Rachel Neiman took the scariest seat in TV last week, the Mastermind chair, and triumphed as she made it through her heat to earn a place in the semi-finals of the contest early next year.

A member of Blackpool Jewish Reform Community, she chose as her specialist subject the Festive Fifty playlists of the late radio DJ John Peel. The English literature graduate is a music devotee who set up her own Cherryade record label at university.

As a former University Challenge competitor, she is used to TV quizzes. Swatting up for Mastermind can be hard enough, with lists of songs and years to memorise for her recent appearance. But Rachel faces an additional challenge: she is blind.