David Acton

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				Lucy Summers	Nigel Rees	Catherine Stokes
1760	28/02/1996	P	David Acton	62 – 21	John Shirreffs	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Nigel Rees	Catherine Stokes
1761	29/02/1996	P	David Acton	47 – 40	Joan Coker	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1762	1/03/1996	P	David Acton	81 – 8	Peter Chamberlain	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1763	4/03/1996	P	David Acton	52 – 44	Ed Barlow	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1764	5/03/1996	P	David Acton	52 – 31	Liz Groombridge	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1765	6/03/1996	P	David Acton	70 – 35	Paulinus Barnes	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1766	7/03/1996	P	David Acton	55 – 44	Paul Parry	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Catherine Stokes
1776	21/03/1996	QF	Kevin Fisk	36 – 63	David Acton	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Rosalind Ayres	Susie Dent
1780	27/03/1996	SF	David Acton	54 – 48	Anne Bougourd	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Rosalind Ayres	Susie Dent
1782	29/03/1996	GF	David Acton	83 – 67	Kenneth Michie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres	Susie Dent
1849	1/10/1996	CQF	David Acton	61 – 13	Dennis Fearon	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Susie Dent
1852	4/10/1996	CSF	Chris Rogers	47 – 41	David Acton	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jan Harvey	Susie Dent
S8	8/09/2003	S	David Acton	70 – 104	Kenneth Michie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					Richard Stilgoe	Damian Eadie