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Harvey Freeman

From Countdown
Revision as of 19:11, 19 April 2010 by Vande (talk | contribs) (Episodes: rv incorrection)
Harvey Freeman.

Harvey Freeman first appeared on Countdown in Series 10, and quickly earned a reputation as one of the greatest Countdowners of all time. As a 21-year old Cambridge University undergraduate from Enfield, Middlesex, he made his debut on 31 October 1986 against David Whiting. Harvey won that game and seven more to achieve octochampdom with a then-record aggregate score of 523 points- a record that would stand for almost 14 years before it was beaten by David Williams in Series 43. In his second game, Harvey scored 82 points- also a record at the time. Harvey returned for the final rounds as the clear #1 seed, and dominated his opponents Elisabeth Jardine and Les Martin in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, before going on to face Mike Percik in the grand final. Despite having OUTTAKES ☓ disallowed in the second round, Harvey would enter a commanding performance here too, running out the 96-52 winner.

In February 1987, Harvey appeared on the special episode to celebrate Countdown's 500th show. Later the same year, he returned for Championship of Champions III, and after beating Michael Stephenson and John Clarke, he found a tough opponent in the grand final in the shape of David Trace. Harvey lost out in the first conundrum to David, putting him ten points behind, but he scored in every other round, including the final, crucial conundrum to win 115-107 - the highest ever score in a 14-round grand final and the only time anyone has ever scored over 110 under that format.

In 1996, Harvey returned to the Countdown studios one last time to participate in the Supreme Championship. Given a bye in the first round, Harvey defeated Ian Bebbington in the second round and Barry Grossman in a closely-fought group final to put himself into the series quarter-finals. There, he beat Andrew Perry before once again beating John Clarke in the semi-final. In the final, he faced Allan Saldanha in what promised to be a true battle of the greats. However, as it turned out, Harvey managed to spot a 9 letter word in the first round that Allan didn't, and was able to hold on to his lead to win 82-79, winning the title of 'all-time supreme champion', and maintaining his winning streak at an unprecedented 19 games (his only ever loss being against producer Mark Nyman in the separate Countdown Masters series in 1990).

Notable achievements

  • Most wins on Countdown.
  • Highest score for a 14-round game (115).
  • Second highest score for a 9-round game (82). It was the highest score at the time he made it. It's also the highest score by a champion, neither the score by Allan Saldanha nor by Stephen Balment were made whilst they were the sitting champion.
  • Second highest 8-game total (523). It was the highest score at the time he made it.
  • Highest debut score of Series 10.
  • Series 10 winner.
  • Championship of Champions III winner.
  • Series 33 (Supreme Championship) winner.


Harvey is also a top Scrabble player.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
459 31/10/1986 P Harvey Freeman 65 – 45 David Whiting Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
460 3/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 82 – 30 Rita Meston Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
461 4/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 60 – 29 Anilkumar Shah Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
462 5/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 57 – 33 Michael Sim Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
463 6/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 64 – 28 John Wesley Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
464 7/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 49 – 21 Frances Kitsall Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Lee Peck Freda Thornton
465 10/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 71 – 17 Martin Reed Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Bill Tidy Freda Thornton
466 11/11/1986 P Harvey Freeman 75 – 10 Roy James Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Bill Tidy Freda Thornton
488 11/12/1986 QF Harvey Freeman 65 – 29 Elisabeth Jardine Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Bill Tidy Catherine Clarke
492 17/12/1986 SF Harvey Freeman 76 – 36 Les Martin Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Bill Tidy Catherine Clarke
494 19/12/1986 GF Harvey Freeman 96 – 52 Mike Percik Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Gyles Brandreth, Bill Tidy Della Thompson
595 22/06/1987 CQF Harvey Freeman 44 – 36 Michael Stephenson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Sally James Della Thompson
599 26/06/1987 CSF Harvey Freeman 45 – 38 John Clarke Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Sally James Della Thompson
601 30/06/1987 CGF Harvey Freeman 115 – 107 David Trace Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Cathy Hytner Sally James Della Thompson
M45 5/2/90-9/2/90 Masters 1 Mark Nyman 76 – 68 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman N/A Catherine Clarke
1872 1/11/1996 CSF Ian Bebbington 54 – 72 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent
1874 5/11/1996 CF Barry Grossman 37 – 44 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent
1902 13/12/1996 SQF Andrew Perry 44 – 54 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jenny Hanley Susie Dent
1905 18/12/1996 SSF John Clarke 48 – 65 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nigel Rees Catherine Clarke
1907 20/12/1996 SGF Allan Saldanha 79 – 82 Harvey Freeman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nigel Rees Catherine Clarke


Championship of Champions Winners

I : Mark Nyman | II : Clive Freedman | III : Harvey Freeman | IV : Nic Brown | V : Tim Morrissey | VI : Wayne Summers | VII : Don Reid | VIII : Chris Rogers | IX : Natascha Kearsey | X : Scott Mearns | XI : Graham Nash | XII : Paul Gallen | XIII : Steve Briers | XIV : Dylan Taylor | XV : Zarte Siempre | XVI : Ahmed Mohamed

Preceded by
David Trace
Series winner
Series 10
Followed by
John Clarke (Series 11)
Preceded by
Alan Sinclair
Series winner
Series 33
Followed by
Huw Morgan
Preceded by
Clive Freedman (Series 6)
Champion of Champions
Championship of Champions III
Followed by
Nic Brown