Has the Queen of Mean really turned into the People’s Princess?
Anne Robinson arrived on Countdown last week and her appointment surprised even those of us who don’t religiously tune into the durable quiz show.
Countdown provides a national service: your Great Aunt Jemima tunes in daily with a pen and paper. Who knows what she’d get up to if she wasn’t transfixed by the wonderful Susie Dent and her titanic vocabulary?
Would Robinson, more used to excoriating hapless contestants on The Weakest Link, fit in with the tone of a show where, when someone fumbles the numbers round, there are lots of gentle commiserations?
Anne Robinson: It surprises me that people think I am terrifying. No one at home takes any notice
Luckily, Robinson kept her mean comments under wraps as she kicked off her reign. The most snark came when one contestant said he was an accountant from Manchester.
“Is that as exciting as it sounds?” quipped Anne. The equivalent of a gentle cuddle, from Anne.
Perhaps she’s only getting warmed up and soon even Rachel Riley will be getting scabrous barbs fired at her for wearing short skirts.
From Richard Whitely to Nick Hewer to Anne Robinson there’s also a trend with Countdown hosts; they’re getting progressively meaner. If this continues in 20 years’ time I fully expect to see the ghost of Aleister Crowley gently nodding along to a Gyles Brandreth anecdote.
Countdown, Channel 4
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