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31 Episodes 2018 - 2019
Episode 1
The West Wing, Bob Marley, the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, and John Hawkwood are the specialist subjects facing the four contenders in this first-round heat.
Episode 2
Each of the four contestants tackles one topic of their own choosing (Alan Turing, The Golden Gate Bridge, Frank Capra movies and the Roman emperor Vespasian) and then faces the host's barrage of general knowledge questions.
Episode 3
Each of the four contestants tackles one topic of their own choosing (Alien films, Peter Gabriel, the history of Prague and King Henry VII) and then faces the host's barrage of general knowledge questions.
Episode 4
Four contenders in the black chair answer questions on the history of Zimbabwe 1890-1990, Prince Henry the Navigator, Sunderland AFC 1945 to date, and the life and works of Elizabeth Taylor.
Episode 5
Specialist subjects are the films of John Hughes, Billie Holiday, Keith Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln as four more contenders quiz in the black chair.
Episode 6
Mark E Smith and The Fall, the Letters of the New Testament, the history of the Wrens, and Sir Isaac Newton are the specialist subjects as four contenders quiz in the black chair.
Episode 7
The four contenders answer on specialist subjects the life and works of Rudyard Kipling, Clement Attlee, Glamorgan County Cricket Club, and Florence Nightingale.
Episode 8
Cher, the Cambridge Spy Ring, Tove Jansson, and the Derby 1955-1990 are the specialist subjects of the four contenders quizzing in the black chair.
Episode 9
Sir Bobby Robson, the life of James Keir Hardie, links golf courses of the UK and Ireland, and British submarines since 1945 are the contenders' chosen specialist subjects as they quiz in the black chair.
Episode 10
The four contenders answer on specialist subjects Emma, Lady Hamilton, Gerhard Richter, the 44 Scotland Street series, and Alexander Hamilton as they compete to progress into the next round.
Episode 11
R.E.M., the life and works of Edward Lear, Gustav Klimt, and the FA Cup 1978-2018 are the specialist subjects of the four contenders in the black chair.
Episode 12
The four contenders in the black chair face specialist questions on the Wright Brothers, Jeeves and Wooster, the Rumpole Stories by John Mortimer, and Olympic track and field 1896-1948, followed by the general knowledge round.
Episode 13
The host, John Humphrys, quizzes four new contestants on Albert Einstein, MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth novels, Sir Joseph Paxton and the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Episode 14
The history of the World Cup, the Battle of Stalingrad, the novels of Sarah Waters, and John Knox are the specialisms of the contenders quizzing in the black chair for a place in the second round.
Episode 15
The life and films of Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Hockney, Tony Benn, and John Buchan are the specialist subjects of the four contenders quizzing for a place in the second round.
Episode 16
The films of Wes Anderson, Richard III, the England rugby team since 1945, and the novels of Nancy Mitford are the specialist subjects of the four in the black chair.
Episode 17
The four contenders answer on specialist subjects Best Picture Academy Awards 1928-1970, Greek mythology, Joseph Bazalgette, and the history of Manchester and Salford, followed by the general knowledge round.
Episode 18
The children of Queen Victoria, the novels of Penelope Fitzgerald, The Doors, and Carl Gustaf Mannerheim are the specialist subjects of the four contenders competing for a place in the second round.
Episode 19
Vivian Leigh, the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard, 1990s Hip-Hop, and the Flight of the Earls are the specialist subjects of the four contenders quizzing in the black chair.
Episode 20
28 mins
Prince, Thomas Telford, the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and the novels of Charles Dickens are the four contenders' specialist subjects as they quiz for a place in the next round.
Episode 21
The Goons, the Trojan War, the life and works of Egon Schiele, and the novels of Mary Wesley are the specialist subjects of the four contenders quizzing for a place in the second round.
Episode 22
Top 40 music of the 1970s, Neville Chamberlain, the history of Sparta, and the life of CS Lewis are the specialist subjects of the four contenders as they compete for a place in the second round.
Episode 23
28 mins
The films of Heath Ledger, the life and times of Margaret Pole, Tycho Brahe, and the life and plays of Sarah Kane are the specialist subjects of the four contenders as they compete for a place in the second round.
Episode 24
In the last of the first-round matches, the contenders answer on specialist subjects Henry VIII, Britpop, Christopher Isherwood, and the Royal Navy in the First World War.
Episode 25
The five contenders in the first semi-final answer on the life and times of Samuel Johnson, A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell, 2 Tone Records, the 1951 Festival of Britain, and the life of William Wilberforce.
Episode 26
The five competing in the second semi-final answer on specialist subjects Edinburgh, the life and career of Ulysses S Grant, pop music of the 1960s, the life of Aneurin Bevan, and the fiction of John Steinbeck.
Episode 27
The Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy L Sayers, Benjamin Franklin, the Ottoman Empire 1822-1922, the Grand National 1978 to date, and Margaret Beaufort are the specialist subjects as five contenders look to win a place in the final.
Episode 28
Queen Victoria, men's Test cricket between England and India, Sir Alec Issigonis, the life and times of Thomas Paine, and the plays of Ibsen are the specialist subjects of the semi-finalists in the black chair.
Episode 29
The human body, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Leicester City FC, Helen Keller, and the life and works of Frida Kahlo are the contenders' specialist subjects in the penultimate semi-final.
Episode 30
The sixth semi-final sees contenders compete for the last place in the final. Their specialist subjects are the life of Charles II, the plant hunters, Delta blues, Lillie Langtry, and Robert Fitzroy.
Episode 31
59 mins
The finalists answer on specialist subjects the films of the Marx Brothers, Owain Glyndwr and his revolt, the Fortunes of War series by Olivia Manning, theatres of Frank Matcham, US National Parks, and the life and times of Mary Cassatt.