

Host

Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round. Wright drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The atmosphere is helped by Mastermind's famously ominous theme music, "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. The quiz programme originated and was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before permanently moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.

Sue Perkins hosts as the country's brightest spellers aged between nine and 13 compete in a series of word-related games and challenges, displaying a combination of speed, skill and brains to deconstruct words many have never even heard of, let alone spelled, before. Comedian Joe Lycett reports from backstage, where the youngster and their parents are making last-minute preparations, while newsreader Moira Stuart officiates as the show's pronouncer

Saber y ganar, the cultural quiz show of "La 2" hosted by Jordi Hurtado, has celebrated sixteen years on the air, thus becoming the daily program with a longer running time in the history of Spanish television. During the show's thirty-minute duration three contestants compete in different tests where they have to answer trivia-like questions, putting their mental, reasoning and memory abilities to the test. Most of the questions have a moderate level of difficulty and are spread over six different games: "Cada sabio con su tema", where each contestant answer questions about a given topic of their choice; "La pregunta caliente", where contestants must answer random questions; "El duelo", where two contestants answer questions about a topic that changes daily; "La parte por el todo", where the contestants must figure out what an image, piece of text or piece of music belong to; "La calculadora humana", where the contestant with the second highest score must answer fifteen basic arithmetic operations in 50 seconds in order to keep his/her earnings for the day; and finally "El reto", where the contestant with the least score has to figure out seven words from their root and definition in order to remain in the game. If the contestant loses the "El Reto", a new individual will be chosen to replace him/her the next episode.

Ciao Darwin is a variety game show format from Italy sold under licence to several countries, including Romania, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Canada, USA, China and Greece. There are two competing teams of about 50 people each, usually made up of people who fit certain opposing stereotypes. In each game two members of the audience are selected at random, one from each team, indicated by a light in front of them which remains illuminated when all the other team members' lights have gone off. The games involve contestants competing in acts of bravery, style and talent, some of which are designed to humiliate the contestants, especially an assault course which was introduced with the Italian version in 2010, and the Finale which is a water tank game.