Michael Wylie

Michael Wylie
Lexicographer
First appearance	9 May 2007
Last appearance	11 May 2007
Appearances	3
Episodes with Michael Wylie

Michael Wylie (1951 – 26 November 2008) was the runner-up of Series 1. Appearing in the latter half of the series, Wylie made his debut on 1 December 1982 and defeated former Calendar Countdown contestant Christine Jones to take the champion's chair. He went on to defeat three more challengers, achieving the highest score of the series (66 points) along the way before losing to Saladin Khoshnaw. But as seedings were determined by highest scores at the time, he qualified as the No. 1 seed for the the first ever grand final against Joyce Cansfield (there were no quarters or semis in Series 1). Therein, he was defeated by eighteen points.

He declined to participate in Championship of Champions I and also didn't appear in the Supreme Championship, as he went on to work as an assistant producer on the show. He did though appear on the special episode to celebrate Countdown's 500th show on 2 February 1987 and assisted Gyles Brandreth. His involvement with Countdown lasted for many years, expanding as he became the co-author of Countdown: Spreading The Word and the Countdown puzzle books along with Damian Eadie.

In spite of his direct involvement with the production of the show, Wylie did make three further blocks of on-screen appearances. In June 1989, he took part in the first Countdown Masters series that was broadcast during The Channel Four Daily breakfast programme. He defeated Laurie Puddefoot by an impressive 100 points to 58, and did even better in the second series when he triumphed over Stephen Balment by a margin of 74 points.

Wylie did not reappear until Series 56 where he made three appearances in the role of lexicographer, filling in for Susie Dent during a spell of illness. As his name already appeared in the credits sequence at the end of each show, Wylie was billed under the pseudonym of Susie Gent.

He sadly died on 26 November 2008.

Series runner-up Series 1

Followed by Russell Byers

Preceded by Allan Simmons

Series runner-up Countdown Masters Series 2 (joint, with Stephen Deakin)

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
18	01/12/1982	P	Michael Wylie	? – ?	Christine Jones	Richard Whiteley	Dr Linda Barrett	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	??
19	02/12/1982	P	Michael Wylie	? – ?	Ian Gucklhorn	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	??
20	06/12/1982	P	Michael Wylie	? – ?	Don Wright	Richard Whiteley	Dr Linda Barrett	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	??
21	07/12/1982	P	Michael Wylie	54 – 39	Arnold Weinberg	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	72
22	08/12/1982	P	Michael Wylie	? – ?	Saladin Khoshnaw	Richard Whiteley	Dr Linda Barrett	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	??
27	16/12/1982	GF	Joyce Cansfield	59 – 41	Michael Wylie	Richard Whiteley	Dr Linda Barrett, Carol Vorderman	Beverley Isherwood	Cathy Hytner	Kenneth Williams	Mary	??
495	02/02/1987	X	Bill Tidy with Mark Nyman, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, and Darryl Francis	41 – 32	Gyles Brandreth with Clive Freedman, Michael Wylie, Joyce Cansfield, and Harvey Freeman	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	none	Della Thompson	67
M13	26/06/1989–30/06/1989	M	Michael Wylie	100 – 58	Laurie Puddefoot	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Catherine Clarke	134
M70	30/07/1990–03/08/1990	M	Michael Wylie	118 – 44	Stephen Balment	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Simon Mason	134

External Links

• Michael Wylie on the Internet Movie Database.