Leicester astronomers are rising stars on BBC’s Only Connect

A University of Leicester astrophysicist is putting his lateral thinking skills to the test in one of television’s most challenging quizzes.

Dr Paul McMillan from the School of Physics and Astronomy will join his wife Louise and father-in-law David in competing on BBC Two’s Only Connect, the infamously fiendish quiz show hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell.

Their first episode is broadcast on Monday 20 July at 8pm and will see their team Ad Astra face off against science fiction fans Two Hearts.

Dr Paul McMillan is an alumnus of the University of Leicester and now works there studying the dynamics of galaxies, particularly our own Milky Way. Using data from large surveys, such as those from the Gaia mission, he produces models of our galaxy to understand its structure and compare to telescope observations.

Paul said: “I’ve been a fan of Only Connect for years. My wife and I always watch and try to work out the answers together as we go. I thought we always did pretty well, comparable to the teams on the show, so thought we’d stand a chance if we applied! I’d been on my college’s University Challenge team as a student but never made it past the auditions on to the show. I thought I’d enjoy the challenge and it would be a fun thing to do and a great memory to have.”

Their team comprises Paul; Dr Louise McMillan, who works at De Montfort University as a research development officer; and David Howes, Louise’s dad, who is retired and a former RAF officer. Their team name is based on Paul and Louise's shared background and the RAF motto ‘Ad Astra Per Ardua’ (‘Through struggle to the stars’).

Paul and Louise met at Lund Observatory where they both worked as post-doctoral researchers in astronomy. Paul said: “She’s particularly great on the missing vowels round and at spotting tricky word-based connections between clues.”

They usually end up watching quizzes with Louise’s parents during visits, often Only Connect, and either informally competing or trying to answer questions together. So David “fills in lots of gaps in our team’s knowledge, because Louise and I tend to know many of the same things,” Paul said.

Paul adds: “I really enjoyed being on the show! I worried I’d be stressed but they do a great job of keeping us relaxed. Victoria Coren-Mitchell is exactly as you’d expect her to be having seen her on TV, thoughtful and funny with the occasional unexpected story or comment. We got to meet the other teams filming the same days as us and they were all lovely.

“I really like that no-one is ever out after one game. You have to win two out of three games in the first round, so everyone gets another chance if they met a tough opponent or had a bad game.

“There was one question with an astrophysics related clue, so my job was really helpful for that! I’ve started putting Only Connect references in outreach talks I give on astronomy, but I haven’t yet worked out how to put them in my lectures without it being too cheesy.”