Another knight falls

June 27, 2005 2:41 AM

Richard Whiteley has died aged 61, after failing to recover fully from pneumonia and heart surgery. He will be sadly missed.
posted by mnemosyne (27 comments total)

yes, a shame.

tis a matter of time until the photoshopped pictures of Carol Vorderman and the letter board start seeping out of b3ta.
posted by Frasermoo at 2:57 AM on June 27, 2005

Well I didn't see that one coming.

There was something endearing about the old lech. Maybe it was his inability to see himself as others saw him, the gotcha being a case in point.

'A vowel please Carol'
posted by asok at 3:00 AM on June 27, 2005

I can only hope my obituary starts with something akin to "...he was once savaged...by a ferret."
posted by tpl1212 at 3:20 AM on June 27, 2005

Shame, one of the few people dying I would have considered posting to MeFi over.
posted by biffa at 3:35 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by seanyboy at 3:41 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by lowlife at 3:44 AM on June 27, 2005

The honorary mayor of Wetwang is gone.

Seriously, this is sad news for a Monday morning. Countdown will never be the same.
posted by NeonSurge at 3:59 AM on June 27, 2005

Today's conundrum:

NUPENIAMO

Such a professional, he had to die of a nine letter word.

Seriously, this is sad. And to paraphrase the man himself, he 'AORTA' seen this coming.
posted by tapeguy at 4:04 AM on June 27, 2005

He touched our hearts with his gentle good humour, his marvellous sense of fun and his unblemished gentlemanly conduct - save only for his lecherous ogling of Carol's first-class knockers, of course. Truly a British institution, and I for one am extremely sad at his passing. My sympathies to his family and all those who enjoyed Countdown as much as I did.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 4:12 AM on June 27, 2005

Such a professional, he had to die of a nine letter word.

That's ironically very funny, I'm sure he would have approved. It's a great loss to TV; he was good, inoffensive fun. Sometimes, just sometimes, I could actually do the numbers' game.

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posted by TheDonF at 5:05 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by devon at 5:09 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by jiroczech at 5:12 AM on June 27, 2005

Very sad.

As a child, I used to watch him every day as a newsreader on Calendar, the regional news programme for Yorkshire. I remember cycling home from school to watch him present the Countdown broadcast that was Channel 4's first ever programme. It seems like every Christmas that they drag out the clip of him with the ferret clamped to his finger.

He was one of the good guys, and the world's a little worse off for his going.
posted by veedubya at 5:31 AM on June 27, 2005

Genuinely sad news. One of those TV Presenters who was perfectly suited to their job, and yet would probably never be allowed within a mile of a studio if he started today.
posted by Hartster at 5:34 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by Rothko at 5:38 AM on June 27, 2005

B3ta has begun.

RIP. Student life will never be the same again...
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:42 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by Grangousier at 5:48 AM on June 27, 2005

Very sad. Countdown just won't be the same without him.

Nobody seems to have a bad word for him, despite his faintly ridiculous presentation style. He was like an embarrassing uncle who you know is still a decent sort of chap.

He was also the worst star in a reasonably priced car - beaten by Wogan ... and a blind bloke..
posted by salmacis at 8:17 AM on June 27, 2005

Of all the threads I wish I'd been able to comment in, I regret most not being part of the John Peel obit. Somehow this seems like a poor replacement.

Still, Whiteley seemed a decent old bugger.
posted by blag at 8:21 AM on June 27, 2005

Of all the threads I wish I'd been able to comment in, I regret most not being part of the John Peel obit. Somehow this seems like a poor replacement.

Still, Whiteley seemed a decent old bugger.
posted by blag at 8:36 AM on June 27, 2005

Seen elsewhere: "God takes one from the top".
posted by doozer_ex_machina at 8:38 AM on June 27, 2005

aaah, crap. stupid jrun.
posted by blag at 8:38 AM on June 27, 2005

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posted by john_son at 1:53 PM on June 27, 2005

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posted by runkelfinker at 2:13 PM on June 27, 2005

I feel strangely sad about his death. I remember watching the opening of Channel 4 with a lot of excitement (Four channels? Wow!) and watching the first edition of Countdown. It was a strangely enjoyable show even for someone like me who was always hopeless at word games - I think I rarely managed to make words longer than five letters.

He seemed to make an adavantage of his twitchy geekishness in his presentational style. I loved the fact that every time he dropped one of his hideous puns into his introductions he would pause for the audience to groan.

It's sad to think he won't be around anymore.
posted by dodgygeezer at 3:07 PM on June 27, 2005

He was the biggest dork to ever appear on his programme, he would be lucky to get a three letter word (thankfully that wasn't his job). A great guy, will be sadly missed.
posted by Joeforking at 3:29 PM on June 27, 2005

Fans may be interested to know that the final Whiteley recordings are broadcast through this week.
posted by biffa at 1:47 AM on June 29, 2005