![]() Although Whiteley made a slow recovery from his illness he died on 26 June 2005 after a failed operation to correct a problem with his heart that had been detected. Whiteley fell ill with septicaemia in 2005, and as a result he was no longer able to record Countdown. Gradually the tasks performed by the extra presenters were taken over by Carol Vorderman, whose role within the show essentially became that of co-presenter. Vorderman, a Cambridge graduate and member of Mensa, was appointed as one of the numbers experts after responding to an advertisement in a national newspaper which asked for a young woman who would like to become a game show hostess unlike almost any other game show hostess of the time, however, the advertisement also made it clear that the applicants' appearance would be less important than their being a talented mathematician. When Countdown was commissioned for Channel 4 the number of hostesses expanded further: Cathy Hytner and Beverley Isherwood selected the letters and numbers tiles respectively, and calculations in the numbers rounds were checked by Linda Barrett or Carol Vorderman. Jeff Stelling presented the series from 2009 to 2011Ĭalendar Countdown was presented by Richard Whiteley, with Cathy Hytner and Denise McFarland-Cruickshanks managing the numbers and letters rounds respectively. These shows were only broadcast in the Yorkshire area. As the presenter of Calendar, Richard Whiteley was the natural choice to present Calendar Countdown-his daily appearances on both shows earned him the nickname "Twice Nightly". Yorkshire Television purchased the format and commissioned a series of eight shows under the title Calendar Countdown, which were to be a spin-off of their regional news programme Calendar. The format was brought to Britain by Marcel Stellman, a Belgian record executive, who had watched the French show and believed it could be popular overseas. 1.6 Departures of Vorderman and O'ConnorĬountdown is based on the French game show Des chiffres et des lettres ( Numbers and Letters), created by Armand Jammot. ![]() ![]() Contestants of exceptional skill have received national media coverage, and the programme as a whole is widely recognised and parodied within British culture. The best eight contestants are invited back for the series finals, which are decided in knockout format. During the series heats, the winning contestant returns the next day until he or she loses or has accumulated eight wins (known as an Octochamp). The two contestants in each episode compete in three disciplines: ten letters rounds, in which the contestants attempt to make the longest word possible from nine randomly chosen letters four numbers rounds, in which the contestants must use arithmetic to reach a random target number from six other numbers and the conundrum, a buzzer round in which the contestants compete to solve a nine-letter anagram. Cathy Hytner originally placed letters on the board for the letters games before this was taken over by Vorderman.Ī celebrity guest features in every programme, and provides a brief interlude mid-way between the two advertisement breaks. Carol Vorderman, the show's co-host, who had also been on the programme since it began, left the show in December 2008, at the same time as Des O'Connor. It was then presented by Des Lynam until the end of 2006, Des O'Connor until the end of 2008, and Jeff Stelling until the end of 2011 Nick Hewer has presented the show since 2012. The programme was presented by Richard Whiteley for over 20 years, until his sudden death in June 2005. Countdown was initially recorded at The Leeds Studios for 27 years, before moving to Granada Studios in 2009, and then over to MediaCityUK in Salford Quays in 2013. With over 6,000 episodes, Countdown is one of the longest-running game shows in the world, along with the original French version, Des chiffres et des lettres (Numbers & Letters), which has been running on French television continuously since 1965. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and 73 series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. ![]() It is presented by Nick Hewer, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. MediaCityUK, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester (2013–)Ĭountdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles.
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