her father work ...

Misha Glenny Michael V. E. "Misha" Glenny (born 25 April 1958) is an English journalist and Television presenter, broadcaster, specialising in southeast Europe, global organised crime, and cybersecurity. He has been Rector of the Institute for Human Science ...

and Iain Stewart.

References

External links

University Challenge homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Challenge 2018-19

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2018 British television seasons 2019 British television seasons