Richard Whiteley

John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL (28th December 1943 - 26th June 2005) was an English television presenter and journalist.

He was most famous for his 23-year stint as presenter of Countdown, a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast daily on Channel 4.  An edition of Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel. Despite being a highly intelligent man, he enjoyed projecting an image of an absent minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for excruciatingly bad puns; and bold wardrobe, particularly jackets and ties.

Thanks to some twenty years worth of nightly instalments of Countdown as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked-up more hours on British television screens - and more than 10,000 appearances.