Highland glass artist reflects on 50 years of Mastermind designs
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Mastermind has been a national institution for half a century, putting countless contestants to the test on their specialist subjects and general knowledge. And the distinctive trophy awaiting the winner of each series – a glass bowl engraved by Denis Mann – has been as much a part of its identity as the familiar theme tune and the famous black chair.
From his workshop at his home in Wick, every year since the enduringly popular BBC quiz began in 1972, Denis has created an exquisite piece of glass artwork as the ultimate reward for the Mastermind champion. His designs are different each time but always based around the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, the goddesses of science, literature and the arts.
With the programme celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, Denis has been reflecting on the chance sequence of events that brought him into contact with the producer who devised it.
Bill Wright visited the Caithness Glass factory in 1970 and was impressed by the wheel-engraved glass he saw there. It struck him that an engraved glass trophy would be an ideal prize for the TV show he was planning.
It so happened that Denis – who had specialised in glass engraving at Edinburgh College of Art before going into teaching – arrived at Caithness Glass on the same day, to discuss the position of engraver/designer.
“It's all so strange, so many things just fell into place but were not planned,” Denis said.
Although he and Bill didn't meet that day, Denis "took the plunge" and left the teaching profession to start a new life in Wick.
"One of the first things I did there was to design new glass vessels specifically for wheel engraving," he recalled. "Among them was a bowl that was to become the Mastermind bowl.
"I eventually met Bill in early 1971, when we discussed the design in more detail. Bill came up with that idea [the Nine Muses] at the very beginning and the producers have decided to continue with that theme.”
Bill, a former RAF gunner, based the Mastermind format on his experience as a prisoner of war during World War II. His interrogators repeatedly put three questions to him – name, rank and number – and this inspired his idea of asking contenders their name, occupation and specialist subject.
Denis left Caithness Glass in the 1990s but his work for Mastermind has continued uninterrupted. Now 87, he describes himself as semi-retired.
“In the early days, producers used to come up here and we would talk about what I was going to do and I showed them around Caithness,” he said.
The design process involves producing multiple sketches and smaller-size drawings before the engraving itself. Wheel engraving is an ancient technique and Denis describes it as slow and demanding – but he says no other method is as crisp and sculptural.
"I find that I concentrate for an hour to two hours, then I stop, go and have a coffee, go for a walk along Reiss beach or whatever, and then I go back.
“You have to hold the idea of where you're going to finish up and keep that firmly fixed. It's so easy, because the process is slow, to let it wander off... It helps to have a wee break.”
Born in Perthshire in 1935, Denis attended Breadalbane Academy before going to art college. One of his teachers there was glass engraver and illustrator Helen Monro Turner, and he now uses a lathe that once belonged to her.
"Helen was inspirational," Denis said. "She taught me to engrave and to understand the principles of design. She had a gift of getting the best from her students.
"I fell in love with copper-wheel glass engraving at Edinburgh College of Art – it is such a beautiful technique. There is also the pleasure of knowing that I am continuing such an ancient tradition.
"It's something I am very aware of, especially when I am using Helen’s lathe. It is very special to me."
After art college he undertook teacher training, then came a spell of national service with the RAF in Aden. “That was such a culture shock, but it also stimulated me – it re-awoke the urge to draw anything and everything," he explained.
Denis taught art in Stirlingshire for a number of years before taking the opportunity to move to Wick at the end of 1970.
“That journey was quite something," he recalled. "I remember driving over the Ord in the early morning, because we'd set off the evening before, and the rain was coming horizontally off the sea. I was saying, 'Oh dear, I've made a terrible mistake!'”
Denis and his wife Trudi, a retired assistant archivist, have attended some of the Mastermind finals to see the trophy being presented. “It's good to meet the people who are involved and meet the contestants," he said.
On display in the Mann household is a framed limited-edition print of the Mastermind chair with a handwritten message from the original presenter, Magnus Magnusson, marking the 25th anniversary of the programme. It says: “For Denis, with thanks for all your lovely trophies.”
When asked about the secret of Mastermind's success, Denis replied: “That's a difficult one to answer. I think it was the original idea of the pressure on the person.
“I remember meeting one of the contestants and he just lost it after getting one answer wrong.
"I couldn't do it!”
Mastermind facts from the first 50 years
- The first champion was Nancy Wilkinson (1972), a 53-year-old lecturer from Cambridgeshire, with specialist subjects of French literature, European antiques and the history of music from 1550-1900.
- In the first series of Mastermind, all the finalists were women.
- The first three series were all won by women (after Nancy Wilkinson in 1972, Patricia Owen became champion in 1973 and Elizabeth Horrocks in 1974), leading some to speculate whether a man could ever win the show.
- In 1975 John Hart became the first male Mastermind champion. In the final he chose the specialist subject of Athens in the fifth century BC.
- Alice Walker became the oldest female champion in 2022, aged 66, with a final specialist subject of the Peak District.
- Youngest winner was Jonathan Gibson, aged 24, in 2021. His specialist subject in the final was the comedy songwriting duo Flanders and Swann.
- Mastermind was inspired by creator Bill Wright’s experience as a prisoner of war in World War II. His interrogators repeatedly demanded his name, rank and number, and this led to his idea of asking contenders their name, occupation and specialist subject.
- The Mastermind chair was kidnapped twice in the late 1970s – students held the chair to ransom for £50, to be paid by the BBC to a chosen charity.
- Tom Hanks is reportedly a fan of Mastermind. He first watched it when filming Saving Private Ryan and called it "the discovery of my time in the UK".
- Famous people, films, TV series and musical groups are popular topics on the show. Documentary film-maker Louis Theroux attempted to answer all questions on the specialist subject of Louis Theroux documentaries.
- The Mastermind theme tune is called Approaching Menace, by Neil Richardson, and programme creator Bill Wright found it in the BBC Gramophone Library.
- "I’ve started so I’ll finish" is the catchphrase that became synonymous with Mastermind, from the first series, and made it into the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Popular Phrases: "In BBC TV’s quiz Mastermind, the chairman Magnus Magnusson would say this if one of his questions was interrupted when the time ran out."
- The first programme was recorded on September 6, 1972, in the Mountford Hall of the Guild of Undergraduates of the University of Liverpool.
- The first broadcast of Mastermind was on September 11, 1972, on BBC1, presented by Magnus Magnusson.
- Sir David Attenborough presented the first champion, Nancy Wilkinson, with her trophy in 1972. He was director of programmes at BBC at the time.
- The black chair became a trademark of Mastermind and since the first episode it has been an imposing presence on the set that was conceived on the idea of "walking the plank" to enhance the sense of drama of the programme.
- In 2019 production of Mastermind moved to Belfast with production company Hat Trick and Hindsight Productions, with support from Northern Ireland Screen.
- The famous glass trophy has been made by the same person since 1972 – Denis Mann.
New series
Mastermind returns on Monday, September 19 (BBC Two, 7pm) in a new series marking the 50th anniversary of the show.
It will see 96 contenders follow the tried and tested formula of facing two minutes of questions on their specialist subject, followed by two-and-a-half minutes on general knowledge.
The winner of each heat qualifies for a place in the semi-finals, and six finalists then compete in the final, with the winner earning the title of Mastermind champion and the coveted glass bowl.
The programme has been hosted since 2021 by BBC journalist and presenter Clive Myrie.
He said: “As a kid growing up watching Mastermind, I could never have imagined hosting this most iconic of quiz shows in its 50th anniversary year. Its enduring appeal is down to its simplicity: a test of knowledge against the clock. Riveting and entertaining, it is still Britain’s toughest quiz."
Mastermind's golden anniversary fell on September 11, half a century on from the broadcast of the first episode in 1972.
Mastermind is a Hindsight and Hat Trick production for the BBC.
