Dara O Briain: School Of Hard Sums

A new series of Dave's maths-themed quiz. Funnymen Andrew Maxwell and Mark Watson join Dara to figure out puzzles posed by Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy. This week's conundrums include a take on a popular problem involving hats, and a murder that can only be solved using logic. A bunch of able students do the working-out with probability trees and wordy explanations, but the comics often come to the same conclusions, and viewers at home can pause and play along, too.

Does crime add up? That's the question providing the notional theme as maths mad Dara O'Briain returns with his brain-baffling numbers game. On a mission to persuade us that sums can actually be fun - as well as useful - O'Briain sets his guests, fellow comedians Mark Watson and Andrew Maxwell, a series of head-scratchers. Hopefully it's not every day we'll be asked to solve a murder mystery but a Cluedo-style puzzle is one of tonight's challenges, providing a jolly table-top adventure as the gathered throng try to work out whodunnit: the jogger, the park keeper, the dog walker or the parent with a toddler. You'll need a lot of string to solve it.

A second series of mathematical problem-solving, with Dara O'Briain now up against two arithmetically challenged comedians.

Andrew Maxwell and Mark Watson use trial, error and jokes, while O'Briain relies on his maths degree, with the contest refereed by Professor Marcus du Sautoy.

You'll want pen, paper and pause button to play along, especially for the teaser about people entering and exiting a park without their paths crossing, which could keep you going for hours.

What you might not see is which mathematical principle you're using - in fact they're oddly infrequent throughout. The comics' efforts to get laughs from bare terrain are remarkably successful, though.

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Marcus du Sautoy interview

It may have Dara's name all over it, but Professor Marcus du Sautoy is the true headmaster at the School of Hard Sums. We caught up with him for a natter about numbers, stand-up comics and highlights of the second series.

Dara O'Briain calls for more taxing maths exams

GCSE maths examinations should be made more challenging for the brightest pupils, the comedy presenter and sciences graduate Dara O'Briain, has claimed, after passing a genuine paper with flying colours.

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Dara O'Briain is putting his maths degree to professional use in his new TV series, which hopes to make tricky equations as entertaining as his comedy, writes Donald Clarke.

School Of Hard Sums review

We smiled through half an hour of this, but once again, Dara O'Briain has been dragged into a show he's too good for, another executive hoping that his laid-back chat will raise their program a bit.

Gigglebox Weekly #46 - School of Hard Sums

This week there was a new show on Dave which featured a very odd mix: comedy and mathematics.

O'Briain: I'm trying to make it fun rather than trendy

Dara O'Briain is proud to be a geek - he even does hard maths puzzles for fun.