Introduced by Magnus Magnusson from University of York

Are you sitting comfortably in your chair, or do you think you should be in the chair of the 'Mastermind'?

Well over 2,500 viewers thought they should be and, of those, 48 have won through the initial interviews and auditions. Tonight four of them are out to prove their worth, both in the field of specialist and general knowledge questions.

The rules of the contest are as last year, and designed to exploit the contestants' ability for concise answering, quick recall and depth of knowledge.

They are:

Dr M.L. Harris, doctor

R.S. Johnson, university lecturer

Miss S.H. Reynolds, student

S.R. Turnbull, schoolteacher

Introduced by Magnus Magnusson from University of York

Four more contestants use their specialist and general knowledge, together with their ability of quick recall and concise answering to win a place in the next round of Mastermind. They are:

CORFE, lecturer N. P. FORDE, actor

P. M. KILTY, schoolmaster

N. C. SUCKLING, retired university lecturer

A chance for you at home to compare your score with the experts in this third match of the series, from Westfield College, University of London.

Introduced by Magnus Magnusson from Westfield College, University of London

Another chance for you at home to match your general, and perhaps specialist, knowledge against that of our four contenders, who this week are:

F. D. BRYAN-BROWN , schoolmaster MRS O. EVANS , housewife H MORLEY-FLETCHER , auctioneer

M. PAUL , film writer/director

The University of Stirling in Scotland is the venue for another heat of Mastermind, a competition requiring both specialist and general knowledge, and, as time is of the essence, a razor-sharp mind.

A further four contestants take up the challenge for the title of ' Mastermind of the United Kingdom.' They are: DR G. MICKENZIE , general practitioner

A. MILNE , civil servant

D. PURVES, schoolteacher I. SMYTH , teacher

The group of contestants representing Northern Ireland meet at Stirling University tonight for the sixth heat.

They are: Andrew Hemphill, schoolteacher; Mary Lawrence, housewife; David McKee, physicist; Malcolm Ostermeyer, research worker

Tonight's programme comes from Warwick University, and the group representing the Midlands are: PETER MORRIS , schoolteacher MARGERY NICHOLLS , part-time schoolteacher

REV PHILIP OLIVER , clergyman DAVID WILLIAMS , lecturer

Tonight sees a return to Warwick University where once again a group of Midlanders will be challenging for this year's title of Mastermind. Contestants are: DEREK ALLEN , publisher

MRS CHRISTINA BENNETT , housewife

IAN CLARK , solicitor

REV ROBIN PROTHEROE , lecturer

Swansea University provides the venue for this week's Mastermind. Contestants are:

RUPERT CAPPER , pension specialist MRS ELIZABETH HORROCKS , housewife, DAVID HUMPHRY , assistant export manager JOHN WHITTON , librarian

The four contestants tonight are from the South West of England: MARTIN GOSTELOW , photographer

MRS JENNY GRAVES , landscape architect

REV JOHN STARK, Anglican priest MRS HILARY WILSON , teacher

Tonight's programme comes from the University of East Anglia at Norwich and the contestants representing the South East are:

KEITH HASKELL, diplomatic service MISS OONAGH LAHR , assistant lecturer

MISS CAROLYN PEARCE , civil servant SIDNEY ROSS , university lecturer

The group of contestants representing the East of England meet tonight at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. They are:

KEITH CROSSWELL , clerk MARTIN DAKIN, retired schoolmaster

MRS MADELINE JAN , teacher IAN NOBLE, ph D, student

The first of the Semi-Final matches comes from the University of Surrey at Guildford

SUSAN REYNOLDS (North West)

FREDERICK BRYAN-BROWN (London) MARGERY NICHOLLS (West Midlands)

PETER KILTY (North East)

The second Semi-final match comes from the University of Surrey at Guildford and the contestants are: MARTIN DAKIN (East) ANDREW HEMPHILL (Scotland) CAROLYN PEARCE (South East) BRIAN WRIGHT (London)

he third Semi-final match comes from the University of Surrey at Guildford and the contestants are: IAN CLARK (East Midlands) ELIZABETH HORROCKS (Wales) DOUGAL PURVES (Scotland) JOHN STARK (South West)

The four best runners-up from the heats meet tonight in this special semi-final match. One of the four will go forward into the final. RUPERT CAPPER (Wales)

MARTIN GOSTELOW (South West) NORMAN SUCKLING (North East)

STEPHEN TURNBULL (North West)

The climax of Mastermind 1974 is at Manchester University where four finalists meet to decide the title. In the last two series the ladies have taken the honours. Will they succeed yet again?