C-U-O-N-T-D-O-W-N (Countdown)

Member Name: W Shakespeare

Product:	Countdown
Date:	18/06/01 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hasn't changed in 20 years, Simple format, Convenient teatime slot

Disadvantages: Richard Whiteley's ties, Some of the worst puns you'll ever hear, Must be able to read and write

Can you make a nine-letter word out of these vowels and consonants in 30 seconds, without being distracted by Carol Vorderman's new hairstyle?

If so, you could be a potential contestant on Countdown - the first programme ever broadcast on Channel 4 almost 20 years ago.

Make a word from 9 letters, reach a total from 5 numbers and unravel an anagram at the end. It's that simple.

Countdown goes against everything a good quiz show should be - it's undynamic, the main presenter Richard Whiteley has had a triple humour-bypass, the contestants are often uninspiring, the grand prize is a set of dictionaries for God's sake and the audience is seemingly bused in from Yorkshire old people's homes. Everything about it shouts 'daytime', but that in a way, is the secret of its success.

To illustrate, several years ago a brief 'Celebrity Countdown' series ran in an evening C4 time slot. (Well, if you can call Jo Brand a celebrity.) It didn't do very well and was promptly consigned to the dustbin of television history.

The reason for its failure? Countdown isn't meant for evening audiences. It couldn't hope to compete with Eastenders, Coronation Street or even Rolf Harris crying over a dead budgie in Animal Hospital. But it is broadcast at a time when young mums, students and pensioners are at home and looking for something other than children's cartoons, wildlife documentaries and international bowls which seem to haunt afternoon terrestrial schedules.

In addition, viewers can play along with the contestants on an equal basis. Quiz shows often suffer from 'clever dick syndrome' whereby a contestant is so skilled that they answer the questions before the audience has had a chance to respond. But Countdown gives everyone the opportunity to participate and you don't have to have a degree from Cambridge in Engineering to be successful (unless you're Carol Vorderman
of course, but take heart, she got a third).

Add in the resident dictionary boffin and C-List celebrity with a dismal line in anecdotes, and you have the Countdown formula.

Many mock the programme's format or try to undermine its success. For example, last year it was revealed that Dictionary Corner were using technologically underhand means to come up with words longer than the contestants. It's hardly Watergate is it? With some of the highest daytime audience figures in history, I'm sure C4 aren't complaining.

Countdown is lucky in that its two main presenters have remained loyal to what is a great British television institution. Eventually one or the other or both will have to leave, and then it's enduring appeal will really be tested.

Now, if you could just look at the following letters before you rate this review:

V-E-R-Y U-S-E-F-U-L

Summary: