Mastermind's 12th season opens at the University of Dundee when four contenders from Scotland and Northern Ireland meet in the first heat of the 1984 competition.

Mary Burton (computing supervisor) The Scots Quair Trilogy of Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Stephen Bowers (unemployed) French History 1715-1799

Norman Izzett (assistant rector) Ancient Athens

Gordon McAlister (unemployed) The Bolsheviks 1914-1920

The University of Dundee is host as four more contenders are quizzed in the quest to find Mastermind's 12th champion.

Robert Foulkes (schoolteacher) Life and Work of Antoine Lavoisier Maisie Lunan (retired) Life and Works of J. M. Barrie

John McGrath (principal teacher) Second Punic War 219-202 BC George Snowden (solicitor) The operas of Gilbert and Sullivan Director

The Aircraft Hall of the RAF Museum at Hendon is the setting as four more contestants do battle for the title 'Mastermind 1984'.

Mary Dicken (school teacher) Reign of James I

John Hutchings (probation officer) Novels of George Orwell

Bill James (agricultural tractor driver) Aircraft of World War II

Tim Tatton-Brown (archaeologist) Life and Works of Beethoven Director

with Magnus Magnusson at the RAF Museum in Hendon Jill Goodwin (insurance clerk) Lives of Charles II and James II Terence Kane (golf club manager) Life and works of Lewis Carroll

Fr Stephen Ortiger (Benedictine monk) Jeeves/Wooster stories of P. G. Wodehouse

Nicholas Slocombe (executive officer) American railroads since 1945

Two men and two women confront each other at University College, Cardiff, in the fifth heat of Mastermind 1984.

Angela Burke (computer operator) History of costume since 1400

Jane Gardner (chartered librarian) Epic novels of R. F. Delderfield

Byron Jones (construction manager) Life and works of Duke Ellington

Derek Pheby (medical practitioner) Life and works of John Keats

University College, Cardiff, is host as three women and one man pit their wits against each other in the quest to become Mastermind 1984.

Diana Hadley (landscape gardener) Life and work of Sir Edwin Lutyens Margaret Harris (deputy head teacher) Life and work of Cecil Rhodes John Warner (retired) Anglo-Australian test matches 1920-1938 Primrose Wood (physiotherapist) Lord Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy L. Sayers

Avery Hill College at Eltham in south east London welcomes four more aspirants for the title of Mastermind 1984. Maureen Butler (technical sales rep) Lymond saga books of Dorothy Dunnett

Anthony Hern (freelance journalist) Novels of G. K. Chesterton

Rachel Leonard (housewife) Life and novels of Thomas Hardy Richard Thackrah (lecturer) History of the police 1829-1900

The Great Hall at Avery Hill College in London is the setting as four contestants challenge for a place in the semi-finals of Mastermind 1984. Joseph Angel (physician) Austrian Habsburgs, 1740-1792

Michael Davison (publisher's editor) Coastline of Great Britain Richard Joby (lecturer) Great Eastern Railway, 1862-1922

Margot Stewart (company director) Life of Duke of Windsor

Worcester College of Higher Education is host for the ninth heat of Mastermind 1984.

Christopher Carter (parish priest) British birds

Nick Morrell (unemployed) Life and works of Noel Coward

Malcolm Parnell (publicity manager) Voyages of Captain Cook Anne Senior (part-time teacher) Novels of Barbara Pym

Four more contenders for the 1984 Mastermind title do battle at Worcester College of Higher Education. Godfrey Chesshire (community worker) The Medici and the City of Florence, 1200-1537

Edward Hamer (fingerprint expert) World War I

Christopher Strudwick (college lecturer) Life and works of John Betjeman

Kate Vernon-Parry (anaesthetist) The Swallows and Amazons books of Arthur Ransome

Mastermind pays its first visit to the Isle of Man and helps to celebrate the 150th anniversary of King William's College at Castletown.

Neville Cohen (lecturer) The Lake District

David Hatton (chemical plant manager) Life of Nelson Colin Graham (bus driver) Roman history 133 BC-AD 14 Ella Thompson (housewife) Life and missionary voyages of St Paul

King William's College at Castletown on the Isle of Man is the host for the last heat in the first round of Mastermind 1984.

Colin Driver (telephone engineer) History of the Church of England 1815-1900

Katharine Heaney (local government official) De Richleau's novels of Dennis Wheatley

Valerie Ann Smith (part-time tutor) Life and works of George Eliot

George Thornton (civil servant) Life and works of Mozart Director

The semi-final stage of this year's competition opens tonight at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Four winners of the first round heats compete for a place in the final of Mastermind 1984.

Robert Foulkes (schoolteacher) Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs Richard Joby (lecturer) Life and career of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Malcolm Parnell (publicity manager) Novels of Evelyn Waugh

Primrose Wood (physiotherapist) Life of Sir Francis Drake Director

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia is the setting, as four more winners of first-round heats challenge for a place in the final of Mastermind 1984.

Jill Goodwin (insurance clerk) French revolution 1788-1794

John Hutchings (probation officer) History of Britain's canals

Norman Izzett (assistant rector) Greek tragic poets

Byron Jones (construction manager) MGM musicals 1939-1962

Four winners of first-round heats do battle for a place in the final of Mastermind 1984 at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham. Neville Cohen (lecturer) Life of Isaac Newton Katharine Heaney

(local government officer) Life of Queen Victoria

Rachel Leonard (mother and housewife) Life and works of Jane Austen Kate Vernon-Parry (anaesthetist) Life and works of Beatrix Potter

The last place in the final of this year's competition is at stake tonight at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham. The contenders are the four highest-scoring losers from the first-round heats.

Colin Driver (telephone engineer) Life and work of Thomas Arnold Colin Graham (bus driver) Ships of the Royal Navy 1900-1960

Margaret Harris (dep-head teacher) Postal history and philately of Southern Africa 1853-1960

Ella Thompson (housewife) Life of Mary Tudor