This 13th season opens tonight at Bristol Polytechnic when the first four of 48 hopeful contenders from Wales and south west England meet to compete for a place in the semi-finals. Winifred Bosworth (secretarial assistant) The life of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine Sharon Colesell (invoice clerk) The life and works of Oscar Wilde Brian Rowlands (school teacher) Greek mythology Jan Evans (freelance translator) The life and works of Dylan Thomas

with Magnus Magnusson at Bristol Polytechnic Diana Moore (retired civil servant) The prose works of Rudyard Kipling Ian Christie (psychiatrist) The Old Pretender and his sons Sheila Altree (school laboratory technician) The ghost stories of M. R. James Ian McKillop (pharmacy technician, RAMC) History of the Labour Party since 1945

Ronald Fraser (freelance journalist) The life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Michael McWilliam (shop manager) Wines and wine-growing regions of France Elizabeth McCaffrey (solicitor) The Anne books of L. M. Montgomery Neil Butterworth (college head of department) American orchestral music from 1900

Four more contenders from Scotland compete for a place in the semi-finals when Mastermind comes tonight once again from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. John Simpson (lexicographer) Count Basie and the Count Basie Orchestra Jennifer Glover (chemistry student) Irish myths and legends Herbert Stubbs (teacher) Life of Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig Derek Oliver (theatre technical manager) The Western films of John Ford

The National Railway Museum, York, is host to four contenders from the north of England. Here amid the splendour of steam and railway history one more place in the semi-final will be filled. David Dutton (solicitor's clerk) History of South Africa from 1902 Jack Humphreys (retired company secretary) The fictional works of Joseph Conrad Deborah Gaunt (company director) The Vikings, 793-954 Christopher Rowe (history teacher) Life and works of Leos Janacek

with Magnus Magnusson from The National Railway Museum, York. Four more contenders from the north of England compete for a place in the semi-finals. Brian Newton Elliot (opera singer) Architecture of York Minster Susan Millard (part-time farmer) 'Hebridean' books of Lillian Beckwith Francis Walker (schoolmaster) Dissolution of the Monasteries, 1523-40 Colin Pickles (inspector of taxes) Life and works of H. Rider Haggard

with Magnus Magnusson from The Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Four contenders from London and the south east seek the title of Mastermind 1985 Derek West (parish priest) Life and works of Thomas Telford Malcolm Fry (electrician) Life and works of Gustav MahJpr Catherine Walling (assistant museum curator) Art and archaeology of Minoan Crete, 2000-1450 BC Iain McCoubrey (medical officer, RAF) History of Hong Kong from 1839

with Magnus Magnusson from The Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London Richard Durden (actor) Life of Robert Falcon Scott Clive Bettington (solicitor) The British Raj 1899-1948 Susan Vickers (lecturer) The Diaghilev Ballet 1909-29 Simon Creswell (charity official) The Ottoman Empire 1453-1566

with Magnus Magnusson from The Great Hall of the University of Reading. Four contenders from London and the south-east compete for a semi-final place. Alan Samson (book editor) The life of Harold Macmillan Jeanette Setterich (receptionist) The 'Amama' Pharaohs c 1417-c 1320 BC David Blackman (civil servant) Life and times of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria Christopher Gibson (schoolmaster) Opera since 1780

with Magnus Magnusson from the Great Hall of the University of Reading Jo Gable (freelance writer) The Staffordshire Potteries 1928-39 Joseph Kerrigan (clerical assistant) Irish history 1848-1921 Ann Hartland-Swann (wife of a diplomat) Classic French cooking Richard Hills (schoolmaster) Life and music of Gustav Hoist

with Magnus Magnusson from the Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh Four contenders from the Midlands and East Anglia compete for a place in the semi-finals. Richard Bullock (under sheriff) The poetry of John Donne Sandra Moore (teacher) BBC radio comedy series from 1950 John Burke (freelance author) Life and works of Carl Nielsen Clive Evans (unemployed) European history 1815-1900

with Magnus Magnusson from the Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh The last of the first-round programmes sees four contenders from the Midlands and the east of England compete for the last place in the semi-finals. Ian Meadows (hospital driver) The English Civil War, 1641-7 Rex Walford (university lecturer) The life and travels of Amy Johnson Lynne Steele-Smith (unemployed) The life and works of William Lilly , 1602-81 Roger Stein (schoolteacher) The spy novels of John le Carre

The semi-final stage of this year's competition is reached tonight in the Great Hall of the University of Lancaster. Four winners of the first-round programmes compete for a place in the final of Mastermind 1985. Sharon Colesell (invoice clerk) The Decameron of Boccaccio Clive Bettington (solicitor) The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 Catherine Walling (assistant museum curator) British birds Derek Oliver (theatre technical manager) The Second World War

The Great Hall of the University of Lancaster is the setting as four more winners of the first-round programmes challenge for a place in the Final of Mastermind 1985. Elizabeth McCaffrey (solicitor) The institutions of the European Communities Ian MacKillop (pharmacy technician RAMC) The history of the British newspaper comic strip Francis Walker (schoolmaster) The life and poetry of John Milton Christopher Rowe (history teacher) The lives and voyages of John and Sebastian Cabo

Tonight's setting is the Taliesin Centre for the Arts at the University College of Swansea, where four winners of first-round programmes compete for a place in the final of Mastermind 1985. John Burke (freelance author) Jan Hus and the Hussite Wars, 1415-37 Richard Hills (schoolmaster) English poetry of the First World War Ian Meadows (hospital driver) History of astronomy/ cosmology up to 1700 Christopher Gibson (schoolmaster) History of Athens, 560-323 BC

The last place in the final of this year's competition is at stake at the Taliesin Centre for the Arts, University College of Swansea. The contenders are the four best-scoring losers from the first-round programmes. Ronald Fraser (freelance journalist) The life and works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh Rex Walford (university lecturer) The history of British musicals, 1945-1980 Clive Evans (unemployed cost clerk) British politics, 1905-1979 Roger Stein (schoolteacher) The life and works of Edward Elgar

The climax of Mastermind 1985 takes place at Robinson College, Cambridge. In January 48 contenders set out to see who could win the coveted Caithness glass trophy. Tonight just the final four are left to do friendly battle to receive that trophy from the Chairman of the BBC Stuart Young. Clive Bettington (solicitor) The British Raj, 1899-1948 Ian MacKillop (pharmacy technician RAMC) History of the Labour Party since 1945 Roger Stein (schoolteacher) The works of John Le Carre Ian Meadows (hospital driver) The English Civil War, 1642-7