Probably because they wanted someone to do that many, or somewhere near there.

Simple when you think about it.....

But why just ONE contestant over nearly six years?

Lucy was local (I know there are lots of Bristol based contestants), it would come down to her availability I guess as well her employment status and how well she could work around it.

Perhaps there research showed that people would get fed up of seeing the same faces for more than a month.

That makes a lot of sense, actually.

There's probably more room for various length runs now that they're on four per day - viable to have the odd player on for only one taping week if they arrive on Monday and play on Friday afternoon, and a two-week taping run could well incorporate about 30 shows quite easily...

So that means Micole and Graham both only filmed for four days?

And that itself leads to another mystery - how on earth do all the contestants seem as if they are great mates who've known each other for years but they've probably only met a week ago, or two maximum?

The social interaction (which starts as soon as you arrive) between contestants obviously happens a lot during the day, due to spending a lot of time with each other (in the green room and the dining area, in the studio, on the coach, in the hotel, in the pub, etc). As such, friendships are formed in a very short space of time.

All the contestants are living in a 'DoND bubble' - they wake up, do DoND, and go to bed - for days on end. As such, it's easy to forget about the 'real world' (especially if you don't have any relatives or friends staying with you), and you do end up feeling as though you've known your fellow contestants for ages. Of course once you've done DoND, you have to make an effort to continue the friendships you've built, particularly if there are various constraints (such as people living a long way from each other).

It's a bit like Big Brother I guess, are you allowed to contact friends and family on your phone whilst you're filming (well in between shows) or do you have them taken off you when you get to the Paintworks?

This might be going a bit personal so I'd respect it if you didn't want to answer, but did you ever get the feeling there was someone there who wasn't well liked or didn't like someone else?

Just out of curiousity, is there anyone that you still keep in contact with, or did for a short while at least, after you left the show?

Like CJ, perhaps?

In all but the first of her eight games, she opened her box with this blank-looking expression on her face - and she didn't say a single word...

Perhaps the cause for her stay being only 8 shows..

Well... what I meant was, might her not being well-liked or not liking someone else have caused her to just stare blankly and remain silent for the majority of her time on the show?

Why exactly is there a pair of handcuffs under the table. Have they ever been used on the show before as I don't ever remember seeing them till today. Unless the Banker and Noel get up to stuff after they've finished filming.

Don't think I've seen them before.

Probably there in case someone goes very mad and crazy, etc.

Then surely they should have been used on Noel a very long time ago.

Wonder if they will be (or have been?) used as a playful prop when a police officer is in the chair?

Wasn't it david who left them there

Theres probably a ball gag in there too and that should be used on Noel. Also a pair of wirecutters so that the player can snip the phone lead when we get a silly amount of calls coming through.

Ah yes, I know someone who would approve of that!

I seem to remember JT from a long time ago having a pair of pink handcuffs. I don't remember if they were put under the table or if he took them home along with his...£39,000 that he won? to celebrate the win that night..
That's the same JT I once impersonated on th Channel 4 forums..with moderate success actually