University Challenge results, 1983

These are the results of the twentieth series of University Challenge which ran weekly on ITV, starting in the week of 30 January 1983 and ending on 18 December 1983, running for 39 shows. In Anglia the series was shown on Sundays at 13:00, changing to Wednesdays at 17:15 from the quarter-finals on, with a running time of 30 minutes.

Once again the first round had a 'winner-stays-on' format, with a team qualifying for the quarter-finals if they won three in a row, and the quarter-finals and semi-finals were single-game knockouts, with the final 'best-of-three'.

For the whole of the Bamber era TV schedules differed between the different ITV regions, and the show was often broadcast at different times and on different days in different parts of the country, and often a week or two out from each other. By this series LWT, the London weekend broadcaster, was particularly erratic with its schedules for the show and became over a month behind other regions, culminating in the decision to stop broadcasting the show altogether. Once again I use the date the show was broadcast in the Anglia region in the tables.

There are many gaps that I've been unable to find, so please do contact me if you can assist.

The series champions from Dundee were James Smith (Political Science & Economics), Graham Davidson (Law), Donald Kennedy (Medicine), Peter Burt (Zoology). The team had originally appeared on the 1982 series where they lost narrowly to Balliol, Oxford. However, after a scoring error was discovered, Dundee were invited to return for the 1983 series and went on to win. In their end-of-series match against the dons, they beat Rex Last, Chris Davey, Gavin MacDonald and Sue Allen. During that match, the dons were asked to identify the author of Blairgowrie and Rattray in Old Picture Postcards, which they failed to do, having missed the fact that Graham Davidson introduced himself at the start of each show as "reading his own book", even holding up a copy of it on at least one occasion.

The final match of the first round was a play-off between Corpus Christi, Cambridge and Dundee, both of whom had lost narrowly in 1982 with answers later found to be correct. Dundee beat Birmingham in their semi-final.

St Edmund Hall, Oxford played St Catharine's, Cambridge in the quarter-finals, winning 265-190, with Bamber Gascoigne referring to the teams as "Teddy Hall" and "Catz" throughout. St Hugh's, Oxford, lost in the quarter-finals. Exeter beat Hughes Hall and returned in the first game of the 84 series.

Winning teams advancing to the next round are in bold.