Secret Genius is hosted by Susie Dent and Alan Carr, who are looking for…. secret geniuses. Well, teh clue is in the title.
Well, I’m genius enough to know that I don’t need a ‘continuity announcer’ yabbering over the end credits of a TV show, but for each epsiode, a group of individuals will compete in a series of actual Mensa quizzes, whittling down their numbers until there’s just 3 of them left to go through to the final.
The first segment is two quickfire rounds, to be completed within 12, first on your own, being put in front of a stack of letters, from which every month can be spelled in full except one, but which one, and which letter is missing?
Meanwhile, the second game within the overall time limit is a set of numbers within shapes, so each row matches the figure on the left-hand side in a 4×4 grid… which is easier to understand when you can see it on your screen. Either way, at the end of this section, if you’re in the bottom four, you’re out.
I was more hopeful for my chances in the next section, as it involves ice cream. However, it’s in pairs and is largely a case of memory recall, as one person relays orders for ice cream to the other person. Sounds easy if it’s just, say, “Bill wants Vanilla”, but the ice creams are described in a cryptic way, referring back to previous ones, add this, forget that, etc… I’m already getting confused.Dom!
By the time of their final game in the programme, there’s just four of them left, and individually, they’ll play Come To Light, a test of pattern recognition and memory skills. Spot the sequence in which the lamps light up, while they beep – rather like the old Simon game I had as a kid – but then the lights will stop and the beeping continues… so on the last beep, which one would’ve lit up, had the pattern continued?
And then you’re on to a chess-like board, where you must move to the instructions given in the form of the lights of some of those lamps from the last game. And if you think you’ve got it all sussed after one episode, the games change for the next one.
Of this bunch, Nathan comes across as a bit odd, while CJ has hair like Kid’n’Play… well, as they used to.
Obviously, no spoilers as to who leaves or goes through, but while it’s quite entertaining, Secret Genius is more a low-budget afternoon TV-type show, rather than primetime, and I’d have scheduled it at 3pm, after Susie’s Countdown programme.
Thanks to our friends at Channel 4 for the screener prior to release.
Patience begins tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm, and runs Sundays and Monday each week, and after broadcast will be on All 4.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Running time: 45 minutes per episode
Release date: February 1st 2026
Channel: Channel 4
Format: 1.78:1
Director: Paul McLean
Producer: Neil Rubin-Smith
Writers: Giles Boden, Lee Gant
Hosts: Alan Carr, Susie Dent
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.