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The Countdown Prizes Page

One of the questions I'm most frequently asked about Countdown is "What do you win for being on the show", which is often followed by "Why don't you apply for 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' instead?" While I have nothing against WWTBAM or, indeed, Chris Tarrant (a fine show hosted by a fine presenter), Countdown does have it's fair share of good prizes. On this page, I will detail all the prizes available to win, from being a mere beaten challenger right up to the being the Champion of Champions.

Note- all prizes listed on this page are correct as of January 2003.

Goody bag- given to everybody regardless of whether they win or lose.

Countdown mug
Holographic Countdown beermat
Copy of 'The Countdown puzzle book 3', a good selection of 800-odd letters, numbers and conundrum games usually worth £4.99
Copy of the NODE (which'll give you a nice workout, carrying it back to the car)
Copy of 'Spreading the Word', an excellent behind-the-scenes look at Countdown written by the shows producers
Countdown electronic game
Countdown board game
Countdown polo shirt

Daily champions (1-8 wins)

The above, plus-

The fabled Countdown teapot, which is not for sale anywhere. The only way you can get one of these collector's items is to appear on the show and win a game.
Instead of the NODE, champions now get the 2-volume Shorter Oxford English Dictionary... evidently the producers didn't think the contestants were getting enough of a workout!

Note- on the rare (now almost mathematically impossible) occasion that a challenger scores zero points, he or she will be given a teapot as a consolation for failing to score.

Finalists

All finalists receive the goody bag after finishing their heats, regardless of whether they're an octochamp or not (Octochamps receive nothing more than a champion's goody bag). Plus, when they return for the final rounds in June or December, they can expect-

Beaten quarter-finalist

A 7" tall crystal clock.
A copy of the Oxford book of English literature

Beaten semi-finalist

The same as a beaten quarter-finalist, plus-

An engraved silver tray (about 6" by 5") commemorating their achievement on Countdown.

Series runner-up

Series runners-up receive the same as beaten semi-finalists, plus-

A Set of OUP books, including the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
£500

Series champion

The same as a beaten semi-finalist, plus the grand prize-

The complete 20 volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary, leather bound, gold embossed and worth nearly £4000.

Champion of Champions prizes

The prizes for the Champion of Champions tournament are not as grand as those for the series championship, but they are very desirable nonetheless-

Participants

Anybody merely taking part in the tournament will receive-

A glass paperweight, with the Countdown logo and "Champion of Champions" (plus the year of the tournament) printed on the bottom.

Runner-up

Beaten quarter-finalists and Semi-finalists receive no special prize other than the paperweight, but the runner-up receives, as well as the paperweight, a cut-glass rosebowl, which you can see a picture of on the splash page.

The Champion of Champions

The winner of the whole tournament will receive, along with the paperweight and the rosebowl, a pair of cut-glass candlesticks. Pictures of these are also on the splash page, but don't be put off by the fact that the tournament winner and runner-up seem to be holding each other's prizes- that was merely a mess-up on the taking of the photograph.

There are also freebies that everyone "unofficially" receives for taking part, such as- the nametag they use on the show; a photo of all the contestants recording on the day, plus the DC guests and Richard and Carol (which you will typically receive through the post on or around the date of the first show's broadcast); the bags they give you your goodies in are specially produced Countdown bags and worth keeping if you want; any autographs of the celebs (it's up to you to ask for them, though); you can keep the notepaper you used on the show if you'd like, but YTV would prefer that you didn't nick the pens; and last, but not least, the bar after each day's recording is free and open until 11PM, so you can drink plenty of freebies there.

Neb 2003