Well I didn't expect another big win game like this. I also didn't think Billy was going to get that far in the game and thought he was going to deal earlier in the game, but at the final offer it seemed like Billy was actually going to no deal it and go for the £250,000 win. Luckily he didn't as it turned out and took, what I considered, to be a generous offer when the Banker could have easily offered less on that final pairing.

Scrooge & Santa this year is certainly producing some tense & exciting games.

It's a shame these games have come in a bunch, really - they'd have been so much more exciting were they spread out as monthly occurances.



Will we, in time, come to see this show as a show of its time, an emblem of the economic bubble, with contestants winning fortunes in a game of gambling on the value of decidedly abstract and volatile products, aided and abetted by the regulator falling asleep on the job and positively encouraging the risk-taking practices? Does this show work in a recession, in particular in its current Noel-fronted guise?

Let's not forget that these two games came from one-box-to-open rounds where a spiral of 'just one more' can easily be triggered, and the two huge box wins last week came from insult offers (that one was on Scrooge with a knowing banker makes no odds here, it's still a forced No Deal and the only decision's the swap!). Let's judge the show when we're back to regular games to see if we have a new Wakey Winter on our hands. For this game to come right after a filming break is massively significant though - there was every chance the effect of Lauren's game would have evaporated over the summer, but judging from the Wakeyism of both Noel and Billy today that is apparently not the case.



Yes.

Oh yes, this is the show that led to hundreds of pilgrims standing outside the holding area waiting for it to finish - it was truly an epic, over 3 hours to record I believe, and was contributory to the reason I arrived back home about 1am that day....

Anyway... being as I was on the premises during this game, I heard a whisper that Billy won 'nearly 70 grand', so after the offer pattern, I presumed £69,555 would be the deal on an all-or-peanuts final 2. However, Noel's sense of round would differ largely from mine. Anyway, it was another hefty win, so no complaints!

Of course, it made it less nerve-wracking to know he wouldn't hit the biggie at the end there, that would've been awful to suddenly lose £26k like that, and to only have £10 in the box was awesome!

What could tomorrow bring, I wonder. I literally have no idea. All I know is that someone resembling me will be sitting in the 3rd row in a silly santa hat close to a contestant's relative

Grrrrrrr! I was hoping to go down on the first day of filming after the summer break but something cropped up and so had to postpone the visit. That game must have been fantastic to watch live.
I think that's the first Power5 that Mary has had in her box and I was quite relieved when he dealt as I suspected that's where the 250K was.
Can we take any more of this excitement?

She had the £250,000 last week too...apart from that, none others.

Now that's one heck of a way for the pilgrims to get value for their no money!! I wonder how long he took to decide at £26,555 and how he came to the No Deal...

I don't think he was "anything but", I believe he did show signs of being a gambler, and indeed he said so at the start pf the game before Noel had said much at all - I had him in the mould of another 1p Adam/Les/Swappy 20k Derek who seemed to be advising others to deal but not giving away they wouldn't do so themselves....

And and great to see another familiar face (Power 5) back as well!

I bet Sr Wilson would still have called him an idiot for dealing the £68,555 and not swapping though....

Nah, Wilson hates the swap!

And I'll take your word for it, you've actually seen the edited shows, I've only seen the commentaries! Although I do think Billy may have been influenced by Noel talking him down as Captain Doom, causing him to try too hard to disprove that - and look at how Noel apparently did a Wakeyist pep-talk at 14-box!!

I'm so they glad they mentioned it being Noel's birthday! I was at pub quiz last night and one question was "Which celebrity's name gives away the fact that he was born on Christmas Day?"; everyone said Noel Edmonds and I was like "Noooo he's 22nd or 23rd or something, they mentioned his birthday on the show and it definitely wasn't Christmas Day"...then the answer was Noel Edmonds. I knew it was wrong but didn't complain too much as it would have looked rather sad...

Banana Sandwich!!! It was only proven wrong hours earlier!!!

(As, indeed, was any notion of his neutrality.)

Haha...quite low at £68,555 and he can go to Florida...oh about 10 or 11 times with that!
About 100 if he went on his own...

Enjoy the money Billy

He could buy an apartment in Florida for that now their property bubble has burst. Seriously.

Something must be wrong with me...because I found this game just really flat, even with the massive win...

Another great game with a brilliant result, I would have hated to see Billy blow all that money so it was a huge relief when he finally said Deal.

I think you'd have to be a pretty reckless gambler to risk £68,000 odd on a 50/50 chance where the losing hand would reward you with just £10. Excellent stuff