Due to persistent vandalism, account creation has been suspended. If you would like an account, please contact Charlie Reams on Apterous.
Luke Johnson-Davies
Luke Johnson-Davies octochamp statistics | |
---|---|
Final position | — |
Seeding | 1 |
Points total | 1024 |
Conundrums solved | 6 |
Luke Johnson-Davies was an octochamp in Series 82 who debuted in Series 81. He is a Maths and Computers Student at Durham University, from Cambridge. He is also an Apterite.
Luke began attending Co-events in 2018 and was the runner-up of only his second event, CoNuT, in 2019.
Appearances on the programme
Pre-pandemic
Luke first appeared on television in the second quarter-final of Series 80 as the audience member who solved the conundrum LOVECRISP with the answer COVERSLIP, which also had SLIPCOVER as a valid solution.
Nearly 6 months later, Luke made his debut as a player on 5 December 2019 against one-game winner Zach Hart. Two nine-letter words and scoring points in every round helped him beat Hart convincingly and catapult to 139 points, a score which broke two records: Hamish Williamson's 10-year-old record for the highest-ever score set by a challenger against a champion by 5 points; and Elliott Mellor's 7-month-old record for the highest-ever debut score by 8 points. Luke earned four more victories, while never falling below 113 points nor failing to declare at least one nine-letter word, before stepping aside for the finals of Series 81.
Luke soon returned to the programme on 2 January 2020 to carry over his unbeaten run in the first heat of Series 82. Showing no signs of slowing down, he kicked off the new year in style by spotting another pair of nine letter words to win his sixth game with 143 points, the joint fourth-highest ever achieved in the "new" 15-round format. In the third show of the series, he became the standout number one seed and only the second octochamp ever to join the "1,000 club", setting the second-highest ever cumulative score of 1,024 points – an average of 128 per game – after Mellor himself in the process.
Luke is the first contestant ever to declare a valid nine-letter word in at least one letters round in all eight of their heat games; in total, he declared a record 11 nines: HAILSTONE, OUTDRIVES, EUTOPIANS, LEGATIONS, ARRESTING, RESINITES, DISLOCATE, MONTICULE, ESTIMATOR, PARVITUDE and COURTIERS. He is also the first contestant ever to record a run of four consecutive scores over 125.
Post-pandemic
As a result of filming being suspended in March due to the 2020 COVID-19 hiatus, Series 82 was extended to finish on-screen in December following its resumption in August. Luke returned to play his quarter-final match against the number eight seed David Kempshall on 10 December, a record 342 days after becoming an octochamp, in a bid to win the longest-ever series of Countdown. Johnson-Davies sailed off to a convincing lead, while Kempshall kept up. Both players spotted DETAILING for nine before Luke emerged victorious with 136 points and qualified to the semi finals.
Episodes
# | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7220 | 5/12/2019 | P | Zach Hart | 26 – 139 | Luke Johnson-Davies | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 146 | ||
7221 | 6/12/2019 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 122 – 60 | Janice Collins | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
7222 | 9/12/2019 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 113 – 58 | Jim Torpey | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 143 | ||
7223 | 10/12/2019 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 124 – 28 | John Lawlor | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
7224 | 11/12/2019 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 126 – 59 | Stephen Rooney | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
7232 | 2/01/2020 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 143 – 51 | Gagan Singh Gill | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 145 | ||
7233 | 3/01/2020 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 131 – 23 | Nathan Nicholson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
7234 | 6/01/2020 | P | Luke Johnson-Davies | 126 – 36 | Carole Bramwell | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Tim Vine | Susie Dent | 139 | ||
7407 | 10/12/2020 | QF | Luke Johnson-Davies | 136 – 89 | David Kempshall | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Inverdale | Susie Dent | 136 |