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30th Birthday Championship
The 30th Birthday Championship was an eight week long mini-series broadcast between 7 January 2013 and 1 March 2013, held to celebrate Countdown being broadcast on British television for 30 years. Series producer Damian Eadie posted details of the tournament on the c4countdown forum in September 2012, and over 200 former contestants expressed their interest in participating. This was whittled down to just 41, spanning 63 of Countdown's 67 series and including 15 series champions. The mini-series lasted for eight weeks on screen and consisted of 40 episodes, with nine preliminary games followed by a best-of-32 knock-out tournament. On 21 January 2013, production moved to a studio at MediaCityUK in Salford, Countdown's third permanent home in its 30 year history.
Notable moments in the first round proper included Series 60 champion Kirk Bevins scoring 130 points out of a possible 130, the second 15 round perfect game in the history of Countdown, and Series 63 champion Jack Hurst missing out on beating the show's highest ever score of 146, after the invalid declaration spousing ☓ gave him a total of 143. Round 2 included another perfect game as Series 54 champion Conor Travers beat Mark Tournoff with 119 points out of 119. The second round also featured two consecutive tie-breaker conundrums – David O'Donnell unscrambled BAGOGLORY to defeat Chris Davies, and Kirk Bevins solved BARRYDICK to claim victory over Innis Carson. The quarter-finals saw Jonathan Rawlinson and Jack Hurst progress, and contained two more perfect games – Conor Travers achieved a second on the bounce, and Jon O'Neill amassed a perfect 122, the highest score ever achieved on Countdown with no nine-letter words.
In the first semi-final, both Rawlinson and Hurst started with the nine-letter word CATENOIDS. Their scores remained level until round 11, when an invalid declaration gave Rawlinson a six point lead. However, this proved insufficient when Hurst unravelled the conundrum TURNMOIST to qualify for the final. The second semi-final featured O'Neill and Travers, the men who had achieved perfect games in their quarter-final matches. Their form continued and between them they gained maximum points with 28 of their 29 declarations, and Travers won with his third consecutive perfect game. Early in the tournament final, Travers gained an 18 point lead after Hurst missed the niner PONYTAILS. This was immediately followed by two further nines, the first known "ambulance" (9-9-9) in the history of televised Countdown. Travers was able to extend his lead late in the match and won with 146 points, equalling the highest ever score set by Julian Fell. Travers' prize, a trophy which host Nick Hewer referred to as a "priceless piece of kryptonite", was presented by Marcel Stellman who originally brought the Countdown format to Britain.
Participants
The participants, listed by the series with which they are most commonly associated, are:
Series champions are displayed in bold.
Progress (Round 2 and beyond only)
Tom Rowell (63) vs Jonathan Rawlinson (66) | Jonathan Rawlinson vs Neil Zussman | Jonathan Rawlinson vs Jack Hurst |
Jack Hurst vs Conor Travers |
Dave Hoskisson (44) vs Neil Zussman (60) | |||
Chris Wills (47) vs Jack Hurst (63) | Jack Hurst vs David O'Donnell | ||
Chris Davies (61) vs David O'Donnell (58) | |||
Jon O'Neill (53) vs Darryl Francis (6) | Jon O'Neill vs Jack Worsley | Jon O'Neill vs Conor Travers | |
Christine Hunt (4) vs Jack Worsley (66) | |||
Chris Hawkins (28) vs Conor Travers (54) | Conor Travers vs Kirk Bevins | ||
Innis Carson (61) vs Kirk Bevins (60) |
The numbers refer to the series in which each contestant originally played in the finals.
Episodes
# | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preliminary Round | ||||||||||||
5615 | 7/01/2013 | 30BP | Tom Hargreaves | 117 – 57 | Nicki Sellars | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dave Myers | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
5616 | 8/01/2013 | 30BP | Wayne Kelly | 105 – 68 | Nick Wainwright | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dave Myers | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
5617 | 9/01/2013 | 30BP | Mark Deeks | 103 – 108 | Jack Hurst | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dave Myers | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
5618 | 10/01/2013 | 30BP | Ben Wilson | 91 – 117 | Conor Travers | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dave Myers | Susie Dent | 126 | ||
5619 | 11/01/2013 | 30BP | Mark Tournoff | 101 – 100 | Nick Deller | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dave Myers | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5620 | 14/01/2013 | 30BP | Darryl Francis | 86 – 68 | David Webb | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Martin Lewis | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5621 | 15/01/2013 | 30BP | Jackie McLeod | 65 – 79 | Barry Grossman | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Martin Lewis | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5622 | 16/01/2013 | 30BP | Andrew Hulme | 113 – 74 | Steven Briers | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Martin Lewis | Susie Dent | 127 | ||
5623 | 17/01/2013 | 30BP | Ed McCullagh | 94 – 104* | Jonathan Rawlinson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Martin Lewis | Susie Dent | 117 | ||
Round 1 | ||||||||||||
5624 | 18/01/2013 | 30B1 | Peter Lee | 84 – 92 | Tom Rowell | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Martin Lewis | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
5625 | 21/01/2013 | 30B1 | Kai Laddiman | 76 – 101 | Jon O'Neill | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Margaret Mountford | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
5626 | 22/01/2013 | 30B1 | Chris Hawkins | 95 – 51 | Jill Bright | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Margaret Mountford | Susie Dent | 123 | ||
5627 | 23/01/2013 | 30B1 | Martin Bishop | 99 – 102 | Chris Wills | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Margaret Mountford | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
5628 | 24/01/2013 | 30B1 | David Williams | 58 – 108 | Chris Davies | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Margaret Mountford | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5629 | 25/01/2013 | 30B1 | Innis Carson | 116 – 91 | Adam Gillard | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Margaret Mountford | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
5630 | 28/01/2013 | 30B1 | Christine Hunt | 88* – 78 | Sandie Simonis | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
5631 | 29/01/2013 | 30B1 | Paul Keane | 81 – 99 | Neil Zussman | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
5632 | 30/01/2013 | 30B1 | Dave Hoskisson | 85 – 81 | Mike Whiteoak | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
5633 | 31/01/2013 | 30B1 | Graeme Cole | 98 – 104 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
5634 | 1/02/2013 | 30B1 | John Ashmore | 92 – 130 | Kirk Bevins | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 130 | ||
5635 | 4/02/2013 | 30B1 | David O'Donnell | 111 – 86 | Tom Hargreaves | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Adie | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
5636 | 5/02/2013 | 30B1 | Wayne Kelly | 89 – 143 | Jack Hurst | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Adie | Susie Dent | 152 | ||
5637 | 6/02/2013 | 30B1 | Conor Travers | 112 – 62 | Mark Tournoff | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Adie | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5638 | 7/02/2013 | 30B1 | Darryl Francis | 82 – 63 | Barry Grossman | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Adie | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
5639 | 8/02/2013 | 30B1 | Andrew Hulme | 91 – 98 | Jonathan Rawlinson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Adie | Susie Dent | 115 | ||
Round 2 | ||||||||||||
5640 | 11/02/2013 | 30B2 | Tom Rowell | 65 – 94 | Jonathan Rawlinson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Ken Bruce | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
5641 | 12/02/2013 | 30B2 | Jon O'Neill | 122 – 91 | Darryl Francis | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Ken Bruce | Susie Dent | 130 | ||
5642 | 13/02/2013 | 30B2 | Chris Hawkins | 85 – 119 | Conor Travers | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Ken Bruce | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5643 | 14/02/2013 | 30B2 | Chris Wills | 70 – 115 | Jack Hurst | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Ken Bruce | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5644 | 15/02/2013 | 30B2 | Chris Davies | 117 – 127* | David O'Donnell | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Ken Bruce | Susie Dent | 140 | ||
5645 | 18/02/2013 | 30B2 | Innis Carson | 102 – 112* | Kirk Bevins | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
5646 | 19/02/2013 | 30B2 | Christine Hunt | 67 – 115 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 117 | ||
5647 | 20/02/2013 | 30B2 | Dave Hoskisson | 75 – 90 | Neil Zussman | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 117 | ||
Quarter-Finals | ||||||||||||
5648 | 21/02/2013 | 30BQF | Jonathan Rawlinson | 118 – 53 | Neil Zussman | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5649 | 22/02/2013 | 30BQF | Jon O'Neill | 122 – 104 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
5650 | 25/02/2013 | 30BQF | Conor Travers | 119 – 94 | Kirk Bevins | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jenny Eclair | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
5651 | 26/02/2013 | 30BQF | Jack Hurst | 115 – 97 | David O'Donnell | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jenny Eclair | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
Semi-Finals | ||||||||||||
5652 | 27/02/2013 | 30BSF | Jonathan Rawlinson | 105 – 116 | Jack Hurst | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jenny Eclair | Susie Dent | 126 | ||
5653 | 28/02/2013 | 30BSF | Jon O'Neill | 102 – 120 | Conor Travers | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jenny Eclair | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
Grand Final | ||||||||||||
5654 | 1/03/2013 | 30BGF | Jack Hurst | 111 – 146 | Conor Travers | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jenny Eclair | Susie Dent | 149 |
External links
- 30th Birthday Championship on The Countdown Database.
- 30th Birthday Championship on The Countdown Page.