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00:17Thank you very much.
00:31Well, good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34And it's the start of series 76.
00:36So it's over. Christmas is gone.
00:39That's another one safely tucked up in bed.
00:41And now, of course, we're thinking all about New Year resolution, something we do every year at this time.
00:46We decide what it is that we will do to improve ourselves.
00:51Do you know what the stats say, Rachel?
00:54Apparently, 59 percent of people who make a resolution fail to keep it.
00:58Well, that's no surprise, because otherwise, you know, we'd be running out of resolutions, I suppose, in some sort of
01:04way.
01:04Here are the stats.
01:06Clearly, people are concerned about their health because 22 percent want more exercise.
01:1019 percent swear on a stack of Bibles that they're going to eat more healthily.
01:1517 percent less booze.
01:18So it's all about health.
01:1912 percent learn new things.
01:22Nine percent want to lose weight.
01:24Do you have an annual resolution you make?
01:27I'm going to make one this year.
01:29Yes.
01:29That I'm definitely going to keep because I'm going to make a New Year's resolution never to make a New
01:33Year's resolution.
01:34I think they're ridiculous.
01:35If you want to change something, why do you have to wait till January the 1st?
01:38I suppose.
01:39There's no time like the present.
01:40If you want to change it, change it.
01:41Yeah, but it's a point in time, isn't it?
01:43It is a point in time.
01:44That's quite right.
01:45But who's with us?
01:46Let's see whether our contestants have got any New Year resolutions.
01:50We're joined by Richard Hayward, a chartered accountant from Stockport.
01:54Now, we haven't seen you since quite some time now.
01:57Good to be back.
01:58We had to put you aside for the finals.
02:00You've got four wins under your belt.
02:02Have you got a New Year resolution?
02:05No, with Rachel on this, I tend to stay clear of them.
02:08Nothing to do with being perfect or anything like that.
02:10Better at crucial conundrums.
02:12All right.
02:13Let's see whether you're a competitor today, Darren Godfrey, a product leader in the fraud industry.
02:21Now, your job is to try and analyse what's going on amongst the fraudsters.
02:27And it's a great job to have because we're surrounded by chances.
02:31I had a brilliant scam the other day when I was approached by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs saying they
02:38had a rebate for me.
02:39There was just something wrong about it because it was replied to a hotmail address.
02:43And I thought, no, that's not HMRC.
02:46There are so many ways to rip people off nowadays.
02:49So, yeah, we're trying to combat that constantly.
02:52It's an ever-changing area to be in, constantly evolving.
02:55Well, more strength to your arm because, you know, we need protection.
02:59Do you have a New Year's resolution you'd be prepared to share with us?
03:03Possibly to learn a new language, but I'd like to learn English properly first and then maybe a new one
03:09after that.
03:09Good man.
03:10All right.
03:10Let's have a big round of applause for Richard and Darren.
03:18And Susie's over in the corner, joined once again by the wonderful Alistair Stewart, journalist and presenter, presenting ITV's Evening
03:26News.
03:26Welcome back.
03:27Very good to be here.
03:31Now, I was educated by the Benedictines, so Lent is my thing.
03:35And it's only about four weeks long as opposed to 365 days.
03:39So you can resolve to do something and then fail after four weeks rather than 52 weeks.
03:43It's much safer.
03:44Giving up for Lent.
03:46Yeah.
03:46I remember all that.
03:47Brilliant stuff.
03:48All right.
03:49Now then, Richard Hayward, let's have a letters game, shall we?
03:53Hi, Rachel.
03:54Hi, Richard.
03:55Could I start with a vowel, please?
03:56Start today with E.
03:58And another.
04:00A.
04:01And another.
04:03O.
04:05And another.
04:07E.
04:08And a consonant.
04:10W.
04:11And another.
04:12R.
04:14And another.
04:15T.
04:16And another.
04:18S.
04:19And another consonant, please.
04:21And lastly, Y.
04:22And here comes the countdown clock.
04:25R.
04:26And.
04:26R.
04:27And.
04:36I.
04:47I.
04:48And.
04:53And.
04:56Yes, Richard?
04:57I'll go with a seven.
04:59A seven, Darren?
05:00Just six.
05:01Your six?
05:02Watery.
05:04Watery and...
05:06Sorry, use the S twice.
05:08Right, that's to Darren's benefit.
05:10So, watery takes it.
05:12And in the corner?
05:13I did the same mistake as you!
05:15Two S's!
05:16But you've got one that's even better.
05:18Sweater.
05:19Sweater.
05:19Sweater is there for that.
05:20We were both sweating there.
05:21There should be two S's, shouldn't there?
05:22But there you go.
05:23So, sweater.
05:25All right.
05:26Very good.
05:26Six points to Darren.
05:28And it's Darren's letters game now.
05:30Hi, Rachel.
05:30Hi, Darren.
05:31I'd like a vowel, please.
05:33A.
05:34And a consonant.
05:36C.
05:37And a vowel.
05:39E.
05:41And a consonant.
05:43M.
05:44And a vowel.
05:47O.
05:48And a consonant.
05:50N.
05:51And another.
05:53T.
05:54E.
05:55And a vowel.
05:57E.
05:58And a final consonant, please.
06:00And a final V.
06:02Stand by.
06:03E.
06:04E.
06:04E.
06:09E.
06:12E.
06:17E.
06:19E.
06:19E.
06:22E.
06:23E.
06:23E.
06:24E.
06:24E.
06:25E.
06:26E.
06:26E.
06:27E.
06:27E.
06:28E.
06:29E. E.
06:33Yes, Darren?
06:35It's just a four.
06:35A four and...
06:37I'll try a seven.
06:38A seven. Darren?
06:40Cave.
06:41Cave and...
06:42Cavemen.
06:44Cavemen!
06:45I hope Darren's furious about that.
06:48Now, any more cavemen?
06:51No, it's just delightful, because we went through...
06:54Again, we went through the same process like using duresses.
06:57Got cave, got men, stuck them together.
06:58And there's cavemen as well.
07:01But have you got...
07:02Yeah, there's one more seven.
07:04Acetone.
07:05Is that acetone?
07:06It's an organic solvent.
07:08Indeed.
07:09Not quite as resonant as cavemen, possibly.
07:11Acetone.
07:12Don't you use it to remove your nail varnish?
07:14Yeah, I think you might be right, actually.
07:16Dry-cleaning fluid.
07:17Yeah, it is, I think, yeah.
07:18Acetone.
07:20Seven plays six.
07:21Richard's a point ahead, and it's Richard's numbers game.
07:24Could I get two from the top and four from the bottom, please?
07:26Thank you, Richard.
07:27Two large for Little to start this series, and they are four, nine, three, six, and a large
07:36two, 25, and 50.
07:38And the target, 134.
07:41One, three, four.
07:42One, three, five, five, six.
08:13Richard?
08:14One, three, two.
08:15One, three, two.
08:16Darren?
08:17One, three, four.
08:18Now then, Darren.
08:1950 multiplied by three is 150.
08:2325 minus nine is 16.
08:26Yep.
08:26And then take that away.
08:27Perfect.
08:28One, three, four.
08:28Well done.
08:29Well done.
08:32With, of course, standing Darren on 16 and Richard on 7,
08:35it's time for our first Tea Time Teaser,
08:37which is Tennis Bat.
08:40And the clue, nothing to do with tennis,
08:42but they'll decline your offer to serve to them.
08:45Nothing to do with tennis,
08:46but they'll decline your offer to serve to them.
09:05Welcome back.
09:05I left you with the clue, nothing to do with tennis,
09:08but they'll decline your offer to serve to them.
09:10And the answer to that one is abstinent.
09:14Abstinent.
09:16Could be a sort of a New Year resolution, I suppose.
09:19Abstinent.
09:1916 plays 7.
09:21Richard on 7.
09:22It's Darren's letters game.
09:24Start with a consonant, please.
09:25Thank you, Darren.
09:26S.
09:27And another.
09:30L.
09:39And a final consonant, please.
09:54And a final consonant, please.
09:56And a final G.
09:59Countdown.
10:29I'll see you next time.
10:30Darren. Seven. Seven and? Seven. Darren. Gustier. Gustier and Richard. Same word. Gustier. Neither gustier than the other. And? Alistair.
10:45The wind of change sweeping through Africa. Gustier. Very gusty. We can't do better than seven but we can vary
10:51it. We have ugliest is there as well. And I suppose if one was very ugly one would feel surlier
10:58as well about it.
10:59So they're both there but seven seems top so brilliant scoring by both our friends. Well done. So 23 plays
11:0614. Darren in the lead and it's Richard's chance to catch up. Richard. A vowel please. Thank you Richard. I.
11:13And another. E. And another. A. And another. I. And a consonant. T. And another. R. And another. D.
11:28G. And another. Q. And a consonant please. And the last one. R. Stand by.
11:37A consonant please.
12:09Six.
12:09Six, Darren?
12:10Six.
12:11Richard?
12:12Tard.
12:13Tard and?
12:14Trader.
12:16And trader?
12:18Yes.
12:19Can we match six?
12:20Can we beat six?
12:21We actually, we can.
12:22Never late to the game.
12:25Tardier.
12:26Very good.
12:27Lovely, isn't it?
12:28I love that one.
12:29And go on, you say it.
12:31Tarried, which would make you tardier.
12:33Isn't that?
12:34Very good.
12:34Just a little twist of the letters, isn't it?
12:36Oh, no.
12:36Similar, lovely, but there's both seven.
12:39Well done.
12:40And it's Darren's numbers game now.
12:41Darren?
12:42One large and five small, please, right?
12:44Thank you, Darren.
12:45One for the top row.
12:46Five.
12:46Litland's coming up for you.
12:47And these small ones are four, ten, eight, two, six.
12:54And the large one, 100, all the evens.
12:56And the target, 137.
12:59One, three, seven.
13:01One to three, one.
13:02One, two, one.
13:23One, one.
13:23One, two, one.
13:24Five, five.
13:24Five, five, four.
13:28One, nine, ten, ten, ten, LeTrans.
13:29Three, two, seven, ten, ten, ten.
13:31Darren?
13:321-3-7.
13:34Thank you, Richard.
13:351-3-7.
13:36Here we go.
13:37Darren?
13:3710 times 4 is 40.
13:3910 times 4 is 40.
13:406 divided by 2 is 3.
13:42Yeah.
13:43And take that away.
13:4437.
13:44Add the 100.
13:451-3-7, lovely.
13:47And Richard?
13:488 times 4, 32.
13:50Yeah.
13:5010 over 2 for 5.
13:52For 37.
13:53100.
13:53And 137 again, lovely.
13:55Well done.
13:56Well done indeed.
13:57APPLAUSE
14:01But they'll probably get harder, I think.
14:04As we turn to Alistair, what have you got for us today?
14:07Alistair.
14:07Well, one of the first words we got was cavemen,
14:10and I'm not going to take you quite back to that era,
14:12but my little story takes us back to 1979,
14:18when ITV was on strike,
14:21and I was stuck at Eastleigh Airport in Hampshire,
14:23and I was counting rivets.
14:25A manufacturer had bought another aircraft company.
14:28Pilatus had bought Brit Norman.
14:31And I'm literally counting rivets.
14:32So anything was a distraction.
14:34And one day, this amazing horse box turned up at the airport.
14:38And sitting next to it was this fabulous Bristol freighter.
14:41Some of you of a certain age will remember.
14:43They had a big round nose that opened.
14:45And from this horse box, there came two funny old horses,
14:50not much really to look at,
14:52and then this tiny, beautiful little creature,
14:54and it followed on.
14:56And to cut a long story short,
14:58the little one was Troy, owned by Lord Weinstock,
15:01who up to then had won absolutely every race it tried.
15:04And the two bigger ones were horses that were just there to keep it company.
15:07And I asked my friend whether this horse stood a chance.
15:10And he said, oh, yes, that's Troy.
15:12He'll win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
15:14Four to five on are the odds.
15:15So when you're on strike, every penny counts.
15:18So I whacked a fiver on it,
15:19convinced I'd win four and get that back.
15:22And it was soundly beaten by three Troikas and La Marmo.
15:26Came third.
15:27Lost the lot.
15:28So when I told my father about this success
15:31that three Troikas and La Marmo had had
15:33at the expense of my bank account,
15:35he kind of smiled and said,
15:37well, you should always follow what your grandfather used to do.
15:41And I said, well, what was that?
15:42And he said, third letter R, like three Troikas and La Marmo.
15:45And I've done it ever since.
15:46And I have to say, between you, me and grandad,
15:49I've done all right.
15:50What a great story.
15:53Amazing.
15:54Because you're quite a keen man for the horses.
15:56I think you've got a number of horses.
15:58Two of my, or our sons, do show jumping.
16:01Really?
16:01So ours tend to be the ones that do all the pretty stuff
16:03over the coloured jumps.
16:04But I just adore horses.
16:07I think they are amongst God's greatest creatures.
16:09And you're a patron of a charity, I think.
16:11Yeah.
16:12The Brook is a charity that was established about 120 years ago
16:15by the wife of an empire civil servant
16:18who, like a lot of people in the UK, love their horses,
16:21but saw in India, Afghanistan, places like that.
16:24Horses literally worked to death.
16:26And the charity exists to say, horses and working donkeys,
16:30if you look after them, A, they have a better life,
16:32and B, actually, you'll get more out of it as well.
16:34It's a sound investment.
16:35So, yeah, that's the Brook charity,
16:37and I'm very, very proud to be its patron.
16:38Thank you, Alistair.
16:40Now then, Richard, should we have a letters game?
16:42A vowel, please.
16:43Thank you, Richard.
17:03And lastly, S.
17:08Stand by.
17:10Stand by.
17:10Stand by.
17:11Stand by.
17:13Stand by.
17:22Stand by.
17:25Stand by.
17:26Stand by.
17:27Stand by.
17:28Stand by.
17:29Stand by.
17:30Stand by.
17:31Stand by.
17:32Stand by.
17:33Stand by.
17:34Stand by.
17:35Stand by.
17:35Stand by.
17:36Stand by.
17:37Stand by.
17:37Stand by.
17:38Stand by.
17:39Stand by.
17:39Stand by.
17:40Richard. Seven. And Darren. Five. Your five? Bases. Now then, Richard. Seances. Seances. Excellent, yes. Very, very good. And our
17:51hands didn't even touch. We had that one as well, which is excellent. But I'm afraid the boss, not me,
17:58can do you one better with an eight. Oh, absences are there as well. Absences. Well done.
18:05We're absences. All right. So just two points in it then. Darren on 39, Richard 37 as we turn to
18:13Darren. Now then, are you going to maintain this lead? Let's see. Consonant, please. Thank you, Darren. N. And a
18:19vowel? O. And a consonant? R. And a vowel? U. A consonant? G. And another consonant? D.
18:35A vowel? A. A consonant? N. And a final vowel, please. And a final I. Countdown.
18:48A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:03A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:03A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:03A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:03A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:04A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:04A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel?
19:13A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A vowel? A
19:20Darren.
19:21Eight.
19:22Eight.
19:22Richard.
19:23Eight.
19:24Darren.
19:25Adorning.
19:26And?
19:27Rounding.
19:28Excellent.
19:29Very good.
19:29Absolutely well done.
19:32I love playing the game as well, and it's good to be in the company of Exos.
19:36But it's interesting, isn't it?
19:37Occasionally you spot something like ING coming up, and UN,
19:41and you know that you've got bits of building brick that are going to help you.
19:45But two eights, absolutely brilliant.
19:46Very good.
19:47Exactly the same, yeah.
19:48Well done.
19:4947 to 45 as we turn to Richard.
19:52Your numbers, game.
19:54Could I go for an inverted T, please?
19:56You can indeed.
19:57One from the top, and five little ones.
20:00Thank you, Richard.
20:01And these five small ones are eight.
20:03Two.
20:05Five.
20:06Another two, and one.
20:07And the big one, 100.
20:10And the target, 247.
20:13247.
20:14And the big one, 100.
20:19And the big one, 100.
20:26And the big one, 100.
20:27And the big one, 100.
20:27And the big one, 100.
20:28And the big one, 100.
20:29And the big one, 100.
20:29And the big one, 100.
20:30And the big one, 100.
20:31And the big one, 100.
20:32And the big one, 100.
20:32And the big one, 100.
20:33And the big one, 100.
20:33And the big one, 100.
20:34And the big one, 100.
20:34And the big one, 100.
20:34And the big one, 100.
20:35And the big one, 100.
20:37And the big one, 100.
20:44Yes, Richard.
20:462, 4, 7.
20:47Darren.
20:482, 4, 7.
20:49Here we go.
20:50Richard.
20:522 times 100.
20:53200.
20:558 plus 1 is 9.
20:56Yeah.
20:57Times 5, 45.
20:58Add 2.
20:59And the other 2.
21:002, 4, 7.
21:01Lovely.
21:02Darren.
21:03Same method.
21:04All right.
21:04Just show Richard there for good measure.
21:06Well done.
21:07All right.
21:08APPLAUSE
21:11So Darren is maintaining his two-point lead there
21:14as we turn to our second Tea Time teaser,
21:17which is Bruce Lyon.
21:18And the clue.
21:19It has all the hallmarks of a slippery character.
21:22It has all the hallmarks of a slippery character.
21:32APPLAUSE
21:41A warm welcome back.
21:43I left you with the clue.
21:44It has all the hallmarks of a slippery character.
21:47And the answer to that one is colubrine.
21:50Susie Dent.
21:51Well, we hear a lot of animal adjectives,
21:53but this is a useful one.
21:55We don't hear it too often.
21:56Colubrine means resembling a snake
21:59or relating to a snake,
22:00so snake-like.
22:01You might describe somebody's charm
22:03as being slightly colubrine, for example.
22:05Colubrine.
22:06First time.
22:06I know.
22:07It's a good one, isn't it?
22:08Isn't it, though?
22:08Worth remembering.
22:09I wonder how many people got that.
22:1157 plays 55.
22:12Darren.
22:13Let us go.
22:14Start with a consonant, please.
22:16Thank you, Darren.
22:17D.
22:18And a vowel.
22:20A.
22:21A consonant.
22:24F.
22:25A vowel.
22:26I.
22:28A consonant.
22:30N.
22:32And another.
22:33W.
22:35And another.
22:37H.
22:39And a vowel.
22:41E.
22:43And a final consonant, please.
22:46And a final L.
22:48Countdown.
22:49H.
22:50H.
22:50H.
22:51And a vowel.
22:51And a vowel.
23:19Darren?
23:20I'm going to try a risky eight.
23:22Well done, Richard.
23:23I'll go with six.
23:24Your six?
23:25Whaled.
23:26Whaled and?
23:27Whale fin.
23:29Wow.
23:30It's an extremely good pocket.
23:31Fiend is there, and this may be a fiendish word.
23:34Such a good try.
23:36It's not in, I'm afraid.
23:38It was an excellent guess, and I'm disappointed to say it's not there.
23:41Sorry.
23:42Alistair, what have you got?
23:43I think six is as good as we...
23:45In Whale, which...
23:47And I've no idea what it means.
23:49It's a piece on the inside of a boat, an internal gunwale, it's described as,
23:54that would give you six.
23:55Flawed likewise, but we couldn't beat six, Nick.
23:59But Rachel's been busy.
24:00Now then, inhale.
24:01Oh, that's excellent.
24:02That's what I do to my dinner.
24:04Well done.
24:05Inhaled.
24:06So, lead reversed, 57 to Darren, Richard on 61, and it's now Richard's letters game.
24:13A vowel, please.
24:14Thank you, Richard.
24:15A.
24:16And another.
24:17E.
24:18And another.
24:20I.
24:21And another.
24:22U.
24:23And a consonant.
24:25F.
24:26And another.
24:27Z.
24:28And another.
24:30P.
24:31And another.
24:32G.
24:34And another.
24:35And the last one.
24:37M.
24:38Stand by.
24:39BELL RINGS
24:40BELL RINGS
25:09Richard.
25:11Five.
25:11A five, Darren.
25:13Five.
25:14Richard.
25:15Maze.
25:16Now then.
25:17Image.
25:18Not so easy.
25:20No, not easy at all.
25:22I nearly made the same mistake as before and had game pie but not enough ease.
25:27But if you take that you can then construct magpie.
25:32Magpie indeed.
25:33Magpie, which is therefore six.
25:35But another piece of brilliance from the property market from my dear friend.
25:39Just six still but it's a nice one.
25:41Guzump.
25:42Guzump.
25:42Guzump.
25:43Yeah.
25:44Not a pretty thing to do.
25:45No.
25:45I think it's illegal in Scotland.
25:47Really?
25:48Yeah.
25:48Guzumping.
25:48Anyway, it's bad practice.
25:50There we are.
25:5166 to 62 and we turn to Susie.
25:55Oh, Susie.
25:56What have you got for us today in your wonderful origins of words?
26:00Well, we had abstinent as a teaser today and you were talking, Nick, about New Year's resolutions at the top
26:06of the show.
26:06So this one is for dry January.
26:09It's a relatively new term but it has got into the dictionary, 21st century term, which is of course when
26:15we abstain from alcohol if we are so inclined.
26:19And this is related because I'm going to explain the origin of being on the wagon or off the wagon.
26:25So if you're off the wagon, it means probably drinking fairly heavily and then if you're on the wagon, you
26:31have abstained for a little while.
26:33But what is the wagon?
26:35And if you go back to its beginnings, it makes a little bit more sense.
26:38It was on the water wagon or on the water carts.
26:41Now, horse-drawn water carts didn't, as you might think, distribute drinking water.
26:46They were actually used during the late 19th century during very hot, dry summers.
26:51And the idea is that they would wet down dusty roads, particularly in the US.
26:55Now, this was a period at the same time of very active crusading where women, particularly, and a few men,
27:02would campaign fervently for prohibition on a national scale.
27:06And it wasn't just a moral crusade.
27:08The idea is that it would stop a lot of domestic abuse.
27:11So there were organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, the Anti-Saloon League.
27:19They were all trying desperately to close down breweries and saloons, which have proliferated during this time.
27:25So the two things came together, these water carts during the long, hot, dry summers and this active campaigning.
27:31And so many of the men who pledged to stop drinking would say no matter how much they longed for
27:37a stiff drink,
27:38they would actually climb aboard a water cart to quench their thirst rather than turning to the booze.
27:43So if people are having a dry January, they are in very good company and look back to over 100
27:49years to women campaigning for what they saw as an extremely good cause.
27:53Excellent stuff.
27:58Thank you, Susie.
28:00Brilliant.
28:01On the wagon.
28:02Now, Darren, your letters came.
28:05Consonant, please.
28:06Thank you, Darren.
28:08D.
28:09And a vowel.
28:11A.
28:12A consonant.
28:13A consonant.
28:13S.
28:15And a vowel.
28:17O.
28:19A consonant.
28:21T.
28:22And another.
28:24M.
28:26A vowel.
28:28E.
28:29A consonant.
28:32J.
28:33And a final consonant, please.
28:36And a final M.
28:38Stand by.
28:38A consonant.
28:40A consonant.
28:53A consonant.
28:54A consonant.
28:55A consonant.
28:56A consonant.
28:59A consonant.
28:59A consonant.
29:00A consonant.
29:00A consonant.
29:01A consonant.
29:02A consonant.
29:03A consonant.
29:04A consonant.
29:05A consonant.
29:06A consonant.
29:09Darren.
29:10A six.
29:11And Richard.
29:12I'll go with a six.
29:13Very well, Darren.
29:15Mastered.
29:16And...
29:17Same word, mastered.
29:17There we go.
29:18And just...
29:20There we go.
29:21Can we match six?
29:22Can we beat it, I wonder?
29:23We can match, but we don't think we can beat.
29:29One of my favourite words, jetsam, as in flotsam, and jetsam is there.
29:34A very modern word, modems, is there.
29:40Yes, modest.
29:41And a nice one from you.
29:42Modest.
29:43Modest.
29:44Isn't that nice?
29:45But six is tops, we think.
29:48Well done.
29:4972, please.
29:5068.
29:51Richard, final letters game.
29:53A consonant, please.
29:55Thank you, Richard.
29:56K.
29:57And another.
29:59L.
30:00And another.
30:02N.
30:03And another.
30:05R.
30:06And a vowel.
30:08A.
30:09And another.
30:10I.
30:11And another.
30:13O.
30:15And another.
30:17I.
30:20And a consonant, please.
30:22And the last one.
30:23L.
30:24Stand by.
30:25And a consonant, please.
30:31And a consonant, please.
30:33And a consonant, please.
30:36And a consonant, please.
30:37And a consonant, please.
30:38And a consonant, please.
30:39And a consonant, please.
30:40And a consonant, please.
30:42And a consonant, please.
30:42And a consonant, please.
30:43And a consonant, please.
30:43And a consonant, please.
30:43And a consonant, please.
30:43And a consonant, please.
30:44And a consonant, please.
30:44And a consonant, please.
30:45And a consonant, please.
30:45And a consonant, please.
30:46And a consonant, please.
30:50And a consonant, please.
30:55Yes, Richard?
30:56Just four.
30:57Four, Darren?
30:59Four.
31:00Richard?
31:01Rail.
31:02And?
31:03Rank.
31:04And rank.
31:05Can we beat four?
31:06Yes.
31:06Surely.
31:07Well, just one up from that.
31:10Very hungry whales love a bit of krill.
31:13K-R-I-double-L is there.
31:16But mums and dads together remember very, very clearly a particular type of medicament,
31:22which is?
31:23Kaolin.
31:25Oh, wow.
31:27Every mum and dad's going, oh, yeah, I remember kaolin.
31:30Kaolin.
31:31Kaolin and morphine.
31:32It's a soft white clay, but it's used in absorbance, really, medicinal absorbance.
31:36Yeah.
31:37Yeah.
31:37Well done.
31:3976 to 72.
31:41Four-point lead for Richard there as we go into the final numbers game.
31:45Darren, make the most of it.
31:47One large and five small, please.
31:49Thank you, Darren.
31:50One large, five small.
31:51Possible crucial conundrum coming your way.
31:53The last numbers game of today is four, ten, nine, two, one, and 100.
32:01And your target, 811.
32:048-1-1.
32:05Well done.
32:378-1-1.
32:38Thank you, Richard.
32:398-11.
32:41Here we go, then.
32:42Darren.
32:42Four times two.
32:43Four twos are eight.
32:44Eight.
32:45Times that by the hundred.
32:47Eight hundred.
32:48The ten and the one.
32:49Yeah, nice and easy.
32:508-11.
32:51There we go.
32:52Richard.
32:52And the same way.
32:56We have a crucial conundrum.
32:58So, gentlemen, Richard and Darren, fingers on buzzers.
33:03Let's reveal today's crucial countdown conundrum.
33:25Darren.
33:26Biography.
33:28Biography.
33:29I can see Richard nodding.
33:31Let's have a look.
33:33Wow.
33:42Well done.
33:44He stopped your run.
33:46He stopped your wonderful run of four wins.
33:48It had to be on a crucial conundrum as well.
33:51That's bad luck.
33:51I think I deserved that.
33:52All right.
33:53Listen, you take this goodie bag and a teapot back to Stockport with our very best wishes.
33:59Well done.
34:00Well done.
34:00Thanks for having me.
34:01But you got pipped by young Darren Godfrey there.
34:05Well done, indeed.
34:05See you next time.
34:06Fantastic.
34:07And you two as well.
34:08Alistair and Susan.
34:10Alistair, we want to talk about your extraordinary career.
34:12The longest serving male news presenter on British television.
34:16Fantastic.
34:17And you're still ten years younger than I am.
34:20You lucky chap.
34:21I presumably always will be.
34:24See you next time.
34:25Well done.
34:25And Rachel too.
34:26Goodbye.
34:27You'll be sure of it tomorrow.
34:29Same time, same place.
34:30A very good afternoon.
34:32Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at C4Countdown, or write to us
34:39at Countdown, Leeds, LS3, 1JS.
34:43You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:50More stories of love and life tonight as we spend another 24 hours in A&E at 9.
34:56That's following a little help with shedding those extra mince pies.
34:59A new series of how to lose weight, well, begins at 8.
35:02But up next, a new life in the sun.