109:" tabloid newspaper. Simon is initially out of work, but is soon awarded a Fellowship in "Forensic Science and Criminology" by Gilbert, now the Master of the college. Ian Butterworth, a brilliant (if pedantic and intolerably smug) English student, apparently commits suicide by hanging himself after accusing another student of plagiarism. Both students were supervised by Dr. Roisin McDade, the Fellow in English. Simon is not convinced. Meanwhile Bernard, the Bursar, is trying to reorganise the college to be more financially viable and relevant to the modern world. The Dean tries to engineer a revolution and abolish the post of Master, but is masterfully "shafted" as Gilbert, the Master, puts it.
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to hate
Devanti or want him removed, including anyone with ambition to be Master, since Devanti himself was the obvious candidate to succeed. Most of the female characters had affairs with and were abandoned by Devanti, including Zoe and Patricia. Even the Bursar has been wounded by Devanti, as his sole academic venture was plagiarized by the television historian before its official publication.
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on a national newspaper and is forced to freelance. Her first job is covering the aftermath of
Devanti's death, which brings her back together with both Simon, whom she left for Devanti on the eve of Simon's final undergraduate exam, and her tutor Patricia, who was also, it emerges, one of Devanti's
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The plot thickens as the Master himself dies, and the various fellows, including the
Machiavellian history don Gilbert Devlin, compete to be his replacement. Meanwhile the list of people who might have wanted Peter Devanti dead keeps growing. Nearly everyone connected with the college had a reason
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Peter
Devanti, a notorious TV populariser of history and member of the college, dies after being the college's guest at High Table. The apparent cause is eating nuts despite a known allergy. However the college's Master suspects foul play. He invites Simon Harrison, a former brilliant biology
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Both series feature a murder mystery set against a background of satirical references to newspaper and television journalism, politics, government bureaucracy, and academic in-fighting. In particular there is a long-running feud between
Gilbert (the History fellow, and later the Master) and the
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conquests. Her re-appearance opens old wounds for Simon, who drank himself into oblivion when she left him, leaving him in no condition for a final exam, and resulting in him failing to get the first-class honours degree that would have ensured his continued academic career.
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In a subplot, Simon becomes so disenchanted with working at the HSE that he turns a speech at a conference in Europe into a denunciation of the nitpicking culture of the health and safety bureaucracy, much to the annoyance of the interpreter who cannot translate words like
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college in crisis. The first series was broadcast in six episodes from 18 February to 25 March 2005, and the second series was broadcast from 7 April to 12 May 2006. Its title refers to the custom of the
College's fellows eating at
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that is intended for especially brilliant student candidates, and which was once awarded to the Dean himself. Roisin McDade was also in the running for that same bursary.
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A year after the events of Series 1, Simon and Zoe are living together in
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Simon turns out to be an ineffectual teacher who frequently has his students watch episodes of
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Trio Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526 (arr. R. Boothby): II. Largo
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student at the college who has ended up working in the
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Gilbert Devlin, Fellow in History and later Master —
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211:Dr. Roisin McDade, Fellow in English —
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189:Patricia, Fellow in Philosophy —
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311:BBC Radio comedy programmes
301:2005 radio programme debuts
78:Health and Safety Executive
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18:High Table, Lower Orders
272:. Chaconne. CHAN 0654.
82:political sketch-writer
31:University of Cambridge
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166:Jonathan Coy
160:Sharon Small
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54:Plot outline
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170:Written by
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146:The Dean —
135:Both series
23:BBC Radio 4
295:Categories
178:Dawn Ellis
36:High Table
176:Producer
274:Archived
101:Series 2
71:Series 1
217:Jane —
114:bursary
107:red top
44:BWV 526
223:Jim —
65:Bursar
231:Notes
21:is a
282:2021
130:Cast
40:Bach
121:CSI
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