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Michael Calder (Series 60)

From Countdown
Michael Calder (Series 60)
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionTBC
SeedingTBC
Points total736
Conundrums solved5
Michael Calder in Series 60...
...and 15 years later in Series 89!
For other people called Michael Calder, see Michael Calder.

Michael Calder was a contestant in Series 60, and an octochamp in Series 89. As of his first appearance, he was a student at Bradford University, from Aberdeenshire. As of his second stint, he worked as an area manager for The Trussell Trust and lived in Forfar, Angus, and he has a very good chance of returning for the end-of-series finals.

Appearances

Series 60

His first appearance turned out to be a rather one-sided affair against eventual octochamp James Doohan, who initially roared off to a 38 to nil lead which Calder was never able to close, despite scoring a few points before a conundrum neither of them solved.

Series 89 Heat games

Calder made his reappearance just under 15 years later, in the show after fellow octochamp Jack Harvey won his last game; this time he prevailed in a very low-scoring game against challenger Shabir Hussain. His next three games were also victories and in each case, he avoided a crucial conundrum despite them being all rather low-scoring. But after a filming break, he demonstrated a notable improvement in performance in his last four heats, which in fact, included three century games with a high of 116.

Calder signed off by scoring in every round in his final preliminary against Julia Blake, to secure his position as the fourth octochamp of the series in less than two months, with a final total of 736 and an average of 92 per game. This was also achieved despite not spotting any of the six nine-letter-word selections available in his letters rounds.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
4827 28/05/2009 P James Doohan 91 – 48 Michael Calder Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 121
8207 13/02/2024 P Shabir Hussain 33 – 83 Michael Calder Colin Murray Rachel Riley Tim Rice Susie Dent 124
8208 14/02/2024 P Michael Calder 78 – 64 David Munday Colin Murray Rachel Riley Tim Rice Susie Dent 135
8209 15/02/2024 P Michael Calder 80 – 70 Jill Martin Colin Murray Rachel Riley Tim Rice Susie Dent 134
8210 16/02/2024 P Michael Calder 76 – 71 Jack Haynes Colin Murray Rachel Riley Tim Rice Susie Dent 134
8211 19/02/2024 P Michael Calder 116 – 63 Aaron McAree Colin Murray Rachel Riley Sara Davies Susie Dent 125
8212 20/02/2024 P Michael Calder 104 – 60 Mark Fielding Colin Murray Rachel Riley Sara Davies Susie Dent 124
8213 21/02/2024 P Michael Calder 90 – 59 Stephen Colton Colin Murray Rachel Riley Sara Davies Susie Dent 144
8214 22/02/2024 P Michael Calder 109 – 49 Julia Blake Colin Murray Rachel Riley Sara Davies Susie Dent 136