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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:03CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
00:31Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34Now, down in London, down in the O2, big exhibition starts.
00:37There's a touring exhibition that kicks off at the O2
00:40and it's the Star Wars Identities, the exhibition.
00:43Of course, all the props are there, models,
00:46everything that was used in that.
00:48Great franchise, really, and I love the early Star Wars.
00:51They were absolutely extraordinary. 200, apparently, outfits are there.
00:55And all the fascinating sort of bits of spaceships and all the rest of it.
00:59Were you a Star Wars fan?
01:01I think I might have seen one of them.
01:04I think I've seen a couple of the new... I don't know.
01:07It probably says it all, really, doesn't it?
01:09Anyway, I hope it's a big success for them,
01:11because the cost now, these days, of making those massive films
01:15is horrendous and they've got to claw it back as much as they possibly can.
01:19Who's here? Dave Ryansbag. Well done, Dave.
01:21Coach driver from Waverton in Chester.
01:23Great win, actually. You beat a three-time winner
01:28and, of course, your partner is in the audience.
01:31She, too, is a great three-time winner.
01:34You're joined by Elizabeth McCann,
01:36a retired cabin crew with BA from East Kilbride.
01:40Used to be on the long-haul flights down to Sydney, you were telling me.
01:43That's right. That was a favourite trip.
01:46It would take about three weeks.
01:48How did that work, then, three weeks?
01:50You would go from London Heathrow to Singapore,
01:52stay a couple of nights, go Singapore, Sydney,
01:55stay a couple of nights, Sydney, Perth, stay a couple of nights,
01:58Perth, maybe over to Auckland or Brisbane or whatever.
02:02But nowadays, you're more consumed by consumer competitions, apparently.
02:07This is a big thing of yours. Yeah.
02:09It's called comping. That's right. Tell us about it.
02:12Well, when my husband retired,
02:15I decided that we needed to do something
02:18to bring in a bit of extra income,
02:20so I took to doing competitions,
02:23and then it just became an addiction.
02:27And I've won all sorts of strange prizes,
02:30from my height in pizza to three gas barbecues in a week.
02:35From the same company, from the same competition?
02:38No, no, all different competitions.
02:40Brilliant. Brilliant fun.
02:42Well, let's have a big round of applause now
02:44for Elizabeth and Dave Ryan.
02:48APPLAUSE
02:51And over in the corner, Susie, of course,
02:53and one of our greatest ever boxers.
02:55He's back in the corner. It's the great Barry McGuigan.
02:58Welcome back, Barry.
03:04Now, you had a good day last time you were here.
03:07Let's see how you're going to do today, Dave.
03:09It's a letters game. Let's go.
03:11Hello again, Rachel. Hi again, Dave.
03:13Can I start with the consonant, please?
03:16And another consonant, please.
03:20And a vowel.
03:23And a consonant.
03:27And a vowel, please.
03:31A consonant.
03:36A consonant.
03:41A vowel.
03:45And another vowel, please.
03:47And lastly, E.
03:50And here's the Countdown Clock.
04:15CLOCK TICKS
04:22Yes, Dave? A seven.
04:24A seven. Elizabeth? Eight.
04:26And an eight, Dave?
04:29Sloping. Sloping.
04:31Elizabeth McCann?
04:33Pleasing.
04:35Very good.
04:39Any more sevens or eights, Barry, Susie?
04:42We've got a couple of sevens.
04:44Leaping. Yes.
04:46Peeling. Yep.
04:48We got one number eight, isn't that right?
04:50We did. Spoilage is there for eight.
04:52Indeed. Well done. Spoilage.
04:54So, Elizabeth takes an early lead
04:56and it's Elizabeth's letters game now.
04:58A consonant, please, Rachel.
05:00Thank you, Elizabeth.
05:02And a vowel.
05:05And a consonant.
05:09And a vowel.
05:12And a consonant.
05:15And a vowel.
05:19And a consonant.
05:24And another consonant.
05:29And a vowel.
05:33Lastly, A.
05:35Stand by.
05:37CLOCK TICKS
05:42CLOCK TICKS
06:07Elizabeth? Six.
06:09A six, Dave? A six for me as well.
06:12Elizabeth? A just.
06:14And audits.
06:16A just and audits. Very good.
06:18Can we beat it? Can we match it?
06:20One seven, the very regular appearer on Countdown,
06:25which is dacoits, they're the armed robbers in Burma.
06:29Yeah. Dacoits for seven.
06:31And judoist.
06:33A judoist? Yes.
06:35An expert in judo? Exactly, yeah.
06:37A judoist. Yeah.
06:39A judoist. 14 plays six. And, Dave, it's your numbers game.
06:43Can I have an inverted T, please, Rachel?
06:45You can indeed. Thank you, Dave.
06:47One large one and five littlens.
06:49And for the first time today, your numbers are seven, three, six,
06:54another six, eight and 100.
06:58And the target, 520.
07:01Five, two, zero.
07:09MUSIC PLAYS
07:33Well, Dave? 520.
07:35And Elizabeth? 520.
07:37Yes, Dave?
07:39Eight times six is 48.
07:41Yep.
07:42100 minus 48 is 52.
07:44It is indeed.
07:45And three plus seven is ten.
07:47Lovely.
07:49Perfect.
07:50And Elizabeth?
07:51Six times 100.
07:53600.
07:54600.
07:55Seven plus three is ten, multiply it by the eight and take it away.
07:58520.
07:59Perfect. Again, well done.
08:01Well done. Very good.
08:04So, still at 24 to 16,
08:07Elizabeth's in the lead as we turn to our first teatime teaser,
08:11which is Stan Romps.
08:13And the clue?
08:14Stan romps to victory yet again.
08:16He's such a brilliant athlete.
08:18Stan romps to victory yet again.
08:21He's such a brilliant athlete.
08:24MUSIC PLAYS
08:39Welcome back. I left you with the clue.
08:41Stan romps to victory yet again.
08:43He's such a brilliant athlete.
08:46Some sportsman. He's a sportsman.
08:49So there we are.
08:51Elizabeth, 24, Dave on 16.
08:53It's Elizabeth's letters game.
08:55A consonant, please.
08:57Thank you, Elizabeth.
08:58P.
09:00And a vowel.
09:02E.
09:03And a consonant, please.
09:05N.
09:07And a vowel.
09:09I.
09:10And a consonant.
09:12P.
09:13And a vowel.
09:16A.
09:19And a vowel.
09:21I.
09:23And a consonant.
09:25F.
09:28And another consonant.
09:31And the last one.
09:33Q.
09:34Don't, don't.
09:36MUSIC PLAYS
09:49MUSIC STOPS
10:05Elizabeth.
10:07A measly four.
10:09A four, Dave?
10:10I got a big four.
10:12A big four, well done.
10:14Elizabeth.
10:15Pipe.
10:16Don't worry, pipe.
10:18There we go.
10:20Could we get beyond four?
10:22Could we match four, even?
10:24We could match four.
10:26We can't beat four.
10:28What have you got?
10:29Pertinent to my sport, peeing.
10:31Anything else?
10:32Pine.
10:33And pine.
10:34That sort of thing.
10:35That's all right.
10:36Really tricky.
10:37Tricky indeed.
10:38All right.
10:3928 plays 20.
10:40And, Dave, let's see how this letters game shapes up.
10:43Can I have a consonant start, please?
10:45M.
10:46And a vowel, please.
10:48U.
10:50Consonant.
10:52R.
10:54Vowel.
10:56E.
10:58Consonant.
11:00T.
11:02Another consonant.
11:04N.
11:06M.
11:08Consonant.
11:10T.
11:12Vowel, please.
11:14A.
11:16And a consonant finish, please.
11:19And, lastly, R.
11:21Stand by.
11:45Yes, Dave?
11:47I'll go for a seven.
11:49A seven. Elizabeth?
11:51Seven as well.
11:52Dave?
11:53Taunter.
11:54A taunter.
11:55Elizabeth?
11:56Maturer.
11:57Maturer.
11:58We happy?
11:59Very happy, yes. Good sevens.
12:01How did we get on?
12:03We didn't do much better than that.
12:05Tantrum is a pretty good one.
12:07Tantrum?
12:08Yes.
12:09Throwing a tantrum.
12:11Nobody would dare to throw a tantrum in your house.
12:14Yes, they do.
12:15You didn't know my children.
12:17How about Susie?
12:18Yes, that was our best for seven,
12:20alongside taunter and maturer as well.
12:22Tantrum, very good.
12:23And now, Elizabeth. Numbers game.
12:26OK, Rachel, can I have two from the top
12:29and the rest from anywhere else?
12:31Thank you, Elizabeth.
12:32I'm going to go for a seven.
12:34A seven.
12:35Mature.
12:36Mature.
12:37And the rest from anywhere else.
12:39Thank you, Elizabeth.
12:40Two large, four little coming up.
12:42And this time around, your numbers are one,
12:44another one, bad start,
12:46nine, five,
12:48and then the large, two, 25,
12:50and 100.
12:52And the target, 937.
12:54937.
13:08MUSIC CONTINUES
13:27Elizabeth.
13:28941, I'm afraid.
13:30941, Dave.
13:32937.
13:33Well done.
13:34Let's go. Dave?
13:36Plus five, minus one is 104.
13:38104.
13:39Times nine.
13:40936.
13:41Plus one.
13:42Well done, 937.
13:44Very good, well done.
13:46APPLAUSE
13:48Well done.
13:49Just two points ahead of Elizabeth now,
13:52but bags of time.
13:54As we turn to Barry.
13:55Barry, 32 years ago, 1985,
13:58that was one big year for you.
14:00Tell us about it.
14:01Yeah, it was definitely the best year in my life.
14:04I won the world title,
14:07defended it,
14:10won BBC Sports Personality of the Year,
14:12and I suppose the highlight of my life
14:15was coming home to my hometown in Cloniston,
14:19but then coming to Belfast,
14:21we had 75,000 people gathered to see me,
14:24and then three days later, we went to Dublin,
14:26250,000 people turned out.
14:28It was an amazing time.
14:29Took me an hour and a half to go down O'Connell Street.
14:32The celebrations were amazing,
14:34and the night itself,
14:37and most people don't know this,
14:39but the night that I won the world title,
14:42my mother's house burned down.
14:45She used to light a holy candle to help me win the title
14:48and help me win the title and burn the house down.
14:51So we were delighted that the local guard
14:54had come along and got them out,
14:56but it was a great night and great year,
14:58culminating in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year,
15:01which was fantastic, incredible,
15:03and one of only three or four boxers that have ever won it.
15:06I'll never forget the actual award itself
15:10because I was sitting right beside Frank Bruno,
15:13and the old guy that was coming up to make the award
15:17was a fellow called Sir Stanley Rouse,
15:19and he obviously hadn't learned how to pronounce my name,
15:22and he got up and said,
15:24And the winner is Barry McCorkran!
15:28And Bruno was sitting right beside me,
15:31and he started...
15:34And he started rumbling with laughter,
15:36and everybody burst out laughing,
15:38and whatever sort of speech I had in my head
15:40went completely out of my head.
15:42But it was a very funny moment.
15:44A great night, a great night.
15:46APPLAUSE
15:48Fantastic.
15:50Well done, Barry.
15:52This. 37 vs 35, Dave on 37,
15:55and it's Dave's letters game.
15:57Can I start with a consonant, please, Rachel?
15:59Thank you, Dave. G.
16:01And a vowel, please.
16:03E.
16:05And a consonant.
16:07F.
16:09And another consonant, please.
16:12D.
16:14A vowel.
16:16O.
16:18A consonant.
16:20M.
16:22Vowel.
16:24I.
16:26Consonant.
16:28F.
16:29And a final vowel, please.
16:31And a final...
16:33E.
16:35Stand by.
16:56MUSIC PLAYS
17:06Yes, Dave?
17:08Six.
17:09Elizabeth?
17:10Five.
17:11And your five?
17:12Deism.
17:14Deism. And, Dave?
17:16Midges.
17:17Midges.
17:19Yes.
17:20Midges. Wretched things.
17:22Barry?
17:25It's a bit complicated, isn't it?
17:27Yes, it's a slightly strange one, but it is there.
17:30Misfeed.
17:31It's a noun, actually.
17:33It's an instance of faulty feeding.
17:35You know when you're feeding something into the printer
17:37or the photocopier and you put it in the wrong way
17:40or whatever, it gets stuck.
17:42That's a misfeed, a paper misfeed.
17:44And that's found its way into the dictionary.
17:46It has.
17:47Extraordinary.
17:4843 vs 35.
17:50Elizabeth.
17:52Letters game.
17:54A consonant, please.
17:55Thank you, Elizabeth.
17:56Y.
17:58And a vowel, please.
18:00I.
18:02And another vowel.
18:04E.
18:06And a consonant, please.
18:08R.
18:10And another consonant, please.
18:13L.
18:15And a vowel.
18:17I.
18:18And a consonant.
18:20S.
18:22And another consonant.
18:25M.
18:27And another consonant, please.
18:31And lastly, D.
18:33Countdown.
18:51MUSIC
19:06Elizabeth.
19:07Seven.
19:08A seven, Dave.
19:09And a seven for me as well.
19:11Yes, Elizabeth.
19:12Slimier.
19:13Slimier.
19:14Dave?
19:15I've got slimier as well, yeah.
19:17There we go.
19:19Slimier is not a very pretty word.
19:21What have we got in the corner?
19:23Barry and Susie, what have you combined to produce?
19:25Miserly.
19:27Yeah.
19:28And smilier.
19:30Yeah, all right, that's there too.
19:31Yeah, smilier, miserly.
19:33Miserly.
19:34Two pretty unpleasant words, actually.
19:3650 playing 42, and it's Dave's numbers game.
19:39Now then, Dave.
19:40Can I just have one large and five small here, please?
19:42You can indeed.
19:43Thank you, Dave.
19:44One big, five little coming up.
19:46Here we are.
19:47Eight, nine, seven, ten, and another eight.
19:52And the big one, 25.
19:55And the target, 171.
19:57171.
19:59MUSIC
20:17MUSIC
20:30Yes, Dave?
20:31172.
20:32172, Elizabeth?
20:34168, but I haven't written it down.
20:36All right, not to worry.
20:37What did Dave get again?
20:39172.
20:40172, let's go, Dave.
20:41OK, 25 x 7 is 175.
20:44175.
20:459 x 8 is 2.
20:46Yeah.
20:479 x 8 is 1.
20:49And 9 x the other 8 is 1.
20:51And take them away, yeah.
20:52Yeah, so, yeah, 2 and the 1.
20:54The 1 away.
20:55Well done.
20:56Thank you, Dave.
20:57And Rachel, 171.
20:59Can you find the missing 1?
21:01I can.
21:02If you say 8 x 7 is 1,
21:05add it to the other 8 and the 10 for 19,
21:08and times it by 9.
21:10Well done, Rachel.
21:11APPLAUSE
21:13Spot on.
21:15Spot on.
21:16Let's have a tea time teaser, shall we?
21:18It's ham fatter.
21:19And the clue,
21:20is this what occurs when the numbers game is over?
21:23Is this what occurs when the numbers game is over?
21:27MUSIC
21:30APPLAUSE
21:42Welcome back. I left you with the clue.
21:44Is this what occurs when the numbers game is over?
21:47And the answer to that one is aftermath.
21:51Aftermath.
21:52So, 57-42, Dave has increased his lead there.
21:56It's Elizabeth's letters game.
21:58Elizabeth.
22:00Thank you, Elizabeth.
22:01T.
22:04A.
22:08M.
22:12P.
22:15E.
22:20V.
22:24I.
22:29S.
22:31And...
22:34Let's go for another consonant.
22:36And lastly...
22:37C.
22:39Stand by.
22:59MUSIC
23:11Elizabeth.
23:12Six.
23:13A six, Dave?
23:14Seven.
23:16Elizabeth.
23:17Invest.
23:18Invest and...?
23:19Invest in panties.
23:21Panties.
23:24Panties. Any more panties in the corner?
23:27Yes.
23:29We have a pair of panties here.
23:31Anything else apart from panties?
23:34We had inspect for seven and then we did have one eight.
23:38Captives.
23:39Captives, well done. Very good.
23:41APPLAUSE
23:43All right. Dave, you're back. Letters game.
23:47Could I have a vowel to start with, please?
23:50Thank you, Dave.
23:51U.
23:52And a consonant.
23:54L.
23:55Another consonant.
23:57Vowel, please.
23:59A.
24:01Consonant.
24:03K.
24:06Vowel, please.
24:08E.
24:10Consonant.
24:12T.
24:14Vowel, please.
24:16O.
24:18And a final consonant, please.
24:21And a final G.
24:23Stand by.
24:24MUSIC
24:27BUZZER
24:55Dave.
24:56Seven.
24:57A seven.
24:58Oh, I've only managed a five.
25:00All right, and that five?
25:01Gloat.
25:02Gloat, Dave.
25:03Outtake.
25:05Outtake.
25:06Not that easy, was it?
25:08Outtake.
25:10Oh, that is so unlucky.
25:11A brilliant try for a seven. At the moment it's got a hyphen in it.
25:15I'm so sorry.
25:17Oh, that is bad luck.
25:18Really unlucky.
25:19Bad luck. Now, Barry and Susie, what have you concocted there?
25:22What have you produced?
25:24Outage.
25:25Outage, yeah.
25:26Yes, power cut.
25:28And Susie?
25:29Oh, and a gelato. Nice ice cream.
25:31Yes, so much better. A gelato. Well done.
25:3464 to 47.
25:36And Susie.
25:39What have you today in your origins of words?
25:43Well, I had an email from somebody who was a bit peeved.
25:48One of their bugbears is that mediocre is always used to mean pretty bad.
25:53When, in fact, it originally meant quite good.
25:56So it meant sort of moderate, if you like.
25:59So sort of halfway up and halfway down.
26:02And that analogy, if you like, of being halfway up and halfway down,
26:06is quite a good one because it's actually got a mountain at its heart.
26:10And mediocris in Latin meant it's a middle height.
26:14And medius meant middle.
26:16And the second element is ocris,
26:18which was the old Latin word for a rugged mountain.
26:21So the idea was that it was neither at the top nor the bottom,
26:24but it was halfway up.
26:26And the emphasis usually was on the up,
26:28so it was sort of getting there but not quite reached it, if you like.
26:32And that got me thinking about other words that have mountains at their heart.
26:36If you just take the word amount,
26:39something we use in daily currency, if you like,
26:42amount actually originally meant to get up on a horse.
26:45So the idea, again, was of climbing.
26:48And it does go back originally to the idea of a mountain.
26:53Montana was so named because of the rocky mountains.
26:56The Balkans and Vesuvius both have mountains at their heart.
26:59Vesuvius is lovely. It was the mountain of smoke, which I love.
27:03Kilimanjaro, the mountain in Africa, means mountain of the god of cold,
27:08which I think is quite romantic.
27:10A Croat, actually, that first meant a mountaineer or a highlander.
27:14Phnom Penh, that translates as the mountain of plenty.
27:17And a marmot is the word that comes up frequently on Countdown,
27:21meant mouse of the mountain.
27:24And boondocks, I thought it would end with a boondocks.
27:27Why do we say out in the boondocks, the remote part?
27:30That actually comes from occupying American soldiers in the Philippines.
27:34It's a tagalog word from the Philippines for a remote, wild place.
27:38But originally that, too, translates to mountain.
27:41So mountains feature in all sorts of words in English
27:44and some of them quite unexpectedly.
27:46Oh, very good.
27:48APPLAUSE
27:53Thank you, Susie.
27:5564 plays 47. Dave's in the lead.
27:58It's Elizabeth's chance to narrow that gap. Elizabeth.
28:02Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Elizabeth.
28:05L. And a vowel?
28:07E.
28:09And a consonant, please?
28:11T.
28:13And another consonant, please?
28:15X.
28:17And a vowel?
28:19O.
28:21And a consonant, please?
28:24R.
28:26And a vowel?
28:29I.
28:31And a consonant?
28:33T.
28:35And...
28:38A consonant, please?
28:40And lastly, R.
28:42Stand by.
29:08MUSIC STOPS
29:14Yes, Elizabeth?
29:16Six. A six, Dave? Six for me as well.
29:18Elizabeth?
29:20Loiter. Loiter and...?
29:22Litter. Litter, indeed.
29:24Loiter and litter.
29:26And Barry and Susie?
29:28I think we've got seven.
29:30Triolet.
29:32You'd better explain what that means.
29:34It's a poem of eight lines, but the trio comes into play
29:37because they tend to rhyme every third line.
29:40So, that's it. Short poem.
29:42Indeed. And the girls?
29:44That's it.
29:45Triolet. Thank you, Barry.
29:4770 plays 53.
29:49Final letters game for Dave Ryan. Dave.
29:52OK, can I have a consonant, please?
29:54Thank you, Dave. W.
29:56And a vowel, please?
29:59O.
30:01And a consonant, please?
30:03R.
30:05Vowel, please?
30:07A.
30:09Consonant, please?
30:11T.
30:13Another consonant, please?
30:15N.
30:17Vowel, please?
30:19I.
30:21And a consonant, please?
30:25C.
30:27And a final vowel, please?
30:29And a final A.
30:31MUSIC
31:02Yes, Dave?
31:04Seven, not written down.
31:06And Elizabeth?
31:07Six.
31:08You're six?
31:09Ration.
31:10Ration, Dave?
31:11Radiant.
31:12And radiant?
31:13Well spotted, yeah. Very good.
31:15LAUGHTER
31:17It's a cocktail party going on over the corner.
31:20What have you got?
31:22It's Susie's brilliant writing.
31:24I thought the R was a V.
31:26Adroit, which is...
31:28Adroit.
31:29It's pertinent to boxing, too. You need to be adroit.
31:32Quick on your feet, yeah.
31:3477 plays 53.
31:36And now, Elizabeth, it's the final numbers game for you.
31:39OK, Rachel, I'm going for a very risky.
31:42Three from the top, three from anywhere else.
31:44Why not? Thank you, Elizabeth.
31:46Three large and three little, see how risky it is.
31:48The three small ones to finish the day are two.
31:51Another two. OK, risky.
31:53And one.
31:54And then the big ones, oh, dear.
31:56175 and 50.
31:58Let's see if we can get a possible target.
32:00Oh, there we go. 126.
32:02126.
32:28MUSIC PLAYS
32:34Yes, Elizabeth?
32:35126.
32:36And Dave?
32:37126.
32:38No surprises. Elizabeth?
32:40OK, 100.
32:42And then divide 50 by two gives you 25.
32:46Add one, 126.
32:48Yeah, nice and straightforward in the end, that one.
32:50And Dave?
32:5275 plus 50 plus one.
32:54Lovely. 126 again. Lots of ways.
32:56Thank you. All right.
32:58So, at the end of that, it's 87 to Elizabeth, 63.
33:02And we go into the final round, conundrum time.
33:05Fingers on buzzers.
33:07Let's reveal today's countdown conundrum.
33:13RINGTONE
33:15Yes, Dave? Guidebook.
33:17Guidebook. Let's see whether you're right.
33:20Guidebook it is!
33:22APPLAUSE
33:26Well done. You had a good win there.
33:2897. Fantastic. Well done.
33:30And that's two wins now.
33:32Not far behind Susie, eh?
33:34Who's in the audience, worrying about you.
33:37Elizabeth, you did very, very well,
33:39but Dave Ryan's a formidable character.
33:41So, thanks for coming.
33:42Take this goodie bag back to East Kilbride
33:44and good luck with the comping.
33:47And if you suddenly win a clutch of garden swings,
33:50you know, give me a call.
33:52We happen to be short of them.
33:54All right. Thank you very much.
33:56And we shall see the great Barry and Susie soon again.
33:59Good to see you both.
34:01And, Rachel? See you soon.
34:03All right. Join us then.
34:05You'll be sure of it. A very good afternoon to you all.
34:08Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com,
34:12by Twitter at c4countdown,
34:15or write to us at countdownleads ls3 1js.
34:19You can also find our web page at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:25A race against time tonight on Channel 4.
34:27A missing person, high tension.
34:29Paul Abbott's No Offence at 9 o'clock.
34:31And then sharing their stories from behind bars.
34:34Passion, revenge, the women who kill reveal all at 10 o'clock.
34:38Next up, topping up the tan.
34:40A new life in the sun.