Bill Wright
Director
Mastermind (1972)
2016/17
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.
Released Sept. 11, 1972
Episode 30 min
None+
Genres: Game Show, Talk, Talk Show
Keywords: tmdb.quiz, imdb.quiz-show, mdblist.has-trailer, imdb.general-knowledge, imdb.contestant, imdb.famous-opening-theme, imdb.long-running-tv + 12 more, imdb.one-word-title, imdb.spotlight, imdb.chair, imdb.question, imdb.non-fiction, tmdb.knowledge, imdb.game-show-host, imdb.1970s, imdb.1980s, imdb.1990s, imdb.british, imdb.quiz
Production Companies: Hat Trick Productions, Hindsight Productions
Network: BBC Two
Country: United Kingdom
Languages:
English
S43E1 - Episode 1
In this first heat of the new series, John Humphrys starts the search for the nation's Mastermind.
Specialist subjects tonight are Joni Mitchell, the Radio 4 sitcom Bleak Expectations, Alan Turing, and the history of aviation to 1914.
July 13, 2016, midnight
S43E2 - Episode 2
John Humphrys presents the second heat of this series.
Subjects are the rock band Yes, Ernest Rutherford, the films of Werner Herzog and MC Escher.
July 20, 2016, midnight
S43E3 - Episode 3
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz.
Subjects include beekeeping, the Royal Navy in the Second World War, Mark E Smith and the Fall, and John le Carre's Quest for Karla trilogy.
July 27, 2016, midnight
S43E4 - Episode 4
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The specialist subjects are Benny Hill, the Mitford sisters, Marcus Tullius Cicero and the Jacobite rebellion.
Aug. 5, 2016, midnight
S43E5 - Episode 5
John Humphrys presents another episode of Britain's toughest quiz. Subjects include Wilfred Owen, Sir Michael Caine, Mad Men and the rock band Faith No More.
Aug. 12, 2016, midnight
S43E6 - Episode 6
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are REM, Harry S Truman, the World Cup and the drama series Borgen.
Aug. 19, 2016, midnight
S43E7 - Episode 7
In this heat, John Humphrys grills four more contenders on James Bond films, Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street novels, 20th-century US presidents and the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Aug. 26, 2016, midnight
S43E8 - Episode 8
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Specialist subjects are the films of the Coen brothers, Tom Waits, Transatlantic Liners and Flanders and Swann.
Sept. 2, 2016, midnight
S43E9 - Episode 9
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are the films of Peter Sellers, astronomy, the life and music of Arthur Lee and Love and John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga.
Sept. 9, 2016, midnight
S43E10 - Episode 10
Four more contenders brave the black chair in Britain's toughest quiz. The subjects are Nick Drake, Emil Zatopek, Band of Brothers and Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico.
Sept. 16, 2016, midnight
S43E11 - Episode 11
Tonight's subjects are Formula One Grand Prix circuits, Oliver Cromwell, the Charles Paris mysteries by Simon Brett and Fillipo Brunelleschi.
Sept. 23, 2016, midnight
S43E12 - Episode 12
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Tonight's specialist subjects are the city of Bath, The Faces, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose and Ayrton Senna.
Sept. 30, 2016, midnight
S43E13 - Episode 13
John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic series. Subjects tonight are Queen, Dame Laura Knight, Anita Roddick and Don Revie.
Oct. 7, 2016, midnight
S43E14 - Episode 14
John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are Kurt Cobain, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.
Oct. 14, 2016, midnight
S43E15 - Episode 15
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are the films of Ewan McGregor, British race courses, World Heritage sites and CJ Sansom's Shardlake novels.
Oct. 21, 2016, midnight
S43E16 - Episode 16
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are David Niven, the Soviet space programme, Italian Renaissance paintings and the human body.
Oct. 28, 2016, midnight
S43E17 - Episode 17
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are Hans Christian Andersen, the Russian Civil War, Ipswich Town FC and Rita Hayworth.
Nov. 4, 2016, midnight
S43E18 - Episode 18
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are islands of Scotland, Laurie Lee, Ginger McCain and Red Rum, and the films of David Fincher.
Nov. 11, 2016, midnight
S43E19 - Episode 19
Four more contenders brave the black chair with John Humphrys asking the questions in the classic quiz. The subjects are EastEnders, Puccini, Bill Shankly and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Nov. 18, 2016, midnight
S43E20 - Episode 20
John Humphrys asks the questions as four more contenders take to the famous black chair.
Subjects are David Bowie, Edvard Munch, postwar British motorcycles and the German occupation of Jersey in the Second World War.
Nov. 25, 2016, midnight
S43E21 - Episode 21
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Eric Clapton, Emperor Hadrian, Tintin and the life and broadway stories of Damon Runyon.
Dec. 2, 2016, midnight
S43E22 - Episode 22
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Andy Warhol, the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, Nicholas Hawksmoor and the X-Files.
Dec. 9, 2016, midnight
S43E23 - Episode 23
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects include Steve Jobs, Farscape, the history of Hungary and black metal music.
Dec. 16, 2016, midnight
S43E24 - Episode 24
The last place in the semi-finals is up for grabs as John Humphrys puts four more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects tonight are naval battles of the First World War, Charles Laughton, the de Havilland Mosquito and Garth Ennis's Punisher Max series.
Jan. 6, 2017, midnight
S43E25 - Episode 25
John Humphrys presents the first semi-final. The subjects are Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Steve Ovett, the daughters of King George III, Al Capone and the novels of Robert Harris.
Jan. 13, 2017, midnight
S43E26 - Episode 26
The semi-finals continue as John Humphrys puts five more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects include Asterix, the periodic table, the novels of Nick Hornby, Richard Feynman and Stan Laurel.
Jan. 20, 2017, midnight
S43E27 - Episode 27
The semi-finals continue as John Humphrys puts five more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects include Radiohead, Alison Uttley, Field Marshal Montgomery, the films of Powell & Pressburger and Herbert Howells.
Feb. 3, 2017, midnight
S43E28 - Episode 28
Five more semi-finalists try to claim a place in the grand final. The subjects are Alan Bennett, Cream, the novels of Dan Brown, Herbert von Karajan and Queen Mary.
Feb. 10, 2017, midnight
S43E29 - Episode 29
John Humphrys tests five more semi-finalists. The subjects are Creation Records, Johannes Kepler, the Hunger Games novels, Sir Isaac Newton and the films of William Goldman.
Feb. 17, 2017, midnight
S43E30 - Episode 30
The last place in the grand final is at stake as John Humphrys tests another five semi-finalists on The Sweeney, Mary Seacole, James Cook, Tranmere Rovers and the travel writings of Bill Bryson.
Feb. 24, 2017, midnight
S43E31 - The Final
John Humphrys puts six contenders in the spotlight one more time in the series finale. Subjects in the grand final are the films of Alfred Hitchcock, the history of Leningrad, the life and films of Billy Wilder, Seinfeld, Inigo Jones and the short films of Laurel and Hardy.
March 3, 2017, midnight
Network: BBC Two
Episode Runtime: 30 min.
Season Runtime: 33810 min.
Released: Sept. 11, 1972
Last Air Date: Nov. 24, 2025, midnight
Status: Returning Series
Certification: NR
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