Only Connect
BBC TWO, 8.00PM
It’s television’s nerdiest quiz by a country mile – though, ironically, the show’s title, pinched from that oftquoted line in EM Forster’s novel Howard’s End, was the basis of one of the few questions that left contestants baffled in the 2013 final. Tonight begins a 14th series of lateralthinking challenges and vexing conundrums, with the contestants looking for connections that you’d have thought only a platinum-level Mensa member could spot. The rest of us stare on in bewilderment and awe, waiting for the more straightforward Missing Vowels round, or ( just once!) a Wall we can solve without brain injury.
As ever, two teams of three competitors choose their questions using a quartet of Egyptian hieroglyphs. (The first and second series used the Greek alphabet, but that was apparently judged too pretentious.) Presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell presides, with her unique blend of knowing glances and matronly support. In this opening match, the Hotpots are taking on the Poptimists, with one team asked to work out what connects “Beethoven’s 7th”, “centre of gravity”, “3rd of November” and “very beginning”. Lucky things, to be given such an easy one to get them going. Gerard O’donovan It’s a tough depiction of human degradation, but there’s a little light at the end of it too.