Pointless is a British televisionquiz 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 March2025[update], the programme is airing Series 33[3] and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers.[4] An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April2022[update] had reached Series 15.[5] 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.[6]
Development
The regular series was presented by the duo of Alexander Armstrong (left) and Richard Osman (right), from its inception until Osman left the show in 2022
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".[7] 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.[7] Osman then approached comedian Alexander Armstrong to be the main presenter; the two men had been peers during their university days.[7] 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,[8] agreed to present what was perceived as a lower-profile show, with the presence of Osman helping to convince him.[7]
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."[9]
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 October2025[update] the highest recorded jackpot won on the show was £24,750 on 8 March 2013.[10][11]
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.
Unlike the regular version, the jackpot does not roll over and always starts at £2,500 with every pointless answer adding £250 to the jackpot, but this may be doubled on some occasions. £500 is donated to every team who do not win the jackpot and any money won by a team is split equally between the two charities represented by its members.
Pointless Celebrities is broadcast within a prime-time slot on Saturday nights and features some differences in how the game works. Celebrities are allowed to return in more than one episode with the same partner or a different partner and episodes tend to have a theme in regards to the celebrity contestants that took part – for example, a celebrity edition aired in December 2015 consisted of celebrities who were made famous on reality television shows like Big Brother and Made in Chelsea.[14] Some editions of the show end with a guest performance.
Kelvin MacKenzie controversy
Following a news-themed edition of Pointless Celebrities which aired on 27 October 2014, several fans criticised the presence of former The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, who was responsible for the newspaper's infamous front-page report concerning the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Osman responded to this criticism with at least twenty comments on Twitter, stating that he had not known MacKenzie would appear until "about an hour before" recording, and that he had "strongly argued against it".[15][16][17]
Transmissions
Regular
Series
Start Date
End Date
Episodes
Notes
1
24 August 2009
6 October 2009
30
Series 1 took breaks on: 31 August and 10 September.
2
8 March 2010
16 April 2010
Series 2 did not take any breaks.
3
30 August 2010
22 December 2010
50
Episode 50 was a celebrity special. Series 3 took breaks on: 4 to 14 October and 22 November to 21 December.
4
14 March 2011
26 August 2011
60
This was the first series to be broadcast on BBC One. Series 4 took a breaks from 18 April to 8 July.
5
29 August 2011
6 February 2012
Series 5 took a break from 17 October 2011 to 2 January 2012.
6
13 February 2012
24 August 2012
70
Series 6 took breaks on: 23 March (pre‑empted for Sport Relief), 2 to 27 April, 3 May (an election day in the UK), and 4 June to 10 August.
7
29 August 2012
5 December 2012
Series 7 aired without breaks, but on 16 November a Children in Need special with celebrities was aired. In episode 60 a couple's answer was considered as incorrect even though their answer could be classified as a synonym of the correct answer. As a result, the BBC did not repeat this episode in 2014 and jumped from episode 59 to 61 without any announcement. However, as a massive jackpot of £20,250 was won in episode 60, viewers noticed the missing episode immediately and the BBC received more than 1,000 complaints.[18]
8
2 January 2013
2 April 2013
65
Series 8 did not take any breaks. This series contained the episode where the highest jackpot was won (£24,750). At the time, there was only one category for the final round. This was changed to three categories the contestants could pick from shortly after this series aired.[19]
9
3 April 2013
25 September 2013
55
Series 9 took breaks on: 29 April to 24 May and 24 June to 30 August.
10
26 September 2013
19 March 2014
70
Series 10 took breaks on: 7 to 25 October, 2 December 2013 to 3 January 2014 and 3 to 21 February 2014.
11
20 March 2014
29 September 2014
55
Series 11 took breaks on: 21 April to 23 May and 19 June to 5 September.
12
28 October 2014
25 February 2015
Series 12 took a break from 20 November 2014 to 2 January 2015.
13
23 March 2015
28 July 2015
51
Series 13 took breaks on: 13 April to 3 May, 25 May to 11 June, and 25 June to 10 July.
14
29 July 2015
29 February 2016
55
Series 14 took breaks on: 3 August to 4 September 2015, 30 September to 23 October 2015, 17 November 2015 to 1 January 2016, and 27 January to 26 February 2016.
15
1 March 2016
20 September 2016
Series 15 took breaks on: 21 March to 19 April and 24 May to 26 August. Due to that second break, one episode with a terminally ill contestant was postponed until September. Upon hearing the contestant would not live long enough to see the episode, the show sent her a DVD with the episode.[20]
16
24 October 2016
15 March 2017
Episode 36 marked the 1000th episode of Pointless. For this occasion, Armstrong and Osman swapped roles. Series 16 took breaks on: 21 November to 9 December, 15 to 28 December 2016, and 24 January to 23 February 2017.
17
19 April 2017
29 September 2017
Series 17 took a break from 7 June to 1 September.
18
2 October 2017
12 February 2018
Series 18 took a break from 6 November 2017 to 1 January 2018.
19
2 April 2018
15 June 2018
Series 19 did not take any breaks.
20
19 June 2018
25 January 2019
Series 20 took breaks on: 20 June to 31 August, 19 October to 27 December 2018 and on 1 January 2019.
21
28 January 2019
29 May 2019
Series 21 took a break from 13 February to 29 March.
22
2 September 2019
6 April 2020
Series 22 took breaks on: 16 October 2019 to 1 January 2020 and 27 January to 27 March.
23
7 April 2020
6 October 2020
Series 23 took breaks on: 20 April to 25 June and 30 July to 4 September.
24
7 October 2020
22 February 2021
Series 24 took a break from 3 November 2020 to 1 January 2021.
25
6 April 2021
20 July 2021
Series 25 took a break from 14 June to 9 July.
26
21 July 2021
14 March 2022
Series 26 took breaks on: 26 July to 3 September 2021, 28 October 2021 to 3 January 2022, and 20 January to 11 March.
27
15 March 2022
20 July 2022
This was the final series with Richard Osman as co‑host. Series 27 took breaks on: 18 April to 20 May and 27 June to 11 July.
28
20 September 2022
21 February 2023
This series started later than originally planned due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This was the first series without Richard Osman and instead featured guest co‑hosts, starting with Sally Lindsay (episodes 1–11) Other co‑hosts: Stephen Mangan (12–22), Lauren Laverne (23–33), Konnie Huq (34–44), Alex Brooker (45–55). Series 28 took a break from 4 November 2022 to 23 January 2023.
Co‑hosts: Ellie Taylor (1–2), Liza Tarbuck (3–13), Phil Wang (14–24), Mel Giedroyc (25–35), Anita Rani (36–39), Ria Lina (40–43), and Stephen Mangan (44–48). Series 33 took breaks on: 22 February to 24 March and from 29 April to 5 September. Series 33 had 48 episodes (not 55 as originally scheduled) and series 34 episode 1 followed directly after series 33 episode 48.[21]
Daily at 5:15pm. Series 1 did not take any breaks.
2
25 February 2012
16 June 2012
8
On selected dates across four months.
3
20 October 2012
27 December 2012
10
Weekly on Saturday evenings at 5:40. Episode 9 was first broadcast on a Thursday due to Christmas schedules.
4
16 February 2013
7 September 2013
6
On selected dates. Episodes 1 to 5 were specials with contestants from a specific field: sports, Doctor Who, sitcoms, radio and top chefs.
5
26 October 2013
30 November 2013
10
On Saturdays at selected times. In the first episode of this series, Richard Osman set a new Guinness World Record by naming at least 30 countries, identified by their capital cities in 60 seconds.
6
21 December 2013
3 January 2015
32
On Saturdays at selected times. The series took a break midway through.
7
11 April 2015
26 September 2015
7
On Saturdays at selected times.
8
29 August 2015
30 January 2016
18
On Saturdays at selected times.
9
9 January 2016
3 September 2016
8
On Saturdays at selected times.
10
14 May 2016
31 March 2018
45
On Saturdays at selected times.
11
23 December 2017
1 June 2019
39
On Saturdays at selected times.
12
31 August 2019
14 March 2020
23
On Saturdays at selected times.
13
25 April 2020
5 June 2021
31
On Saturdays at selected times.
14
23 December 2020
22 December 2021
32
On Saturdays at selected times.
15
2 April 2022
5 August 2023
31
On Saturdays at selected times. The first episode was brought forward in tribute to the recently deceased Tom Parker from The Wanted, with the blessing of Parker's family.[23]
16
26 November 2022
20 April 2024
20
On Saturdays at selected times. First series recorded without the dividers between celebrities after COVID restrictions. Apart from the 26 November episode (BBC Centenary Special) and the 2022 Christmas special, all other episodes aired in 2023 and 2024.
17
11 March 2023
TBA
TBA
On Saturdays at selected times. The only episodes to have aired in 2023 were 'Comedy' (11 March) and "Eurovision 2023" (13 May, before the Eurovision final). Only two new episodes aired in 2024 (27 April and 4 May 2024). The 17th series continued on 4 January 2025 (episode 5: Sports Special). This series also featured the 2000th episode of Pointless, which included "the special contestant line up; they are all the greatest players of all time."[24]
Pointless Celebrities: Daytime
Series
Start Date
End Date
Episodes
Notes
1
10 December 2012
21 December 2012
10
Ten episodes with celebrities shown at the time of regular Pointless (weekdays at 5:15pm). Made for the Christmas season of 2012.
Specials
Title
First Broadcast
500th Episode
6 June 2013
1,000th Episode
16 January 2017
"The Good, the Bad and the Bloopers"
23 March 2019
2,000th Episode
2 August 2025
Broadcast and ratings
Series 1 aired on BBC Two between August and October 2009 with the corporation announcing on the day of the final episode's broadcast that it had commissioned Series 2. The series' audience had peaked at 1.69 million viewers; 17.2% of audience share for the timeslot,[25] while averaging around 1 million viewers per episode.[7] Series 2 saw audiences grow modestly; the format was tweaked prior to the start of Series 3, reducing the number of rounds and giving more time for banter between the hosts which had previously been edited out.[7] The change saw strong viewer growth and the show was moved to the BBC's main channel BBC One in 2011.[7][26] By 2013, the programme was recording four episodes in one day[27] and averaged 3.6 million viewers daily, gaining more viewers than ITV game show The Chase, which airs in roughly the same time slot.[26]
In February 2014, Pointless was extended for another 204 episodes, giving three more series, taking the total commissioned to 13 in February 2014. A further 24 Celebrity Specials were also ordered.[28] For the 1,000th episode, Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman traded host and assistant duties and four previous couples who had distinguished themselves in various ways were invited to compete again. The jackpot for this episode began at £2,500 (the usual starting value for Pointless Celebrities) and every pointless answer during the main game added £1,000 to it. On 23 February 2016, it was announced that the show had been recommissioned by the BBC to make 165 more Regular daytime editions along with 45 prime-time Celebrity Specials taking Pointless to the end of 2017.[29][30] On 4 September 2017, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned a further 204 episodes including 165 Regular and 39 Celebrity Specials.[31]
With the start of Series 11 of Pointless Celebrities, the show's set design was changed with some new graphics and an updated intro replaced the one used since the show's debut; this extended to Series 19 of Regular Pointless.
International broadcast
In Australia, Pointless has aired on both BBC UKTV (series 10 and 11) and ABC (series 9–11).[32][33] As of 28 May 2025, it is aired on the Nine Network at 2pm Weekdays
An American version was set to be developed by GSN in 2017.[48] A pilot episode presented by Alison Sweeney with Doug Mirabello as her assistant was produced by Endemol Shine America but never aired.[49]
Merchandise
App games
On 26 February 2014, Endemol's in-house app-publishing division released the official Pointless app, Pointless Quiz, was released for iOS,[50] with an iPad, Android and an Amazon version released a few months later. The Pointless app features animated versions of Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, and allows the player to tackle questions in a similar format to the TV show.
In October 2018, Vocala released an Amazon Alexa Skill based on the show.[51]
Books
Five books have been released of the show: The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World, The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World, The Very Pointless Quiz Book (not to be mistaken for The Pointless Book), The A-Z of Pointless: A brain-teasing bumper book of questions and trivia and "A Pointless History of the World". All five were released by Coronet. In the books, Armstrong and Osman give their insight into pointless matters.
Board games
Three editions of the official board game have been published by University Games, as well as two mini-sized versions, each of which contains updated questions.[52]
In popular culture
Pointless appeared in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out (Series 7, Episode 5); Armstrong and Osman both played themselves.[53]Pointless was also parodied in several sketches of the satirical show Newzoids, in which a caricature of Osman interrupts people in regular situations with phrases used in the game show.[54]
Notes
↑ Osman retired from co-presenting the main series in 2022, but he still co-presents Pointless Celebrities.
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