Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:05APPLAUSE
00:31Hello and welcome to Countdown.
00:33On this day in 1770, William Wordsworth was born
00:37and I Wondered Lonely As A Cloud
00:40is still one of the nation's favourite poems.
00:44Do you like poetry, Rachel?
00:46I like stuff... Some stuff is nostalgic to me,
00:48so a lot of A. A. Milne, my mum and my Zada, my dad's mum,
00:51would have recited and known off by heart
00:53and my mum can still reel them off. Really?
00:55Do you know Now We Are Six? Yes, wonderful.
00:58Yeah, my favourite. And I like W. H. Auden, actually.
01:01Yeah. I like the Liverpool poets and especially Roger McGough
01:06and a poem that starts,
01:08Never have an operation you can't pronounce.
01:11Well, you'd have a good conversation with Nick Hewer
01:13because he loved poetry and he could just reel off...
01:16Whenever a word came up, he knew a poem for it, basically.
01:19Oh, well, I'm a bit of a failure then.
01:21Let's meet our contestants.
01:23Mike from Devon, who did incredibly well last time, didn't you?
01:27Thank you, Anne. It's good to get one under your belt.
01:30Yes, cos Andy had played six games.
01:33But quite often I think if the person who's been here a bit
01:38suddenly gets a contestant who's really good,
01:42it puts them off a bit.
01:44You see their game slow down.
01:46Oh. So just beware.
01:48You have got a baby contestant.
01:51He's only 21.
01:53He's from Glasgow.
01:55And you're studying what, Dave?
01:57Accounting and finance. Right.
01:59Can you make that interesting for me?
02:01Yes, I could. Go on, then.
02:03I use the numbers to make me better at Countdown.
02:05I've put lots of practice in.
02:07OK.
02:09And would it be more interesting
02:11if you became Angelina Jolie's accountant?
02:15Yes, yeah. If I work up to that, I could possibly do it.
02:18Anyone else you'd like to be an accountant for?
02:21Um, if it's possible, possibly maybe for you.
02:25Oh, I'd be far too difficult.
02:27I don't think so.
02:29Let's have a round of applause for our contestants.
02:35Nice to see you. Hiya.
02:37John, have you got an accountant?
02:39I have indeed. He's just retired, though, Malcolm.
02:41He was very good to me for many years
02:43and helped me through some difficult times.
02:45And I'd be glad of the nod today, so thanks, Malcolm.
02:48And I have a new, younger member in the office.
02:51Right. Did the younger one buy you that blouse?
02:53This blouse? I don't know, but...
02:56Are you borrowing that off Mr T?
02:58Yeah. Yeah.
03:01Let's play.
03:03Mike, your letters.
03:05Afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Mike.
03:07Could I have a consonant, please?
03:09You could. Start today with T.
03:12And another?
03:14M.
03:16And another? Let's go for the R.
03:18S. Ms T.
03:20And a vowel, please?
03:22O. And another?
03:24O.
03:26And another?
03:28E.
03:30And a consonant?
03:32R.
03:34And another consonant?
03:36W.
03:38And a final vowel, please?
03:40A final I.
03:42Let's play Countdown.
04:13Mike?
04:15A seven.
04:17Good. David?
04:19Five. What's your five?
04:21Roost. Mike?
04:23Sootyer. Yes.
04:25Good. Yeah, very nice.
04:27In the corner.
04:29I'm taking a risk. Yes.
04:31From moot point, you would have a moot house
04:33where you would discuss the precursor to the parish council.
04:36So the people that took part, are there such a thing as mooters?
04:40There certainly are.
04:42People who engage in discussion.
04:44That's excellent. Very good.
04:48You can stretch a little bit further to motorise.
04:51O.
04:53And also roomiest.
04:55Thank you, Suzy. David, your letters.
04:57Hi, Rachel. Hi, David.
04:59Can I have a consonant, please?
05:01You can, indeed. S.
05:03And another?
05:05B. And another?
05:07F.
05:09A vowel?
05:11O. And another?
05:13E. Consonant?
05:15G.
05:17And another?
05:19H. A vowel?
05:21E.
05:23And a final vowel?
05:25And a final...
05:27A. Time starts now.
05:39CLOCK TICKS
05:59David? Five.
06:01Mike? Five.
06:03OK, David?
06:05Beefs?
06:07Beef.
06:09Absolutely fine. That's very good.
06:11In the corner?
06:13A very poor four.
06:15Fogs.
06:17You can have befogs, if you wanted to sound quite Dickensian.
06:20It does.
06:22And, yeah, that will give you a six.
06:24And there is a seven there, a hose bag,
06:26which is a flexible pipe used to convey water,
06:29but in the US, of course, is a bag for storing your tights or stockings.
06:33Oh, as in hosiery. Yes.
06:35Thank you. Mike, when you retired,
06:37you worked part-time at Tesco, didn't you?
06:39I did, yeah.
06:41Yeah. Were you on the checkouts?
06:43Yes, I graduated to the checkouts.
06:45I started in the wine aisle.
06:47And then, yeah, I went to the checkouts and to self-serve and...
06:51Did they train you to say,
06:53for goodness' sake, woman, get your purse out before I finish?
06:56No, they trained us to say the customer's always right, Anne.
06:59Oh, dear.
07:01Your numbers?
07:04One large and five small, Rachel, please.
07:06One large and five small coming up for you, Mike.
07:10Thank you. First numbers of the day are three, seven, one, four,
07:15ten and the large one, 25.
07:17And your target?
07:19818.
07:21818.
07:33MUSIC PLAYS
07:53Mike?
07:54813.
07:56Good. David?
07:57813.
07:58Mike?
07:5925 x 4 is 100.
08:02100.
08:037 plus 1 is 8.
08:05Yes.
08:06Add them together and then add the ten...
08:08Sorry, multiply them together...
08:10800.
08:11..and then add the ten and the three.
08:13Yes. Five away. 813.
08:15David?
08:167 plus 1 is 8.
08:18Yep.
08:19Times that by 4.
08:2132.
08:22Times by 25.
08:24I think we're the same so far.
08:26Plus ten, plus three.
08:28I think that's the same method, actually.
08:31If you just swap papers.
08:34Yeah.
08:35Lovely.
08:36Rachel?
08:37This one was possible with ten plus one is 11.
08:42Times that by three for 33.
08:45Times that by 25 for 825.
08:48And you have a seven to take away for 818.
08:52APPLAUSE
08:56First teaser coming up.
08:58A fine tan, a fine tan.
09:01And the clue, he's got a fine tan,
09:04he lasers around all day doing nothing.
09:06He's got a fine tan, he lasers around all day doing nothing.
09:09See you in a minute.
09:20APPLAUSE
09:22APPLAUSE
09:27I left you with the clue.
09:29He's got a fine tan, he lasers around all day doing nothing.
09:33And the answer is...
09:38Very good. Yes, it's from French.
09:40It's really old, so everyone's very forgiven for not knowing this one.
09:44It means an idle or ineffective person
09:46and it comes from the French meaning does nothing.
09:49Thank you. You're welcome.
09:51Scores 19-12.
09:54And it's David for his letters.
09:57Hi, Rachel. Consonant, please.
09:59Thank you, David.
10:01S
10:03Another.
10:04G
10:05And another.
10:07R
10:08Vowel.
10:10U
10:11And another.
10:12A
10:13Consonant.
10:14D
10:15And another.
10:17N
10:18And another.
10:20F
10:21And a final vowel.
10:22A final third.
10:24An E.
10:2530 seconds.
10:49MUSIC
10:57David?
10:58Seven.
10:59Good. Mike?
11:00Seven.
11:01David?
11:02Dangerous.
11:03Mike?
11:04Same word.
11:05Yeah.
11:06Any better over there?
11:08Of seven is why it's sugared.
11:10Oh, gosh, yeah.
11:12And gardens also, but all sevens.
11:14Thank you.
11:16Mike, your letters.
11:18Consonant, please, Rachel.
11:19Thank you, Mike.
11:20N
11:21And another.
11:23T
11:24And another.
11:26P
11:27And a vowel.
11:29A
11:30And another.
11:31I
11:32And another.
11:33I
11:36And a consonant.
11:37H
11:39And another.
11:41C
11:43And a final vowel, please.
11:45A final.
11:46O
11:47Start the clock.
11:49MUSIC
12:18Mike?
12:20A seven.
12:21David?
12:22A five.
12:23What's your five?
12:24Partial.
12:25Mike?
12:26Caption.
12:27Yes.
12:28Yep, very nice.
12:29In the corner.
12:30Not easy, this one at all.
12:32There is a copter, which is a sherry glass, if you're so inclined,
12:35but there is an eight.
12:37Not an obvious one. Optician.
12:39Oh.
12:40Optician.
12:41Wow.
12:42Looks obvious now.
12:43There, if you see it.
12:45OK.
12:46David, numbers.
12:47Two large, please.
12:49And four from everywhere else.
12:51Thank you, David.
12:52Two large ones and four little ones.
12:54Coming right up.
12:55And this round is one.
12:57All one.
12:59Nine.
13:00Nine.
13:01125.
13:03Unless we get a lucky target, this could be tricky.
13:05643.
13:07643.
13:09MUSIC
13:16MUSIC
13:40David?
13:41Nowhere near.
13:42Mike?
13:43Nothing.
13:44Oh, dear.
13:45Nothing lucky about this number, then.
13:49No, I mean, two ones is the biggest candidate
13:52for making these things impossible, and this one was impossible.
13:55Two away was the best you could have done.
13:57Oh, thank you, Rachel.
13:58John, in the pink blouse, are you representing anyone?
14:03Football club or...?
14:04No, I don't like football.
14:05Oh, don't you?
14:06I'm not interested in sports, no.
14:08No, I'm a lone wolf and I like it that way.
14:10I don't do...
14:11The only thing I do competitively is quizzes and game shows
14:14and I've won vast amounts of charity over the years for my charities.
14:17Yeah, and that's why you were a bit bad-tempered on Weakest Link.
14:20I was a bit, yeah.
14:21Because you weren't going to win.
14:23No, I knew I was...
14:24As I said, the death knell was tolling and I was gutted.
14:28Because normally I do take great pride
14:30in how much I've won over the years for charity,
14:32doing the game shows, and I thought I had a chance.
14:35I mean, I don't mind coming second.
14:37I came second on 15-1.
14:39We all remember it.
14:40I do, yeah.
14:43Curse that Rufus Hound!
14:46Tell me about Coronation Street, because Craig Charles was on
14:50and he said they used to go to the pub and come back
14:54and just make up the script.
14:56Well, that might be Craig, but, I mean, I didn't do that.
15:00I was a children's entertainer.
15:02My character name was Jesse Chadwick,
15:04but my children's entertainer persona was General Custard.
15:09Now, General Custard did a Wild West-themed kind of children's act
15:14and then they said to me,
15:16you've got a very exciting storyline coming along
15:18and I thought, brilliant, because my sideline,
15:20which you never saw, I was a spark.
15:22I was an electrician.
15:23I thought, I'm going to get electrocuted.
15:25You know, I'm going to go up in a puff of green smoke.
15:27And they went, come up to the office and we'll tell you
15:29what your storyline is.
15:30And they went, you've got a parrot.
15:32And I went, what?
15:34They went, we've got you a parrot that talks.
15:37And it was quite vicious, really.
15:39It did occasionally speak, not what we were supposed to hear.
15:42It wasn't really pre-Watershed.
15:44And it was quite vicious.
15:46And they say it never worked with children and animals.
15:48Well, I was a children's entertainer with a talking parrot
15:51and I lasted ten months.
15:53What's the next gig?
15:54I am part of the new CBBC Universal show for kids,
16:00Dodger, which is a prequel to Oliver Twist.
16:03And that's superb.
16:05Go and watch that on Catch Up.
16:07It's well worth a watch.
16:08Can we recognise you in it?
16:10Yes, you can.
16:11I play Farmer Grundles.
16:12So it's a prequel to Oliver Twist.
16:15And I play this rather cantankerous,
16:18curmudgeonly old farmer.
16:21And give us a line from the farmer.
16:25I've forgotten.
16:26Come on!
16:27I'll tell you a joke instead.
16:29Well, OK.
16:30All right, let's think.
16:33I've got a pet frog at home and I've been looking up his lineage
16:37cos I wanted to know, you know, to find what his background was
16:40and I found out he's a little bit French,
16:44a little bit Scottish and a tad Pole.
16:48Don Thompson.
16:5233.
16:53Of course, 33-19.
16:56Mike, your letters.
16:58Can I have a consonant, please?
17:00Thank you, Mike. G.
17:02And another?
17:04R.
17:05And a third?
17:07L.
17:08And a vowel?
17:10I.
17:11And another?
17:12O.
17:13And another?
17:15E.
17:17And a consonant?
17:19T.
17:21And another?
17:23P.
17:27And a final vowel, please?
17:29A final E.
17:30Good luck.
18:01Mike?
18:03A seven.
18:04Good. David?
18:05Five.
18:06What's your five?
18:07Group.
18:08Mike?
18:09Politer.
18:10Yes, it can be politer.
18:11Good seven.
18:12Gosh.
18:13Not more polite.
18:15You see, I would say more polite.
18:17Yes, I agree.
18:18Politer sounds clumsy,
18:20but it's in the dictionary together with politest.
18:23Politest, I think, is fine, but politest sounds a bit clumsy.
18:26I agree.
18:27David, your letters.
18:30Can I have a vowel, please?
18:31Thank you, David.
18:32I.
18:33And another?
18:35O.
18:36And another?
18:37E.
18:38Consonant?
18:40G.
18:41And another?
18:43M.
18:44Vowel?
18:46O.
18:47And another?
18:49E.
18:50Consonant?
18:52R.
18:53And another?
18:54And the last one, N.
18:5630 seconds.
18:59David.
19:00David.
19:01Six.
19:02Five.
19:03Four.
19:04Three.
19:05Two.
19:06One.
19:07MUSIC PLAYS
19:28David.
19:29Six.
19:30Mike.
19:31Seven.
19:32David.
19:33Munger.
19:34Mike.
19:35Mooring.
19:36Very good.
19:37Yeah.
19:39David, you're really unlucky here,
19:41because munger is in the dictionary,
19:43as in a fish munger or a cheese munger,
19:45but it's got a hyphen in front of it,
19:47meaning it's a combining form, so, yeah, sorry about that.
19:50Oh, sorry.
19:51Sorry.
19:52In the corner?
19:53Mooring was very good.
19:54You could switch that round a bit and have rooming.
19:56Thank you.
19:57OK.
19:58OK, Mike, your numbers.
20:00One large and five small, please, Rachel.
20:02Another one large, five little,
20:05and hopefully a possible one this time.
20:07The numbers are two, six, five, three, four and 25.
20:14Looks good.
20:15And the target, 768.
20:17768.
20:19MUSIC PLAYS
20:36MUSIC CONTINUES
20:50Mike.
20:51768.
20:52Good. David.
20:53No, I don't get it.
20:55Mike.
20:56Six times five is 30.
21:0030.
21:01Times 25 is 750.
21:04Four plus two is six,
21:07times the three is 18,
21:09and add it on for 768.
21:11Perfect. Well done.
21:12Well done.
21:16Second teaser.
21:17Ice tails.
21:19Ice tails are the clue.
21:21Catherine gets ridiculous about this mineral.
21:24Catherine gets ridiculous about this mineral.
21:27See you in a minute.
21:29MUSIC PLAYS
21:35APPLAUSE
21:44I left you with the clue.
21:46Catherine gets ridiculous about this mineral.
21:49And the answer is silicate.
21:51Silicate.
21:53Yes, silicate is a salt of silicon and oxygen.
21:57Thank you, Susie. You're welcome.
21:59The scores are 57-19,
22:01but, David, there's plenty of time.
22:04We're on round ten and it's your letters.
22:08Consonant, please.
22:09Thank you, David.
22:10S.
22:11Another.
22:13D.
22:14And another.
22:15P.
22:16A vowel.
22:18A.
22:19And another.
22:20U.
22:21And another.
22:22I.
22:23Consonant.
22:24D.
22:25A vowel.
22:27O.
22:28And a final consonant.
22:29And a final R.
22:31Time starts now.
22:33MUSIC PLAYS
23:00MUSIC STOPS
23:03David?
23:04Risky seven.
23:05Risky seven. Mike?
23:07Eight.
23:08David, your seven?
23:10Drapist.
23:11Mike?
23:12Auditor's.
23:14Auditor's, excellent.
23:16It's a draper, David, rather than a drapist, I'm afraid.
23:19I thought that. Sorry.
23:21In the corner.
23:23Well, I started with stupid and then moved up to auditor's.
23:27Oh, good.
23:28Eight.
23:29Yeah, excellent.
23:31One more eight there, parotids.
23:33Favourite countdown word, parotid glands are the salivary glands.
23:36Yeah.
23:37Thank you, Susie.
23:38Mike, you're steaming ahead, your letters.
23:40Consonant, please, Rachel.
23:42Thank you, Mike.
23:43S.
23:44And another.
23:46M.
23:47And another.
23:49T.
23:50And a vowel.
23:52A.
23:54And another.
23:55O.
23:57A third.
23:59I.
24:00And a consonant.
24:02S.
24:04And another consonant.
24:06P.
24:10And a final consonant, please.
24:13A final C.
24:15Off you go.
24:26MUSIC PLAYS
24:46Mike.
24:47Seven.
24:48David.
24:49Rescue seven.
24:50OK, Mike.
24:52Spastic.
24:53David.
24:54Atomics.
24:55Atomics.
24:57OK.
25:01Atomics, absolutely brilliant.
25:03Yep, science or study of atoms.
25:05Very good.
25:06Spastic, a word that we have to tread really carefully around
25:09because it's really offensive in some ways.
25:11As an adjective, it means affected by muscle spasm.
25:14Obviously, it's a noun not to be used.
25:16Yeah.
25:17Thank you.
25:18And over to Susie.
25:20Email came from James McDonald
25:22and he's asking about drinking toasts.
25:24And he says,
25:25you know how salutations when you're having a drink with friends
25:28are in all languages wishing people good health?
25:30Well, there are exceptions, like chin-chin in Italy
25:33and here's looking at you, kid,
25:35which apparently, he says, originates in a German bar brawl.
25:38I hadn't heard that story.
25:40But what about bottoms up and mud in your eye, et cetera?
25:43So he's wondering about the origins of these drinking toasts,
25:46which, as you know, because I've mentioned it before,
25:49people genuinely did put pieces of spiced toast in a drink
25:52to improve its flavour.
25:53And when we're toasting somebody,
25:55we're saying, you improve the flavour of this party.
25:57So that's where that came from.
25:59Here's mud in your eye.
26:01It's first mentioned in 1927.
26:03Some people think this comes from horse riders
26:05and the rider in front is kicking up mud into your eye.
26:08But why that would translate into a drinking toast, I'm not too sure.
26:11And the first mention is actually in relation to somebody
26:14tossing down their martini.
26:16So I think it's from drinking and the sediment
26:18at the bottom of the glass, perhaps,
26:20if you're drinking to the very last drop,
26:22then the idea is it goes in your eye.
26:24But ching-ching is a really interesting one
26:26because it's actually, it's not Italian in origin, it's Cantonese.
26:30And it was spelt ching-ching, Q-I-N-G, Q-I-N-G.
26:34And it now simply in Mandarin means please, please.
26:37But it was part of this quite elaborate toasting ritual
26:41in China at one time,
26:43where people had to look at each other
26:48and perform sort of certain kind of body language, if you like,
26:52before then wishing each other very good health.
26:55But as I say, now it means something very different.
26:57But we remember it as chin-chin
26:59and we probably would spell it C-H-I-N, C-H-I-N.
27:01But that's, as I say, not how it started.
27:04And it also reminded me of cheers itself
27:07because cheer used to mean your mood.
27:11In fact, it goes back to the Greek for your face, kara.
27:14So if you were to say to somebody, what's cheer?
27:16How are you? What mood are you in, quite literally?
27:19And so when we are wishing somebody cheers,
27:22we're actually saying, here is to your mood.
27:25In other words, let's hope that you fare well.
27:28And it's a bit like to your very good health,
27:30which is possibly the oldest one that we have.
27:32Thank you, Susie. Thank you.
27:34APPLAUSE
27:37David, your letters.
27:39Consonant, please. Thank you, David.
27:42L. And another.
27:45S. Vowel.
27:48U. And another.
27:50E. And another.
27:52U.
27:54Consonant.
27:56D. And another.
27:58R. And another.
28:00L. And a final vowel.
28:02A final E.
28:04Good luck.
28:09ELECTRONIC MUSIC
28:12ELECTRONIC MUSIC
28:37David? Risk it.
28:39Mike? Eight.
28:41OK. David?
28:43Jewellers.
28:45And Mike?
28:47Same word. Yep.
28:49Absolutely brilliant. Well done, both.
28:51Very good.
28:53In the corner?
28:55Suede. As in leather.
28:57Oh, yes. Yes.
28:59I like this one. It's a really old one,
29:01but it's Ruelles, R-U-E-L-L-E-S,
29:04and it's the space between the bed and the wall,
29:07but in olden days it was where a distinguished person
29:10would sit, particularly in the morning,
29:12and they would all kind of gather round the bed,
29:14and the monarch would give their orders.
29:16I quite like that. Oh, lovely.
29:18Mike, you're on the home run.
29:20Round 13.
29:22Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Mike.
29:24S. And another.
29:27B. And another.
29:30T. And a vowel.
29:32O. And another.
29:34A. And another.
29:37I. And a consonant.
29:40S. And another.
29:45M.
29:48And a final vowel.
29:50A final E.
29:52Time starts now.
30:07MUSIC PLAYS
30:25Mike. A seven.
30:27David. Six.
30:29Six. What's your six?
30:31Borscht. Toasty.
30:33Er, there's only one T in here, unfortunately.
30:36Well, you've got a seven, then.
30:38Sorry, Mike.
30:40In the corner. It's a six, but it's a nice six.
30:43Taoism.
30:45Ooh, I think it might have a capital, though.
30:47It's a lovely one.
30:49It's got a capital T, unfortunately.
30:52Oh! I'm sorry. Does it count?
30:54No, if it's a proper noun, we can't have it.
30:56Oh! I'm sorry.
30:58Even that looks like all the letters are capitals.
31:00Oh, I was going... Pride comes before a fall.
31:03Anything else?
31:06Oh, good. Ooh! OK.
31:08Round 14, penultimate round. David, your numbers.
31:12I think I'm going to go all out and try six small, please, Rachel.
31:15Why not? You're only here once, David.
31:17You only live once as well. Exactly.
31:19Six of the ones to finish the day.
31:21And they are three, six, two, one, eight and nine.
31:28And your target, 307.
31:31307.
31:33MUSIC PLAYS
32:03David?
32:05306.
32:07Good. Mike? No, not close enough.
32:09OK, David?
32:11First I did 9 plus 1 is 10.
32:13Yes.
32:158 plus 2 times 3 is 30.
32:19So 8 plus 2 for another 10, times 3 for 30.
32:25Then I did times by the 10...
32:29300.
32:31Yes. Good gamble. One away. 306.
32:34Rachel?
32:36Yes, I found one way with this one.
32:38You could have said 2 plus 3 is 5, times by 8 is 40,
32:44take away 6 for 34, times that by 9 for 306,
32:49with a 1 remaining for 307.
32:52Fantastic.
32:56We are into the final round.
32:59The score's 80-47, so Mike is 33 points ahead.
33:05Fingers on buzzers.
33:07Please reveal today's Countdown Conundrum.
33:29MUSIC PLAYS
33:41Oh, wow, anyone in the studio?
33:44Our two clever girls.
33:46Shall we say it together? You can have it.
33:48We'll say it together.
33:50Protruded.
33:52Let's have a look and see if you're right.
33:55Of course they are.
33:58Well done.
34:00David, commiserations, I'm so sorry,
34:02but you've got to look forward to the fact
34:04that one day you'll be my accountant.
34:06Oh, yeah, indeed.
34:08That's much more fun than winning Countdown.
34:11Mike, congratulations, we'll see you tomorrow.
34:14Thank you, Anne. Well done.
34:16Thank you, Susie. Thank you.
34:18Thank you to Pink Shirt. Thank you, Mrs T.
34:20I think that's a good nickname for you,
34:22cos you pity all the fools as well, don't you?
34:24You pity the fools, don't you?
34:26I've been called worse.
34:28Thank you, Rachel.
34:30Thank you for watching. See you again tomorrow. Bye.
34:51Weekend rugby live with the Heineken Champions Cup.
34:54Sail Sharks versus Bristol Bears at 12.30 on Saturday.
34:58Coming up, a Spanish dream might just be about to become a reality.
35:01It's A Place In The Sun.