YMMV / University Challenge

• Adorkable: Many individual contestants arguably count, but special mention goes to the entire Newnham College, Cambridge team in the 2022/23 season, to the point that YouTube compliations were made of them "giggling, gaffing and goofing" their way through the competition. They reached the quarter-finals.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • In one 2013 episode of the Celebrity Edition Christmas University Challenge, for one single shot, Paxman appeared dressed as Santa, with falling snow superimposed.
  • Paxman raided the dressing-up box again for a celebrity edition broadcast on New Years Day 2020, appearing for one shot as Widow Twankey.
• Funny Moments: 5 October 2015: A female contestant declares that she is studying for an MD in "sphincter preservation".
• Memetic Mutation: "Can't accept Drum and Bass. We need jungle, I'm afraid." ^note In January 2024, Amol Rajan asked a question to which the correct answer was "jungle", a Sub-Genre of drum-and-bass; when Aberdeen's captain answered "drum-and-bass", Rajan responded with the aforementioned phrase. A tweet from author Nathan Filer resulted in a viral challenge of people mixing the statement into jungle songs, with even mainstream artists like Goldie getting involved. Rajan, himself a lover of jungle music, took the whole thing in stride.
• Moment of Awesome: Arguably, Daniel Spencer got one at around 4:40 in this video. Also, winning the competition probably counts, as does exceeding 300 points in a match.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The first-ever week in 1962 featured Ian Channell, who later emigrated to New Zealand and became known there as the Wizard of Christchurch. Here's an excerpt from the third day.
  • Stephen Fry appeared in this 1980 episode.
  • Jenny Ryan, one of the members of the 2003 semi-finalist Leeds University team, is now "The Vixen" on The Chase, while Brandon Blackwell, who won the 2020 series as part of the Imperial College, London team, is now "The Lightning Bolt" on the US version.
  • Hannah Rose Woods, who won the 2016 series as part of the Peterhouse College, Cambridge team, has since become notable as a writer and public historian, specialising in modern British culture.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The revival with Paxman initially got this from some quarters, but he soon made the role his own.