Nita Marr

Marr in front of the purple, pink and white striped set in Episode S17.

Marr at Carol Vorderman's leaving party in November 2008.

Nita Marr (born 28 December 1943, the same day as Richard Whiteley) was a contestant, and semi-finalist, of Series 13. She came from Longniddry and after defeating Mike Whiteoak in her first heat game, she won a further six before losing her eighth to Mark Preston. Nonetheless, she returned for the series finals as #1 seed, beating Cath Powell in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Hilary Hopper in the semi-finals. Marr returned for Championship of Champions IV, causing a huge upset by beating Allan Saldanha in the quarter-final, but losing to eventual winner Nic Brown in the semi-final. In that game, Marr correctly guessed that the conundrum DECKCLOUD unscrambled to CUCKOLDED, but was unsure as to whether her guess was a valid word and so did not buzz. Had she buzzed, Marr would have won the game and qualified for the grand final.

Marr returned once again to the Countdown studios for the Supreme Championship in 1996, but lost in the first round to Irish wunderkind Tim Morrissey on the crucial conundrum BOOKSHELF. She also participated in both series of Countdown Masters, winning the first ever match against John Wallace 114 – 69, and losing 99 – 81 in the second series against Jenny Haldane. Nita also recorded a special game in 2002, broadcast in 2004, pitting her against The Countdown Page author Mike Brown, which she lost 113 – 70.

Marr's mother Ella Bernard appeared as a contestant in 1992.

Off-screen

Marr is perhaps best known in Countdown circles as the founder and current chairman of the Edinburgh Countdown Club, which has been running for two decades. She also authored a chapter of Countdown: Spreading The Word, detailing her experiences both on the show and in setting up the club. On the programme broadcast on 11 November 2009, members of the Edinburgh Countdown Club were pointed out in the audience by Jeff Stelling. Marr was the uncredited person who solved the conundrum PUREEDRAT after it defeated both contestants.

Marr has appeared on many other game shows, including Blankety Blank and Fifteen to One.

In November 2012, she along with Richard Priest and Mike Brown co-organised COEDI, the first Countdown in Edinburgh tournament, and she also participated in it.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
628	6/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	45 – 39	Mike Whiteoak	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Diane Solomon	Freda Thornton	69
629	7/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	72 – 27	Letsy Constable	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Diane Solomon	Freda Thornton	77
630	10/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	48 – 26	Peter Holden	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Diane Solomon	Freda Thornton	71
631	11/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	64 – 30	Yvonne Thomson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Diane Solomon	Freda Thornton	85
632	12/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	65 – 41	Suzanne Anderson	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Freda Thornton	74
633	13/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	52 – 49	Walker Roberts	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Freda Thornton	70
634	14/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	55 – 36	Ruth Tonothy	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Freda Thornton	74
635	17/08/1987	P	Nita Marr	34 – 52	Mark Preston	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Gyles Brandreth	Freda Thornton	73
638	20/08/1987	QF	Nita Marr	47 – 28	Cath Powell	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Derek Nimmo	Catherine Clarke	73
642	26/08/1987	SF	Nita Marr	34 – 54	Hilary Hopper	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Cathy Hytner	Derek Nimmo	Catherine Clarke	69
815	4/01/1989	CQF	Allan Saldanha	45 – 53	Nita Marr	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Catherine Clarke	84
818	9/01/1989	CSF	Nita Marr	51 – 58	Nic Brown	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman			Lucy Summers	Tim Rice	Catherine Clarke	70
M1	3/04/1989-7/04/1989	M	Nita Marr	114 – 69	John Wallace	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Catherine Clarke	134
M68	16/07/1990-20/07/1990	M	Nita Marr	81 – 99	Jenny Haldane	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					none	Simon Mason	141
1894	3/12/1996	gQF	Tim Morrissey	60 – 51	Nita Marr	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman				Lucy Summers	Richard Digance	David Swarbrick	82
S17	2/08/2004	S	Mike Brown	113 – 70	Nita Marr	Richard Whiteley	Carol Vorderman					Richard Stilgoe	Susie Dent	133

External Link

• Nita Marr's Countdown experience from The Countdown Page.