Fifteen To One - Records

Records

A maximum end game score of 433 could be achieved if a player started the second phase with all three lives intact and correctly answered all 40 questions. The player scored 3 points for retaining 3 lives from the first two rounds, 400 points for answering 40 questions correctly and 30 points for retaining 3 lives from the end game. The maximum score was achieved only once by Bill McKaig, a minister from Glasgow. He did this in April 1999 (Series 25). The two final contestants who lost against him in that episode, Martin Penny and Alison Shand, were invited back for the next series even though they had not won, a very rare exception to the rule preventing losers from competing on the show again.

The feat of answering all 40 third round questions correctly was also achieved by Daphne Fowler in May 2000 (Series 28), except this time she scored 432, having answered a question incorrectly in round 2 of that episode; as with the time Bill McKaig managed his 433 score, Fowler's losing competitors (Don Street and Eric Matthews) in the final of that episode were allowed to try again. Michael Penrice achieved a score of 423 on 30 January 2002 (Series 32), having been beaten to the buzzer for one of the questions at the start of the final. Matti Watton achieved a score of 412, after attempting all 40 questions but incorrectly answering one in the process. This was in the same series as Michael Penrice achieved his 423 score, so a masterful performance was not rewarded with a finals board trophy. Watton did however atone for this by winning the subsequent Grand Final.

The highest number of people to ever go out of the first round is 11, leaving just 4 contestants for Round 2. This happened in September 2000 (Series 29) The lowest number is 0, which also happened on a few occasions, but was very rare, and even in Grand Finals it was rare despite the much higher standard level of competitors, even though the questions were not thought to be much harder in the Grand Final than in normal heats.

In Series 32, Matti Watton set the record for the highest score in the final of the Grand Final, of 222 (not including the points for the remaining lives). A close second is Nick Terry with 221, set in series 25. He also holds the record for the lowest score in a Grand Final, of 52 in series 26 (September 1999). This came after the other 2 finalists, Eddie Collins and Martin Ewers, had lost all three lives. Terry has four Grand Final titles; however, he has never held a finals board trophy.

In the final series, in late 2003, Gwyneth Welham achieved a perhaps unwanted feat of the highest winning score which failed to make the Grand Final, with the score being 211. Worse, she was told by William G Stewart, as one of his common phrases when a high score had been achieved, "I'll see you in the Grand Final." She was knocked off the Finals Board with 8 shows remaining in the series when Barry Smith scored 232. Wil Ransome and Andrew Dickens were joint 14th, with a score of 221. Their participation in the Grand Final was under threat as a result, despite a very high score. One score of 201 and another score of 202 had also been posted in the series. Andrew Auger's score of 203 failed to make the Grand Final in series 27 (early 2000), as did Nick Terry's and Alan Gibbs' scores of 202 in series 27 and 32 respectively. Dennis Collinson's score of 201 in series 25 (1999), which he achieved in the very first episode of the series, failed to make the Grand Final when his name was displaced from the board on the very last episode before the Grand Final.

Other arguably dubious honours attained in Fifteen to One are: lowest ever winning score (10, scored by Milo First in series 1), most appearances without winning either trophy (14, by Chris Russon from series 4 to series 12); also, Paul Hillman was the only Fifteen to One champion (he won the series 24 grand final) to win only once.

In the Grand Final, several people have achieved the feat of not getting a question wrong in the first two rounds. People who have done this are Mike Kirby (series 7), Stanley Miller (series 13), Leslie Booth (series 14), Matti Watton (series' 28 & 29), Olav Bjortomt (series 32) and Debra Carr (series 33). Only three of them went on to win the Grand Final.

The lowest score to lift the finals board trophy is 202, set by Thomas Dyer in series 4. In the same series, a score of 111 made the Grand Final (although a four-way play-off was required).

The rules of the series also state that if a losing contestant achieves a score that would otherwise have given them a place in a Grand Final, they are given a second chance. In 2001, two contestants achieved scores of 272 (the highest losing score in the series' history) before going out on the penultimate question. The first, Liam Maxwell, a teacher from Roslea, County Fermanagh appeared in the next series Grand Final with a score of 223 (series 30). The second, Alan Gibbs achieved a winning score of 202 when he returned a year later in series 32, but failed to make the Grand Final after his name was displaced from the board with three episodes remaining.