John Rainsden

John Rainsden was the runner-up of Series 44 in 2001.

He was a 61-year old former Head of Maths at Wallingford School, Oxfordshire. John defeated Stuart Wood in his first appearance on 29 March 2001, and won a further four games before losing at the hands of Stan Airey. He returned for the final rounds as #8 seed, and pulled off a shock win over Kevin McMahon in the quarter-final, before beating David Hoskisson in the semi-final. The final against Stuart Wood, a rematch of their earlier heat game, went to a crucial conundrum with John trailing by a solitary point. However, it was Stuart who buzzed and answered correctly, meaning John had to settle for second-best. John was invited back for Championship of Champions XI after Stuart Wood was forced to pull out through illness, but he lost in the first round to an on-form Tom Hargreaves.

Preceded by Matthew Turner

Series runner-up Series 44

Followed by Geraldine Hylands

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
2979	29/03/2001	P	Stuart Wood	38 – 52	John Rainsden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Gillian Evans	72
2980	30/03/2001	P	John Rainsden	48 – 30	Carol Forde	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Gillian Evans	84
2981	2/04/2001	P	John Rainsden	56 – 29	Dave Spall	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Gillian Evans	82
2982	3/04/2001	P	John Rainsden	45 – 37	John Place	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Lionel Blair	Damian Eadie	84
2983	4/04/2001	P	John Rainsden	52 – 34	Jacqui Baker	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Lionel Blair	Damian Eadie	73
2984	5/04/2001	P	John Rainsden	49 – 61	Stan Airey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Lionel Blair	Damian Eadie	72
3036	21/06/2001	QF	Kevin McMahon	45 – 50	John Rainsden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Martin Jarvis	Damian Eadie	72
3040	27/06/2001	SF	David Hoskisson	27 – 39	John Rainsden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Martin Jarvis	Damian Eadie	73
3042	29/06/2001	GF	John Rainsden	48 – 59	Stuart Wood	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Stephen Fry	Damian Eadie	127
3395	13/01/2003	CP	John Rainsden	65 – 117	Tom Hargreaves	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	132