(Insp) Paul Hancock

Then a police inspector, Paul Hancock appeared on Mastermind in 1987 and found himself pitted against his then wife Christine Hancock in the same heat! Taking 'The Life and Times of William Pitt the Elder', he scored 34 overall, exactly the same as his wife, and there was a tie on passes also so a sudden-death play-off was held. Christine went first, so her husband left the auditorium while she faced five general knowledge questions - she scored 1/5. Paul returned to face the same five questions and scored 2/5, remembering that the famous earthquake of 1755 took place in Lisbon. He was therefore the winner, but Christine lived to fight another day as one of the highest scoring losers. Magnus Magnusson wittily described the debacle as 'Hancock's Half-Hour'!

Paul's subject for the semi-final was 'The Works of C.S. Forrester', but like Christine he did not reach the final. He later appeared on another television quiz called Masterteam with Christine and his brother - the Hancock ensemble were narrowly defeated by another team who went on to reach the quarter-finals. Paul Hancock is now Chief Constable of Bedfordshire.