Baroness Floella Benjamin, Sir Trevor McDonald, Reverend Richard Coles and Moira Stuart are just some of the names who will host the iconic show.
Jo Street, Head of Daytime and Features at Channel 4:
“We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming these national treasures to the Countdown hotseat to mark this 40th anniversary milestone and are equally delighted to have enticed the remarkable Sir Trevor McDonald back to Salford. Countdown is a much loved institution, and we couldn’t imagine Channel 4 without it. Here’s to the next 40!”
To mark Channel 4’s 40th anniversary, daytime show Countdown is set to welcome a string of new faces to the presenter’s chair for a month-long run of particular episodes. Alongside its Truth & Dare Season, Channel 4 is marking 40 years of broadcasting with a special month-long run of its longest-running show.
Countdown is the channel’s longest-running show and the first show ever broadcast on Channel 4 when it launched 40 years ago, in November 1982. To mark this special anniversary four eminent broadcasters and Countdown fans, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Sir Trevor McDonald, Reverend Richard Coles and Moira Stuart will join the show as hosts. The guest presenters will each take on a weeklong hosting stint, joining lexicographer Susie Dent and arithmetical whizz Rachel Riley on the show.
It is not the first time Sir Trevor has hosted the show. He returns to the Salford studio after anchoring the Black to Front Project episode in September 2021.
Joining Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner will be criminal barrister and broadcaster Rob Rinder, newsreader and presenter Dan Walker, maths genius and writer Bobby Seagull and actor and presenter Christopher Biggins.
Peter Gwyn, Executive Producer of Countdown:
“It has been a sheer pleasure working with these iconic figures to celebrate Countdown’s anniversary. This birthday means so much to all of us who love the programme, and we can’t wait for viewers to see our month-long series of exceptional shows.”
The 40th-anniversary episodes of Countdown begin airing this month. In November, 40 years after Channel 4 started broadcasting, Paul Coia, the first Channel 4 continuity announcer who introduced Channel 4’s first ever programme – Countdown – will return to introduce the show again. Richard Whiteley, the original host from 1982 remained with the show until his death in 2005.
The programme is based on a French format and first hit UK airwaves just in the Yorkshire region when YTV aired a local version entitled Calendar Countdown. It was one of several spin-offs from the main evening news show Calendar.
Countdown airs on weekdays at 2.10pm.
