2020/21

E1. Episode 1

Oct 5, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys presents the first heat of the series. The specialist subjects are The Levellers, Julie Andrews, Black Books and Isabella of Castile.

E2. Episode 2

Oct 12, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys presents the second heat of the classic quiz. The specialist subjects are Manchester United, the novels of Toni Morrison, Berthe Morisot and William Tyndale.

E3. Episode 3

Oct 19, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's specialist subjects are Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, Blackadder, the Boxer Rebellion and Blake's 7.

E4. Episode 4

Oct 26, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys presents the fourth heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's specialist subjects are the Montgomery Bus Boycott, The Crown, the history of anaesthesia and Stormzy.

E5. Episode 5

Nov 2, 2020 · 30m

The hunt for the nation's Mastermind continues as John Humphrys tests four more contenders. Tonight's specialist subjects are Vanessa Bell, Rachmaninoff, Sherlock and David Bowie.

E6. Episode 6

Nov 16, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts the classic quiz where contenders take the famous black chair. The specialist subjects are the Weimar Republic, Alex Higgins, the bridges of London and UK cheeses.

E7. Episode 7

Nov 30, 2020 · 30m

Four more contenders brave the famous black chair. Specialist subjects are Joe Calzaghe, The Beach Boys, Joseph Stalin and the Gospel of John.

E8. Episode 8

Dec 7, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts the classic quiz. Tonight's subjects are freshwater fish of the British Isles, Nick Cave, the history of Scouting in the UK and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

E9. Episode 9

Dec 14, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts the classic quiz where contenders take the famous black chair. Specialist subjects are John Singer Sargent, The Sopranos, Jane Austen novels and Nick Drake.

E10. Episode 10

Dec 21, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts the classic quiz where contenders take the famous black chair. Specialist subjects are Lyndon B Johnson, A Song of Ice and Fire, seabirds and children's TV.

E11. Episode 11

Dec 28, 2020 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts another heat of the classic quiz. Tonight's specialist subjects are Kenneth Williams, UK hit singles 2000-2004, Ada Lovelace and the Rugby World Cup.

E12. Episode 12

Jan 4, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts another heat of the classic quiz where contenders take to the black chair. Tonight's subjects include Life on Mars, the Titanic, Barbara Castle and the Periodic Table.

E13. Episode 13

Jan 11, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat where the contenders answer questions on Marlene Dumas, Edward Thomas, Guy Burgess and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

E14. Episode 14

Jan 18, 2021 · 30m

Four more contenders take to the black chair to answer questions on their specialist subjects, including the London 2012 Olympic Games, Hancock's Half Hour and John Wyndham novels.

E15. Episode 15

Jan 25, 2021 · 30m

Four more contenders brave the black chair in another heat of the classic quiz and answer questions on Tchaikovsky, the Evil Dead trilogy, Rafael Nadal and This Country.

E16. Episode 16

Feb 1, 2021 · 30m

In another heat of the classic quiz, four more contenders brave the black chair and answer questions on the mammals of the British Isles, Friends, Damien Hirst and Wimbledon.

E17. Episode 17

Feb 8, 2021 · 30m

Four more contenders take to the black chair in tonight's programme, where the specialist subjects include the Mongol invasions, the plays of Aristophanes and Broadway musicals.

E18. Episode 18

Feb 15, 2021 · 30m

Four more contenders take to the black chair in tonight's heat where the specialist subjects are Homer's Odyssey, The Good Life, the history of Portsmouth and Taika Waititi.

E19. Episode 19

Feb 22, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz, with four contenders answering questions on Sidney Poitier, Greek mythology, Soundgarden and the Women's Institute.

E20. Episode 20

Mar 1, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts as contenders answer questions on their specialist subjects, which are Ernest Rutherford, Hitchcock films, the motorways of England and the Poldark novels.

E21. Episode 21

Mar 8, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys presents the classic quiz where contenders take the black chair. Specialist subjects are the Russian Revolution, King Crimson, The Hunger Games and George Orwell.

E22. Episode 22

Mar 15, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys is back at his desk, asking four more contenders questions on their specialist subjects. In this programme, they are Kimi Raikkonen, Gloucestershire, Poirot and lidos in Britain.

E23. Episode 23

Mar 22, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys hosts and contenders answer questions on their specialist subjects, which are Stephen Sondheim musicals, dog breeds, Alan Partridge and the Charles Paris novels.

E24. Episode 24

Mar 29, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic quiz. The specialist subjects are Otto von Bismarck, hand knitting, Robert Louis Stevenson and the films of the Coen Brothers.

E25. Episode 25

Apr 5, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in the first semi-final. The specialist subjects are the Booker Prize, the city of York, the Busby Babes and the Russo-Japanese War.

E26. Episode 26

Apr 5, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another semi-final. The specialist subjects are films based on the works of Stephen King, Joan Rivers, US state capitals and Neil Gaiman novels.

E27. Episode 27

Apr 12, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another semi-final. Specialist subjects are the films of Powell and Pressburger, the Bauhaus movement, Emil Zátopek and the Liberal Democrats.

E28. Episode 28

Apr 12, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another semi-final. The Specialist subjects are R.E.M., Father Ted, David Niven and John Wesley.

E29. Episode 29

Apr 19, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another semi-final. The specialist subjects are Christopher Eccleston, Metallica, Beatrix Potter and the Greco-Persian Wars.

E30. Episode 30

Apr 19, 2021 · 30m

John Humphrys asks the questions in another semi-final. The specialist subjects are William Pitt the Younger, The Bridge, the Grand National and the plays of Joe Orton.