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Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:27 am
by Niall Seymour
Ha cheers for describing me as a 'quality player' Andy, definitely a first!

As you kind of imply I know I was pretty lucky to get on having played a shitload of apterous and being a 21 year old male which seems to be the demographic they're trying to limit. I wouldn't be surprised at all if I 'slipped the net' as I did my phone audition and had all the correspondence after with Sarah Foulkes and didn't meet Damian in all the time I was at the studio.

Regardless though I had a quality time and hope you get on soon as you actually are a quality player and seem like a top guy from the apterous games we've had.

I hit the screens on Feb 23rd in the unlikely event anyone is interested!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:31 pm
by Keith Bennett
Andy Platt wrote:
Chris Marshall wrote: Niall Seymour and Kieran Bray filmed yesterday I believe.
Hold up. Damian wouldn't let me on because at the time I'd "played 4000 games on apterous, which creates a skill imbalance compared to the average armchair fan who plays along with 100 or 200 shows a year".
Niall's a quality player and has 3300 under his belt (let's say 3000 at time of applying?) and been around a lot longer than I have. Can't help but feel a tiny bit hard done to there.
Andy. Have you actually at some point downloaded the aplication form, filled it in and returned it?

Because presumably once you do that you must at least be given an audition; as far as I know nobody gets refused that opportunity.

Or have you done an audition, scored highly, but still been rejected? Niall says he's had no contact with/from Damian, so don't understand why you have.

Even if they have rejected you temporarily on the grounds of too many good "apterites" then surely if you have auditioned and achieved a high standard it must be your turn next series, or the one after. If another 3 or 4 top players from here applied at that time - Barry for example, Giles maybe - then one of them would have to wait, not you. First come first served surely.

Two other points:

I don't understand the idea that other people are put off applying by the apterous contestants. Most viewers don't know about apterous, so how can it put them off? They do know there are a handful of very good players that they probably wouldn't beat, but still apply for the fun of it. That's always been the case, long before apterous. If they find out about this site in the course of applying they often seem to join anyway.

The other issue is the age one - many potentially good 50+ players have already been on in their 30s or 40s. Obviously there are exceptions such as the two Daves in the last series, but inevitably the pool of available older contestants is smaller and weaker than for 20-30 year olds.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:25 pm
by Julie T
Gavin Chipper wrote:
Julie T wrote:It makes sense to not have too many contestants in one series of the standard to possibly be a series winner.
But it depends on whether Andy or Josh just happened to apply when a lot of other Apterites did, or whether it was just an average amount. If Damian only wants x Apterites a series when say x+2 are applying each time, it's not a case of spreading them out, but turning them away.
Spread out to another series, though, not turned away altogether. Not too much of a hardship, surely?
Niall Seymour wrote: I hit the screens on Feb 23rd in the unlikely event anyone is interested!
Good to hear, Niall - I'll definitely watch it! :)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:00 pm
by David Barnard
After all great players going head to head in a close match makes for great television, the one example that made me say the above line was the Innis Carson - Chris Davies semi final, now that was a cracker and a really close match

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:20 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Julie T wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:
Julie T wrote:It makes sense to not have too many contestants in one series of the standard to possibly be a series winner.
But it depends on whether Andy or Josh just happened to apply when a lot of other Apterites did, or whether it was just an average amount. If Damian only wants x Apterites a series when say x+2 are applying each time, it's not a case of spreading them out, but turning them away.
Spread out to another series, though, not turned away altogether. Not too much of a hardship, surely?
It wouldn't necessarily work though. If Apterites are applying at a higher rate than Damian wants them to go on, the backlog just gets bigger and bigger, so in a few years an Apterite would have to wait 20 series for a slot.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:44 pm
by Andy Platt
Keith Bennett wrote:Andy. Have you actually at some point downloaded the aplication form, filled it in and returned it?
Technically, I filled it in 80%, then sent an email asking a question about the form, and was answered by the man himself saying there's not much point sending it, and to do it in 12 months instead. Not sure how he got hold of it, maybe just recognised the name off apto and kind of commandeered it.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:55 pm
by Ryan Taylor
Andy Platt wrote:
Keith Bennett wrote:Andy. Have you actually at some point downloaded the aplication form, filled it in and returned it?
Technically, I filled it in 80%, then sent an email asking a question about the form, and was answered by the man himself saying there's not much point sending it, and to do it in 12 months instead. Not sure how he got hold of it, maybe just recognised the name off apto and kind of commandeered it.
So he still plays apterous then since I think you joined after he left.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:04 am
by Graeme Cole
Ryan Taylor wrote:
Andy Platt wrote:
Keith Bennett wrote:Andy. Have you actually at some point downloaded the aplication form, filled it in and returned it?
Technically, I filled it in 80%, then sent an email asking a question about the form, and was answered by the man himself saying there's not much point sending it, and to do it in 12 months instead. Not sure how he got hold of it, maybe just recognised the name off apto and kind of commandeered it.
So he still plays apterous then since I think you joined after he left.
He doesn't necessarily play. All it takes is an occasional glance of some of the apterous stats pages, and probably Pro Ranks, to get an idea of who the upcoming big hitters are.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:07 pm
by Keith Bennett
Andy Platt wrote:
Keith Bennett wrote:Andy. Have you actually at some point downloaded the aplication form, filled it in and returned it?
Technically, I filled it in 80%, then sent an email asking a question about the form, and was answered by the man himself saying there's not much point sending it, and to do it in 12 months instead. Not sure how he got hold of it, maybe just recognised the name off apto and kind of commandeered it.
OK, but why not send the form anyway and ask for an audition? It would be quite a precedent not to even allow someone to audition at all, denying them a chance to prove they are good enough.

If they want to refuse places to the best apterites at the moment there's not much you can do about that, but in that case there ought to be a waiting list of some kind. It seems if you hadn't happened to ask a question before sending the form off you'd at least have proved your worth at an audition by now, and may even have recorded. If you audition and do better than anyone else there - which you probably will - then surely they at least have to say "Yes, but not this series if you don't mind".

I can see why the production team may be a little concerned that all the finalists might be youngish contestants "trained" on here but wonder if they have thought about one other aspect of this. Obviously people coming on to apterous can practice a lot. They can become very good, as you have done, and thus can earn the admiration/respect etc. of other very good players, who in turn want to see them on the show doing well. Ed, Adam, Graeme and Mark all had great support on here during their runs (although all 4 would surely have done very well in any series, apterous or not).

But with that backing also comes the pressure of other people's expectations. So maybe Damian and his team should also consider that whilst yes, strong apterites may dominate the final stages of a series it's also true that those people have a lot of pressure on them simply because of how they have prepared. Mark in the last series and Tom Barnes in the one before both lost out to people who didn't have that burden. Maybe that played some part.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:32 pm
by Andy Platt
Fair.
OK, but why not send the form anyway and ask for an audition? It would be quite a precedent not to even allow someone to audition at all, denying them a chance to prove they are good enough.
I was under the impression Josh did just that though, and also got told to try again in a year as well.
Damian also said that contestants that apply get screened so to speak, and because I might have hypothetically sworn about a hypothetical losing finalist from series 65 in the public domain, then my application could potentially have been binned straight away so I don't regret not sending it then (and have since deleted said comment, also would advise others to do the same btw if there's anything like that on here, twitter etc)

All in all, I'd like what is best for the show and if it assists the longetivity(sp?) of the show in any way then it's cool I guess - I just feel pretty hard done to when other good or experienced players can get on without issue.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:17 am
by David Williams
Andy Platt wrote:All in all, I'd like what is best for the show and if it assists the longetivity(sp?) of the show in any way then it's cool I guess - I just feel pretty hard done to when other good or experienced players can get on without issue.
When you do get on, and your final comes down to the crucial conundrum LOVINGYET . . .

Whether it's the result of quotas or not, I really don't enjoy the first couple of quarter-finals these days, where a top 'amateur' who's had the good fortune to avoid an apterite in his first five or six shows is trounced by forty points or more. I'd be happier to see eight top apterites at the end, but I wouldn't want to see 60+ shows with top apterites in the preliminaries. A problem without an easy solution.

Delaying entries only works of course if the number of new stars is going to fall off. Otherwise it's a bit like the pensioner who accepted that decimalisation was a good idea in the long run, but felt they should have waited till all the old people had died before bringing it in.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:54 pm
by Mark James
David Williams wrote:I wouldn't want to see 60+ shows with top apterites in the preliminaries.
I would. Well, I don't care if they're apterites or not but I want to see the best as often as possible. I wonder if they're turning away people who play the Wii version of Countdown a lot.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:20 pm
by Julie T
Andy Platt wrote: Damian also said that contestants that apply get screened so to speak, and because I might have hypothetically sworn about a hypothetical losing finalist from series 65 in the public domain, then my application could potentially have been binned straight away so I don't regret not sending it then (and have since deleted said comment, also would advise others to do the same btw if there's anything like that on here, twitter etc)

People often say stuff on the internet that they wouldn't say face to face, though. I've certainly overstepped the mark sometimes, and have definitely had lots of vile posts written about myself: "more sinned against than sinning"! ;)

I think it would be rather hypocritical of Damian Eadie if he used someone's internet posting against them in an application to be on the programme, since he remains producer despite some of the nasty stuff he posted on here when he used to post regularly.

I hope you get on the next series, Andy. :)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:30 pm
by Jon Corby
Julie T wrote:I think it would be rather hypocritical of Damian Eadie if he used someone's internet posting against them in an application to be on the programme, since he remains producer despite some of the nasty stuff he posted on here when he used to post regularly.
:roll:

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 6:24 pm
by Gavin Chipper
Ben Wilson wrote:This should be a lesson to all people planning on practising on apterous before going on the show- FOR THE LOVE OF KIRK, USE A PSEUDONYM.
Perfect solution. Why has no-one thought of it before?

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:27 pm
by Andy Platt
Julie T wrote:I hope you get on the next series, Andy. :)
Yeah cheers me too.
Julie T wrote:I think it would be rather hypocritical of Damian Eadie if he used someone's internet posting against them in an application to be on the programme, since he remains producer despite some of the nasty stuff he posted on here when he used to post regularly.
Nah he said to me through e-mail that on who wants to be a millionaire or some other quiz, someone turned out to be a wife-beater or similar, and since then, ITV/C4 (largely the same producers) have been really really stringent when it comes to screening people on forums, social networks, etc, to try and be extra safe, so they'd take a look at this forum too. Pretty understandable.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:29 pm
by Jon Corby
Andy Platt wrote:on who wants to be a millionaire or some other quiz, someone turned out to be a wife-beater or similar
Nah, it was Red Or Black not WWTBAM. And he actually raped kittens.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:57 am
by Richard Priest
Jon Corby wrote:
Andy Platt wrote:on who wants to be a millionaire or some other quiz, someone turned out to be a wife-beater or similar
Nah, it was Red Or Black not WWTBAM. And he actually raped kittens.
I remember big headlines once about a guy who'd been on WWTBAM the night before and been in trouble for kicking a dog down some stairs or something of that nature.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:04 pm
by Julie T
Andy Platt wrote:
Julie T wrote:I hope you get on the next series, Andy. :)
Yeah cheers me too.
Julie T wrote:I think it would be rather hypocritical of Damian Eadie if he used someone's internet posting against them in an application to be on the programme, since he remains producer despite some of the nasty stuff he posted on here when he used to post regularly.
Nah he said to me through e-mail that on who wants to be a millionaire or some other quiz, someone turned out to be a wife-beater or similar, and since then, ITV/C4 (largely the same producers) have been really really stringent when it comes to screening people on forums, social networks, etc, to try and be extra safe, so they'd take a look at this forum too. Pretty understandable.
Yeah, fair enough, maybe. I applied years ago (and failed the auditions!), and remember there being a part on the application form about any criminal convictions. I suppose the internet check is just a modern extension of that, although it seems a bit stalky to someone of my generation and sense of privacy.

I expect they'd only be bothered by serious stuff, not simply a few ill-chosen words on a forum/messageboard/etc.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:17 pm
by David Barnard
Maybe I should tone down my facebook posts as they may screen me, if anyone is reading this that does the screening, I'm nice really, I don't bite :D :lol:

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:40 pm
by Mark Deeks
You do touch kids, though. So they might mark you down for that.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:47 pm
by Lesley Hines
Don't think so. Kids can't play any more, so fiddle away and you'll be fine.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:59 am
by David Williams
Mark James wrote:
David Williams wrote:I wouldn't want to see 60+ shows with top apterites in the preliminaries.
I would. Well, I don't care if they're apterites or not but I want to see the best as often as possible. I wonder if they're turning away people who play the Wii version of Countdown a lot.
It not so much not wanting to see the best, as wanting to see a contest. Walkovers become monotonous after a while.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:36 pm
by Chris Marshall
I had my 2nd audition on Tuesday. It was much harder than the first one and I got 1 less in the letters round than my first audition, 1 less conundrum and 1 more numbers but got through this time so maybe the difficulty level was taken into account. I didn't get a 7 in any of the letters rounds which can't have happened on many successful auditions before! No filming date received yet.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:14 pm
by Jonathan Rawlinson
Filming on 1st May - will be the first challenger up on that day. Any other apterous users know to be filming towards the end of this series?

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:43 pm
by kieranbray
Best of luck for tomorrow Jonathan! :D

And the same to those of you filming the finals later in the week :)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 2:37 am
by Jack Worsley
Cheers Kieran!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:02 am
by Graeme Cole
Best of luck Jonathan. You've arguably got it a bit more difficult than the others - if you do well enough to make the finals (which I don't doubt you will, having seen the amount of practice you've put in recently), you'll have to play again the same or following day.

All the best to everyone involved. Win or lose, try to enjoy it.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:22 pm
by Jack Worsley
Paul James has recorded for the start of next series.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:50 pm
by Chris Marshall
Jonathan Rawlinson transmission date is 11th June.
Paul James transmission date is 6th July.
My transmission date is 18th July.
Philippa Macfarlane transmission date is 19th July.
Grant Waters is filming on Thursday.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:49 pm
by Grant Waters
In the bar at the jurys inn already!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:15 pm
by Grant Waters
Transmission date 7th August

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:43 pm
by James Robinson
Is anyone recording this week :?:

Just read that it's the last shows being filmed in Granada, after they get back from the summer, it will be in MediaCityUK. 8-)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:02 pm
by Matt Morrison
James Robinson wrote:Just read that it's the last shows being filmed in Granada, after they get back from the summer, it will be in MediaCityUK. 8-)
James Robinson is back in the building!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:55 pm
by David Barnard
I'm auditioning on 17th July also the same day as my mums birthday so thank god the audition isn't on the 18th :D

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:57 pm
by kieranbray
Good luck, David!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:14 am
by Heather Styles
I went for an audition yesterday, in some place called "The Midlands" (north of Watford, anyhow), and am waiting to hear about filming 8-)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 8:34 am
by Heather Styles
My audition was successful; waiting to hear about filming date(s) :)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:26 am
by Jason Larsen
Hi Heather!

I'm just curious, are you any relation to Phyl Styles?

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:56 am
by James Robinson
Jason Larsen wrote:Hi Heather!

I'm just curious, are you any relation to Phyl Styles?
She's Phyl's daughter, Jason. :D

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 4:50 pm
by Jason Larsen
I thought so James!

Heather, if you're reading this, good luck to you!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:56 am
by Heather Styles
Filming on 17th September. There doesn't seem to be a smiley for 'nervous'!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:14 pm
by Jason Larsen
Once again, good luck!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:24 am
by David Barnard
I'm filming on 18th september, I'm not sure when it will be broadcast though

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 3:04 pm
by Thomas Carey
David Barnard wrote:I'm filming on 18th september, I'm not sure when it will be broadcast though
Day after Heather's, could be an apto-battle! Good luck both!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 3:21 pm
by Jason Larsen
Good luck David!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:39 pm
by David Barnard
I'll be broadcasting on 20th november, enjoy!!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:56 pm
by Heather Styles
Tick Tock Time for me is Wednesday 7th November. I'm raising money for charity through my Countdown experience - if you can spare a few minutes, please have a look at www.justgiving.com/countdown-challenge :)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:02 pm
by James Robinson
Heather Styles wrote:Tick Tock Time for me is Wednesday 7th November. I'm raising money for charity through my Countdown experience - if you can spare a few minutes, please have a look at http://www.justgiving.com/countdown-challenge :)
Excellent, been wondering when your show was, Heather. ;) :) :D

And I get to recap it too. 8-)

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 3:44 pm
by Heather Styles
Many thanks to everyone who has supported my "Countdown Challenge" by donating money.

I am delighted to say that my fund-raising target has now been exceeded!

It's still not too late to donate: www.justgiving.com/Countdown-Challenge

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:46 pm
by Grant Waters
In the bar at the Jury's Inn if any othet finalists are here?

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 8:00 pm
by Jack Worsley
Good luck, Grant and to everyone else taking part in the finals!

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 8:09 pm
by James Robinson
Can someone give me the exact dates for the finals, as there seems to be lots of misshapen mush coming from all areas, so if someone can put me in the right direction, it would be much obliged. :D

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 8:47 pm
by Graeme Cole
James Robinson wrote:there seems to be lots of misshapen mush coming from all areas, so if someone can put me in the right direction
Towards the doctor's. :lol:

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:00 am
by Andy Platt
5th February (recording) for me if anyone didn't know. Will let you know with broadcast dates

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:23 am
by Matt Morrison
Andy Platt wrote:Will let you know with broadcast dates
Spoilers.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:20 pm
by Mark James
Woop. Got an audition for Feb. Never expected to hear from them. Must have sent the application about two years ago.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:21 pm
by Jon O'Neill
Mark James wrote:Woop. Got an audition for Feb. Never expected to hear from them. Must have sent the application about two years ago.
Woohoo. I just tried to resize your avatar.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:35 am
by Jennifer Steadman
I will be awkwardly anagramming on Channel 4 on 30th August.

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 12:05 pm
by Gemma Church
Sorry, I've only just noticed this thread - I'll be hitting the screens on August 16th.