University Challenge contestant develops distinctive hands-on-buzzer technique
The second semi-final of the latest series of the BBC quiz show which aired on Monday, 28 April, saw Darwin College, Cambridge take on Warwick University to compete for a place in the 2025 grand final.
The Darwin College team was entirely comprised of postgraduate students, while Warwick's were all undergraduates. But the spotlight was on Warwick maths student Thomas Hart, because of his aggressive "bent elbow" stance, with his hand planted firmly on the buzzer at the start of every question round.
When host Amol Rajan began to ask each question Hart, along with his team captain Oscar Siddle sat with their elbows poking out at right angles before lunging their hands down on the buzzer as soon as they knew the answer.
Darwin came into the semi-final having beaten Birkbeck University and Edinburgh in previous heats, as well as UCL and Bristol in the quarter-finals. They had racked up an average of 190 points per game.
More junior team Warwick were the fifth from the university to make it to a semi-final, having defeated East Anglia, Oriel College Oxford, Queen's University Belfast and UCL, but had lost to Christ College, Cambridge. Their average score was 216.
Darwin was captained by PhD film student Harrison Whittaker from Indiana in the US. The other teammembers were optical microscopy Phd Rebecca McClelland, pathology PhD Sophie Willis from Derby and linguistics master's student Rowan Stewart from Edinbugh.
Warwick's captain was maths student Oscar Siddle from Islington in North London. The rest of the team were engineering student Lavanya Govindarajan from Edgware in North London, maths student Thomas Hart, who escribed himself as "from a village called Miskin in the South Wales valleys and PPE stident Benjamin Watson from Amersham, Buckhamshire.
University Challenge viewers remembered Hart from previous rounds for his distinctive right-angled elbow pose when waiting with his hand on the buzzer. For this reason Hart appeared to have earned himself the nickname "the elbow".
Viewers were quick to welcome the return of "the elbow".
One wrote on social media platform BlueSky: "Elbows Up #UniversityChallenge"
Another posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: "It's the second semi-final tonight. Brace yourselves for Hart on the Warwick team and his raised elbow again. #UniversityChallenge"
Someone else tweeted: "Here we go. Attack of the killer Elbow... #UniversityChallenge"
One viewer shared: "#UniversityChallenge Warwick - Hart. He's gonna break that buzzer......"
While another joked: "What a great match. Pleased Warwick won. Now get Hart's elbow a pint. #Universitychallenge"
Fans also noted that for the semi-final captain Siddle appeared to have adopted Hart's favoured position.
One commented: "Siddle is adopting the Hart 'elbow' stance… #UniversityChallenge to little effect thus far."
Another said: "What's with the exaggerated buzzer action Hart & Siddle?! #universitychallenge"
Somebody else observed: "Siddle trying to push that buzzer to the floor. #UniversityChallenge"
Read more: University Challenge
University Challenge fans convinced questions are getting 'longer and longer' (Yahoo UK, 2 min read)
University Challenge: Which institutions have won the BBC quiz show the most? (Yahoo UK, 3 min read)
Amol Rajan Interviews: Gary Lineker, review: in the battle of two BBC players, this was a no-score draw (The Telegraph, 3 min read)
Hart and Siddle's bent elbow stance proved successful, as Warwick defeated Darwin College with 180 points to 160, earning them a place in the grand final.
Rajan told Darwin: "Such tight margins guys. Absolutely fantastic run. You guys have had to make the semi-finals and and that was a wonderful, wonderful match against a brilliant team." He went on: "Warwick, you made that very stressful for yourselves, guys."
Hart sighed: "I'm gonna need to lie down in a darkened room for a while." Rajan replied: "You can't lie down for that long because, at some point you're gonna have to play the final. Congratulations, and to beat a truly stellar team in such a tight match is a magnificent performance. Well done."
University Challenge is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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