Third year Engineering student David Millar has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and taken part in word and mathematical game show ‘Countdown’.
He appeared earlier today on the Channel Four series, facing the pressure of its iconic countdown music to compete in several rounds of lexical dexterity and numerical agility.
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I thought I'd follow in my grandfather, John Widdowson’s, footsteps. He was a series semi-finalist in 1988 and although I never met him I thought it was a nice link. Combining that with my more natural ability with the numbers, and it was a perfect fit for the show.
I've always found the concept of the show interesting - from playing the numbers round in primary school and struggling to make basic five letter words, to learning my 74 times-table for the real deal. After coming to Durham I watched the show more and more, and my housemates picked up that I was surprisingly good at it (perhaps a brain suited to engineering helped with the logical structure of the rounds/show) so I sent off an application email.
I was then called back for a phone interview which included a good 20 minutes or so of practice Countdown rounds to assess if I was up to scratch. Seemingly I was, as I then got sent over some filming dates for September of last year!
No not at all! I like to think that I'm quite outgoing, but as for public appearances like this it's unique. I'm the captain of the University cross-country team so perhaps one could say that I'm not afraid of putting myself out there, but it's my first media appearance. Now that I've done it once, I may well apply for more as I loved being on the show (probably a top-5 day of my life experience!).
The Engineering Department had a little 'Countdown' quiz at Christmas which I really enjoyed, and the numerical structure of the course lends itself to having a Countdown-wired brain. I'll definitely look to play some practice rounds with my house though, using my official Countdown set and engraved pen!
Countdown made its debut in November 1982, presented by Richard Whiteley, who remained at the helm for 23 years. The show also features assistant presenters, including Carol Vorderman, and Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, to whom we awarded an honorary degree at Summer Congregation last year.
It is not the first time a member of our community has appeared on the programme. Luke Johnson-Davies (Mathematics and Computer Science, St John’s College, 2017-21) went unbeaten and broke several records over the course of the 81st and 82nd series in 2019 and 2020. He became the first player ever to score over 125 points in four consecutive games and was a quarter-finalist in the show’s Championship of Champions XVI.
As well as following in his grandfather’s footsteps, David continues our tradition of student quiz show appearances. At the start of this year, a team consisting of alumni Carla Denyer (Mechanical Engineering, St Chad’s College, 2005-09), Tracey MacLeod (English Literature, St Aidan’s College, 1979-82), Professor Liz James (Ancient History and Archaeology, Van Mildert College, 1982-85), Sophia Smith Galer (Modern Languages, St Mary’s College, 2012-16), and reserve Derek Ward-Thompson (Physics, Collingwood College, 1983-86) won the University Challenge Christmas Special in an intense battle against Queen’s College Cambridge.
And memorably in 2023, students Harry Scully, Chloe Margaux, Alex Radcliffe, Bea Bennett and reserve Tom Haines-Matos won against Bristol University to take home the University Challenge Grand Prize trophy.
David put in a valiant effort on today's Countdown, earning himself a high score, but unfortunately not enough to continue in the series. We hope this won't be the last we see of him on our TV screens!
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