Quiz TV Today, Thursday 17 September: Pointless Ends Series 35 at 5.15pm, The Chase at 5
Quick answer: four quizzes today, all of them done by 6pm. Pointless at 5.15pm is the last episode of Series 35. ITV1 is back to its usual teatime pair after Wednesday's football.
What quiz shows are on TV today?
| Time | Show | Channel | Today's episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.50am | Countdown | Channel 4 | Repeat of an earlier episode |
| 2.10pm | Countdown | Channel 4 | Series 94, Ep 59 |
| 4pm | Tipping Point | ITV1 | No episode number listed |
| 5pm | The Chase | ITV1 | No episode number listed |
| 5.15pm | Pointless | BBC One | Series 35, Ep 47 of 47 |
That is three hours and fifty minutes of quizzing spread across three channels, and a 45-minute overlap in the middle of it. Monday was the heavy night, with the BBC Two block on top — Monday's seven quizzes are still the week's high-water mark, and the full five days are laid out in this week's UK quiz TV.
Is Pointless on tonight, and why does it matter?
Yes: 5.15pm to 6pm on BBC One, then BBC iPlayer. The BBC lists it as Series 35, episode 47 of 47, with Alexander Armstrong and co-host Lucy Porter, and a challenge built around chemical elements.
Forty-seven of forty-seven is the number to notice. Tonight closes the series, and Series 36 begins tomorrow at the same time with Lucy Porter again alongside Armstrong — which means she works the last episode of one series and the first of the next, three in a row counting Wednesday. The changeover dates are in our Pointless Series 36 guide.
What time is The Chase on tonight?
5pm to 6pm on ITV1, straight after Tipping Point at 4pm, with catch-up on ITVX once it has aired. ITV's guide lists both slots without an episode number, which is how the past three days have looked here.
That matters more than it sounds. On both Tuesday and Wednesday the slot turned out to hold an archive episode once ITVX filed it — Wednesday's was series 18 from a 2024 production. So treat tonight's as unlabelled until ITVX says otherwise. The series numbering and sign-in steps are in our how to watch The Chase guide, and the run of days sits on the Chase page.
Who is in Dictionary Corner on Countdown today?
Marcus Brigstocke, next to Susie Dent, with Colin Murray and Rachel Riley presenting episode 59 at 2.10pm on Channel 4.
He has now had the chair for three afternoons running: episode 57 on Tuesday, 58 on Wednesday, 59 today. Channel 4 also repeats an older episode at 5.50am, so the only genuinely new Countdown of the day is the afternoon one.
Has the football moved anything today?
No. ITV1 gives its evening to Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Long Lost Family, so the teatime quizzes run untouched — and so do the soaps, which lost two episodes on Wednesday. Our sister site has tonight's soap running order.
When is the next BBC Two quiz night?
Monday 21 September, on the published schedule: Mastermind at 7.30pm, Only Connect at 8pm, University Challenge at 8.30pm with Southampton against Queen's University Belfast. Thursday and Friday have nothing after 6pm.
The three formats and how each is scored are set out in our Monday night quiz guide, and the rest of our explainers sit under UK Quiz Guide.
Questions readers ask
Can I watch The Chase and Pointless both live?
Not between 5.15pm and 6pm. One of the two has to be ITVX or iPlayer afterwards.
Is Pointless on tomorrow?
Yes, and it is the first episode of Series 36, 5.15pm on BBC One.
Do we report who won?
No. Neither ITV nor the BBC publishes the outcome of a daytime quiz, so we do not say whether the Chaser was beaten or the jackpot went.