c4countdown

We'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part in the 30th Birthday championships of Countdown.

The spirit and friendliness of all those taking part was an absolute joy to witness, and between you, you've given a TV audience the best shows Countdown has ever made.

Sincere thanks to everyone, it was wonderful to see you all again. Boys to men, thatched to slapheads, virgins to sex-beasts, Cherry-Coke addicts to hardened alcoholics.

Well done everyone. We're utterly proud of you all and cannot praise you enough.

Thanks for having me/us!

It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to be part of it, and every day at the moment is providing another fresh thrill. Thank you for making it happen!

Even though I was only there for a day it was just as magical as it was the first time all those years ago. Can't wait for the rest of the games!

SPOILERS

Now I know there's going to be no punch-ups over dubious mass noun plural decisions.

Hard to put into words how much I enjoyed it. There are moments that'll stay with people who were there forever.

I cannot bastarding wait for this all to be on TV. Gonna be gooooood!

Jon O'Neill wrote:Hard to put into words how much I enjoyed it. There are moments that'll stay with people who were there forever.

I cannot bastarding wait for this all to be on TV. Gonna be gooooood!

This.

Thanks for having me back - I've loved every second of it and will treasure these memories for some years to come!

I'll echo the sentiments already expressed: I'd an amazing time and I'm grateful to the Countdown team for making it happen.

I was extremely expressed with the calibre of the people there and not just in relation to Countdown-Apto-Nerdery.

I was also extremely impressed at how many times Jono can drop the c-bomb.

I would also like to express my whole-hearted gratitude to the Countdown crew for getting this tournament on and allowing me to be part of it. The games I saw were just phenomenal and I can't wait for them to be broadcast on TV, as well as the ones I haven't seen. Eight weeks was more than any of us realistically hoped for.

I met some fantastic people along the way, from fellow contestants to the production team and presenters. Thank you to everyone for making my time on the show so memorable and enjoyable! Hopefully there'll be another one of these tournaments in another 30 years.

Yeah, it was alright that, you know.

Cheers for letting me sneak into the green room / audience the last few days as a contestant's honorary girlfriend.

David O'Donnell wrote:I was also extremely impressed at how many times Jono can drop the c-bomb.

At lats year's Co:Lin, he cleared out the entire restaurant half of the pub with that word alone. It was beautiful. How are you going to top it this year, Jono?

Haha, oh god... I think when I get overexcited I lose control of it a bit. Still, I think DoD is the expert, managing at one time to use it as a verb, adjective and noun in a five-word sentence.

This should all be put on a Countdown: Too Hot For DVD release. Just an hour of the word "cunt" by various different Supreme Championship contestants. I'd buy it. I'd buy like forty copies actually. That's family Christmas sorted.

Jon O'Neill wrote:Haha, oh god... I think when I get overexcited I lose control of it a bit. Still, I think DoD is the expert, managing at one time to use it as a verb, adjective and noun in a five-word sentence.

He ****ed the ****ing ****?

Cheers Damo; and thanks for having me. A brilliant experience from start to finish. Great to meet everyone and I loved the sense of camaraderie between the players.

A massive thanks right back at you Damian for letting me be involved, I had the time of my life. All the Countdown staff and fellow competitors I met in my time in Manchester were lovely, and made it an occasion I'll never forget, and one I'm positive the viewing audience will enjoy too.

Innis Carson wrote:...... and one I'm positive the viewing audience will enjoy too.

I certainly am enjoying the series and can't wait to see its conclusion.

Unfortunately, Innis, you can't please all of the people all the time. I found this comment from a dissenting viewer on a C4 page about Countdown. It defies belief anyone could be so anti top contestants

Mauro

"I have been watching the programme together with my husband for some years, and we have enjoyed pitting ourselves against the contestants. But the present series of games between previous top contestants has lasted too long, and we are looking forward to a return to the usual format, where we have a chance of 'winning'. Also we feel that 'geeks' who have swallowed the dictionary without being able either to pronounce the word or give the meaning are not playing in the spirit of the game. So when can we expect normal service to be resumed?" - Penelope

If Penelope was on the show, and she spotted a word (let's say ANODISER) that she only knew because she'd seen Susie mention it on a previous episode, would she decline to declare it out of respect for the "spirit of the game"? Would she leave a word she'd once seen in a book but wasn't sure of the meaning/pronunciation of? I doubt it. But it's really no different to learning words through playing an electronic version of the game, or through word study or anything else that CoC contestants have used to increase their vocabulary. Trying to classify what is a 'legitimate' way to know a word is utterly nonsensical - it's the kind of thing a child would come up with as an excuse when someone beats them at a game. I pray that the Countdown team won't give too much heed to comments like hers, the logical extension of which is that Countdown should turn into Bland ITV Game Show #534 and start selecting contestants based purely on judgements of their superficial appeal, and rejecting contestants who are too good at the game or, god forbid, might be seen as "geeky". That's what would truly be a violation of the spirit of the game.

Contestants of years past, pre-internet geekery, still put in time and effort to learn how to spell words. It must have been harder to do, but it's the same science, if different tekkers. Is the perceived difference because of age? I'd say yes. It's become the young man's game, for the most part.

By further extension, are sports stars who spend several hours a day training not playing in the spirit of the game if they make people feel that they're unable to compete? I realise Countdown is, above all else, entertainment, but you've have to be a pretty weapons-grade hypocrite if you, say, cheered on Team GB at the Olympics but refuse to watch Countdown because good players make you feel inadequate.

I'd disagree with that slightly because part of the appeal of Countdown is being able to have a go yourself, and every so often being to match or beat those on the show. That's not the case with sporting events. But as Innis said, it's nevertheless still a double standard to hold against someone the fact that they've practiced really hard. I don't think Penelope is being very open minded there. She's perfectly entitled to not enjoy the sight of those [of us] who learn spellings we can't define and pronounce words wrong, but to lobby for a deliberately lower standard seems a bit....headstrong.

It was inevitable that someone would air a view like this before long. Clearly, people who are more put off by not being able to compete with the contestants than they are impressed by their ability are in the minority.
Some people didn't like Jeff as Countdown host and some people don't find Rachel Riley all that attractive. And that's all you need to know about the possibility of pleasing everyone.

Oh shit, you're that guy from the telly!

Chris Davies wrote:Clearly, people who are more put off by not being able to compete with the contestants than they are impressed by their ability are in the minority.

I think this has been discussed to death on here already, but I'd be interested to know how true this is. Certainly when I was (much) younger I didn't enjoy series finals as much because it often seemed like an endless stream of ridiculously (boringly) obscure words, but now I'm an apto-geek I can properly appreciate how good good contestants are. (I dunno if it's fair to expect viewers to be 'impressed by their ability' day in day out for weeks on end: it's not like your typical punter will necessarily realize that some obscure low probability double-darren 7 is more imrpessive than getting ORDINATES for 9, for instance.)

Would be super interesting to find some neutral-ish feedback on this series: I've had a poke around the Internet but can't find any discussions. Mauro - can you link to where you found that comment?

(Obviously all that stuff about 'the spirit of the game' is rubbish, mind.)

Michael Wallace wrote: Would be super interesting to find some neutral-ish feedback on this series: I've had a poke around the Internet but can't find any discussions. Mauro - can you link to where you found that comment?

Did think more than twice before posting the comment on the forum.

I found it here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coun ... -countdown

<MP>

First, I'd like to add my own thanks to Damian and the rest of the team for putting on this championship, and for selecting me as one of the 41 to take part from all the contestants they could have chosen from the last 30 years. I'll say more when it's not spoilerific to do so.

It would be interesting to know the weekly audience figures for the whole tournament after it's finished, just to see if we really have got a nation of Penelopes.

The subtext I'm getting from comments like the one Mauro links to is that it's not people learning lists of words and practising for the game per se that they've got a problem with. It's only the contestants in their teens or twenties whose practice is "against the spirit of the game". Does anyone ever see any comments of this nature when, as often happens, an apterous player who isn't a "nerdy-boy-graduate" does well on the show with the help of some obscure words? I've never seen any. Anyway, knowing the words (or "swallowing the dictionary") is only part of the game - you also have to be able to spot them. Spotting a well-known word like LIFEBOAT from an unpromising-looking selection, and knowing that AEEIRSLNT is the relatively obscure TREENAILS, are completely different skills. Both skills can be improved by lots of practice, yet one of these skills some consider "wrong" somehow. Doesn't really make sense.

Scrolling back a bit on that page, I saw the comment from Peter Arps (11 May 2012) - I can't tell if it's serious, a troll, a letter to the Daily Telegraph that got misrouted, or what.

I'd have to say that I was astonished when this event was first mooted. Over the years Damian has put forward these very arguments against much shorter events than this. I'm loving it, but even to me it seems to have been going on for ever, and we're only half way through. In the end the deciding factor will be viewing figures, and we should remember that in Countdown's heyday probably half the viewers found the letters and numbers bits an irritant in the Richard and Carol show. Logic doesn't really come into it.

Some people love to complain. They probably don't even hold the view they're espousing with much conviction but as soon as anything changes, even for a couple of months, they mount their high horse and feign indignity. It's quite pathetic.

The people who are enjoying the show are not the same people who are inclined to find a channel to vent about it.

To treat this view seriously based on that comments thread is to attribute too much weight to too small a data set. Only the viewing figures really matter.

Graeme Cole wrote:First, I'd like to add my own thanks to Damian and the rest of the team for putting on this championship, and for selecting me as one of the 41 to take part from all the contestants they could have chosen from the last 30 years. I'll say more when it's not spoilerific to do so.

It would be interesting to know the weekly audience figures for the whole tournament after it's finished, just to see if we really have got a nation of Penelopes.

The subtext I'm getting from comments like the one Mauro links to is that it's not people learning lists of words and practising for the game per se that they've got a problem with. It's only the contestants in their teens or twenties whose practice is "against the spirit of the game". Does anyone ever see any comments of this nature when, as often happens, an apterous player who isn't a "nerdy-boy-graduate" does well on the show with the help of some obscure words? I've never seen any. Anyway, knowing the words (or "swallowing the dictionary") is only part of the game - you also have to be able to spot them. Spotting a well-known word like LIFEBOAT from an unpromising-looking selection, and knowing that AEEIRSLNT is the relatively obscure TREENAILS, are completely different skills. Both skills can be improved by lots of practice, yet one of these skills some consider "wrong" somehow. Doesn't really make sense.

Scrolling back a bit on that page, I saw the comment from Peter Arps (11 May 2012) - I can't tell if it's serious, a troll, a letter to the Daily Telegraph that got misrouted, or what.

I don't really understand how practice of any nature can be against the spirit of the game. Isn't that like saying a football team that trains hard and covers everything including obscure moves is playing against the spirit of the game?
Apterous is a tool many players use to improve their ability, after all that is presumably what it was designed for. So a player knows obscure words.... so what? There have been plenty of them over the years, long before apterous came into being. Even back in the 1980's players were coming up with obscure words. That's how they won. Simple. So what have they done wrong? Maybe there should be a rule barring all players from looking at a dictionary or any sites related to words for a period of time before their recording. Would THAT suit people?

I've had one or two people say to me about learning all the words being against the spirit of the game, and while I can understand what they are saying, you could argue that Apterous and other training methods are actually an "equaliser". If people have to rely simply on watching the show and "natural ability", it would be unfair, because actually everyone has had different experiences in life, and some people would have had more exposure to obscure words, and perhaps done other puzzles in their life that exercise the same parts of the brain that Countdown requires. So by arguing that any form of training is against the spirit, you would also be saying (albeit unintentionally) that success in Countdown should be restricted to people who have had a particular upbringing or lead certain lifestyles. Playing Apterous can allow people to overcome their difficult past and will ultimately conquer all forms of prejudice once and for all.

Anthony Endsor wrote:I don't really understand how practice of any nature can be against the spirit of the game.

Those who object probably see it as like memorising the answers to all the questions in Trivial Pursuit.

David Williams wrote:

Anthony Endsor wrote:I don't really understand how practice of any nature can be against the spirit of the game.

Those who object probably see it as like memorising the answers to all the questions in Trivial Pursuit.

Yeah, and it's a point of view I can completely understand (and even agree with, to a point). I don't think it's got anything to do with hours of practise as such - it's natural that some people are going to practise lots before they go on, I can imagine people (pre-internet) making their own cards or using Scrabble tiles or whatever. I think the real turning point where this changes is when you have an instant, comprehensive solution to every round. It's a total game-changer, and I think the show did change when this became widely available.

I can't add much to what's already been said, but I'd also like to say a huge thanks to everyone- to Damian for allowing me back on, to everyone else who works on the show for making me feel so welcome, and to all the other contestants for just being such great people. It was an awesome experience, and I'm just glad I could be a small part of something that felt so momentous and special. Thanks all.

Oh and I meant what I said on the show, I'd be delighted to do Nick's job, and for a fraction of his wages. Preferably that fraction would be 2/1!

Now it's spoiler free for me to post here, i'd just like to say I had the best time in salford, all the other guys there were great company. Thanks for having me back on. I hope you don't get too many complaints about my behaviour.

Thanks to the Countdown team for putting this on, rejuvenating my interest in the game which for me has been the best quiz show experience from a contestant point of view, back in the day and now. There've been 3 presenters in between my appearances, and complete change of hostess/number cruncher but the family feeling still remains. I doubt I shall ever appear again, but will try and get abck to a recording again - just being in the studio took me back nearly 20 years. I am quite looking forward to seeing Rachel at the Vienna Scrabble event in a few weeks but she better not give anything away as to who won!!

A massive thanks to the Countdown team for putting this on, most thanks go to all the contestants/champs/greats/legends who took part, well done all, it was great entertainment for us viewers.

Now don't make us wait so long for another epic series like this.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I've had one or two people say to me about learning all the words being against the spirit of the game...

So has my dad. He thinks that the conundrums are "unfair" because they can instantly recognise the word as they've seen the scramble before (he got really annoyed on SPOILERS - Kirk's BARRYDICK conundrum).

Rhys Benjamin wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:I've had one or two people say to me about learning all the words being against the spirit of the game...

So has my dad. He thinks that the conundrums are "unfair" because they can instantly recognise the word as they've seen the scramble before (he got really annoyed on SPOILERS - Kirk's BARRYDICK conundrum).

I suppose you could argue they're not anagramming in the traditional sense, but would be ridiculous to even define that.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Rhys Benjamin wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:I've had one or two people say to me about learning all the words being against the spirit of the game...

So has my dad. He thinks that the conundrums are "unfair" because they can instantly recognise the word as they've seen the scramble before (he got really annoyed on SPOILERS - Kirk's BARRYDICK conundrum).

I suppose you could argue they're not anagramming in the traditional sense, but would be ridiculous to even define that.

Where did he even get the idea that Kirk had seen that scramble before? Not the case as far as I'm aware. And obviously the idea of blaming him for it even if he had is absurd.

The whole point of practicing is to see scrambles and words before. If you want to be Penelope and conclude that braintraining is wrong, go ahead I guess, but this whole tournament was about braintraining and look how freaking good it made it

Very enjoybale show lovely too se a lot of the old faces gracing our screens once again

Rachel tweeted me saying it was going to be good, I just didn't know it was going to be THAT good! The only let down I thought was the poor promotion by Channel 4 - no trailers, teasers, hype or bigging up of this epic tournament (I never saw any anyway). A shame really, it was easily up to (and beyond) Mastermind standard.

Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:48 pm Scrolling back a bit on that page, I saw the comment from Peter Arps (11 May 2012) - I can't tell if it's serious, a troll, a letter to the Daily Telegraph that got misrouted, or what.

Peter Arps = Mr. P Arps

Adam Dexter wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 10:00 pm

Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:48 pm Scrolling back a bit on that page, I saw the comment from Peter Arps (11 May 2012) - I can't tell if it's serious, a troll, a letter to the Daily Telegraph that got misrouted, or what.

Peter Arps = Mr. P Arps

You think that's bad...., look who the editor of the Huddersfield Examiner is....

James Robinson wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 10:27 pm

Adam Dexter wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 10:00 pm

Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:48 pm Scrolling back a bit on that page, I saw the comment from Peter Arps (11 May 2012) - I can't tell if it's serious, a troll, a letter to the Daily Telegraph that got misrouted, or what.

Peter Arps = Mr. P Arps

You think that's bad...., look who the editor of the Huddersfield Examiner is....

Haha always makes me laugh when I see things like this. Did their parents have no care? Sometimes funnier with married names as they brought it upon themselves.