In what was the most closely contested final University Challenge had seen for the past decade, St Edmund Hall, Oxford had leads of 40 to -5 and 80 to 40 before Edinburgh fought back to take a commanding 125 to 70 lead with around seven minutes left. St Edmund Hall, however, mounted a comeback of their own and took a 5 point lead with under a minute remaining. However, Campbell Hewson (Edinburgh) correctly answered the difficult ensuing starter question, identifying that the first three letters of the birthplace of William Gladstone, Beryl Bainbridge and Wayne Rooney (LIV of Liverpool) equalled 54 when spelt using roman numerals, to give Edinburgh a 5 point lead of their own. Edinburgh then successfully answered two bonus questions and allowed the clock to run down sufficiently to snatch victory.
