I’d never seen the end of the first ever episode, because having watched the start of the channel live, and the first half of this, we had a power cut and it came back after the show had ended 😳
Difference being the proper version is quality. 8/10 version is offensive and distasteful. Whiteley himself would have found it abhorrent if he was still with us today.
@@markc8956 nah, he never took himself that seriously. He was a professional, but the amount of bad jokes he threw in makes me doubt your reading of what he wouldn't like.
I’ve seen the Calendar Countdown Pilot and a few episodes after that It was obviously a success for Countdown to be the first Programme on a new channel I love the way it grew and grew and the love Richard and Carol had for each other
On that week's "The 6 O'Clock Show", a magazine programme broadcast by London Weekend Television on Fridays at 6pm (hence the title) in the London ITV region, Michael Aspel opened the show with what TV Tropes would call a "Take That!" joke about the launch of Channel 4: "Did you watch the opening? I sat there waiting bright new faces to usher us into a new era of television - and up popped Ted Moult! I think he was there to fix the studio's double glazing." Got as many laughs from the studio audience as you'd expect...
It's a reference to the IT Crowd episode "The Final Countdown", where Moss goes on Countdown and scores a 9 with TNETENNBA, which is what the selection spells out.
Although I used to watch Countdown occasionally, I've not missed an episode for the past few years. I never watched it in the first 20 years at all. It's amazing how the presentation has improved. Those clunky old letters were harder to read.
It's scary how well 'Look Around You' (second series) parodied '80s telly, right down to Carol's mumbled greeting and Cathy's inadvertent walk-on before the camera switched to her properly. I know it was meant more as a Tomorrow's World send-up, but they really nailed the production value from that era.
This programme was originally called Calendar Countdown and was shown directly after the regional news on a TV channel called Yorkshire Television (YTV). The regional news was called Calendar. It was never shown on Network TV (Yorkshire Television was a region of the Independent Television (ITV)).
In the second round, there was also TOUPEES for seven. In the first numbers round, it was a hard number to factor because it's the product of two primes. However, it can be factored-and usefully-as 29 x 17 = 493. 10 x 3 = 30 30 - 1 = 29 7 + 6 + 4 = 17 29 x 17 = 493 In the fifth round, there _is_ a word that uses all the O's, as Richard Whiteley wondered. It's ROSOLIO, a kind of Italian liqueur. In the seventh round, there was a six: SEEDED. In the second numbers round, I factored the target a different way for this solution: 50 - 10 = 40 40 x 3 = 120 120 - 1 = 119 119 x 7 = 833
You gotta love the condescending chuckle when Carol solves the numbers puzzle. “How does she do it?”... Look at that cute little thing, walking on two legs also...
Oh come on, most of us are thinking it ( _'How does she do it''_ ), and not because she's a wamen's like you're implying, with the 'cute little thing' remark! You said that, no one else! Don't put you're own sexism on the rest of us. And why would you think it was condescending towards Carol anyway? Why did you not think it was a chuckle of _'well, I already knew she's ridiculously talented but by golly that's impressive, I can't do anything but let out a chuckle...'_ ? If anything it seemed to me that he was laughing along with the rest of us at how ridiculously easily she calculated it. When you 'want' to find sexism you can find it anywhere...That's on you, not us! Now piss off to another Womens March, Beta male (probably)!
Maybe people were nervous on the first show? Or had been told to talk as little as possible? We can't possibly know how things were organised at the time.
It's easy to forget how stuffy broadcasting was at the time (something I think we have now gone to the opposite extreme), as well as what a big deal it was for members of the public to have the spotlight on them on television.
I heard some urban legend about a guy named Klaus Kedling who designed stopwatch used for countdown. Apparantly, he appeared in every episode in the background behind the curtain as an obsever. Even his shadow was seen briefly at times. Anybody knows something more about this case?
Incredible. I wish I started with this show as the thing I was always obsessed with! All thoughts should always steered towards Countdown! Life would be much better. And always insisting on only speaking to a Lexicographer - everyone else is invalid!
There was a pilot episode made of Countdown in America in 1990. However no network picked it up as they felt it would be too boring for American viewers.
Ted Moult gets to introduce himself, Carol barely gets to say hello, and that Beverly lady on the numbers never gets to speak at all! I remember the old clock tune though.
I think this was a repeat from Friday 2nd November 2007 to celebrate Countdown's 25th Anniversary. P.S I like to call the date a number forward. FE: Friday 3rd November 2007.
Can't blame them for not being very good by today's standards since that's probably their first ever experience with this game, or close. For the 493: 6+1=7 7x7=49 49x10=490 490+3=493 For the 833: 50-1=49 10+7=17 49x17=833 Note Carol thinking 49x17 is a bit difficult, but today with every player knowing the 25, 50 and 75 tables it's easy.
Interesting that some people in the comments section think the contestants were being rude, because I though they were just being polite by the standards of the time, which was to be a lot more reserved than today.
@@doctorwhoproductions834 People wanted to look mature in those days, by having a moustache and wearing a tie for example. It wasn't cool to look like a teenager in those days, whereas today 50 year olds want to look 19.
50 the winning score in November 2nd 1982 versus 110 the winning score just the other day. The 110 point contestant of now is clearly far better than the 50 point contestant of way back then.
Well, it’s a 15-round game now, so obviously higher scores. Also, the best players practise on Apterous, an unofficial online game based upon the show which launched in 2008. It has a word programme so word knowledge is now more accessible, as opposed to pre-technology when it was just dictionaries. Michael Goldman was also a tournament Scrabble player, as some of the series champions are or have been, but they have to unlearn words that would only be valid in Scrabble so they’re at a disadvantage, especially now due to Apterous. The standard has gone up since then. Series 1 had just a Grand Final featuring the two highest scorers from just one game, rather than having a knockout tournament between the 8 best players based on number of wins then by cumulative scores. Goldman was actually a very good Letters player, and would be a worthy finalist without the initial unfair format.
I remember watching this and thinking "what on earth is this?" and "what a strange show to start a new channel." Oh well, at least they didn't suffer what BBC 2 had on their first night.
The Countdown Clock would have had lines added to it face few weeks after the first broadcast back on Tuesday 2nd November 1982, Remember watching the first episode i was 9 years old living at home with parants just got home from School.
+might have been something to do with keeping channel 4s commisoning editor Cecil Korer happyhe had been the man behind many Miss Worlds and Beverley Isherwoods was a Miss united kingdom
+Michael Darling No that's Carol Vorderman your thinking off - Bev Isherwoods the number hostess in this first episode only lasted upto the end of series 3 when Kathy Hytner both letters and numbers - that's if the "countdown history books" online are accurate enough
It was back then that Carol Vorderman was not allowed to talk during the show, much like how the models on The Price is Right were required to remain silent (barring a few exceptions) up until 2008.
That's actually not true on The Price is Right, the models DID speak a fair bit from the late 70's or so at least up through end of the 90's or so. They'd usually speak during Showcase skits, or occasionally host Bob Barker would chat with them briefly after a game before going to break. It wasn't until Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley were let go at the end of 2000, that that practice was ended by and large until Drew Carey's tenure began. Just go back and look at some of the older episodes, especially those in the 80's and early 90's. You'll see quite a bit of speaking from the models at points.
@@GeordieBoy1955 Fair, I coulda clarified that the reply was about the US Price that was alluded to in the second half of that statement. I'll give you that.
What the hell. I just looked up that Ted Moult guy on Wikipedia, and it said he committed suicide by gun about 4 years after this was filmed. Didn't expect that. I was 2 when this came out, so have no idea who he is or anything.
It was the first episode, with every new show it takes a while to settle. I remember Deal or No Deal was a bit staid when it started in October 2005. By Christmas 2006 it had found its stride and they were doing specials through the year and it felt great, peaking around 2009/2010 series.
"As a countdown to a brand new channel ends, a new Countdown begins." my favourite quote.
Or ‘he had the nouse to buy a scouse house!’ 😆
Richard Whitely was apparently very proud of his first utterance
40 years later, this is now a British institution, and long may it continue.
Rachael will be 77 in another 40 years time
it's old and tired and well past its prime
You must love the show what with having so much in common with it @@illegalsmirf
Such humble beginnings. It all seems so reserved and timid. Weird how Carol does less. She doesn't even call out the numbers as she puts them up.
She does less than even that! It's another assistant putting the numbers up (and not the same one who racks the letters).
Geoff was 28??? Looks 58 ! 😁
@@shairsko9360 I think everyone looked older back then.
Countdown! The show that kick-started channel 4!
And is still going strong 41 years later!!
She's a Cambridge graduate and works in Computers' What a romantic introduction. Couldn't have been done better by Alan Partridge.
Plus the tacky sexual innuendo about figures and vital statistics...
@@tullochgorum6323it’s not an innuendo, ‘figure’ just means person. Like ‘political figure’ or something
@@spurdsy You sure are an innocent flower, aren't you!
Spuds is right and anything else is overthinking it
I watched this episode with my brother when I got home from school. Amazing memories!
RIP Richard & Ted. I watched this back in 1982 when C4 first came on the air.
I’d never seen the end of the first ever episode, because having watched the start of the channel live, and the first half of this, we had a power cut and it came back after the show had ended 😳
The difference between this and 8/10 cats version is immense
Difference being the proper version is quality. 8/10 version is offensive and distasteful. Whiteley himself would have found it abhorrent if he was still with us today.
@@markc8956 ok boomer
1982 vs 2010s is of course gonna be different
I prefer the original one.
@@markc8956 nah, he never took himself that seriously. He was a professional, but the amount of bad jokes he threw in makes me doubt your reading of what he wouldn't like.
This year will mark the 40th anniversary of Countdown first appearing on our screens.
"We figure we've got a pretty good figure ruling that part of the game. Meet our vital statistician..."
Haha. Ah, the '80s...
And then they introduce her and she doesn't get to say a word 😅😗
Different times.
Jimmy Carr the best host of Countdown makes the same jokes. Still funny. He said in an interview that he gets buy in
I’ve seen the Calendar Countdown Pilot and a few episodes after that
It was obviously a success for Countdown to be the first Programme on a new channel
I love the way it grew and grew and the love Richard and Carol had for each other
"As the countdown to a new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins" - great words from the late great Richard Whiteley.
Jeff is 28? he's one year older than me here yet looks like he's in his mid 40s lol
Yep, same here, and exactly what I was thinking, lmao
He must have had the toughest paper round in Britain
On that week's "The 6 O'Clock Show", a magazine programme broadcast by London Weekend Television on Fridays at 6pm (hence the title) in the London ITV region, Michael Aspel opened the show with what TV Tropes would call a "Take That!" joke about the launch of Channel 4: "Did you watch the opening? I sat there waiting bright new faces to usher us into a new era of television - and up popped Ted Moult! I think he was there to fix the studio's double glazing." Got as many laughs from the studio audience as you'd expect...
LWT may have been starting at 5:15 by then, but the laughter didn't start until 7.
5:15 you can tell it's first show when the contestants are bettering the letter count than dictionary corner lol
0:09 Countdown Is A Classic Channel 4 Television Series Of All Time. Thanks Mate. X
This was the 1st countdown ever I love the clock sound
"As the countdown to a brand new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins." Well said.
I see what he did there!
First one, I got a nine; TNEMARHIB. As in: Good morning, that's a nice TNEMARHIB.
BIRTHNAME would have been a good guess, but it’s two separate words.
Wow nice one
Oh, you XD
Love a bit of IT Crowd
that word does not exist.
It's a reference to the IT Crowd episode "The Final Countdown", where Moss goes on Countdown and scores a 9 with TNETENNBA, which is what the selection spells out.
Although I used to watch Countdown occasionally, I've not missed an episode for the past few years. I never watched it in the first 20 years at all. It's amazing how the presentation has improved. Those clunky old letters were harder to read.
Omg I love countdown we used to play it in high and primary school it was good fun dead different back then wow
It's scary how well 'Look Around You' (second series) parodied '80s telly, right down to Carol's mumbled greeting and Cathy's inadvertent walk-on before the camera switched to her properly.
I know it was meant more as a Tomorrow's World send-up, but they really nailed the production value from that era.
This programme was originally called Calendar Countdown and was shown directly after the regional news on a TV channel called Yorkshire Television (YTV). The regional news was called Calendar. It was never shown on Network TV (Yorkshire
Television was a region of the Independent Television (ITV)).
Has anyone seen the Countdown episode on the IT crowd? Totally hilarious.
"That's a nice tnetennba" Seriously, you can't fail with letters like that , Word!
yeh fucking bloody brilliant
It's amazing how this has lasted 40 years
In the second round, there was also TOUPEES for seven.
In the first numbers round, it was a hard number to factor because it's the product of two primes. However, it can be factored-and usefully-as 29 x 17 = 493.
10 x 3 = 30
30 - 1 = 29
7 + 6 + 4 = 17
29 x 17 = 493
In the fifth round, there _is_ a word that uses all the O's, as Richard Whiteley wondered. It's ROSOLIO, a kind of Italian liqueur.
In the seventh round, there was a six: SEEDED.
In the second numbers round, I factored the target a different way for this solution:
50 - 10 = 40
40 x 3 = 120
120 - 1 = 119
119 x 7 = 833
I agree that the woman picking the numbers is a bit redundant... She doesn't even read the numbers out.. Richard Whiteley does!!
You gotta love the condescending chuckle when Carol solves the numbers puzzle. “How does she do it?”... Look at that cute little thing, walking on two legs also...
Oh come on, most of us are thinking it ( _'How does she do it''_ ), and not because she's a wamen's like you're implying, with the 'cute little thing' remark! You said that, no one else! Don't put you're own sexism on the rest of us.
And why would you think it was condescending towards Carol anyway? Why did you not think it was a chuckle of _'well, I already knew she's ridiculously talented but by golly that's impressive, I can't do anything but let out a chuckle...'_ ?
If anything it seemed to me that he was laughing along with the rest of us at how ridiculously easily she calculated it.
When you 'want' to find sexism you can find it anywhere...That's on you, not us!
Now piss off to another Womens March, Beta male (probably)!
Some people will find offence in anything.
@stephend If 'aw look, a woman using her lady brain to work with numbers. Isn't it adorable?' doesn't offend you, you're part of the problem.
I think you are imagining things
channel 4 had only been on 18:00 minutes and they were already showing sex
Why whst for???
speak bloody english
@@benconway9010 I am why were they doing that though
Oh yeah see what you mean now
I'll translate it.
Channel Four had been on the air for only 18 minutes and already they were showing adult material.
Oh man I remember the bar symbol on the top right of the screen for an approaching break. I haven't seen that for 10-15 years lol
It was called the "cue dot"
Can none of these contestants say please or thank you? Not sure why, but that really bothered me!
EDIT: I've heard one of them say please once.
Or hello to Carol!
Maybe people were nervous on the first show? Or had been told to talk as little as possible? We can't possibly know how things were organised at the time.
It's easy to forget how stuffy broadcasting was at the time (something I think we have now gone to the opposite extreme), as well as what a big deal it was for members of the public to have the spotlight on them on television.
I'm wondering that too! No please or thankyou!
It just hurts to see that the vowels and consonants' positions have swapped!
6:25 When the letters lady walks in front of the letters board near the end of the clock! Funny as!
I remember when channel 4 was new. I was only 6.
I watched this live at the time. Gawd, thirty six years ago...
CECIL is never mentioned today.
Anybody else playing along with the game? 😊
God, I suck BIG TIME at this!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
The letters font was never going to last. And thank goodness they changed the think music!
I heard some urban legend about a guy named Klaus Kedling who designed stopwatch used for countdown. Apparantly, he appeared in every episode in the background behind the curtain as an obsever. Even his shadow was seen briefly at times. Anybody knows something more about this case?
T was the first letter on Countdown
Shadow Films that’s a shower thought for sure
T as in TNETENNBA.
Incredible. I wish I started with this show as the thing I was always obsessed with! All thoughts should always steered towards Countdown! Life would be much better.
And always insisting on only speaking to a Lexicographer - everyone else is invalid!
This is the first show that ever aired on Channel 4.
Thank goodness for Susie dent
I’m not sure
Greetings from the other side of the pond. Great show.
Wonderful
We need an American version so I can get in on this!
There was a pilot episode made of Countdown in America in 1990. However no network picked it up as they felt it would be too boring for American viewers.
You're in on it right now.
There would only be one 'u' and 4 'z's :)
The english version of a french TV game show. Interesting
Both good ones)
Ted Moult gets to introduce himself, Carol barely gets to say hello, and that Beverly lady on the numbers never gets to speak at all!
I remember the old clock tune though.
LMAO i have secondhand embarrassment from carol and her "good evening" smile
The episode that began one of the five greatest UK television networks of all time
Funny how Carol went from first vital statistician to co-presenter in the 2000s
Richard wore his favourite tnetennba to celebrate this first edition.
I think this was a repeat from Friday 2nd November 2007 to celebrate Countdown's 25th Anniversary.
P.S I like to call the date a number forward. FE: Friday 3rd November 2007.
Can't blame them for not being very good by today's standards since that's probably their first ever experience with this game, or close.
For the 493:
6+1=7
7x7=49
49x10=490
490+3=493
For the 833:
50-1=49
10+7=17
49x17=833
Note Carol thinking 49x17 is a bit difficult, but today with every player knowing the 25, 50 and 75 tables it's easy.
The show is older than me and still going. What the F! Life is shorter than I thought!!! 😢
Recorded On More4 At 21:00 On Monday 1st October 2007 As Part Of Channel 4 At 25
Looking for episode 3685 (aired 19th April 2004). Are you able to find?
The way that the conundrum round is executed is really primitive, with those mechanical levers 😂
I’m pretty sure a perfect game would be 126.
Interesting that some people in the comments section think the contestants were being rude, because I though they were just being polite by the standards of the time, which was to be a lot more reserved than today.
Hard to believe Vorderman is 21yrs old here, she looks nothing like her old self after countless plastic surgeries.
Just to point that the very first episode of Countdown was shown on November 2nd 1982
I wonder if 'BIRTHNAME' would have been acceptable in the first round......
They used a xylophone and a rattlesnake for this countdown music.
And bongos near the end
I used to watch countdown
The way they brush right over Carol. Wow.
Very different time.
She had the last laugh
The second contestant is 28??? He looks about 45
People looked older, younger back then!
John Jones i think its the moustache, it does age people
@@doctorwhoproductions834 People wanted to look mature in those days, by having a moustache and wearing a tie for example. It wasn't cool to look like a teenager in those days, whereas today 50 year olds want to look 19.
@@ajs41 no we dont 😂 i’d hate to look like todays desperate attention seekers, gees no thank you
50 the winning score in November 2nd 1982 versus 110 the winning score just the other day. The 110 point contestant of now is clearly far better than the 50 point contestant of way back then.
Well, it’s a 15-round game now, so obviously higher scores. Also, the best players practise on Apterous, an unofficial online game based upon the show which launched in 2008. It has a word programme so word knowledge is now more accessible, as opposed to pre-technology when it was just dictionaries. Michael Goldman was also a tournament Scrabble player, as some of the series champions are or have been, but they have to unlearn words that would only be valid in Scrabble so they’re at a disadvantage, especially now due to Apterous. The standard has gone up since then. Series 1 had just a Grand Final featuring the two highest scorers from just one game, rather than having a knockout tournament between the 8 best players based on number of wins then by cumulative scores. Goldman was actually a very good Letters player, and would be a worthy finalist without the initial unfair format.
The show was so much more serious
I remember watching this and thinking "what on earth is this?" and "what a strange show to start a new channel." Oh well, at least they didn't suffer what BBC 2 had on their first night.
The complete set reminds me of the front cover box of the Perfection game.
Can't believe I got both numbers rounds! I realised I was 17 away from 850 (when doing 10+7 * 50) which was very ideal!
The Countdown Clock would have had lines added to it face few weeks after the first broadcast back on Tuesday 2nd November 1982, Remember watching the first episode i was 9 years old living at home with parants just got home from School.
Fire
2:22 28!! 😂😂 he looks about 58
what was the point of the "numbers girl"? They might as well have just got carol to do that as well as the calculations.
+might have been something to do with keeping channel 4s commisoning editor Cecil Korer happyhe had been the man behind many Miss Worlds and Beverley Isherwoods was a Miss united kingdom
She did this straight up to 2009?
+Michael Darling No that's Carol Vorderman your thinking off - Bev Isherwoods the number hostess in this first episode only lasted upto the end of series 3 when Kathy Hytner both letters and numbers - that's if the "countdown history books" online are accurate enough
+DANIEL WOODHOUSE That's who I was meaning
And she says nothing too
28 lol people looked so old back then
It was back then that Carol Vorderman was not allowed to talk during the show, much like how the models on The Price is Right were required to remain silent (barring a few exceptions) up until 2008.
That's actually not true on The Price is Right, the models DID speak a fair bit from the late 70's or so at least up through end of the 90's or so. They'd usually speak during Showcase skits, or occasionally host Bob Barker would chat with them briefly after a game before going to break. It wasn't until Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley were let go at the end of 2000, that that practice was ended by and large until Drew Carey's tenure began. Just go back and look at some of the older episodes, especially those in the 80's and early 90's. You'll see quite a bit of speaking from the models at points.
@@ajk Don’t confuse the USA with the UK.
@@GeordieBoy1955 I don't think I was. I believe they were speaking of the US run. There was no UK version on the air in 2008.
@@ajk the poster referred to Carol Vorderman who was featured in the UK shows.
@@GeordieBoy1955 Fair, I coulda clarified that the reply was about the US Price that was alluded to in the second half of that statement. I'll give you that.
Carol looks younger now. 😁
Welcome to the series premiere episode of the British TV show Countdown in 1982, hosted by Richard Whiteley.
The FIRST ever show broadcast on Channel 4 as well
1:07 Susie Dent looks a lot better these days than she did here! Has she had work done??
Stephen O'Donnell that is not Susie dent
Stephen O'Donnell Susie Dent didn't join the show until 1992.
OMG it's a man. It's not Susie!
(_I'm_ only joking (what's wrong with people (I'll give you a little like)))
Susie Dent was only 15 when the first Countdown was shown so how can it be her?
it's a fucking joke
28 years later... it goes on to be the longest running show in tv history.
38 years..
No. The U.S. edition of “The Price Is Right” just started its 50th year.
You are not going to win the maths game.
Meet the Press has been on NBC television since 1947, now 76 years ago.
2 November 1982 - Historic premier
Assume this is a recording of a re-run after due to the digitaluk (will come Freeview) switch starting in 2005 and not 1982?
ffs... desexed could have changed history
I remember the criticism of this being Channel 4’s first programme. Mainly aimed at Ted Moult.
How come the lady putting up the numbers didn't get to speak?!
The host is explaining what the game rules are in the first episode
Simpler times.
the first ever program aired on the *fourth* channel!
4:20 - Yeah, turn that shit up!
Three people to do the letters and numbers? If anything sums up Britain in the 70s/early 80s, then having three people do a one person job is it.
What the hell. I just looked up that Ted Moult guy on Wikipedia, and it said he committed suicide by gun about 4 years after this was filmed. Didn't expect that. I was 2 when this came out, so have no idea who he is or anything.
Carol Vorderman looks way different in 2022 🤣🤣🤣
Carol Volderman looks completely different to how she is now.
Liam Boyle POINTLESSe
Mark hewitt OK
Liam Boyle Yes she was sooooo better looking without the plastic crap
She only appeared twice per show to work out the sums of the numbers rounds back then.
She had so little to do - she even had someone to press the calculator button -
Looks very quaint.
7 letters rounds, and only 2 of the numbers. How did we survive for so many decades?
The pace is quite slow here compared to the future eps.
It was the first episode, with every new show it takes a while to settle. I remember Deal or No Deal was a bit staid when it started in October 2005. By Christmas 2006 it had found its stride and they were doing specials through the year and it felt great, peaking around 2009/2010 series.
it will never catch on!
Still running 35 1/2 years on.