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00:30Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio on the last quarterfinal day of series 75.
00:37We'll get a place in the semis. Well, we'll have to wait a little bit until that pitches up.
00:42But it was on this very day, way back in 1946, 70 years ago, that A Wonderful Life premiered in
00:49New York.
00:50A Wonderful Life, of course, featuring that great, great actor, James Stewart and Donna Reed, too.
00:56It was a joyful film, has become a Christmas favourite ever since.
01:01Of course, it featured Clarence the Angel, who turned James Stewart's life around.
01:06And every Christmas it pops up. And why not? And why not?
01:10For me, I don't have a particular favourite for Christmas, unless it's a sort of a Fred Astaire and Ginger
01:17Rogers film, without any Christmas sort of, you know, connections.
01:21But it's such a joy to watch those two gallivanting around. Beautiful, black and white, great stuff.
01:27What about you? Do you have a favourite?
01:29Well, I go on about it all the time. Home Alone, Elf, got to be watched every year.
01:32But then Bad Santa's quite good. I think they're making a second one. Have you ever seen that?
01:36I haven't. Bad Santa?
01:37It's kind of an alternative Christmas film, but that's a good one.
01:40And last year I watched this special with Bill Murray.
01:44And we were in New York, and it was filmed in New York, and it was supposed to be Christmas
01:47Eve, and it went out Christmas Eve.
01:48But except they thought there was going to be snow, and in the end it was 20 degrees, so it
01:52wasn't quite realistic.
01:53But they had one scene with, they were singing, Santa Claus wants some loving, and George Clooney kept popping out
01:59from these plastic Christmas trees.
02:01And for some reason it's tickled me, so you should Google that if you haven't seen it.
02:03It was quite Bill Murray funny.
02:06Excellent. Lovely man. Lovely man.
02:08Now, who's here with us? John Shaw is back.
02:10Look, from Swaddling Coat, a capital cost auditor in the beer equipment market.
02:14Last one to qualify, became an octochamp just a few weeks back, and is our number four seed.
02:20Hi, Nick.
02:20Well done. Well done, John. Good to see you here.
02:23You've got to beat Andrew Fenton's Challenge, a property company sales director from Roos in the Vale of Glamorgan,
02:30our very first octochamp of the series, way back in July, and competes as our number five seed.
02:37So you two guys really are pretty much neck and neck.
02:40You've had a long time to wait. Have you scoped the competition?
02:43I've had a good look and plenty of rest, so we'll see what happens.
02:46Well done. All right. This is a close run thing. Four and five together.
02:49Good luck to you both. Big round of applause for John and Andrew.
02:55And over in the corner, give me a BDI in proceedings.
02:58We, of course, have Susie Dent, and she keeps us updated with the weather forecast on BBC Breakfast,
03:03BBC News Channel, and on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show, it's Carol Kirkwood.
03:09Carol, welcome back.
03:14Without further ado, it's Countdown, an important game.
03:20John Shaw, it's a letters game for you.
03:22Afternoon, Rachel.
03:23Afternoon again, John.
03:24Can I have A consonant, please?
03:26Thank you. Start this last quarterfinal with T.
03:29And another.
03:31L.
03:32And a third, please.
03:33R.
03:34And a fourth.
03:36M.
03:38A vowel, please.
03:39A.
03:41Another vowel.
03:42I.
03:44A third vowel.
03:47E.
03:49A consonant, please.
03:51S.
03:52And a final consonant, please.
03:56And to finish, P.
03:58And here's the Countdown Clock.
04:30Yes, John.
04:31Eight.
04:33And Andrew.
04:34Also eight.
04:35Two eights, John.
04:36Tramples.
04:37Andrew.
04:38Primates.
04:39And primates.
04:41Good start.
04:42Very good start.
04:43Eight apiece.
04:44And in the corner, Carol and Susie, what have you conjured out of that lot?
04:48I've got tramples as well.
04:50Well done.
04:51Yes.
04:51One last eight you might possibly have found is pilaster, which is a rectangular column in architecture,
04:57especially one projecting from a wall.
05:00The last eight apiece, as I say, and it's Andrew's letters game.
05:05Andrew.
05:05Good afternoon, Rachel.
05:06Afternoon, Andrew.
05:07Can I have a consonant, please?
05:08Start with S.
05:10And a vowel, please.
05:12U.
05:12And a consonant.
05:14R.
05:15Vowel.
05:17O.
05:18Consonant.
05:19T.
05:21Consonant.
05:22V.
05:24Vowel.
05:25E.
05:27Consonant.
05:29N.
05:30And a final vowel, please.
05:34And a final I.
05:37Stand by.
05:38Vowel.
05:40I.
05:50I.
05:53Bout.
06:00I.
06:09Andrew?
06:09Eight, but it's not written down.
06:11Mm-hm.
06:12Eight, and I have written it down.
06:13So, Andrew?
06:15Routines.
06:16And oversion.
06:19Oversion?
06:20Oh, how are you spelling that?
06:23That's a good point.
06:24There's only one O.
06:27And I'll spell it with the invisible O,
06:29followed by V-E-R-S-I-O-N.
06:31Yes, not in, actually, anyway.
06:33So, I don't know if that makes you feel better or what.
06:35It might be better.
06:36Sorry.
06:37Bad luck, bad luck.
06:38What about the corner?
06:39What have you got?
06:40I've got an E.
06:41I've got Souvenir.
06:43Souvenir, very good.
06:44Any else, Susie?
06:45No, I love that word.
06:46It comes in French to remember.
06:48I think it's quite romantic, really.
06:49Souvenir, yeah, indeed.
06:51And it's John's numbers game now, first of the day.
06:54John?
06:55Hi, Rachel.
06:56Can I have four from the top, please?
06:58You can, indeed.
06:59The champions are back four large ones and two little ones to kick us off.
07:02And this four large challenge is seven, six, and then the big ones, 50, 75, 25, and 100.
07:11And the target to reach, 133.
07:14One, three, three.
07:44One, three, three.
07:47Yes, John?
07:48One, three, two.
07:49One, three, two.
07:50How about Andrew?
07:52Yeah, the same.
07:52One, three, two.
07:53John?
07:54OK.
07:55I did 100 plus 50 is 150.
07:57150.
08:00And 75 over 25 is 3.
08:03Yeah.
08:03Multiplied by 6 is 18.
08:05And take it away.
08:06Yep, for one away.
08:08Andrew?
08:09100 plus 25 plus 7.
08:11100 plus 25 plus 7.
08:13Same thing, yeah.
08:14There we go.
08:15Still one away, though.
08:16Rachel, can you help?
08:18I think we all probably spent 30 seconds going, ooh, and then spot the easy way, actually.
08:22If you say 100 plus 75 is 175, and then 6 times 7 is 42.
08:28And that's what you have to do.
08:30There it is.
08:31Well done.
08:32Well done, Rachel.
08:34So, Andrew, 23.
08:37John on 15s.
08:38We turn to our first Tea Time teaser, which is Greet Clan.
08:42And the clue.
08:43If you get this, things might be shaping up for you.
08:46If you get this, things might be shaping up for you.
09:04Welcome back.
09:05I left with the clue.
09:05If you get this, things might be shaping up for you.
09:08And the answer to that one is rectangle.
09:10Rectangle.
09:11So, 23 plays 15, and it's Andrew's letters game.
09:17Andrew.
09:17Consonant, please.
09:19Thank you, Andrew.
09:20D.
09:21And another, please.
09:23L.
09:24And one more.
09:25M.
09:27Vowel.
09:28A.
09:29Vowel.
09:31E.
09:32And vowel.
09:33I.
09:36Consonant.
09:37S.
09:39Consonant.
09:41R.
09:43And another consonant to finish.
09:45And the last one.
09:46J.
09:47Stand by.
09:48And another consonant to finish.
09:50And another consonant to finish.
10:07And another consonant to finish.
10:07And another consonant to finish.
10:08And another consonant to finish.
10:08And another consonant to finish.
10:10And another consonant to finish.
10:10And another consonant to finish.
10:12And another consonant to finish.
10:19andrew seven a seven john seven andrew mailers and john realism realism excellent yes good
10:29words yeah what is the corner got to offer now carol and susie i've got sidearm which is seven
10:36because rachel and i both have our sidearms poking out sidearm indeed any else excellent
10:42misread mislead quite a few sevens there we couldn't find an eight all right still that eight
10:48point difference 30 to 22 john on 22 and it's john's letters game now all right have a consonant
10:54please thank you john s and another g and a third please s and a fourth l and a fifth
11:09please
11:09n okay a vowel u another vowel please e and a third o
11:23and a last vowel please and lastly a
11:27canta
11:31so
11:59john seven
12:01andrew seven lounges and lounges same there we go they're close together now
12:10in the corner lounges yes seven yes um otherwise just uh well five egg user there an old time for
12:19shivering fits um but lounges seem to be the best the egg use yes 37 face 29 and now andrew
12:28it's your
12:29numbers game uh six small please the other end we've had four large now we're having six little
12:35ones and this time around they are one six three four seven and two quite small and the target 167
12:47one six seven
12:48one six seven
12:50one six seven
13:20andrew uh one six seven john one six seven andrew uh seven times six is 42
13:27six 42 times four one six eight minus one one six seven perfect john same way
13:33yep my word
13:38very good
13:39to have difference 47 to 39 as we turn now to john john have a letters game okay can i
13:47have a consonant
13:47please thank you john p and another w and a third please y a vowel
13:57e another vowel please a and a third u consonant l
14:07another consonant please s and a consonant please and the last one d
14:16stand by
14:48Yes, John. Seven. Seven. Andrew? Seven. John? Splayed. Andrew? Splayed. Splayed. Yep. My word. Well, now, Carol, what have you
15:05got? I have also got splayed. Great minds. Splayed indeed. Susie?
15:10You can have dewlaps for an alternative seven. They are folds of loose skin hanging from the neck of an
15:16animal, especially in cows you will find hanging bitter skin.
15:19Dewlap. All right. Well done. Still that wretched eight points, 54 to 46. We turn to Andrew. Andrew?
15:28A consonant, please. Thank you, Andrew. K. Vowel. I. And vowel. A. Consonant. N. Vowel. I. Consonant. T. Consonant. R.
15:51Consonant.
15:53Q. And a final vowel, please. And a final A. Stand by.
16:13Bye.
16:14Bye.
16:17Bye.
16:32Andrew.
16:33A risky six.
16:35John.
16:36I'll try a risky six as well, then.
16:39Andrew.
16:40Mine is Kintar, Q-I-N-T-A-R.
16:45And John's?
16:46I've got the same, but I didn't write it down.
16:49Oh, John.
16:52Bad line.
16:53Let's see whether there's any merit in Andrew's Kintar.
16:57Well, it is, yes, it is there.
17:00Famous is one of the Q words where you don't need the U.
17:02It's monetary unit of Albania.
17:05So that is in the dictionary.
17:08And there is an alternative six if you want one, Nick,
17:12which is Kinnara,
17:13which is a candle holder for seven candles
17:16used in celebrating the festival of Kwanzaa.
17:21You're welcome.
17:22But the news really is that, you know,
17:25John, that's bad line.
17:26That really is.
17:2760 plays 46.
17:28And we go into John's numbers game.
17:31John.
17:31OK, can I go for four big again, please?
17:33You can indeed.
17:34Thank you, John.
17:34Four large and two little ones.
17:36And this time, the little ones are eight and six.
17:40And then the big four, 75, 100, 50, and 25.
17:45And this target, 528.
17:48Five to eight.
18:21John.
18:22Five to seven.
18:23One away.
18:24Andrew?
18:25Five to seven.
18:27Not written down properly.
18:28Andrew.
18:30Six times 100 is 600.
18:32Six times 100, 600.
18:35Minus 75.
18:37Five to five.
18:38And 50 over 25 is two.
18:4050 over 25.
18:41Yeah, two.
18:42And add that on to the five to five.
18:44Yep.
18:45Four one away.
18:46And John.
18:47Same way.
18:48There we go.
18:49Yeah, that was.
18:51All right.
18:53So, five to eight.
18:55Rachel, how easy is that to crack?
18:58Leave it with me.
18:59Certainly will.
19:00All right.
19:00So, it's 67 to 53.
19:03As we turn to our second tea time teaser,
19:05which is super vile.
19:07And the clue, it's worse than vile.
19:09It's super vile.
19:10It's worse than vile.
19:12It's super vile.
19:31It's super vile.
19:34And the answer to that one is that it's repulsive.
19:37Repulsive.
19:39Now, what's not repulsive is the fact that I think Rachel's cracked it.
19:43I have indeed.
19:44If you say 75 times 8 is 600, divided by 12, sorry, 50 is 12.
19:51And then 100 minus that 12 is 88 and times it by 6.
19:56Fabulous.
19:57Well done, Rachel.
20:00Terrific start.
20:01Now, Andrew, 67, John on 53, and it's Andrew's letters game.
20:08Andrew.
20:09Start with the consonant, please.
20:11Thank you, Andrew.
20:12P.
20:13And a vowel.
20:15E.
20:16Consonant.
20:18M.
20:20A vowel.
20:21O.
20:23Consonant.
20:24T.
20:26Vowel.
20:27E.
20:29Consonant.
20:31R.
20:32Consonant.
20:34S.
20:36And a final consonant, please.
20:37And a final G.
20:40Countdown.
20:41G.
20:42And a final consonant, please.
21:12Andrew?
21:13Seven.
21:14John?
21:15Seven.
21:16Andrew?
21:16Remotes.
21:18And?
21:18Meteors.
21:19And meteors.
21:21And in the corner there, what have we got?
21:23I've got protégés.
21:25Excellent.
21:26Yeah, that would give you an eight.
21:27Accents and all.
21:28Indeed.
21:29Well done.
21:31Protégé.
21:33My little protégé.
21:3574 plays 60 as we turn to John now.
21:39John?
21:39OK, can I have a consonant, please?
21:40Right, Jill?
21:41Thank you, John.
21:42C?
21:43And one more.
21:45R?
21:46And a third, please.
21:48N?
21:49And a fourth.
21:52T?
21:53Vowel, please.
21:55A?
21:56Another vowel.
21:57I?
21:59And a third vowel, please.
22:01E?
22:03Another vowel.
22:06U?
22:07And a last consonant, please.
22:09And lastly, S.
22:12And it's...
22:13Countdown.
22:14And a third vowel, please.
22:16And a third vowel, please.
22:19And a third vowel, please.
22:25And a third vowel, please.
22:25And a third vowel, please.
22:26And a third vowel, please.
22:27And a third vowel, please.
22:29And a third vowel, please.
22:30And a third vowel, please.
22:31And a third vowel, please.
22:33And a third vowel, please.
22:33And a third vowel, please.
22:33And a third vowel, please.
22:33And a third vowel, please.
22:34And a third vowel, please.
22:36And a third vowel, please.
22:39And a third vowel, please.
22:44John?
22:45Eight.
22:46And eight.
22:47Andrew?
22:47Also eight, not written down.
22:49And what might that be?
22:51Urinates.
22:53Urinates.
22:54Any more urination?
22:55Yep.
22:56Both of you.
22:57All right.
22:59I dare hardly ask the corner.
23:02I'm not sure if I've spelt this correctly, so it could be wrong.
23:05I've got truancies.
23:07Yes.
23:08We were very excited because we thought we had a nine there.
23:10Yes.
23:10But actually, it does say in the dictionary that it's a maths noun, and I think we talk
23:16about general truancy at school rather than truancies, so I think we can take that away
23:20from ourselves, sadly.
23:21But you've got a brilliant one.
23:23Centaurs?
23:23Centaurs.
23:24Centaurs.
23:25Oh, yeah.
23:30Very good.
23:31So, 82 plays 68 as we turn to Susie and her wonderful origins of words.
23:37And today, Susie?
23:38I'm going to talk about some words that have been brought back from faraway climes, particularly
23:44by soldiers returning to Blighty, as it was once known, and indeed still is known today.
23:50And I'm going to start with Mufti.
23:52And Mufti is a word that we throw around today because when kids were allowed to wear their
23:57own clothes at school, it's Mufti Day.
24:00It's quite casual these days, but actually it had very formal beginnings.
24:05And it goes back to the days of the Raj, the British Indian Army.
24:09And Mufti was the title of a Muslim legal expert who was empowered to give rulings, very important
24:16rulings, on religious law.
24:18And Mufti itself goes back to a very, very old word meaning able to deliver legal judgments,
24:25really.
24:26Then, slowly, it began to be applied to the attire that such scholars would be wearing.
24:32And this is particularly the dressing gowns, the very ornate dressing gowns, the smoking
24:36caps, the tasseled ones, and the slippers.
24:39And these were apparently then adopted by some of the British soldiers who would be relaxing
24:44in the mess, dressed in such casual attire.
24:47And eventually, it was brought back to England.
24:49First of all, it was the plain clothes worn by military people, as you would expect.
24:53And then it slipped into the mainstream.
24:54And we still use it today.
24:57Another word that we brought back is a pundit.
24:59Again, we hear about pundits, you know, every day, don't we?
25:02Pundits on the sofa, particularly commentators.
25:05We get back to, again, a very important word from a Sanskrit, pandita, which meant learned,
25:10learned, used to describe a learned man who was versed in Sanskrit law, philosophy, and
25:16religion.
25:17So they were an expert authority.
25:19And, of course, that's the sense in which we use it today.
25:21And I'll end with another Sanskrit word, and a very Christmassy one, one of my favourites,
25:25and that's punch.
25:27Carried back from the exotic east in the 17th century, this is the punch that we drink,
25:31obviously.
25:31It means the five nectars of the gods.
25:34That is its literal translation, referring to the traditional five ingredients that were
25:38first used, milk, curd, butter, honey, and molasses, and absolutely no paint stripper.
25:51Thank you, Stacey.
25:5482 to 68.
25:55Now, Andrew, you're in the final run home.
26:00It's a letters game.
26:01A consonant, please.
26:02Thank you, Andrew.
26:04Z.
26:05Another one, please.
26:07H.
26:08And again.
26:10B.
26:11And a vowel.
26:12A.
26:13And a vowel.
26:14A.
26:15And a third.
26:17U.
26:18A consonant.
26:20D.
26:22Consonant.
26:24P.
26:25And a final consonant, please.
26:27And a last one.
26:28Good luck with this.
26:29W.
26:31Countdown.
26:33MUSIC PLAYS
26:34MUSIC PLAYS
26:37MUSIC PLAYS
27:04My word, Andrew, what have you made of that?
27:07A dodgy four.
27:08Dodgy four. How about John?
27:09I've got a solid four.
27:12Now then, Andrew.
27:13Bored.
27:15Bored and daub.
27:18And daub.
27:19OK, daub is fine.
27:21How are you spelling a board?
27:22D-A-W-D.
27:23Yes, then, you're absolutely fine.
27:25I was wondering if you're putting the U in there.
27:27It's a very old term for a woman in charge of a brothel.
27:29Linked to borediness, obviously.
27:30A board?
27:31Yes.
27:31Well done.
27:32Well done.
27:33Wow.
27:34Nerve-wracking.
27:3686 to 72, but in the corner.
27:40Now, what have you made of it?
27:42I so wanted to say bar, but that's only three.
27:45Not that one.
27:46That was bad.
27:47Another three in there.
27:48Yeah.
27:49Daba.
27:49Daba.
27:50Yes.
27:51An Indian word.
27:52We're just talking about Indian words.
27:53For a roadside food store.
27:55OK.
27:56Daba.
27:56Yeah.
27:57Stopping off at a Daba.
27:58Exactly.
27:58All right.
27:5986 to 72, as I say.
28:02And it's John's Letters Game.
28:03Final one of this particular competition today.
28:09All right.
28:10Do you have a consonant, please?
28:11Thank you, John.
28:12T.
28:13And another.
28:15N.
28:16And a third, please.
28:18L.
28:20A vowel.
28:21A.
28:23Another vowel.
28:24U.
28:25And a third.
28:26E.
28:28A vowel, please.
28:31I.
28:32And a consonant.
28:34R.
28:35And a last vowel, please.
28:37And a last O.
28:39Countdown.
28:40A vowel.
28:42A vowel.
28:44A vowel.
28:49A vowel.
28:51A vowel.
28:55A vowel.
28:56A vowel.
28:57A vowel.
28:57A vowel.
28:57A vowel.
29:09A vowel.
29:11John.
29:12Eight.
29:13And eight, Andrew?
29:15Also eight.
29:17John.
29:18Oriental.
29:19Oriental.
29:20Relation.
29:21And relation.
29:23Excellent.
29:24Well done.
29:29Well done.
29:30Well done.
29:30I can understand John's frustration.
29:33I could see that bubbling through a bit.
29:36All right.
29:37Now then, Carol and Susie.
29:40I've got relation as well.
29:42Yeah.
29:43And there's also tenurial, an adjective that means relation to the tenure of land.
29:47Yeah.
29:48Tenurial.
29:49All right.
29:4994 to 80.
29:51And it's final numbers game.
29:53Andrew?
29:54Two from the top this time, please.
29:56And four from anywhere else.
29:58You can indeed go for a possibly more tactical safe to large.
30:02We shall see.
30:03The last numbers game of this contest is five, three, four, two.
30:08And the large two, 75 and 50.
30:11And the target to reach 658.
30:14Six, five, eight.
30:43And, of course, we'll see you next to round of each.
30:44Thanks, Simon.
30:46Andrew?
30:486-5-3.
30:50Five away.
30:51John?
30:526-5-8.
30:55John, let's go.
30:57OK.
30:59Four multiplied by two is eight.
31:01It is indeed.
31:02Yeah, I think Andrew might kick himself.
31:04Times 75 is 600.
31:07Add the rest.
31:08And the doors are still open, yep.
31:096-5-8.
31:11Well done.
31:11OK, well done.
31:15APPLAUSE
31:20Fourth seed and fifth seed,
31:22and it's 94 plays 90,
31:24which means we're into a crucial conundrum.
31:26Gentlemen, fingers on buzzers.
31:28May the best man win.
31:30We're rolling today's crucial countdown conundrum.
31:33MUSIC PLAYS
32:04John?
32:06Not a clue.
32:10So I'm going to leave all the rest of the time down to Andrew.
32:17Me neither.
32:18All right.
32:19Well done indeed.
32:20All right.
32:21So we're foxed up here.
32:23Two great players.
32:24Who in you are?
32:25I see a hand.
32:26Yes, sir.
32:27A pollster.
32:29A pollster.
32:30Let's see whether you're right.
32:31My word.
32:32There it is.
32:33Well done.
32:35APPLAUSE
32:36So here we go.
32:37Andrew, 94.
32:39John, 90.
32:40Roles reversed.
32:41Bad luck.
32:42Bad luck, John.
32:43Wow.
32:44It's been excellent.
32:45You were there, weren't you?
32:46Pretty much.
32:47But Andrew, he steamed ahead right through,
32:50and at the end you had a sort of a little foray,
32:53but it didn't come to anything.
32:56So we see Andrew tomorrow.
32:58And John goes home to swaddling coat
33:01with a piece of unspeakably expensive kryptonite.
33:06And our very best wishes.
33:08Thank you very much.
33:09Great player.
33:09Well done.
33:09We've enjoyed having you here.
33:11We have indeed.
33:12Andrew, see you tomorrow.
33:14Well done.
33:14Well done.
33:15See you both tomorrow,
33:17and we shall see you tomorrow.
33:18First semi-final.
33:20Absolutely.
33:20One of our semis tomorrow.
33:22Join us then.
33:23Same time, same place.
33:24You'll be sure of it.
33:25A very good afternoon.
33:26You can contact the program by email
33:29at countdown at channel4.com,
33:31by Twitter at C4Countdown,
33:33or write to us at countdownleadsls31js.
33:37You can also find our webpage
33:39at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
33:43At nine tomorrow night,
33:44the dangers of driftwood,
33:46and why you should never lose track
33:47of where you put your scissors.
33:4924 hours in A&E with all those lessons.
33:51And tonight at nine,
33:53moving to New York to pursue a career on Broadway.
33:55And that's the business.
33:56This is us,
33:57the Smash U.S. drama continues.
34:00But up next,
34:00it's post-Rusus Clinton.