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Episode Cats58

From Countdown

Episode Cats58, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 9, Episode 3 was a special episode broadcast on 10 March 2016, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 9.

Acting Team Captain Johnny Vegas and 8 Out of 10 Cats regular Jon Richardson were the contestants, along with Alex Brooker and Sara Pascoe who were their teammates, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw both teams tied with a score of 25 – 25 in an 7-rounder and they all won a Countdown chocolate fountain complimentary with marshmallows and pastries.

As Rachel Riley was unable to attend the recording, Claudia Winkleman took the role of the arithmetician for this episode. The Dictionary Corner guest was Tom Allen, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent. Rob Beckett also made a special appearance in this episode, assisting Claudia in putting up the letters and numbers after she claimed her performance the previous time round was "rubbish". Also, a man disguised as Rachel's father gave the solution to both numbers rounds.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) In Round 1, the final letter was originally an X, but was thrown out by Claudia and replaced with a R. Had this not happened, the maximum would have been worth seven points, one point less.

2) During the 30 seconds in Round 3, a sand pit was brought out by the models to which Jimmy "buried" himself underneath it in the shape of a mermaid. In the same round, Rob had an "Emoji" box but only one with an angry face was drawn out and placed in the bottom row of the letters board.

3) After the time was up in Round 5, for no apparent reason, the audience started clapping which noticeably annoyed Jimmy.

4) During the 30 seconds in Round 6, former track and field athletes Kriss Akabusi and Sally Gunnell OBE appeared and competed with Jimmy in a mini version of Hurdles.

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

NOTE 2: This is the first game in 25 years to end in a draw, after the tiebreak conundrum was introduced in July 1991 for Series 22 of the normal version of the show.

Short segments of this episode were sampled in the 13 and 27 May 2021 episodes of Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont's sitcom Meet the Richardsons.

Rounds

Rnd Selection Sara & Johnny Score Jon & Alex Others Max.
1 IASHTESOR trasher ☓
SOS
0 – 6 roasties ☓
SHORTS
HOARIEST, HOARSEST*, HOISTERS*, HORSIEST*, OSTERIAS*, ROSASITE*, SHORTIES*, THEORIAS* 8
2 75 25 5 9 6 7 → 990 975
0 – 13 992

(75 + 25 + 6 + 5) × 9 − 7

CW: 990 = (7 × 5 + 75) × 9

18
TTT FARTMORE Wipe clean and start again. REFORMAT
Rnd Selection Johnny Vegas Score Jon Richardson Others Max.
3 NEVATEAHI HEAVEN 6 – 19 HEAVEN NAIVETE*, TAENIAE* 25
Rnd Selection Sara Pascoe Score Alex Brooker Others Max.
4 75 100 7 3 5 10 → 389 387
3 × 100 + 5 + 7 + 75
13 – 19 385 ☓

CW: 389 = 75 × 5 − 3 + 10 + 7

35
TTT SHAFTSIR It's wet and pointy. STARFISH
Rnd Selection Sara & Johnny Score Jon & Alex Others Max.
5 OEFAGRUIN FORAGE
FROG
19 – 19 unforage ☓
ROUGE
FEARING*, FIGURAE*, FOREIGN, GUNFIRE*, REFUGIA*, ROGAINE* 42
TTT NICEARSE The bigger the better. INCREASE
6 AOXTIMALJ OXTAIL
lmao ☓
25 – 25 mixalot ☓
OXTAIL
AMATOL, MAJITA*, MALOTI* 48
7 MANSGIRTH 25 – 25 HAMSTRING 58