Joyce Cansfield

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[[Image:Joyce_Cansfield.jpg|right|thumb|frame|Joyce Cansfield]] '''Joyce Cansfield''' (8 October 1929 - 12 October 2019), a housewife from Otley, was the first ever series champion of [[Countdown]]. She was also runner-up of the inaugural [[Championship of Champions]] and a quarter-finalist in the [[Supreme Championship]]. She made her debut on [[Episode 7|11 November 1982]], on the 7th episode of the series (and thus the show), beating [[John Simpson]] to become only the third-ever daily champion of the show, as well as the first woman to have ever won an episode of ''Countdown''. In one game of her run, Cansfield also achieved 65 points, the second highest score of the series. Cansfield drew against [[Helen Grayson]] in the following show before losing to her the day after. However, at the time, seeds for the grand final (there were no quarters or semis) were determined by highest scores, and Cansfield thus made it to the [[Episode 27|grand final]] against [[Michael Wylie]]. Therein, she emerged the winner, {{score|59|41}}, after solving a very apt crucial [[conundrum]]. She was awarded 13 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary as a prize. She later returned for [[Championship of Champions I]], losing to [[Mark Nyman]] in the final. Cansfield also appeared on the [[Episode 495|special episode]] to celebrate Countdown's 500th show on 2 February 1987, and competed in the [[Countdown Masters]] in 1989. In 1996 Cansfield returned for the [[Series 33|Supreme Championship]]. She entered the event at the group semi-final level, having received a bye. Her [[Episode 1878|first game]] was against [[Steve Balment]], and although Balment solved the conundrum {{word|NAMIBIAPH}} Cansfield emerged the winner. She next played [[Jackie McLeod]] in a [[Episode 1880|closer game]], in which she looked in danger of a crucial conundrum but avoided it when McLeod missed a tricky 901 target. However, Cansfield succumbed to boy wonder [[Allan Saldanha]] in the [[Episode 1903|series quarter-final]] when he achieved a [[List of Countdown terminology|perfect score]]. Between 2002 and 2003, she filmed a [[15-round game]] against [[Series 2]] finalist [[Dixie Baird]], but this is yet to be broadcast due to Channel 4's loss of cricket coverage. In 2008, 26 years after she first appeared on the show, Cansfield returned again to the Countdown scene for the [[Countdown in Nottingham 2008|CoNot]] event, organized by a fellow series winner. She first appeared on the [[Calendar Countdown]] pilot episode filmed in 1981, but this was never broadcast. Joyce Cansfield won the the UK National [[Scrabble]] Championship in 1980 and is the first of only two people (the other being [[Craig Beevers]]) to have been both UK [[Scrabble]] champion and Countdown series champion. She was also a long-standing setter of Times crossword puzzles. Cansfield sadly passed away after a long illness on 12 October 2019, aged 90. {{series winner|series=1|followed_by=Ash Haji}} {{Champion of Champions runner-up|coc=I|followed_by=Peter Evans}} ==Episodes== {{episode table}} {{ep | 7 | 11/11/1982 | P |[[John Simpson (contestant)|John Simpson]]| ? - 65 |Joyce Cansfield|[[Ted Moult]]||??}} {{ep | 8 | 15/11/1982 | P |[[Helen Grayson]]| ? |Joyce Cansfield|[[Kenneth Williams]]||??}} {{ep | 9 | 16/11/1982 | P |Helen Grayson| ? |Joyce Cansfield|Kenneth Williams||??}} {{ep | 27 | 16/12/1982 | GF |Joyce Cansfield| 59 - 41 |[[Michael Wylie]]|Kenneth Williams||??}} {{ep | 186 | 16/10/1984 | CQF |Joyce Cansfield| 45 - 31 |[[Christine Hunt (Series 4)|Christine Hunt]]|[[Nigel Rees]]|[[Yvonne Warburton]]|69}} {{ep | 190 | 22/10/1984 | CSF |Joyce Cansfield| 62 - 33 |[[Russell Byers]]|Nigel Rees|Yvonne Warburton|63}} {{ep | 191 | 23/10/1984 | CGF |Joyce Cansfield| 34 - 65 |[[Mark Nyman]]|[[Ned Sherrin]], Nigel Rees|Yvonne Warburton|69}} {{ep | 495 | 2/02/1987 | X |[[Bill Tidy]] with<br />[[Mark Nyman]],<br />[[Brian Hudson]],<br />[[Peter Evans]], and<br /> [[Darryl Francis]]| 41 – 32 |[[Gyles Brandreth]] with<br />[[Clive Freedman (Series 7)|Clive Freedman]],<br />[[Michael Wylie]],<br />Joyce Cansfield, and<br />[[Harvey Freeman]]|none|[[Della Thompson]]|67}} {{ep | M27 | 2/10/1989-6/10/1989 | M |Joyce Cansfield| 102 – 58 |[[Chris Beith]]|none|[[Freda Thornton]]|136}} {{ep | 1878 | 11/11/1996 | dSF |[[Stephen Balment]]| 48 - 57 |Joyce Cansfield|[[Barry Cryer]]|[[Susie Dent]]|71}} {{ep | 1880 | 13/11/1996 | dF |[[Jackie McLeod]]| 42 - 50 |Joyce Cansfield|Barry Cryer|Susie Dent|70}} {{ep | 1903 | 16/12/1996 | SQF |Joyce Cansfield| 50 - '''67''' |'''[[Allan Saldanha]]'''|Nigel Rees|[[Catherine Clarke]]|'''67'''}} {{ep | S(25) | Unreleased | S |Joyce Cansfield| 90 - 56 |[[Dixie Baird]]|[[Bernard Ingham]]|[[Alison Heard]]|128}} {{episode table end}} {{CofC Runnerup}} ==External Links== *[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joyce-cansfield-obituary-cp3mztcmp# The Times obituary] {{DEFAULTSORT:Cansfield, Joyce}} [[Category:Finalists]] [[Category:Series winners]] [[Category:Contestants in Series 1]] [[Category:Contestants in Series 33]] [[Category:Contestants in Championship of Champions I]] [[Category:Contestants in Countdown Masters Series 1]]

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