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Tim Morrissey

From Countdown
Tim Morrissey
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionSemi-finalist
Seeding1
Points total533 (including 1 draw)
Conundrums solved6 (out of 9)
Tim Morrissey as he appeared in 1991...
... and again 5 years later!

Tim Morrissey was an octochamp in Series 17, the winner of Championship of Champions V and a semi-finalist in the Supreme Championship. Commonly regarded as being the second great "Countdown prodigy" after Allan Saldanha, Morrissey’s career spans 21 games.

Morrissey, from Dublin, made his debut at the age of 12 on 24 January 1989 in the tenth heat of Series 17, defeating Jean Tweddell 63 – 60. Morrissey went onto become an octochamp, despite drawing a game against Mary Hawes in the middle of his run, and returned for the finals as No. 1 seed. His total score from his eight wins was 482 points — putting him amongst the highest scoring octochamps of all time. In the final rounds, he defeated Jim Saywell 60 – 46 in the quarter-final, but came unstuck against Evan Simpson in the semi-final, losing 56 – 45.

His performances and his memorable character meant that he was the ideal candidate to take on Allan Saldanha in a 14 round game celebrating Countdown's 1000th show. Morrissey narrowly lost 94 – 93 following a crucial conundrum, which, it later transpired, was misspelled!

Six months later, Morrissey would once again return to the Countdown studios, this time for Championship of Champions V, for which Morrissey was a hot favourite. After defeating Liz Barber and Lindsay Denyer, Morrissey took on Gino Corr in the final, and won a tight match 78 – 62 to become the fifth Champion of Champions.

Morrissey would return to Countdown one final time in 1996, aged 20, to participate in the Supreme Championship. Displaying the same impressive form that saw him win Championship of Champions V, Morrissey beat Nita Marr (spotting the crucial conundrum FOLKBOSHE to take the game), Kevin Nelson, Tony Vick and Hilary Hopper to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Allan Saldanha. Unfortunately for Morrissey, history would repeat itself once again as Saldanha ran out the 61 – 57 winner.

His elder brother, John, appeared on the show in Series 19, but wouldn't have quite the same success as Tim.

Preceded by
Nic Brown
Champion of Champions
Championship of Champions V
Followed by
Wayne Summers

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
829 24/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 63 – 60 Jean Tweddell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Lance Percival Georgia Hole 74
830 25/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 56 – 32 Julie Pharro Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Sylvia Syms Freda Thornton 70
831 26/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 57 – 25 Russell Turner Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Sylvia Syms Freda Thornton 75
832 27/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 51 – 51 Mary Hawes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Sylvia Syms Freda Thornton 71
833 30/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 46 – 35 Mary Hawes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Sylvia Syms Freda Thornton 73
834 31/01/1989 P Tim Morrissey 77 – 56 Dave Chapple Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Sylvia Syms Freda Thornton 79
835 1/02/1989 P Tim Morrissey 61 – 20 Gail Cattermole Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Frazer Hines Freda Thornton 74
836 2/02/1989 P Tim Morrissey 70 – 45 Jenny O'Sullivan Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Frazer Hines Freda Thornton 74
837 3/02/1989 P Tim Morrissey 52 – 40 Elizabeth Dorey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Frazer Hines Freda Thornton 72
861 9/03/1989 QF Tim Morrissey 60 – 44 Jim Saywell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Simon Williams Georgia Hole 70
865 15/03/1989 SF Evan Simpson 56 – 45 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lucy Summers Simon Williams Georgia Hole 74
M37 11/12/1989-15/12/1989 M Tim Morrissey 83 – 100 Allan Saldanha Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman none Freda Thornton 138
1003 2/07/1990 S Allan Saldanha 94 – 93 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth,
Richard Stilgoe
Catherine Clarke 121
1068 31/12/1990 CQF Tim Morrissey 55 – 54 Liz Barber Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Catherine Clarke 69
1072 4/01/1991 CSF Lindsay Denyer 33 – 58 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Catherine Clarke 72
1074 8/01/1991 CGF Gino Corr 62 – 78 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Dinah Sheridan Catherine Clarke 110
1894 3/12/1996 gQF Tim Morrissey 60 – 51 Nita Marr Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance David Swarbrick 82
1898 9/12/1996 gSF Tim Morrissey 57 – 41 Kevin Nelson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jenny Hanley Susie Dent 69
1900 11/12/1996 gF Tim Morrissey 73 – 41 Tony Vick Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jenny Hanley Susie Dent 74
1904 17/12/1996 SQF Hilary Hopper 49 – 56 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nigel Rees Catherine Clarke 75
1906 19/12/1996 SSF Allan Saldanha 61 – 57 Tim Morrissey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nigel Rees Catherine Clarke 71


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