Mastermind (British game show)

Did You Know?

• The original black chair was given to Magnus Magnusson as a souvenir when he retired and is now owned by his daughter Sally Magnusson.
• A video game adaptation was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1984 by Mirrorsoft.

Format

In the first round, each contestant has a fixed amount of time, typically two minutes (or one and a half minutes in semi-finals), to answer questions on a specialist subject of their own choosing. They earn one point for every correct answer and can pass on any question as many times as they like. Contestants must wait until the questioner has finished reading the entire question before they can respond. If a contestant gives a wrong answer, the questioner immediately provides the correct one and moves on. Answers to passed questions are only revealed after the time has run out. In the early days of the show, Mary Craig sat beside host Magnus Magnusson to keep track of the score and time. If the clock runs out while a question is still being read, the questioner finishes reading it and gives the contestant a few extra seconds to answer, which is the origin of the famous phrase "I've started so I'll finish." If a question has been fully read when time expires but the contestant hasn't yet answered, they also get a brief moment to respond. The contestant's score appears on screen, and starting with the 2016–17 series, the border around that score gradually changes color to blue during the final ten seconds (it was black for the 2019–20 series). In the second round, each contestant answers general knowledge questions under the same rules, but with a longer time limit—usually two and a half minutes since 2010, or two minutes in semi-finals and before 2010. Originally, contestants appeared in the same order as the first round; now they go in ascending order based on their first-round scores. The winner is the contestant with the highest combined score from both rounds. If there is a tie, it is broken in favor of the contestant who passed fewer times. If both the score and number of passes are identical, a tiebreaker of five questions is used. Each tied contestant answers the same set of questions alone, while the others leave the studio so they cannot hear the results. The one with the most correct answers wins.

Versions

The original series of Mastermind aired on BBC1 from 1972 to 1997, presented by Magnus Magnusson. It was initially broadcast late on a Monday night and was not expected to attract a large audience. In 1973 it moved to a prime-time slot as an emergency replacement for a Leslie Phillips sitcom, Casanova '73, which had been moved to a later time after complaints about its risqué content. The quiz subsequently became one of the most-watched shows on British television. The original series was filmed in academic or ecclesiastical buildings, with the last programme filmed at St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. Several specials were spawned: Supermind, an annual playoff between the first four champions of Mastermind or champions of other TV quiz shows, ran from 1976 to 1978; Cup Final Mastermind, an annual playoff between experts and supporters from FA Cup Finalist teams, ran from 1978 to 1980; Mastermind International, an annual playoff between winners of international versions, ran from 1979 to 1983; and Mastermind Champions, a 1982 three-part competition where the first ten champions competed. BBC Radio 4's Mastermind, hosted by Peter Snow, broadcast from 1998 to 2000. Discovery Channel's Mastermind in 2001, hosted by Clive Anderson, lasted just one series and was the first to go interactive, allowing viewers to play the general knowledge section via the red button.

Records

The all-time highest score on Mastermind is 41 points, achieved by Kevin Ashman in 1995 when he answered questions on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Ashman later became a six-time world champion of the International Quizzing Association and also holds the record for the top score on Brain of Britain. In August 2010, during a Champion of Champions edition, Jesse Honey set a specialist subject record by scoring a perfect 23 out of 23 on flags of the world. He finished as runner-up with a combined 36 points. That same year, Iwan Thomas matched Honey's 23-point feat, but did so in the general knowledge round. On Junior Mastermind in February 2007, 11-year-old Callum scored 19 points on cricketer Andrew Flintoff, but lost by a single point with a final total of 32. The lowest specialist subject score is now shared by several contestants: Troy Deeney and Dana on 22 December 2023, Harry Pinero on 2 February 2024, and Aaron Evans on 16 February 2024, each scoring zero on their chosen topics. The overall lowest score ever recorded is two points, set by Gogglebox's Amy Tapper in a Celebrity edition on 5 November 2022, with one point from her specialist subject (the films of Adam Sandler) and one from general knowledge. Before that, the lowest overall score was five points, set by Kajen Thuraaisingham on 29 January 2010. Earlier still, the record was seven points, first achieved by Colin Kidd in 2005 on world chess championships, then equalled by Michael Burton in November 2009 on angels.

Parodies

The programme has been spoofed many times on television. A Two Ronnies sketch in 1980, written by David Renwick (a less polished version had previously appeared on Radio 4's The Burkiss Way), featured Ronnie Barker as Magnus Magnusson and Ronnie Corbett as a contestant whose specialist subject was "answering the question before last." Another sketch featured Monty Python alumni Michael Palin as Magnusson and Terry Gilliam as a contestant with a speciality of "questions to which the answer is two." In 1974, Morecambe and Wise performed a sketch based on Mastermind, featuring Magnusson and the black chair, though the format differed. In 1975, The Goodies featured Mastermind in the episode "Frankenfido," where a dog (Bill Oddie in a suit) appeared on the show and answered questions correctly because the answers could be represented by growls. In the late 1970s, Noel Edmonds' Sunday lunchtime radio show included a send-up called "Musty Mind," where a phone-in contestant was asked ludicrous questions on parody subjects. The 2003-onwards version has been spoofed by the Dead Ringers team, with Jon Culshaw playing John Humphrys; one sketch referenced the controversy following the Iraq War. Another spoof appeared in Armando Iannucci's 2004: The Stupid Version, where a contestant's specialist subject was "The television series Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope's Cockney chauffeur." In 2004, Johnny Vaughan's BBC Three show Live at Johnny's featured a version called Mastermind Rejects, with ludicrously obscure specialist subjects; in the final show, Magnus Magnusson took over as quizmaster, the last time he would utter the catchphrase "I've started so I'll finish" on any form of Mastermind.