#COUNTDOWN GAME PLUS#
#COUNTDOWN GAME SERIES#
#COUNTDOWN GAME TV#

An electronic computer called CECIL selects a target number from 100 to 999 inclusive at random. Contestants often ask for certain patterns, such as one from the top and five from a given row, an 'inverted T' (six tiles whose removal leaves that shape on the board), or a 'Whitehall' (one from the top, two from the second row, one from the third and two from the fourth, referring to the old Metropolitan Police phone number, 'Whitehall 1212'). Contestants can ask for any combination of small and large numbers, but they are drawn at random from within each group. The numbers are chosen from a board which contains the numbers from 1 to 10 twice over, and one each of 25, 50, 75 and 100. Three (originally two) numbers games where players use their arithmetical skills in order to get to a target number using only the six numbers they've got and the four basic number operations. (Such are the demands of rapid recording, the production team sometimes prime the celeb with words found manually via an earpiece - but contrary to what some people believe, they don't use electronic word-finders or any of that malarkey.)

#COUNTDOWN GAME PLUS#

Whiteley stayed on, a number of young ladies were brought in to do all the odd jobs around the studio - mainly sticking magnetic tiles in a frame - and the rest is history.Ī letters game in progress - what's the longest word you can find? (answer below)Īfter each game, we go across to another corner of the studio where a guest celebrity (whom Richard Whiteley used to refer to as the Guardian of the Dictionaries) plus an oh-so-handily placed lexicographer from the Oxford English Dictionary tells us about any longer words that they have found. Since Yorkshire was already making a British version, they pretty much just transferred the show to Channel 4.

Luckily, at around the same time, Channel 4 was looking for a game show for their launch line-up, and happened upon the French format Des chiffres et des lettres. Richard Whiteley hosted, and it's probably fair to say that the show did not immediately distinguish itself.

#COUNTDOWN GAME TV#

The first British incarnation of the show was a Yorkshire TV regional filler for eight weeks in the spring of 1982. It could be argued that the Brit version is the more lively interpretation of the format. That might sound boring to you, but since Channel 4's launch this show, and for the length of their runs Fifteen-to-One and/or Deal or No Deal, propped up Channel 4's afternoon schedule and still draws in shedloads of pensioners, students and other people who make an appointment to watch it.Ĭountdown was based on a French show ('Des Chiffres et Des Lettres' - or 'Numbers and Letters') and the format has proved popular throughout much of the world. Another consonant, a vowel, a consonant and a final consonant please.' 'I'll have a consonant, a vowel, another vowel, a consonant, another consonant. (except 2 new episodes broadcast on More 4, 24 and 25 February 2021)Īs Countdown Masters (insert in The Channel 4 Daily) 3 April 1989 to 29 March 1991 (97 games aired + 1 partially aired + 6 unaired)Īs Celebrity Countdown (primetime) 23 April to 18 June 1998 (8 episodes in 1 series) More 4, 12 November 2019 to present Yorkshire Television (Granada from 1 November 2004 to, ITV Studios from to 20 April 2021, Lifted Entertainment (part of ITV Studios) from 21 April 2021 to present) for Channel 4, 2 November 1982 to present Others with over 100 appearances include Catherine Clarke, Damian Eadie, Mark Nyman, Richard Samson, Julia Swannell, Della Thompson, Freda ThorntonĪs Calendar Countdown Yorkshire Television (regional), 19 April to 7 June 1982 (8 episodes in 1 series)

#COUNTDOWN GAME SERIES#

Lexicologists: Susie Dent (current, first appeared in series 24 but permanent from series 49). 'Vital statisticians': Angela Garbut ( Calendar Countdown), Dr Linda Barrett (series 1-3), Carol Vorderman (series 1-59), Rachel Riley (series 60- ), Anne-Marie Imafidon (series 84-85) Hostesses: Denise McFarland-Cruikshanks ( Calendar Countdown), Robena Sharp ( Calendar Countdown), Kathy Hytner ( Calendar Countdown and Countdown series 1-14), Beverley Isherwood (series 1-2), Karen Loughlin (series 14-16), Lucy Summers (series 17), Carol Vorderman (series 18-59), Rachel Riley (series 60-), Anne-Marie Imafidon (series 84-85)

Countdown game