Ed McCullagh

Ed McCullagh octochamp statistics
Final position	Champion
Seeding	2
Points total	896
Conundrums solved	6

Edward McCullagh in Series 64...

...and in the 30th Birthday Championship.

Edward "Ed" McCullagh was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 64, and a participant in the 30th Birthday Championship. He was a customer service rep from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Heat games

McCullagh debuted on 2 February 2011. He beat Dave Dyer in a fairly close and high-scoring game, with both players finding the nine-letter word of BETTERING.

McCullagh followed this up with seven more victories, including a near-perfect performance against Judy Baynes. Here, he achieved maximum points in all of the first fourteen rounds but was unable to achieve a max game after he couldn't unscramble the conundrum of LAGERTIME. He's also notable for having kept three of his opponents to scores under 30.

Finals

McCullagh returned near the end of Spring as the No. 2 seed.

He made quick work of Andrew McNamara and Mary Adie with word spots like UNAWARE, INDORSED, UPSTAIR, PANTOUM, MONIKERS, NEURONE plus the conundrum spots of BEDSITTER and SINGLETON.

Grand final

The final proved to be closer. But McCullagh remained on top by offering a solution to a very hard first numbers game and pulling away further with CARDIO. And despite neither player solving the conundrum, he prevailed by 113 – 94 to earn the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy and the title of Series 64 champion.

Special episode

McCullagh returned in Summer 2012 to take part in a special episode against Graeme Cole where he won by 107 – 71, meaning that he maintained his unbeaten record on the show.

30th Birthday Championship

McCullagh returned again with the shortened name of Ed in 2013, as one of 41 contestants that took part in the 30th Birthday Championship.

He lost his only match (and with it, his unbeaten record) against Jonathan Rawlinson on a second conundrum, after drawing 94 – 94.

Co-events

McCullagh attended his first Countdown tournament in 2012 where he finished in second place at CobliviLon, losing in the final to Innis Carson.

In September 2016, he secured his first tournament victory by prevailing over Dan McColm in the final of Countdown in Dublin 2016.

Preceded by Jack Hurst

Series winner Series 64

Followed by Graeme Cole

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5196	2/02/2011	P	Dave Dyer	83 – 115	Edward McCullagh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	132
5197	3/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	97 – 28	David Clerkin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	119
5198	4/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	120 – 45	Judy Baynes	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	130
5199	7/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	108 – 24	Paul Walsh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	117
5200	8/02/2011	P	Edward McCullagh	118 – 38	Harold Sanditen	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	119
5201	9/02/2011	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
5273	27/05/2011	QF	Edward McCullagh	101 – 36	Andrew McNamara	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	119
5277	2/06/2011	SF	Edward McCullagh	120 – 41	Mary Adie	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	131
5278	3/06/2011	GF	Adam Gillard	94 – 113	Edward McCullagh	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gregg Wallace	Susie Dent	127
S35	30/07/2012	S	Graeme Cole	71 – 107	Edward McCullagh	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley					Mark Foster	Susie Dent	119
5623	17/01/2013	30BP	Ed McCullagh	94 – 104*	Jonathan Rawlinson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	117

* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum