Spoilers for Friday 20th December 2024 - Series 90 Grand Final

[Philip A]

The last Countdown of 2024 sees the top two seeds – Chris Kirby and Fiona Wood – battle it out to have their name etched on the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy.

Between them, they have played 41 matches and both are 800 club members. Will No. 1 prevail yet again, or will the more experienced of the two become our first female champion since 1998?

[Gavin Chipper]

Highly anticipated final - maybe not quite as anticipated as Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, but that is the TV event of the millennium.

[Philip A]

Promotee used to be valid, but not anymore. It is one of 95,000 words from the historical dictionary to be culled earlier this year. It has the anagram PROTEOME, which I didn’t know. A tense final.

[Philip A]

R13: HOOPTIE

[Philip A]

GET IN!!!

[Fiona T]

Cracking final that! Was pretty sure promotee was dead so winced when Chris said 8.

Commiserations Chris, and massive congrats to Fiona - delighted to see a female champion and long overdue!

If Fiona returns for CoC, she'll overtake Conor for most TV appearances!

[Philip A]

Certainly one of the tensest Grand Finals in history. Commiserations Chris, really bad luck. In my opinion, the right player won: an inspiration for the next generation of female players, and also giving hope to the home players who don’t play online or aren’t as obsessed as us geeks etc are. Yes, it could be said that the formerly valid ‘promotee’ affected the outcome of the game, but to be honest, after this cull of dead words after 9 years I think now is the time for a household player winning for a change. Many congratulations to a deserving series champion.

By the way, Fiona Wood reminds me of Judith Keppel.

[Gavin Chipper]

Yeah, good game, good series. Let's see if it's another 26 years before the next female champion!

[Tom S]

Certainly one of the tensest Grand Finals in history. Commiserations Chris, really bad luck. In my opinion, the right player won: an inspiration for the next generation of female players, and also giving hope to the home players who don’t play online or aren’t as obsessed as us geeks etc are. Yes, it could be said that the formerly valid ‘promotee’ affected the outcome of the game, but to be honest, after this cull of dead words after 9 years I think now is the time for a household player winning for a change. Many congratulations to a deserving series champion.

Concur with a lot of this. Irrespective of whether Fiona was an Apterite or not, her performance today would have held its own against anyone in the Top 10 of the Apterous pro ranks, so (says quietly) I'm actually quite pleased that there has been a dictionary cull because it has levelled the playing field, and has given Countdown the opportunity to show that it's not just young men who go on to do really well in the show, which is something that I feel is really positive.

Chris was unlucky not to take the title, but was a great sport, and hope he's happy with how he did. Nonetheless, both players contributed to one of the best in living memory.

Thanks to the team for a great series- have a good Xmas one and all!

[Jamie Weisenberg]

It's impossible for a non-apterite to win. Fiona likely plays under a psuedonym on here. Do we know if Chris is an apterite ?

I was about to start a thread lamenting the gloomy state of female Countdown players after Fiona's anticipated loss, such was the dominance of Chris Kirby. But she pulled it out of the hat with LASSITUDE, which I've never heard of. Congrats to her.

[Ryan Lam]

It's made it onto the news now! Amazing! https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dp6lv1008o

[Gavin Chipper]

That is quite amazing. But they go on about stuff like Strictly Come Dancing as if it's news.

[Philip A]

It's made it onto the news now! Amazing! https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dp6lv1008o

Nice, but spoilerific!

[John Garcia]

That was a fantastic ding-dong battle from merrily on high! Congrats to Fiona for being a deserved winner and for Chris for being a gracious runner-up. One of the best finals in ages.

[Phil H]

Do we know if Chris is an apterite ?

Yes, he's an apterite.

It's impossible for a non-apterite to win

Usually unlikely, but not impossible. I don't think Mike Daysley was on Apterous when he won, and even if he was, it's probably fair to say that not every series winner in the Apterous era has been at a higher level than Julian Fell or Harvey Freeman.

[Ryan Lam]

Spoiler for those who want to see the ending: https://youtu.be/6sUfhIulM4I (I rushed this out as fast as I could already). Full review to come after I wake up where I am

[Conor]

That was a fantastic final, tense and a high standard throughout. I’d watched both semifinals and knew this was tough to call. Congrats Fiona on holding your nerve and finding a special conundrum solve, and unlucky to Chris who played very well too.

[Jamie Weisenberg]

is she the oldest winner ever ? 51 years old.

[Toby McDonald]

Amazing to finally see a female series winner in my lifetime (but unfortunately for me, the result was spoiled by the BBC article). Incredible stuff Fiona! And commissions to Chris.

[Ryan Lam]

This is the episode I'm sure a lot of us have been waiting for, and as the year closes out, it's nice to see everyone come together again to watch the Grand Final in the Daily Chat. A great opening shot where the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy is shown to the right, maybe that could be used for future Grand Finals in terms of the opening. Colin's back to wearing a suit similar to Series 86 when Tom Stevenson won, while Rachel's outfit so reminds me of Mariah Carey with the red Don't you dare influence both contestants, I know you don't like 1 Large selections here, but if you do the outcome of the game is going to be unfair! No jumpers are out unlike the Series 88 Grand Final, so it's definitely more formal this time round as we see if Chris or Fiona, who has at least 15 years of experience behind them, edges out and takes all.

Letters: Oh no! Fiona made the same mistake as Mark Finnerty back in June by having the invalid waspier in R1 and doesn't get off to a good start. I hope this is not a killer round for her. Fortunately, it was not, with Chris stumbling with cuttie in R4 (which to me was always CUTTY as in Cutty Sark), so unlucky Then, came R7, and Chris had an eight, but it's not in because promotee as some pointed out both here and in the Daily Chat was culled from the ODP back in July (PROTEOME, a word in the selection that commonly comes up in University Challenge, is still valid, and I thought I was seeing things here at first)! Damn, if it hadn't Chris would have opened up the gap here, but he doesn't take it to heart as he had ROUTEING with an "E" in R8 to catch up! As what Rachel mentioned yesterday, both contestants are as cool as cucumbers and their declarations in R10 implied that. With the margin not changing up until R13, you wonder if the outcome could have changed if the selections were just slightly different (I had Touchdown selections of DARIOLES in R5 and CHOLERA in R10 if you're curious).

Numbers: Well then, maybe Rachel has influenced both players here today, no 1 Large today, 6 Small from Chris in R3 but if you know you must leave the "8" out, ten points will go easily to you and that's what happened with no screw ups. Fiona tries 3 Large next in R6, and the hard bit was just figuring out how to get 200, that's all, nothing hard at all, so far. Aha, 4 Large from Chris in R9 whom I bet wants to get ahead, and finally we get a tough one because there's so many ways for one away, but the solution for the exact target was actually easier to obtain than expected (Rachel, no need to say Chris is going to kick himself, I don't think any of us spotted your method and it was not an easy one too). Then, the all decisive R14 came with Fiona going 4 Large. If Chris cannot get an exact solution, crucial conundrum territory awaits us. Another hard one comes and with both contestants getting two either way, Colin's face was like "No, stop this madness!" It also meant that he does not get to declare by this point, who is the Grand Champion, for the first time since he became the permanent host.

Conundrum: This is it, for the first time in five years since Elliott Mellor faced Dinos Sfyris the first time back in Series 80, the holder of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Champion rests in this part. If a hard one is thrown up like LAMINGTON, Chris will take it. However, if an easy one like DISUNITED back in the Series 89 Grand Final comes up, Fiona will have a chance. The atmosphere could not have been more tense than what it is, and it will be over in 30 seconds or less. Not a single conundrum has been sovled this Series Finals up to this point, can the curse of having all unsolved be broken? An appropriate one comes up today with ITSSADUEL. Many of us in the Daily Chat got this quickly so I guess this was considered an easy/moderate one, but will someone on-screen try to solve it? I hear a buzzer, it's Fiona, and she goes with LASSITUDE. Audible gasps in the studio were heard, "OH MY GOD!!!!!" I literally yelled at the top of my lungs, for that was the correct answer, and she shook her head in disbelief after the answer was revealed. No, you're not dreaming, we're not dreaming, it's a magical finish! For the first time since Christmas Day 1998, the Series Champion is a woman and the curse has been broken!!! What a phenomenal ending!

This game was always going to go down to the wire, so much so that I could not predict who would win here and it would be decided on a crucial conundrum with a less than ten point difference. It got so bad that at one point, I was on the verge of throwing a dice and predict who wins from there. In the end, Fiona won with a margin of seven points. Chris, nevermind that you lost here by a whisker and that the ODP was not in your favour especially after the cull, you just witnessed history with all of us, and the fact you squeezed in at the end of the Series as the #1 Seed gave us all something worth watching out for this Christmas season. All the best in raising your newborn son up and hope you find some time with us in the community to play as always while you're doing so!

Certainly one of the tensest Grand Finals in history...In my opinion, the right player won: an inspiration for the next generation of female players, and also giving hope to the home players who don’t play online or aren’t as obsessed as us geeks etc are.

Concur with a lot of this. Irrespective of whether Fiona was an Apterite or not, her performance today would have held its own against anyone in the Top 10 of the Apterous pro ranks...and has given Countdown the opportunity to show that it's not just young men who go on to do really well in the show, which is something that I feel is really positive.

Fiona Wood, Series 20 Semi-Finalist in 1990, CoC VI Semi-Finalist in 1993, and now in 2024, Series 90 Grand Champion. The last female Grand Champion was Kate Ogilvie some 9492 days ago, when I was barely a year and two days old, heck even the last four Grand Champions were not born yet when that occurred. To say you were "terrific" is definitely an understatement, you never lost your touch with Countdown from three decades ago and to have that courage to apply on the show again after so long definitely deserves a round of applause on your own. As mentioned by some here and in the Daily Chat, you are truly an inspiration for future contestants and I hope women from all walks of life would continue to apply on the show. We came so close in the past decade in having a female Series Champion with Ann Dibben and Florence Cappleman-Lynes, but in both cases, the game was decided before the Conundrum stage and both decisively were relegated to Runner-Up status. You did it, and you have broken down so many barriers that Colin, Rachel and so many of us at home would have never thought of in this day and age. It's not just smart teenagers or whizz kids that could win the trophy, it's ordinary people like you, and that was exactly the answer to our prayers, that we would have another Female Grand Champion one day and that someone not born in the 21st century (as of the time of writing) would clinch the title. Congratulations and I hope Hogmanay would be much more fantastic for you and your family this year!

And that is it for this year! A Christmas miracle really come true for some of us who were rooting for this moment to happen again, and let's hope we don't have to wait a generation for another female Series Champion. Countdown resumes on Monday, 06 January 2025 with Series 91 and with three-time winner Michael Kane, hoping to make his mark and be the first Finalist confirmed for the year! Countdown has also come to a close for this year and we will not have a Catsdown Christmas Special for the first time in many years, but, in view of how the calendar works this year, the remaining weekdays and first three days of the New Year will contain a treat, double Christmas Only Connect episodes compared to usual (Not four, but eight!) and back to ten University Challenge Specials. What's more, there's the anticipated Wallace and Gromit film "Vengeance Most Fowl" on BBC One on Christmas Day and The Big Fat Quiz of 2024 on 27 December, marking 20 years since the show started. Last but not least, may all of you have in advance, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone here! Let's hope for more things to come our way in 2025!

Progress:
QF1 (12 December 2024): Chris Kirby (#1) vs Neil Holland (#9) (96 - 68)
QF2 (13 December 2024): Fiona Wood (#2) vs Helen McGivern (#7) (107 - 83)
QF3 (16 December 2024): Rob Barkess (#3) vs Terence Newnham (#6) (87 - 100)
QF4 (17 December 2024): David Roe (#4) vs Alex Call (#5) (97 - 67)
SF1 (18 December 2024): Chris Kirby (QF1 Winner) vs David Roe (QF4 Winner) (101 - 82)
SF2 (19 December 2024): Fiona Wood (QF2 Winner) vs Terence Newnham (QF3 Winner) (111 - 76)
GF (20 December 2024): Chris Kirby (SF1 Winner) vs Fiona Wood (SF2 Winner) (89 - 96)

[Andres Sanchez]

Finally got around to watching it, so glad to see a female champion too. And to comment on a previous post, I don't think Apterous is always gonna get you a win. There have been a lot of Apterites that haven't made it as a champion that are still good players, think all in all it just comes down to what you see and remember. I honestly thought PROMOTEE was in too when Chris said it, and I didn't even know it was culled.


Very glad to see a great game and such great players!!!

[Tracey Anne Mills]

What a fantastic grand final it has been, Firstly congratulations to Fiona Wood on becoming the series champion of series 90 and the first lady series winner in 26 years since Kate Ogilvie acvhieved this feat, secondly commiserations to Chris Kirby he gave as good as he got but it wasn't to be getting to the finals is a huge achievement in its self. Happy Christmas to you all and looking forward to the next series of Countdown where more legends will be produced.

[Jojo Apollo]

Great final, many congrats to Fiona on becoming series champ and Chris on becoming series runner-up. The BBC idiots spoilt the result but thankfully I only saw the headline and didn't read the article before seeing the show, so was able to play along at home without knowing the conundrum.

[Philip A]

Sadly one of Fiona’s opponents in her original run Liz Barber, the Series 20 champion, passed away in January 2025. RIP Liz