The Lancaster graduates will compete against a team from the University of Kent at Canterbury on December 21 at 7.05pm on BBC Two.

The Lancaster team includes Matthew Fort, Food and Drink Editor for The Guardian and Great British Menu judge; Ranvir Singh, ITV Daybreak news presenter; Roger Ashton-Griffiths, actor; and Brian Clegg, science writer.

Lancaster is one of 14 universities across the UK who will compete for the honour of being declared series champions.

Their opponents from Kent include: Fi Glover, writer and television and radio presenter; Robert Wade, screenwriter and co-writer of five James Bond films; Rebecca Lenkiewicz, playwright and film, television and radio screenwriter; and James Wong, television science presenter.

Each team will compete in one of seven first-round matches. The four teams with the highest winning scores will play in two semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final.

Peter Gwyn, executive producer, ITV Studios, said: “Christmas University Challenge demonstrates the strong intellectual and emotional ties that continue to bind people to the places where they studied. This provides an intriguing extra dimension to what is set to be a fiercely contested series.”