David Trace

David Trace first appeared in the first episode of series 9 folllowing the conclusion of Championship of Champions II. He beat all opponents placed before him to become an octochamp- the first since darryl Francis in series 6- and #1 seed for the final rounds. There, he contested close games against Anne Tipp and david White on his way to the grand final, where he faced off against Mick Keeble. 74-70 down going into the conundrum, he brilliantly unscrambled CABANARCH into CHARABANC in two seconds to become champion of series 9 and remain undefeated.

David returned for Championship of Champions III, where he defeated Cathy Morgan and Darryl Francis in close encounters to set up a moutherwatering encounter with series 10 champion Harvey Freeman in the final both contestants played well, and the score going into the crucial conundrum was 107-105 in David's favour- however, the result would turn against him in this instance, as Harvey unscrambled PURSUEPAT in a second and a half to become the champion of champions and put an end to David's winning streak.

David returned to Countdown for the Supreme Championship, and seemed to have lost none of his edge as he beat Russell Byers and Richard Campbell in his first two games, but he came unstuck against Allan Saldanha, losing 34-45.