'Mastermind' boss denies dumbing down

Mastermind producer Jon Kelly has denied claims that the show has been 'dumbed down'.

The quiz series, hosted by John Humphrys, sees contestants answer questions on general knowledge and a specialist subject.

However, Kelly dismissed rumours that the contestants' areas of expertise are becoming too focused on popular culture.

"We've had this accusation before," he told the Radio Times. "The show reflects the interests of modern Britain and they can be popular culture subjects. I think there's a common misconception that the previous Mastermind didn't have any popular subjects, but it did. Punk rock was once a subject, as was Doctor Who."

He added: "People like to think that the olden days were better. We are making a Champion of Champions series, which will pit older winners against more recent winners. The proof of the pudding will be seen when that's played out."

Kelly also revealed that the show's producers sometimes reject contestants' choices of specialist subjects.

"They have to be subjeccts that we can set questions on that are interesting and engaging to the viewers," he said. "We rule out things that we have done too recently and the subject has to be sufficiently dense that we can write enough questions.

"One man wanted to do 'The History of the World Since Jesus Christ'. We told him he'd better narrow it down. He came back with 'The History of Europe Since Jesus Christ'. We realised then that he wasn't for us."