Brain of Britain

Synopsis

Radio's premier clever-clogs quiz show, originally spun-off from a segment in What Do You Know?.

Four contenders gather, and the presenter asks a question of each, continuing until they get one wrong - that question'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. Highest score after half-an-hour wins.

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 episode 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 was relaxed over time, and almost forgotten by the twenty-first century. Two questions each show were accompanied by a musical clue - this changed to three music questions in 2012, and a music question for each contender a few years later.

Until about 2010, ties were broken by bonus questions count double; a five question play-off was available if required. Since then, it's been a single question on the buzzers. An off-air contest may be required to separate high-scoring losers.

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. 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. "Brain of Brains" has continued to open the series since.

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.

Brain of ...where?

For over half a century, Brain of Britain was organised strictly along regional lines. When it began, Brain of Britain was organised with one or more heats for each of the BBC's regions - London, the Home Counties, the Midlands and East Anglia, the West of England, South of England, North of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Originally played by three contestants in all rounds, the 1950s series took over nine months to complete. From 1961, they'd settled into a format - four contenders in the 14 heats, three in the 9 second round matches, three in the 3 semis and the grand final. It still took seven months to find the champion. Sounds most confusing for the casual listener, but the Home Service would thumb its nose at casual listeners.

By 1974, a more coherent structure was in place. The top two from each regional heat made the second round, the top two from these second round matches made the semi-finals. As late as the mid-80s, Brain of Britain was a fixture for the audience. The final - the 29th weekly programme in a marathon series - would always have one person from the London area, one from south England, one from the Midlands and North, and one from the rest of the country.

The series was cut back to 17 episodes in 1989 - eight contestants from London, South England, Midlands and East Anglia, North West, Yorkshire and North East, four came from a combined Wales West and Northern Ireland region, and four from Scotland. Twelve heat winners were geographically seeded into semi-finals, four runners-up competed for the last place in the final.

Geographical zones were abolished for the 2006 series, contenders are now placed into heats based on availability. Three or four heats each year, and at least one semi-final, have been recorded at the BBC's studio in Salford since the early 2010s.

Until 1973, the finalists would play one or two challenge matches each year. Brain of Brains and Top Brain took priority, but in other years the top three might face stars of Today or comedy show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. Wonder if they might revive that idea.

Inventor

John P. Wynn

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	2022	Sarah Trevarthen
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

Bird Brain of Britain

2023	Kate Humble

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. This record is unlikely to be beaten - since it was set in 1981, questions have become longer, pauses for thought are kept in, and the host's anecdotes take more time.

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.

For many years, Brain of Britain - like the rest of the competitive quiz scene - was dominated by men. Quizzing became more inclusive during the 21st century, women took part more and won more, culminating in the 2022 final being contested by four women.

When announcing the search for the annual champion, Russell Davies announces one more champion than we note above - the 2019 champion was named as the 66th on air, 65th according to our lists. It is possible - though not certain - that the official count includes the champion of the 1969-70 Television Brain of Britain, whose identity is not known to us.

In 2023, a one-off special, Bird Brain of Britain, challenged four bird experts on all matters avian. It was recorded at The Wildfowl & Wetland Trust's Slimbridge wetland centre in Gloucestershire, and hosted by Russell Davies as usual. (It's unrelated to an earlier "Bird Brain of Britain", occasional television documentaries showing how birds could train themselves to remove toothpicks and operate a seesaw to get peanuts. That was The Krypton Factor for avian superbirds.)

Merchandise

There have been several official quiz books: one by John P Wynn in 1972, another by Ian Gillies in 1986, and a third with Russell Davies credited as author in 2017.

See also

Masterbrain

Television Brain of Britain

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