Tom Cappleman

Tom Cappleman Octochamp Statistics
Final position	Champion
Seeding	1
Points total	927
Conundrums solved	6

Thomas "Tom" Cappleman in Series 72...

...and again just under a year later in the Championship of Champions XIV.

Thomas "Tom" Cappleman, also known as T-Cap, was a contestant in Series 59, an octochamp in and the champion of Series 72, and a quarter-finalist in Championship of Champions XIV. He is also an Apterite and member of c4countdown. His mother, Catriona, was a quarter-finalist in Series 30, his wife, Ruth, was a contestant in Series 83, and his father, Dave, was a contestant in Series 87.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

Cappleman débuted in Series 59, in which he lost his only game to Martin Bishop. He returned to Countdown for Series 72, starting his second run with an impressive 14-max performance against Charlene Rose. Seven more victories followed, including two by more than 100 points to confirm him as the clear No. 1 seed for the finals.

Finals

In his quarter-final, Cappleman failed to score a century for the first time, but returned for his semi-final with a 12-max performance against Kevin Steede, to set up a Grand Final with fellow returnee Tracey Mills. Despite falling behind early on, Cappleman took the lead after the first numbers game and never looked back, eventually winning 107 – 89 and hilariously answering floorlick ☓ to the conundrum.

Championship of Champions XIV

Cappleman returned to the studios in January 2016 as one of sixteen entrants in Championship of Champions XIV. Playing in the first preliminary match of the tournament, he defeated Series 69 semi-finalist Glen Webb. With both players spotting all three of the game's available nine-letter words, this game proved to yield a joint score of 248 – the highest achieved in the "new" 15-round format, until it was beaten just 11 days later by Andy Platt and Dylan Taylor's 252. In the quarter-final, Cappleman faced Series 68 champion Giles Hutchings but lost on the crucial conundrum ULTIMOLEG and thus bowed out with his first defeat since his one to Bishop in 2008.

Appearances on quiz shows

In 2012, Cappleman appeared on University Challenge, representing New College, Oxford.

In July 2016, Cappleman appeared on Series 12 of Only Connect as part of the "Verbivores" team alongside fellow Countdowners Phyl Styles and Series 65 champion Graeme Cole. They went on to win the series in April 2017. They subsequently lost a one-off "Champion of Champions" special on 3 January 2020.

Cappleman's next quiz show appearance was Mastermind on 9 November 2018. He scored 23 points, but unfortunately lost his heat game by virtue of six passes to the winner's one.

Co-events

In 2011, Cappleman made his Co-event début at Co:Lon 2011, where he finished in an impressive 2nd place, losing out to Matt Bayfield in the final. The following year, he appeared at CO:REA and CobliviLon. In 2016, he won Countdown in Reading 2016, defeating Paul Erdunast in the final on a crucial conundrum. He competed in the 2018 FOCAL finals as the No. 8 seed, and finished in 1st place in the heats, winning 6 out of 7 games. This was followed by a grand final match-up between him and Jonathan Wynn, where he was defeated.

Preceded by Dan McColm

Series winner Series 72

Followed by Jonathan Wynn

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
4707	7/11/2008	P	Martin Bishop	94 – 67	Thomas Cappleman	Des O'Connor	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	121
6106	19/03/2015	P	Charlene Rose	46 – 115	Tom Cappleman	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	123
6107	20/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	117 – 51	Sharon Hagger	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Nicky Campbell	Susie Dent	123
6108	23/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	117 – 13	Connor Moorst	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Nicky Campbell	Susie Dent	124
6109	24/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	135 – 23	Jack Roberts	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Nicky Campbell	Susie Dent	144
6110	25/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	120 – 39	Angela Hopson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Nicky Campbell	Susie Dent	122
6111	26/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	109 – 53	Mike Pilkington	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Nicky Campbell	Susie Dent	122
6112	27/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	105 – 16	Paul Young	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris Packham	Susie Dent	128
6113	30/03/2015	P	Tom Cappleman	109 – 62	Hamish Galloway	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris Packham	Susie Dent	125
6150	3/06/2015	QF	Tom Cappleman	98 – 40	Gavin Woolnough	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	124
6154	10/06/2015	SF	Tom Cappleman	127 – 52	Kevin Steede	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jo Brand	Susie Dent	132
6156	12/06/2015	GF	Tom Cappleman	107 – 89	Tracey Mills	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jo Brand	Susie Dent	126
6278	4/01/2016	CP	Tom Cappleman	133 – 115	Glen Webb	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	147
6286	14/01/2016	CQF	Tom Cappleman	97 – 114	Giles Hutchings	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Inverdale	Susie Dent	134