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Series 61

From Countdown
Series 61 champion Chris Davies (centre) with his winning dictionaries and trophy.

Series 61 was the second of six series to be presented by Jeff Stelling. It began on 22 June 2009 and finished on 18 December 2009. It took a four-week break in the summer, starting 27 July, with the programme returning on 24 August. The series winner was Chris Davies.

This was also the first regular series to be recorded in Manchester; specifically, this was the first of seven to be filmed at the Granada Studios, before moving to MediaCityUK midway through the 30th Birthday Championship in 2013.

Seed table

Rank Name Wins Points
1 Andrew Hulme 8 930
2 Chris Davies 8 892
3 Innis Carson 8 861
4 Ryan Taylor 8 792
5 Brian Selway 8 746
6 Jeffrey Burgin 8 695
7 Steve Wood 8 675
8 Jacqueline Baker 5 510
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 saw Andrew Hulme, with a record 930 point total, beat Jacqueline Baker, the only player in the finals who was not an octochamp. Hulme beat Baker with words including AMOUNTED and DISASTER as well as on the last two numbers games, although neither player could turn the conundrum MILKGRAIN into GRIMALKIN.

In the second quarter-final, Chris Davies prevailed over Steve Wood by a score of 108 points to 61, declaring two nine-letter words, RANDOMISE and POLARISED, along the way. Again, neither player got the conundrum, with it being solved by Kirk Bevins in the audience.

Innis Carson beat Jeffrey Burgin 111 – 70 in the third quarter when Burgin had three words disallowed and Carson solved the conundrum TOOTHPAST. Completing the winners was Ryan Taylor, who defeated Brian Selway although Selway did come up with the correct answer to DUOASHORE. All of the top four seeds had now qualified for the semis.

Semi-finals

In the first semi-final, both Ryan Taylor and Andrew Hulme started strong with PUDENDA and UPENDED respectively. However, Hulme took the lead after Taylor had umbone ☓ called off. Taylor was able to match but never beat his opponent on the letters, and Hulme scored in every letters game apart from the last one, when both players offered the invalid gloops ☓. In the final numbers game, Hulme offered an impressive seven-point solution to a very difficult numbers game that featured six small numbers with a target of 942. However, the conundrum SEMIHUNTT had to go to Dinos Sfyris in the audience.

The second semi featured a closer matchup between Chris Davies and Innis Carson. Carson first took the lead in Round 3 with INTENSE. After this point, the players tied each other on every letters and numbers game right up to the final letters. Carson declared SOLENOID, while Davies only managed a seven. He was leading 97 – 82 at this point, but went on to choose two large numbers in a round that only Davies was able to get on the nose. This set up a crucial conundrum EPITUSSLE. Davies guessed SLEEPSUIT with less than five seconds to go, and was found to be correct, meaning that he had turned around a deficit of 15 points and just scraped into the grand final.

Grand final

The top two seeds, Andrew Hulme and Chris Davies, qualified for the final. Both players made a strong start with the word WOOMERA. Davies first took the lead three rounds later with TETRODE. He extended this lead after spotting DIARISES, and when Hulme had his attempted nine houseload ☓ disallowed, the game was effectively over. It was a high-scoring finish, with both Davies and Hulme solving all three numbers games on the nose, and Davies unscrambling the tricky conundrum ARTLEPOOL and earning the title of series champion. Jeff Stelling quipped 'First time Hartlepool have got to a final for a long time!'.

Finals progress

Andrew Hulme (1) vs Jacqueline Baker (8) Andrew Hulme (1) vs Ryan Taylor (4) Andrew Hulme (1)
vs
Chris Davies (2)
Brian Selway (5) vs Ryan Taylor (4)
Innis Carson (3) vs Jeffrey Burgin (6) Innis Carson (3) vs Chris Davies (2)
Steve Wood (7) vs Chris Davies (2)
The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
4844 22/06/2009 P Jacqueline Baker 112 - 50 Kate Black Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 152
4845 23/06/2009 P Jacqueline Baker 67 - 87 Nilesh Patel Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 118
4846 24/06/2009 P Nilesh Patel 61 - 66 Clive Brooker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 117
4847 25/06/2009 P Clive Brooker 68 - 106 Innis Carson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 132
4848 26/06/2009 P Innis Carson 115 - 57 Martyn Brewer Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 121
4849 29/06/2009 P Innis Carson 111 - 61 Duncan MacPhail Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Matt Le Tissier Susie Dent 119
4850 30/06/2009 P Innis Carson 108 - 43 Trudi Harding Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Matt Le Tissier Susie Dent 121
4851 01/07/2009 P Innis Carson 102 - 43 Allan Barnes Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Matt Le Tissier Susie Dent 139
4852 02/07/2009 P Innis Carson 94 - 47 Mike Moran Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Matt Le Tissier Susie Dent 127
4853 03/07/2009 P Innis Carson 115 - 70 Danny Marsh Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Matt Le Tissier Susie Dent 129
4854 06/07/2009 P Innis Carson 110 - 67 Chris Bergman Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Donal MacIntyre Susie Dent 123
4855 07/07/2009 P Anne Hughes 87 - 49 Joe Banin Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Donal MacIntyre Susie Dent 117
4856 08/07/2009 P Anne Hughes 56 - 89 Micheal Harris Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Donal MacIntyre Susie Dent 120
4857 09/07/2009 P Micheal Harris 101 - 133 Andrew Hulme Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Donal MacIntyre Susie Dent 155
4858 10/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 116 - 52 Eileen Broadhead Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Donal MacIntyre Susie Dent 132
4859 13/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 111 - 21 Gordon Armour Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Ian Hyland Susie Dent 126
4860 14/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 119 - 48 Steven Davenport Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Ian Hyland Susie Dent 139
4861 15/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 101 - 50 Jonathan Good Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Ian Hyland Susie Dent 121
4862 16/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 104 - 19 Barbara Speak Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Ian Hyland Susie Dent 121
4863 17/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 118 - 64 Vicky Smith Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Ian Hyland Susie Dent 139
4864 20/07/2009 P Andrew Hulme 128 - 52 Mike Olive Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Anton du Beke Susie Dent 144
4865 21/07/2009 P Paul Varlaam 72 - 71 Yvonne Battelle Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Anton du Beke Susie Dent 133
4866 22/07/2009 P Paul Varlaam 87 - 82 Carol Warren Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Anton du Beke Susie Dent 128
4867 23/07/2009 P Paul Varlaam 89 - 70 Vic Aboudara Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Anton du Beke Susie Dent 131
4868 24/07/2009 P Paul Varlaam 74 - 58 Beryl Johnston Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Anton du Beke Susie Dent 133
4869 24/08/2009 P Paul Varlaam 94 - 34 Richard Savaker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Alastair Stewart Susie Dent 117
4870 25/08/2009 P Paul Varlaam 67 - 105 Ed Rossiter Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Alastair Stewart Susie Dent 117
4871 26/08/2009 P Ed Rossiter 93 - 77 Adam Haward Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Alastair Stewart Susie Dent 130
4872 27/08/2009 P Ed Rossiter 96 - 84 Yvette Reeves Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Alastair Stewart Susie Dent 122
4873 28/08/2009 P Ed Rossiter 79 - 106 Chris Davies Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Alastair Stewart Susie Dent 133
4874 31/08/2009 P Chris Davies 95 - 46 Matt Shepherd Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 121
4875 01/09/2009 P Chris Davies 110 - 35 Julie Lane Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 114
4876 02/09/2009 P Chris Davies 113 - 37 Michael Jocelyn Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 121
4877 03/09/2009 P Chris Davies 139 - 89 Ross Mackenzie Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 143
4878 04/09/2009 P Chris Davies 121 - 57 Jonathan Seal Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 131
4879 07/09/2009 P Chris Davies 103 - 42 Marcus Bearpark Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 129
4880 08/09/2009 P Chris Davies 105 - 53 John Smoker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 121
4881 09/09/2009 P Ken MacKenzie 77 - 86 Bob De Caux Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 119
4882 10/09/2009 P Bob De Caux 84 - 61 Christopher Harris Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 128
4883 11/09/2009 P Bob De Caux 88 - 60 Alex Richards Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Kate Humble Susie Dent 151
4884 14/09/2009 P Bob De Caux 85 - 66 Lorraine Brookfield Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 143
4885 15/09/2009 P Bob De Caux 83 - 41 Simon Porter Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 115
4886 16/09/2009 P Bob De Caux 79 - 91 Jeffrey Burgin Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 133
4887 17/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 80 - 63 Phil Reed Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 125
4888 18/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 93 - 86 Darren Carter Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jo Brand Susie Dent 137
4889 21/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 91 - 75 Russell Langdown Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 130
4890 22/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 75 - 74 Mhairi Cameron Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 120
4891 23/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 95 - 47 Martin Edwards Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 140
4892 24/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 87 - 44 Laura Leach Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 141
4893 25/09/2009 P Jeffrey Burgin 73 - 55 Richard Moody Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Colin Murray Susie Dent 122
4894 28/09/2009 P Tricia Finn 83 - 39 Jackie Dowdy Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 123
4895 29/09/2009 P Tricia Finn 57 - 81 George Raison Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 129
4896 30/09/2009 P George Raison 88 - 73 Beverley Jones Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 118
4897 01/10/2009 P George Raison 68 - 92 Anthony Pinnell Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 138
4898 02/10/2009 P Anthony Pinnell 59 - 66 David Kurdynowski Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley John Inverdale Susie Dent 130
4899 05/10/2009 P David Kurdynowski 53 - 77 Tony Leverton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 116
4900 06/10/2009 P Tony Leverton 76 - 81 Steve Wood Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 131
4901 07/10/2009 P Steve Wood 92 - 66 Dave Meddings Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 135
4902 08/10/2009 P Steve Wood 90 - 70 Joanne Finnerty Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 115
4903 09/10/2009 P Steve Wood 89 - 67 Paul Broadhead Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Martin Lewis Susie Dent 119
4904 12/10/2009 P Steve Wood 84 - 73 Peter Brière-Edney Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Penny Smith Susie Dent 123
4905 13/10/2009 P Steve Wood 64 - 58 Colin Wilson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Penny Smith Susie Dent 129
4906 14/10/2009 P Steve Wood 87 - 64 Toby Chenery Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Penny Smith Susie Dent 119
4907 15/10/2009 P Steve Wood 88 - 51 Robert Barnard Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Penny Smith Susie Dent 127
4908 16/10/2009 P Mark Greenhalgh 74 - 108 John Drinkwater Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Penny Smith Susie Dent 129
4909 19/10/2009 P John Drinkwater 30 - 109 Brian Selway Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Lesley Garrett Susie Dent 133
4910 20/10/2009 P Brian Selway 102 - 33 Jack Knowles Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Lesley Garrett Susie Dent 117
4911 21/10/2009 P Brian Selway 63 - 58 Cherry Barnett Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Lesley Garrett Susie Dent 131
4912 22/10/2009 P Brian Selway 94 - 45 Nicola Houston Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Lesley Garrett Susie Dent 123
4913 23/10/2009 P Brian Selway 96 - 68 Ray Pearson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Lesley Garrett Susie Dent 117
4914 26/10/2009 P Brian Selway 95 - 54 Krishan Neelendra Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jane Moore Susie Dent 117
4915 27/10/2009 P Brian Selway 81 - 59 Len Parker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jane Moore Susie Dent 124
4916 28/10/2009 P Brian Selway 106 - 41 Nick Jones Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jane Moore Susie Dent 121
4917 29/10/2009 P John Dyer 60 - 45 Tim Curtis Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jane Moore Susie Dent 132
4918 30/10/2009 P John Dyer 80 - 97 Gordon Vaughan Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jane Moore Susie Dent 119
4919 02/11/2009 P Gordon Vaughan 76 - 91 Robert Brownlie Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Hilary Jones Susie Dent 132
4920 03/11/2009 P Robert Brownlie 119 - 50 Ramesh Patel Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Hilary Jones Susie Dent 129
4921 04/11/2009 P Robert Brownlie 75 - 85 Jeremy Baker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Hilary Jones Susie Dent 120
4922 05/11/2009 P Jeremy Baker 76 - 97 Ryan Taylor Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Hilary Jones Susie Dent 128
4923 06/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 76 - 54 Chris Civil Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Hilary Jones Susie Dent 119
4924 09/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 93 - 50 Geoff Morris Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 116
4925 10/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 106 - 104 Lesley Hines Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 148
4926 11/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 105 - 36 David Woodward Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 129
4927 12/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 123 - 68 Martyn Simpson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 137
4928 13/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 89 - 76 Lucy Bolton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 137
4929 16/11/2009 P Ryan Taylor 103 - 51 Ryan Vickers Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Amanda Lamb Susie Dent 122
4930 17/11/2009 P Charlie Khoo 98 - 57 Andrew Herbertson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Amanda Lamb Susie Dent 127
4931 18/11/2009 P Charlie Khoo 81 - 77 Joanne Britton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Amanda Lamb Susie Dent 119
4932 19/11/2009 P Charlie Khoo 75 - 37 Anne Durham Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Amanda Lamb Susie Dent 119
4933 20/11/2009 P Charlie Khoo 97 - 83 Elliott Mack Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Amanda Lamb Susie Dent 120
4934 23/11/2009 P Charlie Khoo 79 - 97 Jennifer Bett Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 121
4935 24/11/2009 P Jennifer Bett 102 - 74 Paul Parkin Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 150
4936 25/11/2009 P Jennifer Bett 81 - 76 Sunil Parmar Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 128
4937 26/11/2009 P Jennifer Bett 52 - 89 Graham Jones Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 119
4938 27/11/2009 P Graham Jones 86 - 58 Tom Curran Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley David Lloyd Susie Dent 122
4939 30/11/2009 P Graham Jones 66 - 84 Tom Allerton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 129
4940 01/12/2009 P Tom Allerton 78 - 62 Adrian Coote Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 120
4941 02/12/2009 P Tom Allerton 95 - 65 Ritchie Hoyle Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 140
4942 03/12/2009 P Tom Allerton 80 - 50 Evan Gill Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 120
4943 04/12/2009 P Tom Allerton 88 - 94 Jan Parker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Gaunt Susie Dent 119
4944 07/12/2009 P Jan Parker 86 - 79 Adrian Lumb Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 133
4945 08/12/2009 P Jan Parker 91 - 67 Andrew Pollock Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 117
4946 09/12/2009 P Jan Parker 74 - 63 Gayle Knight Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 125
4947 10/12/2009 QF Andrew Hulme 86 - 42 Jacqueline Baker Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 118
4948 11/12/2009 QF Steve Wood 61 - 108 Chris Davies Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Dr Phil Hammond Susie Dent 138
4949 14/12/2009 QF Innis Carson 111 - 70 Jeffrey Burgin Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 131
4950 15/12/2009 QF Brian Selway 71 - 91 Ryan Taylor Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 116
4951 16/12/2009 SF Ryan Taylor 48 - 95 Andrew Hulme Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 116
4952 17/12/2009 SF Chris Davies 102 - 97 Innis Carson Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 118
4953 18/12/2009 GF Andrew Hulme 86 - 117 Chris Davies Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Rory McGrath Susie Dent 120

External Links

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