Mark Nyman

Guest appearances of Mark Nyman
First appearance	29 May 1984
Last appearance	14 October 1986
Appearances	4
Episodes with Mark Nyman

Mark Nyman (born 14 October, 1966) appeared in Series 3 at the age of 16, running off eight consecutive wins to qualify for the Series finals as #1 seed. In the quarter-final he faced Ted Wiles and racked up a then record 79 points, in the semi-final he faced Esther Byers, sister of Series 2 runner-up Russell Byers and beat her by 5 points. The final was a tense, close affair rather than a high scoring one, Mark was ahead going into the conundrum against Andrew Guy, but it was Andrew not Mark that solved RREALCOTE in three seconds, relegating Mark to the runner-up's spot.

A few months later, Mark was asked to stand in as an emergency dictionary corner guest for 3 episodes when the booked guest, Ned Sherrin got his dates confused and didn't turn up. Later in 1984, Mark returned at 17 to compete in the Championship of Champions I where he beat Octochamp William Bradford and Series champion Ash Haji on the way to a final against Series 1 champion Joyce Cansfield. It turned out not to be a close game as Mark took the game 65-34, nearly double Joyce's score, and making him the first number one seed to win a Countdown final. Mark returned after the Championship of Champions II to face the event's winner Clive Freedman and beat him. The game was close but Mark avoided a crucial conundrum and eventually won the game by 9 points. Mark also appeared on the special episode to celebrate Countdown's 500th show on 2 February 1987. He made one further appearance as contestant in the Countdown Masters and beat Harvey Freeman, the only time that Harvey has lost a game of Countdown, although it was not part of a standard series.

Later in 1990, Nyman took on the role of lexicographer, making 289 appearances in this capacity, the last being in Series 42.

Mark became the show's producer in 1992, and because the Supreme Championship was organised in 1996, he decided not to invite himself. He remained a producer on the show until 2002.

Mark's father Les also appeared on Countdown, on Series 14, in 1987.

Mark married in 2004 and has two children, Max and Kizzy.

Preceded by Russell Byers

Series runner-up Series 3

Followed by Christine Hunt

Champion of Champions Championship of Champions I

Followed by Clive Freedman

Lexicographer
First appearance	22 August 1990
Last appearance	26 May 2000
Appearances	289
Episodes with Mark Nyman

Scrabble

Leeds-based Nyman also excels as a Scrabble player. As of September 2009, he is rated 2nd in Britain (and the highest-rated native player) with a rating of 199 [1]. He is most widely known as the first, and to date only, British player to win the World Scrabble Championship, which he accomplished in 1993. Nyman played Canadian Joel Wapnick in the 1993 WSC final, in which he came back from 2-1 behind to win 3-2, including winning one game having been 174 behind. The two met again in the 1999 WSC final, and this time Wapnick was victorious, winning a nail-biting decider by just a single point; 403 to 402. He has won 21 British 'major' championships- considerably more than any other player.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
113	14/11/1983	P	David Lawton	23 – 59	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
114	15/11/1983	P	Mark Nyman	54 – 44	Alan Morris	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	William Rushton
115	16/11/1983	P	Mark Nyman	57 – 4	Fred Jean	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	William Rushton
116	17/11/1983	P	David Hughes	40 – 57	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	William Rushton
117	21/11/1983	P	Mark Nyman	43 – 36	Roy Davenport	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	William Rushton
118	22/11/1983	P	Mark Nyman	62 – 22	Heather Twidle	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin
119	23/11/1983	P	Mark Nyman	40 – 35	Myra Mayor	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin
120	24/11/1983	P	Peter Richardson	46 – 55	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin
126	6/12/1983	QF	Mark Nyman	79 – 18	Ted Wiles	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin	Julia Swannel
130	13/12/1983	SF	Mark Nyman	56 – 51	Esther Byers	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin	Julia Swannel
132	15/12/1983	GF	Andrew Guy	92 – 85	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin, Gyles Brandreth	Julia Swannel
185	15/10/1984	CQF	William Bradford	28 – 54	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin	Yvonne Warberton
189	19/10/1984	CSF	Ash Haji	34 – 61	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin	Yvonne Warberton
191	23/10/1984	CGF	Joyce Cansfield	34 – 65	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Ned Sherrin, Nigel Rees	Yvonne Warberton
445	13/10/1986	CCC	Clive Freedman	67 – 76	Mark Nyman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth, Bill Tidy	Catherine Clarke
M45	5/2/90-9/2/90	Masters 1	Mark Nyman	76 – 68	Harvey Freeman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					N/A	Catherine Clarke
2874	2/11/2000	X	Gyles Brandreth and Mark Nyman	50 – 46	Jo Brand and Damian Eadie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	none	Susie Dent

External links

• Mark Nyman on Wikipedia.

Knutsford Guardian, 11th September 2009: Mark Nyman wins Scrabble championship