The Brains Trust

The Brains Trust was a popular informational BBC radio and later television programme in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s, on which a panel of experts tried to answer questions sent in by the audience.

The series was created by BBC producers Howard Thomas and Douglas Cleverdon. The programme started on the Forces radio service in January 1941, the first series under the name Any Questions? (a name later reused for a different radio programme). Subsequently renamed The Brains Trust, it continued for 84 weeks continuously from its initial broadcast and became one of the most popular of informational programmes. Because of its popularity, it was moved to the peak time on Sunday afternoons. It was typically heard by around 29% of the UK population and generated four to five thousand letters each week from the general public. During the early war years it helped raise morale on the Home Front, and the verbal sparring between its three original panel members, especially Julian Huxley and Cyril Joad, made it one of the most popular programmes with listeners.(2)

The radio programme ended in May 1949 and transferred to BBC television in the 1950s. The soundtrack was broadcast on the Home Service during the week following the television broadcast.

The programme enjoyed a brief revival in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when it was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. It was then presented by Joan Bakewell. It featured a variety of guests, including Theodore Zeldin, Ian Stewart, A.S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins and Angela Tilby.

The original three members of the broadcasting team were C. E. M. Joad (philosopher and psychologist), Julian Huxley (biologist) and Commander A. B. Campbell (retired naval officer). The chairman was Donald McCullough. Later participants included: Edward Andrade, Noel Annan, A. J. Ayer, Michael Ayrton, Isaiah Berlin, Jacob Bronowski, Collin Brooks, Violet Bonham Carter, Alan Bullock, Anthony Chenevix-Trench, Kenneth Clark, Margery Fry, Commander Rupert Gould, Will Hay, Bishop Joost de Blank, C. S. Lewis, John Maud, Herbert Hart, Malcolm Muggeridge (chairman), Anna Neagle, Egon Ronay, Bertrand Russell, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Hannen Swaffer, Gwyn Thomas (novelist), Geoffrey Crowther (as chairman) Barbara Ward and Tom Wintringham.

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