Has Countdown been nothing since Richard Whiteley died?

richard and carol livened up a boring game show. Watched just to see what they would do.
Can't understand how the prog has lasted so long.Richard was terrible when he first started though.
 
Many viewers built up over the course of its 25 years have probably stuck with the show - after all, the actual format itself is more or less unchanged. There is little that can be done about the enforced change of personnel.

I think the programme would have soldiered on nicely but unspectacularly if Richard had remained alive and well, and Carol certainly wouldn't have left. But that's fate.
 
In Yorkshire, Richard was affectionately known as Twice Nightly Whiteley, referring to Countdown and Calendar News. Look North presenter Peter Levy is similarly a cult figure, to the point that he was given a radio show which is simulcast on both BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Lincolnshire (which together serve Look North Hull's region).
 
I used to watch it when I was 8 (was and am very intelligent and I often preferred it to kiRAB programmes) but I stopped watching after Whiteley died as it really isn't the same imo.
 
I love watching old episodes on Youtube, as it's nostalgic and reminRAB me of being at my grandparents house after school some afternoons :D

I hope Jeff and Rachel are still there in 20 years time and recreate the magic Richard and Carol built up over the years.

Also while i'm at it, bring back the boring yet brilliant 15 to 1!
 
Totally agree (about both). Jeff and Rachel have the potential to reach the status that Richard and Carol did. Let's hope they continue.

And a message to Bill Stewart; come on, bring Fifteen to One back. It was an antidote to all the awful quiz shows we have on television now.
 
Someone will have to explain the " Legendness " of Whiteley.

I don't wish to speak ill of the departed, but my hand has been forced.

He was a Alan Partridge clone, a mediocre presenter, and a charisma free zone, witnessed by the fact that he never gravitated above a silly afternoon worRAB and numbers TV quiz show.
I doubt he was offered the chair of Question Time or a chance to take over from Paxo on Newsnight.

Rachel, Suzi and Jeff do a great job, while Richard and Carol are distant memories.
 
We have watched Countdown from the off and it went through a rocky patch after Richard's death as the celeb presenters were not really into the show and you could tell.

With Jeff Stelling they have found the perfect host as he loves the format and shares his enthusiasm with the viewers like Richard once did. It is now working in its simple, innocent way all over again. And I think Richard would approve of Jeff as his successor.

It is getting far fewer viewers but it also will cost far less than it once did.

Jeff and Rachel have revived the enjoyment of what is still the best gameshow format as it allows every viewer to participate fully. And is not in any way about winning big money,

Long may this kind of TV have a place in todays celeb obsessed, get rich quick TV generation.
 
Des Lynam always looked bored and a bit embarrassed to be hosting the show, as if he wanted to be anywhere else but there. The look on his face just said "Has it really come to this for me?"
 
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