Mastermind is a British television quiz show for the BBC, first broadcast in 1972. Its creator, Bill Wright, drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The show features an intimidating setting and challenging questions. Four (and in later contests five or six) contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round.
Masterminds theme music is "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. The show was recorded, with original presenter Magnus Magnusson, on location at UK universities. Later, it was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before moving to dock10 studios in 2011. The show relocated to Belfast for the 2019–2020 series. The current presenter is Clive Myrie.
Format
Round 1 For the first round, each contestant in turn is given a set length of time, usually two minutes (one minute and a half in semi-finals), to answer questions on a specialist subject which they have chosen. The contestant scores one point for each correct answer and may pass as often as desired. They must wait until the entire question has been read out before responding.
If the contestant responds incorrectly, the questioner gives the correct answer before continuing to the next question; answers to passed questions are read out only after time has expired. In early series, the score and time were kept by Mary Craig who sat next to Magnusson.
If time runs out while a question is being read, the questioner will finish it and give the contestant a few seconds to answer. This has led to the programme's catchphrase, "I've started so I'll finish." If a question has been read out in full when time expires, but the contestants have not yet given an answer, they are allowed a few seconds to do so. The contestant's score is displayed on screen; beginning with the 2016–17 series, the border around the score gradually turns blue (black in the 2019–20 series) during the final 10 seconds.
Round 2 During the second round, each contestant in turn answers a series of general knowledge questions. The rules from the first round apply, except that the time limit is extended (usually two and a half minutes since 2010, or two minutes in semi-finals and until 2010). Originally, the contestants played in the same order as in the first round; currently, they play in ascending order by first-round score.
The winner is the contestant with the highest total score after two rounds. Ties are broken in favour of the contestant with the fewest total passes. If contestants have the same score and number of passes, a five-question tiebreaker is played. Each of the tied contestants answers the same set of questions individually, with the others exiting the studio so that they cannot hear the results. The contestant who gives the most correct answers is the winner.
The winners advance to the next round, for which they must choose a different specialised subject. In the early years of the programme, finalists were allowed to reuse their first-round subjects in the grand final. However, from 1992 onwards, the finalists are required to choose a third subject. The winner of the final of the BBC version is declared "Mastermind" for that year and is the only contestant to receive a prize, in the form of a cut glass engraved bowl. During Magnus Magnusson's tenure as presenter, the trophy was specially manufactured by Caithness Glass. A special guest would always be invited to present the trophy to the winner, with the exception of the final edition in 1997, in which Magnusson presented it himself. Every trophy used by the main series has been made by Scottish artist Denis Mann.
Versions Mastermind (1972 to 1997), presented by Magnus Magnusson, aired on BBC1. It was originally broadcast late on a Monday night and was not expected to receive a huge audience. In 1973 it was moved to a prime-time slot as an emergency replacement for a Leslie Phillips sitcom, Casanova '73, which had been moved to a later time following complaints about its risqué content. The quiz subsequently became one of the most-watched shows on British television. Magnusson's catchphrase "I've started, so I'll finish" was also the title of his history of the show. The original series was filmed in academic or ecclesiastical buildings. The last programme of the original series was filmed at St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney.As described on the BBC website's Mastermind page
The original series spawned many specials: Supermind was an annual playoff between either the first four champions of Mastermind or champions of other TV quiz shows (including Mastermind) from 1976 or 1977. It ran for three years between 1976 and 1978. Cup Final Mastermind was an annual playoff between experts and supporters from the FA Cup Finalist teams they are supporting. It ran from 1978 and 1980. Mastermind International was an annual playoff between winners of various international versions of the show (or the nearest equivalents in some countries) and ran for five years between 1979 and 1983. Mastermind Champions was a 1982 3-part competition where the first ten champions of the show compete to become the Mastermind Champion of Champions.
BBC Radio 4's Mastermind, broadcast from 1998 to 2000, was hosted by Peter Snow.
Discovery Channel's Mastermind (2001) was hosted by Clive Anderson. The commercials shortened the amount of time available for answering questions and lasted just one series. This was also the first to go "interactive". By using the red button viewers could play the general knowledge section throughout the series. These questions had been written specifically to afford both standard and multiple-choice format in presentation. There was a one-off competition between the four highest scoring viewers.
In 2003, the current BBC Two version premiered, hosted by John Humphrys. Whereas the original series had kept talk to a minimum (asking contestants only their name, occupation and specialist subject), the new run had at first included some conversational elements with contestants, at the start of the General Knowledge round (normally about the contestant's specialist subject). But these have been dropped since the 2011 series. Instead, there is now a brief monologue from the winner at the end of each episode about how pleased they are to have won. There is no discussion with the other contestants. It is also distinguished from the original BBC TV series because many more of the specialist subjects come from popular culture. This probably reflects cultural changes in the British middle classes in recent years. Unlike the original version, this version is studio-based. It was formerly set in MediaCity in Salford. The show is now currently filmed in Northern Ireland. However, due to asbestos being found at Granada's Manchester studios parts of the 2006 series were filmed at Yorkshire Television's Leeds studios). In 2008 there was a 10-part competition this time entitled Sport Mastermind, hosted by Des Lynam. Mastermind Champion of Champions was a 2010 5-part competition that featured previous Mastermind champions. Junior Mastermind, also hosted by John Humphrys, is a children's version of the quiz programme and has the same format, the difference being that the contestants are only ten and eleven years old. The programme aired across six nights on BBC One, ending on 4 September 2004. The winner was Daniel Parker, whose specialist subjects were the Volkswagen Beetle (heat) and James Bond villains (final). There was another series in 2005 (subjects included Black Holes and the Star Wars trilogy), which was won by Robin Geddes, whose specialist subjects were The Vicar of Dibley and A Series of Unfortunate Events, with a third series airing in 2006, won by Domnhall Ryan, and featuring subjects such as Harry Potter and Chelsea Football Club, and a fourth series in 2007 won by Robert Stutter and a fifth series later that year won by David Verghese. The Junior version was cancelled after the two 2007 series. In February 2021, Humphrys announced that after eighteen years at the helm of the show, he would leave the show. On 22 March 2021, it was announced that Clive Myrie would take over as host. Myrie made his debut on 23 August 2021.
In the United States, the game show 2 Minute Drill on sports network ESPN had its roots in Mastermind when Michael Davies and Andrew J. Golder attempted to develop a U.S. version of Mastermind for ABC. Contestants faced questions fired at them by a panel of four sports and entertainment celebrities for two minutes; like Mastermind, there were two rounds of questions, but the first round had each panellist's questions representing a different sports category pertaining to their area of expertise, and the second round had no categories and the contestant could not control who asked the questions; they were fired at random. The contestant with the highest score after two rounds would win a cash prize, and would have a chance to double those winnings by correctly answering the untimed "Question of Great Significance," as host Kenny Mayne called it, from a speciality category chosen by the winner (usually a particular athlete or sports team from the past). In each series, winners advanced in a bracket-style playoff format, with cash prizes increasing from $5,000 in the first round to $50,000 (doubling to $10,000–$100,000 by answering the final question) in the final round. Prizes such as trips to the Super Bowl or ESPY Awards were also given, known as "ESPN Experiences". The show had three series over a 15-month period, from September 2000 to December 2001. Like Mastermind, 2 Minute Drill featured a leather chair, dramatic lighting and sound effects. Willy Gibson of Columbus, Ohio, was the grand champion of the first two series; he was defeated in the second round of the third and final series.
Records
Highest scores The highest overall Mastermind score is 41 points, set by Kevin Ashman in 1995, his specialist subject being "The Life of Martin Luther King Jr." Ashman went on to become six times IQA world champion. In addition he holds the record for the highest ever score on Brain of Britain and has been a member of the Eggheads since that series debut.
In August 2010 during an edition of Mastermind Champion of Champions, the 2010 series champion, Jesse Honey, scored 23 out of 23 on "Flags of the World" in the specialist subject round, an all-time record. He finished as runner-up with a combined score of 36 points, losing out to Pat Gibson by having two more passes. Honey's score was equalled by Iwan Thomas, who scored a record 23 (in two-and-a-half minutes) in the general knowledge round in 2010.
On Junior Mastermind in February 2007, an 11-year-old schoolboy called Callum scored 19 points on his specialist subject, cricketer Andrew Flintoff. However, he did not win, being beaten by one point after achieving a final score of 32.
Lowest scores The current record for the lowest score in the specialist subject round is jointly held by Troy Deeney and Dana on 22 December 2023, Harry Pinero on 2 February 2024 and Aaron Evans on 16 February 2024, all of whom scored no points when answering questions on the Sam Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man films, UK hit singles of 1969–76, Lewis Hamilton and cephalopods respectively.
The current record for the overall lowest score is two points, set on 5 November 2022 in a Celebrity edition by Gogglebox'''s Amy Tapper. She scored one point each in her specialist subject (the films of Adam Sandler) and the general knowledge round.