Has University Challenge found its new Eric Monkman?
Johnny Gibson – the excitable team captain from Oxford – has already been labelled this year's quiz star
Eric Monkman may have flown the University Challenge nest, but there’s a new wide-eyed endlessly-excitable contestant on the show. His name: Jonathan Gibson. His team: Magdalen College, Oxford. His taste in jumpers: turtle.
And it only took his brief introduction as team captain during his first round bout with St Edmund's College, Cambridge for viewers to declare him the star of the series…
Even if some of his new fanbase couldn’t shake an uncanny resemblance…
And just his case you needed more reason to love Gibson, on his Facebook he lists his perfect experience as “reading a PG Wodehouse novel, listening to Frank Sinatra, watching a 1950s Alfred Hitchcock film, or eating sticky toffee pudding with custard. That says it all.”
Oh Gibson, we can’t wait to see you back in shakey-eyed action. And, thanks to his team’s 80-point victory, he’ll be returning in the show’s second round in a few week’s time.
University Challenge is on 8pm Mondays, BBC2
Try 12 issues for £1
Join thousands of happy subscribers and start your Radio Times weekly magazine subscription today for just £1