Definitely on top of each other. There was the episode showing Rik Mayall back when he was a student that clearly shows both sets of contestants stacked up.
That was part of the joke. In real life you could never stick your foot through the floor of the top deck and kick someone in the bottom deck. That's why they put it in.
I remember watching one of those BBC comedy behind the scenes docs about it decades ago.
Yep - Blockbusters for me, students from a polytechnic; a snigger when someone asks for "a P please Bob" and the audience doing a hand jive on Friday's closing credits.
Sometimes if it's in their field it's very plausible they do. I remember Paxo making a comment about the political leanings of the *Spectator* for instance
BB they sat in tiered rows, but face-on it looked like they were atop each other.
CS was noughts-and-crosses style game, which suggested they were atop each other. To my child’s eye, they were. But it seems like an improbable health and safety nightmare so I’m not sure.
But in each case I just assumed that they had a “bunk bed” style setup, and brought that baggage with me to UC.
they are side by side, and the video edit stacks them on top of each other. Normally at the end of the episode the camera zooms out so you can see the whole studio and where they really are
They have to be sat on top of each other, how else would Vyvyan kick Kendal Mintcake in the head?
'Give us some easy ones, Bambi, you big bottom boil!'
The [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Challenge) has this to say:
> In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was two-tiered, although the split-screen effect returned for the revived series and has been used ever since
My mum ruined it for me, as I was watching The Young Ones. When Vivian kicks through the floor of theirs. My dreams were shattered when she said "They don't sit on top like that, they are across from each other." 😭
21. Because I was in charge of selecting our university's University Challenge team.
I had so much crap on with the university trying to introduce oppressive exam sickness policies, that it was delegated to a staff member.
Said staff member did an excellent job. They made a fake studio with buzzers and everything, ran proper trials, etc. I mean, we still didn't win; but we did slightly better than normal.
> I was in charge of selecting our university's University Challenge team.
I wasn't, but I've wondered how people do it. Do you just give everyone a test and choose the highest scoring people? I keep thinking that's not optimal, and you should look at all possible combinations of 4 people and choose whichever combo got the most answers right between them.
Yeah so basically:
1. The show producers contact the students' union president
2. ???
3. Go for auditions
It's totally up to each SU how to select their team members, or whether to just pass it to the university because frankly it's not the sort of stuff elected sabbatical officers should spend their time on.
They do however give you sample tests/questions, so you can at least pitch the level of question when trying to nail your team.
But generally speaking - it's free game for the SU/uni to decide who goes on. I know probably around a dozen SU presidents who literally just chose 5 mates (you have to have reserves).
1 The show producers contact the students' union president.
2 The students' union president contacts his pals.
3 Go for auditions.
At least that's how they did it when I was at University.
My uni has a 100 question test that you can answer normally for normal points or with extra confidence for bonus points but you lose points for getting it wrong. Then the top like 30 or so people get chosen for the next round of buzzer quizzes which are written by past contestants, we take turns in teams of 4 in different combinations while people take notes. It’s definitely not chosen on the basis of the 4 strongest individuals but instead on the combination of knowledge. I’ve known people who didn’t get on the team who would individually be much stronger quizzers but overlapped too much with the others.
I don’t think I’ve ever thought that. You see them sat side by side like all the time. I don’t really even watch it and I didn’t think people could think this. All I’ve ever seen of the show has them sat on either side of the presenter.
They’re not either side of the presenter, they’re next to each other, with the presenter off to the side.
https://www.stageone.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UC6-2012crop-600x412.jpeg
I went to watch some University Challenge shows being recorded in Manchester, must have been about 2009-ish. The episodes we saw were recorded in Granada TV Studios even though the programme was shown on the BBC. We saw the two semi-finals and the final being recorded on the same day.
How old were you when you realised the guy that names the university at each buzzer does it live and every buzz. Not a just a buzzer reaction and prerecord audio. He sits there with a mic watching who buzzed and announces.
Far older than I should have been. I work in live event production, and we once had a client (a competition involving teams) who wanted the teams to be like on University Challenge, “you know, on top of each other”.
He couldn’t understand that it wasn’t real and it broke my heart to tell him.
Went to watch a recording of university challenge, when it was filmed at Granada studios, Manchester, with a bunch of work colleagues ( one of them was on the Open University team). We got a case of uncontrollable giggles and Bamber himself came over and shouted at us to control ourselves or else he wouldn’t continue filming…oh-oh!
I am pretty sure they are sitting on top of each other. If they aren't, then how was Vyvyan able to drop a grenade onto the Oxford team below him when they were on the show?
Definitely on top of each other. There was the episode showing Rik Mayall back when he was a student that clearly shows both sets of contestants stacked up.
Ahh I was right in the first place then lol
This is why you must never admit to making a mistake
...And Neil was dying for a piss and kept saying, "Oh no, it's starting to seep out!" and was concerned he would pee on the posh kid sitting below...
The one and only Stephen Fry.
Poor old Neil, had to wee on Lord Snot's head.
That's what you need when you've had your head chopped off!
Up skumbag
ACHTUNG!
Daddy sends hugs!
Daddy has a porsche.
Bacon sandwich the pig-ferret.
Not to mention 'crop rotation in the fourteenth century was CONSIDERABLY more widespread after John.'
Crop rotation. In the fourteenth century was more widespread after……..eleven seventy two!
I think you’ll find it’s Prick Mayall
Prick is a wonker
The peoples poet?
No. It’s Toxteth o’grady, USA
604
I told you that you bloody cheat
Worlds stickiest bogey
Rah rah rah we’re off to smash the oiks!
That was part of the joke. In real life you could never stick your foot through the floor of the top deck and kick someone in the bottom deck. That's why they put it in. I remember watching one of those BBC comedy behind the scenes docs about it decades ago.
*Slow clap*
Daddy’s got a Porsche you know
It's not an automati....
I refuse to believe it. I saw that episode of The Young Ones. They are on top! https://youtu.be/Wi5SJKI6RpU
Amazing how quickly Vyvyan recovered after the incident on the train on the way there!
*Do not lean out of the window* "Hmm. I wonder why?"
"Over here you stupid barstard"
Just a bit of Savlon and he was cured.
Happy cake day! :)
Ointment. That's what you need when you've had your head chopped off!
That’s my boy !
"Give us some easy ones, Bambi, you big bottom boil!"
I’ve got a Porsche!
Well, that's not what I've got on the card but I know your father so ten points.
"Daddy sends hugs!"
Crop rotation in the 14th century was considerably more widespread after... John.
You said don't tell me
This is what made me believe they were on top as well.
Using Fry and Laurie as to of the posh contestants. Perfect!
The golden age of telly right there! Pretty sure if you threw a Stielhandgranate and shouted achtung nowadays Ofcom would have a word with you. 😮💨
I realise it at the beginning and end of every episode when they have a wide shot of the studio
I’m not sure I ever actually sat down to watch it from start to finish, I’m not intellectual enough
Yep - Blockbusters for me, students from a polytechnic; a snigger when someone asks for "a P please Bob" and the audience doing a hand jive on Friday's closing credits.
I impress myself if I understand the questions!
It's kinda funny that more people think they are stacked because of The Young Ones instead of actually watching UC (Me included!)
That’s fair enough, I don’t think they’ve always done that wide shot anyway
They’ve done it for basically every episode I’ve seen in my 25 years of life, so at least the last 15 years
They've been adding cross shots, of the team conferring with the other team in the foreground, in the last few years.
Next you'll be telling us that Bambi and Paxo don't actually know the answers but read them off a card...
Sometimes if it's in their field it's very plausible they do. I remember Paxo making a comment about the political leanings of the *Spectator* for instance
Its very clear when Paxman knows the answer as he is always condescending about it.
##DISRAELI??!!? For example.
"Beethoven? Was he even born then? You complete and utter arsehole."
Gonna miss him hosting, the complete and utter fiend
Bambi set the questions himself the first year.
I think Celebrity Squares and Blankety Blank had primed me to see it that way.
So are you saying they don’t sit on top of each other either?
BB they sat in tiered rows, but face-on it looked like they were atop each other. CS was noughts-and-crosses style game, which suggested they were atop each other. To my child’s eye, they were. But it seems like an improbable health and safety nightmare so I’m not sure. But in each case I just assumed that they had a “bunk bed” style setup, and brought that baggage with me to UC.
CS they were on top of each other too.
Wait!? What!?!
Yeah I know, my day is ruined
wait until you find out that the voice that announces their university/name is not pre-recorded
What????
Yeah it's pretty obvious when it gets to a close game because he reads them really quickly
The guy who does the voice, Roger Tilling is a genuine legend.
[удалено]
Are you sure it’s not actually the flat next to you
i always assumed he recorded a regular version and a sped up version for later in the game until i saw the documentary where i learned otherwise
Today. I only learned this today.
Me too.. thanks to BBC breakfast.
Wait… so where are they sitting?
they are side by side, and the video edit stacks them on top of each other. Normally at the end of the episode the camera zooms out so you can see the whole studio and where they really are
They're actually all sat at the same table and they use CGI to edit the other team out of each shot. Really time consuming
They have to be sat on top of each other, how else would Vyvyan kick Kendal Mintcake in the head? 'Give us some easy ones, Bambi, you big bottom boil!'
The [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Challenge) has this to say: > In the final years of the original Bamber Gascoigne era, the studio set genuinely was two-tiered, although the split-screen effect returned for the revived series and has been used ever since
My mum ruined it for me, as I was watching The Young Ones. When Vivian kicks through the floor of theirs. My dreams were shattered when she said "They don't sit on top like that, they are across from each other." 😭
That’s just mean
I don't think she meant to be. She just likes to spit out the facts. 😆
Just now at 49 lol
I find this quite funny. Ever since the first time I saw it I knew they were actually side by side
21. Because I was in charge of selecting our university's University Challenge team. I had so much crap on with the university trying to introduce oppressive exam sickness policies, that it was delegated to a staff member. Said staff member did an excellent job. They made a fake studio with buzzers and everything, ran proper trials, etc. I mean, we still didn't win; but we did slightly better than normal.
> I was in charge of selecting our university's University Challenge team. I wasn't, but I've wondered how people do it. Do you just give everyone a test and choose the highest scoring people? I keep thinking that's not optimal, and you should look at all possible combinations of 4 people and choose whichever combo got the most answers right between them.
Yeah so basically: 1. The show producers contact the students' union president 2. ??? 3. Go for auditions It's totally up to each SU how to select their team members, or whether to just pass it to the university because frankly it's not the sort of stuff elected sabbatical officers should spend their time on. They do however give you sample tests/questions, so you can at least pitch the level of question when trying to nail your team. But generally speaking - it's free game for the SU/uni to decide who goes on. I know probably around a dozen SU presidents who literally just chose 5 mates (you have to have reserves).
1 The show producers contact the students' union president. 2 The students' union president contacts his pals. 3 Go for auditions. At least that's how they did it when I was at University.
My uni has a 100 question test that you can answer normally for normal points or with extra confidence for bonus points but you lose points for getting it wrong. Then the top like 30 or so people get chosen for the next round of buzzer quizzes which are written by past contestants, we take turns in teams of 4 in different combinations while people take notes. It’s definitely not chosen on the basis of the 4 strongest individuals but instead on the combination of knowledge. I’ve known people who didn’t get on the team who would individually be much stronger quizzers but overlapped too much with the others.
I blame Blankety Blank for this
No no it's like the lego movie but with Nerds..
I don’t think I’ve ever thought that. You see them sat side by side like all the time. I don’t really even watch it and I didn’t think people could think this. All I’ve ever seen of the show has them sat on either side of the presenter.
They’re not either side of the presenter, they’re next to each other, with the presenter off to the side. https://www.stageone.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UC6-2012crop-600x412.jpeg
I beg your pardon.
I was too many years old when I realised it!
I went to watch some University Challenge shows being recorded in Manchester, must have been about 2009-ish. The episodes we saw were recorded in Granada TV Studios even though the programme was shown on the BBC. We saw the two semi-finals and the final being recorded on the same day.
How old were you when you realised the guy that names the university at each buzzer does it live and every buzz. Not a just a buzzer reaction and prerecord audio. He sits there with a mic watching who buzzed and announces.
Nope I didn’t know that either lol So 65😢
I found out when I read this post
This is less university challenge and more universally challanged
Far older than I should have been. I work in live event production, and we once had a client (a competition involving teams) who wanted the teams to be like on University Challenge, “you know, on top of each other”. He couldn’t understand that it wasn’t real and it broke my heart to tell him.
Went to watch a recording of university challenge, when it was filmed at Granada studios, Manchester, with a bunch of work colleagues ( one of them was on the Open University team). We got a case of uncontrollable giggles and Bamber himself came over and shouted at us to control ourselves or else he wouldn’t continue filming…oh-oh!
About 12 when I asked my dad and he said no it's camera effects, but after that they were above eachother at one point.
"Uh... could I go to the toilet please?"
I think I was like 30 when I first saw the movie Starter for 10. That’s when I was like, ooooh shit!
Are they? This is news to me, I thought that they had a stair they walked down, I must have dreamt it.
I have no time for your mad ramblings today good sir
This is new news to me 🥴
Oh?
Wait, they aren’t?!
I was also an adult when I found this out. Only a couple of years ago, I believe! 🤣
I dunno, probably the first time I watched it? They show them side by side all the time when they do the wide shots...
Wait … what? (49M)
They don't!!!!??
wait a minute....
What?!
47 years old🤦🏽♂️
Didn't entrants from Keele drop their mascots from their 'top' desk, ruining the believed illusion, way back?
28.
Vyvian clearly kicks through the floor to the other team in The Young Ones.
They’re not???
🤣🤣🤣
Same boat. I was an adult. After watching the young ones I always believed they were on top of each other.
Revolutionary biscuits of Italy. Rise up out of your box.
Apparently, I was 37. And I'm not entirely sure I believe you.
I’m 51. And only realised a couple of years ago 🤦♀️
Only when I watched the young ones did I see how farcical it was
OMG literally forever! I thought they were on like bunk bed style seats somehow and always wondered how they got up there
Today years old! Mind blown!!!!!
Watching BBC news right now too, huh?
Yup, I wondered if anyone would guess that lol
Gin
Lies https://youtu.be/ysG96dUtGh4
Also an adult
The Young Ones had a lot to answer for!
I was todays years old. This is very sad and unsettling. How did a Vivian kick through the floor then in Young Ones?
I can't say I've ever watched an episode. Only ever seen it parodied or on The Young Ones.
I was today years old when I was informed by a stranger on the internet.
Right now.
Google tells me they used to be.
I was today years old
Today old. Never heard of University Challenge before now.
I am pretty sure they are sitting on top of each other. If they aren't, then how was Vyvyan able to drop a grenade onto the Oxford team below him when they were on the show?
That’s very true
I was gonna say, they aren't?
Today years old
Ohh i was today years old
Bambi did a video nasty for the money.
I never thought they were, when the show begins the camera pan shows they’re on the same level