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Countdown Masters

From Countdown
"Masters" redirects here. For the long-running online tournament, see Apterous Masters.

Countdown Masters was the name of a series of Countdown mini-shows, broadcast weekly as part of the "Channel 4 Daily" breakfast programme between 1989 and 1991. Each game consisted of 15 rounds and was split up into five parts so as to be broadcast over the course of a week (some matches would be shortened due to bank holidays or other events). Each daily segment consisted of a letters round, a numbers round and a conundrum, and would be broadcast more than once during the morning. Due to the short length of the shows, Dictionary Corner featured a lexicographer, but no guest.

Two series were broadcast: the first from April 1989 to March 1990, and the second from the following month to April 1991. Each series champion, as determined by the highest score, would receive a complete set of the OED, as with regular series champions. Julian Hough was the winner of the first series, while Andrew Fisher won the second, which was never completely broadcast due to the outbreak of the Gulf War.

Ultimately, the Countdown Masters would be somewhat airbrushed from history. Many of the contestants returned for the Supreme Championship, where their win/loss records were shown on screen, but this did not include the Masters episodes; Harvey Freeman was said to be "the only undefeated Countdowner" after that series, but he did lose a Masters game to Mark Nyman. Furthermore, when Richard Whiteley died, he was described as doing "almost 4,000 shows", which did not include the Masters shows.

Year Series Winner
1990 Series 1 Julian Hough
1991 Series 2 Andrew Fisher

External Links

  • A trailer for the series can be seen on YouTube: [1]