Countdown (1982)
- Genre
- game show
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Length
- 83 seasons, 7433 episodes
- Rated
- TV-14
- Rating
- 6.0 of 10 from 20 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Two contestants compete in word and number puzzles. They make words from random letters and solve arithmetic problems for points. The winner stays on for the next episode until someone beats them.
fast-pacedcompetitivebrain-teasinglightheartedcheerfulintellectualbreezy
What happens
Countdown is a British game show involving word and mathematical tasks that began airing in November 1982. It is broadcast on Channel 4 and is most recently presented by Colin Murray, assisted by Rachel Riley with lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be broadcast on Channel 4, and 93 series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With more than 8,000 episodes, Countdown is one of Britain's longest-running game shows; the original French version, Des chiffres et des lettres (Numbers & Letters), ran on French television almost continuously from 1965 until 2024. The two contestants in each episode compete in three game types: ten letters rounds, in which they attempt to make the longest word possible from nine randomly chosen letters; four numbers rounds, in which they must use arithmetic to reach a random target figure from six other numbers; and the conundrum, a buzzer round in which the contestants compete to solve a nine-letter anagram. During the series heats, the winning contestant returns the next day until they either lose or retire with eight wins as an undefeated "Octochamp". The best eight contestants are invited back for the series finals, which are decided in knockout format. Contestants of exceptional skill have received national media coverage and the programme, as a whole, is widely recognised and parodied within British culture. Countdown was produced by Yorkshire Television and was recorded at The Leeds Studios for 27 years, before moving to the Manchester-based Granada Studios in 2009. Following the development of MediaCityUK, Countdown moved again in 2013 to the new purpose-built studios at Dock10 in Greater Manchester. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Pyramid Game (1981)
On Safari (1982)
Lingo (1988)
All Clued Up (1988)
Jeopardy! (1983)
Play Your Cards Right (1980)
Wipeout (1990)
The Krypton Factor (1977)- More like this series, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.