Zoomdown Series 5

[Adam Beach]

A new host, new contestants, and a whole load of excitement...

Yes, the institution that brought Countdowners together via video calls during the pandemic is back for a post-lockdown revival.

Join new host Darren Godfrey — last year's FOCAL Chair — for the opening episode of Zoomdown Series 5, LIVE on YouTube at 7pm on Tuesday, 27th May.

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Overview
Series 5 will kick off on Tuesday, 27th May. There will be fifty-six heat games prior to the finals, with the grand final expected to take place on Thursday, 11th September, two days before Co:Blackpool 2025. In the same fashion as Series 4, two 15-round games will be played every Tuesday and Thursday, which will be carried out using Graeme Cole's mind-blowing WebRack software. There are currently 50 contestants lined up for the series, so we're looking forward to some jam-packed matches over the next few months.

Daz and I can't wait to get this revival underway, and hopefully it will be as fulfilling as it was in the original run. For those who weren't around in the Countdown circuit at the time of Zoomdown's original run, we can't go without paying homage to the show's creator and original host, Paul Anderson, as well as the rest of the team who made it the success it was: George Armstrong, Tom Carey (Maus), Bradley Horrocks, Fiona Titcombe, Graeme Cole, and Stephen Read.

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External links
• YouTube channel (new for this series)
• Countdown Wiki page

[Ben Wilson]

Can't wait. Have (ab)used my mod powers to put this as a global announcement on a par with in-person events as it's community-related.

[Adam Beach]

Can't wait. Have (ab)used my mod powers to put this as a global announcement on a par with in-person events as it's community-related.

Thanks Ben. I did have it as a global announcement but didn't actually think it would be permitted.

[Fiona T]

we can't go without paying homage to the show's creator and original host, Paul Anderson, as well as the rest of the team who made it the success it was: George Armstrong, Tom Carey (Maus), Bradley Horrocks, Fiona Titcombe, Graeme Cole, and Stephen Read.

Looking forward to it!

A few others were regularly involved in the original series too - Callum was instrumental in getting it off the ground in the first place and streaming the first few episodes, and James Rowan and Fred Whibley both did long stints in DC.

Hope you all have as much fun as we did!

[Gavin Chipper]

Bump. Forgot this was today.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 2 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 29th May at 7pm.

[Fiona T]

Great job all, really nicely put together!

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

Episode 1 was pretty good. I left feedback as a YouTube comment.
Main thing that needs to change is the prominence of the clock taking up the entire left hand side. If ye can use the space more sensibly. that'd be better.

Good to see that ye are not using the original (awful) ZD music.
Use of the Apto theme rather than the CD theme is a strange choice though.
If you are worried about copyright infringement, the person who composed the Apto theme has just as much of a right to sue you as the composer of the CD theme, so I dunno what the thinking is there... unless of course you have his blessing.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

Having watched Episode 2: more thoughts.

Part of why ZD worked in the first place is that Paul Anderson was in a band. He had stage experience. He had performing in his blood. And he knew -instinctively- how to engage an audience. This new crowd, well meaning as they are, don't have that in them.

However, it is possible to overcome those things and still make the show a bit better, and a bit closer to the magic of the original.

A few examples and pointers:-
1. Paul understood how to use zoom to maximum effect. The 6 static thumbnails of people onscreen all the time in the new version - that's boring, especially during the show's intro, outro and anecdote. Get those faces full screen please.
2. There is still too much black/grey space around the edge of the screen. See can you find a way to minimise that. It's like watching in double cinemascope.
3. The old Zoomdown team were clever, witty and inquisitive. They never missed a trick, and almost never left the viewer feeling unfulfilled, or having to go off-site to check on maxes etc. When there is a 9 in the set, for God's sake, stem down and show us the 8's that we may have seen / missed / wondered about.
4. As an extension of point #3 above, there is no way in hell, Paul would have had the letters ZD come out in a selection and not made a ZOOMDOWN reference. Also, how in hell did nobody at any point comment on the fact that NITERIES was SPELT OUT in the selection? Perhaps involve Rachel Montgomery a little more... she seems sharp and interested in those sorts of things. Most likely to spot fun/quirky stuff on the fly, and be able to think on her feet.

Aside from that, episode 2 was very very good. Smooth, friendly, relaxed, webrack looks fantastic onscreen etc.
I felt Darren warmed to the role a little, and was a very enjoyable presence as host. Poor oul Beachy will never have the charisma / delivery style to carry off the role demanded of him, unfortunately. Like Darren, he was better than in episode 1, but that really isn't saying much.

And I understand he has a cold or whatever, but would it kill him to take a leaf out of Rachel's book and press mute for Christ's sake!!! The throat-clearing just before he spoke - that was understandable; but the frequent random loud gross noises during other people's anecdotes - could have been avoided. Just press mute!

[Adam S Latchford]

I feel like the new series of this is making it more about the players and less about the hosts/dc/anecdotes stuff. Much better this way and two fun episodes so far.
I'm looking forward to episode 3 to see Trevor play - new faces will definitely be great and hope to see many more.

Missing Jay Butler tho

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 3 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 3rd June at 7pm.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 4 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 5th June at 7pm.

[Fiona T]

Good stuff tonight from the team - the whole setup looks so professional (Beachy's work?)! Pinning Rachael for numbers works great too. Well done all.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 5 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 10th June at 7pm.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 6 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 12th June at 7pm.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 7 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 17th June at 7pm.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 8 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 19th June at 7pm.

[Phil Stanton]

Now that we're 8 episodes in, here's a bit of feedback as a viewer (and mostly one who watches after the livestream rather than live, just because busy):

- It would be nice if there was less delay/uncertainty about when you were actually live, though this might be difficult from a tech point of view. I don't remember this being such an issue in previous series, but if we didn't have to have the whole "are we live? I'm waiting to see if we're live" thing each time, that'd be nice. Maybe re-introduce a theme tune to cover that bit?

- Same applies to the end of the stream too. In any case, you certainly want everyone else on the call to shut up until you've confirmed that the livestream has ended, so that you don't get what we had the other week, where you were still live when Maus said "what a load of shit"

- I think there are too many faces on the screen ... during gameplay I only want to see the contestants, and then the host/DC when they're speaking. I don't know what the limitations/options with Zoom are around this, but I preferred the layout of previous ZD series.

- There does still seem to be fair amount of black space on the screen, which you'd hope could be reduced in favour of bigger video displays of the contestants, although I realise there are size/layout limitations here.

- People not playing rounds (host/DC/next contestant) should mute their mics, and unmute only when they're speaking ... we've had some interesting noises during some rounds. If nothing else, this must be off-putting for the players.

- DCs and other non-players, please don't react, at all, to the letters or numbers selections as they come out. No groans for Zs and Qs, no cheers for 1L, etc.

- I don't know if this is a tech thing, but sometimes the letters/numbers/target come out a good bit quicker than Daz reads them, so we already know the upcoming selections and are waiting for him to catch up. It's variable, and never a massive delay, but sometimes noticeable.

- Make sure interviewees are prepped for their interview slot ... we've had one or two rambling bits where it seemed like they had no idea what to talk about. It doesn't need to be as polished as the TV show (which also has the luxury of being edited before broadcast), but just a bit more prepared.

- Have some timings and try and stick to them. Some of the shows have run to about 1 hour 10 minutes, others have gone to 1 hour 30.
Personally, I think less is more ... the livestream is during prime dinner time for a lot of people, and a 1.5 hour show from 7 to 8:30 is a bit much.
(Part of this might be fixed by the preparation point above.)


None of these are massive issues.
I did have some other points, but they were all stuff that is no longer an issue ... there's been a big improvement overall from episode 1, as everyone has settled in to things, which is great to see ... you're all doing fab!

[Elliott Mellor]

Now that we're 8 episodes in, here's a bit of feedback as a viewer (and mostly one who watches after the livestream rather than live, just because busy):


- DCs and other non-players, please don't react, at all, to the letters or numbers selections as they come out. No groans for Zs and Qs, no cheers for 1L, etc.

I think they should go even further and have the non-participants swear a solemn oath at the start to not speak, or do anything at all, unless they are called upon.

You raise some good points in your post, but I really can't see why it's a problem if a non-participant occasionally chimes in. It adds to the relaxed vibe and unless someone is doing this excessively I wouldn't consider it to be an issue that needs fixing. I think one of the issues the original zoomdown faced is that it became quite monotonous and perhaps a bit more focused on the hosts than the players - now that a conscious effort is being made to involve people more, I don't think it's really in the spirit to discourage non-participants from being people as opposed to robotic figures.

[Phil Stanton]

I think they should go even further and have the non-participants swear a solemn oath at the start to not speak, or do anything at all, unless they are called upon.

You raise some good points in your post, but I really can't see why it's a problem if a non-participant occasionally chimes in. It adds to the relaxed vibe and unless someone is doing this excessively I wouldn't consider it to be an issue that needs fixing. I think one of the issues the original zoomdown faced is that it became quite monotonous and perhaps a bit more focused on the hosts than the players - now that a conscious effort is being made to involve people more, I don't think it's really in the spirit to discourage non-participants from being people as opposed to robotic figures.

Solemn oaths are a great idea!

I'm not against occasionally chiming in, but I think that from the moment the first letter is picked or the number selection is asked for, up to the end of the 30 seconds and declarations, the only people we should be hearing anything from (whether that's comments, noises, gestures or expressions) should be Daz and the contestants.

I like it being relaxed, but I also think those gameplay periods should be respected.

[Conor]

Have only caught a few mins of ZD S5, but good stuff.

It'd be good to advertise the line-up of the upcoming show in this thread (and on the Facebook, if it's not advertised there).

[Philip A]

I personally don’t mind the line-up being kept a secret/mystery prior to broadcast of preliminary matches as it is.

[Fiona T]

Yep I'd like to see the videos say who played in them - if I want to find a particular game, there's nothing to tell me which episode it was (I mean I can probably find it on the wiki so not the end of the world). And yep, knowing who's coming up might persuade people to tune in for familiar faces and generally build discussion and hype

[Conor]

I personally don’t mind the line-up being kept a secret/mystery prior to broadcast of preliminary matches as it is.

At the end of the episode I saw there were allusions to who was on next (can't recall if it was on the broadcast or in the chat), so the line-up wasn't secret but I haven't seen anything outside of that. I wouldn't propose advertising the line-up further than the next episode.

[darren godfrey]

Thanks for all the feedback folks! Glad most are enjoying so far

Regarding announcing the upcoming participants on here and social media - we received feedback that this was a spoiler for those who had not yet seen the previous episode (depending on who won). We can definitely announce the next contestants at the end of the episode (which I may have forgotten to do once or twice), and add names to the descriptions on the videos.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 9 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 24th June at 7pm.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 10 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 26th June at 7pm.

This episode will additionally include a brief tribute to Richard Whiteley, who passed away 20 years ago today.

[Gavin Chipper]

20 years!

[Conor]

Thanks for all the feedback folks! Glad most are enjoying so far

Regarding announcing the upcoming participants on here and social media - we received feedback that this was a spoiler for those who had not yet seen the previous episode (depending on who won). We can definitely announce the next contestants at the end of the episode (which I may have forgotten to do once or twice), and add names to the descriptions on the videos.

Is fair enough if people want to avoid spoilers, but maybe the upcoming contestants can at least be announced in this thread? Nobody wishing to avoid spoilers should be opening this thread. From experience, I am far more likely to remember to tune in if I’ve seen the line-up.

[darren godfrey]

I agree, so we will start doing that from this week. Thanks Conor!

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 11 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 1st July at 7pm.

Contestants
• Game 1: David Hilton (1 win) v Suzy Turner
• Game 2: Winner of Game 1 v Matt Gould

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 12 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 3rd July at 7pm.

Contestants*
• Game 1: Ian Wray v Ian Volante
• Game 2: Winner of Game 1 v Samuel Stock

*Incumbent champion Matt Gould (1 win) is unavailable for tomorrow's episode, so will continue his run next Tuesday.

[L'oisleatch McGraw]

I've caught up with the episodes aired thus far, and have feedback to give!
Let's start by giving feedback on the feedback:-

[/quote]

- DCs and other non-players, please don't react, at all, to the letters or numbers selections as they come out. No groans for Zs and Qs, no cheers for 1L, etc.

- I don't know if this is a tech thing, but sometimes the letters/numbers/target come out a good bit quicker than Daz reads them, so we already know the upcoming selections and are waiting for him to catch up. It's variable, and never a massive delay, but sometimes noticeable.

- Make sure interviewees are prepped for their interview slot ... we've had one or two rambling bits where it seemed like they had no idea what to talk about. It doesn't need to be as polished as the TV show (which also has the luxury of being edited before broadcast), but just a bit more prepared.

All in all, each of the three points above could have been made by Captain Buzzkill himself. Best ignored. You want the show to be an enjoyable watch, not something out of the Stepford playbook. Keep the rough edges, keep the personality. Don't badger the guests to give you top drawer content. Most Countdowners are shy and socially awkward enough - in many cases, you are lucky they even agree to appear.

I feel like the new series of this is making it more about the players and less about the hosts/dc/anecdotes stuff. Much better this way.

Obviously, when you get ridiculously glowing comments from the likes of Latchford, be grateful of the support, but take any actual feedback with a grain of salt. Your friends are biased, and will blow smoke up your ass. Resist the temptation to bask in such echo-chambery spaces. Accept the reality that new Zoomdown is unlikely to ever match original Zoomdown, on a number of fronts.

- I think there are too many faces on the screen ... during gameplay I only want to see the contestants, and then the host/DC when they're speaking. I don't know what the limitations/options with Zoom are around this, but I preferred the layout of previous ZD series.

- There does still seem to be fair amount of black space on the screen, which you'd hope could be reduced in favour of bigger video displays of the contestants, although I realise there are size/layout limitations here.

- People not playing rounds (host/DC/next contestant) should mute their mics, and unmute only when they're speaking ... we've had some interesting noises during some rounds. If nothing else, this must be off-putting for the players.

- Have some timings and try and stick to them. Some of the shows have run to about 1 hour 10 minutes, others have gone to 1 hour 30.
Personally, I think less is more ... the livestream is during prime dinner time for a lot of people, and a 1.5 hour show from 7 to 8:30 is a bit much.

These points are all valid. Hopefully something that ye can improve upon.

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Further thoughts of my own, having caught up with all 12 aired so far...

1. I was watching one episode with my nephew (he was half watching), but the thing that struck him was when a 9 was available, and having gotten the players declaration, Darren asked in a monotone "Did anyone get the 9"... Kevin looked up from his phone and remarked that he'd never heard a more anticlimactic way of announcing a maximum, including during Anne Robinson's tenure. Going forward, if there is a 9, give it a bit of drama ffs.

2. If there is just one 8 but loads of 7s - it is fine to do what ye've been doing (i.e. go to the 7s first, then show the 8 onscreen only after it has been built up to and announced), but at that point, you should also show all 7s onscreen too. It is better to err on the side of showing too much rather than too little. Anytime I have one of the many of 7s (that don't get shown onscreen) I have to go to Apterous to check was it good. Viewers should never need to leave the stream to check their word. And needing to check a word is far more common post-purge than it was during the first four series of ZD. Something to be aware of.

3. The intro to Episode 12 was great (though Adam Beach should really have repeated the news we missed when his mic was off). The close up view of presenters and contestants is sorely missing from ZDS5, so it was great to see that back. Hopefully you will find a way to improve watchability in general for the rest of the series. The 5 or 6 thumbnails onscreen does not make for good viewing, so try minimize those shots. Also, it is not best to exacerbate this issue by having unnecessary guests (e.g. Andy Platt's quizzy guest slot wasn't good enough to merit wasting a precious video thumbnail on.) Another possible way to make the best of space is to have the extra non-playing player only join when relevant, and the beaten player to leave once beaten... but that probably isn't the best way to fix the problem - perhaps just use the "show speaking person" mode a bit more often.

4. In Episode 12, Adam made a great suggestion - that he retire! That might be the way to go! Adam makes mistakes with the overlays, and is not great with word pronunciation. More pressingly, I suspect he is a major reason why ye never use "show person who is speaking" mode on Zoom. He does not want to be seen full-screen. Why would someone who is too shy to be in the limelight seek out a job on an amateur TV show? Either get confident with the role, put the effort in, agree to be shown full screen, or go ahead and follow through on the retirement suggestion.

5. That thing I outlined previously, whereby ye lack the curiosity / interest / ability to think on your feet that the old crew (especially Paul) had... that is ongoing. Try be aware of any cool stuff that crops up. Lnafps, repeated number targets, interesting letters coming out. etc etc etc. I remember one particular moment when the numbers target was 314, and the contestants solved it quickly... I was literally shouting at the screen "IT WAS EASY AS PIE!!! If someone does not make that pun, I swear to God I am never watching this drivel again!" And then, just when all hope seemed lost, Beachy -of all people- came to the rescue! On that point, I would suggest - INVOLVE RACHEL MORE!!! She is your secret weapon, and has a natural flair for picking up on small interesting details... pretty much all the time. She does not miss a trick (except for "easy as pi", but that's the exception to prove the rule).

6. One of the most important features that made Zoomdown Zoomdown, was that Paul guaranteed everyone a good match. That was a principle that the crew went to great lengths to uphold. They would select two well matched low-ability contestants, and then ratchet things up by tiny increments, until we got to beast level. What the hell were ye thinking matching Peggers against Brandin? Pretty much any of the opponents Martyn faced after Brandin would have been a better match for Brandin. Peggers should have been saved for later. Drubbings go against the spirit of ZD. On a related note, ye should find out if a player is available for the next episode, in case they end up as reigning champion at the end of the broadcast. The thing that happened with Elliott and again with Matt, and now with Ian - it is a bad pattern.

7. With over 250 views each, and a faithful core of live chatters per episode, there is more than enough evidence that ye are doing something right, so congratulations on that. I am certainly going to keep watching, even if all of my suggestions are ignored. It is an enjoyable enough watch in its current form even if no further improvements arise.

[EDITED TO INCLUDE: Idea for a drinking game:- take a shot any time Adam Beach says "sorry" when there is no need to apologise for anything. However, only do so if you are very brave, Irish, or do not have work the next morning! ]

[Phil Stanton]

I've caught up with the most recent Zoomdown episode now (from Thursday 3rd July), and have more feedback

1. The chat with Ian Wray was pretty much a textbook example of how it's done. Well prepared, well presented, something he was clearly passionate about, interesting, and just the right length for this kind of interlude. Really good!

2. Before the broadcast, can the hosts do a camera check with the participants, and/or give them a briefing document beforehand, so that they make sure to cover things like being lit properly (from the front, not behind or above) and having their face large and centre in the screen?
Sam's feed was basically his face at the bottom left of his screen and the rest of it was just his wall ... we want to see everyone's faces as big and clearly as possible, especially with the multi-person layout.
(As he said, he couldn't actually see his own screen as he was looking at the gameplay screen.)

3. Re the occasional lapse in putting up the overlay (which is totally understandable with all the other things having to be juggled), perhaps it could just be left on permanently? It wouldn't be particularly distracting to have it showing when having a mid-game chat with a contestant, for example ... the letters rack could show their name or something. (I seem to remember this from previous ZD series, but I may have invented that.)
If the overlay is just permanently on, it won't get forgotten about ... makes things simpler for Beachy to manage.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 13 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 8th July at 7pm.

Contestants
• Game 1: Matt Gould (1 win) v Adrian Fletcher
• Game 2: Winner of Game 1 vs John Clarke

*Incumbent champion Ian Volante (1 win) is unavailable for tomorrow's episode, so will continue his run on Thursday.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 14 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 10th July at 7pm.

Contestants
• Game 1: Matt Gould (3 wins) v Ian Volante (1 win)
• Game 2 — if Ian wins Game 1: Ian Volante v TBC
• Game 2 — if Matt wins Game 1: TBC v TBC

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 15 is here.

Tune in on Tuesday, 15th July at 7pm.

Contestants*
• Game 1: Alan O'Sullivan (1 win) v Jase Cullen
• Game 2: Winner of Game 1 v Stu Harkness

*Subject to change based on availability.

[Adam Beach]

The link to Series 5, Episode 16 is here.

Tune in on Thursday, 17th July at 7pm.

Contestants*
• Game 1: Jase Cullen (2 wins) v TBC
• Game 2: Winner of Game 1 v TBC

*Subject to change based on availability.