Episode 1
Episode 1
Jul 13, 2016
In this first heat of the new series, John Humphrys starts the search for the nation's Mastermind. Specialist subjects tonight are Joni Mitchell, the Radio 4 sitcom Bleak Expectations, Alan Turing, and the history of aviation to 1914.
Episode 2
Episode 2
Jul 20, 2016
John Humphrys presents the second heat of this series. Subjects are the rock band Yes, Ernest Rutherford, the films of Werner Herzog and MC Escher.
Episode 3
Episode 3
Jul 27, 2016
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Subjects include beekeeping, the Royal Navy in the Second World War, Mark E Smith and the Fall, and John le Carre's Quest for Karla trilogy.
Episode 4
Episode 4
Aug 5, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The specialist subjects are Benny Hill, the Mitford sisters, Marcus Tullius Cicero and the Jacobite rebellion.
Episode 5
Episode 5
Aug 12, 2016
John Humphrys presents another episode of Britain's toughest quiz. Subjects include Wilfred Owen, Sir Michael Caine, Mad Men and the rock band Faith No More.
Episode 6
Episode 6
Aug 19, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are REM, Harry S Truman, the World Cup and the drama series Borgen.
Episode 7
Episode 7
Aug 26, 2016
In this heat, John Humphrys grills four more contenders on James Bond films, Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street novels, 20th-century US presidents and the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Episode 8
Episode 8
Sep 2, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Specialist subjects are the films of the Coen brothers, Tom Waits, Transatlantic Liners and Flanders and Swann.
Episode 9
Episode 9
Sep 9, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are the films of Peter Sellers, astronomy, the life and music of Arthur Lee and Love and John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga.
Episode 10
Episode 10
Sep 16, 2016
Four more contenders brave the black chair in Britain's toughest quiz. The subjects are Nick Drake, Emil Zatopek, Band of Brothers and Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico.
Episode 11
Episode 11
Sep 23, 2016
Tonight's subjects are Formula One Grand Prix circuits, Oliver Cromwell, the Charles Paris mysteries by Simon Brett and Fillipo Brunelleschi.
Episode 12
Episode 12
Sep 30, 2016
John Humphrys presents another episode of the classic quiz. Tonight's specialist subjects are the city of Bath, The Faces, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose and Ayrton Senna.
Episode 13
Episode 13
Oct 7, 2016
John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic series. Subjects tonight are Queen, Dame Laura Knight, Anita Roddick and Don Revie.
Episode 14
Episode 14
Oct 14, 2016
John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects tonight are Kurt Cobain, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.
Episode 15
Episode 15
Oct 21, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are the films of Ewan McGregor, British race courses, World Heritage sites and CJ Sansom's Shardlake novels.
Episode 16
Episode 16
Oct 28, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are David Niven, the Soviet space programme, Italian Renaissance paintings and the human body.
Episode 17
Episode 17
Nov 4, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are Hans Christian Andersen, the Russian Civil War, Ipswich Town FC and Rita Hayworth.
Episode 18
Episode 18
Nov 11, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are islands of Scotland, Laurie Lee, Ginger McCain and Red Rum, and the films of David Fincher.
Episode 19
Episode 19
Nov 18, 2016
Four more contenders brave the black chair with John Humphrys asking the questions in the classic quiz. The subjects are EastEnders, Puccini, Bill Shankly and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Episode 20
Episode 20
Nov 25, 2016
John Humphrys asks the questions as four more contenders take to the famous black chair. Subjects are David Bowie, Edvard Munch, postwar British motorcycles and the German occupation of Jersey in the Second World War.
Episode 21
Episode 21
Dec 2, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Eric Clapton, Emperor Hadrian, Tintin and the life and broadway stories of Damon Runyon.
Episode 22
Episode 22
Dec 9, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Andy Warhol, the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, Nicholas Hawksmoor and the X-Files.
Episode 23
Episode 23
Dec 16, 2016
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects include Steve Jobs, Farscape, the history of Hungary and black metal music.
Episode 24
Episode 24
Jan 6, 2017
The last place in the semi-finals is up for grabs as John Humphrys puts four more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects tonight are naval battles of the First World War, Charles Laughton, the de Havilland Mosquito and Garth Ennis's Punisher Max series.
Episode 25
Episode 25
Jan 13, 2017
John Humphrys presents the first semi-final. The subjects are Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Steve Ovett, the daughters of King George III, Al Capone and the novels of Robert Harris.
Episode 26
Episode 26
Jan 20, 2017
The semi-finals continue as John Humphrys puts five more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects include Asterix, the periodic table, the novels of Nick Hornby, Richard Feynman and Stan Laurel.
Episode 27
Episode 27
Feb 3, 2017
The semi-finals continue as John Humphrys puts five more contenders in the spotlight. Subjects include Radiohead, Alison Uttley, Field Marshal Montgomery, the films of Powell & Pressburger and Herbert Howells.
Episode 28
Episode 28
Feb 10, 2017
Five more semi-finalists try to claim a place in the grand final. The subjects are Alan Bennett, Cream, the novels of Dan Brown, Herbert von Karajan and Queen Mary.
Episode 29
Episode 29
Feb 17, 2017
John Humphrys tests five more semi-finalists. The subjects are Creation Records, Johannes Kepler, the Hunger Games novels, Sir Isaac Newton and the films of William Goldman.
Episode 30
Episode 30
Feb 24, 2017
The last place in the grand final is at stake as John Humphrys tests another five semi-finalists on The Sweeney, Mary Seacole, James Cook, Tranmere Rovers and the travel writings of Bill Bryson.
Episode 31
The Final
Mar 3, 2017
John Humphrys puts six contenders in the spotlight one more time in the series finale. Subjects in the grand final are the films of Alfred Hitchcock, the history of Leningrad, the life and films of Billy Wilder, Seinfeld, Inigo Jones and the short films of Laurel and Hardy.
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