Andy Platt

Andy Platt octochamp statistics
Final position	Runner-up
Seeding	2
Points total	889
Conundrums solved	3

Andy Platt in Series 68...

...and again in Championship of Champions XIV.

Andy Platt was an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 68, as well as a quarter-finalist in Championship of Champions XIV. As of his Series 68 appearances, he was a bilingual salesman from Salford, but originally from the Wirral. As of his Championship of Champions appearances, he was working for a German airline and living in the Wirral. He is also an Apterite and member of c4countdown. In December 2023, he became a moderator and official numbers games poster on the Facebook group Countdowners, replacing George Armstrong in the role. His first 'official' numbers games were posted from 1 January 2024.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

Platt's octochamp run came when Countdown altered the 15-round format, so his first four shows were in the "original" 15-round format, while his second four shows were in the "new" 15-round format. In the final game to be played in the former format, he reduced Carl Anderson to the then joint lowest-ever score in a 15-round game with just seven points.

Platt is the seventh person to have scored a century or more in all of his eight heat games. At the time, he also set a record for aggregate winning margin in preliminary games with 565, which has since been eclipsed by Dylan Taylor's 628.

Finals

Platt returned for the finals of Series 68, which was a shorter series than normal due to the 30th Birthday Championship running from January to March 2013. In his quarter-final, he trounced three-time winner Chris Ball by scoring in every round but one. Platt's victory in his semi-final against Eileen Taylor was also impressive in that he scored in every round, including ten points for a clever solution to a four-large numbers game in which he multiplied 100 by 75 before cancelling down. His grand final battle against the top-seeded wunderkind Giles Hutchings proved to be much more difficult though, as Platt trailled 14 – 0 to Hutchings after the first two rounds. Although Platt managed to win Round 4, he then lost two more letters rounds and was beaten 95 – 86, but he did solve the conundrum to deny Hutchings a century.

Championship of Champions XIV

Platt returned in 2016 for Championship of Champions XIV, facing off against David Barnard in the first round. In a tight game, Platt prevailed 98 – 90 thanks to the crucial conundrum RITEWRONG. He then played Dylan Taylor in the quarter-finals, losing by 127 – 125, despite leading thanks to spotting URNFIELDS, meaning he has the highest losing score in the show's history.

Co-events

Platt made his Co-event debut at CoChest in 2011, finishing in third place, which he then followed up with another third place at COLIN 2012. Also in 2012, he won Group B at CoLei5 and Group C at COHUD. He became the runner-up to Bradley Horrocks at Co:Brum 2022, losing on a crucial conundrum in the grand final.

Appearances on Only Connect

Along with Apterites Stephen Read and Sam Prouse, he appeared in the 2019/20 series of Only Connect as part of the "Lexplorers" team. On their first appearance on 9 September 2019, they ended up winning their game comfortably by a scoreline of 10 – 34 against the "Gladiators". They appeared in the second round on the 2 December 2019, and after a tough game, won 13 – 9 against the "Suits". They appeared in the quarter-finals on 10 February 2020, and their run came to an end after losing 16 – 21 in a rematch to the "Suits".

ZoomDown

After his Countdown appearances, he participated in Series 1, the special GoatZDown series, Series 3, Series 4 and Series 5 of ZoomDown.

Preceded by Jack Hurst

Series runner-up Series 68

Followed by Dylan Taylor

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5662	19/03/2013	P	Sam McElhinney	67 – 114	Andy Platt	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jon Culshaw	Susie Dent	127
5663	20/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	112 – 25	John Wiseman	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jon Culshaw	Susie Dent	149
5664	21/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	108 – 32	Jacqui Kemp	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jon Culshaw	Susie Dent	133
5665	22/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	109 – 7	Carl Anderson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jon Culshaw	Susie Dent	115
5666	25/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	100 – 33	Daniel Davies	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Arnold	Susie Dent	120
5667	26/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	116 – 80	Alex Newton	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Arnold	Susie Dent	127
5668	27/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	120 – 29	Josh Young	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Arnold	Susie Dent	131
5669	28/03/2013	P	Andy Platt	110 – 51	Bob Windsor	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Richard Arnold	Susie Dent	134
5716	17/06/2013	QF	Andy Platt	115 – 29	Chris Ball	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Myleene Klass	Susie Dent	123
5720	27/06/2013	SF	Andy Platt	120 – 65	Eileen Taylor	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Myleene Klass	Susie Dent	126
5721	28/06/2013	GF	Giles Hutchings	95 – 86	Andy Platt	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Myleene Klass	Susie Dent	115
6280	06/01/2016	CP	Andy Platt	98 – 90	David Barnard	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	129
6287	15/01/2016	CQF	Andy Platt	125 – 127	Dylan Taylor	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Inverdale	Susie Dent	145