University Challenge viewers celebrate the VERY rare sight of two female captains, saying ‘makes a change!’ (even if all the other contestants are white men)
- Edinburgh’s Niamh Clarke and Durham’s Holly Parkinson, both studying Physics; captained the teams in the latest episode of University Challenge
- Two female captains on the show is a rare sight, with Clarke and Parkinson taking the helm in a closely fought battle, which saw Durham prove victors
- All of the other contestants that made up the two teams were white men
- The show is currently being screened with new social distancing rules in force, with perspex panels and ear pieces introduced for contestants
University Challenge may be out front when it comes to intellect but the BBC2 show has faced plenty of criticism in the past for not being a forerunner when it comes to diversity amongst its contestants.
However, the latest episode of the BBC2 academic quiz saw viewers celebrating two female captains, even if the rest of the teams – from Edinburgh and Durham Universities – were made up of white men.
Edinburgh captain Niamh Clarke, from County Wicklow, revealed she’s studying Physics with meteorology while Holly Parkinson from Ringmer, near Brighton, is an undergraduate in Physics at Durham.
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Edinburgh captain Niamh Clarke, from County Wicklow, revealed she’s studying Physics with meteorology…as her team took on Durham in the latest episoide of University Challenge
It’s the first time this series that two women have been at the helm of the teams facing Jeremy Paxman’s questions.
For those watching at home, the sight of two female captains was an unusual one; the programme’s contestants are still largely dominated by men.
@AllTimeGeorgie wrote: ‘Think the best thing about tonights episode is the fact there’s two female captains, we love strong female representation in quiz shows.’
@naomitimperley added: ‘Ohhhhh….two female captains this evening! Makes a change from the all male teams of late.’
@ChippieC04: ‘Catching up on tonight’s #UniversityChallenge. Both captains are women. Excellent!!’
Clarke faced fellow Physics student Holly Parkinson, from Ringmer in Brighton; two female captains on the BBC2 academic quiz is a rare sight
The show is regularly hit on social media with complaints about a lack of diversity.
Just five women featured in the first five episodes of the programme, compared to 35 male contestants, despite the fact that more women than men attend university in the UK.
A spokesperson for the BBC told MailOnline in September: ‘While the make-up of each team is ultimately decided by the university it represents, we encourage all teams who apply to reflect the diversity of their student population, and we will continue to look at how we can work with universities to help them with this’.