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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:04APPLAUSE
00:31Hello, everybody. Thursday afternoon,
00:34the penultimate countdown of Series 88
00:37and our second semi-final.
00:39We are so excited, but never take it for granted
00:41that you've found some time on your day for us,
00:43so thank you very, very much.
00:45And it's Christmas week, we're having an absolute ball here.
00:48And I think maybe top of your list,
00:50I think if I remember rightly from last year,
00:52is Christmas light.
00:53And I'm not talking about on a Christmas tree,
00:55I'm talking these country houses that do these
00:57and you pay to get in and all sorts.
00:59Well, I mean, Christmas lights anywhere.
01:01I mean, my husband's obsessed with the ones on the Christmas tree
01:03because he can programme them to music and do colours
01:05and pictures and all sorts of stuff,
01:07but I'm obsessed with the country houses, like you say.
01:09Is there a particular one that you love?
01:11There are a few, but there's one kind of Buckinghamshire
01:14that I really, really like and it has all the lights
01:17and the music and the fair and the food
01:20and really good playground.
01:22I mean, I judge all these places by how good the playground is, obviously.
01:25Listen, I don't... Well, I think there's another thing to judge it by.
01:28I've got a plan here. Do they have the mulled wine?
01:30They have the mulled wine and the honey stuff,
01:33all the warm, festive drinks.
01:35I mean, it has to, really, doesn't it?
01:37Well, listen, whatever house we go to, whatever one we pick,
01:39it sounds like a good Christmas idea.
01:41You and I on the mulled wine. Yep.
01:43Susie Dent, designated driver.
01:45Oh, yep, yep, yep.
01:47Don't even let her sniff the mulled wine because we know what Susie's like.
01:50That's all it needs. We'd have to get a taxi.
01:52LAUGHTER
01:54There she is. You're always our designated driver at Countdown,
01:57our G of the D, Susie Dent, and here all week,
01:59the King of Panto, 48 years and counting,
02:02Christopher Biggins!
02:06You're our Christmas light all this week.
02:08Oh, well, any time you give me mulled wine, I'm yours.
02:11Well, listen, this is going to be very, very close indeed.
02:14I don't know who will be having a celebratory drink at the end of this.
02:18And actually, Vera Selam, our number two seed,
02:21barely old enough to do it, 19 years old,
02:24and he's taken on our third seed, Ben Bazard,
02:27who I think is about 21 last time I looked.
02:30So, yeah, we'll stick with that. That's really good.
02:32And actually, I introduce you both at the same time
02:34because we know you very well,
02:36and I just want to set the jeopardy for this
02:38because you have nine wins each,
02:40and there's just slightly over three points between you
02:44per episode in that.
02:46That's how close it absolutely is.
02:48And, Ben, your top scorer with 124 points of the quarterfinals,
02:53that must give you a lot of confidence.
02:55It was a really fun day recording that one
02:58and really looking forward to doing the best I can today
03:01but enjoying the experience.
03:03Yeah, and you did miss a couple of really easy numbers.
03:05I thought we'd forgotten about that by now, but maybe not.
03:08And, Viraj, how are you settling in?
03:10It's a really big day, but you take it in your stride,
03:13and we love it being a family affair with your mum being here as well.
03:16Yeah, I mean, just, you know, my mum having my mum as a support
03:20is pretty...giving me a bit of confidence.
03:22Yeah.
03:23But, I mean, it's going to be really close, if anything, honestly.
03:26Yeah. Best of luck, Ben and Viraj.
03:28APPLAUSE
03:31OK, young man, let's go.
03:33Hi, Rachel. Hi, Viraj.
03:34Start with a consonant, please.
03:35Start the second semifinal with R.
03:39A vowel.
03:41E.
03:42Another vowel.
03:43O.
03:44A consonant.
03:46W.
03:47Another consonant.
03:49T.
03:50And a third.
03:52S.
03:53A vowel.
03:55U.
03:56A consonant.
03:59L.
04:00And a vowel, please.
04:02And, lastly, I.
04:04At home and in the studio, let's play Kind Time.
04:20MUSIC PLAYS
04:37Time's up.
04:38Viraj?
04:39Eight.
04:40An eight from you.
04:41What a start, Ben.
04:42Eight.
04:43And you've matched him.
04:44Viraj?
04:45Outliers.
04:46Ben?
04:47Same word.
04:48The outlier, you won.
04:50APPLAUSE
04:51Yay!
04:52We've got the same.
04:54Yeah, oh, well, you can't celebrate the same.
04:56I thought it was a nine you were going to give me.
04:58No, it's not a nine, is it?
05:00No, not that we could see.
05:01That's the best?
05:02That is the best, yeah.
05:03Outliers, well done.
05:04We should expect nothing less as we move on to the second letters round.
05:07Ben?
05:08Hello, Rachel.
05:09Hi, Ben.
05:10Could I please start with a consonant?
05:12You could indeed start with P.
05:14And another one.
05:16M.
05:18And another one.
05:20S.
05:21And a vowel.
05:23A.
05:24And another vowel.
05:26E.
05:27And another one.
05:29O.
05:30And a consonant, please.
05:32H.
05:33And another consonant.
05:35N.
05:37And one more consonant, please.
05:39And a final R.
05:4130 seconds.
05:47MUSIC PLAYS
06:12Time's up, Ben.
06:14Risky eight.
06:15OK, and Viraj?
06:16I'll stick to a seven.
06:17The seven is...?
06:18Mopanis.
06:19And the eight?
06:20Horseman.
06:21Horseman.
06:22One of the four of the apocalypse?
06:24Of the apocalypse.
06:25You can have a single one in the dictionary.
06:27Well done.
06:28Yay!
06:29APPLAUSE
06:31Susie?
06:32Yeah, just so, Mopanis, very good for seven.
06:34They're trees whose leaves fold over in the intense heat.
06:38You'll find them in southern Africa.
06:40OK.
06:41Ben, our number three seed takes the first lead of the day
06:45as we get our first numbers round from Viraj.
06:47So I tried my hand with one large and it proved to be my kryptonite,
06:50so I'll go back to six more.
06:52Yeah.
06:53Six little ones.
06:54You have to bring your A game for this semifinal.
06:56Let's find some tricky ones, eh?
06:58Put you to the test.
06:59The six little ones to start us off.
07:017, 7, 4, 10, 8, 1.
07:05And the target?
07:07743.
07:09743.
07:10Numbers up.
07:14BELL RINGS
07:16BELL CONTINUES
07:42Time's up. 743, Viraj.
07:44743.
07:45Well done, Ben.
07:46744.
07:47744, an admirable effort, but Viraj is brilliant at six small.
07:51Off you go.
07:521 plus 4 is 5.
07:531 plus 4, 5.
07:548 plus 7 is 15.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Times the 2.
07:5775.
07:58Times by 10.
07:59750.
08:00And take the 7.
08:01And the other 7, well done.
08:03Wow.
08:04APPLAUSE
08:07Viraj takes the lead by two points
08:09and our first tea time teaser of the day.
08:12Bit of a naughty one.
08:13We'd maybe only get away with this at Christmas.
08:15Plead rest. Plead rest.
08:17You plead with Gran to give the sherry a rest,
08:20but there's no stopping her.
08:22You plead with Gran to give the sherry a rest,
08:24but there's no stopping her.
08:34APPLAUSE
08:42Welcome back.
08:43You plead with Gran to give the sherry a rest,
08:45but there's no stopping her, especially at Christmas.
08:48Plastered.
08:49Plastered was the answer to the tea time teaser.
08:52And back to this game.
08:53Intriguing as it is, Ben, letters.
08:55Could we please start with a consonant?
08:57We can, and well done, Colin,
08:58for not bringing Susie Dealing to that last one.
09:01L.
09:03And another one.
09:05C.
09:06And another consonant.
09:08R.
09:09And a vowel.
09:11U.
09:12And another vowel.
09:14I.
09:15And another vowel.
09:17A.
09:18And a consonant, please.
09:19M.
09:21And another consonant.
09:23B.
09:25And a vowel, please.
09:26And a final E.
09:29Here we go.
09:41MUSIC PLAYS
10:01Ben.
10:02Seven.
10:03And Viraj.
10:04Seven.
10:05Yes.
10:06What's the word, Ben?
10:07Crumble.
10:08Yes.
10:09And Viraj.
10:10Nice.
10:11Yeah, I'm glad you went for that.
10:13So, love a crumble at Christmas.
10:14That's my Christmas dessert of choice.
10:16What fruit would you put in it?
10:18Oh, it's only apple.
10:19And don't get me raisins in it.
10:20Why not raisins?
10:21I don't like raisins in with me apple.
10:23Oh, I love raisins.
10:24I think you're just muddying the water.
10:25Rice pudding?
10:26Well, I'm having two desserts.
10:27LAUGHTER
10:28Christopher, two desserts, biggins, there.
10:30Oh, there's no choice.
10:31Well, I had crumble, I'm afraid.
10:33Yeah, crumble.
10:34Crumble, clamber.
10:35There's another one.
10:36All right.
10:37Viraj.
10:38It's your letters.
10:39I'll start with the consonant, please.
10:41Thank you, Viraj.
10:42G.
10:43Another one.
10:45S.
10:46A third.
10:48P.
10:49A vowel.
10:52A.
10:53Another consonant.
10:55L.
10:56A vowel.
10:58E.
10:59Another one.
11:01A.
11:03One more.
11:05O.
11:06And a consonant, please.
11:07And lastly, M.
11:09Start the clock.
11:38MUSIC STOPS
11:41Talk to me, Viraj.
11:42Six.
11:43Six from you. And Ben?
11:44Just a six, also.
11:45Yes, there you go.
11:46Viraj?
11:47Gospel.
11:48Yes, well done.
11:49And Ben?
11:50Gallops, with just the one L.
11:52Gallops with the one L.
11:53Mm.
11:54Erm, yep.
11:55Lively ballroom dances in duple time
11:57that were popular in the late 18th century.
11:59Anything else, Christopher?
12:01I've got a little six sample.
12:03Yeah.
12:04A little sample, yes.
12:06Anything else?
12:07Maples, along a similar theme, but just sixes for us.
12:10Nothing above that, nothing above that.
12:12Ben and Viraj so crestfallen when they said six,
12:15and we can't find anything better.
12:17So it's the top standard, as always,
12:19as we switch back to the numbers, and Ben?
12:21Rachel, three large and three small, please.
12:23Six little, three large, getting all the big guns out today.
12:27These three little ones, seven, five, one,
12:31and the big ones, 75, 25, 100.
12:36And the target, 632.
12:38632, numbers up.
13:01MUSIC PLAYS
13:10We take nothing for granted with Ben Bazzard, the maths teacher,
13:14when it comes to the numbers.
13:16Especially if it's easy.
13:18632, Ben.
13:19632.
13:20Come on, yes!
13:22Viraj?
13:23632.
13:24Lightning hasn't struck. Ben, off you go.
13:26100 subtract 75.
13:2925.
13:30Multiply that by 25.
13:32625.
13:33Add seven.
13:34Well done, 632.
13:35Yes, and Viraj?
13:361 plus 5 is 6.
13:371 plus 5, 6.
13:39Times 100.
13:40600.
13:41Plus 25, plus 7.
13:42Yeah, a few different ways to get this one.
13:44Lovely.
13:45APPLAUSE
13:48What a treat, two points, the difference.
13:50And speaking of treats,
13:51what a lovely story from Christopher Biggins yesterday
13:54that took in Liza Minnelli and Princess Diana,
13:56and it was beautiful.
13:57Take us on another journey today, Christopher.
13:59Well, I think I mentioned earlier in the week
14:01that I started my pantomime career in Darlington,
14:04playing Mother Goose, and I loved it.
14:07And my parents came up for Christmas,
14:09to spend Christmas with me, and my brother,
14:11who... There's 18 years between my brother,
14:13so he's 18 years younger.
14:15And they also came with a very dear friend of mine
14:18called Jeremy Swan,
14:19who is a producer and director of Rent-A-Ghost.
14:21Do you remember Rent-A-Ghost?
14:23Tennessee Claypool.
14:24Great TV series for children.
14:26And they came up and we had a wonderful Christmas,
14:29and a boxing day we enjoyed,
14:31and then they went back to London on the day after Boxing Day.
14:35And Darlington station is a very strange station,
14:38but anyway, there was a bit of confusion,
14:40there was bad weather,
14:41and my mother got onto a train with all the luggage,
14:44and she thought this is the train to take her home.
14:47But, in fact, it started to move
14:49before the time it was due to leave.
14:51So she panicked and got Jeremy,
14:54who was the producer and director of Rent-A-Ghost,
14:56to throw all the luggage off the train.
14:59And the train came to a standstill,
15:01and he was arrested.
15:03And on Darlington station, they've actually got a police...
15:08..a jail.
15:09And he was put into this jail.
15:11And charged.
15:13And my mother was... All she could do was laugh.
15:16LAUGHTER
15:18It was the funniest thing ever,
15:20but poor Jeremy was really... He eventually got out.
15:23I don't think so. Yes.
15:25Wow. But they were very tough on him, I can say.
15:27How dare you throw things off a moving train?
15:30Yeah, don't think you're meant to do that.
15:32No, you're not meant to do it, but my mother didn't care.
15:34Yeah, I do feel myself... Get that off!
15:36..siding with the authorities here a little bit, Christopher.
15:38We had such fun, I can't tell you.
15:40It was mad. Absolute madness.
15:42That's good. As mad as your stories. I love them.
15:44Thank you, Christopher.
15:45APPLAUSE
15:47Right, letters and virage.
15:49I'll start with a consonant, please.
15:51I'll start with D.
15:53A vowel.
15:55E. Another one.
15:57A. Another vowel.
15:59U. A consonant.
16:02N. A consonant.
16:04V. A vowel.
16:08O. A consonant.
16:10G. And a consonant, please.
16:12Lastly, T.
16:14Thank you, Rachel.
16:21MUSIC PLAYS
16:45That's time, Viraj.
16:47Seven. Ben.
16:49What have we got? Dog vein.
16:51A dog vein. And Ben?
16:53Vaunted.
16:55Vaunted and, Susie, dog vein.
16:57Yes, this is new to me.
16:59I have to say it's a nautical term
17:01for a small light vein of thread, cork and feathers
17:04placed on a gunwale on a ship
17:06to indicate the direction of the wind.
17:08Wow, fantastic. Well done.
17:10So, two sevens keeps it just two points apart.
17:13What can we add to that list?
17:15I've got... I had vaunted, same as you, Ben,
17:17but, Nigel, is there any...?
17:19It's just novated, bit of a Countdown special, that one.
17:22To novate is to put a new contract in place for an old one.
17:25That's just there for another seven.
17:27That's it. And it's only a six,
17:29but what Rachel and I will be doing
17:31at tomorrow's Countdown Christmas party,
17:33we will be voguing. Vogue.
17:35R. Yes, absolutely.
17:37Right, more letters, please, Ben.
17:39A. Consonant, please.
17:41Thank you, Ben. R.
17:43And another one.
17:45M. And another consonant.
17:48D. And a vowel.
17:50I. And another vowel.
17:52U. And another vowel, please.
17:55A. And a consonant.
17:57T. And another consonant.
18:00S.
18:02And another consonant, please.
18:04And a final R. And half a minute.
18:15CLOCK TICKS
18:37Ben. Seven.
18:39A seven from those letters. Viraj.
18:41Seven. Seven, too. Ben.
18:43Mustard.
18:45Oh, for goodness' sake! Viraj.
18:47Stadium. Stadium and mustard.
18:49Very good. Yeah. Seven, the best.
18:51Well, I think... Afraid so, isn't it?
18:53I think there's no more, but I think that...
18:55I had mustard, too. And, of course,
18:57my favourite meal over the Christmas is Boxing Day.
18:59Mm-hm. All the cold collations.
19:01And you can't have any of that.
19:03You know, the beef, the turkey, sausages.
19:05You have to have mustard. Mustard, yeah.
19:07Great, innit? Get me going. Great, yeah.
19:09You weren't in the Christmas spirit before Countdown this week.
19:13Well, just a reminder of the scores.
19:1555-53. We're kind of quite blasé about that,
19:18cos we knew it was going to be so close between Viraj and Ben.
19:21And we're on their third numbers round already.
19:23Viraj, you're choosing. Six small again.
19:25Back away from the big E's, back to the little ones.
19:29And this time, your six small challenge
19:32is two, one, two, six, five.
19:37Oh, no.
19:39And one. And the target...
19:42I mean, 6-5-7.
19:44No problems. 6-5-7, numbers up.
20:12Right, we're giving seven points to anyone that's within 300.
20:17Viraj?
20:19240.
20:21No points for you. Ben?
20:23Again, 240.
20:25That's it.
20:27Well, I'm very disappointed, because you could have got to 270.
20:30Oh!
20:32No, this was impossible.
20:33Wow, there you go.
20:35No points for anybody anywhere in the world watching Countdown.
20:38Second teatime teaser, then, is tinsel rag.
20:41Tinsel rag.
20:43They're technically an instrument, albeit somewhat cheesy.
20:46They're technically an instrument, albeit somewhat cheesy.
20:49They're technically an instrument, albeit somewhat cheesy.
21:08Hello again. As if we haven't put on enough metaphorical wit
21:11with all the food chat this week,
21:13they're technically an instrument, albeit somewhat cheesy.
21:16Triangles. Cheesy triangles.
21:18There are two points in it, and it's Ben Bazard with these letters.
21:22Rachel, a consonant, please.
21:24Thank you, Ben. G.
21:26And another one.
21:28P. And another one.
21:31T. And a vowel.
21:34E. And another one.
21:36I. And another one.
21:38E. And a consonant.
21:41F. And another consonant.
21:44R.
21:46And another consonant, please.
21:49A final K.
21:51Good luck, everybody.
22:17MUSIC CONTINUES
22:23Ben. Just a five.
22:25Viraj. Five.
22:27Five as well. Ben.
22:29Tiger. And Viraj.
22:31Gripe. Gripe and tiger.
22:33Just the fives. Ah, no.
22:35There's a six. Go on, Biggins.
22:37And this is something you do after Christmas.
22:40With your presents, you re-gift.
22:42LAUGHTER
22:45What a cruel person.
22:47To re-gift.
22:49That's a really good idea. Really good idea.
22:51Right, letters and Viraj.
22:53I'll start with a consonant, please.
22:55Thank you, Viraj. L.
22:57Another one.
22:59D.
23:01Another one. G.
23:03And a fourth.
23:05S. A vowel.
23:07A. Another one.
23:09O.
23:11A consonant.
23:13A vowel.
23:15E.
23:17And a vowel, please.
23:19And lastly, I.
23:21Countdown.
23:23MUSIC CONTINUES
23:43MUSIC CONTINUES
23:51How many, Viraj? Eight.
23:53And how many, Ben? Eight.
23:55Yeah. Think it might be the same.
23:57Isolated. Isolated.
23:59Then I'll go gadishes.
24:01Fantastic. Ben loves his gadishes.
24:03The plants, yes. Very good.
24:05I love when you've got eights just in the back pocket,
24:07just to be different. While he's going with that,
24:09I'll use one of my other eights that I have written down here.
24:11That's the best.
24:13Yeah, well, actually, just one more. Goalside is there.
24:15Goalside? Goalside.
24:17As in football.
24:19Oh! Goalside. Right.
24:21And not godliest?
24:23And godliest, too. Lovely.
24:25Well done. Very good.
24:27We're all on fire here.
24:29Well, let's pause
24:31with everything on a knife edge.
24:33Just two points in it for a place
24:35in Series 88's final.
24:37They take on Harry Savage.
24:39Two points left, and it'll be after our origins of words.
24:41Susie Dent.
24:43Well, it is so close.
24:45In some ways,
24:47my origin today is not very relevant
24:49because I'm talking about at one fell swoop.
24:51And certainly
24:53no-one here today has eliminated
24:55their opponent at one fell swoop.
24:57Today we use it to mean
24:59at once, all at once,
25:01in one single go.
25:03But it was first uttered by Macduff
25:05in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth,
25:07when he learns that Macbeth
25:09has had his wife
25:11and children murdered.
25:13And Macduff, who is
25:15grief-stricken, as you can imagine,
25:17utters,
25:19Oh, hell kite, all!
25:21What all my pretty chickens and their dam
25:23at one fell swoop.
25:25And what he's doing is he's
25:27essentially using a metaphor in which
25:29Macbeth is like a hawk
25:31that is swooping down
25:33on his prey who are innocent
25:35and useless.
25:37Because fell here is a really unusual
25:39use of the word to mean
25:41fierce and cruel.
25:43So it's not actually to do with falling.
25:45And that's how I think we think of it today.
25:47At one fell swoop is someone literally coming down
25:49and falling through the air.
25:51But the fell here is all about the suddenness
25:53and the ferociousness of the attack
25:55as well as the helplessness
25:57of the victims.
25:59And that fell is a bit of a linguistic fossil.
26:01And I've talked about the fossils before.
26:03They have just survived in one
26:05sort of one
26:07incarnation only, if you like.
26:09But you can still find it hiding there
26:11in felon. A felon
26:13is somebody who commits a vicious
26:15cruel act. And it is that
26:17that you will find in one fell swoop.
26:19But as I say today, because we think of swooping
26:21and diving through the air, we simply use it
26:23to mean all at once. But it was once a lot,
26:25lot crueler. Well, fantastic.
26:27Thank you very much, Susie.
26:29APPLAUSE
26:31All right, then. Who's going to sweep down
26:33and steal glory
26:35from the jaws of defeat?
26:37This is going to be something else.
26:39Four rounds left to go. Two points in it.
26:41Ben Bazzard,
26:43it's time for your letters.
26:45A consonant, please, Rachel.
26:47Thank you, Ben.
26:49Y. And another one.
26:51N. And another one.
26:53D. And a vowel, please.
26:55A.
26:57And another. O.
26:59And another. I.
27:01And a consonant. C.
27:03And another.
27:05W.
27:07And a final consonant, please.
27:09A final S. Let's play.
27:29CLOCK TICKS
27:41Ben?
27:43A really risky seven.
27:45Viraj? I'll stick to a five.
27:47Yeah, a really difficult round. Five.
27:49Candy. And this is the type of moment.
27:51Ben? Snow day.
27:53A snow day! We're having a snow day,
27:55but are we? Oh, it's two words.
27:57It might be.
27:59Imagine on Christmas week,
28:01if you had stolen a decisive lead
28:03in the semi-final of Countdown with snow day.
28:05Yeah. Would have been one of the coolest things ever.
28:07You had to try it. Unlucky. Unlucky.
28:09Was there anything above that?
28:11Yeah, I got a little six,
28:13which is when you, on Boxing Day,
28:15want to do something different,
28:17you go to the casino
28:19and spend all that money
28:21that you've been given over the Christmas period.
28:23And you can't get to a seven.
28:25Here's another beautiful one.
28:27Synodic, S-Y-N-O-D-I-C, is from astronomy
28:29and it involves the conjunction of the stars
28:31and the planets and other things
28:33in the celestial sphere. It's quite pretty.
28:35Beautiful. Right, last letters, then.
28:37We're still on that knife edge.
28:39Viraj? I'll start with a vowel, please.
28:41Thank you, Viraj. E.
28:43A consonant.
28:45L. A vowel.
28:47I. Another vowel.
28:49O.
28:51A consonant. T.
28:53Another consonant.
28:55N. And another one.
28:57D.
28:59A vowel.
29:01U.
29:03And a consonant, please.
29:05Lastly, X.
29:07Goodness me, last letters.
29:23DRAMATIC MUSIC
29:39Viraj. Eight.
29:41Ben. Eight.
29:43Viraj, the word. Outlined.
29:45Outlined. Same word.
29:47It's under the pressure that impresses me so, so much, Christopher.
29:51It's amazing. It's so exciting.
29:53I really don't know what's going to happen.
29:55Yeah. Well, I know what's going to happen now.
29:57You're not going to say nine to me.
29:59No, I'm not. There isn't a nine, is there?
30:01There isn't, but there is something you might wear on Christmas Day.
30:04I can imagine you wearing this.
30:06And I think anybody who's grand enough to come to my house
30:09for Christmas Day would put on their tuxedo.
30:12Really? You dressing up for Christmas?
30:15Yeah. The tux, the tux.
30:1781-74.
30:19We know what's at stake, so let's get on with it.
30:22Ben Bazard, last numbers round.
30:25It's on you, Maths Teacher.
30:27I think I'll just go for one large, please.
30:29How hard is that decision?
30:31Let's see.
30:33Tactics are going to be playing a large part.
30:36Let's see if we end up with that crucial conundrum.
30:38Final numbers today.
30:40Seven, seven, ten, five, one,
30:43and a large on 25.
30:45We all get to reach 809.
30:48809, last numbers.
31:16BELL RINGS
31:20Time's up. Ben Bazard.
31:22Erm, 800.
31:25908. Not written down, sorry.
31:27That's OK. So 800, not written down.
31:29Viraj? 805, not written down.
31:31This will get you into the final.
31:33Erm, so five times seven is 35.
31:36Five times seven, 35.
31:39Ten minus seven minus one is two.
31:42Erm, the second seven, yeah.
31:4425 minus two is 23.
31:4623.
31:48And times that by 35.
31:50Yes. 805.
31:52Yes!
31:54APPLAUSE
31:56Viraj, congratulations to you.
31:58End of that final. We'll get to that in a second.
32:00809, Rich.
32:02I'm not quite there, so you're going to have to leave it with me.
32:05Good. We need a bit of a break.
32:07The tension here has been unbelievable.
32:09Well, we'll say goodbye to Ben.
32:11Viraj officially after the final round today.
32:14So let's see if the Baz can buzz one more time.
32:17Fingers on buzzers.
32:19Here's the Countdown Conundrum.
32:27BELL RINGS
32:29Viraj. Seditious.
32:31Let's have a look. Yay!
32:33APPLAUSE
32:35Susie, do it. It's a conspiracy.
32:38Seditious, seditious.
32:40Well done. Gets you to 98.
32:42We now know our second finalist to join Harry Savage is Viraj Silam.
32:47APPLAUSE
32:49You know, in football, Rich,
32:51when in a tournament they have the other awards outside of the cup...
32:54Like the wooden spoon and the bowl?
32:56No, it's thinking more like, you know, player of the tournament.
32:59Oh, OK. You know the Fair Play Award? Right.
33:01I would give that to Ben Bazard.
33:03Absolutely wonderful gentleman.
33:05The way he talks to the contestants during the breaks
33:08is absolutely exemplary.
33:10And if he's teaching a bunch of kids those types of manners,
33:12then the world's a better place for it.
33:14Brilliant. Thank you.
33:16APPLAUSE
33:18Wonderful. Go back to that classroom,
33:20the teapot will be smashed everywhere.
33:22LAUGHTER
33:24Viraj, I know what you're like at 19.
33:26I was talking to your mum, partying all night,
33:29getting one hour's sleep.
33:31You've got to park that, all right?
33:33We need you to get a big night's sleep ahead of tomorrow's final.
33:35Absolutely. Good. Love it.
33:37Thank you, Susie. Thank you.
33:39Is it possible we're going to finish with 809?
33:42I've got my pen in hand. Yes!
33:44If you say 7 x 7 is 49,
33:4710 x 5 x 1 is 16,
33:50times them together, 784,
33:52and add on the 25,
33:54we can go home and get ready for the final.
33:56APPLAUSE
33:59Let's finish with a couple more numbers.
34:01Number one, our number one seed, Harry Savage.
34:04He's in tomorrow's final.
34:06Our number two seed, Viraj Silam.
34:08We've just seen him qualify for tomorrow's final.
34:11And the other number is another one.
34:13One trophy, the Rachel Whiteley Memorial Trophy,
34:16gets handed out tomorrow.
34:17Hopefully you can join us.
34:18Rachel, Susie and I will be waiting.
34:20You can count on us.
34:22You can contact the programme by email at...
34:27You can also find our webpage at...
34:36APPLAUSE