Series 7

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Series 7 champion Ian Bebbington (right) with his winning dictionaries

Series 7 ran from October 1985 to December 1985. Episodes were broadcast at 4:30 pm. The seventh of 53 series presented by Richard Whiteley, it was won by Ian Bebbington. The runner-up prize was £100 of book tokens.

Seed table

Rank	Name	Wins	Points
1	Clive Freedman	8	409
2	Julian Hough	6	329
3	Tim O'Kane	4	267
4	Robert Coton	4	214
5	Ian Bebbington	3	177
6	Jean Fish	3	152
7	Tim Davies	2	144
8	Gary Franks	2	104

*Marion Johnstone, with 2 wins and 109 points, would have been the #8 seed, but for unknown reasons, she didn't return for the finals, so Gary Franks took her place. Between Series 3 and Series 20, players were ranked by total number of points, including winning and drawing scores, but not losing ones.

NOTE: Due to a rule that was in place at the time, win and point totals were reset if a player crossed a boundary between series. In addition to becoming an octochamp in Series 7, Clive Freedman had also won one additional game in Series 6.

Finals progress

Clive Freedman (1) vs Gary Franks (8)	Clive Freedman (1) vs Ian Bebbington (5)	Ian Bebbington (5) vs Julian Hough (2)
Ian Bebbington (5) vs Robert Coton (4)
Tim O'Kane (3) vs Jean Fish (6)	Jean Fish (6) vs Julian Hough (2)
Tim Davies (7) vs Julian Hough (2)

The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
289	14/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	49 – 40	James Baillie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
290	15/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	52 – 31	Paul Darnley	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
291	16/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	36 – 6	Jill Payne	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
292	17/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	48 – 29	David Braines	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
293	18/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	55 – 37	Steve Drinkwater	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
294	21/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	46 – 40	Michael Rowlands	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
295	22/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	67 – 19	Joan Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
296	23/10/1985	P	Clive Freedman	56 – 38	Andrew Thomson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
297	24/10/1985	P	Peter Collier	35 – 35	Dennis Allen	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
298	25/10/1985	P	Peter Collier	55 – 40	Dennis Allen	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
299	28/10/1985	P	Peter Collier	29 – 47	Jean Fish	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
300	29/10/1985	P	Phil Wall	43 – 46	Jean Fish	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
301	30/10/1985	P	Pauline West	43 – 59	Jean Fish	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
302	31/10/1985	P	Michael Spencer	54 – 34	Jean Fish	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
303	1/11/1985	P	Michael Spencer	16 – 66	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
304	4/11/1985	P	Ken Brown	31 – 52	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
305	5/11/1985	P	Michael McCormack	18 – 59	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
306	6/11/1985	P	Marion Johnstone	52 – 41	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Steve Jones
307	7/11/1985	P	Marion Johnstone	57 – 29	Graham Green	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
308	8/11/1985	P	Marion Johnstone	36 – 45	Cliff Loy	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
309	11/11/1985	P	Susan Wallace	49 – 30	Cliff Loy	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
310	12/11/1985	P	Susan Wallace	36 – 57	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
311	13/11/1985	P	Enid Fordham	35 – 35	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
312	14/11/1985	P	Enid Fordham	38 – 55	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
313	15/11/1985	P	Margaret Reid	29 – 57	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
314	19/11/1985	P	Robert Bosher	46 – 63	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
315	20/11/1985	P	Tim Davies	50 – 43	Tim O'Kane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	John Junkin
316	21/11/1985	P	Tim Davies	50 – 34	Honey Russell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
317	22/11/1985	P	Tim Davies	44 – 44	Arthur Boden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
318	23/11/1985	P	Tim Davies	31 – 44	Arthur Boden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
319	25/11/1985	P	Patricia Mendes Da Costa	49 – 15	Arthur Boden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth
320	26/11/1985	P	Robert Coton	48 – 42	Patricia Mendes Da Costa	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
321	27/11/1985	P	Robert Coton	70 – 31	Cyril Annis	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
322	28/11/1985	P	Robert Coton	45 – 25	Philip Faulkner	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
323	29/11/1985	P	Robert Coton	51 – 39	John Hawker	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
324	2/12/1985	P	Robert Coton	38 – 49	Gary Franks	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
325	3/12/1985	P	June Fawcett	13 – 55	Gary Franks	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
326	4/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	60 – 45	Gary Franks	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
327	5/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	58 – 36	Philip Godfrey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
328	6/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	45 – 37	Neil Stein	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy
329	9/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	54 – 27	Leslie Pollitt	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy		73
330	10/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	50 – 19	Steve Holdsworth	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy		71
331	11/12/1985	P	Julian Hough	62 – 17	Bob Balmer	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Bill Tidy		70
332	12/12/1985	QF	Clive Freedman	63 – 19	Gary Franks	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	72
333	13/12/1985	QF	Julian Hough	63 – 34	Tim Davies	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	82
334	16/12/1985	QF	Tim O'Kane	54 – 57	Jean Fish	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	75
335	17/12/1985	QF	Robert Coton	53 – 65	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	73
336	18/12/1985	SF	Clive Freedman	46 – 49	Ian Bebbington	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	70
337	19/12/1985	SF	Jean Fish	37 – 59	Julian Hough	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe	Della Thompson	73
338	20/12/1985	GF	Ian Bebbington	82 – 77	Julian Hough	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Richard Stilgoe, John Junkin	Della Thompson	127

External links

• Series 7 on The Countdown Database.
• Series 7 on The Countdown Page.