Editing Des Lynam (section)

===2005–2013===
In May 2005, Lynam presented the [[BBC One]] programme ''We'll Meet Again'', marking the 60th anniversary of [[VE Day]]. During the show [[Tara McDonald]] performed the song "[[We'll Meet Again]]" live. The following month, he presented an episode of ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' on BBC One, the third time he had presented the show, having twice hosted the show the previous year.

In June and July 2005, Lynam co-presented (with [[David Frost|Sir David Frost]]) the series ''The World's Greatest Sporting Legend'' on [[Sky One]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a19777/des-lynam-david-frost-join-sky-one.html |title=Des Lynam, David Frost join Sky One|publisher=Digital Spy |date=9 March 2005 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> In the summer of 2005, Lynam also covered the Wimbledon Championships for BBC Radio Five Live.

In October 2005, Lynam published his autobiography ''I Should Have Been at Work''.<ref name="LynamAuto">{{cite book |author=Des Lynam |title=I Should Have Been at Work |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5oRKN6xVZ4C |year=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins Entertainment |isbn=978-0-00-720544-8}}</ref> The title of the book is a reference to when Lynam said "Good afternoon. Shouldn't you be at work?" when introducing coverage of an England match at 2pm on a Monday during the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998 Football World Cup]] finals.<ref>{{cite news |title=Profile: Des Lynam |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5394462.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=16 February 2013 |date=30 September 2006}}</ref>

In 2005, Lynam said that he regretted his decision to move to ITV from the BBC in 1999. Lynam said: "If it was a decision I had to make now I probably wouldn't do it. Some people said I went from being a great broadcaster, or at least a very acceptably good one, to being a somewhat inadequate one overnight".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a26618/des-lynam-regrets-move-to-itv.html |title=Des Lynam regrets move to ITV |work=Digital Spy |date=26 November 2005 |access-date=15 December 2012}}</ref>

Also that year, Lynam replaced [[Richard Whiteley]] as the host of [[Channel 4]]'s ''[[Countdown (game show)|Countdown]]'', with his first episode airing on 31 October 2005, following Whiteley's death. Although his contract was to last until December 2007, Lynam left ''Countdown'' after less than 18 months at the end of 2006, because he regularly needed to travel to [[Leeds]] where ''Countdown'' was recorded, while his home was in [[Worthing]], [[West Sussex]] about 250 miles away. He was replaced by [[Des O'Connor]].<ref>{{cite news |title=O'Connor to be new ''Countdown'' host |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6144420.stm |work=BBC |access-date=16 February 2013 |date=13 November 2006}}</ref> Lynam did, however, return for Countdown's 5000th episode, broadcast on 26 March 2010, as the Dictionary Corner guest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1L8uBzW6hQ&ab |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/d1L8uBzW6hQ |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Countdown 5000th episode|website=[[YouTube]] |date=4 April 2010 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

After leaving ''Countdown'', Lynam hosted ''Sport Mastermind'' and appeared in [[Setanta Sports]]' commercials for its coverage of the [[Premier League]].{{cn|date=April 2022}}

In April 2009, Lynam spoke about his recollection of the Hillsborough disaster for a ''[[Football Focus]]'' special programme marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster.<ref name="hills" />

From 2011 to 2013, Lynam co-hosted, with Christopher Matthew, three series of ''Touchline Tales'' on BBC Radio 4, a humorous look at sport.

In a 2015 interview, Lynam stated that "I liked the radio boxing commentaries very much, especially following Muhammad Ali around the world. That was a great period of my life."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thesetpieces.com/interviews/vox-box-des-lynam/ |title=Vox in the Box: Des Lynam |first=Andy |last=Stevenson |date=19 February 2015 |publisher=Alma Media, Totally & Crisp Sports |work=thesetpieces.com |access-date=21 December 2015}}</ref>