- 3 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:30Well, good afternoon. Welcome to Countdown Studio on the 13th of August, which, of course, as everybody knows, is International
00:37Left-Hander's Day. I don't know, apparently between 7% and 10%, you'd think somebody could get it right, of
00:45the population, the world population is left-handed, and people say, what an affliction. I've been left-handed for 75
00:51years.
00:52It hasn't bothered me. The only thing are scissors. That's a nuisance. But it's big scissors, not nail scissors, that
00:59doesn't matter. But where they have a sort of a big thing for the thumb, then it's very awkward. Otherwise,
01:05what's the problem?
01:06Be grateful you're left-handed. The number of great people that were left-handed are too numerous to mention. Really.
01:14Did they try and make you write with the other hand, though, when you were at school?
01:16No. No. No. As long as you wrote with an italic nib and to a particular script, if you didn't
01:24do that, you'd be in black and blue. But they didn't try and make us change.
01:27Oh. My Zader, I guess he was a little bit older than you. My grandad, they make him write with
01:32his other hand.
01:33He was left-handed?
01:34Yeah, he was a lefty.
01:34And did he then go right-handed?
01:36No.
01:37Good for him.
01:39I met him. I thought I loved him.
01:41He was always very contrary.
01:42He was a lovely man. Now, who's with us? Young Stephen Mellisbach, Rachel. A-level student from York. Welcome back.
01:50Stayed cool under intense pressure and won on a crucial conundrum.
01:55Yeah, very tense last time.
01:56It was. But you've been bloodied now, as they say.
01:59And you're up against Julie Dedlick, a retired midwife from Urmston, a family charmander, working on some books for children.
02:08But let's get back to being a midwife. That must be the most satisfying job, I would have thought.
02:14Yes, it is, yeah. 32 years I did it for you, so that was enough for me.
02:19Wow, thousands and thousands of children. Excellent stuff. Well, listen, have fun today, both of you.
02:25Good luck to you both. Big round of applause for Julie and Stephen.
02:34And, sitting over there with Susie Dent, we have comedian, writer and actor Charlie Hickson.
02:40Welcome back, Charlie.
02:45Great to have you, Charlie. Now, Stephen, let us go.
02:51Hi, Rachel. Hi, Stephen.
02:52Can I start today with a consonant, please?
02:55Thank you. Start with L.
02:57Vowel.
02:59E.
03:01Consonant.
03:02S.
03:03And another.
03:05D.
03:06A vowel.
03:08U.
03:10Consonant.
03:12M.
03:13Another.
03:15G.
03:16A vowel.
03:19O.
03:20And a consonant, please.
03:22And the last one, T.
03:24And here's the countdown clock.
03:52And here's the countdown clock.
03:57Stephen.
03:58Stephen.
03:59Seven.
03:59And Julie?
04:00Four.
04:01And Julie's four is?
04:03Glum.
04:04Glum.
04:05Don't be glum, Julie.
04:06How about Stephen?
04:08Muscled.
04:09Muscled.
04:09Wow.
04:10Um, you need a C, unfortunately.
04:12Sorry, Stephen.
04:14That's a bit of a bonus, Julie.
04:16Yes, lucky.
04:18I'm Charlie.
04:21Well, you can make doglets, which is puppies, I guess.
04:27No, doglets, but not.
04:28There's a hoglet.
04:30A hoglet.
04:31But sadly not here.
04:33Anything else, Susie?
04:34Um, a couple of sevens, modules and tousled.
04:38Towsled.
04:38Nice word, tousled.
04:40Well done, Julie.
04:41Four points.
04:42And now it's your letters game.
04:44Can I have consonant, please, Rachel?
04:46Thank you, Julie.
04:47L.
04:47A vowel, please.
04:49E.
04:51Consonant.
04:53W.
04:54Vowel.
04:55A.
04:58Consonant.
04:59R.
05:01Vowel.
05:02O.
05:05Consonant.
05:06V.
05:08Vowel.
05:10E.
05:11And a final consonant, please.
05:14And a final H.
05:16Stand by.
05:17BELL RINGS
05:48Well, Julie?
05:49A five.
05:50A five.
05:51And Stephen?
05:51A seven not written down.
05:53OK.
05:54Don't worry about that.
05:55Julie?
05:56Vowel.
05:56And whoever?
05:59Whoever?
05:59Yes, that's nice.
06:00Haven't seen that one.
06:01Very good.
06:01Whoever.
06:02Well done.
06:03Now, Charlie and Susie.
06:05The best we came up with is overall for seven.
06:08Overall.
06:08Very good.
06:09Thank you very much.
06:10Now, it's a numbers game for you, Stephen.
06:14Off we go.
06:15Six more, please, Rachel.
06:17Thank you, Stephen.
06:17Your favourite six little ones to start today.
06:21And they are ten, five, four, nine, three, and eight.
06:27And the target?
06:29672.
06:31672.
07:03Well, Stephen?
07:05672.
07:06And Julie?
07:07675.
07:09675.
07:09Let's stick with Stephen for the second.
07:12Yes, Stephen?
07:12Did five plus three.
07:14Five plus three, eight.
07:16Times by the ten.
07:17Times by ten for 80.
07:19Add the four.
07:20Add the four for 84.
07:21And then multiply by the eight.
07:23And multiply by the eight, which you haven't used.
07:26Very nicely done.
07:27There we go.
07:28Well done.
07:29APPLAUSE
07:33Well done.
07:35So, 17 plays four as we turn to our first tea time teaser,
07:38which is Man is Icon.
07:40And the clue.
07:40The man is an icon to many,
07:43but it can't help him sleep.
07:45The man is an icon to many,
07:47but it can't help him sleep.
08:05Welcome back.
08:06I left with the clue.
08:07The man is an icon to many,
08:09but it can't help him sleep.
08:11And the answer to that is...
08:14Insomniac.
08:15Insomniac.
08:1617 plays four.
08:18Stephen is the lead.
08:18Julie.
08:19Julie, it's your letters game.
08:20Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
08:23Thank you, Julie.
08:24N.
08:25And a vowel.
08:27U.
08:28And a consonant.
08:30D.
08:31And a vowel.
08:33E.
08:34And a consonant.
08:37R.
08:38And a vowel.
08:41I.
08:43And another vowel.
08:45A.
08:47And a consonant.
08:49X.
08:50And a final consonant, please.
08:53And a final N.
08:55Stand by.
09:13And a vowel.
09:15And a vowel.
09:16And a vowel.
09:16And a vowel.
09:16And a vowel.
09:16And a vowel.
09:17And a vowel.
09:28Julie?
09:28Five.
09:29Five.
09:30Now, Stephen?
09:31Six.
09:32And a six.
09:33Julie?
09:33Exude.
09:35Nice.
09:36Stephen?
09:36Dinner.
09:38Even better.
09:39Dinner is great.
09:41Unfortunately, two E's for exude.
09:43Oh, sorry.
09:44OK.
09:45Sorry, Julie.
09:47Now, Susie.
09:48Susie and Charlie?
09:50Well, I got one.
09:51I don't think anyone else would have got it.
09:53Come on.
09:53It's Nuder.
09:55N-U-D-E-R.
09:57Susie?
09:59There's a seven there as well.
10:00Unaired.
10:01Unaired.
10:02Yeah.
10:04Well done.
10:04And thanks for that, Charlie.
10:06Stephen, letters came?
10:08Could I have a consonant, please?
10:09Thank you, Stephen.
10:10Y?
10:12A vowel.
10:13I?
10:15Consonant?
10:16R.
10:17And another?
10:19F.
10:21A vowel.
10:22O.
10:24Another?
10:25A.
10:27Consonant?
10:29C.
10:30Another?
10:33M.
10:34And a final vowel, please.
10:37And a final U.
10:40Stand by.
10:41Mark.
10:42Style.
10:58One word.
10:59All right.
10:59They breathe.
11:00They've done it in prayer.
11:05All right.
11:06Bye-bye.
11:06Cheers.
11:06Cheers.
11:06spice.
11:06One word.
11:06Till next.
11:08Here we go.
11:09Bye-bye.
11:12Stephen?
11:13A six.
11:14A six. Julie?
11:16A five.
11:17And your five is?
11:18Foamy.
11:19Foamy. Now?
11:22Formic.
11:23Formic?
11:24Erm, I'm not sure if you can have it without acid.
11:28Erm, you can't, unfortunately, Sydney.
11:30It's got to be formic acid in combination. Sorry.
11:34Bad luck. Halfway there, but...
11:36Yeah, sorry.
11:37But there are a couple of fives otherwise as well.
11:39Well, er, macro and forum.
11:41Very good. So, well done, Julie.
11:4423 plays nine, and it's Julie's numbers game. Julie?
11:48Right. Rachel, could I please have a...
11:50One from the top and five from anywhere else?
11:53You can, indeed. Thank you, Julie.
11:55One large, five little coming up.
11:57And this time they are...
11:58Eight, two, three, two, eight.
12:03And the large one, 100.
12:04And the target, 196.
12:07One, nine, six.
12:11One, nine, six.
12:12Two, three, two, three.
12:18Blue one from the top.
12:26Anyway, thank you.
12:28We'll Verbine.
12:28For what?
12:38Another one, 10.
12:39One, 10.
12:39One, 10.
12:39One, 10.
12:39One, 10.
12:39Julie one nine six thank you Stephen one nine six off we go Julie eight times
12:48eight eight eight nine two one sixty-four oh sorry sorry sorry Julie oh
12:57Stephen I did eight plus two plus two eight plus two plus two twelve multiply
13:05by eight ninety-six and another hundred well done one nine six that's it well
13:10done ok so 33 to nine as we look to work Charlie Charlie being a writer and a
13:21well-known you know person on the telly you probably get invited to some
13:25interesting places yeah no it's been fantastic and I do a lot of schools
13:30visits where I go in and talk to kids about being a writer and and try to get
13:34across it actually it's not just sitting in a room by yourself in your underpants
13:39which which you do end up doing but no that you do go and you know I've
13:44traveled all around the world to literary festivals and things and I mean one of
13:47the most fun things was going to a big garden party for the Queen's birthday at
13:52Buckingham Palace one year she she did she had a huge birthday party themed around
13:59British children's literature as it sort of considered probably the best in the world in
14:05terms of the classic characters that we've come up with and so they invited hundreds and
14:10hundreds of kids and then invited lots of children's authors and at the time I was I'd I
14:15just started a new career as a children's author I was writing a series of books about the young James
14:21Bond
14:23so we had this fantastic day out with lots of children's authors and kids they did a big show
14:29themed around kids books they had the Harry Potter cast in it and everything in fact part part of the
14:36show
14:36was this huge white owl Hedwig came flying in onto the stage and in the afternoon when they'd been
14:43rehearsing the the owl had flown up into a tree and the thing is a Buckingham Palace that there is
14:49obviously
14:49security there but you're not really aware of it it's very low-key and it's mainly the sort of army
14:54greet you as you as you come in and they're all very polite so the handler of this owl when
14:59climbing
15:00up this tree to get this owl down suddenly looked down his whole body had was covered in red spots
15:04as
15:05these snipers appeared in camouflage out of the bushes say get out of the tree sir but no it was
15:12great fun and
15:13then we got to meet the Queen and she came along and said hello and she she did she does
15:18a very clever
15:19thing which actually comes to shake your hand and say hello she sort of simultaneously pushes you away
15:24so that you can't engage her in conversation so she could move on but then Prince Philip comes along
15:29behind and he sort of mops up so he was chatting to everybody so what is it that you do
15:35then I said
15:36well I write books about the young James Bond and he said quick as a flash he said they'd probably
15:41get an
15:41asbo wouldn't he yeah it was it was it was a it was a great day out and it was
15:49really good fun
15:50oh that's brilliant thanks very good now Stephen it's a letters game off we go consonant please
16:03thank you Stephen T and a vowel O and consonant D another B a vowel E consonant C and another
16:21T a vowel A
16:26and consonant and the last one M stand by
16:35so
16:47so
16:49so
16:49so
17:03Stephen? Six.
17:05And Julie? Eight.
17:08Stephen? Batted.
17:11Julie Didlik? Combatted.
17:15So you're spelling it with one T? Yes.
17:17Yes. You can actually spell it with one T, and it's a really, really good eight.
17:22But you hear the hesitation, you can put the double T in, which would have given you a nine.
17:25But well done, anyway.
17:26That would have been amazing.
17:29So, Julie, well done on that. And now it's your letters game.
17:33Right. Could I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
17:36Thank you, Julie.
17:37R.
17:39And a vowel.
17:41U.
17:42And another vowel.
17:44E.
17:45And a consonant.
17:47T.
17:49And a consonant.
17:51N.
17:52And a vowel.
17:54A.
17:56And another vowel.
17:58I.
17:59And a consonant.
18:02D.
18:03And a final consonant, please.
18:05And a final F.
18:07Stand by.
18:08And a majority.
18:10We'll be there.
18:12And a consonant.
18:38And a consonant.
18:39Julie?
18:40Seven.
18:41Seven and?
18:42An eight.
18:43And an eight.
18:44Julie?
18:45Fainted.
18:47Thanks, Julie.
18:48And?
18:48Urinated.
18:50Well spotted.
18:50Very good.
18:52Thank you for that.
18:53Well done.
18:54Charlie and Susie?
18:57Just a seven for me with trained.
19:00Yep.
19:01Not very excited.
19:02Susie?
19:02Yes, we were with urinated as well for eight.
19:05Defiant, otherwise for seven.
19:06OK.
19:08Stephen.
19:09Well done.
19:1041 plays 17, and it's your numbers game, Stephen.
19:15Six more, please, Rachel.
19:17Your favourite.
19:18Thank you, Stephen.
19:19Let's see what challenge this brings up.
19:21These six little ones are two, three, seven, ten.
19:27Another two and five.
19:29And this time the target, 744.
19:32744.
19:33What's up.
19:36This is not true.
19:38What's up.
19:42What's up.
19:46What's up.
20:01What's up.
20:05Stephen, 7, 4, 2.
20:08Two away. Julie?
20:09Nothing.
20:10No?
20:10No.
20:11Stephen, 7, 4, 2.
20:14I did 10 times 2.
20:1710 times 2 is 20.
20:20Times 5.
20:21Times 5 is 100.
20:22And then 3 times 2.
20:243 times the other 2 is 6.
20:26Add it to the 100.
20:28106.
20:29And then multiply by 7.
20:307, 4, 2.
20:31Two away.
20:32Well done.
20:32Well done.
20:34Almost there, but not quite.
20:35Rachel, for that we turn to you.
20:37Possible?
20:39I would imagine so.
20:41I've got to one away, so leave it with me.
20:43Certainly will.
20:43It's 48 to 17 as we turn to our second Tea Time Teaser,
20:48which is Party Dive.
20:50And the clue, the party was held in a real dive.
20:53And before long, it plummeted into this.
20:56The party was held in a real dive.
20:59And before long, it plummeted into this.
21:21It plummeted into depravity.
21:27Imagine.
21:27Depravity.
21:29Rachel, you've got that smile.
21:31Yes.
21:32If you rearrange Stephen's method a little bit and say 5 times 10 is 50,
21:38plus 3 for 53,
21:417 times 2 is 14.
21:44Times those together for 742, and that leaves you with another 2 to add on for 744.
21:48That's the way.
21:49Well done.
21:54Great stuff.
21:56Great stuff.
21:57Now, Julie, it's your letters game.
22:01Could I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
22:02Thank you, Julie.
22:03R and a vowel.
22:06And a vowel.
22:08And a consonant.
22:10G.
22:11And a vowel.
22:13O.
22:15And a consonant.
22:17S.
22:20And a vowel.
22:22A.
22:24And a consonant.
22:26K.
22:28Vowel.
22:30I.
22:31And a final consonant, please.
22:33And a final S.
22:36Stand by.
23:06MUSIC PLAYS
23:07Julie.
23:09A five.
23:10A five and?
23:11A six.
23:12And a six.
23:13Julie's five is?
23:14Gasses.
23:15Gasses.
23:16Now then, Stephen.
23:17Kisser.
23:18Yes.
23:18You can be a kisser, I'm pretty sure.
23:20You can.
23:22That's it, you're fine.
23:24Now.
23:25Kisser.
23:26Give us a kisser.
23:28Charlie?
23:29No, I was quite pleased I got a kisser, but he's already done it, so.
23:34It's a bit of a damp squib now, isn't it?
23:36Could be a kisser, could be.
23:39Susie, what have you got?
23:41Soakers are there for seven.
23:43And there's lovely eight Argosies, which are large merchant ships, especially ones that came from Ragusa, which is now Dubrovnik.
23:53Well, well.
23:54APPLAUSE
23:57Thank you, Stephen.
23:5954 to 17.
24:01Stephen, your letters go.
24:02Could I have a consonant, please?
24:04Thank you, Stephen.
24:05N.
24:06Vowel.
24:07O.
24:09Consonant.
24:10S.
24:12That's another.
24:13G.
24:14Vowel.
24:16A.
24:17Consonant.
24:19C.
24:20A vowel.
24:22I.
24:24Consonant.
24:25S.
24:26That's another consonant, please.
24:29And the last one, D.
24:31Stand by.
24:33BELL RINGS
25:02Stephen.
25:03seven a seven Julie no nothing no over to you Steven casings yes I sit you're
25:12fine very good happy yes Charlie and Susie what have you concocted over there
25:17I got I got dossing as in presumably it's originally a slam slang term yes
25:24allowed now it's absolutely fine at seven and casinos is another seven very
25:30good yeah thank you Susie we're back with you now it's time for your origins of
25:37words now what have you got for us today a little bit about terms in English that
25:43have been on a real downward trajectory really as our values have changed so I'm
25:50going to start with the elite so if you're an athlete to be an elite athlete and
25:55elite performer is obviously your ultimate dream but elite is a word with a kind of
26:01double life really because it is also now seen as something you don't want to be
26:04people look down on the liberal elite so the people who are seen as having kind
26:09of wealth and privilege and therefore power and say as I say a bit of a double
26:13edged sword that one and there are so many words in English that once meant
26:16something entirely neutral but that have completely changed so common common again
26:21very innocent time when it started it meant belonging to the people and you'll
26:26still find plots of land that belong to everybody called commons but even in the
26:311300s a common woman was a prostitute or a harlot and in the 1500s you began to
26:37hear about common vagabonds and common nuisances and so it took a sort of bad turn
26:41if you like quite early on and they'll say so many more were at so many more words
26:46that have followed the same route mean if somebody's mean you think of them as
26:50being sort of a pinch back you know somebody who's just not going to really
26:54share very much in life and not be particularly warm but when it first
26:58started it again meant common and in German you'll find Gemeinschaft for a team a
27:03football team but also community so it stayed quite popular and positive over
27:08there but from that sense of shared by many it came to mean inferior ordinary vulgar
27:14etc vulgar itself from the Latin vulgar meant the public but that took a
27:19downward turn as well and actually the mobile vulgus was the common people and
27:24mobile itself became the mob and riffraff riff and raff is how that began and it
27:31simply meant in old French one and all before it came to mean the dregs of
27:35society and so it's always just mean this journey all the way through it's really
27:39it's a really common thread and all the way through but it seems that keeping to
27:43oneself and not one of the common people isn't really much good either because the
27:47Greek idiotis meant a private person one who wasn't engaged in public affairs and
27:52that of course eventually gave us idiot
27:54very good well done
28:00that's a real lesson that's marvellous thanks Susie
28:03so 61 to 17 Julie it's your your letters game Julie
28:09um consonant please Rachel thank you Julie N and vowel O consonant R vowel I consonant H vowel you
28:33another vowel A another vowel E and a consonant please and the last one T
28:45stand by
28:48so
29:20So, Julie.
29:21Five.
29:22A five and?
29:23Six.
29:25A six.
29:25Julie.
29:26Outer.
29:28Stephen?
29:29Hunter.
29:30Hunter.
29:31Yes.
29:32That's good?
29:33Very good, yes.
29:34Charlie.
29:35That selection.
29:36It looks like a collection of letters that you should be able to make lots of things out of,
29:40but I got ant.
29:44Well done.
29:46Susie, what did you get?
29:48There's a bit of a mouthful.
29:49They're for eight, Nick.
29:51It's a chemical, synthetic, crystalline compound called the Aurea, spelt T-H-I-O-U-R-E-A.
29:59Special.
30:00My hand.
30:04A very obscure eight.
30:05Well done, Susie.
30:06Now, Stephen, final letters came for you.
30:09Off we go.
30:09Could I have a consonant, please?
30:12Thank you, Stephen.
30:13P.
30:14Vowel.
30:16I.
30:17Consonant.
30:18S.
30:20And another.
30:22R.
30:23A vowel.
30:25O.
30:27Consonant.
30:28S.
30:29A vowel.
30:30Vowel.
30:31A.
30:33Consonant.
30:34N.
30:36And a vowel, please.
30:38And the last one, I.
30:41Stand by.
30:42A vowel.
30:44A vowel.
30:44A vowel.
30:53A vowel.
30:58A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
30:59A vowel.
31:10A vowel.
31:12Yes, Steven seven a seven Julie seven
31:17Thank you, Steven sprained and Julie prisons
31:23Yes, that's enough. Yes, and in the corner there Charlie and Susie well as Parsons. Yep, which is a seven
31:31and
31:33You can put the I in Parsons for Parisons
31:36Ah, which is a rounded bulb of glass if the glass is rolled out coming out of the furnace it
31:42forms a Parison
31:48Very good 74 to 24 Julie final numbers game for you
31:53Too large and four from anywhere else, please. Thank you, Julie last one of the day two from the top
31:58and four not and the final numbers are
32:01five
32:03ten one
32:04four
32:06Seventy-five and twenty-five and
32:10the target three hundred and eighty eight three eight eight
33:04Then multiply by four perfect three eight eight. Well done. Well done
33:12Well done into the final round both of you fingers on buzzers
33:19Let's roll today's countdown conundrum
33:32Steven
33:33surrender
34:03surrender
34:04Thank you
34:05Thank you
34:08Tomorrow
34:10That's great stuff
34:39Thank you indeed
34:41Thank you
34:51Thank you
34:59Thank you
35:02Thank you
35:05Thank you