Samuel Mortimer

The late Sam Mortimer, then a civil servant from Watford, appeared on Mastermind in 1981. He lost his heat with 'The History of Stonehenge' but (along with the other two losers of that heat) reached the repechage semi-final (the 150th programme), where he took 'Napoleon's Campaigns in Russia' and won. For the final Sam chose a new subject 'The Life and Works of Joseph Haydn' and scored 14. Fred Housego set the target of 33, but with a remarkable run of 17 correct answers Sam reached 31 with time to spare so it seemed almost certain that he would overtake Fred. It was not to be - Sam foundered on the remaining six questions so his score remained at 31.