Mastermind (AU)

Mastermind Australia is the long awaited return of the Mastermind franchise to Australian television after Huw Evans hosted the series over thirty-five years ago. With Jennifer Byrne as host (who I remember winning Celebrity Sale of the Century many years ago and is known for being a smart cookie) the programme - with its compliance with the general format of the show - couldn't fail. It was picked up in 2020 for a further series of 85 episodes. It's good value for SBS Australia, as it's 17 weeks of television produced relatively cheaply and with 100% Australian content (ignoring the licencing fee). It runs at Prime Time and leads into the SBS World News. The programme itself was devised in 1972 by Creator Bill Wright, drawing on his experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. For the nervous twitching, toe-tapping, butterflies-in-the-stomach contestants, these are possibly the four most terrifying words on television: “Your time starts now”. With iconic quiz show Mastermind back on Australian television, there’s no predicting who will shine, and who will crumble under the pressure of being in THAT black seat, under the spotlight, facing a rapid gunfire of questions from host Jennifer Byrne. Each of the 4 players will be tested in 2 rounds. The first is 2 minutes on their specialist subject, while the second is 90 seconds of general knowledge. At the end of the week on Friday the four episode winners from the week have to forego their specialist subjet and take on the Australiana round, and the usual General Knowledge section with one further contestant proceeding closer to a Grand Final. It doesn’t matter how well you know your special subject, or how good your general knowledge is, nerves can get the better of you. It’s called the “black chair syndrome”.