Child Genius
Channel 4

Britain’s Brightest Family
ITV

It’s out of fashion to be average. Nowadays you must be crowing on the top of life’s achievement pile, punching the air and telling the world about the hard work or all-round “uniqueness” that got you there. 

We are exhorted to win at all costs – even if it is not clear why it has to be a competition or what the victory truly represents. And nowhere is this trend reflected more unhappily than on television where there is no field of human endeavour, be it baking, sewing, dancing, business or cooking, that isn’t turned into a gruelling battle for supremacy.

The sixth season of Child Genius began on Channel 4 this week (25 February), a contest involving what are commonly termed “gifted” children. The crown held out for the victor was the title, no less, of “the cleverest child in Britain”.