LITERARY FESTIVAL REVIEW: MAGNUS Magnusson brought the curtain down on the first day of the tenth Swindon Festival of Literature with enthusiasm in front of a disappointing audience.

The veteran journalist, historian, author, scholar and one time host of television's Mastermind, entertained an intimate audience of around 40 at the University of Bath in Swindon's Oakfield campus in Marlowe Avenue with anecdotes from his career and an insight into his love of literature.

And the Icelandic 'hack' as he described himself famous for the catchphrase I've started so I'll finish surprised the audience by challenging them to his own literature quiz.

Magnusson chewed the fat for an hour with local performance poet and former Mastermind semi-finalist Brenda Read-Brown.

"One of my favourite memories was of an art teacher who appeared on Mastermind and absolutely went to pieces he didn't get into double figures for the two rounds," said Magnusson. "When he went back to school and asked questions in class the pupils replied 'pass' and after six months of that he left to become a bus driver. I'm glad to say he's now back in teaching."

Magnusson lists fifteen-to-one and the Weakest Link as he two favourite quiz shows and appears on the latter in a celebrity special to be screened later this year.

And if you have ever wondered what happened to that famous black chair it is pride of place in Magnusson's study at his home in Scotland.

By Giles Sheldrick