John Rawnsley

John Rawnsley

John Rawnsley was the Series 45 champion.

He first appeared on Countdown on 19 June 2001, beating Bruno Murray 40 – 37 in the penultimate heat of Series 44. John won his next game, and after standing aside to allow the final rounds of Series 44 to take place, continued his winning run at the start of Series 45. He would eventually lose his 8th heat at the hands of Jim Hopkins, but his 7 wins were enough to see him returned for the final rounds as #1 seed. As Series 45 was shorter than a normal series, there were no quarter-finals, so John was entered directly into the semi-finals against Phil Bennett, a game he won 56 – 43 to earn himself a place in the grand final against Geraldine Hylands. The final always looked to be going John's way, as Geraldine dropped 30 out of 40 points on the numbers games, meaning John ran out the 90 – 63 winner, and became the 45th champion of Countdown. John also had the distinction of being the last ever champion of Countdown under the old 9 round format, and he also won the last ever 14 round game.

John would return for Championship of Champions XI at the start of 2003, beating Kevin McMahon on a crucial conundrum in his first game and seeing off the challenge of Rupert Stokoe in the quarter-finals, before losing to Chris Wills 120 – 88 in the semi-final.

Preceded by Stuart Wood

Series winner Series 45

Followed by Ben Wilson

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
3034	19/06/2001	P	Bruno Murray	37 – 40	John Rawnsley	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Magnus Magnusson	Catherine Clarke	70
3035	20/06/2001	P	John Rawnsley	54 – 10	David Neale	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Martin Jarvis	Damian Eadie	74
3043	2/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	61 – 37	Leonard Lavelle	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Stephen Fry	Damian Eadie	85
3044	3/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	38 – 34	Michael Galgut	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Stephen Fry	Damian Eadie	84
3045	4/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	65 – 41	Mary Hains	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Stephen Fry	Damian Eadie	75
3046	10/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	64 – 45	Richard Turner	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Carol Barnes	Susie Dent	85
3047	11/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	41 – 21	Alexander Duncan	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Carol Barnes	Susie Dent	75
3048	12/07/2001	P	John Rawnsley	46 – 50	Jim Hopkins	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Carol Barnes	Susie Dent	74
3083	19/09/2001	SF	John Rawnsley	56 – 43	Phil Bennett	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Melvyn Hayes	Susie Dent	83
3085	21/09/2001	GF	Geraldine Hylands	63 – 90	John Rawnsley	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Melvyn Hayes	Susie Dent	128
3393	9/01/2003	CP	John Rawnsley	99 – 97	Kevin McMahon	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	141
3399	17/01/2003	CQF	Rupert Stokoe	70 – 89	John Rawnsley	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	120
3402	22/01/2003	CSF	Chris Wills	120 – 88	John Rawnsley	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Eric Knowles	Susie Dent	132