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Pointless
Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot.
Pointless debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of the first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. As of March 2025[update], the programme is airing Series 33 and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers. An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April 2022[update] had reached Series 15. The format has been exported internationally.
The first 27 series were co-presented by Richard Osman, who announced on 8 April 2022 that he would step down from the role to focus more on his writing career. Beginning with Series 28, a group of guests took his place. Osman continued to co-present with Armstrong on Pointless Celebrities.
The show was originally to be called Obviously and was conceived by Tom Blakeson, Simon Craig, David Flynn, Nick Mather, Richard Osman and Shaun Parry, producers at Endemol UK, in 2009. They envisaged it as a "reverse Family Fortunes....rewarding obscure knowledge, while allowing people to also give obvious answers....a quiz which could be sort of highbrow and populist simultaneously". Osman was not intended to be co-presenter; originally, he filled the role only as part of a demonstration laid on for the BBC. BBC executives asked him to continue when they commissioned the first series. Osman then approached comedian Alexander Armstrong to be the main presenter; the two men had been peers during their university days. Armstrong, who the previous year had been lined up to present Channel 4's Countdown only to back out for fear of being pigeonholed as a presenter, agreed to present what was perceived as a lower-profile show, with the presence of Osman helping to convince him.
In 2016, Osman told the Belfast Telegraph, "It's never been a show that's had posters, or trailers, and it's presented by these two slightly inept guys. Everyone who's ever watched it feels like it's their programme. We've never changed it, but have always done it in the same way, which is slightly shoddy, enjoying ourselves." On the programme's future, he said, "Every programme has a shelf-life, but as long as people are enjoying it, we will stick with it. If Channel 4 wanted to offer three times as much money, we wouldn't take it. We would stay with the BBC. We love the BBC. Pointless is not for sale. We owe the BBC an enormous debt, because they've looked after us."
The jackpot increases by £250 for every pointless answer given in any round other than the Final. If a team reaches the Final but fails to win the jackpot, it is rolled over to the next episode and increased by £1,000. As of October 2025[update] the highest recorded jackpot won on the show was £24,750 on 8 March 2013.
After Series 27, Osman resigned from the regular series (remaining as co-presenter on Pointless Celebrities) and for series 28 was replaced by presenters: Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq and Alex Brooker. Series 29 added Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter and Gyles Brandreth. Series 30 added Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips and Vick Hope. Series 31 added Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe and Desiree Burch. Series 32 added Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, and Ellie Taylor. Series 33 added Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang and Mel Giedroyc. Series 34 added Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen and Angela Scanlon.
Following the success of Pointless and its transfer to BBC One, the BBC commissioned a celebrity edition of the programme, entitled Pointless Celebrities. Much like the main show, Pointless Celebrities has teams of two celebrities competing against each other to win the jackpot for their chosen charities and has the same gameplay as the regular show.
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Pointless
Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot.
Pointless debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of the first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. As of March 2025[update], the programme is airing Series 33 and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers. An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April 2022[update] had reached Series 15. The format has been exported internationally.
The first 27 series were co-presented by Richard Osman, who announced on 8 April 2022 that he would step down from the role to focus more on his writing career. Beginning with Series 28, a group of guests took his place. Osman continued to co-present with Armstrong on Pointless Celebrities.
The show was originally to be called Obviously and was conceived by Tom Blakeson, Simon Craig, David Flynn, Nick Mather, Richard Osman and Shaun Parry, producers at Endemol UK, in 2009. They envisaged it as a "reverse Family Fortunes....rewarding obscure knowledge, while allowing people to also give obvious answers....a quiz which could be sort of highbrow and populist simultaneously". Osman was not intended to be co-presenter; originally, he filled the role only as part of a demonstration laid on for the BBC. BBC executives asked him to continue when they commissioned the first series. Osman then approached comedian Alexander Armstrong to be the main presenter; the two men had been peers during their university days. Armstrong, who the previous year had been lined up to present Channel 4's Countdown only to back out for fear of being pigeonholed as a presenter, agreed to present what was perceived as a lower-profile show, with the presence of Osman helping to convince him.
In 2016, Osman told the Belfast Telegraph, "It's never been a show that's had posters, or trailers, and it's presented by these two slightly inept guys. Everyone who's ever watched it feels like it's their programme. We've never changed it, but have always done it in the same way, which is slightly shoddy, enjoying ourselves." On the programme's future, he said, "Every programme has a shelf-life, but as long as people are enjoying it, we will stick with it. If Channel 4 wanted to offer three times as much money, we wouldn't take it. We would stay with the BBC. We love the BBC. Pointless is not for sale. We owe the BBC an enormous debt, because they've looked after us."
The jackpot increases by £250 for every pointless answer given in any round other than the Final. If a team reaches the Final but fails to win the jackpot, it is rolled over to the next episode and increased by £1,000. As of October 2025[update] the highest recorded jackpot won on the show was £24,750 on 8 March 2013.
After Series 27, Osman resigned from the regular series (remaining as co-presenter on Pointless Celebrities) and for series 28 was replaced by presenters: Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq and Alex Brooker. Series 29 added Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter and Gyles Brandreth. Series 30 added Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips and Vick Hope. Series 31 added Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe and Desiree Burch. Series 32 added Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, and Ellie Taylor. Series 33 added Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang and Mel Giedroyc. Series 34 added Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen and Angela Scanlon.
Following the success of Pointless and its transfer to BBC One, the BBC commissioned a celebrity edition of the programme, entitled Pointless Celebrities. Much like the main show, Pointless Celebrities has teams of two celebrities competing against each other to win the jackpot for their chosen charities and has the same gameplay as the regular show.