People think it’s just questions and answers. It’s not just questions and answers. The best TV quiz shows are places you drop into that feel instantly like home. They’re a school common room, or a friend’s sofa, or your local pub – somewhere familiar and unchanging that lets you relax and know that you belong… with questions and answers.
But, forgive the repetition, not just any old questions and answers. Writing quizzes is an art. It’s a fight that your opponent wants you to win, but not without working up a bit of a sweat first. The best quiz questions are as satisfying as jokes, and often, as funny too. Some of the UK’s finest gag writers are currently building question banks for TV quizzes. After all, who understands the suspense/revelation sweet spot better than a quiz setter?
Then there are the hosts, the kings, queens and court jesters whose presence is as reassuring as the repeating format of the quiz itself. Their personality – warm and funny, cutting and dry, or anything in between – establishes the mood. They can be a kindly headmaster or pom-pom shaking cheerleader for the contestants, and for the viewer at home. Crucially, the best TV quiz shows not only acknowledge the invisible contestants playing along at home, but they extend a hand to them. Whatever the speedboat or jackpot total on offer, the real prize of a TV quiz is the feeling of belonging to a tribe… who know that the Volga is the longest river in Europe and that James Newell Osterberg Jr. is otherwise known as Iggy Pop.
A bit of housekeeping. The list below only includes quiz shows that revolve around the asking and answering of trivia questions, not TV game shows that revolve around other challenges (Countdown, The Crystal Maze, Bullseye…) or panel-style shows that revolve around comedy (QI, Taskmaster…). Please give them a warm round of applause!
13. Going For Gold
BBC One’s Going for Gold now seems oddly utopian and a product of a different time. Its premise, which welcomed contestants each from different European countries, was inherently pro-EU, pro-intellectual, and pro-civility, all stances that have taken a public bashing in the Brexit era. The prize for the 1995 final wasn’t a jet ski or a cash jackpot, for instance, but a £2 coin specially minted to celebrate 50 years of peace in Europe.
It may well have been the classiest quiz show ever made, thanks to the avuncular presence of former political journalist Henry Kelly, who passed away aged 78 earlier this year. No clown, but always warmly encouraging, Kelly was a reassuring presence and a steady hand who, you’d imagine, never needed a producer to provide the phonetic pronunciations of highbrow and rarefied question terms. He could probably verify the questions as he read them out, in fact. He could certainly answer them, which is something you always want to be able to believe about a quiz show presenter.
Add to that a theme song written by movie maestro Hans Zimmer, and other prizes including a decanter and glass set (inspiration, surely for the same now offered tongue-in-cheek by Richard Osman’s House of Games), this was high-calibre TV quizzing, and the most improving show to watch after the lunchtime Neighbours slot.
12. The Weakest Link
So iconic it not only spawned countless international remakes but also a robot parody on Doctor Who, The Weakest Link pretty much has it all: solid gameplay, good join-in-ability, and a social element that feels very early-aughts in which the contestants can gang up on each other and eliminate outsiders (with little else to go on, they almost always vote off people standing the furthest away from them because human beings are simple creatures and cling to arbitrary groupings like Anne Robinson clung to that hairdo).
It’s a great show, with questions ranging from the insultingly easy (“Which C is eaten by the biscuit-loving monster on Sesame Street”) to classic quiz fare (“Which is the longest river in China?”). Speaking of insults, Anne Robinson’s original presenting stint was defined by them, and featured quite a few that wouldn’t fly now. Current host Romesh Ranganathan has the right balance of withering disappointment and matey banter.
11. Fifteen to One
Aka the no-messing-around trivia-based quiz show for trivia quiz fans who don’t like messing around. Frustrated by banter and ‘What would you spend the money on?’ filler in TV quizzes? Then it’s suave gentleman William Gladstone Stewart you need. William G was all questions, all the time. It’s not that he didn’t care where contestants liked to go on their holidays, it’s just that Fifteen to One wasn’t the time or place for that kind of inanity.
Unlike several quiz shows on this list, the many-years-later revival hosted by Sandi Toksvig (another presenter in whose ability to win the quiz if ever called upon to play you could have total confidence) didn’t lose any of the magic. It’s the no-nonsense quiz show so good that former contestant Trevor Montague famously wore a disguise and went on a second time under a fake name, something he later had to defend himself against done in court.
10. Blockbusters
It’s impossible to separate Blockbusters (the original, not the revival or comedy versions) from its lore: the gag of contestants asking suave presenter Bob Holness: “Can I have a P, please Bob?”, the audience hand-jive performed over the closing credits, the urban myths about Holness having played saxophone on Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” (he didn’t) and having once played James Bond in the 1950s (he did, on radio)… Underneath all that and the 1980s nostalgia though, stands a strong format that gave a stage to young quizzers.
Imported from the US with the alteration that the contestants were school pupils aged between 16 and 18 (think of it as a feeder for University Challenge), Blockbusters involved a pair of quizzers going against a solo competitor. The aim was to create a Connect 4-like chain of correct answers, each with its initials provided as a clue, connecting two sides of a hexagonal board before your opponent(s) did the same. That done, it was time for the famous “Gold Run” – a solo repeat with the eventual chance of a prize. The gameplay worked, the questions were well calibrated, and the kids were impressively knowledgeable, if all quite posh. A classic.
9. Eggheads
What a concept! A Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-style supergroup, but for quizzing. Eggheads didn’t just have a slick presenter posing questions to hopefuls, it had pre-made quiz teams face off against, to quote OG host Dermot Murnaghan, “the greatest quiz team in Britain”, made up of the winners of previous TV quizzes. First individually and then with as many as were left after the head-to-head rounds, groups of ordinary quizzers took on the might of the Eggheads – and usually lost.
The original Eggheads Five of Chris, Kevin, Daphne, CJ and Judith were a legendary line-up – the Avengers or X-Men of the quizzing world. After their 2003 – 2008 heyday, the show diluted the pool with new, rotating members, but it was never quite the same, like a world-famous rock group touring under the same name but with only the original drummer. After Eggheads moved to Channel 5 in 2021, it floundered and isn’t expected to return in the near future, but for a good long while, it was appointment teatime viewing feat. quizzing royalty. Rest in peace, Chris Hughes.
8. Richard Osman’s House of Games
If the contestants are celebrities, does it count as a bonafide quiz show? Absolutely. Richard Osman’s House of Games has questions, buzzers, an array of 1970s-style prizes fresh off the Generation Game conveyor belt… and however much of a lark it may be, it’s not an 8 Out of 10 Cats or Shooting Stars-style comedy. These people have come to play (apart from Patsy Kensit, who didn’t know why she’d come.)
Despite its title, House of Games isn’t a game show either. It’s a ‘buzz when you know the correct answer’ quiz show blending trivia with puzzles, much like the highest-placing show in this list but a great deal easier. With the exception of the round in which they have to guess how many post boxes there are in Venezuela, some of the questions here are so simple you start to feel bad for the celebrities and what it must be doing to their notoriously fragile self-esteem to be presented with the name-this-dessert anagram “YJELL” as if that’s all they can manage. Spoiler: some of them can’t manage. Great show though. Cleverly written and lots and lots of fun.
7. University Challenge
The Weakest Link was notable for being parodied on just Doctor Who, but University Challenge has been parodied, and referenced, everywhere from The Young Ones to David Nicholls’ novel (later turned into a film) Starter For Ten to many, many more.
Like Mastermind and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, this format is imprinted on the national consciousness. The jaunty string score, the team-stacked-on-top-of-team visual, Bamber Gascoigne’s good-natured posh drawl, Jeremy Paxman’s pantomime scorn, and now Amol Rajan’s empathetic commiserations and proud-dad celebrations… As TV quizzes go, this is a fixture. It’s been around since 1962 and will probably be around until the questions are asked by an AI to other student-AIs. It’s rarefied and difficult and hugely specialist, and since it was imported from the US format College Bowl, it’s been part of life in the UK.
6. The 1% Club
Sometimes it’s the format that really works, sometimes it’s the host, and in the case of The 1% Club, it’s both. Lee Mack was born to present this quiz show, which spends an ITV hour whittling down 100 contestants to the very few able to correctly answer a question that only the top 1% of those polled could get right. What makes The 1% Club such great viewing is its playability at home. ‘Hang on a minute!’ everybody thinks at around the halfway point when most of the questions rely solely on your ability to read while not getting flustered, ‘Am I secretly a genius?!’ Probably not, sadly, but it’s always fun to imagine.
Lee Mack’s marshalling of events is exemplary. He chats with players who’ve given right or wrong answers, building up storylines and relationships as he goes. It’s warm, it’s sharp, it’s entertaining, and it’s interactive in a very natural way. Note to self: pausing the TV on the various puzzles to give yourself more thinking time is cheating but is also allowed if you’ve had a tough week.
5. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
It’s part of our cultural fabric. A mega ratings hit when it first arrived, and one that spawned multiple international versions as well as a huge Danny Boyle movie, a courtroom scandal, an acclaimed play by James Graham and a TV adaptation, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? made quiz shows prime-time viewing. And it did it with just one ingredient: drama.
The lighting, the music, the chair, the close-ups, Chris Tarrant’s ‘final answer?’… Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? played everything for dramatic impact. It was all about life-or-death decision making, crushing disappointment and jubilant highs. The producers made sure that we saw the whites of the contestants’ eyes and every drop of sweat that ran down their brow as they inwardly battled with whether to trust their mate Steve with an answer that could pay off their mortgage. It reminded people that to be compelling, quiz shows don’t need bells and whistles, just questions, human stories, and high stakes.
4. Mastermind
Apart from anything else, Mastermind has a terrific origin story in apparently having being inspired by creator Bill Wright’s experience being interrogated by the Gestapo during the Second World War. The dark studio, ominous atmosphere, aggressive spotlights, scary music… everything is designed to put contestants on edge, and boy, does it work. Many’s the time that a player has padded over to that black leather chair ready to dazzle with their knowledge of the life and works of John Singer Sargent, only for the fear and inability to recall a single effing thing to kick in the moment the lights drop and the theme (aptly titled “Approaching Menace”) starts.
The addition of a general knowledge round to its famous specialist subjects makes Mastermind playable at home, where the show’s chief joys are boggling at the cleverness of some people and feeling schadenfreude at the ones who react to the questions like rabbits caught in headlights. To call this quiz show iconic is no overstatement.
3. Pointless
Back to the idea of quiz shows being the friendly school common rooms of television, a round of applause for Pointless, one of the most reassuring, comforting places in which to spend your screen time. The stakes are as low as the jackpots on this BBC quiz hosted with easeful charm by Alexander Armstrong (formerly with his Pointless Friend Richard Osman, and now with a revolving carousel of likeable names in the assistant seat).
It’s a remarkable premise because it’s totally inclusive. Pretty much anybody can give an answer to one of its questions, but the more obscure the answer, the higher the reward. In other words: the whole family can play but only Uncle Derek who collects bottle tops from special edition Pepsi bottles is ever likely to win. Pointless celebrates dredged-up knowledge and cunningly retained facts, and does it all with the unthreatening loveliness of a teatime buttery toasted crumpet.
2. The Chase
Like Lee Mack in his wake, Bradley “Mr Showbiz” Walsh is the comedy glue holding this brilliantly structured quiz show together. Walsh ensures that things stay light-hearted as contestants go head-to-head with a roster of pantomime villains The Chasers. If the Eggheads were The Avengers, then The Chasers are The Sinister Six, baddies hell-bent on crushing the quizzing dreams of Sue from Derby, who if she won would spend the money on a new greenhouse, Bradley.
Unlike Eggheads, The Chase allocates players to a random team of people they hadn’t met until their paths crossed over a Styrofoam cup of Earl Grey in the green room. Any money they might win depends on the performance, and cockiness, of the other players, which creates some interesting social dynamics as contestants try to look kind and supportive while really protecting their own interests. Each player has the choice of gambling however much money they’ve banked in the quickfire round to potentially bring more back to the communal pot, which is only won if the team answer more questions correctly than their chaser inside two minutes. It’s fun and accessible with excitingly high prize funds, and led by a true pro. The ultimate everybody’s-welcome quiz show.
1. Only Connect
From everybody’s-welcome to everybody’s-baffled. Only one show could top a list celebrating the quizzing art: Only Connect is the don. It’s the queen. It’s the quizzers’ quiz. Its questions, in which teams of three have to discern the connections, predict what’s next, and group together apparently unrelated items, are things of beauty. Learned, devious, cheeky and often with punchlines better than most acts on Live at the Apollo, its questions are the crème de la crème of British quiz show questions.
Presented by the brilliantly erudite, waspish yet encouraging Victoria Coren-Mitchell, Only Connect is a den of weird and wonderful minds who aren’t always celebrated in this, the Protein Powder age. It’s unashamedly difficult and knowingly devilish, but because rather than despite this, it’s a cult hero. It’s beloved of a solid core of people drawn there because they don’t always belong anywhere else.
The show’s only drawback is the format, in which all the hard work of the previous three rounds can be blown apart by the high number of points available in the final “Missing Vowels” round when one talented missing-vowelist can unbalance a whole result. Never mind, because despite being highly competitive, the teams here shine when showing their workings. These people are wonders and Only Connect is the only place on TV that real quizzers are really challenged. Rarefied, off-puttingly hard, and totally brilliant, may it never end.
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