Mastermind: 1981
Season 10 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Mastermind Season 9.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 10 Progress Shield
Episode 1
Sep 6, 1981
Tonight Mastermind's tenth season opens and, between now and Christmas, 48 contestants will pit their wits against each other in the quest to win television's premier quiz battle.
Episode 2
Sep 13, 1981
Heat 2 in the search for Mastermind 81 from the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell Captain Patrick Lawrence (retired soldier): The Indian Mutiny (1857) Tim Parry (trainee hospital
Episode 3
Sep 20, 1981
Four more contenders for the Mastermind 81 title meet in this third heat of the competition at the University College of North Wales in Bangor. Janet Barker (housewife): History o
Episode 4
Sep 27, 1981
The University College of North Wales at Bangor is host to the contenders in the fourth heat. Ian Barton (university lecturer): Roman emperors of the first and second centuries AD
Episode 5
Oct 4, 1981
The fifth heat of Mastermind 1981 comes from the Great Hall at the University of Bradford and features contestants from the Midlands. John Mellor (HGV driver): The Battle of Water
Episode 6
Oct 11, 1981
Four contestants from the North of England take up the challenge in the sixth heat of Mastermind 1981 at the University of Bradford. Hutton Barton (probation officer): Battle-cruis
Episode 7
Oct 18, 1981
Four contestants from the South East of England meet at Middlesex Polytechnic in this seventh heat of Mastermind 1981. James Bitton (retired civil servant): The Second Boer War M
Episode 8
Oct 25, 1981
The search for Mastermind 1981 reaches the half-way point - as contestants from the South and East meet at Middlesex Polytechnic. Thomas Dyer (financial consultant): Works of Will
Episode 9
Nov 1, 1981
Four contestants from the South of England are assembled on the Quarter Deck at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Katherine Davies (department store buyer-manager): Li
Episode 10
Nov 8, 1981
The Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth is host for this tenth heat of Mastermind 1981. On the Quarter Deck are contestants from the West of England. Godfrey Abbott(ordnanc
Episode 11
Nov 15, 1981
Scots and Irish contenders for the Mastermind 1981 title meet tonight at Scotland's oldest university, in the Younger Graduation Hall of the University of St Andrews. Arthur Arnol
Episode 12
Nov 22, 1981
The first-round heats of Mastermind 1981 are completed tonight at the University of St Andrews as contestants from Scotland and Northern Ireland challenge for the last place in the
Episode 13
Nov 29, 1981
Winners from the first round return to face each other in the debating chamber of the Oxford Union Society in this, the first of the semi-finals. Janet Barker (housewife): The fil
Episode 14
Dec 6, 1981
Another finalist in Mastermind 1981 is chosen tonight as four more winners from the first round pit their wits against each other in the Debating Chamber of the Oxford Union Societ
Episode 15
Dec 13, 1981
The third semi-final from St Aidan's College, Durham University Ian Barton (university lecturer): Classical Greek and Roman architecture Richard Beatty (biologist): Life and work
Episode 16
Dec 20, 1981
St Aidan's College, Durham University is the setting for this special Semi-final when five' runners-up ' compete for a place in the final. James Bitton (retired civil servant): Hi
The Final
Dec 27, 1981
from The Metropolitan Police Cadet School at Hendon. Ian Barton (university lecturer): Roman emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD Leslie Grout (schoolmaster): St George's Cha