c4countdown

To start with he looked a bit serious, but seems to be thawing out slightly. I think he a bit nervous as well as, incedibly, a sufferer from vertigo.
Yesterday I felt that Carol was doing her best to be funny and cheerful to make him more at ease. As for contestants - I wish that dog woman would smile a bit.

I had the same thought about the !dog woman!.Des mentioned her sombre appearance after the game today.
Apparently she is cheerful when she is not playing the game and its concentrating on the game that makes her seem so serious.

I thought he looked quite subdued which is a pity because I was looking forward to seeing him as a guest and have made a point of hanging around for the anecdotes.

John Bosley wrote:To start with he looked a bit serious, but seems to be thawing out slightly. I think he a bit nervous as well as, incedibly, a sufferer from vertigo.

Although he claimed to suffer from vertigo, it sounded like what he was describing wasn't vertigo at all, but altophobia.

He obviously isn't a born performer - but I thought his story today was quite funny, and believable. At least he isn't a lot of things - politician, actor, comedian, retired news presenter etc. But doesn't his neck make you think of a werewolf?

[quote wrote:

"John Douglas"]He obviously isn't a born performer - but I thought his story today was quite funny, and believable. At least he isn't a lot of things - politician, actor, comedian, retired news presenter etc. But doesn't his neck make you think of a werewolf?[/quote]

The neck fur is handy.He doesn,t need a scarf when he visits the North Pole.

I like him far more than I though I was going to. I love his dry humour. For example on Tuesday commenting that his companion, whose feet were raw of skin, had developed piles, and eye sockets full of blood "winged a little". And today, they way he quite openly said that he put his companion between himself and the polar bear. I seem to remember there was something similar I liked yesterday, but can't recall it now.

He's definitely a refreshing change. But I'm not sure we could cope with more than about two blocks with him.

Yes. He has got better - and is,in fact, a refreshing change in the wry way he tells things.

John Bosley wrote:Yes. He has got better - and is,in fact, a refreshing change in the wry way he tells things.

Yes, agreed. Enjoy the anecdotes.

Glad you liked him. The crew here thought he was a marvellous, inspiring gentleman.

I think by the end of his run you'll all be ardent fans. Well, perhaps not all of you, but its very very hard not to warm to the guy. He's actually a living legend.

I was expecting someone like one of the old explorers, a member of the original Everest conquering team, who came to talk to us when I was at school. No humour at all, and very boring.

With Ran the Man, he's completely different. I warmed to him on his first day. After the second, I've been eagerly awaiting his spot, which is more than I can say about a lot of the guests.

Well done for getting him.

I have to admit when he was first on I thought it'd be a case of 'great man, no-so-great DC guest' but now I'm convinced his greatness knows no bounds.

Howard Somerset wrote:I was expecting someone like one of the old explorers, a member of the original Everest conquering team, who came to talk to us when I was at school. No humour at all, and very boring.

With Ran the Man, he's completely different. I warmed to him on his first day. After the second, I've been eagerly awaiting his spot, which is more than I can say about a lot of the guests.

Well done for getting him.

The praise there goes to Kate Horton. She suggested him, i had my doubts but gave in, and was subsequently proven to be totally wrong. Mind you, in self-defence, Kate DID suggest Ernie Wise only a few weeks earlier, even though he's been dead for about 10 years. She'll love reading this tomorrow. Kate even read his autobiography before he came on and discovered that he had a huge passion for a certain pudding (i think it was rhubarb crumble). On the day of his recordings, she told the catering team to make the crumble. At lunch, he was majorly impressed at the gesture and its little things like this that keep our guests so eager to come back. They genuinely love coming on the show. There's a lot of things done behind the scenes that you'll never get to find out about, but i can honestly say that the production team on Countdown are the most dedicated and hard-working bunch you could ever meet. It's not a show you can work on unless you love it, and they are extremely proud of what they do and they do love it to pieces. 3 cheers for Lara, Kate, Sarah and Cindy, they often get little praise and i get perhaps too much, but they deserve recognition for all they do and despite their collective facial deformities, they are a joy to work with.

When I saw this thread I was wondering if that was really his name, so I googled it and he seems like quite an interesting bloke.

Damian E wrote:Mind you, in self-defence, Kate DID suggest Ernie Wise only a few weeks earlier, even though he's been dead for about 10 years.

He'd still be a better guest than Ann Widdecombe. He could decompose while Des O'Connor quoted passages from his autobiography at him.

Ouch, thats bad.

I reckon a good guest would be Stephen Fry.

Worst. Guest. Ever.

[quote="John Bosley"]To start with he looked a bit serious, but seems to be thawing out slightly.

Was that a deliberate tribute to his frost-bitten ex-toes...?

Today was the first time I saw him on the programme. His neck is a little scary, but he's great - I think he just has a deadpan demeanour, but I guess you don't want someone excitable if you're doing what he does.... Imagine Alan Carr halfway up a frozen mountain.

Kevin

Kevin Thurlow wrote:.... Imagine Alan Carr halfway up a frozen mountain.

Kevin

If Only!!

DebbiF wrote:

Kevin Thurlow wrote:.... Imagine Alan Carr halfway up a frozen mountain.

Kevin

If Only!!

Don't you like Alan Carr, Debbie?

Joseph Bolas wrote:

DebbiF wrote:

Kevin Thurlow wrote:.... Imagine Alan Carr halfway up a frozen mountain.

Kevin

If Only!!

Don't you like Alan Carr, Debbie?

In a word - No

John Bradley wrote:Worst. Guest. Ever.

Who would you suggest John? (or anyone else for that matter), must be loads of people that could be asked.

One often thinks it might be a non-celebrity. Someone who likes words and is smiley and has sufficient life interest to be asked about this and that. In fact, someone like me. Would not cost as much either.

jeff wharton wrote:

[quote wrote:

"John Douglas"]He obviously isn't a born performer - but I thought his story today was quite funny, and believable. At least he isn't a lot of things - politician, actor, comedian, retired news presenter etc. But doesn't his neck make you think of a werewolf?

The neck fur is handy.He doesn,t need a scarf when he visits the North Pole. [/quote]

OK. Got it.

I'd also like to compliment the production team on this particular choice of guest, it's the first time in a long time I've been genuinely interested in the guest's anecdotes.

nick hancock wrote:

John Bradley wrote:Worst. Guest. Ever.

Who would you suggest John? (or anyone else for that matter), must be loads of people that could be asked.

Well...the first question is does the show really need a guest? Maybe with the new hosts they will ditch the 'celebrity' guest - why not, do they really add anything to the show? That's not what we watch it for.

That aside, I think comedians work best. They are used to an audience and telling a good yarn. Harry Hill...JLC...etc etc

Glad that people are warming to him, he seemed a bit nervous/wooden the first few rounds I saw. I've heard a few of his stories from Top Gear and probably other shows I've forgotten - he's probably achieved more in a given month than most people have in a lifetime. One of the few modern day people who absolutely earned his awards and recognition.

John Bradley wrote:Well...the first question is does the show really need a guest? Maybe with the new hosts they will ditch the 'celebrity' guest - why not, do they really add anything to the show? That's not what we watch it for.

I'm sure that's not true of everyone on C4C, and certainly not of the Countdown audience at large, I would imagine. Personally, I think some of the guests are great and add a lot to the show.

I agree that he was great, though it took a little time to work out that he wasn't bored/disinterested/wondering what the hell he was doing there. Once I realised that was just his general demeanour (I haven't really seen much of him before to know that), I thought he was fantastic.


Oh, and for the CoC recordings Kate might be interested in the fact that Beef Wellington is my favourite meal, and I enjoy back rubs.

Jon Corby wrote:I agree that he was great, though it took a little time to work out that he wasn't bored/disinterested/wondering what the hell he was doing there. Once I realised that was just his general demeanour (I haven't really seen much of him before to know that), I thought he was fantastic.


Oh, and for the CoC recordings Kate might be interested in the fact that Beef Wellington is my favourite meal, and I enjoy back rubs.

Food preferences noted, Corby. As for the back rub - speak to Damian.

KateHorton wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:I agree that he was great, though it took a little time to work out that he wasn't bored/disinterested/wondering what the hell he was doing there. Once I realised that was just his general demeanour (I haven't really seen much of him before to know that), I thought he was fantastic.


Oh, and for the CoC recordings Kate might be interested in the fact that Beef Wellington is my favourite meal, and I enjoy back rubs.

Food preferences noted, Corby. As for the back rub - speak to Damian.

Not sure about a back rub, but i'm happy to provide cranial massage with the thick end of a cricket bat

John Bradley wrote:

nick hancock wrote:

John Bradley wrote:Worst. Guest. Ever.

Who would you suggest John? (or anyone else for that matter), must be loads of people that could be asked.

Well...the first question is does the show really need a guest? Maybe with the new hosts they will ditch the 'celebrity' guest - why not, do they really add anything to the show? That's not what we watch it for.

That aside, I think comedians work best. They are used to an audience and telling a good yarn. Harry Hill...JLC...etc etc

That is a good point John, that could start a new debate....

John Bosley wrote:One often thinks it might be a non-celebrity. Someone who likes words and is smiley and has sufficient life interest to be asked about this and that. In fact, someone like me. Would not cost as much either.

I'll quote myself for once - why not?

John Bosley wrote:

John Bosley wrote:One often thinks it might be a non-celebrity. Someone who likes words and is smiley and has sufficient life interest to be asked about this and that. In fact, someone like me. Would not cost as much either.

I'll quote myself for once - why not?

... because it amounts to self-aggrandisement?

Is it me, you mean? If so, rather a nasty little comment. Clearly irony is somewhat above some people.

John Bosley wrote:Clearly irony is somewhat above some people.

And you're one of them, it seems.

I think he has been a refreshing change from the usual celebrity guests. He has a wonderful dry sense of humour.

I agree with you, Sue - - and Charlie, touché!

Sue Sheldon wrote:I think he has been a refreshing change from the usual celebrity guests. He has a wonderful dry sense of humour.

I really enjoyed Ran's visit and hope he'll come back sometime. I read his autobiography (Living Dangerously) a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I guessed his anecdotes would be interesting. I really must read it again as I've forgotten most of it (an age problem, I think) but I do remember that he was once in the SAS but was thrown out for blowing up an American film set! Oh yes, and he was seriously handsome in his young days. Damien, once things are settled re new set up, please try and get him back. I love Stephen Fry too and am sure he'd have some great anecdotes.