Countdown:Featured article archives

This is a list of all the previous featured articles that have appeared on the Main Page. The current featured article can be found on the Main Page, see Template:Featuredarticle. Future articles are listed on Countdown:Featured articles.

August 2008

Example of a Des chiffres et des lettres numbers game.

Des chiffres et des lettres (literally numbers and letters) is a French television programme. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. It's the oldest TV programme still broadcast on French Television, and is notable in the UK for being the original version of Channel 4's Countdown. It was first known as Le mot le plus long (the longest word) because the numbers game had not yet been invented.

The game debuted in 1972. It is broadcast on France 3 and is currently presented by Laurent Romejko, Arielle Boulin-Prat and Bertrand Renard (the latter two check the existence of the words proposed by the contestants; Renard also provides solutions to the number problems that the contestants fail to solve). The show is also seen throughout the world on TV5.

The format is similar to the English version, it currently has 14 rounds which are identical to the rounds used in the 14 round format that was used for Grand finals up until Series 46 when the 15 round format was brought in, apart from the 14 rounds are not in the same order. Other notable differences are that when one player has a longer word than the other player, only the player with the longer word declares, and there are no conundrums but rather duels which involve some sort of mental calculation or anagramming feat, but is not simply a 9-letter anagram. Other differences include that players get 9 points for a 9-letter word and not 18, and players get nine points for a correct numbers game, and six points for any other solution, no matter how far away the solution is from the target. Finally if a player offers an invalid nine-letter word (or any word that's longer than the opponent's word) the opponent gets nine points no matter what the length of his own best word was.

July 2008

Conor Travers showing off the Richard Whiteley memorial trophy.

Conor Travers became the youngest ever series champion by winning Series 54 in 2005. He won his first game with a score of 99, followed by 111 against John Archer and 99 against Geoff Alderman. His remaining 5 games were all centuries, with a top score of 124 and a low score of 111. Out of the 8 games of his octochamp run, only two were less than 110. He beat Daniel Peake by 69 points in the quarter-final, Paul Howe by 24 points in the semi-final before meeting Matthew Shore in the Series final. There he won narrowly 98 - 83 to become the youngest ever Series champion, at 14 years old. He returned for CofC XII beating John Hunt and John Brackstone in the first two rounds. Considered one of the favourites after his 890 aggregate as an Octochamp, he lost 118 - 102 to the eventual winner Paul Gallen in the semi-final. In 14 games, Conor's lowest score was 98 and his average was 110.4 points per game. After losing to Paul Gallen, he appeared on Countdown's 25th anniversary special against Chris Wills and won the game 69 - 58 in a disappointing contest.

June 2008

Graham Nash, the tournament champion.

The Championship of Champions XI was a Championship of Champions tournament held in 2003. It featured contestants from Series 42 to Series 48, including 7 series champions although Stuart Wood was unable to make the recordings, and John Rainsden the Series 44 runner-up took his place. The tournament featured some excellent scores, most notably David Williams' losing score of 111 as Chris Wills beat him 113-111, the highest ever losing score at the time. Also of note were episodes 3400 and 3401, Ben Wilson vs. Tom Hargreaves and Julian Fell vs. Graham Nash. In both episodes the total of the two players' scores was 229, the highest ever joint total at the time. The final between Wills and Nash was a close affair, and matters weren't helped by two impossible numbers games. Wills beat Nash with GAMBADE but Nash struck back with PENSIVE and METALS. After round 14, a numbers game where it was impossible to get within ten, the scene was set for a crucial conundrum. The conundrum was OVERSPADE and neither player could find EAVESDROP during the thirty seconds. Nash punched the air and shouted "yes!" - he'd won the tournament unbeaten with a final score of 79-73.

May 2008

Countdown celebrated its 25th anniversary on November 2 2007.

Countdown is a British game show presented by Des O'Connor and Carol Vorderman, and the subject of this wiki. It was the first programme aired on Channel 4, and over fifty series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With over 4,000 episodes, it is one of the longest-running game shows in the world. The programme was presented by Richard Whiteley for over twenty years, until his death in 2005. His position was taken over by Des Lynam, who retired from the show on December 22 2006 and was replaced by Des O'Connor on January 2 2007. A celebrity guest also features in every programme, and provides a brief interlude before the first advertisement break.

April 2008

Jon O'Neill was a contestant in Series 53, and at fifteen is one of the youngest people ever to become an octochamp. While proficient at the words, O'Neill was particularly noted for his astonishing ability at the "4 large" selection in the numbers game, and is often considered among the greatest of all time in the discipline. After eight convincing wins, he reached the series semi-finals, losing to eventual series champion John Mayhew, and in 2006 return for the Championship of Champions, where he was again defeated -- this time by Jack Welsby. O'Neill also holds the dubious honour of being the only person to attend all eight of the unofficial Countdown tournaments since their inception in 2005.