Advertisement

Sunday 16 January 2011

Alexander Guttenplan returns in battle of the TV quiz geeks

University Challenge's champions clash with Only Connect's most successful side in a special edition of the BBC Four quiz show on Monday.

Alexander Guttenplan, captain of the Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Alexander Guttenplan, captain of the Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Photo: MASONS

Alexander Guttenplan, the 20-year-old Cambridge student who caused a stir for having the temerity to stand up to Jeremy Paxman in last year’s University Challenge, is returning to our screens this Monday.

He and his Emmanuel College, Cambridge team-mates – who won University Challenge 2010 – will appear on Only Connect, the cerebral BBC Four quiz show.

In what the BBC describes as “The battle of the super brains”, Emmanuel College square up against the best side on Only Connect, “The Crossworders”. Comprising David Stainer, Ian Bayley and Mark Grant, “The Crossworders” were victorious in series one, and have since played the winners of series two and series three, defeating their opponents on both occasions. The quiz asks contestants to find connections between seemingly unrelated clues.

Victoria Coren, who’ll chair the contest, said: “I’m very proud that Only Connect is the hardest quiz on TV, proving there are some very clever people out there who want to watch stuff that gives their brain a proper workout”.

On team Emmanuel, she added: “They’re all so young, it’s very reassuring. Some people would have you believe that kids in this country do nothing but mug old folk and pass out in the street. It’s nice to be reminded that plenty of them are busy finding out how many symphonies Sibelius wrote and what is the capital of Uzbekistan.”

Expect plenty of mind-boggling erudition and virtuoso geekiness.

- Only Connect is on BBC Four at 8.30pm on Monday, 17 January

blog comments powered by Disqus
Advertisement

sponsored features

Loading
Advertisement

Classified Advertising

Loading