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Series 48

From Countdown

Series 48 ran from 1 July to 20 December 2002, and introduced a new rule to ban American spellings of words in the letters games. The forty-eighth of 53 series presented by Richard Whiteley was won by Julian Fell. It was also the last series to be played on the long-lived "wings" set, 11 years after it first appeared in Series 22.

Fell set multiple records by scoring 138 points, the highest ever score beating Chris Wills' score of 129 against April Carlin. Fell also set records with 924 points in eight games and eight conundrums solved out of eight. He faced Mike Brown in the first quarter-final and ran away with it, scoring 125 points to Brown's 67. The second quarter-final was closer and hinged on Grace Page spotting SOBERING in the first round against David Nickeas. Nickeas got the conundrum but lost by four points. The third quarter-final produced the first upset. George Greenhough played Joe Zubaidi and lost on a crucial conundrum. During the heats, Greenhough had score 817 points to Zubaidi's 665, but the #6 seed held the #3 seed and beat him on the conundrum. In the final quarter-final, Julia Wilkinson slipped up by offering CEILINGS when there was only one I, and Danny Hamilton won a place in the semi-final against Fell. In the semi-final, Fell broke his own records by getting four nine-letter words and an overall score of 146. He could have scored 156 as he had 146 after 14 rounds, but the conundrum THEIRCOPY beat him, but still he'd managed to beat the #4 seed by 70 points. Joe Zubaidi was bidding for another upset against a higher seed, but Page beat him and secured a century but spotting the conundrum, beating Zubaidi by 33 points.

In the final, Page missed CREMATION/MANTICORE and LEOPARDS/PRELOADS in the first two rounds and trailed by 26 points. She beat Fell later in the game with KNITWEAR and the final numbers game, but Fell unravelled APIMOMENT in a single second to beat Page and take the Series 48 final with 112 points. His cumulative score of 1,307 in 11 games was the highest ever, until Dylan Taylor bettered the record by 12 points in Series 69 despite losing the grand final of that series.

Seed table

Rank Name Wins Points
1 Julian Fell 8 924
2 Grace Page 8 829
3 George Greenhough 8 817
4 Danny Hamilton 8 761
5 Julia Wilkinson 8 744
6 Joe Zubaidi 8 665
7 David Nickeas 7 756
8 Mike Brown 5 584
Between Series 38 and Series 59, players were sorted by number of wins, then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums were not counted, and players with the same number of wins and points were sorted by highest score.

Finals progress

Julian Fell (1) vs Mike Brown (8) Julian Fell (1) vs Danny Hamilton (4) Julian Fell (1)
vs
Grace Page (2)
Julia Wilkinson (5) vs Danny Hamilton (4)
George Greenhough (3) vs Joe Zubaidi (6) Joe Zubaidi (6) vs Grace Page (2)
David Nickeas (7) vs Grace Page (2)
The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
3280 01/07/2002 P Julia Wilkinson 122 – 62 John Baker Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Richard Samson 153
3281 02/07/2002 P Colin Richards 71 – 108 Grace Page Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Richard Samson 133
3282 03/07/2002 P Grace Page 100 – 74 Margaret Goldsmith Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Richard Samson 118
3283 04/07/2002 P Grace Page 106 – 48 Frazer Melton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Richard Samson 121
3284 05/07/2002 P Grace Page 93 – 56 Jean Tyler Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Richard Samson 131
3285 08/07/2002 P Grace Page 112 – 72 Fiona Farquharson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ken Bruce Richard Samson 119
3286 09/07/2002 P Grace Page 100 – 64 Ralph Manterfield Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ken Bruce Richard Samson 120
3287 10/07/2002 P Grace Page 120 – 69 Peter Gillman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ken Bruce Richard Samson 138
3288 11/07/2002 P Grace Page 90 – 71 Judy Ellicott Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ken Bruce Richard Samson 122
3289 12/07/2002 P David Nickeas 93 – 87 David Watson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ken Bruce Richard Samson 136
3290 15/07/2002 P David Nickeas 97 – 77 Alice Walker Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Robert Hardy Phiona Stanley 119
3291 17/07/2002 P David Nickeas 106 – 30 Jason Ainsworth Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Robert Hardy Phiona Stanley 131
3292 18/07/2002 P David Nickeas 104 – 24 Julie Cocker Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Robert Hardy Phiona Stanley 114
3293 19/07/2002 P David Nickeas 84 – 72 Harry Mullen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Robert Hardy Phiona Stanley 121
3294 22/07/2002 P David Nickeas 90 – 62 David Cooper Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Robert Hardy Phiona Stanley 151
3295 23/07/2002 P David Nickeas 105 – 62 Chris Girling Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Phiona Stanley 149
3296 24/07/2002 P David Nickeas 77 – 89 Danny Hamilton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Phiona Stanley 120
3297 30/07/2002 P Danny Hamilton 90 – 66 Bob Aldridge Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Phiona Stanley 120
3298 02/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 120 – 60 Helen Innes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Phiona Stanley 132
3299 05/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 91 – 39 Debbie Haycock Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Phiona Stanley 117
3300 06/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 90 – 56 Charles Donnelly Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jan Harvey Susie Dent 122
3301 07/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 102 – 54 Alec Anderson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jan Harvey Susie Dent 128
3302 13/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 85 – 43 Helen Whiston Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jan Harvey Susie Dent 117
3303 14/08/2002 P Danny Hamilton 94 – 79 Dominic Allen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jan Harvey Susie Dent 121
3304 15/08/2002 P John Lomax 52 – 96 Sassoon Messropian Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jan Harvey Susie Dent 129
3305 16/08/2002 P Sassoon Messropian 87 – 57 Frank Carmichael Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Susie Dent 120
3306 19/08/2002 P Sassoon Messropian 58 – 87 Paul McGeown Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Susie Dent 138
3307 20/08/2002 P Paul McGeown 53 – 100 Martin Oliver Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Susie Dent 120
3308 21/08/2002 P Martin Oliver 100 – 53 Dave Holcroft Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Susie Dent 127
3309 27/08/2002 P Martin Oliver 60 – 88 Dorothy Bailey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Susie Dent 125
3310 28/08/2002 P Dorothy Bailey 103 – 54 Kristian Turner Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Phiona Stanley 129
3311 29/08/2002 P Dorothy Bailey 69 – 73 Val Raddon Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Phiona Stanley 127
3312 30/08/2002 P Val Raddon 75 – 84 Alex McKenzie Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Phiona Stanley 133
3313 02/09/2002 P Alex McKenzie 52 – 97 Michael Clarke Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Phiona Stanley 134
3314 03/09/2002 P Michael Clarke 108 – 64 Eleanor Gledhill Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Phiona Stanley 130
3315 04/09/2002 P Michael Clarke 87 – 86 David Sykes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Henry Blofeld Phiona Stanley 140
3316 10/09/2002 P Michael Clarke 86 – 89 Priscilla Munday Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Henry Blofeld Phiona Stanley 128
3317 11/09/2002 P Priscilla Munday 78 – 82 Bryan Thirkell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Henry Blofeld Phiona Stanley 118
3318 12/09/2002 P Bryan Thirkell 72 – 96 Tony Bearn Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Henry Blofeld Phiona Stanley 120
3319 13/09/2002 P Tony Bearn 76 – 56 Neil Massey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Henry Blofeld Phiona Stanley 141
3320 16/09/2002 P Tony Bearn 85 – 61 Karen Tolfrey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Raj Persaud Damian Eadie 117
3321 17/09/2002 P Tony Bearn 92 – 62 Alec Gaw Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Raj Persaud Damian Eadie 122
3322 18/09/2002 P Tony Bearn 68 – 75 Robert Lee Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Raj Persaud Damian Eadie 131
3323 19/09/2002 P Robert Lee 83 – 57 Tony Poultney Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Raj Persaud Damian Eadie 119
3324 20/09/2002 P Robert Lee 80 – 63 Mike Brown Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Raj Persaud Damian Eadie 120
3325 23/09/2002 P Robert Lee 91 – 101 Dez Hussey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Thelma Barlow Richard Samson 141
3326 24/09/2002 P Dez Hussey 82 – 88 Roger Ordish Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Thelma Barlow Richard Samson 118
3327 25/09/2002 P Roger Ordish 66 – 74 Joyce Dunkley Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Thelma Barlow Richard Samson 124
3328 26/09/2002 P Joyce Dunkley 41 – 112 Mike Brown Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Thelma Barlow Richard Samson 118
3329 27/09/2002 P Mike Brown 112 – 76 David Cottee Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Thelma Barlow Richard Samson 143
3330 30/09/2002 P Mike Brown 86 – 58 Richard Merriman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Magnus Magnusson Richard Samson 118
3331 01/10/2002 P Mike Brown 91 – 83 Simon Bell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Magnus Magnusson Richard Samson 122
3332 02/10/2002 P Mike Brown 107 – 63 Trish Staples Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Magnus Magnusson Richard Samson 131
3333 03/10/2002 P Mike Brown 76 – 89 Neil Evans Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Magnus Magnusson Richard Samson 131
3334 04/10/2002 P Neil Evans 75 – 94 Dave Cross Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Magnus Magnusson Richard Samson 117
3335 07/10/2002 P Dave Cross 68 – 79 Bryan Barnett Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Eric Knowles Damian Eadie 117
3336 08/10/2002 P Bryan Barnett 74 – 65 Dave Blackman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Eric Knowles Damian Eadie 129
3337 09/10/2002 P Bryan Barnett 99 – 89 Graham Merrick Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Eric Knowles Damian Eadie 123
3338 10/10/2002 P Bryan Barnett 85 – 83 Marie Quinn Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Eric Knowles Damian Eadie 131
3339 11/10/2002 P Bryan Barnett 70 – 89 Mac Nulty Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Eric Knowles Damian Eadie 116
3340 14/10/2002 P Mac Nulty 63 – 82 Paul Daymond Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Keith Barron Susie Dent 118
3341 15/10/2002 P Paul Daymond 91 – 92 Kevin Neate Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Keith Barron Susie Dent 130
3342 16/10/2002 P Kevin Neate 63 – 117 Julian Fell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Keith Barron Susie Dent 122
3343 17/10/2002 P Julian Fell 117 – 57 Russell Hutton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Keith Barron Susie Dent 120
3344 18/10/2002 P Julian Fell 108 – 53 Megan Stone Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Keith Barron Susie Dent 117
3345 21/10/2002 P Julian Fell 120 – 49 Leo Pinches Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ingrid Tarrant Susie Dent 131
3346 22/10/2002 P Julian Fell 104 – 61 Tim Cape Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ingrid Tarrant Susie Dent 119
3347 23/10/2002 P Julian Fell 111 – 54 Jill Leatherbarrow Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ingrid Tarrant Susie Dent 140
3348 24/10/2002 P Julian Fell 109 – 84 June Mitchell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ingrid Tarrant Susie Dent 118
3349 25/10/2002 P Julian Fell 138 – 29 Carl McDermott Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ingrid Tarrant Susie Dent 148
3350 28/10/2002 P Jackie Webster 77 – 104 Sheila Furse Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Damian Eadie 133
3351 29/10/2002 P Sheila Furse 93 – 79 Michael Laverton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Damian Eadie 132
3352 30/10/2002 P Sheila Furse 90 – 74 Mike Dow Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Damian Eadie 136
3353 31/10/2002 P Sheila Furse 70 – 68 Lucy Guile Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Damian Eadie 129
3354 01/11/2002 P Sheila Furse 62 – 113 George Greenhough Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Damian Eadie 139
3355 04/11/2002 P George Greenhough 104 – 45 Alan Uytendhal Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jilly Goolden Damian Eadie 121
3356 05/11/2002 P George Greenhough 96 – 74 Alex James Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jilly Goolden Damian Eadie 119
3357 06/11/2002 P George Greenhough 114 – 50 Dave Thompson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jilly Goolden Damian Eadie 130
3358 07/11/2002 P George Greenhough 103 – 33 Ruth Criddle Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jilly Goolden Damian Eadie 118
3359 08/11/2002 P George Greenhough 102 – 66 Geoffrey Short Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jilly Goolden Damian Eadie 120
3360 11/11/2002 P George Greenhough 86 – 63 Rob Carr Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 119
3361 12/11/2002 P George Greenhough 99 – 37 Will Lowther Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 122
3362 13/11/2002 P Mary Sexton 89 – 63 Norman Goodale Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 115
3363 14/11/2002 P Mary Sexton 72 – 67 Ronald Goodman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 121
3364 15/11/2002 P Mary Sexton 91 – 97 Campbell Laurie Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 126
3365 18/11/2002 P Campbell Laurie 62 – 71 Ian Courcoux Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Bob Bevan Susie Dent 117
3366 19/11/2002 P Ian Courcoux 107 – 42 Mark Tucker Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Bob Bevan Susie Dent 118
3367 20/11/2002 P Ian Courcoux 83 – 45 Brian Southern Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Bob Bevan Susie Dent 145
3368 21/11/2002 P Ian Courcoux 66 – 80 Joe Zubaidi Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Bob Bevan Susie Dent 129
3369 22/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 73 – 63 Franki Ayerst Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Bob Bevan Susie Dent 131
3370 25/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 93 – 92 Tony Slade Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Brooke-Taylor Susie Dent 145
3371 26/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 89 – 74 Michael Duhig Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Brooke-Taylor Susie Dent 119
3372 27/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 74 – 64 Brenda Slade Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Brooke-Taylor Susie Dent 122
3373 28/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 88 – 72 Damien Byrne Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Brooke-Taylor Susie Dent 117
3374 29/11/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 81 – 56 Jan Macdonald Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Brooke-Taylor Susie Dent 122
3375 02/12/2002 P Joe Zubaidi 87 – 58 Andrew Walton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 121
3376 03/12/2002 P Geoff Mills 77 – 63 Stephen Holden Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 121
3377 04/12/2002 P Geoff Mills 89 – 84 Alison Hilton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 129
3378 05/12/2002 P Geoff Mills 82 – 39 Stan Grosvenor Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 121
3379 06/12/2002 P Geoff Mills 74 – 82 Carl Moore Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 132
3380 09/12/2002 P Carl Moore 111 – 37 Veronica Dalgarno Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Richard Samson 131
3381 10/12/2002 P Carl Moore 75 – 49 Rob D'Agostino Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Richard Samson 139
3382 11/12/2002 P Carl Moore 73 – 111 Ian Burrows Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Richard Samson 129
3383 12/12/2002 QF Julian Fell 125 – 67 Mike Brown Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Richard Samson 141
3384 13/12/2002 QF Grace Page 92 – 88 David Nickeas Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Richard Samson 122
3385 16/12/2002 QF George Greenhough 86 – 94 Joe Zubaidi Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Richard Samson 121
3386 17/12/2002 QF Julia Wilkinson 70 – 105 Danny Hamilton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Richard Samson 136
3387 18/12/2002 SF Danny Hamilton 77 – 146 Julian Fell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Richard Samson 158
3388 19/12/2002 SF Grace Page 104 – 71 Joe Zubaidi Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Richard Samson 132
3389 20/12/2002 GF Julian Fell 112 – 88 Grace Page Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Richard Samson 132

External Links