oh yes,well spotted

Great to have the programme back.

But I’m starting to get really sick of all that blue. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the best ever Countdown set by a mile. I just find the blue all a bit sickly — compounded by all the blue the presenters wear.

The touches of cyan (and mottled brown) aren’t enough. I want a good bit of yellow/cream somewhere. A touch of warmth.

Have they really just censored the word 'breasts'?

Ha ha they just bleeped out the contestants saying 'bastards' as their answer

yeay for actually broadcasting the result of the bastards round!!

Ah, it was 'bastards'!

Fair enough. Shows where my mind is, I suppose.

I blame Rachel!

I couldnt believe they bleeped out that word.Surely the word that begins with W and rhymes with bankers wasnt censored a while back and i would say that was more likely to offend

They did bleep out 'the w word' when a contestant offered it on the show last year. Channel 4 asked them to because the show in question was screened during the half-term holidays.

Presumably 'bastards' was also censored because of it being school holiday time.

Interesting that you can’t say the word “bastard” on TV, even legitimately (i.e. not as an insult).

I wonder if you can say other words that have legitimate meanings. like “bloody”?

I was looking forward to one of the male contestants saying "I've got 'breasts'". Shame the longer word came up.

If the word had been breasts, Jeff could’ve said: “Rachel, could you please show us breasts?”

There is a very funny episode of The Simpsons where the word 'bastard' is used several times, I still have it on VHS somewhere! (Think that is only a PG too!)

I'm so glad that annoying Ed bloke has been beaten at last. He just seemed to take it all way too seriously. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so openly competitive on Countdown. I think he even shouted “Yes!” or something after getting a crucial conundrum. It was a picture to watch him losing today - he looked so peed off, throwing his head back into his hands etc.

Also, was it just me or did he seem to be working out some of the numbers solutions (which he hadn't written down) while he was telling Rachel? He seemed to be taking an awful long time about it. Jeff even stopped him on one occasion to say sorry but he'd run out of time - never seen that before on Countdown.

I only wacthed it to see what Richard Whiteley would say. He was a great laugh, made a dull quiz watchable. Its just plain dull now. I bet if you put a compilation of all the funny bits out these days it wouldn't last one minute. I know its not supposed to be funny but.....

Shock today that Suzy use to live in Soho about fifteen years ago.

If the challenger had got his picking consonants and vowels right c*nts would have come up, Rachel just managed to hold it together.

C N T S U …

That was hilarious!

Did that strange John Lennon impersonator win today?

He kept doing strange things with his eyebrows, and cheeks....I had to switch over.

He seemed, to me, like he had a huge chip on his shoulder, and kept looking as if to say, "Hey, you thought I was a loser; now look at me on top of the world....."

Or am I reading to much into things...?

It was his mouth that caught my eye - I kept thinking 'Gordon Brown'. Like others, I was pleased to see the back of the Ed guy - overcompetitive, to say the least.

I agree 100% with you! Des was Oh SO DREARY and Carol far too big for her boots!!! It's much 'brighter' now with the current team!

There's an interesting article in the Daily Mail about Rachel and she has a 2:1 in maths from Oxford and the 'not so clever' Carol had only a third in engineering!!!!

The people who criticise Rachel should remember how bad Carol was at the start and how awful she looked compared to the much prettier Rachel..... Rachel said she was nervous making the first 15 shows in just three days!

"I didn't count on this abuse": Rachel Riley on why being Carol Vorderman's replacement adds up to a whole lot of grief

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...lot-grief.html

It makes me laugh when C4 quickly found a winning combination, Rachel and Jeff.

Why? Because Carol Vorderman got all big headed and unless she was paid massive amounts of money, she wouldn't continue.

Glad C4 called her bluff and got rid of her. I always thought she was over-rated.

The few times I watched after Richard's death, I though that having Carol there was just a reminder of said death.

Now I feel that Countdown is a bit like the doctor in Doctor Who; it has regenerated.

That’s not what happened at all. The producers made it clear that they wanted Carol to leave. Carol was told that if she wanted to continue, her fee would be cut by 90%. Carol left because she felt pressured to do so, not because of money. She has made statements to the effect that she would probably have done the show for free.

Carol adored Countdown and was desperately sad to leave. She and Richard were on the programme from the beginning and made it what it is. The two were extremely close and had sincere respect for each other, for the programme and for the fans. It was like an extended family. The spirit of the programme has always been one of kindness and respect.

Anyone who was glad to see either of them go is certainly no Countdown fan. They were the programme.

Anyone who makes up cruel stories about Carol being greedy has no business even watching a kind, good-natured programme like Countdown.

It was inevitable that one day Carol would need to be replaced with a fresh face (gameshow hostesses should be young and pretty). I think Rachel is a perfect replacement, and I love the new team. But that is no slight to Carol, who was with the programme for 25 years and deserves full respect for what she did.


I kind of agree with your first point. I completely agree with your second.

I watched Countdown for the first time in ages. Jeff is an excellent host. But RR in for CV, a good choice IMHO. She is rather nice!! & wears lovely outfits & is intelligent with it too.

Paul Zenon as impressive as ever today.