c4countdown

With less than a week to go til the beginning of CoC, you can now enter the official CoC prediction game! The first round will be, of course, to predict the results of the first 8 games. A correct prediction in this round is worth 1 point. The points will increase in later rounds, on the basis that the games should get harder to call.

Please post your predictions below. If you already know the result of a given game (e.g. because you saw it), please indicate accordingly and I'll just give you half a point. If you'd like to complain about this system, please direct your comments to the usual address.

The first games are, to remind you:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack

Predict away!

Ok, I'll start. Even though I've spoken with some of the contestants, and some of the people who watched, nobody's given anything at all away, so I'm still completely in the dark.

Here are my guesses for round one:

DD, JM, JCor, RP, NW, JCol, CR and SBr

Charlie Reams wrote:
The first games are, to remind you:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack

Predict away!

DOD, JM, JC, RP, NW, AF, CR (although I have no idea who Peter Davies is), SB

DD, JM, JC, KL, NW, JC, CR, SB

This was my first series so I'm a little in the dark about the other players. However, the Countdown Wiki has suggested that these will be the results.

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell - O'Donnell wins
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren - Mubeen wins
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby - Corby wins because he is funny
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman - Priest wins
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines - Baines wins
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles - Freeland wins
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies - Reams to win
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack - Briers wins

Ian Dent wrote:This was my first series so I'm a little in the dark about the other players. However, the Countdown Wiki has suggested that these will be the results.

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell - O'Donnell wins
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren - Mubeen wins
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby - Corby wins because he is funny
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman - Priest wins
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines - Baines wins
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles - Freeland wins
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies - Reams to win
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack - Briers wins

I love how everyone wins on merit except Corby, who needs his (perverse) sense of humour to see him through. Nice one However, I think you underestimate the humour value of his opponent. Barrel of laughs, that one.

winners every round
JS & RR
& viewers.
I agree with Junaid re the awesome humour of RB

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.

Lucy Gowers wrote:I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.

I had the same trouble. It was the only one I thought about for more than 5 secs.
I'll probably get most of the rest wrong anyway.

Howard Somerset wrote:

Lucy Gowers wrote:I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.

I had the same trouble. It was the only one I thought about for more than 5 secs.

I take it neither of you has read the Guardian article discussed in another thread then?

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Howard Somerset wrote:

Lucy Gowers wrote:I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.

I had the same trouble. It was the only one I thought about for more than 5 secs.

I take it neither of you has read the Guardian article discussed in another thread then?

I glanced at it for about 20 seconds in the hairdressers, mainly at the pictures (I used to libel check for The Guardian when I was starting out as lawyer and am a big fan of Eamonn's work). My predictions are based solely on Countdown viewing, I promise!

I read the article and have no idea of how Kai got on. Must have missed something.

Ian Dent wrote:I read the article and have no idea of how Kai got on. Must have missed something.

It's quite amusing actually because the bit(s) that might hint at something are actually factually incorrect !

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Howard Somerset wrote:

Lucy Gowers wrote:I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.

I had the same trouble. It was the only one I thought about for more than 5 secs.

I take it neither of you has read the Guardian article discussed in another thread then?

You're at least half correct; I can't speak for Lucy. I've yet to read the Guardian thread, let alone any article discussed in it. I'll probably get to that soon now.

Edit (five mins later). I've read the thread now, but will save reading the article itself until after the COC has aired. I look forward to it.

Never good at these things but I'll have a go anyway:

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Richard Brittain
Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright
Anita Freeland
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

Charlie Reams wrote:The first games are, to remind you:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack

Predict away!

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Richard Brittain
Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright- (because I saw him on YouTube)
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

Jon Corby wrote:It's quite amusing actually because the bit(s) that might hint at something are actually factually incorrect !

I wondered if they might be. (Love the juxtaposition "actually factually" btw.)

Ian Dent wrote:I read the article and have no idea of how Kai got on. Must have missed something.

The article at one point mentions the name of a player in a particular game, and then says a couple of lines later: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out". The latter statement, if true, implies that the said player made it to the second round.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Ian Dent wrote:I read the article and have no idea of how Kai got on. Must have missed something.

The article at one point mentions the name of a player in a particular game, and then says a couple of lines later: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out". The latter statement, if true, implies that the said player made it to the second round.

There's quite a few veiled spoilers like that, and they're about evenly split between right, wrong and just completely confused, so maybe that's the journalistic equivalent of spoiler space.

Phil Reynolds wrote: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out".

How can it be more than half? Either half are knocked out or if he means a further round, surely three quarters have been knocked out? Why be so vague in the article?

Anyway, my predictions: I did see some games in the studio of the first round but here were my predictions before I saw the games. I even gave predictions of the scores but Charlie had those.

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles - only because he gave DOD a good game in his semi - I don't know how good he was throughout the series without research.
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

dod
jm
jc
rp (sorry Kai)
nw
af
cr
sb

I'll do my best to ignore the article - if I made a prediction based on that and got it wrong, it would be pretty stupid, especially after what people have said about it.

David O'Donnell beats James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen beats Tony Warren
Jon Corby beats Richard Brittain
Kai Laddiman beats Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright beats Steve Baines
Jonathan Coles beats Anita Freeland
Charlie Reams beats Peter Davies
Steven Briers beats Debbi Flack

I think minus points should go to those who put their answers in initials, for being annoying.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out".

How can it be more than half? Either half are knocked out or if he means a further round, surely three quarters have been knocked out? Why be so vague in the article?

Can't the quarter finals have been partially completed?

Gavin Chipper wrote:I'll do my best to ignore the article - if I made a prediction based on that and got it wrong, it would be pretty stupid, especially after what people have said about it.

David O'Donnell beats James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen beats Tony Warren
Jon Corby beats Richard Brittain
Kai Laddiman beats Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright beats Steve Baines
Jonathan Coles beats Anita Freeland
Charlie Reams beats Peter Davies
Steven Briers beats Debbi Flack

I think minus points should go to those who put their answers in initials, for being annoying.

Minus points for being annoying? Are you sure you want this rule implemented?

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Can't the quarter finals have been partially completed?

Finally you make a good point. Nice one.

Junaid Mubeen wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:I'll do my best to ignore the article - if I made a prediction based on that and got it wrong, it would be pretty stupid, especially after what people have said about it.

David O'Donnell beats James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen beats Tony Warren
Jon Corby beats Richard Brittain
Kai Laddiman beats Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright beats Steve Baines
Jonathan Coles beats Anita Freeland
Charlie Reams beats Peter Davies
Steven Briers beats Debbi Flack

I think minus points should go to those who put their answers in initials, for being annoying.

Minus points for being annoying? Are you sure you want this rule implemented?

Yeah but I get to decide who's being annoying.

Junaid Mubeen wrote:Minus points for being annoying? Are you sure you want this rule implemented?

Gavin Chipper wrote:I think minus points should go to those who put their answers in initials, for being annoying.

Man, I hope Charlie is bright enough to crack my code.

("he'll crack your mum's code, etc.")

Same as Michael, Lucy & Gavin, I think, i.e.

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out".

How can it be more than half? Either half are knocked out or if he means a further round, surely three quarters have been knocked out?

Unless games are played simultaneously, players are knocked out one after the other. After nine games have been played, nine players have been knocked out. Simple really.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out".

How can it be more than half? Either half are knocked out or if he means a further round, surely three quarters have been knocked out?

Unless games are played simultaneously, players are knocked out one after the other. After nine games have been played, nine players have been knocked out. Simple really.

I think Gevin already said that, but I feel it's time to get revenge on Kirk by discussing his minor error for as long as possible, so here's another post on the subject.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I think minus points should go to those who put their answers in initials, for being annoying.

While I feel that the originator of this thread will have no difficulty at all in interpreting my earlier response, I nevertheless concede that there may be some people here who are challenged by initials. So, for their benefit, here is a copy of my round one entry, with the names being given in full.

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

I'm notoriously rubbish at this sort of thing, but I'll have a go:

James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright
Anita Freeland
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

Jono is refusing to read this topic because he is a dirty rat of a man, so I'm relaying his entry by proxy:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell -- DOD
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren -- JM
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby -- JC
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman -- KL
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines -- NW
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles -- JC
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies -- CR
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack -- SB

By the way, David O'Donnell wins it on a crucial conundrum - FREEZABLE, being 4 points behind at the time.

Jimmy wrote:By the way, David O'Donnell wins it on a crucial conundrum - FREEZABLE, being 4 points behind at the time.

Spoiler! You must have been in the audience. Please remove this post, Charlie!!!!

I've seen games 6-10 so know the outcome of the first 10 games but will submit to you the predictions that I made beforehand and sent to Howard via text. We seemed to share pretty much the same opinion!

Winners:

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

My predictions:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell - DOD
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren - JM
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby - JC
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman - RP
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines - NW
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles - JC
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies - CR
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack - SB

aagharmer wrote:Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby - RC

They have a baby called Richard Corby who steals the game from both of them?

Dinos Sfyris wrote:

aagharmer wrote:Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby - RC

They have a baby called Richard Corby who steals the game from both of them?

Good spot Dinos - I have updated my post to Jon Corby - Thanks a lot matey!

Charlie Reams wrote:Jono is refusing to read this topic because he is a dirty rat of a man, so I'm relaying his entry by proxy:

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell -- DOD
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren -- JM
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby -- JC
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman -- KL
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines -- NW
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles -- JC
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies -- CR
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack -- SB

I agree.

Interesting. As far as I can see, of the 16 submissions so far, 10 of them agree on all but one game, the one between Richard Priest and Kai.

I bet we've all got it wrong somewhere.

Dinos Sfyris wrote:I've seen games 6-10 so know the outcome of the first 10 games but will submit to you the predictions that I made beforehand and sent to Howard via text. We seemed to share pretty much the same opinion!

Winners:

David O'Donnell
Junaid Mubeen
Jon Corby
Richard Priest
Nick Wainwright
Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams
Steven Briers

I'll confirm that those were indeed Dinos's predictions. IIRC, we agreed on the outcomes of the QFs, the SFs and the final, too.

Scores after Game 1 [JH vs DO'D]

Jim: 0
Everyone else: 1

Hahaha, I might've known that'd rebound badly. I just thought it was likely to be such a close game, and nobody had yet gone for James, then I could clinch a crucial early lead if he won.

Ah well.

David O'Donnell vs James Hurrell
Junaid Mubeen vs Tony Warren
Richard Brittain vs Jon Corby
Richard Priest vs Kai Laddiman
Nick Wainwright vs Steve Baines
Anita Freeland vs Jonathan Coles
Charlie Reams vs Peter Davies
Steven Briers vs Debbi Flack

Bit late I know but didn't see today's show as was working so totally fair predictions, those in bold are my choices

Scores after game 2 [JM vs TW]

Jim 1
Everyone else 2

Update after game 3 [JC vs RB]:

Alan, Eoin, Jim. Stewart Scott: 2
Everyone else: 3

Today should see some real separation appearing in the scores, as the Laddiman - Priest game has divided opinion. Can't wait!

Kai you need to win today if I have any chance of winning this. I know it's not completely over if I have predicted wrong as there will still be 11 games left, but I'll be a WHOLE 2 points behind!

Eoin.V.Monaghan wrote:Kai you need to win today if I have any chance of winning this. I know it's not completely over if I have predicted wrong as there will still be 11 games left, but I'll be a WHOLE 2 points behind!

And as mentioned, the games in later rounds are worth more points, so being 2 over par is no big deal.

Update after Game 4 [RP vs KL]

4 pts: Lucy, Mike, Gavin, Jono, Ben Pugh, Michael, Stitcher.
3 pts: Eoin, Jim, Howard, Dinos, Paul, Ian Dent, Kirk, Oliver.
2 pts: Alan, Stewart Scott.

Apologies for anyone I missed.

Mike?

Michael Wallace wrote:Mike?

Did you call?

Mike Brown wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:Mike?

Did you call?

Aha, no, I just thought Charlie had decided to shorten my name (not an unreasonable presumption given that I should be in the list of 4 points people, although maybe I've been disqualified for being too cool, or something).

Michael Wallace wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:Mike?

Did you call?

Aha, no, I just thought Charlie had decided to shorten my name (not an unreasonable presumption given that I should be in the list of 4 points people, although maybe I've been disqualified for being too cool, or something).

Sorry, I somehow missed your entry (ooh err missus etc) when I was scanning the topic. You've now been reinstated.

Charlie Reams wrote:Sorry, I somehow missed your entry (ooh err missus etc) when I was scanning the topic. You've now been reinstated.

W00t. Perhaps we need some exciting scoreboard with everyone's predictions so we can keep track of WHAT WILL HAPPEN depending on the various results.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:Sorry, I somehow missed your entry (ooh err missus etc) when I was scanning the topic. You've now been reinstated.

W00t. Perhaps we need some exciting scoreboard with everyone's predictions so we can keep track of WHAT WILL HAPPEN depending on the various results.

Good idea, now do it.

I may have made some screw-ups in the first week, so please check your score.

5 points: Lucy, Mike, Gevin, Michael, Stitcher, Jono, Pugh.
4 points: Howard, Dinos, Alan, Kirk, Paul, Oliver, Jim, Eoin.
3 points: Stewart, Ian.

Charlie Reams wrote:I may have made some screw-ups in the first week, so please check your score.

5 points: Lucy, Mike, Gevin, Michael, Stitcher, Eoin, Jono, Pugh.
4 points: Howard, Dinos, Alan, Kirk, Paul, Oliver, Jim.
3 points: Stewart, Ian.

should I not have 4 points?

Update after 7 games:

7: Lucy, Mike, Gavin, Michael, Stitcher, Jono, Ben Pugh.
6: Howard, Dinos, Alan, Kirk, Eoin.
5: Jim, Paul, Oliver.
4: Ian, Stewart.

Everyone has predicted a Briers win tomorrow. Therefore, congratulations to our 7 leaders at the end of the first round!