Cambridge University set crime drama ‘Professor T’ returns for second season

The successful smart crime drama Professor T has been recommissioned by ITV for a second season, and is set against the University of Cambridge.

The drama, starring Ben Miller (who acted in Bridgeton and Death in Paradise) and Frances La Tour (who acted in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The History Boys), attracted 5.41 million viewers in 28 days for its launch episode.

The first season had its opening scene shot in the football pitch of Jesus College, with the college’s postgraduate accommodation Little Trinity set as the family home of protagonist Professor T.

University of Cambridge could be getting its own kicks

Fans of university ‘stash’ will be delighted to hear that Cambridge could be having its own customised Nike’s.

The Cambridge Nike’s would be white and red and include the University crest.

This is designed by footwear company The Sole Supplier, which has also created mock-up designs for other local universities such as Durham and Oxford.

The university-inspired trainers are subjected to voting, with the winning design being pitched to the trainer manufacturer.

Diversity campaign makes Asian Media Awards 2021 shortlist

Initially launched in 2019 to boost diversity and the representation of Black students, the second stage of the University’s ‘Get in Cambridge’ social media campaign last year sought to increase engagement with Bangladeshi and Pakistani applicants.

A series of films and videos illustrated the lived experiences of ten state-school students with such heritage, contrasting them with their previous perception of Cambridge as sixth-formers.

An additional six videos aimed to dispel misconceptions which might disincentivize viewers from applying. It is one of five finalists in the Creative Media Award section, with the winners set to be announced at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday 29th October.

Darwin’s dwarf kidney beans to go online

The Darwin Correspondence Project, an independently funded project run partly by Cambridge University Library, is to document thousands of the eponymous naturalist’s “weird and wonderful items” in an online archive: including 392 dwarf kidney beans.

Other items include Brazilian butterfly wings and exoskeletons, microscopic pollen grains, long horned caddisfly larvae, pony hair and beard hair.

Thus far, 90,000 images have been uploaded, with 4,000 to be conserved and 36,000 more to be taken. The project should reach its conclusion by the end of 2022.

New tourism company to replace Visit Cambridge and Beyond

A new tourism company is being set up to replace the city’s former major tourism organisation, Visit Cambridge and Beyond, which went into liquidation last July.

Last week, Cambridge City Council’s Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee voted to set up Visit Cambridge as a community interest company (CIC).

According to a council report, the main aims of the new company will be to “support the recovery and sustainable development of the city’s tourism sector” and to “market and promote the city and represent the city’s tourism sector locally, regionally, nationally and internationally”.

Instead of operating from a permanent visitor information centre like the former company, Visit Cambridge is hoping to “procure a mobile unit with ‘pop up’ functionality.”