Michael Calder (Series 60)

Michael Calder (Series 60) octochamp statistics
Final position	Runner-up
Seeding	6
Points total	736
Conundrums solved	5

Michael Calder in Series 60...

...and 15 years later in Series 89.

For other people called Michael Calder, see Michael Calder.

Michael Calder was a contestant in Series 60, and an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 89. As of his first appearance, he was a student at the University of Bradford from Aberdeenshire. As of his second stint, he worked as an area manager (a leading homelessness charity) and lived in Forfar, Angus.

Calder is notably one of the few non-Apterites that made it to a series final since Apterous was founded.

Appearances

Series 60

His first appearance turned out to be a rather one-sided affair against eventual octochamp, James Doohan, who initially roared off to a 38 – 0 lead that Calder was never able to close despite scoring a few points before the conundrum that neither of them solved.

Series 89 heat games

Calder made his return nearly fifteen years later in the show after fellow octochamp, Jack Harvey, won his eighth game – this time, he prevailed in a very low-scoring game against Shabir Hussain. His next three games were also victories and in each case, he avoided a crucial conundrum despite them all being rather low-scoring. But on the next day of filming, he demonstrated a notable improvement in performance in his last four heats which included three century games with a high score of 116.

Calder signed off by scoring in every round in his last preliminary against Julia Blake to secure his position as the fourth octochamp of the series in less than two months, with a final total of 736 and an average of 92 per despite not achieving six of the available nine-letter words that were available.

Series 89 finals

Calder returned for his quarter-final against No. 3 seed, Toby Byfield. The game was an unexpectedly cagey affair with neither player maxing many rounds and staying within reach of each other, right up until the crucial conundrum of SATINCLOG that Calder unscrambled to NOSTALGIC in just under seventeen seconds to condemn Byfield to his only defeat. In doing so, he became the first No. 6 seed to reach the semi-finals of a series since Alan Duval in Series 79.

His semi-final against Mark Finnerty got out of the gate strong with an eighteen-point lead, despite Calder initially drawing first blood with the spot of SLAMMER. But after this, Finnerty started to unravel with Calder by scoring 35 unanswered points in a row at one stage to swing the game right back in his favour. After both players missed the final numbers round although Calder did get closer to score some points, it meant that Calder continued his giant-killing streak and marched onto the grand final against No. 1 seed Arthur Page. He became the first finalist to reach the grand final from the bottom-half of the seed table – the last one being Philip Aston in Series 78.

Calder from a maxes perspective, actually had his best performance of the finals stages against Page but Arthur ultimately outmuscled Calder by losing any rounds and eventually storming off into the distance. Page's series win victory was certified after he spotted the last letters round spot of TABLESIDE. After the gameplay was officially finished, Calder finished as runner-up with his lowest score since his 2009 appearance. His final points tally across his Series 89 games came to 959 and 1,007 with the 48 points achieved in his original appearance.

Preceded by Viraj Seelam

Series runner-up Series 89

Followed by Chris Kirby

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
4827	28/05/2009	P	James Doohan	91 – 48	Michael Calder	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Barry Cryer	Susie Dent	121
8207	13/02/2024	P	Shabir Hussain	33 – 83	Michael Calder	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	124
8208	14/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	78 – 64	David Munday	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	135
8209	15/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	80 – 70	Jill Martin	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	134
8210	16/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	76 – 71	Jack Haynes	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	134
8211	19/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	116 – 63	Aaron McAree	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sara Davies	Susie Dent	125
8212	20/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	104 – 60	Mark Fielding	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sara Davies	Susie Dent	124
8213	21/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	90 – 59	Stephen Colton	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sara Davies	Susie Dent	144
8214	22/02/2024	P	Michael Calder	109 – 49	Julia Blake	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sara Davies	Susie Dent	136
8301	24/06/2024	QF	Toby Byfield	82 – 84	Michael Calder	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Marcus Brigstocke	Susie Dent	131
8304	27/06/2024	SF	Mark Finnerty	56 – 78	Michael Calder	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Marcus Brigstocke	Susie Dent	136
8305	28/06/2024	GF	Arthur Page	121 – 61	Michael Calder	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Marcus Brigstocke	Susie Dent	144

External Links

• Article on Michael and his Series 89 achievements.