University Challenge - Imperial v Brasenose (Series 49 Episode 13)

[@daveharris8115]

Thought Brandon was having a migraine, turns out he's just trying to stop his super sized brain from making his head flop.

[@ee-uj5hq]

he´s on his mind palace

[@b00i00d]

Do you know how hard it is, when you got a brain _that_ size, to keep it lodged in your cranium? And what immense pressure that puts on your meninges? But jokes aside, impressive player!

[@n0nchalanc3]

Brandon was super impressive. I laughed at how upset he was to be beaten to the buzzer by his captain to the question on grays

[@benjiborger2501]

Haha same

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

@@benjiborger2501 25:08 27:07

[@andrea22213]

Yes, and everyone remembers Brandon, but his captain Mr Rich is no slouch.

[@DavidSmyth666]

This was more of a competition between Brandon and Rich than between the two teams lol

[@jakehollyman5686]

inspiring to see Brooks on this year, not only is he doing my course, but he's from my hometown and was in my school 2 years above me, always been extremely talented and great to see him competing this year!

[@Arnoldiepin]

Ha Rich was in my year at school!

[@KOLN555]

Brandon is a force to be reckoned with

[@neoepicurean3772]

Imperial seem like they've really worked hard for the show. You can tell by the way they give that look of 'yeah, we had this question the other day'. Good on them. Being good takes hard work.

[@BRBTheFireball]

Imperial's Brandon Saunders has been on quite a few game shows here in the states over the past decade. $10,000 on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, over $40,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and over $300,000 on The Million Second Quiz. That wasn't the look of arrogance. That was the look of a professional quizzer. He's a ringer. Imperial looks like the early favorite to hoist the trophy in 2020.

[@mister0291]

@kiloscott according to his Twitter he had almost no sleep leading up to the match- that probably explains the slouching, it looked to me like he was exhausted and trying to concentrate

[@grimupnorth]

I wonder are the BBC are aware of this. No rule against it, I suspect, but it is against the spirit and idea of the show surely?

[@BlueSoulTiger]

Thanks for the context - Brandon sure had the demeanour of a quizzer. However, if he's actually enrolled and studying at Imperial (Masters in CompSci was it?) then he's not a ringer, surely: It would then just be Imperial's good fortune wouldn't you say? Would be interesting to know the rules around how individual contestants qualify to compete for their university teams.

[@unclerogerANKI]

Very interesting to know.

[@_Brandon2_]

Hey man, gotta respect the research- which is pretty much on point. However, my full name is Brandon Blackwell, not Brandon Saunders. Thanks

[@adambaker8689]

It's amazing, it doesn't matter how smart or talented someone is on this programme, there's always someone who doesn't like their attitude or demeanour... boggles the mind

[@cristixav]

Thank you again, Josh! Very late in my timezone, but I was waiting for the upload, seems that others were, too! You're doing such a great service to a lot of people!

[@Aman1nFull]

Brandon getting that river through Omsk was the absolute high of this episode. I thought I knew my geography well until I saw him. Although I did get Saint Petersburg right. :))

[@gooscarguitar]

25:29 botanical man Brooks

[@lynnyac5664]

Loved this episode. And the Sandman. I laugh as I had read an article earlier in the day which mention Gaiman writing about Duran Duran early in his career.

[@milesw7290]

Brandon seems to be a real new Yorker, very cocky but he backs it up

[@argamer1422]

I would say he’s just very confident

[@TheMakersRage]

He's from Queens, nuff said.

[@peterandersson3812]

Surely Imperial is the favorite now. Bad luck for their opponents; don’t think they were as bad as their score indicates.

[@jordieg-us4ee]

Good call

[@benslater3588]

it happens a lot on this show, most of the time teams who get like 60 points arent necessarily bad, they're just going up against am unstoppable team

[@FeatherWait]

Brandon's not cocky, he's just got quiz-face. Switches off all pretense of looking good or looking attentive and puts it all into brain and buzz.

[@slightlygrouchy]

Josh, thank you so much! As for the game, I think Imperial has to be considered one of the favourites now. I couldn't really detect any weaknesses in their armour.

[@DavidRutten]

Not good on medicine/anatomy clearly.

[@hopethisworks1212]

As long as they keep asking american based questions.

[@oddjobkia]

Brandon wins best reaction to missing the button

[@BettyWoo]

Thanks, Josh! Much appreciated.

[@raffypongcol5731]

Brooks is my favorite.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Brandon brought it.

[@astrojake]

Brandon was on fire! Very impressive! I also want his jumper.

[@seanburley8522]

It looks like Brandon’s brain is so powerful it causes him migraines.

[@koipen]

man I have a high-key crush on Brandon after that performance

[@arvindhmani06]

Kid's very smart. But quite cocky at the same time

[@Sandra27HK]

@@arvindhmani06 Didnt seem cocky at all. What's with u anti-American phobes? But jump at a green card! Lol

[@Sandra27HK]

Cool player. Really pissed off alot of dummies here! 😂

[@arvindhmani06]

@@Sandra27HK I have to applaud you for blindly jumping to conclusions. Calling me an anti-American because I called a contestant on a quiz show who happens to be American 'cocky'? Followed by what can only be a blatantly ignorant racist comment. You have really covered yourself in glory back there.

[@pragha1]

@@arvindhmani06 Yep. Smart and smug.

[@Croisis]

Gengar was clearly the MVP of this episode but the amount of slouching on his part was unreal.

[@jellevaneijk9397]

which makes him all the more fun to watch

[@parkviewmo]

That is some mind! Maybe it weighs his head down!

[@varun5059]

who is gengar?

[@jellevaneijk9397]

@@varun5059 brandon, Who is wearing a T-shirt with the pokemon gengar on it

[@Croisis]

@@jellevaneijk9397 I concur! It's his trait and I'll be looking forward to all future episodes filled to the brim with his uncanny sloth imitations.

[@captbloodeye5596]

C.I.T.Y. The speed of the man! Slightly put off by his demeanor at the beginning, but all was forgiven following his performance.

[@RenatoRegalado]

Masters in Computing, his demeanor seems perfect for that study, lol

[@tdawgluxor1060]

Imperial is clearly a strong contestant. I wonder how well they will do when the questions are a bit more art-heavy.

[@josephbrennan370]

Lol true

[@LonDanDoc]

Flop fully

[@novelist5380]

Daanyaal Khan clearly not

[@xxxhyesungxxx]

Brooks was there.

[@JV-the-Tossh]

Ooooh... Poor Brasenose, they got gosh darn flattened. Imperial looking very, very, VERY strong. Could be a contender.

[@TuckerDrew]

Drew seems pretty cool ;)

[@jameswilliam9176]

Hahaha well played Tucker!

[@youcanlearnalotfromlydia]

Bad luck against such a strong team: it looked like you knew some of the music bonus round questions and were raring to get back in the game. Sure you'd have had a strong chance against one of the other first-round teams. Still, hope it was a good experience :)

[@parkviewmo]

Thank you for the upload, Josh! That imperial team was something to see.

[@josephkarl2061]

I wanna say Imperial for the finals, but I've kept saying that sort of thing all season, and some other team comes along and makes a mockery of me. What a performance though! I can say with great confidence now that this season of UC has been the best so far in terms of the quality of teams. Whoever wins it certainly will have worked for it.

[@RenatoRegalado]

Brandon was absolutely killing it. I'm very excited to see them in the next few rounds and also fully expect them to make it to the final!

[@peterkframe]

Funny, this was the first team I was really impressed with this season. I've been kind of disappointed so far -- no one really seems to be like the really strong people of the past (Golfinos Leo Devine-Stoneman McEwen Peplow etc.)

[@gooscarguitar]

Nice

[@watson956]

Thanks once again, Josh! Brandon was very impressive (I like the hand-over-the-face focus) - but is he going by a mononym??

[@Robutube1]

Thanks Josh, great job on behalf of Dave.

[@mortemerb8839]

Love that Gengar shirt!

[@marty9011]

Thank you Josh. Go Brandon !

[@lc1715]

Yes, Brandon-Queens represent!

[@TheDreamtimezzz]

Lucas Carey Too full of himself

[@lc1715]

​@@TheDreamtimezzz Nah, I don't see it that way at all. I'm from New York as well and we tend to be more showy and competitive, which creates a stark contrast to the Brits on this show who revere "humbleness" (which I sometimes see as meekness). It's a cultural difference.

[@Sandra27HK]

Brits dont take a thrashing on home turf too well. Lol

[@777L777E777]

@@TheDreamtimezzz If he's that good he's allowed to be

[@british.scorpion]

Much appreciated, thank you.

[@simonreij6668]

not just mullan, what an excellent team. the others will probably win but damn what a great episode

[@iamLi0N]

that gengar shirt flames

[@cat_or_pillar]

As an American, I'm always a little nervous to see American contestants transparently strategize, like Brandon with his quick, short answers, in case it amounts to Taking This Too Seriously for the sensibilities of a British audience. It was nice to see him engaging in regular lighthearted interactions with the others, like they're all genuinely friendly rather than dealing with each other for the sake of everyone's strengths as a player. I was a little surprised at how heavily they had to rely on him for the Neil Gaiman questions.

[@cat_or_pillar]

@kiloscott Exactly, which made it funny to see them look at him like it was his beat. I know he stood out for his breadth of knowledge and expecting that team to be fully comfortable with literature questions would have been unreasonable, but I thought Gaiman was supposed to be a British cultural treasure.

[@cat_or_pillar]

@kiloscott Haha, that sounds like the furthest possible thing from my wheelhouse, but I'm fully prepared to believe a generally beloved author wrote something terrible.

[@aliceharuna4]

MATCH STATS BELOW Imperial: 255 Brasenose - Oxford: 70 Eliminated Starter Questions Stats IMPERIAL: 140 Brooks = 2/3 {20 minus 5 points} Brandon = 7/8 {70 minus 5 points} Rich = 4/4 {40 points} McMeel = 2/2 {20 points} Starter Success rate: 88.24% BRASENOSE - OXFORD: 35 Haugh = 1/1 {10 points} Mullan = 2/3 {20 points} Hanson = 0/2 {−5 points} Drew = 1/1 {10 points} Starter Success rate: 57.14% Bonus Questions Stats IMPERIAL: 115 Bonus success rate: 53.49% (23/43) BRASENOSE - OXFORD: 35 Bonus success rate: 58.33% (7/12)

[@oliverwood7190]

Josh Do you get want Jeremy Paxman said at the end, the University's that go through to the play offs are the ones who have received the lowest amount of questions to get to there total. Because I thought I understand it, (the questions that that University received) or is it for both, University's they received does the minus 5 points count at a question. I make Downing College Cambridge had 8 questions asked to them, Durham had 7 questions, Jesus College Oxford had 8 questions. (Not including minus 5 ones) I make that a tie, who goes through.

[@cristixav]

my childhood friend teaches at the Imperial, but he knows I don't usually support them in UC :D

[@555pontifex]

Paxman is not looking well! He's either dog tired or high on drugs. I hope he recovers.

[@blaxtru]

As your other respondent suggests, Paxman is, as will perhaps befall to you, Mr Oakley, not getting younger.

[@RealDukeOfEarl]

Lol I just thought to myself I'll check KZbin see if Josh has done the do yet. Uploaded one minute ago. Cheers mate.

[@cantordubs9721]

Brooks is so hot

[@aktauchannel]

Irtysh. Watching this from Kazakhstan, this is pretty impressive

[@russcomp1920]

Thanks again Josh!

[@Tararu3500]

Thank you Josh.

[@edm2189]

Brandon is just a bit smug with his this-is-SO-pedestrian face. Impressive though

[@b00i00d]

I actually enjoyed this one, some good performances BUT... NO ONE GOT COLE PORTER?!?!? I mean, what's the world coming to??? ;p And one of this episode's sight-bites: 25:29

[@michaelb6349]

Brandon scores almost as much as the combined of his other 3 teammates, and may have been able to beat the other team single handedly "I don't like how he seems full of himself"

[@joegardiner4220]

So leading up to the show are they given an idea of what subjects are going to be coming up ?

[@CM_CM_]

Poor Mullan, shame the rest of her team didn't try as much as her

[@angetpanget]

My gawd Brandon is hawt.

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

Oooooo bad luck Brasenose, you were stronger than that score suggests .... good game. Yes, let's toady up to the Oxbridge College. Typical Paxman.

[@Oh-lk2qd]

I'm gassed cos I got Hexyl right as a pure guess. I should probably be studying atm though

[@parryhotter4888]

I dig Brandon's shirt

[@trktrk8555]

I can't believe they couldn't guess 'Hexyl' and 'Sinus'

[@mattstrom5875]

Brandon actually says sinus but they decide not to go with it

[@DennisGr]

how did they not know shi zu?

[@noneone.............]

At least i gotta some Knowledge 🌐🇬🇧♥️

[@inheresomewhere9569]

Wtf I nailed those city map questions and have no idea why or how to use this pointless skill 😭

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

Would have been cool if Handel Bach had composed the University Challenge theme tune.

[@gillianl8932]

Brandon is officially a meme

[@yuanfeng3024]

Imperial v Trinity would be interesting

[@8Clips]

Brandon, wow!

[@srinivasanvenkateshwara6964]

Keep going Josh :)

[@Sandra27HK]

I see the Gringophobes & Kinesics 'experts' crawling out of the woodwork for this episode! Poor Brainy Brandon! Lol twitter.com/Sandrine27Hk/status/1186450818188234752?s=19

[@Oh-lk2qd]

9:34 That was pretty horrible.. that look of disgust

[@wildandbarefoot]

Jenny Tailer, reading Viz.

[@GirGir183]

explain?

[@naburuchoi1704]

brandon does NOT want to be here lmfao

[@GirGir183]

He sometimes looked like he just wanted to lie down and get some sleep, but I think he was just concentrating on the question.

[@bluepool210]

holy shit imperial

[@zakeria]

Imperial > Oxford confirmed

[@zakeria]

@B Davis SHUT UP!! bruv

[@rosycozyposey]

Seems like Brasenose always gets trashed?

[@simonreij6668]

damn, mulann was excellent. if she was was on the opposing team they would win the thole thing. maybe they do i haven't seen it yey

[@mujkocka]

Philosophy.... sigh....

[@contingency7232]

Jheeeez...

[@777L777E777]

Some ppl on the comments just can't handle a black American destroying their poor white British kids. 😂 He's by far the best contestant this season, hopefully he can keep it up.

[@ArthurShelby-PB]

well hello there mullan

[@josephkarl2061]

Imperial were imperious... I only just now thought of this, and thought it a bit of a waste if I didn't comment 🙃

[@bobstephens5599]

Brandon is a very strong player, but seems a bit full of himself.

[@RenatoRegalado]

the "I'm not here to make friends" pin was the piece de resistance to his entire demeanor. Frankly, I loved it.

[@JohnSheppard1]

Have some decorum, Brandon.

[@RockyRoader]

Decorum is a very British, nay English, thing. The guy is sharp as a tack. Doesn't look the part, but perhaps that's how he focuses. The chin-in-hand slouch was a real doozy though!

[@elizabethbower2168]

Don’t like it when it’s such an uneven game. Brandon was far too full of himself…

[@Max-Everest]

That's what happens when you splash nerds at their own game...

[@stgermain1074]

Is he not supposed to answer when he knows it?

[@donepearce]

Artists know about arts. Scientists know about everything

[@MontyCantsin5]

Pretty vacuous statement.

[@donepearce]

@@MontyCantsin5 Not at all. An artists may see the beauty and majesty of an ocean wave. A scientist will see those things just as clearly, but he will also see the storm system that created the wave, and the low pressure area that created the storm system - and so on as deeply as his science takes him. The person who understands always takes away more than the person who merely sees.

[@MontyCantsin5]

@@donepearce: It's simply not true to opine that artists 'merely see'. That's imposing a very limited definition of the term art upon those who study that branch of human understanding. (Your definition of art seems to be very outdated, it has to be said. Visual art today is, for the most part, not really concerned with beauty.) Historically art and science couldn't be separated anyway, so I'm also unsure as to exactly what period you're referring to when you say that 'scientists know everything'. If you mean figures who identified as natural philosophers several centuries ago, your statement is dubious; equally if you are referring to contemporary science, it is often so specialised and complex that a wide range of knowledge of the arts is often lacking. In essence, it's just not helpful in any way to state that scientists know everything; particularly now.

[@donepearce]

@@MontyCantsin5 My statement stands. There is nothing to stop an artist also being a scientist. He will indeed be a better artist if he is. But it is the scientist aspect, not the artist aspect that sees the extra.

[@MontyCantsin5]

@@donepearce: Now you seem to be resorting to scientism (science is the only way to understand everything). Thought and knowledge derived from outside the realm of the physical can be equally as valid as that put forward by the special sciences and physics. Scientists don't really 'see' any extra metaphysical stuff when looking at the world.

[@paulmccann7185]

That Brandon guy looked super bored lol

[@lc1715]

He looks to me to be intensely in thought.

[@paulmccann7185]

@@lc1715 could be, he was very good

[@dramatish]

Why is brandon so smug?

[@regen6152]

Brandon is smart but his attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I suspect a comeuppance is in his future.

[@RenatoRegalado]

He was just a little cocky and having fun with his teammates. It's no like he was talking trash at the other team or anything.

[@SP-qi8ur]

Imperial will not get far this year. Brandon is twice as arrogant as he is competent; he will soon be humbled.

[@unclerogerANKI]

No. This season is yet to produce annoying characters of the magnitude of Leo and Golfinos from the last one.

[@SP-qi8ur]

@@unclerogerANKI What do you consider made them annoying?

[@unclerogerANKI]

@@SP-qi8ur Leo had basically zero manners. I remember him telling the Dutch girl in her team that her answer was wrong before even Paxman said so. He looked eternally like a man with a fork in a world of soups. Stroppy and rude. Golfinos redeemed himself towards the end of the series, but he looked and felt like the illigitimate son of George Costanza of Seinfeld and one of the cringesome characters of the Big Bang Theory. A couple of his introductions were simply criminal. Again, little to no composure. Just my 2 cents, of course :D

[@andsoon..9190]

haha, we all feel intimidated yes,but arrogant. i dont think so

[@nelsonricardo3729]

3/8 Americans. Ugh! (I'm American.)

[@charlesclark3840]

With one exception (not from this year) I love it when Americans (and basically anyone not from the UK) are on the show. I was just sad that two of them got knocked out.

[@TuckerDrew]

@@charlesclark3840 me too!

[@shashanksharma2654]

Haugh was useless

[@oliqmgsyt]

Hanson was worse :p as the captain of the Brasenose team I can confirm that Haugh was in fact not useless, we were beaten by a superior team and didn't really get a chance to fully show our stuff, really great experience to be on the show though!

[@GirGir183]

Hanson was the only one of the 8 not to get a starter question.

[@shashanksharma2654]

Oli Hanson I take back my comment :)

[@michaelairley2015]

Brandon proves that voting Republican has it's advantages....

[@Alicia-go8lw]

What the hell is this supposed to mean?

[@michaelairley2015]

@@Alicia-go8lw He is clued up...Black Republicans are very intelligent.

[@cuervoxy]

Ugh, what a boring episode...

[@bernardaddo8976]

Pepi The 4th maybe you hate imperial