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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:20APPLAUSE
00:32Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio.
00:35They say silence is golden. Maybe.
00:39But could you go for a whole week, Rachel, I wonder,
00:42without speaking?
00:44That's what one young journalist decided to have a crack,
00:48and we heard that the business of silent retreats is growing.
00:52People spend quite a lot of money to go somewhere very, very quiet
00:56and not to talk to anybody.
00:58She managed a week. She said it made her a better listener,
01:01but she was desperate to say something to somebody at the end of all that.
01:05And, you know, there we are.
01:07She said it helped her concentration.
01:09But, funnily enough, when we were kids at school,
01:13three days of the...
01:15In September, the Michaelmas term, whatever it is,
01:18we all went on a retreat. We couldn't speak for three days.
01:22It's a time for reflection, contemplation,
01:25the most serious things in the world, the rest of it.
01:28And it's pretty tough, I can tell you, actually.
01:31Anyway, to get back to you, Rachel...
01:33LAUGHTER
01:35..could you keep quiet for a week?
01:37A whole week? Yeah. I doubt that very much.
01:39That's a long time, isn't it? I mean, it might be good.
01:41Ian had no internet for a week, which I thought would be really tough,
01:44but actually it was really liberating. Yeah.
01:46A whole week, I'm not sure.
01:48I think that's tough. I could never have done that.
01:50I mean, frankly, three days was tough.
01:52How old were you?
01:54Oh! From 11 to 18.
01:56Did you cheat? You must have cheated. Probably.
01:58You were always naughty.
02:00I think we did. I think we did cheat quite a lot, actually.
02:03But nobody ever got to hear about it.
02:05There we are. Rachel...
02:07In fact, that'll be the Dougie Mackay,
02:10who scored 100 and whatever it was,
02:12nine first time out. Am I right, Dougie?
02:14I think so, yes. Fantastic. Well done.
02:16I mean, that's the way to go.
02:18From Guernsey, company director there,
02:20you've got to get past Darren Newton now.
02:22Originally from the north, now in Bristol, runs a pub.
02:25Yeah. Is that right? Big sports fan?
02:27Yeah, that's right.
02:29Rugby league, not union, dance and footer.
02:32Yeah. What's the name of this pub you run?
02:34The Victoria. I think Bristol's a great town.
02:36Yeah, very good. I lived in Bristol, actually, for a while.
02:38I loved it. I think it's a great town.
02:40Good luck to you. Good luck, Darren.
02:42Good luck, Dougie. A big round of applause for our contestants.
02:49Yeah.
02:51Light bristle. Over in the corner, Susie Dent, of course.
02:54And sports broadcaster and all-round good guy,
02:58a favourite here, that'll be Colin Murray.
03:02APPLAUSE
03:05That will be Colin Murray.
03:07And now, what shall we do? Dougie, off we go.
03:10Good afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Dougie.
03:12Could I have a consonant, please? Thank you.
03:14Start today with X.
03:18Another.
03:20T.
03:22And a third.
03:24N.
03:26And a vowel.
03:28I.
03:30O.
03:32Vowel.
03:34E.
03:36Consonant.
03:38S.
03:40Consonant.
03:42C.
03:44And a consonant, please.
03:46And lastly, L.
03:48Stand by.
04:00CLOCK TICKS
04:20Dougie? Seven.
04:22No, Darren. Just a six.
04:24And your six? Clones.
04:26Clones, indeed. Yes, Dougie.
04:28Very good. Yep, absolutely fine.
04:30Colin?
04:32You had section as well. Susie?
04:34There's a lovely eight there, if you like dictionaries.
04:37Lexicans. Yes.
04:39APPLAUSE
04:42So, seven points for Dougie.
04:44Darren, your letters game.
04:46Good afternoon, Rachel. Good afternoon, Darren.
04:48Can I start with a consonant, please? Thank you.
04:50Start with T.
04:52And another one.
04:54S.
04:56And a vowel.
04:58D.
05:00And a vowel, please.
05:02I.
05:04And another one.
05:06O.
05:08And another.
05:10E.
05:12And a consonant.
05:14N.
05:16And another one.
05:18R.
05:20And a final vowel, please.
05:22And a final A.
05:24MUSIC
05:28MUSIC CONTINUES
05:54Darren?
05:56Nine as well, yeah.
05:58Ordinate.
06:00Ordinate and, Dougie? Notarised.
06:02Amazing. Two good guys.
06:04APPLAUSE
06:07And your nine, Colin?
06:09Well, that puts my randiest to shame.
06:12LAUGHTER
06:14More fun, though. Exactly.
06:16Listen, I am at my randiest at the moment
06:18because there's three nines in there, not just two.
06:21Yeah, one more to add to the list is derations.
06:24Five derations.
06:26Wow, three. Not bad, eh?
06:28Wow. Very good indeed.
06:30What it does here is 25 plays Darren's 18
06:33as we turn now to Dougie for the first numbers game of the day.
06:36Yes, Dougie?
06:38One large and five small, please, Rachel.
06:40Thank you, Dougie. One from the top.
06:42Five little ones.
06:44And for the first time today, the small numbers are three, two, four,
06:48five and eight.
06:50And the big one, 50.
06:52And the target, 937.
06:54937.
07:23MUSIC STOPS
07:26Dougie?
07:28Just 942.
07:30Darren?
07:32940.
07:34So, Darren?
07:36Four plus two is six.
07:38Four plus two, six.
07:40Times by three.
07:42Times by three, 18.
07:44Multiplied by the 50.
07:46Multiplied by the 50 is 900, skipping a step.
07:48Eight times five is 40.
07:50Well done for that.
07:52937, though, Rachel, is really what we were after.
07:56Is it possible, even?
07:58Erm, leave it with me.
08:00Certainly will, but I'll tell you what we've got.
08:02We've got 25 apiece, so well done there, Darren,
08:04as we link to our first teatime teaser,
08:08which is Lilac Bits and the clue.
08:11During the flight, he flew into an absolute rage.
08:15During the flight, he flew into an absolute rage.
08:19APPLAUSE
08:33Welcome back. I left with the clue.
08:35During the flight, he flew into an absolute rage.
08:38In fact, he went ballistic.
08:41Ballistic. Rachel, what have you been up to?
08:44I found 937, eventually.
08:47If you say 50 minus 2 is 48,
08:51times by 4 is 192,
08:54minus 3 is 189,
08:56times by 5 is 945,
08:59and then take away the 8 for 937.
09:01Fantastic.
09:03APPLAUSE
09:07Perfect, as always. Perfect. 25 apiece.
09:10Darren, your letters game.
09:12Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Darren.
09:16And another one.
09:20And another.
09:24And a vowel, please.
09:27And another one.
09:30And a consonant.
09:33And another one.
09:37A vowel, please.
09:40And a final consonant, please.
09:43And a final R.
09:45Stand by.
10:14Mmm, Darren.
10:16A seven. A seven.
10:18Dougie? A seven as well.
10:20Yes, Darren?
10:21Hampers.
10:22And two hampers.
10:24Yep.
10:25And over in the corner?
10:27Yep. Huge picnic. Got that as well.
10:29Can he have purdah? Or even purdahs?
10:32Yes. Very well done, Nick. You can.
10:35It's curtains used for the purpose of purdahs,
10:38in other words, screening women from men or strangers.
10:41Is that it?
10:43Very good. Didn't know that.
10:45But I'll take it anyway. Thank you very much.
10:4732 apiece now. Dougie, how about a letters game?
10:50Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Dougie.
10:52N.
10:54Another.
10:55K.
10:57Another.
10:59T.
11:00Vowel.
11:02A.
11:04Vowel.
11:05E.
11:07Vowel.
11:09U.
11:11Consonant.
11:12P.
11:14Consonant.
11:16V.
11:18And a consonant, please.
11:20And the last one, S.
11:22And here's the Countdown Clock.
11:39CLOCK TICKS
11:56Mmm. Dougie?
11:58Seven.
11:59Darren? Six.
12:00And a six. What is this six?
12:02Unsave.
12:03And Dougie?
12:04Uptakes.
12:05Unsave. You have unsaved, but not unsave, I'm afraid.
12:10And uptakes, I was thinking it was perfectly fine,
12:13but then checked, and it's a maths noun,
12:15so you can't actually put the S on.
12:17So I have to disallow both, I'm afraid, Nick.
12:19Bad luck. Bad luck.
12:21Don't apologise to me. What about Colin?
12:23So they don't get any points? No.
12:25I'll just go with at, A-T, two points.
12:28Points are points, Nick, points are points.
12:30Well done.
12:31There's some terrible words in there, like pukes.
12:33Really disgusting words you can find in there.
12:36But there's a seven hidden in, which is much more savoury.
12:39Yes, peanuts.
12:40Peanuts. Peanuts, that's seven.
12:42Our old friend, peanuts. 32 apiece.
12:45Now, Darren, your numbers game.
12:47Six small ones, please, Rachel.
12:49Six small ones, see if this can break the deadlock.
12:51Said confidently, thank you, Darren.
12:53And these six little ones are six, one, nine, seven, four,
13:00and another six, and the target, 714.
13:04714.
13:30Well done.
13:37706.
13:39And Duggee?
13:40714.
13:41Yes, Duggee?
13:42Seven plus one is eight.
13:44Seven plus one is eight.
13:46Times nine.
13:47Times nine, 72.
13:49Multiply that by six plus four.
13:51And then six plus four for ten, 720.
13:53And take away the six.
13:54And the other six. Very well done. 714.
13:56Very neat.
14:00Well done.
14:01So, 42 now apiece, 32, ten-point lead for Duggee,
14:05and we turn to Colin.
14:07Colin, what have we got?
14:09Well, last anecdote of this stint,
14:11and they're hard to come up with,
14:13but what I do is I've got a little picture of you in my wallet.
14:16I take it out and I think, what would Nick like?
14:18That's my muse.
14:19So I'd like to leave you with a business story.
14:23We're polar opposites, honestly.
14:25I make Del Boy Trotter look like Lord Sugar.
14:28I've never made a good decision in my life.
14:30I'd just like to talk you through the worst one that I've ever made.
14:34It's going back about 20 years ago,
14:36and after working as a trainee reporter, as I was saying,
14:39the YTP scheme, £29.50 a week, you know,
14:42I ended up working in radio,
14:44and it was the first time I'd managed to save a few pounds.
14:46My friend said to me, he said,
14:48listen, there's a couple of shops in Belfast,
14:51and they're up for sale for a really low amount of money,
14:54if we buy them, I think we can turn them around,
14:56and what's more, it's a chain,
14:58and we'll also own the rights to this chain in Northern Ireland,
15:01so if anyone else wants to open them up.
15:03So we went along, we visited it, we wedded up,
15:06we thought about how we would market it,
15:08we thought about how we could make money,
15:10and I said, no, Colin, do not be reckless.
15:13You're in your early 20s,
15:15this is not the time to just throw away
15:18the first savings you've ever had in your life.
15:20So I used all my business acumen and said,
15:23no, my friend, I'm going to pass on this one,
15:26I'm going to save my money, put it into property.
15:30So anyway, this particular store,
15:32and these two particular stores
15:34that were in the university area of Belfast,
15:38they specialised in an Americanised style sandwich.
15:42The name on those stores was Subway.
15:46Really?
15:48Fast forward 20 years,
15:50there are so many franchises of Subway in Northern Ireland,
15:53not even Rachel could count them up.
15:55Oh, no.
15:57And that actually depresses me, I could be a sandwich billionaire.
16:00Listen, you're as better off as you are, let me tell you that much.
16:03Got the meat, Susie, that's worth millions of pounds.
16:06Lovely stuff, well done.
16:13So, 42 to 32,
16:15Dougie, how about a letters game for you?
16:18Consonant, please, Rachel.
16:20M
16:22Another consonant.
16:24N
16:26And a third.
16:28H
16:30Vowel.
16:32E
16:34Vowel.
16:36O
16:38Vowel.
16:40A
16:42Consonant.
16:44D
16:46And a final consonant, please.
16:49And a final L.
16:51Stand by.
17:17MUSIC STOPS
17:22Dougie?
17:24Just six.
17:26Darren? Six.
17:28Dougie? Moaned.
17:30And?
17:32Do you moaners hear? Colin?
17:34Good old-fashioned word, manhole.
17:36Thank you. And?
17:38You can stretch it to an eight, Nick, with homeland.
17:40Homeland.
17:4248 to 38, Darren, your letters game.
17:45Thank you, Darren.
17:47S
17:49And another one.
17:51J
17:53And another.
17:55R
17:57And a vowel, please.
17:59I
18:01And another.
18:03A
18:05And another.
18:07I
18:09And a consonant.
18:11T
18:13And a final vowel, please.
18:15And a final E.
18:17Stand by.
18:19MUSIC PLAYS
18:43MUSIC STOPS
18:49Darren?
18:51A risky seven.
18:53Dougie? Seven.
18:55Darren? A diarist.
18:57And Dougie? A stride.
18:59Very good, both of them, absolutely fine.
19:01Very good. Very good. Now, Colin, what have you got?
19:04A much more safer dairies.
19:06You can have that one until the cows come home.
19:09Seven. Very good.
19:11Diarists and dairies.
19:13Yeah, diarists. It's a good word, isn't it, actually?
19:15Interesting people.
19:1755 to 45 now.
19:20Dougie, numbers for you.
19:23One large and five small again, please, Rachel.
19:25Thank you, Dougie. One from the top.
19:27And five more little coming up.
19:29And this time, they're small ones.
19:31A one, three, six.
19:33One and two.
19:35And the large one, 25.
19:37And the target, 562.
19:39Targeting 562.
20:10Yes, Dougie?
20:12No, just 552.
20:14Nothing on that one.
20:16Nothing for Darren.
20:18And Dougie?
20:20So I did three plus one is four.
20:22Three plus one, four.
20:25Times six.
20:27Times six, 24.
20:29Minus one.
20:31Minus one, the other one, 23.
20:33Times 25.
20:35Times 25, 575.
20:37I've got this one wrong, so...
20:39Down to you, Rachel.
20:41Down to you.
20:43562, can you do it?
20:45560 is actually the best you could have done on this,
20:48so this was impossible.
20:50All right. Thank you.
20:52And it's 55 to 45, and it's tea time, teaser time.
20:56It's alert both.
20:58That's the teaser. And the clue...
21:00The couple alerted both sets of parents
21:02before deciding to announce this.
21:05The couple alerted both sets of parents
21:07before deciding to announce this.
21:26Welcome back. I left with the clue,
21:28the couple alerted both sets of parents
21:30before deciding to announce this,
21:32before deciding to announce the betrothal.
21:34Oh, yes.
21:36Betrothal.
21:3855 to 45, Dougie in the lead.
21:40Darren, your letters game.
21:42Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Darren.
21:44M
21:46And another one, please.
21:48Z
21:50And another.
21:52L
21:54And a vowel.
21:56U
21:58And another.
22:00O
22:02And a consonant.
22:04W
22:06And another.
22:08R
22:10And a final vowel, please.
22:12And a final E.
22:14Stand by.
22:30CLOCK TICKS
22:46Yes, Darren?
22:48Just a six. A six, Dougie?
22:50A six as well. Darren?
22:52Molier. And...
22:54Dougie. Same.
22:56I just want to check that you can be
22:58more precise than... Actually, molier, I don't think,
23:00is there as an adjective.
23:02It's not, I'm afraid.
23:04So we can't have molier
23:06because there's no molie.
23:08But what can we have? Colin?
23:10I thought I'd had a nightmare there because I only had a five,
23:12but I suppose it would count then.
23:14So more, which isn't very good,
23:16as in M-O-W-E-R.
23:18Yeah. Was there any six that counted?
23:20There was. There was a moiler.
23:22And a moiler is a person who moils,
23:24in other words, who labours,
23:26who works really hard, a hard worker.
23:28A moiler.
23:30Very good.
23:3255-45, Dougie in the lead.
23:34Dougie, it's your letters game. Thank you, Dougie.
23:36Consonant, please, Rachel.
23:38Thank you, Dougie. N.
23:40Another?
23:42S.
23:44And a third?
23:46P.
23:48Vowel?
23:50O.
23:52Vowel?
23:54A.
23:56Consonant?
23:58S.
24:00Consonant?
24:02R.
24:04And a final consonant, please.
24:06And a final G.
24:08Stand by.
24:24CLOCK TICKS
24:40Yes, Dougie?
24:42Eight.
24:44Darren? Just a seven.
24:46And that seven? Reasons.
24:48Reasons, and, Dougie?
24:50Sponges. Very good, yes.
24:52Good one.
24:54I was in the Seven Club with Darren there. Gaspers.
24:56Susie?
24:58One more eight for you. Personas.
25:00You can have either Personae or Personas.
25:04APPLAUSE
25:06So, 63-45.
25:08And Susie?
25:10Yes.
25:12Your origins of words, it's come spinning round again.
25:14Oh, wonderful day.
25:16Well, thanks to Joan Law for this email,
25:18who asks about the origin of
25:20and she speculates
25:22that it might have some connection
25:24with scrubbing down the wooden decks of the sailing ships
25:26years ago.
25:28Start right at the very beginning.
25:30And we have to go to the Vikings.
25:32Thank their language,
25:34Old Norse, for
25:36which is N-Y-R.
25:38And that was their phrase
25:40for something which was
25:42But the span, in this case,
25:44meant a chip.
25:46The nur was new.
25:48The span nu, or span nuen,
25:50in the Old Norse term,
25:52was as clean and fresh as a freshly cut
25:54chip of wood.
25:56So the span there was a chip
25:58of wood, a chip off a tree.
26:00So if you imagine something which has
26:02literally just been cut off the bark
26:04and very, very new.
26:06And that's how span nu was used in the 13th century.
26:08So it was used to describe things, particularly clothes,
26:10in fact, that were new, perfectly new
26:12and never worn.
26:14But then we have the spik part,
26:16which is a little less clear cut,
26:18again, if you forgive the pun.
26:20Certainly it added a literative value,
26:22and we're used to that in English.
26:24You have kit and caboodle,
26:26now or never, vim and vigour, etc.
26:28So it could just be there for that reason.
26:30But the most common
26:32suggestion made is that
26:34spik is actually a variant of spike.
26:36And it referred to
26:38a nail, because in the 16th century
26:40nails were made of iron,
26:42but they were quickly tarnished.
26:44So something, in fact, that was a new nail
26:46would have become a metaphor
26:48or a simile for something that was absolutely new,
26:50perfectly clean and new.
26:52And so we talk about neat as a new pin.
26:54Possibly it was that same idea.
26:56So there was an old
26:58Dutch word around at the same time
27:00which slightly supports this theory.
27:02They had spikspelde nu,
27:04which referred to newly made ships.
27:06And of course Joan talked about ships as well
27:08in her question.
27:10So maybe the iron of the spike or the nail
27:12joined the idea of fresh, sharp-edged wood
27:14to create that formula spik and span
27:16to mean something that was
27:18sparkling and clean.
27:20Just as a final note,
27:22which I quite like,
27:24the word spoon actually comes from
27:26that span,
27:28that idea of the fresh chip of wood,
27:30because spoons, of course, were originally made of wood.
27:32So first of all they were called span
27:34and over time became spon
27:36and ended up as the spoon we know today.
27:38Oh, very good.
27:40Excellent.
27:4663 to 45.
27:48Darren, your letters game.
27:50Consonant, please, Rachel.
27:52Thank you, Darren.
27:54S. And another.
27:56G.
27:58And another.
28:00W.
28:02And a vowel, please.
28:04E.
28:06And another.
28:08A.
28:10And another.
28:12I.
28:14And a consonant, please.
28:16G.
28:18And another.
28:20T.
28:22And a final consonant, please.
28:24And a final N.
28:26And here comes the countdown clock.
28:38CLOCK TICKS
28:58Darren.
29:00Eight.
29:02And eight, Dougie?
29:04Eight as well.
29:06Yes, Colin?
29:08Yeah, I'm getting sweaty in there.
29:10I thought, you know when you mishear a lyric?
29:12Yes.
29:14You know how much is that doggie in the window?
29:16Yes.
29:18What's the next line?
29:20The one with the waggly tail.
29:22I always thought it was waggiest tail,
29:24so I was happy.
29:26She was like, it's waggliest.
29:28So you can't have that, but I didn't have to sweat,
29:30because I had sweating as well, so we're all good.
29:32And Susie?
29:34And Dougie, final letters game for you.
29:36Consonant, please, Rachel.
29:38Thank you, Dougie. T.
29:40Another.
29:42R.
29:44And a third.
29:46T.
29:48Vowel, please.
29:50A.
29:52Vowel.
29:54I.
29:56And a third.
29:58E.
30:00Consonant.
30:02A.
30:04And a consonant.
30:06And lastly, B.
30:08Stand by.
30:32BUZZER
30:40Dougie?
30:42Seven.
30:44Thank you, Darren.
30:46Seven.
30:48Dougie?
30:50Radiate.
30:52And bratted?
30:54Hmm, not sure about that one.
30:56It's not there, I'm afraid.
30:58Ratted, but not bratted.
31:00Susie is battier than Rachel, for example.
31:04Susie is battier than most people.
31:06LAUGHTER
31:08What has Susie got to say?
31:10Nothing, I'm insulted.
31:12Nothing else?
31:14That's it.
31:1878-53, and now, Darren, it's the final numbers game.
31:20Good luck.
31:22Four from the top and two small, please.
31:24Thank you, Darren. Four large.
31:26Another tricky selection, possibly.
31:28And one of the day is five, six,
31:30and then four large, 75,
31:32100, 50,
31:34and 25.
31:36And this target, 616.
31:38616.
31:58MUSIC PLAYS
32:10Yes, Darren?
32:12615.
32:14One away, Dougie?
32:16618.
32:18618. Yes, Darren?
32:20Six times 100.
32:22Six times 100, 600.
32:2475 over five is 15.
32:26Well done. 616, possible, Rachel?
32:28It was possible.
32:30If you say 75 times 50
32:32is 3,750,
32:34divide that by six
32:36is 625,
32:38and then 100 over 25
32:40is four,
32:42add that to the five for nine
32:44and take it away for 616.
32:46Fantastic. Look at that.
32:48APPLAUSE
32:52Amazing, Rachel. Fantastic.
32:5460-60, Dougie in the lead
32:56as we go into the final round.
32:58Gentlemen, fingers on buzzers.
33:00It's conundrum time.
33:02Let's roll today's countdown.
33:04Conundrum.
33:08Darren?
33:10Localised.
33:12Localised? Let's see whether you're right.
33:14There it is. Well done.
33:16APPLAUSE
33:18Fantastic.
33:20Darren, that's the way to end, I tell you.
33:22That was very fast indeed.
33:24You went a little bit sort of quiet in the middle there
33:26and allowed Dougie to take it.
33:2878 to your 70,
33:30but you played brilliantly.
33:32Well done. Thank you very much.
33:34You take this goodie bag back to Bristol.
33:36Back to the Victoria pub.
33:38Thanks for coming. Dougie, well done again.
33:40Thank you. Not 109,
33:42but a good win nonetheless.
33:4478. Difficult.
33:46See you next time. Well done. Thank you.
33:48We'll see you the next time.
33:50Yep. Thanks for having me. Loved it as always.
33:52Or the time after next, actually,
33:54because we've had five great days with you.
33:58And we've enjoyed it very much.
34:00Always the greatest stories.
34:02Great fun too. And a good player, isn't he?
34:04He is. Very competitive as well.
34:06We'll see you again very, very soon.
34:08Thank you. And Susie, of course.
34:10Who's with us the next time?
34:12We've got Jimmy Osmond back.
34:14Brilliant. Another returning guest, yes.
34:16See you then. Join us.
34:18Jimmy Osmond, always a good guest.
34:20Same time, same place, you'll be sure of it.
34:22A very good afternoon to you all.
34:24You can contact the programme by email
34:26at countdown at channel4.com,
34:28by Twitter at c4countdown,
34:30or write to us at
34:32countdownleadsls31js.
34:34You can also find our web page
34:36at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:38APPLAUSE
34:46CHEERING AND APPLAUSE