People are only just realising who wrote the theme tune for Pointless

By Katie-Ann Gupwell, Senior Social News Reporter

Pointless is a firm favourite on the BBC (Image: Getty)

Pointless has been on our screens since way back in 2009.

The quiz show, hosted by Alexander Armstrong, sees four teams of two contestants try and work out the correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions. The winning team then goes onto compete in the show's cash jackpot.

Formerly co-presented by Richard Osman, the quiz show has been loved for years, but people are only now realising something about the theme tune. For years it seems people thought Richard's brother, bass player from Suede, Mat Osman, penned the theme tune, but it isn't quite the case.

Even though he took to writing music for TV when the band first split up in 2003, it was actually the theme tune for 8 Out of 10 Cats he's famed for. If you're wondering who is actually responsible for the catchy tune behind Pointless then you're in luck, as the answer was recently revealed following a discussion on Reddit.

It followed quite a lot of confusion during a conversation about famous guitarists. The topic really did get a lot of people talking.

In a thread where people were discussing their favourite Brit pop bassists, one person said: "Yeah, I'd say Alex James from Blur, and Mat Osman from Suede (who is also Richard Osman's brother, and wrote the theme music for Pointless)."

But the social media user was quickly corrected by someone else, who replied: "He did the music for 8 Out of 10 Cats, not Pointless."

Others agreed that Mat was up there with some of the best bassists, but it also got people thinking. Who really did compose the theme tune for Pointless?

Well, the answer may surprise you, as he actually composed a lot of our favourite TV tunes. Marc Sylvan is the most sought after composer in the UK for quiz shows.

He's most famously known for his work on the music in The Million Pound Drop for Channel 4 and Pointless for the BBC. The formats of these shows have gone onto be sold around the world, and Marc’s music has also travelled with them.

If you want to know more about Marc, his work on the sci-fi short "Embryo" won "Best Sound Design" at Vision Festival in 2005. This led him to work on projects with Beavis & Butthead animator James Dean Conklin and Shrek animator Lee Lanier.

He has also worked with award-winning video game composer Richard Jacques on game releases such as Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, The Club and Virtua Tennis. As well as this, he's worked alongside former The Rakes guitarist Matthew Swinnerton under the name "Buro".

His work is published by Faber Music and he has a host of credits under his belt. Some notable shows he's worked on include The Masked Singer, Total Wipe Out and Catchphrase.