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Series 68

From Countdown
Series 68 is separate to the 30th Birthday Championship.
Giles Hutchings holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 68.

Series 68 ran from 4 March 2013 to 28 June 2013. The third of 18 series presented by Nick Hewer. Notably, this series only lasted for 67 episodes, the joint-lowest in a 15 round series (along with Series 46), largely due to the 30th Birthday Championship occupying what would have ordinarily been its first eight weeks. As a result, Series 68 also had the lowest finals threshold in 15-round history, with only two wins being sufficient to qualify for the finals.

The series champion was Giles Hutchings; who in his heats, beat Jack Hurst's record for most points achieved by an octochamp with 965 points. The finals of this series went completely true to the seedings (i.e. the higher seed always beat the lower seed, with no upsets).

On 25 March 2013, a couple of weeks into the heats, the format changed to the new 15 round format of LLNLLNLLNLLLLNC.

Seed table

Rank Name Wins Points
1 Giles Hutchings 8 965
2 Andy Platt 8 889
3 Eileen Taylor 8 754
4 Joe McGonigle 8 716
5 Sam McElhinney 4 393
6 Jill Hayward 3 374
7 Chris Ball 3 358
8 Peter Fenton 2 262
Rachael Moran, with four wins and 438 points, would have qualified for the finals as #5 seed, but she withdrew for personal reasons.
Since Series 60, players are sorted by number of wins, then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums are not counted, and players with the same number of wins and points are sorted by the number of conundrums correctly guessed, then highest single-game score.

Finals progress

Giles Hutchings (1) vs Peter Fenton (8) Giles Hutchings (1) vs Joe McGonigle (4) Giles Hutchings (1)
vs
Andy Platt (2)
Sam McElhinney (5) vs Joe McGonigle (4)
Eileen Taylor (3) vs Jill Hayward (6) Eileen Taylor (3) vs Andy Platt (2)
Chris Ball (7) vs Andy Platt (2)
The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
5655 04/03/2013 P Rachael Moran 117 – 63 Zee Mitha Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Chris Packham Susie Dent 128
5656 05/03/2013 P Rachael Moran 83 – 95 Philip Jarvis Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Chris Packham Susie Dent 129
5657 06/03/2013 P Philip Jarvis 84 – 24 Anthony Josephson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Chris Packham Susie Dent 118
5658 07/03/2013 P Philip Jarvis 76 – 81 Sam McElhinney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Chris Packham Susie Dent 118
5659 08/03/2013 P Sam McElhinney 82 – 61 Juliette Bains Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Chris Packham Susie Dent 120
5660 11/03/2013 P Sam McElhinney 70 – 51 Ian Dobkin Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 120
5661 18/03/2013 P Sam McElhinney 93 – 66 Ricky Roberts Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 135
5662 19/03/2013 P Sam McElhinney 67 – 114 Andy Platt Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 127
5663 20/03/2013 P Andy Platt 112 – 25 John Wiseman Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 149
5664 21/03/2013 P Andy Platt 108 – 32 Jacqui Kemp Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 133
5665 22/03/2013 P Andy Platt 109 – 7 Carl Anderson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 115
From 25 March 2013 onwards, the "new" 15-round format was used.
5666 25/03/2013 P Andy Platt 100 – 33 Daniel Davies Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Arnold Susie Dent 120
5667 26/03/2013 P Andy Platt 116 – 80 Alex Newton Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Arnold Susie Dent 127
5668 27/03/2013 P Andy Platt 120 – 29 Josh Young Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Arnold Susie Dent 131
5669 28/03/2013 P Andy Platt 110 – 51 Bob Windsor Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Arnold Susie Dent 134
5670 29/03/2013 P Alan Pollard 61 – 89 Peter Fenton Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Arnold Susie Dent 123
5671 01/04/2013 P Peter Fenton 93 – 54 Eric Uphoff Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 131
5672 02/04/2013 P Peter Fenton 80 – 97 Jean Wright Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 124
5673 03/04/2013 P Jean Wright 54 – 129 Giles Hutchings Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 134
5674 08/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 119 – 19 Mike Lee Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 132
5675 09/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 120 – 57 Zulfi Ebrahim Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 121
5676 10/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 115 – 50 Nick Courtnadge Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 126
5677 11/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 120 – 65 Mark Witney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 139
5678 12/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 130 – 82 Alan Flanagan Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 144
5679 15/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 121 – 62 Rob Tuson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 131
5680 16/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 111 – 58 Nick Holland Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 133
5681 17/04/2013 P Victoria Woollaston 63 – 76 Dan Tibbles Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 124
5682 18/04/2013 P Dan Tibbles 68 – 82 John Gardner Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 120
5683 19/04/2013 P John Gardner 54 – 85 Jill Hayward Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 119
5684 22/04/2013 P Jill Hayward 87 – 72 JJ Burrows Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 118
5685 23/04/2013 P Jill Hayward 104 – 63 Pat Gardner Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 126
5686 24/04/2013 P Jill Hayward 98 – 102 Eileen Taylor Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Bill Turnbull Susie Dent 121
5687 25/04/2013 P Eileen Taylor 88 – 75 Paul Johnson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Bill Turnbull Susie Dent 133
5688 29/04/2013 P Eileen Taylor 85 – 46 Ron Boyman Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Bill Turnbull Susie Dent 134
5689 30/04/2013 P Eileen Taylor 99 – 67 Morgan Nock Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Bill Turnbull Susie Dent 124
5690 01/05/2013 P Eileen Taylor 111 – 31 Katie Burge Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Bill Turnbull Susie Dent 123
5691 02/05/2013 P Eileen Taylor 99 – 72 Neil Budge Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 132
5692 03/05/2013 P Eileen Taylor 67 – 64 Sam Lake Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 133
5693 06/05/2013 P Eileen Taylor 103 – 45 Jake Elliott Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 124
5694 07/05/2013 P Richard Izzard 46 – 78 Ian Burn Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 118
5695 13/05/2013 P Ian Burn 57 – 83 Joe McGonigle Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 125
5696 14/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 91 – 40 Lynne Banks Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Janet Street-Porter Susie Dent 124
5697 20/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 93 – 67 Mark Goldsmith Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Janet Street-Porter Susie Dent 145
5698 21/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 95 – 56 Jonny Walker Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Janet Street-Porter Susie Dent 125
5699 22/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 78 – 49 Mark Ivey Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Janet Street-Porter Susie Dent 134
5700 23/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 88 – 65 Adam Beardwell Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Janet Street-Porter Susie Dent 134
5701 24/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 94 – 76 Greg Pearce Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 123
5702 27/05/2013 P Joe McGonigle 94 – 40 Rachael Bagot Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 123
5703 28/05/2013 P Stuart Scholes 78 – 73 David Lockett Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 127
5704 29/05/2013 P Stuart Scholes 84 – 72 Dave Fielding Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 137
5705 30/05/2013 P Stuart Scholes 58 – 88 Chris Ball Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 124
5706 03/06/2013 P Chris Ball 95 – 47 Mill Pritchard Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Helen Skelton Susie Dent 130
5707 04/06/2013 P Chris Ball 84 – 57 Vicky Greaves Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Helen Skelton Susie Dent 130
5708 05/06/2013 P Chris Ball 91 – 125 Glen Webb Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Helen Skelton Susie Dent 145
5709 06/06/2013 P Glen Webb 91 – 58 Mike Bailey Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Helen Skelton Susie Dent 136
5710 07/06/2013 P Glen Webb 122 – 59 Richard Vaughan Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Helen Skelton Susie Dent 143
5711 10/06/2013 P Glen Webb 114 – 50 Mike Stone Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 131
5712 11/06/2013 P Glen Webb 141 – 49 Martin Wilsdon Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 145
5713 12/06/2013 P Glen Webb 109 – 48 Mark Williams Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 134
5714 13/06/2013 P Glen Webb 128 – 52 Anne Whitehead Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 133
5715 14/06/2013 QF Giles Hutchings 109 – 86 Peter Fenton Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 134
5716 17/06/2013 QF Andy Platt 115 – 29 Chris Ball Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 123
5717 24/06/2013 QF Eileen Taylor 86 – 81 Jill Hayward Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 134
5718 25/06/2013 QF Joe McGonigle 108 – 83 Sam McElhinney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 124
5719 26/06/2013 SF Giles Hutchings 106 – 38 Joe McGonigle Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 124
5720 27/06/2013 SF Andy Platt 120 – 65 Eileen Taylor Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 126
5721 28/06/2013 GF Giles Hutchings 95 – 86 Andy Platt Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 115

External Links