Well, what a huge reaction we've had to the relaunch of Countdown! We know how much the show means to its viewers, but we've been blown away by the massive response from you all.
Des and Carol were always going to be a very hard act to follow, but we think Jeff and Rachel are settling-in brilliantly. Jeff has a natural warmth, coupled with a fierce intelligence, which seems to fit perfectly with Countdown- and he has brought with him an army of fans from his Soccer Saturday show on Sky. After every recording, the long queue of audience members requesting his autograph is testament to how popular he is. Some viewers have complained that he talks about sport too much, so Jeff is trying very hard to limit his footie references!
Rachel is going from strength to strength, and we are delighted to have found such an incredible talent. Despite never having set foot in a TV studio before, she has lost her early nerves and is now solving the most incredible sums with ease. She really is a maths genius - and the proportion of men watching the show has noticeably increased... We're not sure if this is down to Jeff or Rachel!
Rachel's high heels attracted a great deal of interest at the beginning, with many viewers commenting that they adversely affected her posture. The truth is that Rachel only saw herself on TV for the first time after having recorded six weeks of shows. Having seen herself, she swapped the sky-high heels for some lower ones and her posture has definitely improved as a result.
The biggest complaint by far has been that we don't put the words up on the board enough. Again, by the time we realised how important this was to viewers, we had recorded several weeks' worth of shows. But we have now addressed the issue, and I hope those of you who rang us to ask that we start putting them up again will feel that we have listened to your views and taken action.
Overall, the response to the relaunch has been tremendously positive, with viewers particularly enjoying the fact that the game itself has now taken centre stage. Some viewers still miss Des' showbiz stories and Carol's glamour and charisma - which is completely understandable as they are both great TV talents - but we hope that viewers will agree that having new presenters is a better option than losing the show altogether.
Countdown is now in its 27th year and we are so pleased to have it on Channel 4. Now that things are settling down again after such a tumultuous year, we can look forward to enjoying it for many years to come.
On behalf of the Countdown team, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has contacted us to share their thoughts. If you have anything more you like to say, please visit The TV Show blog, where you can leave your comments.
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