Oxbridge on TV

This week, we’ve got a light-hearted blog post for you! Oxbridge has been featured several times in the media in the past few weeks, but it’s not only in the newspapers where Oxbridge makes a star appearance. Oxbridge also features heavily on the silver screen, and we’ve catalogued our favourite appearances just for fun!

• Brideshead Revisited: one of the great Oxford classics, this 1981 series based on the novel of the same name was also made into a film in 2008. The novel was serialised into 11 episodes, and in 2010 placed second in The Guardian’s ’top 50 TV dramas of all time’. Narrated by the middle-aged artist and Second World War army Captain, Charles Ryder, Brideshead Revisited tells the story of his involvement with the Flyte family after meeting Sebastian Flyte whilst studying at Oxford.
• Inspector Morse and Lewis: these detective shows set in Oxford show the city at its best – and with several murders, seemingly at its worst! Although the depiction of the city’s crime rate is highly unrealistic, the sweeping shots of Oxford rooftops and intimate scenes in real Oxford colleges show the city’s beautiful architecture. Students have been known to bump into filming for Lewis both on the streets and within their colleges, so keep your eyes peeled!
• Cambridge Spies: a drama about the lives of the best known four members of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies. The series depicts the life of the four men as undergraduates at Cambridge, and charts their progress to becoming Soviet spies. The programme shows that although they betrayed their country, the group firmly believed that what they were doing was right and that fascism was the enemy. A programme which is interesting for history or politics students, and shows an insight into Cambridge life of days gone by!
• Porterhouse Blue: a satirical look at Cambridge life and the struggle between tradition and reform, this series tells the story of Skullion, the Head Porter of a fictional Cambridge college, Porterhouse. The show starred David Jason as Skullion, and used Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge as the back-drop to the series. The series won an International Emmy and two BAFTA Awards, including Best Actor for David Jason.
• University Challenge: Oxbridge colleges often show up in University Challenge, despite the fact that they have smaller student bodies than the majority of the competitors. Each university has a tournament before the TV series begins, as both Oxford and Cambridge are only allowed to enter 5 teams each into the final programme. Notable contestants from the Oxbridge teams include Stephen Fry, David Starkey, Miriam Margolyes and Christopher Hitchens. The show has been running since 1962, with Oxford colleges winning 15 series in total, and Cambridge winning 7.
• The Boat Race: the Oxford and Cambridge boat race is a national event, televised every year and attracting large crowds to the Thames to get a piece of the action. After last year’s controversy with Trenton Oldfield interrupting the race, and then a broken Oxford oar, Cambridge are still beating Oxford by 81 wins to 76, with one dead heat (in 1877). Make sure next year you have your flags at the ready to support your university of choice!