Mastermind failing to enthuse ethnic minorities
Mastermind, the BBC’s long running chair bound quiz show, is facing some tough questions of its own after the broadcaster sought to find out why the show was struggling to locate contestants from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Beeb bosses have been on a recruitment drive in parts of the country with significant minority populations in a bid to boost the programmes representation, but a recent audition in Bradford failed to entice a single member of the city’s significant Asian population.
Series producer Jon Kelly said: “There was a feeling that the programme was mainly for older intellectuals. It is a problem as although Mastermind is about the general knowledge test, it is also about people's interests.
“The BBC as a corporation is charged with representing the whole country. If we get more and more applications year on year but not more from particular groups in the community, we need to do something."
There has been just one black winner in the show’s 40 year history, when Shaun Wallace took to the chair with his specialist subject of FA Cup finals since the 1970s.