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Thank you for coming by!

Catherine Athearn (née Habershon)

One of the Defining Moments of Game Show Excitement!

FEBRUARY 2004 HABERSHON OF THE MONTH!

All records were broken this month when it came to nominating a Habershon of the Month. Yes, your very own brother/father/uncle/relative/friend/teacher/chess opponent, Paul Habershon, was on Countdown! Rather than tell the whole story again, you can read about it here, here, here, here and here.

However, in a nutshell: Paul won the first day and lost the second. In his own son's words, his come from behind "in a thrilling finale to Wednesday's show (by getting the official Countdown Conundrum) will surely go down in television history as one of the defining moments of game show excitement. Having reduced his opponent almost to a babbling wreck, he executed the perfect 'coup de grace' by plucking 'officious' from a jumble of unlikely looking letters to surpass her score and soar to victory."

WOW!

NLDLAOLPUWEE!

If you go to the Bedford Habs photo album you can see pictures that Nick took of the television.

Also, for all you Comment-Challenged Habershons who may not have seen this, here is a reprint of Paul's description of the prizes and other tidbits: All Countdown contestants take away a 'goody bag', win or lose. However, if you win even one game you are called a Countdown Champion and receive the coveted(?) Countdown teapot (not available in shops). I reckon the goody bag is worth about £200: Two-volume Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (£95), Oxford Dictionary of English, Countdown electronic game (hand-held), Countdown alarm clock, sweatshirt, mug; two Countdown books (latest quiz book of the game and a history of the programme). I also took away my name card (as seen on TV) and Richard Whiteley's cue card (i.e. what he read from when introducing me). They do not record every week, but they do five shows a day on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I was there on a Tuesday. The audience are all provided with pad and pen to play the game themselves. There is also an ever-present warm-up man (Yorkshire type comedian) who conducts the applause and generally keeps the audience jolly with feeble wisecracks. I watched the first game, just after lunchtime, from back of the audience, sat in the 'hot seat' in the front row for second game. After a tea-break I played my first game. Then supper break in Yorkshire TV canteen. I was beaten in the fourth game of the day, then the fifth game was over by about 9.00 p.m.. You are allowed to win up to eight games (Octochamp), so I could have played all five games on the Wednesday before being removed. Hardly anyone manages that, although I know that the contestant who beat my conqueror did win all eight (the programmes are being broadcast currently), so I was lucky to avoid him. The recording scarcely takes longer than the eventual product. They sometimes re-tape bits during the game, sometimes at the end. For instance Dictionary Corner got a meaning wrong once; also one of the contestants rose from her chair too soon during the final general shot of the studio.

Send in your nominations for the March Habershon of the Month!

Previous Habershons of the Month December 2001 (Jim) January 2002 (Clare) February 2002 (Nick) March 2002 (Dad) April 2002 (Paul) May 2002 (Jean) June 2002 (Jamie) July 2002 (Nick) August 2002 (Peter) September 2002 (No one) October 2002 (Jamie) November 2002 (Libby & David) December 2002 (Charlie) January 2003 (William) February 2003 (John) March 2003 (David) April 2003 (Jim) May 2003 (Ricky & Ed) June 2003 July 2003 (Ed) August 2003 (Emma) November 2003 (Jim) December 2003 (Me)