The Brains Trust

Did You Know?

• The programme enjoyed a brief revival in the late 1990s and early 2000s on BBC Radio 3, presented by Joan Bakewell.
• Revival guests included Theodore Zeldin, Ian Stewart, A.S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins and Angela Tilby.

History

The Brains Trust was the brainchild of BBC producers Howard Thomas and Douglas Cleverdon. It first aired on the Forces radio service on New Year's Day 1941 under the title Any Questions?, a name that would later be used for a separate show. After being renamed The Brains Trust, it stayed on the air for 84 straight weeks and quickly became a hugely popular educational program. Its success earned it a move to a prime Sunday afternoon slot.

At its peak, roughly 29 percent of the UK population tuned in, and the show received between four and five thousand letters from listeners every week. During the early war years, it boosted public morale, and the lively debates among panelists, particularly Julian Huxley and Cyril Joad, were a major draw. Historian Asa Briggs called it, alongside It's That Man Again, "the outstanding popular triumph of the war" for BBC radio. The radio run ended in May 1949, but the show moved to BBC television in the 1950s.

The audio from the TV version was rebroadcast on the Home Service later that week. The series finally concluded in 1961.

Members

The panel originally consisted of philosopher-psychologist C. E. M. Joad, biologist Julian Huxley, and retired naval officer Commander A. B. Campbell, with Donald McCullough as chair. Over time, many others joined, including Edward Andrade, Noel Annan, A. J. Ayer, Michael Ayrton, Isaiah Berlin, Robert Boothby, Jacob Bronowski, Collin Brooks, Violet Bonham Carter, Alan Bullock, Anthony Chenevix-Trench, Kenneth Clark, Margery Fry, Commander Rupert Gould, Gilbert Harding (who also chaired), Herbert Hart, Will Hay, Bishop Joost de Blank, Marghanita Laski, C. S. Lewis, Rose Macaulay, John Maud, Malcolm Muggeridge (chairman), Anna Neagle, Egon Ronay, Bertrand Russell, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Hannen Swaffer, Gwyn Thomas, Geoffrey Crowther (chairman), Lord Dunsany, Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick, Walter Elliot, Jennie Lee, Ellen Wilkinson, Aldous Huxley, A. J. P. Taylor, Harold Nicolson, Barbara Ward Jackson, Philip Guedalla, and Tom Wintringham.

Norman Fisher later served as chair. Hugh Ross Williamson appeared on the panel occasionally and became chairman in 1955.

Format

The show relied on audience questions, which could be anything from everyday puzzles to ethical problems. The panel was assembled for the distinct viewpoints each member offered, mixing high seriousness with playful wit. One famously odd question asked how a fly manages to land upside down on a ceiling. Initially, the program accepted queries about religion and politics, but these were dropped after the Church and Government objected.

Inside the BBC, concerns about political slant also surfaced. Controller A. P. Ryan complained to the Director-General. An analysis of the contributors’ politics found 25 leaning left, 28 leaning right, and three uncertain. Two regulars, Joad and Huxley, were identified as left-wing and agnostic, which annoyed Dr. J. W. Welch, the Director of Religious Broadcasting.

In June 1941, the Controller of Programmes ordered the panel to steer clear of religion, political philosophy, or broad life generalities. A year later, the Board of Governors repeated the ban on religious questions. The discussions were spontaneous, unscripted, and unrehearsed, depending on the panelists’ ability to craft coherent answers on the spot. This gave the broadcasts a tense, unpredictable quality that boosted their appeal.

American version

In the early 1960s, TV producer-director Jeff Smith created an American version of the show for WTTW Channel 11, Chicago's PBS station. Each episode featured four panelists and a moderator. Unlike its British counterpart, the U.S. show gave the panel questions in advance for preparation. The original rotating panel included Alec Sutherland, Paul Haggerty, Robin Pearce, Paul Schilpp, and Dick Applegate. Later panelists were Daniel Q. Posin, Nathan Schwartz, and Ralph Eisendrath, with moderator DJR Bruckner.