c4countdown

It is with great sadness this morning that I have to announce the passing of former Countdown aficionado, super cool pensioner and all round good guy Howard Somerset, on Monday 2nd November after a short illness. By my estimation he would have been late 70s/80 years old.

More recent recruits to the Co-event scene will not remember Howard, but he and I and Dinos Sfyris (who was informed of his passing by his widow and has kindly informed me) were something of a Countdown triumvirate. I last saw Howard in February 2010 when he and Dinos and their respective spouse and fiancée came to a milestone birthday party of mine. It came as a great shock and disappointment to both Dinos and myself when not long afterwards Howard pm'd us both to inform us that he had decided to withdraw from the Countdown scene. He was sorely missed. With us living in neighbouring counties, I have many fond memories of travelling to CoLin and to Manchester studio recordings with Howard and one occasion when, travelling to CoLin, he encountered roadworks on Route A, swapped to Route B and found further problems along there, and then knew of route C to get us there still in plenty of time. Such a clever chap.

Howard generally finished towards the bottom, if not at the bottom, of the table at Co events but such was his love of the game and his easy going nature that he took it all in good part. He wasn't there for the prizes. Despite continued persuasion from both Dinos and myself he never applied to go on the show but did make a brief appearance circa 2009 with an audience conundrum spot - unravelling GUNDRAMAS as I recall. Though he withdrew from the Countdown scene he and Dinos continued to swap and discuss puzzles until shortly before he passed away.

RIP Howard. You will be missed by many mate.

That's sad. Never really got to know Howard other than a few cursory exchanges on C4C but "easy going nature" seems right, always struck me as someone very laid back, calm and friendly. Definitely one of the good guys.

Sad news indeed. At the risk of sounding flippant, according to his profile he was (or would be right now) 79 years old and that was the age he wanted to achieve.

Very sad news indeed. I met Howard once or twice and he seemed like a top bloke. My thoughts are with his family.

That's really sad news.

He was a great bloke. A joy to be around at Co-Events and his contributions on here were always high quality. He always felt like a very young old guy... he had that glint in his eye. I definitely aspire to be like that in my old age.

Very sad news. he will be very much missed.

Very sad news, Dinos informed me of his passing. I remember meeting Howard, Dinos and Rich at the Granada Studios a couple of months after my second shows had been broadcast, and we all got on together brilliantly.

Howard would occasionally message me via Twitter about football, particularly talking about his local team, Alsager Town.

RIP Howard

Very sad news. I never met Howard in person but I joined the online Countdown world just before he left it: he was always very nice to me, and even paid for my first Apterous subscription before I had any internet banking or PayPal or anything like that, so I have always owed him £15! I last spoke to him in 2015 when he PMed me on here to congratulate me on my TV run. I was pleasantly surprised he remembered me, quite frankly, and felt it was indicative of his general character. I always hoped he would return to C4C/Apto one day, and it's a real shame that he never did. He will be missed.

So sad RIP Howard, another member of the community that will be sadly missed

Really sad to hear this. I had the pleasure of meeting Howard at a few events. He had a really sharp mind and a terrific sense of humour.

Oh no!

I was wondering why we haven't seen him here or on Apterous in a while. It is unfortunate that this is why.

May he rest in peace

This is indeed sad news. Howard was a remarkable, many-faceted character. Although we only met once, we corresponded via email for quite some time. He was extremely supportive at a time when I was struggling a little emotionally, and in turn he trusted me sufficiently to open up about certain issues of his own. I hadn't earned the right to be taken into his confidence like that but I was very flattered that he wanted to.

Always hoped we might meet again one day but not to be.

Richard Priest wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:18 am I last saw Howard in February 2010 when he and Dinos and their respective spouse and fiancée came to a milestone birthday party of mine.

Actually Rich, you met Howard at least once after that: on 23rd March 2010, when you came along together to a Countdown studio day. I was in the audience too, having recorded my one and only appearance the day before.