A Hackney teacher has beaten Britain’s brightest and won the final of a BBC Two quiz show - despite being in a team which had never quizzed together prior to the show.

Hackney Gazette: Richard, centre, and his Only Connect team (picture: BBC/Zodiak/Patrick Olner)Richard, centre, and his Only Connect team (picture: BBC/Zodiak/Patrick Olner) (Image: Archant)

Urswick School’s Richard Aubrey led his team to victory tonight on BBC Two’s Only Connect.

The 31-year-old’s team, String Section, won five rounds of the show before being crowned champions.

Richard applied to the show along with team members Pete Sorel-Cameron and Tessa North Pete last February, and were invited to audition.

Despite never having taken part in a quiz together before, and only meeting for the first time at the audition, the trio made it on to the televised stage of the show.

Richard said: “It was a bit of a shock to get on to the show, let alone the final, as it appeals to the top quizzers in the UK, and the production team scour the country to find the best quizzers from local leagues and national tournaments.

“We were in none of these categories, and felt a bit like a journeyman team. In fact, on the train to Cardiff, I banned any discussion of the quarter finals or later.

“We’d have been happy to win a round, let alone the whole thing.”

The show was aired straight after University Challenge, in what has been dubbed ‘Quizzy Mondays’ with more than 2.5 million viewers watching on.

Contestants on Only Connect have to find connections between four apparently random clues.

Richard has thanked staff and students from the Hackney Central school for their support.

He added: “Everyone at The Urswick School has been very supportive, both students and staff.”

Sixth Form student Caiampo Gomes, 17, who is in Richard’s General Studies class, said: “Mr Aubrey and his team’s performance was great. I always thought they would win but some of the questions they answered correctly were mind-blowing.”

Richard and his team are now planning on attending the Only Connect reunion next month, where more than 400 past contestants have been invited to attend.