Mastermind
1994
Not Rated
Quiz show featuring members of the public answering specialist and general knowledge questions in a black chair. The series ran for 25 years with host Magnus Magnusson, ending in 1997. It was eventually resurrected on the BBC in 2003.
Where to Watch 1994
17 Episodes
- Episode 1E1
Episode 1The forbidding black chair returns, contestants face the gruelling interrogation of questionmaster Magnus Magnusson, and the search is on to find the Mastermind of 1994. Tonight's first round heat comes from the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, where the specialised subjects of the first four competitors are the life and music of Bob Dylan, the life and career of Alexander the Great, the Monmouth Rebellion, and the life and films of Charlton Heston. - Episode 3E3
Episode 3Tonight at the town hall in Rochdale, four more contestants bid for a place in the semi-finals with special subjects on the life and major plays of Anton Chekhov , the history of British native pony breeds c. 1950, the history of rugby league in Britain, and the Inca civilisation. - Episode 4E4
Episode 4From Rochdale Town Hall, where tonight's specialist subjects are the history and historic geography of Ayrshire; the life and career of Catherine de Valois (1401-37); the life and background of Shakespeare; the life and career of John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough. With Magnus Magnusson. - Episode 7E7
Episode 7Tonight's specialist subjects are the history of the Orient Express and Wagons-Lits Company; the life and reign of Edward IV; the life and career of Fred Karno (1866-1941), and Japan at war (1937-45). Magnus Magnusson puts the questions in the Countess of Huntingdon's Hall, Worcester. - Episode 12E12
Episode 12From the Dome Theatre in Brighton. Specialist subjects are: the life and cases of Sir Bernard Spilsbury ; the life and works of Japanese prophet Nichiren; the life of Lord Peter Wimsey and novels of Dorothy L Sayers ; and Wellington's military campaign in the Peninsular War 1808-14. - The FinalE17
The FinalThe 22nd Mastermind final comes from Coventry Cathedral, where civil servant John Wilson, George Davidson, a senior lecturer in chemistry, librarian Graham Roe, and English tutor Stephen Wood do battle for the 1994 title - and the coveted Caithness Glass trophy, to be presented by Bamber Gascoigne. Their specialist subjects are: beers and breweries in Britain; the life and works of John Dalton; American classical music 1910-70, and the Irish rebellion. Former winners have ranged from a retired ambassador to a train driver, and, most famously, the taxi drivers' champion Fred Housego. "It attracts a really wide range of interests and professions, says producer Penelope Cowell Doe, who has worked on the series for five years. "Don't think having a formal education is at all important. Often those with the widest general knowledge are self-taught."
