Jimmy Carr hosts "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown" as Sean Lock and Joe Wilkinson take on guest captain Richard Ayoade and Aisling Bea. Tom Allen is in Dictionary Corner.

#8OutOf10CatsDoesCountdown is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of #Countdown, but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on #8OutOf10Cats, with the show being a crossover of the two. "8 Out of 10 Cats" is based on statistics and opinion polls and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the program, carried out by Harris Poll.

Background:
"8 Out of 10 Cats does Countdown" is hosted by Jimmy Carr, with Rachel Riley and Susie Dent assuming their Countdown roles. The formation of the crossover with "8 Out if 10 Cats" began as a series of specials, the first of which was broadcast on 2 January 2012, when Channel 4 orchestrated a special "mash-up night", merging two shows to form a special edition of the pair, as part of its 30th-anniversary celebrations ten years ago.

History:
Countdown is Channel 4’s longest running show and the first show ever broadcast when it launched 40 years ago, in November 1982. The original version of Countdown is the French television programme « Des chiffres et des lettres » (literally "numbers and letters"), where the numbers round is referred to as « Le compte est bon » ("the total is right"). DCDL debuted in 1965 as « Le mot le plus long » ("the longest word") using letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. This year marks the shows 50th anniversary.