I love how Benedict Wong’s Mancunian accent came out a bit when he was telling everyone the first rule of street countdown.

In Countdown, you take the letters that are randomly chosen and make the longest word you can. Before you reveal your word, you say how many letters it has. Moss said he had a 16 letter word. Whoever has the longer word wins the round.

You know all those clips you've watched of Sean Lock (challenging wank, carrot in a box, etc)? That was from a show called '8 out of 10 cats does Countdown', which was a mash up of 2 shows, Countdown, the numbers and letters game, and 8 out of 10 cats, which was a comedy/quiz show. They put them together for a charity thing and it was so popular they made it into a permanent show. But Moss is excited to be on the original Countdown, which was a very straight and genteel show, transmitted in the afternoons - whereas the mash up was on after the 9pm watershed, when you can basically say anything on Brit TV!

Yep it's Benedict Wong who's also starring in 3 Body Problem on Netflix.

Limmy as the window cleaner. Limmy had his own show called Limmy's Show. Falconhoof, De De, and Jacqueline McCafferty are all worth a nose.

Didn't recognise Jeff "Carly" Stelling from the Chris Kamara compilation. Unbelievable Jeff

Moss' line "I came here to drink milk and kick ass... and I'm all out of milk" is a reference to the line "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum" from Rowdy Roddy Piper in John Carpenter's film 'They Live'.

Another tidbit - the man on street Countdown who proclaims Moss the winner (“and the joke does make sense!”) is Gyles Brandreth, a long time tv personality and one time Conservative MP, known for wearing jazzy sweaters and being funny and knowledgeable. I think he’s also written books. He has appeared regularly on Countdown as they have a celebrity on every episode.

Wong was in a series with Sean Lock years before IT crowd

The guy who was the window cleaner is called limmy and he had a tv show called limmys show. Would reccommend that it's hilarious.

13:15 is a picture of Richard Whitely depicted as an angel. Richard was the original host of Countdown from it's first episode in 1982 until his death in 2005, hosting for almost 23 years. He'd been dead for five years at the broadcast of this episode and was revered as "The" Countdown host. You obviously wouldn't have understood that visual gag, like a few other Countdown related jokes. But it's part of our culture so we understand them.

The weird shuffle at 11:23 that he does as he moves out of the doorway kills me EVERY time.

The letters are already visible. The number they chose is the word length they've already come up with from the letters on the board.

What I like about the Roy window cleaner story is that the writers came up with punch line of not working with macs but mainly windows and then devised the plot.

Matt berry as Douglas is amazing, but to get the full Matt Berry effect… please please please react to Toast of London. You will fall off your chair laughing at the characters on that show! 😂 “I can hear you Clem Fandango”

that rolf harris t shirt that roy was wearing aged well 🤐

I was so pleased when you immediately recognised Wong! My husband and I call the actor 'Street Countdown' to this day because this is where we first saw him.

it is indeed Benedict Wong, one of Britain's finest actors! (check out 15 stories high with Sean Lock....) and Limmy, one of Scotland's finest comedian as the window cleaner.

There are actually two actors from Marvel in this episode Benedict Wong who plays Wong from Doctor Strange and Gemma Chan who was the Asian girl in Eternals.

I can't find it anymore, but I've read somewhere that the people involved in the "streetcountdown"-crowd were all former actual participants of the British gameshow "Countdown"

Negative one made a word from 12 of the 18 letters, moss made a word from 16 or a 16 letter word. 18 LETTERS not numbers, the aim again is to make the longest word possible from the letters on the board. they didn`t pick 12 or 16 letter words, they made 12 or 16 from the 18 letters. Christ lol

The funniest bit was King & Queen Boomer congratulating each other on figuring out how Countdown is played ... despite being TOTALLY incorrect about how Countdown is played 😂

Yes it's Wong from The Avengers ...I'd forgotten he was in this 🤣🤣🤣

One of their best episodes!

That is incredibly funny to me that they had Gyles Brandreth there

The workout scene is a parody of the workout scene with John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1985 movie Perfect

WTF?!?!... I have seen this episode like 1000 time but I haven't realised that this dude is Wong from MCU. :O You just blew my head off.

They also referenced “They Live”, when Rowdy Roddy Piper says, “ I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass …And I’m all out of bubblegum.” 😂

You have no idea how happy I am to see you two today. My day has been complete and utter bollocks. Thank you for cheering me up. ❤

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter and honestly you should have your own show ,whenever I feel down or sad I watch your channel and you brighten my life ,Godbless you all 🙏

Even thought you didn't nail Countdown exactly, I still think you were both quick enough on the uptake to get all the jokes. Good job! :D

Countdown, 8 out of 10 cats, Sean Lock. IT Crowd, Benedict Wong. Sean Lock + Benedict Wong = 15 Storeys High. Brilliant

And the woman who asks Moss if she was seeing him tonight is Gemma Chan who is an Eternal in the Marvel movie.

Imagine picking the number of letters before figuring out a word, how complicated that would be hahahah

The Countdown host was Robert Jeffrey Stelling MBE (born 18 March 1955) known on telly as Jeff Stelling, who was an English television presenter. He presented Gillette Soccer Saturday for Sky Sports from 1994 until 2023 and hosted coverage of the Champions League between 2011 and 2015. He was the studio host when you watched CHRIS KAMARA's Best Moments "I Don't Know Jeff!"

In regular Countdown they only choose nine letters. The "Street Countdown" in the 8+ Club extends that so they pick a lot more letters, allowing for much longer words. Also, the slightly smug/posh guy with the dictionary who allows the word is Gyles Brandreth, who often appeared on the regular Countdown as a guest in "Dictionary Corner" which always had Susie Dent and a guest.

You have to watch 15 storys high. Dark comedy with Sean Lock & Benedict Wong.

Nope, that’s not how it’s played. One of the contestants has to say consonant or vowel and the lady picks a card from one of two stacks based on that till they fill up the board with nine letters, then both contestants have thirty seconds to make the longest word out of those letters, there no picking a number amount of letters. The show also includes a math section where they have to pick a number of cards from different levels till they have six of them and a computer will randomly pick a number that can be totalled up to from some or all of those numbers either with adding, subtracting, dividing or multiplying any but not necessarily all the numbers on the cards picked and the contestants have to solve it and show how they did.

Love this, after the Works Outing, this is the best episode but there are loads of British references in it you might not get.

Overnumerousness... 😮😂 !

Yes, that is the dude from the avengers😂 You did well to spot him so fast

Was waiting on this episode, love from Wales GB

Yes, that is Benedict Wong from the Avengers - a British actor

Cult Easter egg: Moss, being a total geek, paraphrases John Carpenter's cult 1988 film "They Live", in which the protagonist utters the line, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." Here Moss paraphrases with "I have come here to drink milk and kick ass. And I'm all out of milk."

Rolf Harris T-shirt hits different now

Really enjoyed this series of reactions, the it crowd is one of my go to shows for almost any mood. My two all time favourites are spaced and green wing I think you would both really enjoy them

When you get scam callers, waste their time by going along with their bullshit. I was called by a 'have you been injured' tw@, so I said yes, I was in a car crash, blah blah etc, giving them all the details except the date, and eventually, after a few minutes, asked why they would be interested in something that happened 40 years ago. The catharsis is palpable.

Yes that’s Benedict Wong the actor from Avengers and loads of other stuff But did you also spot that Ivana was Gemma Chan from Humans and the Creator?!

Queen explaining the rules fried my brain

Thanking you King & Queen! Perfect timing!

Eric Prydz: call on me is the music video your thinking of

great episode, great reaction!

Yeah that was Benedict Wong,Gemma chan who stars in captain marvel and eternals also stars in this episode

yes that is indeed wong from the MCU. he also played kublai khan on marco polo, and that is what he should get credit form imo.

So, he was a Windows cleaner.

The aerobics class i swear is a bit from an 80s slasher flick called killer workout 😆

I watched you two so much so long, that I actually dreamed of King Boomer in his usual attire sitting in the corner of my dining room happily offering me a beer. I said I usually don't like beer but I'll go for it this time, I drank most of it and said it was good. That was all but nonetheless surprising.

I can't believe I forgot Limmy was in this. Also, my nextdoor neighbour has a Countdown teapot!

Oh yea, the music video is "Call on me" I believe

It was Wong from the avengers and his outfit in the show was after he had a chat with Lawrence Fishburn (Morphius from the Matrix) 😂

You have watched "Cat's do Countdown", which is just the cast from 9 out of 10 cats doing the Countdown show....

16 letter word with the numbers up there 😂😂😂 ffs hen are u at the wind up ?

Brilliant episode

Brilliant reaction. Loving these. I wonder if one day you could both react to "Keeping Up Appearances" I think you will both love it!

Loved seeing (Brian Limond) Limmy there. 😂 ❤

Countdown was actually first played in what used to be Prussia in the early 1200s, contrary to what some people claim. The name derives from the word 'kandoon', which originally meant 'battle'. In fact, when it was first aired on the BBC during the Synogeon crisis (there are some great videos about tv in that era) the contestants would still be competing for the 'blood' of their opponent, although by that point it was really just a simple pinprick to the thumb in a lot of cases, with only the heaviest losses requiring the traditional finale. The numbers round evolved during the second Great War due to the shortage of skilled mathematicians in the Home Service, and was contested by the wives of the competitors, with the total accumulation of points in the two rounds deciding their husband's fate. Finally in 2008 women were allowed into the competition as contestants in their own right, and frankly it hasn't looked back. The show is much more inclusive now and rarely are the defeated led to the pit, unless the host demands it.

Fightclub was wildly miss advertised at the time, everyone was led to believe it was a straight film about middle aged men fighting in underground clubs.

Haha I forgot Limmy was in this

That was my fave song as a kid, I was jamming along🎉🎉

The actor is Wong from the Marvel movies and his real name is Wong. Benedict Wong. He's also in The Martian and Prometheus too. Moss' girlfriend in the club, is Jemma Chan, she co-stars in the movie Crazy Rich Asians later in her career.

For another react you definitely should watch an episode of 8 out of 10 cats does countdown 😂

He has spirit this one! 😆

Benedict Wong is in 15 Stories High with Sean Lock

Speaking of Thor, Chris O'Dowd (Roy) was Jane's love interest in Thor the Dark World. Random!

Negative One looks like Austin Powers crossed with The Riddler

Countdown is a long running game show that's taken quite seriously. There another game show called 8 out of 10 cats which is a comedy gameshow. You should watch the crossover called "8 out of 10 cats does countdown" for some of the funniest humour.

When you complete The IT Crowd, you might want to also react to Graham Linehams other series Black Books, which ran for 3 series, between Father Ted and The IT Crowd. Its just as wacky and funny as the other two

You’re correct. It is Wong. Pretty impressed you clocked him that quickly 😂

Limmy, Benedict Wong, Jeff Stelling. What a wonderful episode

Yes well done don’t answer the door, me too!

Surprised you were unfamiliar with Countdown as I was sure you'd done some Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown clips / episodes. And you are correct, it is Wong from the MCU. Gemma Chan is also in this episode and she's played two characters in the MCU. Also, Chris O'Dowd (Roy) was also in the MCU.

This is just such a good episode I don’t think you have to know the rules of Countdown is still hilarious thanks so much for this great to see you and QB ❤

Loved the way that whole Roy/ Alistair plot was just so they could drop a joke in about working with windows

The "de-de-DE-de"-sound in "The final countdown", the song is not a guitar, that's a synth 🙂

That song you were thinking about is Eric Prydz - Call On Me

When he says 12 he's saying he has made a 12 letter word out of the "numbers" ;) letters available. Moss said 16, claiming he has an 18 letter word out of the available letters - they both announce after the 30 seconds. If your word is a real word, longest word wins. You're describing a brag style which it is not.

Benedict Wong is great in 15 Storeys High with Sean Lock.

Yeah that's Wong, you should watch 15 Storeys High, a sitcom with him and Sean Lock

It is Wong 😆 im really happy you noticed

Its pretty hard to make a 16 letter word out of 16 numbers.

Been waiting for this

I have been waiting for you to review this episode :) It is, hands down, my favorite. But if you want extra amusement, Richard (who plays moss) actually has been on the real countown show several times over the years, as well as the Big Fat Quiz of the Year. All available on youtube, and HILARIOUS. And it is in fact, Wong :)

8:20 I do both of those too! If someone shows up at my door and didn't initially contact me by phone and arrange a meeting/delivery, I won't go even near my door before they leave. Also, if a new number calls, and it seems legit, I answer the phone, but never with my name or use any affirmative words to avoid scam and spam bots that copy your responses for identity thefts and unwanted purchases. When it comes from a foreign area code is hidden number, I will never answer then 😅

QB is overthinking it. You blindly choose 9 random letters and then try and make the longest word you can from those letters. Longest word wins the points. Then its a numbers round where they try and fit the numbers to reach the random number generated. Its a REALLY simple format

This is "thee" episode of the show that people think of when they hear the name

Yeah the Countdown timer music is pretty much as iconic to Brits as the Jeopardy! theme is for Americans.

I love the double switch in this where everything in the series and episode has primed you to think it's an orgy, but then it's aerobics. But then it's SEXY aerobics.

benedict wong was also in sean locks sitcom 15 storys high...which is fantastic

yes Brian ....its Benedict Wong (yes his real name is also Wong lol) from Dr Strange

Wow I completely forgot Limmy was in IT Crowd! He's the other window cleaner, besides Roy ;). He's funny af and has actually put his own show out there, called Limmy's Show. You should 100% react to it! He does characters and skits. He does a lot of Twitch streams these days.