Hive Minds

Background

Hive Minds was developed by Saltbeef TV - a production firm responsible for CBBC's Friday Download - with co-production from Green Inc Film & Television. It was developed as a replacement for Only Connect, which had been moved to BBC Two. It was filmed at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in May 2015 and is hosted by Fiona Bruce, who fronts the BBC News at Six, BBC News at Ten, Crimewatch, Call My Bluff and Antiques Roadshow.

Gameplay

Players must first work out the answers to questions and then find the answers hidden in a hexagonal "hive" of letters.

Round 1

Two teams of three play the game. For this round, each team faces four hives each; they must find an answer embedded into the hive. They have twenty seconds to find it, and five points are on offer; after two seconds hexagons start disappearing from the hive. Once another two have elapsed, the hive is worth a point less and decreases in value every four seconds. After another eighteen seconds and eighteen hexagons have elapsed, the time expires and Bruce offers the hive to the other team, who may earn a bonus point by answering the grid. Once each team has cleared two hives each, they have to find two related answers from the same hive.

Round 2

For this round, each team faces two hives; five are offered, and teams take it in turns to select categories. One hive remains unpicked. The teams must find three answers hidden within each hive; the players are separated, and each player has to get one answer. Play then passes to the next player. Each team then has two passes; if any player gets a wrong answer, the whole team is locked out of the hive. Each correct answer is worth one point, and two bonus points are awarded if all three answers are found, for a total of five points.

Round 3

The teams each try to make one perfect hive out of one super hive (basically a slightly larger hive) out of answers. Humour is made out of the fact that the two hives are called the A-hive and the B-hive. They must find multiple answers on a single question. Every answer found is worth a point; a perfect hive is worth ten.

Round 4

This is a quickfire round. Both teams are handed a hive, and each team try to find answers from that grid. Every correct question gains a point; every wrong answer loses a point. At the end of this round, the team with the highest number of points wins and goes forward. In the case of a tie, one more question is asked. At the end of the show, Bruce offers one hive to the viewers, and once the credits have finished, the answer is revealed.

Reception

The first episode pulled in 505,000 viewers; the show it replaced, Only Connect, pulled in 209,000 in its first episode. Michael Hogan in The Daily Telegraph gave the quiz a mixed review. While the questions were described as "enjoyably eclectic", and Fiona Bruce "clearly enjoyed the opportunity to flex her funny muscles", overall Hogan felt that it was "a tad too stiff and niche in appeal, while the “hive” gimmick seemed over-stretched. This bee-themed quiz needs a bit more buzz". Claudia Connell in the Daily Mail was more negative, describing the show as "about as exciting as filling out your tax return", and although commended Bruce for trying to "crank up the drama", asked if there was "a special place for really boring quiz shows" (the answer to one of the questions was Madeleine Albright, which caused Bruce to recite her quote that "there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women").