Evan Simpson

Evan Simpson on the show

Evan Simpson was the runner-up of Series 17.

He first appeared the day after Irish wunderkind Tim Morrissey completed his octochamp run, and won five games before losing to Cathy Bland by a mere two points. He returned for the finals as #4 seed, and heavily beat Len Marshall in the quarter-finals before upsetting the formbook and beating Tim Morrissey in the semi-finals. However, a string of disallowed words in the final meant that Simpson lost the game, and the series, to Lawrence Pearse.

Simpson did not play in Championship of Champions V, but did return for the Supreme Championship in 1996. In the first round, he beat Pete Evans in a "Battle of the Evans", 28 – 50. The game wasn't very close, as Simpson made impressive finds of BAYONET and MEMORIES and only failed to unravel WAGLINESS at the end. In the group semi-final, he played Clive Freedman. The players equalled each other in every single round, including the conundrum PINFLYCAP, which went unsolved. This left Simpson and Freedman drawn 58 – 58. However, Freedman prevailed in the tie-break conundrum, and Simpson's 11th Countdown appearance was his last.

Simpson several years later

He is also a Scrabble Grandmaster, and is the 1999 National Champion.

Preceded by Roger Wales

Series runner-up Series 17

Followed by Mandi Hale

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
838	6/02/1989	P	Nick Camp	45 – 65	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	83
839	7/02/1989	P	Frank Peach	48 – 49	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	81
840	8/02/1989	P	Esther Poligadoo	34 – 73	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	76
841	9/02/1989	P	Eileen Stokes	5 – 69	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Eve Pollard	Della Thompson	72
842	10/02/1989	P	Abu Oosman	26 – 63	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Eve Pollard	Della Thompson	96
843	13/02/1989	P	Cathy Bland	36 – 34	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Eve Pollard	Della Thompson	71
864	14/03/1989	QF	Evan Simpson	67 – 27	Len Marshall	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Simon Williams	Georgia Hole	73
865	15/03/1989	SF	Evan Simpson	56 – 45	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Simon Williams	Georgia Hole	74
867	17/03/1989	GF	Evan Simpson	64 – 80	Lawrence Pearse	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Ned Sherrin, Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	140
M48	26/02/1990-2/03/1990	M	Evan Simpson	93 – 86	Tony Vick	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Catherine Clarke	134
M100	25/02/1991-1/03/1991	M	Evan Simpson	101 – 67	Olivia Lloyd-Potts	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none		???
1863	21/10/1996	bQF	Pete Evans	28 – 50	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Philip Franks	Susie Dent	71
1866	24/10/1996	bSF	Clive Freedman	68* – 58	Evan Simpson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	June Whitfield	Susie Dent	71

* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum