Episode Cats149

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Episode Cats149, billed as Christmas Special 2022, was a special episode broadcast on 23 December 2022, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 24. This episode saw the removal of all COVID-19 restrictions, with the celebrities and audience no longer required to socially distance and wear masks. However, the additional buzzers for the conundrums were still retained as part of the set.

The Team Captains were Lee Mack and Jon Richardson, their teammates were Rose Matafeo and Jack Dee respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Jon Richardson, with the assistance of Jack Dee, winning by 36 – 34 in a 7-rounder and they won a set of Countdown Christmas bells (Fabio, the show's permanent male model, demonstrated how it worked by almost perfectly playing a verse from Jingle Bells).

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guest was Stevie Martin, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent. Joe Wilkinson also made a special appearance just before Round 5 where he appeared "overweight" from partying over Christmas.

Just before Round 6, a game of "Pull My Cracker" was played where contestants had to buzz in by guessing a Christmas punchline after Jimmy read out the question. Despite the final score at 2 – 2, possibly due to Jon's team being funnier which was a criteria in the last edition, five points were awarded to his team.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, the audience and celebrities wished a guy in the crowd who resembled Jesus in appearance "Happy Birthday" and Jon made references to the then-Prime Minister Liz Truss and the Pound crashing in a modernised version of Twas' the Night Before Christmas.

2) In view of the Christmas Theme, the clock music was replaced by Jimmy and Rachel singing to The Little Drummer Boy (with their voices heavily altered) in Round 1, a Christmas variant of itself in Round 3 and with Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! sung by Dean Martin in Round 6. Finally, as Joe was making his way to a cannon before Round 5 as part of a parlour game, Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms was heard.

3) In Round 3, Jimmy gave big versions of Christmas food for the contestants to eat. They were a Pig in a Blanket, Brussel Sprouts, a Chocolate Triangle and Eggnog for Rose's team and Gingerbread Men for Jon's team. Later on, Rose was seen breaking the chocolate using a hammer while Susie and Stevie ate the Brussel Sprouts.

4) In Round 4, the numbers selection was given by the audience member who resembled Jesus after Rose uttered "Christ". After the round, Rachel showed her solution without using the "100" which was: (75 + 2) × 5.

5) In Round 5, the I was placed as a hyphen and the U was improperly placed after Joe dropped them on the ground and could not bother to place it properly.

6) During the 30 seconds in Round 6, in an identical manner to the 2021 Christmas Special, "snowflakes" were seen falling down from the ceiling of the studio which ended with "snowballs" dropping down and were "controlled" by Jimmy using a white Christmas weather machine with the labels 'Light Dusting', 'Flurry' and 'Blizzard'.

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

NOTE 2: The conundrum had two valid solutions: SIDETRACK and TRACKSIDE.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Rose & Lee	Score	Jon & Jack	Others	Max.
1	LOETWISHT	WHISTLE HOLIEST	7 – 7	titshole ☓ TOILETS	WHITTLES	8
2	75 6 4 5 8 2 → 204	— 203	7 – 17	204 202 (8 × 4 − 5 + 75) × 2		18
TTT	ICEPLOPS	Give it a lick.			POPSICLE
Rnd	Selection	Lee Mack	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
3	JENSRUYNE	juners ☓	7 – 23	ENSURE	ENURES*, JERSEY, NURSEY, REUNES*, UNSEEN	24
Rnd	Selection	Rose Matafeo	Score	Jack Dee	Others	Max.
4	100 75 2 5 3 4 → 385	385 3 × 100 + 2 × 5 + 75	17 – 23	—		34
TTT	ELFPARPS	That wafts.			FLAPPERS
Rnd	Selection	Rose & Lee	Score	Jon & Jack	Others	Max.
5	RODMINLUS	NIMRODS RUINS	24 – 23	ROUNDS unslim ☓	DRUMLINS	42
TTT	PEGSANTA	A bit showy.			PAGEANTS
6	ETIMSIRHA	HAMSTER hamiest ☓	24 – 36	HAIRIEST MISTER	MARTHIES*, SERIATIM, SHRIMATI*	55
7	TIREDSACK	SIDETRACK** (30 seconds)	34 – 36	distracted ☓ (25 seconds)		65