From Shaun Ryder’s ban for swearing reside on TFI Friday and the much-criticised Brass Eye, to unapologetically airing genitalia close-ups in Naked Attraction and broadcasting a reside post-mortem, Channel 4 has all the time been recognized for pushing boundaries.
But when it began again in November 1982 the channel launch was a quite extra healthful affair, with Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman debuting on Countdown – the straightforward letters and numbers sport nonetheless going sturdy 40 years later, proving you do not all the time want controversy to make a TV hit.
Loved by pensioners and college students alike, the afternoon staple completed its fortieth yr with its 86th finale simply earlier than Christmas, and begins 2023 with a brand new Champion Of Champions sequence.
While quizzes corresponding to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and The Chase convey the drama, Countdown is consolation TV; the timeslots and presenters have modified through the years however it’s all the time there with a teatime teaser, light humour, and a treasure trove of phrase data from long-time resident lexicographer Susie Dent – or “that woman in Dictionary Corner” as she is thought to her million-plus Twitter followers.
Ahmed Mohamed, who grew to become the primary ever black Countdown champion when he gained the 84th sequence in 2021, and Tom Stevenson, who triumphed within the newest sequence just some days in the past – after setting the report for the programme’s highest ever rating of 154 throughout his heats – will each participate within the upcoming Champion Of Champions sequence.
Throughout his complete run in his heats, Tom remained unbeaten in each single spherical – one thing that had by no means been achieved earlier than.
“I was there to just have a good time, try and win the teapot and hopefully not to disgrace myself,” he says. “But Colin [Murray, the current presenter] was critically invested.
“It got to the final game and there were a couple of occasions when my opponent declared a longer word than me, but it wasn’t in the dictionary. And then it got to the final conundrum, and I managed to solve it and Colin was very excited. You can see the clip on YouTube.”
During his time on the present, Tom additionally scored with the phrase “hornier” – not a impolite one which needed to be reduce out, without end to reside on in Countdown blooper memes, however one he was pleased with nonetheless.
“I can assure you that nobody has let me forget the fact I declared that word on national television,” he says. “Forget about all the other achievements, that is definitely something that stuck with me as a result.”
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Knowing your nines: Bolection and tepidaria
Ahmed, 28, additionally wowed throughout his time on the present. However, he freely admits his spectacular means at arising with good phrases – and spelling them appropriately – is not essentially primarily based on data of which means, however quite finding out Countdown vocabulary.
In the opening spherical of his third present, Ahmed scored a nine-letter phrase, “bolection… something to do with architecture”, and says he was additionally proud to decipher a closing conundrum as “tepidaria”. Just do not count on him to have the definitions at his fingertips.
“Every time I declared a word that sounded a bit crazy, Anne [Robinson, host at the time] would ask me every time, like, what’s the meaning of that word? ‘I don’t know, Anne. I don’t know!'”
Anyone who loves the present will let you know the important thing to its success is its simplicity: spell the longest phrase doable from a mixture of 9 consonants and vowels; calculate a three-digit quantity from a mixture of six small and enormous numbers utilizing primary arithmetic. All adopted by the conundrum, Countdown’s equal to the Gladiators travelator.
They will in all probability additionally credit score its longevity to Whiteley being on the helm for thus lengthy.
Finalist Mark Nyman, who took half within the third sequence in 1983, says there was “a general feeling of family from the start”. After happening to be topped the primary ever Champion Of Champions in 1984, he later grew to become a producer on the present and likewise appeared in Dictionary Corner himself in dozens of episodes.
‘He was like a god, actually’
Initially, he says he was introduced in as a programme affiliate, or a greeter, to satisfy contestants and assist put them relaxed the night time earlier than filming. “Have a couple of drinks and make them feel part of the Countdown experience,” he says. While it would not be the primary present that involves thoughts relating to raucous behind-the-scenes tales, he says “there were probably a few hungover contestants” taking part in again within the day.
Whiteley, the presenter who hosted till his dying in 2005, was “the cog at the centre of it all”, says Mark, who was made a co-producer within the Nineties. “He appealed to the older demographic but also to students and younger ones as well, which is quite rare, to appeal across the board.
“That was as a result of he was a little bit of a bumbling oaf at instances and the scholars liked to take the mickey out of him, however in a pleasant method. He was like a god, actually. So welcoming. And when you’d earnt his respect, he would do something for you.”
‘I just thought he was a bit cocky’
As a producer, Mark also interviewed potential contestants, deciding whether or not they were good enough for the show. He says he must have carried out about 15,000 in total and that a “few fairly well-known” people applied over the years, including The Chase quiz mastermind Mark “The Beast” Labbett.
It was a no from Nyman.
“He was actually good on the numbers on the interview, however he was common on the letters. In borderline circumstances, I might go on persona and it wasn’t that I did not like him, I simply thought he was a bit cocky. So I rejected him. But if there have been borderline circumstances, I might all the time give them a second go… and he did strive once more and he acquired by way of the second time spherical.”
Countdown was never about picking people purely for “good telly”, bad contestants for cheap laughs, he says. It is 100% about ability. “It would not matter if you happen to get somebody socially inept profitable eight exhibits, individuals admire their brilliance… they usually may say one thing silly, there’s nothing unsuitable with that.”
With the next Champion Of Champions series set to air, Tom and Ahmed are getting ready to see themselves back on Channel 4 once again.
Both say the experience has been life-enhancing, for different reasons.
Tom, who suffered from agoraphobia as a teenager, says appearing on the show was something he pushed himself to do. “I practically did drop out on one event, however it was one thing I may say to myself, it would not matter how I do however I can say that I’ve completed it, and it is one thing that is pushing me massively out of my consolation zone as a result of I have not been on TV earlier than.
“I was just hoping to win one episode. And even if I did end up losing that, as long as I felt I’d done myself justice then all was good by me. But it’s been an incredible experience. People have remarked that they think my confidence has gone up.”
Ahmed says he was proud to turn into the primary black champion. “I was really happy about that. I live in Tottenham and it was going a bit viral – I was getting a lot of mates I haven’t talked to for years finding me online saying they’d heard about me on the news.”
The upcoming Countdown Champion Of Champions sequence begins in January
Source: information.sky.com”