Hilary Hopper

Hilary Hopper

Hilary Hopper was the champion of Series 13, a participant in Championship of Champions IV, a quarter-finalist in the Supreme Championship and the runner-up of the Ladies' Championship. She was a drama teacher from St. John's near Woking.

Hopper first appeared as a contestant, defeating Cath Powell, in the third heat game of the series on 3 July 1987. Hopper won three more games and drew one before falling at the hands of Robert Randall. She returned for the finals as No. 4 seed, defeating John Clark in the quarter-finals and Nita Marr in the semi-finals. In the Grand Final, despite making a mistake in the first round by declaring RATION when there was no A in the selection, she put in a commanding performance against Kevin Nelson. She led 84 – 79 going into the final conundrum which read BLINDBRIG, and Nelson buzzed in first but said he had got it wrong, after which Hopper correctly buzzed in with DRIBBLING to become only the second ever female series champion, with a 94 – 79 scoreline.

Hopper returned for Championship of Champions IV in 1989, but was beaten in the first round by Steve Williams on the crucial conundrum TRANSCEND.

Hopper later appeared once again in the Supreme Championship, heavily beating Anthony Butcher 56 – 23 in her first-round game. Hopper next played Wayne Summers, a CoC winner who had received a bye into the semi-finals, and was on similarly good form, offering the impressive words AXIOMS and COPIOUS. In the group final, she beat Damian Eadie 59 – 40 to take her into the Supreme final stages, but was ultimately beaten by Tim Morrissey after neither player solved the crucial conundrum, DOWNGRADE.

Hopper returned to the show for one final time in 2003 for a 3-day Ladies' Championship series against fellow female series champions. She beat Liz Barber in the first game, before losing to Kate Ogilvie in the final.

With a Countdown career spanning over a decade and a half, Hopper is considered one of the all-time greats of the show. Her numbers skill were particularly strong; she maintained an impressive streak of scoring 7 or 10 points in every numbers round up until her first match in the Ladies' Championship, where she failed to score in the second numbers round.

Preceded by Stephen Balment

Series winner Series 13

Followed by Nic Brown

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
604	3/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	60 – 23	Cath Powell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	72
605	6/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	43 – 22	Dennis Davies	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Catherine Clarke	71
606	7/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	54 – 41	Hilary Jones	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Russell Harty	Catherine Clarke	85
607	8/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	44 – 44	Boz Osberg	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Russell Harty	Catherine Clarke	83
608	9/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	53 – 43	Boz Osberg	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Russell Harty	Catherine Clarke	71
609	10/07/1987	P	Hilary Hopper	50 – 60	Robert Randall	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Russell Harty	Catherine Clarke	72
641	25/08/1987	QF	Hilary Hopper	58 – 54	John Clark	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Derek Nimmo	Catherine Clarke	75
642	26/08/1987	SF	Nita Marr	34 – 54	Hilary Hopper	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Derek Nimmo	Catherine Clarke	69
644	28/08/1987	GF	Hilary Hopper	94 – 79	Kevin Nelson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth, Derek Nimmo	Catherine Clarke	118
816	5/01/1989	CQF	Hilary Hopper	41 – 56	Steve Williams	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Catherine Clarke	68
M44	29/01/1990-2/02/1990	M	Hilary Hopper	77 – 110	Mike Percik	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Catherine Clarke	136
1888	25/11/1996	fQF	Hilary Hopper	56 – 23	Anthony Butcher	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Tom O'Connor	Catherine Stokes	70
1891	28/11/1996	fSF	Hilary Hopper	59 – 39	Wayne Summers	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	David Swarbrick	71
1893	2/12/1996	fF	Hilary Hopper	59 – 40	Damian Eadie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	David Swarbrick	73
1904	17/12/1996	SQF	Hilary Hopper	49 – 56	Tim Morrissey	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Nigel Rees	Catherine Clarke	75
3436	11/03/2003	LSF	Hilary Hopper	45 – 35	Liz Barber	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard	85
3438	13/03/2003	LF	Hilary Hopper	32 – 54	Kate Ogilvie	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Rick Wakeman	Alison Heard	83