About this season
Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five 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 British composer Neil Richardson. The quiz programme originated and was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before permanently moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.
Episodes (31)
1. Episode 1
Aired 13 July 2016 • 30 min
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.
2. Episode 2
Aired 20 July 2016 • 30 min
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.
3. Episode 3
Aired 27 July 2016 • 30 min
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.
4. Episode 4
Aired 5 August 2016 • 30 min
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.
5. Episode 5
Aired 12 August 2016 • 30 min
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.
6. Episode 6
Aired 19 August 2016 • 30 min
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. The subjects are REM, Harry S Truman, the World Cup and the drama series Borgen.
7. Episode 7
Aired 26 August 2016 • 30 min
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.
8. Episode 8
Aired 2 September 2016 • 30 min
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.
9. Episode 9
Aired 9 September 2016 • 30 min
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.
10. Episode 10
Aired 16 September 2016 • 30 min
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.
11. Episode 11
Aired 23 September 2016 • 30 min
Tonight's subjects are Formula One Grand Prix circuits, Oliver Cromwell, the Charles Paris mysteries by Simon Brett and Fillipo Brunelleschi.
12. Episode 12
Aired 30 September 2016 • 30 min
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.
13. Episode 13
Aired 7 October 2016 • 30 min
John Humphrys asks the questions in another heat of the classic series. Subjects tonight are Queen, Dame Laura Knight, Anita Roddick and Don Revie.
14. Episode 14
Aired 14 October 2016 • 30 min
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.
15. Episode 15
Aired 21 October 2016 • 30 min
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.
16. Episode 16
Aired 28 October 2016 • 30 min
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.
17. Episode 17
Aired 4 November 2016 • 30 min
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.
18. Episode 18
Aired 11 November 2016 • 30 min
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.
19. Episode 19
Aired 18 November 2016 • 30 min
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.
20. Episode 20
Aired 25 November 2016 • 30 min
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.
21. Episode 21
Aired 2 December 2016 • 30 min
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.
22. Episode 22
Aired 9 December 2016 • 30 min
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects are Andy Warhol, the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, Nicholas Hawksmoor and the X-Files.
23. Episode 23
Aired 16 December 2016 • 30 min
John Humphrys presents another heat of the classic quiz. Subjects include Steve Jobs, Farscape, the history of Hungary and black metal music.
24. Episode 24
Aired 6 January 2017 • 30 min
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.
25. Episode 25
Aired 13 January 2017 • 30 min
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.
26. Episode 26
Aired 20 January 2017 • 30 min
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.
27. Episode 27
Aired 3 February 2017 • 30 min
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.
28. Episode 28
Aired 10 February 2017 • 30 min
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.
29. Episode 29
Aired 17 February 2017 • 30 min
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.
30. Episode 30
Aired 24 February 2017 • 30 min
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.
31. The Final
Aired 3 March 2017 • 60 min
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.