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00:30Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34My word, I wonder whether you read the same story as I did about a young five-year-old from
00:38Southend, apparently.
00:40And he just, you know, popped into the bathroom, lifted the lavatory seat, somewhat overcome, to find himself staring at
00:50a three-foot python.
00:52Now, apparently, Rachel, it had escaped sometime beforehand, had been wandering around the sewers at Southend.
01:00Anyway, they found it and they put it back in their vid area and made sure it was a bit
01:03more secure this time, but it's extraordinary.
01:05Can you remember being staggered and horrified at something when you were a child of that same sort of magnitude?
01:13Well, never mind when I was a child, because my brother used to rescue animals and he had many snakes
01:17go missing in our house.
01:19Oh?
01:19They would never tell us.
01:20So, apparently, yeah, behind the door one day, my mum found a snake in the bathroom that had just escaped
01:27from his collection that we didn't know he had.
01:28So, that gives you a bit of a fright.
01:29Your poor mum went in for a quiet moment and suddenly confronted him.
01:34Deadly.
01:35All right.
01:36Now, who's deadly?
01:37I'll tell you who's deadly.
01:38Graeme Staples is deadly.
01:39You were deadly to poor old James Riddle on Friday.
01:44He was on, I think, six wins, looking for seventh.
01:47And then you came and scored on your debut, 102.
01:51Fantastic.
01:53Now, you're joined by Mike Brain.
01:55Welcome, Mike.
01:56A retired polymer chemist from Hyerkiniton in Flinshire.
02:00And, Mike, you've got a fascinating addiction, almost, to historical fiction by Dorothy Dunnett.
02:07And you were telling me earlier that she really covers the 15th and 16th centuries, both in the United Kingdom
02:12and all over continental Europe.
02:14Yeah?
02:15And you run a Facebook.
02:16What is it about her that, or her writing, indeed, that fascinates you so much?
02:20Well, first of all, some years ago, a group of us went to a convention with her, and we got
02:31to go to her house, meet her husband, and have Sherry with her.
02:35And it was really fascinating to see the creator face to face.
02:40Well, well, well.
02:41Good.
02:42Now, welcome to our studio.
02:45Both of you.
02:46Big round of applause for Graeme and Mike.
02:52And, having had a peaceful weekend, I trust we welcome Susie back, and indeed, Margaret Manford.
02:57Margaret's back.
02:58Businesswoman and TV personality.
03:02And lawyer.
03:03Welcome back, Margaret.
03:04Welcome back.
03:05Now, Graeme, off you go.
03:07Letters game.
03:08Hi, Rachel.
03:08Hi, Graeme.
03:09Start with a consonant, please.
03:11Start this week with K.
03:14And a vowel, please.
03:16O.
03:17A consonant.
03:20M.
03:21Another consonant.
03:24C.
03:25A vial.
03:27E.
03:29Another vial, please.
03:31U.
03:33A consonant.
03:35T.
03:38Another consonant.
03:41M.
03:43And a vial, please.
03:46And the last one, A.
03:48And here's the countdown clock.
03:50D diu,
03:53frightening.
03:57D offensive line,
03:57and three o'clock.
04:00C遣ies.
04:11And a vial, please.
04:12Yes, that may benefit.
04:12E personaje.
04:18I mean, in fact, it is really amazing.
04:20Well, Graham, just a five to start.
04:24A five. Mike?
04:26Six.
04:27And a six. Graham?
04:29Unce.
04:30Unce, Mike?
04:31Outman.
04:34Outman, yes, to outnumber, simply.
04:36Very, very good for a six.
04:37Well done. Well done.
04:39And in the corner there, I wonder, Margaret and Susie?
04:43Well, we've got toucan.
04:45Toucan, yeah.
04:46Anything else?
04:47Yeah, that's a good six. We couldn't get beyond six, Nick.
04:49It'll do. It'll do. And Mike, six, will do as well.
04:52Now, Mike, your letters game.
04:55Hi, Rachel.
04:56Hi, Mike.
04:58Consonant, please.
04:59Thank you. Start with L.
05:01And another one.
05:03H.
05:04And another one.
05:06N.
05:07And a vowel.
05:08I.
05:09And another vowel.
05:11E.
05:12And a consonant.
05:14P.
05:15And another vowel.
05:17I.
05:18And the consonant.
05:20S.
05:22And another one.
05:23And lastly, N.
05:26Stand by.
05:27One.
05:38pomoc.
05:40And another vowel.
05:55An 오른쪽 and a vowel.
05:55So.
05:55There's the vowel.
05:57Well Mike seven of seven slightly risky seven bargo. Thank you Graham Mike
06:05pencils and Graham try pinnies
06:09Yes, it's no see for pencils
06:12Unfortunately, um, there's no see in the selection
06:16Sorry, and Margaret Susie
06:19We had a couple of sevens pinnies
06:21Plural of pinafores or pinball machines in Australia. Yes, and we also had plenish to fill up plenish for another
06:28seven
06:29Plenish as in replenish. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Thank you
06:33Seven plays six Graham one point in the lead and it's Graham's numbers game. Yes, Graham
06:40I have two large and four small please Rachel. Thank you Graham
06:44Toothin top four little for the first one of this week and this selection is five eight ten nine
06:5225 and 75 and the target
06:56996 996
07:29Well Graham nine nine five sort of not properly written down all right one away Mike nine nine five
07:37so
07:38Oh Graham
07:4075 plus 25
07:42100 plus 10
07:45110 times nine nine ninety and then add the fact and that's one away nine nine five and Mike
07:5375 plus 25 is a hundred times ten is a thousand minus five
07:58Times ten is a thousand and yeah take the five away from one away
08:03Nine nine nine six Rachel
08:05How can you crack it well if you get as far as one thousand the same way Mike did you
08:09can say nine minus five is four?
08:11And take it away and there it is. Well done. Well done indeed
08:16So Graham one point in the lead 14 to Mike's 13 as we go into our first tea time teaser
08:22Which is my brain and the clue Mike's brain was on the brink of burnout. So he went away on
08:29this
08:29Mike's brain was on the brink of burnout
08:33So he went away on this
08:46Welcome back
08:47Welcome back I left with the clue Mike's brain was on the brink of burnout
08:57So he went away on this he went away on a
08:59Mini break he had a mini break
09:03Now Mike back to your mini break. It's your letters again. Hi, Rachel again
09:11Vowel please thank you Mike a and another one
09:16E and another one oh and the vowel consonant
09:23D and another consonant
09:26B and another consonant
09:29F and the vowel
09:33A consonant
09:37S and the final consonant and final L countdown
09:48So
10:14No, mate.
10:16A five.
10:18A five. And Graham?
10:20A six. And a six, Mike?
10:23Er, loads.
10:24Graham?
10:25Aboods.
10:27Aboods.
10:28Yeah, absolutely fine.
10:30There. And in the corner, Margaret and Susie?
10:35Susie's got a brilliant one.
10:37Well, there's an interesting seven from astronomy.
10:40Albedos, A-L-B-E-D-O-S.
10:42They are, well, an albedo is the proportion of the instant light or radiation reflected by a surface,
10:47so a planet or moon, for example.
10:50And you can have that in the plural for seven.
10:53And then there is an eight there as well.
10:56Base load is there.
10:57The permanent minimum load that a power supply system is required to deliver.
11:01The base load.
11:02Well done.
11:06So, 20 plays 13.
11:08Graham in the lead.
11:09And it's Graham's letters game now.
11:11Yes, Graham?
11:13Start with a consonant, please, Rachel.
11:15Thank you, Graham.
11:15R.
11:17And a vial.
11:17I.
11:20And a consonant.
11:22M.
11:24Another consonant.
11:26F.
11:28A vial.
11:29O.
11:31Another vial, please.
11:33E.
11:35A consonant.
11:37D.
11:39Another consonant, please.
11:41P.
11:43And a vial.
11:44And lastly, I.
11:47And the clock starts now.
11:50BELL RINGS
12:19Well, Graham,
12:21I'll stick with the six.
12:23Mike?
12:24Five, pride.
12:26Pride and?
12:28Formed.
12:29Yeah, absolutely fine.
12:31Any more fives or even sixes, I wonder?
12:34Margaret and Susie?
12:36No, I only had moped.
12:38Because I couldn't get anything any better.
12:41It's a good word.
12:42Susie?
12:42It's really tricky.
12:43This one primed was there for another six,
12:45but we couldn't find anything better.
12:47Right, so, Graham, 26, Mike, on 13.
12:49Mike, your numbers game now.
12:52One large and the rest small, please.
12:54Thank you, Mike.
12:54One from the top five, little for you.
12:57And these five small ones are...
12:59One, four, eight, three, nine, and the big one, 50.
13:06And the target, 542.
13:09Five, four, two.
13:43Five, four, three.
13:45Five, four, three.
13:46Graham?
13:47Five, four, two.
13:47Five, four, two.
13:49Said with confidence.
13:50Yes, Graham?
13:52Eight plus three is 11.
13:53Yep.
13:54Eleven fifties.
13:56Five hundred and fifty.
13:57And then nine minus one is eight.
13:59Perfect.
13:59And take it away.
14:00Lovely.
14:00Five, four, two.
14:02Well done.
14:03Well done.
14:06Well done.
14:0736 plays.
14:0813 as we turn to Margaret.
14:11Margaret, you're going to talk about mentoring today, I'm told.
14:14Yes, mentoring is a very common phenomenon now.
14:18I think when I started in business years and years ago, it wasn't.
14:21But now right up through somebody's career, it's quite common for them to have a mentor,
14:26somebody who's in an equivalent business or an equivalent position who will help them using their own experiences.
14:33And it's particularly important for somebody starting out in business.
14:37You know, I'm involved with the Bright Ideas Trust that Tim Campbell set up after he won The Apprentice,
14:41which helps youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds set up in business and most importantly get provided with a mentor,
14:49someone who's been there and done it already to help them.
14:52I got to thinking, well, who was the first mentor?
14:56And we're back again to the ancient Greeks and actually to Homer and to Odysseus.
15:01Odysseus, who was the wily Greek who thought of the Trojan horse.
15:06He invented that trick, which eventually won the war.
15:09And he was away from home for 20 years.
15:11It was 10 years of war and he took 10 years to get back to Ithaca, to his faithful wife
15:16Penelope.
15:17Delayed by a number of women on the way, including Cersei, the sorceress, not Cersei from Game of Thrones,
15:24but the original Cersei, and also by the nymph Calypso.
15:29He spent apparently seven years with her in her cave.
15:32If the cave is the one on Gozo that is reputed to be her cave,
15:35she must have been terribly attractive because it's a very uncomfortable looking little hole in the rock.
15:40But anyway, before he left, he had a young son called Telemachus
15:45and he was worried about how his son would cope with only his mother to look after him while Odysseus
15:52was away.
15:52So he got an elderly friend to agree to look after Telemachus and his name was Mentor.
16:00And Athena, when she was interfering, the Greek goddess,
16:04who they all like to interfere, these Greek gods and goddesses,
16:06when she wanted to instruct Telemachus so that he wasn't terrified by this goddess appearing,
16:12she would disguise herself as Mentor.
16:15And so Mentor, the term, became used for somebody who was giving,
16:20somebody older who was giving advice and assistance to somebody younger.
16:25So Mentoring isn't that new a concept.
16:28It goes back nearly two and a half thousand years to Homer.
16:31And that was Mentor. Well, well, well.
16:33So complicated. I don't know how you keep tracking it all.
16:37Extraordinary. Love this stuff, Margaret.
16:40Very good.
16:4636 plays 13. Graham's on 36.
16:49Graham, your letters game.
16:51Consonant, please, Rachel.
16:53Thank you, Graham.
16:55S.
16:56And a vial.
16:58U.
16:59A consonant.
17:01Y.
17:02Another consonant, please.
17:05R.
17:06A vial.
17:08E.
17:10Another vial.
17:12I.
17:13A consonant.
17:15N.
17:17Another consonant.
17:19R.
17:22And a consonant, please.
17:25And lastly, L.
17:27Stand by.
17:28A consonant.
17:31A consonant.
17:44A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:45A consonant.
17:59Well, Graham?
18:00Seven.
18:01And Mike?
18:02Seven.
18:03Graham?
18:04Insurer.
18:06Insurer.
18:07And Mike, too?
18:08Insurer.
18:09There we are.
18:12Any more sevens in the corner, I wonder?
18:14So, Margaret and Susie?
18:16Nursery was there.
18:18Yes.
18:18For seven.
18:19And otherwise we were down to sixes, I think.
18:23Surely and Margaret had...
18:24Liners.
18:25Liners, yeah.
18:26So, 43 plays 20.
18:29Mike, your letters came now.
18:31I'll have a consonant, please.
18:33Thank you, Mike.
18:34M.
18:35And another.
18:37T.
18:38And another.
18:40W.
18:42And a vowel.
18:43A.
18:44And another vowel.
18:46O.
18:46And another vowel.
18:48A.
18:49And the consonant.
18:51S.
18:52And the consonant.
18:54D.
18:55And the vowel.
18:56And the last one.
18:57E.
18:59Stand by.
19:00And the consonant.
19:25And a vowel.
19:29And the consonant.
19:30Well, Mike?
19:31Um, one, two, three, four.
19:33Six.
19:34A six.
19:35Graham?
19:35I'll stick with a five, just.
19:37And your five?
19:38Timmed.
19:39Mike?
19:40Noted.
19:41Yep, absolutely fine.
19:43And over in the corner, what have we got there?
19:45Any sixes or sevens?
19:46Margaret, Susie?
19:47Nothing longer for me.
19:49We just have meadows.
19:51We take it one further for seven.
19:53Meadows, thank you.
19:54All right.
19:55So 43 to 26, and it's numbers for Graham.
19:59Yes, Graham?
20:01Two large and four small, please, Rachel.
20:03Thank you, Graham.
20:04Two from the top and four little ones.
20:06And for this round, the four small ones are seven, nine, three, and one.
20:13And the big two, 25 and 100.
20:16And the target, 204.
20:19204.
20:50Well, Graham?
20:51204.
20:53204.
20:53Mike?
20:54No, I've messed it up.
20:56Let's stick with Graham, then, shall we?
20:58Graham?
20:59Three minus one is two.
21:01Yep.
21:03Nine minus seven, also two.
21:05It is.
21:05100 plus two.
21:07102.
21:08And multiply together.
21:09204.
21:10Perfect.
21:10Neatly done.
21:11Very good.
21:15Well done, Graham.
21:16Up to 53 points now.
21:18Mike on 26, but there's plenty of time yet.
21:21Now, let's have a tea time teaser, shall we?
21:24And the teaser is Thing Loom.
21:28And the clue.
21:28It was gloomy and difficult to see as the clouds were blocking this.
21:32It was gloomy and difficult to see as the clouds were blocking this.
21:53Welcome back.
21:54I left you with the clue.
21:54It was gloomy and difficult to see as the clouds were blocking this.
21:58Blocking moonlight.
22:00That's it.
22:01Moonlight.
22:0353 to 26.
22:04Graham in the lead.
22:05And it's Mike's letters game now.
22:07Yes, Mike.
22:08I'll have a consonant, please.
22:11Thank you, Mike.
22:12T.
22:13And another one.
22:15P.
22:17And a vowel.
22:19U.
22:20And another vowel.
22:22I.
22:23And another vowel.
22:25E.
22:26And a consonant.
22:29D.
22:29And a consonant.
22:32S.
22:33And a vowel.
22:36E.
22:37And a final consonant.
22:38And a final C.
22:41Stand by.
22:43And a vowel.
23:04And a vowel.
23:04And a vowel.
23:04And a vowel.
23:04And a vowel.
23:04And a vowel.
23:05And a vowel.
23:06and a vowel.
23:06and a vowel.
23:13yes Mike seven a seven gram on it and an eight Mike dispute Graham deputies excellent
23:29and over in the corner I wonder Susie and Margaret with deputies yeah yep yes deputies
23:40Susie just kind of run a little bit you get another eight very good lovely thank you 61 to 26
23:47as I say
23:47and it's Graham's letters game now yes great I'll start with a consonant please thank you Graham T
23:55and a file a a constant Z a constant please G a file I another file
24:10you a consonant s another consonant n and a consonant please and lastly s stand by
24:30so
25:01yes Graham stings and Mike I've made this one up passing
25:08oh
25:10no it's only there in combination with something else which I won't go into but yeah sorry what
25:17is there I wonder Giants yes Giants and stings and you two sixes and that's it yeah 67 to 26
25:27is he
25:28excellent news it's your origins of words well on Friday I talked about the origins of a ditto the
25:35ditto punctuation marks and which are if you like written echoes of what somebody else has said before
25:41indeed what you have said before so I thought I would talk about the history of echo because I think
25:46Margaret will like this one she probably knows it all already but it's very much
25:50indebted to Greek mythology which of course we've heard about today and it goes back to another nymph
25:55in fact because echo was a mountain nymph known as an oread and it said that the goddess Hera
26:04really didn't like the way that echo used to gossip and chat the whole time and so she deprived her
26:11of
26:11speech apart from the ability to repeat what other people had said to her so this was Hera's
26:17revenge for somebody who was just a bit of a tittle-tattle
26:20so poor echo who had already had a pretty tough time then fell in love with the handsome narcissus who
26:27of course was only in love with himself and so he didn't return her love and when he rejected her
26:33she wasted away with grief until there was nothing left of her but her voice so it was said of
26:38course
26:38narcissus himself pined away by worshipping the reflection of himself in the pool it said that
26:44where he died the narcissus flower sprang which is really quite a sweet story but back to echo
26:51this is a different story of echo in which she was loved by the god pan but she turned him
26:57down so
26:57the tables were turned if you like in revenge it said pan drove a group of shepherds mad and made
27:04them
27:04tear her to pieces um in an incredibly brutal way and it said that the fragments of her flesh were
27:10buried in the earth including her voice which could still imitate other sounds so poor echo had an
27:17incredibly hard time of it if you want to look linguistically it's eke in greek uh meant sound
27:23simply so that is probably where it came from but the mythology is obviously so much more colorful
27:27and talking about pan the spurned lover in this one pan is of course behind panic because he was a
27:33mischievous thing he would hide in the forest and make all sorts of eerie terrifying noises to
27:39frighten past us by which is where we get panic from today extraordinary wonderful 67 to 26 and
27:52mike mike it's your letters game i have a vowel please thank you mike i and another vowel e and
28:01another vowel
28:02o and a consonant t and a consonant s and a consonant g and a vowel i and a consonant
28:19v and
28:22is there a vowel left yes if you want one yeah the last one a
28:29stand by
28:32so
28:43so
29:01Well, Mike.
29:02Six.
29:03Stick with five.
29:05And a five for Graham.
29:06Yes, Graham.
29:07Goats.
29:09Now, Mike.
29:09Visage.
29:10Very nice.
29:11And in the corner.
29:12We had another six.
29:14A Stogie, which is the cheap American cigar.
29:18A Stogie.
29:19And the S there, Margaret?
29:20Conestoga.
29:21No.
29:22Is that one?
29:23Yeah.
29:2467, please.
29:2532.
29:26Final letters game for Graham.
29:27Graham Staples.
29:29Yes, Graham.
29:30Start with a consonant, please.
29:32Thank you, Graham.
29:33W.
29:34And a vial.
29:36O.
29:37And a consonant, please.
29:40S.
29:43Another consonant.
29:45L.
29:46A vial.
29:48I.
29:50Another vial.
29:52A.
29:53A consonant, please.
29:55L.
29:57Another consonant.
29:59D.
30:00And a final vial, please.
30:02And lastly, E.
30:05Stand by.
30:06One.
30:07One.
30:19One.
30:20One.
30:22Two.
30:23Two.
30:29One.
30:37Yes, Graham.
30:38An eight.
30:39An eight, Mike.
30:41Eight.
30:42Mm-hmm.
30:43Graham.
30:43Disalloy.
30:45There we go.
30:47Check that out.
30:47Yes, I know.
30:51Well done.
30:54And in the corner.
30:56Well, we haven't got...
30:56Oh, you have.
30:57You've got one as long, yes.
30:59There is an eight.
31:00They're a sidewall.
31:02A sidewall, the side of a tyre typically marks or coloured in a distinctive way.
31:06Yes.
31:07The old American cars had white wall, white sidewall tyres, didn't they?
31:12Yeah.
31:12Mm-hmm.
31:13Anything else?
31:14No.
31:14Well, lots of sevens if you want them.
31:16Wally's, Waldo's, allowed, that sort of thing.
31:1975 to 40.
31:21And, Mike, the final numbers game for you.
31:25Four odds, please.
31:26Why not?
31:27Out with a bang.
31:28Thank you, Mike.
31:28Four from the top and two little.
31:31And these two small ones are nine and eight.
31:35And the four bigs.
31:3650, 25.
31:3775, 100.
31:39See how tough this is.
31:41Target.
31:42258.
31:43Two, five, eight.
31:44One, five, five, five, six, seven, four, five.
31:54Monday, one, March.
31:55Two, five, six, cinq equal to 10,hof
32:14Yes, Mike? 258. 258, Graeme? And 258. Mike? 100 plus 75 plus 25 is 200 plus 50 plus 8.
32:27Yep, ignore the nine, add the rest up. There we go. And Graeme, too. Yes.
32:35258. So, as we go into the final round, it's 85 playing Mike's 50.
32:40Gentlemen, fingers on buzzers. Let's roll today's Countdown Conundrum.
32:50Yes, Mike? Overcrowd. Overcrowd. Let's see whether you're right.
32:56Oh, well done.
33:02Well done, Mike. That's brilliant. That's brilliant. Well done.
33:06Because I can tell you, he's very, very, very good at that.
33:09So, congratulations on that. Thank you.
33:11But, unfortunately, on the day, it's Graeme for 85 and you're on 60.
33:18Good score. Yes, sir.
33:19On Friday, Mike, he came in at 102 the first time out. Yes.
33:23So, you've harnessed him a bit. You held him up. What about it?
33:26All right. So, take this goodie bag back to hire Kenerton with our very best wishes.
33:31And good luck with your Facebook. And keep following Dorothy Dunnett.
33:35That's all I can say. I will do. Thank you.
33:37All right. We shall see you tomorrow. Well done. Yes, thank you.
33:40Congratulations. Yeah, brilliant stuff.
33:41And we shall see the corner tomorrow.
33:45Susie and Margaret Mountford, of course.
33:47Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Brilliant stuff.
33:49And Rachel too, of course? It's not bad for Mike.
33:51I think he's our first contestant ever to be immortalised in a Tea Time teaser.
33:55Wasn't that brilliant? Very good.
33:56Wasn't that good?
33:57Yeah, well done to our producer.
34:00Absolutely. See you tomorrow. See you then.
34:02Join us then, same time, same place. You be sure of it.
34:05A very good afternoon to you all.
34:07Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at C4Countdown, or write to us at
34:15Countdown Leeds LS3 1JS. You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:24Are the government doing enough to tackle social housing problems in the UK?
34:29Channel 4 Dispatches investigates the great housing scandal tonight at eight.
34:33Next this afternoon, looking for a new life, and there's nowhere better to do it than a place in the
34:38sun.
34:42.