Season pulse
Episodes
31 episodesEpisode 1
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Tonight's subjects are Formula One Grand Prix circuits, Oliver Cromwell, the Charles Paris mysteries by Simon Brett and Fillipo Brunelleschi.
Episode 12
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects include Steve Jobs, Farscape, the history of Hungary and black metal music.
Episode 24
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
The Final
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.