Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show, presented by Richard Whiteley with the assistance of Carol Vorderman, and shown on Channel 4. It was the very first programme aired by that station when it was launched on November 2 1982.
Originally, Richard was assisted by not one but four "hostesses" - Vorderman, Kathy Hytner, Dr Linda Barratt and Beverley Isherwood. This arrangement was much-mocked, with critics quick to point out that four regulars were surplus to requirements, and Barratt and Isherwood were axed at the end of 1983. Hytner remained with the show until 1987, being replaced first by Karen Loughlin and then by Lucy Summers, but neither of these were popular with viewers, so in 1989 Carol Vorderman became the sole hostess, and remains so to this day. The other main change in the programme's format came in 2001, when it expanded from its traditional 30-minute slot to 45 minutes, with two commercial breaks instead of one.
At the time of writing, the programme is broadcast from 3.15pm to 4.00pm every weekday, with each programme repeated in the early hours of the morning about two and a half days later.
Countdown is based on the French game show Des Chiffres et Des Lettres (Digits and Letters). It was originally broadcast in the Yorkshire Television ITV region as Calendar Countdown – Calendar being that region's local news magazine show which was, at the time, fronted by Whiteley. Yorkshire Television, now part of the Granada Television group, still makes Countdown for Channel Four.
The main task set for the two contestants is to make the longest possible word using nine not-quite-randomly selected letters of the alphabet, in a time limit of thirty seconds. The word-making rounds are interspersed with rounds in which the contestants are asked to use a set of not-quite-randomly selected numbers to make a sum that gives the total generated by the resident computer, CECIL (Countdown Electronic Computer In Leeds). Finally, the "Countdown Conundrum" is a one-word anagram, to be solved by the quicker of the two contestants. Further entertainment comes from a celebrity guest who assists the "guardian of the dictionary".
Countdown, like most of the "old guard" of British game shows is never so much about winning prizes as simply competing (and possibly showing off to the nation how smart you are). The current prize fund tends to be a board game and other assorted items for every contestant and a full Oxford English Dictionary for the series winner, which is still a lot more than it used to be.
The show is probably best known in America for its appearance in the 2002 Hugh Grant movie About a Boy.
In July 2004 it was announced that both Whiteley and Vorderman have extended their contracts to present the show until 2009.
