Fiona Wood

Fiona Wood octochamp statistics
Final position	Champion
Seeding	2
Points total	819
Conundrums solved	4

Fiona Wood in Championship of Champions VI...

...and 31 years later in Series 90!

Fiona Wood holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 90, the first woman to be awarded the cup.

Fiona Wood (née Willis) was a semi-finalist in Series 20 and Championship of Champions VI, and an octochamp in and the champion of Series 90. As of her Series 20 appearances, she was a secondary school student from Alva, Clackmannanshire. As of her Championship of Champions appearances, she was an accountancy student at the University of Stirling. As of her Series 90 appearances, she was a chartered accountant running her own forensic accountancy practice from neighbouring Kinross.

Her achievements to date make her the most successful female contestant in the history of the 15-round format – she was only the second ever female xicount, and the first one to occur in any version of the 15-round format. In addition, Wood was the first Scot to win the series championship since Stuart Wood (no relation to Fiona) in Series 44, and the sixth from the north of the border to achieve this feat.

With twenty-two appearances to date, Wood holds the all-time joint record for Countdown televised shows alongside Conor Travers. She is also one of the few non-Apterites to have won a series since Apterous was founded.

Appearances

Series 20 and CoC VI

She beat Roy Bendall in her first appearance, and won five more games before losing to Richard Stevens. Willis returned for the finals as number three seed, and beat Gordon Foy in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual series champion, Liz Barber, in the semis in a game that was transmitted on Willis' 16th birthday.

For reasons unknown, Willis did not compete in Championship of Champions V, instead returning in 1993 for Championship of Champions VI, beating Derek Coombs in the first round, but losing to eventual winner, Wayne Summers, in the semi-final.

Series 90

Heat games

Just over 30 years later, Willis, now appearing under her married name Wood, made her return, and kicked off with a very tense victory against fellow returnee, Jon Stitcher, after solving a crucial conundrum. She followed this up with seven more consistent victories which weren't quite as nail-biting, showing particular prowess on the numbers rounds, and carved out a solitary nine-letter word spot of REPLOTTED.

After a nervy eighth game against challenger Jules Quick, Wood eventually confirmed octochampdom with the spot of SIDECARS in the final letters round, and wrapped up with a fifth century to confirm her membership of the 800 club with a tally of 819 and a certified place in the end-of-series finals for the second time. This also made her the provisional number one seed, until Chris Kirby overtook her.

Finals

She returned for the quarter-finals against number seven seed, Helen McGivern. Both contestants started strong with the nine-letter spot of GESTATING, but Wood fell behind after choosing four large. Wood eventually regained ground and took the lead, with the darrenic spots of LOUCHEST and OPTIMA contributing to this – she ultimately prevailed 107 – 83 for a spot in the semi-finals.

Her match against number six seed Terence Newnham was a very cagey affair for the most part, right up until Wood played an ace with the nine-letter word ENDORSING to pull far out of reach of Newnham, and ultimately win 111 – 76 to setup a grand final against number one seed, Chris Kirby – Wood was the first woman to reach the grand final in three years, with Florence Cappleman-Lynes being the last one.

Her match against Kirby was predictably very tightly fought – even though she immediately fell behind thanks to the backfire on waspier ☓, Kirby had a couple of unfortunate blanks of his own in cuttie ☓ and promotee ☓ to give Wood the lead halfway through. Kirby though followed up with the spot of the darrenic ROUTEING to retake the lead by three points, and preserved it right up until the crucial conundrum ITSSADUEL. But it was Wood who buzzed in after 18.5 seconds with the very much correct LASSITUDE to snatch the title from Kirby, become only the sixth female series champion, finish with a xicount total of 1,133 and an average of exactly 103 points per game.

Preceded by Arthur Page

Series winner Series 90

Followed by Rhys Jones

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
1045	29/08/1990	P	Fiona Willis	46 – 40	Roy Bendall	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Ernie Wise	Mark Nyman	75
1046	30/08/1990	P	Fiona Willis	48 – 46	Mary Andrews	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	73
1047	31/08/1990	P	Fiona Willis	61 – 45	Michael Kerr	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	74
1048	03/09/1990	P	Fiona Willis	61 – 30	Pete Johnson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	73
1049	04/09/1990	P	Fiona Willis	50 – 50	Ian McLoughlin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	73
1050	05/09/1990	P	Fiona Willis	60 – 53	Ian McLoughlin	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	73
1051	06/09/1990	P	Fiona Willis	45 – 52	Richard Stevens	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Brian Johnston	Mark Nyman	71
1064	25/09/1990	QF	Fiona Willis	44 – 37	Gordon Foy	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Simon Mason	73
1066	27/09/1990	SF	Fiona Willis	37 – 50	Liz Barber	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Simon Mason	70
1329	05/01/1993	CQF	Derek Coombs	54 – 64	Fiona Willis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	83
1333	11/01/1993	CSF	Fiona Willis	51 – 52	Wayne Summers	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	73
8317	16/07/2024	P	Jon Stitcher	87 – 89	Fiona Wood	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris McCausland	Susie Dent	124
8318	17/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	96 – 50	James Train	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris McCausland	Susie Dent	146
8319	18/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	111 – 81	Janet Turville	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris McCausland	Susie Dent	123
8320	19/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	107 – 79	Omair Azam	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Chris McCausland	Susie Dent	144
8321	22/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	113 – 49	Dan Barby	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Katharine Merry	Susie Dent	120
8322	23/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	104 – 62	Helen Bell	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Katharine Merry	Susie Dent	124
8323	24/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	91 – 45	Allan Turnbull	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Katharine Merry	Susie Dent	119
8324	25/07/2024	P	Fiona Wood	108 – 72	Jules Quick	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Katharine Merry	Susie Dent	122
8418	13/12/2024	QF	Fiona Wood	107 – 83	Helen McGivern	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Rory Bremner	Susie Dent	132
8422	19/12/2024	SF	Fiona Wood	111 – 76	Terence Newnham	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Christopher Biggins	Susie Dent	133
8423	20/12/2024	GF	Chris Kirby	89 – 96	Fiona Wood	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Christopher Biggins	Susie Dent	120

External Links

• Countdown crowns first female winner since 1998 on BBC News