Paul Erdunast
| Paul Erdunast octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Champion |
| Seeding | 1 |
| Points total | 925 |
| Conundrums solved | 8 |
Paul Erdunast was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 74, and a participant in Championship of Champions XV. As of his Series 74 appearances, he was a Legal Caseworker/Housing Law Intern from London. As of his Championship of Champions appearance, he was working as a Legal and Parliamentary Officer still in London. He is also an Apterite. He has attended co-events.
Appearances on the show
Heat games
During his octorun, Erdunast broke the record for winning the highest number of rounds across eight heat games in Countdown history with 82 of 120 rounds won. In addition, his aggregate winning margin over his eight heat opponents was 625 points (a close second to Dylan Taylor's 628). He was also the ninth contestant in the history to solve all eight conundrums during his heat games.
Finals
In his quarter-final, he swept aside Tony Lock with relatively little difficulty but saw the end of his perfect conundrum record.
His semi-final matched him against Conrad Teixeira. Teixeira played well in that game but could not compete with the scoring power of Erdunast, who gained points in every round and dropped only four points from perfection.
Erdunast kicked off the grand final with his nine-letter word spot of UROKINASE and despite Dibben riposting Round 4 with PHOBIAS, he held onto and later extended his lead to seal victory prior to the final numbers game. However, Dibben gained the last word by unscrambling the conundrum of HOLYCIGAR and achieving the highest score by a female contestant in a grand final. With his victory, he became the first person since Callum Todd in Series 69 to have won a series without having previously appeared the show but the first octochamp to do so.
Championship of Champions XV
Erdunast returned in January 2019 for Championship of Champions XV.
He had a very difficult draw, by facing FOCAL founder Zarte Siempre in the first round. Unfortunately, Erdunast's run ended after falling eight points behind twice and after both players unsolved the crucial conundrum of AMRESTIVE.
| Preceded by Jonathan Wynn |
Series winner Series 74 |
Followed by Martin Hurst |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6311 | 18/02/2016 | P | David Armstrong | 32 – 122 | Paul Erdunast | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Richard Arnold | Susie Dent | 137 | ||
| 6312 | 19/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 127 – 46 | Stuart Moore | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Richard Arnold | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6313 | 22/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 130 – 73 | Ben Dali | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 6314 | 23/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 113 – 15 | Julie Hall | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6315 | 24/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 106 – 40 | Luke Bates | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
| 6316 | 25/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 118 – 48 | Philip Allen | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
| 6317 | 26/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 98 – 20 | Colin Mills | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
| 6318 | 29/02/2016 | P | Paul Erdunast | 111 – 26 | Dave Higgins | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Julia Bradbury | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6378 | 10/06/2016 | QF | Paul Erdunast | 114 – 34 | Tony Lock | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Richard Madeley | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6382 | 22/06/2016 | SF | Paul Erdunast | 118 – 91 | Conrad Teixeira | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 6384 | 24/06/2016 | GF | Paul Erdunast | 116 – 105 | Ann Dibben | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 6984 | 8/01/2019 | CP | Paul Erdunast | 105 – 113 | Zarte Siempre | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Kate Humble | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
