It takes a specific type of person to sparkle in this presenting gig, and judging by her first episode, Robinson could prove to be Countdown’s weakest link
When Anne Robinson was announced as the newest Countdown host, it felt a little as if Channel 4 had hired Lewis Hamilton to sit at the wheel of a self-driving car. Robinson is, to paraphrase Liam Neeson, a woman with a particular set of skills; which is to say very sharp-witted and not altogether pleasant.
Countdown, meanwhile, is a peculiarly airless format that has a habit of sucking its presenters dry. The job of a Countdown host is to sit in front of a studio audience who sound so anaesthetised it’s easy to imagine them being cattle-prodded whenever it’s time to applaud, and mumble one-liners that never get more scintillating than “Numbers next”, or “Can you top that, Susie?”
