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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:05APPLAUSE
00:31Well, good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown studio.
00:35A very odd story pitched up the other day.
00:39Extraordinary story about a woman in Nigeria, a Nigerian woman,
00:44who replied to a Facebook post and was married six days later.
00:49What happened, apparently, Rachel, was her now-husband posted a comment saying,
00:54anybody interested in being my wife?
00:57And she said, yeah, I'm interested. Direct mail me.
01:00And two days later, apparently, he travelled 300 miles across the country,
01:05it was love at first sight, and there they are, happily married.
01:08I think if you've got yoghurt in your fridge longer than you've had your relationship,
01:12you probably shouldn't get married. Rule of thumb.
01:15Absolutely right. Anyway, we wish them a long and happy life together.
01:19Of course.
01:21As if. Now, who's with us?
01:24Mack Walker. Rachel, you remember that Mack Walker came up last time we were here
01:28and did something remarkable, because he beat Dougie Mackay,
01:32who was a seven times winner, and you came through and you won on a crucial conundrum.
01:36Fantastic. Young man of 17? Yeah.
01:40Brilliant stuff. Well, good luck to you today.
01:42But first of all, you've got to beat Marsha Bell. How are you, Marsha?
01:46Fine, thank you. A literary researcher from Wareham.
01:49That's right. A literary researcher, meaning, what do you do exactly?
01:53Well, my speciality really is investigating how English spelling hinders learning to read and write.
01:59Originally you're from Lithuania, and then you went to Germany when you were 14.
02:03That's right. And now you're writing books on English spelling.
02:06So tell us a little bit more about this spelling system that we've got that is so damaging, you think.
02:11Well, it's one of the worst in the world, because not only do you have 4,000 plus common words
02:17that you have to learn one by one, like seek, speak, shriek.
02:22There are no rules for lots of spellings. You just simply have to learn them.
02:26And how long, because in Lithuania, at school, did you learn English?
02:30I started at the age of 14, and that's when I first thought,
02:34how can they do this to their children? Extraordinary. Well, there we are.
02:38Big round of applause now for Marsha and Mack.
02:41APPLAUSE
02:44Marsha and Mack, and over in the corner Susie, of course,
02:47who will have something to say about that, I have no doubt,
02:50joined once again by the wonderful Pasha Kovalev,
02:53who's broken away from his tour, his 60-venue tour, to be with us today.
02:57Thank you so much, Pasha. It's a nice break for me. Thank you for having me.
03:01All right. More from you later on, but now we turn to the giant killer Matt Walker,
03:06sixth-form student from Sheffield, to take us away today. Letters game.
03:10Good afternoon, Rachel. Afternoon, Mack. Could I have a consonant, please?
03:13Thank you. Start today with S.
03:15And a vowel.
03:17O
03:19And another.
03:21O
03:23And a consonant.
03:25Y
03:27And a consonant.
03:29D
03:31And another.
03:33P
03:35And a consonant, please.
03:37T
03:39E
03:41And a vowel.
03:43And lastly, I.
03:45And here's the Countdown Clock.
04:09CLOCK TICKS
04:18Well, Mack? A seven.
04:20A seven. Marsha? Only six.
04:22And that six is? Poised.
04:26Deposit.
04:28Now, what else can we have? Pasha?
04:30A few more sevens. Yes. One of them is dopiest.
04:33Dopiest, yeah. That's a funny word.
04:36Stooped is our third seven.
04:38Stooped. Thank you.
04:40Seven points to Mack there.
04:42Marsha, your letters game.
04:44Hello, Rachel. Hi, Marsha.
04:46Consonant, please. Thank you. Start with P.
04:50And another.
04:52S
04:55Vowel.
04:57A
04:59Vowel.
05:01E
05:03Vowel.
05:05O
05:08Consonant.
05:10T
05:14Consonant.
05:16L
05:20Erm...
05:22Consonant.
05:24S
05:29Another vowel. And the last one.
05:31E
05:33Stand by.
06:04Yes. Marsha?
06:06Seven.
06:08A seven. And, Mack?
06:10Risky eight. Marsha?
06:12Elapses. Now, Mack?
06:14Apostles? Not risky at all.
06:16Excellent. Yes, really good eight.
06:18Oh, good, yeah.
06:23Now, Pasha. Pasha and Susie?
06:25Well, Apostles was the highest we can come up with.
06:28And another one is a little bit lower, seven.
06:31So, if you're missing your pot, you're going to be potless.
06:34Potless, indeed.
06:36And pestles is there, too, is a seven, I think.
06:38Absolutely. Mortar and pestle? Mortar and pestle.
06:40Yeah. There we are.
06:42Mack, your numbers game.
06:44Could I have two large and four small, please?
06:46You can indeed. Thank you, Mack.
06:48Two from the top row and four little ones.
06:50And for the first one today, they are one, ten, four, eight, 75 and 100.
06:57And the target to reach?
06:59301.
07:01301.
07:28Mack?
07:29301.
07:30And Marsha?
07:31301.
07:32Thank you, Mack.
07:3375 times four.
07:34300.
07:35And add the one.
07:36Easy.
07:37There we go.
07:38And Marsha?
07:39Yeah, yeah.
07:41So, 25 plays ten as we turn to our first Tea Time teaser,
07:45which is Tune Lover.
07:47And the clue...
07:48She loves playing tunes so much,
07:50she does it for free at the local hospital.
07:53She loves playing tunes so much,
07:55she does it for free at the local hospital.
07:57She loves playing tunes so much,
07:59she does it for free at the local hospital.
08:02MUSIC
08:17Welcome back.
08:18Warm welcome back.
08:19I left with the clue...
08:20She loves playing tunes so much,
08:22she does it for free at the local hospital.
08:25A volunteer.
08:26Volunteer.
08:28Now, if you'd like to become a Countdown contestant,
08:31you can email countdown at channel4.com
08:34to request an application form
08:36or write to us at contestantsapplications,
08:39countdownleads, ls31js.
08:44So, 25 plays ten,
08:46Mack on 25,
08:48and it's Marsha's letters game.
08:50Marsha?
08:51Consonant, please.
08:52Thank you, Marsha.
08:53D
08:54Vow
08:56A
08:58Consonant
09:00R
09:02Vow
09:03A
09:05Consonant
09:07P
09:10Consonant
09:12R
09:16Another consonant
09:18M
09:21Vow
09:23I
09:26Another consonant
09:28And lastly, R.
09:30And here's the Countdown clock.
09:32CLOCK TICKS
09:53CLOCK TICKS
10:03Marsha?
10:04Seven.
10:05Seven.
10:06Mack?
10:07Seven.
10:08Marsha?
10:09Married.
10:11Mack?
10:12Same word, married.
10:13And in the corner, Susie and Pasha.
10:15Pasha, what do you reckon?
10:17A few more sevens.
10:18One of them is Mardier.
10:20Mardier.
10:21Mardier.
10:22I love it, it means sulkier.
10:24It's a bit of a regional term, I love it, yes.
10:26And the else there, Susie?
10:28Parried, a fencing term, but you can also parry a...
10:31Parry a blow.
10:32A blow, yes, to defend yourself or fight it off.
10:35Thank you so much.
10:3632-17, Marsha on 17.
10:38Mack, your letters game.
10:40Can I have a consonant, please?
10:41Thank you, Mack.
10:42G
10:44And a vowel.
10:46O
10:47And another.
10:49A
10:50And a consonant.
10:52N
10:53And another.
10:55L
10:57And another.
10:59N
11:00And a vowel.
11:02I
11:03And a consonant.
11:05M
11:06And a final vowel, please.
11:08And a final O.
11:11Stand by.
11:22MUSIC PLAYS
11:43Yes, Mack?
11:44A seven.
11:45A seven, and Marsha?
11:46A seven also.
11:47And...
11:48Moaning.
11:49Moaning.
11:51Now, Pasha, what are we doing?
11:53I think they got all the best words.
11:55Yeah.
11:56Moaning and loaning.
11:57That's it.
11:58Nothing else, Susie?
11:59We're looking at Mongolian, but it's capital M.
12:01I know.
12:02Yeah, that's a blow, isn't it?
12:03Yeah.
12:04Never mind.
12:0539-24, Mack on 39.
12:07Marsha, your numbers game.
12:08Now then, Marsha.
12:09Can I have two large and four small, please?
12:12You can indeed.
12:13Thank you, Marsha.
12:14And these four little ones are...
12:168
12:1710
12:182
12:197
12:20And then the large two, 50 and 75.
12:23And the target, 596.
12:26596.
12:28MUSIC PLAYS
12:51MUSIC STOPS
12:59Well, Marsha?
13:00595.
13:02Just one away, Mack.
13:04596.
13:05Thank you, Mack.
13:06So I did 75 times 8.
13:08600.
13:09And then 50 over 10.
13:11Is 5.
13:12And then 7 minus the 5.
13:147 minus 5 is 2.
13:17Add the 2.
13:18And the other 2.
13:19And then take that away.
13:20Well done.
13:21596.
13:22Excellent.
13:23APPLAUSE
13:26Well done, Mack.
13:2749-24.
13:28As we turn to Pasha, who's broken away from his tour,
13:31and that tour, I think, is based on the great Hollywood dance movies.
13:36Is that right?
13:37That's really a first love of yours, I think, wasn't it?
13:40Funny enough, I haven't seen all of those movies
13:44up until I moved to America.
13:48When I was growing up, it was still communism in Russia,
13:51and no Western culture was allowed.
13:55When the communism fell, the first time I watched the movie,
13:58it was a bootlegged version of one of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.
14:03How it worked, in the library, funny enough,
14:06they would set up a TV with a little VCR tape player.
14:12At that point, they were all translated by one person.
14:16So one person who sounded very funny, he was...
14:19Paramount Pictures presents...
14:21...sounded like that.
14:23And every single voice, every single character in the movie
14:28was dubbed by that guy.
14:31So I didn't even know real voices of people and how they sounded
14:36up until later when I got proper access to those movies.
14:41I thought they all sound the same.
14:43Funny.
14:45Eventually, when I moved to America,
14:49I was exposed to all the dance movies.
14:52And of course, I started with later ones,
14:55and then discovered that there were so many beautiful films
15:01from 40s, 50s, 60s.
15:03I think I watched all the Michael Jackson's videos
15:08because they were full of dancing.
15:10And then you look back at Fred Astaire,
15:14and you see where Michael Jackson got his ideas from.
15:17And of course, all the movies that were coming out
15:21affected how people were looking at dancing
15:23because Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly,
15:26everyone wanted to go and tap.
15:28Everyone wanted to go do ballroom dancing.
15:31And then later when Saturday Night Fever came out,
15:34every single person went to the dance studio.
15:36They wanted to learn how to disco.
15:38They wanted to learn hustle.
15:40Dirty Dancing brought new wave of wanting to learn
15:44Mamba and Salsa and do that very sensual dancing.
15:49And studios were filled with people who wanted to do that lift
15:54and who probably hurt themselves doing it.
15:58But my tour right now is based on all of those movies,
16:04all of those wonderful moments that inspired
16:07so many beautiful dance scenes and love so much.
16:15Big round of applause.
16:16APPLAUSE
16:21Lovely guy.
16:22Now then, 49, page 24, Mac in the lead at the moment
16:26and it's Mac's letters game.
16:27Hi, Rachel. Could I have a consonant, please?
16:29Thank you, Mac. W.
16:31And a vowel?
16:33E.
16:35And a consonant?
16:37K.
16:38And another?
16:40B.
16:42And a vowel?
16:44I.
16:46And a consonant?
16:48M.
16:49And a vowel?
16:51E.
16:53And another?
16:55A.
16:56And a final consonant, please?
16:58And a final T.
17:00Stand by.
17:31Well, Mac, only a five.
17:33A five, Marsha.
17:34Five, two.
17:35Mac, tweak.
17:36Sandwich.
17:39Can we beat five, chaps?
17:41Pasha and Susie?
17:43I think we can.
17:44Susie?
17:45We have a really not very nice six but it will get you to a six
17:49and that's morkit, M-A-W-K-I-T, which means full of maggots.
17:53Really?
17:55But there's also betake, which is a bit more poetic.
17:58I betake myself to the shops, for example.
18:02All right, 54-29.
18:04And it's Marsha's letters game now.
18:06Marsha.
18:07Consonant, please.
18:09Thank you, Marsha.
18:10T.
18:11And another?
18:13N.
18:16And another?
18:18G.
18:20Vowel?
18:22U.
18:24Another?
18:25E.
18:27Another?
18:29I.
18:31Consonant?
18:33P.
18:35Another?
18:37C.
18:40And another consonant?
18:41And lastly, N.
18:43And here's the Countdown Clock.
18:56CLOCK TICKS
19:16Well, Marsha?
19:17Seven.
19:18Seven and?
19:19Seven.
19:20Marsha?
19:21Punting.
19:22Thank you. Same again?
19:23Same word.
19:24Seven.
19:25Pasha and Susie?
19:26Seven is the best we could do with this.
19:28And another word is penguin.
19:31Penguin, well done, yeah.
19:33Dancing with penguins.
19:35And the answer, Susie?
19:36No, that was our best.
19:3761 plays 36.
19:38Mac on 61.
19:40And it's numbers for you, Mac.
19:42Could I have two large and four small, please?
19:44You can indeed.
19:45Thank you, Mac.
19:46Your usual now.
19:47Two large, four little.
19:48And they are four, ten, three, five.
19:52And the big two, 125.
19:55And your target, 399.
19:57399.
20:22CLOCK TICKS
20:30Well, Mac?
20:31Only 400.
20:32400, Marsha?
20:33I've got 399.
20:34Let's hear how you did it.
20:36100 times 4.
20:37100 times 4, 400.
20:39Right.
20:4010 divided by 5.
20:42Is 2.
20:43Take it away from the 3.
20:44For the 1.
20:45And then take it from the 400.
20:47Perfect, well done.
20:48Well done.
20:50Well done.
20:52Now, 61 plays 46, Marsha on 46,
20:56as we turn to our second Tea Time teaser,
20:59which is Sid Little and the clue.
21:01The man felt rather uneasy and began to speak in this way.
21:05The man felt rather uneasy and began to speak in this way.
21:10APPLAUSE
21:26Welcome back.
21:27I left with the clue, the man felt rather uneasy
21:30and began to speak in this way.
21:32He began to speak stiltedly.
21:35Stiltedly.
21:37Poor chap.
21:3861 plays 46.
21:39Mac in the lead at the moment and it's Marsha's letters game.
21:42Marsha.
21:43Consonant, please.
21:44Thank you, Marsha.
21:45H.
21:47Another.
21:49X.
21:52Vowel.
21:53A.
21:55Consonant.
21:57H.
22:00Vowel.
22:02E.
22:03Consonant.
22:05R.
22:08Consonant.
22:10F.
22:13Vowel.
22:15I.
22:17Another consonant.
22:19And lastly, D.
22:21Countdown.
22:37MUSIC PLAYS
22:53Well, Marsha?
22:54Just six.
22:55A six, Mac?
22:56A six also.
22:57Marsha?
22:58Shared.
22:59Shared and?
23:00Yeah, same word.
23:01You're sharing, sharing.
23:02Any advances on six?
23:03Pasha?
23:04Susie?
23:05We had another six.
23:06Dasher.
23:07Yes.
23:08Somebody who is dashing and dresses stylishly.
23:11And Susie, anything else?
23:13Yes, there is a seven there.
23:15Shadier.
23:16Shadier.
23:18A shadier side of the road.
23:2067-52.
23:22Mac, your letters game.
23:24Could I have a consonant, please?
23:26Thank you, Mac.
23:27R.
23:28And a vowel?
23:29U.
23:31And a consonant?
23:33M.
23:35And a vowel?
23:37E.
23:38And another, please?
23:40A.
23:41And a consonant?
23:43B.
23:45And another?
23:47S.
23:49And another?
23:51D.
23:53And a final consonant, please?
23:55And lastly, S.
23:57Stand by.
23:58MUSIC PLAYS
24:05MUSIC CONTINUES
24:30Well, Mac?
24:31Er, six.
24:32Marsha?
24:33Now then.
24:34Er, Dummer.
24:36Marsha?
24:37Bermudas.
24:38The shorts.
24:39Um...
24:41Yeah, it's always got a capital letter, I'm afraid.
24:43Bad luck.
24:44Yeah.
24:45Bad luck.
24:46Now, what else can we have?
24:48We've got Dummer there.
24:49And...
24:50Pasha.
24:51Well, we have another seven-letter word.
24:54Mm-hm.
24:55And, er, there is a dance called Roomba.
24:57Indeed.
24:58And if there is a Roomba, you can be Roomba'd.
25:01Roomba'd?
25:03Is that right?
25:04Very good.
25:05A Roomba.
25:06Where does the Roomba come from?
25:08From Cuba.
25:09It's a...
25:10But regionally, yeah.
25:11It's a Caribbean job.
25:12Yeah.
25:13Latin American Spanish.
25:14And Susie?
25:15No, that's brilliant.
25:16It looks really odd, Roomba'd, when you write it down.
25:18R-U-M-B-A-E-D.
25:19But it does exist.
25:20Roomba'd.
25:22Well and truly, Roomba'd.
25:2373 to 52.
25:24Mac on 73.
25:26Susie, regale us with your next origins of words.
25:30What have you got?
25:31Well, I was browsing through the Oxford Dictionary's blog.
25:35Lots of lovely articles about the origins of words on there.
25:38And they took a linguistic look, if you like,
25:42at the roots of the world's five oceans
25:45and where the names of the oceans come from.
25:47And it was actually just really pleasant to read,
25:49so I thought I'd share it with you today.
25:51But before we start, I thought I would mention ocean itself,
25:54cos that comes all the way from the Greek oceanos,
25:58which meant a great stream that was encircling the Earth's disk.
26:02And that was the whole body of water,
26:05which the ancient Greeks thought encompassed
26:08the Earth's single land mass, as they thought in those days.
26:12And it was used to contrast with inland seas,
26:14such as the Mediterranean,
26:15which literally means the middle of the land.
26:18So I'll start with the Indian Ocean.
26:19That one's not so linguistically interesting,
26:21named simply because it's south of India,
26:23so that one's fairly simple.
26:25But the Pacific Ocean is a nice one
26:27because there's a link between Pacific and pacify,
26:30because the name of the ocean was originally a very specific use
26:34of Pacific, or calm, and characterised by peace.
26:38So serenity, really, was the idea there.
26:40And it comes from the name given in Portuguese
26:42to the body of water experienced by Magellan,
26:45the Portuguese explorer, when he first reached it in 1520.
26:49So that's quite lovely, I think.
26:51Atlantic comes from the Greek Atlanticos.
26:53That goes back to Atlas, who was the titan, really,
26:56of Greek mythology.
26:57He supported the heavens with his great strength.
27:00And all atlases, which, of course, took his name as well,
27:03used to have a frontispiece,
27:05the sort of early collections of maps
27:07which showed him holding up the world,
27:09as people will be familiar with that.
27:11And the term Atlantic originally referred
27:13to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa
27:15and then to the sea near Africa
27:17and then later to the whole ocean there.
27:19The Arctic Ocean surrounds the Arctic, no surprise there.
27:23But that conceals its origins a little bit more successfully
27:26because it comes from the Greek Arktos, meaning bear,
27:29because of the great bear constellation.
27:31That's a lovely story in Greek mythology.
27:34It looks at the nymph Callisto, who's turned into a bear
27:37and placed as a constellation into the heavens by Zeus.
27:40I think that's a beautiful story.
27:42And finally, the Antarctic Ocean, again, fairly simple,
27:45also known as the Southern Ocean, this one,
27:47but that's defined in opposition to the Arctic
27:49because Antarctic simply means opposite to the Arctic.
27:53Marvellous.
27:55APPLAUSE
27:57Lovely.
27:59Thank you, Susie.
28:01Now, 73-52, Marsha.
28:04Off we go.
28:06Consonant, please. Thank you, Marsha.
28:08G.
28:10And another?
28:12J.
28:14And another?
28:16L.
28:18And another?
28:20T.
28:22Vowel, please.
28:24U.
28:26Another?
28:28I.
28:30Another?
28:32A.
28:34Consonant?
28:36F.
28:38And another consonant?
28:40And lastly, W.
28:42Stand by.
28:48BELL RINGS
29:13Marsha.
29:15Five.
29:17Just a four.
29:19And that four would be flag.
29:21Marsha?
29:23Fling.
29:25There's no N in there, Marsha, unfortunately.
29:27Sorry.
29:29Bad luck.
29:31Pasha and Susie, there are a few five-letter words.
29:33One of them is awful.
29:35Yes.
29:37And another?
29:39Guilt.
29:41Guilt.
29:43Cheery.
29:45And Mac, final letters game goes to you.
29:47Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Mac.
29:49N.
29:51And a vowel?
29:53O.
29:55And another?
29:57E.
29:59And a consonant?
30:01V.
30:03And another?
30:05G.
30:07And one more?
30:09C.
30:11And a vowel, please.
30:13A.
30:15And a final consonant, please.
30:17And the last one, N.
30:19Stand by.
30:43MUSIC
30:49Well, Mac?
30:51Risky seven.
30:53And Marsha?
30:55Risky eight.
30:57Now, Mac?
30:59Knive.
31:01Knive. And Marsha?
31:03Canoeing.
31:05Both absolutely brilliant, yes.
31:07Canoeing is excellent, eight, well done.
31:09Well done there, Marsha, well done.
31:11Now, who else has got an eight or even a nine?
31:13No, not this time.
31:15And canoeing was the best.
31:17The best you had.
31:19Best that we could do, but I like knive as well, to plot.
31:21To plot. Kniving rotter.
31:23Yes. Thank you.
31:2577 to 60.
31:27Marsha, final numbers game for you.
31:29Too large, four small.
31:31Too large, four small.
31:33And if you win this round, we could have a crucial conundrum on our hands.
31:35Good luck, Marsha.
31:37The last numbers of today are four,
31:39six, nine,
31:41one, and then the large two.
31:4350 and 75.
31:45And the target, 330.
31:47330.
32:09Well, Marsha?
32:11330.
32:13Mac?
32:15330.
32:17Now, Marsha?
32:1950 add four plus one.
32:2155 times six.
32:23Perfect.
32:25330, well done.
32:27And Mac?
32:29Yes, same way.
32:31Same way, exactly.
32:33There we go.
32:35APPLAUSE
32:37So, two good scores
32:39as we go into the final round.
32:41Marsha on 70, Mac on 87.
32:43Fingers on buzzers.
32:45Let's roll today's Countdown Conundrum.
32:57Marsha?
32:59Refilling?
33:01Let's see whether you're right.
33:03Refilling.
33:05Refilling.
33:07APPLAUSE
33:13Very well played.
33:15The Bermudas.
33:17LAUGHTER
33:19It's that wretched capital letter, isn't it?
33:21But you played brilliantly.
33:2382, Macs 87.
33:25So, two great players.
33:27Today is not your day, Marsha, but my word,
33:29I'm sure if you came back again, it would be fantastic.
33:31Thank you very much indeed.
33:33With our thanks,
33:35played very well. If you just got that,
33:37I think Rachel said,
33:39get this and win for a crucial one.
33:41Just missed it. There we are.
33:43We shall see you next time. Well done.
33:45Two wins. Congratulations.
33:47Thank you very much.
33:49Well done.
33:51Pasha and Susie,
33:53we'll see you next time. More lovely stories from Pasha, too.
33:57And Rachel?
33:59I'm with Marsha on all the spelling.
34:01It's about 20 odd ways to say it.
34:03Crazy.
34:05But then we'd be out of a job if we changed it all,
34:07so I'll keep quiet.
34:09See you next time, Mags.
34:11All right, join us then, same time, same place.
34:13You'll be sure of it.
34:15A very good afternoon to all.
34:17Contact us by email at
34:19countdown at channel4.com,
34:21by Twitter at
34:23c4countdown, or write to us at
34:25countdown, leeds, ls3, 1js.
34:27You can also find our webpage
34:29at channel4.com forward slash
34:31countdown.
34:37Fate and a bus journey brought these couples together.
34:39Now they're about to become a family.
34:41One born every minute is tonight at
34:43nine o'clock.
34:45Next stop this afternoon, look out the window.
34:47Hello, sunshine.