- 1 day ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:17Thank you very much.
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34A very excited, very excited Countdown Studio today
00:39because today we're kicking off the series 77 finals.
00:44Oh, yes.
00:44And over the last period, I guess, 124 competitors
00:48have fought for a place here in the finals.
00:50And I think for the first time in many a long year, Rachel,
00:55you correct me if I'm wrong,
00:56that all, all of our finalists are octachamps.
01:00And that's a tremendous achievement, really.
01:03And I was thinking about sort of battles that we've all won
01:06and which ones are we proudest of.
01:08And I'm going to offer you a very sort of mundane battle, really,
01:11which I did win after many years of torment and promises
01:16and broken promises.
01:18And that was giving up the weed, giving up cigarettes.
01:20I know it's a mundane thing.
01:22But actually, to achieve that, I was so proud of it.
01:25I'm not altogether sure what I'd be doing if I hadn't.
01:28Staggering around, breathing heavily, I suppose.
01:31Excuse me.
01:32If you're thinking about hard competitions, what comes to mind?
01:35Well, when we were at uni,
01:37my team won the Cup is Five-A-Side Football Tournament.
01:41And we were very proud of that
01:42because that's the whole intercollegiate thing.
01:44So about 39 colleges all fight against each other.
01:46And we won.
01:47And then we had another battle
01:48because the boys at the college,
01:50when they won the wooden spoon,
01:51which is once they're out of the main competition,
01:53then they go into the bowl.
01:54Once they're out of that, then they go into the spoon.
01:55So they won the third rung of something.
01:57And they got this champagne reception.
01:59And as girls, we won the whole competition
02:01and didn't have anything.
02:02So we fought.
02:03And they said, that's a very good point.
02:04You can have your champagne reception too.
02:06Quite right too.
02:07You fought for your champagne reception.
02:09Absolutely.
02:10Something's worth fighting for, Nick.
02:11You never give up on a champagne reception.
02:14All right.
02:14Now, let's get down to business
02:16because these guys have fought their way through.
02:18Tom Chaffer-Cook, software developer
02:21from Horsay in Shropshire,
02:23our number one seed.
02:24What a player.
02:26Racked up 896 points during the heats
02:29and delivered the series high score of 129.
02:33So, you know, tremendous achievement.
02:36But you're up against Graham Staples,
02:38housing executive from Ballymena.
02:40He's our number eight seed.
02:41He racked up a very, very impressive
02:43six, seven, eight points.
02:46All right.
02:46Big round of applause.
02:53As in the corner, Susie and Paul Zenon, of course,
02:57to witness round one of series 77 finals.
03:01Tom Chaffer-Cook, lead the way.
03:04Good afternoon, Rachel.
03:05Afternoon, Tom.
03:06Could I start with a consonant, please?
03:09Start the first quarterfinal with R.
03:14And another, please.
03:17And another.
03:21And a vowel.
03:24And another.
03:29And another.
03:32And a consonant.
03:35And a final consonant, please.
03:46And a final S.
03:48And here's the countdown clock.
03:51And aуск.
04:19If you think of
04:22Yes, Tom?
04:23Just six.
04:24A six.
04:25And Graham?
04:26I'll stick with five.
04:27Your five?
04:28Sworn.
04:29Tom?
04:30Swains.
04:32Swains.
04:33Yes.
04:33All time for lovers.
04:35You're Swain, young lover or suitor.
04:38Now, what have we got?
04:39Can we beat these two octachamps, I wonder?
04:42They're just sixes, really, aren't they?
04:44Sonars and Rowans were the only other two we got.
04:48All right.
04:48So, six to Tom.
04:50Now, we turn to Graham.
04:51Your letters came, Graham.
04:53Afternoon, Rachel.
04:54Afternoon, Graham.
04:55Start with a consonant, please.
04:57Start with P.
04:59And a vial.
05:01E.
05:02A consonant, please.
05:04R.
05:06And another consonant.
05:08S.
05:09A vial, please.
05:11A.
05:12And another vial.
05:15U.
05:16A consonant, please.
05:18S.
05:20A consonant.
05:22G.
05:24And a vial, please.
05:27And lastly, I.
05:30Stand by.
05:31A consonant.
05:32A consonant.
05:45A consonant.
05:47A consonant.
05:53A Pioneer.
06:02Graham?
06:03Seven, not written down.
06:05And Tom?
06:05There's a seven as well.
06:07Now then, Graham.
06:08Gassier?
06:09And Tom?
06:10The same word, gassier, yeah.
06:14Yes, Paul?
06:16I think there's an eight there, with upraisers.
06:21Upraises, yes.
06:22Upraises.
06:22Yeah.
06:23Well done.
06:26Well done.
06:27So, 13 plays seven, and it's Tom we turn to now for a numbers game.
06:32Yes, Tom?
06:32Could I have an inverted T, please?
06:35You can indeed.
06:36Thank you, Tom.
06:37Start with a possible gentle one.
06:38One large, five little.
06:39And for the first time today, they are four, two, nine, one, eight.
06:47And the large one, 75.
06:49And the target, 612.
06:526-1-2.
06:53The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
07:23the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
07:23the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
07:23the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
07:23the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
07:23the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the
07:25Tom.
07:26612.
07:27612.
07:28And Graham?
07:29612.
07:30Tom.
07:3175 times 8.
07:3375 times 8 is 600.
07:35And add the 9, the 2 and the 1.
07:37Lovely.
07:38Gentle one, the tartars.
07:39And Graham?
07:40Just slightly different, 75 times 8,
07:43and then 9 plus 4 is 13, and take away 1 is 12.
07:46Yeah, that'll do.
07:47Well done.
07:48Well done.
07:52So 23 plays 17, Tom on 23,
07:55and it's time for our first Tea Time Teaser,
07:57which is Given Pair.
08:00And the clue.
08:01He was given a pair, but it wasn't plucked from this.
08:04He was given a pair, but it wasn't plucked from this.
08:23Welcome back.
08:24I left with the clue.
08:25He was given a pair, but it wasn't plucked from this.
08:30Wasn't plucked from the grapevine.
08:33Grapevine.
08:33So 23 for Tom, Graham on 17.
08:36Graham, your letters go.
08:39Consonant, please, Rachel.
08:41Thank you, Graham.
08:42C.
08:43The vial.
08:45O.
08:46Consonant, please.
08:48F.
08:50Another one, please.
08:51Z.
08:53Vial.
08:55E.
08:56Another vial.
08:58O.
09:00Consonant.
09:02M.
09:04Another consonant.
09:06T.
09:08And another consonant, please.
09:10And the last one, another T.
09:13Stand by.
09:28One
09:40One
09:42Two
09:42One
09:44Well, Graham.
09:45I'll stick with five.
09:47Tom?
09:48Five also.
09:50Graham?
09:51Comment.
09:52And?
09:53Totem.
09:54Totem?
09:55Yeah, very good.
09:56Comment in Totem.
09:58Can you match or even beat that, Paul and Susie?
10:01No, we couldn't, actually.
10:02We kind of matched it with another five, which is Optet.
10:0728 plays 22.
10:08Tom maintains his lead, and it's Tom's letters game.
10:11Consonant, please.
10:12Thank you, Tom.
10:14S.
10:15And another.
10:17L.
10:19And another.
10:21P.
10:22And a vowel.
10:24E.
10:26And another.
10:28I.
10:29And another.
10:31O.
10:34And a consonant.
10:36N.
10:38And a vowel.
10:41E.
10:43And a final consonant, please.
10:47And a final T.
10:49Stand by.
10:51And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:11And a vowel.
11:12And a vowel.
11:21Tom.
11:22Eight.
11:24Graham.
11:25I'll stick with seven.
11:27And that's seven.
11:28Top line.
11:29Top line now, Tom.
11:31Pot lines.
11:32Pot lines.
11:33Is absolutely right.
11:36I need to get used to these, Tom, again.
11:37A line of retorts used for the electrolytic production of aluminium.
11:43Wow.
11:49Now, what of the corner?
11:50What have you produced there?
11:51Paul and Susie?
11:52Just one of the eight we got there, wasn't it?
11:54With pointoles.
11:57Pointoles, yes.
11:58Botanical term for the pointed organ in a flower.
12:00So it's usually called the pistil.
12:01It's an organ of a flower.
12:03And just to say, top line is hyphenated, unfortunately.
12:06Oh, bad luck.
12:0736 plays.
12:0822.
12:09And it is a numbers game for Graham.
12:13Could I have a two large and four small, please, Rachel?
12:17You can indeed.
12:18Thank you, Graham.
12:19Two from the top.
12:20Four little.
12:21And these four little ones are eight, seven, one, and nine.
12:27And the big two, 75 and 50.
12:30And your target, 455.
12:33Four, five, five.
13:06Four, five, six.
13:07One away.
13:08Four, five, six.
13:09Four, five, six.
13:10And Tom?
13:11Four, five, five.
13:13So Tom?
13:1650 plus seven.
13:1850 plus seven, 57.
13:20Times eight.
13:21Times eight is 456.
13:24And take away one.
13:26And that's four, five, five.
13:27Lovely.
13:27Well done.
13:31Well done.
13:3246 now to 22 as we turn to Paul.
13:35And Paul, you're leaving the Panto theme behind today and you're embracing technology.
13:41Yes, right.
13:42We've been talking about Panto.
13:43It's a very ancient tradition.
13:45You know, as I say, I'm kind of doing Aladdin up in Preston.
13:48And kind of keep in touch with the folks back home via high-tech devices.
13:53This is what I've invented myself.
13:55This is a phone with a built-in camera and it's called a Zed phone.
14:00That's what I've called it.
14:01No.
14:01Everybody's always talking about how slim things are, how lightweight.
14:04Yep.
14:05Don't get any thinner than that.
14:06And just to distinguish it, I've even come up with a logo for it.
14:10There.
14:11It's a Zed phone.
14:13And also, it's got a little built-in camera like that as well.
14:17Sounds a bit weird, but I'm going to take a photograph of the future.
14:21So here we go.
14:24And there we go.
14:25That's come out pretty well, actually.
14:26We'll come back to that in a second.
14:28But I'm going to show you how this works with a bit of time travel.
14:31Now, I'm going to get Rachel to choose a card.
14:33And I've sort of left you alone this week, haven't I, Rachel, since that restraining order?
14:37Exactly.
14:39So what I'm going to do, actually, is give these a quick mix-up.
14:42And rather than sort of wander over there, I'll just flick through with one hand so there's no cheating.
14:46I'll just riffle down with the thumb and just say stop whenever you like.
14:49Stop.
14:50There?
14:50OK.
14:51We'll use that card there, which is, what, six of clubs, as good as any.
14:54And I'm going to write on here to make it even more unique.
14:57It's already, you know, reasonably unique, if that's not a contradiction in terms.
15:02So we'll use a red pen so we can see it.
15:04Now, Nick, I want you to name any year in the future.
15:07Just name a year.
15:102083.
15:112083?
15:12I had a feeling you'd say that.
15:152083.
15:15So we'll scribble that on there.
15:17And, Graham, can you just think of a month of the year?
15:20Any month?
15:21August.
15:22August.
15:22Right.
15:23Let's put, abbreviate to that to AUG.
15:26And down to you for the date, the specific date.
15:29The 14th.
15:3114th, says Tom.
15:31OK.
15:32So, 14th of August, 2083.
15:36Now, the bizarre coincidence, that sounded fairly random, but that's actually the date that I took a photograph of in
15:42the future.
15:46Now, those cards, normally what you do, you kind of shuffle the cards, have a look through them,
15:50and try and find that particular card.
15:52We don't do that, because that's history.
15:54Now, you remember, I took a photograph before, of that particular year.
15:58Now, this is the interesting thing.
16:00If we take the Z phone, and I just bring up the image that I took, resize it.
16:06Have a look at that.
16:08It's the six of clubs, with the 14th of August, 2083.
16:14Yay!
16:18We'll hopefully be in the shops by Christmas.
16:21Wow.
16:22And I hope you're charging a lot of money for that.
16:24Of course.
16:25No, that's superb.
16:27Superb.
16:27And now, Tom, it's your letters game.
16:30Start with a consonant, please.
16:31Thank you, Tom.
16:32X.
16:34And another.
16:36M.
16:38And another.
16:40D.
16:42And a vowel, please.
16:44E.
16:45And another.
16:47U.
16:53And a consonant.
16:55K.
16:57And a vowel.
17:00E.
17:03And a final consonant, please.
17:06And a final L.
17:08Stand by.
17:09What?
17:10Why?
17:11MUSIC PLAYS
17:40Well, Tom?
17:41A six.
17:42And Graham?
17:43And a six.
17:44Tom?
17:45Module.
17:46Module and?
17:47Same word.
17:49And module. Two modules. Any more modules?
17:52There were modules, but there's a nice one with deluxe.
17:57All right.
17:5828 to 52, and it's Graham's letters game.
18:02Graham?
18:03Consonant, please, Rachel.
18:04Thank you, Graham.
18:06B.
18:07And a vial?
18:09A.
18:10A consonant, please.
18:12F.
18:14Another one.
18:16M.
18:18Vial, please.
18:20E.
18:21Another vial.
18:23I.
18:24A consonant.
18:26D.
18:28Another consonant.
18:30H.
18:33And a vial, please.
18:36And lastly, U.
18:38Countdown.
18:40A consonant.
18:52¶¶
19:11Graham? Five. Five. Tom? I'll stick with a six.
19:16Now then, Graham? Humid. And?
19:19Imbued. Nice six.
19:21And in the corner?
19:23No, that was a tough one, actually. Strangely, that.
19:25Now we had a five with famed and, yeah, couldn't do any better than that.
19:28That's it. Susie?
19:29Imbued for our best.
19:30Yep.
19:31Thank you. All right. 58 to 28. Tom, numbers. Numbers game for you.
19:37Another inverted T, please.
19:38Thank you, Tom. Another one from the top five, a little selection.
19:42And for this round, they are seven, one, nine, three, four, and 25.
19:52And the target? 511.
19:55Five, one, one.
19:56Five, one, a little, one.
19:57Five, two, one.
20:01Five, two, one.
20:08Five, two, one.
20:09Eight, nine, two, one.
20:21Six, seven, five, one, ten.
20:28Yes, Tom?
20:295-1-1.
20:30And Graham?
20:31Just 5-0-9.
20:335-0-9.
20:34So we'll stick with Tom.
20:3525 times 3 times 7.
20:39Is 525.
20:41And subtract the 9, the 4 and the 1.
20:44The 9 and the 4 and the 1 gives you 5-11.
20:47Well done.
20:48Oh, well done.
20:48Very good.
20:52Bravo.
20:52Bravo, 6-8-28.
20:55As we turn to our second Tea Time teaser,
20:58which is Paul Peter.
21:01And the clue, Paul and Peter wouldn't stop wittering.
21:04It was never ending.
21:06Paul and Peter wouldn't stop wittering.
21:08It was never ending.
21:26Welcome back.
21:26I left with the clue.
21:27Paul and Peter wouldn't stop wittering.
21:30It was never ending.
21:33It was perpetual.
21:35Perpetual.
21:36So 68 plays 28.
21:38Tom in the lead.
21:39Graham, your letters game.
21:41Consonant, please, Rachel.
21:43Thank you, Graham.
21:44N.
21:45And a vial.
21:47A.
21:49Consonant, please.
22:13And lastly, L.
22:16Stand by.
22:50Graham? A seven. And Tom? A seven, yeah. Graham? Unclean. And Tom? The same word, yeah. Can we beat that,
23:01I wonder? Yeah, I think there's a couple of eights there, I think, with a nulled, I think, just there,
23:08and uncalled. Uncalled will do. Very good. Well done.
23:16Thank you. 75 to 35. Tom, you're back. Start with the consonant, please. Thank you, Tom. P.
23:21And another. Y. And another. L. And a vowel. I. And another. A.
23:37And another. E. And a consonant. R. And a vowel. O. And a final consonant, please.
23:55And a final S. Stand by.
23:59And a vowel.
24:29Well, Tom? Eight. And eight, Graham? And eight. Tom? Polarise. Polarise. And Graham? Same word. Two good players here. They've
24:40done it before.
24:44Very good. Now, Paul and Susie, what have you dredged out of that little collection? Not a lot. Nothing more
24:51than that, or even matching that. A couple of sevens with paroles. What was the one you got?
24:56Soapily. Soapily. Soapily. That's quite nice, but only a seven.
25:0083 to 43. And it's Susie we now turn to for her wonderful origins of words. Madam.
25:08Three questions from three viewers. And I always love getting questions. So thank you to everyone who's sending them in.
25:15The first is from Alex Smith, who asked where the phrase to have someone over a barrel comes from.
25:20It's American. It's American. And first appeared around the 1950s, 1960s. And it refers, we think, to the actual situation
25:29of somebody being lent over a barrel.
25:31Two situations. One is to empty the lungs of someone who'd been close to drowning. And we have lots of
25:37records saying that this actually took place, this method of clearing the lungs.
25:40Or it was a form of punishment, often aboard a ship. So similar to flogging, in other words. Either way,
25:47that position of helplessness transferred over into this idiom.
25:51And that's why we still talk about today. John Winters asks, similar theme of helplessness. Why do we call somebody
25:57a laughing stock?
25:58That goes back to the use of stock as something solid that you can fix something to. So a stump
26:04where it's related to stick, in fact.
26:06And the idea is that you are the butt of a joke. Really, you're at the end of a joke.
26:12And speaking of butts, this is possibly the worst link I've ever made.
26:15Victoria Morsman asks about going commando and where that phrase comes from. And the simple answer is not completely sure.
26:22But we do know that many commandos and people in the special forces do go without underpants. Do you know
26:27this phrase, Nick?
26:29To go commando.
26:30I've heard it, but I didn't realise it had anything to do with underwear.
26:35Yes. Two senses. It can need to be sort of toughen up if you go commando.
26:38And that was its first sense, actually. But it nowadays means not to wear any underwear.
26:42That's the to go commando.
26:44And certainly within the special forces, especially if people in Vietnam, for example, if they were spending long periods in
26:51wet jungle conditions, wearing underpants could be deeply uncomfortable.
26:55I won't go into it, but fungal infections and things apparently come to mind.
26:59And that may have been when it started to sort of creep into English.
27:03But it really was propelled in the 1970s when it became part of college slang.
27:08And then a famous episode of Friends had Joey and Rachel going commando.
27:13And that's when it became really popular.
27:15Thanks for sending them in.
27:17Indeed. Thank you.
27:23Thank you, Susie.
27:24You're welcome.
27:2583 to 43, as I say, and it's Graham's letters game now.
27:29Good luck, Graham.
27:30Consonant, please, Rachel.
27:31Thank you, Graham.
27:32M.
27:34Another file.
27:35I.
27:38Consonant, please.
27:39J.
27:41Another one.
27:43P.
27:45That file, please.
27:46A.
27:47Another one.
27:49E.
27:51Consonant.
27:53S.
27:54Another consonant.
27:56R.
27:58And another consonant, please.
28:00And lastly, D.
28:02Stand by.
28:04OK.
28:34Yes, Graham.
28:36Seven.
28:37Tom.
28:38Seven.
28:39And Graham.
28:40Prized.
28:41And Tom.
28:43Pie jams.
28:45Pie jams.
28:46You can spell it with an E or with a Y, short for pyjamas, simply.
28:49Very good.
28:50Yeah.
28:50And Paul.
28:51Oddly enough, you could have diapers as well, which is not too far off.
28:55And if you've got neither, you might despair.
28:58Despair.
29:01Ninth place, 50.
29:02Tom.
29:03Final letters game.
29:04A consonant, please.
29:06Thank you, Tom.
29:06R.
29:07And another.
29:10N.
29:12And another.
29:14T.
29:16And a vowel, please.
29:18A.
29:20And another.
29:21U.
29:23And another.
29:25A.
29:27And a consonant, please.
29:29W.
29:32And a vowel, please.
29:35I.
29:38And a final vowel, please.
29:40And a final E.
29:43Stand by.
29:45And a vowel, please.
29:48And a vowel, please.
29:49And a vowel, please.
29:54And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
29:59And a vowel, please.
30:00And a vowel, please.
30:00And a vowel, please.
30:01And a vowel, please.
30:02And a vowel, please.
30:04And a vowel, please.
30:14Well, Tom?
30:15An eight.
30:17And Graham?
30:18I'll stick with six.
30:21And your six, Graham?
30:23Winter.
30:24Tom?
30:25Trayno.
30:27What does Susie think?
30:28I think very, very good.
30:30Sledge, a sleigh, especially one by one or more horses over snow or ice.
30:38Well, Trayno.
30:40Paul Zenon.
30:41What have you got over there?
30:43Nothing to beat that.
30:44You've got taurine in there, which is...
30:47Isn't that like an extract of caffeine or something like that?
30:50It's an amino acid, so it breaks down fats.
30:52Yeah, and I think if you drink too much of that, it makes you urinate.
30:56Oh, OK.
30:58It's a tenuous link, but it's there.
30:59It'll do.
31:01Taurine and urinate.
31:02All right.
31:03So into the final numbers game, with the score standing,
31:06Tom just nudging 100 there at 98,
31:09and Graham on 50, it's Graham's numbers game.
31:12Four large and too small, please, Rachel.
31:15Why not?
31:15Go out with the bang.
31:16Go out with four large and too little.
31:18Thank you, Graham.
31:19And the final one of the day is eight and seven,
31:22and then the big four.
31:2350, 100, 75 and 25.
31:27And the target, 673.
31:30Six, seven, three.
31:31estiver That's fine.
32:00416,500, 800, Android.
32:02Graham?
32:04Just 675.
32:06Two away, Tom?
32:08674.
32:09So you just squeeze in there.
32:11Yes, Tom?
32:12100 minus 75.
32:14100 minus 75, 25.
32:17Multiplied by the other 25.
32:19625.
32:21Add 50.
32:23675.
32:24And then 8 minus 7 is 1 to take away.
32:26Well done.
32:27But, Rachel, can you get this?
32:30673, how tricky is that?
32:31Leave it with me.
32:33Certainly will.
32:34So with Tom and 105 and Graham on 50,
32:37final round, fingers on buzzers.
32:39Tom and Graham, let's roll today's Countdown Conundrum.
33:02Graham?
33:04Symphonic.
33:05Symphonic.
33:06Symphonic.
33:06Let's see whether you're right.
33:09APPLAUSE
33:09Well done.
33:16Well done, Graham.
33:17Well done.
33:18All right.
33:19So up to 60 against Tom's 105.
33:22So I've got for you a piece of priceless kryptonite to take back to Balamina.
33:29Thanks very much.
33:29We shall see.
33:30Tom, well done.
33:31Well played.
33:32Number one seed.
33:33See you next week.
33:34See you next week in the semis.
33:35Yeah.
33:36So there we are.
33:37The number one seed's come through.
33:38So you join us tomorrow, of course.
33:40Of course.
33:40To see how the number two seed gets on.
33:42Well, it's a good fight today.
33:44Well done, Tom.
33:44Now, Rachel, never defeated.
33:47What have you got?
33:48Yeah, we started the show talking about fighting.
33:49I fought for this one.
33:50I found one way.
33:51If you say 75 plus 50 is 125, divided by 25 is 5, and then 100 minus 5 is 95,
34:01times that
34:01by 7 for 665, and add on the 8.
34:05Oh, bravo.
34:08Well done, Rachel.
34:09Of course.
34:10Of course, she's a fighter.
34:12Never loses.
34:13Join us tomorrow.
34:14Same time, same place.
34:16You'll be sure of it for the second quarterfinal.
34:19Good afternoon.
34:21Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at C4Countdown, or write to us at
34:28Countdown Leeds LS3 1JS.
34:31You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:39A Thailand husky in need of urgent surgery to deliver your presence.
34:44The Super Vets at Christmas next Thursday evening at 8 here on channel4.
34:48The next time to unwrap the golden retriever, lost and found.