About this season
Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round. Wright drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The atmosphere is helped by Mastermind's famously ominous theme music, "Approaching Menace" by the British composer Neil Richardson. The quiz programme originated and was recorded in Manchester at studios such as New Broadcasting House and Granada Studios, before permanently moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.
Episodes (17)
1. Episode 1
Aired 10 January 1993
Returning for the 21st series, Magnus Magnusson puts more general knowledge questions to this year's first four contenders whose specialist subjects are: the life of Tiberius; the life of Admiral Lord Jellicoe; Clarice Cliff and English art deco ceramics, 1928-36; and Doctor Who.
2. Episode 2
Aired 17 January 1993
Magnus Magnusson in Bangor puts more questions to another four contenders whose specialist subjects are: the life of Otto von Bismarck; the history of the Rose 1500-1850; British feminists 1759-1886; the history of the Swiss Confederation 1291-1874.
3. Episode 3
Aired 24 January 1993
Magnus Magnusson travels to the University of Strathclyde to put more general knowledge questions to another four contenders whose specialist subjects are: the Border Reivers, 1500-1625; the Russo-German War, 1941-5; Lady Murasaki and the Tale of Genji; and Sir Thomas More
4. Episode 4
Aired 31 January 1993
Magnus Magnusson returns to the University of Strathclyde to quiz four more contenders
5. Episode 5
Aired 7 February 1993
From Arundel Castle, West Sussex. Specialist subjects: Charles II; British athletics since 1945; Gerard Manley Hopkins; Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
6. Episode 6
Aired 21 February 1993
From Arundel Castle in West Sussex. Magnus Magnusson questions four more contenders with specialist subjects: the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy, 1867-1918; Lord Macaulay; Dervla Murphy ; railway signalling in Britain, 1830-1947.
7. Episode 7
Aired 28 February 1993
From Rugby School. Tonight's specialist subjects are: Malcolm X; the canals of England and Wales; Joseph Conrad ; and the Great Northern Railway.
8. Episode 8
Aired 7 March 1993
From Rugby School. Tonight's subjects are: fantasy and science fiction, 1960-90; railways in Yorkshire; the life and works of AJ Munnings ; the life and career of Stanley Baldwin.
9. Episode 9
Aired 14 March 1993
From the University of Strathclyde where tonight's subjects are: the Grand National; Slavonic languages since 1700; Dante; and the City of Chester from Roman times. With Magnus Magnusson
10. Episode 10
Aired 28 March 1993
From the University of Strathclyde, where the subjects are Golda Meir; Sir Edward Elgar ; the Waterloo Campaign 1815, and the Kings of Israel and Judah. With Magnus Magnusson.
11. Episode 11
Aired 4 April 1993
From the Barons' Hall at Arundel Castle, where the subjects are Edward VII, Hector Berlioz, City of London churches and Wilfred Owen.
12. Episode 12
Aired 11 April 1993
From the Barons' Hall, Arundel Castle, where the subjects are: Shelley; Test cricket - England v Australia 1920-38; the siege of Paris 1870-71; the Romanov dynasty 1613-1918.
13. Episode 13
Aired 18 April 1993
The first semi-final from Huddersfield, where the subjects are: P D James, the Napoleonic Wars, the Cornish china clay industry from 1745; and the medieval castle in the British Isles, 1050-1500. With Magnus Magnusson.
14. Episode 14
Aired 25 April 1993
Second semi-final from the University of Huddersfield, where the subjects are: Damon Runyan ; the fall of the Western Roman Empire, AD 375-476; the Manhattan Project; and Joseph Chamberlain. With Magnus Magnusson.
15. Episode 15
Aired 2 May 1993
The third of the semi-finals comes from Bath, where the specialist subjects are: German armoured fighting vehicles, 1939-45; Californian gold rush; Brunei; and model railways in Great Britain, 1920-90. With Magnus Magnusson.
16. Episode 16
Aired 9 May 1993
The fourth of the semi-finals comes from Bath, where the specialist subjects are: the Beatles; C S Lewis; the solar system; and Frederick Delius. With Magnus Magnusson.
17. The Final
Aired 16 May 1993
The four finalists are: Gavin Fuller - specialist subject, the Crusades(1095-1154); David Tombs - the modern Olympic Games; Glenys Davies - the life and reign of Napoleon III ; Barrie Douce - the French Indo-China War (1945-54). Magnus Magnusson puts the questions in the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, London.