c4countdown

So, we have now reached the Series 71 grand final, and after 103 preliminaries, 4 quarter-finals and 2 exceptional semi-finals, we've reached the climax, and by 16:00 GMT this afternoon, we will have a new series champion.

After maxing his semi-final on Wednesday, the #1 seed, Dan McColm, is surely the odds on favourite to win the series now, but will the #2 seed, Antoinette Ryan, have the luck of the Irish on her side, in trying to become the first woman since Kate Ogilvie in Series 39 to win a series of the show

Statistics Corner:

Firstly, No.1 Seed Dan "The Kineton Kolossus" McColm - 10 Wins, 1,174 Points. (Average: 117.4)
Highest Score: 137 vs. Harry Jarrett (6th Game)
Lowest Score: 92 vs. Ben Hodgson (2nd Game)
9's Achieved: 4/5
Total Points/Max/%: 1174/1270 (92%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 715/773 (92%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 379/397 (95%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 80/100 (80%)

Firstly, No.2 Seed Antoinette "The Nenagh Nutcracker" Ryan - 10 Wins, 1,043 Points. (Average: 104.3)
Highest Score: 120 vs. Tom Jordan (2nd Game)
Lowest Score: 82 vs. David Stanford (Quarter-Final)
9's Achieved: 4/11
Total Points/Max/%: 1043/1346 (77%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 760/846 (90%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 353/400 (88%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 30/100 (30%)

Join Anthony for the recap later.

Did Rachel just use George's former apterous pseudonym?

I messed on round one, offput when the wrong selection suddenly appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Another dodgy edit in the cheering bit I think too.

James S Roper wrote:Did Rachel just use George's former apterous pseudonym?

Yes!!!! Brilliant!!!!! She must be a fan...

Did I hear GROANERS in the audience when Antoinette also declared 9? Must have been murmours of approval really.

Jolly well done to both for a good match, and well done to a fellow contestant of Series 64 for winning.

Congratulations, Dan, on becoming series champion! Well deserved, particularly as your performances included some amazing spots (i.e. INAMORATO) and the max game in the semi-final.

Commiserations, Antoinette. A worthy finalist and you even gave Dan a bit of a scare when you went ahead in the game.

A great series all round, highlighted by Dan's performances and George's incredible numbers game solutions. Roll on Series 72!

Tony Atkins wrote:I messed on round one, offput when the wrong selection suddenly appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Another dodgy edit in the cheering bit I think too.

Yes Jessica spotted that too (watching it live).

When my computer caught up to that point; we realised we had a brief glimpse of the selection for round two

Well done both Dan and Antoinette on a superb final.

Mauro

If Wednesday's max game was a 147 break, that 840 6 small was being faced with a straight red and chipping the cue ball off the table.

Very well done to both Dan and Antoinette for a great finale to the series. Been enjoyable with great contestants and characters

State of that edit in round one.

Congrats Dan, well played Antoinette on reaching the final! Got very excited when you led

A very enjoyable final there, massive well done to both contestants!

I can fully understand her doing it (facing an opponent of Dan's calibre) but if Antoinette could have somehow resisted the urge to gamble (on the disallowed words VERBACE & ANDOVERS), she could easily have been facing a title deciding conundrum and then anything could have happened!
Having said that, Dan's been the outstanding player of the series and thoroughly deserved his win.

Congratulations to both players for playing at such a high standard for the whole series and to Dan for winning it. That 840 though!

When David Baddiel commented on Dan's bright orange T-shirt I was thinking he just needed to look over to Rachel to see possibly the worst outfit to ever make it into the studio. I don't normally comment on such things but this really took the biscuit!

Good fun final to watch - very well done Dan for holding your nerve when things went a bit rocky at the start, and achieving the commanding series victory we all knew you were capable of. You definitely seemed to be enjoying yourself this time round, which was nice to see. Very well done to Antoinette too for an excellent run throughout the series and a more than creditable fight in the final.

Dan McColm wrote:being faced with a straight red and chipping the cue ball off the table.

I've done this.

James S Roper wrote:Did Rachel just use George's former apterous pseudonym?

I wondered what you were talking about, and watched the start again to check. I hadn't noticed the first time, but yes, she did.

Congratulations Dan, I know you've put in a lot of hard work to achieve this.

After Dan's max performance on Wednesday, I was half-expecting him to dominate this game, as strong a player though Antoinette is. That wasn't what we got - we got a closely-fought game between two great players, and on another day Antoinette could well have been the victor. Well played, both of you.

Really good final, well done to both!

Congratulations Dan, you've certainly been the best player this series despite having to overcome a few nerves. I know you were disappointed to miss the 840 but you fought back well, making you a deserving champion.

Well done to Antoinette for making it a fairly close game and unlucky that neither of your risks paid off. To get to the final in a series as strong as this one, with all of your games being filmed closely together is a magnificent achievement, so congratulations on second.

A superb series overall with some great players and great work by the production team as ever.

Exciting final and was great when the lead changed a couple of times. Well done Antoinette for showing real grit and putting up a real battle..not being put off by Dan ' s semi final max and really enjoying yourself

Real congrats too Dan..well deserved victor of what was an incredibly strong series with great characters. Max game in your semi finals too setting a record too..fair play

What a majestic final to behold that was.

Brilliant play by both contestants, and was a joy to watch, as have most of the recent grand finals.

Enjoy your series title, Dan. And well done to Antoinette for being majestic all the way through as well.

I can only add a BUTTIE in round 11 as an equaller. :p

(Although, I did notice Nick saying in his intro that there were only 5 octochamps this series............. (Wonder who he missed out ))

This game was super exciting and fun to watch! Both Dan and Antoinette played great.

ELEGIACS in that one round, I think.

Miriam Nussbaum wrote:This game was super exciting and fun to watch! Both Dan and Antoinette played great.

ELEGIACS in that one round, I think.

Yes, that was there, I didn't write it down because I thought it was a 7, oops! Just goes to show what nerves can do!

Congrats both for an exciting, closely fought game - Antoinette you've been a star throughout and looked like you were loving every minute of it, and Dan you're obviously a very worthy winner - I know everyone had really high expectations for you but you've more than fulfilled them by winning the series and getting a max game en route. Great series!

Just got around to seeing the final. Many congrats on winning the series, Dan, you're a very worthy champ, great set of games and good match play today when you were behind in the game. Well done Antoinette also on being runner-up and mounting a very strong challenge early on and fighting to the end.

Well done to the Countdown team on another great series.

Belated congrats to both - Antoinette for being both brilliant and immensely likeable (and she will always have the knowledge that "Dave Preece would" to console her), and Dan for being clearly the outstanding player of the series.

I just hope now that Dan has achieved so much on the show, he won't carry the weight of the world on his shoulders into the CoC. One of the reasons George and Antoinette were such popular players is that they looked like they were enjoying themselves and having a good time.

Great final from you both Congratulations to you Dan and well done to Antoinette for putting up a good fight.