Countdown

Countdown, Channel 4's longest running and first programme to air on the network. The concept is simple: 9 random letters, make the longest word you can. Repeat four times. Now get six numbers of any combination from 1-10 twice over and/or 25, 50, 75 or 100 all once-over. Have a huge sum total and try to get to it using only addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Now repeat all of that three times over, chuck in a 9 letter word scrambled up, descramble it, thank you, goodnight.

Okay, so its a popular programme. It turned purple in 2003 for its new set (although it looked like somebody had started hanging wallpaper and left the job half finished) and the show later changed timeslot as well which caused a major upset in the political world of the House of Commons with an early day motion tabled to get Channel 4 to shift it back again! I kid you not.

One thing that strikes you when you first see this show is Richard Whiteley, or rather what he's wearing. This man must go out of his way to pick some awful blazer in some shocking colour and/or pattern and then choose a tie that doesn't complement it or the background in any way whatsoever. I thought there was something wrong with my set when I turned Countdown on one day and there was Mr Whiteley in some god-awful blazer that looks like the sort of interference you get when you use a mobile phone next to the TV set.

Fortunately the shocking blazers don't happen *that* often I'm pleased to say and you can see this man in "normal" attire most of the time.

Carol Vorderman launched her TV career on the back of this. Initially wandering on to do the numbers game, now she does everything. She works well with Richard. It's incredible to think that we are now on series 52 and these two presenters have featured in every single episode to date, which is well over 3000 episodes by now.

The show "expanded" to a 45min format in 2002 from its previous 30min format which tided it over for 20yrs. While the 30min format indeed felt "cramped" at times, You now get the impression that there's too much time to fill under the 45min format which might explain why there's more yakking overall.

Still, beggars can't be choosers I suppose.

Worth watching though but will eventually grate as the format doesn't change. When it does, watch something else for a few months.

Based on French gameshow "Des chiffres et des lettres", the very first programme ever to be shown on Channel 4 still continues to this day, albeit sadly without the brilliant Richard Whiteley, who never missed a single show throughout his run as presenter.

Despite this, it still draws in a consistent number of viewers every day who enjoy nothing more than pitting their wits against a variety of numbers and letters games, and another great feature of the show is that people of all ages can apply for the show which can be entertaining. With it's well handled simplicity, dignity, light entertainment and wonderfully selected special guests, as well as that famous clock, Countdown remains true to the same formula it created over 25 years ago. Here's hoping the programme lasts another 25.

I love how the celebrity guests sometimes profess to not having done well in school but still manage to find alternatives to the contestants. Every time!

Methinks that there's some kind of jiggerypokery going on here, or am I just far too cynical?

It's a classic "oh what shall I do today when I can't be bothered to get out of my pyjamas?" sort of show. Also worth watching for Rachel Riley.

Just because this show is on in the dead of the afternoon, don't dismiss it as lightweight. This show is a hit and has had such a long run because it is intelligent and does not rely on stupid stunts or gimmicks. Thirty seconds to produce a word from nine randomly picked letters is difficult to say the least, and the numbers game is even harder. It's one of the programs I miss most since moving to Canada. Sure Whiteley's jokes are bad, but that is part of the fun. In a TV world where shows like Survivor and Temptation Island get all the attention and millions of viewers, it's great that there are still some programs that need some brain power to get prizes. I'm not surprised that Countdown has lasted so long.