Well, i've heard that next week, DoND will be having YET ANOTHER break after Tuesday to accommodate the horse racing. This is about the 500th time they've haven't had a full Monday-Friday week of DoND since the weekend shows were completely dropped back in October. The week leading into Christmas only had shows on the Monday and Tuesday, the week leading into the New Year only had shows on the Monday and Tuesday (Also note, the Sunday shows didn't return at the start of 2015, probably signalling weekend shows being dead, buried and cremated this time)

And in the last two months, the show has had at least 3 weeks (soon to become 4 after this week, plus another couple in June i think) where they haven't done a full Monday-Friday week, and have been showing 3, 2 or even ONE show a week at times. Also note the took a break around easter as well, so maybe Christmas/New Year and Easter shows are a thing of the past now too!

My opinion on this, i am honestly in two minds about this. While it's good that they've been giving DoND some break time to try and stop it getting exhausted, I'm honestly getting sick of this inconsistency and frequent starting and stopping with them taking all these random breaks at times which they wouldn't have in previous years to cater for some sporting event that possibly no more than a few thousand people care about!

Would it be far-fetched to assume that their are conspiracy theorists believing that the fact that they've been showing less DoND in recent months is DoND being slowly phazed out and getting set up to be cancelled?

What do you guys think of this?

I had written a decent long reply to this before Internet Explorer decided to mess around with me. I love you, IE.

Anyhow, I'll re-hash it as a TL;DR type thing: I think the show's been in steady but obvious decline for several years now, and perhaps it's best that it doesn't go on much longer. A decade is a great feat, and longevity is marvellous - but what good is being 107 years old if you can't see, hear or walk properly?

Time to flash the film reel, for the studio floor to fade to black at last. The light's almost out now anyway.

I found it quite curious when I visited the studio back in January that they were so vague as to transmission dates; you'd have to think by that time, Channel 4 would know how many race meetings were scheduled for the upcoming year. But there was no attempt to work out the requisite days Deal would be off air. "Roughly May" was the arbitrary period given... No sign of the contestants yet though, let alone their games. Then a u-turn by the end of the week: "Actually we're in July"!

I hear recently there may even possibly be a TWO MONTH summer break! From these two pieces of information, I would surmise that would begin soon, but anyone's guess really!

Unfortunately, I am starting to think the show has just about run its course, I know people have been saying that for years, but recent times it has just become boring and samey, and even the forum seems to have lost interest in the show now, with the same robotic commentary every day, hardly any talking points, and we don't even have regulars like James1978 posting on here anymore!

I think like a lot of long-running TV shows, cartoons etc. tend to peak in their first couple of seasons, DoND's peak was basically at the start. The first two seasons were excellent apart from a brief rough patch in Early 2007. Then it took a downturn part-way through Season 3, then got better in Season 4, but has steadily declined since then.

The breaks for horse racing in recent years has probably been intended in place of a summer break - it adds up to a similar amount of time and, as I said in a thread earlier, may be preferable as people would probably forget who's on the wings during the old 4-week breaks. Will be interesting to see if they do take a summer break this year.

It's interesting that the production crew aren't sure when the show's being filmed anymore, but then they are also filming various specials at the same time - following on from the couples specials in February they were also advertising a 'grandparents special' and a 'siblings special' and maybe some others as well. I assumed they'd show these when there were normally theme weeks, but these may have changed (next week is traditionally the banker's birthday week) to a less specific time.

Whatever is in store, ultimately, it does seem odd (and perhaps unlikely?) that C4 would want to axe DOND, especially at a time when they seem to be relying more than ever on their 'established' formats, as shown by the return of Fifteen To One, the continued presence of Countdown (which has been close to the axe an unbelievable amount of times) and how we get 4 straight episodes of Come Dine With Me on some days.

If DOND were to end, I imagine it'd be because Noel wanted to move on, in a similar way to Anne Robinson departing Weakest Link or Chris Tarrant departing Millionaire. Noel hasn't really talked about how he feels about the show now (unlike Mr Tarrant who openly criticised cautious Millionaire contestants in one interview!), so we can only really go on his manner in the show, which hasn't really changed, even if his wardrobe has!

Sorry if this post is a bit long. I agree that C4 do seem to be making the show less of a priority than they did, but that doesn't necessaily mean a cancellation is on the cards.

Re the forum - interesting point, well-made I think. We don't really care, and I don't know if anyone actually does now anyway. I think that's the long and short of it, really.

Next week will be 2 shows again because Channel 4 want to shove more horse racing in our face!

Well they might as well just show one show a week from now on then if they're going to keep on pushing it aside for some semi-popular sporting event!

(Also next week would normally be the Banker's Birthday week, so that's another themed week in the bin since the Sunday shows were scrapped!)

It's fairly obvious based on previous comments that they'll be showing couples weeks when they normally would have theme weeks from now on as they have no clue when the main shows are going to air anymore at the time of taping.

At least there's one good thing to come out of this - If they really are pulling the plug on themed weeks from now on to look after maybe a couple of thousand sports fans, at least we won't be seeing contestants buried in costumes that make them look unrecognizable anymore! (That clown week from 2009 was terrible, not to mention Shell getting offered an INSULTING £1,200 for an all-blue first round )

I think it's for the best.

Come October, this show will have been on for a decade. That's amazing for a daily game show, especially in today's crowded television market.

But you can't help but wonder if there's any gas left in Deal's tank. What else can the show do that it hasn't done before? I don't know if new gimmicks like Box 23 and the Offer Button have helped the ratings any. They've made the game more compelling for astute watchers like the majority of us, but we only comprise a small percentage of Deal's viewership.

In recent months, I haven't really been watching the show. The main reason is because of work, but there's also the underlying fact that it just stopped being compelling television. In fact, the Deal games we play here are more interesting because of our willingness to go beyond the limitations of the aired product's format and experiment with new elements. This, I believe, is what led to the success of Archie's DoND, even if the same roster of four people keep playing.

I know we have a lot of spreadsheet lovers here, so it would be interesting to somehow get a hold of Deal's ratings since 2005, and perhaps create a graph that tracks the ratings trend year-over-year. It might help to answer some questions.

There was a time when this show was appointment television for many, but you can't help but wonder if Deal's time is up. Deal can only remain as a Teflon-like show for so long, you know.

I'm pretty sure these are still up to date even though I compiled them in 2007 - the highest ever rated episodes on both Channel 4 and More4, but feel free to update if there are any changes since.

Channel 4:

1. 4.66 million, Marcus, 11/03/06
2. 4.33 million, Frank, 01/01/07
3. 4.25 million, Jason, 22/05/06
4. 4.23 million, Lucy, 29/12/06
5. 4.22 million, Gentleman James, 17/03/06
6. 4.21 million, Laura, 07/01/07 (first £250k winner)
7. 4.14 million, Helen, 07/04/06
8. 4.13 million, Helen, 10/11/06
9. 4.12 million, Max, 30/12/05
10. 4.11 million, Flash, 14/03/06
11. 4.11 million, Saj, 16/03/06
12. 4.06 million, Michael C, 28/12/05
13. 4.06 million, Louise, 29/12/05
14. 4.06 million, JT, 08/04/06
15. 4.06 million, Gaz, 06/11/06
16. 4.06 million, Nicola, 09/01/07
17. 4.05 million, Matt, 21/03/06
18. 4.05 million, Paul, 03/01/07
19. 4.04 million, Mad Sarah, 13/03/06
20. 4.04 million, Mike, 07/12/06
21. 4.04 million, Lynsey, 08/12/06
22. 4.03 million, Germaine, 07/03/06
23. 4.03 million, Mariette, 02/01/07
24. 4.02 million, Dawn, 22/11/06
25. 4.01 million, Craig, 08/01/07
26. 4.00 million, Donna, 21/02/06

Plus a four-way tie at 3.97 million shared between four games - Patricia (24/05/06), Rachael (15/11/06), Sue (20/12/06) and Brian (12/01/07).

Bearing in mind that most don't actually know how a game's going to go until it's been shown, the More4 figures are a better indication of games that people either wanted to see again or had been alerted to by word of mouth, which were as follows:

1. 407,000, Kirsty, 04/04/06
2. 356,000, Bunney, 31/01/07
3. 348,000, David, 15/03/06
4. 344,000, Francesca, 01/05/06
5. 335,000, John H, 18/04/06
6. 328,000, Lucy, 30/03/06
7. 328,000, Gaz, 02/05/06
8. 324,000, Pete, 11/04/06
9. 322,000, Marilyn, 22/03/06
10. 320,000, Janelle, 01/07/06 (repeat 02/07/06)
11. 319,000, Johnnie, 05/04/06
12. 315,000, Claire, 24/04/06
13. 314,000, Matt, 21/03/06
14. 313,000, Dave E, 25/04/06
15. 312,000, "Kirsty", 24/11/06 (the revised repeat shown instead of Amanda's game)
16. 307,000, Julia, 17/04/06
17. 306,000, Bob, 28/03/06
18. 306,000, Pat M, 03/05/06
19. 306,000, Lofty, 23/05/06
20. 305,000, Okiem, 23/02/06
21. 304,000, Gary, 20/04/06
22. 302,000, Thanh, 04/01/07
23. 301,000, Richard, 27/04/06
24. 301,000, Mariette, 02/01/07
25. 299,000, Dot, 26/04/06

The extremely random appearance of Janelle in the above list can be explained by its original Channel 4 showing being up against a major World Cup match (England v Portugal), and in the days before On Demand/catchup services many wouldn't have seen it the first time.

It would take way too long to check every single Channel 4/More4 showing since 2007(!), but looking at just the £250k winners it looks like there's not much point anyway:

Laura 4.21 million (07/01/2007, 7th in top 30 that week)
Alice 2.55 million (12/03/2009, 6th in top 30)
Suzanne 1.87 million (13/05/2011, 6th in top 30)
Tegen 1.81 million (22/09/2011, 9th in top 30)
Nong less than 0.83 million (05/08/2012, not in top 30)
Paddy 0.88 million (12/08/2013, 29th in top 30)
Roop 1.11 million (12/02/2014, 28th in top 30)

The show hasn't appeared in the top 30 for any weeks in 2015 so far, indicating it's getting less than 0.8 (maybe 0.7) million now. Nong and Paddy would both have be affected by taking place in the summer, when less people would be indoors watching the show, with Nong also losing out due to the country going Olympics mad at the time, being broadcast the same day some bloke called Usain Bolt won a gold.

There's clearly two major 'peaks' for the show, both the spring of 2006 when it was an extremely new and exciting show + hour long specials, and late 2006/early 2007 - both because of winter weather and the fact that Laura's win had long been leaked, so many would be watching daily to see if it was her game. Craig and Nicola do well by being the first two post-Laura shows, as does the huge figure for Bunney's £110,000 More4 repeat.

The show stopped being compelling television for me at the beginning of 2008, but it clearly remained popular for a while as it continues to make the weekly top 10 with ease until at least 2012, when a slip in popularity starts. I think it's going to make the 10th anniversary but I can't see it lasting much longer than that, although given that I'm still posting about it almost a decade later indicates it's clearly made an impact on me at least

Just to give you an idea of how many people missed Nong's game, I was at an audition in late 2012 where they showed Nong's game while silver ticket holders were waiting for their individual interview, and I think I was the only one who knew the result!!

Some of the overnight figures lately for DoND have been under 500k, and I think it's struggling even to beat Countdown now, which surely is the death knell - I think the only reason it made it this far was because it'd have been tough to justify cancelling the highest-rated show in the daytime schedule even if it was clearly loss-making, now it's lost even that. I'd be amazed if any more DoND is ever recorded here.

(Unless there's a revival later...)

Interesting figures and points from two of our elder statesmen, followed 'on-point' by an interpretation from another -

I think the revival is something worth visiting for a moment. I'd ponder that is perhaps well within the realms of fantasy alone, by this stage; I think the decline is stark, and the performances only seem to be heading in one direction. I'm not sure what could elicit the possibility of a renaissance taking place, if anything at all. I'd quite like to see it happen, because I haven't seen it anywhere else, but I feel the night is closing in, and the dawn to an Indian summer isn't going to arrive.

Struggling to overcome Countdown is a pretty shambolic state for a show with DoND's past to find itself lingering in, but I would agree that that, in and of itself, could and perhaps should be the final curtain.

My favourite quote reassures us that 'nothing...can take our halcyon days away', but I feel it's just about time now to conclude the final chapter, scrawl 'FINIS' at the bottom of the page, dedicate these ten years to whoever we please, and down the pen for good.
I think that however much DoND was able to write in entertainment history from its conception, it has done so with grace and style, and can't really conjure any more - and when one's conjuring is up, that is the way. As it always has been, as it always will be.

I would say, as they do, 'it is time'.

There's another thing I've been wondering about...

Let's say that in the near future, the show's final week is announced, and there are still a number of contestants on the wings who haven't played their games yet. What happens to them? Would they simply told that some of them won't get to play? Or would something else be done instead?

If we ever do get to the series finale, I'd love to see Noel himself take on the Banker and the boxes for charity on the final episode. That would be a great way to go out.

Just one more thing... How is Countdown still on after 33 years? It's a literal snoozefest. I've tried watching it before, and I found it incredibly boring.

I don't watch it as much as I used to. Nick Hewer just bores me and I stop paying attention at the origins of words part.

Recent figures pit both Countdown and DoND on 300,000, but Countdown gets a higher audience share.

I think a good idea would be: if DoND was getting cancelled and was down to its last 22 shows, I think the final 22 newbies should be past contestants who had big wins, or even better, how about making the last 22 newbies the players who were on the wings on Show 1

Of course it would make it predictable choosing who will play, when they get down to the last couple of contestants, but at least it won't make the players on the wings feel ripped off for not getting a chance to play!

I honestly can't see DoND lasting beyond 2017. Like I said, just like many long-running TV shows, cartoons etc. its peak was at the start when everything was new and fresh and we didnt know what to expect, but now, its become stale and predictable, they've scraped the barrel for long enough to try and keep it interesting, but I do think DoND has just about run its course now

And I'll say it again, even this forum seems to have become disinterested in the show. We're struggling to come up with talking points now, we only have like six or seven people regularly posting on here now (!) compared with how busy and lively the forum was around Season 2 time, contestant fan clubs have dried up, no current contestant posts here anymore, and daily commentaries are becoming very uninteresting to read with the same robotic commenting day in day out

Yeah, I don't think it'll be much before DoND takes its 6ft journey downstairs

Oh, I remember Season 2 time! Good grief, that was ruddy brilliant. We'd have 50, 60, upwards of 70 of us online at any one point, and it wasn't even a rare occurrence...