{"id":15647,"date":"2026-02-19T12:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/behind-the-scenes-of-bbc-studios-secret-genius\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:56:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:56:43","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-bbc-studios-secret-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/behind-the-scenes-of-bbc-studios-secret-genius\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes of BBC Studios\u2019 Secret Genius"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secret Genius<\/em>, a new competition show from BBC Studios, tests people from all walks of life to reveal those who unknowingly possess extraordinary intelligence. It recently premiered on Channel 4 to very strong ratings. Kelly Webb-Lamb, founder and CEO of Mothership TV, and Sumi Connock, executive VP of the global creative network and formats at BBC Studios, discuss the show, its collaboration with British Mensa and its numerous positive and uplifting qualities.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> How did Secret Genius<\/em> come about?
\nWEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> It came about from our interest at Mothership TV in the idea of genius. We started talking to Channel 4 about intelligence and what genius is. The idea for Secret Genius came out of a conversation we had with British Mensa. They told us that there are probably over a million people in the U.K., from all different backgrounds and walks of life, who have a very, very high IQ, extraordinary intelligence, who don\u2019t necessarily know about it. What was really interesting is that if you go through life with that very particular kind of brain but without it ever being spotted or nurtured, you can end up feeling very misunderstood, as if your life doesn’t make sense, overlooked and dismissed. Mensa said that often, if children with those kinds of brains aren’t spotted, they can end up in trouble, behave very badly and end up in behavioral units. And adults can feel that their lives never quite make sense. Often, when people discover [high intelligence] about themselves, it can be really validating, but it can also be an explanation for everything\u2014it all suddenly makes sense. That felt really exciting to us as a topline thought for a show.<\/p>\n

Then we spoke to Channel 4 about finding people who\u2019d spent their lives as square pegs in round holes and never quite fitting, and putting them through big, scaled-up immersive challenges that the audience could play along with to discover something about themselves and find their tribe. We were also interested in the idea that it could be you. So, maybe you\u2019re a genius, or your mum\u2019s a genius or your boyfriend\u2019s a genius\u2014that idea that they\u2019re everywhere. That was how it came about.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> Would you briefly describe the show and its different segments?
\nWEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> Channel 4 were very keen that we got a real sense of the nation [with] a nationwide search to discover all of these hidden geniuses. The series has four regional heats. Each heat includes participants from a different part of the U.K.: 12 people from each region, then narrowed to three. So, three people from each of the four regional heats advance to a semi-final and a final from each region. They then come to our genius headquarters, where all the games are.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> How did British Mensa collaborate with you?
\nWEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> They\u2019ve been brilliant collaborators through the whole process. They helped us clarify the topline idea. They also helped us in several other ways. They provided us with some of their members, and we tested all our games as we designed them on Mensans, so we could check that they were at the right level and length. They also helped us identify which aspects of intelligence to test, which are innate and how to test them in the show.<\/p>\n

They said there are four aspects of intelligence that were good for us to focus on, which are broader than a normal IQ test: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, fluid reasoning, spotting a pattern and then applying it and memory. As we designed all our games, we submitted them to Mensa to ensure we were testing the right things. We weren\u2019t always right. For example, it\u2019s easy to think something is testing numerical reasoning when it\u2019s actually testing fluid reasoning. And sometimes, if you\u2019re not an intelligence test psychologist, you can make wrong assumptions. Mensa made sure we were testing correctly. They also checked the framework of the games and that we were testing contestants at the right level. They were very helpful to us. They were very helpful to us, and you do need that type of expertise to give you that underlying credibility of the series.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What appeal do competition shows have for buyers?
\nCONNOCK:<\/strong> Some of the most successful global formats in the world are competition-based factual entertainment titles. And the U.K. has a strong track record of creating this genre, whether it\u2019s The Great British Bake Off<\/em>, MasterChef<\/em> or, more recently, shows like The Piano<\/em> or LEGO Masters<\/em>. Competition shows are still attractive to buyers because, by nature of the format, there\u2019s a clear pull-through to the next episode. Secret Genius<\/em> has a clear premise\u2014you\u2019re searching for the best of the best.<\/p>\n

In terms of format trends, we\u2019ve definitely seen a shift toward more authentic, positive, purpose-driven titles, rather than harsh reality casting and stereotypes\u2014more authentic life experiences and journeys. Secret Genius<\/em> brings the best of task-based competition and authenticity: real people with undiscovered skills who aren\u2019t chasing fame, and there isn\u2019t a big prize at the end. You\u2019ve got people from unexpected backgrounds, completely motivated by their own curiosity, or the curiosity of their family members if they\u2019ve been nominated by someone else. It has a distinctive emotional tone. You can watch it for the games. You can watch it for the brilliant human stories, or you can watch it for both.<\/p>\n

And in terms of competition formats, because Secret Genius<\/em> has a tournament structure, it\u2019s really flexible, so we can adapt it. The way we do it is four heats, a semi-final and a final, but you could easily increase the number of heats. If some countries want to do more than six episodes on a first run, or want to do it at high volume, you can do that. It\u2019s also easy to adapt the duration of each episode as well. France and Germany will probably want to go longer than a 45-minute show. So, it’s really adaptable for broadcasters, and the same across the board with competition-based formats. You can stretch and squeeze as suits the buyer, the slot and the budget.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> Can the cost of producing the show also be adjusted to the buyer\u2019s needs?
\nWEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> For a show of this ambition and scale, it is relatively cost-effective. It sits very much in line with Channel 4\u2019s prime-time factual entertainment spend, but we’ve over-delivered on production value. What we\u2019ve delivered on screen against the budget has been really strong. We\u2019ve done a full Bible. We\u2019ve got loads more games than were in the show, and obviously, the games in the show can be reused or adapted.<\/p>\n

CONNOCK:<\/strong> The fact that there\u2019s so much research that\u2019s gone into games is really helpful when we\u2019re offering it to buyers, and Kelly’s teams are absolutely brilliant. There\u2019s not only what we\u2019ve seen in the show that can be adapted, but also other [material].<\/p>\n

WEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> There are other things that could easily be changed without impacting the quality of the show. For example, we change location; you don\u2019t need to change location. You could start with fewer cast members in the different regions. I don\u2019t think anyone would notice if you had eight instead of twelve. You could change the way you approach the games. There are different ways to do that. There are lots of ways that you could, without losing the heart and special qualities of the show, make it more cost-effective if that was needed.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> It seems to be a very positive show, showing that people from all walks of life can really be bright. Am I the only one who feels that way? Do you hope viewers will feel uplifted by the show?
\nWEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> You\u2019re definitely not the only one who feels that way! We\u2019ve been inundated with people getting in touch\u2014from the press to the response from the audience, and it has been exactly about that. There are two things about this show. One, it challenges us all to confront our prejudices and assumptions about who clever people are, what they look like, what they sound like and where they come from. And two, there\u2019s so much heart, and it\u2019s such a feel-good, hopeful, uplifting show because it\u2019s telling us that we should all have confidence to be who we are and to know that sometimes, for various reasons, whether it\u2019s school or your parents or your workplace, people may not have seen you the way you know you are inside. There\u2019s a very uplifting part of this show. Seeing people grow in confidence across the course of the episode, support each other and come to terms with what might have made them lose their confidence, there\u2019s an enormous joy in that. I also think there\u2019s real joy in finding each other\u2014these are people who have perhaps gone through life feeling a bit on the outside, but coming together as part of Secret Genius<\/em>, they\u2019ve really found their tribe. We\u2019ve had some lovely responses from parents saying their kids are struggling at school, and the show has given them hope. We\u2019ve had so many personal responses from viewers.<\/p>\n

CONNOCK:<\/strong> Kelly also mentioned some of the stories of contestants who have changed what they\u2019re doing in life as a result of being in the show, which is just amazing.<\/p>\n

WEBB-LAMB:<\/strong> It\u2019s given almost all the contestants a whole new way to look at themselves. Ollie, the ambulance technician in episode one, is going back to school to do her A levels. She wants to study medicine and become a doctor; this has completely changed her attitude toward education. There\u2019s a guy called Andy in episode two who was unemployed and had lost all his confidence. The show totally transformed him, and he\u2019s now in a really good job that he loves. We\u2019ve got one of the stay-at-home mums, also in episode two, who felt that she was a gifted child who was never spotted. She has since begun tutoring gifted children from underrepresented backgrounds. For so many of them, it\u2019s been a genuinely life-changing experience, which has been absolutely lovely for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelly Webb-Lamb, founder and CEO of Mothership TV, and Sumi Connock, executive VP of the global creative network and formats at BBC Studios, discuss the new format Secret Genius, its collaboration with British Mensa and its numerous positive and uplifting qualities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":15650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[1337,2580,4332,4705,868],"class_list":["post-15647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-bbc-studios","tag-kelly-webb-lamb","tag-mothership-tv","tag-secret-genius","tag-sumi-connock","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Scenes of BBC Studios\u2019 Secret Genius - TVFORMATS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/behind-the-scenes-of-bbc-studios-secret-genius\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Scenes of BBC Studios\u2019 Secret Genius - 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