I'll say it again. Best. Episode. Ever.

Totally. The more he shyed away from opening box 19, and the more he paced nervously round in circles, the more it encouraged the banker to put him on the spot at the end.

Well, what a kerfifflefaffle!

After watching it I knew the reaction of this episode would be different but I didn't know exactly how, and it looks like a lot absolutely hated the end. The fact that I had no clock at hand when watching meant that I totally lost track of time (even the complete lack of a 2nd ad-break didn't suggest anything) so it felt like it was an hour long special. The swap really surprised me and I had no idea what he was going to win, I knew from Noel when going to see the show live back in March that another 1p winner was coming up, but didn't think it'd be PJ at all.

I'm actually glad that after he won 1p the whole LTL bit was brought in. If he'd just won 1p and Noel went "Ah well. See you tomorrow!" it would be the most unfair game ever and I'd consider it absolutely horrible, but the fact that he got £15,000 out of it in the end (so in a way he won more than all bar one of his other offers) makes the pill better to swallow. I had to love all the tension at the end over just what lurked in LTL box 3, anyone tuning in really late would be baffled by the build-up and then everyone going mental over the £15,000 being revealed!

Imagine Derek coming back and asking what happened in the last episode, he'd never believe them! Despite what some say I enjoyed the game, and well done on your £15,000.01, PJ!

he should have just had the 1p and thats it no sympathy money from the viewers comp.
Paying the price for his overconfidence at the beggining I think it was a nice spin on the ending with the banker ringing back to wish him good luck .
He should do this more when 1p is in final two.

I knew he would get some kind of consolation since was bankers B day weekend though.

I knew there would be some interesting reactions to this show (KP and Wakey in particular!) But this is Endemol we're talking about here, DOND is not much different from Big Brother in that they push the boundaries of what's fair and acceptable, for exactly that reason - to get people talking about it!

While I don't mind the occasional "twist" I think today's game was taking things a bit too far. I mean, what had he done to not deserve a final cash offer, that the previous 458 contestants hadn't? I think it's quite possible that none of the 21 current contestants in the wings will want to go past the fifth offer, simply because they're not guaranteed an offer at all at the next stage.

P.S. How crap is box 4?

Well done PJ not for winning the 1p but to have won £15,000, i really enjoyed PJ's game!

I thought today's show was great, although the £15,000 as a "goodwill gesture" was a total SHAM! Because DOND knew there'd be a total backlash to the final offer.


But the good thing was that it showed all the players who is boss, and all this carry on about lucky numbers, at least half the times I hear lucky numbers mentioned on DOND they end up containing the wrong set of desired numbers !

It also showed up the lack of confidence PJ had in the swap. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he was cocky at all, but at the start he wa so sure that 4 had the £250k in it etc etc..

I've just watched PJ's game properly (I read about it rather than watching it when it was on as I wasn't near a TV earlier).

First of all, let me make it clear that I sympathise with PJ and think it's disgraceful that the banker did not offer a 6th that was money! Lynn made a good point when she said PJ may have no dealt an offer of £15k / £20k - but the offer could have been over £30k and PJ probably would've dealt. He said at the start of the show he'd be happy with £15,000, after his second offer.

Having watched it, it's even worse than I originally thought! PJ was not aggressive, cocky or arrogant and was clearly loved by the other contestants and it is quite clear the banker only did these tactics to get at the whole group.

This was done in Richard’s game when the banker offered an extra £5,000 for Andrew, but gave the money as a "blank cheque" as he knew there would be a rift in the group if Richard decided not to give the money to Andrew, and from what I hear and have read on the forum, there was a rift created, and Andrew himself posted to say he has felt unable to contact Richard since his game because of what happened!

PJ's game left me totally confused - why did the banker do that to PJ? If it had been an aggressive player like Andy K in the crazy chair, then I can understand - but what had PJ done to deserve a change in the format of the programme???

I think this is what bugs me the most - that they feel they can just change the format of the programme as and when they want to. Some will (and have) said that the banker can do what he wants - well in that case, what's the point in any of the show's so-called "rules"? Why not just have 3 elephants instead of 22 boxes on some shows? Why not change the £250k to "A box of chocolate-coated peanuts" on some days depending on how the banker was feeling and whether he liked the player or not?!

How the contestants reacted after PJ's box was opened to reveal 1p says it all really - how awful it was for him to be put in that situation in the first place!!!

Had PJ won the £75,000, it'd have been very odd as he wouldn't have shown any courage in winning it and at the same time, the fact he technically won 1p is very odd as he didn't gamble to get it!

The fact that the banker phoned up and offered PJ the same amount that the viewer won is clearly Endemol thinking, "Oh, er, maybe we shouldn't have done that" and then finding a pathetic way around it! I'm so glad PJ got £15,000 out of it, although I am suspicious about that woman who chose the viewer’s box! A close friend of the independent adjudicator, maybe?

Urgh, that game left a very bad taste in my mouth, and I can't say I found the last 10 minutes or so entertaining at all - I'm glad PJ got some money out of it even though it was in a weird way! Enjoy the £15,000.01, PJ!

Maybe contestants should forget lucky numbers and swaps - they're clearly more trouble than they're worth!

I think thats why he hinted at it in GK's game - he was being somewhat cocky in the chair with the "he knows it's there" comments, and hinting at there being no final offer at the 5th offer was a fairer way of doing it. But not this.

I would really love to see a full unedited version of this game - I wonder how long it would have taken for the winners prize phone call to come up, to see if it was the result of some extreme negative reaction by the crowd/the other players/PJ himself!

er...

PJ, ay? PJ...PJ...PJ!

Hmm...

I don't see anything wrong in it really...I mean, the bankers job is to offer, and he offered PJ a swap...I think they knew right from the begining that PJ would get the viewer's box prize...coz of the banker's birthday...and so...quit the moaning (those who are) and oggle the boxes!

Sorry, it's been a while since I posted, but I had to comment.

It was a cruel offer, but look, if the banker did offer cash, it would be very certain that PJ would have dealt. After all, would you really want to risk it between the two? That's playing it too safe.

More than likely, when a very low blue and a very high red occur, that exact scenario's going to play out again.

This might dissuade contestants from ever swapping at the 1st offer again now that a bad swap has finally happened! To be fair just about all the other 1p contestants were given a chance to bail out with at least an offer and then a swap if they turned it down. This wasn't testing him. He might as well have flipped a coin.

it was a stupid format changereally. DOND hasn't been that bad lately, has it? There have been some good games , Shahid etc.

ummmmm



ive known pj for a long time, havent met him in person but he's my mate online, he jus told me about the show yesterday, and thats the day i missed dond :'(, lol and still cant believe my eyes :O, i missed the show..... anywhere i can see the whole show?

well, i can say that he's really happy, im rly happy for him coz he deserves this money, n great to see a mate on TV sooo shocked

He's read all ur msgs n says Thnx

You'll have to look out for the repeat on More 4 Indi, I don't know when that will be but there are peeps on here like Dan who would know I know Kaths is 22nd of May it was a fantastic game for a fantastic bloke

Well, if their intention was to whip up a bit of controversy and get people talking about the game again then they've succeeded there! 'No such thing as bad publicity' etc blah blah blah. However, the irony is, as Daniel pointed out, that the game had undeniably been back to it's best lately after a couple of iffy months and we had all been talking about it again for all the right reasons - there wasn't really any need to pull a stunt of that nature.

Having said that, even a cursory look at the terms and conditions on the DOND application form does pretty much spell out the master/puppet realtionship that you enter in to. I'm paraphrasing here a little bit but it's pretty much along the lines of 'We shall make the rules. We can change the rules at any time. You must agree to these changes'. Anything is fair game in the pursuit of entertainment it seems. Whether we actually classify it as entertainment is another matter! (Seems about a 50/50 split from the comments so far). Against the rules? No. Against the spirit of game? I reckon so. Others wouldn't.

As for PJ himself, I actually really liked him and I'm struggling to think of a player who was so obviously popular was the rest of the group. Really glad he left with something even if he had to go through the mill to get it!

It's quite clear yesterday's game was an unnecessary stunt. I wonder what impact it will have on future shows? A load of early dealers due to the fact people will be scared of not getting offers later in the game, perhaps?!

Wasn't able to watch the game but have just read the commentary. Sick, unfair and completely unnecessary twist if you ask me. Why pick on PJ?

Another consequence of this is that contestants are going to be nervous of this tactic being repeated and deal even earlier now.

And I don't know what the contents of the others viewers boxes were but if he'd only won £1000 or £2000 that would have left a very sour taste.

Probably not - these gimmicks are usually just occasinonal - people will be scared to accept a swap offer!
People should only swap if they feel really confident anyway. I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't swapped and left box 4 to the end?

I've just watched a recording of the show and the last 10 minutes were every bit as sick, twisted and desperate as I imagined.

Pathetic.