Sheila Altree

Until 1995, the rules of Mastermind stated that no one who had previously appeared on the programme was eligible to re-apply. It is not known how many former contestants tried to circumvent the rules in this way, but the only one to have almost got away with it was Sheila Altree.

Mrs Sheila Denyer, as she then was (a divorcee) first appeared on Mastermind in 1980. She was then described as a laundry worker from Devon. She did well on her subject 'The Bible' and only just missed qualifying for the semi-finals. By 1985, she was remarried, had a different name, a different job (laboratory technician) and looked completely different, so it was understandable that no one recognised her when she applied for the programme again. Once again, she was accepted and this time she won her heat, taking 'The Ghost Stories of M.R. James' as her subject.

Shortly after this, the Mastermind office received a strange phone call from a former contestant asking if he could re-apply as the rules had evidently been changed. It was only then that it became known that Sheila Denyer and Sheila Altree were one and the same person.

When she received the half-expected phone call from producer Peter Massey, Sheila tried to defend her actions by saying that she had changed so much since her first appearance that she now considered herself to be a different person. Not surprisingly, the producer could not accept this explanation, and she was disqualified, the runner-up in the heat (Ian McKillop) being declared winner of that heat instead.

In 1995, the rules were changed to allow previous contestants to re-apply. Anxious to show magnanimity to the unfortunate Sheila, Magnus Magnusson persuaded the producer (now David Mitchell) to invite her to have another go. She was accepted for the final (1997) series and this time was runner-up in her heat with 'The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft' before bowing out in the repechage semi-final with 'The Discworld Novels of Terry Pratchett'.