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Difference between revisions of "Octochamp"

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* [[Toby McDonald]] (Series 78)
 
* [[Toby McDonald]] (Series 78)
 
* [[Paul Harper]] (Series 78)
 
* [[Paul Harper]] (Series 78)
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* [[Adam Rolston]] ([[Series 79]])
 
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Revision as of 14:11, 23 August 2018

An octochamp is a contestant who wins all eight of their heat games. The concept has existed since the show began, but no one achieved it until William Bradford's run in Series 3. The choice of 8 as the maximum number of preliminaries in a champion's run appears to be based on the fact that Countdown was originally transmitted four days per week, meaning that after two weeks of dominance, a contestant would retire unbeaten. Each series typically has only a few octochamps, and eight wins has been adequate to qualify for the finals in all series to date.

An octochamp's total score is known as their octotal or octototal, and based on these total point counts, octochamps can be classified into categories according to quality, the most well-known of these being the 800 club.

With the introduction of the 15 round format in Series 46, the threshold was changed to six wins, and such players were known as viscounts, a play on the Roman numeral VI for six. Only five viscounts exist, however, because this reduction did not sit well with fans, and the original rules were reintroduced in Series 47. Tom Hargreaves, whose run began in the very first episode of this series, became the first 15-round octochamp. Note that octochamps are more frequent in the 15-round era, as the extra rounds give a better player more time to assert his or her quality. The highest number of octochamps in any series to date was in Series 47, where all 8 finalists were octochamps. The highest number in any 9 round series was in Series 41, with 6 octochamps, where Whiteley coined the word.

In later series, Richard Whiteley began to use the alternative (and less popular) term octavian. However, Des Lynam resurrected the original term and it has been used exclusively ever since.

15-round octochamps

Viscounts

All viscounts appeared in Series 46.

9-round octochamps