Special Guests
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This is a list of the 239 celebrity guests who have appeared in Dictionary Corner, plus Mark Nyman, Damian Eadie and the Reverend Clifford Warren, sorted by order of appearance. The information in brackets consists of the abbreviations used in the "Series" pages on the site, the date on which they first appeared, and the number of appearances they have made. This page includes appearances on Countdown Specials (although they are shown separately), but not those made on "Celebrity Countdown" or "Countdown at Christmas" (details of which can be found here).
To list the guests sorted by number of appearances, please click here.
Ted Moult (TM, 2 Nov 1982, 7 appearances) *d
Kenneth Williams (KWi, 15 Nov 1982, 48 appearances) *d
Gyles Brandreth (GB, 10 May 1983, 299 appearances)
Ned Sherrin (NS, 19 Sep 1983, 87 appearances) *d
William Rushton (WRu, 3 Oct 1983, 13 appearances) *d
Nigel Rees (NR, 2 Apr 1984, 184 appearances)
Eve Pollard (EP, 9 Apr 1984, 60 appearances)
Clifford Warren (CW, 1 May 1984, 1 appearance) *d *w
Mark Nyman (MN, 29 May 1984, 4 appearances) *s
John Junkin (JJ, 4 Dec 1984, 43 appearances) *d
Richard Stilgoe (RSt, 30 Jan 1985, 234 appearances + 5 Specials)
Liz Fraser (LF, 6 Feb 1985, 6 appearances)
Steve Jones (SJo, 30 Oct 1985, 33 appearances)
Bill Tidy (BT, 26 Nov 1985, 117 appearances)
Ken Bruce (KBr, 13 Jan 1986, 84 appearances)
Rula Lenska (RL, 14 May 1986, 11 appearances)
Lee Peck (LPec, 31 Oct 1986, 6 appearances)
William Davis (WD, 18 Nov 1986, 10 appearances)
Diane Solomon (DSo, 3 Feb 1987, 11 appearances)
Russell Harty (RHart, 25 Mar 1987, 23 appearances) *d
Anne Robinson (ARo, 17 Apr 1987, 6 appearances)
Patrick Mower (PMo, 5 May 1987, 20 appearances)
Lance Percival (LPer, 12 May 1987, 36 appearances)
Humphrey Lyttelton (HLy, 21 May 1987, 7 appearances) *d
Sally James (SJa, 22 Jun 1987, 22 appearances)
Derek Nimmo (DNi, 20 Aug 1987, 18 appearances) *d
Brian Johnston (BJ, 8 Oct 1987, 37 appearances) *d
Neil Innes (NI, 27 Nov 1987, 4 appearances)
Carol Thatcher (CTh, 18 Dec 1987, 20 appearances)
Clement Freud (CF, 11 Apr 1988, 19 appearances) *d
Dinah Sheridan (DSh, 22 Apr 1988, 27 appearances)
Sylvia Syms (SS, 29 Apr 1988, 38 appearances)
Barbara Taylor Bradford (BTB, 11 Jul 1988, 11 appearances)
Tim Rice (TRi, 2 Jan 1989, 94 appearances)
Frazer Hines (FH, 1 Feb 1989, 23 appearances)
Simon Williams (SW, 9 Mar 1989, 62 appearances)
Ernie Wise (EW, 18 Jan 1990, 12 appearances) *d
Martin Jarvis (MJ, 31 Jan 1990, 152 appearances)
Hayley Mills (HM, 15 Jan 1991, 5 appearances)
Sheridan Morley (SMo, 23 Jul 1991, 40 appearances) *d
Rosalind Ayres (RAy, 27 Sep 1991, 26 appearances) *e
Philip Franks (PF, 22 Jan 1992, 176 appearances)
Jan Harvey (JHarv, 10 Feb 1992, 134 appearances)
Norman Painting (NPai, 4 Mar 1992, 12 appearances) *d
Nicholas Day (ND, 27 Mar 1992, 1 appearance) *f
James Whale (JWha, 7 Jul 1992, 5 appearances)
Jenny Hanley (JHan, 25 Sep 1992, 43 appearances) *g
David Jacobs (DJa, 13 Jul 1993, 62 appearances)
Shirley Anne Field (SAF, 3 Jan 1994, 12 appearances)
Denis Norden (DNo, 3 Feb 1994, 52 appearances)
Michael Parkinson (MP, 20 Sep 1994, 15 appearances)
Pete Murray (PMu, 23 Mar 1995, 4 appearances)
Geoffrey Durham (GDu, 30 Aug 1995, 160 appearances + 5 Specials)
Jon Pertwee (JPe, 29 Sep 1995, 1 appearance) *d *h
Tom O'Connor (TO, 17 Jul 1996, 121 appearances)
June Whitfield (JWhitf, 25 Jul 1996, 12 appearances)
Barry Cryer (BCr, 11 Nov 1996, 85 appearances)
Richard Digance (RD, 28 Nov 1996, 168 appearances)
Sheila Ferguson (SFe, 26 Feb 1997, 6 appearances)
Suzi Quatro (SQ, 14 Mar 1997, 6 appearances)
Angela Rippon (ARip, 30 Apr 1997, 42 appearances)
Terry Wogan (TWo, 8 May 1997, 14 appearances)
Merrill Thomas (MT, 30 Jun 1997, 15 appearances)
Nicholas Parsons (NPar, 22 Sep 1997, 5 appearances)
Rick Wakeman (RWak, 31 Oct 1997, 87 appearances)
Tony Robinson (TRo, 27 Nov 1997, 6 appearances)
Gloria Hunniford (GH, 6 Jan 1998, 38 appearances)
Nanette Newman (NN, 16 Feb 1998, 4 appearances)
Magnus Magnusson (MMa, 14 Apr 1998, 38 appearances) *d
Toyah Willcox (TWi, 22 Apr 1998, 18 appearances)
Anne Gregg (AG, 30 Apr 1998, 9 appearances) *d
Jo Brand (JBr, 1 Jun 1998, 69 appearances)
Richard Sisson (RSi, 23 Jul 1998, 6 appearances)
Rachael Heyhoe-Flint (RHF, 18 Aug 1998, 6 appearances)
Diane Keen (DK, 11 Sep 1998, 6 appearances)
Colin Baker (CoBaker, 7 Oct 1998, 6 appearances)
Gwen Taylor (GT, 15 Oct 1998, 12 appearances)
Alastair Stewart (ASt, 23 Oct 1998, 64 appearances)
Russell Hunter (RHun, 25 Nov 1998, 6 appearances)
Stephen Fry (SFr, 28 Dec 1998, 17 appearances)
Christopher Timothy (CTi, 5 Jan 1999, 6 appearances)
John Dunn (JD, 29 Jan 1999, 6 appearances) *d
Arthur Smith (ASm, 8 Feb 1999, 11 appearances)
Penny Smith (PS, 4 Mar 1999, 22 appearances + 1 Special)
Marc Freden (MFr, 22 Mar 1999, 12 appearances)
Sarah Kennedy (SK, 7 Apr 1999, 6 appearances)
David Steel (DStee, 11 May 1999, 12 appearances)
Helen Lederer (HLe, 27 May 1999, 6 appearances)
Carol Barnes (CBar, 4 Jun 1999, 23 appearances) *d
Don Black (DB, 13 Jul 1999, 16 appearances)
Sian Lloyd (SL, 17 Aug 1999, 17 appearances)
Lionel Blair (LBl, 4 Nov 1999, 26 appearances)
Vijay Amritraj (VA, 19 Nov 1999, 6 appearances)
Keith Barron (KBa, 7 Dec 1999, 99 appearances)
Roy Hudd (RHud, 11 Jan 2000, 6 appearances)
Joan Bakewell (JBak, 19 Jan 2000, 33 appearances)
Gabby Yorath (GY, 16 Mar 2000, 6 appearances)
Lesley Graham (LGr, 8 May 2000, 33 appearances)
Andrea McLean (AMcL, 9 Aug 2000, 6 appearances)
Melvyn Hayes (MH, 23 Oct 2000, 27 appearances)
Simon Biagi (SB, 15 Nov 2000, 12 appearances)
Fern Britton (FB, 1 Dec 2000, 6 appearances)
Anya Sitaram (ASi, 11 Dec 2000, 6 appearances)
Alison Comyn (ACo, 30 Jan 2001, 5 appearances)
Janice Long (JL, 6 Feb 2001, 6 appearances)
Robert Powell (RPo, 14 Feb 2001, 6 appearances)
Victor Ubogu (VU, 2 Mar 2001, 6 appearances)
Bob Champion (BCh, 11 Apr 2001, 6 appearances)
Damian Eadie (DE, 19 Apr 2001, 3 appearances) *t
Kathryn Apanowicz (KAp, 24 Apr 2001, 28 appearances) *t
Sally Magnusson (SMag, 14 Aug 2001, 6 appearances)
Ken Hom (KHo, 7 Sep 2001, 6 appearances)
Vanessa Feltz (VF, 5 Nov 2001, 5 appearances)
Barry Norman (BN, 19 Nov 2001, 57 appearances)
Henry Blofeld (HB, 3 Dec 2001, 34 appearances)
Sue Perkins (SP, 10 Dec 2001, 5 appearances)
Roger McGough (RMcGo, 11 Feb 2002, 5 appearances)
Raj Persaud (RPe, 4 Mar 2002, 15 appearances)
Andi Peters (AP, 11 Mar 2002, 5 appearances)
Simon Hoggart (SH, 8 Apr 2002, 5 appearances)
Esther Rantzen (ER, 22 Apr 2002, 25 appearances)
Anna Raeburn (ARa, 6 May 2002, 5 appearances)
Tim Brooke-Taylor (TBT, 13 May 2002, 10 appearances)
Robert Hardy (RHard, 15 Jul 2002, 5 appearances)
Thelma Barlow (TBa, 23 Sep 2002, 10 appearances)
Eric Knowles (EK, 7 Oct 2002, 24 appearances)
Ingrid Tarrant (IT, 21 Oct 2002, 5 appearances)
Jilly Goolden (JGo, 4 Nov 2002, 5 appearances)
Bob 'The Cat' Bevan (BB, 18 Nov 2002, 10 appearances + 5 Specials)
Peter Baldwin (PBa, 2 Dec 2002, 25 appearances)
Pam Ayres (PA, 9 Dec 2002, 45 appearances)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (HFW, 16 Dec 2002, 5 appearances)
Christine Hamilton (CH, 24 Feb 2003, 5 appearances)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (LLB, 17 Mar 2003, 5 appearances)
Charles Collingwood (CC, 14 Apr 2003, 10 appearances)
Jennie Bond (JBo, 5 May 2003, 25 appearances)
Linda Smith (LS, 12 May 2003, 5 appearances) *d
Ann Widdecombe (AW, 26 May 2003, 28 appearances + 5 Specials) *u
Clare Balding (CBal, 19 Jun 2003, 9 appearances)
Jason Byrne (JBy, 3 Jul 2003, 5 appearances)
Richard Wilson (RWi, 17 Jul 2003, 5 appearances)
Bernard Ingham (BI, 11 Sep 2003, 5 Specials) *c
Richard Griffiths (RG, 29 Sep 2003, 5 appearances)
Mo Mowlam (MMo, 13 Oct 2003, 5 appearances) *d
Lesley Garrett (LGa, 27 Oct 2003, 19 appearances)
Sue MacGregor (SMac, 17 Nov 2003, 10 appearances)
Michael Aspel (MA, 9 Feb 2004, 19 appearances)
Jimmy Carr (JCar, 23 Feb 2004, 5 appearances)
Jan Ravens (JR, 8 Mar 2004, 18 appearances)
Emma Forbes (EF, 5 Apr 2004, 5 appearances)
John Craven (JCr, 12 Apr 2004, 5 appearances)
Paul Zenon (PZ, 26 Apr 2004, 83 appearances)
Jeremy Beadle (JBe, 27 May 2004, 15 appearances) *d
John Simpson (JSi, 20 Sep 2004, 5 appearances)
Victoria Mather (VM, 11 Oct 2004, 5 appearances)
Nicholas Owen (NO, 1 Nov 2004, 29 appearances)
Daniel O'Donnell (DO, 22 Nov 2004, 5 appearances)
Michael Fish (MFi, 10 Jan 2005, 5 appearances)
Russell Watson (RWat, 17 Jan 2005, 5 appearances)
Mitch Murray (MMu, 29 Mar 2005, 4 appearances)
Julia McKenzie (JMc, 11 Apr 2005, 5 appearances)
Darren Jordon (DJo, 3 May 2005, 4 appearances)
Jilly Cooper (JCo, 9 Dec 2005, 4 appearances)
Clarissa Dickson-Wright (CDW, 16 Feb 2006, 5 appearances)
Julian Lloyd-Webber (JLW, 6 Mar 2006, 5 appearances)
Paul Burrell (PBu, 22 Mar 2006, 5 appearances)
Alan Carr (ACar, 8 Apr 2006, 5 appearances)
Diarmuid Gavin (DG, 12 May 2006, 4 appearances)
Ron Atkinson (RAt, 29 May 2006, 5 appearances)
Kim Woodburn (KWo, 12 Jun 2006, 10 appearances)
Ricky Tomlinson (RT, 19 Jun 2006, 24 appearances)
George Layton (GL, 17 Jul 2006, 5 appearances)
Kaye Adams (KAd, 24 Jul 2006, 15 appearances)
Wendi Peters (WP, 31 Jul 2006, 10 appearances)
Phil Hammond (PH, 18 Sep 2006, 71 appearances)
Tony Christie (TC, 6 Nov 2006, 5 appearances)
Mel Giedroyc (MG, 27 Nov 2006, 5 appearances)
Jeremy Hardy (JHard, 2 Feb 2007, 5 appearances)
Johnnie Casson (JCas, 26 Mar 2007, 5 appearances)
Dennis Taylor (DT, 2 Apr 2007, 14 appearances)
Trudie Goodwin (TG, 27 Jul 2007, 9 appearances)
Aggie MacKenzie (AMa, 17 Sep 2007, 5 appearances)
John Sergeant (JSe, 24 Sep 2007, 20 appearances)
Tony Blackburn (TBl, 1 Oct 2007, 5 appearances)
Johnny Ball (JBal, 15 Oct 2007, 5 appearances)
Barbara Dickson (BD, 19 Nov 2007, 5 appearances)
Roger Cook (RCoo, 2 Jan 2008, 5 appearances)
James Whitaker (JWhita, 6 Feb 2008, 5 appearances)
John Inverdale (JI, 20 Feb 2008, 30 appearances)
Lynda Baron (LBa, 31 Mar 2008, 10 appearances)
Graham Cole (GC, 1 Sep 2008, 14 appearances)
Anton Du Beke (ADB, 5 Sep 2008, 10 appearances)
Andrew Sachs (ASa, 18 Sep 2008, 9 appearances)
Brian Capron (BCa, 21 Oct 2008, 14 appearances)
Ranulph Fiennes (RF, 28 Oct 2008, 5 appearances)
Sue Cleaver (SC, 25 Nov 2008, 5 appearances)
Kate Humble (KHu, 16 Feb 2009, 20 appearances)
Colin Murray (CM, 9 Mar 2009, 10 appearances)
Jon Gaunt (JGa, 26 Mar 2009, 14 appearances)
Jerry Springer (JSp, 1 Apr 2009, 4 appearances)
Jonathan Ansell (JA, 7 Apr 2009, 4 appearances)
David Lloyd (DLl, 13 Apr 2009, 20 appearances)
Tim Vine (TV, 20 Apr 2009, 35 appearances)
Martin Lewis (ML, 4 May 2009, 15 appearances)
Steve Davis (SDavis, 11 May 2009, 5 appearances)
Rory McGrath (RMcGr, 18 May 2009, 15 appearances)
John Stapleton (JSt, 8 Jun 2009, 15 appearances)
Matt Le Tissier (MLT, 29 Jun 2009, 10 appearances)
Donal MacIntyre (DM, 6 Jul 2009, 10 appearances)
Ian Hyland (IH, 13 Jul 2009, 5 appearances)
Jane Moore (JMo, 26 Oct 2009, 5 appearances)
Hilary Jones (HJ, 2 Nov 2009, 10 appearances)
Amanda Lamb (AL, 16 Nov 2009, 10 appearances)
Mark Foster (MFo, 8 Feb 2010, 10 appearances)
Jenni Falconer (JF, 22 Feb 2010, 5 appearances)
Gary Osborne (GO, 15 Mar 2010, 4 Specials) *c
Gregg Wallace (GWa, 22 Mar 2010, 14 appearances)
Des Lynam (DLy, 26 Mar 2010, 1 appearance) *v
John Suchet (JSu, 5 Apr 2010, 10 appearances)
Dave Spikey (DSp, 12 Apr 2010, 25 appearances)
John Parrott (JPa, 26 Apr 2010, 20 appearances + 1 Special)
Colin Jackson (CJ, 17 May 2010, 10 appearances)
Aled Jones (AJ, 21 Jun 2010, 5 appearances)
Gino D'Acampo (GDA, 5 Jul 2010, 10 appearances)
Shobna Gulati (SG, 12 Jul 2010, 7 appearances)
Andrew Castle (ACas, 14 Jul 2010, 8 appearances)
Sharron Davies (SDavie, 21 Jul 2010, 5 appearances)
William Roache (WRo, 9 Aug 2010, 10 apperances)
Gary Wilmot (GWi, 23 Aug 2010, 5 appearances)
Alistair McGowan (AMcG, 18 Oct 2010, 10 appearances)
Jonathan Maitland (JMa, 17 Jan 2011, 5 appearances)
Debra Stephenson (DStep, 14 Feb 2011, 5 appearances)
Mark Durden-Smith (MDS, 28 Feb 2011, 15 appearances)
Carol Smillie (CS, 18 Apr 2011, 5 appearances)
Patti Clare (PC, 25 Apr 2011, 2 appearances)
Delia Smith (DSm, 16 May 2011, 5 appearances)
Jon Culshaw (JCu, 13 Jun 2011, 10 appearances)
Michael Vaughan (MV, 27 Jun 2011, 5 appearances)
Robin Cousins (RCou, 4 Jul 2011, 10 appearances)
Anneka Rice (ARic, 3 Oct 2011, 5 appearances)
Les Dennis (LD, 17 Oct 2011, 5 appearances)
Cheryl Baker (ChBaker, 24 Oct 2011, 5 appearances)
*c appeared only on one or more Countdown Specials.
*d sadly no longer with us.
*e appeared with husband Martin Jarvis in a Grand Final in Series 22, solo debut in Series 26.
*f appeared only with Jan Harvey in a Grand Final.
*g appeared with Simon Williams in a Grand Final in Series 24, solo debut in Series 25.
*h appeared only with David Jacobs in a Grand Final.
*s appeared as a stand-in for Ned Sherrin and John Junkin.
*t appeared as part of the '3000th Programme' celebrations (standing in for Carol Barnes).
*u made her debut on 'regular' shows during Series 54 (10 Jan 2006).
*v appeared as part of the '5000th Programme' celebrations.
*w frequent contributor to the programme, invited to appear alongside Gyles Brandreth.