Charles Key

A contestant in the 1973 series of Mastermind and by all accounts a fascinating person, Charles Key won his heat with 'The City of Paris' but lost his semi-final with 'The Sherlock Holmes Stories'. His association with the programme continued, as he contributed some general knowledge questions to subsequent series. He is best remembered, however, for the founding of a prestigious organisation - the Mastermind Club.

Apparently the idea of the club came to Charles as he was stuck in heavy traffic on the M4. He broached the idea to the then producer of Mastermind, Bill Wright, who assured Charles that he would give it his enthusiastic support. Charles then wrote to all 288 former contestants about his idea - 165 responded, of whom 160 were strongly in favour. This encouraged Charles to call an initial 'interest meeting' at the Bloomsbury Centre Hotel, London, at which the foundation of the club was agreed by a unanimous vote. Naturally, Charles was elected President, with John Palmer-Barnes as Vice-President and Margaret Garratt as Secretary. A further eight Masterminders were elected for different regions of the country. The Mastermind Club was under way.

The Mastermind Club has had its ups and downs over the years, but sadly Charles did not long survive its foundation. Ill-health prevented his attendance at committee meetings, and he died in 1980. With Tony Dart now in charge, the Mastermind Club not only continues but flourishes, and it is now an association of which Charles Key would undoubtedly have been proud to call his legacy.