c4countdown

So, the day has arrived Just over 6 months since the last series final, we're back here again to see who will win Series 70 of the show.

And it's a battle between the #1 and #3 seeds, Mark Murray and Andy Naylor, two players on their 2nd stint on the show and both reaching the final to boot (shame certain other people didn't do the same thing............ )

This match on first glance might not seem as exciting as the last final between Dylan and Callum, but I think this easily could be as tight, even and decisive as that game.

Statistics Corner:

Firstly, No.1 Seed Mark "The Bristol Bombardier" Murray - 10 Wins, 1,086 Points. (Average: 108.6)
Highest Score: 122 vs. Mike Wilson (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 89 vs. Neil Green (Semi-Final)
9's Achieved: 6/8
Total Points/Max/%: 1086/1312 (83%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 667/815 (82%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 349/397 (88%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 70/100 (70%)

Secondly, No.3 Seed Andy "The Hendon Hitman" Naylor - 10 Wins, 963 Points. (Average: 96.3)
Highest Score: 110 vs. Adrian Albon (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 76 vs. Brett Davids (1st Game)
9's Achieved: 2/10
Total Points/Max/%: 963/1329 (72%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 603/832 (72%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 310/397 (78%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 50/100 (50%)

Anthony will be recapping for you guys later.

Both players have been solid on the letters and it's really tough to call. In the last final, much of the excitement was post-hoc as Callum really caused an upset in beating Dylan. That was a great final and I have high hopes for this series finale too!

Nice start from Mark, shame about missing a doable 771.

COINAGES and ECLOSING are some of the alts in R8. WD to Mark for getting 960.

AXONEMES will be remembered forever.

Bradley Cates wrote:AXONEMES will be remembered forever.

Especially by those who didn't get it - farewell pencam - and well done to Mark - glad all that training paid off!

I missed the 9 so had to work hard to catch up, getting the conundrum to lose by 6, so pleased with that too.

Not the most surprising outcome, but really glad to see Mark win it all. Definitely the most deserving winner of the bunch I felt, and was the most consistently solid of the 8, so very well done to him, glad to see someone succeed in such a big way after a 15 year gap between appearances. Comiserations to Andy, did very well to get to this final, especially playing against someone like Samir, and I'm glad that his second run was much more productive than his first. Also glad to see a non-apterite make it this far, especially one considerably more likeable generally than the last one.

Very well done Mark, a very worthy series champion. Also well done Andy for being series runner-up.

Another great series, well done the Countdown team.

Very well done, Mark. A worthy winner! Commiserations to Andy but a valiant performance nonetheless.

Congrats Mark, that was a great performance under the pressure of the grand final, even if a lot of it was lifted after Andy missed the early game. Sadly for the neutrals it killed the game but it was still a really good watch. You've been the standout player in a series which is certainly not at the level of quality as some recent series but I still think it's turned out to be more than reasonable in the end. It's worth remembering that Mark had to see off three excellent opponents in his heats who all could have given anyone a run for their money in the finals. A very worthy champion of Series 70 as your performances have been top quality!

Andy can be immensely proud of his performances too, he's been consistently strong and without doubt one of the finest non-apterites we've seen on the show in recent years. I thought he'd give you more of a game today, although I still expected Mark to win and without the early setback, he certainly had the potential to take you much further.

Fine work from the Countdown team as ever throughout the series, long may it continue!

And RIP Pencam

What's going to happen to the pencam then? Will it be given away or will it be locked up somewhere?

Congratulations on becoming a series champ Mark.

This was definitely deserved with consistently good performances throughout. Well done.

Congratulations Mark, a very much deserving series champ. Very well played.

The outstanding player of the series won today and nobody can have any complaints.

Funniest moment of the series happened to me right at the end. My wife was also watching. She can't do letters or numbers yet immediately spotted the conundrum, telling me it was a plant!

Well done Mark. I know he was planning to watch the finals with his family in Ireland so he is no doubt having a bit of a celebration. Congratulations to Andy. Shame he missed the nine in the first round, but he was a great sport and helped make the final a pleasure to watch.

Congratulations Mark. Deservedly won. Great performance today and throughout the series.

Bradley Cates wrote:What's going to happen to the pencam then? Will it be given away or will it be locked up somewhere?

It'll be invited back to play a special against the old CECIL display.

Congratulations again, Mark. Truly amazing performances throughout, and a richly deserved place in the Hall of Fame. Well done!

Very well done Mark, you've had very tough competition all throughout this series, and to survive it all and come out on top is no small achievement. A truly deserved victory.

I tuned in during the second advert break and was a bit disheartened when I first saw the scoreline, but it was nice to see that Andy found his footing again towards the end. Came out of this game looking very respectable, and the series as a whole looking like a very strong player indeed. Congrats to you too Andy if you happen to see this.

Impressive work, Mark. Well done on winning the series. Thought it might've been a closer final, but I guess all chances of that happening ended at round 1.......

Impressive work, Mark. Well done on winning the series.

Thought it might've been a closer final, but I guess all chances of that happening ended at round 1.......

Congratualtions on winning the series Mark. Richly deserved after consistent performances against some tough opponents in both the heats and finals

Haven't watched it yet but obviously seen the result plastered all over Facebook.

Well played to Mark. Well played to all finalists, really. Was the expected result, but it was probably a bit of a shame for the neutral that it was arguably one of Andy's weaker performances. Still, great to see people that haven't played loads online (as far as we know) put in a number of top performances.

As people have said, it wasn't the close game we were hoping for, but Mark was solid throughout the series and definitely the best overall player.

In Corby mode, I wondered if Andy decided he could make 770 only after Mark declared it.

Was it me or did it look like Andy had to hurriedly find an alternate solution to the 524 numbers round? Nick admitted he was worried for him as he explained his method. It looked as if he forgot to say he hadn't written it down, but had Mark not declared 'not properly written down' then Andy would have declared first and it wouldn't have mattered. So as Andy found he had to go second, he couldn't then declare that he 'did it the same way' without having it written down! Luckily for him there were two 8's in the selection.

Whatever, well done to Mark!!

Andy certainly looked a bit fudgy on both those numbers rounds but it's easy to say from here, and we've all done it on Apto when you 'know it's there'.

Congratulations, Mark! That wasn't as close as I expected it to be, but that's largely because you were on such sparkling form throughout, especially your smile when holding the trophy aloft at the end!

Well done to Andy for reaching the final with some strong performances along the way.

A great send-off for the pencam too.

Thanks very much to everyone for the many words of support and congratulations. Was so nice to see that support. I had an amazing time from start to finish and did not expect to be victorious when I first went to the studios back in February. It has felt really surreal over the last few months and still does now. As well as the euphoria of winning the whole series, all the other finalists and crew also made the amazing experience what it was and there was great banter and sportsmanship behind the scenes. Well done to everyone who made the final 8, Andy N, Neil , Samir, Priscilla, Bobby, Andy G, Sean, which was such an achievement. Ciaran McCarthy (highest losing score), Pete Steg (highest losing max) and Bobby (2 9s) all could have won the game in the heats against me, and luck was on my side with spotting the conundrum quicker.

The practice with you guys on Apterous over the last year has been absolutely invaluable and I would not have got anywhere on the show without this so sincere thanks for that. In Ireland here still celebrating and making the most of the attention of being the first Irish regular series champion. Back to UK tomorrow when life will return back to normal and I can resume my Apterous games on my Mac which is a vast improvement on my previous laptop.!!

Just watched this game - well done Mark, a very deserved series champion