Countdown Champion Of Champions: Richard Whiteley ‘the god’, rejecting The Beast, and discovering tepidaria
From Shaun Ryder’s ban for swearing live on TFI Friday and the much-criticised Brass Eye, to unapologetically airing genitalia close-ups in Naked Attraction and broadcasting a live autopsy, Channel 4 has always been known for pushing boundaries.
But when it started back in November 1982 the channel launch was a rather more wholesome affair, with Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman debuting on Countdown – the simple letters and numbers game still going strong 40 years later, proving you don’t always need controversy to make a TV hit.
Loved by pensioners and students alike, the afternoon staple finished its 40th year with its 86th finale just before Christmas, and begins 2023 with a new Champion Of Champions series.
While quizzes such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and The Chase bring the drama, Countdown is comfort TV; the timeslots and presenters have changed over the years but it is always there with a teatime teaser, gentle humour, and a treasure trove of word knowledge from long-time resident lexicographer Susie Dent – or “that woman in Dictionary Corner” as she is known to her million-plus Twitter followers.
Tom Stevenson was crowned the winner of Countdown’s 86th series just before Christmas
Ahmed Mohamed, who became the first ever black Countdown champion when he won the 84th series in 2021, and Tom Stevenson, who triumphed in the latest series just a few days ago – after setting the record for the programme’s highest ever score of 154 during his heats – will both take part in the upcoming Champion Of Champions series.
Throughout his entire run in his heats, Tom remained unbeaten in every single round – something that had never been achieved before.
“I was there to just have a good time, try and win the teapot and hopefully not to disgrace myself,” he says. “But Colin [Murray, the current presenter] was seriously invested.
“It got to the final game and there were a couple of occasions when my opponent declared a longer word than me, but it wasn’t in the dictionary. And then it got to the final conundrum, and I managed to solve it and Colin was very excited. You can see the clip on YouTube.”
During his time on the show, Tom also scored with the word “hornier” – not a rude one that had to be cut out, forever to live on in Countdown blooper memes, but one he was proud of nonetheless.
“I can assure you that nobody has let me forget the fact I declared that word on national television,” he says. “Forget about all the other achievements, that is definitely something that stuck with me as a result.”
Knowing your nines: Bolection and tepidaria
Ahmed Mohamed pictured with his mum and Anne-Marie Imafidon, who stood in for Rachel Riley on the numbers when she was on maternity leave
Ahmed, 28, also wowed during his time on the show. However, he freely admits his impressive ability at coming up with good words – and spelling them correctly – isn’t necessarily based on knowledge of meaning, but rather studying Countdown vocabulary.
In the opening round of his third show, Ahmed scored a nine-letter word, “bolection… something to do with architecture”, and says he was also proud to decipher a final conundrum as “tepidaria”. Just don’t expect him to have the definitions at his fingertips.
“Every time I declared a word that sounded a bit crazy, Anne [Robinson, host at the time] would ask me every time, like, what’s the meaning of that word? ‘I don’t know, Anne. I don’t know!'”
Anyone who loves the show will tell you the key to its success is its simplicity: spell the longest word possible from a mix of nine consonants and vowels; calculate a three-digit number from a mix of six small and large numbers using basic arithmetic. All followed by the conundrum, Countdown’s equivalent to the Gladiators travelator.
They will probably also credit its longevity to Whiteley being at the helm for so long.
Finalist Mark Nyman, who took part in the third series in 1983, says there was “a general feeling of family from the start”. After going on to be crowned the first ever Champion Of Champions in 1984, he later became a producer on the show and also appeared in Dictionary Corner himself in dozens of episodes.
‘He was like a god, really’
Countdown’s first Champion Of Champions and later producer and Dictionary Corner presenter Mark Nyman, appearing alongside Stephen Fry
Initially, he says he was brought in as a programme associate, or a greeter, to meet contestants and help put them at ease the night before filming. “Have a couple of drinks and make them feel part of the Countdown experience,” he says. While it wouldn’t be the first show that comes to mind when it comes to raucous behind-the-scenes tales, he says “there were probably a few hungover contestants” playing back in the day.
Whiteley, the presenter who hosted until his death in 2005, was “the cog at the centre of it all”, says Mark, who was made a co-producer in the 1990s. “He appealed to the older demographic but also to students and younger ones as well, which is quite rare, to appeal across the board.
“That was because he was a bit of a bumbling oaf at times and the students loved to take the mickey out of him, but in a nice way. He was like a god, really. So welcoming. And once you’d earnt his respect, he would do anything for you.”
‘I just thought he was a bit cocky’
As a producer, Mark also interviewed potential contestants, deciding whether or not they were good enough for the show. He says he must have carried out about 15,000 in total and that a “few quite well known” people applied over the years, including The Chase quiz mastermind Mark “The Beast” Labbett.
It was a no from Nyman.
“He was really good at the numbers at the interview, but he was average on the letters. In borderline cases, I would go on personality and it wasn’t that I didn’t like him, I just thought he was a bit cocky. So I rejected him. But if there were borderline cases, I would always give them a second go… and he did try again and he got through the second time round.”
Countdown was never about picking people purely for “good telly”, bad contestants for cheap laughs, he says. It is 100% about ability. “It doesn’t matter if you get someone socially inept winning eight shows, people admire their brilliance… and they might say something stupid, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
With the next Champion Of Champions series set to air, Tom and Ahmed are getting ready to see themselves back on Channel 4 once again.
Both say the experience has been life-enhancing, for different reasons.
Tom, who suffered from agoraphobia as a teenager, says appearing on the show was something he pushed himself to do. “I nearly did drop out on one occasion, but it was something I could say to myself, it doesn’t matter how I do but I can say that I’ve done it, and it’s something that’s pushing me massively out of my comfort zone because I haven’t been on TV before.
“I was just hoping to win one episode. And even if I did end up losing that, as long as I felt I’d done myself justice then all was good by me. But it’s been an incredible experience. People have remarked that they think my confidence has gone up.”
Ahmed says he was proud to become the first black champion. “I was really happy about that. I live in Tottenham and it was going a bit viral – I was getting a lot of mates I haven’t talked to for years finding me online saying they’d heard about me on the news.”
The upcoming Countdown Champion Of Champions series begins in January
BBC chair Samir Shah has written a detailed letter to MPs following controversy over the editing of a speech by Donald Trump.
Following a backlash, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness have both stepped down from their roles.
Mr Trump is also understood to have threatened the corporation with legal action over the editing together of two pieces of video from his speech on 6 January 2021 in the BBC’s flagship late-night news programme Panorama.
While the original programme received no complaints, Mr Shah confirmed in his letter that over 500 complaints had been received since a memo from former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, Michael Prescott, was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.
BBC resignations as Trump ‘threatens to sue’ – follow latest
In his memo, Mr Prescott detailed what he called “worrying systemic issues with the BBC’s coverage”, also discussing other coverage, including trans issues, and the war in Gaza.
Mr Prescott specifically mentioned Ms Turness and deputy director of BBC News, Jonathan Munro in his memo, calling them “defensive”.
File pic: AP
An apology – by denial of a cover-up
In his four-page letter of response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah said following “deliberation”, the board “accept that the way Mr Trump’s speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action”, calling it an “error of judgement”.
He also noted that some coverage of the memo leak, implied a list of stories and issues had been “uncovered”, which the BBC had sought to “bury”.
Mr Shah said that interpretation was “simply not true” and urged for a “sense of perspective” to be maintained when considering the “thousands of hours of outstanding journalism” the BBC produces each year.
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‘Trump is undermining the BBC ‘
Changes in leadership
The BBC chair also said the view that the BBC “has done nothing to tackle these problems” is “simply not true”.
Mr Shah admitted there were occasions “when the BBC gets things wrong” or “reporting requires more context or explanation”.
Read more:
Who is Michael Prescott?
Trump reacts to BBC resignations – and doesn’t hold back
Raising the point that the information relied on by Mr Prescott for his memo was the very research commissioned by the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), he said the memo “did not present a full picture of the discussions, decisions and actions that were taken”.
Mr Shah detailed changes in leadership across the BBC Arabic team, as well as changes in World Service and BBC News – all of which he said would help tackle the issues raised.
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BBC boss ‘right to resign’
So what is being done?
At the end of the letter Mr Shah committed to three actions:
• “The board will commit to revisiting each and every item set out in Michael Prescott’s note and take further action where appropriate. We will be transparent about the conclusions we reach, and the actions taken.”
• “Where we have put in measures already, in response to the original EGSC research, we will repeat those internal reviews to check the changes made are making material improvements to the output.”
• “Where we have already accepted that items fall short of our editorial standards, we will ensure that amendments to the relevant online stories are made where this was deemed appropriate.”
Mr Shah concluded by saying the BBC would “champion impartiality”, which he said was “more necessary now than ever before”, calling it the “sacred job of the BBC”.
Entertainment
BBC director general’s resignation ‘regrettable’ but he was ‘right to do so’ – culture committee chair
The resignation of the BBC’s director general was “regrettable” but he was “right to do so”, the chair of parliament’s culture committee has told Sky News.
Dame Caroline Dinenage said she was not expecting the resignations of Tim Davie and the chief executive of BBC News Deborah Turness, which they announced on Sunday evening.
She told Mornings with Ridge and Frost: “I think it’s really regrettable that Tim Davie had to step down – huge commitment to the BBC and public service broadcasting.
“But I think he was right to do so. I think restoring trust in the corporation has got to come first.”
BBC latest: Outgoing BBC News boss rejects ‘institutional bias’
Dame Caroline, who will chair a culture, media and sport committee meeting on Tuesday where the issue will be discussed, said the BBC was “very slow to react” to a leaked report by Michael Prescott, an independent adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards board.
The dossier, sent to the BBC board and leaked to The Daily Telegraph, accused a Panorama special on Donald Trump, released a week before the 2024 US election, of being “neither balanced nor impartial – it seemed to be taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance”.
Tim Davie resigned on Sunday evening. Pic: PA
He also said the programme had spliced two clips from separate parts of Mr Trump’s speech to his supporters on 6 January 2021, the day of the Capitol Hill riots, to give the “impression that Trump had incited protesters to storm Capital Hill”.
Mr Prescott also raised bias concerns about the BBC’s coverage of trans issues and the war in Gaza.
Dame Caroline accused the BBC of failing to take his report seriously “until it was too late”.
Ms Turness arrived at the BBC’s central London headquarters on Monday morning, where she admitted “mistakes are made” but said there is “no institutional bias”.
She defended the BBC’s journalists, saying “of course” they are not corrupt and they “strive for impartiality”.
Read more:
The BBC controversies faced by Tim Davie during his time in charge
Politics Hub – latest updates
Outgoing BBC News boss Deborah Turness spoke to media on Monday. Pic: PA
Dame Caroline said the situation “has to influence the BBC charter decisions”.
The BBC’s Royal Charter outlines the corporation’s mission, public purposes and governance, along with specific obligations and how it is funded.
It is up for renewal in 2027, with the government currently carrying out a review to determine the BBC’s future, including its funding model and mission.
Dame Caroline said the last review, 10 years before, put integrity as the BBC’s top missions.
She added: “I think the charter has to look at how the BBC retains its balance and its integrity, how it retains the trust of the British people and the licence fee payer, because, you know, that’s absolutely fundamental for the future of the BBC.
“But actually it reflects upon us as a nation, because the BBC is such a well known and such a well respected brand around the world.”
BBC chair Samir Shah is expected to apologise in a letter to Dame Caroline’s committee later today.
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