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Mark Nyman

From Countdown
Mark Nyman.jpg
Lexicographer
First appearance 22 August 1990
Last appearance 26 May 2000
Appearances 308
Episodes with Mark Nyman
Guest appearances of Mark Nyman
First appearance 29 May 1984
Last appearance 14 October 1986
Appearances 4
Episodes with Mark Nyman
Mark Nyman
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionRunner-up
Seeding1
Points total427
Conundrums solved7

Mark Nyman (born 14 October 1966) was an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 3, and the winner of the inaugural Championship of Champions. He is also a former producer of the show.

Countdown

He debuted at the age of 16, running off eight consecutive wins to qualify for the finals as number one seed. In the quarter-final, he faced Ted Wiles and racked up a then record 79 points. In the semi-final, he faced Esther Byers, sister of Series 2 runner-up Russell Byers and beat her by five points. The grand final was a tense, close affair rather than a high scoring one – Nyman was ahead going into the conundrum against Andrew Guy, but it was Guy that solved RREEALOTC in three seconds, relegating Nyman to the runner-up spot.

A few months later, Nyman was asked to stand in as an emergency Dictionary Corner guest for three episodes when the booked guest, Ned Sherrin, got his dates confused and didn't turn up. Later in 1984, Nyman returned at 17 to compete in Championship of Champions I where he beat Series 3 octochamp and semi-finalist William Bradford and Series 2 champion Ash Haji on the way to a grand final against Series 1 champion Joyce Cansfield. It turned out not to be a close game as Nyman took the game 65 – 34, nearly double Cansfield's score, and making him the first number one seed to win a Countdown grand final. Nyman returned after Championship of Champions II to face the event's winner Clive Freedman and beat him. The game was close, but Nyman avoided a crucial conundrum and eventually won the game by nine points. Nyman also appeared on the special episode to celebrate Countdown's 500th show on 2 February 1987. He made one further appearance as a contestant in the Countdown Masters and beat Harvey Freeman, the only time that Freeman has lost a solo game of Countdown, although it was not part of a standard series.

Later in 1990, Nyman took on the role of lexicographer, making 308 appearances in this capacity, the last being in Series 42.

Nyman served as the show's producer from 1992 until 2002, and because the Supreme Championship was organised in 1996, he was forbidden from inviting himself.

Scrabble

Leeds-based Nyman also excels as a Scrabble player. He is most widely known as the first British player to win the World Scrabble Championship, which he accomplished in 1993. He was the only Briton to achieve this feat, until Series 57 champion Craig Beevers matched it in 2014. Nyman played Canadian Joel Wapnick in the 1993 WSC final, in which he came back from 2 – 1 behind to win 3 – 2, including winning one game having been 174 behind. The two met again in the 1999 WSC final, and this time Wapnick was victorious, winning a nail-biting decider by just a single point, 403 – 402. Nyman finished runner-up again, at the 2016 Mind Sports International WSC, after losing 3 – 0 to Brett Smitheram. He has won 21 British 'major' championships, considerably more than any other player.

Family

Nyman's father Les also appeared on Countdown, in Series 14 in 1987.

Nyman married in 2004 and has two children, Max and Kizzy. However in 2017, he has since divorced and his quote about it infamously appeared in an episode of Have I Got News for You hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell on 13 November 2017, saying "I got married and my game fell apart, then divorced and I was back on it."

Preceded by
Russell Byers
Series runner-up
Series 3
Followed by
Christine Hunt
Champion of Champions
Championship of Champions I
Followed by
Clive Freedman

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
113 14/11/1983 P David Lawton 23 – 59 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Beverley Isherwood Cathy Hytner Gyles Brandreth Yvonne Warburton 71
114 15/11/1983 P Mark Nyman 54 – 44 Alan Morris Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Beverley Isherwood Cathy Hytner William Rushton Yvonne Warburton 71
115 16/11/1983 P Mark Nyman 57 – 4 Fred Jean Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Beverley Isherwood Cathy Hytner William Rushton Yvonne Warburton 69
116 17/11/1983 P David Hughes 33 – 57 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Beverley Isherwood Cathy Hytner William Rushton Yvonne Warburton 68
117 21/11/1983 P Roy Davenport 36 – 43 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Beverley Isherwood Cathy Hytner William Rushton Yvonne Warburton 73
118 22/11/1983 P Heather Twidle 22 – 62 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Julia Swannell 66
119 23/11/1983 P Mark Nyman 40 – 35 Myra Mayor Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Julia Swannell 70
120 24/11/1983 P Peter Richardson 46 – 55 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Julia Swannell 69
126 06/12/1983 QF Mark Nyman 79 – 18 Ted Wiles Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Julia Swannell 83
130 13/12/1983 SF Mark Nyman 56 – 51 Esther Byers Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Julia Swannell 72
132 15/12/1983 GF Andrew Guy 92 – 85 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin,
Gyles Brandreth
Julia Swannell 114
185 15/10/1984 CQF William Bradford 28 – 54 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Yvonne Warburton 68
189 19/10/1984 CSF Ash Haji 34 – 61 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin Yvonne Warburton 67
191 23/10/1984 CGF Joyce Cansfield 34 – 65 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Ned Sherrin,
Nigel Rees
Yvonne Warburton 69
445 13/10/1986 CCC Clive Freedman 67 – 76 Mark Nyman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Gyles Brandreth,
Bill Tidy
Catherine Clarke 114
495 02/02/1987 X Bill Tidy with
Mark Nyman,
Brian Hudson,
Peter Evans, and
Darryl Francis
41 – 32 Gyles Brandreth with
Clive Freedman,
Michael Wylie,
Joyce Cansfield, and
Harvey Freeman
Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner none Della Thompson 68
M45 05/02/1990–09/02/1990 M Mark Nyman 76 – 68 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman none Catherine Clarke 132
2874 02/11/2000 X Mark Nyman and
Gyles Brandreth
50 – 46 Jo Brand and
Damian Eadie
Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman none Susie Dent 74

External Links


Championship of Champions Winners

I : Mark Nyman | II : Clive Freedman | III : Harvey Freeman | IV : Nic Brown | V : Tim Morrissey | VI : Wayne Summers | VII : Don Reid | VIII : Chris Rogers | IX : Natascha Kearsey | X : Scott Mearns | XI : Graham Nash | XII : Paul Gallen | XIII : Steve Briers | XIV : Dylan Taylor | XV : Zarte Siempre | XVI : Ahmed Mohamed