James Kennedy
| James Kennedy octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Quarter-finalist |
| Seeding | 7 |
| Points total | 736 |
| Conundrums solved | 5 |
James Kennedy was an contestant in Series 43 and an octochamp in Series 77. As of his second debut, he was a retired teacher from Scotland.
Kennedy first appeared in September 2000, where he blundered on a crucial conundrum and lost by eighteen points.
He returned seventeen years later in another close game. He got the crucial conundrum wrong again but this time, wasn't costly as he was seven points ahead and Alex Smith comically drew a blank. Kennedy followed this with a sole century during his octorun while scoring no lower than 83 in his remaining six wins, plus a one-point win over Rania Abdul-Wahab.
As a result of his octochampdom, Kennedy returned for the series finals on 15 December 2017. But in a strong series, his octotal of 736 points was adequate to make him the No. 7 seed. He ran No. 2 seed and Apterite Bradley Horrocks very close in his quarter-final match, leading him by four points when going into the crucial conundrum. However, Horrocks came through with the solution to GYRATIONS.
After his time on the show, two of Kennedy's cousins appeared – Jane Burns in Series 79 and Monica Quadri in Series 80.
Less than 2.5 years after his last appearance, he was the audience member that solved the conundrum on 2 April 2020.
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2843 | 20/09/2000 | P | Iain Macdonald | 58 – 40 | James Kennedy | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Geoffrey Durham | Damian Eadie | 74 | ||
| 6690 | 18/10/2017 | P | Alex Smith | 73 – 80 | James Kennedy | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Adrian Chiles | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6691 | 19/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 105 – 39 | Krishna Shukla | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Adrian Chiles | Susie Dent | 136 | ||
| 6692 | 20/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 88 – 41 | Dylan Henderson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Adrian Chiles | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
| 6693 | 23/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 83 – 82 | Rania Abdul-Wahab | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Adrian Chiles | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 6694 | 24/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 99 – 46 | Ian Currie | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Adrian Chiles | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6695 | 25/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 95 – 80 | John Oxley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Challis | Susie Dent | 146 | ||
| 6696 | 26/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 94 – 61 | Mary Anderson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Challis | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
| 6697 | 27/10/2017 | P | James Kennedy | 92 – 52 | Charlie Turner | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Challis | Susie Dent | 113 | ||
| 6731 | 15/12/2017 | QF | Bradley Horrocks | 86 – 80 | James Kennedy | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
