The 3rd Degree: Series 8: The BBC Radio 4 Brainy Quiz Show

A quiz show hosted by Steve Punt where a team of three University students take on a team of three of their professors.

The show is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in a genuinely original and fresh take on an academic quiz

The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the ‘Highbrow & Lowbrow’ round cunningly devised to test not only the students’ knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors’ awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber… In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offer plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides...

In this series, the universities are Newcastle, Hertfordshire, Dundee, Merton College, Oxford, Sheffield and Brunel.

In the first episode, we’re at Newcastle University. The Specialist Subjects are Physiological Sciences, Sociology and Media & Communication and the questions range from Bach and benzene rings to Mills & Boon and Mick Jagger

Episode 2 comes from the University of Hertfordshire. The Specialist Subjects are Aerospace Engineering, English Language & Communication and Computer Sciences and the questions range from DOS Commands and derivatives to Captain Hook and why eating detergent is wrong...

Episode 3, and we’re at the University of Dundee where the Specialist Subjects are Geography, Art & Physics and the questions range from Rachel Whiteread and Röntgen Rays to the Shiba Inu from the meme and Gnasher from The Beano...

The fourth episode in the series comes from Merton College, Oxford. The Specialist Subjects are History, Biology and Classics and the questions range from the Rhine Maidens and deponent verbs to Barbie and starfish legs...


Episode 5 comes from the University of Sheffield. The Specialist Subjects are Archaeology, Dental Hygiene & Dental Therapy and Civil Engineering and the questions range from Blockchain and Xerostomia to Big Shaq and Slime...


The final episode in the series comes from Brunel Univerisity. The Specialist Subjects are Politics, Theatre and Computer Science and the questions range from La Dame Aux Camelias and XOR gates to wardrobe malfunctions and Axl Rose...