John Humphrys and the famous black chair return for another series of TV's toughest quiz. Over the next thirty-one weeks, 96 contenders will be whittled down to just one Mastermind champion. Subjects in tonight's first heat are the Muppet films, Alexander the Great, the Biblical writings of St John and the life and work of Benjamin Britten.

John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Topics are: Catherine Howard, the Green Lantern comics, the life and work of Robert Hooke and British Summer Olympic medalists 1960-2008.

John Humphrys puts the questions to four more contenders. Subjects are: the Feature Films of Peter Sellers, Orchids, the Life and Music of Paul Robeson and the Open Golf Championship 1960-2012.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Subjects are: Six Feet Under, the life and times of James Ramsay Macdonald, the city of London parish churches of Sir Christopher Wren and the life and work of Alun Lewis.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Four more contenders are questioned on their specialist subject and general knowledge. Topics are: the life and music of Bob Dylan, Sitting Bull, the life and work of Sir Arthur Sullivan and King Henry I.

John Humphrys asks the questions as four contenders take the walk to the black chair. Subjects are ABBA, the life and work of Charles M Schulz, Harold Larwood and Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Topics are the life and career of Sebastian Coe, the life and work of Eadweard Muybridge, The Byrds and Violette Szabo GC.

Host John Humphrys puts the questions to four more contenders. Subjects are Eddie Chapman, the history of Portsmouth FC, the Battle of Balaklava and Father Ted.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Subjects are Dad's Army, the Faraday and Winter novels by Graham Hurley, the French Revolution and the European Football Championship 1980-date.

John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Topics are Asterix, General Robert E Lee, the life and works of Puccini and the life and times of George IV.

John Humphrys puts the questions to four more contenders. The subjects are: REM, the fiction of C S Lewis, Queen of the South Football Club and the life of Elizabeth Fry.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Subjects tonight are: Star Trek: The Original Series, the Rugby Union World Cup, the Fethering Mysteries of Simon Brett and the Life of Giordano Bruno.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Topics are: The Pogues, military aircraft of the First World War, Sir Edward Carson and the novels of Jonathan Coe.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Topics are - the life and career of Lester Piggott, Robert the Bruce, the life and times of Hugh Gaitskell and the Simon Serrailler novels of Susan Hill.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Subjects are: the life and work of Janis Joplin, the history of Huddersfield Town, the Richard Hannay novels of John Buchan and the Russian Revolution.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. The topics are: Philadelphia soul, the life and novels of Elizabeth Gaskell, German expressionist art and Blackadder.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. The topics are: the presidency of John F Kennedy, the novels of Peter Carey, heavyweight boxing and the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Subjects are the history of the Scilly Isles, the life and works of Lord Byron, RAF Bomber Command and the feature films of Wes Anderson.

John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Subjects include Pulp, FC Barcelona, Catherine the Great and the novels of David Peace.

Host John Humphrys invites four more contenders to answer questions in the black chair. Subjects are Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Sam Phillips and the Sun Record Label 1950-1960, the Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell and Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. The subjects are Manic Street Preachers, the life of Sir Edmund Hillary, the history of Kew Gardens and the ghost stories of MR James.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. The subjects are snooker world championships 1977-present, the musicals of Lerner and Loewe, the novels of Cara Black, and Phillip II of Spain.

John Humphrys puts the questions to four more contenders. Subjects are punk music, the history of Rhodesia 1965-1980, Samuel Beckett and French wines of the Rhone Valley.

John Humphrys asks the questions as the hunt continues for the nation's Mastermind. Subjects are The Grateful Dead, the novels of Wilkie Collins, the history of Bedlam and the English Civil Wars.

John Humphrys presents the first semi-final as five contenders vie for a place in the grand final. Subjects are Factory Records, the novels of Carol Shields, Homer's Odyssey, Roald Amundsen and the life and career of Michael Jordan.

Five more contenders compete for a place in the grand final as John Humphrys hosts another semi-final. Subjects are Vincent Van Gogh, the Black Death, the Musketeer novels of Alexandre Dumas, Field Marshal William Slim and the Eurovision Song Contest.

John Humphrys presents another semi-final of the classic quiz, as five contenders fight for a place in the Grand Final. Subjects are Tutankhamun, the life and career of Clement Attlee, the life and books of James Herriot, English history 1399-1485 and the life and work of Joseph Cornell.

Five more contenders vie for a place in the grand final as John Humphrys invites them to return to the black chair in another semi-final. Subjects are Black Sabbath 1968-1979, the novels of Barbara Vine, the life and times of William II, Adolf Hitler and the life and works of Paulo Veronese.

John Humprhys hosts the penultimate semi-final as five contenders attempt to win a place in the grand final. The subjects are the life and work of John Lennon, Burke and Hare, the life and reign of Charles II, the Peloponnesian War and the novels of Patrick Hamilton.

Five contenders compete for the last place in the grand final as John Humphrys hosts the sixth semi-final. Subjects are Bobby Fischer, the life and times of Cesare Borgia, the Philip Marlowe novels of Raymond Chandler, Amelia Earhart and British political history 1964-1997.

Host John Humphrys asks the questions as six contenders battle it out to become the nation's Mastermind in this series' grand final. The subjects are Scottish lighthouses, the life and works of Richard Wagner, the Italian Front in the First World War, the life and poetry of Philip Larkin, French cinema 1895 - 1945 and the Salem witch trials.