Dougie Mackay

Dougie Mackay in Series 78.

Dougie Mackay was a finalist in Series 78.

He started his run by defeating one-time winner Luke O'Neill easily and obtained his first century. His journey was not smooth all the time, having to face three crucial conundrums, two of which he survived including one which was a close shave after Apterite Andy Christley blanked out on MRGOTNINE (Mr. Mackay got that one though). Alas, it all came to an end on the third one on his eighth game when his final preliminary opponent, Mac Walker buzzed in on DEFTCREEP in a second, not only ending his preliminary run with a defeat, but his chances of becoming an Octochamp as well. However, Mackay's total of 759 points meant that he achieved the highest ever total for a seven-time winner, surpassing Steve Baines' record of 758 from Series 57, as well as the second-highest total for any non-octochamp after fellow Series 78 contestant Philip Aston’s 760 from just seven games.

Mackay's successful heat run also guaranteed him the #6 seed spot for the Series 78 finals, and he returned in June to take on the unbeaten octochamp Chris Thorn in his quarter-final. Here, he proved to be on impressive form, outplaying Thorn in both of his six-small selections and spotting the nine-letter word DOVETAILS to seal a 97 – 68 victory. Mackay next faced Apterite Philip Aston in the semi-finals; although both players put in strong efforts on both the letters and numbers, Mackay ultimately could not quite match Aston's scoring power, in large part due to the latter player's early spot of MONRADITE, and the Apterite prevailed 98 – 76 to qualify for the grand final.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
6800	6/04/2018	P	Luke O'Neill	73 – 109	Dougie Mackay	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Colin Murray	Susie Dent	131
6801	9/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	78 – 70	Darren Newton	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Colin Murray	Susie Dent	131
6802	10/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	105 – 36	Colin Broome	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jimmy Osmond	Susie Dent	122
6803	11/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	102 – 59	Sarah Farley	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jimmy Osmond	Susie Dent	130
6804	12/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	78 – 58	Simon Clayton	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jimmy Osmond	Susie Dent	123
6805	13/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	95 – 84	Andy Christley	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jimmy Osmond	Susie Dent	133
6806	16/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	101 – 53	Gary Tanner	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jimmy Osmond	Susie Dent	124
6807	17/04/2018	P	Dougie Mackay	91 – 93	Mac Walker	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Pasha Kovalev	Susie Dent	123
6849	18/06/2018	QF	Chris Thorn	68 – 97	Dougie Mackay	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Helen Fospero	Susie Dent	128
6852	21/06/2018	SF	Philip Aston	98 – 76	Dougie Mackay	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	132