Due to persistent vandalism, account creation has been suspended. If you would like an account, please contact Charlie Reams on Apterous.

Series 52

From Countdown

Series 52 ran from 28 June to 17 December 2004. The fifty-second of 53 series presented by Richard Whiteley was won by Mark Tournoff.

A strong series saw seven octochamps, four of whom returned for Championship of Champions XII. Paul Gallen was the #1 seed by 15 points, and duly beat Rita Willmott by 31 points. Jack Welsby beat David Thirlwall by 35 points. The next game equalled the second highest ever score in a game of Countdown, as Mark Tournoff scored 138 points from a possible 141 against the unfortunate John Gray. The remaining quarter-final was not nearly as spectacular, as John Hunt won by 18 points. Gallen thrashed Hunt and Tournoff beat Welsby in an up and down contest, where the lead changed hands in round 7 when Tournoff spotted the only available nine letter word VERONICAS. Tournoff held onto the lead, but it was cut by Welsby who forced a crucial conundrum. The conundrum was AMENUTREE which Tournoff solved in 10 seconds to take the seat in the final for himself.

The final turned out to be one of the most entertaining games ever. Gallen looked strong in the early rounds beating Tournoff with FIACRES and MITOGENS, but it was Tournoff that took all the points on the numbers. The players equalled each other in every round until round 12 where Tournoff tried internets ☓ which is only listed as a proper noun. In the next round Gallen made a vital mistake in playing miriad ☓ which is spelt MYRIAD. This let Tournoff in for a crucial conundrum. It was Gallen that buzzed in first – but he didn't give an answer, leaving the remaining 25 seconds to Tournoff. Tournoff did solve the conundrum PARTRIDGE and duly won the Series by a 92 – 89 score line.

Seed table

Rank Name Wins Points
1 Paul Gallen 8 846
2 Jack Welsby 8 831
3 Mark Tournoff 8 809
4 John Hunt 8 778
5 Steven Moir 8 763
6 John Gray 8 757
7 David Thirlwall 8 704
8 Rita Willmott 5 529
Between Series 38 and Series 59, players were sorted by number of wins, then by number of points. Points from both wins and losses count. Points from sudden death conundrums were not counted, and players with the same number of wins and points were sorted by highest score.

Finals progress

Paul Gallen (1) vs Rita Willmott (8) Paul Gallen (1) vs John Hunt (4) Paul Gallen (1)
vs
Mark Tournoff (3)
Steven Moir (5) vs John Hunt (4)
Mark Tournoff (3) vs John Gray (6) Mark Tournoff (3) vs Jack Welsby (2)
David Thirlwall (7) vs Jack Welsby (2)
The winner of each game is displayed in bold.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
3729 28/06/2004 P David Thirlwall 96 – 89 Martin McGuinness Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 134
3730 29/06/2004 P David Thirlwall 80 – 69 Susan Goldsmith Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 133
3731 30/06/2004 P David Thirlwall 86 – 48 Jim Mitchell Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 141
3732 1/07/2004 P David Thirlwall 80 – 74 Graham Andrews Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 133
3733 2/07/2004 P Angela Jones 52 – 50 Steve Dawes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 139
3734 5/07/2004 P Angela Jones 98 – 74 Simon Down Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Sue MacGregor Susie Dent 123
3735 6/07/2004 P Angela Jones 64 – 79 Malcolm Major Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Sue MacGregor Susie Dent 140
3736 7/07/2004 P Malcolm Major 86 – 46 Susan Over Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Sue MacGregor Susie Dent 120
3737 8/07/2004 P Malcolm Major 114 – 65 Elspeth Fox Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Sue MacGregor Susie Dent 145
3738 9/07/2004 P Malcolm Major 69 – 87 Ian Laird Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Sue MacGregor Susie Dent 119
3739 12/07/2004 P Ian Laird 81 – 66 Taz Poole Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 143
3740 13/07/2004 P Ian Laird 99 – 84 Neil Pallister Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 141
3741 14/07/2004 P Ian Laird 75 – 112 Margaret Winning Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 120
3742 15/07/2004 P Margaret Winning 65 – 72 Ian McLennan Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 131
3743 16/07/2004 P Ian McLennan 73 – 85 Jon Stitcher Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 150
3744 19/07/2004 P Jon Stitcher 80 – 79 Dora Stavrinos Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 133
3745 20/07/2004 P Jon Stitcher 88 – 79 Norman Haikney Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 120
3746 21/07/2004 P Jon Stitcher 73 – 110 Jack Welsby Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 132
3747 27/07/2004 P Jack Welsby 105 – 51 Mary Parke Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 121
3748 28/07/2004 P Jack Welsby 102 – 42 Eddie McNamee Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Peter Baldwin Susie Dent 118
3749 3/08/2004 P Jack Welsby 101 – 55 Carol Kemp Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Alison Heard 120
3750 4/08/2004 P Jack Welsby 96 – 86 Joseph Bolas Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Alison Heard 141
3751 5/08/2004 P Jack Welsby 112 – 72 Stewart Smeed Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Alison Heard 133
3752 6/08/2004 P Jack Welsby 108 – 51 Mandy Combes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Alison Heard 126
3753 9/08/2004 P Jack Welsby 97 – 73 Alan Cusack Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Cryer Alison Heard 129
3754 10/08/2004 P Khalid Mahmood 79 – 73 Penny Scudamore Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Alison Heard 142
3755 11/08/2004 P Khalid Mahmood 74 – 77 Bob Mathieson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Alison Heard 122
3756 17/08/2004 P Bob Mathieson 75 – 79 Marcus Alderton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Alison Heard 122
3757 18/08/2004 P Marcus Alderton 82 – 49 Kay Yuille Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Alison Heard 129
3758 24/08/2004 P Marcus Alderton 42 – 107 Roy Thearle Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Susie Dent 132
3759 25/08/2004 P Roy Thearle 101 – 46 Betty Madill Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Susie Dent 141
3760 26/08/2004 P Roy Thearle 109 – 44 John Welch Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Susie Dent 132
3761 27/08/2004 P Roy Thearle 89 – 36 Ivy Howard Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tom O'Connor Susie Dent 132
3762 31/08/2004 P Roy Thearle 83 – 96 Paul Gallen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Norman Susie Dent 124
3763 1/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 117 – 49 Harry Brunt Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Norman Susie Dent 135
3764 2/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 103 – 77 Claire Marston Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Norman Susie Dent 140
3765 3/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 103 – 82 Ray Jones Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Barry Norman Susie Dent 122
3766 6/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 117 – 35 Jean Tully Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Charles Collingwood Susie Dent 123
3767 7/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 106 – 57 Ed Pritchard Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Charles Collingwood Susie Dent 121
3768 8/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 83 – 39 Stephen Todd Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Charles Collingwood Susie Dent 117
3769 9/09/2004 P Paul Gallen 121 – 47 Mo Yusuf Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Charles Collingwood Susie Dent 128
3770 10/09/2004 P Christina Wood 69 – 79 Barbara Matthewman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Charles Collingwood Susie Dent 122
3771 13/09/2004 P Barbara Matthewman 45 – 107 Neil Newcombe Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lesley Graham Susie Dent 123
3772 14/09/2004 P Neil Newcombe 84 – 74 Trevor Smyth Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lesley Graham Susie Dent 127
3773 15/09/2004 P Neil Newcombe 60 – 90 Mike Hannam Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lesley Graham Susie Dent 130
3774 16/09/2004 P Mike Hannam 79 – 54 Diana Evans Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lesley Graham Susie Dent 121
3775 17/09/2004 P Mike Hannam 103 – 58 Eve Morgan Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Lesley Graham Susie Dent 131
3776 20/09/2004 P Mike Hannam 89 – 66 Martin Markey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman John Simpson Susie Dent 141
3777 21/09/2004 P Mike Hannam 64 – 87 Robert Harris Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman John Simpson Susie Dent 117
3778 22/09/2004 P Robert Harris 85 – 82 Fairley Ramsay Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman John Simpson Susie Dent 118
3779 23/09/2004 P Robert Harris 77 – 76 Chris Stephen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman John Simpson Susie Dent 134
3780 24/09/2004 P Robert Harris 99 – 42 David Coster Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman John Simpson Susie Dent 119
3781 27/09/2004 P Robert Harris 79 – 97 John Gray Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jennie Bond Susie Dent 123
3782 28/09/2004 P John Gray 110 – 76 Pat Williams Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jennie Bond Susie Dent 123
3783 29/09/2004 P John Gray 94 – 56 Piers Drew-Wilkinson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jennie Bond Susie Dent 131
3784 30/09/2004 P John Gray 106 – 24 Martin Clemett Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jennie Bond Susie Dent 132
3785 1/10/2004 P John Gray 93 – 53 Roland Allanach Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jennie Bond Susie Dent 118
3786 4/10/2004 P John Gray 90 – 73 Felicity Geddes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Susie Dent 133
3787 5/10/2004 P John Gray 89 – 31 Les Holmes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Susie Dent 118
3788 6/10/2004 P John Gray 78 – 66 David Soper Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Susie Dent 131
3789 7/10/2004 P Mark Danks 86 – 59 Donald Moffat Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Susie Dent 118
3790 8/10/2004 P Mark Danks 93 – 60 Jean Gilson Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Pam Ayres Susie Dent 131
3791 11/10/2004 P Mark Danks 76 – 86 Andrew Dodd Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Victoria Mather Susie Dent 128
3792 12/10/2004 P Andrew Dodd 64 – 60 Kevin Ashby Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Victoria Mather Susie Dent 138
3793 13/10/2004 P Andrew Dodd 47 – 70 Carol Joy Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Victoria Mather Susie Dent 119
3794 14/10/2004 P Carol Joy 44 – 90 John Hunt Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Victoria Mather Susie Dent 120
3795 15/10/2004 P John Hunt 79* – 69 Graham Brown Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Victoria Mather Susie Dent 122
3796 18/10/2004 P John Hunt 108 – 61 Peter Gerosa Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Paul Zenon Susie Dent 132
3797 19/10/2004 P John Hunt 106 – 51 Renee Dunbar Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Paul Zenon Susie Dent 126
3798 20/10/2004 P John Hunt 80 – 73 John Cox Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Paul Zenon Susie Dent 120
3799 21/10/2004 P John Hunt 111 – 56 Jenny Masters Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Paul Zenon Susie Dent 130
3800 22/10/2004 P John Hunt 117 – 36 Arif Wahla Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Paul Zenon Susie Dent 132
3801 25/10/2004 P John Hunt 97 – 78 Angela Wingrove Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent 121
3802 26/10/2004 P Paul Soutar 83 – 50 David Burnet Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent 122
3803 27/10/2004 P Paul Soutar 72 – 79 Rita Willmott Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent 119
3804 28/10/2004 P Rita Willmott 85 – 79 Irene Dunn Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent 129
3805 29/10/2004 P Rita Willmott 90 – 47 Andrew Edgington Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Tim Rice Susie Dent 129
3806 1/11/2004 P Rita Willmott 88 – 63 Brian Ardron Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Owen Susie Dent 134
3807 2/11/2004 P Rita Willmott 109 – 83 Janet Carpenter Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Owen Susie Dent 123
3808 3/11/2004 P Rita Willmott 78 – 79 Steven Moir Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Owen Susie Dent 142
3809 4/11/2004 P Steven Moir 91 – 87 David Morgans Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Owen Susie Dent 119
3810 5/11/2004 P Steven Moir 111 – 68 Martin Jones Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Owen Susie Dent 140
3811 8/11/2004 P Steven Moir 99 – 54 Misha Stapleton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 132
3812 9/11/2004 P Steven Moir 106 – 70 David Payne Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 131
3813 10/11/2004 P Steven Moir 84 – 65 Catherine Delaney Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 123
3814 11/11/2004 P Steven Moir 102 – 69 Jim Whelan Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 123
3815 12/11/2004 P Steven Moir 91 – 66 Paul Warrilow Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gyles Brandreth Susie Dent 121
3816 15/11/2004 P Margaret Boyle 46 – 92 Mark Tournoff Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jeremy Beadle Susie Dent 121
3817 16/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 105 – 71 Brian Pulman Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jeremy Beadle Susie Dent 121
3818 17/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 111 – 60 Ronnie Boyd Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jeremy Beadle Susie Dent 141
3819 18/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 101 – 68 Samantha Latham Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jeremy Beadle Susie Dent 129
3820 19/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 117 – 75 John Crockett Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Jeremy Beadle Susie Dent 121
3821 22/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 95 – 44 Alan Gordon Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Daniel O'Donnell Susie Dent 119
3822 23/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 79 – 46 Keith Jones Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Daniel O'Donnell Susie Dent 130
3823 24/11/2004 P Mark Tournoff 109 – 42 Diane Crews Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Daniel O'Donnell Susie Dent 125
3824 25/11/2004 P Brian Lightfoot 56 – 94 Judith Armstrong Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Daniel O'Donnell Susie Dent 122
3825 26/11/2004 P Judith Armstrong 86 – 74 Alex Lacey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Daniel O'Donnell Susie Dent 119
3826 29/11/2004 P Judith Armstrong 98 – 42 Chris Marsh Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent 132
3827 30/11/2004 P Judith Armstrong 85 – 82 Andrew Byrne Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent 117
3828 1/12/2004 P Judith Armstrong 84 – 52 Jacky Ward Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent 131
3829 2/12/2004 P Judith Armstrong 69 – 111 Tim Charlton Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent 122
3830 3/12/2004 P Tim Charlton 82 – 97 Ben Tamplin Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Martin Jarvis Susie Dent 132
3831 6/12/2004 P Ben Tamplin 94 – 53 Julie Pettinger Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 142
3832 7/12/2004 P Ben Tamplin 83 – 92 Fred Reynolds Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 119
3833 8/12/2004 P Fred Reynolds 80 – 68 James Hill Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 132
3834 9/12/2004 QF Rita Willmott 61 – 92 Paul Gallen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 125
3835 10/12/2004 QF David Thirlwall 58 – 93 Jack Welsby Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 116
3836 13/12/2004 QF John Gray 73 – 138 Mark Tournoff Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 141
3837 14/12/2004 QF John Hunt 85 – 67 Steven Moir Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 121
3838 15/12/2004 SF John Hunt 47 – 108 Paul Gallen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 130
3839 16/12/2004 SF Jack Welsby 73 – 88 Mark Tournoff Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 126
3840 17/12/2004 GF Mark Tournoff 92 – 89 Paul Gallen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 119
* includes 10 points from a tie-break conundrum

External Links