QUIZ addict Andrew Teale has made it through to the semi-finals of Mastermind — at the third time of trying.

The 31-year-old stormed through the first round of the contest after answering 14 questions correctly on Major General James Wolfe — an army hero linked to the Lancashire Fusiliers.

The government agency worker, who has played clarinet for the Band of the Royal Regiment of Lancashire Fusiliers for 10 years, also scored 10 points on the general knowledge round.

Mr Teale, of Independent Street, Little Lever, said: “I went last in the specialist subject round. Once I was called forward, the questions kept coming and the right answers kept flowing.

“I had a big lead going into the general knowledge round, so from that point on the win was in little doubt.”

Major General Wolfe has a long connection with the Lancashire Fusiliers, as second-in-command of the XXth Foot from 1750 to 1756.

The Mastermind semi-final will be aired next year.

Mr Teale is ranked 34th in the UK by the British Quiz Association and has travelled all over the UK and Europe competing in quizzes.

He cut his teeth as a member of the Warwick University team which reached the quarter-final of University Challenge in 2002 and 2003.

Mastermind, which begun in 1972, is seen as one of the most prestigious television game shows, despite there being no prize money and only an engraved glass bowl awarded to the series winner.

Mr Teale first applied for Mastermind in 2010 with the Lancashire Fusiliers as his subject, but his 27-point first round total only secured him third place.

He reapplied in 2013 but after again scoring 27 in the first round with Henry I as his specialist topic he failed to make the semi-finals for the second time.

Mr Teale has chosen the subject of King Henry VII for his Mastermind semi-final.

If he reaches the final, his specialist subject will be the Fusiliers’ Gallipoli campaign.

Mr Teale said: “A lot of my love for quizzes is definitely about competition — it is something I am good at and I have the sort of memory that helps me answer these general knowledge questions.”

Could you answer these Mastermind questions on Major General James Wolfe?

1. James Wolfe, pictured, was an officer who led the British Army to a major victory over the French in the Seven Years War at a battle of 1759, during which he was killed. Which battle? 
2. What was the name of the house in Westerham which Wolfe’s family were renting when he was born in 1727? 
3. What firing system, developed by the Prussian Army, did Wolfe champion instead of the platoon firing system that was in general use by the English Army? 
4. To whom did Wolfe act as aide-de-camp during the Jacobite rebellion, including at Culloden? 
5. Which promontory overlooking Louisbourg harbour did Wolfe secure with a detachment of picked men? 

Answers

1 The Battle of the Plains of Abraham; 2 Spiers House; 3 Alternate fire; 4 Henry Hawley; 5 Lighthouse Point