Countdown (game show) World Records" for the most series of a TV game show broadcast. Countdown (game show) Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is currently presented by Nick Hewer, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and 77 series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With over 6,500 episodes, "Countdown" is one of the longest-running game shows in the world, along with the original French version, "Des chiffres
Countdown (game show) in November 1982, and bought the newly renamed "Countdown" on the strength of this additional episode. "Countdown" was the first programme to be broadcast on the new channel. Channel 4 originally planned a parallel "Junior Countdown" in which the contestants were children. The pilot episode was filmed on 26 November 1982, less than a month after the first adult version was broadcast. The presenter was Gyles Brandreth, with Ted Moult in Dictionary Corner. The format mirrored that of the adult version. No further episodes were filmed, and the pilot episode was never broadcast. Brandreth, speaking on "Countdown" in November 2012,