Watch Countdown HD for free on Banana HD

The British game show Countdown has puzzles with words and numbers. It is made by ITV Studios, and Channel 4 airs it. Nick Hewer hosts it with help from Rachel Riley. Susie Dent is the regular lexicographer. It was the first show to air on Channel 4, and since its first episode on November 2, 1982, 67 more have followed. With over 5,000 episodes, Countdown is one of the longest-running game shows in the world. The original French version, Des chiffres et des lettres, has been on French television nonstop since 1965. For 27 years, Countdown was recorded at The Leeds Studios. In 2009, it moved to Granada Studios, and in 2013, it moved to MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Richard Whiteley hosted the show for more than 20 years, until he died in June 2005. The show was then hosted by Des Lynam until the end of 2006, Des O'Connor until the end of 2008, and Jeff Stelling until the end of 2011. Nick Hewer is the presenter right now. Carol Vorderman was the show's co-host and had been there since the beginning. She and O'Connor both left the show in December 2008. Rachel Riley took her place. Every show has a celebrity guest who talks for a few minutes before the first commercial break. In each episode, the two contestants compete in three categories: eleven letters, three numbers, and the conundrum. In the eleven letters rounds, the contestants try to make the longest word they can out of nine random letters; in the three numbers rounds, they have to use math to get to a random target number from six other numbers; and in the conundrum, a buzzer round, they compete to solve a nine-letter anagram. During the series heats, the person who wins comes back the next day until they lose or get eight wins. The best contestants are invited back for the series finals, which are decided in a "knockout" style. Talented contestants have gotten national media attention, and the show as a whole is well-known and often made fun of in British culture.