Series 49

From Countdown

Series 49 ran from January 2003 to June 2003, and started with Championship of Champions XI before reverting to normal episodes. The main series was less exciting than the CoC though, featuring only two octochamps, the lowest total of any 15 round series, tied with Series 62. The forty-ninth of 53 series presented by Richard Whiteley was won by John Davies, whose total of 766 points was at the time the lowest ever score for a player that went on to be a series winner, until Nick Wainwright won Series 56. #3 seed David Wilson only had 5 wins, the lowest win total for any #3 seed since the 15 round format was introduced.

John Davies saw off the challenge of Christine Scott in the first quarter-final. Scott chose six small numbers twice and failed to score in either game. Martin Gardner beat Peter Jeffery 101 – 64 and David Wilson recorded a very impressive score of 115 against Patrick Vowles. The #4 seed Ian Buckley couldn't join the top three seeds who'd all won, and crashed out against Andrew Tatham. In the semi-finals, John Davies beat Andrew Tatham with impressive words like BOOTLEGS and David Wilson saw off the challenge of Martin Gardner as he scored in 13 of the 15 rounds, including the impressive HORRIDLY when Martin only had HOLIER. The final wasn't a close affair, although Wilson led 6 – 0 after one round, he offered the invalid diazole ☓ and missed FURRIEST, TOILET and DOSAGES. Wilson only scored on one of the three numbers games, and after the conundrum TINEYMIND, he was beaten 102 – 58.

This series also included a 3-episode Ladies' Championship from 11-13 March. Four female series winners, Hilary Hopper (Series 13), Liz Barber (Series 20), Verity Joubert (Series 30) and Kate Ogilvie (Series 39), competed, with Kate Ogilvie coming out the overall winner.

1 Seed table
2 Finals progress
3 Episodes
4 External links

[edit] Seed table

Rank	Name	Wins	Score
1	John Davies	8	766
2	Martin Gardner	8	746
3	David Wilson	5	560
4	Ian Buckley	5	508
5	Andrew Tatham	5	497
6	Patrick Vowles	4	459
7	Peter Jeffery	4	411
8	Christine Scott	4	375

Since Series 39, players are sorted by number of wins then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums aren't counted, and players with the same number of wins and points are sorted by highest score.

[edit] Finals progress

John Davies (1) vs Christine Scott (8)	John Davies (1) vs Andrew Tatham (5)	John Davies (1) vs David Wilson (3)
Andrew Tatham (5) vs Ian Buckley (4)
David Wilson (3) vs Patrick Vowles (6)	David Wilson (3) vs Martin Gardner (2)
Peter Jeffery (7) vs Martin Gardner (2)

The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

[edit] Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Guest	Lex
3405	27/01/2003	P	Ian Burrows	65 – 59	Janet Rainford	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
3406	28/01/2003	P	Ian Burrows	87 – 79	Don Campbell-Wilson	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
3407	29/01/2003	P	Ian Burrows	67 – 78	Peter Cogar	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
3408	30/01/2003	P	Peter Cogar	77 – 97	Rosemary Dale	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
3409	31/01/2003	P	Rosemary Dale	63 – 73	Martin Gilbert	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
3410	3/02/2003	P	Martin Gilbert	78 – 66	Nic Hodgkinson	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent
3411	4/02/2003	P	Martin Gilbert	69 – 53	Bertie McCully	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent
3412	5/02/2003	P	Martin Gilbert	54 – 94	Paul Best	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent
3413	6/02/2003	P	Paul Best	52 – 70	Christine Scott	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent
3414	7/02/2003	P	Christine Scott	92 – 90	Saji Kamalananthan	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent
3415	10/02/2003	P	Christine Scott	75 – 58	Fiona Walters	Esther Rantzen	Richard Samson
3416	11/02/2003	P	Christine Scott	86 – 62	John Glenny	Esther Rantzen	Richard Samson
3417	12/02/2003	P	Christine Scott	52 – 81	Russell Fleckney	Esther Rantzen	Richard Samson
3418	13/02/2003	P	Russell Fleckney	86 – 97	Ruth Hartley	Esther Rantzen	Richard Samson
3419	14/02/2003	P	Ruth Hartley	101 – 49	Nanette Swain	Esther Rantzen	Richard Samson
3420	17/02/2003	P	Ruth Hartley	76 – 82	John Marlowe	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
3421	18/02/2003	P	John Marlowe	82 – 78	Cliff Port	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
3422	19/02/2003	P	John Marlowe	88 – 18	Judy Smedley	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
3423	20/02/2003	P	John Marlowe	81 – 85	Isabel Wilson	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
3424	21/02/2003	P	Isabel Wilson	66 – 87	Roly Abbott	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
3425	24/02/2003	P	Roly Abbott	66 – 75	John Clarke	Christine Hamilton	Susie Dent
3426	25/02/2003	P	John Clarke	96 – 77	David Poyser	Christine Hamilton	Susie Dent
3427	26/02/2003	P	John Clarke	80 – 63	Norma Gill	Christine Hamilton	Susie Dent
3428	27/02/2003	P	John Clarke	73 – 101	Peter Jeffery	Christine Hamilton	Susie Dent
3429	28/02/2003	P	Peter Jeffery	80 – 63	Gill Cook	Christine Hamilton	Susie Dent
3430	3/03/2003	P	Peter Jeffery	84 – 82	Gordon Munn	Barry Norman	Alison Heard
3431	4/03/2003	P	Peter Jeffery	79 – 70	CJ De Mooi	Barry Norman	Alison Heard
3432	5/03/2003	P	Peter Jeffery	67 – 74	Keith Johnson	Barry Norman	Alison Heard
3433	6/03/2003	P	Keith Johnson	81 – 37	Alice Keaveney	Barry Norman	Alison Heard
3434	7/03/2003	P	Keith Johnson	91 – 43	Eileen Draycott	Barry Norman	Alison Heard
3435	10/03/2003	P	Keith Johnson	71 – 89	Andrew Tatham	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard
3436	11/03/2003	LSF	Hilary Hopper	45 – 35	Liz Barber	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard
3437	12/03/2003	LSF	Kate Ogilvie	47 – 39	Verity Joubert	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard
3438	13/03/2003	LF	Hilary Hopper	32 – 54	Kate Ogilvie	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard
3439	14/03/2003	P	Andrew Tatham	97 – 37	Julian Duxbury	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard
3440	17/03/2003	P	Andrew Tatham	90 – 64	Val Mills	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	Susie Dent
3441	18/03/2003	P	Andrew Tatham	90 – 68	Billy Parkinson	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	Susie Dent
3442	19/03/2003	P	Andrew Tatham	69 – 61	Lewis Bevan	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	Susie Dent
3443	20/03/2003	P	Andrew Tatham	62 – 67	Beth Sutton	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	Susie Dent
3444	21/03/2003	P	Beth Sutton	92 – 53	Simon Cussons	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	Susie Dent
3445	24/03/2003	P	Beth Sutton	103 – 88	Keith Williams	Raj Persaud	Alison Heard
3446	25/03/2003	P	Beth Sutton	73 – 91	Derek Pollard	Raj Persaud	Alison Heard
3447	26/03/2003	P	Derek Pollard	80 – 61	Elena Bonetti	Raj Persaud	Alison Heard
3448	27/03/2003	P	Derek Pollard	101 – 76	Janet Creamer	Raj Persaud	Alison Heard
3449	28/03/2003	P	Derek Pollard	70 – 85	Carl Dyke	Raj Persaud	Alison Heard
3450	31/03/2003	P	Carl Dyke	69 – 53	Mollie Wallis	Magnus Magnusson	Susie Dent
3451	1/04/2003	P	Carl Dyke	67 – 78	Ian Buckley	Magnus Magnusson	Susie Dent
3452	2/04/2003	P	Ian Buckley	93 – 72	Chris Canham	Magnus Magnusson	Susie Dent
3453	3/04/2003	P	Ian Buckley	80 – 43	Bill Gibb	Magnus Magnusson	Susie Dent
3454	4/04/2003	P	Ian Buckley	93 – 66	James Robinson	Magnus Magnusson	Susie Dent
3455	7/04/2003	P	Ian Buckley	90 – 62	Matthew Crew	Joan Bakewell	Susie Dent
3456	8/04/2003	P	Ian Buckley	74 – 87	Andrea Maycock	Joan Bakewell	Susie Dent
3457	9/04/2003	P	Andrea Maycock	64 – 84	David Wilson	Joan Bakewell	Susie Dent
3458	10/04/2003	P	David Wilson	82 – 68	Richard Sked	Joan Bakewell	Susie Dent
3459	11/04/2003	P	David Wilson	104 – 32	Mary Frankel	Joan Bakewell	Susie Dent
3460	14/04/2003	P	David Wilson	113 – 40	Peter Wreghitt	Charles Collingwood	Susie Dent
3461	15/04/2003	P	David Wilson	97 – 73	Marion Martin	Charles Collingwood	Susie Dent
3462	16/04/2003	P	David Wilson	80 – 83	Ric Morgan	Charles Collingwood	Susie Dent
3463	17/04/2003	P	Ric Morgan	80 – 88	Anne Beer	Charles Collingwood	Susie Dent
3464	18/04/2003	P	Anne Beer	96 – 90	Frank Blake	Charles Collingwood	Susie Dent
3465	21/04/2003	P	Anne Beer	65 – 79	Jan Rolnis	Lesley Graham	Richard Samson
3466	22/04/2003	P	Jan Rolnis	98 – 95	Andrew Naylor	Lesley Graham	Richard Samson
3467	23/04/2003	P	Jan Rolnis	68 – 91	Mike Wenble	Lesley Graham	Richard Samson
3468	24/04/2003	P	Mike Wenble	67 – 62	Lyndon Sedgwick	Lesley Graham	Richard Samson
3469	25/04/2003	P	Mike Wenble	81 – 91*	Clive Rudd	Lesley Graham	Richard Samson
3470	28/04/2003	P	Clive Rudd	82 – 83	Martin Ballhatchet	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
3471	29/04/2003	P	Martin Ballhatchet	59 – 84	Lesley Darlow	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
3472	30/04/2003	P	Lesley Darlow	57 – 78	Chris Roberts	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
3473	1/05/2003	P	Chris Roberts	56 – 58	Jim Stewart	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
3474	2/05/2003	P	Jim Stewart	48 – 103	John Davies	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
3475	5/05/2003	P	John Davies	92 – 91	Austin Shin	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
3476	6/05/2003	P	John Davies	87 – 71	Norma Sutherland	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
3477	7/05/2003	P	John Davies	93 – 84	Michael Perkins	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
3478	8/05/2003	P	John Davies	94 – 59	Paul Johnson	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
3479	9/05/2003	P	John Davies	106 – 49	Harry Simpson	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
3480	12/05/2003	P	John Davies	88 – 53	Gwenda Withnall	Linda Smith	Alison Heard
3481	13/05/2003	P	John Davies	103 – 93	Jerry Humphreys	Linda Smith	Alison Heard
3482	14/05/2003	P	Anthony Wilson	81 – 107	Martin Gardner	Linda Smith	Alison Heard
3483	15/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	72 – 44	Pat Elkington	Linda Smith	Alison Heard
3484	16/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	88 – 35	Bernard Gudgin	Linda Smith	Alison Heard
3485	19/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	101 – 64	Richard Brooks	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent
3486	20/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	101 – 47	Gloria Crossley	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent
3487	21/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	76 – 63	Dave Mackenzie	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent
3488	27/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	102 – 33	John Carpenter	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent
3489	28/05/2003	P	Martin Gardner	99 – 66	Tracy Murrell	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent
3490	29/05/2003	P	Dave Walters	56 – 54	Ruth Bowes	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
3491	30/05/2003	P	Dave Walters	80 – 78	Peter Tarry	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
3492	2/06/2003	P	Dave Walters	71 – 85	Margaret Marshall	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
3493	3/06/2003	P	Margaret Marshall	73 – 82	Marjory Carnegie	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
3494	4/06/2003	P	Marjory Carnegie	50 – 95	Tony Steele	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
3495	5/06/2003	P	Tony Steele	60 – 84	Patricia Eagles	Kathryn Apanowicz	Susie Dent
3496	6/06/2003	P	Patricia Eagles	70 – 76	Claire Cohan	Kathryn Apanowicz	Susie Dent
3497	9/06/2003	P	Claire Cohan	45 – 59	Bob Wright	Kathryn Apanowicz	Susie Dent
3498	10/06/2003	P	Bob Wright	79 – 89*	Patrick Vowles	Kathryn Apanowicz	Susie Dent
3499	11/06/2003	P	Patrick Vowles	73 – 60	Ian Atkinson	Kathryn Apanowicz	Susie Dent
3500	12/06/2003	P	Patrick Vowles	88 – 86	Clive Jones	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent
3501	13/06/2003	P	Patrick Vowles	127 – 58	Connie Piggott	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent
3502	16/06/2003	P	Patrick Vowles	82 – 88	Alan Stevens	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent
3503	17/06/2003	P	Alan Stevens	67 – 59	Steve Cann	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent
3504	18/06/2003	P	Alan Stevens	75 – 72	Carol Ingham	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent
3505	19/06/2003	QF	John Davies	105 – 76	Christine Scott	Clare Balding	Alison Heard
3506	20/06/2003	QF	Martin Gardner	101 – 64	Peter Jeffery	Clare Balding	Alison Heard
3507	23/06/2003	QF	Patrick Vowles	55 – 115	David Wilson	Clare Balding	Alison Heard
3508	24/06/2003	QF	Andrew Tatham	100 – 56	Ian Buckley	Clare Balding	Alison Heard
3509	25/06/2003	SF	Andrew Tatham	65 – 93	John Davies	Clare Balding	Alison Heard
3510	26/06/2003	SF	David Wilson	98 – 86	Martin Gardner	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3511	27/06/2003	GF	John Davies	102 – 58	David Wilson	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent