Durham University has celebrated taking the crown with the very last question on 2024's festive University Challenge specials.
A closely fought battle saw the North East university come out on top in a battle to the wire with their opponents from Cambridge Queens' College. Durham's "superteam" of alumni was made up of Carla Denyer, MP and co-leader of the Green Party; art historian Liz James; journalist and broadcaster Tracey McLeod; and author and journalist Sophia Smith Galer.
The team kicked off the festive specials by seeing off Warwick University in their first round match on Monday December 23, with their score of 265 the highest of all 14 teams in the group stages. Presenter Amol Rajan called them "an unbelievably strong team with a range of knowledge that was immense."
The semi final on New Year's Day was a tighter affair, with Durham beating Oxford's Worcester College team by 120 to 85. After a second all-Cambridge final, Durham's opponents were Queens' College who narrowly defeated Churchill College in a tie break at 95 points.
The final was closely fought and contested right until the final buzzer, with Tracey MacLeod answering on poetry in the closing seconds to swing it for Durham. The final score was 125 to 120 points.
Presenter Amol Rajan said: "It says something about the calibre of the competition that it came down to the final question."
A spokesperson for Durham University said: "Congratulations to our Durham alumni superteam on winning the University Challenge Festive Special.
"A great performance from Carla, Sophia, Liz and Tracey to win with the final question. Well played and congratulations to Queens' Cambridge on their performance."
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