(Dr) Gerald MacKenzie

A Scots-born GP who appeared on Mastermind in 1974, taking 'The Life and Works of Beethoven' as his subject. He had a difficult first round, primarily because of a misunderstanding about the rules. He did not realise that he had the right to challenge answers that he disputed, and his temper grew more and more frayed as he felt that adjudications were going unfairly against him. This may have affected his performance, and he scored just 12 points on his subject. He pulled up sufficiently on general knowledge to finish in second place, but he made no secret of the fact that this incident had left him with a feeling of hostility towards the programme.

All this was forgotten four years later when the Mastermind Club was formed. Gerald was appointed the committee member for the South-west region and he succeeded John George as Vice-President in 1981. From 1984 to 1990, Gerald was the club President, his term of office being notable for one of the most splendid club functions ever, held at Jesus College Cambridge in 1988. One of Gerald's main achievements was the introduction of the Magnum, an in-house quiz for Mastermind Club members, Gerald himself initially acting as question-setter for the written preliminary round. The final stage of the Magnum is hosted by Magnus Magnusson at the club's Annual Gathering, Magnus and Gerald having long since settled their differences!