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00:00Thank you
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio.
00:34On the day, way back in 1716, 300 years ago,
00:38one of the great landscape designers, landscape gardeners,
00:42was born in Northumberland, none other than Lancelot Brown.
00:46Lancelot Brown, who became known as Capability.
00:50Why Capability?
00:51Because he used to wander around, not gardens as much as great parks,
00:55and say, I think this park has got capability.
00:59And so he became known as Capability Brown.
01:02And he was responsible for something like 170 great gardens, great estates,
01:07places like Harewood House, Burley House, Chatsworth, Blenheim,
01:10and, of course, Highclere, which became famous for the setting for Downton Abbey.
01:15But early in the summer, I went to the Chelsea Flower Show,
01:19where I ran into one of our favourite guests, Gloria Hunterford, who's here today.
01:22But the one that fascinated me most of all, really, was on the Loire Valley,
01:27one of those great chateaus called Villandry.
01:29And the piece de resistance at Villandry is the vegetable garden,
01:32which set out as a great tableau, a great sort of work of art, really.
01:37Rows and rows of cabbages in perfect lines in all sorts of designs.
01:41Extraordinary, really.
01:42How about gardens? Are you a gardener?
01:44I haven't got a garden, but it's lovely, isn't it?
01:46Especially in London, you can just go to any of the parks.
01:48Sure.
01:48And there's some beautiful ones.
01:50Regent's Park I went to recently with some friends.
01:52And when it's a nice sunny day and everyone's there.
01:54Lovely.
01:54Roses and all the bright colours when they're out, gorgeous.
01:57We're lucky with our parks, actually.
01:59We're very lucky, yeah.
02:00We don't have to do anything.
02:01Just pay your council tax and they make it all beautiful for you.
02:04In you go.
02:04In you go.
02:05Do you cycle around High Park?
02:06Yeah.
02:07Yeah, any of the parks.
02:08It's lovely.
02:09You get away from the traffic and you've got the wildfowl and the people
02:12and it's a lovely atmosphere.
02:14Yeah, right.
02:14Lovely.
02:15Now, Martin Hurst is back.
02:17Had a tremendous win yesterday, 111 points.
02:20Three wins under his belt.
02:22Three wins and counting.
02:23And you're joined, Martin, by young Tom Law,
02:26sixth form student from Sevenoaks in Kent, 17 years old.
02:30Referees football at the weekends,
02:32but he has to put up with being bombarded with abuse from the sidelines.
02:36Tom, what's going on?
02:37Oh, it's all the pushy parents.
02:39It's not so much the kids.
02:41It's more the competitive parents on the sidelines.
02:45That's unattractive, isn't it?
02:47Are they pushing their children or abusing you for a decision that you've just taken or what?
02:53Mainly towards me for making the right decision.
02:57Well done.
02:58Well done.
02:59And you also coach rugby league at your school in Kent.
03:03And why rugby league?
03:04What's your passion for rugby league?
03:06Well, I started watching it a few years back,
03:09just originally to annoy some friends who loved union.
03:13OK.
03:15But it's since grown on me.
03:16It's become my favourite sport.
03:17And I just want other kids to have the opportunity to play it.
03:21The two sports have become closer and closer and closer together, don't you think?
03:25They're two completely different games.
03:27Yes, which look quite similar.
03:28Now, let's have a big round of applause for Tom, young Tom Law, and Martin Hurst.
03:33There you go.
03:37And over the corner, Susie.
03:39Over the corner, Susie and I mentioned Gloria.
03:42We bumped into each other with Chelsea Flourshire.
03:44I have been trawling around, following you, really.
03:47Actually, you were talking about vegetables there.
03:49And it just reminded me of an old Mary Lloyd,
03:52because you're old enough to remember Mary Lloyd, aren't you?
03:54And the Lord Chancellor took offence at a song she was singing.
03:59She said that the song went,
04:00She sits amongst the cabbages and peas.
04:02And he says, You can't say that.
04:05No, you can't do that.
04:06You have to change the words.
04:07We said, OK.
04:08And so the next song was,
04:09She sits amongst the cabbages and leeks.
04:12Yes!
04:13Well done.
04:14Now then, Martin, let's see what sort of form you're in today.
04:17It's a letters game.
04:17Hi, Rachel.
04:18Hi, Martin.
04:19Can I have a vowel, please?
04:20Start today with E.
04:22And another?
04:24I.
04:25And another?
04:26A.
04:28And a consonant?
04:29R.
04:31And another?
04:32P.
04:33And another?
04:34D.
04:35And another consonant?
04:37L.
04:38And another consonant?
04:41R.
04:42And a final consonant, please.
04:45And a final T.
04:47And here's the countdown clock.
05:20Martin?
05:21Eight.
05:21An eight.
05:22How about Tom?
05:22Just a seven.
05:24And your seven?
05:25Trailed.
05:26Trailed and?
05:27Dipped to roll.
05:29Well done, Martin.
05:30Good countdown word, that one.
05:32Anything else?
05:32A seven of pirated, but didn't match up to Martin's.
05:36All right.
05:36Well done.
05:37So, Martin on eight, and we turn now to Tom for your first letters game.
05:43Tom?
05:43Hi, Rachel.
05:44Hi, Tom.
05:44Can I have a consonant, please?
05:46You can, thank you.
05:46Start with N.
05:48And a vowel?
05:50E.
05:51And a consonant?
05:53Q.
05:54And another?
05:57P.
05:58And another?
05:58C.
06:01And a vowel?
06:02O.
06:04And a vowel?
06:07I.
06:08And a consonant?
06:11N.
06:12And a consonant, please.
06:16And lastly, L.
06:18Stand by.
06:50Yes, Tom?
06:51Er, six.
06:52A six, and Martin?
06:54Er, six, not written down.
06:56And you're six, then, Martin?
06:58Police.
06:59Now, Tom.
06:59And the same.
07:00There we go.
07:02Well done.
07:04Any more police?
07:05A funny mixture of letters, really.
07:07We didn't get anything.
07:09In fact, you've come up with a word.
07:10I thought that was just a name of somebody.
07:11So what does it mean?
07:12Yes, it's a typical Australian slang.
07:14It's for a conductor on a bus or a tram.
07:16They call them the Connie.
07:18So C-O-N-N-I-E is to give you another six.
07:22But couldn't push it any further.
07:24That's it.
07:25Yeah.
07:25All right.
07:2614 plays six.
07:27And Martin, first numbers game.
07:29One large plays.
07:30Thank you, Martin.
07:31One big one.
07:32Five little ones.
07:33And these numbers are nine, four, nine, three, six, and 25.
07:42And the target, 138.
07:45One, three, eight.
07:46One, four, nine, four, nine, four, nine, four, nine, five, six, and 25.
08:16Martin 138 Tom 138 Martin okay 25 times 6 25 by 6 150 the 9 plus 3 is 12 yeah
08:27and take it away perfect 138 and Tom the same way well done
08:36Jennifer plays that from 16 as we turn to our first tea time teaser which is
08:40icon core and the clue he did as requested albeit unwillingly he did as
08:46requested albeit unwillingly
09:03welcome back I left with a clue he did as requested albeit unwillingly and the
09:09answer is coercion he was coerced coercion so 24 please 16 Tom on 16 and it's Tom's
09:16letters game I can have a constant please thank you Tom and and another G and the
09:38another S and the valve a and another oh and final valve please and a final E stand by
09:59so
10:26yes Tom just a five a five and seven and five and five three and four and five I've got
10:31a
10:31the seven. John, joust. Thank you Martin. Soutain? Yes, the priest, Roman Catholic
10:38priest, Cassock, Soutain. Very good. Yeah, very good. Anything else? When I get a glass
10:45of wine, I could do this actually. Well the word I've got was out-sang, but when I get
10:49going on wine, I could out-sang anybody. Right, we must test that then one day. Now, Susie,
10:57anything else? One more seven, tangos, as in tangos the nice way. Thank you. 31
11:03place, 16 and Martin. Letters. Can I have a vowel please? Thank you Martin. I. And
11:10another? A. And another? O. And a consonant? N. And another? R. And another? T. And
11:27another? P. And a final consonant please? And a final T. Stand by.
11:40P. And another? P. And a consonant please? And a consonant please? And a consonant please?
12:09Yes, Martin.
12:10I stick with a seven.
12:12Tom?
12:13Risky nine.
12:15Right, Martin, let's deal with this first.
12:18Rations.
12:19Tom Law.
12:20Raptions.
12:23Susie?
12:24R-A-P-T-I-O-N-S.
12:26That's an eight, but it's not fair, I'm afraid, Tom.
12:33Rations without the P is the way to go.
12:35Bad luck, bad luck.
12:36The brave tribe.
12:37Right, now, what can we have?
12:39Very little else has said patrons for seven.
12:42Yes.
12:43Susie, do you have anything?
12:45Yes, no, we think there might be something longer,
12:46but we can't find us at the moment.
12:48Patrons for seven.
12:49So in other words, we're useless on this one.
12:51All right, 38 plays 16.
12:53And Tom, numbers have come round for you.
12:57Can I have two large and four small, please?
12:59You can indeed, thank you, Tom.
13:00Two from the top row, four little ones.
13:02And this time around, your little ones, four, one, six,
13:06six and eight.
13:08And the large two, 50 and 100.
13:11And the target, 695.
13:14Six, nine, five.
13:15Six, nine, five.
13:16Six, nine, five.
13:22Six, nine, five.
13:46Yes, Tom?
13:48695.
13:49And Martin?
13:50695.
13:51All right.
13:52Tom?
13:528 plus 6 is 14.
13:54Yep.
13:56Times 50.
13:57700.
13:58Minus 4, minus 1.
13:59695.
14:00Lovely.
14:01And Martin?
14:02Yep, same.
14:03There we go.
14:03Well done.
14:07Well done.
14:0848 plays Tom's 26.
14:10As we turn to Gloria.
14:12Gloria.
14:13What have you got for us?
14:15Well, I haven't seen the colour of my hair really since I was about 17.
14:19So I can't tell you what it really is underneath.
14:21It's probably grey by now.
14:22But one of my grandsons loves, I mean, a bit like Tom's age group, right?
14:26Love the blonde jokes, don't they?
14:28You know, over dinner or something.
14:29So he told me this one, which I quite liked recently.
14:31He said, this chap went into a local pub and the barman said,
14:36do you want to hear my latest blonde joke?
14:38And he said, sure.
14:39He said, however, before you tell it, I would point out that my wife was just sitting over there
14:43and she was a black belt in judo and she's blonde.
14:47And the woman next to her is her mother.
14:49And years back she was in Japan and she was a sumo wrestler.
14:52And she's blonde.
14:54And her sister, a real expert on karate or some other sport, martial art.
14:58And she's blonde.
15:00So he said to the barman, do you still want to tell it?
15:02And the barman went, no.
15:04He said, I don't want to have to explain it three times.
15:10One of his better jokes.
15:11Well done.
15:12All right.
15:1448, please.
15:15Tom's 26.
15:16Martin, how about a letters game?
15:18Can I have a vowel, please?
15:19Thank you, Martin.
15:20U.
15:21And another.
15:23I.
15:23And another.
15:25E.
15:26And a consonant.
15:28B.
15:29And another.
15:31N.
15:32And another.
15:33W.
15:35And another.
15:36N.
15:38And another.
15:40T.
15:42And a final consonant, please.
15:46And a final D.
15:48Stand by.
15:48And now.
16:17MUSIC CONTINUES
16:19Yes, Martin?
16:21I'll stick with a six.
16:23Tom?
16:24I'll never four.
16:25And that four?
16:26Wine.
16:27Now then?
16:28For Rachel United.
16:31She'll be pleased about that.
16:33Now, what have we got?
16:34Gloria, Susie?
16:36I'm just working on twinned.
16:38Yes.
16:39Is that OK?
16:39Excellent.
16:40Yeah, that would get you to a seven.
16:41Very good.
16:41Yeah.
16:42She got that one, Martin.
16:43Very good.
16:44Well done.
16:45Well done.
16:4554 plays 26.
16:46Tom?
16:48Your letters came.
16:49Can I have a consonant, please?
16:51Thank you, Tom.
16:53S.
16:53And another?
16:56P.
16:57And another?
16:59M.
17:01And a vowel?
17:03I.
17:04And another?
17:06A.
17:07And a consonant?
17:09N.
17:11And another?
17:14And another?
17:16And a vowel?
17:19I.
17:21And another vowel, please.
17:22And the last one?
17:24O.
17:26Tongue time.
17:28And a vowel, please.
17:31.
17:31And another one?
17:56I.
17:56And a vowel.
17:56And a vowel.
17:58Wowee.
17:59Tom?
17:59Six.
18:00A six and?
18:01Seven.
18:02And a seven.
18:03Tom?
18:04Sprain.
18:05No, Martin.
18:07Mopanees.
18:09Yes.
18:10Another good countdown word.
18:12That they are trees found in the arid regions of southern Africa.
18:16Very bitter-tasting leaves.
18:18Mm.
18:18Good word.
18:19Very good.
18:19Very good.
18:21I think Susie better explain this one.
18:23Yes.
18:24Well, we have simeon, which is ape-like.
18:27Yeah.
18:27But also for an eight, rampions, rampions.
18:30They are plants of the bellflower family.
18:33And you can eat some of them in salads.
18:35I see.
18:36Some kinds.
18:37Now we know.
18:37Yes.
18:38Now I know indeed.
18:40Rampions.
18:43OK.
18:44And it's numbers.
18:45Numbers for Martin.
18:46One large, please.
18:48Thank you, Martin.
18:48One from the top row.
18:49And five little ones for you.
18:51And this time around, the selection is five.
18:54Seven.
18:55Seven.
18:56One.
18:57One.
18:58And 25.
19:00And the target.
19:01416.
19:02Four.
19:03One six.
19:03One six.
19:06One six.
19:17One six.
19:19One six.
19:22One six.
19:22One six.
19:24One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:25One six.
19:27One six.
19:35Martin, 416.
19:37Tom?
19:38No winner.
19:39No?
19:39Shall we stick with Martin?
19:41OK, 25 plus 1.
19:4325, yep, plus 1, 26.
19:45And 7 minus 5 is 2.
19:477 minus 5, 2.
19:49Times them together.
19:50Times them together for 52.
19:52And 7 plus the other one is 8.
19:54And then you haven't used any of those.
19:56Lovely.
19:57416.
19:58Well done.
20:00Well done, Martin.
20:0271 points now.
20:04Tom on 26.
20:05Let's have a tea time teaser.
20:07It's coat dirt.
20:09And a clue.
20:10Richard the vegetable ruled with absolute power.
20:14Richard the vegetable ruled with absolute power.
20:32Welcome back.
20:33I left with the clue.
20:35Richard the vegetable ruled with absolute power.
20:37And the answer is dictator.
20:44Dictator.
20:45Very good.
20:4671 plays 26.
20:48Martin on 71.
20:49Tom, let's let us go.
20:51Can I have a consonant, please?
20:52Thank you, Tom.
20:53S.
20:54And a consonant.
20:57And another.
21:00And another.
21:02And the vowel.
21:04E.
21:06And another.
21:08A.
21:09And another.
21:11U.
21:13And a consonant.
21:14D.
21:16And a consonant.
21:18And a consonant.
21:23And a consonant.
21:57Yes, Tom.
21:58A six.
21:59A six.
21:59And?
22:00Seven.
22:01And a seven.
22:02Tom.
22:03Trades.
22:04Martin.
22:05Saluted.
22:06Saluted.
22:07There we go.
22:08Can we beat it?
22:10I'm laughing.
22:10I'm really laughing.
22:11Because I started off with a simple one as the letters were going through on latex.
22:15Yes.
22:16Don't ask me why.
22:16And then you got adulterers.
22:20Oh, I'm using adulterers, actually.
22:22Adulterers, yes.
22:22That's an old form of adulterers, so it means the same thing.
22:25But you can have that for eight.
22:27Yes.
22:28And go down one to luxated for seven.
22:31Not the same as luxuriated.
22:32It means to dislocate of a joint, for example.
22:36Oh, wow.
22:36Medical times.
22:37Very good.
22:38Well done.
22:38Well done, Gloria.
22:3978 plays 26.
22:41Martin, you're back.
22:43Letters again.
22:44Can I have a vowel, please?
22:45Thank you, Martin.
22:46O.
22:47And another.
22:48I.
22:50And another.
22:51E.
22:52And a consonant.
22:54H.
22:55And another.
22:57T.
22:58And another.
22:59D.
23:00And another.
23:02S.
23:04And another.
23:06M.
23:08And a final consonant, please.
23:12And a final V.
23:14Stand by.
23:15button.
23:41I'm going to be right.
23:41I'm going to be right now.
23:43I'm going to be right now.
23:45yes Martin seven a seven Tom a six and that six shoved thank you Martin motifs
23:53yep now then Gloria Susie hoisted hoisted yes very good for a seven yeah and Susie
24:02uh yeah another seven there is modiste a slightly old-fashioned term now for a fashionable dress
24:08maker a modiste a modiste never heard of that no it's not unlikely to be around these days I think
24:14so 40 goodness for the dictionary indeed 85 place 26 as we return to the great Susie then for her
24:23origins of words today Susie I've been chatting with Gloria and I've always known Gloria as a
24:29broadcaster I had no idea that she was a very successful singer before and his well you've
24:35had your own albums well I've only discovered today that the gentleman who wrote the sick music
24:41for countdown wrote a single excuse me a single for me that got into the northern island charts
24:47it actually led to coming into broadcasting really so there's the connection yes Alan Hawkshaw wrote
24:51the countdown theme tune it's amazing but anyway so I've been thinking about albums uh because uh
24:56Gloria has her own and did you buy it by the way Nick when I brought that album out I
25:01brought two
25:02did you good get them on eBay now for a quinn um yesterday I was talking about ancient writing
25:09implements and I mentioned the stylus which was a pointed uh instrument uh used for scratching
25:16literally scratching letters on a wax colored covered tablet um and also at the other end it had a sort
25:22of blunt end so that you could obliterate what you've just written which probably the earliest form of an
25:26eraser um but tablets are something very very different of course uh these days and actually
25:32comes from the Latin meaning a little table and originally they were just that they were very very
25:37big nothing like the the wonderful tablets that we have these days and public notices would be written
25:42and displayed on these uh tablets so people could come up to them and have a look it was like
25:47the public
25:47uh message board they had them in the forum and they had them all around uh in in Roman society
25:53uh and uh an album was uh also exactly this it's also referred to um a tablet the same sort
26:00of tablet
26:01on which these public notices were displayed of course they started off blank nothing was written on
26:05them uh to begin with and they were white and the Latin for white was albus uh which gave us
26:12both
26:12albium the name for uh england because of the white cliffs of dove it gave us albium in uh egg
26:17white
26:17and it gave us the albums the music albums that um uh that Gloria knows all about uh so i
26:24don't know
26:24lovely sort of trace trail through history there um folio referred to a book of a very large size it
26:30comes from the Latin for a leaf a volume is from a roll because it was a roll of papyrus
26:36uh or parchment
26:37that was wrapped for convenience around a spindle then of course people would uh would write on them
26:42and finally we have dictator as our lovely tea time teaser uh a dictionary is a record of what
26:48people say uh it goes back to the Latin dickory and it's related to dictator weirdly even though
26:53dictionaries never dictate what you should say uh it's also linked to ditto say again contradiction
26:58verdict everywhere in english but um i love the fact that an album was originally white and i love
27:04the fact that Gloria published one because i never had a white label also on albums and on singles as
27:10well so that that white sort of carried on and what i find interesting about albums i still got
27:14a lot of vinyl for my radio job days but the young people all my grandchildren maybe tom's the same
27:20they love vinyl now yeah they love an album so what is it about vinyl is it the quality
27:27what is it that makes them so attractive i know from my own point of view i mean we were
27:31talking about
27:31books uh yesterday and i love a book rather than a piece of technology yeah and similarly without not
27:37saying that i enjoy the albums more than a cd but i would never ever part with my album collection
27:43so i've loved it when my grandchildren i go can i have like something with a stylus that'll
27:48play me um a piece of vinyl so it's something about holding it i don't know there's just something about
27:54and the front cover and the history on the back and it was wonderful i love them indeed all right
27:59well
28:00done so 85 for marlin tom on uh 26 as we turn to tom for a letters game tom can
28:07i have a consonant please
28:08thank you tom r and another t and the vowel o and another e and another a and the consonant
28:26s
28:28and another g and another h and final consonant please and lastly s and here's the countdown clock
28:49so
28:58so
29:00so
29:00so
29:14Yes, Tom?
29:15A six.
29:16A six and...
29:17Nine.
29:18And a nine.
29:19It does this sort of thing, Tom.
29:21Now, what's your six?
29:23Um, tosser.
29:25Tosser?
29:26And Martin?
29:27Shortages.
29:29Shortages.
29:30Brilliant.
29:30Well done.
29:33It seems you have some problems, but we are definitely with Martin and Shortages.
29:37That was our best.
29:38That's brilliant.
29:39Well done.
29:40Look at that.
29:40103.
29:41Terrific.
29:42Martin, let us go.
29:44Can I have a vowel, please?
29:45Thank you, Martin.
29:46U.
29:47And another.
29:48O.
29:49And another.
29:51E.
29:52And a consonant.
29:54R.
29:55And another.
29:56L.
29:57And another.
29:58T.
29:59And another.
30:01R.
30:03And another.
30:05M.
30:08And a final consonant, please.
30:11And a final G.
30:13Stand by.
30:24Hey!
30:26Bye.
30:27Bye.
30:27Bye.
30:30Bye.
30:42Bye.
30:44Martin seven and Tom four and four that four and Martin grouter a grouter grouting indeed
30:59Laura with one of those I have to say but we have a gourmet which is a rather nice seven
31:04very good Susie yeah no seven was our top that's it well done all right so Martin on 110 marvelous
31:11stuff Tom on 26 as we turn to Tom for the final numbers game Tom can have three large and
31:17three
31:17listen please thank you Tom three from the top rope and three little ones coming up for the last one
31:22of
31:22the day and these three smalls are four ten and two and the three large 75 25 and 50 and
31:31the final
31:31target 117
31:33117
31:37so
32:04yes Tom 117 and Martin
32:09117 Tom 75 plus 50 75 plus 50 125 four times two is eight yep four times two is eight
32:18I'll take that
32:19away easy 117 well done Martin I made the eight by ten minus two lovely same result there we go
32:26all
32:29right
32:32120 120 120 Tom on 36 no bad thing there as we turn to you both fingers on buzzers let's
32:40get
32:40to the countdown conundrum to the countdown conundrum let's reveal it no
32:47Martin
32:48Hurst
32:49profanity
32:50profanity
32:51profanity let's see whether you're right
32:53here it comes profanity
32:55here it comes profanity
32:58my word that's amazing the 130 the highest
33:02score this series tremendous score so Tom no shame again 36 in fact 36 very good score because this guy's
33:09heading
33:10onward and upward he's got four wins so Tom back to football and rugby league good luck with the converting
33:18the south of it into rugby league
33:19take this goodie bag and our very best wishes thank you well done and Martin we look forward to seeing
33:25you again tomorrow thank you tremendous performance thank you well done indeed
33:30what you make of that then well that's amazing and of course I'll bump into Tom in the supermarket no
33:36doubt one day because I live in seven oaks as well so
33:38I'm sorry yes I shall say hello Tom and well done very good after you were talking just very quickly
33:43at the top of the program about Capability Brown and Chatsworth House and I remember doing a program there once
33:49and the old duchess I said to her how big is the house how many rooms does it have and
33:53she said darling I think it has about 120
33:56something like that so she said you know I lost my handbag once and she said I didn't find it
34:01for six months
34:03there we are see you tomorrow see you tomorrow see you tomorrow Nick brilliant stuff well I think we could
34:10be looking a little bit of an octochamp here I think with these kind of scores and I'm having nothing
34:14to do as predicted
34:15fantastic and may it continue thank you Martin all right peaceful day tomorrow we'll see you then see you then
34:20same time same place you be sure of it a very good afternoon
34:24contact us by email at countdown at channel 4.com by twitter at c4 countdown or write to us at
34:32countdown leads ls3 1js you can also find our web page at channel 4.com forward slash countdown
34:42tonight on 4 Phil and Kirsty looking for rural retreats in the peaks location times 3 is at 8 then
34:50it's a delicate wait for a kidney inside Birmingham
34:53children's hospital at 9 next up gox fill your house for free