Tonight Magnus is 'starting' so please stay with him until he has 'finished', the exciting search for this year's champion. Manchester Polytechnic are the hosts for this first heat of the series, and waiting to take up the challenge are: Pauline Fisher (teacher): Lives of the Hesse and Battenberg families, 1837-1937

Edward Saunders (architect): Life and works of Sir Christopher Wren

Heather Weaver (housekeeper): Life and works of Chekhov Cyril White (colour chemist): Life of Sir Richard Arkwright

Heat 2 from Manchester Polytechnic

Adrian H. Cowell (botanist): Life and times of Prince Rupert of the Rhine

John Keogh (local government officer): The house of Godwin, 1016-1066 Jacquelyn Tonge (teacher): The French novel, 1800-1870

Robert Turpin (mature student): Life and works of Jung

Nottingham University is the location for this third Mastermind heat. The four contenders are: Michael Crisp (accountant): Fictional naval heroes

Elizabeth Shaw (schoolteacher): Reign of Elizabeth I of England Jack Smith (radar systems engineer): History of radiophysics and radar up to 1945

Ian Stevens (office worker): The English theatre since 1950

Four more contenders for the Mastermind title meet tonight in competition at Nottingham University. Amongst them is a law student who is an ex-tv Top of the Former!

The contenders are:

Christopher Cooke (bank official): Life of General Gordon of Khartoum

Alexis King (law student): Life and works of James Joyce

Samuel Mortimer (civil servant): The History of Stonehenge Roger Sandell (teacher): Life and works of H. P. Lovecraft

The Royal Naval Engineering College in Plymouth, which is celebrating 100 years of existence, is the venue for this fifth heat. The contenders are:

Sheila Denyer (laundry worker): The Bible

Josephine Lawrey (housewife): Italian Painting, Masaccio to Michelangelo Ken Smith (buyer): Kings and Queens of England, 1066-1485

Ingram Wilcox (civil servant): The Crusades, 1095-1192

Four contenders from Wales meet tonight at the Royal Naval Engineering College in Plymouth. They are:

Erica Austin (barrister/housewife):The descendants of Queen Victoria Bill Beaumont (civil servant): The English Inland Waterways David Greensmith (solicitor): Life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunei

Anthony Hurman (civil servant): Political history of the developed world since 1945

The ancient city of Newcastle upon Tyne is celebrating its 900th anniversary, and tonight the City Council are hosts to the following Mastermind contenders:

Alan Caig (local government arts officer): Life and works of Rudyard Kipling Olwyn Linton (state enrolled nurse): Life and times of Queen Elizabeth I of England

John Webley (dental surgeon): Life and works of Dorothy Parker Don Young (teacher): Life of Henry VIII of England

Northern Ireland now takes up the challenge of Mastermind. Its four contenders are meeting tonight at the Civic Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. They are:

John Campbell (travel agent): 19th-century inventions

Harry Irwin (representative): British cartoons and cartoonists 1930-1980

Margaret McNulty (undergraduate): Kings and Queens of Britain 1485-present day

Tony Veitch (civil servant): Life and works of A. E. Housman

The venue for tonight's heat is Girton College, Cambridge. The contenders are:

Amanda Cooper (teacher): The career of Bishop Colenso of Natal (1853-1883)

Arthur Douch (retired major): The history of Rome, 753-390 BC

Fred Housego (licensed taxi driver): Henry II of England

Nigel Viney (publisher): The life of Sir Winston Churchill

Tonight's contenders come from Surrey, Dorset, Canterbury and Cambridge. They are: Sylvia Britton (bookshop manageress): Life and work of Vincent Van Gogh Richard Ellender (file clerk): House of Cerdic, 519-1124 Geoffrey Hitchcock (external relations adviser): Life and times of Marshal Tito Christopher Pelly (teacher): Life and works of Oscar Wilde

Question: Where in Britain is the Granite or Silver City? Answer: Aberdeen of course; and the city's university is the location for the first of the Scottish heats. Contenders are:

Richard Coast-Smith (general medical practitioner): Royal Naval 74-gun ships Duncan Forrest (computer programmer): Henry II of England

Derek Murray (minister): 18th-century Scottish ecclesiastical history

Sheila Salmond (teacher): Greek mythology

This second Scottish heat completes the first round and leads to the semi-finals.

Donald James Goldie (student): Arthurian legend in England Helen Harper (housewife): The Peninsular War

Thomas McBrearty (teacher): Life and works of George Orwell Susan Smith (civil servant): The life of Adolf Hitler

Mastermind visits a school for the first time - Christ's Hospital, Sussex, is host for the first of the semi-finals.

John Campbell (travel agent) - Novels of Arthur C. Clarke

David Greensmith (solicitor) - Life and works of Charlie Parker

Alexis King (articled clerk) - The history of cricket

Ingram Wilcox (civil servant) - Mammals

Semi-final: this match comes from Christ's Hospital Arts Centre, Sussex.

The four contenders competing for a place in the Final are

Fred Housego (licensed taxi driver): Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

Christopher Pelly (teacher): Life and works of Vladimir Nabokov

Edward Saunders (architect): Life of John Clare

Elizabeth Shaw (teacher): Life of the Duke of Wellington

The setting for this Semi-final match is the MacRobert Arts Centre, at the University of Stirling.

It includes an Englishman specialising in a Scottish Queen and a Scot specialising in an English King!

The contenders are: Duncan Forrest (computer programmer): William the Conqueror

John Keogh (postgraduate student): Life and times of King Alfred Thomas McBrearty (teacher): Astronomy

Don Young (teacher): Life of Mary Queen of Scots

The MacRobert Arts Centre at the University of Stirling is the setting for this special Semi-final match between the four ' best losers' from the heats.

Tonight's winner will fill the last place in the Final line up.

Christopher Cooke (bank official): The life of Richard III

Samuel Mortimer (civil servant): Napoleon's campaign in Russia Roger Sandell (teacher): The British Army, 1914-1918 Jacquelyn Tonge (teacher): Novels of Nevil Shute