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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:05APPLAUSE
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio
00:34on the very day that Groundhog Day, the musical, opens in London.
00:39On the day that Groundhog Day, the musical, opens in London.
00:44And if you saw the 1993 film starring Bill Murray and Andy McDowall,
00:49you'll know why I repeated it.
00:52It's the story of a weatherman who gets caught in a blizzard he didn't predict
00:57and he finds himself trapped in a time warp
01:00and he has to relive the same day time and time and time again.
01:03Have you seen any really good theatre productions recently?
01:06I have. It's funny you mention Bill Murray cos I know he watches Countdown.
01:09Richard Arnold, one of our Dictionary Corner guests, met him on the red carpet
01:13and he said, I've just seen you on Countdown.
01:15He's a man of great taste, clearly.
01:17Brilliant stuff. Now, Rachel, this is a big day.
01:20It's a big day, actually, for Annie Humphreys and us two,
01:24Vine to become an OctoChamp today.
01:26And as you know, I told you at the beginning, I've got money on you.
01:29What a great player. Fantastic.
01:32But first of all, you've got to get past Ben Gallivan,
01:35search engine optimiser and a copywriter from Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan.
01:41Many, many hobbies, including gig promoting, music writing for various magazines
01:45and you also present Hospital Radio. Where do you do that?
01:49It's at the Heath Hospital in Cardiff. It's Hospital Radio, Glamorgan.
01:53Excellent. Well done. Well, good luck to you both.
01:55Big round of applause for Annie and Ben.
02:04Lovely. And over in the corner, as ever, Susie, on this Tuesday,
02:08joined for the last time until we persuaded him to come back again
02:11to cross from the BBC studios over in Salford Quays
02:14to our studio here in Salford Quays, the wonderful Charlie State.
02:18Welcome back, Charlie. Thank you. Welcome back.
02:21Now, Annie, important day, don't let me down. It's a letters game.
02:26Rachel, good afternoon again. Afternoon again, Annie.
02:30And may I have, please, a consonant?
02:33You may, thank you. Start the day with N.
02:37And a consonant.
02:39T.
02:41And a vowel.
02:43I.
02:45Vowel.
02:47E.
02:49Consonant.
02:51D.
02:53Consonant.
02:55Q.
02:57Vowel.
02:59A.
03:01Consonant.
03:03L.
03:05Consonant.
03:07And the last one, N.
03:09And here comes the Countdown Clock.
03:17CLOCK TICKS
03:41Mmm. Annie?
03:43A six. Six, Ben?
03:45Yeah, six as well. Two sixes. Annie?
03:48A detail.
03:50No, Ben? Detain.
03:54And what have we in the corner?
03:56Dental. Yep.
03:58Susie? Yes, actually, you can stretch that by two letters
04:01and have dentinal.
04:03And that's the adjective relating to dentine,
04:06the hard, dense bony tissue that you will find in the majority of your tooth.
04:11It's that beneath the enamel of your tooth.
04:14Dental. Well done. Thanks, Susie.
04:16Thank you, Charlie.
04:18We start Six Piece and it's Ben's letters game. Ben?
04:22Hi, Rachel. Hi, Ben. Can I have a consonant, please?
04:25Thank you. Start with D.
04:27And a vowel.
04:29O.
04:31And a consonant.
04:33V.
04:35And a vowel, please.
04:37E.
04:39And another vowel.
04:41U.
04:43And another consonant.
04:45L.
04:47And another consonant.
04:49N.
04:51And a vowel, please. And the last one.
04:53I.
04:55And here's the Countdown Clock.
05:14CLOCK TICKS
05:28Yes, Ben?
05:30I'll go for a risky seven.
05:32Annie? A six.
05:34A six. Annie?
05:36Blank.
05:38Now, Ben, what sort of risk is this?
05:40Uplined.
05:42Annie?
05:46Uplined...
05:48Oh, unlined but not uplined, I'm afraid, Ben. Sorry.
05:51No worries.
05:53Bad luck. What can we do? Charlie, Susie?
05:56I had Lupin.
05:58Yeah? Yeah.
06:00A couple of sevens. Unoiled is there.
06:02And also Blondie.
06:04A blonde-haired person, typically a woman or a girl,
06:07usually is a form of a dress.
06:09I would say go carefully if you're going to call someone a Blondie.
06:11I'll just go for seven.
06:13OK. Thank you. 12 for a six.
06:15Annie in charge at the moment in this Annie's Numbers game.
06:18For the numbers I would like, one for each of these,
06:21and five little ones.
06:23I thought you might say that. Thank you, Annie.
06:25Another one of your favourite choices.
06:27One large, five little, and this time they're five, one, ten,
06:31another one, four, and 50.
06:35And this target, 819.
06:37819.
07:09Annie?
07:11820.
07:13Yes, Ben?
07:15That way, 805.
07:17All right. Annie?
07:1950 plus one.
07:2150 plus one, 51.
07:23And then I want you to add ten and one, five, to make 16.
07:28And then a ten plus one plus five for 16.
07:31And then times those together.
07:33816.
07:35And then add a four.
07:37It's over. Yep, one away.
07:39Fabulous. But one away still, not quite where we wanted it.
07:43819. Is that a tricky business?
07:46It's possible if you say 50 plus one minus ten is 41.
07:52Four times five is 20.
07:55Times them together for 820 and take off the other one.
07:59There we go. Well done.
08:02APPLAUSE
08:04Well done indeed.
08:0619 plays Ben's six, Annie in the lead,
08:09and it's time for our first Tea Time teaser,
08:11which is Coco's tie and the clue.
08:14He wears his tie in a very odd way.
08:16He's a very strange chap.
08:18He wears his tie in a very odd way.
08:20He's a very strange chap.
08:22APPLAUSE
08:36Welcome back. I left you with the clue.
08:38He wears his tie in a very odd way.
08:40He's a very strange chap.
08:42And the answer is cookie-ist.
08:44Cookie-ist. The cookiest of them all.
08:47Annie on 19, Ben on six, and it's Ben's letters game.
08:51Ben.
08:52Can I have a consonant, please?
08:54Thank you, Ben. R.
08:56And another?
08:58W.
09:00And a vowel?
09:02E.
09:03And another vowel?
09:05A.
09:06And a consonant?
09:08S.
09:10And another consonant, please?
09:13C.
09:14And a vowel?
09:16I.
09:18And a consonant?
09:20P.
09:21And another consonant, please?
09:23And the last one? S.
09:25Countdown.
09:51MUSIC STOPS
09:57Ben?
09:58Er, six.
10:00Six. Annie?
10:01A seven.
10:03Ben?
10:04Er, crisps.
10:05Crisps and...?
10:07Spaces.
10:08Spaces?
10:09Yeah.
10:11And what else have we got?
10:13Charlie, Susie?
10:15I was down to a five, I'm afraid.
10:17Yeah, couldn't get beyond seven.
10:19OK. Thank you. 26 plays six.
10:22Annie, your letters game.
10:24Consonant, please, Rachel.
10:26Thank you, Annie. D.
10:28Vowel.
10:30O.
10:32Vowel.
10:33E.
10:35Consonant.
10:37G.
10:38Consonant.
10:40F.
10:42Consonant.
10:44X.
10:45Vowel.
10:47A.
10:49Consonant.
10:51S.
10:53Consonant.
10:55And the last one? T.
10:57Stand by.
10:59MUSIC PLAYS
11:17MUSIC STOPS
11:29Annie?
11:30A seven, not written down.
11:33Thank you, Ben. Er, six.
11:35Your six?
11:36Er, fasted.
11:38Annie?
11:39Tortuges.
11:41Yes, always the controversial one, this one,
11:44because it's a big question as to whether it's a mass noun.
11:47So you talk about a group of people in their dotage
11:49rather than in their dotages.
11:51But the dictionary doesn't say mass noun any more,
11:53it just says a noun, so I'll allow it.
11:55Really? Yes.
11:56Oh, brilliant. Brilliant.
11:58Is sex god hyphenated?
12:00LAUGHTER
12:02Think of yourself there, Nick.
12:04It's hardly. Two words.
12:06What? Two words.
12:08Sorry about that. Never mind.
12:10Have we got anything out, Charlie?
12:12I'm a bit distracted now by what you just said.
12:14LAUGHTER
12:16To be honest with you, Nick, it's...
12:18I can't think any more.
12:2133 plays six.
12:23And, Ben, numbers game.
12:25Can I have one from the top and any five of your choice?
12:28Thank you, Ben. One from the top row.
12:30And five little ones coming up.
12:33And for this round they are...
12:35nine, four,
12:37nine, eight, seven,
12:39and the large one, 100.
12:41And the target, 749.
12:43Seven, four, nine.
13:12MUSIC STOPS
13:16Ben?
13:18Seven, four, five.
13:20Seven, four, five. Annie?
13:22Seven, four, seven.
13:24Just two away. Annie?
13:27Eight times seven.
13:29Eight times... Yep.
13:31Plus 100.
13:33100... Minus nine.
13:35Sorry. Oh, plus 100 times... Sorry.
13:38Oh, sorry.
13:40On this spread where I've written down,
13:42I've written 100 plus eight times seven.
13:45Ah, so we're adding the 100 here.
13:47100 again.
13:49Minus seven is... We're getting...
13:51756.
13:53756, yeah.
13:55Minus nine. Right.
13:57Would you like to check my work?
13:59This is the neatest one I've ever done.
14:01Seven, four, seven, which is what you declared.
14:03That's beautiful. That's my finest work.
14:05LAUGHTER
14:07You can have that.
14:10Very good. Well done. Well done, Annie.
14:13Seven, four, nine, though, perhaps.
14:15In a neater sort of way, perhaps.
14:17I'll cover that one up.
14:19If you say 100 plus eight is 108.
14:21Nine over nine is one.
14:23Take that away for 107 and times that by seven.
14:26Seven, four, nine. Well done.
14:28APPLAUSE
14:30Thank you, Rachel.
14:32So, 40 plays six.
14:34And we turn now to Charlie.
14:36And, Charlie, presenting you's live news
14:39must surely mean that you've got to have a great memory, no?
14:44Well, a lot of people think that,
14:46and clearly it's not a bad thing to have a very good recollection.
14:49It's quite handy.
14:51But I have always had a very, very bad memory.
14:54And going back a long time, when I was a child,
14:57I rather fancied the idea of acting.
15:00And the one that I remember vividly,
15:02I was probably about nine years old,
15:04performing in a version of the Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan,
15:09and I was playing the lead character of Nanky Poo,
15:12which people may or may not be familiar with,
15:14that really is the character's name,
15:16who has to sing the lead song, effectively.
15:18It's the main song.
15:20And I could only remember the two lines of the song,
15:23the opening two lines.
15:25So I started singing the thing, and I had no other lines to sing,
15:28so it just went on and on and on.
15:30And as I was singing, I thought,
15:32there's no way out of this, because I'm just going to sing the two lines indefinitely.
15:36On top of which, because you had to come on and off the stage,
15:39and I had no idea where I was in the play,
15:42I would walk on stage randomly.
15:45And other performers would just think,
15:48well, why is he on stage now? It has nothing to do with the plot.
15:51And then I'd back off again, unannounced,
15:54and then appear at the wrong times.
15:56But I plugged on, regardless.
15:58It must have been a nightmare for anyone else being on stage at the time.
16:01You're only a little chap. Nine years old.
16:04It was like improvised theatre. Lovely.
16:07Before it's time. That's what I think.
16:09So, thanks, Charlie.
16:1140 plays six. Annie on 40.
16:13And it's Annie's letters game. Annie.
16:16Consonant, please, Rachel.
16:18Thank you, Annie. S
16:20Consonant.
16:22R
16:24Vowel.
16:26U
16:27Vowel.
16:29I
16:30Consonant.
16:32R
16:34Consonant.
16:36V
16:38Vowel.
16:40A
16:42Consonant.
16:44C
16:45Vowel.
16:47And a final E.
16:49And the clock starts now.
17:00CLOCK TICKS
17:22Annie?
17:24I'm going to risk an eight.
17:26An eight. Ben?
17:28I'm going to save seven, I think.
17:30All right. And your seven?
17:32A cruiser.
17:34A cruiser. Now then, Annie.
17:37I think you scurvy lad.
17:40But there is another lad who is scurvier.
17:43Oh.
17:49It's in. It's in, Annie.
17:51I didn't expect it to be. Worthless or contemptible.
17:54And you can be scurvier or the scurviest of the lot.
17:57Very good.
17:59APPLAUSE
18:02Yeah. Why not? Very good.
18:0448 points. Good stuff.
18:06And, Ben, your letters game.
18:08Consonant, please, Rachel.
18:10Thank you, Ben. T
18:12And another.
18:14J
18:16And another one, please.
18:18N
18:20And a vowel.
18:22O
18:23And another vowel.
18:25A
18:26And a consonant.
18:28F
18:29And a vowel, please.
18:31I
18:33And a consonant.
18:35T
18:37And another vowel, please.
18:40And the last one. E
18:42Countdown.
18:56E
19:15Yes, Annie.
19:17H
19:18H. And Ben?
19:19H as well.
19:20Annie.
19:21J
19:23Another.
19:24Same word.
19:25And Ben in the corner?
19:27Well, Jetson was probably the best out of that.
19:30It was really good to get that.
19:32Well done, indeed. All right.
19:34So, Annie on 56 and Ben on 40.
19:36And now, Annie, it's numbers time for you.
19:39Off you go.
19:41My very last shot.
19:43I'll leave you to choose.
19:45Oh, I think I know which one your favourite is,
19:47so I'm going to be nice.
19:49Let's go for one large and five little.
19:51Thank you, Annie.
19:52But something tells me you'll be back for more
19:54This numbers game is ten, another ten,
19:57one, five, six,
20:00and the large on 100.
20:02And the target, 996.
20:05996.
20:25MUSIC
20:40Annie.
20:42996.
20:43And Ben.
20:44Yeah, 996.
20:45Yep. Annie.
20:47100 times ten.
20:49100 times ten, 1,000.
20:51And then ten minus six is four.
20:53Well done again.
20:54There we go. And Ben.
20:56Yeah, I did the same, just five minus one was the four, so...
20:59Yeah. Great.
21:01Nothing to worry about there.
21:03So, 66 plus 24,
21:05and it's time for our second tea time teaser,
21:08which is It's So Huge.
21:11And the clue...
21:13These are rather hard, much harder than normal.
21:16These are rather hard, much harder than normal.
21:20MUSIC
21:35Welcome back. I left with the clue...
21:37These are rather hard, much harder than normal.
21:40And the answer is...
21:42Tuffies.
21:44Tuffies.
21:46A bunch of tuffies.
21:48It's 24, Annie's in the lead, and it's Ben's letters game.
21:51Ben.
21:53Hi, Rachel. Can I have a consonant, please?
21:55Thank you, Ben. S.
21:57And another, please.
21:59H.
22:01And a vowel. O.
22:03And another vowel.
22:05E.
22:07And a consonant, please.
22:09S.
22:11And another.
22:13T.
22:15And a vowel.
22:17I.
22:19And a consonant.
22:21G.
22:23And another consonant, please.
22:25And the last one. T.
22:27Countdown.
22:29MUSIC
22:48MUSIC
23:01Yes, Ben?
23:03Risky, eight.
23:05Eight, Annie?
23:07Six.
23:09You're six? Yikes!
23:11Now then, Ben. Ghosties.
23:13Ghosties.
23:15Sorry, Ben.
23:17It's a very nice fright.
23:19Worth a chance. Worth a chance, Ben.
23:21What can we have? Charlie?
23:23I also had tides.
23:25Yeah.
23:27Egotist. Is there for seven?
23:29Put the S on egotist at the end,
23:31so you can make that an eight, if you wanted to.
23:34Egotist.
23:36All right. 72 to 24, and it's Annie's letters game.
23:39Consonant, please.
23:41Thank you, Annie. V.
23:43Vowel.
23:45U.
23:47Consonant.
23:49S.
23:51Consonant.
23:53M.
23:55Consonant.
23:57R.
23:59A vowel.
24:01O.
24:03Vowel.
24:05E.
24:07A vowel.
24:09O.
24:11And a consonant, please.
24:13And the last one, D.
24:15Countdown.
24:41MUSIC STOPS
24:47Annie?
24:49Seven.
24:51Ben?
24:53Seven as well. Annie?
24:55Devourers.
24:57And Ben? Yeah, same, devourers.
24:59There we go.
25:01Anybody else devoured?
25:03Susie?
25:05Yes. We had that, and we also had one of your favourite words.
25:08Vroom and then vroomed.
25:10Vroomed. Vroomed.
25:12Vroom, vroom.
25:14Exactly. Make a roaring sound when travelling at high speed.
25:16Quite right.
25:18All right. Well done.
25:2079 plays 31,
25:22and it's Susie
25:24and her
25:26origins of words.
25:28Now then, Susie, today?
25:30I heard it through the grapevine.
25:32What was the grapevine?
25:36Well, it was actually a very real thing.
25:40And the idea of a grapevine, of course,
25:42is that if you hear something through the grapevine,
25:44it's usually an unofficial message,
25:46it's a rumour, not verified,
25:48it's been passed from person to person
25:50through word of mouth.
25:52And it was invented in America
25:54in the late 1840s,
25:56and it was used as a kind of joking comparison
25:58between the sort of twisting
26:00branches of a vine, if you like,
26:02the slightly circuitous root of a vine,
26:04and the very straight,
26:06wonderful electric telegraph
26:08that was marching across America
26:10in those days,
26:12and was enabling incredibly high-speed communication,
26:14as opposed to
26:16the idea of messages that were carried
26:18along the grapevine,
26:20as I say, in a very sort of twisting
26:22and tortuous root.
26:24But the expression through the grapevine
26:26really came to the fore during the American Civil War,
26:28when apparently
26:30it wasn't just rumours that were being passed
26:32through the grapevine, but solid military
26:34intelligence that was getting to the commanders,
26:36particularly the Union cause,
26:38and it was invaluable to them, apparently,
26:40during the Civil War.
26:42So it had a very strong,
26:44a very concrete application,
26:46this sort of unofficial
26:48route of communication as information
26:50was passed from person to person.
26:52So yes, it's gone along a winding
26:54history itself, quite appropriately,
26:56but that was the start of through the grapevine.
26:58We now talk about the bush telegraph and that kind of thing,
27:00which was ironically coined a lot later
27:02than the telegraph itself.
27:04But through the grapevine coincided with the absolute
27:06invention of the real telegraph
27:08that made such a difference.
27:10Amazing. What a great story. Thank you.
27:12APPLAUSE
27:16Very good.
27:18As ever.
27:20Brilliant. 79 plays 31.
27:22Ben. Penultimate letters game.
27:24Thank you. Hi, Rachel. Can I have a consonant, please?
27:26Thank you, Ben.
27:28N. And a vowel.
27:32A. And a consonant, please.
27:34S.
27:36And a vowel.
27:38I.
27:40And another vowel.
27:42E.
27:44And a consonant.
27:46T.
27:48And a consonant, please.
27:50W. And another consonant.
27:52H.
27:54And a vowel, please.
27:56A.
27:58And here's the Countdown Clock.
28:00CLOCK TICKS
28:26CLOCK TICKS
28:30Yes, Ben?
28:32Er, seven.
28:34A seven. Annie? A seven.
28:36Ben? Whitens.
28:38Whitens. And both of you?
28:40All right.
28:42Well done.
28:44And the corner? Yes.
28:46Any advances? No.
28:48No advance on that at all.
28:50Charlie had Staines, Wayne was there as well.
28:52Awaits for six, Haston for six,
28:54and then seven.
28:56Well done. Excellent.
28:58All right, 86 to 38,
29:00and it's Annie's final letters game. Annie?
29:04Consonant, please, Rachel.
29:06Thank you, Annie. R.
29:08Vowel.
29:10I.
29:12Vowel.
29:14O.
29:16Consonant.
29:18L.
29:20L consonant.
29:22A vowel.
29:24E.
29:26Consonant.
29:28D.
29:30Consonant.
29:32M.
29:34Vowel. And the last one?
29:36O.
29:38And the clock starts now.
29:40CLOCK TICKS
29:42CLOCK TICKS
29:44CLOCK TICKS
29:46CLOCK TICKS
29:48CLOCK TICKS
29:50CLOCK TICKS
29:52CLOCK TICKS
29:54CLOCK TICKS
29:56CLOCK TICKS
29:58CLOCK TICKS
30:00CLOCK TICKS
30:02CLOCK TICKS
30:04CLOCK TICKS
30:06CLOCK TICKS
30:08CLOCK TICKS
30:10Annie? A seven.
30:12A seven, Ben? Yeah, a seven as well.
30:14Annie? Moodier.
30:16No, Ben. Yeah, another moodier.
30:18All right, thank you. Moodier.
30:20Anything else?
30:22Rumier and Lorimer.
30:24It's an old maker of stirrups, saddles.
30:26Yes. Yeah.
30:28OK.
30:3093-45.
30:32Will she crash through the 100?
30:34It's Ben's numbers game. Let's see.
30:36Can I just have the usual, please? One from the top, any other fives?
30:38You can indeed, thank you, Ben.
30:40One big one, five little ones for the final one of the day.
30:42And these numbers are
30:44nine, seven,
30:46five, two, six
30:48and 100.
30:50And the target, 787.
30:52787.
30:54MUSIC
31:16MUSIC PLAYS
31:26Ben?
31:27Er, 789.
31:29Two away. Annie?
31:30I made a big mistake and I haven't got it.
31:34So we're going to go with Ben Gallivan.
31:36No, we're not, because I've got 779, not 789, sorry.
31:39All right.
31:41Rachel?
31:43Down to you.
31:44Yeah, if you say 9 minus 5 is 4,
31:47times 2 is 8, times 100, 800,
31:50and then take away the 6 and the 7.
31:53787.
31:54Well done. Well done, Rachel.
31:56APPLAUSE
31:58And so, with the score standing at 93 to Ben's 45,
32:02we come to the final round.
32:04It's conundrum time.
32:06Fingers on buzzers, let's reveal today's countdown conundrum.
32:09MUSIC PLAYS
32:12BELL RINGS
32:38Annie?
32:40Overseer.
32:43Let's see whether you're right.
32:45No.
32:47Down to you, Ben.
32:49MUSIC PLAYS
32:51And so it is that we turn and we ask the audience
32:55for a show of hands. You, sir.
32:57Overdress.
32:59Overdress. Let's see whether you're right.
33:01Overdress. There we go. Well done.
33:03APPLAUSE
33:06Well done. Annie, what happened to you?
33:09You didn't go through 100, only 93.
33:11I rushed to Ben's.
33:14Ben Gallivan, you're a brave man.
33:16You did very well. 45 is not a bad score at all, actually,
33:19because you're up against an octo-champ as of this moment.
33:22If we start from part two next time, it'll be OK.
33:25All right. Well, good luck.
33:27Take this goodie bag back to Penarth with our very best wishes.
33:30Thanks very much. Thanks for having me.
33:35Now, Annie Humphreys, thank you.
33:38Terrific, terrific performance.
33:40You might be interested to know that you're not only an octo-champ
33:44and therefore we'll see you in the finals,
33:46but also that you're our number one seed.
33:48Not bad. How about that?
33:50That's fantastic.
33:56Well done. Well, you keep watching Countdown, practising,
33:59and we'll see you in the finals.
34:01Thank you so much for being such a pleasure to have here.
34:04It's been fantastic.
34:06See you on Monday. We're going racing now.
34:09And, Charlie, you come and see us again soon,
34:12because on Monday that seat will be occupied by Tanni Great-Omsen.
34:16And so we have a new Dictionary Corner guest next week.
34:20But thank you for being such a pleasure this week.
34:22Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed.
34:24Susie, see you on Monday. Have a good weekend.
34:26See you on Monday. And you, Nick. And Rachel, too.
34:28See you then. All right. Look forward to it.
34:30On Monday, you be sure of it, a very good afternoon.
34:34Contact us by email at Countdown at Channel4.com,
34:38by Twitter at C4Countdown,
34:40or write to us at CountdownLeadsLS31JS.
34:44You can also find our web page at Channel4.com forward slash Countdown.
34:51Midwife Phil, baby number two is on the way.
34:54One couple want to leave the big smoke sharpish.
34:57Kirsty may gloat later, location at eight.
34:59And at nine, how it all went down in their words,
35:02their heroes of Helmand, the British Army's great escape.
35:06But next up, are the newbies like lambs to the slaughter?
35:09It's four in a bet.