Students’ Tv quiz debut
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE TO FEATURE HUDDERSFIELD FOR THE FIRST TIME
HUDDERSFIELD students are poised to make their debut on University Challenge after filming the show earlier this year.
The four students, with an average age of 41, feature in the BBC2 quiz show on Monday, October 7 – but they are remaining tight-lipped on how well they did.
Contestant Aaron Cahill said it’s worth tuning in as they take on the Open University. He described it as a “momentous occasion”.
Aaron, 20, the youngest member of the team, would only say: “We did the university proud.”
The Huddersfield team had to jump through a few hoops – including a written test – before they were allowed to go head-to-head with another team on a recorded show.
According to Aaron, it’s the first time Huddersfield has ever featured on the long-running quiz show.
The drama student’s other teammates are Huddersfield’s own Sean Fisher, 54, Becki Wilson, 27, from Stalybridge, and team captain Andy Cook, 63, from Walsall.
Sean and Andy are studying for PhDs in history while Becki is studying chemistry.
Aaron, from Norwich, described the questions as “tough” but said Huddersfield “did alright”.
His own specialism, musical theatre, didn’t come up – but a lot of science and nature questions did and these suited Becki.
And Aaron also revealed Paxman’s sartorial secret. “His top half, which you can see, is smart. Underneath the desk he is wearing blue jeans.”
Paxman was, he says, “fairly nice” to Huddersfield’s students and wasn’t his usual condescending self.
Team captain Andy Cook is one to watch, says Aaron. “He has been on Fifteen to One and is a very strong quizzer, very clever.”
The Huddersfield team received some quiz coaching from Dave Bill, quiz writer and game developer for Sheffield-based Redtooth.
“Dave contacted the uni,” said Aaron. “It was really great of him. He did it free of charge and even gave us some buzzers to practice with.
“My own knowledge massively improved as a result of the process.”
Students will be able to watch the show on a big screen as it goes out.
“We are holding a big screening of the event live at the university as it is a momentous occasion for Huddersfield to be featured on the programme,” said Aaron.
Watch Huddersfield on University Challenge, 8.30pm BBC2, October 7.