Brain of Britain

Not to be confused with Brian of Brittany.

Brain of Britain is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

History

It began as a slot in What Do You Know? in 1953 before becoming a programme in its own right in 1967. It was chaired by Franklin Engelmann until his death in 1972.

Format

The format of the quiz is simple. A contestant is asked a question; if he answers it correctly within ten seconds he gets a point and is asked another. If he gets one wrong the question is offered to the other contestants via silent buzzer, and after that the questions move to the next contestant. If a contestant gets five questions correct in a row then he gets a bonus point and the questions move to the next contestant. The contestant with the most points at the end of the programme wins. In case of a tie, the tied contestant with the most bonus points (points for answering questions missed by opponents, plus points for answering five questions in a row correctly) wins.

The show also features "Beat The Brains", in which a pair of questions submitted by a listener is read: the submitter wins a book token if the contestants fail to answer correctly one or both questions. At one point, the prize was a Brain of Britain quiz book, but was replaced by the book token when the book was out of print.

Host

Brain of Britain was hosted by Robert Robinson for most of its life, although during his illness the 2004 series was hosted by Russell Davies. Peter Snow took over the role in 2007, also due to the illness of Robinson, dispensing with Robinson's trademark style of addressing contestants by their honorific and surname (eg 'Mr Blenkinsop'), preferring to use their given names. Robinson was reinstated for the autumn 2008 series, and formality returned to the proceedings; Davies hosted the show again in 2009, with the intention that Robinson would again return when his health permitted. Robinson formally retired from the show in 2010 (and died in August 2011) and Davies continues as host.

Question creation

Until 2007, all questions were set by one individual, who was present (but silent) during recordings. The host would consult the setter, traditionally known by a pseudonym, to adjudicate when an answer was imprecise. For many years Ian Gillies fulfilled the role, taking the name Mycroft (from Mycroft Holmes, older and wiser brother of Sherlock). After his death in April 2002, the new question setter was Kevin Ashman, who has the distinction of winning both Brain of Britain and Mastermind. He chose to be known as Jorkins, a character in Dickens' David Copperfield. From the 2007 series a team of setters was engaged, as is the practice in most other quiz shows.

Theme music

For much of its life the theme music of Brain of Britain was the opening of the fourth movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, but in a 'modernised' version by Waldo de los Ríos. This choice was the subject of frequent complaints from classical music fans (with whom the show was popular) and presenter Robert Robinson described it on air as "Mozart plus sacrilege". The theme was changed to a more conventional version in the early nineties.

Championship

Every three years, the three most recent champions compete for the Brain of Brains title, most recently held in 2008. The three winners of Brain of Brains themselves compete for the title Top Brain, held every nine years, with Mark Bytheway the most recent winner in 2008.

Record score

The record individual score on a programme is 38 by Kevin Ashman (who went on to become four times World Quizzing Champion, also holds the record for the highest ever score on Mastermind, became Brain of Britain question setter and one of the Eggheads) in 1996. The record individual score in a final is 35, achieved by Peter Barlow (1981), Peter Bates (1984) and Kevin Ashman (1996).

Broadcast

Brain of Britain was also broadcast on BBC World Service for many years; in fact, talk show host David Letterman was a fan of the show, and invited one of the winners to appear on his talk show. However, some World Service broadcasts had cuts in them to fit the show as well as a news bulletin into the time slot, resulting in some apparent rules irregularities (for example, a contestant would be asked a question and give a correct answer, and then the next question would go to another contestant without it being the first contestant's fifth consecutive correct answer).

Series champions

Year	Winner
1954	David Martin Dakin
1955	Arthur Maddock
1956	Anthony Carr *,** (youngest ever winner, 18 years old at the time)
1957	Rosemary Watson
1958	David Keys
1959	Dr Reginald Webster
1960	Patrick Bowing
1961	Irene Thomas*
1962	Henry Button
1963	Ian Barton
1964	Ian Gillies*,**
1965	Bob Crampsey
1966	Richard Best
1967	Lt. Cmdr. Loring
1968	Ralph Raby
1969	T. D. Thomson
1970	Ian Matheson
1971	Fred Morgan
1972	A. Lawrence
1973	Glyn Court
1974	Roger Pritchard *,**
1975	Winifred Lawson
1976	Thomas Dyer
1977	Martin Gostelow
1978	James Nesbitt *
1979	Arthur Gerard
1980	Tim Paxton
1981	Peter Barlow *,**
1982	John Pusey
1983	Sue Marshall
1984	Peter Bates
1985	Richard Fife *
1986	Stephen Gore
1987	Ian Sutton
1988	Paul Monaghan
1989	Barbara Thompson
1990	Jim Eccleson
1991	Chris Wright
1992	Mike Billson *
1993	Geoffrey Cotton *
1994	Ian Wynn-Mackenzie
1995	Ian Kinloch
1996	Kevin Ashman*,**
1997	Daphne Fowler
1998	Guy Herbert
1999	Leslie Duncalf *
2000	Mike Smith-Rawnsley
2001	Tom Corfe
2002	David Jones
2003	David Stedman
2004	Alan Bennett *
2005	Christopher Hughes
2006	Pat Gibson
2007	Mark Bytheway*,**
2008	Geoff Thomas
2009	Ian Bayley*
2010	Dr. Iwan Thomas

'* - also won the 3-yearly competition to find the "Brain of Brains"

'** - also won the 9-yearly competition to find the "Top Brain"

External links

• Official BBC website