Antoinette Ryan
| Antoinette Ryan octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Runner-up |
| Seeding | 2 |
| Points total | 859 |
| Conundrums solved | 3 |
Antoinette Ryan was an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 71, and a participant in Championship of Champions XIV. She's considered to be one of the greatest female players in the 15-round era alongside Jen Steadman, Ann Dibben and Florence Cappleman-Lynes.
Appearances on the show
Heat games
Ryan began her run by impressively dispatching Rachel Evans. The game was notable for having a potential ambulance available – three back-to-back nine-letter words. Ryan spotted one of the three, MISPLACED, and ended up with an impressive debut score of 107.
She then went on to achieve six more centuries being helped along by brilliant word spots like PRIMROSE, PANTIHOSE, PERIANTH and VIRGATES. Ryan also performed impeccably in the numbers rounds, managing to score in every single one of the 32.
Ryan dropped below 100 only once, in her seventh game. In the game against Peter Douet, Ryan was held back by Douet's offering of GERBILS and by Douet unscrambling the conundrum of GASATDENT in nine seconds.
Ryan finished with a comfortable 58-point win margin against Matt Willock, landing her as the No. 2 seed with an octotal of 859 – just two points above the No. 3 seed, Tricia Pay.
Ryan's time on the show was particularly memorable due to there being ten nines available in her octorun – one of the highest numbers of nines available to any contestant in the history of the show. Because of this, the total number of points available to Ryan in her octorun was 1,093 – matching the record held by Glen Webb's run in Series 69.
Finals
Ryan returned only six days later, to defend her unbeaten crown in her quarter-final against David Stanford. The game was surprisingly close throughout, but Ryan managed to break away on the final numbers round to give her the win.
Her semi-final was also a close contest against Laurence Killen, notable for Ryan and Killen being equidistant in opposite directions from the target in three of the game's four numbers rounds. But it was Ryan that took the game, outshining Killen in the letters rounds with AILERON and SOAKAGE.
The excitement didn't end there as Ryan's next game was the December 2014 final, against the seemingly invincible Dan McColm. McColm took an early lead with SOLATIUM, but Ryan fought back by solving the Round 6 numbers round that McColm didn't to give her a two-point lead after six rounds. But her advantage though, didn't last long as Ryan made a couple of risks that didn't pay off to give McColm a twenty-point lead before the final numbers round. Ryan's favourite numbers selection of six small didn't prove to help her and with McColm unscrambling the conundrum of ATELLYHIT in four seconds, Ryan became the show's 71st runner-up.
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
In 2015, Ryan appeared in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 7, Episode 9 where she assisted Sean Lock and Seann Walsh. She scored all the points available in the three rounds that she participated in.
Championship of Champions XIV
Ryan returned in January 2016 for Championship of Champions XIV, but lost to Mark Murray in the "Battle of the Leprechauns".
| Preceded by Andy Naylor |
Series runner-up Series 71 |
Followed by Tracey Mills |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6040 | 26/11/2014 | P | Rachel Evans | 65 – 107 | Antoinette Ryan | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Len Goodman | Susie Dent | 157 | ||
| 6041 | 27/11/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 120 – 33 | Tom Jordan | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Len Goodman | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6042 | 28/11/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 103 – 28 | Kevin Duckworth | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Len Goodman | Susie Dent | 123 | ||
| 6043 | 1/12/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 104 – 79 | Emma Brown | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Len Goodman | Susie Dent | 145 | ||
| 6044 | 2/12/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 118 – 51 | Bob Currie | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Len Goodman | Susie Dent | 157 | ||
| 6045 | 3/12/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 104 – 68 | Justin Ray | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Alistair McGowan | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 6046 | 4/12/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 91 – 48 | Peter Douet | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Alistair McGowan | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
| 6047 | 5/12/2014 | P | Antoinette Ryan | 112 – 54 | Matt Willock | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Alistair McGowan | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 6051 | 11/12/2014 | QF | Antoinette Ryan | 82 – 65 | David Stanford | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Arlene Phillips | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
| 6055 | 18/12/2014 | SF | Antoinette Ryan | 102 – 88 | Laurence Killen | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | David Baddiel | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6056 | 19/12/2014 | GF | Dan McColm | 117 – 87 | Antoinette Ryan | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | David Baddiel | Susie Dent | 129 | ||
| Cats42 | 10/07/2015 | S | Antoinette Ryan, Seann Walsh & Sean Lock |
47 – 29 | Joe Wilkinson & Danny Dyer |
Jimmy Carr | Rachel Riley | Bill Bailey | Susie Dent | 58 | ||
| 6285 | 13/01/2016 | CP | Antoinette Ryan | 88 – 125 | Mark Murray | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Inverdale | Susie Dent | 140 | ||
