Countdown Game Show - Number Rounds (1 May 2025)

Colin Murray and Rachel Riley host as contestants race against the clock to pit their wits against vowels, consonants and numbers. John Virgo joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner. Each day two contestants compete in 15 rounds of words and numbers to become the Countdown Champion.

John Trevor Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player. After turning professional in 1976, Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay International and the 1984 Professional Snooker League. A member of the sport's elite Top 16 for seven seasons, Virgo is also a former British Open and World Championship semi-finalist and was runner-up at the 1980 Champion of Champions and the 1984 Australian Masters. Virgo retired from professional snooker in 1994.

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BACKGROUND
Countdown is the channel’s longest running show and the first show ever broadcast on Channel 4 when it launched over 40 years ago, in November 1982. The original version of Channel 4's Countdown is the French television programme « Des chiffres et des lettres » (literally "numbers and letters"), where the Numbers Round is referred to as « Le compte est bon » ("the total is right"). The show debuted in 1965 as « Le mot le plus long » using letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. The French version was cancelled in 2024.

Playlist:    • The Original Countdown (Des chiffres et de...  


SPIN-OFF
"8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown" is hosted by Jimmy Carr, with Rachel Riley and Susie Dent assuming their Countdown roles. The formation of the crossover with "8 Out if 10 Cats" began as a series of specials, the first of which was broadcast on 2 January 2012, when Channel 4 orchestrated a special "mash-up night", merging two shows to form a special edition of the pair, as part of its 30th-anniversary celebrations eleven years ago.

Playlist:    • Series 23 - 8oo10cdc (29 Jul 2022 - 2 Sep ...