Series 58

From Countdown

David O'Donnell, the series winner with his trophy

Series 58 ran from January to June 2008. The third of four series hosted by Des O'Connor, it was won by David O'Donnell. The series included four Octochamps, most notably David O'Donnell with 880 points, the fourth highest total ever achieved.

O'Donnell started the quarter-finals as the #1 seed and faced Ben Hanks, a game which O'Donnell won comfortably. #2 seed Michael Macdonald-Cooper couldn't beat #7 seed Peter Davies, and lost the game despite getting the conundrum LANGUIDLY. Tim Reypert lost against Richard Priest, and Jonathan Coles completed the quarter-finals by beating Barry Smith.

In the semi-finals, #4 seed Coles faced #1 seed O'Donnell; O'Donnell was averaging 110 points a game to Coles' 93 but Coles held the higher seed to a crucial conundrum thanks to O'Donnell risking ultimati ☓ when the two plurals of ULTIMATUM are ULTIMATUMS and ULTIMATA. With a three-point lead going into the conundrum, O'Donnell spotted RICEPAPER to advance to the final. Richard Priest and Peter Davies had both beaten Octochamps to earn their places in the second semi-final; Priest led 100 – 60 going into the conundrum, but Davies got it and lost 100 – 70.

In the final, the players with the two highest average scores faced off against each other, with Richard Priest having a higher average than three of the Octochamps. O'Donnell beat Priest in the first two rounds with STRATA and APOGEES which gave him a commanding lead after five rounds. Priest fought back with MIRADOR, the only 7 in that round, but when O'Donnell got EPIDOTE the game was effectively over, and he became the Series 58 champion by a score of 91 – 61.

1 Seed table
2 Finals progress
3 Episodes
4 External links

[edit] Seed table

Rank	Name	Wins	Score
1	David O'Donnell	8	880
2	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	8	780
3	Tim Reypert	8	773
4	Jonathan Coles	8	746
5	Barry Smith	7	648
6	Richard Priest	6	697
7	Peter Davies	6	642
8	Ben Hanks	6	580

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

David O'Donnell (1) vs Ben Hanks (8)	David O'Donnell (1) vs Jonathan Coles (4)	David O'Donnell (1) vs Richard Priest (6)
Barry Smith (5) vs Jonathan Coles (4)
Tim Reypert (3) vs Richard Priest (6)	Richard Priest (6) vs Peter Davies (7)
Peter Davies (7) vs Michael Macdonald-Cooper (2)

The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

[edit] Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Guest	Lex
4509	2/01/2008	P	Jason Cullen	64 – 110	Gayle Smith	Roger Cook	Alison Heard
4510	3/01/2008	P	Gayle Smith	108 – 26	Lester Ashton	Roger Cook	Alison Heard
4511	4/01/2008	P	Gayle Smith	73 – 94	Grant Watson	Roger Cook	Alison Heard
4512	7/01/2008	P	Grant Watson	94 – 64	Philip Thornton	Roger Cook	Alison Heard
4513	8/01/2008	P	Grant Watson	70 – 87	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	Roger Cook	Alison Heard
4514	9/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	92 – 65	John Brewster	Phil Hammond	Alison Heard
4515	10/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	84 – 73	Karyn Cooke	Phil Hammond	Alison Heard
4516	11/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	126 – 29	Stewart Scott	Phil Hammond	Alison Heard
4517	14/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	96 – 49	Jason Meek	Phil Hammond	Alison Heard
4518	15/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	103 – 88	William Bailey	Phil Hammond	Alison Heard
4519	16/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	100 – 41	Howard Salinger	Alastair Stewart	Alison Heard
4520	17/01/2008	P	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	92 – 85	Garvin Loughrin	Alastair Stewart	Alison Heard
4521	18/01/2008	P	Nick Brannan	75 – 94	Rachel Allenby	Alastair Stewart	Alison Heard
4522	21/01/2008	P	Rachel Allenby	50 – 82	Marjorie Hillman	Alastair Stewart	Alison Heard
4523	22/01/2008	P	Marjorie Hillman	73 – 69	Aidan Wheatley	Alastair Stewart	Alison Heard
4524	23/01/2008	P	Marjorie Hillman	100 – 46	David Reed	Trudie Goodwin	Alison Heard
4525	24/01/2008	P	Marjorie Hillman	54 – 110	David O'Donnell	Trudie Goodwin	Alison Heard
4526	25/01/2008	P	David O'Donnell	97 – 49	Brian Kay	Trudie Goodwin	Alison Heard
4527	28/01/2008	P	David O'Donnell	92 – 62	Martin Smith	Trudie Goodwin	Alison Heard
4528	29/01/2008	P	David O'Donnell	117 – 45	Bill Barrack	Trudie Goodwin	Alison Heard
4529	30/01/2008	P	David O'Donnell	111 – 13	Hazel Wheeler	Richard Digance	Alison Heard
4530	31/01/2008	P	David O'Donnell	114 – 44	Rick Ruegg	Richard Digance	Alison Heard
4531	1/02/2008	P	David O'Donnell	122 – 62	Ian Browning	Richard Digance	Alison Heard
4532	4/02/2008	P	David O'Donnell	117 – 48	Steve Jepp	Richard Digance	Alison Heard
4533	5/02/2008	P	Ian Lamb	79* – 69	Sarah Flynn	Richard Digance	Alison Heard
4534	6/02/2008	P	Ian Lamb	114 – 49	Beryl Ogley	James Whitaker	Susie Dent
4535	7/02/2008	P	Ian Lamb	77 – 80	Nichola Sullings	James Whitaker	Susie Dent
4536	8/02/2008	P	Nichola Sullings	60 – 88	Tim Reypert	James Whitaker	Susie Dent
4537	11/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	94 – 64	Michael Quinn	James Whitaker	Susie Dent
4538	12/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	100 – 37	Ian Scott	James Whitaker	Susie Dent
4539	13/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	101 – 36	Sylvana Carey	Nicholas Owen	Susie Dent
4540	14/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	89 – 50	Keith Wilcock	Nicholas Owen	Susie Dent
4541	15/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	96 – 27	John Bryan	Nicholas Owen	Susie Dent
4542	18/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	92 – 69	Ros Rochester	Nicholas Owen	Susie Dent
4543	19/02/2008	P	Tim Reypert	113 – 40	Jennie Ferris	Nicholas Owen	Susie Dent
4544	20/02/2008	P	Brian Morley	64 – 58	Mike Simons	John Inverdale	Susie Dent
4545	21/02/2008	P	Brian Morley	53 – 69	Barbara Fletcher	John Inverdale	Susie Dent
4546	22/02/2008	P	Barbara Fletcher	90 – 42	Ronnie Clark	John Inverdale	Susie Dent
4547	25/02/2008	P	Barbara Fletcher	61 – 77	Nick Chamberlain	John Inverdale	Susie Dent
4548	26/02/2008	P	Nick Chamberlain	61 – 58	Jean Simpson	John Inverdale	Susie Dent
4549	27/02/2008	P	Nick Chamberlain	71 – 79	Barry Smith	Rick Wakeman	Susie Dent
4550	28/02/2008	P	Barry Smith	80 – 75	Nikki Cooper	Rick Wakeman	Susie Dent
4551	29/02/2008	P	Barry Smith	84 – 52	Karen Butcher	Rick Wakeman	Susie Dent
4552	3/03/2008	P	Barry Smith	75 – 63	Vic Goodall	Rick Wakeman	Susie Dent
4553	4/03/2008	P	Barry Smith	79 – 49	Mary Ridout	Rick Wakeman	Susie Dent
4554	5/03/2008	P	Barry Smith	83 – 53	Anne Hellier	John Sergeant	Susie Dent
4555	6/03/2008	P	Barry Smith	109 – 55	Helen Saddler	John Sergeant	Susie Dent
4556	7/03/2008	P	Barry Smith	59 – 70	Bob O'Keefe	John Sergeant	Susie Dent
4557	10/03/2008	P	Bob O'Keefe	80 – 52	Richard Coombs	John Sergeant	Susie Dent
4558	17/03/2008	P	Bob O'Keefe	62 – 94	Joe Denniss	John Sergeant	Susie Dent
4559	18/03/2008	P	Joe Denniss	54 – 90	Andrew Swale	Dennis Taylor	Susie Dent
4560	19/03/2008	P	Andrew Swale	96 – 106*	Tony Durrant	Dennis Taylor	Susie Dent
4561	20/03/2008	P	Tony Durrant	98 – 73	Keith Brown	Dennis Taylor	Susie Dent
4562	21/03/2008	P	Tony Durrant	98 – 70	Colin Beck	Dennis Taylor	Susie Dent
4563	24/03/2008	P	Tony Durrant	87 – 110	Richard Priest	Ann Widdecombe	Susie Dent
4564	25/03/2008	P	Richard Priest	91 – 75	Gill Ford	Ann Widdecombe	Susie Dent
4565	26/03/2008	P	Richard Priest	109 – 59	Angus McGregor	Ann Widdecombe	Susie Dent
4566	27/03/2008	P	Richard Priest	105 – 60	Sandra Gray	Ann Widdecombe	Susie Dent
4567	28/03/2008	P	Richard Priest	101 – 25	Matt Wade	Ann Widdecombe	Susie Dent
4568	31/03/2008	P	Richard Priest	98 – 20	Richard Wilson	Lynda Baron	Susie Dent
4569	1/04/2008	P	Richard Priest	83 – 85	Nigel Davies	Lynda Baron	Susie Dent
4570	2/04/2008	P	Nigel Davies	90 – 38	Chris Smith	Lynda Baron	Susie Dent
4571	3/04/2008	P	Nigel Davies	93 – 65	Mary Dickson	Lynda Baron	Susie Dent
4572	4/04/2008	P	Nigel Davies	73 – 91	Matthew Coates	Lynda Baron	Susie Dent
4573	7/04/2008	P	Matthew Coates	105 – 42	Susan Wilson	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4574	8/04/2008	P	Matthew Coates	106 – 37	Richard James	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4575	9/04/2008	P	Matthew Coates	87 – 97*	David Sandbach	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4576	10/04/2008	P	David Sandbach	81 – 94	Julie Gregory	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4577	11/04/2008	P	Julie Gregory	82 – 91	Hugh Shand	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4578	14/04/2008	P	Hugh Shand	73 – 78	Carole Algie	Jo Brand	Susie Dent
4579	15/04/2008	P	Carole Algie	75 – 76	Diana Coull	Jo Brand	Susie Dent
4580	16/04/2008	P	Diana Coull	77 – 68	Peter Davey	Jo Brand	Susie Dent
4581	17/04/2008	P	Diana Coull	74 – 84	Len Marshall	Jo Brand	Susie Dent
4582	18/04/2008	P	Len Marshall	92 – 101	Ben Hanks	Jo Brand	Susie Dent
4583	21/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	81 – 58	John Morrell	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent
4584	22/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	78 – 52	Melinda Ehlert	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent
4585	23/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	79 – 78	David Collingham	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent
4586	24/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	96 – 70	Mervyn Ward	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent
4587	25/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	79 – 40	Harry Barnett	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent
4588	28/04/2008	P	Ben Hanks	66 – 71	David Preedy	Keith Barron	Susie Dent
4589	29/04/2008	P	David Preedy	65 – 72	Ellen Hill	Keith Barron	Susie Dent
4590	30/04/2008	P	Ellen Hill	62 – 90	Allannah Steadman	Keith Barron	Susie Dent
4591	1/05/2008	P	Allannah Steadman	71 – 98	Peter Davies	Keith Barron	Susie Dent
4592	2/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	103 – 37	Andy Fawcett	Keith Barron	Susie Dent
4593	5/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	96 – 49	Mike Nelson	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
4594	6/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	93 – 67	Stephen Rooney	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
4595	7/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	89 – 54	Sue Stevenson	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
4596	8/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	81 – 55	David Dunnington	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
4597	9/05/2008	P	Peter Davies	82 – 89	Don Gill	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent
4598	12/05/2008	P	Don Gill	71 – 82	Tony Betts	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
4599	13/05/2008	P	Tony Betts	44 – 73	Philippa Griffin	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
4600	14/05/2008	P	Philippa Griffin	92 – 45	Eunice Campbell	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
4601	15/05/2008	P	Philippa Griffin	67 – 78	Ross Watt	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
4602	16/05/2008	P	Ross Watt	81 – 60	Ben Simmons	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent
4603	19/05/2008	P	Ross Watt	61 – 85	Carl Dundas	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
4604	20/05/2008	P	Carl Dundas	76 – 65	Nick Horton	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
4605	21/05/2008	P	Carl Dundas	94 – 31	Neil Meynell	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
4606	22/05/2008	P	Carl Dundas	80 – 82	Barbara Cleggett	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
4607	23/05/2008	P	Barbara Cleggett	52 – 61	Lee Bailey	Richard Digance	Susie Dent
4608	26/05/2008	P	Lee Bailey	66 – 58	Terry Godden	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
4609	27/05/2008	P	Lee Bailey	39 – 124	Jonathan Coles	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
4610	28/05/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	79 – 36	Connie Hird	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
4611	29/05/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	87 – 59	Kath Hollis	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
4612	30/05/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	89 – 72	Simon Jackson	Tom O'Connor	Susie Dent
4613	2/06/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	96 – 32	Kathy Craig	Ricky Tomlinson	Susie Dent
4614	3/06/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	75 – 57	Connie Watson	Ricky Tomlinson	Susie Dent
4615	4/06/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	97 – 76	Alan Carling	Ricky Tomlinson	Susie Dent
4616	5/06/2008	P	Jonathan Coles	99 – 41	Charlie Picken	Ricky Tomlinson	Susie Dent
4617	6/06/2008	P	Neil Sneddon	67 – 44	Tim Marsh	Ricky Tomlinson	Susie Dent
4618	9/06/2008	P	Neil Sneddon	83 – 57	David Beale	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent
4619	10/06/2008	P	Neil Sneddon	89 – 56	John Nuttall	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent
4620	11/06/2008	P	Neil Sneddon	65 – 86	Tony Gilgun	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent
4621	12/06/2008	QF	David O'Donnell	92 – 46	Ben Hanks	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent
4622	13/06/2008	QF	Peter Davies	83 – 77	Michael Macdonald-Cooper	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent
4623	16/06/2008	QF	Tim Reypert	53 – 90	Richard Priest	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4624	17/06/2008	QF	Jonathan Coles	101 – 75	Barry Smith	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4625	18/06/2008	SF	David O'Donnell	95 – 82	Jonathan Coles	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4626	19/06/2008	SF	Richard Priest	100 – 70	Peter Davies	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent
4627	20/06/2008	GF	David O'Donnell	91 – 61	Richard Priest	Phil Hammond	Susie Dent