Series 50

From Countdown

Series 50 ran from 30 June to 19 December 2003. The fiftieth of 53 series presented by Richard Whiteley was won by Chris Cummins.

Series 50 is remembered as a very strong series, with four impressive octochamps in Chris Cummins, Stuart Earl, Stuart Solomons and Jim Bentley, with the former two making the 800 Club.

The series finals began as expected with Chris Cummins cruising past eighth seed Brian McKeon and scoring his seventh century in the process. The next match was a nailbiter between Stuart Earl and Eamonn Timmins, with the underrated Timmins snatching the game by a point after a crucial conundrum - the shock of the tournament. Solomons scored an unconvincing victory over Philip Whitnall, while Jim Bentley and Adam Laws went into a crucial conundrum at 78 – 78, with Laws unscrambling NIPPERAID in 11 seconds to earn a place in the semifinals. In the semifinals, Cummins again made short work of his opponent, this time scoring "only" 97 to Laws' 59. Solomons was not at his best against Timmins, who had the game wrapped up with two rounds to play. And so it came to the final, with the first seed facing off against the seventh. Timmins gave a creditable performance, including a nine, but Cummins gradually edged away. The game finished 122 – 86, and the froglike Cambridge mathematician was crowned champion.

From Episode 3545, its transmission time shifted from 4.15pm to 3.15pm as part of a revamp of the Channel 4 daytime schedule.

Seed table

Rank	Name	Wins	Points
1	Chris Cummins	8	858
2	Stuart Earl	8	807
3	Stuart Solomons	8	796
4	Jim Bentley	8	756
5	Adam Laws	6	677
6	Philip Whitnall	5	492
7	Eamonn Timmins	4	441
8	Brian McKeon	4	437

Between Series 38 and Series 59, players are sorted by number of wins, then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums are not counted, and players with the same number of wins and points are sorted by highest score.

Finals progress

Chris Cummins (1) vs Brian McKeon (8)	Chris Cummins (1) vs Adam Laws (5)	Chris Cummins (1) vs Eamonn Timmins (7)
Adam Laws (5) vs Jim Bentley (4)
Stuart Solomons (3) vs Philip Whitnall (6)	Stuart Solomons (3) vs Eamonn Timmins (7)
Eamonn Timmins (7) vs Stuart Earl (2)

The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Host	Arithmetician	Guest	Lex	Max
3512	30/06/2003	P	Alan Stevens	65 – 98	Stephen Grant	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	140
3513	1/07/2003	P	Stephen Grant	89 – 79	Clive Smith	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	128
3514	2/07/2003	P	Stephen Grant	59 – 75	Lilian Bland	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	120
3515	3/07/2003	P	Lilian Bland	94 – 84	Shelley Heywood	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jason Byrne	Susie Dent	120
3516	4/07/2003	P	Lilian Bland	64 – 94	Ian Smith	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jason Byrne	Susie Dent	119
3517	7/07/2003	P	Ian Smith	87 – 75	Simon Robson	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jason Byrne	Susie Dent	131
3518	8/07/2003	P	Ian Smith	99 – 85	Jenny Fenn	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jason Byrne	Susie Dent	123
3519	9/07/2003	P	Ian Smith	65 – 88	Nick Peel	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jason Byrne	Susie Dent	131
3520	10/07/2003	P	Nick Peel	95 – 68	Kevin Murphy	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Alison Heard	132
3521	11/07/2003	P	Nick Peel	90 – 82	Maureen Miles	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Alison Heard	122
3522	14/07/2003	P	Nick Peel	91 – 62	Liz Scott	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Alison Heard	121
3523	15/07/2003	P	Nick Peel	54 – 64	Jim Cantle	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Alison Heard	141
3524	16/07/2003	P	Jim Cantle	75 – 71	Robin Garstone	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Alison Heard	119
3525	17/07/2003	P	Jim Cantle	83 – 60	Anne Pagett	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Wilson	Susie Dent	141
3526	18/07/2003	P	Jim Cantle	81 – 72	Martin Cresdee	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Wilson	Susie Dent	118
3527	21/07/2003	P	Jim Cantle	81 – 95	Chris Cummins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Wilson	Susie Dent	128
3528	22/07/2003	P	Chris Cummins	105 – 47	May Fullegar	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Wilson	Susie Dent	140
3529	23/07/2003	P	Chris Cummins	103 – 69	Graham Tonkin	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Wilson	Susie Dent	118
3530	29/07/2003	P	Chris Cummins	108 – 38	Andrea Needham	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	131
3531	30/07/2003	P	Chris Cummins	117 – 32	Ron Squire	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	132
3532	5/08/2003	P	Chris Cummins	91 – 63	June Knott	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	126
3533	6/08/2003	P	Chris Cummins	123 – 32	Richard Redman	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	137
3534	8/08/2003	P	Chris Cummins	116 – 65	Peter Twydell	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	131
3535	11/08/2003	P	Colin Askew	92 – 70	David Toll	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	119
3536	12/08/2003	P	Colin Askew	79 – 121	Nick Smith	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	131
3537	13/08/2003	P	Nick Smith	97 – 58	Janet Baker	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	119
3538	19/08/2003	P	Nick Smith	58 – 83	Brian McKeon	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	119
3539	20/08/2003	P	Brian McKeon	93 – 51	Reg Harding	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	119
3540	26/08/2003	P	Brian McKeon	96 – 88	Pat Seymour	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	120
3541	27/08/2003	P	Brian McKeon	95 – 65	Maggi Mathiesen	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	131
3542	28/08/2003	P	Brian McKeon	70 – 79	Jim Bentley	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	116
3543	29/08/2003	P	Jim Bentley	101 – 51	Alison Ross	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	125
3544	1/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	90 – 89	Stuart Lightfoot	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	120
3545	15/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	112 – 62	Richard Francis	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	125
3546	16/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	82 – 66	Diana Smith	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	131
3547	17/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	83 – 79	David Moore	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	120
3548	18/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	96 – 51	Ruth Edmonds	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	122
3549	19/09/2003	P	Jim Bentley	113 – 51	Irvine Henderson	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	119
3550	22/09/2003	P	Geoff Trinick	71 – 65	Eric McDonnell	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent	142
3551	23/09/2003	P	Geoff Trinick	72 – 69	John Britton	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent	132
3552	24/09/2003	P	Geoff Trinick	43 – 77	Bonnie White	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent	119
3553	25/09/2003	P	Bonnie White	94 – 55	Matt Blason	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent	119
3554	26/09/2003	P	Bonnie White	78 – 59	Janet Chambers	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Jennie Bond	Susie Dent	143
3555	29/09/2003	P	Bonnie White	95 – 75	Peter Watkins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Griffiths	Susie Dent	130
3556	30/09/2003	P	Bonnie White	75 – 78	Scott Bowman	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Griffiths	Susie Dent	125
3557	1/10/2003	P	Scott Bowman	102 – 76	Kerry Copland	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Griffiths	Susie Dent	135
3558	2/10/2003	P	Scott Bowman	78 – 96	Jim Critchley	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Griffiths	Susie Dent	137
3559	3/10/2003	P	Jim Critchley	60 – 84	Philip Whitnall	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Griffiths	Susie Dent	130
3560	6/10/2003	P	Philip Whitnall	93 – 61	David Burke	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tom O'Connor	Alison Heard	154
3561	7/10/2003	P	Philip Whitnall	71 – 68	Susan Mulkeen	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tom O'Connor	Alison Heard	117
3562	8/10/2003	P	Philip Whitnall	100 – 53	Peter Leabourne	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tom O'Connor	Alison Heard	129
3563	9/10/2003	P	Philip Whitnall	95 – 75	Gill Jolly	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tom O'Connor	Alison Heard	133
3564	10/10/2003	P	Philip Whitnall	49 – 97	Ayoola Erinle	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tom O'Connor	Alison Heard	128
3565	13/10/2003	P	Ayoola Erinle	73 – 66	Heather Burger	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Mo Mowlam	Susie Dent	131
3566	14/10/2003	P	Ayoola Erinle	56 – 73	Paul Trow	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Mo Mowlam	Susie Dent	124
3567	15/10/2003	P	Paul Trow	90 – 78	Mike Adcock	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Mo Mowlam	Susie Dent	127
3568	16/10/2003	P	Paul Trow	78 – 82	Bob Selby	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Mo Mowlam	Susie Dent	133
3569	17/10/2003	P	Bob Selby	63 – 61	Rajesh Kesur	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Mo Mowlam	Susie Dent	122
3570	20/10/2003	P	Bob Selby	89 – 73	Geoff Buck	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	121
3571	21/10/2003	P	Bob Selby	84 – 96	Gail Richman	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	120
3572	22/10/2003	P	Gail Richman	65 – 82	Eamonn Timmins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	122
3573	23/10/2003	P	Eamonn Timmins	95 – 74	Carolyn Lysons	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	131
3574	24/10/2003	P	Eamonn Timmins	99 – 59	Stuart Black	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	131
3575	27/10/2003	P	Eamonn Timmins	95 – 66	Mary Holgate	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent	121
3576	28/10/2003	P	Eamonn Timmins	70 – 105	Stuart Solomons	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent	164
3577	29/10/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	96 – 31	Barry Gray	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent	122
3578	30/10/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	104 – 34	Sheila Bearfield	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent	131
3579	31/10/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	117 – 25	Sue Hearn	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent	129
3580	3/11/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	97 – 78	Ajaz Iqbal	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Barry Norman	Susie Dent	123
3581	4/11/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	99 – 73	Tricia Cooper	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Barry Norman	Susie Dent	132
3582	5/11/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	86 – 54	Alex Fish	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Barry Norman	Susie Dent	120
3583	6/11/2003	P	Stuart Solomons	92 – 76	Bob Brock	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Barry Norman	Susie Dent	120
3584	7/11/2003	P	Simon Chapman	84 – 69	Margaret Swaffield	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Barry Norman	Susie Dent	120
3585	10/11/2003	P	Simon Chapman	85 – 78	Philip Milne	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent	120
3586	11/11/2003	P	Simon Chapman	47 – 83	Mark Pavey	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent	119
3587	12/11/2003	P	Mark Pavey	100 – 36	Sheila Travers	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent	122
3588	13/11/2003	P	Mark Pavey	92 – 70	Gareth Johnson	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent	133
3589	14/11/2003	P	Mark Pavey	68 – 83	Stuart Earl	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Peter Baldwin	Susie Dent	121
3590	17/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	112 – 63	Josie Tapp	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Sue MacGregor	Richard Samson	140
3591	18/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	98 – 90	Paul Skingsley	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Sue MacGregor	Richard Samson	119
3592	19/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	98 – 85	Jason Reed	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Sue MacGregor	Richard Samson	121
3593	20/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	107 – 53	Helen O'Rourke	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Sue MacGregor	Richard Samson	134
3594	21/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	85 – 69	Neil Green	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Sue MacGregor	Richard Samson	119
3595	24/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	111 – 64	Peter Deakin	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	120
3596	25/11/2003	P	Stuart Earl	113 – 35	Barbara Taylor	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	130
3597	26/11/2003	P	Jane Chand	49 – 108	Adam Laws	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	118
3598	27/11/2003	P	Adam Laws	89 – 86	John Charleston-Stokes	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	121
3599	28/11/2003	P	Adam Laws	92 – 54	Rebecca Pasha	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent	119
3600	1/12/2003	P	Adam Laws	83 – 72	Dudley Turner	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	118
3601	2/12/2003	P	Adam Laws	93 – 57	Kevin Chandler	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	121
3602	3/12/2003	P	Adam Laws	123 – 38	Bob Gardiner	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	125
3603	4/12/2003	P	Adam Laws	89 – 90	Lynda House	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	137
3604	5/12/2003	P	Lynda House	70 – 56	Brian Bottomley	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Martin Jarvis	Susie Dent	142
3605	8/12/2003	P	Lynda House	78 – 95	Steve Graston	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	140
3606	9/12/2003	P	Steve Graston	95 – 59	Carol Bestwick	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	120
3607	10/12/2003	P	Steve Graston	105 – 20	Robin Barnett	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	153
3608	11/12/2003	QF	Brian McKeon	58 – 107	Chris Cummins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	121
3609	12/12/2003	QF	Stuart Earl	87 – 88	Eamonn Timmins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Tim Rice	Susie Dent	117
3610	15/12/2003	QF	Stuart Solomons	87 – 69	Philip Whitnall	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	118
3611	16/12/2003	QF	Jim Bentley	78 – 88	Adam Laws	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	118
3612	17/12/2003	SF	Adam Laws	59 – 97	Chris Cummins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	111
3613	18/12/2003	SF	Eamonn Timmins	96 – 85	Stuart Solomons	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	121
3614	19/12/2003	GF	Chris Cummins	122 – 86	Eamonn Timmins	{{{10}}}	{{{11}}}	Richard Digance	Susie Dent	133

External Links

Series 50 on The Countdown Database.
Series 50 on The Countdown Page.

Series 50

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Seed table

Finals progress

Episodes

External Links

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