Brain of Britain is back, but has changed. Sigh.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

I must admit I hadn't noticed there was no Brain of Britain series in 2025, but it's back now. Good, I've always enjoyed it. But they've tweaked it! Why? It's an incredibly long-lived series and as far as I can recall has been unchanged for decades. One of the things I've always liked is that there is no specialisation at all. Not any more though - each contestant can now choose a topic they know a lot about and they get a few questions on that, preceded by the obligatory chat about why they like it, as well as the standard general knowledge questions. If I wanted that, I'd watch Mastermind.

Just listened to the first episode. The "specialist" round is indeed annoying! They could at least get it out of the way all in one go so that the scores aren't totally skewed.

I notice that they still have the annoying silences when someone doesn't know the answer. At least have a jingle or a ticking clock or something. It's radio - long silences are just dead air, and there were a lot of them in the first episode.

I don't like the spotlight questions. Hopefully they won't last beyond this series.

I don't like the silences either, always makes me think something is wrong with my headphones.

I'm not a regular listener but always misread it as Brian of Britain, probably thanks to Cabin Pressure.

At least they've still got an audience, unlike the horrific new version of Counterpoint...

What fresh hell is this? That's another one I dip into if I come across it.

I agree @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g - I don't like the inclusion of specialisation either.

Late to this, but I agree with all these comments.

The programme was put out to tender last year and this is the result. The specialist section seems particularly objectionable; certainly not in the spirit of the show.

Yes, Counterpoint has already suffered enshittification. And Round Britain Quiz [my favourite] has had its run shortened.

If the Beeb wants to cost cut it needs to look at why it maintains five, yes FIVE salaried orchestras.

I don't mind the specialist bit too much. I suspect the thinking behind is to try and balance out some of the perceived unfairness of the format, whereby if someone gets stiffed by a tricky first question in every round then they never get the chance to build a chain.