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Stephen Read

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Revision as of 15:05, 22 December 2017 by JohnnyCanuck (talk | contribs)
Stephen Read in Series 76.
Stephen Read holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 76.

Stephen Read was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 76. He is also an Apterite. He is the 75th member of the 800 club since the show introduced the 15-round format in 2001, and is renowned for his quirky nature and strong letters round performances.

In April 2016, he attended his first Co-event - Countdown in Leeds 2016 - followed up in May 2016 by his attendance at Countdown in King's Lynn 2016, which he won. He beat Series 69 champion Callum Todd in the final on a tie-break conundrum, having been 20 points adrift earlier in the game, spotting the low-probability 6 DOODAD in the process. He also won Countdown in Birmingham 2016 and reached the final of Countdown in Huddersfield 2016, meaning he either won or was runner-up in three of his first four Co-events. He was awarded FOCAL's 'Rookie of the Year' prize for 2016.

After making a strong impression in the FOCAL circuit, he made his televised debut on 5 May 2017 and went on to score a century in all his heat games (only the 15th contestant to do so) to top the series seed table with an octochamp total of 915. He proved to be very strong in the letters rounds, with impressive findings such as DRAGONET, NOTEPADS, MALONATE and PRESOAKED beating the contestants. He also scored 308 points in 40 numbers games, the second-highest score from numbers rounds alone in an octorun after Dylan Taylor’s 311.

Read returned for the finals in June as #1 seed. In his quarter-final, he prevailed over #8 seed James Slater but only managed 92 points. His run of centuries would have been maintained had he not voided MORALISER, and he was also beaten by Slater's findings of CATHOUSE and CUISINE. Read also picked 6 small instead of his usual 2 large.

In his semi-final against Annie Humphries, Read accelerated again, scoring 115 to his opponent's 67 and achieving a maximum score in all but two rounds to secure a berth in the grand final of Series 76. This time he switched to 2 large.

Finally, in the ultimate show of the series, he showed no sign of slowing down as he beat Moose Rosser by a margin of 50 points to take a well-deserved set of dictionaries and become the latest owner of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy. Read hence became a "xicount" with an 11-game total of 1230 points, and he remains unbeaten by anyone.

On Apterous, Read is known for making Jo Brand-style puns of the letter selections online during the day's Countdown broadcast.

Preceded by
Martin Hurst
Series winner
Series 76
Followed by
Tom Chafer-Cook

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
6576 5/05/2017 P John Robertson 37 – 119 Stephen Read Nick Hewer Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 124
6577 8/05/2017 P Stephen Read 110 – 27 Jake Denney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 121
6578 9/05/2017 P Stephen Read 111 – 27 Tim Clarke Nick Hewer Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 133
6579 10/05/2017 P Stephen Read 104 – 60 Dan Haggerty Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Mark Austin Susie Dent 122
6580 11/05/2017 P Stephen Read 131 – 21 Alan Jefferson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Mark Austin Susie Dent 133
6581 12/05/2017 P Stephen Read 114 – 61 Mark Rainey Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Mark Austin Susie Dent 135
6582 15/05/2017 P Stephen Read 115 – 51 Jane Donnelly Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Mark Austin Susie Dent 121
6583 16/05/2017 P Stephen Read 111 – 42 Craig Tampin Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Mark Austin Susie Dent 132
6608 21/06/2017 QF Stephen Read 92 – 60 James Slater Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Suzi Perry Susie Dent 135
6612 28/06/2017 SF Stephen Read 115 – 67 Annie Humphries Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 124
6614 30/06/2017 GF Stephen Read 108 – 58 Moose Rosser Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 121