Counterpoint (radio programme)

Did You Know?

• The current theme music is Bach's 'Partita in E major', arranged and performed by Jacques Loussier.
• The original theme tune, when the programme began in 1986, was 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' by Georg Friedrich Handel.
• In the late 1990s the programme opened with a specially commissioned piece titled 'Counterpoint' by musician Ray Davies.

Format

Three contestants compete in Counterpoint across three rounds, which the programme calls movements. The first round gives each contestant four questions, or three when time is tight, and two of these come with short musical clips. A fully correct answer earns two points, while a partially correct one gets one point. If a contestant gets it wrong or only partly right, the other two can buzz in for one point.

When scores are tied after this round, a single buzzer question decides the order for what comes next. The second round is a solo segment, like the specialist subject round on Mastermind, but here the contestants do not pick or know the topic beforehand. Five question categories are presented, ranging from narrow ones such as Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas to broader ones like sunshine and rain. The player with the highest score from round one chooses first from these five, the second-place player picks from the remaining four, and the last-place player selects from the three left.

Each solo round has seven questions, or occasionally six, including three musical cues. Correct answers again give two points, but wrong answers are not passed to the other contestants. The final round has no fixed number of questions. Anyone can buzz in to answer, with a correct answer adding one point and an incorrect answer subtracting one point.

For the 2020–2021 season and some episodes of the 2021–2022 season, this was replaced with a quickfire timed round for each contestant. The player with the highest score at the end of a regular show returns later in the series to face other winners. The series runs for 13 episodes, ending with a final that decides the overall champion.

Broadcast history

Since 1998, Counterpoint has aired in BBC Radio 4’s Monday afternoon quiz slot, with a Saturday evening repeat. Its three main question-setters are Ian Gillies, David Kenrick, and Stephen Follows. Paul Bajoria has produced the show since 2001. Russell Davies hosted from November 2013 to October 2014, following Paul Gambaccini’s arrest on suspicion of historic sexual offences; Gambaccini returned in November 2014 after no charges were filed.