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Michael Calder (Series 60)
Michael Calder (Series 60) octochamp statistics | |
---|---|
Final position | TBC |
Seeding | 6 |
Points total | 736 |
Conundrums solved | 5 |
- For other people called Michael Calder, see Michael Calder.
Michael Calder was a contestant in Series 60, and an octochamp in Series 89. As of his first appearance, he was a student at the University of Bradford, from Aberdeenshire. As of his second stint, he worked as an area manager for The Trussell Trust and lived in Forfar, Angus.
Appearances
Series 60
His first appearance turned out to be a rather one-sided affair against eventual octochamp James Doohan, who initially roared off to a 38 to nil lead which Calder was never able to close, despite scoring a few points before a conundrum neither of them solved.
Series 89 Heat games
Calder made his reappearance just under 15 years later, in the show after fellow octochamp Jack Harvey won his last game; this time he prevailed in a very low-scoring game against challenger Shabir Hussain. His next three games were also victories and in each case, he avoided a crucial conundrum despite them being all rather low-scoring. But on the next day of filming, he demonstrated a notable improvement in performance in his last four heats, which in fact, included three century games with a high of 116.
Calder signed off by scoring in every round in his final preliminary against Julia Blake, to secure his position as the fourth octochamp of the series in less than two months, with a final total of 736 and an average of 92 per game. This was also achieved despite not spotting any of the six nine-letter-word selections available in his letters rounds.
Series 89 Finals
Michael returned for his quarter-final against No. 3 seed Toby Byfield. The game was an unexpectedly cagey affair, with neither player maxing many rounds and staying within reach of each other, right up until the crucial conundrum SATINCLOG, which Calder after just under 17 seconds unscrambled to NOSTALGIC to condemn Toby to his only defeat. In doing so, he became the first 6th seed to reach the semi-finals of a series since Alan Duval back in 2018.
His opponent Mark Finnerty got out of the game strong with an 18-point lead, despite Calder taking an initial early lead with the spot of SLAMMER. However, after this, Finnerty started to unravel, with Calder scoring 35 unanswered points in a row to swing the game right back in his favour. After both players missed the final numbers target, although Calder did get closer to score some points, it meant Michael continued his giant-killing streak and marched onto the Grand-Final against No. 1 seed Arthur Page. He was also the first grand-finalist in 6 years to be from the bottom-half of the seed table; the last one being Philip Aston back in Series 78.
Episodes
# | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4827 | 28/05/2009 | P | James Doohan | 91 – 48 | Michael Calder | Jeff Stelling | Rachel Riley | Barry Cryer | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
8207 | 13/02/2024 | P | Shabir Hussain | 33 – 83 | Michael Calder | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
8208 | 14/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 78 – 64 | David Munday | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
8209 | 15/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 80 – 70 | Jill Martin | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
8210 | 16/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 76 – 71 | Jack Haynes | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Tim Rice | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
8211 | 19/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 116 – 63 | Aaron McAree | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Sara Davies | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
8212 | 20/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 104 – 60 | Mark Fielding | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Sara Davies | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
8213 | 21/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 90 – 59 | Stephen Colton | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Sara Davies | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
8214 | 22/02/2024 | P | Michael Calder | 109 – 49 | Julia Blake | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Sara Davies | Susie Dent | 136 | ||
8301 | 24/06/2024 | QF | Toby Byfield | 82 – 84 | Michael Calder | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Marcus Brigstocke | Susie Dent | 131 | ||
8304 | 27/06/2024 | SF | Mark Finnerty | 56 – 78 | Michael Calder | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Marcus Brigstocke | Susie Dent | 136 |