Brain of Britain
Contents |
Host
Franklin Engelmann (1968-72)
Ian Gillies (1972, second round onwards)
Robert Robinson (1973-2008)
Russell Davies (stand-in, 2004, 2009, host 2010-)
Peter Snow (2007)
Co-hosts
Adjudicators (usually silent): "Mycroft" (Ian Gillies, 1973-2001), "Jorkins" (Kevin Ashman, 2002-7)
Broadcast
BBC Radio 4, 16 January 1968 to present
Synopsis
Radio's premier clever-clogs quiz show, originally spun-off from a segment in What Do You Know?.
Four contenders gather from a selected region of the UK, and the presenter asks a question of each, continuing until they get one wrong - that's open to the other contestants on (silent) buzzers. There's a point for a correct answer, five in a row gains a bonus mark, and ten seconds are allowed for thought. In the event of a tie, bonus questions count double; a five question play-off is available if required.
Half-way through each episode is a "Beat The Brains" section, where a listener sets two questions, hoping to stump the panel on one, and win a book token. Like the main quiz, this interlude was also carried over from What Do You Know?.
According to Ian Gillies' book from the 1980s, each programme was carefully structured, with relatively easy questions to begin with, difficult posers in the middle, and relaxing with more simple questions to end the programme on a high. This structure appears to have been relaxed over time, and almost forgotten by the twenty-first century. One thing that never changed was that two questions would be accompanied by a musical clue - except this changed to three music questions in 2012.
The contest features 48 competitors - eight each from London, the Home Counties, the Midlands and East Anglia, the North of England, four from the South-West, and four drawn from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Until 2006, each heat featured people from the same geographic region. The twelve heat winners, and four highest-scoring runners-up, compete in semi-finals, with the winner of each advancing to the final.
Every three years, the annual winners return for a Brain of Brains competition. Every nine years, the triennial champions compete in the Top Brain contest, possibly eight years after their original triumph. The Brain of Brains and Top Brain scheduled for 2007 were delayed until September 2008, allowing Robert Robinson to return to the host's chair.
Towards the end of his life, Robert Robinson's health was not good enough for him to participate, despite the show relocating to London on occasion to facilitate his continuing contributions. 2007 saw Peter Snow taking up the mantle, along with a few other minor changes: contestants introduced themselves rather than having the host greet them, and were referred to by their first names rather than Robinson's traditional "Mr Jones/Mrs Smith". Also, a production team set the questions rather than one individual, as Kevin Ashman was unable to travel to Manchester regularly. Robinson returned for the 2008 series, but was again absent in 2009, with Russell Davies standing in. In August 2010, Robinson announced that he would not be returning, allowing Davies to officially step up to the the role of host. Robinson died in August 2011, and a tribute was paid prior to that autumn's first show.
Inventor
Champions
Regular Series
Those listed for 1954-1967 are winners of the Brain of Britain segment of What Do You Know?
| 1954 | Martin Dakin | 1972 | A. Lawrence | 1990 | Jim Eccleson | 2008-9 | Geoff Thomas |
| 1955 | Arthur Maddocks | 1973 | Glyn Court | 1991 | Chris Wright | 2009-10 | Ian Bayley |
| 1956 | Anthony Carr [1] | 1974 | Roger Pritchard | 1992 | Mike Billson | 2010-11 | Iwan Thomas |
| 1957 | Rosemary Watson | 1975 | Winifred Lawson | 1993 | Geoffrey Colton | 2011-12 | Ray Ward |
| 1958 | David Keys | 1976 | Thomas Dyer | 1994 | Ian Wynn-Mackenzie | 2012-13 | Barry Simmons |
| 1959 | Dr Reginald Webster | 1977 | Martin Gostelow | 1995 | Ian Kinloch | 2014 | Mark Grant |
| 1960 | Patrick Bowles | 1978 | James Nesbitt | 1996 | Kevin Ashman | 2015 | Nigel Jones |
| 1961 | Irene Thomas | 1979 | Arthur Gerard | 1997 | Daphne Fowler | 2016 | Mike Clarke |
| 1962 | Henry Button | 1980 | Tim Paxton | 1998 | Guy Herbert | 2017 | John Beynon |
| 1963 | Ian Barton | 1981 | Peter Barlow | 1999 | Leslie Duncalf | 2018 | Clive Dunning |
| 1964 | Ian Gillies | 1982 | John Pusey | 2000 | Mike Smith-Rawnsley | 2019 | David Stainer |
| 1965 | Robert Crampsey | 1983 | Sue Marshall | 2001 | Tom Corfe | 2020 | Graham Barker |
| 1966 | Richard Best | 1984 | Peter Bates | 2002 | Dr David Jones | 2021 | Karl Whelan |
| 1967 | Lt. Cmdr. Loring | 1985 | Richard Fife | 2003 | David Stedman | ||
| 1968 | Ralph Raby | 1986 | Stephen Gore | 2004 | Alan Bennett | ||
| 1969 | T. D. Thomson | 1987 | Ian Sutton | 2005 | Christopher Hughes | ||
| 1970 | Iain Matheson | 1988 | Paul Monaghan | 2006 | Pat Gibson | ||
| 1971 | Fred Morgan | 1989 | Barbara Thompson | 2007 | Mark Bytheway |
[1] At 18-years-old, the youngest ever winner.
Brain of Brains
| 1956 | Anthony Carr |
| 1959 | Reginald Webster |
| 1962 | Irene Thomas |
| 1965 | Ian Gillies |
| 1968 | Ralph Raby |
| 1971 | Iain Matheson |
| 1974 | Roger Pritchard |
| 1977 | Tom Dyer |
| 1980 | James Nesbitt |
| 1983 | Peter Barlow |
| 1986 | Richard Fife |
| 1989 | Glen Binnie [1] |
| 1992 | Mike Billson |
| 1995 | Geoffrey Colton |
| 1998 | Kevin Ashman |
| 2001 | Leslie Duncalf |
| 2004 | Alan Bennett |
| 2008 | Mark Bytheway |
| 2011 | Ian Bayley |
| 2014 | Mark Grant |
| 2018 | John Benyon |
| 2021 | David Stainer |
[1] Mr Binnie finished second to Miss Thompson in the 1989 final, and took her place when she was unavailable to record the Brain of Brains competition.
Top Brain
| 1962 | Anthony Carr |
| 1971 | Ian Gillies |
| 1980 | Roger Pritchard |
| 1989 | Peter Barlow |
| 1998 | Kevin Ashman |
| 2008 | Mark Bytheway |
| 2018 | Mark Grant |
Catchphrase
"Aaaah." (and other slightly pained cries, as Robert Robinson fills while the adjudicator considers an answer.)
Theme music
Various versions of "Rondo", including that by the fabulously named Waldo de los Rios.
Trivia
Franklin Engelmann died suddenly after recording the first round of the 1972 series, so reigning Top Brain Ian Gillies stepped up to host the remainder of that run. That was also the last series directly overseen by creator and question-setter John P. Wynn, who had put off retirement to steer the transition from What Do You Know? to Brain of Britain, and had been training Gillies up as his successor. From 1973 Robert Robinson took over as host, while Gillies became lead question writer and started to appear (after a fashion) as silent adjudicator "Mycroft".
The record score on a programme final is 35, although there have been higher scores in earlier rounds.
The 1978 series was produced by Griff Rhys Jones.
Former producer Richard Edis explained the show's appeal, "When the audience hear a question to which they know the answer, they feel warm. When they know and the competitors don't, they're positively incandescent."
The 2020 series had to be aired in two blocks - the first six heats in one block and the rest of the series in the other - as a consequence of COVID-19.
Merchandise
A Brain of Britain quiz book was published in 1986.
