Knowitalls

Knowitalls was a British quiz show hosted by Gyles Brandreth. It was first shown on BBC Two in 2009.

Filming took place between 15 and 21 June 2009. It was first broadcast on 27 July 2009. The show's strapline is that it's "the quiz without questions". The team that wins overall will win £15,000, the Knowitalls trophy and the title of "Britain's Biggest Knowitalls".

Overview

Introduction

At the beginning of the show, before the title sequence, the 2 teams of 3 are shown locked away in separate rooms with Gyles saying in a voiceover:

"Completely on their own. Two teams with no books, no phones and no Internet. They've been given today's subjects and just one hour to pool everything they know before they try to prove that they are today's Knowitalls."

Experts

Each show has three experts sitting on a desk at one end of the studio. Each expert has their own specialist subject.

They are:

• Art & Literature - Natalie Haynes
• Business & Politics - Adam Shaw
• Entertainment - Colin Paterson
• Food & Drink - Jay Rayner
• History - Tessa Dunlop
• Human Biology - Dr. Ayan Panja
• Natural History - Chris Packham
• Science - Greg Foot
• Sport - Jim White
• Travel & Geography - Simon Calder

Round 1 - 45 Second Subject

Each player from each team has just 45 seconds to impress the experts with their knowledge of the subject given just one hour previously. They receive 1 point for an interesting fact and 2 for an astounding fact that impresses the expert. There are also bonus points if the player can find three words that the expert has chosen, which are shown on screen to the viewers at home. They get 1 point for each fact or 5, if they spot all three. No player can do 2 subjects.

Round 2 - 7 Second Sensation

One player from each team comes out to give one astounding fact about a subject chosen by one of the experts. The players have just 7 seconds to give their fact. The fact chosen by the expert as the more astounding wins the team 5 points. However, if neither player's fact is true, neither team scores. As with round 1, no player can do 2 subjects.

Round 3 - Quick-Fire

All 3 members of the team come out in front of the experts. They have 90 seconds to get as many key words as possible. Every subject given by an expert has 3 key words. If any of the key words are shouted out, then the team wins 5 points. They can pass to the next expert if they want to. The team with the most points at the end of the round wins the game.

Results

Structure

Tournament overview with scores. The show order is shown in the number in the brackets

References

• Official BBC Press Release

External links

• Knowitalls at BBC Programmes
• Knowitalls at the Internet Movie Database