Battle of the Brains is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 hosted by Nicky Campbell

Nicky Campbell

Nicholas Andrew Argyll "Nicky" Campbell is a Scottish radio and television presenter and journalist. He is known for his time presenting on programmes such as the consumer affairs programme Watchdog...

 and produced by Shine Limited

Shine Limited

Shine Limited is a British media production company with offices in London and Manchester....

 for BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. The first series was broadcast weekdays on BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 at 6:00pm, and started on 28 July 2008, ending on 22 August. The second series began on 9 February 2009 ending on 6 March. Two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

. The original presenter was Paddy O'Connell

Paddy O'Connell

Guy Patrick Bennett O'Connell , known as Paddy O'Connell, is an English television and radio presenter, working mainly for the BBC....

.

Round 1

Each captain chooses one member from their team of 6 to take part in one of 5 (6 in series 1) different tests of skill in one of 15 different categories. This happens 5 times in the first round and any member of the team can play except the team captain. If the player is successful they rejoin their team, if not, then the player is eliminated. If one one team is totally successful, then they would have all 6 players intact, while the other team would be down to one. In series 2, the types of challenge stuck to a specific order; Speed, Memory, Wisdom, Identity and Nerve.

The 6 different types of challenge are:

• Speed - The players will be asked questions about the chosen subject on the buzzer. The winner is the first person to answer three questions correctly. In series 2, this was increased to five questions answered correctly.
• Memory - The players have to take it turns to name things of a list relating to the chosen subject. The round ends when an incorrect answer is given, an answer is repeated or if no answer is given within 5 seconds.
• Wisdom - Both players will have 60 second
  Second
  The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
  
  s on the chosen subject to answer as many questions as possible. The person with the most correct answers wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death tie-breaker question on the buzzer
  Buzzer
  A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric. Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers and confirmation of user input such as a mouse click or keystroke....
  
  s is asked.
• Identity - The players are asked to identify one thing related to the chosen subject. Clues are read out by Paddy/Nicky one at a time. The player who answers the question first wins the round. If the player answers incorrectly, they are frozen out of the next clue.
• Nerve - Like a penalty shootout
  Penalty shootout
  The shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to penalty shots in that a single player takes one shot on goal...
  
  , each player is answered a question each. If Player 1 answers correctly, then Player 2 would have to answer correctly or lose. If Player 1 answered incorrectly and Player 2 answered correctly, then Player 1 would lose. If both players did the same, the round will continue. If it was still a tie after 5 questions each, it would go down to a sudden-death buzzer question.

In series 1, there was a 6th option, which was removed from series 2:

• Accuracy - The players are asked three nearest-to-the-mark question
  Question
  A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information may be provided with an answer....
  
  s. The person who gets the nearest to the correct answer wins a point. The first to 2 wins. If both players type in the same answer, both get a point and it would become the first to 3 correct answers who would win.

The 15 different categories are:

• Animal Kingdom
• Art
• Classical World
• Film & TV
• Food & Drink
• Geography
• Great Britain
• History
• Literature
• Music
• Nature
• Politics
• Science
• Sport
• Transport & Technology

Round 2

In the second round, the players who won the head-to-heads in round 1, along with the player who didn't play compete in a series of questions. The captain of the opposing team chooses which player to answer the question. If the answer is correct, the player stays, if the answer is wrong, the player is eliminated. This continues until one team has no players left.

Final round

The winning team gets all their players regenerated. They have 90 seconds to get 6 consecutive questions correct. The question is read out, the captain chooses a player. If they get it right their light is turned on and they can't answer another question. If they answer wrong, then everyone's light is turned off. If all 6 lights are on the team wins. In the first series, the prize was £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

2,000 on each show. In the second series, the prize fund started at £1,000, but if the team failed to win, the money rolled over to the next show.

Captain's Question

Following the final round the team captain has to answer a question correctly. With the captain turned around, so no signals of any kind can be made, Paddy/Nicky offers the team 2 questions. They have to pick which one their captain will know the answer to. If the captain answers correctly the team can return to the next show. If answered incorrectly the team are eliminated and 2 new teams appear on the next show. (Incidentally, the captain gets asked the other question to see if he/she would have known the right answer.)

Results

*Key: If the team answer the "Captain's Question" correctly, the team name will be in bold. If they completed the final round, they have a star next to their name.

The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the shows:

-- indicates Team 1 won.

-- indicates Team 2 won.

Series 1

Episode #	Air date	Team 1	Players left after Round 1	Team 2
1	28 July 2008	Di's Diamonds*	5 - 2	Poachers
2	29 July 2008	Di's Diamonds	6 - 1	Volunteers
3	30 July 2008	Di's Diamonds	4 - 3	Guilders
4	31 July 2008	Di's Diamonds	3 - 4	Ignorance Is Bliss
5	1 August 2008	Wykeham Wonderers	2 - 5	Oxford Martyrs
6	4 August 2008	Life's Too Short	3 - 4	Oxford Martyrs
7	5 August 2008	Annie's Boys	5 - 2	Quizmasters
8	6 August 2008	Annie's Boys*	4 - 3	Chalkheads
9	7 August 2008	Saints & Sinner	3 - 4	Why Keep Fit?
10	8 August 2008	Swampbeasts	5 - 2	Why Keep Fit?
11	11 August 2008	Liccle 'Ommers	3 - 4	The Clayheads
12	12 August 2008	Ashford Road Club	1 - 6	The Clayheads
13	13 August 2008	We Love I.T.	2 - 5	The Clayheads
14	14 August 2008	The Ant Hill Mob	3 - 4	The Clayheads
15	15 August 2008	The Ant Hill Mob	5 - 2	Oscar Lives
16	18 August 2008	The Ant Hill Mob	4 - 3	Loitering Within Trent
17	19 August 2008	Titans	3 - 4	Olé!*
18	20 August 2008	Tetsudo	2 - 5	Dreadnoughts
19	21 August 2008	Bridge Too Far	3 - 4	Dreadnoughts
20	22 August 2008	Bridge Too Far	4 - 3	Towns Women's Guild

Series 2

Episode #	Air date	Team 1	Players left after Round 1	Team 2
1	9 February 2009	The Eager Beavers*	4 - 3	Healthy, Wealthy & Wise
2	10 February 2009	Friends of Laszlo	3 - 4	Preston Quizmasters
3	11 February 2009	Thynn Pickings	1 - 6	Preston Quizmasters
4	12 February 2009	7 Deadly Sinners	4 - 3	Preston Quizmasters
5	13 February 2009	7 Deadly Sinners	5 - 2	Patently Obvious
6	16 February 2009	The Ronnies	3 - 4	The Ones To Watch
7	17 February 2009	Quizee Rascals	5 - 2	Rosetta Stone
8	18 February 2009	Quizee Rascals*	4 - 3	Yorkshire Puddings
9	19 February 2009	Quizee Rascals	4 - 3	Village People
10	20 February 2009	Quizee Rascals	4 - 3	Oxford Cavaliers
11	23 February 2009	Lancashire Fold	5 - 2	Shugborough Centurions
12	24 February 2009	Lancashire Fold	4 - 3	De-Generation
13	25 February 2009	The Dalry Lamas	5 - 2	Norfolk Wanderers
14	26 February 2009	The Dalry Lamas	3 - 4	G-Force*
15	27 February 2009	The Evergreens	2 - 5	G-Force
16	2 March 2009	Freeloaders	2 - 5	G-Force
17	3 March 2009	Never On A Wednesday	4 - 3	G-Force
18	4 March 2009	Never On A Wednesday	6 - 1	Green Baize Giants
19	5 March 2009	Oxford Deep Blues	5 - 2	Beer Writers
20	6 March 2009	Oxford Deep Blues	2 - 5	The Cheshire Set*