Countdown

This is the first series to use the ODE3 dictionary.

This was the first series to adopt the current 15 round format with contestants limited to six wins, not the usual eight. The six game limit would be reversed for the next series, making this the only series to feature six game winners known as "viscounts".

This series featured no quarter-finals, only semi-finals and the final to make way for the new 15 round show format to be introduced in Series 46.

Contestants Bruno Murray and Leo Murray are brothers. Their older brother, Fergus, would later appear in Series 46.

Lexicographer Penny Silva is the deputy editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. She appeared on Countdown to announce the change in dictionaries from the Concise to the NODE.

For this episode, Carol Vorderman was billed as Carol King, her married name.

This was the first series to feature the minimum three vowels and four consonants per letters round rule.

This was the first series to adopt sudden death conundrums to resolve a tie at the end of the game, as opposed to a rematch in the following episode.

This is the first episode to feature Carol Voderman as hostess. She is the only remaining female member of the original cast and would remain until 2008.

This episode saw the introduction of new red and white letter tiles. After it was realized that these could cause problems for epileptics, efforts were made to refilm episodes with these tiles, although some still had to be screened with the affected tiles.

This is the final episode to feature Lucy Summers as hostess.

This is the first episode to feature Lucy Summers as hostess.

This is the final episode to feature Karen Loughlin as hostess.

This is the first series to feature Karen Loughlin as hostess, replacing Cathy Hytner.