Mastermind

Mastermind

1972
Mastermind
Mastermind

Mastermind

6.3 | NR | en | Talk

Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round. Wright drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The atmosphere is helped by Mastermind's famously ominous theme music, "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. The quiz programme originated and was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before permanently moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.

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Seasons & Episodes

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EP31  Final
Apr. 01,2024
Final

Clive Myrie asks the questions in the grand final. Specialist subjects include the Wimbledon singles championships 2000-present, the artist Francis Bacon and the Greek poet Sappho.

EP30  Episode 30
Mar. 25,2024
Episode 30

Clive Myrie asks the questions in the last of the semi-finals. The specialist subjects include bears, the novels of Dame Muriel Spark and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

EP29  Episode 29
Mar. 18,2024
Episode 29

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another semi-final. Specialist subjects include British prime ministers of the 18th century and Oscar-winning animated feature films.

EP28  Episode 28
Mar. 11,2024
Episode 28

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another semi-final. Specialist subjects include Peter Cushing, the history of percussion instruments and Sir Bobby Robson.

EP27  Episode 27
Mar. 04,2024
Episode 27

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another semi-final. Specialist subjects include James I of Scotland, Breaking Bad and the life of Mary Shelley.

EP26  Episode 26
Feb. 26,2024
Episode 26

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another semi-final. Subjects include the Cheltenham Gold Cup from 1960 to the present, the films of Sir Ridley Scott and Genesis from 1967-1977.

EP25  Episode 25
Feb. 19,2024
Episode 25

Clive Myrie asks the questions in the first semi-final. The specialist subjects include Charlie Chaplin, Happy Valley and Billie Jean King.

EP24  Episode 24
Feb. 12,2024
Episode 24

Clive Myrie hosts, with contenders answering questions on the human digestive system, AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh, The Chemical Brothers, and the Jack Ryan novels by Tom Clancy.

EP23  Episode 23
Feb. 05,2024
Episode 23

Clive Myrie hosts as four more contenders answer questions on specialist subjects, including the career of Arsène Wenger, the comedies of Oscar Wilde and the Godfather films.

EP22  Episode 22
Jan. 29,2024
Episode 22

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. Subjects include medieval cathedrals of England and Dolly Parton.

EP21  Episode 21
Jan. 22,2024
Episode 21

The search for the nation's Mastermind continues as Clive Myrie tests four more contenders on their specialist subjects and general knowledge under the glare of the spotlight and the ticking clock. The subjects are the Chocolat novels of Joanne Harris, George Best, Alcibiades and The Rolling Stones.

EP20  Episode 20
Jan. 15,2024
Episode 20

Four more contenders face the black chair under the spotlight and the ticking clock in an attempt to become the next Mastermind champion. Clive Myrie hosts and asks the questions on specialist subjects Kim Philby, Chess: The Musical, the castles of North Wales and the life of Thomas Hardy.

EP19  Episode 19
Jan. 08,2024
Episode 19

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. The specialist subjects include Sir Trevor McDonald, Leeds United Football Club and Myrna Loy.

EP18  Episode 18
Jan. 01,2024
Episode 18

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. The specialist subjects include British garden birds, the Big Bang theory and the films of Orson Welles.

EP17  Episode 17
Dec. 18,2023
Episode 17

Clive Myrie presents another heat of the classic quiz, with four contenders answering questions on Meat Loaf, Grinling Gibbons, and England comen's cricket since 2000.

EP16  Episode 16
Dec. 11,2023
Episode 16

Another four contenders take to the black chair, answering questions on their chosen specialist subjects to earn a place in the semi-finals. Clive Myrie hosts, and the specialist subjects are Bridget Riley, the Winter Olympics 2002-2022, the sitcoms of Peter Kay and the history of St Albans.

EP15  Episode 15
Dec. 04,2023
Episode 15

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. Specialist subjects include the poetry of Dame Carol Ann Duffy and The League of Gentlemen.

EP14  Episode 14
Nov. 27,2023
Episode 14

Clive Myrie hosts as four more contenders answer questions on specialist subjects including the New York subway system, the 'Ocean's' films, and the Easter Rising.

EP13  Episode 13
Nov. 20,2023
Episode 13

The hunt for the nation's Mastermind continues as Clive Myrie tests four more contenders on their specialist subjects and general knowledge. The specialist subjects this time are the films of Martin McDonagh, Dorothy Parker, US presidential elections from 1948 to 2000, and the music of Tom Waits.

EP12  Episode 12
Nov. 13,2023
Episode 12

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another heat where the contenders answer questions on Peter the Great of Russia, Exmoor National Park and the films of Quentin Tarantino.

EP11  Episode 11
Nov. 06,2023
Episode 11

The series continues with another four contenders taking to the black chair, answering questions on their chosen specialist subjects to earn a place in the semi-finals. Clive Myrie hosts, and the specialist subjects are Sir Isaac Newton, Red Dwarf, Mary Queen of Scots and Billy Bragg.

EP10  Episode 10
Oct. 30,2023
Episode 10

Clive Myrie tests four more contenders on their specialist subjects and general knowledge in another heat of the classic quiz. The specialist subjects this time are the reptiles and amphibians of the British Isles, the Salem Witch Trials, Indian Premier League cricket and Edward VIII.

EP9  Episode 9
Oct. 23,2023
Episode 9

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. The specialist subjects include Arrested Development and James McNeill Whistler.

EP8  Episode 8
Oct. 16,2023
Episode 8

The search for the nation's Mastermind continues as Clive Myrie tests four more contenders on their specialist subjects and general knowledge. This time, the specialist subjects are Billy Joel, JMW Turner, the BBC sitcom Miranda and Antoine Lavoisier.

EP7  Episode 7
Oct. 09,2023
Episode 7

Clive Myrie hosts another heat of the classic quiz where contenders take the black chair. The specialist subjects include the battleship Bismarck and Federico García Lorca.

EP6  Episode 6
Oct. 02,2023
Episode 6

Clive Myrie asks the questions in another heat where the contenders answer questions on Ted Lasso, the life and works of Joan Didion and the early life of Gandhi.

EP5  Episode 5
Sep. 25,2023
Episode 5

The search for the nation's Mastermind continues as Clive Myrie tests four more contenders on their specialist subjects and general knowledge. The specialist subjects are F Scott Fitzgerald, otters, Thomas Paine and the BBC radio comedy The Navy Lark.

EP4  Episode 4
Sep. 18,2023
Episode 4

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. Specialist subjects include Chelsea FC in the Premier League, Franz Kafka and Harry Styles.

EP3  Episode 3
Sep. 11,2023
Episode 3

Clive Myrie hosts the classic quiz where contenders take on the famous black chair. Specialist subjects include Roger Federer, Gavin & Stacey and Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns.

EP2  Episode 2
Sep. 04,2023
Episode 2

Clive Myrie asks the questions as four more contenders take the black chair under the spotlight and the ticking clock in an attempt to become the next Mastermind champion. Specialist subjects are Karl Marx, The Royle Family, Flags of British counties and Django Reinhardt.

EP1  Episode 1
Aug. 28,2023
Episode 1

Clive Myrie presents the first heat of the classic quiz where contenders face the famous black chair with the ultimate goal of becoming the next Mastermind Champion. The specialist subjects are The Poirot Novels of Agatha Christie, The Calvin and Hobbes Cartoons, Drake and Red Clydeside.

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6.3 | NR | en | Talk | More Info
Released: 1972-09-11 | Released Producted By: , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk1s
Synopsis

Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round. Wright drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The atmosphere is helped by Mastermind's famously ominous theme music, "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. The quiz programme originated and was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before permanently moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.

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Reviews

screenman 'Manstermind' is a format that should last forever. It is without doubt (in my opinion) the best public-participation programme bar none. It's still running after 28 years; so what does that say? The programme originally began in 1972. My elder sister was a fan of it and I would sometimes pop over to her house and watch. Even now it reminds me of those strange family times. The then unknown (to me) and unimaginatively named Magnus Magnusson pushed the show along with a polite, staid, headmasterly professionalism, that was as much a key-note in the program as the format itself. He introduced us to the catchphrase 'I've started, so I'll finish'. This in turn has been adopted by equally capable John Humphries.The program was - and is - conducted with much scholarly gravitas. A slightly threatening theme music that continues to sound as much as if someone were being led to their execution as a flaunting of their knowledge, focuses towards an iconic black leather and chrome chair. There they triumph or die. I have seen both.I'm glad it's still going and in more or less the same simple no-nonsense format of nearly 30 years vintage. I don't always watch it, but when I do I'm always entertained.It's funny what occupies peoples' minds, though.
Graham Watson Mastermind certainly has a cult following but to be honest it was not every bodies cup of tea. It was dull and slow and broadcast on a dull Sunday night too. What made it worse and a frustrating show to watch was that 95 % of the questions asked were just beyond the average person. It was understandable for the specialized topics i.e. " Chinese art between 1435- 1702" or "Greek mythology between 800 and 600 BC but general knowledge – come on i.e. " what is a how many brothers and sisters did the queen of Sheeba have? That's not really general knowledge!Yes it was original with its quirky setting with the big chair, the dimming of the lights and the ugly sounding buzzer when a contestant ran out of time. Also, it had it's clichés " now I've started" etc and "pass" The secret to mastermind from a contestants point of view was to call "pass" on a question if you had any doubts about the answer. You could them move onto a new question. If you were wrong you would be given the long-winded answer from Magnus and thus use up valuable time.To what I recall nothing really stood out on the show apart from the fact that occasionally a taxi driver and train driver won the series of mastermind at some time during it's run. Or that from time to time some poor contestant fell apart under the pressure of the situation and embarrassingly made a fool of themselves. You would certainly feel for them when they flopped in front of millions of viewers; very similar to an actor on stage fluffing his lines at the theater.In fact the most memorable thing I remember in it's heyday was not actually on the show but a mickey take on the a Morcame and Wise show poking fun at Mastermind. It had the same dark setting with Magnus Magnuson asking the questions (good sport that he was!) to a confident looking Eric Morcame where every answer to the Question was "pass" much to the bemusement of an irate Ernie wise.I.e. on the game of monopoly to collect $200 you have to ----- through go? Eh "pass" ---- correct! What is it called when one footballer kicks the ball to another teammate? "Pass" ---- correct The very famous crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan is called the Kyber? "Pass" ----- correctYou get the picture. Magnus Magnison was very likable and dignified and compared to the garbage on TV now at least mastermind did have some decorum and class.
Chris Gaskin I often watched Mastermind when Magnus Magnusson presented it but he quit in 1997 and the series was revived in 2003 with John Humphrys as presenter. I still watch it sometimes.This quiz features two rounds, the first one is where the four contestants are asked questions on the subject they have chosen and round two is a general knowledge round. The contestant with the highest score goes through to the next stage.Mastermind is noted for several things, most notably that dreaded black leather chair and it also has a notable theme and that famous saying: "I've started, so I'll finish", which John Humphrys now uses. At least that is still used.Mastermind is now shown on BBC2 on a weekday evening during prime time. Certainly a lot better that rubbish makeover shows and reality programmes.