We laughed with them, we cried with them, and most of us never knew how brilliant they really were.

A funny man from The Goodies with a doctor's qualification folded away. The woman in Dictionary Corner who learned Latin so she could take a master's degree in America. A Mastermind quizmaster who translated Viking sagas into English. And the most famous face of all, a man who, as a boy, sold newts to a university zoology department at threepence each.

From Susie Dent, Joan Bakewell, Graeme Garden and Christopher Lee to Miriam Stoppard, Johnny Ball, Carol Vorderman, Clive James, Magnus Magnusson, Desmond Morris, Robert Winston, Jacob Bronowski, Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Miller and Sir David Attenborough, these are fifteen of the cleverest minds ever to appear on British television. Every degree, book and achievement here is on the record.

Which genius surprised you the most? And who should be in a Part 2? Tell us in the comments.

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Note: A documentary retrospective made for historical, educational and entertainment purposes. All facts are drawn from published sources.