Episode Cats158

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Episode Cats158, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26, Episode 1, was a special episode broadcast on 19 July 2024, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26. This episode's original air date was likely to have been on 30 June 2023 as it would have been Katherine's birthday (which was mentioned by Jimmy), with the date falling on a Friday.

The team captains were Richard Ayoade and Jon Richardson, their teammates were Katherine Ryan and Dan Tiernan respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Richard Ayoade, with the assistance of Katherine Ryan, winning by 39 – 28 in a 7-rounder and they won a pair of Countdown Irish dancing shoes, with Fabio, the show's permanent male model tap dancing as a demonstration.

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

Just before Round 5, Katherine and Jon took part in a Spelling Bee. If they got so much as even a single letter wrong, they would be jolted with an electric shock via pads attached to them. Katherine was asked to spell GOBBLEDYGOOK and PTERODACTYL while Jon was asked to spell WHERE and GONORRHOEA. Jon was given a second chance to spell the latter word as the game could not end in a tie, thus five points were awarded to his team with the game ending in a score of 0 – 1.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Katherine gave wigs to everyone and would wear one herself, adopting the persona "Kathy" until the end of the show. Notably, Jon's wig caused him to look like one of the Bee Gees and caused him to scream "I feel alive" in a reference to their song Stayin' Alive.

2) In Round 3, a pair of female acapella singers bobbed their heads up and chanted beside Jimmy (this replaced the clock music). Later, they would rise and chant as soon as Jon opened his mouth when he was declaring, causing him to be visibly annoyed.

3) In Round 4, after noticing Katherine and Dan were both struggling, Jimmy gave them an extra 30 seconds by restarting the Countdown clock. Katherine later buzzed in at around 35.75 seconds to stop the clock, indicating she had the solution by then.

4) After the clock stopped in Round 6, an uncredited male individual whom Jimmy dressed up as part of his "tailoring" services walked off stage, albeit with his back half totally bare and exposed.

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

NOTE 2: In Round 5, Richard's declaration of MEATING would have been ruled valid if using the ODP; this would not have impacted the scores as his alternative declaration was accepted.

NOTE 3: During the conundrum, two seconds after Katherine's initial incorrect response, Richard pressed the buzzer and responded with the same answer. However, as this is a duplicate response, the latter timing is not reflected here.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Katherine & Richard	Score	Jon & Dan	Others	Max.
1	AUATRIOPM	ATRIUM purim ☓	6 – 6	IMPART RAT	MATIPOU*, PROTIUM*	7
2	100 50 2 7 9 3 → 514	— —	6 – 16	514 — (100 × 3 − 50 + 7) × 2		17
TTT	IFHERUBS	There'll will be sparks.			BUSHFIRE
Rnd	Selection	Richard Ayoade	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
3	ETAISHANR	TRAINS	12 – 16	shantier ☓	RHATANIES*	35
Rnd	Selection	Katherine Ryan	Score	Dan Tiernan	Others	Max.
4	25 1 8 2 10 3 → 176	176 25 × (10 − 3) + 1	22 – 16	—		45
TTT	GOONSHIT	Does that feel better?			SOOTHING
Rnd	Selection	Katherine & Richard	Score	Jon & Dan	Others	Max.
5	MEIYNGATO	TOYING/TAMING meating ☓**/MOATING	29 – 21	TOYING GOATY	MOGANITE*	58
TTT	MINGEDIP	Get out of the way.			IMPEDING
6	NSVIURABO	invusabo ☓ BRAINS	29 – 28	VARIOUS rainbos ☓	BANSURI*, RUBIANS*, SAVIOUR	65
7	ISHAGNERD	readings ☓ GARNISHED (13, 30 seconds)	39 – 28			75