A weekday game show that has been running on Channel 4 in England since November 1982. It involves two constestants playing word and number games against a 30 second countdown made on a giant clock-face.

Countdown is mentioned in The Dragon's Lair. William's mother is in hospital prior to giving birth, and he imagines her 'snug in bed, watching Countdown with a cup of tea'. This could be an in-joke of sorts: Countdown's time-slot in 1993 (when The Dragon's Lair was published) was Monday-Friday 4:30-5:00pm; and if a person were watching the Friday episode at a certain time of year, they would be missing a programme over on CITV called Knightmare...

I could devote the rest of this entry to comparisons of Countdown's letters games and Knightmare's spellcasting, or to musing upon both programmes' French equivalents, or to discussing the countdown effected by frightknights on Series 6 causeways... but there's a far less tenuous link. David Learner (Pickle) appeared on Countdown on the 7th and 10th of February 1986, claiming victory on the first occasion. KM fan James Aukett, who has played Gabriel in the Knightmare RPG, is a Countdown winner too. (During one letters game, he got the HATTERS. I mean, the word HATTERS.)
[Note: not an original Countdown image. See CHEBUGI! for possible elucidation.]

Other Knightmare fans with a Countdown connection include Discussion Forum members Punmeister_Whiteley, whose username acknowledges the late Countdown presenter Richard Whiteley and his love of puns, and Crispeater, a.k.a. former Countdown contestant Chris Wills. James Aukett and Punmeister_Whiteley identified Chris when he posted in November 2003, prompting the response: 'Is it not amazing how one's fame precedes one (as Hordriss might say ;). Sorry to disappoint any fans, but Countdown stories will be limited to my website.'

In an article entitled 'My Gameshow Gods' in Issue 43 of The Eye Shield fanzine, TES editor Jake Collins named Countdown as one of favourite gameshows: 'I used to watch this show after school when there was no good children's television on, and I used to enjoy it. I still watch it sometimes if I'm at a loose end, and I still enjoy it.'

[Earlier version: 2008-07-08 14:56:55, 2006-05-11 17:31:45]

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