A Question of Sport (known as Question of Sport from 2021 until 2023) is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series ran from 1970 (except in 1973 and 1978) until production ceased in 2023. The final presenter was Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.
The show's viewing figures slumped from around 4 million in 2021 to around 800,000 in 2023 following an overhaul of the staff.
History
First edition The first edition of A Question of Sport was broadcast on 5 January 1970. Presenter David Vine was joined by captains Henry Cooper and Cliff Morgan. The teams were composed of George Best, Lillian Board, Tom Finney and Ray Illingworth.
40th anniversary On 8 January 2010, the BBC broadcast a 40th-anniversary special. Joining presenter Sue Barker and captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell were Pat Cash, David Coulthard, Laura Davies and Michael Johnson.
2012 Summer Olympics specials Following the 2012 Summer Olympics, A Question of Sport aired two special editions featuring champions from the aforementioned Olympics.
Gold Medal Winners special On 1 September 2012, Katherine Grainger and Jason Kenny were among the gold medal winners featured.
2012 Olympics special On 29 September 2012, Tim Baillie, Jade Jones, Laura Kenny, Greg Rutherford and Etienne Stott partook.
1,000th episode On 4 March 2013, A Question of Sport marked its 1,000th episode. Each captain was joined by two former captains. Dawson was joined by Willie Carson and John Parrott, while Tufnell was joined by Bill Beaumont and Ally McCoist. Tufnell's team won.
2016 Summer Olympics specials Shortly after the 2016 Summer Olympics, A Question of Sport held two special editions featuring champions from the above-mentioned Olympics.
The Olympic Champions special On 7 September 2016, the Olympic Champions special featured gold medal winners, including Callum Skinner.
Gold Rush special On 14 September 2016, for a Gold Rush special, A Question of Sport were joined by Maddie Hinch, Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Sam Quek.
50th anniversary A Question of Sport at 50 On 27 December 2019, the BBC aired a documentary that looked back on the programme's history. As well as looking back through the archives, A Question of Sport at 50 saw a number of sportspeople recount their memories, these included: Jessica Ennis-Hill, Colin Jackson, and Denise Lewis. Sue Barker, Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell also shared their experiences.
50 Not Out On 3 January 2020, Sue Barker presented a 50th-anniversary special. Matt Dawson captained a team composed of Laura Davies and Beth Tweddle, while Phil Tufnell led Ally McCoist and Martin Offiah. Dawson's team won, the 1,255th episode, by 19 points to 16.
Theme tune There have been four theme tunes over the years. The current theme was introduced in the mid-1980s and has been remixed and updated several times since that time, most recently in 2021.
Cancellation Following the programme producers' decision in 2021 to "refresh" the show by introducing a new host (Paddy McGuinness), Team Captains, and revising the structure of the quiz, there was an ensuing drop-off in audience figures. In December 2023, after two series of the revamped production, the BBC announced a decision to "shelve" the programme citing "inflation and funding challenges". The BBC did not rule out a future return of the programme.
Rounds The rounds regularly played during series 48 include:
Picture Board Twelve numbered squares each reveal a sportsperson to be identified during this one-minute round.
One Minute Round Each team is asked nine questions in 60 seconds.
Sports Action Contestants are asked questions about a montage of sporting action.
Observation Round Sports action is shown and contestants are asked questions about details of what they have just seen, e.g. "What colour hat was a certain person wearing?" or "How many balls were there?"
Mystery Guest Each team tries to identify a sportsperson in unfamiliar circumstances and using unconventional camera angles.
Home or Away Each contestant can answer a one-point "home question" on the sport they participate or participated in or can answer an "away question" on a different sport for up to three points—away questions require three answers, a point per correct answer.
Buzzer Round The teams play head-to-head, answering as many questions as possible in 60 seconds. At this point, the round immediately ends, even if each presenter is halfway through asking a question.
Sprint Finish The captains have 60 seconds to act out up to ten sporting terms for the remaining members of the team to guess.
Presenters and captains
Presenters The 1968 pilot episode, broadcast only in the north of England, was hosted by Stuart Hall. The first series was broadcast nationally from January 1970, with David Vine at the helm for the first five series. David Coleman succeeded Vine, and remained as presenter until 1997. Vine returned to the series as a guest host in 1989, presenting the final five episodes of series 18 in Coleman's absence. Sue Barker presented A Question of Sport from 1997 until 2021. She won the 1976 French Open tennis tournament and reached a World Ranking of 3. The final presenter was Paddy McGuinness, who took over in 2021.
Captains A Question of Sports first captains were boxer Henry Cooper and rugby union player Cliff Morgan. Over the history of the show, some captains have had long tenures: these include rugby union player Bill Beaumont making 319 appearances and footballer Ally McCoist making 363 appearances. The show's longest-serving captain is Matt Dawson, who appeared on the show for 17 years from 2004 to 2021.
The final team captains, who began on the show in 2021, were Ugo Monye and Sam Quek. Monye is a former rugby union international, who won 14 caps for England; he played club rugby for Harlequins and also played for the British & Irish Lions. Quek is a former hockey international, who won gold as part of the Great Britain women's national field hockey team at the 2016 Summer Olympics; she was the first female team captain on A Question of Sport.
Captains include: 5 rugby union players: Cliff Morgan (1970–1972 and 1974–1975), Gareth Edwards (1979–1982), Bill Beaumont (1982–1996), Matt Dawson (2004–2021) and Ugo Monye (2021–2023)
3 cricketers: Fred Trueman (1976–1977), Ian Botham (1988–1996) and Phil Tufnell (2008–2021)
2 jockeys: Willie Carson (1982–1984) and Frankie Dettori (2002–2004)
2 footballers: Emlyn Hughes (1979–1982, 1984–1988) and Ally McCoist (1996–2007)
1 boxer: Henry Cooper (1970–1972, 1974–1977 and 1979)
1 long-distance runner: Brendan Foster (1977 and 1979)
1 snooker player: John Parrott (1996–2002)
1 hockey player: Sam Quek (2021–2023)
Guest captains Over the years there have been several guest captains standing in for one of the regulars when they have other commitments. Following Ally McCoist's departure, several guests, including Phil Tufnell, sat in the captain's chair before Tufnell was eventually selected as McCoist's permanent replacement:
Bobby Moore, footballer (1968, 1970, 1972 and 1974) Johnny Haynes, footballer (1970) Bobby Charlton, footballer (1972 and 1974–75) Mary Peters, athlete (1976) Alan Pascoe, athlete (1976) John Barnes, footballer (1992) Roger Black, track and field athlete (1992) John Parrott, snooker (1992) Ally McCoist, footballer (1996) Will Carling, rugby union player (1996) Sam Torrance, golfer (1997–98 and 2003) Rob Wainwright, rugby union player (1997) Jonathan Davies, rugby union player (1998) David Ginola, footballer (2000) Matthew Pinsent, rower (2003) Alan Hansen, footballer (2003) Neil Ruddock, footballer (2003–04) Michael Owen, footballer (2004) David Seaman, footballer (2004) Matt Dawson, rugby union player (2004) Bill Beaumont, rugby union player (2004) Tim Henman, tennis player (2004) Jamie Redknapp, footballer (2007) Shane Warne, cricketer (2007) Darren Gough, cricketer (2007) Phil Tufnell, cricketer (2007) Ricky Hatton, boxer (2007) Dennis Taylor, snooker (2008) Gary Speed, footballer (2008) Graeme Swann, cricketer (2014) Michael Vaughan, cricketer (2014) Robbie Savage, footballer (2014) Greg Rutherford, track and field athlete (2015)
Notable moments Emlyn Hughes during a 1987 Picture Board identifying Princess Anne as John Reid. Princess Anne appearing on the 200th edition of the programme, shortly after being identified as John Reid. Ally McCoist not being able to identify himself as a showjumper in a clip. Frankie Dettori "struggling to unscramble" an anagram of Frankie Dettori. Ally McCoist not being able to "recognise his Rangers boss at the time", Walter Smith, as a Mystery Guest. During Mystery Guest rounds, Sue Barker has been guessed as Ray Clemence, Chris Hoy, Alan Minter, and Dennis Taylor. Paul O'Connell correctly guessing Borussia Monchengladbach after two letters. John Parrott getting beaten to the buzzer by Matt Dawson on a question about snooker in a January 1999 episode. The question was: "In which sport would you use a spider?" Parrott was so embarrassed by this, he stood in the audience for a brief moment. Welsh rugby player Adam Jones achieved the record number of correct answers for a contestant in a single episode, with eighteen out of eighteen.
Transmissions
Series Start date End date Episodes Pilot 2 December 1968 1 1 5 January 1970 18 May 1970 20 2 11 January 1971 5 April 1971 13 3 20 March 1972 19 June 1972 14 4 8 January 1974 2 April 1974 13 5 10 July 1975 28 August 1975 8 6 3 May 1976 21 June 1976 8 7 18 April 1977 6 June 1977 8 8 8 January 1979 2 April 1979 13 9 7 January 1980 18 March 1980 11 10 27 February 1981 15 May 1981 12 11 5 January 1982 30 March 1982 13 12 12 January 1983 30 March 1983 11 13 29 December 1983 8 May 1984 14 14 31 December 1984 11 April 1985 15 15 5 December 1985 1 May 1986 20 16 11 December 1986 14 May 1987 21 17 3 December 1987 26 April 1988 21 18 25 October 1988 11 April 1989 24 19 24 October 1989 1 May 1990 26 20 23 October 1990 23 April 1991 26 21 15 October 1991 21 April 1992 26 22 27 October 1992 20 April 1993 26 23 19 October 1993 30 May 1994 28 24 11 October 1994 2 May 1995 26 25 20 October 1995 3 May 1996 27 26 1 October 1996 30 May 1997 29 27 7 October 1997 1 May 1998 26 28 4 November 1998 21 June 1999 27 29 6 September 1999 2 July 2000 30 30 16 October 2000 21 May 2001 32 31 5 September 2001 24 July 2002 29 32 18 October 2002 15 August 2003 31 33 3 October 2003 13 August 2004 42 34 17 September 2004 15 July 2005 41 35 10 September 2005 8 September 2006 42 36 15 September 2006 18 May 2007 34 37 15 September 2007 11 June 2008 36 38 5 September 2008 12 June 2009 42 39 2 October 2009 27 August 2010 35 40 29 November 2010 1 August 2011 36 41 8 August 2011 20 August 2012 35 42 1 September 2012 31 July 2013 36 43 21 October 2013 13 August 2014 30 44 20 August 2014 15 July 2015 31 45 12 August 2015 5 August 2016 36 46 24 August 2016 31 May 2017 36 47 16 August 2017 23 May 2018 35 48 18 July 2018 12 April 2019 36 49 21 June 2019 29 May 2020 36 50 5 June 2020 28 May 2021 36 51 3 September 2021 24 June 2022 35 52 22 July 2022 8 September 2023 36
Spin-offs The A Question of Sport format has been applied to various other areas of knowledge. The following spin-off series were all made by the BBC:
A Question of News, presented by Richard Baker, 1971; Katharine Whitehorn and Brian Redhead were the team captains.
Series Start date End date Episodes 1 19 April 1971 24 May 1971 6
A Question of Entertainment, presented by Tom O'Connor, 1988; Ken Dodd and Larry Grayson were the team captains. The show was reformatted and retitled That's Showbusiness and was broadcast under this title from 1989 to 1996.
Series Start date End date Episodes 1 24 April 1988 28 August 1988 18