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00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio.
00:33Now I wonder how many of you think that you could get away with skipping work and how long do
00:38you think you could get away with it a day, a week, a month?
00:41How about six years? This is what happened to a Spanish civil servant, you know.
00:46He didn't turn up for work for six years while still being paid 37,000 euros a year.
00:52And it was only noticed actually that he had been AWOL, as it were, when it came to be his
00:59turn to be awarded a long service medal.
01:01And they looked around and they couldn't find him anywhere.
01:04And it then all came to light that he'd been legging it.
01:07And it got me to thinking, have I ever skipped work?
01:10Have I ever sort of been paid for doing very little?
01:14And the truth of the matter, I've quite often been paid for doing very little.
01:17But I've never skipped work.
01:18Now what about you? Have you ever gone AWOL?
01:21I've never gone AWOL, but like you say, you do often get paid for things, especially in this job, that
01:24you think I'd actually pay you to do.
01:27Like meeting Man United or going to meet the Red Arrows and flying with them or going through zip wires
01:33and fire and all sorts of crazy things that you wouldn't get the opportunity to do unless it was part
01:38of a job.
01:38And for some reason, people think we need money for that.
01:42We're very lucky indeed.
01:43Keep your mouth shut and keep enjoying it, I guess.
01:45As you say, people would pay to do it.
01:47Now then, who have we got with us?
01:49We've got Sean Cook from Cork.
01:51Do you have a merit, Sean?
01:52Do you have a merit, Sean?
01:54And now you're the far more, if I can remember my Gaelic.
01:58The big man now.
01:59Three wins under your belt, 124 points yesterday, and you're flying.
02:04Good man, Sean, good man.
02:05But now you've got to, you're going to be pursued by Priya Lyle, an administrator from King's College in London.
02:13Loves going to the gym, plays the mandolin.
02:15What a lovely thing to do.
02:17I'm learning.
02:17You're learning to play the mandolin, yeah.
02:19All right.
02:19And you're currently studying for a Master's in English Literature.
02:23Yes.
02:24Brilliant stuff.
02:24Well, good luck to you both.
02:26Priya Lyle and Sean Cook.
02:27Big round of applause.
02:33Well done.
02:34And over in the corner, Susie, of course, on this Wednesday, joins for the first time.
02:39He's back.
02:40I'm back.
02:40He's back.
02:41It's Tim Vine.
02:43Comedian, actor, writer, presenter.
02:44Good guy.
02:45Comedian.
02:46Comedian.
02:46Priya, talking about playing the mandolin.
02:49Blope said to me, he said, you look like a medieval stringed instrument.
02:52I said, are you calling me a liar?
02:57There's more of that, isn't there?
02:59No, that's the only one I've got, actually.
03:00That's the only one.
03:01I've been doing that one several times.
03:01I know that you've got just a sack full of treasure.
03:05All right.
03:05Let's get down to business here.
03:07Sean, let's have a letters game.
03:08Thanks very much, Nick.
03:09Hi, Rachel.
03:10Hi, Sean.
03:10Start with a consonant, please.
03:11Start today with M.
03:14And a second consonant?
03:16T.
03:18And a third?
03:20P.
03:21And a fourth, please.
03:24N.
03:26Can I get a vowel?
03:28U.
03:30Another vowel?
03:31I.
03:33A third vowel, please.
03:35E.
03:37Can I get a consonant, please?
03:40D.
03:41And a final vowel, please.
03:43And a final A.
03:46And here's the countdown clock.
03:48I.
03:49I.
04:04I.
04:20Sean. I have a seven. A seven. How about Priya? I've got a six. And that's six, Priya. Panted. Panted
04:26and imputed. Imputed.
04:29Imputed. Very nice, yes, to ascribe usually a crime or some wrongdoing to somebody else is to impute it. An
04:35imputation. No, what have we got there? Tim? Susie's got a very impressive one. Eight. Impudent. Impudent. Very good.
04:47Well done. Seven points to Sean. Priya, you have to score. Priya's go now. Your letter's game, Priya. Can I
04:54have a consonant, please? Thank you, Priya. H. And another?
04:59T. And a vowel? E. And another? O. And a consonant? R. And another? G. And another? L. And a
05:22vowel? A. And a final vowel, please.
05:27And a final I. Stand by.
05:31G. And a vowel, please.
06:01Priya? I'm going to try seven. A seven, how about Sean? Seven. Two sevens, Priya? A gloater. A gloater. Two
06:09gloaters?
06:10Yes, same. Gloater. Tim Byrne and Susie? I don't even know what this word is. Tell us about this word
06:15here.
06:16Ah, something we had quite recently actually, and it was a good one for me to learn as well.
06:21Litharge. L-I-T-H-A-R-G-E. It's lead monoxide and it's often used as a pigment in
06:27glass and ceramic making.
06:34All right, 14 plays, seven, and Sean's numbers game. Sean. Thanks, Nick. Rachel, four letters, please.
06:42Your usual, thank you, Sean. Four from the top row, and two little ones. And the first numbers game of
06:47the day is four and six.
06:50And then the large one, 75, 25, 150. And the target, 987. 987.
07:01When all the numbers are in theבׄy, the target, 987. 997. 997. 997. 1001.
07:13Air-S-R-E-D-G.
07:13The move is one, six, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven.
07:15Our target, 987. 997. 995.
07:28The number one, 75, 25.
07:28The rank, 987. 999. 996.
07:30Well, Sean, I have 990 not written down 990 you say all right. How about Priya? I've got 975
07:39975 so Sean
07:41so I said 6 plus 4 is 10 6 plus 4 10 and
07:4725 plus 50 plus 75 or 25 plus 50
07:5175 over over the other 75 is 1 and
07:55100 minus that 1 100 minus 1 99 and multiply times by the 10
08:00993 away
08:02Not bad, but not perfect
08:05Rachel, can you
08:06Rescue the situation here 987? I think this one's impossible you get to one away, but yeah, that's a very
08:12good effort
08:13So Sean did well. Yeah, well done Sean. So what we do? Let's have our first tea time teaser
08:18Which is Ted drive and the clue?
08:21Ted had to drive a different way to work. There had been an accident Ted had to drive a different
08:27way to work there had been an
08:38accident
08:45Welcome back. I left with the clue Ted had to drive a different way to work there had been an
08:50accident
08:50He'd been
08:52Diverted
08:54Diverted
08:54Now Priya your letters came
08:58Can I have a consonant please Rachel? Thank you Priya H and
09:04another
09:05T
09:06And a vowel
09:08E
09:10And another
09:12A
09:14And a consonant
09:15W
09:17W
09:18And another
09:20R
09:23And another
09:24L
09:27And a vowel
09:29U
09:31And a final vowel please
09:33And a final I
09:37Tonton
09:37T Perry
09:39And the
10:00to
10:04Watch
10:06For
10:06to
10:09Priya. I've got a six. A six for Priya. Sean. A seven. And a seven. Priya. Waiter. Waiter and? Hollier.
10:19Very nice. Hollier. Yep. Excellent. It's about the best that you could get, I think, from that one. No, what
10:24have we got there? Tim? There was this one here, and this girl said to me, she said, I'm going
10:28to cover myself in soapy bubbles, and you're next. I said, lather you, then me. And the word lather is
10:33in there. Well done.
10:35Very good. 28 plays seven. And what shall we do? Sean? Thanks, Nick. Could I have a consonant, please? Thank
10:42you, Sean. J. And a second? S. And a third, please? C. And a fourth? T. Could I have a
10:56vowel, please? A. And another? O. And a third, please?
11:33U.
11:50Yeah, Sean. Um, I'm going to risk a six. Risk a six and Priya. I've got a six.
11:57Yes. Sean? Adducts. Now then, Priya. Adjust. Adjust is excellent. There's no adduct, though, Sean, with one D. It needs
12:08two Ds. That's to move a limb, part of the body, but you need the two Ds, sorry.
12:11Wow. What can we have? Mr. Vine?
12:14Ducats. And I don't even know what Ducats is. It sounds like a Frenchman spotting two cats, but, uh...
12:18It's, uh...
12:18No, the coin.
12:19It's a coin.
12:21It is.
12:21It is, yes, and we've pronounced in ducats in a very English way.
12:24Yeah, gold coins, formerly current in most European countries.
12:28Oh, well, there we are. I'm afraid of change.
12:32Thank you, Tim. Thank you. All right, 28 place, 13. Priya on 13, and it's, uh, Priya's numbers game now.
12:40Priya.
12:42Can I have, um, uh, two large and four small, please?
12:45You can indeed. Thank you, Priya. Two from the top and four little ones. And this time, your numbers are
12:51two, five, two, eight.
12:54And the big two, 175. And the target, 839.
13:00839.
13:33Well done. Well done. Well done.
13:33No, sorry, I've got 820. No.
13:36Sean?
13:37839.
13:39So, Sean?
13:40Uh, so I said 100 plus 5.
13:42105.
13:43Uh, times 8.
13:44Is 840.
13:46And, uh, 2 over 2 is 1.
13:48It is indeed. Yeah, well done, 839.
13:50Well done. Well done.
13:54Right.
13:55Very good.
13:56And now...
13:57Yes.
13:59...with trepidation, we turn to Mr. Tim Vine.
14:02Tim?
14:03Well, it's a great pleasure, obviously, to be back here again.
14:05And this time of year, as well, I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger eating a chocolate egg.
14:08I said, I bet I know what your favourite Christian festival is.
14:10He said, you have to love Easter, baby.
14:13LAUGHTER
14:15One of the things I really enjoy about, uh, Countdown is the, um, I was going to say the advert
14:20breaks.
14:20Not the advert breaks, but the teasers into the advert breaks.
14:23And I've come up with a few myself.
14:25Um, loft trouble, problematic.
14:27It's not desperately funny, but it's, uh, usable.
14:30Um, alligator plates, crockery.
14:33A type of transport, train.
14:38Um...
14:39I'd like to talk a little bit about the punk band, uh, The Clash, today.
14:42Um, they, of course, had an album called London Calling,
14:45and they followed it up with a second album called This Is East Grinstead.
14:47Can I reverse the charges?
14:48LAUGHTER
14:50OK, March the 30th, 1978, two members of the band The Clash were arrested
14:54for shooting at pigeons from the roof of a rehearsal room.
14:58And this got me thinking, viewers.
15:00Have you ever done anything naughty that put a pigeon in danger?
15:05Um, I have, but, uh, it's, uh, it wasn't on purpose.
15:09But I've, I've decided to, um, do something about this,
15:12because, you know, one doesn't want to see pigeons in danger.
15:15Um, this bit doesn't have a punchline, but I...
15:17Um, so what I've done is I, I got in touch with the government,
15:20and I asked that March the 30th would be Don't Put a Pigeon in Danger Day.
15:25And the good news is that hasn't been rejected, viewers.
15:28They, um, they haven't actually got back to me, but that's, uh, that's something, isn't it?
15:31I went to the head office of the RSPCA.
15:33It's absolutely tiny.
15:34Yeah, you couldn't swing a cat in there.
15:36LAUGHTER
15:37So March the 30th is Don't Put a Pigeon in Danger Day.
15:40And let's remember that, viewers.
15:42Every day is valuable, and so is every pigeon.
15:45End of anecdote!
15:46APPLAUSE
15:47There you go.
15:50APPLAUSE
15:54They're very smart, you know, pigeons.
15:56Are they?
15:57Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're very smart.
15:58How does one test that?
15:59Um, if you happen to go outdoors, and there are a lot of pigeons flying around with a broomstick...
16:06Yes.
16:07They'll do the swimming for you.
16:08No.
16:09And point the broomstick up, they'll disappear.
16:12Because they think it's a gun.
16:14It's amazing.
16:14You try it one day.
16:15That's very intelligent.
16:16No, no, no.
16:18LAUGHTER
16:18Very, very fast.
16:20Equally, if you went out with a gun, you'd get exactly the same reaction.
16:24Well, they might think guns are brooms, and that's no use.
16:27LAUGHTER
16:28Try it.
16:29And you'd be amazed.
16:30How much? I see.
16:30Well, actually, there's a...
16:32My local news agent is run by a pigeon.
16:34I'll try and hold it up with a broom.
16:36LAUGHTER
16:37LAUGHTER
16:40All right.
16:4138.
16:42Sean on 38, Priya 13, and it's Sean's letters game.
16:45Sean.
16:46Thank you, Nick.
16:46Richard, could I set with a councillor, please?
16:48Thank you, Sean.
16:49N.
16:50And a second.
16:53G.
16:54And a third, please.
16:56S.
16:58A fourth.
17:00K.
17:01And a vowel, please.
17:04I.
17:05And a second.
17:07E.
17:08And a third, please.
17:11A.
17:13Um...
17:14Consonant, please.
17:16S.
17:18And finish with a consonant, please.
17:22And finish with D.
17:24Stand by.
17:25Stand by.
17:26Stand by.
17:55Yeah, sure.
17:56A six.
17:57A six, Priya.
17:58I've got a six.
18:00Sean?
18:01Asking.
18:02And Priya.
18:03Same, asking.
18:06Are we happy?
18:07Very happy.
18:08Now then, Tim Byrne and Susie.
18:10Yes, sinkage is there for a seven.
18:14And assigned, a task assigned to somebody else.
18:17Yes, indeed.
18:18Well done.
18:21Well done.
18:22We now turn to Priya.
18:24Priya for another letters game.
18:26Thanks, Nick.
18:27Can I have a consonant, please?
18:29Thank you, Priya.
18:30R.
18:32And another?
18:33T.
18:35And a vowel?
18:37O.
18:39And another?
18:41A.
18:42And a consonant?
18:45R.
18:47And another consonant?
18:49M.
18:50And a vowel?
18:53I.
18:55And another?
18:58I.
18:59And a final consonant, please.
19:03And a final S.
19:06Countdown.
19:07And a vowel?
19:25And a vowel?
19:26And a vowel?
19:28And a vowel?
19:28And a vowel?
19:28And a vowel?
19:30And a vowel?
19:30And a vowel?
19:31And a vowel?
19:32And a vowel?
19:33And a vowel?
19:35And a vowel?
19:36And a vowel?
19:36And a vowel?
19:37And a vowel?
19:38Priya. Just a five. A five. Sean. Just six. And a six. Priya. Stare. Now then, Sean. Ratios. Thank you.
19:49Yes. Very good. Happy. Tough one. This is a, I love this word. Amorist. Love that. Somebody who writes about
19:58love or is in love. Yep. Well done. All right. Fifty plays. Nineteen. Sean. Numbers time.
20:06Thanks, Nick. Four large again, please, Rachel. Thank you, Sean. Four from the top row. And two more little ones
20:12coming up. And this time, little ones are ten and three. And the big ones, fifty, twenty-five, one hundred
20:20and seventy-five. And this time, the target, five hundred and twenty-six. Five to six.
20:57Well, Sean.
20:58Just five to five, I'm afraid.
20:59One away. How about Priya?
21:00Just five to five. Five to five. Both of you. So, Sean. I said ten times fifty. Ten times fifty
21:09is five hundred.
21:10Plus twenty-five. One away. Five to five. And Priya?
21:14The same way.
21:15All right. Sean, have a little look. Satisfy yourself. I'm sure you're right. Well done. Well done. All right.
21:22All right. Rachel, how do we get to five to six, I wonder?
21:26Um, for this one, if you start with fifty plus three is fifty-three. And then times it by ten
21:32for five hundred and thirty.
21:34And then one hundred divided by twenty-five is the four to take off.
21:38Well done. Well done. Five to six.
21:42And now, of course, standing fifty-seven to twenty-six, we turn to our second, uh, tea-time teaser, which
21:48is Disarm Me.
21:49And the clue, Do Their Fishy Tales Belong to Mythology?
21:53Do Their Fishy Tales Belong to Mythology?
22:11Welcome back. I'll introduce you to the clue, Do Their Fishy Tales Belong to Mythology?
22:15And the answer is mermaids. Mermaids.
22:20Now then, Priya, letters came for you.
22:23Thank you. Um, Rachel, can I have a consonant, please?
22:27Thank you, Priya. L.
22:29And another? T.
22:33And a vowel? U.
22:36And another? E.
22:40And another? A.
22:43And a consonant? G.
22:47And another? N.
22:51And another?
22:53C.
22:54And a final vowel, please.
22:56And a final I.
22:59Stand by.
23:00A.
23:00T Sch
23:13A.
23:14A.
23:15A.
23:15A.
23:16A.
23:16B.
23:16A.
23:32Yes Priya? I'm going to try seven. A seven Sean? Just a six and three. Your six? Tango.
23:38Now then, how much of a try is this Priya? I don't know. Colting? How are you spelling
23:43that? C-U-L-T-I-N-G. C-U-L-T-I-N-G. Not there. I'm afraid closest
23:51is cutting. Sorry Priya.
23:54Bad luck. Almost worth a chance there. Colting? Yeah. What can we have? Mr. Fine. What did
24:01you find there, Susie? There wasn't an enormous amount in there, was there? No, a couple of
24:04sevens. There was quite a lot in there, yeah. Angelic is there and elating.
24:13As in Tim Vine is elating the audience. Very clever. Now then, what should we do? Sean,
24:19how about a letters game? Thank you Nick. Rachel, could I start with a consonant please?
24:23Thank you Sean. M. And another. L. And a third please. S. And a fourth. F. And a vowel please.
24:37O. And another. U. And a third please. E. A consonant please. N. And finish with a consonant please.
24:57And finish with Q. And the clock starts now.
25:01A consonant please.
25:03A consonant please.
25:18A consonant please.
25:20A consonant please.
25:32Yeah Sean. A seven. A seven Priya. Five. And that five. Fumes. Fumes. Sean.
25:40A natural face better correctly but Fulsome? Fulsome. Yes, Fulsome praise. We use it today to mean
25:45wonderful, abundant praise but actually it's proper meaning if you like or it's original meaning was
25:52excessive so not always particularly genuine excessive praise but anyway it's very good and only one L.
25:58All right. Seventyth plays. Twenty six. And now Susie we're back with you. Origins of words. A great favourite for
26:04the nation. Come on let's have it.
26:06Thank you. Well I had a nice email from J. Ravenscroft. Not sure of first name. But thank you very
26:13much. They emailed in from London saying
26:14What is the origin of not by a long chalk? And it's very old to start with. Goes back to
26:21the 1800s.
26:23When a score of almost any kind was marked up on any convenient surface using a stick of chalk.
26:30And originally it was more often than not a record in a pub or taverns of a drinker's credit.
26:36So a drinker would run up a tab and that would all be chalked on the wall. So drinking was
26:42definitely the first connection.
26:43And then it started to move into the realm of sports. Still played at pubs and taverns for a marking
26:48of a player's score in a game.
26:50And a long chalk mark was the sign that your opponent had a big score chalked up on the wall.
26:57And incidentally when we say well chalk it up to experience that goes back to the same literal stick of
27:02chalk.
27:02But the idiom not over by a long chalk simply expresses your determination to battle on despite the odds that
27:10are against you.
27:11Your opponent has a long chalk but you're still determined to see it through.
27:15And incidentally that counting was done on tally sticks which I think I've mentioned before.
27:19They were literal sticks of wood on which was scored with a knife your collection of points.
27:26So again it was literal scoring and a literal stick.
27:30So both scoring and tallying go back to that very old method of keeping track.
27:34Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Awesome applause.
27:38Awesome applause.
27:42Priya, let us go.
27:45Can I have a consonant please?
27:47Thank you Priya.
27:49B.
27:50And another.
27:52T.
27:53And a vowel.
27:55I.
27:56And another.
27:58U.
27:59And a consonant.
28:03P.
28:04And another.
28:07T.
28:08And a vowel.
28:10A.
28:11And a consonant please.
28:14Y.
28:16And a final vowel.
28:17And the last one.
28:19U.
28:20Countdown.
28:22And a vowel.
28:40And a vowel.
28:41And a vowel.
28:43And a vowel.
28:43And a vowel.
28:43And a vowel.
28:43And a vowel.
28:45And a vowel.
28:45And a vowel.
28:46And a vowel.
28:47And a vowel.
28:49And a vowel.
28:51And a vowel.
28:51And a vowel.
28:51Yes, Priya.
28:53I've got a five.
28:54A five.
28:55And Mr Cook?
28:55Five.
28:56Two fives.
28:57Priya?
28:57Putty.
28:59Sean?
28:59Sin.
29:00Putty.
29:02Putty in your hands.
29:03Miss Divine.
29:04We've got some more double T words here.
29:06Yes, just fives.
29:08For me, I'm afraid, as well.
29:09Butty, patty, batty.
29:11But couldn't get to a six.
29:13That's it?
29:14Yes.
29:1575 to 31.
29:17Sean in the lead, and it's Sean's Leathers game.
29:19Last one for today, Sean.
29:20Thank you, Nick.
29:21Rachel, could I start with a consonant, please?
29:23Thanks, Sean.
29:24D.
29:25And another one?
29:28R.
29:29And a third, please?
29:31M.
29:33And a fourth?
29:35S.
29:36A vowel, please?
29:38E.
29:40Another vowel?
29:41I.
29:43And another one, please?
29:45O.
29:47And a consonant, please?
29:50N.
29:51And a final vowel, please.
29:52And the last one.
29:54I.
29:55I'm done.
29:56I'm done.
30:00I'm done.
30:11I'm done.
30:19I'm done.
30:27Sean and I might as well risk a nine going for a nine Priya got five and you're five
30:35resin now what sort of risk have you got not very confident minorized do you know what I am going
30:44to allow it the dictionary takes you straight to the Z version minorize with the Z but our rule is
30:51that I Z E and I S E are interchangeable it's all to do with mathematics and all about one
30:58function
30:58being inferior to another quite complicated but the main thing is it's in well done that is genuine
31:09fulsome praise yes well done indeed well done shoot you up to 93 as well my word and we go
31:16to Priya
31:16Priya final numbers game for you can I have two large and four small please you Kennedy thank
31:21you we are too large for little for the final one of the day and this selection is five eight
31:29another eight one and the large two seventy five and one hundred and the target three hundred and seventy
31:36six three seven six
31:44so
31:52so
31:54so
31:54so
32:08Priya I didn't get it I'm afraid no did John yes sir 376 and five times 75 375 and the
32:19one
32:19yeah sorry 75 all right so here we go chap Sean and Priya fingers on buzzers
32:28let's reveal today's countdown conundrum
32:44yes Sean and I'm gonna risk a down foiled let's have a look
32:50no down to you Priya
33:11no we're foxed up here but who in the audience will take a chance on this conundrum yes you sir
33:19downfield downfield let's have a look there it is downfield
33:23well done
33:28all right well done so well done Sean I'll come to you in a second in the meantime let's go
33:33to Priya Priya thank you so much for coming well played you're up against a tremendous competitor but you know
33:39you did very well 31 points no mean feet take this goodie bag back to King's College with you all
33:46right
33:46and Sean will be seeing us again we'll be seeing us tomorrow well done indeed Sean 103 points not quite
33:52as good as yesterday yes yeah but still strong well done indeed four wins now and over in the corner
33:58Tim fine we shall see you tomorrow more crackerjack from you look forward to it Nick it's always a great
34:04pleasure
34:04it's lovely to be here good I like it good I'm waiting for the chair no I just said I
34:10like it it's sometimes it's not all it's not all about jokes Nick sometimes I can be deadly serious
34:17all right we see you tomorrow and Susie too Rachel of course another one of those jobs where you don't
34:23feel like you're working when Tim's in isn't it exactly all right see you tomorrow
34:27Tim Bine will be here so will Sean same time same place you be sure of it a very good
34:31afternoon
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34:41leads ls3 1js you can also find our web page at channel 4.com forward slash countdown
34:50having won key states and increased his support Matt Fry asks can Trump really go all the way to the
34:56White House
34:56president Trump is here tonight at 9 next today the one for a new life in the sun