The Dictionary Corner guest spot.

[Ralph Gillions]

I have just heard Anne Widdecombe tell a joke (in an inappropriate authoritarian manner) which has been told previously on the programme (with minor variations as happens with jokes).
Wouldn`t the producers have spotted this and advised against a repeat telling?
It has caused me to reflect on the Dictionary Corner guest`s `spot`.
Richard Digance does rhymes.
Rick Wakeman often does lists of various kinds.
Tom O`Connor will do jokes.
Keith Barron often reminisces.
Paul Zenon and Geoffrey Durham do tricks.
Some, like John Sergeant recently, like the support of a duologue with Des O` Connor.
Many relate amusing anecdotes from their own lives.
What do you like best. Who has entertained you most in their `guest spot`?

[Ben Pugh]

Paul Zenon's tricks.

The worst is the lists read out by Rick Wakeman/Richard Digance, when I watch Countdown I don't want to hear my spam e-mails being read out loud.

[Joseph Bolas]

Paul Zenon's tricks.

The worst is the lists read out by Rick Wakeman/Richard Digance, when I watch Countdown I don't want to hear my spam e-mails being read out loud.

I agree with you Ben, Paul Zenon is awesome and his tricks are very good. Jo Brand is awesome too.

The worst is definitely Richard Digance, but I would add Dr. Phil Hammond too.

[Jennifer Turner]

I have just heard Anne Widdecombe tell a joke (in an inappropriate authoritarian manner) which has been told previously on the programme (with minor variations as happens with jokes).
Wouldn`t the producers have spotted this and advised against a repeat telling?

If you're not senile, you're not part of Countdown's target audience (well, you're not helping them to sell advertisements for rip-off funeral payment plans, incontinence pads and stairlifts, are you?) so they don't give a toss if the same tedious gags get used again and again. They'll be back into doing "the nuts are complimentary" every week before long, you know.

Who has entertained you most in their `guest spot`?

Paul Zenon is the king of the guest spot. Tom O'Connor is alright, and I actually do like Phil Hammond.

[Mike Brailsford]

I maybe one of the few who like Gyles Brandreth and Keith Barron. This is his longest gap not in DC corner for yonks !
Tom O'Connor is OK, as is Rick Wakeman. Bring back Alan Carr. Paul O'Grady would be good.

Ann Widdicombe, please no. I spotted that joke today as soon as she mentioned a monk.

[Charlie Reams]

I have just heard Anne Widdecombe tell a joke (in an inappropriate authoritarian manner) which has been told previously on the programme (with minor variations as happens with jokes).
Wouldn`t the producers have spotted this and advised against a repeat telling?

I think she did the same joke ("we need more Christian morals") twice before. I guess it's just a product of being called on for anecdotes a lot. You don't really expect the production team to remember all the previous segments do you?

Also why do you keep using the ` for apostrophe?

[Ralph Gillions]

Well that`s me told!

[Joseph Bolas]

Paul O'Grady would be good.

I would have to disagree with you there. I think hes just as bad as Hammond or Digance.

[Howard Somerset]

I think I go with the majority here. Geoffrey Durham used to be my favourite guest, that is until Paul Zenon came along.

And again, as with others I dislike the spam email lists. I don't think I've yet heard a single one on the programme that I have previously received by email. But there are a few guests who I dislike even more than those who read out lists, two of whom are Keith Barron, already mentioned in this thread, and Martin Jarvis.

[Jon Corby]

Likes (in no particular order): Zenon, Hammond, Digance, Wakeman, Stilgoe, Brandreth, O'Connor (Tom)
Dislikes: Jarvis, Franks, Giedroyc, Garrett, BURRELL

Any others I've either forgotten, or simply not bothered either way. Jo Brand nearly went in the dislikes because she has gone too far with her "nonsense words". By all means mention an amusing one if you spot it, but there isn't one in every single fucking selection

[Michael Wallace]

+1 to the list of people who hate the 'lists', but it's mostly annoying when the person clearly hasn't really thought about what they were going to say (since it's rare for that to be at all interesting, and you wonder how much they've been paid for it) - Jo Brand has been the worst for this sort of thing of late, although I often don't pay attention to those bits anyway, since they usually just make me sad

[Joseph Bolas]

Jo Brand is quite funny IMO. She is one of the few people I won't mute when it comes to their segment and her "nonsense words" will never get tiresome.

Going by the past though, the best 2 DC guests ever have to be Kenneth Williams and Gyles Brandreth.

[Ralph Gillions]

Corby and Howard have reminded me of Martin Jarvis. I had forgotten him.
He and Digance have the least entertainment value for me in their segments.
The prospect of 5 programmes with Richard Digance and Martin Jarvis causes me to emit
and audible groan.

[Ben Wilson]

I kinda miss Denis Norden- though there is some novelty value in being the contestant in his last (to date) show- and anecdotes that have been said before usually cause huge sighs on my part too. Usually as they're from Martin Jarvis. Either that or his reading a poem and my bowels moving.

My faves would have to be Paul Zenon and- off the screen for a while now- Geoffrey Durham. Both magicians, noth fantastic at what they do. Jo Brand's not bad either.

I'd definitely like to see Ronnie Corbett in dictionary corner- a shorter version of one of his 'big chair' monologues would be perfect going into the break. Patrick Stewart would be interesting too, as would James May for the slightly younger generation.

[Damian E]

I have just heard Anne Widdecombe tell a joke (in an inappropriate authoritarian manner) which has been told previously on the programme (with minor variations as happens with jokes).
Wouldn`t the producers have spotted this and advised against a repeat telling?

Its almost impossible. Des tells jokes, we read jokes from viewers, Tom O Connor has done 100's of them on the show. I may have heard a gag before, but did i read it on an email, did i hear it on the radio, was it performed on Countdown sometime in the past etc. Its so hard to pinpoint.

When you say it was told 'before', are you talking weeks or years?

[Ralph Gillions]

Thanks for your response Damian.
Your description broadens it out, and I now see the difficulties.
Perhaps I only spotted it because I enjoyed it at first telling. Actually I remember the joke but not the teller (I think it was about a year or so ago and it was told with good comic timing, so it may be Barry Cryer or Tom O`Connor).
However there is some fascination in this because, even though my memory is hazy, one can compare the two tellings - one was funny and one was not.
I appreciate your reply.

[Jon Corby]

Ooh yeah, forgot about Barry Cryer. He definitely goes on my "likes" list - legend

[Howard Somerset]

I've certainly enjoyed Anne Widdecombe this week. I agree, some of her jokes are old, and I'm sure that it's she who I've heard tell some of them before. But any criticism of Maggie, as she did on Thursday's show, goes down well for me, particularly when the criticism comes from a Tory MP.

[Dinos Sfyris]

A question for past contestants:

Are there DC guests, who were on during your run, near the top of your preference list, who probably otherwise wouldn't even register on your likability radar. ie They're introduced and you think "Oh they're not the funniest guest, but I've met them and they were nice - so I'll watch their bit."

[Jon Corby]

A question for past contestants:

Are there DC guests, who were on during your run, near the top of your preference list, who probably otherwise wouldn't even register on your likability radar. ie They're introduced and you think "Oh they're not the funniest guest, but I've met them and they were nice - so I'll watch their bit."

I had Richards Wakeman, Stilgoe and Digance covering all my shows, and I felt very fortunate that I liked them before anyway, and they were all absolutely top blokes off camera too

[Ben Wilson]

A question for past contestants:

Are there DC guests, who were on during your run, near the top of your preference list, who probably otherwise wouldn't even register on your likability radar. ie They're introduced and you think "Oh they're not the funniest guest, but I've met them and they were nice - so I'll watch their bit."

Yep- Eric Knowles, who did the last week of c of c 11, was an utterly nice bloke and very down to earth.

[Derek Hazell]

I've just been browsing through catch-up TV, and Taking the Flak came on. Martin Jarvis has the lead role, and this week his wife Rosalind Ayres was the guest star. Took me back to my young old days of watching the show. They used to alternate a lot back then, and even appeared together. Countdown's one of those things that are there so long, they form a link of the backbone of you life, and the Dictionary Corner guests just help to make the memories more vivid.