A Weekend in Oxford

I'm very glad that there's an Oxford college in this episode, because it gives the fact I'm about to ramble on about a trip to the city a sense of relevance. A friend of mine moved there in March and I was (shamefully) finally getting around to going and visiting him.

We went to ten different pubs and had ten different pints, but the best thing was how busy all of them were. Almost all of them were bouncing (apart from one in which I got told off for very quietly tapping on a piano they had in the corner. There's no one else here, mate. Let me very quietly play that C sharp), and had a very pleasant atmosphere. In Manchester, if a pub is rammed then it will also probably be playing very loud music, and be full of very annoying drunks.

Maybe I just got a good batch of bars, but in each of them I could hear myself think, and didn't feel like I had to avoid at least three separate groups of lads in plain white designer t-shirts. Plus, even the chain pubs retained a sense of identity, which is lacking from many of the bars in Manchester city centre.

There was also a pilgrimage to the Headington Shark, which is a shark that has crash-landed in the top of someone's house, presumably in some kind of sharknado event. Rather than remove the shark carcass, the owner of the house has chosen to leave it there as a warning to any other cartilaginous carnivores who might think of landing there during a storm. So far this has proven a wise choice - this remains the only shark in any of the roofs on the street.

Christ Church College, who are playing Emmanuel, Cambridge tonight, was one of the colleges we tried to get into, but the only one we managed to wander round was Worcester, which had a nice lake and some of the biggest trees I've ever seen. I don't know why I didn't take a picture, but the oaks were girthy.

Anyway, onto the episode. If you want to watch it before reading the rest of the review you can do so here.

Christ Church were mascotted by a big blue octopus, which resulted in accusations of anti-semitism, in particular for contestant Gorgianeh, who was also accused of wearing a jacket in the colours of the Palestinian flag, as part of a provocative political message. A few things:

• This episode of the show was filmed in the Spring.
• Octopi are the favourite animal of one of the team members
• Her jacket is from Zara and is not even in the colours of the Palestinian flag
• The anti-semitic octopus trope entered the mainstream a few weeks ago when Greta Thunberg was pictured with an octopus plushie, which is why it would not have raised any eyebrows during the filming
• Anti-semitism is an insidious threat to Jewish people all over the world and should be called out in the strongest terms possible
• Children are dying in Gaza by their thousands
• A ceasefire is needed now

Alagar kicks things off for Emmanuel, and they take two bonuses very quickly. Dean hits back for Christ Church with 7, recognising the number which links a bunch of different novels (one of which is the 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo, a novel which features the line 'the devastating luxury of panic' several times at key emotional moments. I can sort of see what its trying to say, but I don't think its as good as it thinks it is. Can you tell I've been holding a grudge against that phrase for about two years?).

They give the answer 'animal behaviourology' on a bonus, which causes Rajan to hold his head in his hands as if he finds this hilarious. Only, its not that funny, and I don't think that he thinks it is either. Does that make sense? Sometimes it seems as though he is playing a part, which all presenters will are to some extent, but a part that he doesn't yet know how to play.

Sutton takes the lead back for Emmanuel, but they struggled on the bonuses, and Wotton beat Harrison on the buzzer to tie the game, and then put them in front with the Coventry flag (which features Lady Godiva) on the first picture starter. They took a hat-trick with three more flags featuring horses, including a complete guess of Tuscany.

The Handmaiden wins Emmanuel a bonus set on books which have won the Newbury medal. One of these is the Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, which we read for book club last month, without fully realising it was a children's book. I thought it was supposed to be a Young Adult at the very least, and rated it quite harshly because of this. Whoops. Once we realised, a lot of things made a lot more sense.

Harrison, from Cardiff and wearing a lovely jumper emblazoned with geese, who took nine starters in Emmanuel's opening match, chips in with the four freedoms, but they struggled again on the bonuses. He is doing a PhD in chemical engineering, which endears him to me as I also studied the subject.

The next starter also goes to the goose-garbed engineer, though his pronunciation of Graceland leaves much to be desired. They are 20 points clear at this point, but would be much further ahead if they could answer any bonuses right. Wotton halved this deficit on the next starter and tied it with a pair of fives.

Cardi B (courtesy of Dean) on the music starter put them ahead. Harrison, having found his mojo, fired back for Emmanuel. A couple from Dean and Wotton put Christ Church in control, before a quick buzz from the avian-sweatered Welshman gave him his fourth on the second picture round.

An unfortunate buzz of rat from Alagar allowed Dean to sneak in and steal the points with bat. That's what pressure can do to you. Another from Wotton put CC 35 clear with moments remaining.

A superb buzz of straw from Harrison gave Emmanuel a shot, with a perfect bonus set leaving them 10 points adrift. Knowing they needed this question, the bespectacled starter-master buzzed in again, but this time he didn't have the answer. His guess of geometry allowed Dean in with trigonometry, and the game was up.

Emmanuel 130 - 155 Christ Church

Lower scoring than previous matches, but still very exciting. If Harrison had managed that last starter it would have all been different. Unfortunately, I do think Christ Church will struggle in the quarter-finals, based on this showing, but what do I know, really?

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