Martin May
| Martin May octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Runner-up |
| Seeding | 1 |
| Points total | 839 |
| Conundrums solved | 6 |
Martin May was a contestant in Series 56 and 57, an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 79, and a participant in Championship of Champions XVI. He is a Deputy Restaurant Manager from Adlington, Lancashire. He is also an Apterite.
May won two unbeaten games in Series 56 but was too unwell to continue his run, so the producers allowed him to continue his run in Series 57 where he faced Mikey Lear. The game was close throughout, but May avoided a crucial conundrum after the last numbers round. May went on to win three more games before losing to Steve Baines, who by coincidence also went on to win seven games and lose the eighth one.
May attended his first unofficial Countdown tournament in January 2010, COLIN 2010, where he managed an impressive fifth place.
May reappeared on the show on 17 October 2018, where he started his second run against Paul Hollidge with a strong score of 96. He then went on to achieve four consecutive centuries during his heat game run, totalling six in total. And he spotted impressive nine-letter words like NORMALISE and RESHAPING.
May returned for the series finals on 13 December as he began his finals run against No. 8 seed, Bob Lunt, who qualified with seven wins (due to the withdrawal of Robin Johnson). May immediately raced away by spotting VERSIONAL in the opening round, before rounding off his quarter-final with a dominant 115 points to Lunt's 86.
In the first semi-final, he came up against another dominant player in the form of Tony Manwani. Both players played a close game with May eventually taking a ten-point lead by the end of the second half. After neither player solved the crucial conundrum, May won the game and qualified for the December 2018 final.
In the final against Mike Daysley, it was yet another close game with May taking the lead after Daysley's declaration of scopier ☓ backfired. Daysley then took a one-point lead by winning the third numbers game, but May maxed the following two letters games. However, the opposition made a comeback with OUTHAUL to the point where it was enough to force a crucial conundrum. Daysley was quick to solve MOTHPROOF from the scramble of PHOTOFORM, thus relegating May to the runner-up spot.
May made his nineteenth appearance on the show for Championship of Champions XVI in January 2023 where his opponent was Series 82 champion, Luke Johnson-Davies. Martin put in a very creditable effort which included the impressive word spot of NODALISES but Luke eventually overpowered May and confirmed his victory before the last numbers round, with a final nasty conundrum of LOTTOLIAM that foxed both players.
His final point total is 1,863 points across nineteen games with sixteen wins and three losses.
| Preceded by Philip Aston |
Series runner-up Series 79 |
Followed by Elliott Mellor |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4282 | 29/01/2007 | P | Leigh Brook | 67 – 86 | Martin May | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Gyles Brandreth | Susie Dent | 129 | ||
| 4283 | 30/01/2007 | P | Martin May | 95 – 84 | Daniel Giddings | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Gyles Brandreth | Susie Dent | 141 | ||
| 4412 | 9/08/2007 | P | Mikey Lear | 70 – 97 | Martin May | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Ann Widdecombe | Susie Dent | 115 | ||
| 4413 | 10/08/2007 | P | Martin May | 90 – 81 | Gina McDowell | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Ann Widdecombe | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
| 4414 | 13/08/2007 | P | Martin May | 104 – 68 | Patrick Durnall | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Ann Widdecombe | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
| 4415 | 14/08/2007 | P | Martin May | 101 – 79 | Amanda Vickery | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Ricky Tomlinson | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
| 4416 | 15/08/2007 | P | Martin May | 73 – 77 | Steve Baines | Des O'Connor | Carol Vorderman | Ricky Tomlinson | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
| 6932 | 17/10/2018 | P | Paul Hollidge | 52 – 96 | Martin May | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Clive Anderson | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 6933 | 18/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 117 – 52 | Chris Stableford | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Gloria Hunniford | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
| 6934 | 19/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 103 – 54 | Seamus Bradley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Gloria Hunniford | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6935 | 22/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 108 – 59 | Leanne Heath | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Gloria Hunniford | Susie Dent | 145 | ||
| 6936 | 23/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 101 – 15 | Vicki Griffiths | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Gloria Hunniford | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 6937 | 24/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 89 – 42 | Maria Michaels | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Gloria Hunniford | Susie Dent | 129 | ||
| 6938 | 25/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 108 – 67 | Alan Tubbert | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 155 | ||
| 6939 | 26/10/2018 | P | Martin May | 117 – 49 | Dover Dubosarsky | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
| 6973 | 13/12/2018 | QF | Martin May | 115 – 86 | Bob Lunt | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dan Walker | Susie Dent | 141 | ||
| 6977 | 19/12/2018 | SF | Martin May | 93 – 83 | Tony Manwani | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Phill Jupitus | Susie Dent | 147 | ||
| 6979 | 21/12/2018 | GF | Martin May | 80 – 82 | Mike Daysley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Phill Jupitus | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 7927 | 09/01/2023 | CP | Martin May | 90 – 117 | Luke Johnson-Davies | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Heather Small | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
