The forbidding black chair awaits its next nervous occupants as the demanding quiz returns for its 30th season.

Tonight's quartet of contenders will be answering questions on a typically eclectic mix of specialist subjects - the history of US submarines, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books, the Blackadder TV comedy series and the life and works of Ivor Novello. John Humphrys asks the questions and delivers the verdicts.

The forbidding black chair awaits its next nervous occupants. The quartet of contenders tonight will be grilled for two minutes on the history of American jazz, 17th-century English radicals Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers, the cult supernatural TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the life and times of medieval monarch Eleanor of Aquitaine. John Humphrys asks the questions and delivers the verdicts.

The black chair awaits another quartet of contestants. Specialist subjects are Verdi's operas, Inspector Morse, Anne Boleyn and the locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley. John Humphrys is quizmaster.

Specialist subjects tonight are the Marlow family books by Antonia Forest, India v Pakistan Test cricket, British dreadnoughts, and Star Wars films episodes IV-VI. John Humphrys is quizmaster.

Specialist subjects are mountaineering in the UK; US military aircraft of the Second World War; Ian Rankin's Rebus novels; and the life and career of Michael Schumacher. With John Humphrys.

Specialist subjects are the life and films of Cary Grant, reformation in England 1500-1600, British track and field athletics, and the life and works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Hosted by John Humphrys.

Another eclectic mix of specialist subjects includes the history of metal mining in Britain, Kettle's Yard and its artists, the life and films of Lindsay Anderson and the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. With John Humphrys.

Another eclectic mix of specialist subjects features the films of Stanley Kubrick, Anglo-Scottish warfare, the life and music of David Bowie and cricket's Bodyline Ashes tour of 1932/3. John Humphrys hosts.

The specialist subjects tonight are the history of the crossword, civic heraldry of the Russian Empire, the life and work of the Venerable Bede, and the history of London Zoo. John Humphrys has the questions.

Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition aboard the Endurance, the life and works of W. Eugene Smith, the California sound 1965-1975 and the history of forensic science are tackled. With John Humphrys.

The American Revolution 1775-1783 and the lives and careers of Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, Bette Davis, and Douglas Adams are tackled. With John Humphrys.

Specialist subjects tonight comprise 20th-century Liechtenstein, the life and work of singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen, the Titanic, and the life of pioneering nurse Mary Seacole. With John Humphrys.

Specialist subjects tonight comprise NBA (National Basketball Association) finals from 1985 to 2005, Napoleonic Wars 1796-1815, and the life and work of both author Nevil Shute and film-maker/actor Woody Allen. John Humphrys has the questions.

Specialist subjects tonight comprise the life and work of acclaimed Argentinian writer and critic Jorge Luis Borges, the history and culture of Arabic dance, Charlton Athletic Football Club and the history of firearms from the 12th to the 18th century.

Tonight's eclectic range of specialist subjects comprises the philosophy of existentialism, the Little Women novels by Louisa May Alcott, the life and work of Gwen John and mod rockers the Jam. John Humphrys asks questions on these and general knowledge.

Brain-boxes in the black chair are quizzed on the life and work of Hunter S Thompson, Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds, the life and career of Kenneth Williams and the history of the Academy Awards.

Specialist subjects tonight comprise venomous snakes, the life of British naval officer and colonial governor Robert FitzRoy, Henry Reed's Hilda Tablet plays and World Cup football from 1930 to 2002.

Prehistoric art up to 8,000 BC, the novels of Charles Dickens, the life and music of Edith Piaf, and the life and films of James Dean, are tonight's specialist head-scratchers. John Humphrys is the inquisitor.

The political and physical geography of Europe, the rock band Ash, 15th-century Florentine ruler Lorenzo de Medici, and the life and career of darts player John Lowe, are tonight's specialist subjects.

The history of the modern marathon, Dawn French's show The Vicar of Dibley, the life and times of Anne Frank, and Middle Egyptian literature are the black chair bafflers. John Humphrys is the inquisitor.

Croatian geography, George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels, the life and films of Powell and Pressburger and the life and career of Winston Churchill are tonight's specialist subjects.

Tackling the history of the Hammer films 1945-1983, the Little House novels by Laura Ingalls, the British motorcycle industry from 1945 to 1985 and the Rolling Stones. With John Humphrys.

Contestants opt for the band REM, the Roger Brook novels of Dennis Wheatley, the Summer Olympics from 1896 to the present day, and the life and career of Ernesto "Che" Guevara. With John Humphrys.

Fascist propagandist William Joyce, the Sandman graphic novels of Neil Gaiman, the Nobel Prize and the novels of Jilly Cooper are tonight's specialist subjects. John Humphrys asks the questions.

John Humphrys asks questions on M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin thrillers, the life and gospel of St Mark, the history of cryptography and code breaking and the life and music of Ian Dury.

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels, German anarchist Gustav Landauer, rock band Led Zeppelin and the writings of HP Lovecraft make up tonight's eclectic range of specialisms. With John Humphrys.

Specialist subjects include Hercule Poirot novels of Agatha Christie, Gustav Landauer, Led Zeppelin and the fiction of HP Lovecraft. With John Humphrys.

The Bernard Samson novels of Len Deighton, the life and music of Stevie Wonder, the life and reign of Elizabeth I, and the Reginald Perrin novels and TV shows of David Nobbs comprise another eclectic range of specialist subjects. With John Humphrys.

The final batch of semi-finalists answer questions on the Regency novels of Georgette Heyer, the work of physician Edward Jenner, the career of former US president Andrew Jackson, and boxing heavyweight championship fights since 1950. With John Humphrys.

The remaining six contenders, whittled down from 96, answer questions on the life of painter Thomas Girtin, Margaret Mitchell and Gone with the Wind, King Edward VII, the life and fictional works of Albert Camus, television series Porridge and Going Straight, and the Ottoman Empire 1878-1924. With John Humphrys.