James Robinson
James Robinson was a contestant in Series 49 and 60. He is also an Apterite and a member of c4countdown.
Appearances on the show
From Mirfield in West Yorkshire, he first appeared in April 2003 and lost to Ian Buckley.
Six weeks later, he was asked back for a special episode against Lucy Guile in which he won.
In April 2009, he reappeared on the show as a 21-year-old and managed to win two games before a narrow defeat in his third.
Something of a Countdown addict, Robinson would regularly return to the studio to watch shows being recorded live. He became the audience member who solved the conundrum on 29 January 2015, and 14 February 2020 – after a close but incorrect answer from Ian Volante.
Co-events
Robinson has since become a regular unofficial Countdown tournament player, making his debut at Co:Lon 2010 followed by CoLei3. He then attended COLIN 2011 and CoLei4, finishing in second place in both events to Kirk Bevins and Jack Hurst respectively. He then finished in fourth place at both CoNot 2011 and Co:Lon 2011, before winning the inaugural Countdown in Chester and CoChest in November.
He attended COLIN 2012 where he finished in eighth place (his lowest finish to date), before winning the inaugural Countdown in Reading and CO:REA 2012 in April. He followed that up a week later by winning CoLei5, beating Richard Priest (who he happened to beat in the final at CoChest) in that final. He then appeared at CobliviLon where here finished in sixth place followed by an appearance at the first COEDI in Edinburgh, reaching the final, before losing to home favourite of Innis Carson.
Robinson competed in the 2018 FOCAL finals as the No. 1 seed and finished in fifth place, winning three out of seven games. He also participated in the 2019 and 2022 FOCAL finals. He won COEDI 2019 and Co:Galway 2022. He has hosted events in Edinburgh, the North East and Manchester.
ZoomDown
Robinson took part in ZoomDown, during the Covid lockdowns. He reappeared in Series 5 and 6.
Appearances on other quiz shows
After appearing on Countdown, Robinson auditioned for many other game shows with no success: he appeared on Pointless in October 2011 and January 2012, Breakaway on 11 October 2012, Mastermind on 6 December 2013, Fifteen to One on 23 and 24 April 2014 and again on 5 June 2017, Eggheads on 5 January 2016, and made three appearances on Hive Minds later in 2016. Robinson returned to Eggheads on 1 November 2022 with Richard Priest, Glen Durrant and Keegan Brown but they failed to win the jackpot for a second time. Despite regular quiz show appearances, he is yet to actually win one.
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3454 | 4/04/2003 | P | Ian Buckley | 93 – 66 | James Robinson | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Magnus Magnusson | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
| S20 | 30/08/2004 | S | Lucy Guile | 66 – 76 | James Robinson | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Bob Bevan | Alison Heard | 116 | ||
| 4800 | 21/04/2009 | P | Karyn Cooke | 71 – 105 | James Robinson | Jeff Stelling | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 129 | ||
| 4801 | 22/04/2009 | P | James Robinson | 91 – 74 | Louise Bambury | Jeff Stelling | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 4802 | 23/04/2009 | P | James Robinson | 86 – 87 | Patrick McCurdie | Jeff Stelling | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
