BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce has revealed an amusing anecdote about the inception of the popular music quiz show, PopMaster. The 73-year-old host admitted that he was quite inebriated when the idea for the quiz show came to fruition. PopMaster, where participants answer music-related trivia questions, first aired in 1998 as part of Bruce’s Radio 2 programme and later transitioned into a six-part television series on More4 once he departed from the channel.
Bruce candidly shared that he had been drinking wine with his BBC colleagues, Colin Martin and Phil Swern, while brainstorming ideas for the radio quiz show. The trio concocted what Bruce described as a “great format” and enjoyed a few drinks before calling it a night. However, to their amusement, when they reconvened the following day, they realised they had completely forgotten the concept they had diligently worked on the night before. Bruce humorously recalled, “None of us could remember what we decided.”
In a later lunch meeting with Martin and Swern, the trio refrained from consuming alcohol until they had written down their brilliant idea. Bruce recounted the process on the Fingers On Buzzers podcast, stating, “We wrote it down, and then we had our two bottles of wine. And it’s been the same ever since.”
The departure of Ken Bruce from Radio 2 in 2023 after a remarkable 45-year stint at the BBC coincided with the decision to take PopMaster off the airwaves. The transition of the programme to More4 preserved its original format where contestants were tested on music knowledge spanning decades, followed by a challenge to identify three top chart hits from a specific artist or group.
Excited about bringing PopMaster to television, Bruce expressed, “After all these years we are finally bringing PopMaster to the telly where we’ll be challenging music lovers from around the country to not only recall a range of facts and stats about chart-toppers and beyond over the decades but to do so under the glare of studio lights and with the added pressure of television cameras.”
Since joining Greatest Hits Radio, Ken Bruce has seen a significant surge in listenership to an impressive audience of 4.1 million. However, the move from BBC Radio 2 to the new station was not without its challenges, with Bruce criticising BBC management for changing the slot of his show. Feeling unjustly displaced from his familiar mid-morning spot to a less favourable late-night timing, Bruce expressed his frustration, labelling it a “political decision.”
Ken Bruce’s candid revelations about the tipsy origins of PopMaster have added a humorous twist to the story behind the beloved music quiz show, shedding light on the fun and creativity that can emerge from unexpected moments of inebriation.