Countdown (game show)

Did You Know?

• Countdown originated from the French game show Des chiffres et des lettres, which debuted in September 1965 with only letters rounds before numbers were added in January 1972.
• Richard Whiteley earned the nickname 'Twice Nightly Whiteley' because he appeared daily on both Calendar and Calendar Countdown.

History

The original cast from Calendar Countdown was supplemented by new hostesses recruited through newspaper advertisements. The adverts specified that for those handling calculations, mathematical skill was more important than appearance. Beverley Isherwood was hired to work with Hytner on selecting number and letter tiles, while Linda Barrett and Carol Vorderman checked contestants' calculations in the numbers round. A lexicographer was also needed for Dictionary Corner, to verify words and suggest longer or interesting options; this role was filled without computer assistance and accompanied by a celebrity guest.

Lexicographers traditionally came from Oxford University Press or the production team. Guests in Dictionary Corner have included Nigel Rees, Jo Brand, Martin Jarvis, Richard Digance, Geoffrey Durham, Ken Bruce, Magnus Magnusson, Pam Ayres, Paul Zenon, Jenny Eclair, Al Murray, John Sergeant and Gyles Brandreth. Over time, the additional hostesses were dropped, and Vorderman was retained to handle letter and number tiles and verify calculations. The programme rotated through more than thirty lexicographers until 2003, when Susie Dent, who debuted on Countdown in 1992, took the role permanently.

Format

Countdown has always occupied a daytime slot, originally in a 30-minute format; since 2001 episodes last about 45 minutes including adverts. The winner of each game returns the next day, and a player who wins eight games becomes an octochamp and retires. At the end of a series, the eight best players (ranked by wins, then total score) compete in a seeded knockout tournament culminating in a Grand Final. Each series lasts about six months with roughly 125 episodes.

Every four series or so, a Champion of Champions tournament invites sixteen top players from previous series; the producer decides the participants, typically including series winners and other notable contestants. Series 33 was a Supreme Championship with 56 contestants from all prior series; Harvey Freeman beat Allan Saldanha in the final. Special episodes have featured rematches, such as David Acton versus Kenneth Michie and brothers Sanjay and Sandeep Mazumder.

Since the 45-minute format, the game is split into three sections by ad breaks: the first has two letters rounds and one numbers round; the second has two letters rounds, one numbers round, a Dictionary Corner anecdote, then two more letters rounds and one numbers round; the last section has two letters rounds, Susie Dent's 'Origins of Words' item (since September 2007), two more letters rounds, one numbers round, and the final Conundrum. Except for the Conundrum, contestants alternate control so each handles five letters rounds and two numbers rounds.

Evolution

Countdown's rules derive from Des chiffres et des lettres, with key differences: number rounds last 30 seconds instead of 45; Countdown lacks duels; scoring differs (9 points for exact solution in DCedL, versus Countdown's system); and Countdown has ten letters rounds to DCedL's eight. The pilot episode used only eight letters per round, awarded points only to the selecting contestant if both offered equal-length words or equally close numbers, and gave five points for an exact numbers solution, three for within five, and one for the closer solution regardless of distance.

The set has changed style and colour scheme multiple times, and the show moved to Manchester after over 25 years in Leeds, but the clock has always been the centrepiece. The clock music, composed by Alan Hawkshaw, is an enduring feature; executive producer John Meade commissioned a revised version for Series 31 in January 1996, but after hundreds of complaints the original tune was restored after 12 shows.

In popular culture

Countdown is frequently referenced and parodied in British culture. In 1992, Saint Etienne sampled the host's lead-in for 'today's Countdown Conundrum' on their track 'Stoned to Say the Least'. The 2002 film About a Boy features protagonist Will Freeman as a regular viewer. The Doctor Who episode 'Bad Wolf' (2005) depicts a futuristic Countdown where the goal is to stop a bomb in 30 seconds; the show is mentioned again in 'Last of the Time Lords' (2007), with a character noting it 'hasn't been the same since Des took over—both Deses.

Fairport Convention guitarist Simon Nicol titled a solo album Consonant Please Carol, echoing a show catchphrase. Countdown is mentioned in series 4, episode 1 of Misfits (2012). A Countdown video game was released for Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii in 2009, and mobile apps have also been produced. The show has generated widely viewed outtakes from letters rounds producing unsuitable words.

A 10 January 2000 episode featured Dictionary Corner offering 'gobshite'; on 7 January 1991, contestants Gino Corr and Lawrence Pearse both declared 'wankers', which was edited out but later appeared on outtakes shows. Other incidents include a 2001 episode where 'fart' appeared as the first four letters, and a board with letters that could anagram to 'fucked' (neither player used it). On 2 February 2017, the board 'M T H I A E D H S' allowed the word 'shithead', which was bleeped and censored with a poo emoji.