Round Britain Quiz (or RBQ for short) is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called Transatlantic Quiz, a contest between American and British teams on which Alistair Cooke was an early participant.
Originally hosted by Gilbert Harding and Lionel Hale, teams from various regions around the UK play in a tournament of head-to-head battles. In each half-hour programme, each team faces four multi-part questions with up to six points that are awarded on the host's judgement. The parts of the question generally have a common theme running throughout them, and a degree of lateral thought is often necessary to score full marks. One question for each team has a music or sound component, and another is submitted by listeners. Points are awarded to each team by the host/quizmaster. The teams may ask questions, e.g. to narrow the field. The more they ask, the more marks they will lose.
For many years until his death in 1996, the programme was hosted by Gordon Clough.[1] The programme was then hosted by broadcaster Nick Clarke until his death in 2006. He was succeeded at the start of the 2007 series by Tom Sutcliffe.
The current theme tune is called Scherzo and Trio performed by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
The original theme tune was Radioscope by Georges Delerue.
Hosts during the programme's history have included Roy Plomley and Anthony Quinton. Regional contestants have included Irene Thomas, John Julius Norwich, Fred Housego, Brian J. Ford, Patrick Hannan and Philippa Gregory.
Puzzles like those in Round Britain Quiz (a series of cryptic clues linked by a common theme) have appeared in written form in publications such as BBC MindGames Magazine.
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