Countdown (game show)

:For other meanings of the term countdown, see Countdown (disambiguation).

Format

In each episode, two contestants compete in a mixture of letters, numbers and conundrum rounds. In the preliminary rounds of each series, the winning contestant stays on to face a new challenger in the next show. If a contestant wins eight times in a row, they become an "octavian" (or "octochamp") and must retire, though their high score means they are almost guaranteed a quarter-final place. Eventually the series shifts into a knock-out mode, with the eight highest-scoring players from the preliminary rounds facing off through three rounds to decide the series champion.

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Letters rounds

Most of the game's rounds are "letters rounds"; one contestant selects nine letters from two randomly-shuffled piles of vowels and consonants (the distributions of letters in which are designed to roughly reflect that in the English language, in much the same way as Scrabble tiles). The ability to choose between vowel or consonant allows a moderate degree of control for the selecting contestant, though since the rules stipulate a minimum of three vowels and four consonants, there are in fact only two letters over which this control can be exercised. Until 1995, only a minimum of three vowels was stipulated, meaning that a contestant who had built up a lead could then prevent the other player from catching up by choosing an excessive number of vowels. The vast majority of contestants "played fair", but an outbreak of such tactical play led to the imposition of the current rule.

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The contestants then have thirty seconds to find the longest word they can using some or all of the letters (with no reuse). Only words in the Oxford Dictionary of English are permitted, the ultimate arbiter being the "guardian of the dictionaries"; this role was originally filled by a number of different lexicographers supplied by the OUP, but in recent years has become synonymous with Susie Dent, who takes only very occasional breaks from the job. As well as ruling on the admissibility or otherwise of words, the lexicographer (assisted by the celebrity guest, who sits next to them) points out any long or particularly interesting words that the contestants missed. As in Scrabble, proper names, hyphenates and abbreviations are not permitted. Where there are variant UK and US spellings of a word, only the UK spelling is permitted. Because the distribution of the letters in the Countdown tile set approximately reflect their frequency in the English language, some words which are made up mostly or entirely of common letters are frequently seen. One of the most famous is "leotards", whose frequent appearance has become a running joke on the show, and even appears on the letters board behind Carol in the programme's opening titles. (The anagrams "lodestar" and "delators" are also permitted and sometimes offered as alternatives.) Others include "tangelo"/"tangelos" and "goitre"/"goitred", variations on "painter"/"pointer"/"repaint" and the nine-letter anagrams "relations" and "orientals".

Related Topics:
Oxford Dictionary of English - OUP - Susie Dent - Leotard - Lodestar - Delator - Tangelo - Goitre

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Only the contestant who found the longer of the two words scores any points (both score in the event of a tie), the number of points being equal to the number of letters in the word (doubled for the rare nine-letter words).

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Numbers rounds

For the numbers round, a set of numbers are laid out face-down on a board -- the top row always consists of the four "large numbers" 25, 50, 75 and 100, while the other rows are filled with two copies of the numbers 1 to 10. Six numbers are chosen (the ability to choose one or more "from the top" gives the same sort of partial control as the vowel/consonant split in the letters game). The contestants attempt to combine these numbers to reach the three-digit target randomly generated by the resident computer, CECIL (Countdown Electronic Calculator In Leeds), using the basic arithmetical operations of multiplication, division, addition and subtraction (brackets are also allowed, but are rarely explicitly referred to as such).

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Ten points are scored for an exact solution, seven for being within five of the target number in either direction, five for a response within ten of the target, and none otherwise. Similarly to the letters rounds, if one contestant is closer than the other, only that contestant scores. These rounds highlight Vorderman's famous prowess at mental arithmetic, since it falls to her to provide a solution if both contestants fail (though even she is occasionally stumped).

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Conundrum

The final round of each show is the "Countdown Conundrum" -- a scrambled nine-letter word is revealed, and ten points go to the first contestant to buzz in and correctly identify it (with, as in all the other rounds, a thirty second time limit). Players are allowed only one attempt each to answer, so if an incorrect answer is given, the other player has all the remaining time to themselves. Whiteley would often refer to this round as a "crucial Countdown Conundrum" in situations where the ten points could be decisive. During any game between series 1 and 21, a dead heat would lead to a re-match the following day, however now an additional conundrum is used to break the tie.

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The Clock

The centrepiece of the Countdown set is a large analogue clock situated between the two contestants. The clock has only a second hand, which counts down the time allotted in each round, with lights illuminating in a trail behind the hand as time progresses. Accompanying the clock are the famous , a 30-second jingle composed by Alan Hawkshaw that plays while the contestants think. The clock is stopped by a player buzzing to answer the Conundrum, restarting if their answer is incorrect. The fact that all rounds have a time limit of only thirty seconds means that during the game, the left-hand side of the clock face is never used (although television viewers have rarely ever seen the clock being reset between rounds, so are left to ponder which half of the clock face this is done on - for the record, it continues at an increased speed in a clockwise direction to return to the 12 o'clock position).

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For the original pilot programme, the format specified 45 seconds for each round (as in the original French version Des Chiffres et des Lettres), however, it very quickly became obvious that this seemed to take an age to pass in the studio, as well as causing the show to drag somewhat. The decision was made immediately after the show that the final format would cut this to the now-familiar 30 seconds.

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Order of rounds

In the original 30-minute format, the rounds were arranged as follows:

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• Letters x3
• Numbers
• Letters x3
• Numbers
• Conundrum

At this time, Grand Finals were special extended 45-minute editions, with the format:

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• Letters x2
• Numbers
• Letters x2
• Numbers
• Conundrum
• Letters x2
• Numbers
• Letters x2
• Numbers
• Conundrum

The current 45-minute format runs:

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• Letters x 4
• Numbers
• Letters x 4
• Numbers
• Letters x 3
• Numbers
• Conundrum

with no change for Grand Finals.

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