Jimmy Carr hosts another helping of humorous word wrestling, with regular team captains Jon Richardson and Sean Lock joined by David Mitchell and Katherine Ryan. Rachel Riley remains on number and letter duty, while Susie Dent shuffles along her Dictionary Corner bench to make room for guest dictionary delvers and YouTube popmakers the Brett Domino Trio. And, believe it or not, that name is not an anagram.

This throwaway spin-off has quietly eaten its parent, the less likable 8 Out Of 10 Cats. It's in the way Countdown and the comedy interact: once the scripted opening gags are over, the fact that Sean Lock et al are more or less playing properly satisfies viewers who want a panel game to contain an actual game, while the overlong runtime helps bring a loose, tipsy muckabout feel.

Sean Lock's anti-cat tirade left me bereft of friends

I was horrified, of course, but more than that betrayed, disappointed and perplexed. Could I continue to like someone who hates my very raison d'etre?

With a little liquid still left in that particular game show crossover sponge, here's another splash of word-wrangling whimsy from the Cats crew, with Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock and Jon Richardson joined by Reginald D. Hunter and British comedy award-winner Aisling Bea in search of those elusive eight-pointers. The lexicographical gold-panning is overseen, as ever, by Susie Dent, with assistance from Holly Walsh. As for which format to remix next, how about 8 Out of 10 Cats does The Crystal Maze?

Jimmy Carr hosts another series of mash-ups between the teatime quiz and lairy panel show. 8 Out Of 10 Cats team captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson get their thinking caps on, alongside guests James Corden and Jack Dee. Over in Dictionary Corner - where nine-letter words reign supreme - up-and-coming comic Joe Lycett joins Susie Dent, while Rachel Riley is assisted in the numbers game by Joe Wilkinson (Him & Her). For true Cats devotees, the latest series continues on Mondays at 10pm, too.

Jimmy Carr hosts the latest special edition of mirthsome panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, which finds it "mashed up" with veteran Channel 4 word quiz Countdown. Team captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson face off against each other as usual, but with anagrams and numbers as their weapons of choice. There are guests joining them, along with hairy comedian Joe Wilkinson, the show's longstanding lexicographer Susie Dent and resident number boffin, former Strictly contestant and lad mag fave Rachel Riley.

Jimmy Carr returns to host the entertainment where consonant-cussing and vowel-fouling are positively encouraged. What by rights should have been a diverting one-off is now arguably more successful than the Cats original.

The show works because the Countdown format is nigh-on impregnable, while there's nobody more competitive than a stand-up comic (no matter how dodgy their numeracy skills). Guests Kevin Bridges, Rhod Gilbert and Josie Long take on the brainteasers with regular captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson, while Rachel Riley prepares for teasing of a different kind.

Review: 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

The show that really benefits from this hybridisation is 8 Out of 10 Cats, because its own format is comparably weak.