A classic to kick off this new feature - this was a landmark game
in the history of Countdown. Having become the second ever Octochamp
(not that they called them that then!), producer-to-be Mark Nyman came
back as number 1 seed for the quarter-finals of Series 3. Still a
schoolboy from Willesden at the time, Mark had amassed 427 points in
his preliminary matches and achieved something of a reputation for being
hard to beat. Ted Wiles, a retired accountant living near Pontefract, was
returning as number 8 seed having won just one game. Despite the fact
that this match is from the days before I kept regular records of the
selections of numbers and letters (Editor's Note - these have since been added),
I feel it is worthy of its place as Game of the Week, as Mark's score of 79
stood for almost three years as the highest in a normal 9-round game of Countdown.
The previous highest score had been 69, achieved by both William Bradford and Norma Nicholson.
What a pity he couldn't get 10 points for the first numbers game, but then
neither could Carol!
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This review was originally published as Game of the Week - 9 Sep 2000.