Weaver's Week 2026-06-21

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A short edition this week, because one of the teatime giants has subtly refreshed its look.

We noticed a few weeks ago that Pointless had had the decorators in, and made a few changes to the set.

On first glance, very little has changed. Still got four podia for contestants, arranged in a W shape, with two of the podia raised up a shallow flight of stairs. The backdrop is a familiar mixture of lines and curves, looks like someone has tapped a giant chocolate orange and left the segments around the place. Up in the ceiling are some circles, each in a different colour. They eye is drawn to the giant tower, over twice as tall as the presenter; and to the large display screen to the side.

Each round has its own colour palette, opening with a pleasant light blue shade, which briefly flashes white when the theme plays. Once the first round begins, the lights change to a vibrant purple. That's a new hue! Quite attractive, if you ask us.

But something more attractive is in the studio! When someone gives a pointless answer, the colours change to a warm autumnal orange, and some vari-lights shine on the walls of the set. This isn't seen just around the podium – no, for a few seconds the entire studio turns into the bergamot of bliss. Another £250 goes into the prize fund, and eventually the show returns to its previous purple.

It's an effective transition, so long as they don't overdo it. There was one round, asking for countries in the Northern Hemisphere containing "N", where the orange glow was seen six times. Is that a record? (No, a record is a round black thing with a hole in the middle.)

Colours return to the neutral teal while they set up round two, which is again played under a purple backdrop. This time, we're going to see some clues written on the board. And, goodness, they're now written in mixed case. Capital letters, and lower case letters! Since it began in 2009, Pointless had written everything in capital letters, but has finally acknowledged that all-caps is a bit hard to read and interpret. Again, we like the change, anything to let us see the question and then start thinking about it.

The purple backdrop remains for the Bonus Builder round, though the various falling circles around the studio are lit in orange. A pointless answer in this round will, again, turn the studio orange for a moment. We also note that short answers – like "Spider of the Evening" are still written out in capitals.

For the head-to-head round, they're using a sort of pinky-purple-rose colour, with the circles back in white. All of this is very attractive, warm and welcoming, it's as if Xander invites us into a cosy little parlour.

Our champions get the trophy, and play the jackpot round: a sober navy blue backdrop, slightly brighter around the category board, white lines around the set. We're all hoping for everything to turn orange, and confirm that our players have won the jackpot.

James Ashdown is the Lighting Director in the credits, he's used simple techniques and familiar elements to build an attractive and welcoming set.

Thanks to everyone we met at Bristol on the Clocktower last weekend; this column had an absolute blast, learned a tremendous amount, chortled even more.

Strictly klaxon! Some more names have emerged. Danny Dyer, star of… hang on, no, we're mishearing. Dani Dyer, daughter of Danny Dyer, who had to withdraw from last year's series through injury. And Delta Goodrem, who sung the verdigris medallist at the recent Eurovision Song Contest.

Channel 4 has decided not to proceed with War Room, its planned simulation of a crisis and potential government responses. "It's too similar to another programme being made for a rival broadcaster", and you'll be able to see The News (working title) on all channels quite soon.

We won't be able to see Roy Hattersley any more: the experienced politician and occasional panel show guest has died. In the game show world, Hattersley was an occasional contributor, appearing in erudite shows like Television Scrabble and Don't Quote Me, on Call My Bluff and (showing his stripes as a fan of Sheffield Wednesday Nil) on Fantasy Football League. He also made an appearance on Have I Got News for You, filling in at short notice when a tub of lard was unavailable. Roy Hattersley was 93.

Sportsball means we're still very light on great new game shows. Countdown reaches its summer final (C4, Fri). I Kissed a Girl returns, Dannii Minogue and a new set of lovebirds (BBC3, Tue, Wed). We'll be back next week with some questions from you lovely readers.

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