Darryl Francis

Darryl Francis.

Darryl Francis first appeared in Series 1, losing his debut game to Joe Guy. A computer manager from Isleworth, Middlesex, he was later invited back for Series 6, where he became an octochamp. In his semifinal against Adam Gilinsky he scored 72 points, the highest of the series. He then went on to beat Olivia Lloyd in the grand final. Unable to play in Championship of Champions II due to a broken leg, he was invited back in 1987 for Championship of Champions III, where he defeated Steve Balment in the quarter finals before narrowly succumbing to David Trace 58-55 in the semis. also appeared on the special episode to celebrate Countdown's 500th show on 2 February 1987, and competed in the Countdown Masters in 1989. Darryl returned to Countdown one last time in 1996 for the Supreme Championships where, after a first round win over Mike Percik, he was defeated by Allan Saldanha, who equalled the record for the highest score ever achieved in a 9 round game of Countdown.

Interestingly, both Darryl and the #1 seed, Helen Grayson, had both previously appeared in the same series, Series 1.

Darryl is also a Scrabble Expert, and has appeared on Turnabout and Brainteaser.

Preceded by Peter Evans

Series winner Series 6

Followed by Ian Bebbington

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
12	22/11/1982	P	Darryl Francis	?	Joe Guy	Richard Whiteley	Dr Linda Barrett	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams
245	21/01/1985	P	Darryl Francis	47 – 46	Steven Tew	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
246	22/01/1985	P	Andrew Mason	26 – 60	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
247	24/01/1985	P	Diana Mills	18 – 51	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
248	25/01/1985	P	Darryl Francis	52 – 49	Alan Carvell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
249	27/01/1985	P	Irene Pollard	21 – 41	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
250	28/01/1985	P	Clive Simkin	16 – 57	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
251	29/01/1985	P	Armand Gilinsky	47 – 69	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Yvonne Warberton
252	30/01/1985	P	Tom Roberts	5 – 59	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Yvonne Warberton
283	14/03/1985	QF	Neil Wilkins	35 – 56	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Julia Swannel
287	20/03/1985	SF	Adam Gilinsky	34 – 72	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Julia Swannel
288	21/03/1985	GF	Olivia Lloyd	37 – 69	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth, Richard Stilgoe	Julia Swannel
596	23/06/1987	CQF	Darryl Francis	46 – 28	Stephen Balment	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Sally James	Della Thompson
600	29/06/1987	CSF	Darryl Francis	55 – 58	David Trace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Sally James	Della Thompson
M33	13/11/89-17/11/89	Masters 1	Clive Freedman	90 – 73	Darryl Francis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					N/A	Freda Thornton
1883	18/11/1996	eQF	Darryl Francis	60 – 31	Mike Percik	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent
1886	21/11/1996	eSF	Darryl Francis	24 – 83	Allan Saldanha	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tom O'Connor	Catherine Stokes

Links

Darryl Francis on wikipedia