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David Acton
David Acton was an octochamp in and winner of Series 31.
He first appeared on Countdown on 27 February 1996, beating Bryan Darbey 67 – 42. Acton won his remaining seven games in impressive fashion, including an 81 – 8 drubbing of Peter Chamberlain, the highest score of the series. With 486 points to his name, David was the clear #1 seed going into the final rounds.
In the finals, he defeated Kevin Fisk and Anne Bougourd on his way to a Grand Final match-up with Kenneth Michie. Despite having two words disallowed, Acton was still leading by 6 points going into the crucial conundrum, and unscrambled SUSISDENT in 11.5 seconds to become the first undefeated champion since Don Reid in Series 25. However, being a strict vegan, Acton famously declined the first prize of the leather-bound dictionaries and opted instead for the CD-ROM form, donating the difference to a local school.
Acton returned later that year for Championship of Champions VIII, comfortably beating Dennis Fearon in the first round before falling to eventual winner Chris Rogers in the semi-final.
Acton would return to Countdown one last time, for a special episode – a rematch of his final with Kenneth Michie. This time, Michie was the clear winner.
David Acton is also a Scrabble Grandmaster.
Preceded by Verity Joubert |
Series winner Series 31 |
Followed by Alan Sinclair |
Episodes
# | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1759 | 27/02/1996 | P | Bryan Darbey | 42 – 67 | David Acton | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Nigel Rees | Catherine Stokes | |||
1760 | 28/02/1996 | P | David Acton | 62 – 21 | John Shirreffs | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Nigel Rees | Catherine Stokes | |||
1761 | 29/02/1996 | P | David Acton | 47 – 40 | Joan Coker | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1762 | 1/03/1996 | P | David Acton | 81 – 8 | Peter Chamberlain | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1763 | 4/03/1996 | P | David Acton | 52 – 44 | Ed Barlow | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1764 | 5/03/1996 | P | David Acton | 52 – 31 | Liz Groombridge | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1765 | 6/03/1996 | P | David Acton | 70 – 35 | Paulinus Barnes | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1766 | 7/03/1996 | P | David Acton | 55 – 44 | Paul Parry | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Catherine Stokes | |||
1776 | 21/03/1996 | QF | Kevin Fisk | 36 – 63 | David Acton | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Rosalind Ayres | Susie Dent | |||
1780 | 27/03/1996 | SF | David Acton | 54 – 48 | Anne Bougourd | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Rosalind Ayres | Susie Dent | |||
1782 | 29/03/1996 | GF | David Acton | 83 – 67 | Kenneth Michie | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres | Susie Dent | |||
1849 | 1/10/1996 | CQF | David Acton | 61 – 13 | Dennis Fearon | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Susie Dent | |||
1852 | 4/10/1996 | CSF | Chris Rogers | 47 – 41 | David Acton | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Jan Harvey | Susie Dent | |||
S8 | 8/09/2003 | S | David Acton | 70 – 104 | Kenneth Michie | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Richard Stilgoe | Damian Eadie |