Tim Morrissey

Tim Morrissey octochamp statistics
Final position	Semi-finalist
Seeding	1
Points total	533 (including 1 draw)
Conundrums solved	6 (out of 9)

Tim Morrissey as he appeared in 1991...

... and again five years later!

Tim Morrissey was an octochamp and semi-finalist in Series 17, the winner of Championship of Champions V and a semi-finalist in the Supreme Championship. Commonly regarded as being the second great "Countdown prodigy" after Allan Saldanha, Morrissey’s career spans 21 games.

His elder brother, John, appeared on the show in Series 19, but wouldn't have quite the same success as Tim.

Appearances on the programme

Series 17

Morrissey, from Dublin, made his debut at the age of 12 on 24 January 1989 in the tenth heat of Series 17, defeating Jean Tweddell 63 – 60. Morrissey went onto become an octochamp, despite drawing a game against Mary Hawes in the middle of his run, and returned for the finals as number one seed. His total score from his eight wins was 482 points — putting him amongst the highest scoring octochamps of all time. In the finals, he defeated Jim Saywell 60 – 46 in the quarter-final, but came unstuck against Evan Simpson in the semi-final, losing 56 – 45.

Special episode

His performances and his memorable character meant that he was the ideal candidate to take on Allan Saldanha in a 14-round game celebrating Countdown's 1000th show. Morrissey narrowly lost 94 – 93 following a crucial conundrum, which, it later transpired, was misspelled!

Championship of Champions V

Six months later, Morrissey would once again return to the Countdown studios, this time for Championship of Champions V, for which Morrissey was a hot favourite. After defeating Liz Barber and Lindsay Denyer in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively, Morrissey took on Gino Corr in the grand final, and won a tight match 78 – 62 to become the fifth Champion of Champions.

Supreme Championship

Morrissey would return to Countdown one final time in 1996, aged 20, to participate in the Supreme Championship. Displaying the same impressive form that saw him win Championship of Champions V, Morrissey beat Nita Marr (spotting the crucial conundrum FOLKBOSHE to take the game), Kevin Nelson and Tony Vick to win Group G.

In the series quarter-finals, he beat Hilary Hopper to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Allan Saldanha. Unfortunately for Morrissey, history would repeat itself once again as Saldanha ran out the 61 – 57 winner.

Preceded by Nic Brown

Champion of Champions Championship of Champions V

Followed by Wayne Summers

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
829	24/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	63 – 60	Jean Tweddell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Lance Percival	Georgia Hole	74
830	25/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	56 – 32	Julie Pharro	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Sylvia Syms	Freda Thornton	70
831	26/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	57 – 25	Russell Turner	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Sylvia Syms	Freda Thornton	75
832	27/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	51 – 51	Mary Hawes	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Sylvia Syms	Freda Thornton	71
833	30/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	46 – 35	Mary Hawes	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Sylvia Syms	Freda Thornton	73
834	31/01/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	77 – 56	Dave Chapple	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Sylvia Syms	Freda Thornton	79
835	01/02/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	61 – 20	Gail Cattermole	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	74
836	02/02/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	70 – 45	Jenny O'Sullivan	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	74
837	03/02/1989	P	Tim Morrissey	52 – 40	Elizabeth Dorey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Frazer Hines	Freda Thornton	72
861	09/03/1989	QF	Tim Morrissey	60 – 44	Jim Saywell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Simon Williams	Georgia Hole	70
865	15/03/1989	SF	Evan Simpson	56 – 45	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Simon Williams	Georgia Hole	74
M37	11/12/1989–15/12/1989	M	Tim Morrissey	83 – 100	Allan Saldanha	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Freda Thornton	138
1003	02/07/1990	S	Allan Saldanha	94 – 93	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gyles Brandreth, Richard Stilgoe	Catherine Clarke	121
1068	31/12/1990	CQF	Tim Morrissey	55 – 54	Liz Barber	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	69
1072	04/01/1991	CSF	Lindsay Denyer	33 – 58	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	72
1074	08/01/1991	CGF	Gino Corr	62 – 78	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Dinah Sheridan	Catherine Clarke	110
1894	03/12/1996	gQF	Tim Morrissey	60 – 51	Nita Marr	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	David Swarbrick	82
1898	09/12/1996	gSF	Tim Morrissey	57 – 41	Kevin Nelson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jenny Hanley	Susie Dent	69
1900	11/12/1996	gF	Tim Morrissey	73 – 41	Tony Vick	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Jenny Hanley	Susie Dent	74
1904	17/12/1996	SQF	Hilary Hopper	49 – 56	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Nigel Rees	Catherine Clarke	75
1906	19/12/1996	SSF	Allan Saldanha	61 – 57	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Nigel Rees	Catherine Clarke	71