Episode Cats134

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Episode Cats134, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 21, Episode 5 was a special episode broadcast on 11 February 2021, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 21.

Acting Team Captain Roisin Conaty and Regular Jon Richardson were the contestants, along with Joe Wilkinson and Lucy Beaumont who were their teammates respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Jon Richardson, with the assistance of Lucy Beaumont, winning by 42 – 35 in a 6-rounder and they won a pair of Countdown castanets.

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

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) Jon sat on a massage chair for the entire show rather than the default ones usually in the studio and in the process of showing it off spilt green tea covered with Irish cream onto his shirt. Also, during the Introduction, Joe showed off some parts of the studio (which was almost empty due to COVID-19 restrictions) via his helmet camera.

2) In Round 1, the clock music was replaced with a performance by four uncredited women playing wind instruments along with Jimmy who played the recorder and ended it by dropping and damaging it in the process.

3) In Round 2, Roisin only mentioned she was one away and not her actual number. Coupled with this, Joe's declaration was skipped by Jimmy after noticing Jon had the solution. Joe initially having declared "1011" which was out of the range.

4) In Round 3, to celebrate Valentine's Day three days after the air date of this episode, it was dubbed the Romance Round where the studio lights turned pink, the clock face had hearts shined onto it, the clock music was replaced with a mushy-like tune and double points could be earned if a romantic word was spotted. Once the time was up, party poppers off-camera shot out confetti which notably scared all the players. Although the maximum words were eight letters long, as Jon and Joe convinced Jimmy that their words were romantic, double points were awarded to both teams as Joe and Jon convinced Jimmy that their words qualified to be of such a nature and thus the maximum was worth 12 points instead. In addition, each player had a chocolate fountain and as Jon and Lucy were a real-life couple, they were given roses by Fabio, the show's permanent male host.

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

NOTE 2: This was the first time the show had only six rounds due to the omission of the second Numbers round.

NOTE 3: Despite the fact that Jon and Lucy were a couple, they were separated by plexiglass, as were the other celebrities.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Joe & Roisin	Score	Jon & Lucy	Others	Max.
1	WATSROINE	RATIONS ANSWER	7 – 7	WINTERS STRAIN	ARSONITE*, NOTAIRES*, NOTARIES*, NOTARISE, WAITRONS*	8
2	25 50 75 9 7 2 → 995	1011 994/996	7 – 17	995 — (75 + 25 + 7 − 2) × 9 + 50		18
TTT	TURDPISS	It's coming whether you like it or not.			DISRUPTS
3	CUDRAELHI	CURLED dical ☓	19 – 29	CURDLE RAILED	EDICULAR*, HERALDIC, RADICULE*	30
TTT	ASSRELIC	Age like a fine wine.			CLASSIER
4	MYTOERAON	MOANER enemy ☓	25 – 35	YEOMAN toyota ☓	AERONOMY*, ANTEROOM*, MONETARY, MYRONATE*	38
TTT	ABADTOOL	Full of seamen.			BOATLOAD
5	EGDIULSBO	GLUED BUILDS	25 – 42	OBLIGED BUILDS	GOULDIES*	46
6	PENISTOUR	penistour ☓ ERUPTIONS (2.5, 8.25 seconds)	35 – 42			56