Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:05APPLAUSE
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34It's buzzing here today. Why?
00:36Because we're kicking off the Series 78 finals
00:40with the first quarterfinal match. Fantastic.
00:42So it's very exciting.
00:43The best eight players since we started at the beginning of the year
00:46will be competing to be the Series 78 champion.
00:50So it's a big deal here.
00:51And actually, I know there's a little bit of a competition
00:54kicking off in Russia today.
00:56I think Russia's playing Saudi Arabia, Rachel, I think.
00:59And then we play Tunisia on Monday, is that right?
01:02I believe so.
01:03Are you excited? How do you reckon the boys will do?
01:05Come on, you're the expert in the studio.
01:07Oh, I never predict.
01:08But we've got a great bunch of players,
01:10a great bunch of young players, creative footballers,
01:13and I really like the manager, Gareth Southgate.
01:15Let's hope. Let's hope. Exactly.
01:18Let's hear a little prayer for England. All right. Thank you.
01:20Rachel, we've got Zate Siempre back.
01:23What a pleasure. What a pleasure, Zate.
01:26Marketing manager from Gadford in Buckinghamshire,
01:28our number one seed, Series high score of 130.
01:32I know you've got a lot of fans, but you probably don't know,
01:36but Rachel knows that you've got one hell of a fan.
01:40Rachel, tell him about it.
01:42Speaking of football, I saw another football manager,
01:44Sir Alex Ferguson, a couple of months ago while you were on TV.
01:47And he said he's playing along and he's getting sevens
01:49and Zate's getting eights.
01:51And Sir Alex is a good player.
01:53And he was very, very impressed with Zate.
01:55He said... As has been the rest of the country.
01:57He said Zate's one terrific player, isn't he? Absolutely.
02:00How about that, then? That's crazy.
02:02My brother's a massive United fan.
02:04He might finally think Countdown's cool.
02:07LAUGHTER
02:11I'll be talking to you about that.
02:13All right, Zate. Welcome, anyway.
02:15Welcome. And welcome your competitor, Jan Pask.
02:19Hello, Nick. Welcome back.
02:21Part-time admin worker from Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
02:24Just to qualify, five good wins, number eight seed.
02:29Welcome. I'm glad to be back.
02:31I'm going to call you David to Zate's Goliath.
02:33You remember what happened in that story, don't you?
02:35Let's have a big round of applause for Zate and Jan.
02:38APPLAUSE
02:43And over in the corner, Susie, of course.
02:45Susie's there. It's great to welcome back journalist and reporter
02:49Helen Fospero. Welcome back.
02:51Hello. Thank you very much.
02:55All right, down to business.
02:57Zate, off we go.
02:59Afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Zate.
03:01Start with a vowel, please. Thank you.
03:03Start today with E.
03:05And a consonant, please.
03:07D
03:09Another.
03:11T
03:12Vowel.
03:13I
03:15Consonant.
03:16G
03:18Vowel.
03:20A
03:22Consonant.
03:24W
03:26Vowel, please.
03:28U
03:30And a final consonant, please.
03:32And a final R.
03:34And the countdown clock starts now.
03:50CLOCK TICKS
04:08Now then, Zate.
04:10I will stick with a seven.
04:12A seven. Jan?
04:14I'll stick with a six.
04:16And your six, Jan?
04:17Weighted.
04:20Helen and Susie. Helen?
04:22Lots of sixes in there, but triaged was also in there for a seven.
04:26Yeah. Lucky person who's triaged, I guess.
04:30It doesn't necessarily mean coming first in the queue, does it?
04:33No, it's just assessed and then put in line according to priority, yeah.
04:38Zate kicks off with seven points.
04:40Jan, your letters game.
04:42Hello, Rachel. Hi, Dan.
04:44Can I have a consonant, please?
04:46You can, indeed.
04:49Second consonant.
04:51R
04:53Third.
04:55P
04:57And a vowel, please.
04:59O
05:00Another vowel.
05:02E
05:03Another vowel.
05:05A
05:06Another consonant.
05:08T
05:10Another consonant.
05:12V
05:14And another consonant, please.
05:17And the last one, D.
05:19Stand by.
05:48Well, Jan?
05:50A seven. Whiskey.
05:52Zate? Seven.
05:54Jan?
05:55Overpad.
05:56No. Zate?
05:58Rotated.
06:00No, overpad, I'm afraid, Dan.
06:02Not overpaid, but not overpad.
06:04OK. Sorry.
06:06And in the corner?
06:08Re-adopt was there for seven, but I think there was an eight, wasn't it?
06:12There was a zoological eight, yes. A tetrapod.
06:16A tetrapod is a four-footed animal,
06:19especially a member of a group which includes all vertebrates higher than fishes.
06:24Thank you. Well done.
06:28So, quick start from Zate there, and it's now your numbers game.
06:33Yes, sir. Carry on where I left off.
06:352-1-2-1, please.
06:37Thank you, Zate. 2-1-2-1.
06:39And the first numbers game of this quarterfinal is...
06:428, 10, 7, 3, 25 and 50.
06:48And the target, 825.
06:51825.
07:12MUSIC
07:22Zate?
07:23825.
07:25And Jan?
07:26825.
07:27Zate?
07:2810 plus 6?
07:2910 plus 6, 16.
07:31Times 50?
07:32800.
07:33Add the 25.
07:34825, nice gentle start.
07:35And Jan?
07:36More complicated.
07:387 minus 6 to make the 1.
07:40Yep.
07:417 minus the 1 is 9.
07:439 times the 50 plus the 25, which is 75.
07:479 times 50 plus 25, 675.
07:51Have you written it down?
07:53I've written that down.
07:5550 plus 25?
07:57Yeah.
07:58Sorry, I have actually done... Yes, I've got it wrong.
08:01Sorry, Jan.
08:02Bad luck, bad luck.
08:03Gosh, you had me worried there.
08:05I got me worried too.
08:07All right, let's relax with a tea time teaser, shall we?
08:10Consensus and the clue.
08:12It sounds like the prisoner swore when he banged his head.
08:15It sounds like the prisoner swore when he banged his head.
08:20BELL
08:28APPLAUSE
08:35Welcome back. I left with the clue,
08:37it sounds like the prisoner swore when he banged his head,
08:40and the answer to that one, rather cleverly, is concussed.
08:45Concussed.
08:47Now, if you'd like to become a Countdown contestant,
08:50you can email countdown at channel4.com
08:53to request an application form
08:55or write to us at contestantsapplications,
08:58countdownleads, ls31js.
09:03So, Zaty on 24, Jan yet to score.
09:05A lot of time for that, though, Jan.
09:07Try this letters game.
09:09Can I have a consonant, please?
09:11Thank you, Jan. M.
09:14Another one.
09:16G.
09:19Third one, please.
09:21L.
09:23A vowel.
09:25I.
09:26Another vowel.
09:27A.
09:29Third vowel.
09:31O.
09:34A consonant, please.
09:36C.
09:38Another consonant.
09:40W.
09:43Another vowel, please.
09:45And lastly, E.
09:47Stand by.
10:01EERIE MUSIC
10:18Well, Jan?
10:19Six.
10:20Zaty?
10:21Seven.
10:22And Jan?
10:23Mileage.
10:24Zaty?
10:25Camogie?
10:27Camogie is excellent.
10:29An Irish game resembling hurling played by women.
10:32I'm not sure about mileage.
10:35It has to have an E in the middle, I'm afraid, Jan.
10:37Sorry, two E's in that. Apologies.
10:40There we are.
10:42Now, in the corner, Helen.
10:44We found a six, didn't we?
10:45We've got... Actually, she lies.
10:47Susie found a six. Goalie.
10:49I've just had a little peek at her piece of paper.
10:52I only found magic, which was five, so you can send me home now.
10:55Not at all.
10:57And magic and...?
10:59Yeah, goalie and camogie was the best that we could do as well for seven.
11:02Thanks so much.
11:03Now, Zaty, off we go again, letters game.
11:06Start with a consonant, please.
11:08Thank you, Zaty.
11:09R.
11:10And a vowel.
11:11A.
11:12And another.
11:14A.
11:16And a third.
11:18U.
11:19And a consonant.
11:21B.
11:22And another.
11:23Q.
11:25And another.
11:27S.
11:29A vowel, please.
11:32O.
11:34And a final vowel, please.
11:37And a final I.
11:40Stand by.
11:55CLOCK TICKS
12:12Zaty?
12:14Stick with a five.
12:16Jan?
12:17A five.
12:18Zaty?
12:19Quora?
12:21And Jan?
12:23Auras.
12:25Very good.
12:28Yes.
12:29Happy, Susie?
12:32I was happy with quora, but I'm looking in the dictionary here
12:36and actually the plural of quorum, given in the dictionary,
12:40is quorums, not the standard Latin plural of quora,
12:44so I have to disallow that, I'm afraid.
12:46Wow.
12:47Yeah, sorry.
12:48And Susie? Susie and Helen?
12:51A couple of little sixes hiding in there,
12:53which you'll kick yourself about.
12:55Isobar was one of them.
12:56Yes.
12:57And you've got the other one, haven't you?
12:59Yes, you can spell burka with a Q so you can have burkas for six as well.
13:03So, Zaty on 31, Jan on five, and it's numbers we turn to.
13:06Jan?
13:07Quite simple. Two large and four small, please.
13:09Thank you very much, Jan.
13:11Two big ones, four little.
13:13I'll try for something simple, we shall see.
13:15These four small ones are eight, seven, one, ten,
13:19and the big two, 25 and 75.
13:22And the target, 739.
13:25739.
13:49Well done.
13:59740.
14:01One away. Zaty?
14:03Sorry, 741.
14:05741. And Zaty?
14:07739.
14:08And 739. Off we go, Zaty.
14:1075 take one.
14:12Is 74.
14:13Times ten.
14:14Is 740.
14:16And then eight take seven for the one.
14:18739.
14:19Well done.
14:23Cracking start there, Zaty, as we link to Helen.
14:26Helen, you've done lots and lots and lots of celebrity interviews.
14:31Any mishaps along the way?
14:33How long have you got?
14:35There have been lots and lots of mishaps along the way,
14:38but I think one that really stands out
14:41is one of the first-ever celebrity interviews I did,
14:45and it was with Charlton Heston.
14:47I was a bit naive and green in that I believed the film company
14:51when they said you can have a ten-minute interview,
14:54but you can only ask about this film.
14:56That's really not the case when you do these interviews.
14:59So I prepped in that way and went to see the film
15:02and learnt everything I could about this film,
15:04and Charlton Heston was in it because it was directed by his son,
15:08but it was only a cameo role.
15:10So the first question was all about the film,
15:13and he sort of looked a bit sort of bored and said,
15:16Oh, I was just helping my son out.
15:18I was only in it for two minutes and no big deal.
15:21And I sat there with nine minutes to go.
15:25Never, ever did I walk into an entertainment interview
15:28unprepared like that.
15:30But also I was very young as well,
15:32and I think he could see that I wasn't worldly enough
15:36to just rattle off questions about all his big films.
15:39And then the other one that really sticks out for very different reasons
15:43is being sent to interview Madonna for Evita.
15:46Anyway, she was late.
15:48She'd just had Lourdes, and about an hour and a half passed,
15:51and her bodyguard said, Don't worry, she'll be lovely.
15:54And she came down and said, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting,
15:57I've been feeding the baby.
15:59And out of my mouth just came, Oh, how's the breastfeeding going?
16:03And it still to this day amuses my brother
16:07that I had a breastfeeding child with Madonna.
16:10But it was normal, and she was normal and very nice.
16:13So, yes, I could talk all day about various mishaps.
16:16Charlton Heston, of course, was famously the spokesperson
16:21for the National Rifle Association.
16:23Did you ever see that great documentary that Moore made?
16:28When you look at those things and his acting career,
16:31what a waste of an opportunity to sit with somebody like that.
16:34But you learn, don't you? I guess so.
16:36These things happen. Well done.
16:39Well done. Thank you.
16:45Now, 41 plays five, Jan on five,
16:47and it's Zate we turn to now for a letters game. Yes, sir.
16:50Start with a consonant, please.
16:52Exarte. T.
16:54And another.
16:56R. And another.
16:59S. And another.
17:03M. Vowel, please.
17:05E. And another.
17:07A. And another.
17:10O. And a fourth, please.
17:13I. And a final consonant, please.
17:17This looks promising. A final T.
17:19Stand by.
17:38CLOCK TICKS
17:52Yes, Zate? Nine.
17:54And Jan?
17:56No, I've only got a seven, sorry.
17:58And that seven would be?
18:00Matters.
18:02Now, Zate, what's this nine?
18:04Estimator. Very good.
18:06Well done.
18:12Well done. Anything else?
18:14Thank you, those two. Matters and estimator.
18:17Thank you. Thank you.
18:19Jan, letters game.
18:21Start with a consonant, please.
18:23Thank you, Jan.
18:25K. And another.
18:28N. And another.
18:31N. And another.
18:34T.
18:36A vowel, please.
18:38O. Another vowel.
18:41E. Another vowel.
18:44A.
18:46Another consonant.
18:48L. And finish with a consonant, please.
18:51And finish with S.
18:53Stand by.
18:55CLOCK TICKS
19:03WHISTLE BLOWS
19:26Jan?
19:28Seven.
19:30A seven, Zate? Also seven.
19:32Can you have lankest?
19:34And Zate? And etalons.
19:36Yeah, both very good. The lankest hair is there.
19:40And etalon, a term from physics,
19:42a device employed for measuring differences in the wavelength of light.
19:46Indeed.
19:48And your seven in the corner?
19:50It was rich in sevens, actually.
19:52Anklets was another one that you could have had.
19:54An anklet, thank you. Susie, anything else?
19:56No, etalons and anklets for us.
19:58Thank you. 66 to 12.
20:00Zate in the lead, and it's numbers now for you, Zate.
20:03Same again, please.
20:052-1-2-1.
20:07Thank you, Zate. Two from the top, four little.
20:09These four littles are 3, 10, 5, 8.
20:14And the bigs, 75 and 25.
20:17And the target, 565.
20:19565.
20:30MUSIC PLAYS
20:52Yes, Zate? Yeah. 565.
20:54Jan? 563.
20:57So, Zate?
20:5975 x 8.
21:01600.
21:02Take 25, take 10.
21:04Well done. 565.
21:06APPLAUSE
21:08Excellent.
21:11Excellent.
21:12Time for our second Tea Time teaser, which is linked bar.
21:15And the clue, the answer to this is linked to what you get from the bar.
21:19The answer to this is linked to what you get at the bar.
21:24MUSIC PLAYS
21:30APPLAUSE
21:37Welcome back. I left with the clue.
21:39The answer to this is linked to what you get at the bar.
21:42And the answer to that is that it's drinkable.
21:45Drinkable.
21:47So, Zate, 76, Jan on 12, and it's Jan.
21:51Your letters game.
21:53We'll start with a consonant, please. Thank you, Jan.
21:56And another.
21:59And another, please.
22:03A vowel.
22:07Another vowel.
22:10Another vowel.
22:15A consonant, please.
22:19Consonant.
22:22And another consonant.
22:24And lastly, R.
22:26And the clock starts now.
22:28MUSIC PLAYS
22:54MUSIC STOPS
22:58Well, Jan? Seven.
23:00A seven, Zate. Seven.
23:02Jan? A drifter.
23:04And retired.
23:06Yes. And retired.
23:09Can we match seven there, Helen?
23:12Lots of sevens, actually. There was... Ferrid was another one.
23:15And refried. Some refried beans.
23:18Yes. They're for seven as well.
23:2183-19, Zate.
23:23Off we go. Letters game.
23:25Start with a vowel, please. Thank you, Zate.
23:28A. And a consonant.
23:31L. And another.
23:34H. And a vowel.
23:37A. And a consonant.
23:40X. And a vowel.
23:43E.
23:45And a consonant.
23:47R. And a vowel.
23:50I.
23:52And a final consonant, please.
23:55And a final L.
23:57Stand by.
23:59MUSIC PLAYS
24:20MUSIC STOPS
24:30Well, Jan?
24:32A six. Zate?
24:34Six. Jan?
24:36Exhale.
24:38No, Zate. Aerial.
24:40Yeah. Aerial. A-E-R-I-A-L is good.
24:43You need two Es, unfortunately, for exhale, so...
24:46Celtic incorrect.
24:48Now, in the corner.
24:50It was a bit of a struggle, this one.
24:52Aerial was, I think, probably the best we could do.
24:55Relax was relaxed in there as well?
24:57Halal was there for another five.
24:59Aerial, the best we could do, too.
25:01So, 89 for Zate, Jan on 19.
25:03And now we turn to you, Susie, your origins of words.
25:07Well, I had an email from Lily Jones who asked,
25:10where do we get the various names for drinking establishments?
25:13I think Lily is a student.
25:14She says, I'm thinking pub, inn, tavern, etc.
25:17And I'll start with the easy one, pub,
25:19simply short, as most of us know, for public house.
25:21And that first emerged in English in the mid-1800s,
25:24a simple abbreviation.
25:26An inn is slightly more interesting.
25:28That was originally any dwelling place or lodging.
25:31And that actually goes back to the preposition or the adverb inn, I-N,
25:35because an inn was a place that you lived or stayed in.
25:39And medieval translators used it
25:41when they were looking to the Latin hospitium,
25:44and they used it for a residence for students.
25:47And this survives, if you think about the inns of court in London.
25:50So they were the building to the four legal societies
25:53with the exclusive right to admit students to the bar.
25:57But the usual modern sense of an inn is a pub, really.
26:00That goes back to the late Middle Ages, so quite old as well,
26:03because an inn specialised in providing accommodation
26:05as well as refreshment for travellers, as opposed to a tavern,
26:09because the tavern was strictly for drinking only.
26:11And that word tavern is from the Latin taberna.
26:14That was a term that usually meant a shop, in fact,
26:17but was also used for a Roman military tent,
26:19because, like the shop, they were generally constructed of boards,
26:22so they were quite, not just temporary structures, but quite permanent as well.
26:27And taberna became the source of tavern
26:29because Roman shops sold wine and it served as inns.
26:33But there was one more place where Romans liked to eat and drink,
26:36particularly if they wanted to go al fresco in fine weather.
26:39They would stretch a beautiful multicoloured cloth,
26:42but like an awning over upright poles,
26:44so they decorated it quite beautifully
26:46and under it, in hot weather, they would eat their morning or their midday meal.
26:50And this cloth structure, when fully spread,
26:53looked like a mammoth butterfly with its wings outstretched.
26:57And so they named it papilio,
26:59which was the Latin name for a butterfly, for the insect.
27:02And through later centuries,
27:05such temporary structures became more permanent ones.
27:07They found use in France, particularly in the hot summers,
27:10and their names changed from papilio to pavilio,
27:14and pavilion, in fact, in French.
27:16And then, of course, that passed into England,
27:19and so that's how today's cricket and theatrical and park
27:22and all variety of pavilions have got their name today.
27:25Believe it or not, their ancestor is a giant butterfly.
27:28Well, well.
27:30What a lovely story.
27:35Wonderfully told, Susie, thank you.
27:38And, Jan, we turn to you for a letters game.
27:41Start with a consonant, please. Thank you, Jan.
27:44V
27:46Erm, another.
27:48F
27:50Another, please.
27:52N
27:54A vowel.
27:55A
27:57And another.
27:58O
28:00Another.
28:02E
28:04Consonant.
28:06S
28:08Consonant.
28:10J
28:12And another consonant, please.
28:15And lastly, N.
28:17Stand by.
28:31MUSIC
28:47Well, Jan?
28:49A five.
28:51Zate?
28:53Fairly sure I've got seven.
28:55So, Jan?
28:57I've got veins, V-A-N-E-S.
28:59I'm not going mad. Novenas?
29:01Erm, veins is absolutely fine.
29:03And novenas, yep, also absolutely fine.
29:06In the Roman Catholic Church, a novena is a form of worship
29:10that is special prayers held on nine consecutive days.
29:13So you might hold novenas for the dead, for example.
29:16Indeed.
29:21And the corner, Helen and Susie?
29:24Novenas was the same ones we found, so we couldn't better that,
29:27I don't think, could we? No.
29:29Thank you. Say one from me, will you?
29:3196 plays 19, and it's Zate.
29:34We turn to final letters game, Zate.
29:36Start with a vowel, please.
29:38Thank you, Zate. O
29:40And a second.
29:42E
29:43And a third.
29:44U
29:45And a consonant, please.
29:47S
29:48And another.
29:50D
29:51And another.
29:53P
29:54And a fourth.
29:56T
29:58And a vowel, please.
30:01E
30:03And a final consonant, please.
30:06And a final L.
30:09Countdown.
30:27MUSIC CONTINUES
30:41Well, Zate, I will try an eight.
30:44And Jan?
30:46I'll try six.
30:48Thank you. What would that be, Jan?
30:50Er, ousted.
30:52Ousted, and can you outspeed?
30:54Er, you certainly can. It's a pass in speed,
30:57so Farrah outsped the pacemaker, for example.
31:00Absolutely fine.
31:01Well done.
31:03Well done.
31:06Takes you over the 100, too. 104 points.
31:08Well done, Zate. And in the corner?
31:10I wasn't sure about mine. I found tousled for seven.
31:13Yeah, tousled hair. Very good.
31:15Tousled. Nice.
31:16Anything else, Susie?
31:17No, outspeed, top.
31:19Well done, Zate.
31:21149 cracking score.
31:23Numbers for Jan. Final numbers game.
31:27I'll finish with a flourish.
31:29Two large and four small.
31:30Thank you, Jan.
31:31Two large, four little, and a flourish to come.
31:34And the final numbers game is
31:364, 2, 3, 8, 50 and 100.
31:43And the target, 688.
31:46688.
31:52CLOCK TICKS
31:56CLOCK TICKS
32:18Well, Jan?
32:19No flourish. 690.
32:21690, Zate.
32:22688.
32:24How did we get there?
32:254 multiplied by 3 is 12.
32:28Yep.
32:29Add 2.
32:30Add 2, 14.
32:31Take that away from 100.
32:33100 minus 14, 86.
32:35And then times that by 8.
32:37And times it by 8. Lovely, 688.
32:39Terrific. Oh, well done.
32:45Masterful, Zate. That was terrific.
32:47114 now to Jan's 19 as we turn to the final round.
32:51Fingers on buzzers.
32:53Let's roll today's Countdown Conundrum.
33:03Zate?
33:04Mausoleum.
33:06Mausoleum. Let's see.
33:08Fabulous.
33:11Well done.
33:16Oh, Zate. 124, that's fantastic.
33:20That's what happens, Jan.
33:22It is, it is.
33:23When you came up against number one.
33:25But, you know, you played well.
33:26How many people do you know that have got a piece of kryptonite
33:29like this for being in the final?
33:31Not many.
33:32So, well done.
33:33You take that piece of kryptonite back to Sleaford
33:35with our very best wishes.
33:36You've been a great sport as well.
33:38I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
33:39We've enjoyed having you.
33:40I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
33:41That's brilliant.
33:42Thank you. Well done.
33:44Now, Mr Semperé,
33:45we shall see you in the first semifinal next Wednesday.
33:48Terrific performance.
33:49I think your highest score was 130 in your first round here.
33:53You came in at 124.
33:55Rest up. We'll see you next Wednesday.
33:57Thank you, Nick.
33:58We shall see you tomorrow, Helen and Susie.
34:01See you tomorrow.
34:02Isn't he good?
34:03He's very good.
34:04But I'll say the same to Jan.
34:05We have two different types of contestants.
34:07We have the contestants that watch at home
34:09and the contestants that go away
34:10and they practise away from Countdown,
34:12anagramming and numbering, all that kind of stuff.
34:14And you're the top of the bunch
34:15of the contestants that watch at home.
34:16So, well done.
34:17I know it looked like we tortured you through that,
34:19but we're all with you.
34:20Thank you very much.
34:21Absolutely. Well said.
34:22See you tomorrow.
34:23See you tomorrow.
34:24Join us then for the second quarterfinal,
34:26same time, same place, you'll be sure of it,
34:28a very good afternoon.
34:30You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com,
34:34by Twitter at c4countdown,
34:36or write to us at countdownleads ls31js.
34:40You can also find our web page at channel4.com forward slash countdown.