Genius (radio series)
 The cover of Genius Series 1 | |
| Genre | Comedy game show |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Syndicates | BBC Radio 4 Extra |
| TV adaptations | Genius |
| Starring | Dave Gorman |
| Created by |
|
| Produced by | Simon Nicholls |
| Original release | 27 October 2005 – 22 December 2008 |
| No. of series | 3 (plus 1 special) |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Opening theme | Lobster Bucket! by The Aquabats |
| Website | www |
Genius is a BBC Radio 4 comedy gameshow presented by comedian Dave Gorman. Listeners send in 'genius' ideas which are considered by Gorman and a guest before a studio audience, with a different guest for each show. One series of five episodes was broadcast between 27 October and 24 November 2005, with a second series of six episodes broadcast between 7 September and 12 October 2006 and a third series between 1 October and 5 November 2007. A Christmas special was broadcast on 22 December 2008. An unbroadcast television pilot was made in November 2007,[1] with a full series recorded for BBC Two in September 2008.[2]
The series was created by Ali Crockatt and David Scott, and is produced by Simon Nicholls.
Rules
People send their ideas to Genius and, if chosen, travel to a recording of the show to put forward their idea to the audience. Superficially, the idea must have some quality by which it will improve the standard of living either for the individual or society at large, although in reality, it is more important that the idea has comedic value. An early addition to the rules was that evil genius should count. Most ideas are created by one person, however it is possible for an idea to be made by more than one person. There are normally five different ideas on every episode, but this has been known to differ.
The idea can be anything, such as an invention, a law or a government policy. The idea does not have to be very expensive, or even ethical. Some ideas are constructed or otherwise trialled in real life, and the consequences are played out to their extremes, with the host usually attempting to identify a flaw in each idea. The guest then decides if the idea is "Genius or not".
Once all the ideas have been put forward, the guest then picks his/her two favourites. The winner out of these two is chosen by the audience, by applauding for their choice. The one with the loudest applause wins the "coveted" Genius trophy. Since series two, the winner also reads the end credits.
However, one of the winning ideas at the end of the third series was to change the voting system of the show. A person complained that the second idea had an unfair advantage because they knew how much louder they needed to clap. In the following episode, the Christmas Special, the winning idea was instead decided by the guest judge within a 10-second time limit.
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 5 | 27 October 2005 | 24 November 2005 | |
| 2 | 6 | 7 September 2006 | 12 October 2006 | |
| 3 | 6 | 1 October 2007 | 5 November 2007 | |
| Special | 22 December 2008 | |||
Episodes
Series 1 (2005)
| No. overall | No. in series | Celebrity | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Paul Daniels | 27 October 2005[3] | |
|
Cash point common sense questions - Not Genius | ||||
| 2 | 2 | Richard Madeley | 3 November 2005[4] | |
|
Mobile phone breathalysers - Genius | ||||
| 3 | 3 | John Fortune | 10 November 2005[5] | |
|
You're dumped day - Genius | ||||
| 4 | 4 | Neil Innes | 17 November 2005[6] | |
|
Bunk chair - Genius | ||||
| 5 | 5 | Stewart Lee | 24 November 2005[7] | |
|
Telephone that lets you hear what the other person is saying after they've hung up - Not Genius | ||||
Series 2 (2006)
| No. overall | No. in series | Celebrity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | Johnny Vegas | |
|
Metal detector dogs - Genius (Winner) | |||
| 7 | 2 | Carol Vorderman | |
|
Rotating home rooms - Genius | |||
| 8 | 3 | Brian Sewell | |
|
Anesthetise aeroplane passengers - Genius | |||
| 9 | 4 | Chris Addison | |
|
Weighing scales in shoes - Not Genius | |||
| 10 | 5 | Sid Waddell | |
|
Perforated bread - Genius (Winner) | |||
| 11 | 6 | Armando Iannucci | |
|
Parachutes for aeroplanes - Genius | |||
Series 3 (2007)
| No. overall | No. in series | Celebrity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | Rob Newman | |
|
Old people to monitor CCTV to look for crime - Not Genius | |||
| 13 | 2 | Germaine Greer | |
|
Inverse alarm clock - Not Genius | |||
| 14 | 3 | Simon Munnery | |
| 15 | 4 | Gyles Brandreth | |
|
Reduce the speed limt by 1mph - Not Genius | |||
| 16 | 5 | Matthew Wright | |
|
Shower coat - Genius | |||
| 17 | 6 | Charlie Brooker | |
|
Mobile service stations - Not Genius | |||
Christmas Special (2008)
| No. overall | No. in series | Celebrity | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1 | Lee Mack | 22 December 2008[8] | |
|
Abolish Christmas - Not Genius | ||||
TV series (2009)
A television series of Genius was recorded and the first series was broadcast on BBC Two from 20 March 2009.[9] A second series started recording on 23 May 2010 and was broadcast later that year.
References
- ^ Wolf, Ian (19 September 2007). "A Genius TV programme". British Sitcom Guide. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
- ^ Dowell, Ben (28 April 2008). "Gorman's Genius set for BBC2". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
- ^ "Paul Daniels". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ "Richard Madeley". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ^ "John Fortune". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ^ "Neil Innes". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ^ "Stewart Lee". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
- ^ "Christmas Special". Genius. BBC Radio 4 Extra. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ^ "Genius with Dave Gorman: series 1, episode 1". BBC Programmes. BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2020.