Steven Briers

Steven Briers octochamp statistics
Final position	Quarter-finalist
Seeding	1
Points total	843
Conundrums solved	6

Steve Briers in his second game...

...then two years later in the grand final of Championship of Champions XIII against Charlie Reams...

...and him again in the 30th Birthday Championship four years later.

Steven "Steve" Briers was an octochamp in Series 55, the winner of Championship of Champions XIII, and a participant in the 30th Birthday Championship. During his Series 55 appearances, he was a student at Taunton's College from Southampton, Hampshire, and is most renowned for his bizarre style of solving numbers games.

Appearances on the programme

Series 55

Briers first appeared on 3 November 2006, beating Richard Woodward 76 – 62. He vastly improved and hammered Dean Rowley 136 – 41 in his second game, setting the then fifth-highest ever score, the then second-highest ever winning margin in Countdown history, and the highest score of the series. He won six more games to become an octochamp and the No. 1 seed, amassing a total of 843 points. However, he was defeated in the quarter-finals by Phil Watson; the only time to date in which a No. 1 seed lost a quarter-final match under the 15-round format.

Championship of Champions XIII

Despite not making past the quarter-finals of his series, Briers was selected to return for Championship of Champions XIII, beating Debbi Flack in the first round, partly thanks to the nine-letter word ANTIPODES in the first letters game.

In the quarter-finals, he faced David O'Donnell, who was unbeaten with 12 wins from 12 games. The scores were close all the way, until Briers spotted the nine-letter word PESTICIDE when O'Donnell only had a seven. The players continued to score in every round, until the conundrum, where Briers led by 18 points. O'Donnell solved the conundrum in 0.5 seconds, but it wasn't enough as he lost 118 – 110 to Briers, one of the highest ever losing scores.

In the semi-finals, he faced Nick Wainwright in another close game, including a brilliant six-small numbers solution from Wainwright. However, Briers was five points into the lead going into the conundrum FCRAVIOLA, which neither player solved, so it was Briers that went through to the grand final.

In the grand final, he faced Charlie Reams. Reams started with LEPTON while Briers had OPULENT for seven. Briers maintained this lead until he had reenact ☓ disallowed. Briers then took the lead, first with SNOOZED, then another seven points when Reams went wrong on the numbers. A seven, a six and a five for both players meant that Reams had to beat Briers on the final numbers game to force a crucial conundrum. However, Reams declared nothing, and Briers declared five away. Briers had won the tournament, and just the conundrum remained. The conundrum was ELITEBOUT. Briers first buzzed in with libouette ☓ which was wrong, and then comically, Reams buzzed in with GANDISEEG, referring to Richard Brittain's guess at the conundrum in the first round of the tournament.

30th Birthday Championship

Briers returned to Countdown in 2013, as one of 41 contestants taking part in the 30th Birthday Championship. He lost his only match against Series 61 runner-up Andrew Hulme by a score of 113 – 74.

Preceded by Paul Gallen

Champion of Champions Championship of Champions XIII

Followed by Dylan Taylor

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
4227	03/11/2006	P	Richard Woodward	62 – 76	Steven Briers	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jo Brand	Susie Dent	127
4228	06/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	136 – 41	Dean Rowley	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tony Christie	Susie Dent	142
4229	07/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	106 – 56	Vicky Hubble	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tony Christie	Susie Dent	124
4230	08/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	116 – 68	Carl Gregory	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tony Christie	Susie Dent	134
4231	09/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	108 – 59	Glenda Fullard	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tony Christie	Susie Dent	119
4232	10/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	110 – 93	Dan Ward	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tony Christie	Susie Dent	141
4233	13/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	92 – 53	Jennifer Brown	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	129
4234	14/11/2006	P	Steven Briers	99 – 55	Sue Pascoe	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Keith Barron	Susie Dent	127
4256	14/12/2006	QF	Steven Briers	72 – 82	Phil Watson	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Ken Bruce	Susie Dent	138
4740	21/01/2009	CP	Steve Briers	121 – 74	Debbi Flack	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	126
4741	22/01/2009	CQF	Steve Briers	118 – 110	David O'Donnell	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alastair Stewart	Susie Dent	130
4745	28/01/2009	CSF	Steve Briers	87 – 82	Nick Wainwright	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	119
4747	30/01/2009	CGF	Charlie Reams	67 – 88	Steve Briers	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	114
5622	16/01/2013	30BP	Andrew Hulme	113 – 74	Steven Briers	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Martin Lewis	Susie Dent	127

External Links

• His own record of his experience on the show on The Countdown Page