Ivan Limmer

The first ever winner of a Mastermind heat, back in 1972 on the first ever edition of the programme. Then a field officer for the National Council of Civil Liberties, Ivan scored 9 on 'Classical Greek Theatre' and 10 on general knowledge to win a place in the semi-final with 19 (clearly a low winning score by subsequent standards). Now working for Blackburn Social Services, Ivan chose 'The English Legal System as his semi-final subject. He scored an ostensibly healthier 31, but ironically that was only enough to put him in second place behind Joan Taylor.

In late 1996 it was announced that the next series of Mastermind would be the last, and Magnus Magnusson thought it would be a nice gesture to have Ivan back on the programme (the rules had been changed in 1995 to permit this). Consequently Ivan was auditioned, accepted and found himself on the first show of the 1997 series after an interval of 25 years. This time his subject was 'The Russian Revolution of 1917' but he scored just 17 over the two rounds to put him well behind eventual finalist Clare Ockwell. Ivan claimed that he did not mind - he was thrilled just by having made a nostalgic return to the programme.