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Michael Calder (Series 42)

From Countdown
Revision as of 14:05, 15 January 2011 by JohnnyCanuck (talk | contribs) (SC2 markup... oh wait, there was no SC2.)
For other people called Michael Calder, see Michael Calder.

Michael Calder first appeared on Countdown on 31 January 2000, beating Peter Hindes 59 – 49 in a nail-biting game, only triumphing after a sudden death conundrum. Michael went on to win a further 7 games, including another via a sudden death conundrum, and returned for the final rounds as and octochamp and #2 seed.

He first beat Helen Wrigglesworth in the quarter-finals 55 – 29, with Michael spotting FLEAPIT and the conundrum DRIFTWOOD, and Helen making a few unfortunate misses, including RANCHEROS from the selection RNCHEAROS. In the semi-final, the words MORTICES and INJURED allowed him to avoid a crucial conundrum with Terry O'Farrell, which was all the less controversial because the solution to the conundrum was in fact an invalid word. This brought him to a final showdown with John Hastings. In the final, Michael got off to a roaring start, spotting the brilliant 9-letter word MYOGLOBIN to take an 18 – 0 lead, and never looked back. Michael eventually ran out the 101 – 72 winner, becoming the 42nd champion of Countdown in the process.

Michael was invited back for Championship of Champions XI in 2003, and had the distinction of playing the first ever game on the purple-and-pink set that was used on Countdown for six years. Unfortunately, he was beaten by Loz Sands, with the main difference between the two being Michael's difficulty in the numbers game.

Preceded by
Scott Mearns
Series winner
Series 42
Followed by
Graham Nash

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
2699 31/01/2000 P Peter Hindes 49 – 59* Michael Calder Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Don Black Susie Dent
2700 1/02/2000 P Michael Calder 64 – 40 Carol Hogan Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Don Black Susie Dent
2701 2/02/2000 P Michael Calder 56* – 46 Clarissa Caröe Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Don Black Susie Dent
2702 3/02/2000 P Michael Calder 50 – 46 Gerry Ratzin Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent
2703 4/02/2000 P Michael Calder 64 – 37 Sue Meredith Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent
2704 7/02/2000 P Michael Calder 54 – 49 Daniel Green Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent
2705 8/02/2000 P Michael Calder 58 – 32 Marjorie Clark Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent
2706 9/02/2000 P Michael Calder 57 – 47 Andrew Hulme Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent
2792 13/06/2000 QF Michael Calder 55 – 29 Helen Wrigglesworth Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Ned Sherrin Damian Eadie
2796 22/06/2000 SF Michael Calder 55 – 40 Terence O'Farrell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Damian Eadie
2797 23/06/2000 GF Michael Calder 101 – 72 John Hastings Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Joan Bakewell Damian Eadie
3390 6/01/2003 CP Michael Calder 60 – 77 Loz Sands Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent
* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum