The ultimate quiz arena returns

The battle of young minds begins, writes Hannah McKee.

The Grand Old Lady of Avalon Studios might have looked a bit abandoned, but inside there was a hive of activity.

In a green room, some of the country’s brightest young minds hatched preparation tactics.

Some students conspired a game plan, others calmly sipped their instant coffee, a few even played I Will Survive and Eye of the Tiger on their cellphones. They all had one goal. A no-nonsense woman holding a clipboard stood in the doorway and announced it was time, and they headed into the studio.

Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with university logos, one young lady strutted in strappy platform heels – apparently her lucky shoes.

The set resembled something like a computer circuit board, with more than 50 different sized lights peering down, as well as cameras, contraptions, and cords like roots on a forest floor.

Two teams sat at their podiums, a woman quickly finished powdering their faces. They took a deep breath, hands placed readily near the buzzers.

‘‘Five, four, three...’’ the director counted.

The theme-tune started, the audience danced enthusiastically but silently in their seats.

Cue the applause, cue host Tom Conroy – ’’Welcome to University Challenge!’’

Season three of the revamped University Challenge game show hits our screens this month, where teams from all over the country battle it out in the ultimate quiz arena.

After the original 1976-1989 show took a 25-year hiatus, quizlover and host Conroy decided it was time for a revival.

It’s now his third year delivering the hard questions to the students.

Being on University Challenge was the main reason he enrolled at Massey University in the 80s.

Only, he would never get to compete.

‘‘They said, ‘You’re the ideal candidate! You’d be great’, and then, the series got cancelled.

‘‘I continued on to finish my degree anyway, but it was always so disappointing that I never got to take part, so when the opportunity came up years later to find a game show we could revive, the first thing in my mind was University Challenge.’’

But the role is about far more than suave jackets, hair gel, and reading off cards.

The day after filming wraps, preparation for the next year’s 2500 questions begins.

‘‘It’s a massive job,’’ Conroy says, ‘‘We have our own panel, a contribution from [pub quiz specialists] Believe It Or Not, then we go out to specialists and professors.’’

The next step is meticulously checking, grouping, and wording.

When it comes to the students’ preparation, some buy their own sets of buzzers to practise on, others get tutors, but almost all, Conroy says, will hit their local pub quizzes to gauge who knows what and form quiz chemistry. Top tip: identify quiz trends. ‘‘There are always questions about King Henry VIII, Shakespeare, famous monuments, big events that changed the world – those sorts of questions come up all the time in many forms.’’

He credits the success of the show to its mix of questions, allowing viewers to play along.

‘‘People tell me that’s what they love about the programme, and there’s no fluffing around, it’s just questions, questions, questions.’’

Despite one of the perks being that Conroy soaks up a lot of knowledge, he says the best part about hosting is meeting so many inspiring young people.

‘‘If the country’s in their hands, we’re pretty well set,’’ Conroy says. ● University Challenge starts October 15, 6pm, on Prime.