Pointless

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This article is about the British quiz show. For other uses, see Pointless (disambiguation).

Pointless
Also known asPointless Celebrities (celebrity version)
GenreQuiz show
Directed by
  • Nick Harris
  • Julian Smith
  • Jonathan Glazier
  • Richard Valentine
  • Richard van't Riet
  • Stuart McDonald (celebrity)
Presented by
Theme music composerMarc Sylvan
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series
  • 34 (Regular)
  • 17 (Celebrity)
No. of episodes
  • 1810 (Regular)
  • 357 (Celebrity)
Production
Executive producers
  • Pam Cavannagh (BBC)
  • Tom Blakeson and David Flynn (Brighter Pictures/Remarkable Television)
Producers
  • Michelle Woods
  • Ed de Burgh
  • John Ryan
  • Laura Turner
Production locations
Editors
  • Hannah Barnes
  • Peter Elphick
  • David Horwell
  • Neil Hunter
  • Nick Parker
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time
  • 45 minutes (Regular)
  • 50 minutes (Celebrity)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release24 August 2009 (2009-08-24) –
15 April 2011 (2011-04-15)
NetworkBBC One
Release11 July 2011 (2011-07-11) –
present

Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot.

Pointless debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of the first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. As of March 2025, the programme is airing Series 33[3] and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers.[4] An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April 2022 had reached Series 15.[5] The format has been exported internationally.

The first 27 series were co-presented by Richard Osman, who announced on 8 April 2022 that he would step down from the role to focus more on his writing career. Beginning with Series 28, a group of guests took his place. Osman continued to co-present with Armstrong on Pointless Celebrities.[6]

Development

[edit]
The regular series was presented by the duo of Alexander Armstrong (left) and Richard Osman (right), from its inception until Osman left the show in 2022

The show was originally to be called Obviously and was conceived by Tom Blakeson, Simon Craig, David Flynn, Nick Mather, Richard Osman and Shaun Parry, producers at Endemol UK, in 2009. They envisaged it as a "reverse Family Fortunes....rewarding obscure knowledge, while allowing people to also give obvious answers....a quiz which could be sort of highbrow and populist simultaneously".[7] Osman was not intended to be co-presenter; originally, he filled the role only as part of a demonstration laid on for the BBC. BBC executives asked him to continue when they commissioned the first series.[7] Osman then approached comedian Alexander Armstrong to be the main presenter; the two men had been peers during their university days.[7] Armstrong, who the previous year had been lined up to present Channel 4's Countdown only to back out for fear of being pigeonholed as a presenter,[8] agreed to present what was perceived as a lower-profile show, with the presence of Osman helping to convince him.[7]

In 2016, Osman told the Belfast Telegraph, "It's never been a show that's had posters, or trailers, and it's presented by these two slightly inept guys. Everyone who's ever watched it feels like it's their programme. We've never changed it, but have always done it in the same way, which is slightly shoddy, enjoying ourselves." On the programme's future, he said, "Every programme has a shelf-life, but as long as people are enjoying it, we will stick with it. If Channel 4 wanted to offer three times as much money, we wouldn't take it. We would stay with the BBC. We love the BBC. Pointless is not for sale. We owe the BBC an enormous debt, because they've looked after us."[9]

The jackpot increases by £250 for every pointless answer given in any round other than the Final. If a team reaches the Final but fails to win the jackpot, it is rolled over to the next episode and increased by £1,000. As of October 2025 the highest recorded jackpot won on the show was £24,750 on 8 March 2013.[10][11]

After Series 27, Osman resigned from the regular series (remaining as co-presenter on Pointless Celebrities) and for series 28 was replaced by presenters: Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq and Alex Brooker.[12] Series 29 added Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter and Gyles Brandreth. Series 30 added Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips and Vick Hope. Series 31 added Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe and Desiree Burch.[13] Series 32 added Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, and Ellie Taylor. Series 33 added Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang and Mel Giedroyc.[1] Series 34 added Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen and Angela Scanlon.[2]

Pointless Celebrities

[edit]

Following the success of Pointless and its transfer to BBC One, the BBC commissioned a celebrity edition of the programme, entitled Pointless Celebrities. Much like the main show, Pointless Celebrities has teams of two celebrities competing against each other to win the jackpot for their chosen charities and has the same gameplay as the regular show.

Unlike the regular version, the jackpot does not roll over and always starts at £2,500 with every pointless answer adding £250 to the jackpot, but this may be doubled on some occasions. £500 is donated to every team who do not win the jackpot and any money won by a team is split equally between the two charities represented by its members.

Pointless Celebrities is broadcast within a prime-time slot on Saturday nights and features some differences in how the game works. Celebrities are allowed to return in more than one episode with the same partner or a different partner and episodes tend to have a theme in regards to the celebrity contestants that took part – for example, a celebrity edition aired in December 2015 consisted of celebrities who were made famous on reality television shows like Big Brother and Made in Chelsea.[14] Some editions of the show end with a guest performance.

Kelvin MacKenzie controversy

[edit]

Following a news-themed edition of Pointless Celebrities which aired on 27 October 2014, several fans criticised the presence of former The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, who was responsible for the newspaper's infamous front-page report concerning the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Osman responded to this criticism with at least twenty comments on Twitter, stating that he had not known MacKenzie would appear until "about an hour before" recording, and that he had "strongly argued against it".[15][16][17]

Transmissions

[edit]

Regular

[edit]
Series Start Date End Date Episodes Notes
1 24 August 2009 6 October 2009 30 Series 1 took breaks on: 31 August and 10 September.
2 8 March 2010 16 April 2010 Series 2 did not take any breaks.
3 30 August 2010 22 December 2010 50 Episode 50 was a celebrity special.
Series 3 took breaks on: 4 to 14 October and 22 November to 21 December.
4 14 March 2011 26 August 2011 60 This was the first series to be broadcast on BBC One.
Series 4 took a breaks from 18 April to 8 July.
5 29 August 2011 6 February 2012 Series 5 took a break from 17 October 2011 to 2 January 2012.
6 13 February 2012 24 August 2012 70 Series 6 took breaks on: 23 March (pre‑empted for Sport Relief), 2 to 27 April, 3 May (an election day in the UK), and 4 June to 10 August.
7 29 August 2012 5 December 2012 Series 7 aired without breaks, but on 16 November a Children in Need special with celebrities was aired.
In episode 60 a couple's answer was considered as incorrect even though their answer could be classified as a synonym of the correct answer. As a result, the BBC did not repeat this episode in 2014 and jumped from episode 59 to 61 without any announcement. However, as a massive jackpot of £20,250 was won in episode 60, viewers noticed the missing episode immediately and the BBC received more than 1,000 complaints.[18]
8 2 January 2013 2 April 2013 65 Series 8 did not take any breaks. This series featured the episode where the highest jackpot was won (£24,750). At the time, there was only one category for the final round. This was changed to three categories the contestants could pick from shortly after this series aired.[19]
9 3 April 2013 25 September 2013 55 Series 9 took breaks on: 29 April to 24 May and 24 June to 30 August.
10 26 September 2013 19 March 2014 70 Series 10 took breaks on: 7 to 25 October, 2 December 2013 to 3 January 2014 and 3 to 21 February 2014.
11 20 March 2014 29 September 2014 55 Series 11 took breaks on: 21 April to 23 May and 19 June to 5 September.
12 28 October 2014 25 February 2015 Series 12 took a break from 20 November 2014 to 2 January 2015.
13 23 March 2015 28 July 2015 51 Series 13 took breaks on: 13 April to 3 May, 25 May to 11 June, and 25 June to 10 July.
14 29 July 2015 29 February 2016 55 Series 14 took breaks on: 3 August to 4 September 2015, 30 September to 23 October 2015, 17 November 2015 to 1 January 2016, and 27 January to 26 February 2016.
15 1 March 2016 20 September 2016 Series 15 took breaks on: 21 March to 19 April and 24 May to 26 August. Due to that second break, one episode with a terminally ill contestant was postponed until September. Upon hearing the contestant would not live long enough to see the episode, the show sent her a DVD with the episode.[20]
16 24 October 2016 15 March 2017 Episode 36 marked the 1000th episode of Pointless. For this occasion, Armstrong and Osman swapped roles.
Series 16 took breaks on: 21 November to 9 December, 15 to 28 December 2016, and 24 January to 23 February 2017.
17 19 April 2017 29 September 2017 Series 17 took a break from 7 June to 1 September.
18 2 October 2017 12 February 2018 Series 18 took a break from 6 November 2017 to 1 January 2018.
19 2 April 2018 15 June 2018 Series 19 did not take any breaks.
20 19 June 2018 25 January 2019 Series 20 took breaks on: 20 June to 31 August, 19 October to 27 December 2018 and on 1 January 2019.
21 28 January 2019 29 May 2019 Series 21 took a break from 13 February to 29 March.
22 2 September 2019 6 April 2020 Series 22 took breaks on: 16 October 2019 to 1 January 2020 and 27 January to 27 March.
23 7 April 2020 6 October 2020 Series 23 took breaks on: 20 April to 25 June and 30 July to 4 September.
24 7 October 2020 22 February 2021 Series 24 took a break from 3 November 2020 to 1 January 2021.
25 6 April 2021 20 July 2021 Series 25 took a break from 14 June to 9 July.
26 21 July 2021 14 March 2022 Series 26 took breaks on: 26 July to 3 September 2021, 28 October 2021 to 3 January 2022, and 20 January to 11 March.
27 15 March 2022 20 July 2022 This was the final series with Richard Osman as co‑host.
Series 27 took breaks on: 18 April to 20 May and 27 June to 11 July.
28 20 September 2022 21 February 2023 This series started later than originally planned due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This was the first series without Richard Osman and instead featured guest co‑hosts, starting with Sally Lindsay (episodes 1‍–‍11) Other co‑hosts: Stephen Mangan (12‍–‍22), Lauren Laverne (23‍–‍33), Konnie Huq (34‍–‍44), Alex Brooker (45‍–‍55).
Series 28 took a break from 4 November 2022 to 23 January 2023.
29 3 April 2023 30 August 2023 54 Co‑hosts: Ed Gamble (1‍–‍10), Rose Matafeo (11‍–‍21), Ria Lina (22‍–‍32), Lucy Porter (33‍–‍43), Gyles Brandreth (44‍–‍54).
Series 29 took breaks on: 8 to 26 May and 7 June to 31 July.
30 31 August 2023 2 April 2024 55 Co‑hosts: Stephen Mangan (1‍–‍4), Konnie Huq (5‍–‍8), Ria Lina (9‍–‍12), Nish Kumar (13‍–‍23), Andi Oliver (24‍–‍34), Sally Phillips (35‍–‍45), Vick Hope (46‍–‍55).
Series 30 took breaks on: 15 September to 27 October 2023, 27 November 2023 to 5 January 2024, and 7 February to 29 March.
31 3 April 2024 28 August 2024 48 Co‑hosts: Hugh Dennis (1‍–‍11), Anita Rani (12‍–‍22), Gabby Logan (23‍–‍33), Josh Widdicombe (34‍–‍44), and Desiree Burch (45‍–‍48).
Series 31 took a break from 29 May to 19 August.
32 29 August 2024 4 February 2025 49 Co‑hosts: Desiree Burch (1‍–‍7), Chris Ramsey (8‍–‍18), Gok Wan (19‍–‍29), Rob Rinder (30‍–‍40), and Ellie Taylor (41‍–‍49).
Series 32 took a break from 7 October 2024 to 6 January 2025.
33 5 February 2025 19 September 2025 48 Co‑hosts: Ellie Taylor (1‍–‍2), Liza Tarbuck (3‍–‍13), Phil Wang (14‍–‍24), Mel Giedroyc (25‍–‍35), Anita Rani (36‍–‍39), Ria Lina (40‍–‍43), and Stephen Mangan (44‍–‍48).
Series 33 took breaks on: 22 February to 24 March and from 29 April to 5 September.
Series 33 had 48 episodes (not 55 as originally scheduled) and series 34 episode 1 followed directly after series 33 episode 48.[21]
34 22 September 2025 TBA 49 Co‑hosts: Angela Rippon (1‍–‍11), Trevor Nelson (12‍–‍22), and Judi Love (from episode 23).
Series 34 is taking a break from 27 October 2025.

Co-hosts

[edit]
Up to series 34 episode 25 on 24 October 2025.[22][1][2]
Co-Host Episodes S 28 S 29 S 30 S 31 S 32 S 33 S 34
Sally Lindsay 11 11
Stephen Mangan 20 11 4 5
Lauren Laverne 11 11
Konnie Huq 15 11 4
Alex Brooker 11 11
Ed Gamble 10 10
Rose Matafeo 11 11
Ria Lina 19 11 4 4
Lucy Porter 11 11
Gyles Brandreth 11 11
Nish Kumar 11 11
Andi Oliver 11 11
Sally Phillips 11 11
Vick Hope 10 10
Hugh Dennis 11 11
Anita Rani 15 11 4
Gabby Logan 11 11
Josh Widdicombe 11 11
Desiree Burch 11 4 7
Chris Ramsey 11 11
Gok Wan 11 11
Rob Rinder 11 11
Ellie Taylor 11 9 2
Liza Tarbuck 11 11
Phil Wang 11 11
Mel Giedroyc 11 11
Angela Rippon 11 11
Trevor Nelson 11 11
Judi Love 3 3
Total 334 55 54 55 48 49 48 25

Celebrity

[edit]
Series Start Date End Date Episodes Notes
1 4 July 2011 8 July 2011 5 Daily at 5:15 pm. Series 1 did not take any breaks.
2 25 February 2012 16 June 2012 8 On selected dates across four months.
3 20 October 2012 27 December 2012 10 Weekly on Saturday evenings at 5:40. Episode 9 was first broadcast on a Thursday due to Christmas schedules.
4 16 February 2013 7 September 2013 6 On selected dates. Episodes 1 to 5 were specials with contestants from a specific field: sports, Doctor Who, sitcoms, radio and top chefs.
5 26 October 2013 30 November 2013 10 On Saturdays at selected times.
In the first episode of this series, Richard Osman set a new Guinness World Record by naming at least 30 countries, identified by their capital cities in 60 seconds.
6 21 December 2013 3 January 2015 32 On Saturdays at selected times. The series took a break midway through.
7 11 April 2015 26 September 2015 7 On Saturdays at selected times.
8 29 August 2015 30 January 2016 18 On Saturdays at selected times.
9 9 January 2016 3 September 2016 8 On Saturdays at selected times.
10 14 May 2016 31 March 2018 45 On Saturdays at selected times.
11 23 December 2017 1 June 2019 39 On Saturdays at selected times.
12 31 August 2019 14 March 2020 23 On Saturdays at selected times.
13 25 April 2020 5 June 2021 31 On Saturdays at selected times.
14 23 December 2020 22 December 2021 32 On Saturdays at selected times.
15 2 April 2022 5 August 2023 31 On Saturdays at selected times. The first episode was brought forward in tribute to the recently deceased Tom Parker from The Wanted, with the blessing of Parker's family.[23]
16 26 November 2022 20 April 2024 20 On Saturdays at selected times. First series recorded without the dividers between celebrities after COVID restrictions. Apart from the 26 November episode (BBC Centenary Special) and the 2022 Christmas special, all other episodes aired in 2023 and 2024.
17 11 March 2023 TBA TBA On Saturdays at selected times. The only episodes to have aired in 2023 were 'Comedy' (11 March) and "Eurovision 2023" (13 May, before the Eurovision final). Only two new episodes aired in 2024 (27 April and 4 May 2024). The 17th series continued on 4 January 2025 (episode 5: Sports Special). This series also featured the 2000th episode of Pointless, which included "the special contestant line up; they are all the greatest players of all time."[24]

Pointless Celebrities: Daytime

[edit]
Series Start Date End Date Episodes Notes
1 10 December 2012 21 December 2012 10 Ten episodes with celebrities shown at the time of regular Pointless (weekdays at 5:15 pm). Made for the Christmas season of 2012.

Specials

[edit]
Title First Broadcast
500th Episode 6 June 2013
1,000th Episode 16 January 2017
"The Good, the Bad and the Bloopers" 23 March 2019
2,000th Episode 2 August 2025

Broadcast and ratings

[edit]

Series 1 aired on BBC Two between August and October 2009 with the corporation announcing on the day of the final episode's broadcast that it had commissioned Series 2. The series' audience had peaked at 1.69 million viewers; 17.2% of audience share for the timeslot,[25] while averaging around 1 million viewers per episode.[7] Series 2 saw audiences grow modestly; the format was tweaked prior to the start of Series 3, reducing the number of rounds and giving more time for banter between the hosts which had previously been edited out.[7] The change saw strong viewer growth and the show was moved to the BBC's main channel BBC One in 2011.[7][26] By 2013, the programme was recording four episodes in one day[27] and averaged 3.6 million viewers daily, gaining more viewers than ITV game show The Chase, which airs in roughly the same time slot.[26]

In February 2014, Pointless was extended for another 204 episodes, giving three more series, taking the total commissioned to 13 in February 2014. A further 24 Celebrity Specials were also ordered.[28] For the 1,000th episode, Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman traded host and assistant duties and four previous couples who had distinguished themselves in various ways were invited to compete again. The jackpot for this episode began at £2,500 (the usual starting value for Pointless Celebrities) and every pointless answer during the main game added £1,000 to it. On 23 February 2016, it was announced that the show had been recommissioned by the BBC to make 165 more Regular daytime editions along with 45 prime-time Celebrity Specials taking Pointless to the end of 2017.[29][30] On 4 September 2017, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned a further 204 episodes including 165 Regular and 39 Celebrity Specials.[31]

With the start of Series 11 of Pointless Celebrities, the show's set design was changed with some new graphics and an updated intro replaced the one used since the show's debut; this extended to Series 19 of Regular Pointless.

International broadcast

[edit]

In Australia, Pointless has aired on both BBC UKTV (series 10 and 11) and ABC (series 9–11).[32][33] As of 28 May 2025, it is aired on the Nine Network at 2pm Weekdays

In South Africa, Pointless airs on BBC BRIT on the African satellite television provider, DStv.

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Result
2012 National Television Awards Comedy Panel Show Longlisted
TV Choice Awards Best Daytime Show Nominated[34]
2013 National Television Awards Most Popular Daytime Programme[citation needed] Longlisted
2014 Nominated
2015 Nominated
The Television and Radio Industries Club Awards Daytime Programme Won[35]
2016 National Television Awards Most Popular Daytime Programme Nominated[36]

International versions

[edit]

Legend:   Currently airing[37]     No longer airing  

Country Local title Channel Presenter Assistant Premiere date End date
Australia Pointless[38] Network Ten Mark Humphries Andrew Rochford 23 July 2018 10 May 2019
Czech Republic Míň je víc!
(Less Is More!) 		ČT1 Jan Smetana — 5 January 2015 17 December 2015
Croatia Tog se nitko nije sjetio
(No one thought of that) 		RTL Antonija Blaće Krešimir Sučević-Međeral 29 April 2013 20 July 2015[39]
Denmark Jo færre, jo bedre
(The fewer, the better) 		TV2 Steen Langeberg Marie Tangaa 6 January 2019 present
France Personne n'y avait pensé !
(No one had thought of it!) 		France 3 Cyril Féraud — 16 July 2011 22 January 2021
Germany Null gewinnt[40]
(Zero wins) 		Das Erste Dieter Nuhr Ralph Caspers 20 July 2012 1 March 2013
Italy Zero e lode![41]
(Zero cum laude!) 		Rai 1 Alessandro Greco Francesco Lancia 11 September 2017 1 June 2018
North Macedonia Без Поени!
Bez Poeni![42]
(No Points!) 		Sitel Snezana Velkov — 1 November 2014 7 March 2015
Netherlands Pointless[43] NPO 1 Lucille Werner Owen Schumacher 27 July 2015 28 August 2015
Poland Tylko Ty![44][45]
(Only you) 		TVP2 Tomasz Kammel Radosław Kotarski 27 February 2014 30 May 2014
Serbia Toga se niko nije setio[46]
(No one thought of that) 		Prva Tamara Grujić Dragan Ilić 5 April 2014 11 May 2014
 Switzerland Weniger ist mehr[47]
(Less is more) 		SRF1 Patrick Hässig — 20 August 2012 12 September 2014

An American version was set to be developed by GSN in 2017.[48] A pilot episode presented by Alison Sweeney with Doug Mirabello as her assistant was produced by Endemol Shine America but never aired.[49]

Merchandise

[edit]

App games

[edit]

On 26 February 2014, Endemol's in-house app-publishing division released the official Pointless app, Pointless Quiz, was released for iOS,[50] with an iPad, Android and an Amazon version released a few months later. The Pointless app features animated versions of Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, and allows the player to tackle questions in a similar format to the TV show.

In October 2018, Vocala released an Amazon Alexa Skill based on the show.[51]

Books

[edit]

Five books have been released of the show: The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World, The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World, The Very Pointless Quiz Book (not to be mistaken for The Pointless Book), The A-Z of Pointless: A brain-teasing bumper book of questions and trivia and A Pointless History of the World. All five were released by Coronet. In the books, Armstrong and Osman give their insight into pointless matters.

Board games

[edit]

Three editions of the official board game have been published by University Games, as well as two mini-sized versions, each of which contains updated questions.[52]

[edit]

Pointless appeared in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out (Series 7, Episode 5); Armstrong and Osman both played themselves.[53] Pointless was also parodied in several sketches of the satirical show Newzoids, in which a caricature of Osman interrupts people in regular situations with phrases used in the game show.[54]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Osman retired from co-presenting the main series in 2022, but he still co-presents Pointless Celebrities.
  2. ^ Regular series only, the role of co-presenter has currently been filled by Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq, Alex Brooker, Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter, Gyles Brandreth, Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips, Vick Hope, Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe, Desiree Burch, Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, Ellie Taylor, Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang, Mel Giedroyc, Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen, and Angela Scanlon.[1][2]
  3. ^ Known as Remarkable Television prior to 2016.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Mellor, Louisa (28 January 2025). "Pointless: Who Are the New Guest Hosts for 2025?". Den of Geek. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Robinson, Dom (8 September 2025). "Pointless Series 34: New celebrity hosts join Alexander Armstrong". dvd-fever.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  3. ^ "BBC One – Pointless – Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  4. ^ Daisy Wyatt (17 November 2014). "Pointless Celebrities attracts more viewers than England's Euro qualifier against Slovenia". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  5. ^ "BBC One – Pointless Celebrities – Episode guide". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  6. ^ Richard Osman [@richardosman] (8 April 2022). "SOME NEWS! After 13 wonderful years I'm leaving daytime Pointless, to concentrate on writing. Will still be doing the celebrity shows and 'HouseOfGames'. It has been the GREATEST pleasure and I can't wait to start watching as a viewer. Thank you to everyone! ❤️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Tom Meltzer (4 June 2013). "Pointless: Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman on TV's favourite quiz". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  8. ^ Mark Sweney (30 October 2008). "Alexander Armstrong backs out of Countdown job". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  9. ^ "'We started Pointless thinking it would be a bit of fun... 1,200 shows later, we're still here'". Belfast Telegraph. 10 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. ^ Russell, Sam (25 May 2020). "Less than zero: how Pointless's tweaked finale made fools of us all". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Richard Osman reveals the secrets of Pointless". Radio Times. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Richard Osman replaced on Pointless by SIX guest stars for new episodes". 2 September 2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ^ Mellor, Louisa (23 February 2023). "Pointless: Meet 2023's New Hosts Replacing Richard Osman". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Pointless Celebrities, Series 8, Reality TV". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  15. ^ Morgan, Georgia (27 October 2014). "Pointless host Richard Osman apologises to viewers for Kelvin Mackenzie's appearance on the show". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  16. ^ Lazarus, Susanna (27 October 2014). "Richard Osman was not happy about Kelvin Mackenzie's appearance on Pointless Celebrities..." Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  17. ^ Clarke, Donald (26 October 2014). "PointlessGate isn't really a scandal". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  18. ^ Robinson, Dom (20 August 2014). "Pointless – the missing £20250 jackpot episode!". DVD Fever.
  19. ^ Russell, Sam (25 May 2020). "Less than zero: how Pointless's tweaked finale made fools of us all". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "Contestant on TV gameshow Pointless watches episode before she dies". Glasgow Times. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  21. ^ "Pointless: series 33". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  22. ^ "Last published episode". BBC. 7 October 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  23. ^ Bagwell, Matt (3 April 2022). "Tom Parker's Emotional Pointless Episode Moves Viewers To Tears". Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  24. ^ "Pointless Celebrities". BBC. 28 July 2025. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  25. ^ BBC Daytime re-commissions Pointless Archived 4 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine BBC Press Office.
  26. ^ a b TV and Radio (6 June 2013). "Pointless it may be, but Alexander Armstrong's gameshow is certainly addictive". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  27. ^ Graham, Alison (10 June 2013). "Pointless star Richard Osman on the show that made him a TV heart-throb". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  28. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (12 February 2014). "Pointless gets 204 more episodes, 24 celeb specials on BBC One". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  29. ^ Caroline Westbrook (23 February 2016). "Pointless to hit 1,000 episodes as BBC signs deal for over 200 more shows – Metro News". Metro. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  30. ^ Jess Denham (23 February 2016). "Pointless to break 1000 episode milestone as BBC orders hundreds more". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  31. ^ Ling, Thomas (4 September 2017). "Pointless fans, rejoice! BBC quiz recommissioned for 204 more episodes". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  32. ^ "Pointless". ABC Television. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  33. ^ Knox, David (14 November 2015). "ABC: Summer highlights". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  34. ^ Daniels, Colin (10 September 2012). "TVChoice Awards 2012: The winners – In full". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  35. ^ "TRIC – The Television and Radio Industries Club – 2015 TRIC Awards Winners". Television and Radio Industries Club. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  36. ^ Lindsay, Duncan (21 January 2016). "The Chase's Mark Labbett and Anne Hegerty talk NTA wins and Pointless rivalry". Metro. Archived from the original on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  37. ^ "Vildbjerg-lærere var tæt på tv-gevinst". Herning Folkeblad (in Danish). 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  38. ^ Carmody, Broede (8 May 2018). "British game show Pointless set to replace Family Feud". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  39. ^ "TV program". tvprofil.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
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