Ken Bruce is bringing his PopMaster quiz to TV screens for the time in a new six-part series for More4.
The former BBC DJ has been giving music fans the chance to showcase their knowledge of music and artists for 25 years and will now host and executive produce a TV version which “will honour the much-loved music quiz with a few surprises thrown in”.
The quiz sees two contestants asked a series of 10 questions based on popular music from the 1950s to the present day. Each question is worth three points other than the third, sixth and ninth bonus questions which are worth six points and come from a cryptic topic chosen by the player at the start of the quiz. There are a total of 39 points up for grabs.
Questions cover a variety of genres of music and range from naming artists based on the titles of or clips of songs, as well as identifying the year certain songs were hits – often seeing players being just ‘one year out’.
After both players have answered 10 questions, the winning contestant goes on to play ‘Three-in-Ten’, in which they have ten seconds to name three UK Singles Chart hits for one particular artist or group.
Episode winners will advance to a grand final, where only one can be crowned overall champion.
Ken Bruce said: “After all these years we are finally bring PopMaster to the telly where we’ll be challenging music lovers from around the country to not only recall a range of facts and stats about chart toppers and beyond over the decades, but to do so under the glare of studio lights and with the added pressure of television cameras. I can’t wait to get started – and find out whether I might have a face for TV after all!”
Jo Street, Channel 4’s Head of Features & Daytime, added: “I feel like it has been my mission in life to bring PopMaster to the telly so I am beyond thrilled to announce that the wonderful Ken Bruce is bringing his iconic and much-loved ormat from radio to television, finding a home on More4.
“Fans will now be able to go from shouting answers at their speakers to shouting them at the screen. I can’t wait to play along!”