At TV Scoop we’ve been committed to following the progress of this year’s students fight it out for academic supremacy in BBC2’s University Challenge. I cannot lay claim to an ounce of the intelligence blessing the students competing on the long-running show, and as play-at-home entertainment I’m thrilled to score just a handful of correct answers. For those onscreen, it’s a very different matter with the prestige of their institution at stake, not to mention the fear of one of Paxman’s trademark withering looks or telling offs with each wrong answer.

Last night’s installment was our last look at all the participating teams (the next two weeks are play-offs) and so now having met everyone, we can more fully judge which groups mean business and which contestants have brains like encyclopaedias. One such impressive fellow was the University of Sheffield’s captain Paul McKay. When reporting on his team’s passage to the second round (they beat Lancaster), I applauded the clever chap and even found myself musing on his impressive performance a week on. Now, the team captain with the ‘inexplicable’ white patch of hair (which according to him is similar in style to a young Einstein, hence the picture) has given us at TV Scoop a sneaky look into life on University Challenge.

Click over for the interview

Hi Paul. How did you come to be involved with University Challenge and how were you selected as the team captain?

The Students Union held open auditions and about 150 people turned up. They eventually whittled us down to the four you see, plus Ian, our reserve. Getting to be captain was a matter of turning up first on the day we filled in the form.

I’m not sure that I believe that. Why were you interested in applying?

I’d been in quiz teams in primary and secondary school, and we were pretty successful, so I’d always fancied the idea of going on. I actually took the test at Queen’s University in Belfast (where I used to study), but wasn’t able to go on the show because the filming dates didn’t suit.

So it was meant to be. What was the response of your friends and family when you told them that you were to appear on UC?

I didn’t tell many people in case we’d get hammered in the first round, and the people I did tell weren’t too impressed. Since we’ve been on it though, I’ve started to get people come up to me in the street. It’s fun, sort of.

A local celebrity, eh? Do you know anyone who has starred on it previously?

Strangely enough, no.

Had any of the team members met prior to UC and what is the dynamic within your team?

No, we met at the auditions. My first impression of them was that I must seem pretty thick compared to them. We go to pub quizzes now and then for practice, and I still feel like that. There’s an incredible wealth of useless knowledge spread through our team.

Don’t know that I’d call it useless. What were your expectations of progressing before the show began and how did you prepare?

It’s hard to know. You only find out who you’re playing on the day it’s filmed, so there’s no way to know if you’ve got a chance.

It’s pretty simple though: if you answer more questions correctly, you win. You really only start getting nervous if you give wrong answers, then you start to feel like you’re making a spectacle of yourself on TV.

Some people get nervous of course. One of us – I won’t say who – likes to eat a lot of cheese before the quiz. It seems to work, but I won’t be trying it.

Mmm – cheese. Did you feel any pressure competing?

Well, I just wanted to do it for fun. It’s good if you don’t come out with egg on your face, and I think we’ve done okay so far. By the time the second round takes place, we’ll all be back at Uni and there might be some expectation.

You won your first round and are now through to the second. Have you been impressed with any of the other teams so far?

Every team is impressive. Really, everyone has some piece of arcane knowledge somewhere in their head that will make you wonder how they ever knew it.

To be fair, though, victory of defeat largely comes down to luck, and how you feel on the day. Sometimes the questions suit you, sometimes they don’t. Luck is a huge element in these things.

And now down to the big one. Jeremy Paxman: sympathetic softie or big meanie?

He likes to think he’s tough. He’s probably softer on UC than on Newsnight. At least he usually only asks the same question once.

For those of us just watching it at home, what’s it like filming an episode?

Harder for the audience than the teams, and much more stop-start than you would ever realise.

What were your best and worst moments (of course, so far)?

I remember misspelling conscientious. That’s gotta make you look stupid. Funnily, I only remember the ones I got wrong.

Do you think your degree subject has helped?

Sure. Architecture isn’t (only) about bricks and drainage and foundations (about which I know nothing). Our reading lists have everything from theory of art and literature to German philosophy. We usually travel more than other students, we learn little odd bits about other countries, and we’re trained to absorb most of what we hear.

What do you think will be the short and long-term effects of starring on UC? Will it help career-wise or is it a bit of fun?

It’s a bit of fun. Adi Balachander [UC team-mate] has told us that he’s been offered a job on account of appearing on the show, but for me it’s strictly for fun.

Go Adi! University Challenge has been on and off air since 1962, why do you think the show has endured and has it maintained its relevance?

Possibly because there are two reactions that the audience always feels. First, schadenfreude when one of the brain-boxes gets an easy question wrong. Second, amazement when someone knows a ridiculously obscure fact.

UC is one of the few programmes on UK TV that has pedigree – some fairly big names have appeared on it, and you always get the feeling you might be watching the next Clive James or John Simpson.

So Paul, what’s next for you?

Final year of architecture school… 85 hour weeks, sore eyes, despair, caffeine.

How would you celebrate if Sheffield were to win? And what would it mean to you and to the University?

It’s a bit of fun. We’d probably bring the trophy on a pub crawl… but its way too soon even to think about that.

Thanks to Paul for taking the time to chat with us, as we at TV Scoop wish him and his team the best of luck in the upcoming second round.