Episode Cats131

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Episode Cats131, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 21, Episode 2 was a special episode broadcast on 21 January 2021, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 21. This episode was filmed before the birth of Rachel Riley's daughter Maven, to which she spoke about her unborn baby during the Introduction. This suggests that the episode aired out of order and should have been released in 2020.

Regulars Sean Lock and Jon Richardson were the contestants, along with Paul Foot and Angela Barnes who were their teammates respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Sean Lock, with the assistance of Paul Foot, winning by 55 – 40 in a 7-rounder and they won a pair of Countdown tap dancing shoes.

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guest was Dr John Cooper Clarke, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent.

Just before Round 5, all players had to compose a poem for Dr John Cooper Clarke to hear and he would choose who had the best one. He felt that both Paul and Sean's poems were jointly the best, thus five points were awarded to their team.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Sean showed off his own custom calendar featuring images of him according to the season based on each month. Upon closer observation, the calendar was not numbered correctly where each month had 31 days, although it did place New Year's Day on a Wednesday, reinforcing the fact that this episode was supposed to have aired in 2020.

2) In Round 1, the clock music was replaced with Octopus's Garden by The Beatles until closer to the end. At the same time, Jimmy pulled a switch to activate an "Underwater Mode" which saw the screen filled up with water along with fishes and underwater plants. Several celebrities blended in with the scene such as Jimmy who held his breath, Fabio, the show's permanent male host swimming and Susie with a fishing net dangling over her head.

3) In Round 4, as Paul was a Oxford Maths graduate, the round was dubbed "The Battle of the Supernerds" which involved both him and Jon throwing shade at each other before the numbers were picked. Later on, the clock music was replaced with the techno version heard during Tension Rounds in several episodes, albeit without the sirens and the voice counting down from ten.

4) In Round 6, Jimmy inserted alien-like noises into the clock music with the assistance of a Theremin. Also, Paul or Sean did not show to Jon that they had the same word as him.

NOTE 1: In this version, both players' declarations were allowed, although points were only awarded for the best answer.

NOTE 2: During the Conundrum, Paul buzzed first, only for his answer to be incorrect. However, as the buzzers were not locked out, Angela immediately guessed next but in a state of panic gave a wrong answer as well before Jon corrected her. Thus, all three answers have the same timing.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Paul & Sean	Score	Jon & Angela	Others	Max.
1	WEARINHTG	NIGHTWEAR grateing ☓	18 – 0	EARTHING HEARING	WREATHING*	18
2	75 25 2 4 2 9 → 647	647 647 9 × 75 − (25 + 4 − 2 ÷ 2) 9 × 75 − (25 + 4 − 2 ÷ 2) *	28 – 0	650 636		28
TTT	NUTSBURN	There's a cream for that.			SUNBURNT
Rnd	Selection	Sean Lock	Score	Angela Barnes	Others	Max.
3	NUECTHRNO	CHUNTER	28 – 8	NOCTURNE	TRUNCHEON	46
Rnd	Selection	Paul Foot	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
4	4 10 2 6 7 2 → 662	662 (7 + 4) × 10 × 6 + 2	38 – 18	662 (7 + 4) × 6 × 10 + 2		56
TTT	ORALPOPS	She said yes.			PROPOSAL
Rnd	Selection	Paul & Sean	Score	Jon & Angela	Others	Max.
5	LFDPICAEI	picafidle ☓ FAILED	49 – 24	dilate ☓ PLACED	PACIFIED	69
TTT	DONGDRIP	I felt that.			PRODDING
6	SMOUTNPQE	QUOTES QUOTES	55 – 30	QUOTES MOUNTS	POSTMEN*, QUENTOS*, SPUMONE	76
7	IDEALSNOG	loseading ☓ (15 seconds)	55 – 40	socialising ☓ ALONGSIDE (15 seconds)		86