David Acton

David Acton first appeared on Countdown on 27 february 1996, beating Bryan Darbey 67-42 in the 42nd heat of series 31. David went on to become an octochamp, winning his seven remaining games in impressive fashion, including an 81-8 drubbing of Peter Chamberlain. With 486 points to his name, David was the clear #1 seed going into the final rounds. He defeated Kevin Fisk and Anne Bougourd on his way to the final against kenneth Michie. Despite having two words disallowed, David was still leading by 6 points going into the crucial conundrum. In 11.5 seconds, David unscrambled SUSISDENT to become the 31st champion of Countdown, and the first undefeated champion since Don Reid in series 25. However, David, being a strict vegan, famously declined the first prize of the leather-bound dictionaries, opting instead to take them in CD-ROM form, and donating the difference to a local school. David returned later in the 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.

David would later return to Countdown to play a special match against kenneth Michie, a rematch of their final. This time, Kenneth was the clear winner.

Preceded by Verity Joubert

Series winner Series 31

Followed by Alan Sinclair