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Episode Cats162
Episode Cats162, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26, Episode 5, was a special episode broadcast on 16 August 2024, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26. This episode was recorded in 2022 as evident by the truncated desk from COVID-19 times and with Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon as the arithmetician. It premiered on Australian BBC UKTV on 14 February 2024, months before being transmitted in the UK.
The team captains were Jonathan Ross and Richard Ayoade, their teammates were Maisie Adam and Kemah Bob respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the presenter.
The match saw Jonathan Ross, with the assistance of Maisie Adam, winning by 41 – 34 in a 7-rounder thanks to the conundrum being worth 20 points (if the contestants guessed the answer in the first 15 seconds), and they won a Countdown piano.
The arithmetician was Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, standing in for Rachel Riley who was on her second maternity leave at time of recording. The Dictionary Corner guest was Sarah Keyworth, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent.
Just before Round 5, Jonathan and Richard took part in "Pulp Fact or Pulp Fiction?" involving movie trivia. The first half involved questions regarding vintage movie trailers, while the second half involved Fabio, the show's permanent male host acting out scenes from a movie and the celebrities had to guess which movie did it come from. Even though the score was tied at 3 – 3, because Jonathan tricked Richard to impersonate the dolphin from the first question to get one point for Jonathan's team, his team was at an advantage and won the game, with eleven points being awarded to his team.
Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:
1) During the Introduction, Maisie had a Whack-a-Countdown machine as her prop (in reference to a Whac-A-Mole machine), with moles being replaced with the Catsdown regulars and then demonstrated how it worked, hitting as many of the figures in 30 seconds.
2) During the 30 seconds in Round 1, "Jimmy" performed various tricks and kickflips with his scooter in the centre of the studio.
3) In Round 3, the clock music was replaced with a rendition of it done by Jimmy hitting wine bottles via drumsticks (with Maisie notably being irritated on-camera by covering her ears). After the time was up, each of the panel members got cheese and a glass of wine. Maisie also offered the word torique ☓ even though she was not playing the round.
4) During the 30 seconds in Round 6, Jimmy received a gift named "Susie Dent: The Complete Book Collection" and tried to put one of the books into a paper shredder. After that failed, he placed all of the books into a big wood chipper and successfully shredded them all.
NOTE 1: In this version, both players' declarations were allowed, although points were only awarded for the best answer.
NOTE 2: In Round 1, Anne-Marie threw out the letter Z from the selection after a heated debate from the delebrities. If this decision wasn't made, the selection would've been EPSDOAEZR, reducing maximum score in that round from 18 to 7. Additionally, Maisie's second declaration of pseudo ☓ was wrongly allowed as there was no U in the selection.
Rounds
Rnd | Selection | Maisie & Jonathan | Score | Richard & Kemah | Others | Max. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | EPSDOAERK | ERODES/PSEUDO wrongly allowed POKERS/SPOKED |
6 – 6 | SOAKED SPEEDO |
PRESOAKED | 18 |
2 | 50 25 100 1 5 2 → 881 | — — |
6 – 11 | 875 — (2 + 5 + 1) × 100 + 50 + 25 |
Best: 880 = (50 − 1) × (25 − 5) − 100 |
25 |
TTT | IHOGNUTS | Keep your mouth closed. | SHOUTING | |||
Rnd | Selection | Jonathan Ross | Score | Richard Ayoade | Others | Max. |
3 | XTOIEQALU | exotica ☓ | 6 – 16 | QUIET | ALIQUOT*, LIQUATE, TEQUILA* | 32 |
Rnd | Selection | Maisie Adam | Score | Kemah Bob | Others | Max. |
4 | 75 100 1 1 4 9 → 197 | 190 | 6 – 23 | 196
(1 + 1) × 100 − 4 |
AMI: 197 = (1 + 1) × 9 + 75 + 100 + 4 |
42 |
TTT | ASSBLEND | Not a hair in sight. | BALDNESS | |||
Rnd | Selection | Maisie & Jonathan | Score | Richard & Kemah | Others | Max. |
5 | EINJOMEFB | moan ☓ JOIN |
21 – 27 | JOIN jobin ☓ |
FOEMEN*, MOENIE*, NEMBIE* | 59 |
TTT | MOISTPIE | Make the most of it. | OPTIMISE | |||
6 | ALCIARTSO | TIARAS TRIALS |
21 – 34 | COASTAL ASTRAL |
CORALITAS | 77 |
7 | WEALLPARP | WALLPAPER
(2.75 seconds) |
41 – 34 | 97 |