Series 64

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Series 64 champion Edward McCullagh with his winning dictionaries and trophy.

Series 64 ran from 10 January to 3 June 2011. The series was the fifth of six presented by Jeff Stelling, and introduced the new ODE3. New production rules prohibiting contestants aged 15 or under were also enforced, for legal reasons. It was won by Edward McCullagh.

It was the first series to air at 3:10pm, the third-ever earliest regular broadcast time for Countdown. It was also notably shorter than average, ending on 3 June rather than in the second half of June as is typical for a January-to-June series; the reasons for this are unknown.

Seed table

Rank	Name	Wins	Points
1	Adam Gillard	8	903
2	Edward McCullagh	8	896
3	Tom Barnes	8	822
4	Andy McGurn	8	702
5	Ned Pendleton	8	664
6	Mary Adie	5	498
7	Andrew McNamara	5	466
8	Michelle Nevitt	4	366

Graham Hill, with six wins and 577 points, qualified for the finals as No. 6 seed but was unable to play. Since Series 60, players are sorted by number of wins, then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums are not counted, and players with the same number of wins and points are sorted by the number of conundrums correctly guessed, then highest single-game score.

Finals progress

Adam Gillard (1) vs Michelle Nevitt (8)	Adam Gillard (1) vs Andy McGurn (4)	Adam Gillard (1) vs Edward McCullagh (2)
Ned Pendleton (5) vs Andy McGurn (4)
Tom Barnes (3) vs Mary Adie (6)	Mary Adie (6) vs Edward McCullagh (2)
Andrew McNamara (7) vs Edward McCullagh (2)

The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Series finals

Quarter-finals

Michelle Nevitt may only have qualified for the series finals due to Graham Hill's withdrawal, but she still gave a respectable showing against Adam Gillard. However, the top seed was too strong and he would have registered the highest score of the series (beating his own record) but for an unfortunate mistake on the conundrum. Second seed Edward McCullagh's passage to the semi-finals was even more emphatic, as he thrashed Andrew McNamara. He also notched his ninth century in as many attempts, despite a couple of setbacks in part one. The first “upset” of the finals came in the third quarter-final between Tom Barnes and Mary Adie (third and sixth seeds respectively). Barnes was strong favourite to progress after an impressive run in the heats but found himself trailing by ten points going into the conundrum, after a back and forth match. Both players made incorrect guesses late on and it was Adie who prevailed. The last of the quarter-finals was even tighter, as a tiebreak conundrum was needed to separate Ned Pendleton and Andy McGurn. After Pendleton incorrectly buzzed in with the answer SPOONING ☓, McGurn correctly guessed POISONING to win a titanic battle.

Semi-finals

Unfortunately, neither semi-final was a close contest. McGurn gave Gillard and early scare but ultimately the number one seed fought back impressively. Adie was unable to repeat her quarter-final heroics against McCullagh, who delivered a devastating performance that featured thirteen maximums and seven darrens. It was no surprise that the top two seeds had made the grand final.

Final

McCullagh gained the early advantage by spotting BROWNIES late in the first round and he extended his lead thanks to five points on a very tough first numbers game. Gillard also performed admirably but he was unable to force a crucial conundrum, with both contestants matching each others' declarations in all but one round from part two onwards. The non-crucial conundrum stumped both finalists, but McCullagh had done enough to become the champion on Series 64, winning the final by a 113 – 94 scoreline.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5179	10/01/2011	P	Mike Pickering	77 – 58	Karen Conduit	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	136
5180	11/01/2011	P	Mike Pickering	70 – 80	Gavin Cooksley	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	119
5181	12/01/2011	P	Gavin Cooksley	51 – 106	Adam Gillard	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	116
5182	13/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	105 – 36	Fran Dyson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	129
5183	14/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	126 – 70	Ray Li	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	129
5184	17/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	113 – 65	Andy Turner	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Maitland	Susie Dent	116
5185	18/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	110 – 74	Liz Prior	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Maitland	Susie Dent	131
5186	19/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	116 – 32	Cheryl Cutler	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Maitland	Susie Dent	151
5187	20/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	102 – 75	Adam Manning	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Maitland	Susie Dent	131
5188	21/01/2011	P	Adam Gillard	125 – 23	Mavis Riley	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Maitland	Susie Dent	141
5189	24/01/2011	P	Ken Alden	90 – 47	Dave Roome	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Andrew Castle	Susie Dent	151
5190	25/01/2011	P	Ken Alden	54 – 91	Jamie Humphries	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Andrew Castle	Susie Dent	138
5191	26/01/2011	P	Jamie Humphries	78 – 59	Steven Thorpe	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Andrew Castle	Susie Dent	129
5192	27/01/2011	P	Jamie Humphries	83 – 89	Jody Sparrow	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Andrew Castle	Susie Dent	125
5193	28/01/2011	P	Jody Sparrow	96 – 42	Paolo Barone	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Andrew Castle	Susie Dent	111
5194	31/01/2011	P	Jody Sparrow	66 – 89	Dave Dyer	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	128
5195	01/02/2011	P	Dave Dyer	108 – 29	Thom Archer	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	123
5196	02/02/2011	P	Dave Dyer	83 – 115	Edward McCullagh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	132
5197	03/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	97 – 28	David Clerkin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	119
5198	04/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	120 – 45	Judy Baynes	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	130
5199	07/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	108 – 24	Paul Walsh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	117
5200	08/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	118 – 38	Harold Sanditen	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	119
5201	09/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	106 – 76	Andrew Mossford	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	116
5202	10/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	121 – 27	Lalitha Thyagarajan	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	127
5203	11/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	111 – 40	Terry O'Hanlon	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	119
5204	14/02/2011	P	Dennis Shannon	73 – 81	Andy Campbell	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debra Stephenson	Susie Dent	127
5205	15/02/2011	P	Andy Campbell	87 – 86	Matthew Barrett	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debra Stephenson	Susie Dent	119
5206	16/02/2011	P	Andy Campbell	65 – 89	Mark Jones	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debra Stephenson	Susie Dent	122
5207	17/02/2011	P	Mark Jones	62 – 69	Ned Pendleton	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debra Stephenson	Susie Dent	141
5208	18/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	70 – 48	Colin Cox	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debra Stephenson	Susie Dent	116
5209	21/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	70 – 63	Andy Johnson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Foster	Susie Dent	119
5210	22/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	92 – 59	Greg Bowler	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Foster	Susie Dent	127
5211	23/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	91 – 83	John Cornforth	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Foster	Susie Dent	122
5212	24/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	89 – 66	Dan McColm	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Foster	Susie Dent	118
5213	25/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	91 – 57	Jon Edmondson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Foster	Susie Dent	120
5214	28/02/2011	P	Ned Pendleton	92 – 54	Emmet Masterson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Durden-Smith	Susie Dent	131
5215	01/03/2011	P	Nick Adigu-Burke	87 – 77	Raghd Rostom	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Durden-Smith	Susie Dent	127
5216	02/03/2011	P	Nick Adigu-Burke	57 – 60	Michelle Nevitt	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Durden-Smith	Susie Dent	118
5217	03/03/2011	P	Michelle Nevitt	86 – 83	James Sturman	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Durden-Smith	Susie Dent	134
5218	04/03/2011	P	Michelle Nevitt	77 – 70	Dave Roberts	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Mark Durden-Smith	Susie Dent	125
5219	07/03/2011	P	Michelle Nevitt	89 – 69	Craig Laurenson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Parrott	Susie Dent	116
5220	08/03/2011	P	Michelle Nevitt	54 – 94	Andy McGurn	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Parrott	Susie Dent	121
5221	09/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	64 – 58	Adam Fleetwood	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Parrott	Susie Dent	120
5222	10/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	110 – 56	Pam Hill	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Parrott	Susie Dent	120
5223	11/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	76 – 47	Michael Hastings	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Parrott	Susie Dent	117
5224	21/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	94 – 87	James Hall	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Donal MacIntyre	Susie Dent	119
5225	22/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	82 – 52	Emily Finnan	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Donal MacIntyre	Susie Dent	129
5226	23/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	96 – 83	Peter McLoughlin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Donal MacIntyre	Susie Dent	126
5227	24/03/2011	P	Andy McGurn	86 – 56	John Maddox	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Donal MacIntyre	Susie Dent	149
5228	25/03/2011	P	Rhonda Holden	68 – 43	Jan Noone	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Donal MacIntyre	Susie Dent	130
5229	28/03/2011	P	Rhonda Holden	68 – 71	Len Bryon	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	119
5230	29/03/2011	P	Len Bryon	53 – 93	Mark Gavin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	130
5231	30/03/2011	P	Mark Gavin	74 – 83	Andrew McNamara	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	115
5232	31/03/2011	P	Andrew McNamara	70 – 52	Frank Beechey	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	122
5233	01/04/2011	P	Andrew McNamara	80 – 75	Martin O'Loughlin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	119
5234	04/04/2011	P	Andrew McNamara	89 – 53	William Davies	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dave Spikey	Susie Dent	118
5235	05/04/2011	P	Andrew McNamara	74 – 30	Gary Sprake	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dave Spikey	Susie Dent	119
5236	06/04/2011	P	Andrew McNamara	70 – 75	Colin Young	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dave Spikey	Susie Dent	119
5237	07/04/2011	P	Colin Young	68 – 72	Graham Hill	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dave Spikey	Susie Dent	119
5238	08/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	95 – 83	Paula Shallcross	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dave Spikey	Susie Dent	129
5239	11/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	79 – 43	David Bailey	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	139
5240	12/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	87 – 69	Thyba Ali	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	126
5241	13/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	102 – 27	Jack Walker	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	119
5242	14/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	73 – 68	Emma Foster	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	127
5243	15/04/2011	P	Graham Hill	69 – 86	Mary Adie	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	118
5244	18/04/2011	P	Mary Adie	105* – 95	Barbara Grice	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Carol Smillie	Susie Dent	120
5245	19/04/2011	P	Mary Adie	85 – 45	Aidan Casey	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Carol Smillie	Susie Dent	118
5246	20/04/2011	P	Mary Adie	86 – 40	Anne Senneck	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Carol Smillie	Susie Dent	121
5247	21/04/2011	P	Mary Adie	88 – 60	James Timpson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Carol Smillie	Susie Dent	116
5248	22/04/2011	P	Mary Adie	58 – 65	Chris Childs	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Carol Smillie	Susie Dent	121
5249	25/04/2011	P	Chris Childs	60 – 73	Adrian Turner	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Patti Clare	Susie Dent	126
5250	26/04/2011	P	Adrian Turner	57 – 108	Scott Robson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Patti Clare	Susie Dent	128
5251	27/04/2011	P	Scott Robson	89 – 55	Jenny Reynolds	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Phil Hammond	Susie Dent	127
5252	28/04/2011	P	Scott Robson	55 – 68	Roger Edwards	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Phil Hammond	Susie Dent	121
5253	29/04/2011	P	Roger Edwards	78 – 69	Mathew Pickering	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Phil Hammond	Susie Dent	120
5254	02/05/2011	P	Roger Edwards	104 – 66	Kevin Drury	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	132
5255	03/05/2011	P	Roger Edwards	66 – 86	Joe Jenkinson	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	141
5256	04/05/2011	P	Joe Jenkinson	67 – 69	Jennifer Strachan	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	127
5257	05/05/2011	P	Jennifer Strachan	42 – 95	Tony Atkins	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	145
5258	06/05/2011	P	Tony Atkins	91 – 74	Jordan Humphries	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	135
5259	09/05/2011	P	Tony Atkins	71 – 81	Cliff Barnes	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	116
5260	10/05/2011	P	Cliff Barnes	56 – 94	Tom Barnes	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	127
5261	11/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	110 – 43	Rebecca Harraway	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	117
5262	12/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	123 – 28	Stuart Pecksen	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	141
5263	13/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	89 – 60	Tracy Morris	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	118
5264	16/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	119 – 7	Christine Buffrey	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Delia Smith	Susie Dent	129
5265	17/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	105 – 73	Sarah Martin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Delia Smith	Susie Dent	127
5266	18/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	86 – 44	Brian Gale	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Delia Smith	Susie Dent	126
5267	19/05/2011	P	Tom Barnes	96 – 42	Liz Dey	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Delia Smith	Susie Dent	138
5268	20/05/2011	P	Tom Bolland	58 – 82	Liam Herringshaw	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Delia Smith	Susie Dent	127
5269	23/05/2011	P	Liam Herringshaw	82 – 57	Jamie Atkins	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	127
5270	24/05/2011	P	Liam Herringshaw	70 – 65	Gary Kenwright	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	140
5271	25/05/2011	P	Liam Herringshaw	97 – 64	Tom Beaumont	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	120
5272	26/05/2011	QF	Michelle Nevitt	76 – 117	Adam Gillard	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	129
5273	27/05/2011	QF	Edward McCullagh	101 – 36	Andrew McNamara	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	119
5274	30/05/2011	QF	Tom Barnes	73 – 83	Mary Adie	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	128
5275	31/05/2011	QF	Ned Pendleton	89 – 99*	Andy McGurn	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	118
5276	01/06/2011	SF	Adam Gillard	108 – 52	Andy McGurn	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	133
5277	02/06/2011	SF	Edward McCullagh	120 – 41	Mary Adie	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	131
5278	03/06/2011	GF	Adam Gillard	94 – 113	Edward McCullagh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	127

* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum

External Links

• Series 64 on The Countdown Database.
• Series 64 on The Countdown Page.