Episode Cats160

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Episode Cats160, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26, Episode 3 in the UK and Series 16, Episode 8 in international markets, was a special episode broadcast on 2 August 2024, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 26.

The team captains were Alan Carr and Sarah Millican, their teammates were Munya Chawawa and Gary Delaney respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the presenter.

The match saw Alan Carr, with the assistance of Munya Chawawa, winning by 34 – 26 in a 7-rounder and they won a Countdown practice milking set.

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guest was Ciarán Dowd (portraying Don Rodolfo from his live show of the same name), and the lexicographer was Susie Dent.

Just before Round 5, all the celebrities took part in "Mr and Mr and Mr and Mrs" which involved testing how much each person in their team knew one another. Munya and Sarah were asked four questions by Jimmy about Alan and Gary respectively while the latter pair were sitting beside Rachel and wore headphones with music on so that they could not hear their responses. Once the former pair's responses were recorded, Alan and Gary's headphones were removed and were then asked by Jimmy to respond to the same question, with points being awarded if the answer was close or exactly matched. Five bonus points were eventually awarded to Sarah's team with the game ending in a score of 1 – 2.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the introduction, Alan's mascot was that of a bagpipe with an e-cigarette attached to it and pretended to vape. He then proceeded to head into a mock-up aircraft lavatory and vaped until smoke was visible from the top of the set. Thereafter, he struggled to breathe and open the door and had to be assisted by Fabio, the show's permanent male host.

2) In Round 1, an alternate introduction sequence in a Countdown multiverse was featured where Jimmy and Susie alongside with Rachel and Fabio had their roles swapped within the pairs. To prevent the screen from being blocked, the letters selection was shrunk and placed to the bottom-right of the screen.

3) During the 30 seconds in Round 3, Jimmy placed several stuffed animals into the "Pet Project 810" machine where the output would be the corresponding animal of the same colour. The final input notably also included his photo and the result was a dog wearing a miniature version of his suit and tie.

4) In Round 6, the clock music was replaced by a version involving Jimmy touching on various potato batteries connected to a sound generator that would play out different notes within the piece. After the round was over, Rachel, who noticed how the selection nearly spelt out IRELAND in reference to Ciarán, inverted the U to spell it out with much cheer from the audience.

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

NOTE 2: Except for Round 1, all letters selections were called out in the form of how many consonants and how many vowels each celebrity who was choosing wanted.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Munya & Alan	Score	Sarah & Gary	Others	Max.
1	LVFMIEAEP	FLAME IMPALE	6 – 0	LEAVE peve ☓	PIMELEA*	7
2	25 75 50 100 3 1 → 289	— 296 75 ÷ 25 × 100 − 3 − 1	11 – 0	— —	RR: 289 = (75 × (100 − 3) − 50) ÷ 25	17
TTT	GONADNIT	Better to give than to receive.			DONATING
Rnd	Selection	Alan Carr	Score	Sarah Millican	Others	Max.
3	GBNDSOEUA	GONADS	11 – 7	ABOUNDS	DOGBANES	25
Rnd	Selection	Munya Chawawa	Score	Gary Delaney	Others	Max.
4	50 75 3 7 3 2 → 388	—	11 – 14	385 (2 + 3) × 75 + 7 + 3	RR: 388 = 50 × 7 + (3 ÷ 3 + 75) ÷ 2	35
TTT	INTOALAN	Do it for your country.			NATIONAL
Rnd	Selection	Munya & Alan	Score	Sarah & Gary	Others	Max.
5	NTGNSAEOE	TANGOS AGENTS	17 – 19	TEENS stang ☓	NEONATES, TONNAGES*	48
TTT	WANKRISE	That's a posh one.			SWANKIER
6	RLYSDIUAE	EASILY REDIALS	24 – 26	READILY arises ☓	DIALYSER*, RESIDUAL	56
7	LIMPGROIN	IMPLORING (5.5 seconds)	34 – 26			66