Callum Todd
Callum Todd was the champion of Series 69, the first non-octochamp series winner (notwithstanding Series 46, when only a maximum of six heat wins were allowed due to the 15-round format being introduced late in the year) and a quarter-finalist in Championship of Champions XIV. He is also an Apterite and a member of c4countdown. During 2021, he has served as the chairperson of FOCAL. During his 2013 finals run, he defeated three members of the 900 club – meaning, that he had one of the most difficult series finals runs in Countdown history.
Appearances on the show
Heat games
After scraping through his first three games, Todd joined Apterous and greatly improved his performances in his next four games before controversially losing to Abdirizak Hirsi on a tiebreak conundrum in his eighth game. However, his seven wins and 747 points were enough to see him qualify for the finals as the No. 7 seed.
Finals
In his quarter-final – Todd played against record-breaking female octochamp Jen Steadman and after falling behind early on, he turned it around to win by 108 – 105 after an unsolved crucial conundrum.
His semi-final saw him take on Glen Webb and despite his numbers selections of six small letting him down, he managed to put in a convincing 107 – 82 victory.
Triumphal finale
He took on Dylan Taylor in the grand final. After Todd went behind in the first round but equalised it in the following round, both contestants maxed the next twelve rounds prior to the crucial conundrum of IHURTPALM that Todd solved in 4.5 seconds to win the final with the official scoreline at 126 – 116. The final also saw him achieve his highest score on the show and become the first finalist ranked in the lower half of the seed table to win a 15-round series.
Championship of Champions XIV
Todd returned to the show in January 2016 for Championship of Champions XIV.
He squared off against Samir Pilica in the first round. Todd opened an early lead by outclassing Pilica on the first two numbers games and spotting the darrenic word of TOASTIER. Hereafter, he consistently held onto this lead by scoring in all but one of the remaining letters rounds and spotting the conundrum of ROMANYIPS in fairly short order. This performance gave him a winning score of 127, bettering his previous personal best by one point.
In his quarter-final, he played a rematch against Jen Steadman. Unfortunately for Todd, history did not repeat itself and he lost by 107 – 85 but infamously declared SRSLY.
2020 Christmas special
Todd returned to the show on 22 December 2020 to take part in the second of three Christmas specials against Jack Hurst. Both players started level until Hurst pulled away and Todd slowed down, until picking up pace in the later rounds and ultimately signed off by solving the conundrum to finish with 100 points to Hurst's 125.
In the audience
Todd reappeared during 26 February 2015, solving the conundrum of TRIGLYPHS. During 2 March 2018, he solved the conundrum of HAVENCOAT. And lastly, he reappeared during 18 December 2019 and solved the conundrum of LASSIERIP.
Co-events
Todd hosted his first Co-event in 2016, the inaugural Leeds tournament of Countdown in Leeds 2016. In 2021, he became the chair of FOCAL.
Competition-wise, he has been highly successful – being a winner of eight different Co-events over the years.
YouTube
In 2019, Todd launched the Focal Talk podcast along with Paul Anderson. In 2020, Todd was the winner of the ZoomDown Hyper Special. And in 2021, the winner of the ZoomDown GoatZDown Special.
| Preceded by Giles Hutchings |
Series winner Series 69 |
Followed by Mark Murray |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5779 | 27/09/2013 | P | Ritch Greenwood | 58 – 70 | Callum Todd | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Katherine Grainger | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
| 5780 | 30/09/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 83 – 66 | Adam Dexter | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Katherine Grainger | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 5781 | 1/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 79 – 55 | John Blaker | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Katherine Grainger | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
| 5782 | 2/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 101 – 40 | Breda Sexton | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Michaela Strachan | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 5783 | 3/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 103 – 74 | Ben Hendry | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Michaela Strachan | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 5784 | 4/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 108 – 61 | Lucy Bryden | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Michaela Strachan | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 5785 | 7/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 114 – 77 | Chris Allum | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Michaela Strachan | Susie Dent | 123 | ||
| 5786 | 8/10/2013 | P | Callum Todd | 89 – 99* | Abdirizak Hirsi | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Michaela Strachan | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 5834 | 13/12/2013 | QF | Jen Steadman | 105 – 108 | Callum Todd | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dan Walker | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 5838 | 19/12/2013 | SF | Callum Todd | 107 – 82 | Glen Webb | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Richard Madeley | Susie Dent | 138 | ||
| 5839 | 20/12/2013 | GF | Dylan Taylor | 116 – 126 | Callum Todd | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Richard Madeley | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6283 | 11/01/2016 | CP | Callum Todd | 127 – 88 | Samir Pilica | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Inverdale | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
| 6288 | 18/01/2016 | CQF | Jen Steadman | 107 – 85 | Callum Todd | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Naga Munchetty | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
| S48 | 22/12/2020 | S | Callum Todd | 100 – 125 | Jack Hurst | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Rory Bremner | Susie Dent | 153 | ||
