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

Matt Fife

From Countdown
Matt Fife in Series 91.

Matt Fife was a quarter-finalist in Series 91. He was a biomedical scientist and Apterite from Newport, South Wales.

Heat games

Matt started with a very up-and-down debut against incumbent champ Neha Sood which ended on an unsolved crucial conundrum; this wouldn't be the first time it appeared in Fife's games. He managed six further victories which included four century games, and the 9-letter-word spots of BALLOTING, REACTIONS and WAISTLINE which was more than any other contestant in the series to date. However, in his eighth game against challenger Nick Tant it all came crashing down and Matt succumbed to his first defeat while missing out on octochampdom in the process; the overwhelming factor in that loss being his non-scoring in three of the four numbers rounds. This left him with 720 points from 8 games, but due to a lack of octochamps across the series, it was still enough to eventually book a place in the June series finals.

Finals

Ultimately coming back as the sixth seed, fellow Apterite and third seed Tim James was waiting for him. In a very tightly contested contest, despite James getting as close as possible in an impossible second numbers round, Fife carved out a lead with MIAOWS and DAIGOU, after two gambles attempted by Tim backfired. But, James beat Fife again in the last numbers round to leave the former with a five-point-lead going into the conundrum. Neither of them turned NIGELVOID into EVILDOING, meaning Fife's time in the competition was officially concluded. His score of 70 was his lowest-to-date, and he racked up a final points tally of 790 from nine games.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
8475 18/03/2025 P Neha Sood 75 – 77 Matt Fife Colin Murray Rachel Riley Katharine Merry Susie Dent 134
8476 19/03/2025 P Matt Fife 115 – 97 Stephen Ashley Colin Murray Rachel Riley Katharine Merry Susie Dent 142
8477 20/03/2025 P Matt Fife 100 – 69 Iain Malthouse Colin Murray Rachel Riley Katharine Merry Susie Dent 140
8478 21/03/2025 P Matt Fife 87 – 60 Valerie Dean Colin Murray Rachel Riley Katharine Merry Susie Dent 116
8479 24/03/2025 P Matt Fife 74 – 72 Jenny Scudamore Colin Murray Rachel Riley John Thomson Susie Dent 122
8480 25/03/2025 P Matt Fife 103 – 24 Dan Jones Colin Murray Rachel Riley John Thomson Susie Dent 132
8481 26/03/2025 P Matt Fife 102 – 42 Liam Cottle Colin Murray Rachel Riley John Thomson Susie Dent 128
8482 27/03/2025 P Matt Fife 62 – 65 Nick Tant Colin Murray Rachel Riley John Thomson Susie Dent 122
8544 23/06/2025 QF Tim James 75 – 70 Matt Fife Colin Murray Rachel Riley Bob Harris Susie Dent 117