Fingers on buzzers: how quiz shows are evolving for gen Alpha

‘If somebody stumbles across a format that just works for whatever reason, you’ll see every channel desperately trying to find a similar idea.’ Photograph: H Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock

There was a time when quiz shows were about knowing who composed the 1812 Overture, which EU capital city is the most southerly and who scored the winner in the last FA Cup final to be held at the old Wembley.

Lately, however, you have to be able to bend your brain in a different manner under the glare of the TV lights. For example, what is the lowest number to have the same value as 10 times the number of letters in its name?