John Mayhew

John Mayhew.

John Mayhew was the winner of series 53.

He started his Countdown career by deposing Gary Buxton from the champions chair with a century, following it up with another. He spotted 2 nines in his octochamp run, SUNDERING and INTERVALS, made obvious by sitting back and looking at the clock. Returning for the finals, he beat Chris Hunt in the quarter-final in a tight game before defeating C4C forumite Jon O'Neill by just 1 point in a needle match. The final, Richard Whiteley's last ever show, was a nerve-affected affair with neither playing great. The score was dead level going into the conundrum, and neither player managed to spot SIGNATURE, before John M unscrambled FALSIFIED to become series champion.

He returned for Championship of Champions XII, but was eliminated in the first round by Paul Howe, who spotted the impressive GEOMATICS.

Preceded by Mark Tournoff

Series winner Series 53

Followed by Conor Travers

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
3873	17/02/2005	P	Gary Buxton	58 – 106	John Mayhew	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent
3874	18/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	102 – 76	Pete Dance	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Lesley Garrett	Susie Dent
3875	21/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	91 – 48	Jean MacLachlan	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3876	22/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	118 – 42	Cliff Pettifor	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3877	23/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	99 – 63	Gus Aaron	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3878	24/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	92 – 57	Stuart Wright	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3879	25/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	93 – 54	Hedy Beecham	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Geoffrey Durham	Susie Dent
3880	28/02/2005	P	John Mayhew	110 – 59	Joe O'Brien	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Philip Franks	Susie Dent
3954	24/06/2005	QF	Chris Hunt	73 – 97	John Mayhew	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Philip Franks	Susie Dent
3958	30/06/2005	SF	John Mayhew	89 – 88	Jon O'Neill	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Philip Franks	Susie Dent
3959	01/07/2005	GF	John Mayhew	86 – 76	John Brackstone	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Philip Franks	Susie Dent
4117	2/06/2006	CP	John Mayhew	87 – 117	Paul Howe	Des Lynam	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Ron Atkinson	Susie Dent