I know this comment is 6 yrs old haha but ill still reply. A big factor contributing to this is tape vs digital recording medium, around the time this was recorded tape was still the primariy recording medium being used as digital storage medium's such as sd cards etc weren't fast enough and we didn't have the really robust encoding formats we have now, so even higher budget digital back then would look average (compression artifacts, noise, lower dynamic range, low resolution etc). Also typically the studio's would hang on to their equipment for as long as possible before each refresh cycle for budgetary reasons, so they likely held off on upgrading their equipment and it wasn't constantly at the "cutting edge".
This host guy did a great job. Welcoming, introducing the idea, linking it back to the old series comfortably. Well done. Not as funny as Jimmy, but kind of a cool guy.
For me Jeff Stelling was the closest the regular show's come to truly succeeding the original host Richard Whiteley (that said Colin Murray's not bad himself), had he stayed on I feel he could've created a legacy of his own but a certain Richard Keys had to ruin that...
Winnie Wallace... Wow, look at you back then... And now you're all confident and very much a part of Countdown. Got yourself a lovely husband and two adorable girls.well done Rach, we love the show....
It had me googling the spelling just to be sure, but yeah I got cinnamon almost right away (if you don't count the three years late I am to this video and comment xD)
This is a new low for my procrastinating brain. Was surprised to see so many letter games in comparison with the 8 out of 10 version which to me is the proper one.
Kristian Gillström Björklund: That's why they always joke about the audience of the proper show being incredibly old (and Rachel Riley being responsible for thousands of old men dying from heart attacks, hah). This programme is entirely marketed to retired people who need to keep their brains active. The 8 out of 10 Cats version was originally a charity short because they thought it would be so bizarre to mix one of the funniest shows with one of the most famously boring, but they accidentally came up with a genuinely funny and entertaining show while trying to laugh at how ridiculous the combination would be.
Keep replaying that opening monologue in my head but instead of “because Countdown is back”, the last line is “because...there’s been a goal at Anfield, Alan McInally!”
She's 30 years old now, so back then she must've been 22ish? She's changed so much, gone from a kinda frumpy looking maths teacher to one of the hottest girls on british tv.
sorry but there was never a time she was frumpy looking, even in these earlier episodes. At worst she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow which isn't a bad thing. Even in very bad outfits she doesn't look frumpy at all. Average I would say on her worst days, super hot on her good days. I've seen some episodes where she looks really drawn out, tired, like she's been partying all night, but even in those episodes where she is so-so, she never has looked frumpy. Some bad outfits sure, some really horrible ones, but a hot girl can make bad outfits look better.
Are we watching the same video? Her posture back then was terrible, alongside the bad outfits as you mentioned. You have to admit, compare this video to her in 2017 and it's night a day.
If anything it was Carol who was totally frumpy and unattractive when Countdown first hit our screens but gradually became a goddess. I think Rachel looks great here
I solved CINNAMON for the second game, RESHORES for the first. A few seconds and a web search later, I realized RESHORERS was a perfect nine for that round.
Guys, how do you actually get good sr countdown? I'm trying to find a formula. Thinking about learning all prefixes and suffixes and working from there.
@@hyperboreandream I guess everyone has his own formula that works best for him/her! That doesn't mean that one is better than the other though! I used to teach Dutch, English, German and Portuguese and in all languages words have a defined ending in their present or past tense! If I see an E and a D for example I automatically search first in my past tense which saves thinking time! Then there's common endings like AN, ON, ER, ING, LY, RY, etc. So I my case I find it easier to work backwords! Vocab is key though because you won't find words you don't know or never use!
Countdown these days may look different, but the late Richard Whitley would’ve wanted the show to go on and on in his memory, so would Carol Vorderman too… Stay tuned for the 40th Anniversary this early November.. 💙
I remember seeing this show for the first time and thinking "Man this show is boring but holy moly the numbers/letters girl is smoking hot." I"m pretty sure I wasn't the only one. :p
She's 30 I think and was approx. 22 when she started in 2009. And Countdown has barely changed since 1981, it was made for old people and it's still aimed at them.
Edgar1988 1 second ago Heck, I'm old and can't even watch original countdown, sorry Rachael. Cats is where it's at. I just wish they'd show the uncut cats version - apparently they have like a 2-3 hour filming for each one and some of the funniest stuff only shows up for a few hundred milliseconds
I always thought the way they pick letters is odd. You are going to get the top three vowels, the top four consonants and two sort of random. Seems they could be pre-set to a large degree.
Jimmy Carr looks so much better after he had all that work done.
Cyclops Was Right hahaha! :)
So much funnier too
New teeth and dodging taxes will do that to you.
It’s tax deductible
lol, but how young are Rachael and Suzie!?
All I can see is that Rachel's posture has gotten better over the years. LOL
no doubt
It reaaaaly has :-) dude lol
those heels probably did it, she slouched to reach the letters vs now she leans in
I think *part* of it is that the letters board was originally a bit too low.
@@NestorCustodio i was thinking the same for the whole episode
Hilarious to see the commercials, all about cholesterol, funerals, and cholesterol. They know their target audience!
7 ads about food, 1 ad about pedigree (technically food lol) and 1 about perfume,
Do they have an obesity problem or what lol.
Weird to think that’s the same set that Sean lock will be in when he dumps cat littler all over himself.
OMFG this nearly killed me. You are so right!
LOL
RIP
My God they vamped up Rachel Riley over the years.......................
Wait till you've seen what "they" have done to Sean Lock!
Give the woman credit for some agency over her life. “They” couldn’t vamp her up unless she wanted it.
Juniper Hill she be great as a model she got the figure and looks. She one hot chic
the goatee and shaved head threw me the first time I saw it. He looked like he should have been starring in Breaking Bad.
It took me couple of seconds to figure out you were actually talking about Sean...
Poor Rachel! She looks so adorably nervous here!
Oh no
@richin212 she would be nervous on her first episode
After the 8 out of 10 cats version, this is so damn boring lol
haha, I know... they're taking things WAY to seriously here.
@@arupian666 "to"
Gotcha mate
haha, Charlie, you rascal... you did get me mate, it's a fair cop.
@@arupian666 boy you sure were made the fool! commiserations, old chap.
@@pepe6666 Thanks, old bean... t'was indeed. a bitter pill to swallow.
Even though it was barely 9 years ago, it looks like it was recorded 19 years ago
It’s the black bars. Despite it being 16:9, the bad zoom factor makes it look like a pre-widescreen programme ie pre-2000.
I know this comment is 6 yrs old haha but ill still reply.
A big factor contributing to this is tape vs digital recording medium, around the time this was recorded tape was still the primariy recording medium being used as digital storage medium's such as sd cards etc weren't fast enough and we didn't have the really robust encoding formats we have now, so even higher budget digital back then would look average (compression artifacts, noise, lower dynamic range, low resolution etc).
Also typically the studio's would hang on to their equipment for as long as possible before each refresh cycle for budgetary reasons, so they likely held off on upgrading their equipment and it wasn't constantly at the "cutting edge".
go watch a 19 year old video and you wouldnt say that lol
@@lafondawilliams I was there Gandalf. I was there 3000 years ago.
This host guy did a great job. Welcoming, introducing the idea, linking it back to the old series comfortably. Well done. Not as funny as Jimmy, but kind of a cool guy.
For me Jeff Stelling was the closest the regular show's come to truly succeeding the original host Richard Whiteley (that said Colin Murray's not bad himself), had he stayed on I feel he could've created a legacy of his own but a certain Richard Keys had to ruin that...
Winnie Wallace... Wow, look at you back then... And now you're all confident and very much a part of Countdown. Got yourself a lovely husband and two adorable girls.well done Rach, we love the show....
I love the fact the commercials are still here. i love watching old commercials
The speed of his answer for the Countdown Conundrum (nine letter problem at the end) is insane.
Rachel is one of the very few that get better with age
I can hardly believe they missed 'cinnamon' on the second challenge.
I got that one right away , even Suzie missed it .
it was obvious to me straight off
Was just about to say that.
It had me googling the spelling just to be sure, but yeah I got cinnamon almost right away (if you don't count the three years late I am to this video and comment xD)
I hoped someone would have made this comment.
I think Suzie looks better now, she's changed the most.
No she hasnt changed the most but she has changed a fair bit
Both look better in Older Version.Ofc it's only MY opinion😊
How adorable was Rachel on her first day?
She stayed lovely 'til the end.
When did she die?
@@AaronHahnStudios 'Til the end of the show.
@@milosterwheeler2520the show ended?
@@Kellestial - It hasn't ended.
omg rachel's dead and the show ended!
This is Britain, this is Britain, this is Britain, this is Britain, this is Britain, this is Britain
Britain Britain Britain, Not in Europe now
weird comment..
uncanny resemblance to Gwyneth Paltrow here... 😲
yes exactly, same hair, same looks, very very close
Oh wow I've never thought of that haha. I can't unsee it now
yes but without the stuck up attitude
The time Gwyneth did the movie Sliding Doors.
That hair.. It suits Rachel too!
This is a new low for my procrastinating brain.
Was surprised to see so many letter games in comparison with the 8 out of 10 version which to me is the proper one.
I like 8 out of 10 Cats better, but it's not the proper version. It's a celebrity spin off of this one. More puzzles, less banter.
But this one is sooo slow
Kristian Gillström Björklund: That's why they always joke about the audience of the proper show being incredibly old (and Rachel Riley being responsible for thousands of old men dying from heart attacks, hah). This programme is entirely marketed to retired people who need to keep their brains active. The 8 out of 10 Cats version was originally a charity short because they thought it would be so bizarre to mix one of the funniest shows with one of the most famously boring, but they accidentally came up with a genuinely funny and entertaining show while trying to laugh at how ridiculous the combination would be.
@@somerandomguy2073 thats interesting. i wondered how it came about. its such a strange show.
@@pepe6666 if you wanna know about proper... Look no further then French "Des Chiffres et Des Lettres"...around 1972
I got cinnamon in the second word game
Tom Stasinski I was wondering about that, me too and I expected Susie to come up with that
yea how did the all miss it?
Same
Came to write it in the comments and here it is x)
My thought exactly, how could they have missed cinnamon?
Rachel started off beautiful and got more stunning as she went on.
Keep replaying that opening monologue in my head but instead of “because Countdown is back”, the last line is “because...there’s been a goal at Anfield, Alan McInally!”
It's great to see these generational TV shows from the UK. 👍
OMG all the props for going out there and doing it, Rachel!
She's 30 years old now, so back then she must've been 22ish? She's changed so much, gone from a kinda frumpy looking maths teacher to one of the hottest girls on british tv.
sorry but there was never a time she was frumpy looking, even in these earlier episodes. At worst she looks like Gwyneth Paltrow which isn't a bad thing. Even in very bad outfits she doesn't look frumpy at all. Average I would say on her worst days, super hot on her good days. I've seen some episodes where she looks really drawn out, tired, like she's been partying all night, but even in those episodes where she is so-so, she never has looked frumpy. Some bad outfits sure, some really horrible ones, but a hot girl can make bad outfits look better.
Are we watching the same video? Her posture back then was terrible, alongside the bad outfits as you mentioned. You have to admit, compare this video to her in 2017 and it's night a day.
your not ugly just poor
If anything it was Carol who was totally frumpy and unattractive when Countdown first hit our screens but gradually became a goddess. I think Rachel looks great here
yes she does just a bit understandable awkward
I solved CINNAMON for the second game, RESHORES for the first. A few seconds and a web search later, I realized RESHORERS was a perfect nine for that round.
Rach looked so nervous, bless her
Susie’s “always blissing out with new words”. Lexicography & etymology is her passion, so nice for her that it’s also her job.
At least I'd expect "Cinnamon" from Suzy there!
Yes and pleiades in r4. Must less time spent in dictionary corner in those days and a bit more on introducing the contestants - other way round now.
I thought I was going nuts haha, I was surprised neither of the contestants got it, but floored when Suzy didn't mention it
Guys, how do you actually get good sr countdown? I'm trying to find a formula. Thinking about learning all prefixes and suffixes and working from there.
@@hyperboreandream I guess everyone has his own formula that works best for him/her!
That doesn't mean that one is better than the other though!
I used to teach Dutch, English, German and Portuguese and in all languages words have a defined ending in their present or past tense!
If I see an E and a D for example I automatically search first in my past tense which saves thinking time!
Then there's common endings like AN, ON, ER, ING, LY, RY, etc.
So I my case I find it easier to work backwords!
Vocab is key though because you won't find words you don't know or never use!
Thank you! I actually went and looked it up because I thought I must be spelling it wrong since Suzy didn't come up with it.
Countdown these days may look different, but the late Richard Whitley would’ve wanted the show to go on and on in his memory, so would Carol Vorderman too… Stay tuned for the 40th Anniversary this early November.. 💙
You mean 40th anniversary?
R u swindeedwuwhkwkhhjwr❤r
Hit iuyeindeedgunyyngw gwyuntwr❤r
She's wearing ridiculously high heels. Mad.
Since the description doesn't state it, this episode aired on 2nd February 2009
rachel looks so good as always!!!
Oh my God look at Rachel! She is so young!
It's incredible how Susie and Rachel hold her great appearance for this long.
Rachael's barely 30, Suzie is 50+ and has had obvious work done if you see this in actual HD, no judgement she still looks great
The conundrum... Holy crap!
Quite a different vibe, Jimmy Carr's version seems very much high octane in comparison.
Rachel's posture got so much better over time, shes so hunched over. Probs out of nervousness
More likely to be because she’s wearing incredibly high heels!
She beautiful then stunning now more please
But with a lot less confident posture
Findecanor love her to do more sexual moves
Ron Jeremys first countdown is one to remember 2‼️
Susie Dent is my hero.
Lovely to see how both contestants take the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to say Hi to a pretty girl.
“Just the one “I” there, can’t see much with that” Wow. Lol
on 11 may 2009 the granada logo at the end has been replaced by the itv studios logo
Why does this video from 2009 look like it's from the 80s?
Maybe the background noise?
I remember seeing this show for the first time and thinking "Man this show is boring but holy moly the numbers/letters girl is smoking hot." I"m pretty sure I wasn't the only one. :p
It's only boring if you can beat the contestants
Round 2, letters game...CINNAMON, for a tasty 8! Checked out first Rachel, and killed the game 8 minutes in. I'm 'droppin the mic' Peace Out!
"Precycling" certainly took the language by storm, didn't it? 🙂
This is the first time I ever heard it. ;)
8:10 Can't believe no one came up with 'cinnamon' including Susie.
she's a fine wine that one
So odd, rachel's left arm just kinda hangs there
Yes like broken 🪽.
Waw, how shy and modest she was, even in her clothes, no very short bodycon dress yet, but good girl will soon turn wild.
how on earth does someone solve the conundrum in less than a second??? I know it can happen but it's just ridiculous
We All must agree that Jimmy Car is
Far more BETTER HOST.😂
How old is Rachel Riley? She looks younger now than in this video. xD And the video seems to be from the 70s :O
She keeps a portrait in the attic.
She's 30 I think and was approx. 22 when she started in 2009. And Countdown has barely changed since 1981, it was made for old people and it's still aimed at them.
It was a joke mate. But cheers for proper answer. :)
Edgar1988
1 second ago
Heck, I'm old and can't even watch original countdown, sorry Rachael. Cats is where it's at. I just wish they'd show the uncut cats version - apparently they have like a 2-3 hour filming for each one and some of the funniest stuff only shows up for a few hundred milliseconds
SquareB0t
1 second ago
An XL version of cats countdown would be amazing
She is soooo cute !
This is episode 4879 and (pretty, pretty, pretty) please find more episodes of Countdown please.
Especially the regular version. Not just the 8 out of 10 cats version.
This is actually Episode 4887.
I always thought the way they pick letters is odd. You are going to get the top three vowels, the top four consonants and two sort of random. Seems they could be pre-set to a large degree.
I really enjoyed watching the commercials.
At 13:10 she forgot to add the 25 and 75 and divide by the other 100 so that she could times the whole thing by 1. Rookie mistake, really.
Both Girls Rachel and Suzie look better now
She looks kinda awkward and shy. Still super cute thou.
I also had RESHOES in the first word game. Sadly it's not in.
I have an 8 letter word for the first one: Reshores.
And to brag, I did also get courtier duringthe letter round at 24:30 ish
Rachels RRRs was lovely.
Recorded On Monday 12th January 2009
Feels like 1996 or so :)
All kind of quiet and gentle by comparison to later years. lol😂
Rachel is dressed like Theresa May
8:55 And we have a tribute to an Australian band 'INXS'
loved the commercials
And thus the legend was born
would loved to see if roisin conaty wouldve worked that 503 one out in the 8oo10c version lmao
8:11 CINNAMON!!!
The second letters round had CINNAMON!!! How did they miss that?
I was thinking the same thing.... maybe Im good at this game? Then i couldnt get over 6 letters for any of the others :D
What year was this?
turmeric 25:27
It’s Manuel!
they polished up Rachel since this show. Suzzies just the same TFS
8:30 cinnamon and I thought I was bad at this game
I love the ads haha, major throw back
LOL I got "abounds" as well. Of course I paused for a good minute. 😭
How could they have missed "cinnamon" in the first round???
WHAT ABOUT CINNAMON??
I watch the 8 out of 10 cats version thinking the people who play this for real must be brilliant but honestly I'm holding my own pretty easily
every time I see Rachel, I end up holding my own, also. Oo
8:06 cinnamon
40:40 IT'S YOUR ONLY JOB RACHEL!!!!!!!!!
Every time she turns around she has a different expression on her face 😂
On that first numbers round, where is Joe Wilkinson when you need him? 😂
Cinnamon works right? for the first letters. If so it would be the first time I beat the dictionary corner
Does it need to be a whole number at the end?
NGL, I've always had a crush on Susie.
What year is this? By the quality it looks like 80s but it can't be because Rachel is only 2 years older than I am.
This was aired 2009.
oo0Spyder0oo thanks
38:10 MOLDIEST - I don't know if this US spelling is allowed.
It''s allowed for those of us living in the US. [!] For all that, we won't get a glass clock or much else. ;)
for the first numbers round i had 25+75=100 x10 = 1000 X 50=50,000 / 100 =500 + 3 for 503
2009 her first episode! Wow....
Those letters weren't mixed very well were they?
Did anyone have “horrors” on the first letters game?
Why bot cinnamon for the 2nd letter?
I've never seen contestants pass their answers to the other contestant to verify their answers.
Is anyone going to mention that Manuel from Barthelona is in dictionary corner?