Giles Hutchings

Giles Hutchings octochamp statistics
Final position	Champion
Seeding	1
Points total	965
Conundrums solved	7

The Typhoon in Series 68...

...and again in the Championship of Champions XIV.

Giles Hutchings holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 68.

Giles "The Typhoon" Hutchings was an octochamp in and the champion of Series 68, and a semi-finalist in Championship of Champions XIV. As of his Series 68 appearances, he was a sixth-form student at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, from Farnham, Surrey. As of his Championship of Champions appearances, he was a final year maths student at the University of Warwick. He is also an Apterite and the most attractive member of c4countdown.

His mother is Series 51 quarter-finalist Nicole Hutchings.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

Débuting as a 17-year-old, Hutchings' total of 965 points from his eight preliminary games was the highest in the history of the show, until Dylan Taylor beat it in Series 69 with his total of 974 points. His début score of 129 was the joint-highest by any contestant in the history of the show (along with Jamie Ilett-Jones in Series 71 and Robin McKay in Series 74), until Elliott Mellor beat it by two points in Series 80. He was also the first octochamp to have completed all of his games in the new 15-round format (Andy Platt won four games in the old format and four in the new one).

Nick Hewer has referred to Hutchings as "The Typhoon" or "The Kid" at various times during the introductions of his games, in a similar way to potential series rival Andy Platt sometimes being called "Formidable".

Finals

Returning for the finals as the standout number one prospect, Hutchings achieved centuries against Peter Fenton in the quarter-final and Joe McGonigle in the semi-final. In the grand final against Andy Platt, Hutchings accelerated away by establishing a 14-point lead after the first two rounds. Further spots of ARGOSIES and HEIAU helped him win the series, although Platt's solve on the conundrum denied the student a century.

Championship of Champions XIV

In 2016, Hutchings was invited back to Countdown as one of sixteen entrants in Championship of Champions XIV. Notably, with all other xicounts in CoC XIV being returnees, he was the only player to enter the tournament undefeated. Hutchings won his first match against Series 67 runner-up Heather Styles with a score of 132 – 73, offering the new ODP words OUTRAKES and RETINULAS and dropping only three points from a max game in the process. Hutchings subsequently won his quarter-final draw against Tom Cappleman 114 – 97. Despite Cappleman appearing to have gained stability early on with RHOEADIN and a perfect solution to a six-small numbers game with a target of 991, Hutchings caught up with TAWNIEST and a six-small answer of his own, before eking out a seven-point lead with FEMORAL. Though unable to escape a crucial conundrum, he went on to solve ULTIMOLEG in under three seconds, maintaining the ongoing pattern of all CoC XIV matches being won by their highest cumulative scorers. In the semi-finals, Hutchings came up against then record holder Dylan Taylor, the only person at that time to have a higher octotal than Hutchings. In the game itself, Hutchings and Taylor were level in the first 14 rounds, a Countdown first, but it was Taylor who quickly solved TEARCLOTH to see Hutchings lose his undefeated record.

Co-events

Hutchings made his Co-event début at CO:REA 2012, and then returned for CO:REA 2013. He got to the grand final and was beaten by the Series 65 semi-finalist, Mark Deeks, by 97 – 91. At CO:REA 2014 he got to the grand final again and was beaten by the Series 66 champion, Jack Worsley, by 108 – 93. He then made it to the grand final of the 2016 FOCAL finals, again losing to Jack Worsley.

Appearances on University Challenge

After his Countdown appearances, he appeared in five episodes of University Challenge from July 2016 to March 2017, as captain of the University of Warwick, making the quarter-finals, with his Countdown exploits mentioned by Jeremy Paxman in his introduction.

Preceded by Paul James

Series winner Series 68

Followed by Callum Todd

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5673	03/04/2013	P	Jean Wright	54 – 129	Giles Hutchings	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Julia Bradbury	Susie Dent	134
5674	08/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	119 – 19	Mike Lee	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Julia Bradbury	Susie Dent	132
5675	09/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	120 – 57	Zulfi Ebrahim	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Julia Bradbury	Susie Dent	121
5676	10/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	115 – 50	Nick Courtnadge	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Madeley	Susie Dent	126
5677	11/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	120 – 65	Mark Witney	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Madeley	Susie Dent	139
5678	12/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	130 – 82	Alan Flanagan	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Madeley	Susie Dent	144
5679	15/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	121 – 62	Rob Tuson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Madeley	Susie Dent	131
5680	16/04/2013	P	Giles Hutchings	111 – 58	Nick Holland	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Madeley	Susie Dent	133
5715	14/06/2013	QF	Giles Hutchings	109 – 86	Peter Fenton	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dan Snow	Susie Dent	134
5719	26/06/2013	SF	Giles Hutchings	106 – 38	Joe McGonigle	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Myleene Klass	Susie Dent	124
5721	28/06/2013	GF	Giles Hutchings	95 – 86	Andy Platt	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Myleene Klass	Susie Dent	115
6279	05/01/2016	CP	Heather Styles	73 – 132	Giles Hutchings	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	135
6286	14/01/2016	CQF	Tom Cappleman	97 – 114	Giles Hutchings	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Inverdale	Susie Dent	134
6290	20/01/2016	CSF	Giles Hutchings	108 – 118	Dylan Taylor	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Naga Munchetty	Susie Dent	122

External Links

• Article on Hutchings and his Series 68 victory, Surrey Advertiser
• Interview with Hutchings during his University Challenge run