‘So much more stuff to know’: why Brain of Britain has got much harder

It's not that Britons are becoming less intelligent, it's that the quiz canon has expanded, say top quizzers

As if everything wasn't bad enough, now we're all getting stupider. That, at least, was one interpretation of an interview earlier this week with the presenter of Radio 4's long-running quiz Brain of Britain, in which he said today's contestants were struggling more than before to get the answers right.

It's not that the questions are getting harder - the host Russell Davies and the regular question-setter Elissa Mattinson told Radio Times they were often asked by producers to simplify their submissions. But the quiz's elusive bonus point - offered when a contestant gives five correct answers in a row - was being achieved more and more rarely, Davies said. Just when we could really do with some smart people around, it seems even the eggheads on Britain's toughest quiz are dumbing down.