The musical composer and creator of the hit daytime TV series Countdown, Marcel Stellman, has died at the age of 96.
Belgian-born Stellman produced songs for the likes of Cilla Black and Charles Aznavour, and was also known for bringing the French TV series Des Chiffres et Des Lettres (Numbers and Letters) to the UK where it was remade by Yorkshire Television as Countdown in 1982. In the 40s and 50s, Stellman also presented children’s programmes for the BBC.
Leading the tributes to Stellman, the show’s former co-presenter Carol Vorderman said she had had “so very many happy decades” working with him and his wife Jean, “forging a path for Countdown in the early days and working hard together to make it the juggernaut it then became”. Vorderman added that he had had “a life well lived”.
Stellman and Vorderman worked closely together from the beginning of the series. Stellman was said to be unhappy at the way Vorderman was treated in contract negotiations prior to her departure from the show in 2008, stating that he was “upset for Carol, more than that. This is a person I have known for 26 years who started Countdown. If I am Mr Countdown, she is Mrs Countdown”.
Vorderman left her role as the show’s resident maths expert in 2008 following a dispute over a mooted 90% pay cut. She was replaced by Rachel Riley who remains on the show alongside Dictionary Corner mainstay Susie Dent.
The Channel 4 series was hosted by Richard Whiteley from 1982 until the presenter’s death in 2005. He was followed by Des Lynam, with Des O’Connor, Jeff Stelling and Nick Hewer also hosting the show in the years since. Former Weakest Link host Anne Robinson is set to take over from Hewer in June.