Episode Cats177

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Episode Cats177, billed as Series 30, Episode 1 in the UK, was a special episode broadcast on 31 July 2026, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 30.

The Team Captains were regulars Rob Beckett and Jon Richardson, their teammates were Richard Ayoade and Harriet Kemsley respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Rob Beckett, with the assistance of Richard Ayoade, winning by 43 – 36 in an 8-rounder, and they won a Countdown skipping rope.

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guests was Nick Mohammed (portraying his alter ego Mr. Swallow), and the lexicographer was Susie Dent. Joe Wilkinson also made a special appearance just before Round 5 where he appeared with an extra called Audrey after a failed "audition" at the show Gladiators and proceeded to destroy part of the side of the table. The House duo The Stickmen Project also made a special appearance in Round 3 where they played an electronic version of the clock music.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Harriet brought a toy sloth as her mascot in reference to her appearance on Celebrity Mastermind in 2023. Later, Rob showed off his home remedies in the form of a sludge where he drank a sample and ate a strawberry, causing his hand to be "swollen". To treat it, he placed herbs in the sludge and drank it, causing his hand to be "shrunk".

2) In Round 1, Jimmy pretended to be the Banker from the gameshow Deal or No Deal and called the host Stephen Mulhern through the rotary phone seen on that show. After he hung up, an excerpt from that show was briefly shown on screen. While this was going on, the clock music was not played, causing the players to try to hum the tune afterwards.

3) Just after Round 2, in a reference to Nick's first appearance on the show in 2018 where he solved a Rubik's Cube in front of the audience, he asked Harriet to do so, albeit with her hands behind her back.

4) As part of Round 5, Joe challenged Jon that if he could run past three Gladiators in 30 seconds at the side of the studio, his team's score would be doubled. However, he was tackled by the first Gladiator five seconds in and hence failed.

5) In Round 7, Rachel left on a "vacation", causing Jimmy to find a replacement for her. He found Louise, an orangutan who wore the same dress as Rachel, but as she encountered difficulty in spelling the words the celebrities declared, she was "fired".

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

NOTE 2: Due to time constraints, the selection of the letters in Round 5 was not shown on air.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Richard & Rob	Score	Jon & Harriet	Others	Max.
1	IEOOTHTRP	TROPE TOOTHIER	8 – 8	TOOTHIER THORPE		8
2	75 50 1 5 8 1 → 845	850 750 (8 + 5 − 1) × 75 − 50	15 – 15	850 845 ☓ (8 + 5 − 1) × 75 − 50	RR: 845 = (50 − 1) × 5 + 75 × 8	18
TTT	SEEMATIT	Not for vegans.			MEATIEST
Rnd	Selection	Richard Ayoade	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
3	AAOWSALGD	GOADS	20 – 20	SALAD	DWAALS*, LOADSA*, SAWLOG, WALDOS*	24
Rnd	Selection	Rob Beckett	Score	Harriet Kemsley	Others	Max.
4	100 50 7 1 5 4 → 869	870 (7 + 1) × 100 + 50 + 5 × 4	27 – 20	—	RR: 869 = (50 + 1) × 4 + (100 − 5) × 7	34
TTT	TOSSRIOT	Nanna does it best.			RISOTTOS
Rnd	Selection	Rob Beckett	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
5	VACOSELEM	LEAVES	33 – 20	penetrate ☓	VOCALESE*	42
Rnd	Selection	Richard & Rob	Score	Jon & Harriet	Others	Max.
6	KIDPEECTO	TEPID peet ☓	33 – 28	POCKETED COPED	PICKETED	50
TTT	ARSEWINS	Be careful.			WARINESS
7	OIMSEEDBE	SEEMED SEED	33 – 36	EMBODIES DEEMS		58
8	ATIREDTUG	GRATITUDE (16.5 seconds)	43 – 36			68