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Mastermind (TV series)

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Mastermind is one of the most highly regarded British quiz shows, well-known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness.

Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never altered — four contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round. Wright drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II.

The atmosphere is helped by Mastermind's famously ominous theme music, Approaching Menace by the English composer Neil Richardson.

Contents

Format

Each contestant has two minutes per round, first each contestant in turn answers questions on their specialised subject. The contestant may pass if they don't know the answer, rather than guessing. If a question is answered incorrectly, the questioner will give the answer, using valuable time. However if 'pass' is given, then the answer is not given. After the two minutes is up a buzzer is sounded; if a question is being read, (or has just been read), then the contestant is given a short period of time to answer, leading to the show's famous catchphrase "I've started so I'll finish". After this, answers to any passes are given.

After each contestant has answered their specialised questions, they are given general knowledge questions. The contestants are recalled in reverse order of points scored.

The winner is the contestant with the most points. If two or more contestants have an equal number of points, then the one with the fewer or fewest passes is the winner. The possibility of passing leads to tactical play: passing uses less time, allowing more questions to be answered, however passing may count against the contestant at the end.

Should the top two contestants have the same score and same number of passes at the end of the contest then a tie-breaker is employed, in which the two contenders are each asked the same five questions (one contender must leave the auditorium while the other answers). It is not clear what would happen should this fail to produce a clear winner, though it is implied that the process would simply be repeated as many times as necessary. The tie-break was very rarely used during the original run of the show and has appeared only once in the John Humphrys-fronted version, in the Junior Mastermind final broadcast on 26 February 2006.

The winner goes through to the next round, where they must choose a different specalised subject.

Versions of Mastermind

Mastermind has appeared in five versions:

In the United States, the game show 2 Minute Drill on sports network ESPN had its roots in Mastermind. Contestants faced questions fired at them by a panel of four sports and entertainment celebrities for two minutes. The contestant with the highest score after two rounds would win the night's prize, and the winner would have a chance to double those winnings by correctly answering the "Question of Great Significance," as host Kenny Mayne called it. In each series, winners advanced in a bracket-style playoff format, with prizes increasing from $5,000 in the first round to $50,000 (doubling to $100,000 by answering the final question) in the final round. Prizes such as trips to the Super Bowl or ESPY Awards were also given. The show had three series over a 15-month period, September 2000 to December 2001. Like Mastermind, 2 Minute Drill featured a leather chair, dramatic lighting and sound effects. Willy Gibson of Columbus, Ohio was the grand champion of the first two series; he was defeated in the second round of the third and final series. Unlike Mastermind presenters, Mayne has a very dry, quirky and sometimes sarcastic sense of humor, but did a very good job of keeping the game going; he would quickly jump in if one of the celebrity panelists was tardy in posing their question, so as not to penalise the contestant.

Records

The highest Mastermind score is 41 points, set by Kevin Ashman in 1995.

The lowest score record is eight points, set by Jill Perry in an edition broadcast on September 13, 2004. Lower scores have been attained by celebrity contestents, such as Arabella Weir and Tara Palmer-Tompkinson who both scored six points on the same show. Murray Walker also scored seven points in the same 2004 celebrity series.

Perhaps the most famous Mastermind winner was garrulous London taxi driver Fred Housego, who won in 1980.

Examples of \"Specialised Subjects\"

Champions

Results

2005 Results

Parodies

The programme has been the target for many television spoofs, most memorably the Two Ronnies sketch written by David Renwick, featuring Ronnie Barker as Magnus Magnusson and Ronnie Corbett as a contestant named Charlie Smithers, whose specialist subject was "answering the question before last". This continually led to humorous and often rude answers.

The 2003-onwards version has been spoofed by the Dead Ringers team, with Jon Culshaw playing John Humphrys. One episode included Mastermind: The Opera.

Another spoof was featured 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".

External links

 

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