Derivatives

There's very little about the new Saturday night BBC1 panel show The Guess List that shrieks of quality, culture or distinction. Thankfully there are only six episodes.

A bastard child of Blankety Blank and Celebrity Squares, it was apparently first dreamed up as a vehicle for Brendan O'Carroll of Mrs Brown's Boys, who planned to host, Lily Savage-style, but then Brendan thought better. The pilot, made in MediaCityUK in August last year, was called "Rob Brydon's Celebrities", and duly commissioned by new BBC Controller Charlotte Moore and entertainment supremo Mark Linsey. Episode 2 may well be that pilot, re-edited.

If allowed to escape at all, it's an early evening show. Allowing James Corden to respond to the first "revealing" question with the answer "orgasm" presumably drove it beyond the watershed, and much of the adult, ambulant, audience to the pub or The Masters.

The show is made by ITV-owned indie 12 Yard, who also produce In It To Win It, Eggheads, Coach Trip and Celebrity Coach Trip. In 2007, they made The Great British Village Show for BBC1, which must have preyed on the minds of the creators of the recent mockumentary, W1A. It was presented by Alan Titchmarsh, James Martin and Angelica Bell - clearly neither Carol Vorderman nor Clare Balding were available.

• Mark Linsey is on a package of £222k, and in the last published quarter claimed £658.32 in hospitality to "discuss new ideas".