Countdown

It used to alternate with Fifteen to One - three months on, three months off.

I like the sound of something else I read: Stephen Mulhern and Rachel Riley

Stephen Mulhern... absolute no go.. "And now before the Numbers game... some magic..."

15 to one Three months on/off from 1988 - 1996?

Late 1996 it become

15 to one 4pm
Countdown 4.30

I have to ask when did to become 50mins show? it used to start 3.25 - 4.pm but now Deal or now deal is on for full hour! and countdown starts at 3.10pm,

talk about dragging shows out, I understand why it went to 45mins format at 4.15pm

I think it became 45 minutes long when Richard and Judy joined C4 - so late 2001 IIRC.

Always was a much neater format 30 minutes long and I thought C4 might have taken the opportunity to cut it back both when Richard died and when Carol left - and now it might be worth doing considering they've (unnecessarily again) extended Deal or No Deal - though I suspect if anything C4 might be more inclinded to increase it so it aired from 3-4pm rather than cut it back.

Steve Rider is another person who could be added to the list.

But I think it has to be between Richard Madeley, John Suchet and Greg Scott.

Steve Rider is another person who could be added to the list.

Carol Vorderman 'rules out' Countdown return

CAROL Vorderman has admitted she doesnt miss Countdown one bit.

And she has no interest in returning as new host following Jeff Stellings decision to quit the popular TV word-game quiz.

Carol, 50, who caused a storm when she quit as co-presenter three years ago, said: Its not my business any more.

I am just a viewer now like everybody else. I would not want to go back to it.

Carol left the teatime Channel 4 show after refusing to take a 90 per cent pay cut.

The maths expert, who was paid s1.2million a year, was outraged at being forced out after 26 years due to the financial squeeze.

Now C4 bosses are looking for a new face after Stelling, 55, quit to focus on Sky Sports.

But Carol, who co-presented the show with Richard Whiteley for many years, said: I don't miss it.

I was very lucky and worked consistently for nearly 30 years.

But I now have a great life in Bristol with my two kids, a business and a bit of TV work and I just love my life.

Richard, the original and longest-serving presenter, fronted the show from its launch in 1982 until his death from heart failure at 61 in 2005.

Show bosses have struggled to find a long-term replacement and many Countdown fans say Whiteley was irreplaceable.

Happy

The first appointment was sports pundit Des Lynam, 68, who lasted 16 months, followed by entertainer Des OConnor, 79, who did two years.

Stelling was given the job in 2008.

Carol, who was replaced by Rachel Riley, 25, on s100,000 a year, insisted: I have got the balance right for the first time in my life.

I play more now much more than I used to. I am just so happy. When you have done 30 years of telly, thats enough.