Episode Cats172

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Episode Cats172, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 28, Episode 5 in the UK and Series 16, Episode 10 in international markets, was a special episode broadcast on 22 August 2025, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 28. Notably, this episode was recorded in 2023, a year prior to Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont's divorce. Yet, the mentions about them being a couple and the foreshadowing of Jon being single were not edited out.

The team captains were Rob Brydon and Jon Richardson, their teammates were Joe Wilkinson and Lucy Beaumont respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the presenter.

The match saw Rob Brydon, with the assistance of Joe Wilkinson, winning by 40 – 34 in a 7-rounder, and they won a Countdown tandem bicycle (albeit a small one, with Fabio and another male model riding it during the Introduction and with both of them nearly falling off multiple times.)

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

Just before Round 5, a bonus round called "The Countdown Acting Challenge" took place where both teams were supposed to recreate a scene from a movie with the aid of additional props. Rob's team was given a scene from the 1964 movie Goldfinger while Jon's team was given a scene from the 1978 movie Grease. Jimmy felt that Rob's team was better, thus five bonus points were awarded to them.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Joe wanted to show a magic trick by slicing up a woman's body in half with the assistance of Fabio, the show's permanent male model . However, it was given away after a pair of male legs were seen instead at the other end. The side of the box later fell out, revealing an uncredited male and female person hiding their legs and body respectively in it.

2) During the 30 seconds in Round 1, as Jimmy wanted to bungee jump, footage of Fabio and "him" outdoors on a crane near a lake were shown, with the ending showing "Jimmy" jumping off the crane and "crashing" into the studio roof, causing debris to rain down and notably scaring Lucy.

3) In Round 3, the clock music was replaced with House Work by Jax Jones after Jimmy instructed Jon to clean the studio. The latter then proceeded to do some stunts such as spraying cleaning fluid on Lucy and taking off his pants to reveal his underwear after wiping the studio table.

4) In Round 6, at Joe's request, the G and P were swapped, while the L and M were moved to the back of the letters board. Thus, the proper selection should have been GAPMLEDUI. Additionally, Rachel picked the U and the I.

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

NOTE 2: In Round 2, Lucy was not asked for her declaration, hence it is listed as a blank here.

NOTE 3: During the conundrum, as Jimmy wanted to give both teams more time to solve it, the clock was restarted after no one had the answer within 30 seconds. The conundrum also had two valid solutions, both of which were found by Joe and Rob.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Joe & Rob	Score	Jon & Lucy	Others	Max.
1	MIGREANOS	migranes ☓ migranes ☓	0 – 8	SMEARING meons ☓	MEGARONS*, MORAINES*, MORINGAS*, ORGANISE*, ORGANISM, ROGAINES*, ROMAINES*, ROMANISE*	8
2	75 7 10 4 9 4 → 153	154 14 75 × (9 − 7) + 4	7 – 15	154 — ** 75 × (9 − 7) + 4	RR: 153 = (10 + 7) × 9	18
TTT	ADORETUG	I've gone red in the face.			OUTRAGED
Rnd	Selection	Rob Brydon	Score	Lucy Beaumont	Others	Max.
3	EUDLTOIEH	TOILED	13 – 15	delth ☓	HIDEOUT, LITHOED*	25
Rnd	Selection	Joe Wilkinson	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
4	100 25 75 50 3 4 → 242	243 3 × 100 − 50 − 75 ÷ 25 − 4	20 – 22	241 75 × 3 + 100 ÷ 25 × 4	RR: 242 = (75 − 4) × 50 ÷ 25 + 100	35
TTT	IBAREASS	Get ready for takeoff.			AIRBASES
Rnd	Selection	Joe & Rob	Score	Jon & Lucy	Others	Max.
5	NOEIDVRUN	VIDEO RUINED	25 – 29	REUNION DINNER	UNIRONED	48
TTT	LICKSTIP	It's gone all red.			LIPSTICK
6	PAGEDUILM	paged ☓9 GAPED	30 – 34	muglip ☓ PILED	PLUMAGED	56
7	DEEPLOVER	DEVELOPER/REDEVELOP (33 seconds)	40 – 34			66