Well with so much information on The Exit List floating round, it’s time for a maze fuelled few days of videos.
Here is the pilot for US show The Moneymaze:
Incidentally I apologise in advance for any spam comments that get through at the moment, it looks like the bots are changing tactics and it’s taking a while for Askimet to catch up.
This is better than The Exit List, by virtue of it being a proper maze, not just a load of rooms put together.
No need to appologise about the spam comments Brig, we’ve been used to reading unwanted and blatant promotions for one company on here for ages – you just get used him..errmm. it after a while.
Hey, Happy Christmas Joe!
In fairness we won’t be hearing from Joe for a while and it wuld be unfair to take a pop when there’s no chance of fighting back.
Still, though.
Looks like the bots are really being malicious… 🙁 😡
Anyway, today is the final of series 65 of Countdown – and, of course, the final episode of the Stelling Era.
===POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW===
And what of the four previous matches this week?
Well, Paul Keane beat Dave Taylor in the third quarter-final on Monday, as expected – though he was given a battle, with his first nine-letter spot of the series (MODERNISE) in round 12 proving crucial.
The last QF on Tuesday, though, turned out to be a disappointment in two ways – not only did Carl Williams beat Jayne Wisniewski, but he did so comfortably.
It’s disappointing that he won comfortably because the two had gone into it so closely matched on points and statistics. That said, Jayne had rotten luck with the numbers, and also missed one or two words that she normally wouldn’t.
But why is it disappointing that Carl won anyway?
Well, as I said in the last Board of Excitement, he was never far from controversy during his octochamp run, and as a result he wasn’t very popular with those on c4countdown.
And it seems that in this match he was at it again: 😕
http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8703
Still, just about everyone expected that Mark Deeks would easily beat him in the first semi-final the following day. After all, Mark wasn’t the #1 seed for nothing – not when he had found plenty of nine-letter words, had been so brilliant on the numbers, and had of course blown David Butcher off the floor in his QF.
And what happened?
Carl went and pulled off quite possibly the biggest shock since Richard Whiteley’s passing… 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😕
Needless to say, the general reaction on c4c was one of disbelief and outrage.
Jon Corby, in particular, was utterly pissed off:
“I’m so fucking angry with you right now Deeks. Particularly as (unless there’s more DC beaters beyond UPSIZES) I think I maxed it from my armchair, so I was seeing everything and then sinking when you declared. When he got 10+ ahead I was thinking “okay, this could be even better actually, if he thinks he’s gonna win and then Deeks snatches it from him”, and then when you got that 247 I thought here we go. But fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
Graeme [Cole], you have to beat that twat. PLEASE.”
Andy Platt also wasn’t too happy:
“Don’t know what to say really other than I was fucking gutted… honestly couldn’t bring myself to watch it back on TV.”
For more reaction, visit
http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8707
😉 😉
No shocks in the other SF on Thursday, though, as Graeme beat Paul fairly comfortably – though he didn’t take the lead until round 8, after having TELOGENS^ contentiously disallowed in the opening round. Apparently, the production team had one heck of a ding-dong about whether or not TELOGEN could be pluralised, causing filming to be held up for quite a while… 😕
And so to today’s final, the first since series 56 (Des O’Connor’s first, nearly five years ago now!) not to feature the #1 seed. 😯
For that matter, it’s also the first final since series 55 to feature the #4 seed (in the form of Carl), and just the second since series 39, some thirteen years ago… 😯
Graeme will go into it as the overwhelming favourite, and you can be sure that just about every c4cer who doesn’t already know the result is hoping that he will live up to that billing. 😉
If Carl were to pull off another massive upset, though, he’d probably be one of the least popular champions of all time… 😕 😉
It would also be very surprising if Jeff didn’t get a wonderful send-off – after all, he has been easily the best host since Richard, and his cracking letters finds and numbers solves will be sorely missed (unless of course Nick also does them).
And Jon Culshaw has always been a great DC guest…
Wow. Never knew there was so much anger and vitriol to be experienced while watching Countdown.
It’s a close final, that much is not a spoiler. Jeff does get a highlights reel, which mostly involves him falling about laughing. Did his exit take away from the winner’s achievement? I fear it did a little, which is a desperate shame.