Can anyone who's applied for/been on Countdown tell me something about what the auditions involve, or how difficult it is to get on? I think about having a go every now and then.
Presumably you have to do a few numbers games or conundrums?
Of his own death, he once joked that the headline on his obituary would be "Ferret Man Dies"-
a reference to the unforgettable and much-repeated clip of a ferret clamping its jaws around his finger and refusing to let go.
Ha ha - yes. Mind you, the whole show's becoming a bit - ooh matron, these days! Whoever composes those teatime teasers..... well!!! There was one recently, forgotten the solution, but the clue was, waking up with the horn! No idea how Jeff kept a straight face.
They changed the 'easy' big numbers (25, 50, 75 and 100) to 12, 37 (and two others we never found out as they did not come up but I would guess 62 and 87 are good bets).
The point was a one off experiment to make it harder for proven champions.
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.
Don't think there was much chemistry between Richard and Carol in the early days either.
As for reduced viewing figures, they'd been declining for some years, probably due in part to the increased number of channels, and it will take a long while (if never) to recover to the heyday figures.