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00:17Thank you very much.
00:31Well, welcome to the Countdown studio. It's all very exciting here in the studio of the world's longest running quesho
00:38of its type. But down in London, SW19, something else is going on that's been running for even longer, Rachel.
00:45Oh, yes. Wimbledon kicks off or swings into action. Possibly that's a better way of putting it.
00:51Today, played host to the finest tennis players since 1877. But today, the ball boys and girls have been practicing
01:01for weeks and weeks.
01:02In fact, their training started way back in February. Training since February to run and catch a ball and throw
01:10it to somebody. I don't know. What have you trained longest for?
01:15You're a cyclist, I know. You trained for your long distance rides?
01:19I did. I trained for my 100k a couple of years ago when I did that. And I had a
01:23little strict regime. But I think I trained harder when I was on Strictly. Because that was impossible. And that
01:29goes from naught to everything every week. You start from nothing and you have to perform in front of 10
01:34million people.
01:36It's amazing, isn't it? You know, they had a little conversation with me. And I said, now, look, let's be
01:42honest about all this. I'd last two minutes. And when it was all over, you'd be very unhappy. It would
01:50have been impossible.
01:51I don't know. I'd like to see you in the outfits, Nick. I can think of nothing worse. Anyway, it's
01:56sweeter than to ask. Now, who's with us? Imogen Gordon is back. Imogen, how are you?
02:00I'm good. Well, so you should be. A-level student from Hale Barnes with three great wins to your name.
02:07So, well done.
02:08Thanks. Welcome back. You're joined by Colin Beattie or Batty?
02:12Beattie. Beattie. Right, from Arbroath, Senior Finance Manager there. Big fan of Arbroath Football Club. And you're on the committee
02:20there. What do you do on this committee?
02:21I'm on the committee for the Supporters Club. Excellent. We arrange buses for all the away games.
02:26OK. And you travel far and wide across Scotland, yeah? Yes.
02:29Brilliant. Well, you've come down to see us and you're very welcome. Have a lot of fun. Relax, both of
02:35you.
02:35Big round of applause now for Imogen and Colin.
02:43Oh, yes. Susie's back, as is the envoy of entertainment.
02:50None other than the entertainment editor.
02:54Good morning, Britain. That's that wonderful, wicked Richard Arnold. Welcome back, Richard.
03:05Very funny guy. Imogen. Off we go. Let us go.
03:10Please, could I start with a vowel, Rachel?
03:12Thank you, Imogen. Start the week with O.
03:15And another?
03:17E.
03:17And a consonant?
03:20And a consonant?
03:21And another?
03:23K.
03:24And a vowel?
03:26U.
03:28And another?
03:30A.
03:31And a consonant?
03:33S.
03:34And a vowel?
03:36I.
03:38And a final consonant, please.
03:41A final C.
03:42And here's the countdown clock.
04:16Imogen.
04:18Just a five.
04:19A five.
04:20Colin?
04:20I'd say six.
04:22Yes, Imogen.
04:24Cakes?
04:25Colin?
04:26Smoky.
04:27A smoky?
04:28Yes, as in the herring, or habit rather.
04:31Are you talking about an arboros?
04:33Smoky, yes.
04:35Good call.
04:36Well done.
04:37Delicious.
04:37Deliciously done.
04:38And over in the corner?
04:39We've got mockies for seven.
04:42Yes.
04:43Yes, over to you, Susie.
04:45Oh, short for mocky-mock birds, and New Zealand birds, and otherwise known as bell birds.
04:51There you go, mockies.
04:52Yeah.
04:53Well done.
04:53Well done there, Colin.
04:55Now, it's Colin's letters game.
04:57Good luck.
04:59Hi, Rachel.
05:00Hi, Colin.
05:00May I have a consonant, please?
05:02You may, thank you.
05:02Start with H.
05:04And another.
05:06S.
05:07And another.
05:09P.
05:10And a vowel.
05:12E.
05:13And another.
05:15O.
05:16And may I have a consonant?
05:18W.
05:20And another.
05:22N.
05:23And a vowel, please.
05:26E.
05:27And a final consonant.
05:29A final D.
05:31Stand by.
05:32D.
05:59You may have a consonant.
06:03Colin?
06:04Six.
06:04Six. Imogen?
06:06Six.
06:07Yes, Colin?
06:08Spewed.
06:09Yes.
06:10And?
06:10Spewed.
06:11You both spewed.
06:13I bet Richard didn't.
06:15It's a night out in our bro.
06:18Richard.
06:21Depones for seven.
06:23Yes.
06:24Susie?
06:25Yes.
06:25Another mainly Scottish term, in fact, for giving evidence as a witness in a law court to depone.
06:30Depones.
06:32Imogen, your numbers game now.
06:34Off we go.
06:35One large one, five little ones, please.
06:38Thank you, Imogen.
06:38One from the top.
06:39And five little ones.
06:41And for the first time in this series, the numbers are five, nine, seven, three, two, and
06:49the large one, 50.
06:50And the target, 642.
06:53Six, four, two.
06:57Six, four, three, four, three, four, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:08five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:09five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:09five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:09five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:09five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five,
07:27Imogen?
07:29645.
07:31And Colin?
07:33643.
07:3443. Let's go with Colin then for the moment.
07:37OK. 5 times 2 equals 10.
07:40Yep.
07:40Plus 3 is 13.
07:43Times 50.
07:44650.
07:46Minus 7.
07:48Yep.
07:49643.
07:50Lovely. One above.
07:51There we go.
07:52So, just shave one off.
07:54642, Rachel?
07:56Yes.
07:56And if you say 50 times 2 is 100,
08:00plus the 7 for 107,
08:03and then 9 minus 3 is 6,
08:05and times them together for 642.
08:06Perfect. Look at that.
08:08642.
08:11Well done.
08:11So, 19 plays Imogen 6
08:14as we turn to our first Tea Time teaser,
08:17which is Upshot Eek.
08:20And the clue.
08:21The man spent all day doing the washing,
08:23ironing, cleaning and cooking.
08:24The man spent all day
08:26doing the washing, ironing, cleaning and cooking.
08:32So, he effectively house-kept,
08:53house-kept,
08:5619 plays 6, Colin on 19.
08:59Colin, your letters go.
09:00May I have a consonant, please?
09:02Thank you, Colin.
09:04R.
09:05And another.
09:06D.
09:07And another.
09:09G.
09:10And a vowel, please.
09:12U.
09:12And another.
09:14I.
09:15And another.
09:16O.
09:17And another.
09:20I.
09:21And a consonant, please.
09:24M.
09:25And another vowel, please.
09:28And lastly, A.
09:31Stand by.
09:31Ц
09:32And a synagogue.
09:35C Jessica Imagine
09:36And another vowel, please.
09:48Try.
09:55I.
10:04Colin.
10:05Just a four.
10:06And Imogen.
10:08A five.
10:09A five.
10:09Colin's four.
10:10Good.
10:11And?
10:12Idiom.
10:13Idiom.
10:14Yes.
10:14Very good.
10:15What about the corner, Richard?
10:17Uh, origami for seven.
10:18Yes.
10:19Anything else, Susie?
10:20Yeah, there is an eight there.
10:21Um, uh, an ideogram is, um, essentially a symbol.
10:25So it's a character that represents the idea of something.
10:27So, um, Roman numerals, Chinese characters, et cetera, those are all ideograms.
10:32Got it.
10:32All right.
10:33Thank you very much.
10:35And, well done, Imogen.
10:38Touching distance now.
10:40Eleven to, uh, Collins, nineteen, and it's your letters game.
10:43Please, can I start with a vowel?
10:45Thank you, Imogen.
10:46O.
10:47And another?
10:48I.
10:50And a consonant?
10:52T.
10:53And another?
10:54Z.
10:55And a third?
10:57N.
10:58And a vowel?
11:00E.
11:02And another vowel?
11:04A.
11:06And a consonant?
11:07N.
11:08And a final consonant, please.
11:11A final S.
11:12Stand by.
11:13Ready?
11:42Thank you, Dabei.
11:43See you!
11:43Imogen? A seven. A seven, Colin? Seven as well. Imogen? A zaniest. And Colin? Nations. Yeah, very good. Both nice.
11:54Can we match the seven, Richard? Susie? A nations. Yes, you can put an E on the front of nations
12:00and have A nations. Very good, Richard. Are outgrowths from the surface of the leaf or other part of the
12:06plant. Yes. Well done.
12:11I expected. Anything else there, Susie? No. Right, well done, Richard. 26 to 18. Colin, your numbers game. Can I
12:20have one from the top and any five small ones, please? You can indeed. Thank you, Colin. One large, five
12:26little. And for the second time today, the numbers are four, four, two, three, eight, and the large one, 50.
12:36And the target, 226.
12:39Two, two, six.
12:40One, two, five.
12:43Two, six.
12:48Two, six.
12:49Two, six.
12:49Three, five.
13:02Two, six.
13:03One, two, three.
13:05Two, five.
13:10Yes, Colin?
13:112, 2, 6.
13:13Imogen?
13:142, 2, 6.
13:14Off we go, Colin.
13:15OK, 4 plus 3 is 7.
13:174 plus 3 is 7.
13:19Plus 50.
13:2057.
13:21Times by 4.
13:22Times by the other 4 for 228.
13:26And take away the 2.
13:272, 2, 6, lovely.
13:28Imogen?
13:29I did 50 times 4.
13:324, 200.
13:33And then 8 times 3.
13:3624.
13:37Added 2.
13:3826.
13:40Lovely.
13:41Well done.
13:44Well done.
13:45So 36 plays 28.
13:48Imogen on 28 as we look towards Richard.
13:54Richard, you do these brilliant cameo roles and you've been at it again.
14:00I have indeed.
14:01So Hollyoaks, the flagship soap opera of Channel 4, called and I was delighted to take that call.
14:08Particularly when they said it would involve a trip to Palmer.
14:10Now I've gone to the Love Island many times to cover the ITV2 show, but I'd never been to Palmer
14:15for a proper caper.
14:16And it turned out it was a great caper.
14:18It was with the McQueen family.
14:19Now anyone who's watched Hollyoaks, I know Nick, you're totally across this.
14:23The McQueen's are a bunch of rough diamonds.
14:26They like a big night out.
14:27Like Susie, they like to wake up in a skip outside Nando's.
14:29Otherwise the job isn't done at the weekend, you know.
14:33So my role was to be sort of privy to the antics of the hen party in Magaluf.
14:39Now the bride-to-be gets caught with a rather attractive chap called Silva, who's played by a towering strength
14:47of a man.
14:48You know, very masculine, very good-looking chap called David Tack.
14:51Very easy on the eye.
14:52And my job was to catch him running from her hotel room, naked, his modesty covered only by an inflatable
15:01unicorn.
15:05So I was champing at the bit, obviously, to take this part.
15:09It was going to be a huge stretch for me.
15:11We managed to bag the cameo in about a couple of hours, a few takes.
15:17And this is something you can actually try at home.
15:19I know normally in this medium we say, please don't try it at home, but you can.
15:23So my cameo consisted of this.
15:25Imagine there's a naked man running across the countdown set.
15:32Brilliant.
15:35Very good.
15:37I know.
15:38It was a real stretch, but I managed it.
15:41Got a bit of colour too and went for a nice lunch afterwards.
15:44Brilliant stuff.
15:44Well done.
15:4536 plays 28.
15:47Colin on 36.
15:48And Imogen, it's your letters game.
15:51Please could I have a vowel?
15:53Thank you, Imogen.
15:54O.
15:54And another.
15:56U.
15:57And a third.
15:59O.
16:00And a consonant.
16:01P.
16:02And another.
16:05R.
16:06And another.
16:08T.
16:09And a vowel.
16:11E.
16:12And another.
16:15I.
16:17And a final consonant, please.
16:20A final S.
16:21Stand by.
16:23And a vowel.
16:40And a vowel.
16:41And a vowel.
16:42And a vowel.
16:42And a vowel.
16:43And a vowel.
16:43and a vowel.
16:44And a vowel.
16:54Imogen just a seven a seven calling seven as well not written down sorry not written down
17:00what have you got a poorest now then Imogen I also have oh that was a near miss well done
17:10now the corner's struggling with something over there Richard I've just got my first ever nine
17:17what I know I may take my top off it's an eight is it but it's still brilliant I'll keep
17:23the top on
17:26Porteous Porteous I know what does it mean Susie Porteous um in Scottish law a lot of um Scottish
17:34things today is a list of the names of indicted offenders prepared by the justice clerk
17:45you've shot up in my estimation from a low base admittedly but you really the benchmark is set
17:54pretty low it's my Scottish roots you see Porteous that's pretty that's pretty terrific 43 to 35
18:00Imogen 35 Colin your letters game may I have a consonant please thank you Colin ah and another
18:07t and a vowel a and another e and a consonant please s and another j and another l and
18:24a vowel
18:24you and another consonant please lastly t standby
18:33bye
18:48you
19:04Yes Colin. Just a five. Imogen. A six. Thank you Colin. I've got stair. Now then. Alters. Yep. Alters. Alters.
19:15Oh I love that word. And Richard. Turtles for seven. But Susie's got gold here. I've never heard this word
19:24before.
19:25And that's very rare. Lustrate. To lustrate is to purify through sacrifice. It's all about ceremonial washing or some kind
19:35of ritual action. So. Baptism. Yeah it would involve lustration. Lustration. Now 43 plays 41. Imogen your numbers game. Please
19:50could I have one big one for five little ones.
19:52Yes. You can indeed. Thank you original. One from the top. And five little. And this time the selection is
19:59eight. Nine. Ten. Five. Ten. And 75. And the target 627. 627.
20:44627. 627. 627. 625.
20:49Let's stick with Colin for the moment shall we. I've got. Eight minus five is three. Yep. Ten minus the
20:58three is seven. Seven. And 75 times seven. It's 525.
21:06Oh I've went wrong. Sorry. Mmm. You're back in the game Imogen. That's a surprise. 75 times eight. 75 times
21:18eight is 600. And then just added the two tens. And added the two tens and you've nicked the lead.
21:24There you are. Well done. Well done. Rachel. Untangle this for us. 627. Well 9 times 75 is 675. And
21:37then if you say 10 divided by 10 is 1. Added to 5 for 6. Times that by the remaining
21:438 for 48. And take it away you get 627.
21:46Well done Rachel. As ever. So with Imogen in the lead. 46 to Colin's. 43 we turn to our second
21:57Tea Time Teaser which is Firm Goner.
21:59And the clue. The old rock gang were giving up their wild ways and getting back together. The old rock
22:05gang were giving up their wild ways and getting back together.
22:30They are reforming or reforming. Reforming or reforming. So. 46 plays 45.
22:3843. Imogen in the lead by three points. Colin. Your letters came.
22:43OK. May I have a consonant please? You may. Thank you Colin. S. And another.
22:48M. And another. H. And a vowel please. A. And another. I. And another. E. And a consonant. T.
23:04A. And another. F. And a vowel please. And the last one. A. Stand by.
23:13cabeça T.
23:14TAN seiner.
23:14TAN seiner.
23:26TAN seiner.
23:30TANè²´.
23:41TANINGA.
23:42TAN SMITH.
23:44Colin?
23:45Six.
23:46Imogen?
23:46Six.
23:47Yes, Colin?
23:48I've got shines.
23:49Shines and?
23:50Fanes.
23:53Richard?
23:54Shanties.
23:55Shanties, very good.
23:57Susie?
23:57Yes, and there's a botanical word there as well,
24:00anthesis, and the anthesis is the flowering period of a plant
24:03from the opening of the flower bud.
24:05Oh, lovely.
24:06Thank you very much.
24:0952 plays 49.
24:11Imogen?
24:12Letters game for you.
24:13Erm, please could I have a vowel?
24:16O.
24:17And another?
24:18I.
24:20And a third?
24:21A.
24:22And a consonant?
24:24T.
24:25And another?
24:27R.
24:28And a third?
24:30D.
24:31And a vowel?
24:33E.
24:34And another?
24:37U.
24:38And a final consonant, please.
24:40A final G.
24:42Stand by.
24:43Alan.
24:44And a A.
24:45And a vowel.
25:11I was right.
25:14Imogen.
25:15A seven.
25:16Yes.
25:17Seven as well.
25:18Two sevens.
25:19Imogen.
25:19Auditor.
25:20Colin.
25:22Grouted.
25:23And over in the corner now, Richard.
25:25We had torag for six.
25:27Yeah.
25:28And if someone called you that, Susie, you'd be...
25:30Outraged.
25:31For eight.
25:32Quite right.
25:33Anything else?
25:34Triage is there for seven.
25:36Triage.
25:37Yeah.
25:3859 to 56.
25:40Three points in it, Susie.
25:42Let them rest whilst you deliver your wonderful origins of words.
25:48What have we today?
25:50I'm going to talk about the story behind Catch-22.
25:54We often talk about Catch-22, a lose-lose situation, really,
25:57when we can't win no matter which way we turn.
26:00One decision is dependent on another, which in turn is dependent on the first.
26:04So it's a sort of loop, if you like.
26:06And most of us know, or many of us know,
26:08that it comes from Joseph Heller's novel of the same name.
26:12But you might not know what he was referring to,
26:14so I thought I would talk a little bit about that today.
26:16The story in his novel is set in Italy in World War II.
26:20And the main character is a Captain Yossarian,
26:23who's a bombardier, as Heller himself was, in fact,
26:25who wants to get out of flying potentially deadly combat missions.
26:30And the easiest way to get out of flying more missions is to plead insanity.
26:35And this is what he writes.
26:37It's a gotcha, as they're otherwise known,
26:40or a catch in military law that relates to a terrified bomber pilot's decision
26:44as to whether or not to fly a combat mission.
26:46If the pilot never asks to be relieved,
26:48he can be officially regarded as insane,
26:51and therefore is eligible to be grounded.
26:54But if he does ask, he is regarded as being sane enough
26:58to recognise the dangers of flying,
27:00and therefore is refused permission to come down,
27:02and has to fly more missions.
27:05In other words, if he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to.
27:08But if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to.
27:12And he writes,
27:13Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity
27:15of this clause of catch-22,
27:18and let out a respectful whistle.
27:20That's some catch, that catch-22, he said.
27:23He wanted to call the phrase, and hence the book, by other numbers,
27:27but he and his publishers eventually decided on 22.
27:30In fact, I think he wanted to choose 18 originally,
27:33but there was another novel very popular at the time called Mila 18,
27:36which was published just before,
27:37so he had to change it very quickly.
27:39Why 22, we'll never know,
27:41but probably just because it was euphonious,
27:43it sounded beautiful,
27:45and it just sounded right for the novel,
27:47a catch-22, and that's how it was born,
27:50and we have been using it ever since.
27:51Oh, thank you.
27:55Thanks, Susie.
27:5856 to 59, Imogen three points ahead.
28:01Colin, your letters game.
28:03May I have a consonant, please?
28:05Thank you, Colin.
28:06S.
28:06And another.
28:08C.
28:09And another.
28:11N.
28:12And a vowel.
28:13A.
28:14And another.
28:15E.
28:16And another.
28:18O.
28:20A consonant.
28:22B.
28:23Another.
28:25L.
28:26And a vowel, please.
28:28And to finish, A.
28:31Stand by.
28:32The pick.
28:33Everything.
28:50Dance by.
28:51And another.
28:51And another.
28:57Bye.
28:58Bye.
29:00Bye.
29:01Bye.
29:03Colin.
29:04I've got a risky nine.
29:06Good man, good man.
29:08Imogen?
29:08Just a six.
29:10And your six?
29:11Cables.
29:13Now, what sort of risk is this?
29:14You're dangling for us.
29:15Sorry, a scornable?
29:17A scornable?
29:20Erm...
29:24No, it's not there, I'm afraid.
29:27Oh, bad luck.
29:28Would have been devastating, I can tell you, if you've got a nine.
29:31What has the corner got tantalises with?
29:37Abalones.
29:38Abalones.
29:39Abalones, edible mollusks.
29:41Yep, they're there for eight as our balances as well.
29:46So, Imogen's sprinting ahead a little bit, and it's her letters game.
29:50Yes, madam?
29:51Please, could I start with a consonant?
29:53Thank you, Imogen.
29:54Y.
29:55And another?
29:57R.
29:58And another?
30:00R.
30:00And a vowel?
30:03E.
30:04And another?
30:05I.
30:07And a third?
30:09E.
30:10And a consonant?
30:12R.
30:13And a vowel?
30:15A.
30:17And a final consonant, please.
30:19And a final?
30:20G.
30:22Stand by.
30:23And a vowel?
30:41And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:44And a vowel?
30:45And a vowel?
30:47and a vowel?
30:48And a vowel?
30:54Colin.
30:55I've got six not written down.
30:57And Imogen?
30:59A risky six.
31:01Colin.
31:02Greer.
31:04Imogen.
31:05Weegear.
31:07I was telling that.
31:09R-E-G-E-A-R.
31:12Oh, Weegear.
31:13Erm, don't think we're going to find it, Imogen.
31:16No, it's not there, I'm afraid.
31:17Sorry.
31:18Well, bad luck.
31:19Bad luck.
31:20But, the corner may have something interesting.
31:23Yes.
31:24Richard.
31:25A greyer for six we had, didn't we?
31:27Yes.
31:27That's a tough one.
31:28That's it?
31:29Yeah.
31:29All right, so, Colin's caught up a bit.
31:32Just three points in it.
31:3365 to 62 in Imogen's favour.
31:36And it's Colin we turn to for the final numbers game.
31:39Colin.
31:40May I have one large and five small, please?
31:43You can indeed, thank you, Colin.
31:44One large and five little coming up.
31:47The final one of the day and a possible crucial conundrum coming up.
31:50These numbers are six, three, five, seven, two, and a large one, 100.
31:57And the target, 198.
32:00198.
32:02198.
32:03198.
32:03198.
32:05198.
32:17MUSIC CONTINUES
32:33Colin? 198.
32:34I think so. Imogen?
32:36198.
32:36Off we go, Colin.
32:37100 times 2 is 200, and 7 minus 5 is 2.
32:42And Imogen?
32:43Exactly the same.
32:44Same way.
32:44OK, don't let's spend too much time on that.
32:48What we've got here is a 75 to 72.
32:51Means only one thing.
32:52Final round.
32:53Yes, conundrum.
32:54But a crucial conundrum.
32:56Fingers on buzzers.
32:58Let's roll today's crucial countdown conundrum.
33:01MUSIC CONTINUES
33:25Colin?
33:25Choppiest?
33:27Choppiest, you said.
33:29Let's see.
33:31Look at that.
33:38Well done, Colin.
33:4082 to Imogen's 75.
33:43Oh, Imogen.
33:44You've got your teapot.
33:45I did.
33:46And you had some good wins.
33:48Three good wins, I think.
33:49Thank you so much for coming.
33:52Thanks.
33:53Colin, well done.
33:54Thank you very much.
33:55A late surge.
33:56But we'll see you tomorrow.
33:58Well done.
33:59See you tomorrow.
34:00Now, here's the bad news.
34:02Good news for some, bad news.
34:03We won't be seeing you tomorrow until we can get you back.
34:06It's always a pleasure to have you here.
34:08You're the naughty boy of countdown.
34:10And it's always enormous fun to have you here.
34:12You come and see us again soon.
34:14Please.
34:14I love it, Nick.
34:15Thank you very much.
34:16Susie, see you tomorrow.
34:17Certainly will.
34:18All right.
34:19And Rachel too, of course.
34:20Yeah, we're going to be double parked with Susie's tomorrow.
34:22We've got Susie Perry in.
34:23Two Susie's.
34:24Yeah.
34:25Easier for you.
34:26Yeah, for once.
34:28We'll see you tomorrow.
34:29See you then.
34:30Join us then.
34:30Same time, same place.
34:32You'll be sure of it.
34:32A very good afternoon.
34:34Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at C4Countdown, or write to us at
34:41Countdown, Leeds, LS3, 1JS.
34:45You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
35:02We'll see you next time.