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00:00Thank you
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to Thursday's Countdown
00:35I'm into my second week and it's feeling okay
00:39But I want you to write in, email, tweet, whatever you like
00:42Send in your favourite jokes and poems and whatever else you like
00:47And if there's not compliment to us here in the studio mixed in with it
00:51We'd also be very grateful
00:54What is the most common question?
00:57The most frequently asked question of me these days
00:59Were you ever an apprentice Nick?
01:02And the answer actually is yes I was
01:04As a young chap I went to London having had a brief flirtation as a law student
01:09And I was apprenticed to a wonderful chap called Michael Joyce
01:12Who died last year sadly at the age of, good old age of 89 actually
01:16And he ran a PR company and he took me on as a young boy
01:20And I appreciated so much over the years what he did for me
01:23So that was my first job
01:26Rachel, good afternoon
01:28Afternoon, I would have thought the most asked question was
01:30What is Lord Sugar really like?
01:33Surely people want the gossip
01:34My good friend Lord Sugar is exactly what he appears to be on television
01:38Direct, frank, not terribly loquacious
01:45Not the graduate of any of the better known charm schools
01:50But loyal, honest and the brightest man I've ever met
01:54Well you've covered your backing cases watching
01:56That was all very amicable
01:57I think we're going to have to get some more of the dirt out from you
02:00Over the coming months
02:01Over the coming months Rachel
02:03I'll look forward to that
02:03Dribble out some little tidbits for you
02:06But in the meantime
02:07Really let us welcome our champ back again
02:11A good day yesterday
02:12First day, 98?
02:13Uh-huh
02:13Well done
02:14And reading up on you
02:17I understand that you devised a website
02:20You designed a website
02:21That had a quarter of a million hits in a day
02:23Yeah, it's high
02:24It's getting a quarter of a million per day
02:26What was it?
02:27It was to do with the text message service
02:30Where you used to be able to text a landline
02:33And Tom Baker read it out to you
02:35Oh, the great old Doctor Who
02:37Indeed, so I recorded loads of those quotes
02:40And made a website out of it
02:41And it proved pretty popular
02:42Is it still running?
02:44No, I had to pull it down recently, unfortunately
02:47Oh, did Tom not like it?
02:50No, apparently not anymore
02:52I think the lawyers are listening
02:54And we won't go into all that
02:55We won't go into all that
02:56But welcome back anyway
02:58Good score
02:58Thank you
02:59We've got almost to 100
03:00And we've got Darren with us
03:02Darren Coogan
03:04Related to, uh, the great comic?
03:06No
03:06No, that's a shame
03:08Never mind
03:08I saw him the other week
03:09He's got long hair now
03:10It's very odd
03:10Andy gave me his book
03:12Which I haven't read yet
03:13And, um, Coogan's a good Irish name
03:16You're from Ireland?
03:17Yeah, I'm from Ireland
03:18I'm from Drogheda
03:19Drogheda
03:20But I live and study in England
03:22Nine months ago
03:23Okay
03:23And you were an electrician
03:25But now you want to be a secondary school teacher
03:27Yeah, I'm into my second year of college
03:30Where?
03:31In this country?
03:32Yeah
03:32Whereabouts?
03:33Huntingdon
03:33Huntingdon
03:34Excellent
03:35So, let's welcome our contestants today
03:42And I'm now pressing a live link over to Dictionary Corner
03:45To report on the latest from Susie Dent
03:48The great Susie
03:49And John Suchet
03:50Still with us
03:57So, John, it's a while now
03:59Since you were chasing the news
04:02Because now you're, you know
04:03Really established as a radio man
04:05On the music scene
04:07If you say
04:07Well, the classical music scene
04:08Do you miss the live news?
04:10I miss it with a smile on my face now
04:12I did it
04:13And it came to a natural end
04:14And now I'm doing classical music
04:16Which is very civilized
04:17Very peaceful
04:18And very calm
04:19But I listen to you
04:20I listen to you
04:22So, time to get this game underway
04:24Mark
04:24It's a letters game
04:25Off you go
04:27Hi, Rachel
04:28Hi, Mark
04:28Could I get a consonant, please?
04:30We can
04:30Start today with S
04:32And another
04:35P
04:35And one more
04:37R
04:39And a vowel
04:40O
04:42And another
04:43E
04:45And a consonant
04:48D
04:49A vowel
04:52I
04:53Another vowel
04:56E
04:57And a consonant, please
04:59And lastly
05:00B
05:01And here's the countdown clock
05:04And here's the Hahnemond
05:19And here's the countdown oÄŸlum
05:19And here's the countdown
05:20Yeah, it's coming out
05:20Maybe
05:22And here's the
05:27And there's
05:27And there's
05:29You
05:31How
05:35Mark, a six. A six. And Mr. Coogan? Six. A six. Mark, your six? A broods. Broods.
05:46Okay. And Darren? Poised. Poised.
05:49Susie, John, you happy with both of those?
05:51Broods, unfortunately, you need two O's for... I think you probably misread one of the letters there. Bad luck.
05:58So, yeah, can't have broods.
05:59What can you offer us? John?
06:01Oh, we had a few seven letters over here, didn't we, Susie?
06:04Episode, disrobe, and you got...
06:08Periods and bedsore.
06:10Bedsore. At least we know about that, the better.
06:14Well, well done, Darren. You've kicked off strongly. A six. Mark's yet to score.
06:19And Darren, it's your turn to start. A letters game.
06:22Hi, Rachel. Hi, Darren. Can I have a consonant, please?
06:24You can, thank you. Start with L.
06:27And another.
06:29N.
06:30And a vowel.
06:32A.
06:33And another.
06:35O.
06:36A consonant.
06:38L.
06:40And another.
06:42Q.
06:43And another, please.
06:46S.
06:47Vowel.
06:49I.
06:51And a final vowel, please.
06:53And a final E.
06:56And here's the clock.
06:59And here's the clock.
07:29DARREN.
07:30DARREN.
07:31A seven. And Mark?
07:33A six.
07:34A six. And what would that be?
07:36Aliens.
07:37Aliens.
07:38Okay.
07:39And Darren?
07:40DARREN.
07:40DARREN.
07:41DARREN.
07:41DARREN.
07:50DARREN.
07:51Not a seven letter, but saline is there.
07:53That's only six letters there.
07:55Yes.
07:55Couldn't do better than six.
07:57All right.
07:58Well, that sees us both at six.
08:00Mark and Darren.
08:01And Mark, take us into game three, a letters game.
08:06A consonant, please.
08:07Thank you, Mark.
08:09R.
08:09And another.
08:12D.
08:13And another.
08:16J.
08:17And a vowel.
08:19I.
08:21And another vowel.
08:23E.
08:24And another.
08:27A.
08:28And a consonant.
08:31N.
08:32And another.
08:35R.
08:36And a final vowel, please.
08:38And a final.
08:40I.
08:41Stand by.
08:42I.
08:47I.
09:13Mark.
09:14I'll stick with a seven.
09:16Stick with a seven.
09:18And Darren?
09:19Yeah, a seven as well.
09:20A seven.
09:20Mark, what is yours?
09:21A drainer.
09:23Drainer.
09:24Hmm.
09:25And Darren?
09:26And then.
09:26RANDIA.
09:28RANDIA.
09:28They're absolutely fine.
09:29And anything else for us?
09:30In fact, those were the two we came up with over here as well.
09:33You came up with RANDIA?
09:34I'm afraid you do.
09:34Shame on you.
09:35I can't play a bit of Susie.
09:37No, I'm okay.
09:38And there is another one.
09:39The plural of denarius is denarii.
09:42You'll see, it just said D-E-N-A-R-I-I.
09:45Oh, that's for own coinage?
09:46Yes.
09:46Originally worth ten asses.
09:52Well done.
09:55Well, turning away from asses.
09:57Letters game with a score at 13-0.
10:00Darren, off you go.
10:02Can I have a consonant, please?
10:03Thank you, Darren.
10:04T.
10:05And another.
10:07G.
10:08And another.
10:11C.
10:12A vowel.
10:13E.
10:14And another.
10:16O.
10:16And another.
10:18A.
10:20A consonant.
10:22T.
10:24And another.
10:26V.
10:27And a final vowel, please.
10:31And a final O.
10:33Okay, pen's poised.
10:49And a final vowel, please.
10:51And a final vowel, please.
10:52And a final vowel, please.
10:53And a final vowel, please.
10:54And a final vowel, please.
10:54And a final vowel, please.
10:55And a final vowel, please.
10:55And a final vowel, please.
10:59And a final vowel, please.
11:05Darren? Seven. Seven. Mark? Seven as well. All right. And Darren? Cottage. Cottage. Mark? Cottage, too. Cottage, the same? No
11:17squabbling over that, Susie? None at all. Very good. Can you take us on? We've got some quite musical ones
11:22here. Octave is there. That's only six, but Gavotte, that nice stately dance, is there? Yes. Yes, lovely French dance.
11:28Very good. Twenty all, chaps. Mm-hmm, Mark. Pressure. And it's a numbers game, and it's your turn to kick
11:37off.
11:38I think I'll take a T, please. A non-inverted one. A non-inverted one. So you want three from
11:44the top. And three small ones. Thank you, Mark.
11:48And for this round, the three small are seven, two, and three, and the three large ones. Seventy-five, twenty
11:55-five, and one hundred.
11:57And your target, six hundred and sixty-two.
12:00Six sixty-two.
12:01Six thirty-two.
12:02Six thirty-two.
12:04Six thirty-two.
12:08Six thirty-two.
12:33so mark i think six six one but i haven't written it down okay darren six six seven six six
12:41seven
12:41all right so mark let's have your six six one okay uh three times two is six yep i'd take
12:48that
12:48from 100 100 take six ninety four multiply by seven multiply by seven is 658 and 75 divided by 25
12:58is
12:58three yeah and that's one away well done six six one that's pretty good rachel can you do better
13:05uh yeah this one is possible if you say 100 minus three and minus two is 95 multiply that by
13:13seven
13:13for six hundred and sixty five and then again you've got the 75 and the 25 for three to take
13:19away
13:23we can always always count on rachel brilliant so john i turn to you well nick you were asking me
13:35about me about classic fm earlier on and um you know one of the great differences i've discovered
13:40between radio and television is radio is much more intimate i can actually talk to listeners
13:45because we run some great competitions um on classic fm and occasionally we give away some amazing
13:51holidays and what people have to do is they go onto our website and answer a question then they
13:57come through to me in the studio to answer the question um and i am then able to give them
14:03a
14:03holiday now the computer chooses them completely by by random but i often sit there and think
14:08wouldn't it be lovely if someone who really the right kind of person got through
14:14through the whole computer system and it happened just late last year just perfect a woman came
14:21through to the studio she said my husband and i are shortly going to celebrate our 10th wedding
14:26anniversary we haven't had a holiday since our honeymoon things went a bit wrong financially
14:32and if we could just win this holiday and i thought you know every now and then it just goes
14:36the
14:36way you want it to go um and here i am i'm going to be able to give her this
14:40wonderful holiday and
14:41just make their lives for them make their marriage and this intimacy with radio allows you to do that
14:47that's a lovely story and then she got the question wrong
14:49oh no and that's life that's life oh it was so sad burst into tears
14:58that's terrible but i think that you get a wonderfully loyal sort of uh audience on that show
15:04yes you really rather like countdown a loyal solid yes you know family sort of thing they know their
15:09classical music um i know a lot about one composer but they know a lot about a lot yeah well
15:14there are
15:14enough of them of course both audience and composers now it's time for tea time teaser and uh
15:21the teaser is wormhead wormhead and the clue bound for this place according to the song
15:45welcome back and of course the clue bound for this place according to the song and the answer
15:51homeward remember that homeward bound simon and garfunkel the great simon and garfunkel
15:57and so it is we turn to game six darren let's game take it away can i have a consonant
16:05please
16:05thank you darren s and another p fowl e and another i consonant b and another d and another
16:32and a final consonant please and a final t stand by for the clock
16:41so
16:54so
17:12Darren, six, six for Darren, and Mark, six as well, six, so Darren, off you go, pitied,
17:21um, Mark, a spider, spider, Susie and John, um, pitied needs two eyes, have you just seen
17:31that Darren, um, so a spider absolutely fine, but no pitied, I'm afraid, okay, could you
17:36take us on, yes, we've got a seven, respite, yes, and actually you can put a D on that,
17:42um, if you respite it in execution, for example, you postponed it, right, uh, Mark, it's the
17:48childish game, take it away, uh, consonant please, Rachel, thank you, Mark, M, and another,
17:56R, and another, P, uh, vowel please, O, and another, E, and one more, O, uh, consonant,
18:13K, another, T, and a final vowel, and a final U, there we go,
18:47Thank you, Ari to Jah link
18:56So, Mark, a six, a six. What are sixes knocking about? Darren? Just a five. A five. And what would
19:04that be, Darren? Troop. Troop. Mark? Troop with an E. How are you sparing that, then? T-R-O-U
19:11-P-E. Yes, absolutely fine. An acting troop, for example. Very good.
19:15Okay. And, Susie, John. Seven letters. Promote? Yes, seven. Very good. Thirty-nine to twenty mark leads. It's a letters
19:26game, Darren. Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Darren. T. And another. H. And another. D. Aval. A.
19:42And another. A.
19:45And another. I. A consonant. M. And another. C. And a final vowel, please. And a final E. And here's
20:01the clock.
20:32Now, Darren. Just a five. A five. Mark? A six. A six. Okay. And Darren? Timed. Timed. Mark? Chimed.
20:43Chimed. Yes, very nice. Susie, you happy? Very happy. All right. John? Matched? Yes. I'll take it one letter further
20:51for seven. Matched.
20:53That's right. Good. Mark, you're stretching away. Forty-five to twenty. And it's your letters game, Mark. Off you go.
21:00A consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Mark. R. And another. S. And another. D. A vowel. U. And another vowel.
21:17Another vowel. E. And a consonant. N. And another. W. A vowel.
21:29A. And a final vowel, please. And a final. E. Now, here's the clock.
21:39M Rice, and C.
21:41A vowel.
22:09Mark, what have you for us?
22:10A seven, good, good, because we've been loitering in the sixes and fives.
22:16Darren?
22:16Seven.
22:17A seven, well done.
22:18And Mark?
22:19Wonders.
22:20Wonders.
22:21And Darren?
22:22Same word.
22:23Indeed.
22:24Good.
22:25John?
22:26Susie?
22:27Yes, answered beats that by one, doesn't it?
22:30It certainly does, yes.
22:31And also, undersea is a one word, undersea.
22:34Undersea, well done.
22:39Very good.
22:42Susie, time for your amazing masterclass.
22:45Off you go.
22:47Well, I'm often asked about the expression, there's more than one way to skin a cat, which
22:52for animal lovers is not a very pleasant thought.
22:54And there are various versions of the proverb, and it can be traced back as far as the 16th
22:59century, so it's very old.
23:00A Wisconsin newspaper from 1847 uses the most familiar version, that there are two ways to
23:06skin a cat and two ways to skin a heart.
23:10But the earliest record is slightly different, and it goes there are more ways to kill a dog
23:14than hanging, which referred to the very grim punishment, which used to be meted out to
23:19dogs deemed to have misbehaved, believe it or not.
23:22But the sheer variety of versions show that the idea is simply fanciful, if unpleasant,
23:27and it's a metaphor for implying simply that there are several ways of approaching something.
23:38Well, my dog wasn't aware of all this carry-on shit, it's strung up endless times.
23:43Well, there we are.
23:44And with the score standing at 52 to 27, I turn to you, Darren, for a numbers game.
23:51Off you go.
23:52And I'd six more, please.
23:53Six more.
23:54You get at the numbers.
23:56We'll see.
23:56We'll see.
23:57We'll see if we've got a tricky one this time.
23:59The six more ones are one, five, seven, eight, nine, and six.
24:07And the target with these six smalls, 641.
24:11Six, four, one.
24:13Away we go.
24:45How did you score, Darren?
24:47Yeah.
24:48No, nothing there.
24:49No?
24:50No.
24:50Okay, and Mark?
24:52Six, 40, I think.
24:54All right.
24:55Off you go.
24:57Seven minus five is two.
24:59Yeah.
25:02Plus the six is eight.
25:04Plus the six for eight.
25:05Multiplied by eight is 64.
25:07Yeah.
25:08And nine plus one is ten, and multiply.
25:11Yeah.
25:11And you haven't used any of those for one away.
25:13Well done, six, 40.
25:14Very good.
25:15Well done.
25:15Rachel?
25:16Oh, yeah, you could have said nine plus seven is 16, times five is an 80, times eight gets
25:25you to 640, and you have a one left over for 641.
25:29Very good.
25:30Very, very, very good.
25:31Very good.
25:32Well, bad luck, Darren, on that.
25:35But now it's time for the Tea Time teaser, and the teaser is Elm Beach.
25:41And the clue, it's white and creamy, according to my sources.
26:01And welcome back.
26:03The clue, it's white and creamy, according to my sources.
26:07And those of the culinary bent will, of course, recognize a bechamel, bechamel.
26:12Mark, letters, you're on.
26:14Okay, consonant, please, Rachel.
26:17Thank you, Mark.
26:19S.
26:19And another.
26:22R.
26:23And another.
26:26X.
26:27A vowel.
26:29A.
26:29And another.
26:32E.
26:33Another vowel.
26:35I.
26:37A consonant.
26:39N.
26:40Another consonant.
26:43L.
26:44And a vowel, please.
26:45And the last one.
26:47E.
26:49And clock time.
26:50And a vowel.
26:52And a vowel.
27:09And a vowel.
27:10Okay.
27:10Okay.
27:10And a vowel.
27:12Quindi ¿qué?
27:22So, Mark.
27:23A seven, I think.
27:26A seven, all right.
27:27And Darren?
27:29Just a six.
27:30A six.
27:30And what would that be, Darren?
27:32Saline.
27:33And Mark?
27:34And relines?
27:37Relines.
27:37I think you can reline your curtains.
27:41And you can reline your curtains.
27:44That's fine.
27:45Well done.
27:46And anything else over there, John?
27:48We managed to use the X, relaxes.
27:50Yes.
27:51Relaxes is there for a nice seven.
27:52And also earlies.
27:53You can be on earlies, is the early shift.
27:56Or earlies are also potatoes, which are ready to be harvested before the main crop.
28:00Right.
28:01Very good.
28:02She's Mark at 66, and Darren at 27.
28:06And Darren, it's your go for a letters game.
28:08A consonant, please.
28:10Thank you, Darren.
28:12M.
28:12And another.
28:15N.
28:16A vowel.
28:18A.
28:19And another.
28:20U.
28:21And another.
28:23I.
28:25A consonant.
28:26S.
28:27And another.
28:30G.
28:31And another.
28:33T.
28:34And a final consonant, please.
28:37And a final.
28:38End.
28:39Stand by.
29:10Darren?
29:12A risky seven.
29:13A risky seven. Mark?
29:15A seven.
29:16A seven?
29:17Yeah.
29:18Okay, Darren, let's hear your risk.
29:20Mustang.
29:21Mustang.
29:23Oh.
29:23Mark?
29:24Summing.
29:25Summing.
29:27Susie, you happy?
29:28I am summing as in summing up.
29:30Mustang is lovely.
29:31It's an American feral horse, typically small and lightly built.
29:34Very good.
29:35Well done.
29:36But could you have taken it on, John?
29:38Well, not in terms of letters, but looking back to Christmas, some nice magnums.
29:42Magnums, that sounds good to me.
29:44Mustang Sally.
29:46I remember that in the Irish film.
29:48Do you remember the commitments they sang, Mustang Sally?
29:51Very good.
29:51So 73 to 34, and Mark, it's letters game, and you're away.
29:56Okay.
29:57Concert, please, Rachel.
29:58Thank you, Mark.
30:00R.
30:00And another.
30:03W.
30:04And another.
30:07S.
30:08A vowel.
30:09E.
30:11And another vowel.
30:13A.
30:14One more.
30:16E.
30:18A consonant.
30:20P.
30:21Another consonant.
30:23F.
30:24And a final vowel, please.
30:26And a final O.
30:29It's the countdown clock.
30:31P.
30:32Sound It.
30:59P.
31:02Mark just six six all right and Darren just a five a five and what would that be Darren spear
31:11spear
31:12and yours mark at powers powers Susie John thank you mine we've got a great eight letter on here
31:20all Susie all credit to Susie four paws four paws front paws rather than four not three well done
31:34so that sees a 79 for mark to a 34 Darren it's a numbers game game 14 off you go
31:42don't have two
31:43large and four small please two large and four small very wise I think away from the nasty six
31:47small thank you Darren and the last numbers game today is two eight three and one and the large
31:55ones 75 and 25 and the target 854 and here's the clock
32:05so
32:17so
32:34Darren how did you fare 856 856 and mark 856 as well 856 so Darren off you go and 75
32:45plus 25
32:4775 plus 25 100 3 times 2 3 times 2 is 6 plus 1 plus 1 is 7 yeah add
32:57that onto the 100 add it onto the 100
32:59107 yeah and multiply it by a yeah 856 2 away well done and mark exactly the same okay you
33:10happy there
33:11yeah okay well done seven points apiece and now I turn to Rachel mmm I got to 855 but not
33:18854 so I'll have another quick look okay
33:20so fingers on buzzers please it's countdown conundrum time and please reveal today's countdown conundrum
33:30conundrum
33:30so
33:33so
33:44so
33:45so
33:47so
33:48so
33:53so
33:56so
34:01no takers
34:03I turn to the audience
34:05now come along
34:06a hand up
34:08two hands
34:09yes madam
34:09pompously
34:11pompously
34:12let's see if you're right
34:15well done
34:18well done indeed
34:20you've beaten the professionals up here and the professionals looking at the scoreboard is 86 to Darren's 41
34:27so Mark we're seeing you again tomorrow and we're saying cheerio to Darren and
34:32you're going home perhaps soon to follow Podrick Harrington because Ireland is stuffed full of great golfers at the minute
34:41McElroy
34:42McElroy the boy McElroy who else desires from playing such a brilliant golf at the moment
34:46McDowell
34:46Clark
34:47yeah
34:48Lowry
34:48yeah
34:49let me tell you my son
34:51taught Darren Clark's two boys
34:54yeah
34:54terribly terribly nice man apparently
34:57anyway
34:58well done
34:59you're not going home empty-handed
35:01you're taking them a goodie bag
35:03and well done Mark
35:04two wins
35:05going for a third tomorrow
35:05uh-huh
35:06see you then
35:07Susie and John
35:08great to see you again
35:09as ever
35:10see you again tomorrow too
35:12and Rachel
35:13any luck with that numbers game
35:15I think I'm going to have to take this one home with me
35:17take me home Rachel
35:20and I say
35:21and I say
35:22good afternoon to you
35:24and we'll see you at the same time
35:25tomorrow
35:26please be sure of it
35:28we'll be here
35:39a platonic threesome
35:40and they're looking for some hot property in North London
35:43cue Phil and Kirsty tonight at eight o'clock
35:46but next up shake your afternoon with a deal