Countdown: 29/06/2026


06:45 am - 07:25 am, Wednesday, July 1 on Channel 4 +1 (15)

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About this Broadcast

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29/06/2026
Season 2026, Episode 1

Colin Murray, Rachel Riley and Susie Dent host, with Jon Culshaw in Dictionary Corner, as contestants race against the clock to pit their wits against words and numbers


HD subtitles repeat
Game Show/Quiz/Contest Show/Game Show

Cast & Crew

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Rachel Riley (Co host)
Susie Dent (Contributor)
Damian Eadie (Series producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Colin Murray (Host)
Born: March 10, 1977 in Dundonald, east Belfast
Best Known For: Co-hosting the Colin and Edith Show on Radio 1
Early-life: Born on March 10, 1977, and raised on the Ballybean Housing Estate in Dundonald, east Belfast. Expelled from grammar school at 16 for being disruptive in class, Murray was keen on entering a career in journalism, becoming a trainee on The Ulster News Letter and spending a year's fellowship at the Toronto Star. He then set up a pop magazine called Blank and wrote a pop column in the Sunday People.
Career: He got his big break when he was signed up to co-host Radio 1's Session programme alongside Donna Legge in 1999. His witty one-liners and laidback presenting style proved popular, and the pair often deputised for the likes of John Peel, Steve Lamacq and Mary Anne Hobbs. In 2002, Colin was headhunted to front Channel 4's ill-fated breakfast show RI:SE but left to front the channel's late-night music shows. In late 2003, he was reunited with RI:SE co-host Edith Bowman for The Colin and Edith Show, which pulled in more than five million listeners before the pair went their seperate ways in 2006. Since then, he has presented Five's American football show, NFL Live, and the channel's European Poker Tour Series. He currently presents the channel's coverage of the UEFA Cup and hosts the topical sports-based news show Fighting Talk on BBC Radio Five Live. However, he hasn't forgotten his roots and also presents a late-night weekend show on Radio Ulster.
Quote: 'It used to be that you'd turn on a TV chat show, and you'd learn by the end something about the person. These days, it tends to be just an interviewer cracking bad jokes.'
Trivia: Murray supports the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.
Rachel Riley (Co host)
Born: January 11, 1986 in Rochford, Essex
Best Known For: Countdown.
Early-life: Rachel Annabelle Riley was born in Rochford, Essex, on January 11, 1986. She studied mathematics at Oriel College, Oxford.
Career: Riley's big break came in 2008 when she was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants to replace Carol Vorderman on Countdown. She presented her first show alongside Jeff Stelling in January 2009, and reached her 1,000th episode in June 2013. Away from the numbers and letters on Countdown, she began co-hosting The Gadget Show alongside Jason Bradbury in June 2013. She was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated.
Quote: 'I don't want girls to aspire to being famous for the sake of being famous. If I was only known for wearing a dress, that wouldn't have any value for me.'
Trivia: Riley won £36,000 for charity on a celebrity edition of The Bank Job. She supports Manchester United.
Susie Dent (Contributor)
Jon Culshaw (Guest)
Born: June 02, 1968 in Ormskirk, Lancashire
Best Known For: Dead Ringers and The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson.
Early-life: Jonathan Peter Culshaw was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, on June 2, 1968. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk, and St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Orrell. His radio career began in hospital radio in his home town. His first job was at Red Rose Radio (now Rock FM) in Preston in 1987, where even then he used to occasionally read the weather in the voice of Frank Bruno. He did voice-over work but was catapulted to prominence with Spitting Image, where he voiced around 40 characters.
Career: After hospital radio, Culshaw served his media apprenticeship as a DJ at several commercial stations, but rose to fame in January 1998 during his time at Capital Radio when his phone call got put through to then-prime minister Tony Blair while impersonating Tory leader of the time William Hague. The two had a lengthy conversation before the penny dropped. Between 2001 and 2002 he had a programme on ITV called Alter Ego where he interviewed male celebrities in their own style of speaking. On ITV he also appeared on 2DTV, then The Impressionable Jon Culshaw, before finding his real niche with the BBC series Dead Ringers. He took part in Celebrity Fame Academy in 2005, where he met Debra Stephenson, with whom he starred in The Impressions Show.
Quote: 'By 16 I realised my occupation would be something to do with performance. It was clear I'd be rubbish at a proper job.'
Trivia: In 2013, Culshaw appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, a comedy homage to Doctor Who.
Damian Eadie (Series producer)
Born: August 15, 1969 in Blackpool

Before / After

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Cheers
07:25 am