Episode Cats166

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Episode Cats166, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 27, Episode 4 in the UK and Series 16, Episode 12 in international markets, was a special episode broadcast on 24 January 2025, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 27.

The team captains were Danny Dyer and Jon Richardson, their teammates were Helen Bauer and Big Zuu respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the presenter.

The match saw Danny Dyer, with the assistance of Helen Bauer, winning by 50 – 49 in a 7-rounder thanks to the conundrum being worth 32 points, and they won a Countdown tandem skydiving kit (Fabio, the show's permanent male model as well as another model wore it by lying on a moving circular piece to the song Take My Breath Away by Berlin.

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

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Big Zuu had a bust of Ross Kemp as his prop in reference to how he looked at the latter's bald head when he accepted his BAFTA. Later on, Jon had a live cam underneath the table where he moved his legs to purportedly avoid deep-vein thrombosis, to which he demonstrated how it worked in 30 seconds with the clock music.

2) In Round 1, an animation of dolls which Jimmy had was played on-screen and the clock music was replaced with We Are Stronger Together from Polly Pocket. Halfway through the animation however, the male and female pair of dolls had sexual intercourse between the same genders, causing the audience to groan and made everyone in the studio uncomfortable.

3) During the 30 seconds in Round 3, Jimmy's stunt double tossed a huge dough in the centre of the studio, but screwed up and it splattered on his body. Subsequently, every celebrity had pizza from "Papa Jim's".

4) In Round 5, it was dubbed a Tension Round (Jimmy also set off flares before the round to scare Jon even further). The clock music was replaced with a techno version of it coupled with sirens, flames and a voice counting down from ten was heard as well. When the time was up, confetti shot out, notably scaring everyone. As points were doubled, the maximum was worth 16 points in this case.

5) During the 30 seconds in Round 6, Jimmy attempted to make a model airplane before emerging from backstage riding on a much larger one. Subsequently, he used it to move around the studio and asked each celebrity for their declarations.

6) During the conundrum, Helen was passed a piece of paper from Dictionary Corner, to which she passed to Danny and resulted in him buzzing with the correct answer. Big Zuu thought their team had cheated and flew into a rage, with him throwing his pieces of paper, walking over to Jimmy to resume the clock and asking the audience to boo at Danny's team. However, it was revealed that piece of paper was Helen's one shown during the Introduction, thus the game was won and fair square.

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

NOTE 2: The conundrum had two valid solutions, ISOPTERAN and PATRONISE.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Helen & Danny	Score	Jon & Big Zuu	Others	Max.
1	UONDEIPMT	POINTED POND	7 – 7	MOUNTED POUND	IMPUDENT, PIEDMONT	8
2	10 10 3 2 4 8 → 643	— —	7 – 17	643 643 4 × 2 × 8 × 10 + 3 4 × 2 × 8 × 10 + 3**		18
TTT	TOSSDYER	There's nothing left.			DESTROYS
Rnd	Selection	Danny Dyer	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
3	OHNERIVAO	HOOVER	13 – 23	HOOVER	ENVIRO*, HERNIA, HEROIN, RAVINE, RENVOI*, VAINER*	24
Rnd	Selection	Helen Bauer	Score	Big Zuu	Others	Max.
4	50 100 9 6 4 6 → 544	551	13 – 33	544 6 × 100 − 50 − 6		34
TTT	ASSCUTIE	It's all gravy.			SAUCIEST
Rnd	Selection	Helen & Danny	Score	Jon & Big Zuu	Others	Max.
5	FSEDIOTAN	stadion ☓ DIETS	13 – 49	SEDATION STONED		50
TTT	BLOWNBIG	I'm turning to jelly.			WOBBLING
6	EIFEYCLGO	LOGIC GLEE	18 – 49	feely ☓ clogy ☓	FLEECY, GIGLEE*	56
7	PENISROTA	PATRONISE** (20 seconds)	50 – 49	☓ (9.25 seconds)		89