Quite a lot has been written on this issue before and I cannot add very much except to say it can’t go on. The problem seems to lie with the universities and how they select their teams. As always, we also get a ‘blame the victim’ explanation too. Not enough women apply and when they do appear they face a torrent of misogynistic abuse on social media. The BBC gets off far too lightly in my opinion. It’s six years since they announced that they would no longer have all male guests on panel shows. They set the rules for University Challenge and could simply say that teams have to have a gender balance - end of!
I remember Edinburgh University inviting applications for its team back in 1967 when I was a student there. Malcolm Rifkind got the place on the team that was rightfully mine had I bothered to apply. Miriam Margolyes appeared in the first series in 1962 and claimed to be the first person to say the ‘F’ word on TV. The programme ran on Granada from 1962 to 1987 and was then revived by the BBC in 1994. It has spanned almost sixty years with only two presenters, Bamber Gascogne and Jeremy Paxman. By the way. Do you have to be called Jeremy to do quiz shows these days? - Paxman - University Challenge; Vine - Eggheads; Clarkson - Who wants to be a Millionaire? Controversy has mainly concerned students who turned out to be no longer matriculated at the college or university they appeared for. There have also been lots of parodies over the years including a classic episode of the Young Ones with a contest between Scumbags College and Footlights College and a novel ‘Starter for Ten’ in 2003 by David Nicholls (later turned into a film). But all this wallowing in nostalgia and trivia leads me nicely to my final point.
The truth is University Challenge looks like a programme more at home in the 1960s and 70s and that is probably reflected in the audience demographic. Rather than force gender balance on the show as it is, why not come up with something completely different that would showcase the breadth of knowledge and intelligence that is out there. While you are busy doing that I will try to think of someone called Jeremy (or Geraldine) to present it.