Episode Cats122

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Episode Cats122, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 19, Episode 3 was a special episode broadcast on 23 January 2020, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 19.

Regulars Sean Lock and Jon Richardson were the contestants, along with Richard Ayoade and Katherine Ryan who were their teammates respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw both teams tied with a score of 44 – 44 in a 7-rounder and they all won a Countdown ironing board complimentary with an iron.

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guest was David O'Doherty, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent.

Just before Round 5, both Sean and Jon had to feel objects which were all spelt with seven letters one at a time while blindfolded and guess what they were. Sean got the words BULLDOG, POPPING and CYMBALS while Jon got the words SPANDEX and CUSTARD. Hence, Sean's team won the game with the score at 3 – 2 and five points were awarded to his team.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the introduction, Katherine introduced her civil partner and childhood friend Bobby Kootstra and together, they both shared stories about their initial breakup via a letter dating back to 19 June 2000 and the former shared a photo of them when she was 15.

2) In Round 1, the clock music was replaced with a Greek-style music and at the same time, three male and three female dancers performed to the beat in the centre of the studio while Jimmy was randomly throwing and shattering plates in the background. Later, Jon proceeded to smash one using his head while David successfully volleyed another after Jimmy threw it from where he was sitting, to much applause from the audience. Finally, Jimmy gave all the celebrities Greek mezze to end off the round.

3) During the 30 seconds in Round 3, Jimmy "cloned" five versions of Jon via the "Clone-O-Tron 3000", producing a near identical, old, big, sexy and hairy versions, to which the last one was actually a dog fitted with a miniature version of his outfit.

4) In Round 4, Jon was not asked to show Richard his solution despite getting an identical target.

5) In Round 5, the clock music was replaced with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star with Jimmy pretending to sleep on a bed. Once the time was up, the bed folded inwards and "crushed" him.

6) During the conundrum, it was in fact Susie that unscrambled it first, to which she passed the answer written on a paper to David and allowed the teams to look at it. Thus, although this was cheating, the points were still given to Sean's team once they buzzed in with the correct answer.

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 since Episode Cats58 to end in a draw, the first such instance in almost four years.

NOTE 3: In November 2024, following a number of accusations being made against Gregg Wallace, a clip from this episode of Sean Lock laying into Wallace resurfaced.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Richard & Sean	Score	Jon & Katherine	Others	Max.
1	DNRBIASOU	DRAINS BRAINS	0 – 8	RADIOS UNBRAIDS	SUBORDAIN*	18
2	100 75 10 2 8 5 → 843	845 —	0 – 15	842 854 (100 + 5) × 8 + 2	RR: 843 = (100 − 10 ÷ 5 × 2) × 8 + 75	28
TTT	DRAGNADS	Mine are all wrinkled.			GRANDADS
Rnd	Selection	Sean Lock	Score	Katherine Ryan	Others	Max.
3	TNCAEKIRA	RECANT	6 – 21	INTAKE	CARINATE, CRANIATE*	36
Rnd	Selection	Richard Ayoade	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
4	25 75 9 2 5 8 → 676	676 75 × 9 + 8 − 5 − 2	16 – 31	676 75 × 9 + 8 − 5 − 2 *		46
TTT	GLUMNIPS	They're hanging low.			SLUMPING
Rnd	Selection	Richard & Sean	Score	Jon & Katherine	Others	Max.
5	POTWIRSEF	TOWERS RIPOSTE	28 – 38	FORTIES SWIPER	FIREPOTS*, FIRESTOP*	59
TTT	SNIFFTUG	Smells like onions.			STUFFING
6	UAEORLIGD	LODGE DERAIL	34 – 44	UGLIER gailed ☓	DIALOGUER	77
7	GROINTAPE	ongritape ☓ OPERATING (4, 19.5 seconds)	44 – 44			87