Because of sheer boredom, I decided to try and find out the highest rated Deal or No Deal episodes so far, restricting my search to only the episodes that got at least four million viewers. And looking at both Bother's Bar and BARB, twenty six episodes have acheived this feat, and here they are in order:

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
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

Closest 'near miss' I could find was 3.97 million, shared between four players - Patricia on the 24th May, Rachael on the 15th November, and Sue on the 20th December in 2006, and Brian on the 12th January 2007.

There we are, then - some memorable and not so memorable players. March 2006 is home to the most games with seven of the shows being from that month, though January 2007 isn't far behind with six. There's also three from December 2005 (not only that, but the last three shows of the year), one from February, two from April, one from May, and three each from November and December 2006. Biggest win out of that list is Laura's £250,000 (duh), and the smallest is Craig's £10, which is ironic as they're two consecutive shows!

I think Morris nearly reached the 4 million mark too. What is interesting is that even after the peak time of March, late May saw the second most watched game, so it is still very popular. I anticipate that the Sunday show
could get really good audience figures if they put it on at the right time, but we will have to wait and see.

Dothey take the figures of people who watched the whole episode? I mean, why are some higher than others?I'm assuming Marcus is high as it was a Saturday evening,he was a great character and people didn't switch channels?

I think they take an average reading when they do television audiences don't they?

Bump...because I had nothing else to do, I've done a list of the highest rated More4 repeat showings, too. The ratings for the week ending 20th August aren't on BARB, but they were just the Series 1 repeats so I didn't miss much.

This time, I've restricted it to the episodes that got 300,000 viewers or more, and as of today that's 24 episodes.

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, 04/04 (revised repeat 24/11/06)
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

And Dot deserves a mention too...299,000 saw the repeat of her game on the 26th April.

Massive lead for Kirsty, then, who actually appears twice in the list as her November repeat also got big ratings. She's with lots of memorable games, which I suppose would make sense as in most cases they're because lots of people wanted to see them again. Unlike the March bias in the C4 list, here it's April on top, with 9 - almost half - of the shows being from then, ten if you count Kirsty's second repeat. Then 5 from March, 4 from May, 3 from January 2007, one from February, and one from July, though I imagine this was because the C4 showing was up against England versus Portugal on BBC One

Matt and Mariette fans will be chuffed, as they're the only ones who appear in both highest-rated lists. The biggest win out of this one is Bunney's £110,000, and the lowest is Dave E's 1p!

is it a coincidence when certain players get higher viewing figures than others, or is it just because people knew when they were playing?

Or if it's an average reading - maybe it's the shows that have kept the audience watching the longest throughout. Maybe all the shows start with a very high figure, then when people get bored they turn off?

And what was the least watched show? That would be interesting!

I've noticed that they will put on contestants that they think might be really popular with the public on the days that generally attract the most audience anyway, like Fridays and Sundays for instance. It could also be to do with how many people are interested enough to watch the whole show.

I think you're right Rico. It would be interesting to know which contestants pulled in the biggest figures that weren't on a weekend.

If people like the person they'll tune in!

Bump...well done, Helen and Gaz, you've become the first since May to break that four million mark! List updated to reflect this.

That's great news for Deal Or No Deal and Endemol! I wonder if the 5 million mark will be broken? I think it will.

Well, we thought David J's one-year Sunday evening anniversary show would do it, but it didn't.

The special Christmas one's surely well!!!

Another update - Dawn's joined the 4 million club, and Kirsty's repeat two Fridays ago is on the More4 list, the biggest More4 DOND rating since Janelle. However, as that was mainly helped due to the World Cup, it's the highest repeat on it's own merit since Original Gaz at the beginning of May!

Good to see 3 shows above 4 million in November (up to 26th). I reckon the ratings will significantly increase over the course of the next few weeks.

Mike and Lynsey added to the C4 list!

Big update - Sue, Lucy, Frank, Mariette, Paul and Laura (yes, that's SIX episodes) added to the Channel 4 list, and Mariette and Thanh added to the More4 list! Ratings sure have been huge lately!

Thanks Billy, and encouraging news for Endemol: At least 50% of the Top 6 viewed DOND shows have been aired since 29th December and perhaps more as we don't yet have figures for very recent games! 5 million must be the target now.

Isn't DOND doing just as well as, or better than, Celebrity Big Brother? I heard that they were getting viewing figures of about 3.5 million up until yesterday.

Say hello to Craig, Nicola and Brian, who have been added to the list!

Wow, if January gets one more show over 4 million then it's tied with March as the highest rated month ever. And we've still got several shows left to go!