Countdown: 10/03/2026


3:40 pm - 4:30 pm, Tuesday, March 10 on Channel 4 (4)

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About this Broadcast

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10/03/2026
Season 1, Episode 1

Colin Murray and Rachel Riley host the words-and-numbers game, with Colin Jackson joining Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner


new HD new subtitles
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)
Colin Jackson (Guest)
Born: February 18, 1967 in Cardiff
Best Known For: Being a 110m hurdler, and a sports presenter.
Early-life: Colin Ray Jackson was born in Cardiff on February 18, 1967. He is of Jamaican, Maroon, Taino and Scottish ancestry. His sister is actress Suzanne Packer. He grew up in Birchgrove. He played football and cricket for his county and rugby union and basketball for his school. He went on to join the Birchgrove Harriers athletics club. Colin initially focused on decathlon events before specialising on the 110m hurdles. He won gold at the 1986 World Junior Championships.
Career: Jackson picked up silver medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He set a world record for the 110m hurdles in August 1993, winning his first World Championships gold medal. The record stood for 13 years. Between August 1993 and February 1995, he won 44 consecutive races. During a distinguished sporting career, he won two World Championships, a World Indoor Championship, four European Championships, three European Indoor Championships, and two Commonwealth Games. After retiring in 2003, Jackson became a coach in athletics and other sports, and enjoys a media career with the BBC. In 2005, he lost out to Darren Gough in the final of Strictly Come Dancing.
Quote: 'When you're representing your country in Sydney one day and in Wales the next, there's a brutal realisation that real life isn't that fantasy where everybody looks after you and you get anything you demand.'
Trivia: Jackson has been awarded an MBE, OBE and CBE.
Damian Eadie (Series producer)
Born: August 15, 1969 in Blackpool