The Brains Trust

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See also the unrelated Brain Trust in the US.

The Brains Trust was a popular informational BBC radio and later television programme in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 50s.

The first series of The Brains Trust started on radio in September 1942. It followed a radio programme called Any Questions first broadcast in January 1941. The Brains Trust continued for 84 weeks continuously from its initial broadcast and became one of the most popular informational programmes ever. Due to its popularity, it was moved to the peak time on Sunday afternoons. It was typically heard by around 29% of the UK population and generated four to five thousand letters each week from the general public.

The original three members of the broadcasting team were C. E. M. Joad (a philosopher and psychologist), Julian Huxley (a biologist) and Commander A. B. Campbell (a retired naval officer). The chairman was Donald McCullough. Other participants included: Noel Annan, Alfred Ayer, Michael Ayrton, Isaiah Berlin, Collin Brooks, Violet Bonham Carter, Kenneth Clark, Norman Fisher (as chairman), Commander Rupert Gould, Will Hay, John Maud, Anna Neagle, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Hannen Swaffer and Barbara Ward.

The radio programme ended in May 1949 and was transferred to BBC television in the 1950s. The soundtrack was broadcast the Home Service during the week following the television broadcast.

An American version of this program, devised and produced by then television producer/director Jeff Smith, aired on WTTW Channel 11, the PBS television outlet in Chicago in the early sixties with an original revolving "cast" of Alec Sutherland, Director of Continuing Education at the University of Chicago, Paul Haggerty, a former vaudevillian, musician and raconteur, Robin Pearce, an artist, film maker, lecturer on the fine arts and a world traveler, Paul Schilpp, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University, Dick Applegate, foreign correspondent, TV newsman and commentator, Dan Q, Posin, De Paul University Professor and host of his own television program on WTTW, "Dr. Posin’s Universe," Nathan Schwartz, Philanthropist and raconteur, Ralph Eisendrath, lawyer and civic leader and moderator Don Bruckner, at that time a labor writer for the Chicago Sun Times and for many years after that, a theater critic for the New York Times. Only four panelists plus the moderator appeared on each program.

The concept of the American version was simple. Viewers would send in questions on subjects ranging from the threat of nuclear annihilation to why there are so many Jewish comedians - from the role of God in politics to why it takes so long for Ketchup to come out of the bottle - and the panel members would "answer" them. The questions chosen for any given show were precisely that kind of mix and the panelists were chosen for the unique contributions each could bring to the subject matter - from the most erudite and serious to the most irreverent and comedic.

Though the conversation was free wheeling, how each panelist might answer a question was discussed at what could be loosely described as a rehearsal , so that they were able to come up with the right kind of provocative and entertaining mix week after week and become one of the most popular shows on the air at WTTW.

The Chicago Tribune called the program "five panelists versus the universe."