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Ellie Robinson

January 10th, 2018

LSE students get the “Third Degree”!

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Ellie Robinson

January 10th, 2018

LSE students get the “Third Degree”!

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

While reviewing what happens when new material arrives in the LSE Library archive, a series of photographs led Ellie Robinson to discover that an LSE team had competed in the BBC Radio quiz called Third Degree in 1968. 

Among a file from LSE’s Conferences team was a number of black and white photographs of what appeared to be a party and of some sort of BBC broadcast. A small number had some sort of name on but nothing to indicate the date or occasion.

Third Degree filming. LSE
Third Degree filming. LSE

The names written on the back of the photos were “Marion Griffiths”, “A D Baume” and “J Bishop”, and a quick search of our student database revealed that these people were students at the LSE in the period 1965 to 1970, which narrowed down the time period and some of the people involved, but not the occasion.

Third Degree party. LSE
Third Degree party. LSE

Armed with the knowledge that these people were at least members of LSE, I deduced that if they had done something with the BBC, they may have got a mention in The Beaver. Happily, our copies of The Beaver have been digitised, and are fully text searchable online. It didn’t take long to find this entry from 1968, which revealed that the students had participated in BBC Radio’s Third Degree quiz show, and that they had done quite well.

Beaver 9 May 1968 - LSE through to final of Third Degree. LSE
The Beaver 9 May 1968 – LSE through to final of Third Degree. LSE

On the basis of this article I’m happy to deduce that the party photos are celebrating the team’s success, confirmed by this final picture of the team with their trophies.

LSE's Third Degree team with trophies. LSE
LSE’s Third Degree team with trophies. LSE

Do any former students remember this occasion, or the team members? Leave a comment if you do.

This post originally appeared on the LSE Library blog.

Posts about LSE Library explore the history of the Library, our archives and special collections

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About the author

Pencils on a yellow background. Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

Ellie Robinson

Ellie Robinson is formerly of LSE Library.

Posted In: LSE Library | Student life

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