A live interactive puzzle Gameshow that aired on Channel 5 from August 2002-March 2007. Similar to a majority of Endemol's other shows, it was based on a Dutch game show format called Puzzeltijd (Puzzle Time).
The show was presented by a rotating selection of presenters (mainly Alex Lovell, who became the show's sole-host near the end of its life), and pits four contestants against each other in a series of puzzle-based games in order to win a jackpot of £3,000. Such games included:
- "Scramble" - The contestants had to unscramble a word, which is split into three segments. For example, being presented with "OP-TV-ES-TR" would form "TV TROPES".
- "Crossfire": A general-knowledge round that was basically just a Crossword Puzzle.
- "Trio" - Three letters are showcased. Guessing a word with the three letters in the right order will win points. The contestant with the most points wins the game.
- "Clued Up": Generally four clues are given about something (mostly related to the media or pop culture). The contestant can guess the answer or if they get it wrong, their opponent gets all the clues and could guess the correct answer of what the thing is, winning the points.
- "Wordstorm" - The first and last letters of a word and its length are given, and a valid answer must be given. The difficulty tended to either be virtually impossible or incredibly easy depending on what letter combinations are given. Once again, the points led to who won the game.
- "Wordplay": An anagram is displayed and the letters drop one at a time. The contestant must guess correctly to gain the points. Buzzing wrong would allow the opponent to gain an extra letter for an easier guess. It was later replaced with "Trio" but was brought back during the 2006 revamp.
- "Word Wheel": A new game added in the 2006 revamp. In a circle, a word consisting of ten or more letters is displayed. The contestants must try and correctly identify the word to gain the point and use the words to form a longer word in turns before time expires.
- "Definitions": Another new game from the 2006 revamp. This one was a simple multiple-choice round.
- "Pyramid" - The winning contestant of the day had to solve a word pyramid with words that would increase by letter. Completing it would win the contestant money, with completing the whole pyramid would win the jackpot. Before 2005, failing to obtain any words within the time limit would leave the player with nothing at all, but after 2005 the contestant would win £100 if so.
Alongside the main game show itself, Brainteaser also offered up a phone-in game for viewers at home. The games sometimes ranged from more simplified versions of Scramble or Pyramid, to unique games like:
- "Linkword" – Two given words to a compound word or phrase are shown. The viewer must word out the word that connects. The viewer must work out the word that connects the two given words to form compound words or phrases.
- "Celebagram – A celebrity's name is scrambled up letter by letter. The viewer must try and guess who the person is.
- "Quickfire" - Introduced in 2006. Viewers must guess entities with a common theme. This is the only phone-in game where more than one viewer could play at a time.
The show ended up being a surprise hit for Channel 5, not only for its simple mechanics but its phone-in game which made it easy to play along with from home. The show lasted well over five years and 1000+ episodes, with a later relocation from Oxford to Endemol's new Bristol studios (where the UK version of Deal or No Deal would later be recorded. Alongside a minor revamp in 2005, a complete change came in November 2006, when the show was given a complete makeover with a larger set that allowed for all four contestants to play at the same time (beforehand, only two could play at once).
However, the death knell for the show came on March 8, 2007, when the show was suddenly axed by Channel 5 following the 2007 Phone-In Scandals. It was revealed on March 13th that whenever there wasn't a real winner within the phone-in segments (especially within the Quickfire game), Endemol would fake winners, with some cases adding names of the show's production team. Channel 5 was fined £300,000 by Ofcom and the show disappeared permanently, with the network making an apology in the show's former slot.
Channel 5 would try and attempt at similar shows in the timeslot that Brainteaser once sat in, such as a revival of Going for Gold, and Wordplay, another puzzle game show that shared similarities with Brainteaser but had no connection to Endemol. None of the shows that aired in this slot lasted a full season, and when Channel 5 was sold to Northern and Shell in July 2010, they gave up on airing game shows altogether in the slot.
This series provides examples of:
- All or Nothing: The prize for completing Pyramid was £3,000, but if you lost before 2005, you'd get nothing at all.
- Carried by the Host: Alex Lovell, no doubt! She basically made this show how it was and why she stayed until the end. Craig, Rachael and Jonny, not so much.
- Consolation Prize: Beginning in 2005, failing to complete Pyramid in time will gain the contestant £100.
- Dancing Theme: Both the show's theme tunes aren't exactly what you call a "dancing theme". Mocked by Alex in a February 2007 episode:
- Fake Difficulty: Many of the games were this due to the show's shoestring budget, especially Pyramid.
- Game Show Host: Or well... four hosts: Alex Lovell, Craig Stevens, Rachael Pierman, and Jonny Gould. Alex was the only one who lasted for the entire show's life and was the sole host by the time of its axing.
- Many versions of the format also shared a multi-host format.
- Later-Installment Weirdness:
- In 2005, the podiums were swapped out for LED-ones which would display the contestant's name as well as their score.
- In November 2006, the show was completely revamped, with the main change being that all four contestants could play at the same time. With this change, all the games were played in every episode to avoid any repeats of the same game in the episode.
- Odd Name Out: Crossfire, which was just a virtual crossword puzzle that had very little to do with the show's premise.
- Phone-in Game Shows: The sole reason for why this show (and the format) existed in the first place alongside a way for Endemol to pay Channel 5 for its slot. They were so frequent that in a basic episode, combining the length of them to the actual studio games could possibly be longer.
- This is also the only reason why the show aired live.
- Sometimes, they would appear during the advert breaks whenever the channel was airing an afternoon movie.
- Quietly Performing Sister Show: Memory Bank, another puzzle-based game show that aired in 2004 that was co-presented by Rachael Pierman and Jonny Gould, and had a phone-in game as well. Sounds familiar, right?
- For its first few months, it had a far simpler format that pitted three contestants at once and aired for half an hour. Following this early success, it transitioned into more of a copy of its sister show with an identical format and an hour-long slot. This change led to the show being canceled by Channel 5 after only a mere eight months. Jonny and Rachael would later join Brainteaser after the axing, although they each didn't last very long as co-presenters.
- Unexpectedly Obscure Answer: Played straight, and was one of the reasons that led to its axing.
- Stock Puzzle: The games on this show have been played on other shows or in reality for years.
- Crossword Puzzle: Crossfire.
