c4countdown

Tom

Cheers Damo; and thanks for having me. A brilliant experience from start to finish. Great to meet everyone and I loved the sense of camaraderie between the players.

Tom

Congrats to the two of you for producing such a high quality game. Its a shame in a way that you both got drawn against each other so early on. Great entertainment and one where it was great to watch from the audience. Both of you are really nice guys and it was great to meet you both on the day its...

Tom

[quote="James Robinson"]Stats for the contestants: Firstly, Series 63 Champion Jack Hurst - 11 Games, 11 Wins, 1,276 Points. (Average: 116) Highest Score: 133 vs. Alex Curran (7th Game) Lowest Score: 108 vs. Peter Godwin (Quarter-Final) 9's Achieved: 6/7 Total Points/Max/%: 1276/1377 (93%)...

Tom

Cheers Graeme, nice review and I look forward to you doing my next one too. Good to hear from yourself too Kevin and hope you're keeping well and Andy, was good to meet in you in the evening up at the snooker place - best of luck for when you record and hope to catch you again sometime! Was a nervy ...

Tom

Thank you to those who have posted here this evening. Really appreicate your kind comments. Was great to be back and admittedly was bricking it at the time which to me showed when I watched it back this evening! Just glad I could still play and put in a good performance as I admittedly only had abou...

Tom

Is anyone playing/spectating on the Tuesday recording next week gonna be in Manchester on Monday night? I'm getting up there late afternoon and will probably be at the bar in the Jury's Inn sometime in the evening so if you see me come say hi.

Tom

I'll put my name down Tony as mentioned to you the other day I live in Reading and Woodley is only a 10 minute drive for me.

Tom

Might be posting in the wrong topic, but does anyone know what happened to Martin Gardner?? He always was on the forums and was really involved with the show but see he hasn't posted for a while - I know he wasn't to everyone's tastes but does anyone have any ideas? Another Zef perhaps

Tom

All each to their own but it just seems crazy to snub it when this is a one off opportunity and accepting an offer to appear is a real honour considering how many applicants there supposedly were.

Out of interest, does anyone know how many reserve players there are in the pipeline?

T

Tom

Can anyone recommend any good bars near the hotel? Sure there will be plenty with it being in Manchester. Was also told Rusholme is great for curries so gonna head over there in the evening before recording if I get time. Will probably get to the hotel around 5/6 ish on the 19th (long trip from Read...

Tom

I hope I'm wrong, but I wonder if a lot of the games in this championship will be like watching a boxer making an ill-advised comeback. We remember how good they used to be and wince when they can't do it any more. Maybe quite a few potential contestants will decline for this reason. I reckon most ...

Tom

I always got the impression he would only have competed if he was at the top of his game and had a realistic chance of winning. I'm guessing he was asked and said no. Also he did come to one CO-event. The others I'm sad not to see competing are Scott Mearns and Graham Nash - these are heroes of my ...

Tom

I'm surprised Julian Fell isn't on the list, it feels like he was still on the scene recently enough to have been interested. Would've loved to have seen him (seeing as I kinda missed him first time around). I agree I think its a real shame not to have him in. I feel a bit disappointed but not supr...

Tom

I'm surprised Julian Fell isn't on the list, it feels like he was still on the scene recently enough to have been interested. Would've loved to have seen him (seeing as I kinda missed him first time around). I agree I think its a real shame not to have him in. I feel a bit disappointed but not supr...

Tom

Hi folks, hope you're all well. Just wanted to say how much I'm looking forward to the tournament and hope it turns out a success. Hats off to Damian for organising it. For those of you who will be at the same recording as me on the 20th November, I look forward to meeting you and sharing a few stor...

Tom

But had Apterous not been around they'd have practised in some other way, e.g. handheld game, other online solvers, countdown book etc.[/quote] That is true, but the point I'm making is people these days have it a lot easier - Apterous is 1000 times more extensive, more fun and beneficial to get goo...

Tom

Apterous or not, having read some of the games and some words and numbers solutions that come up from players, I'm amazed at 9 years after first appearing, standards would turn out like this. Credit to all those reading who are responsible! When Julian Fell scored 924 in his Octochamp run 8 years ba...

Tom

Shame my surname isn't spelt correctly but I'll let you off this time. Don't know where you get your scores and predictions from. A lot of the players there I don't recognise and I never watched Conor apart from in his C of C but I'm sure he would have beaten me every time. Otherwise, its nice to kn...

Tom

Wow Ben! brilliant stuff! I remember these games as if it was yesterday.Who gave you the details of the games out of interest? Lee was considered my main rival before the finals because we were similar type players and I anticipated early on we might well have to play each other in the semi's if we ...

Tom

Just come across this thread and I gotta say its hilarious. Who's designed this? must be Gevin surely? Love to see SC2 but resigned to the fact its highly unlikely. Presumably the seedings are done by Octochamp aggregates and converted 9 round aggregates. Pete Cashmore was just before my time but he...

Tom

What a great post Jon I must say. I didn't think some people had it in for Charlie so much - only met him once where he seemed more than pleasant and Apterous I've only praised before and the bad comment made about Damian is the only bad one I've read or heard ever. Unlikely I'd ever migrate over, t...

Tom

Coming in late, does this mean its a likelihood C of C would be scrapped in the future? whilst 16 players is a lot for a C of C I think 8 would still be OK and exciting. Speaking as an ex-finalist I think a yearly champion game would be a great idea, the year I was on would have produced Julian Fell...

Tom

This was fun to do! scored 14 in total which I was quite pleased with, though with the ones I got wrong I probably should have got around 16-17! Two of the questions I got right which I was quite pleased with were on the percentage of Muslims living in the UK and the number of days a year most schoo...

Tom

Which hotel do the contestants stay in when they're recording? Someone please tell me its better than the holiday inn Leeds?! and where in Manchester are the new studios?

Tom

"No, because then Julian will moan that he didn't get anything when he got 138 and then later broke his own record by getting 146. You can't just decide to give prizes out half way through. What you *could* do perhaps was offer an incentive (say £1000) to anyone who accrues 1000 points or more...

Tom

Hi folks, wondering if on this forum there are any runners and how good you are/ what distances you/you've competed in? From the ages of 10-16 I was always representing my school and from 12-16 ran at county level. Middle distances were my forte, though I'm favourable to the longer distances like 10...

Tom

Interesting thread this! I've heard that the standard this series has been higher than ever before with Kirk's score being beaten and a load of highly rated apterous players on the show. Perhaps when all the high-very high scoring apterous players have appeared things might return to normal. Reading...

Tom

Aside from the fact Countdown was filmed in Leeds, I'm wondering from you all what you think of Leeds as a city - most people I know have a marmite attitude to it. I sometimes like it, other times I don't. I worked and commuted there for a year and left with mixed feelings of the place. The city cen...

Tom

"So my team, the mighty Terriers of Huddersfield Town (once we get promoted from League One (which we will do this season)) will be making trips to Turf Moor, The KC Stadium & Fratton Park next season. P.S. After we give Newcastle a good stuffing in the Carling Cup in 12 days time" Agr...

Tom

So for those who've been on in the last few years, how much training roughly have you done before appearing? i.e. playing apterous/studying word lists per day/week etc? Sounds like youse have put time and effort into this! Stems I imagine can be useful but after you've learnt things like ADROIT + P ...

Tom

ECLAMPSIA I reckon by a long way. Never heard of it before then and don't know what it means. ERGONOMIC I got in about 3 seconds - heard of the word before and probably got at the time because at University I remember doing an essay on ergonomics and the job I work in sometimes requires me to use th...

Tom

I had 3 very tough opponents in my Octochamp run, 1 of whom came back for a special and all 3 of them on another day could have gone very far. My 7th opponent, Carol Merchant had me all the way until round 13 when I got a tricky nine. Had she won, I think she would have beaten my 8th opponent, then ...

Tom

Great to see Matt Le Tissier as a guest, a legendary footballer. In case any of those are interested I've added a link here of some of his goals and I think the goal around the minute mark won "goal of the season" one year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSsdfe4Z69g Nice to see the word DA...

Tom

Ooh and official thread of brag lol - great place to submit my 50th post :mrgreen: Finally registered and played it last weekend and got 20 odd games under my belt. No max scores but a win against Nebagram, a double one against Jim Bentley, beating Jimmy Gough and trying Goatdown for the 1st time an...

Tom

Didn't know which thread to post this on but anyway... Registered finally with apterous today, got a few games under my belt and really enjoyed it. Annoyingly, due to my home PC being naff I can only access from my parents one which living away I hardly get to use. Played 6 games so far and all have...

Tom

Its my birthday today! reached the grand old age of 24!

Tom

Hiya, maybe a bit pointless, but for those have-been Octochamps or those who think they could now, if you went on again, do you think you could still become an Octochamp? and if so how many points do you reckon you'd score over 8 games? Be perfectly honest here! There are also the game disciplines a...

Tom

Yeah Mike's website was great, I trawled round the net for ages to find audition details then I think I e-mailed him and got them. Those days only his site and the classic Channel 4 forum were the only sites around ha ha. Telephone auditions?? so much more easier to cheat lol. Maybe we'll see someon...

Tom

Hi guys thought I'd start up a thread purely for interest of hearing individual experiences, before any of you went on the show, were there any particular player(s) that inspired you to go on? I can't recall anyone particular, but some of the top players in series 41 and particular Scott Mearns were...

Tom

"Nice to see Zef making an appearance. Is your 6 MOPANE?"

MOPANE?! never heard of it before! The risky 6 is APEMEN, though I don't reckon its there, was stuck on 4 but was convinced there was something longer. Zef obviously is detrimental to me spotting longer words

Tom

This link came up on my "recommended" on youtube. Check this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Ow6Rys ... =rec-HM-rn from 1.44 onwards. Pretty pointless though. From that selection I can see a dodgy 6 and not sure if I'd have risked it.

Tom

Hi guys, thought I'd start up a new thread here about your openness about your TV experience in the real world. With myself, I tend to keep my experiences a secret for those who don't know or never recognised me from it. Main reason is, doing it at a young age is certainly not out the ordinary and a...

Tom

Hi Charlie, the 3rd numbers games in my 1st and 2nd games. Pretty sure there are no other mistakes though I will check. My PC is pretty knacked and that's probably the reason and all it does is it gets onto the main screen but it won't let me type anything or accept any challenges. Yep too hard to s...

Tom

No doubt I've missed a thread somewhere and I know this'll sound really stupid, but where are the new studios for the show? :? Good luck to all taking part, if I'd have known before that this was the last recording I might have even considered it as I can get from my house to the studios door to doo...

Tom

Game 8 saw me take on Janet Bernstein, how would this game turn out?? Countdown recap for Friday 4 January 2002. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (7 wins, 752 points.) C2: Challenger Janet Bernstein. DC: Richard Samson and Joan Bakewell. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. Round 1: H V L R...

Tom

After the dinner break, it was time to defend my crown and try and hit coveted Octochamp status. Enjoy guys! Countdown recap for Thursday 3 January 2002. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (6 wins, 641 points.) C2: Challenger Carol Merchant. DC: Richard Samson and Joan Bakewell. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Ot...

Tom

For those trying it, its a relaxed atmosphere and not majorly competitive, I was really at ease doing mine. From memory, I think mine had 7 letters altogether, 3 numbers and 3 conundrums. Marie Wale did mine in September 2001. Round a big table, with 6 including myself IIRC - very chilled. Anyone el...

Tom

Hi guys, with Countdown being the only show I've ever done and never taken the opportunity to try at Brainteaser or anything else, I've mildly contemplated giving Mastermind on BBC 2 a crack. Has anyone ever done this before and if so what was your specialist subject? And are there any parameters as...

Tom

Well done Kirk on your Octochamp run - amazing stuff! especially to beat the record that I thought would never be beaten. You've obviously put in more than a great deal of effort down the years and credit to you. I caught your last show on 4od and it was nerve racking. Wonder if Julian is reading or...

Tom

Great games these from a player who took the standard of the game to the next level. Scoring 800 in an Octochamp run is one thing, over about 840 is another, but over 900 is out of this world! I thought this 924 would never be beaten but having seen Kirk with his games its under threat. Don't know w...

Tom

After 2 very close victories there was again, no time for a break as I took on Terry Thomas in the third recording of the day. Countdown recap for Wednesday 2 January 2002. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (5 wins, 540 points.) C2: Challenger Terry Thomas. DC: Richard Samson and Joan Bakewell. CV: Carol ...

Tom

After a very hard fought win, and a short break in recording, it was time to defend my crown and film the first show to be broadcast in 2002, another classic! Countdown recap for Tuesday 1 January 2002. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (4 wins, 437 points.) C2: Challenger Elfie Winterton. DC: Richard Sam...

Tom

After a 2 week break in recording, it was time to go back to defend my crown - no series finalists this time. A nail-biting encounter! Countdown recap for Monday 31 December 2001. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (3 wins, 331 points.) C2: Challenger Lindy Moffatt. DC: Richard Samson and Joan Bakewell. CV...

Tom

Cheers, once again its a great tool, only 2 minor hiccups are that the max in games 1 and 2 are 3 higher than what has been put because of round 14 both numbers games are solvable. Was convinced my max was going to be below 1000 but I'm starting to have second thoughts now. My series and 2002 in my ...

Tom

My 3rd game and this was the last recording of the day, as said earlier the series 46 final had been recorded earlier and finalists had flocked back to the studios to check happenings. Countdown recap for Thursday 27 December 2001. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (2 wins, 221 points.) C2: Challenger Ala...

Tom

Having watched Ben Wilson win the series and then win my first game, it was time to play Terry McHugh from Coventry next game. Countdown recap for Thursday 27 December 2001. C1: Champion Tom Hargreaves (1 win, 110 points.) C2: Challenger Terry Mchugh. DC: Clare Pemberton and Geoffrey Durham. CV: Car...

Tom

Hi guys, as promised I would find details of my Octochamp run from just over 7 years ago - hope you all enjoy. Countdown recap for Wednesday 26 December 2001. C1: Champion Terance Carey (1 win, 83 points.) C2: Challenger Tom Hargreaves. DC: Clare Pemberton and Geforrey Durham. CV: Carol Vorderman. O...

Tom

Hi guys, as promised I would find details of my Octochamp run from just over 7 years ago - hope you all enjoy. Going through all the episodes and watching myself was nowhere near as cringeworthy as I imagined. Please bear in mind as well I have never done a review so if these look patchy I would app...

Tom

"I have a feeling you've disappeared from the scene for a while before and returned. Countdown isn't easy to get out of your system, and it'll take an iron will not to dip in here once in a while. So au revoir". Had a think about that and I can't fully remember exactly what forums were fun...

Tom

Sorry guys had a long think about this but I've decided to retire from Countdown at the end of this month like Julian did last year. Although my involvement in the last 5 years has been minor, and that I've only posted on here 20 or so times in the last year, I think its just time I tried to block i...

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