Richard Brittain

Richard Brittain was the overall champion of series 55. He accumulated 820 points in his Octochamp run, but went into the finals as second seed to Steven Briers (840 points). Steven Briers however then narrowly lost his quarter-final against eighth seed Phil Watson, a match which Brittain, watching from the audience, called 'an enthralling spectacle'. Brittain then comfortably won his quarter-final against Andrew Blades, but only narrowly beat Stu Horsey in the semi-finals before he trounced an off-form Tony Warren in the final, 103-60.

Richard Brittain also appeared on the now-defunct gameshow Brainteaser in January 2007, less than a month after winning Countdown. He won the show and pocketed £1500. Brittain currently studies Aeronautical Engineering at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, the same institute at which Phil Watson (see above) was educated in mathematics. Numerous conspiracy theories have arisen surrounding this link, although as yet no definite conclusions have been drawn. Some people have suggested that Richard is a jew, which Brittain has flatly denied, while others have suggested that he is an anti-semite, which Brittain has also denied. Some scholars have suggested that Brittain is in fact a jewish anti-semite, but Brittain himself claims to be a Roman Catholic of 'largely Nordic-Celtic origin'. He points out, however, that while on the show Countdown he was an atheist, cryptically adding that for a period of his life he was 'blindly subjugated like the rest of the masses'.

Preceded by Conor Travers

Series winner Series 55

Followed by Nick Wainwright