Is everybody ready for Christmas Star week then?

Take it from someone who knows - today's will definitely set the bar high!

I know these arent normal shows but can you not hint at the way it's going to go...

Gordon Ramsey does the voice over to introduce today's show...

Noel introduces the week of special Deal or No Deal Christmas Stars...

Noel tells us they had over 15,000 applications for the shows, that they whittled down to 6...

We get to see a small film introducing today's contestant Alan, with his friends and family talking about his life...

Here is a write up taken from the spoilers section explaining a little about Alan...

What a sad story

Well now I know what DOND is like if you don't know any of the people on it. One of the main reasons I watch DOND is because we get to know the players before the game, unlike these shows.

Alan takes his seat at the pound table and Noel talks to him about his charity work he does for Bliss...

Alan's hero is Ian Wright and he would love to also play for Arsenal... Alan says he would like to use any winnings to help get him onto the housing market...

In a slight change to the normal shows, Alan gets to choose his own box, and he picks box 7, which is then brought to the pound table by Chris...

Here we go...

Round 1

Everyone's a newbie today

15 - £20,000 Jay

21 - £10 Jean

2 - £15,000 Tom

20 - £1,000 Sean

9 - 50p Lesley

Banker time

Merry Christmas to you goes Noel to the banker... Every contestant has been asked this week where they would take the banker for an afternoon, and the replies have been clifftops, lightning storms, apart from Alan who would like to take him for a meal...

Banker offers

£7,700

Wow quite a story! I do hope he does well... even though he cant play golf

Stats after Round 1
Offer: £7,700
Mean: £31,156.24
Offer (%): 24.71%
Fair Deal: £11,367.86
Volatility: 0.89
Redometer: 3

Board
1p
10p

£1
£5

£50
£100
£250
£500
£750

£3,000
£5,000
£10,000


£35,000
£50,000
£75,000
£100,000
£250,000

That's good says Alan

Alan says

NO DEAL

Noel talks about the pilgrims and says what a fine bunch they are, apart from 2 who are Alan's friends....

Round 2

13 - £3,000 Matthew

Alan's dad next...

4 - 10p Paul... Good ole Dad

Alan picks box 5 next, but Noel calls a break first...

but that's how Deal or No Deal originally started, and is still using this format in Australia and Holland. It had taken a good couple of years for the Italians (followed by the French) to adapt the format many people know here.

Well... if it originally started like this I probably wouldn't have watched over 600 shows... put it that way!

Well the game certainly has a different feel about it not knowing anyone on the wings, or the player in the hotseat...

It will be interesting to see everyone's reactions to the shows...

We're back
Last box before the banker...

5 - 1p Brenda

Banker time

Noel says the banker has got to go up now... The banker says that the date is off

Banker offers

£12,700

That's very generous says Alan

Alan says

NO DEAL

Stats after Round 2
Offer: £12,700
Mean: £37,618.29
Offer (%): 33.76%
Fair Deal: £15,756.61
Volatility: 0.90
Redometer: 22


Board



£1
£5

£50
£100
£250
£500
£750


£5,000
£10,000


£35,000
£50,000
£75,000
£100,000
£250,000

Next round

17 - £35,000 Sarah - The first nibble at the power 5 says Noel

3 - £100 Glenn

19 - £50,000 Katie

Banker time

What an incredible part one. Love the live titles and the video of his story. That was really moving but not at all mawkish.

I really felt it when he picked his Dad. Really complex emotions seeing family who so want him to win with the pressure of opening a box.

Really hope he does well.

Stats after Round 3
Offer: £14,700
Mean: £40,141.45
Offer (%): 36.62%
Fair Deal: £14,765.90
Volatility: 1.31
Redometer: 11

Board



£1
£5

£50

£250
£500
£750


£5,000
£10,000




£75,000
£100,000
£250,000

The bottom right still looks good says Alan... Alan thinks that the banker will kock off a couple of thousand this time


Banker offers

£14,700

Alan asks for some advice, and is told to keep going...

Alan says

NO DEAL

Colly Dolly and Myself are in the audience today, along with Big Davey and AJStyles.

What a lovely bloke Alan is and such a tragic story.

Next round

16 - £ 250,000 Neil

18 - £100,000 Chris L

Unbelievable run says Noel!!!! It's a one box game now....

Box 11 next but Noel calls a break first....

and yours truly. I see Divvy got a close up in the final edit.

*Rosie I think Big Davey has been in the spotlight most but I don't mind, nice tee shirt Davey

*Rosie is next to her mum's wheelchair, I am three rows behind on the aisle in the dark.

I'm shocked by how much higher the stakes are in this show. I wasn't expecting it. When he picked Nadine's Dad and he talked about his daughter before opening the box I was just begging for it to be blue.

If this game goes wrong I don't think I'll be able to handle it!

We're back
Last box before the banker...

11 - £1 Jon

Banker time

Stats after Round 4
Offer: £7,000
Mean: £11,444.38
Offer (%): 61.17%
Fair Deal: £4,215.86
Volatility: 4.53
Redometer: -2

Board




£5

£50

£250
£500
£750


£5,000
£10,000




£75,000

Noel asks if Alan would like to speak to the banker, and Alan does and says £7,000


Banker offers

£7,000

Where are you sitting Travis?

Alan says

NO DEAL

Next round

6 - £5 Dan

14 - £5,000 Tony

8 - £250 Alfonso

Banker time

Booo, they edited out Alfonso's banter with Noel.

Noel says he is finding this fascinating...


Banker offers

£13,700

Very nice round!

Stats after Round 5
Offer: £13,700
Mean: £17,260.00
Offer (%): 79.37%
Fair Deal: £7,419.38
Volatility: 6.64
Redometer: 5

Board
£50
£500
£750
£10,000
£75,000

Noel asks if that is enough for Alan, and then does a sweep of the wings... It's a mix of replies...


Alan says

NO DEAL

Next round

It's mum next... No pressure

22 - £500 Thelma

12 - £750 Micheal

Blue chants start!!

10 - £50 Jackie

Banker time with £10,000 and £75,000 remaining

What a time to do an all blue round says Noel, and you now can't go away with less than £10,000...

Banker offers

£37,000

Woah!!! What a round!! You'd kill for a game like this normally!

Stats after Round 6
Offer: £37,000
Mean: £42,500.00
Offer (%): 87.06%
Fair Deal: £34,943.06
Volatility: 7.50
Redometer: 13

Board

£10,000
£75,000

No Deal

Come on, no deal it!!

This will be so amazing if he wins it!

Alan asks his 2 friends in the audience what he should do... They say he's got £10,000 either way, so he's a winner...

Alan says

DEAL

Oh, man!

Well, 37k is still an amazing win, and we've been lacking those. Great job. Show us 10k in the box.

Noel opens box 7 and reveals £75,000

Box 1 ( Amy ) contains the £10,000

Damn!

I thought he was going to No Deal

Box 7 - £75,000 etc

Oh well!

Oh my word! When his late girlfriend's Mum opened that blue and burst into tears, my girlfriend burst into tears!

I knew it was in there!

Do these Christmas Star shows count in the statistics?

IAN
WRIGHT
WRIGHT
WRIGHT

Noel says that is the end of the game, but not the final act of the show, and we get to see a clip from Ian Wright who is giving Alan a signed shirt and ball

Noel also says that he is also giving Alan 4 nights at a golf school, and also a custom fitted set of golf clubs


Noel then shows a picture of a premature baby, Edward who was only 1lb when born, and is now 2, and he is brought out with his mum to present Alan with a Deal or No Deal Christmas Star Award

As Greg and Mark Olver stated at the recording. Edward is now the youngest person to have ever set foot in the Dream Factory.

Alan's life story is sad but at least he have 37,000 pounds which can greatly help premature babies. If I were in his situation I will also dealt at 37,000 because it is more than the target money and rarely been offered with 75,000 and a red in play.

Good job Alan... Truly a wonderful episode except for the 75,000 all along in his original box 7.

That was a perfect slice of Christmas TV.

I'm really not sure what to think of this...

It was a great game and he seemed like a great guy who's had a bot of a hard time and I'm glad he won £37k, An Arsenal package and the brilliant sounding golf trip! But what if it had all gone badly wrong... it would have been hard to watch especially at Christmas. It went well today and was a great show! I just hope it doesn't fall apart tomorrow...

And if it achieved nothing else I bet it raised quite a bit of awareness for his charity!

I was thinking that too, It'll be interesting to see if anyone has trainwrecks/low blues in the boxes this week.

The last round and the win was very good but it was strange viewing for the first part.

Well done to Alan anyway.

Well well WELL!

Apart from seeing me looking abysmal on the telly, I thought it was a fantastic game!

Quite a lot of funny gags were edited out, including some with Alfonso - Noel joked that he thought he looked familiar and he was trying to remember where he saw him...then said it was Crimewatch!!! He then went on to say he had a very Mafia-esque name, and asked for his surname, which sounded even more dodgy!!!

Everyone knew he was going to Deal at £37,000 because he very nearly dealt the £13,700, so we could all tell he was going to take whatever was next.

My friend sat next to me guessed the final offer would have had a £7,000 at the end and guessed it would be £27,000. But I told him I thought that was too low, especially for Christmas viewing. I guessed it would have been £37,000 and was amazed that I was right!

If you're reading this Alan, well done to you and all the best!



---


Just for the record though, did anyone else notice the board graphics look more defined, more brighter and more clearer?

One final thing I should mention after reading Tom's comment...

We all saw the people pick the balls out of the bag. And when Alan's friend picked out the number 7 ball, he reacted quite odd; he showed it to the people around him and started smiling...obviously because he knew it was his lucky number. But just think if the gamblers had the self belief!!!

That game was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, in fact, I loved it! The film at the beginning of the show allowed us to get to know Alan and a couple of friends/relatives beforehand, which was good.

I really couldn't get into that at all... I probably didn't want to, to be honest.

I like DOND mainly because we get to know the people before they play, or at least get to see them on the wings in every show. Which is why today's show was weird. It's weird because it's the same format, same sounds, (more or less the same) graphics, set, presenter and everything... but the 22 are unknowns and so is the player. Personally, I think it may have been better if they'd actually changed the set or something for these shows and had them as extra shows each evening so we had 2 shows a day.

I'm not someone who enjoys programmes like "Noel's Christmas Presents" and the "Pride of Britain Awards" so I suppose I never was going to like these Star shows... I can see why people would like them though, and the programme as a whole was excellently put together. I was wondering how they'd edit it all together, and I think it fitted in very well, but this sort of thing just isn't for me. It was a good game though.

Having said the current 22 was average, I'll probably love them when they come back after having a week of unknowns...

Yes - I noticed the board looked different!

Also a very rare game where the audience relatives actually encourage the player to 'Go for it' and ND

Deal can always go wrong. They can't play people who you wouldn't mind losing because it's Christmas. That high was higher and any lows will be lower.

It's a far more grown up version of the show. Beautiful touches in the production of it too.

I totally agree with H on this one...that would have been a brilliant game normally but the fact that I didn't have the slightest clue who anyone was meant I didn't really care what was happening.

However, Edward at the end was the cutest thing EVER. I want a baby!!!!

Totally different than I expected.

I though it'd just be sob stroies all the way through, well today was a great game!

Right. If you don't want to see my rant... skip past it.

What is the point of people that have had relentless bad luck in their lives play a game of luck? There was NO banter, the banker just made the offers and the whole thing was poorly edited. I had high hopes for this week but the game isn't as detailed and it makes the usual show seem 11111x better. Also Noel whispering "Who is that" about every player. We didn't learn much about the player on the show. All it is, is giving people who haven't been able to get on the show AND who have had poor luck a chance to win for possible money. Noel giving out all those xmas stuff at the end was just *beep*. What about 1p Trevor?? What About Connell? If a christmas star that won 10p Noel would probably just give them £20,000 odd anyway. I don't see the point of this week and if the game doesn't improve tomorrow, then I will not be watching the rest. That's how annoyed I am. Sorry if it has offended people but thats how I feel.

Oooh, and my mum was shouting FIX all the way through it. And I agree. No way would that have been £37k odd in normal games!

RANT OVER

Maybe it was all edited in today's so we all got the gist of how the week was going to turn out.

There is a game this week (Not Bridget's tomorrow, one of the others) where the entire audience was friends and family only!

Actually there was banter between Noel and E11 box holder Alfonso but it was edited out. Same applied for Alan's introduction chat at the pound table. Overall it had taken them to record the whole show under 90 minutes.

Well, I'd enjoyed Alan a lot while on the wings and his game didn't disappoint, very entertaining with lots of banter - I can't wait for Alfonso's game, a true E11 legend! Brenda also came into her own today, and I'm looking forward to Sarah's game...wait hang on.

Ok, the word I'd use to describe that show was...very surreal! Despite his really sad and heartbreaking story I wasn't gelling with the show at first, there was a sort of odd feeling about it. I suppose the fact that everyone on the wings was just suddenly there without getting to know them first, ditto Alan himself. But, despite my fears of the contestant breaking down in tears as soon as they got to the chair and everyone sobbing their way through their box opens, this didn't happen, they were all positive (despite the game going horribly wrong near the middle) and it is very ironic how that a game like that on the real show would have been stunning after the months of bad luck, and when we finally get it it's on a Christmas Star special!

I'm glad he got £37,000 even though I would have definitely gambled there, and his extra gifts were fun, although you know that this is going to happen to every single contestant whether they win 1p or £250,000, which takes the tension out as if a player has a trainwreck I'll just be thinking "Oh well, at least they'll get lots of gifts at the end".

In short it wasn't the horrible smaltzy disaster I was expecting, it was a very odd but a very entertaining show. Good as a one off...but we've got five more shows of this to go, so let's see what they're like!

Interesting. I feel the exact opposite. Normally I feel I know what people are like but not who they really are. Today I got to see their home, their parents, their friends and hear their life story. I cared far more as a result.

Just remembered - the show with the audience all family and friends is Saturday's show!

These shows are a lot more emotionally involved than normal and if it goes wrong it's going to be upsetting and I don't think anyone wants to be upset on Christmas day surely... A normal/£500k game would be much better

I wasn't sure how i'd feel about todays show and seeing the first of the Christmas Stars, but in my opinion the show worked well.

They didn't overdo Alan's story as I feared they might and the VT at the start was nicely done and explained Alan's situation, and despite knowing beforehand his story it still was hard to hear family and friends talk about it especially when he talked about Nadene and what happened.

It was weird seeing so many strange faces wondering who they were and spoting all the little changes they made to the show, such as no opening title sequence, no break screen, the little Christmas Star shadows on all the boxes and board.

The game itself played out exactly the same, the offers were what I expected and not over-inflated as I expected they might be and despite the tone of the show being a bit more emotional than usual there were still some entertaining moments and fun through-out (though it seems they cut some good stuff out).

Overall I think the show went well, the editing seemed better than it has been recently, despite some of the stuff they cut. And I think that we might actually see more risks being taken this week.

Luckily Alan had a good game which was wonderful but what about if we get the opposite and a horrible trainwreck of a game, it certainly won't have that feel good factor like we had today.

So it'll certainly be an interesting week of DOND but it'll be nice to go back to normal next week.

Wow I rambled on a lot

I disagree. What if they win 1p in this normal/£500K game?

The one off nature of these shows means they can choose which show goes on when. Can't do that normally. So in fact these shows are better if you're worried about such things.

This is where the whole concept becomes interesting. All the Christmas Star shows this week aren't being shown in the original order they were recorded. If they were then Alan's game would be shown tomorrow, while Bridget's game would've been aired on Boxing Day. Instead, Bridget's game is tomorrow, Christmas Day.

John's game would have been shown tonight, the first of the six to be filmed...but it's the last to be shown!

And Travis was supposed to go watch it but it was just about, ALL friends and family in the audience!!!

If you think £37k for an in-play offer with £10k/£75k was ridiculous, Julie W (yes, the bunny girl) from about a year ago had the same exact two and was offered £36k.

She declined it and £75k was revealed in her box after declining a swap.

Not true. I originally booked to see both afternoon shows. Meaning I would watch Alan's game followed by Bridget's but had to pull out from seeing her game.

Whew what a game firstly I saw my only friend on here in Big Davey with his puckering lips and radical shirt on the front row next to some bird. Did you get her number?

I liked Alan I thought he was a top bloke his story was sad I already knew it from the spoilers and I said then what rotton luck Fate gave him especially to lose his Girlfriend like that on top of his own problems.

Whats with all this begrudingness towards these people are you bitter or something just because its not 2 wings of nutters for once lol you have a problem with it? CMON stop being such muppets its XMAS It was the shows idea to do these specials - the players were Nominated so they deserve it if they were chosen they chosen so get over it.

I cannot speak for the others but if every game this week is like Alans with not too much sobbing then its perfectly enjoyable tv.

My only gripe was the ghastly editing at the beginning when his box no 7 was already on the table before he picked it lol clumsy editors.

Onto the game personally I would have gambled at the end of course 10K suit me fine but I have to say and maybe its just me but I found 37K remarkably generous, so don't blame him for taking it but its clear his friends and family all still thought was worth a stab despite the offer which was a fair bit more than I thought it would be.

Anyway a enjoyable game done very well and a genuinly nice bloke well done on the 37K Alan and your football Gifts and Golf school .

EXCUSE ME?

Both the girls were single too, Steve!

I asked but they just laughed as if I was joking

If it bothers you that much just don't watch pretend the show is on a week break or something .

Aww shame....you had a wicked shirt though

That's what everyone on MSN has been saying to me:

Things like "Could only recognise you coz of your shirt", etc.

Nah man I recognised you instantly I was on Davey watch!

Well I can tell that you obviously haven't read my post very well. I said if tomorrow was as poor as today, I WILL NOT watch the rest. Take notice.

That wasn't half as bad as I expected it to be. It doesn't seem the same show when there's no banter between the banker and Noel and the contestants.

I can see why they have added prizes at the end - even if a player has a trainwreck, at least they will get something. I know some people have said it's not fair for all the 1p club but this is a different show and we can't apply normal DOND logic to it.

Another good thing about the contestant picking their own box is that it will probably negate any SWAP offers this week.

But there was nothing wrong with today?

Have you even read my opinion of today?

Yer but I don't really see what the problem is!

*bangs head against wall.*
I really can't be bovvad to re-write it in the form that you will understand it.

If your on about the whole ending well they are SPECIAL shows after all people like 1p trevor etc were regular games altough I agree I was outraged PJ was given 15k.

*mumbles something about it being Christmas, a time of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men*

*Hands one end of the cracker to SrWilson*

*pulls other end

YAY you got the hair clip

Well done Alan for being so brave and
winning a really good sum of money.

I have to agree with h in as much as the advantage of the contestants first playing on the wings means you get to know them a little, and I would far sooner see someone like Alan honored and gifted through something like Noel's Christmas Presents which I saw last night and really enjoyed.

I thought last year's DOND Christmas shows were excellent with some really good contestants but I wonder whether DOND is the right format to showcase these brave people. It really wasn't fun at all seeing Alan knock out all those reds, and have family members/friends ruin someone's game. It was an amazing result given where things were at at the 8 box stage.

I think DOND would be advised to either stick to the normal format next Christmas (with the exception of increasing financial amounts such as using the 500K).

These games arguably pose the question of what makes someone 'worthy' of the chance to play on DoND. It's a valid and nasty question, it applies equally to all game shows based entirely on luck, and it's why I prefer a quiz qualifier for the show (as in the Netherlands).

Still, one hell of a game today, you have to say!

Enjoyed the prog tonight, what I saw of it -- missed the start cos of Christmas tea at sister's, so I was watching with little idea of whose family I was watching, apart from one bloke in the audience...

Real feelgood ending to the game, prolly wouldn't have been such a high offer in a regular game, but it is Christmas!

Happy Christmas to Al & all!

BTW, was Davey the youthful-looking bloke right behind Noel, with the word "TROL" on his shirt and the shiny white sneakers???

What a brilliant show, i loved every minute of it and im sooo happy he got £37,000. It is one of my fav shows in along time. It was a nice change seeing friends and family on the wings. im looking forward to seeing the rest of this week.

and can i just say if you dont like it, then just dont watch it ok, cause theres some of us who actually like watching these specials. (just asking polietely)

I really don't mean to cause any offence by saying this but i will only see this week of shows if i happen to be watching at that point. I'm not going to go out of my way just to watch it like i would normal shows.

I missed this one, sounds an awesome game but i dont think i'd have been as interested in it as i would normal games.

Again, i don't mean to offend by saying this.

Yes it was, Rich - now you know what I look like - a freak!

Merry Christmas to you too!

A lot was edited out from the start of the show.

Noel was asking Alan about testicular cancer and the fact that most men of 20 would think they were too young to get it. Alan was saying that men should get into the habit of checking for lumps, and I was surprised that all of this conversation was deleted.

Baby Edward was lovely, I had a chat with his mum and the blonde lady who was the fundraiser for Bliss. This is one of the charities I support as one of my boys was in a SCBU for a month when he was born.