Due to persistent vandalism, account creation has been suspended. If you would like an account, please contact Charlie Reams on Apterous.

Isabelle Heward

From Countdown
Isabelle Heward
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionTBC
SeedingTBC
Points total686
Conundrums solved5
Isabelle Heward, 30 years after her first appearance, in Series 89.
Isabelle Heward on Mastermind in 2017.

Isabelle Heward was a finalist in Series 28, and an octochamp in Series 89. As of her first stint, she was from Scunthorpe. As of her second stint, she was from Alkborough in North Lincolnshire and was a charity volunteer at Victim Support for almost 25 years.

Countdown

Series 28

Heward first appeared on Countdown on 9 September 1994, winning her first game by 10 points. She won another five games, before being unseated in her seventh game by Carole Rison. Despite this, she qualified for the finals where she suffered another defeat to Wayne Kelly in the quarter-finals.

Series 89 Heat Games

Heward reappeared on the show nearly 30 years later in Series 89 in 2024, where she won against two-time winner and fellow returning contestant, Nikki Needham. From there she won a further 7 matches, all with relatively low scores, including a spot of REBENDING in her sixth heat for her only nine, and a personal best of 98 in her eighth game after a crucial conundrum against challenger Phillip Lee to secure octochampdom with 686 points.

She has a good chance of returning in June, but with her being the fifth octochamp of the series in just over two months, time will tell if that is truly enough to appear in the finals for a second time.

Other quiz shows

Prior to appearing on Countdown, she was a finalist on the now-defunct Film Buff of the Year and also appeared on Sale of the Century in the same series as Simon Cowell. She has since competed on The People Versus, The Weakest Link, and Mastermind in 2003. On 1 February 2016, she appeared on The Chase, winning £5,500 against Paul "The Sinnerman" Sinha, and was the team captain of the Scunthorpe Scholars team in Series 12 of Only Connect on 10 October 2016. In 2017, she reappeared on Mastermind, in which she became champion, and then competed on Fifteen to One on 9 June 2017, reaching the grand final. Her next appearance was on Quizmaster on 29 December 2019 representing the Mastermind team, and then reappeared on Only Connect on 30 December 2020. She was then part of a team of Film Buff of the Year alumni on Eggheads on 7 March 2022.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
1572 09/09/1994 P Dave Ledger 39 – 49 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Stilgoe Ruth Killick 74
1573 12/09/1994 P Paul Henderson 50 – 54 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Stilgoe Ruth Killick 72
1574 13/09/1994 P Bryan Montgomery 54 – 55 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Ruth Killick 72
1575 14/09/1994 P Hannah White 47 – 50 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Ruth Killick 74
1576 15/09/1994 P Warwick Bassett 29 – 47 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Ruth Killick 73
1577 16/09/1994 P Stewart Ivins 17 – 58 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Ruth Killick 70
1578 19/09/1994 P Carole Rison 59 – 40 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Philip Franks Ruth Killick 71
1583 26/09/1994 QF Wayne Kelly 59 – 46 Isabelle Heward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Michael Parkinson Richard Samson 73
8217 27/02/2024 P Nikki Needham 58 – 86 Isabelle Heward Colin Murray Rachel Riley Vick Hope Susie Dent 130
8218 28/02/2024 P Isabelle Heward 80 – 42 Paul Davey Colin Murray Rachel Riley Vick Hope Susie Dent 134
8219 29/02/2024 P Isabelle Heward 74 – 73 Séamus Boland Colin Murray Rachel Riley Vick Hope Susie Dent 134
8220 01/03/2024 P Isabelle Heward 84 – 50 James McDonald Colin Murray Rachel Riley Vick Hope Susie Dent 130
8221 04/03/2024 P Isabelle Heward 87 – 61 Richard Phillips Colin Murray Rachel Riley Rory Bremner Susie Dent 123
8222 05/03/2024 P Isabelle Heward 92 – 69 Chris Boyce Colin Murray Rachel Riley Rory Bremner Susie Dent 132
8223 06/03/2024 P Isabella Heward 85 – 77 Michael Douglas Colin Murray Rachel Riley Rory Bremner Susie Dent 137
8224 07/03/2024 P Isabelle Heward 98 – 90 Phillip Lee Colin Murray Rachel Riley Rory Bremner Susie Dent 133