Due to persistent vandalism, account creation has been suspended. If you would like an account, please contact Charlie Reams on Apterous.

Giles Hutchings

From Countdown
Giles Hutchings
octochamp statistics
Final position Champion
Seeding 1
Points total 965
Conundrums solved 7
The Typhoon in Series 68...
...and again in the Championship of Champions XIV.
Giles Hutchings holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 68.

Giles "The Typhoon" Hutchings was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 68, and a semi-finalist in Championship of Champions XIV. As of his Series 68 appearances, he was a sixth-form student at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, from Farnham, Surrey. As of his Championship of Champions appearances, he was a final year maths student at the University of Warwick. He is also an Apterite and the most attractive member of c4countdown.

His mother is Series 51 quarter-finalist Nicole Hutchings.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

Débuting as a 17-year-old, Hutchings' total of 965 points from his eight preliminary games was the highest in the history of the show, until Dylan Taylor beat it in Series 69 with his total of 974 points. His début score of 129 was the joint-highest by any contestant in the history of the show (along with Jamie Ilett-Jones in Series 71 and Robin McKay in Series 74), until Elliott Mellor beat it by two points in Series 80. He was also the first octochamp to have completed all of his games in the new 15-round format (Andy Platt won four games in the old format and four in the new one).

Nick Hewer has referred to Hutchings as "The Typhoon" or "The Kid" at various times during the introductions of his games, in a similar way to potential series rival Andy Platt sometimes being called "Formidable".

Finals

Returning for the finals as the standout number one prospect, Hutchings achieved centuries against Peter Fenton in the quarter-final and Joe McGonigle in the semi-final. In the grand final against Andy Platt, Hutchings accelerated away by establishing a 14-point lead after the first two rounds. Further spots of ARGOSIES and HEIAU helped him win the series, although Platt's solve on the conundrum denied the student a century.

Championship of Champions XIV

In 2016, Hutchings was invited back to Countdown as one of sixteen entrants in Championship of Champions XIV. Notably, with all other xicounts in CoC XIV being returnees, he was the only player to enter the tournament undefeated. Hutchings won his first match against Series 67 runner-up Heather Styles with a score of 132 – 73, offering the new ODP words OUTRAKES and RETINULAS and dropping only three points from a max game in the process. Hutchings subsequently won his quarter-final draw against Tom Cappleman 114 – 97. Despite Cappleman appearing to have gained stability early on with RHOEADIN and a perfect solution to a six-small numbers game with a target of 991, Hutchings caught up with TAWNIEST and a six-small answer of his own, before eking out a seven-point lead with FEMORAL. Though unable to escape a crucial conundrum, he went on to solve ULTIMOLEG in under three seconds, maintaining the ongoing pattern of all CoC XIV matches being won by their highest cumulative scorers. In the semi-finals, Hutchings came up against then record holder Dylan Taylor, the only person at that time to have a higher octotal than Hutchings. In the game itself, Hutchings and Taylor were level in the first 14 rounds, a Countdown first, but it was Taylor who quickly solved TEARCLOTH to see Hutchings lose his undefeated record.

Co-events

Hutchings made his Co-event début at CO:REA 2012, and then returned for CO:REA 2013. He got to the grand final and was beaten by the Series 65 semi-finalist, Mark Deeks, by 97 – 91. At CO:REA 2014 he got to the grand final again and was beaten by the Series 66 champion, Jack Worsley, by 108 – 93. He then made it to the grand final of the 2016 FOCAL finals, again losing to Jack Worsley.

Appearances on University Challenge

After his Countdown appearances, he appeared in five episodes of University Challenge from July 2016 to March 2017, as captain of the University of Warwick, making the quarter-finals, with his Countdown exploits mentioned by Jeremy Paxman in his introduction.

Preceded by
Paul James		 Series winner
Series 68		 Followed by
Callum Todd

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
5673 03/04/2013 P Jean Wright 54 – 129 Giles Hutchings Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 134
5674 08/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 119 – 19 Mike Lee Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 132
5675 09/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 120 – 57 Zulfi Ebrahim Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Julia Bradbury Susie Dent 121
5676 10/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 115 – 50 Nick Courtnadge Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 126
5677 11/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 120 – 65 Mark Witney Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 139
5678 12/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 130 – 82 Alan Flanagan Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 144
5679 15/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 121 – 62 Rob Tuson Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 131
5680 16/04/2013 P Giles Hutchings 111 – 58 Nick Holland Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Richard Madeley Susie Dent 133
5715 14/06/2013 QF Giles Hutchings 109 – 86 Peter Fenton Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Dan Snow Susie Dent 134
5719 26/06/2013 SF Giles Hutchings 106 – 38 Joe McGonigle Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 124
5721 28/06/2013 GF Giles Hutchings 95 – 86 Andy Platt Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Myleene Klass Susie Dent 115
6279 05/01/2016 CP Heather Styles 73 – 132 Giles Hutchings Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Gloria Hunniford Susie Dent 135
6286 14/01/2016 CQF Tom Cappleman 97 – 114 Giles Hutchings Nick Hewer Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 134
6290 20/01/2016 CSF Giles Hutchings 108 – 118 Dylan Taylor Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Naga Munchetty Susie Dent 122

External Links

Retrieved from "https://wiki.apterous.org/index.php?title=Giles_Hutchings&oldid=172780"