Operation Poppy - The Brainteasers

Dracula was a Count and another word for depressed is down. The TV show was therefore COUNTDOWN.

The undercover operative was Rachel Riley.

From the letters filled in to begin with, you know:

T = B

A = C

The unique letter pattern of the first word should give you a clue to the substitution. It can only be the word BANANA. Now you know that:

S = A

D = N

So the second word is CABA _ _ _. Trial and error combined with the fact that the clue should be leading towards a venue should give you CABARET.

So the complete answer is BANANA CABARET.

The undercover operative was Eddie Izzard.

It's a cryptic crossword clue suggesting an anagram of 'aunts yell' = SEAN TULLY, a character in The Street.

The undercover operative was Antony Cotton.

The missing words are TIP/TOP, PING/PONG, POINT/BLANK making the answer TIPPING POINT.

The undercover operative was Ben Shephard.

You need to add an 'extra S' to each of the words to get the second words. So the answer is EXTRAS.

The undercover operative was Ross Kemp.

Doctor [abbreviation: Dr] Silver [chemical symbol: Ag] on [on] secure digital format [abbreviation: SD] (English) [language code: EN].

Put it together and you get Dr-ag-on-sd-en = DRAGONS' DEN.

The undercover operative was Deborah Meaden.

The list of names on the right-hand side of the list can be created from an anagram of the letter and number when spelled out:

T7 = T SEVEN = STEVEN

S3 = S THREE = ESTHER

L1 = L ONE = LEON

A10 = A TEN = NATE

So A9 = A NINE = ANNIE

The undercover operative was Arlene Philips.

This is a transposition code. The six letter groups should be written in rows, one under the other:

Column number: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

C I K K N O

T O N Y G A

O R U O R D

The resulting six, three-letter, columns should then be reordered so that the phrase can be read across the rows:

Column number: 3. 5. 6. 1. 4. 2.

K N O C K I

N G A T Y O

U R D O O R

KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR

The undercover operative was Jeff Brazier.

Soft immature feathers are known as 'down' and this appears to be placed 'on the' second part of the puzzle. The band famous for All Together Now was 'The Farm'. So the answer is DOWN ON THE FARM.

The undercover operative was JB Gill.