Pointless

This article is about the British quiz show. For other uses, see Pointless (disambiguation).

Pointless
Also known asPointless Celebrities (celebrity version)
GenreQuiz show
Directed by
  • Nick Harris
  • Julian Smith
  • Jonathan Glazier
  • Richard Valentine
  • Richard van't Riet
  • Stuart McDonald (celebrity)
Presented by
Theme music composerMarc Sylvan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series
  • 31 (Regular)
  • 17 (Celebrity)
No. of episodes
  • 1695 (Regular)
  • 357 (Celebrity)
Production
Executive producers
  • Pam Cavannagh (BBC)
  • Tom Blakeson and David Flynn (Brighter Pictures/Remarkable Television)
Producers
  • Michelle Woods
  • Ed de Burgh
  • John Ryan
  • Laura Turner
Production locations
Editors
  • Hannah Barnes
  • Peter Elphick
  • David Horwell
  • Neil Hunter
  • Nick Parker
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time
  • 45 minutes (Regular)
  • 50 minutes (Celebrity)
Production companies
  • Brighter Pictures (2009)
  • Remarkable Entertainment (2010–present)[c]
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release24 August 2009 (2009-08-24) –
15 April 2011 (2011-04-15)
NetworkBBC One
Release11 July 2011 (2011-07-11) –
present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC 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 23 August 2009. The success of the first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. As of August 2023, the programme is airing Series 30[1] and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers.[2] An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April 2022 had reached Series 15.[3] 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 rotating group of guests took his place. Osman continued to co-present with Armstrong on Pointless Celebrities.[4]


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  1. ^ "BBC One – Pointless – Episode guide". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ Daisy Wyatt (17 November 2014). "Pointless Celebrities attracts more viewers than England's Euro qualifier against Slovenia". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  3. ^ "BBC One – Pointless Celebrities – Episode guide". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  4. ^ Richard Osman [@richardosman] (8 April 2022). "SOME NEWS! After 13 wonderful years I'm leaving daytime Pointless, to concentrate on writing. Will still be doing the celebrity shows and 'HouseOfGames'. It has been the GREATEST pleasure and I can't wait to start watching as a viewer. Thank you to everyone! ❤️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.