James Martin

James Martin was a semi-finalist from series 34. He won the final eight heat games of the series to become the series's only octochamp and #1 seed for the final stages. He beat Norman Metcalfe in the quarter-finals before losing to Harshan L'Suriya in the semis. james played in Championship of Champions IX, beating the tournament's only undefeated player, Ray McPhie in the first round, before losing to eventual winner Natascha Kearsey in the quarter-finals.

James is probably best remembered for his fifth heat game against Gerald Foster, specifically the first numbers game. The numbers were 25, 50, 75, 100, 3 and 6, and the target was 952. His method was:

• 100+6=106
• 106*3=318
• 318*75=23 850
• 23 850-50=23 800
• 23 800/25=952

A video of the round can be found here.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
1958	10/03/1997	P	Paul Morgan	16 – 67	James Martin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Denis Norden	Susie Dent
1959	11/03/1997	P	James Martin	59 – 55	Raymond Tate	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Denis Norden	Susie Dent
1960	12/03/1997	P	James Martin	52 – 18	Avril Goodall	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Denis Norden	Susie Dent
1961	13/03/1997	P	James Martin	52 – 41	Jon Barlow	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Denis Norden	Susie Dent
1962	14/03/1997	P	James Martin	68 – 20	Gerald Foster	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Suzi Quatro	Susie Dent
1963	17/03/1997	P	James Martin	53 – 39	Andrew Gait	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Suzi Quatro	Susie Dent
1964	18/03/1997	P	James Martin	67 – 6	Bea Rae	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Suzi Quatro	Susie Dent
1965	19/03/1997	P	James Martin	44 – 43	Mike Stamps	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Suzi Quatro	Susie Dent
1966	20/03/1997	QF	Norman Metcalfe	16 – 54	James Martin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Suzi Quatro	Susie Dent
1970	26/03/1997	SF	Harshan L'Suriya	48 – 31	James Martin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	Rob Scriven
2167	2/01/1998	CP	Ray McPhie	42 – 60	James Martin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Denis Norden	Mark Nyman
2173	12/01/1998	CQF	James Martin	51 – 52	Natascha Kearsey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Mark Nyman