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Calendar Countdown
Calendar Countdown was the first British adaptation of the Des chiffres et des lettres format, and the forerunner of Countdown itself.
The series was broadcast only in the Yorkshire TV region, on Monday evenings at 6:30pm (immediately following the region's news programme, Calendar) for eight weeks, from 19 April to 7 June 1982. The host was Richard Whiteley, the letters hostess was Cathy Hytner, numbers hostess was former Miss YTV Robena Sharp, and the Vital Statistician was Denise McFarland-Cruickshanks. There was no lexicographer at this time; they were introduced when the programme went national, with Ted Moult being credited as a co-presenter. Richard Whiteley and Cathy Hytner (along with producer John Meade and most of the backstage staff) remained with the show when it was subsequently commissioned for Channel 4 under the shortened title of Countdown.
