Cillian McMulkin

Cillian McMulkin in Series 65...

...and 12 years later in Series 87.

Cillian McMulkin was a contestant in Series 65 and an octochamp in 87. At the time of his first appearance, he was a risk analyst from Belfast. As of his second appearance, he was living in Omagh, County Tyrone. He has also been an Apterite since 2009 and has achieved a top 20 position in the Apterous pro rank leaderboard.

Debuting midway through Jeff Stelling's last series, McMulkin fell 14 points short of victory to would-be octochamp Dave Taylor, but did have the last word by solving the conundrum. Just under 11 and a half years later, he was allowed to return; this time starting his run against seven-time winner Peter Burke in an all-Ireland affair. McMulkin would not be beaten this time, winning 66 – 107 to deny Burke's octochampdom and kick off with a century. In his fifth victory, McMulkin equalled the current record for the highest-ever score of 154, sharing it with Tom Stevenson, and dropped 1 point with only GUNMETAL eluding him. His seventh game also tied for the highest possible score ever recorded in a game of countdown, matching the 175 of Episode 6745 and Episode 7341. Eventually, McMulkin wrapped up with a total of 944 points to become the first octochamp of the series and 2023, and will almost certainly return for the series finals in June 2023.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5321	31/08/2011	P	Dave Taylor	99 – 85	Cillian McMulkin	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	John Inverdale	Susie Dent	143
7939	25/01/2023	P	Peter Burke	66 – 107	Cillian McMulkin	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Stephen K. Amos	Susie Dent	134
7940	26/01/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	109 – 51	Cheryl Perkins	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Stephen K. Amos	Susie Dent	130
7941	27/01/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	124 – 43	Amy Perryman	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Stephen K. Amos	Susie Dent	135
7942	30/01/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	101 – 61	Toby Rogers	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Moorhouse	Susie Dent	121
7943	31/01/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	154 – 69	Chris Davies	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Moorhouse	Susie Dent	155
7944	01/02/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	112 – 45	Jon Sluckis	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Moorhouse	Susie Dent	124
7945	02/02/2023	P	Cillian McMulkin	116 – 33	Ron Squire	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Moorhouse	Susie Dent	175