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 number of apperances. The information in brackets consists of the abbreviations used in the "Series" pages on the site, the series in which they first and last 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 order of appearance, please click here.
Gyles Brandreth (GB, Series 2 to 60, 299 appearances) *p *q
Richard Stilgoe (RSt, Series 6 to 54, 234 appearances + 5 Specials)
Nigel Rees (NR, Series 4 to 46, 184 appearances)
Philip Franks (PF, Series 23 to 55, 176 appearances)
Richard Digance (RD, Series 33 to 60, 168 appearances)
Geoffrey Durham (GDu, Series 30 to 54, 160 appearances + 5 Specials)
Martin Jarvis (MJ, Series 19 to 58, 152 appearances)
Jan Harvey (JHarv, Series 23 to 48, 134 appearances)
Tom O'Connor (TO, Series 32 to 58, 121 appearances)
Bill Tidy (BT, Series 7 to 25, 117 appearances) *p
Keith Barron (KBa, Series 41 to 59, 99 appearances)
Tim Rice (TRi, Series 17 to 52, 94 appearances)
Ned Sherrin (NS, Series 3 to 42, 87 appearances) *d
Rick Wakeman (RWak, Series 37 to 59, 87 appearances)
Barry Cryer (BCr, Series 33 to 60, 85 appearances)
Ken Bruce (KBr, Series 8 to 65, 84 appearances)
Paul Zenon (PZ, Series 51 to 65, 83 appearances)
Phil Hammond (PH, Series 55 to 65, 71 appearances)
Jo Brand (JBr, Series 38 to 61, 69 appearances) *q
Alastair Stewart (ASt, Series 39 to 64, 64 appearances)
David Jacobs (DJa, Series 26 to 44, 62 appearances)
Simon Williams (SW, Series 17 to 26, 62 appearances)
Eve Pollard (EP, Series 4 to 51, 60 appearances)
Barry Norman (BN, Series 46 to 59, 57 appearances)
Denis Norden (DNo, Series 27 to 46, 52 appearances)
Kenneth Williams (KWi, Series 1 to 2, 48 appearances) *d
Pam Ayres (PA, Series 48 to 62, 45 appearances)
Jenny Hanley (JHan, Series 24 to 33, 43 appearances) *g
John Junkin (JJ, Series 5 to 11, 43 appearances) *d
Angela Rippon (ARip, Series 35 to 43, 42 appearances)
Sheridan Morley (SMo, Series 22 to 34, 40 appearances) *d
Gloria Hunniford (GH, Series 38 to 65, 38 appearances)
Magnus Magnusson (MMa, Series 38 to 49, 38 appearances) *d
Sylvia Syms (SS, Series 15 to 23, 38 appearances)
Brian Johnston (BJ, Series 14 to 23, 37 appearances) *d
Lance Percival (LPer, Series 12 to 19, 36 appearances)
Tim Vine (TV, Series 60 to 65, 35 appearances)
Henry Blofeld (HB, Series 46 to 59, 34 appearances)
Joan Bakewell (JBak, Series 42 to 49, 33 appearances)
Lesley Graham (LGr, Series 42 to 52, 33 appearances)
Steve Jones (SJo, Series 7 to 12, 33 appearances)
John Inverdale (JI, Series 58 to 65, 30 appearances)
Nicholas Owen (NO, Series 52 to 62, 29 appearances)
Kathryn Apanowicz (KAp, Series 44 to 53, 28 appearances) *t
Ann Widdecombe (AW, Series 54 to 59, 28 appearances + 5 Specials)
Melvyn Hayes (MH, Series 43 to 55, 27 appearances)
Dinah Sheridan (DSh, Series 15 to 25, 27 appearances)
Rosalind Ayres (RAy, Series 22 to 31, 26 appearances) *e
Lionel Blair (LBl, Series 41 to 53, 26 appearances)
Peter Baldwin (PBa, Series 48 to 53, 25 appearances)
Jennie Bond (JBo, Series 49 to 58, 25 appearances)
Esther Rantzen (ER, Series 47 to 55, 25 appearances)
Dave Spikey (DSp, Series 62 to 65, 25 appearances)
Eric Knowles (EK, Series 48 to 55, 24 appearances)
Ricky Tomlinson (RT, Series 55 to 58, 24 appearances)
Carol Barnes (CBar, Series 40 to 45, 23 appearances) *d
Russell Harty (RHart, Series 11 to 14, 23 appearances) *d
Frazer Hines (FH, Series 17 to 30, 23 appearances)
Sally James (SJa, Series 13 to 23, 22 appearances)
Penny Smith (PS, Series 40 to 63, 22 appearances + 1 Special)
Kate Humble (KHu, Series 60 to 65, 20 appearances)
David Lloyd (DLl, Series 60 to 65, 20 appearances)
Patrick Mower (PMo, Series 12 to 47, 20 appearances)
John Parrott (JPa, Series 62 to 65, 20 appearances + 1 Special)
John Sergeant (JSe, Series 57 to 60, 20 appearances)
Carol Thatcher (CTh, Series 14 to 54, 20 appearances)
Michael Aspel (MA, Series 51 to 57, 19 appearances)
Clement Freud (CF, Series 15 to 18, 19 appearances) *d
Lesley Garrett (LGa, Series 50 to 61, 19 appearances)
Derek Nimmo (DNi, Series 13 to 36, 18 appearances) *d
Jan Ravens (JR, Series 51 to 55, 18 appearances)
Toyah Willcox (TWi, Series 38 to 41, 18 appearances)
Stephen Fry (SFr, Series 40 to 45, 17 appearances)
Sian Lloyd (SL, Series 41 to 45, 17 appearances)
Don Black (DB, Series 41 to 47, 16 appearances)
Kaye Adams (KAd, Series 55 to 62, 15 appearances)
Jeremy Beadle (JBe, Series 51 to 54, 15 appearances) *d
Mark Durden-Smith (MDS, Series 64 to 65, 15 appearances)
Martin Lewis (ML, Series 60 to 64, 15 appearances)
Rory McGrath (RMcGr, Series 60 to 63, 15 appearances)
Michael Parkinson (MP, Series 28 to 30, 15 appearances)
Raj Persaud (RPe, Series 47 to 49, 15 appearances)
John Stapleton (JSt, Series 60 to 65, 15 appearances)
Merrill Thomas (MT, Series 36 to 38, 15 appearances)
Brian Capron (BCa, Series 59 to 62, 14 appearances)
Graham Cole (GC, Series 59 to 62, 14 appearances)
Jon Gaunt (JGa, Series 60 to 62, 14 appearances)
Dennis Taylor (DT, Series 56 to 58, 14 appearances)
Gregg Wallace (GWa, Series 62 to 64, 14 appearances)
Terry Wogan (TWo, Series 35 to 41, 14 appearances)
William Rushton (WRu, Series 3, 13 appearances) *d
Simon Biagi (SB, Series 43 to 44, 12 appearances)
Shirley Anne Field (SAF, Series 27 to 28, 12 appearances)
Marc Freden (MFr, Series 40 to 41, 12 appearances)
Norman Painting (NPai, Series 23 to 24, 12 appearances) *d
David Steel (DStee, Series 40 to 43, 12 appearances)
Gwen Taylor (GT, Series 39 to 40, 12 appearances)
June Whitfield (JWhitf, Series 32 to 33, 12 appearances)
Ernie Wise (EW, Series 19 to 20, 12 appearances) *d
Rula Lenska (RL, Series 9 to 24, 11 appearances)
Arthur Smith (ASm, Series 40 to 59, 11 appearances)
Diane Solomon (DSo, Series 11 to 13, 11 appearances)
Barbara Taylor Bradford (BTB, Series 16 to 41, 11 appearances)
Thelma Barlow (TBa, Series 48 to 56, 10 appearances)
Lynda Baron (LBa, Series 58 to 59, 10 appearances)
Bob 'The Cat' Bevan (BB, Series 48 to 53, 10 appearances + 5 Specials)
Tim Brooke-Taylor (TBT, Series 47 to 48, 10 appearances)
Charles Collingwood (CC, Series 49 to 52, 10 appearances)
Robin Cousins (RCou, Series 65, 10 appearances)
Jon Culshaw (JCu, Series 65, 10 appearances)
Gino D'Acampo (GDA, Series 63, 10 appearances)
William Davis (WD, Series 10, 10 appearances)
Anton Du Beke (ADB, Series 59 to 61, 10 appearances)
Mark Foster (MFo, Series 62 to 64, 10 appearances)
Colin Jackson (CJ, Series 62 to 63, 10 appearances)
Hilary Jones (HJ, Series 61 to 62, 10 appearances)
Amanda Lamb (AL, Series 61 to 63, 10 appearances)
Matt Le Tissier (MLT, Series 61 to 63, 10 appearances)
Sue MacGregor (SMac, Series 50 to 52, 10 appearances)
Donal MacIntyre (DM, Series 61 to 64, 10 appearances)
Alistair McGowan (AMcG, Series 63 to 64, 10 appearances)
Colin Murray (CM, Series 60 to 61, 10 appearances)
Wendi Peters (WP, Series 55, 10 appearances)
William Roache (WRo, Series 63 to 65, 10 appearances)
John Suchet (JSu, Series 62 to 63, 10 appearances)
Kim Woodburn (KWo, Series 55 to 62, 10 appearances)
Clare Balding (CBal, Series 49 to 54, 9 appearances)
Trudie Goodwin (TG, Series 57 to 58, 9 appearances)
Anne Gregg (AG, Series 38 to 39, 9 appearances) *d
Andrew Sachs (ASa, Series 59 to 60, 9 appearances)
Andrew Castle (ACas, Series 63 to 64, 8 appearances)
Shobna Gulati (SG, Series 63 to 65, 7 appearances)
Humphrey Lyttelton (HLy, Series 12, 7 appearances) *d
Ted Moult (TM, Series 1, 7 appearances) *d
Vijay Amritraj (VA, Series 41, 6 appearances)
Colin Baker (CoBaker, Series 39, 6 appearances)
Fern Britton (FB, Series 43, 6 appearances)
Bob Champion (BCh, Series 44, 6 appearances)
John Dunn (JD, Series 40, 6 appearances) *d
Sheila Ferguson (SFe, Series 34, 6 appearances)
Liz Fraser (LF, Series 6, 6 appearances)
Rachael Heyhoe-Flint (RHF, Series 39, 6 appearances)
Ken Hom (KHo, Series 45, 6 appearances)
Roy Hudd (RHud, Series 42, 6 appearances)
Russell Hunter (RHun, Series 39, 6 appearances)
Diane Keen (DK, Series 39, 6 appearances)
Sarah Kennedy (SK, Series 40, 6 appearances)
Helen Lederer (HLe, Series 40, 6 appearances)
Janice Long (JL, Series 44, 6 appearances)
Sally Magnusson (SMag, Series 45, 6 appearances)
Andrea McLean (AMcL, Series 43, 6 appearances)
Lee Peck (LPec, Series 10, 6 appearances)
Robert Powell (RPo, Series 44, 6 appearances)
Suzi Quatro (SQ, Series 34, 6 appearances)
Anne Robinson (ARo, Series 12, 6 appearances)
Tony Robinson (TRo, Series 37, 6 appearances)
Richard Sisson (RSi, Series 39, 6 appearances)
Anya Sitaram (ASi, Series 43, 6 appearances)
Christopher Timothy (CTi, Series 40, 6 appearances)
Victor Ubogu (VU, Series 44, 6 appearances)
Gabby Yorath (GY, Series 42, 6 appearances)
Ron Atkinson (RAt, Series 55, 5 appearances)
Cheryl Baker (ChBaker, Series 65, 5 appearances)
Johnny Ball (JBal, Series 57, 5 appearances)
Tony Blackburn (TBl, Series 57, 5 appearances)
Paul Burrell (PBu, Series 54, 5 appearances)
Jason Byrne (JBy, Series 50, 5 appearances)
Alan Carr (ACar, Series 54, 5 appearances)
Jimmy Carr (JCar, Series 51, 5 appearances)
Johnnie Casson (JCas, Series 56, 5 appearances)
Tony Christie (TC, Series 55, 5 appearances)
Sue Cleaver (SC, Series 59, 5 appearances)
Alison Comyn (ACo, Series 44, 5 appearances)
Roger Cook (RCoo, Series 58, 5 appearances)
John Craven (JCr, Series 51, 5 appearances)
Sharron Davies (SDavie, Series 63, 5 appearances)
Steve Davis (SDavis, Series 60, 5 appearances)
Les Dennis (LD, Series 65, 5 appearances)
Barbara Dickson (BD, Series 57, 5 appearances)
Clarissa Dickson-Wright (CDW, Series 54, 5 appearances)
Jenni Falconer (JF, Series 62, 5 appearances)
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (HFW, Series 48, 5 appearances)
Vanessa Feltz (VF, Series 46, 5 appearances)
Ranulph Fiennes (RF, Series 59, 5 appearances)
Michael Fish (MFi, Series 53, 5 appearances)
Emma Forbes (EF, Series 51, 5 appearances)
Mel Giedroyc (MG, Series 55, 5 appearances)
Jilly Goolden (JGo, Series 48, 5 appearances)
Richard Griffiths (RG, Series 50, 5 appearances)
Christine Hamilton (CH, Series 49, 5 appearances)
Jeremy Hardy (JHard, Series 56, 5 appearances)
Robert Hardy (RHard, Series 48, 5 appearances)
Simon Hoggart (SH, Series 47, 5 appearances)
Ian Hyland (IH, Series 61, 5 appearances)
Aled Jones (AJ, Series 63, 5 appearances)
George Layton (GL, Series 55, 5 appearances)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (LLB, Series 49, 5 appearances)
Julian Lloyd-Webber (JLW, Series 54, 5 appearances)
Aggie MacKenzie (AMa, Series 57, 5 appearances)
Jonathan Maitland (JMa, Series 64, 5 appearances)
Victoria Mather (VM, Series 52, 5 appearances)
Roger McGough (RMcGo, Series 47, 5 appearances)
Julia McKenzie (JMc, Series 53, 5 appearances)
Hayley Mills (HM, Series 21, 5 appearances)
Jane Moore (JMo, Series 61, 5 appearances)
Mo Mowlam (MM, Series 50, 5 appearances) *d
Daniel O'Donnell (DO, Series 52, 5 appearances)
Nicholas Parsons (NPar, Series 36, 5 appearances)
Sue Perkins (SP, Series 46, 5 appearances)
Andi Peters (AP, Series 47, 5 appearances)
Anna Raeburn (ARa, Series 47, 5 appearances)
Anneka Rice (ARic, Series 65, 5 appearances)
John Simpson (JSi, Series 52, 5 appearances)
Carol Smillie (CS, Series 64, 5 appearances)
Delia Smith (DSm, Series 64, 5 appearances)
Linda Smith (LS, Series 49, 5 appearances) *d
Debra Stephenson (DStep, Series 64, 5 appearances)
Ingrid Tarrant (IT, Series 48, 5 appearances)
Michael Vaughan (MV, Series 65, 5 appearances)
Russell Watson (RWat, Series 53, 5 appearances)
James Whale (JWha, Series 24, 5 appearances)
James Whitaker (JWhita, Series 58, 5 appearances)
Gary Wilmot (GWi, Series 63, 5 appearances)
Richard Wilson (RWi, Series 50, 5 appearances)
Jonathan Ansell (JA, Series 60, 4 appearances)
Jilly Cooper (JCo, Series 54, 4 appearances)
Diarmuid Gavin (DG, Series 54, 4 appearances)
Neil Innes (NI, Series 14, 4 appearances)
Darren Jordon (DJo, Series 53, 4 appearances)
Mitch Murray (MMu, Series 53, 4 appearances)
Pete Murray (PMu, Series 29, 4 appearances)
Nanette Newman (NN, Series 38, 4 appearances)
Mark Nyman (MN, Series 4 to 10, 4 appearances) *s
Jerry Springer (JSp, Series 60, 4 appearances)
Damian Eadie (DE, Series 44, 3 appearances) *t
Patti Clare (PC, Series 64, 2 appearances)
Nicholas Day (ND, Series 23, 1 appearance) *f
Des Lynam (DLy, Series 62, 1 appearance) *v
Jon Pertwee (JPe, Series 30, 1 appearance) *d *h
Clifford Warren (CW, Series 4, 1 appearance) *d *w
Bernard Ingham (BI, 5 Specials) *c
Gary Osborne (GO, 4 Specials) *c
*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.
*p includes appearance as a contestant in '500th' Programme.
*q includes appearance as a contestant in '18th Birthday' Special.
*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).
*v appeared as part of the '5000th Programme' celebrations.
*w frequent contributor to the programme, invited to appear alongside Gyles Brandreth.