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Series 60

From Countdown
Series 60 champion Kirk Bevins holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy.

Series 60 ran from 2 February to 19 June 2009, following the Championship of Champions XIII. It was the first series to feature Jeff Stelling and Rachel Riley as presenters, and the first of six series to be presented by Stelling. It was won by Kirk Bevins who, on his third heat game of his series, recorded the first perfect 15-round game in the history of Countdown. This was also the last series to be filmed at the show's original location, Yorkshire Television Studios in Leeds.

The practices of throwing conundrums open to the audience if they went unsolved by the contestants, and giving mugs as prizes to successful audience members, were notably omitted during Series 60. This is thought to have been precipitated by budget cuts.

Seed table

Rank Name Wins Points
1 Kirk Bevins 8 925
2 Cate Henderson 8 782
3 Jimmy Gough 8 782
4 Shane Roberts 8 766
5 Neil Zussman 8 758
6 James Doohan 8 692
7 Hamish Williamson 4 415
8 Julie Russell 3 356
Jacqueline Baker reached number eight position on the leaderboard with four wins and 331 points, but continued her run in Series 61.
Since Series 60, 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 the number of conundrums correctly guessed, then highest single-game score.

Series finals

Quarter-finals

The first quarter-final between Bevins and three-time winner Julie Russell was a surprisingly close affair granted the two players' distance from one another in the seedings. The evenly matched players were separated by only twenty-five points; Bevins beat Russell in two letters games with PARERGON and MEDIANT, and unravelled the conundrum GONNALOAN in one second. The second quarter-final between No. 2 seed Cate Henderson and No. 7 seed Hamish Williamson went the way of the underdog. Finding a nine-letter word in FRACTIOUS and unscrambling the conundrum BADLYBEAT in five seconds helped Williamson turn a two-point deficit at the end of part two into a victory with 100 points to 74.

The third quarter-final between James Doohan and Jimmy Gough came down to the crucial conundrum NINECARAT. Doohan looked like stealing the match when he buzzed on 29 seconds. However, he failed to declare anything and so the match went the way of Gough by nine points. The final quarter-final between the fourth and fifth seeds should supposedly have been the closest matched of them all. However this was not to be, with Neil Zussman romping home by 82 points to Shane Roberts' 35.

Semi-finals

Zussman returned the very next day, taking on Kirk Bevins for a place in the grand final. Bevins took an early lead, surpassing Zussman's SCABIES with his own SUBSPACE for an eight-point advantage after Round 3. However, Zussman pounced in Round 8 when Bevins missed the eight-letter POLITEST, bringing the scores to 50 apiece. Thereafter both players scored equally in every round, reaching the conundrum with the scores at 88 – 88. However, it was a visibly relieved Bevins who solved AMSPECIAL in half a second, securing his place in the grand final.

The second semi-final between Jimmy Gough and Hamish Williamson saw Gough establish an early advantage through the eight-letter CORTINAS. Williamson then missed the first numbers game, and when Gough spotted the nine-letter REEDLINGS his lead had climbed to 62 – 33. Williamson stayed in touch, beating Gough with GAVOTTES in Round 11 and JOINERY in Round 13 when Gough declared the non-existent monetry ☓. This left it all to play for, with the scores at 58 – 78 with just the final numbers and conundrum to play. However, Williamson was unable to come close to the 866 target whereas Gough got it on the nose, and the unsolved conundrum NICEGROOM rounded off the game which went to Gough 88 – 58.

Grand final

The grand final between Kirk Bevins and Jimmy Gough was not a particularly close affair, as Bevins demonstrated his supreme game by scoring the maximum in each of the first thirteen rounds with words including NEPETAS and WAPITI. With the scores at 59 – 95 with just two rounds remaining the game was over for Gough, though Bevins went on to drop thirteen points from the maximum possible score by getting one away from the final numbers target and failing to unscramble the conundrum GRANIVORE. Nevertheless, Bevins had done more than enough to win the series, accumulating his ninth century in the process.

Easter egg

Humourously, series producer Damian Eadie concealed an Easter egg in the final nine games of this series, from the penultimate preliminary game up to the grand final. Following the recording of these episodes it was revealed that taking the initial letters of the conundrums from these games in order – GESTATING, ANTIVENOM, NONAGONAL, DEBATABLY, INCARNATE, SPEAKEASY, ECLAMPSIA, ERGONOMIC and GRANIVORE – spelt out the faux word GANDISEEG.

Finals progress

Kirk Bevins (1) vs Julie Russell (8) Kirk Bevins (1) vs Neil Zussman (5) Kirk Bevins (1)
vs
Jimmy Gough (3)
Neil Zussman (5) vs Shane Roberts (4)
Jimmy Gough (3) vs James Doohan (6) Jimmy Gough (3) vs Hamish Williamson (7)
Hamish Williamson (7) vs Cate Henderson (2)
The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
12–30 January 2009: Championship of Champions XIII
4748 02/02/2009 P Zoe Bowman 83 – 73 Andrew Hodges Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 130
4749 03/02/2009 P Zoe Bowman 57 – 98 Lisa Thomson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 119
4750 04/02/2009 P Lisa Thomson 77 – 62 Roy Catley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 117
4751 05/02/2009 P Lisa Thomson 67 – 62 Anna Sarre Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 129
4752 06/02/2009 P Lisa Thomson 80 – 82 Mike Spellar Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 118
4753 09/02/2009 P Mike Spellar 72 – 86 Janet Scowcroft Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Sergeant Susie Dent 121
4754 10/02/2009 P Janet Scowcroft 85 – 54 Roy Daniels Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Sergeant Susie Dent 125
4755 11/02/2009 P Janet Scowcroft 50 – 91 Kate Richardson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Sergeant Susie Dent 129
4756 12/02/2009 P Kate Richardson 79 – 53 Phil Baker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Sergeant Susie Dent 120
4757 13/02/2009 P Kate Richardson 84 – 83 Audrey Lazenby Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Sergeant Susie Dent 119
4758 16/02/2009 P Kate Richardson 54 – 92 Neil Zussman Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 117
4759 17/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 92 – 37 Kevin Pidduck Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 119
4760 18/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 111 – 94 Anita Fairhurst Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 118
4761 19/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 86* – 76 Simon Greening Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 127
4762 20/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 101 – 55 Matthew Meads Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 115
4763 23/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 108 – 87 Heather Chidgey Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Graham Cole Susie Dent 141
4764 24/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 81 – 77 Rick Warburton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Graham Cole Susie Dent 119
4765 25/02/2009 P Neil Zussman 97 – 48 Sheila Box Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Graham Cole Susie Dent 118
4766 26/02/2009 P Ann Abel 82 – 80 Brian Goulding Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Graham Cole Susie Dent 119
4767 27/02/2009 P Ann Abel 86 – 56 Catherine Gillespie Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Graham Cole Susie Dent 129
4768 02/03/2009 P Ann Abel 54 – 127 Kirk Bevins Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 130
4769 03/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 97 – 67 Fiona Shaw Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 116
4770 04/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 126 – 47 Ben Nicholas Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 126
4771 05/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 130 – 55 Peter Bennett Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 150
4772 06/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 111 – 39 Barrie Robinson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 120
4773 09/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 114 – 53 Anne Adams Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 129
4774 16/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 106 – 71 Ian Payn Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 131
4775 17/03/2009 P Kirk Bevins 114 – 31 Rosie Owen Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 129
4776 18/03/2009 P Kezra Shakir 33 – 93 Stephen Porritt Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 118
4777 19/03/2009 P Stephen Porritt 80 – 67 Jennie Foster Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 128
4778 20/03/2009 P Stephen Porritt 76* – 66 Tony Robinson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Brian Capron Susie Dent 122
4779 23/03/2009 P Stephen Porritt 86 – 88 Cate Henderson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Brian Capron Susie Dent 118
4780 24/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 93 – 52 Sadhana Mehendale Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Brian Capron Susie Dent 135
4781 25/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 95 – 35 Richard Gray Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Brian Capron Susie Dent 129
4782 26/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 103 – 55 Gerald Conley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 131
4783 27/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 99 – 63 Helen Kerr Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 132
4784 30/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 90 – 58 Aaron Higgs Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 119
4785 31/03/2009 P Cate Henderson 113 – 51 Michael Bryant Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 141
4786 01/04/2009 P Cate Henderson 101 – 45 Chantalle Edgley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jerry Springer Susie Dent 115
4787 02/04/2009 P Sandy Kell 63 – 68 Joe Caruana Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jerry Springer Susie Dent 120
4788 03/04/2009 P Joe Caruana 81 – 37 Sue Keable Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jerry Springer Susie Dent 119
4789 06/04/2009 P Joe Caruana 73 – 75 Fiona Chambers Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jerry Springer Susie Dent 133
4790 07/04/2009 P Fiona Chambers 83 – 56 Andrew Mitchell Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jonathan Ansell Susie Dent 119
4791 08/04/2009 P Fiona Chambers 68 – 89 Andrew Pearson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jonathan Ansell Susie Dent 133
4792 09/04/2009 P Andrew Pearson 83 – 87 Shane Roberts Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jonathan Ansell Susie Dent 139
4793 10/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 92 – 57 Keith Butcher Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jonathan Ansell Susie Dent 123
4794 13/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 105 – 56 Clare Sudbery Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 122
4795 14/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 86 – 85 Bob Savage Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 119
4796 15/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 102 – 39 Beth Elkins Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 123
4797 16/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 101 – 47 Stephen Parkes Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 132
4798 17/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 90 – 80 George Robertson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 128
4799 20/04/2009 P Shane Roberts 103 – 59 Ramsay Nashef Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 118
4800 21/04/2009 P Karyn Cooke 71 – 105 James Robinson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 129
4801 22/04/2009 P James Robinson 91 – 74 Louise Bambury Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 133
4802 23/04/2009 P James Robinson 86 – 87 Patrick McCurdie Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 121
4803 24/04/2009 P Patrick McCurdie 65 – 74 Julie Russell Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 114
4804 27/04/2009 P Julie Russell 104 – 67 Dominic Colley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 131
4805 28/04/2009 P Julie Russell 94 – 31 David Affleck Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 118
4806 29/04/2009 P Julie Russell 84 – 134 Hamish Williamson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 152
4807 30/04/2009 P Hamish Williamson 74 – 68 Heather Bolam Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 119
4808 01/05/2009 P Hamish Williamson 65 – 60 John Marsom Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 119
4809 04/05/2009 P Hamish Williamson 88 – 55 Linda Lofthouse Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 128
4810 05/05/2009 P Hamish Williamson 54 – 58 Bob Stevenson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 116
4811 06/05/2009 P Bob Stevenson 76 – 79 Chrissie Buckley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 140
4812 07/05/2009 P Chrissie Buckley 69 – 81 Paul Casimir Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 120
4813 08/05/2009 P Paul Casimir 86 – 70 Leslie Smith Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 113
4814 11/05/2009 P Paul Casimir 84 – 115 Jimmy Gough Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Steve Davis Susie Dent 118
4815 12/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 106 – 78 Dave Sorensen Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Steve Davis Susie Dent 138
4816 13/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 96 – 84 Tony Hurst Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Steve Davis Susie Dent 121
4817 14/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 113 – 53 Sue Morgan Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Steve Davis Susie Dent 120
4818 15/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 116 – 53 Peter Tarrant Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Steve Davis Susie Dent 137
4819 18/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 86 – 58 Gerry Buckley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 143
4820 19/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 72 – 62 Kerr Nairn Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 120
4821 20/05/2009 P Jimmy Gough 78 – 38 Tony Larlham Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 117
4822 21/05/2009 P Mabel Weston 51 – 47 Gary Beaty Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 131
4823 22/05/2009 P Mabel Weston 46 – 88 James Doohan Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 150
4824 25/05/2009 P James Doohan 88 – 50 Anne Loveday Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 121
4825 26/05/2009 P James Doohan 89* – 79 Jack Morgan Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 115
4826 27/05/2009 P James Doohan 70 – 51 Nick Patrick Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 130
4827 28/05/2009 P James Doohan 91 – 48 Michael Calder Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 123
4828 29/05/2009 P James Doohan 101 – 60 Margaret Oliver Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Barry Cryer Susie Dent 121
4829 01/06/2009 P James Doohan 91 – 70 Rob Thomas Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Richard Digance Susie Dent 117
4830 02/06/2009 P James Doohan 84 – 77 Angela Nayar Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Richard Digance Susie Dent 121
4831 03/06/2009 P Ian Sinclair 28 – 103 Chris Kirby Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Richard Digance Susie Dent 142
4832 04/06/2009 P Chris Kirby 99 – 47 Hans Farley Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Richard Digance Susie Dent 120
4833 05/06/2009 P Chris Kirby 69 – 82 Jacqueline Baker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Richard Digance Susie Dent 116
4834 08/06/2009 P Jacqueline Baker 91 – 60 Sean Toland Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Stapleton Susie Dent 119
4835 09/06/2009 P Jacqueline Baker 74 – 59 Jasvir Singh Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Stapleton Susie Dent 118
4836 10/06/2009 P Jacqueline Baker 84 – 56 Desi Corcoran Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Stapleton Susie Dent 126
4837 11/06/2009 QF Kirk Bevins 115 – 90 Julie Russell Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Stapleton Susie Dent 117
4838 12/06/2009 QF Cate Henderson 74 – 100 Hamish Williamson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Stapleton Susie Dent 137
4839 15/06/2009 QF James Doohan 74 – 83 Jimmy Gough Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 127
4840 16/06/2009 QF Shane Roberts 35 – 82 Neil Zussman Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 115
4841 17/06/2009 SF Kirk Bevins 98 – 88 Neil Zussman Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 128
4842 18/06/2009 SF Hamish Williamson 58 – 88 Jimmy Gough Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 164
4843 19/06/2009 GF Jimmy Gough 59 – 102 Kirk Bevins Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 115
* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum

External Links

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