The programme was presented by Richard Whiteley for over 20 years, until his death in June Carol Vorderman , the show's co-host, who had been on the programme since it began, left the show in December , at the same time as O'Connor. She was replaced by Rachel Riley. Cathy Hytner originally placed letters on the board for the letters games before this was taken over by Vorderman.
A celebrity guest features in every programme, and provides a brief interlude mid-way between the two advertisement breaks. The two contestants in each episode compete in three disciplines: ten letters rounds, in which the contestants attempt to make the longest word possible from nine randomly chosen letters; four numbers rounds, in which the contestants must use arithmetic to reach a random target number from six other numbers; and the conundrum, a buzzer round in which the contestants compete to solve a nine-letter anagram.
During the series heats, the winning contestant returns the next day until he or she loses or has accumulated eight wins known as an Octochamp. The best contestants are invited back for the series finals, which are decided in knockout format. Contestants of exceptional skill have received national media coverage, and the programme as a whole is widely recognised and parodied within British culture. Countdown is based on the French game show Des chiffres et des lettres Numbers and Letters , created by Armand Jammot.
The format was brought to Britain by Marcel Stellman , a Belgian record executive, who had watched the French show and believed it could be popular overseas. Yorkshire Television purchased the format and commissioned a series of eight shows under the title Calendar Countdown , which were to be a spin-off of their regional news programme Calendar. As the presenter of Calendar , Richard Whiteley was the natural choice to present Calendar Countdown — his daily appearances on both shows earned him the nickname "Twice Nightly".
An additional pilot episode was made, with a refined format, although it was never broadcast. Channel 4 originally planned a parallel Junior Countdown in which the contestants were children. The pilot episode was filmed on 26 November , less than a month after the first adult version was broadcast. The format mirrored that of the adult version. No further episodes were filmed, and the pilot episode was never broadcast. Brandreth, speaking on Countdown in November , stated that the concept had proved disastrous, and was abandoned.
Vorderman, a Cambridge graduate and member of Mensa, [9] was appointed as one of the numbers experts after responding to an advertisement in a national newspaper which asked for a young woman who would like to become a game show hostess; unlike almost any other game show hostess of the time, however, the advertisement also made it clear that the applicants' appearance would be less important than their being a talented mathematician. Whiteley fell ill with septicaemia in , and as a result he was no longer able to record Countdown and several specials with celebrities hosting were filmed in his stead which never made it to air.
Although Whiteley made a slow recovery from his illness he died on 26 June after a failed operation to correct a problem with his heart that had been detected. Channel 4 took the following show off the air as a mark of respect, and the following programme was preceded by a tearful tribute from Carol Vorderman.
The final five shows Whiteley had filmed the conclusion of Series 53 were aired after which the show was placed on hiatus before returning in October with Des Lynam who had featured on Celebrity Countdown in as the main presenter.
Lynam's departure was due to travel requirements for the demanding filming schedule, with the show recorded in Leeds and Lynam living miles away in Worthing, West Sussex. Channel 4 had tried an extra programme on Saturday in early which Lynam had agreed to, subject to part of the filming schedule being moved nearer to his home. However, viewers reacted angrily to the idea of the show leaving Leeds [13] and, when Lynam found out that a move would cause considerable disruption for many of the programme's camera crew, he decided to leave.
O'Connor first presented Countdown on 2 January The other studio mainstay is Dictionary Corner, which houses a lexicographer and that week's celebrity guest a. The role of the lexicographer is to verify the words offered by the contestants and point out any longer or otherwise interesting words available. The lexicographer is aided in finding these words by the show's producers, Michael Wylie until his death in November and Damian Eadie. Many lexicographers have appeared over the years, but since her debut in , Susie Dent has become synonymous with the role, and has made over three thousand appearances.
In the same month, it became apparent that long-serving presenter and number-cruncher Carol Vorderman would also leave the gameshow at the same time. It was announced on 24 May that Stelling would be leaving the programme, and he presented his final show on 16 December On 16 November , it was announced that Nick Hewer would be taking over as host, with his first show broadcast on 9 January Countdown quickly established cult status within British television [23] — an image which it maintains today, [24] despite numerous changes of rules and personnel.
The programme's audience comprises mainly students, housewives and pensioners, [23] owing to the "teatime" broadcast slot and inclusive appeal of its format and presentation. The drop in viewers following the scheduling change, coupled with the show's perceived educational benefits, even caused Labour MP Jonathan Shaw to table a motion in the UK Parliament, requesting that the show be returned to its later time.
In keeping with the show's friendly nature, contestants compete not for money but the Countdown winner's teapot first introduced in December , which is custom-made and can only be obtained by winning a game on the programme. David Acton, winner of Series 31, opted for a CD-ROM version of the dictionaries, not wanting to accept leather-bound books owing to his strict veganism, and he donated the monetary difference to charity.
Since , the series champion also receives the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy, in memory of the show's original presenter. Though the style and colour scheme of the set have changed many times and the show itself moved to Manchester, after more than 25 years in Leeds the clock has always provided the centrepiece and, like the clock music composed by Alan Hawkshaw , is an enduring and well-recognised feature of Countdown.
Executive producer John Meade once commissioned Hawkshaw to revise the music for extra intensity; after hundreds of complaints from viewers, the old tune was restrained. The first episode of Countdown was repeated on 1 October on More4 and on 2 November on Channel 4, as part of Channel 4 at 25 , a season of celebratory Channel 4 programmes as it celebrated its 25th birthday.
On 2 November , Countdown celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary and aired a special 'birthday episode'. The two players were winner Conor Travers and winner Chris Wills. However, for the rounds, VIP guests selected the letters and numbers. On 23 July , it was announced that O'Connor would be leaving the show at the end of the 59th series in December to concentrate on other projects. Her agent, John Miles, claims Vorderman had been told the show had survived the death of host Richard Whiteley in and could "easily survive without you.
Later reports suggested Alexander Armstrong [34] and Jeff Stelling [35] as potential hosts, although Armstrong later revealed he had refused the job. Eventually, on 21 November , after O'Connor and Vorderman had finished filming, it was confirmed that Stelling and Oxford maths graduate Rachel Riley would join the show, [38] with Susie Dent continuing as resident lexicographer.
Countdown has occupied a tea-time broadcast slot since its inception. Currently an episode lasts around 45 minutes including advertising breaks. During the normal series, the winner of each game returns for the next day's show. A player who wins eight games is declared an "octochamp" and retires until the series finals.
At the end of the series, the eight players with most wins or the highest total score in the event of a tie are invited back to compete in the series finals. They are seeded in a knockout tournament, with the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, and so on.
The winner of this knockout, which culminates in the Grand Final, becomes the series champion. Each series lasts around six months, with about episodes. Approximately every four series, a Champion of Champions tournament takes place. For this, sixteen of the best players to have appeared since the previous Championship are invited back for another knockout tournament.
The producer, former contestant Damian Eadie, decides which players to include, but typically the tournament includes the series winners and other noteworthy contestants. For example, David Acton and Kenneth Michie returned for a rematch of their Series 31 final, while brothers and former contestants Sanjay and Sandeep Mazumder played off against each other on 20 December The game is split into three sections, separated by advertising breaks.
The first section contains two letters rounds and a numbers round, the second has four letters rounds and two numbers rounds, while the last section has four letters rounds, a numbers round and a final "Conundrum".
At the end of the first two sections, Hewer poses an anagram with a cryptic clue for the viewers, called the Teatime Teaser —the solution is revealed at the start of the next section. When the Teatime Teaser was first introduced, the anagrams were seven letters long, but they have since been extended to eight. Letter tiles are arranged face-down in two piles; one all consonants, the other vowels. The contestant picks a pile, and Riley reveals the top tile from that pile and places it on the board.
A selection of nine tiles is generated in this way, and must contain at least three vowels and four consonants. Each letter may be used only as often as it appears in the selection. For example, there are many N s and R s in the consonant pile, but only one Q. The letter frequencies are altered by the producers from time to time, so any published list does not necessarily reflect the letters used in any particular programme.
Contestants write down the words they have found during the round, in case they both have the same one. After the thirty seconds are up, the players declare the length of their chosen word, with the player who selected the letters declaring first. The team have been incredibly welcoming, and she finds mathematician Rachel Riley and word expert Susie Dent very impressive. She moved into broadcasting in as a regular guest on Question Time , before taking the role as presenter of Points of View , where she stayed for 11 years.
Anne Robinson mocked my sexuality and sex life on Weakest Link, should she really host Countdown? I never let a thought go unsaid — what your mum would say while watching the telly at home. When I ask how she feels about criticism of the show, she says it was a different time.
But these clever women are often lacking in confidence. How does she propose we tackle the confidence crisis she sees? Published: 25 Oct Alan Hawkshaw, Countdown and Grange Hill composer, dies aged Published: 17 Oct The more we see older women succeed, the more they will succeed Gaby Hinsliff. Published: 2 Jul Published: 28 Jun Published: 27 Jun Marcel Stellman obituary.
Published: 10 May Marcel Stellman, creator of daytime TV classic Countdown, dies aged Published: 3 May Anne Robinson to be the new host of Countdown. Presenter and journalist will be first female host in 39 years of Channel 4 daytime show.
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