Channel 4 at 25

Even nowadays the contestants can be miserable, as some take it more seriously than others. The things that change it now are the happy introduction to the show, and the audience seem to be enjoying it more than they seem to in the first edition. Then again I suppose the audience then haven't got a clue whats going on and how the game properly works.

I thought the Countdown of today was dull but this is enough to put anyone in a coma.

Not aiming this at you specifically but in relation to this forum that's a "pots and kettles" statement.

As for Countdown, yes it would have been necessary to establish the rules for the show's first national outing as opposed to bantering with the contestants/co-hosts, but even in that first episode we could see the lame jokes and character which would make Richard Whiteley a household name. Ted Moult made light work of helping ease the audience into what was then an unfamiliar game - and it was he, not Richard, who would have been the "familiar face" to everyone outside Yorkshire.

At least we're keeping ourselves to ourselves rather than bothering people who couldn't give a toss that they haven't shown a testcard for a decade.

Well equally there are loads of things that C4 haven't shown for ten years or more which admittedly many of us wouldn't give a toss about - but I'm not about to slap down anyone who might mention Network Seven, Old Country (Jack Hargreaves' "Out Of Town" rebranded), The Channel 4 Daily, a US sitcom called ER which pre-dated the better-known drama series of the same name by 13 years (true!)

I'm a bit disappointed with this countdown

Was it me or did a Jungle Book advert just feature something about Channel 4's 25th birthday?

Yes, it even had the old ch4 logo, although I'm sure it first come out in the late 60's

Wasn't the first countdown really odd? Having three people do the same job that Carol is doing now. They even had a second person doing the numbers game. What was the point of her, she didn't even speak! How much did they pay her to do that i wonder?

The contestants looked like they came from the 60s too which was odd. Even to the point of the man with the glasses looking rather p*ssed off when Carol got the numbers right when he didn't.

Ch4 ( 80;s logo ) looks Timeless!

The Paul O'Grady Show is also themed for the day (in case anyone missed the trailer). There will be some 'special clips'.

Ah, fantastic to see the classic 4's back - even the American Football version (as a break bumper at least, has it been used on an ident?) which really used to scare me as a kid, is there - cool!