Alan Whitehead

A print-maker who holds a special place in Mastermind history - he was the first ever contestant, back in 1972. His subject was 'The Visual Arts' and the his first question was as follows:

'Picasso's Guernica was a protest about the bombing by Spanish planes of a village. What was the year when the event took place which inspired this painting?'

The information in the question was incorrect - the planes were German, not Spanish. However, it did not faze Alan, who answered correctly '1937'. Alan did not win that very first game - that distinction belongs to Ivan Limmer. It would have been fitting had Alan been invited back to appear in the last series of Mastermind in 1977, and this was Magnus Magnusson's initial intention, but his aim was frustrated by being unable to trace that first ever contestant.