Editing Countdown (game show) (section)

==In popular culture==
''Countdown'' is often referenced and parodied in British culture.

===Assorted allusions===
In 1992, [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]] used a sample of the host's lead-in for "today's Countdown Conundrum" as the opening for the track "Stoned to Say the Least".

In the 2002 film ''[[About a Boy (film)|About a Boy]]'', protagonist Will Freeman is a regular viewer of ''Countdown''.

The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[Bad Wolf]]" (2005) mentions a futuristic version of ''Countdown'', in which the goal is to stop a bomb from exploding in 30 seconds. ''Countdown'' was referenced again in a later series in "[[Last of the Time Lords]]" (2007), where Professor Docherty expresses a keen fondness for the show and how it "hasn't been the same since Des took over—both Deses".

[[Fairport Convention]] guitarist [[Simon Nicol]] titled one of his solo albums ''Consonant Please Carol'', echoing one of the show's catchphrases.

Mentioned in [[List of Misfits episodes#Series 4 (2012)|episode one (2012) of series 4]] of TV series ''[[Misfits (TV series)|Misfits]]''.

===Video game===
A ''Countdown'' video game was released for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii in 2009. There have also been mobile apps of the game released.

===Outtakes===
[[File:Countdown letters game.jpg|thumb|right|The letters of a round during a 1991 episode in which both contestants declared the word ''wankers''.]]<!-- FAIR USE of Countdown_letters_game.jpg: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Countdown_letters_game.jpg for rationale -->
''Countdown'' has also generated a number of widely viewed [[outtake]]s, with the letters occasionally producing a word that was deemed unsuitable for the original broadcast. A round in which Dictionary Corner offered the word ''gobshite'' featured in ''TV's Finest Failures'' in 2001 (the actual episode aired on 10 January 2000), and in one episode from 1991, contestants Gino Corr and Lawrence Pearse both declared the word ''wankers''. This was edited out of the programme but has since appeared on many outtakes shows.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120912001233/http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/countdwn.htm Snopes] on the ''wankers'' incident—Retrieved 21 June 2006.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060427103824/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/28/db2801.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/06/28/ixportal.html Telegraph.co.uk] on the ''wankers'' incident–Retrieved 20 July 2006.</ref> When contestant Charlie Reams declared ''wankers'' on 21 October 2008 edition, the declaration was kept in but the word itself was [[bleeped]]. Other incidents with only marginally rude words (including ''wanker'', singular) have made it into the programme as they appeared, such as those with Tanmay Dixit referenced above, a clip from a 2001 episode in which the word ''fart'' appeared as the first four letters on the board (which also featured on ''100 Greatest TV Moments from Hell''), and a round where an anagram of the word ''fucked'' appeared on the board in the string "A U O D F C K E G", although neither player chose to use the word and Dictionary Corner was able to find two seven-letter words that could have been made from the board's offerings.<ref>{{cite news |title=Countdown contestants asked to make word using U, D, F, C, K, E |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7511173/Countdown-contestants-asked-to-make-word-using-UDFCKE.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7511173/Countdown-contestants-asked-to-make-word-using-UDFCKE.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |date=24 March 2010 |access-date=27 March 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On 2 February 2017, the board for the letters round was "M T H I A E D H S", and with both players offering sevens, Dictionary Corner found the word "shithead", which was bleeped out in the audio and censored on-screen with the poo emoji.<ref>{{cite news |title=The word 'sh*thead' came up on Countdown and they blocked it out with the faeces emoji |url=http://www.dailyedge.ie/countdown-3220410-Feb2017/ |newspaper=The Daily Edge |date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

===Humour===
The programme is mentioned in an episode of Irish [[sitcom]] ''[[Father Ted]]'' entitled "[[The Old Grey Whistle Theft]]", ''[[Still Game]]'' (in the episode "Wireless") and is also referenced in the very first episode of ''[[Little Britain (TV series)|Little Britain]]'' from 2003. [[BBC]] [[impressionist (entertainment)|impression]] [[sketch show]] ''[[Dead Ringers (series)|Dead Ringers]]'' parodies ''Countdown'' numerous times, and another television programme, ''[[The Big Breakfast]]'', parodied ''Countdown'' in a feature called "Countdown Under".<ref>[http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Good_Game_Guide_9_Game_Show_Spoofs UK Game Shows] list of game show spoofs—Retrieved 21 June 2006.</ref> In a sketch "Countdown to Hell" from the comedy show ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'', [[Stephen Fry]] lampooned [[Richard Whiteley]]'s punning style and [[Hugh Laurie]] played one of the contestants, while [[Gyles Brandreth]] (played by [[Steve Steen]]), presented with the letters "{{smallcaps|bollocsk}}", got the (non-)word "sloblock" (supposedly meaning exactly the same as "[[bollocks]]").<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027145625/http://geocities.com/mmemym/bits3/fal0153.htm Countdown to Hell] transcript—Retrieved 23 June 2006.</ref> The show also has a fleeting reference in British sitcom ''[[The Office (British TV series)|The Office]]'' when Chris 'Finchy' Finch attempts to insult temporary worker Ricky when he explains he had a job to pay for his studies. Finchy states that it probably was 'professor in charge of watching ''Countdown'' every day', commenting on its student audience, and referring to the fact anyone watching ''Countdown'' during its 'hometime' time slot cannot be out at work.

The format of the show has been parodied on ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''. In 1999, when Whiteley was a guest, the numbers game was copied along with the clock music and at the end of the show was a conundrum, "PHANIOILS", to which the answer was [[Ian Hislop]]. In 2004, when Vorderman was a guest, one of the usual rounds was replaced with a conundrum round based on the week's news. When Vorderman hosted ''Have I Got News'' in 2006, one of the rounds was the "Spinning Conundrum Numbers Round", altering the "Spinning Headlines" round by adding a number to a picture relating to the week's news; at the end of the round, the six numbers from the picture were used for a numbers game.

Richard Whiteley was the victim of a practical joke while presenting the show in 1998. The contestants and rounds had been planted as part of a "Gotcha!", a regular prank feature on the light entertainment show ''[[Noel's House Party]]''. In the prank, both the two contestants and Dictionary Corner missed the word ''something'' from the letters OMETHINGS, and from another selection, both of the contestants declared "I've got diarrhoea" referring to the selection. In the numbers round that followed, the male contestant "answered" the puzzle by concatenating 6, 2, and 3 to make the target of 623. Whiteley did not uncover the joke until ''House Party'' presenter [[Noel Edmonds]] appeared on the set, having revealed the unusually short conundrum of HOGCAT to be "gotcha" at the end of the programme.<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/community/showcards/C/Countdown_-_Richard_Whiteley2.html Channel 4] Community webchat with [[Richard Whiteley]], explaining his ''Gotcha!''—Retrieved 21 June 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831122951/http://www.channel4.com/community/showcards/C/Countdown_-_Richard_Whiteley2.html |date=31 August 2010}}</ref>

In a [[Top Gear (series 2)|2003]] episode of ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', Richard Whiteley participated in the "[[Star in a Reasonably Priced Car]]" segment. Before Whiteley's lap was shown, presenter [[Jeremy Clarkson]] played a game of ''Countdown'' with Whiteley, using words such as ''imin'' ([[Mini (marque)|Mini]]), ''sexul'' ([[Lexus]]), ''nevor lard'' ([[Land Rover]]), ''mushi bits''([[Mitsubishi]]) and ''pianos shiazu'' ([[Hispano-Suiza]]).

It was also referred to on ''[[Harry Hill's TV Burp]]'' twice. The first time it was referred to was when "Dev" (''Coronation Street'') made a sound like ''Countdown'' end of thirty seconds time. The second time was when the competition "Where Has The Knitted Character Been This Week?" had the answer "on Rachel Riley's chair".

{{anchor|TNETENNBA}}
On 2 July 2010, the game was featured in the series 4 episode [[List of The IT Crowd episodes#ep20|"The Final Countdown"]] of ''[[The IT Crowd]]''. Moss stuns everyone, including Jeff Stelling and Rachel Riley (both playing themselves), by declaring that the 9 letter string TNETENNBA is in fact a word. Later, Moss becomes an octochamp and is consequently invited into an underground club named "8+", where he competes in a game of "Street Countdown" as part of a spoof of ''Boogie Town''. The episode featured a [[cameo appearance|cameo]] from [[Gyles Brandreth]], a regular contributor to Dictionary Corner.

British entertainer [[Stevie Riks]] has parodied the show in one of his many YouTube comedy videos.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugvATvQueoo | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424155306/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugvATvQueoo&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2020-04-24 | url-status=dead|title=YouTube |work=youtube.com}}</ref>

In an episode from spring 2011, the [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]]-supporting producer of the show arranged the conundrum ''PNECRISIS'' ("priciness"), poking fun at their local rivals [[Preston North End]]'s relegation from the [[Football League Championship|Championship]] in the 2010–11 season.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/may/12/blackpool-fans-mock-preston-countdown |title=Blackpool fan takes Preston North End rivalry into Countdown studio |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Gregg |last=Roughley |date=12 May 2011 |access-date=3 September 2022}}</ref>

===Non-canon games===
The game has also been played on a number of different programmes, notably as the first challenge in "What's Next" on ''[[Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway]]'', featuring the pair versus one of the duo's old head teachers. In 2010, it was played as a shopping task on the final [[Channel 4]] series of ''[[Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series) series 7|Celebrity Big Brother]]'', with a team of housemates competing in the house against the then current champion, Chris Davies, in the ''Countdown'' studio via satellite. The housemates failed this task.