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00:30Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studios on the second quarter final day of the series 78 finals. Fantastic, fantastic.
00:41So, we're well into the summer, Rachel. Festivals everywhere, but there's a very clever festival coming up in Leeds this weekend.
00:50It's called a Retro Festival. What's happening is they're bringing back the old stars, Nick Kershaw, Adam Ant and the Boomtown Rats.
00:57The Boomtown Rats. Imagine that. So, it's nostalgia up in Leeds. I thought, well, that sounds quite nice.
01:04I'd go to a music festival if I could have. It's impossible. Of course it is. The Stones, they'll be over there.
01:11I don't know who to headline this one. The Stones, The Beatles. What about Bob Dylan, if we could drag him off his bus?
01:18And Pink Floyd. Wouldn't that be something? Are you picking dead people as well?
01:22Well, they'd be resuscitated. Who would line up for you? Can I rephrase that? Who would you like to watch?
01:33If I could pick my own, I would have Green Day, Blink-182, Foo Fighters and then a whole compilation of 90s people like Bewitched and Boyzone and Backstreet Boys.
01:42It took me a while, actually, because you have to reach a certain age before you understand why your parents liked music from before you were born.
01:50It is that nostalgia, isn't it? When you hear songs that you haven't heard since you were 12 years old and you still know all the words and you know where you were.
01:57It takes you back to those glorious times. All right. Who's back from the past?
02:03None other than Toby McDonald, sixth form student from Charles, number two seed, having scored 882 points.
02:10Very big welcome to you, Toby. How are you feeling? I'm feeling a little nervous.
02:15Don't be, because you're a great player. So you have a lot of fun today and do your best. That's all.
02:20Thank you. That's all we ask. That's all anybody asks.
02:22Philip Aston joins us also, a student from Biddeford in Devon. How are you feeling? Very good.
02:28Good. Number seven seed. Your impressive run was brought to a halt by Zarte Siempre. He's back as well.
02:36But good luck to you both. Good luck to you both. Big round of applause for these two great players.
02:46And over the corner, Susie Dent, joined once again by the wonderful Helen Fospero. How are you, Helen?
02:52Very well, indeed. I'm very pleased to be back. Thank you. We're glad to see you as well.
02:56Now, let's get down to business. Toby McDonald, off you go.
03:00Good afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Toby.
03:02Can I start with a consonant, please? You can, indeed. Start this quarterfinal with F.
03:07And another. N.
03:10And another. R.
03:13A vowel. A.
03:16And another. O.
03:19And another. U.
03:22A consonant. T.
03:25A vowel. E.
03:30And a consonant, please.
03:32And lastly, Q.
03:34And here's the countdown clock.
04:00Toby?
04:02Seven, not written down.
04:04And Philip?
04:05Seven, written down.
04:07Yes, Toby?
04:08Out, earn.
04:10And?
04:11On the same lines. Fortune.
04:14Yes, out, earn. It might be hyphenated, but it's actually fine. So both goes very good.
04:19Well done. And what do we have there?
04:22Very good. Thank you. Seven apiece. And Philip?
04:27Off you go.
04:28Good afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Philip.
04:30It's going to be a great game. Consonant, please.
04:32It is, indeed. Thank you. V.
04:35And another.
04:37T.
04:38And a third, please.
04:40D.
04:41A vowel.
04:42A.
04:43And another.
04:44A.
04:45And another.
04:46T.
04:47And a third, please.
04:49V.
04:50A vowel.
04:51A.
04:52Another.
04:54E.
04:55And another.
04:57U.
04:58Consonant.
05:00P.
05:02A vowel, please.
05:04I.
05:06And one more vowel, please.
05:09And lastly, E.
05:11Stand by.
05:19MUSIC PLAYS
05:44Philip?
05:45Seven.
05:46A seven, Toby?
05:47Seven.
05:48Philip?
05:49Deviate.
05:50And?
05:51Same word.
05:52Good.
05:53Two deviates. And Helen?
05:57Oh, gosh, no sevens. No sevens for me. A six, update.
06:01What about Susie?
06:02Deviate was very, very good to get the seven out of that.
06:05Thank you. 14 apiece.
06:07Toby, here we go. First numbers game.
06:11One from the top and five small, please.
06:13Thank you, Toby. One large, five little.
06:16And the first numbers of this quarterfinal are...
06:192, 8, 3,
06:2210, 1,
06:24and 25.
06:26And the target, 346.
06:28346.
06:30MUSIC PLAYS
06:47MUSIC STOPS
07:01Well, Toby?
07:02346.
07:03Philip?
07:04346.
07:05Toby?
07:0610 plus 3 plus 1 is 14.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Times 25 is 350.
07:11It is indeed.
07:12And 8 over 2 is 4, and take it away.
07:14Well done.
07:16Yes, Philip?
07:17Same way.
07:19Yeah.
07:20Well done.
07:2524 apiece.
07:26Oh, yes.
07:27Two good competitors here.
07:29Let's turn to a teatime teaser, shall we?
07:31It's had a new set.
07:33And the clue, she had a new set of bedsheets
07:35and couldn't wait to get wrapped up in them.
07:37She had a new set of bedsheets
07:39and couldn't wait to get wrapped up in them.
07:44MUSIC PLAYS
07:58Welcome back. I left you with a clue.
08:00She had a new set of bedsheets
08:02and couldn't wait to get wrapped up in them.
08:04She couldn't wait to be, er, enswathed.
08:09Enswathed.
08:11Why not?
08:1224 apiece, and Philip, it's your letters game.
08:14Thank you. Consonant, please, Rachel.
08:16Thank you, Philip.
08:18J
08:19And another.
08:21R
08:22And another, please.
08:24S
08:26A vowel.
08:28O
08:29Another vowel.
08:30I
08:31And a third.
08:33E
08:34Consonant.
08:36V
08:38Another consonant.
08:40N
08:41And another consonant, please.
08:43And lastly, T.
08:45Stand by.
08:47MUSIC PLAYS
09:11MUSIC STOPS
09:18Philip?
09:20Eight, possibly.
09:22And Toby?
09:23I'll try an eight, but it's not written down.
09:25What would it be?
09:27Jointers.
09:28Jointers. Philip?
09:30Investor.
09:32OK, I'll start with jointer. It's absolutely fine.
09:35It's a tool used for preparing a wooden edge
09:37for fixing or joining it to another.
09:39So it's used in masonry and brickwork, in other words.
09:42Investor is absolutely fine, too. Definitely OR at the end.
09:45Very good.
09:47APPLAUSE
09:51Superb. And Helen, Susie?
09:53Jointers. We can't better that.
09:55Thank you. Very good.
09:5732 apiece here. Toby, off we go. Letters game.
10:00Consonant, please, Rachel.
10:02Thank you, Toby.
10:04N
10:05And another.
10:07T
10:08And another.
10:10L
10:11A vowel.
10:13A
10:14And another.
10:15E
10:16And another.
10:18U
10:19A consonant.
10:21K
10:23A vowel.
10:25I
10:27And a consonant, please.
10:29And lastly, T.
10:31Stand by.
10:33MUSIC PLAYS
10:39MUSIC CONTINUES
11:03Well, Toby?
11:05I think I've got seven.
11:07A dodgy seven.
11:10Toby?
11:11Alunite.
11:13And Philip?
11:15I also have alunite.
11:17Yes. Not at all dodgy.
11:19It's a term from mineralogy.
11:21It's a mineral which historically was an important source of alum,
11:25now used for potassium and aluminium.
11:27Very, very good. Alunite.
11:29APPLAUSE
11:34Wow. And in the corner, Helen?
11:36The more simpler version of some of those letters, unalike.
11:40Unalike. For seven as well.
11:42Very good. But 39 apiece, doesn't this? It's fantastic.
11:45And now, Philip, it's your numbers game. Good luck.
11:48Thank you. Capital T, please.
11:50Capital T, three from the top and three little.
11:52Thank you, Philip. And I suspect another 30-second break from me.
11:56These three smalls are seven, one, nine,
12:00and the large, 75, 25 and 100.
12:03And the target, 160.
12:05160.
12:33MUSIC
12:39Philip?
12:40160.
12:42Toby?
12:43160.
12:44And Philip?
12:45100 adds 75.
12:47175.
12:48Nine adds seven, minus one is 15.
12:51Yeah.
12:52And then take it away.
12:53Perfect. 160.
12:55And Toby?
12:56100 plus 75 minus 25 is 150.
12:59It is.
13:00And add the nine and the one.
13:03There we go.
13:07So, 49 apiece as we turn to Helen.
13:10And, Helen, you host lots and lots of events,
13:13but apparently one recently had special significance for you.
13:16It did indeed.
13:18I was asked to host the very first ever Control Room Awards.
13:22And when I say Control Room,
13:24I mean the people who answer our 999 calls.
13:27So it was a really emotional evening.
13:29And we got to the end when we were going to honour team of the year.
13:35And it had taken the judges a lot of time to decide
13:38because there had been so many incredible stories.
13:40But the winners were two watch from London Fire Brigade for Grenfell Tower.
13:46And, you know, these things are very hard to sort of keep your emotions in check
13:51when you're supposed to be hosting.
13:53But the feeling that I had when they all came up on the stage,
13:5711 people, that's all, 11 people took hundreds of calls that night.
14:02And the information that they managed to glean
14:05from the distressed people calling them meant that 65 lives were saved.
14:09It was just amazing.
14:11And then I realised, I felt a bit like Susie,
14:13I was Googling 999 afterwards.
14:15It's 81 years old.
14:17And it was started in...
14:19There was a fire in a doctor's surgery in 1935 with five fatalities.
14:25And a government committee was set up to work out how could that have been prevented.
14:29And that's how 999 started.
14:31And they went from 1,000 calls a week to 30 million a year.
14:36So it's just incredible and humbling being in a room
14:40with those people who every single day they go to work,
14:43they're dealing with crises and, you know, some are happy endings,
14:46but a lot of stories aren't.
14:48Well, they've, you know, I think absolutely the issue is
14:52they've got also, in a way, to triage, you know.
14:55They're getting lots of calls.
14:56They've got to decide where the ambulance is going to go.
14:58But amazing that they're wearing the headsets
15:00and all this is going on, you know, typing-wise and people being dispatched
15:04and, as you say, trying to work out what calls should have more priority.
15:08Very, very difficult.
15:09High pressure indeed.
15:11APPLAUSE
15:17Thanks for that.
15:18Remarkable.
15:20Now, 49 apiece and we turn to Toby, your letters game.
15:24Consonant, please, Rachel.
15:25Thank you, Toby.
15:27L
15:28And another.
15:30N
15:31And another.
15:33R
15:34A vowel.
15:36A
15:37And another.
15:39A
15:40And another.
15:41O
15:42A consonant.
15:44L
15:46A vowel.
15:48I
15:50And another vowel, please.
15:52And lastly, another O.
15:55Don't turn.
16:19Toby?
16:20Only a four.
16:22Philip?
16:23Six.
16:24Right.
16:25Toby?
16:26Rail.
16:27Philip?
16:28Let's try Aronia.
16:35You would be right.
16:37It's a plant in the rose family.
16:40Especially in gardening, it's known as a green rose.
16:43You would be right.
16:45It's a plant in the rose family.
16:48Especially in gardening, it's known as a chokeberry.
16:50Very, very good.
16:51Anything else?
16:52There's a five-allen, A-double-L-A-N, a predatory seabird.
16:56That's as best as we could do, so very well done.
16:58Well done, Philip.
16:59All right.
17:01Philip, we're back with you.
17:02Letters game.
17:04Consonant, please, Rachel.
17:05Thank you, Philip.
17:06B
17:07And another.
17:09D
17:10And another.
17:12H
17:13Vowel.
17:14A
17:15And another.
17:17O
17:18And a third.
17:19E
17:21A consonant.
17:23F
17:25A vowel.
17:28O
17:30And a final consonant, please.
17:32And a final T.
17:34Stand by.
17:43MUSIC CONTINUES
18:07Philip?
18:08A, seven.
18:10And Toby?
18:11I've got seven.
18:13Yes, Philip?
18:14Tabooed.
18:15Tabooed.
18:17Toby?
18:18Footbed.
18:20Footbed is very good, yes.
18:22It is an insole in a boot or shoe that makes wearing it more comfortable.
18:26And Helen?
18:27We were with Toby. Footbed.
18:29Footbed.
18:30Yes, Susie?
18:31No better than that.
18:32That's it. Thank you.
18:3362 plays 56.
18:35And Toby, your numbers game now. Good luck.
18:38Inverted T, please, Rachel.
18:40Sticking with what you like best.
18:42No change of tactics. One large, five little. Thank you, Toby.
18:45This time, the selection is ten,
18:47eight, four,
18:49one, two,
18:51and 25.
18:53And the target, 352.
18:55352.
18:57MUSIC PLAYS
19:10MUSIC CONTINUES
19:28Toby?
19:29352.
19:30And Philip?
19:31Also 352.
19:33Toby?
19:34Ten plus four is 14.
19:36It is.
19:37Times 25 is 350.
19:39And Philip?
19:40Going a bit academic. Same way.
19:42Yeah.
19:43APPLAUSE
19:47Very good.
19:48So, still, there's just a few points.
19:5166 to 72 as we turn to our second Tea Time teaser,
19:54which is this early in the clue.
19:57Does the President have to get up very early to work on this?
20:01Does the President have to get up very early to work on this?
20:05MUSIC PLAYS
20:09MUSIC STOPS
20:14Let's do this.
20:16APPLAUSE
20:21We've smashed it.
20:22You'll see love in the house tonight.
20:24Very special.
20:28What can be better than that?
20:32Is this the right question to go brave on?
20:35Yes!
20:36Not bad.
20:42Feet's bit my fingers, isn't it?
20:45Join us for a brand-new Come Dine With Me,
20:47new 100K Drop and all your favourite shows.
20:50Afternoons on four, weekdays from ten past two.
20:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
20:59Welcome back. I left with the clue,
21:01does the President have to get up very early to work on this?
21:05Probably.
21:07To work on his hairstyle.
21:09Hairstyle.
21:11Indeed.
21:1272 to 66, Philip in the lead.
21:15Yes, Philip. Letters again.
21:17Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Philip.
21:19D
21:20And another.
21:22M
21:24And a third, please.
21:26W
21:28A vowel.
21:29E
21:30Another.
21:32A
21:33And another.
21:35I
21:36Consonant.
21:38L
21:39Another consonant.
21:41D
21:43And another consonant, please.
21:46And lastly, R.
21:48Countdown.
22:00T
22:22Philip?
22:24Another dodgy seven.
22:26Toby?
22:27Yeah, I'll go for seven as well.
22:29A middler and Toby?
22:31A waddler.
22:36Definitely be a waddler.
22:37And you can also, it turns out, in North America, be a middler.
22:40Member of a middle or intermediate class in an educational institution.
22:44That's a middler.
22:45Middler. Well done.
22:48What else can we be, I wonder?
22:50You can be a dawdler.
22:51A dawdler. Indeed. Yeah.
22:53Anything else, Susie?
22:54Admired also there, so a few sevens.
22:56Thank you. A dawdler, I like that.
22:5879 to 73.
23:00Philip in the lead.
23:01Toby, off we go.
23:03Consonant, please, Rachel.
23:05Thank you, Toby.
23:06G
23:07And another.
23:09S
23:10And another.
23:12X
23:13A vowel.
23:15E
23:16And another.
23:17E
23:18And another.
23:20A
23:21A vowel.
23:22Oh, sorry, a consonant.
23:24S
23:27Another consonant.
23:29L
23:31And a vowel, please.
23:33And the last one, I.
23:36Countdown.
23:57MUSIC
24:08Toby.
24:09Seven.
24:10And Philip.
24:11Seven.
24:12Toby.
24:13Silages.
24:15Yes.
24:16Same word.
24:17Silages.
24:18Yeah.
24:19You can have a plural.
24:20You can actually not in the noun sense, but in the verbal sense,
24:23to make silage or to preserve grass as silage.
24:26OK.
24:27It's the verb.
24:29Helen and Susie, jointly.
24:31I had a six, sieges, but I don't know the sieges.
24:34Does that make sense?
24:35Yes, it does.
24:36Well, there's only a six, but...
24:37Yeah, silage is the best we could do.
24:39It all helps.
24:40Thank you very much.
24:4186 to 80.
24:42Susie, what have you prepared for us today in your origins of words?
24:47I have an email from Barbara Nichols who says
24:50she was doing a competition in a magazine and haberdasher was the answer.
24:54Barbara says...
25:05And the first thing I should say is
25:07I can't completely put Barbara out of her misery, sadly,
25:11because this word has a really muddled history.
25:14First of all, it means completely different things
25:16depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on.
25:18So in North America, it's a dealer in men's clothing,
25:21originally men's hats, in fact.
25:23And in Britain, it is indeed someone who deals with sewing accoutrements,
25:29if you like, so button zips, threads, that kind of thing.
25:33We know it came over with the Normans
25:35and we're pretty sure it came from an Anglo-Norman French word
25:38that was hapertas, H-A-P-E-R-T-A-S,
25:41but that is where the trail ends.
25:43It was a type of fabric, that's what we think.
25:46But beyond that, nobody knows.
25:48The trail is lost, very sadly.
25:51But its meaning is quite interesting
25:53because it's changed very much over the centuries.
25:55When it first appeared in the 13th century,
25:57it wasn't really anything to do with sewing,
25:59or at least it included all sorts of things, the brief of the haberdasher.
26:03So one chronicle of the time describes a haberdasher
26:06selling glasses, daggers, swords, mousetraps, bird cages,
26:11shoeing horns, books, pictures, beads and crucifixes.
26:15So a really strange mix of things.
26:18Then the trade narrowed in focus, but again, not to sewing.
26:21It was a hatter, and another part of the trade split off,
26:25finally arrived at sewing, and that is where the haberdasher stays today.
26:29So I'm sorry, Barbara, it's a really interesting history to investigate,
26:32but I can't provide the total answer.
26:34But I would just say, while we're talking about shopkeepers,
26:37I'm often asked about grocers as well and where that word comes from.
26:40That's quite simple, it goes back to the Latin word grocis,
26:43meaning large, because grocers were originally people
26:46who sold things in the gross, i.e. wholesale.
26:49Retail were the small quantities, grocers the big quantities,
26:52which means that to engross, to be engrossed in a subject,
26:55is linked to grocers, because the idea is that you have
26:58the whole of your attention absorbed by something.
27:01Very good. Wonderful.
27:05APPLAUSE
27:08That's superb.
27:10So 86-80, Philip just in the lead.
27:12Philip, your letters game.
27:14Consonant, please, Rachel.
27:16Thank you, Philip. R
27:18And another.
27:20S
27:21And another.
27:23P
27:24A vowel.
27:26A
27:27Another vowel.
27:29E
27:30And a third.
27:31O
27:32A consonant.
27:34G
27:35Another consonant, please.
27:37R
27:39And another consonant, please.
27:42And lastly, W.
27:44Stand by.
28:02MUSIC PLAYS
28:17Philip. Only six, I'm afraid.
28:19A six now, Toby.
28:21Seven.
28:22Philip. Powers.
28:25Toby. Growers.
28:27Yes. Very good.
28:29Well, well.
28:31Well done, Toby. And in the corner, Helen.
28:33It's Grasper. Can you say Grasper?
28:35Yes, it can be a Grasper. Probably wouldn't want to be, but you can be one.
28:38For seven. That's a good seven.
28:40And Sparrow is also there for seven.
28:42Very good.
28:4487-86, Toby has snatched the lead back
28:47and it's Toby's letters game.
28:49Good luck to you both.
28:51Consonant, please, Rachel.
28:53Thank you, Toby. S
28:55And another.
28:57R
28:58And another.
29:00C
29:01A vowel.
29:03A
29:04And another.
29:06E
29:07And another.
29:08O
29:09A consonant.
29:11P
29:12A vowel.
29:14E
29:16And a consonant, please.
29:18And lastly, T.
29:20Stand by.
29:22MUSIC PLAYS
29:31MUSIC CONTINUES
29:53Well, Toby?
29:55Seven.
29:57Philip? Eight.
29:59Peckhase.
30:01Philip?
30:02Operates.
30:04Very, very good. Well done.
30:06Wow!
30:11Now, 94-87, Toby on 87,
30:14Philip has snatched the lead back, the final run in.
30:17Helen and Susie, what have you got?
30:19We had Operates too.
30:21The biggest I could find was Escaper for seven.
30:24Yep. And just to let you know what Peckhase is,
30:27it means I'm found in the cells of plants.
30:29Well done, Toby, for that one.
30:31So here we are, 94-87, Philip on 94,
30:34and it's into the numbers game. Yes, Philip?
30:37Capital T, please.
30:39Capital T. You predicted a good game and we've certainly got one.
30:42This is your last chance to avoid a crucial conundrum.
30:44Let's see if you can do it.
30:46The last numbers game of the week is 2, 4, 10, 50, 25 and 100.
30:53And the target, 380.
30:56MUSIC
31:27Yes, Philip?
31:29380. And Toby?
31:31380. Philip?
31:3310 divided by 2 is 5.
31:3510 over 2 is 5.
31:37100 minus 5 is 95.
31:3995. 95 times 4 is 380.
31:42Well done.
31:44And Toby?
31:4650 divided by the 10 is 5.
31:48Yep. And then 100 minus 5 is 95.
31:5195. Times 4.
31:53Lovely. Same result. Well done.
31:55Well done indeed.
31:59So two excellent players.
32:01104 plays Toby's 97, which means only one thing.
32:04Here we are, quarterfinal.
32:06We've got a crucial conundrum.
32:08So good luck to you both.
32:10Brave guys.
32:12Fingers on buzzers.
32:14Let's roll this important, crucial conundrum.
32:23MUSIC
32:43Toby?
32:45I'm going to try brunetted.
32:47Let's have a look.
32:49No. Down to you, Philip.
32:54MUSIC
32:57Let's roll it and see.
32:59Wow.
33:01DeBenture. DeBenture.
33:03There we go.
33:05Philip, 104 to Toby's 97.
33:08You carry the day. You carry the day.
33:11It's a great young player over there.
33:15A great young player.
33:17You're taking this kryptonite home to charge with our congratulations.
33:20Thank you. Well done. Well done.
33:22Our seventh seed comes through.
33:26And we shall see you in the second semi next week.
33:29Well done.
33:31It was a fantastic game and Toby's such a nice young man.
33:33Well done. Fantastic player.
33:35Tremendous. Well done.
33:37Big round of applause for these guys.
33:39APPLAUSE
33:44We're very proud of them.
33:46We'll see you on Monday.
33:48But before you go, because you do hard-hitting stuff
33:51and you do celebrity stuff,
33:53which do you enjoy or which is the easiest
33:55or which would you prefer to do?
33:57Oh, it's difficult to say, really.
33:59I mean, I'm a traditionally trained news journalist
34:02and followed in Dad's footsteps as a reporter.
34:05And I'm lucky because when I do my pieces for The One Show,
34:08they're current affairs pieces,
34:10so they're quite gritty human interest stories.
34:12But then, you know, showbiz is a lovely balance too
34:15and occasionally when you get the opportunity
34:17to do a sit-down with somebody you've watched or admired for years,
34:20it's great fun.
34:21I don't know, I don't really feel I've worked a day in my life.
34:24I feel lucky that every day is different,
34:26so it's hard to say, really.
34:28I guess I'm a hack at heart.
34:30A hack, indeed.
34:31Well, we're very glad to have you here
34:33and we'll see you on Monday with Susie, of course.
34:35Yes, see you then.
34:36See you then.
34:37And Rachel, also...
34:38Oh, I have to be honest,
34:39if I'd have seen DaVinci as The Conundrum,
34:41I'd have spent 30 seconds looking for the real world.
34:43That was a hard one.
34:44Wasn't it, though?
34:45But great contest and we're on track for a rematch
34:48in the final, so...
34:49Yes!
34:50He's got him in his sights.
34:51We'll see.
34:52Two more contestants to get through for those two, but...
34:54He's looking forward to it, isn't he?
34:56He's up for it.
34:57See you Monday.
34:58See you Monday.
34:59Join us then.
35:00Same time, same place.
35:01You'll be very sure of it.
35:02Good afternoon.
35:03You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com,
35:07by Twitter at c4countdown
35:09or write to us at countdownleads ls31js.
35:13You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.