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November 2005
Lynam Countdown
Debut Draws 1.8m Viewers
An
audience of 1.8m viewers saw Des Lynam
take over from the late Richard Whiteley
as the host of Channel 4 daytime quiz
Countdown.
The
number of people tuning in for Monday's
edition was the show's highest since last
year's Christmas special.
The TV
critics deemed Lynam's debut a qualified
success, with one calling him "a little
glassy-eyed and jittery" but predicting he
would be a success.
The
ex-sports presenter said last month that
he was nervous about taking
over.
The
Countdown Christmas show received 1.8m
viewers on 17 December. It last had an
audience of 2m in January 2004.
Former
Countdown champion Andy Bodle, who
reviewed Lynam's debut for the Guardian,
said the new host had "the dignified but
slightly desperate air of Brad Pitt after
having accidentally wandered into a Star
Trek convention".
"If
there's one thing that renders Lynam less
qualified to present the show than his
predecessor, it's that he lacks the common
touch," he said.
Bodle
said the new host, who is famed for his
calm presenting style, needed to show "a
little fallibility" to feel "more at home"
on the show.
The
Scotsman newspaper said the former
Grandstand presenter showed "natural
confidence" but had "the air of a man who
would rather be at Wembley than the
Countdown studio at Granada Yorkshire in
Leeds".
The show
was followed by Noel Edmonds' return to TV
presenting with Deal or No
Deal.
The
Independent's Thomas Sutcliffe said: "If I
were taking bets I'd say that Des will
still be there after Noel has moved on to
other projects."
Lynam
told the Radio Times that he would be a
different host from the "national treasure
and much loved" Whiteley, who died in
June.
Whiteley
presented Countdown for 23 years from its
start until his death aged 61 just days
after having heart surgery.
The
words and numbers game was the first show
to air on Channel 4 when it began in
1982.
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