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The first episode of Countdown was broadcast at 4:45pm on Tuesday 2 November 1982, and was the first ever programme shown on the brand new Channel 4. It was hosted by Richard Whiteley (pictured) alongside "hostesses" Cathy Hytner and Beverley Isherwood, who placed letter and number tiles on the board respectively. Isherwood also created three-digit targets for the numbers rounds using a random-number generator, introduced as CECIL – "Countdown's Electronic Calculator in Leeds". This name is still used today, despite production of Countdown moving to Manchester in 2009. Carol Vorderman was the programme's "vital statistician", responsible for checking contestants' calculations and solving numbers rounds where necessary. During Series 1 and Series 2, this role was alternated with Dr Linda Barrett. In what would come to be known as Dictionary Corner, farmer and television personality Ted Moult sat alongside the programme's first ever lexicographer, referred to only as Mary. Although Carol Vorderman is usually said to be the first woman to appear on Channel 4, Mary was in fact introduced to viewers earlier in the episode than Vorderman.
The first ever champion was solicitor and Scrabble player Michael Goldman, who beat accountant Jeff Andrews by 50 points to 27. The structure of the game was essentially the same 9 round format used until Series 45, broadcast in 2001. However, there were some notable differences from more recent episodes – beyond the multiple co-hosts whose roles Carol Vorderman would fulfil single-handedly from 1989 until 2008. Only the contestant whose word was longest stated it during letters rounds; their opponent just declared the length of their word. Also, the scrambled nine-letter word in the final round wasn't called a conundrum, and was manually revealed by Hytner pulling a lever in-vision. Furthermore, whereas Countdown conundrums today are usually rearranged into a short phrase (such as TINYROLES from the Series 66 final), the final round in earlier series saw the letters of a nine-letter word shuffled into a random and often nonsensical order. (more...)
- ...that Countdown presenter Richard Whiteley (pictured) is said to have accumulated more broadcast hours than anyone else in the history in British television?
- ...that Countdown presenters Des Lynam and Colin Murray have hosted Countdown, appeared in Dictionary Corner and been a contestant?
- ...that Countdown presenter Des O'Connor has an autobiography entitled Bananas Don't Fly?
- ...that Countdown presenter Jeff Stelling's love of Hartlepool United was acknowledged in the Series 61 final via the conundrum ARTLEPOOL?
- ...that Countdown presenter Nick Hewer's first ever episode was won by eventual series champion Jack Worsley?
- 2025: Mark Allen beat Aidan Whiley with scores of 106 – 60.
- 2024: David Roe beat Tyler Selby with scores of 107 – 64.
- 2023: Jill Leatherbarrow beat Matt Dent with scores of 77 – 57.
- 2020: Andy Bruno beat Rebecca Harraway by 85 – 56.
- 2019: Morgan Sauer beat Kay Goodsell with scores of 102 – 67.
- 2018: Alan Duval beat Chris Sturdy in a 84 – 80 game.
- 2017: James Riddell beat Hilary Hills, scoring 76 – 59.
- 2015: Keith Kan beat Luci Clarke by 75 – 38.
- 2014: Laurence Killen beat Jamie Jardine, by a score of 118 – 51.
- 2013: Michael McLaughlin beat Lee Ludlow with a score of 85 – 65.
- 2012: Philip Jackson beat Derek Tucker with final score 89 – 73.
- 2009: Ryan Taylor beat Chris Civil in a game that ended 76 – 54.
- 2008: Martin Bishop beat Daniel Searle with scores of 92 – 56.
- 2007: Judy Kimber beat Rex Clegg in a 77 – 60 game.
- 2006: Steven Briers beat Dean Rowley, scoring 136 – 41.
- 2003: Stuart Solomons beat Bob Brock with a score of 92 – 76.
- 2002: George Greenhough beat Dave Thompson with final score 114 – 50.
- 2001: Ben Wilson beat Peter Wilson, by a score of 101 – 70.
- 2000: John Harrison beat Mick Clithero in a game that ended 60 – 58.
- 1998: Clare Dobbs beat Anne Hughes in a 54 – 50 game.
- 1997: Mark Wyndham-Jones beat Gilbert North with scores of 68 – 45.
- 1996: Stephen Balment beat Gino Corr with a score of 52 – 44.
- 1990: Gary Franks played David White in the second leg of a Countdown Masters game.
- 1989: Jim Saywell played Jane Smith in the first leg of a Countdown Masters game.
- 1987: John Hadfield beat Anju Shah, scoring 47 – 32.
- 1986: Harvey Freeman beat John Wesley with final score 64 – 28.
- 1985: Marion Johnstone beat Ian Bebbington, by a score of 52 – 41.
- 1984: Leslie Olson beat Alan Woollard in a game that ended 56 – 42.
- A brief overview of Countdown and some of its records and terminology.
- The team: Colin Murray, Rachel Riley and Susie Dent since the first episode of Series 87.
- The show's institutions: the letters and numbers, the conundrum, the Countdown clock and its music, Dictionary Corner and the Teatime Teaser.
- Patrick Thompson, the reigning series champion and his series grand final against Charlie Harrison.
- The latest Championship of Champions grand final between James Haughton and Ahmed Mohamed.
- The 30th Birthday Championship grand final between Conor Travers and Jack Hurst.
- The show's former permanent presenters: Richard Whiteley, Des Lynam, Des O'Connor and Carol Vorderman, Jeff Stelling, Nick Hewer and Anne Robinson.
- The highest ever score: 154, achieved by Tom Stevenson on 29 September 2022 and Cillian McMulkin on 31 January 2023.
Everyone can edit the Countdown Wiki, just register and then click the edit link at the top of any page (except this one!) and start editing. Here are some useful links:
- Learn about this wiki and how to use it.
- Episode style guide - if you want to help us edit the episode pages, this style guide gives comprehensive help.
- Suggest a featured article which will in turn be featured on the Main Page.
- Apterous, an online game from the same people that run this site.
- Beat The Clock: Words & Maths, a Countdown-inspired Android app created by Series 63 champion Jack Hurst.
- The Countdown Database, detailed statistics and round-by-round details of over 7,800 episodes.
- FOCAL, regular in-person events that anyone can enter.
- c4countdown, Countdown's main online forum, populated by many past octochamps.
- Quantum Tombola, a numbers game solver designed by Series 65 champion Graeme Cole.
- A mobile version of the above.
- Greem, a website listing nearly all Co-event scores until early 2020.
- The Countdown Page, the original site of Countdown stats, created by Mike Brown.
- Online tournaments on Apterous.
- In-person tournaments organized by FOCAL, known as co-events.
- The next scheduled events are the concurrent 2026 FOCAL finals and Milton Keynes Open on 28 November.
