Bill Wright
Director
Mastermind (1972)
2017/18
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
S44E1 - Episode 1
John Humphrys and the famous black chair return for another series of television's toughest quiz. Ninety-six contenders start the journey towards the final but only one can be crowned Mastermind Champion. Subjects tonight are Paul Simon, the feature films of Hayao Miyazaki, the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and the life and poetry of John Donne.
July 28, 2017, midnight
S44E2 - Episode 2
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are the four Gospels, Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, flags of the world and the colour films of Danny Kaye.
Aug. 4, 2017, midnight
S44E3 - Episode 3
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Subjects are Clint Eastwood, the Tommy & Tuppence mysteries by Agatha Christie, Duran Duran and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Aug. 18, 2017, midnight
S44E4 - Episode 4
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Subjects include M*A*S*H, John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English League Football Stadia and U2.
Aug. 25, 2017, midnight
S44E5 - Episode 5
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Subjects are the Fifa World Cup, Alexander the Great, the films of Rupert Everett and the Battle of Agincourt.
Sept. 1, 2017, midnight
S44E6 - Episode 6
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are Australian Test cricket, James Ellroy's LA quartet, Kirsty MacColl and King Henry VI.
Sept. 8, 2017, midnight
S44E7 - Episode 7
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Specialist subjects in this episode are the sitcom Green Wing, the poet Rumi, Julius Caesar and Lancashire County Cricket Club.
Sept. 15, 2017, midnight
S44E8 - Episode 8
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Specialist subjects in this episode are Gilbert and Sullivan, the Tour de France, Thomas Becket and Coronation Street.
Sept. 22, 2017, midnight
S44E9 - Episode 9
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are Academy Award-winning performances by British actors and actresses, the life and paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, RMS Lusitania and Everton FC.
Sept. 29, 2017, midnight
S44E10 - Episode 10
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are Crowded House, Super-Middleweight Boxing, Parks & Recreation and Claude Monet.
Oct. 6, 2017, midnight
S44E11 - Episode 11
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are the films of James Cameron, the artist Georgia O'Keefe, Guns N' Roses and King Henry IV.
Oct. 13, 2017, midnight
S44E12 - Episode 12
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Tony Hancock, Eva Peron and Muhammad Ali.
Oct. 20, 2017, midnight
S44E13 - Episode 13
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. The subjects are Porridge, Peggy Guggenheim, Deep Purple and Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles.
Oct. 27, 2017, midnight
S44E14 - Episode 14
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are Elvis Presley, the Glorious Revolution, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
Nov. 3, 2017, midnight
S44E15 - Episode 15
John Humphrys presents another heat of he classic quiz. Subjects tonight are The Simpsons, venomous snakes, Sherlock Holmes and Alfred the Great.
Nov. 10, 2017, midnight
S44E16 - Episode 16
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are The Vicar of Dibley, the novels of George Orwell, Roman coinage and Harold Wilson.
Nov. 17, 2017, midnight
S44E17 - Episode 17
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are the Champions' League, Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, the life and times of Hatshepsut and House of Cards.
Dec. 1, 2017, midnight
S44E18 - Episode 18
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Mahatma Gandhi, the Boston Marathon and top-ten singles.
Dec. 8, 2017, midnight
S44E19 - Episode 19
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are the Harry Potter novels, the Waterloo Campaign, the Battle of the Bulge and Rosalind Franklin.
Dec. 15, 2017, midnight
S44E20 - Episode 20
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. The subjects are Doctor Who, Concorde, The Clash and Sir Francis Walsingham.
Dec. 22, 2017, midnight
S44E21 - Episode 21
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are the Royle Family, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, the Beach Boys and postwar British general elections.
Jan. 5, 2018, midnight
S44E22 - Episode 22
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are Leonardo da Vinci, the Dreyfus Affair, JS Bach and The Inbetweeners.
Jan. 12, 2018, midnight
S44E23 - Episode 23
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are Blur, the short stories of David Foster Wallace, Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels and the American Civil War.
Jan. 19, 2018, midnight
S44E24 - Episode 24
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are Red Dwarf, the British Overseas Terrority of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, the history of Kentucky, and Emperor Tiberius.
Jan. 26, 2018, midnight
S44E25 - Episode 25
John Humphrys presents the first semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Olympic track and field, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, Egyptian mythology, the graphic novels of Daniel Clowes and President Andrew Jackson.
Feb. 2, 2018, midnight
S44E26 - Episode 26
John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Frasier, Warrington RLFC, Absolutely Fabulous, Jane Austen and Erik Satie.
Feb. 9, 2018, midnight
S44E27 - Episode 27
John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, the novels of Virginia Woolf, the wines of Burgundy, Motley Crue and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Feb. 16, 2018, midnight
S44E28 - Episode 28
John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Pink Floyd, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, Stan Cullis, the works of HP Lovecraft and the films of Tom Hanks.
Feb. 23, 2018, midnight
S44E29 - Episode 29
John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Manchester music, the Battle of Clontarf, ER, Augustus Pitt-Rivers, and the Giordano Bruno novels of SJ Parris.
March 9, 2018, midnight
S44E30 - Episode 30
John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Peep Show, Albert Speer, the X-Men films, King Henry III and the Jack Parlabane novels of Christopher Brookmyre.
March 16, 2018, midnight
S44E31 - Final
John Humphrys presents the grand final of the classic quiz. The subjects are Golf Majors, the Revolt of the Netherlands, the Hannibal Lecter novels of Thomas Harris, US Constitutional Amendments, Indian Premier League cricket and Hadrian's Wall
March 30, 2018, 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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