I have to say your game was one of the funniest i have seen, abit dissapointed you didnt steal tht amaaaaizing hat and nose Noel was wearing, I WANT THAT HAT MAN, ma ha ha

Here are some stats!



You can see the increase in visits on the 12th (Alice's game) and then an even bigger increase on the 23rd (the day of my game).

There's also been an increase in the number of new members signing up recently, as can be seen here - memberlist.php?mode=&sk=c&sd=d There's normally about an average of 1 - 2 new users a day, but since Monday at 5pm alone, there've been 34 new users!

Also, 250 people have found the site by typing "h2005" and/or "David" into Google (along with another search term such as "dond", "deal or no deal", "forum" and/or "fansite")!!

And then of course there was the server's suspension placed on forum due to the "excessive CPU usage" caused by the number of registered users and guests visiting the site just after my first offer of H2005 had been shown. This of course resulted in the forum being down from 16:33 until 17:53 on the 23rd - the first time the forum has ever gone down due to being overloaded.

I foresaw it happening...as did you I'm sure...in other words you should have been better prepared!

I know I'm way late to the party, but I still want to offer my congrats for David for getting on the show and doing well!

I know that kestral has looked into moving the forum to other servers but it'd be very costly and not really worth it.

Let's not forget it's not every day that you get a sudden surge of visitors to the site due to the first offer being the username of an admin on here.

Not quite sure how you do that. Perhaps you just shut your eyes and say "Brace yourself - David's here."

Pierre

Whilst I think my opinion from 2007 has been vindicated since the BG has proved its expert entertainment value, I cringe at how arrogantly I made the point back then. I had a big new job, associations with the show and I thought I was the cat with the cream. Man, I had issues. David, it's taken almost two years but - forgive me!

You are forgiven! I did warm to the idea of the banker's gamble after a while, but the way it was first introduced left me rather confused. I don't think Noel even called it the "banker's gamble", he kept talking about "giving back the money" at first which made it sound even stranger. Plus it was done with an old lady who probably had no idea what was going on either.

Anyway, it created the second £250k win and I was on the wings for it, so I don't have any complaints about it now!!

Seeing as it's now several days since my show was aired, I think it's time for me to offer a huge THANK YOU to all those who have left positive comments, both in this thread and in my fan club thread (here - http://dond.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17072).

I've read all the comments of course, and have responded (as much as I can!) to any questions which have been asked. I thoroughly enjoyed most of my time on the show, and wouldn't have changed most of it for the world. I say "most" because I'd rather not have gone down with food poisoning, but these things happen! Talking of which, I thought it was great that I was looked after so well by Chivers and the various other production assistants and researchers who took care of me when I fell ill during Steve's game last Thursday.

And of course it has to be remembered that it's thanks to kestral for setting up this website in my first place, that I was able to gain Noel's phrase of "#1 fan" and also have a lot of banter about the site in my own show.

I'm so pleased everyone seems to have enjoyed my show. I certainly enjoyed making it and I was just being myself; I wasn't putting on an act or anything. I got on very well with Noel, he got on very well with me, and we had lots of fun together (especially during my show), and I'm glad that came across so well on-screen. I didn't win a HUGE amount, but £6,500 was a nice sum to win and I got out at pretty much the peak of the game, and was able to read the board in the process.

As we're fast approaching 1,000 shows of DOND - here's to another 1,000! (Assuming Noel can still cope with the filming schedule. ) I'm not going anywhere; in fact I'll be sharing the commentaries with kestral once more, starting with show #996 tomorrow (Friday 27/03). So once again, a big THANK YOU to those who left positive comments.

P.S. I think this image just about sums up my whole game really:

I have enjoyed reading both threads and everything I wanted to say has been said many times over

On the wings you came across as quite shy but as soon as you sat in the Crazy Chair you blossomed into a relaxed and very entertaining young man

The banter between yourself and Noel was wonderful, I don't think I have ever seen any other contestant gel as well with him, but then you are both huge fans of the show for different reasons

For me your show stands alongside Clive's and Mary's as my favourite of all time

Sorry I'm so late with this David. I'd just like to echo what has already been said so many times, you played your game brilliantly and were a pleasure to watch.
It was very nice to finally meet you when we came down for Derrick's show and I'm glad you enjoyed your time. I thought that it was fab that you got to keep the box too, has to be worth so much more than money.....
Well done!

On the Banker's Gamble; it was used in a strange way at first (not just Phyllis - all the stupid £15k-ish Deals and Banker's Gambles on blue/£35k when many contestants - like you - wouldn't have risked half that), but settled into being a good twist in the end. Alice's was... strange, but undeniably dramatic. Apparently the banker-producer saw an ending like that as being worth £250k in advertising revenue in the future, and he may have been right.

Bring on tomorrow's commentary... it will be very strange for you to be doing it for someone who was on the wings for your game I bet!

thanks H
do you know the channel 4 viewers ratings too?

I loved H2005 's game what a hoot! :O)

Agreed, geordiegirl. H2005's game must be the funniest game of the year so far. At one point I forgot that there was even a game being played, such was the randomness and entertainment happening.

It was a pure clock-ticking, goat-licking, banana-throwing, Dirk-dancing, lucky-hatting extravaganza. And to have a forum member who's such a big fan on the show itself, to have such a good time, makes it even better. You did really well, David!

I did see you up there, but while I was in the audience, I couldn't match your face to your username on the forum. I knew you were probably on the forum, but couldn't quite be sure at the time. It was only after the show that I thought, hang on a minute, that's why you hadn't posted recently! I should have known.

I also brought along some paper filled with stats, such as the likelihood of having an all-red/blue round, to give to the players. I didn't get chance to give them, so I left it with a member of the team, who was going to hand it to the researchers. They have probably given it to the banker, or thrown it away.

How you played so soon after a bout of food poisoning, I don't know. Last year, a piece of undercooked steak put me in bed for most of 3 weeks (though there were other complications), yet you seemed to be fine. And you and Noel were great together, bouncing gags off each other. I would have paid to have seen that double act!

And, of course, congrats on £6,500!

I think the viewing figures will be released in a few weeks time and I believe they're more accurate than the overnight figures, as they include repeat viewings and recordings etc. (perhaps croftrock or travis P could supply initial overnight figures though! ).


I don't think the food poisoning itself was very serious, but the symptoms of it were. I think I got dehydrated (which is a common symptom) and the heat from the studio lights worsened the situation. Missing the 3 shows did me the world of good, and I got to bed early that night and slept right the way through, and felt a lot better in the morning. It must've really boosted my energy though, because when I filmed my show, I'd eaten nothing but 2 biscuits and 2 crackers (with no butter!) for about 36 hours!

Actually, something else I've just remembered is Dirk's advice to me. It went something like this:

Dirk: Eh Dave, drinking a can of flat Coke can do you the world of good for your stomach.
Me: Really?
Dirk: Yea Dave, leave it to settle for several hours and then drink it.
Me: But we haven't got several hours; we're leaving for the hotel in an hour or two.
Dirk: It doesn't matter, leave it to settle for several hours and then drink it.
Me: But I won't be here to drink it.
Dirk: Orr yahh, I know, but drink it when it's flat after several hours.
Me: But I won't be here; so is it ok to drink it when it's not flat?
Dirk: It's best to let it settle first, so leave it for a few hours.
Me: But Dirk... we won't be here in a few hours...
Dirk: Ah yeah, leave it to settle for a few hours, then drink it, it'll do your stomach the world of good.

I ended up drinking a can of fizzy Coke (without leaving it to settle as I didn't have time to let it settle ) and it seemed to do me some good!

Sorry, I cannot find the overnight figures. The official ratings for this week will show up on Wednesday 8th April. Provided they are updated that day, this will include all PVR/VCR recordings.

Thats brilliant mate, i didn't know that as I didn't get on until well late after your game. Keep up the good work.

Funniest game ever!

My favourite moment was The Banker saying he loved David but not in the sense that he got a tingle in his left rear foot... and the look on David's face.

It's a shame the Mister Al & H getting thrown out of the studio incident ended up being cut, sounds hilarious. There was too much banter recorded for the time available I suppose, the bits with items being taken from the cupboards and the bananas arriving obviously couldn't be cut, they things couldn't just appear from nowhere (well, apart from banana no.3).

MisterAl - you must have been in big suspense waiting for H's show to be aired, as somebody else who has had to sign one of those forms I know how you feel!