c4countdown

This is it, the grand final of what's been an overall very competitive series. At the end of it all, we have our two remaining competitors, the number 1 seed, Paul "Two First Names In One" James; versus the number 3 seed, Heather "My Mother Is A Rap Goddess" Styles. Some pretty high stakes for this final too, Paul has a chance to finish what he started nearly 15 years ago, and Heather has a chance to become the first female series winner in around that time frame (Already I believe she is only the 4th woman finalist in the past decade, so a milestone already) I'm excited to see what happens, and believe me, the Mayans wanted us to watch Countdown first.

Join Thomas for the final recap of the series later.

Here are the final stats of 2012:

Firstly, No.1 Seed Paul "The Brampton Behemoth" James - 10 Wins, 992 Points (Average: 99.20)
Highest Score: 110 vs. Phil Hopgood (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 83 vs. Chris Barnett (6th Game)
9's Achieved: 1/6
Total Points/Max/%: 992/1255 (79%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 700/855 (82%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 232/300 (77%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/100 (60%)

Secondly, No.3 Seed Heather "The Sevenoaks Sizzler" Styles - 10 Wins, 928 Points (Average: 92.80)
Highest Score: 114 vs. Philip Jackson (1st Game - The Highest of the series. )
Lowest Score: 82 vs. Alma Cox (5th Game)
9's Achieved: 1/7
Total Points/Max/%: 928/1263 (73%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 645/866 (74%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 233/297 (78%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 50/100 (50%)

Round 3: noticed that if the last vowel selected in this round (U) was swapped with the first selected vowel of the next round (A)... MOUSETRAP would have been available

saw SUPREMO

Mauro

ETHNICAL?

Nariyals and limewash.
Shame Heather seems to have got a bit too nervous.

And with that, Paul completed what he started back in 1998. Very well done Paul for winning the series on a very strong note and consistent performance. I feel bad for Heather, it seemed like she was very nervous during the first segment and I wonder if that affected things. Regardless, a good end to a consistently strong series.

Many congrats, Paul, on becoming series champ Also well done to Heather for reaching the final.

Another well run entertaining series, well done to the Countdown team once again.

Well done Paul. Solid performance. Commiserations Heather. What can I say - you gave your all in the quarters and semi!!

Mauro

It is really tough for the winner of the second semi to go straight on and play the final, so well done to Heather
for battling on. Jolly well done to Paul, who as usual beat me by getting the conundrum.

POUTERS and SPOUTER of course as alts to troupes etc in R3.

Well done Paul, and commiserations Heather! Both of you can be proud of yourselves.

I got CHATLINE but little else.

Stewart Gordon wrote:ETHNICAL?

Sadly not, I went for that too.

Many congrats Paul, you must be in DREAMLAND (not LADDERMAN as I thought ). You have been consistently strong throughout your run. You rarely looked in danger during your heats but when it got tough during your quarter and your semi, you held your nerve well to see it through. You also came across extremely well on TV. A very worthy champion.

Heather: Don't be disheartened about what happened today. I'm sure most times the game would be much closer. Nerves can play a big part while I'm sure yesterday's semi final win (understandably) took a lot out of you. You have been great to watch, one of the most likeable contestants of all time and you can be very proud of what you achieved too. You gave us some memorable moments, not least our debut score of 114 (particularly PLANETOID) and other spots such as FANFARE have been equally impressive.

Congrats Paul on becoming series 7 champ. At least I can say now i was beaten by the champ! Commiserations to Heather. Think that game against David took it out of you!
I got DIOPTASE in r7 (one of my top 100 8s i learned) and would have been 3 ahead going into the crucial which i got in abour 6s. Just shows the difference between the pressure of the studio and the comfort of your sofa!
So chuffed to have been part of this great institution. Long may it continue an i'm already looking forward to seeing all my heroes going head to head in the 30th anniversary zpecial next year.
Merry christmas to you all and congrats to all involved with the series!!
G-R-A-N-T

Well played, Paul, a very worthy champion.

After the brilliant win you had yesterday, Heather, I wasn't too surprised that you were a bit nervous/pooped out at the beginning of the match, but that did mean that the final had a sort of foregone conclusion, but you definitely be proud of what you have done this series. You, and all the other finalists played their part in these brilliant finals.

ISOMERS in round 1, BUTEO in round 2, DISEASE in round 11 and that legendary favourite NARIYALS in round 13 (as already mentioned by the man who made it famous ).

A fantastic series has come to a fitting conclusion, and now BRING ON THE 30TH BIRTHDAY CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!

Nerves got the better of Heather today but she has been a great contestant and a worthy finalist. However, all credit to Paul. He has been consistently good throughout. The finals have been great this year, so well done all who took part.

Congratulations Paul! A worthy winner who was terrific on the day. Commiserations to Heather, but to reach the final is a fantastic achievement and, let's face it, all the cool people are runners up.

cheers everyone,it was a massive privilege to have been a part of this series,met some top people along the way and the sportsmanship displayed was top class. i wouldnt have liked to have gone straight into the final after heathers semi, i was emotionally drained after watching it at home,it was a thriller.i was a nervous wreck after my game against rose and the 30 seconds of the conundrum seemed like they would never end! many thanks to all involved with series 67 and thanks to all on the forum for their supportive comments. cheers,paul,

Many thanks to all those who took part and all those who watched. This was a great series. On another day, Grant Waters could have won it, but for the fatigue of the schedule and the intensity of game after game.

Rose Boyle was an absolute delight, Heather played brilliantly, David Barnard was so gracious in defeat, but overall, Paul came out on top and deservedly so.

Onwards to Series 68 and the big boys. We've already recorded the first 10 games and the standard is ridiculous.

Thanks to everyone for watching, have a great Xmas and New Year, and congrats to Paul James, Series 67 Champion. Lovely fella and worthy winner.

PS - 2 series winners have come from Brampton, Cumbria. One is Paul James, the other is Darryl Francis, who'll you see in the 30th Birthday series.

PPS - 2 series winners have come from Blackpool. One is Jack Worsley, who you'll see in the 30th Birthday series, the other is some bald-headed prick who has a drink problem.

Tremendous series finals, best I can remember - 8 well matched seeds, head and shoulders above the rest of the contestants, but little to chose between them.

Many congratulations to Paul, commiserations to Heather. Suggestion for future - record some new series heats after the semis so that the final can be recorded on the following day, giving both players a break.

As far as I can see there's no place in the 30th anniversary championship for these two, which is a shame, so hopefully we'll see them again in a C of C. Or will there be a Heather v Phyl special perhaps?

As for us ordinary plebs (my words, not Mr Mitchell's) was glad to get an armchair win today for the first time this week (due to 986, analyser and dreamland). Somehow don't think I'll get another one until March.

Really happy for you Paul, congrats! And congrats also to all (and I do mean all) the other finalists this series - any one of them would have been a fully believable champion.

Countdown Team wrote:Many thanks to all those who took part and all those who watched. This was a great series. On another day, Grant Waters could have won it, but for the fatigue of the schedule and the intensity of game after game.

Rose Boyle was an absolute delight, Heather played brilliantly, David Barnard was so gracious in defeat, but overall, Paul came out on top and deservedly so.

Echoed. A bit like S65, the demographic worked pretty well with a number of female contestants doing well and the successful male contestants having a pretty sweeping age differential. Was enjoyable to watch and be a part of - somehow I managed to sneak into the audience thanks to Heather & Rose (cheers again).

Yeah I had Paul down to win from the start - I know David was learning a lot of obscure words and arguably had an extra gear to his play but I felt Paul had the same kind of cool temperament that we've seen over the years from other successful players and was able to clutch when necessary. Worth trying to emulate.

Keith Bennett wrote: Or will there be a Heather v Phyl special perhaps?

Heh, I suggested this at the time

Countdown Team wrote:
PPS - 2 series winners have come from Blackpool. One is Jack Worsley, who you'll see in the 30th Birthday series, the other is some bald-headed prick who has a drink problem.

I didn't know Jon Corby won a series.

Congratulations Paul, you gave a consistently high standard throughout your run. Commiserations to Heather (but you still have the highest score of the series), and to all the other finalists.

Congratulations, Paul! An excellent Champion's performance there in the final and a very worthy series winner. I'd like to echo the sentiment that both of you came across as really really nice and sporting Countdown folk. Heather, you were superb in the run up to the final but Paul was just that bit too strong on the day. More importantly, and I don't think this has been mentioned yet in this thread, you used your new-found fame to raise an awful lot of money for charity, which is highly commendable. If anyone hasn't seen Heather's fundraising page yet, here it is: http://www.justgiving.com/Countdown-Challenge.

Looking forward to the 30th Birthday Championship!

So, it seems that the ancient Mayans actually predicted the “Countdown Final” rather than the “Final Countdown” The world is very much alive and kicking, and it’s good that we can celebrate the crowning of a new and thoroughly deserving champion as well as looking forward to another championship of apocalyptic proportions in the new year! Taking part in Series 67 has been an honour. Paul is an exemplary player, and such a nice guy that losing to him (even by a massive margin) almost didn’t feel like losing. I am immensely grateful for all the support and encouragement that people have given me along the way.

Bit of an input from me. Not watched huge amounts of the series but did manage to see at least a couple of games from each of the 8 finalists (and most of the full runs in cases). Extremely good competition throughout the series and anyone could have won it. For quite a long period of the first Quarter-Final I felt for sure that Grant was going to squeak past the eventual champion. Very fine margins, entertaining to watch and climaxing in the second Semi-Final which was awesome to watch (especially as this was the first time in maybe 6 series that I didn't know the outcome).

Some of you may know that me and Michelle recorded a special on the first day of the Series 67 finals and we both still talk about just how thoroughly good company everybody was when we went out afterwards and it was a pleasure meeting pretty much all new faces to us, most of whom we will be seeing again soon in Lincoln which is good. There's something that is just special about Countdown that brings such a diverse crowd of people into a lovely, cosy group and I never get tired of the magic of it. I FUCKING LOVE COUNTDOWN.

Well done everybody! Apart from me.

I'll just add one more bravo to Paul - it's been an absolutely thrilling finals sequence, and it's just a shame that the final was maybe a bit, y'know, "after the Lord Mayor's show". Even so, if that gutsy 6 small selection had paid off in R5 - and it so easily could have done - the whole game could have taken a totally different turn.

It was a real pleasure also to spend a bit of time with Heather and David the day after the finals as I was up in Manchester on business - and I must say Heather, you seemed to be on such a high that when it came to watch the finals on telly unspoilered, I was quite expecting a different outcome.

Bravo Paul, bravo finalists, bravo Series 67!

Heather Styles wrote:So, it seems that the ancient Mayans actually predicted the “Countdown Final” rather than the “Final Countdown”

Well I'd been told the world would end at noon, so it had been declared a day of mourning....

but that's a brilliant line.

Nick Deller wrote:I'll just add one more bravo to Paul - it's been an absolutely thrilling finals sequence, and it's just a shame that the final was maybe a bit, y'know, "after the Lord Mayor's show".

Nice.

Anyway, very well played final Paul and unlucky Heather. The whole knockout stage was very good.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Nick Deller wrote:I'll just add one more bravo to Paul - it's been an absolutely thrilling finals sequence, and it's just a shame that the final was maybe a bit, y'know, "after the Lord Mayor's show".

Nice.

One or the other of us probably needed a smiley in there somewhere. I was riffing off Alistair McGowan's discussion of Mark Lawrenson, you almost certainly got it but as I always like to say, if you have to explain it it gets EVEN FUNNIER.

Just want to add my congratulations to all the finalists for a thoroughly entertaining, thrilling series finals and particularly well done to Paul for being consistantly good throughout and Heather for flying the flag for the ladies so brilliantly.

Following on from the Peter Lee find, I've made an even more amazing discovery!!

Our most recent champion's first show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdN-1zCWUio

I couldn't believe it at first, but here's the proof: http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2250

James Robinson wrote:Following on from the Peter Lee find, I've made an even more amazing discovery!!

Our most recent champion's first show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdN-1zCWUio

I couldn't believe it at first, but here's the proof: http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2250

This is just Whiteley saying bye and the closing credits...

Jon O'Neill wrote:

James Robinson wrote:Following on from the Peter Lee find, I've made an even more amazing discovery!!

Our most recent champion's first show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdN-1zCWUio

I couldn't believe it at first, but here's the proof: http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2250

This is just Whiteley saying bye and the closing credits...

True, but you can still see Paul on the right hand side as they're zooming out.