Around this time 10 years ago was the beginning of the end of the Edmonds era. By 2015, weekend shows and "themed weeks" were a thing of the past, and starting from here, the show would start being on less and less, frequently taking breaks due to horse racing telecasts and even being off our screens for months on end during the middle part of the year!

I think it was actually me who first brought up the idea that DoND was on its way out and was slowly being "phased out" by being on less and less frequently, and it would start being off for so long around summer, that it lead other people on here to believe that the show had been quietly cancelled and wouldn't be coming back.

As it turned out, this in fact was the point where the machine had been unplugged, with the final batch of studio shows being recorded in April 2015, but due to the amount of frequent breaks and long periods off the air, they didn't actually air until the waning months of 2016 (some 18-20 months later!), and in fact, official news of the show's cancellation didn't emerge until August 2016 - well over a year after the final studio shows were in the can......

Nineteen years ago - and I regret to say I forgot to mention Geordie Gerry's game on the 1st - Peter played Deal or No Deal.

He started well, the Banker pitching in with an £8,000 opening offer; appearing to genuinely consider this, Peter pressed on anyway, and his second round was rather disastrous - £50,000 and £75,000 both disappearing, the offer reduced to £5,000. On we went, into round three, at which point both the jackpot and £15,000 left the game. The Banker went down again to £3,000, and after some more deliberation - quite unbelievable with a board configuration such as he had - Peter still said 'no deal'.
The fourth round brought no real solace, £20,000 and £35,000 going along with a blue, but the offer rose to £3,500.
At this stage, Peter had six blues in play, plus the £5,000 and the £100,000 (not too dissimilar a board from Ozzy's earlier today!); the mean stood at a shade over £13,250, and the apparently-fair deal figure was £3,000 and some change.
And so the great torture began.
Seconds turned to minutes.
Minutes became hours.
Hours merged ceaselessly into days.
Outside the Deal or No Deal studio, babies were born, grew up, lived their entire lives and died of old age, while within those walls Peter agonised over £3,500.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, his decision was made.

DEAL

The choice didn't come as much of a shock, considering the painful process by which Peter had come to it, but it remained the case that there was only one person in that room who had even contemplated accepting the offer.
He suffered for it, unfortunately, because his next round was almost perfect - all-low, all-blue, and the offer would've been £17,000.
Worse followed, for at the end only a blue and £100,000 were left; the offer, inevitably, £35,000.
Peter's misery was ended there, as he had £5 in his box, but his decision was one of the most ill-judged in the show's history up to that point in time...and remains so almost two decades later.
The great irony of it, of course, was that Peter in his time on the wings had always - always - urged the player in the chair to go on. It's a different game when your turn comes, evidently!

I think it's worth going back in time, though, by one day - because the game before Peter's was perhaps the greatest ever played.

It was Brenda's turn to play; from the North East, she'd always come across very well on the wings, and was certainly a popular contestant (as Peter was too! I liked his game and him in general, personally, and he always gave sound advice).
She was one of these people who maybe the Banker thought would be overawed the moment they received a decent offer, and how sweet it was that, if that was how he was thinking, he would soon be proven wrong.
Very wrong.

First round came and went - three blues, £3,000 and £5,000 departed the building. The Banker showed respect, and this was reciprocated, but his offer of £7,500 - very strong in those days - was politely declined. I shall now write in the present tense.

Round 2
The second round arrives, and Brenda selects box number 8. It's a good one - the penny! She won't be joining poor old Nick Bain in the 1p club! Next up is 22 - it's £5! What luck indeed. We go to a break with Noel pointing out just how strong this game is looking at such an early stage; when we return, the final box contains £250. The studio erupts.
The Banker, too, erupts.
He doubles his offer to

BANKER'S OFFER

£15,000

Brenda is suitably impressed, but she chooses to go on. How could you not?! It's

NO DEAL

Round 3
Let's keep this great game going - Brenda selects number 9.
It's £50.
Next is number 3.
Now £1 disappears.
Number 18 completes the trio.
It's £1,000.

The Banker is almost completely speechless, and Noel is delighted. What's the offer? It's

BANKER'S OFFER

£31,000

Brenda continues -

NO DEAL

Round 4
Now, we're bound to start hitting the big numbers at this point, it's inevitable, so let's brace ourselves at home - Brenda's going for number 2, anything but the jackpot really will be fine, and---oh good god, it's £100

Right, ahem, erm, OK, so, let's not get too carried away, these next two could be huge amounts, she's confirmed number 12 next, right, OK---what in the name of, what the, how the, what is going on?! It's £10

One box away from perfection.

Brenda chooses number 14, and it's £20,000, but it may as well be 20p for all that anyone in that studio cares! This is incredible, unbelievable, amazing, fantasmagorical, splendiferous---oh, hang on, here's the Banker---

BANKER'S OFFER

£57,000

Chaos.
After a while, everyone's sort of calmed down.
But not quite.
Anyway, Brenda's ready. It's

DEAL

So the proveout begins. I'll keep it succinct - because it doesn't seem to matter a jot to Brenda either way, because she's over the moon with her £57,000! - but the first to go is the £15,000, then the £100,000, and then the £750; the offer would've been £84,000, dead on the mean, and in her case I can believe that! The final round would've been horrific in live play, as the £250,000, £35,000 and £75,000 all disappear from the game board, leaving £10,000 or £50,000 at the end; the offer would have dropped to £21,000.

In Brenda's box 11, Noel reveals £50,000 - but it doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter what might have been or what was in the box all along, because nothing is especially important because Brenda has had the greatest game ever, and Brenda is going home with fifty-seven thousand pounds.

What a day that was.

I watched some of Brenda's game just now, inspired by the recap.

God, it really was unique wasn't it. You just aren't watching a game show with that enigmatic powerhouse involved. You're viewing found footage.

19 years ago, DoND officially passed the 100th show milestone, and it was the game of Gary, who swapped his box at the end to win £15,000!

But it was also the first game that featured the coloured box inserts, and no one except for the independent adjudicator knew about this change until the first box was opened.....


Mike opens the first box of the game to reveal the blue £10 label, and there is an audible gasp and momentary pin-drop silence from the audience, used to seeing the white box insert, before they applaud


Mike: "It's changed colour!"

Dear old Mike Spargo, the man with the honour of revealing the first coloured amount!

Audience, think blue, THINK IT!!!

Nineteen years ago today, at approximately 16:50, came a moment which had such a profound impact on my youthful psyche that I remember exactly where I was when it happened; I can even recall the specific scent of the 'Yankee Candle' my mum had going in the living room of our house...

"Number one, Marilyn, please..."

Today, 1 March 2006, was the turn of Trevor to play Deal or No Deal. He'd selected box 14 at random before the show began.

A quiet, unassuming sort, he had a quiet, unassuming first round - albeit losing both £35,000 and £100,000 - and received an opening offer which reflected the sentiment Glenn Hugill was reported to have felt for Trevor: £1,100.
Having rightly given this all due consideration (about half a second's worth), Trevor pressed on, but the second round brought no blue relief: £10,000, £20,000, and finally £3,000 departed, leaving a large gap on the wrong side of the board. Just prior to the last of these came what was possibly the weirdest cut to an ad break certainly of the first season, if not of the entire run: Trevor selects 'the beautiful Sam', Noel says something about how we all want this box to be a nice cuddly one...and Noel then shouts at everybody to 'cuddle, CUDDLE, CUDDLE!' as the camera backs away...

It's worth noting that at this point Trevor had already made everyone aware of his dream, for he and his wife to travel to Australia, first-class, to see his brother and family who lived out there. This, and having some cash to leave for his grandchildren, was why he was here playing this game.

The Banker boldly claimed that he had already won the psychological battle, and this next offer would be 'walking money' for Trevor - but the latter's response to £7,500 was, 'it's got to be...a little bit higher'. 'My game', he said, 'is going to get better'.
This game was full of strange coincidences; what follows is one such.
Noel: 'let's remember that at this moment in the show, you said those very optimistic words, and you were offered seven and a half thousand pounds, and I said, 'Deal or No Deal, Trevor?' and Trevor replied--'
Trevor: 'No Deal.'

Into the third round, then, and surely things had to pick up from here! For his son, an airline pilot, Trevor chose box 6, and Lisa opened box 6, which contained £1,000. Nine blues remained on the board.
Number 2 was in the custody of the dear, now late, Flash. She revealed £75,000! Now only three red amounts were left: £15,000, £50,000, and £250,000.
Alison, on her debut, opened box 15 and removed £10 from the board - a blue at last!
Did Noel want Trevor to answer the phone when it rang? He asked. Noel acquiesced. Trevor had some advice to give the Banker. 'It's Be Kind To Trevor Day, you see; he's probably never heard of that. I've just invented it. [Noel: does it always fall on St David's Day?] No, it usually falls on the eighth day of the week...'
The Banker called.

The Banker called...
The Banker called, and Trevor Bruce answered.
'Thankyou for calling the Trevor Bruce Show; you now have three options:
Option One: to offer me a hundred thousand and I'm walking;
Option Two: thirty thousand and you've got me in a quandary;
and Option Three, is a thousand pounds, and we all know where I'm going. Thank you very much for calling, have a nice day!'

The Banker was convinced that the atmosphere was down, depressed, and that Trevor was beaten and so was everyone else in the studio - so Noel and Trevor took a new approach! Positivity would be the mentality from this moment onward, shoulders up, chest out, friends all around cheering on, it hadn't gone well to start with but it was going to turn around NOW!

Round 4 then, first with Sarah, number 16 - £100! Quickening the pace here, we're motoring now, next is 18 in the capable hands of Northern Irish gentleman James and he'll reveal - oh bugger, £15,000. Finally, Candice, whose fashion sense was never anything below absolutely on-point, class personified and--- £500! Great stuff! We're coming back now, this is more like it!

The fourth offer was £9,900.
'The odds of me taking those two big numbers out, 6 to 2 in my favour; the odds of the quarter-of-a-million being in there [my box], 7 to 1 against; but that's a long way to go yet...current odds, 6 to 2, ask me!'

Saj is first to bat in the fifth round - £750 off the board! This is becoming very strong, out of nowhere! Marcus next with number 11. He reveals 50p! Four blues, £50,000 and £250,000 left - brilliant!
Finally number 22, held by 'Fireman' Sam.
Matt reveals £50,000.

All or nothing, now: 1p, 10p, £50, £250, or a quarter of a million pounds.
Australia, or bust.

The Banker rings. Of course, had the £50,000 stayed, he'd now be making an offer that Trevor would accept in a heartbeat, but the £50,000 is gone.
The Banker believes nobody took the previous offer seriously, and as a consequence, the offer remains £9,900.

'My role, Trevor, is just to remind you to think long and hard about your personal ambitions, and you've got all the time in the world because it is, indeed, the Trevor Bruce Show.'
'Well, that amount of money would get me to Australia and round the other side...it might, but...it wouldn't leave anything to give to my family. I don't believe in luck, I think you make your own luck; you think about other people first, and help other people when you can, and one day it'll all come back round. I think that's why I've had so much happiness - it all comes back round...I apologised to my wife before I came down here, to say, if I got this sort of board, I would go for it...'
'Nine thousand nine hundred pounds, Trevor - deal or no deal?'
'NO DEAL.'

We come now to the final round of three boxes. All that lies between Trevor and the fulfilment of his dearest ambition is the selection of three numbers.

The first of those will be number twenty, which Barbara will open. Several audience members are heard blowing their noses. Contestants on the wings hold hands in anticipation and hope. A studio falls silent in suspense.
Barbara opens box 20.
It's £50.
The studio erupts.

'Number ten Nick...please.'
Adrenalin begins to take over.
It's 10p.
Delirium runs rampant.

One box now remains to be chosen. The opening of that box will send the entirety of this studio into the stratosphere, so long as its contents are marked with a blue piece of card.
Hundreds of human beings straddle this tightrope between paradise on one side, and certain oblivion on the other.
In thousands of homes throughout the United Kingdom, families sit on tenterhooks. This is it. This is the moment.

Near neighbours Marilyn and Jim R remain on the wings. Jim has box 21; Marilyn number 1.
One of these boxes contains a quarter of a million pounds; the other, either a penny or £250.
Odds, 50-50.

'Number 1, Marilyn, please.'

'YOU HAVE...told us your dream...the air travel, and what you want to do for the family...we have nothing else, other than the chance to create a nightmare, or fulfil your dream. It's on this box, and this box alone. Marilyn please, open box number 1, and let it be NUMBER ONE FOR SUCCESS!'












1, Marilyn - £250,000.




'It was such a great dream', she says, through tears. 'It was such a great dream, it was such an identifiable dream', Noel replies.
The Banker phones; 'scant consolation, it shook him to the core; and...it's £99, is the offer. Which produces a mega dilemma for you I guess, because you've played it with courage, you've played it with resolution and determination to see it all the way through, and £99 is a lot better than 1p. It's no longer funny for me to talk about the fact, not after a game like this, that Nick is alone in the 1p club...I do not want you to go away with 1p, I really do not want you; so I would really counsel that you think long and hard about the £99...'

Following this remarkable series of comments, Trevor declines the offer. The Banker offered the swap, and this too is declined.
'OK, I'm not going to drag this out, we know exactly the scale - 's 1p.'

'Thank you', Noel says, shaking Trevor's hand, 'for playing the game with such open courage - thank you.'

And thank you, too, for the memories.

Erm, so yeah, nineteen years ago today was the broadcast of the game of the aforementioned Mike Spargo - and what a chance to forget all about yesterday's depression and give that banker a damned good span------
Oh.

Mike was a great character of the game; the ultimate optimist, he was forever trying to rally behind his friends in the chair if they happened to have a patch of bad fortune, and gave sound advice whenever called upon. He dedicated a lot of energy to this show, and to helping others on the show wherever he could, and if anybody deserved a fantastic win----
Oh.

So, er, yeah, right, ahem, where did we start? Good opening round, three mid-range reds, two blues, £5,200 first offer, obviously nobody goes at the first hurdle so we press on.
Round two, two blues and the £250,000 leave the board - shame that, as we'd have been looking very strong otherwise! The Banker drops to £2,000, and Mike goes ahead into the third round. Now, if we can just avoid those big numbers here, we're looking at a very strong gam---
Oh.

£750, £3,000, £100,000 all gone.
Offer £1,200, Mike says No Deal.

Round 4, come on, let's get some positivity going! The great optimist needs the support now more than ever, come on!
£50,000.
£5.
£35,000.
Banker goes up - £3,200, still not in decent territory yet. No Deal from Mike.

Round 5 - two blues, and the £75,000.
It's £1,200 again from the Banker.
It's No Deal again from Mike, and with a clear message - he wants positive energy here, no more dragging heels, let's really get behind him on this last leg of the mission, let's do this!

First box, 1p!
Then £15,000.
And finally £5,000.
It's a quid or a hundred quid.
The Banker offers £30. Mike says No Deal.
Noel opens box 5, and box 5 contains £1, and Mike leaves with £1.

The other case that springs to mind, for me, is a man who played shortly before Mike - John G. But John at least had himself to blame for going home almost empty-handed; for Mike, there was never even a glimmer of a chance.

Good recap on Brucie's game, but missing probably the most genuine and succinct statement Noel had ever made.

''Marilyn, it's not your fault. It's only opening boxes''.

Stephen could never.

17 years ago today was the game of DIrty George (Gorgeous George? Just George?), the only March 7th game that fell on Friday as Ruairidh's March 7th game in 2014 was pushed back a day for horse-racing telecasts IIRC (Still can't get over that name, by the way, what couldn't it just be RORY? ). He was one of the few standout characters during early 2008 after Clive left, although in hindsight, I actually really enjoyed January/February 2008 despite there not being too much in the way of big money (especially compared a year earlier, when 2007 gave us an astonishing 12 power 5-level wins just in the first 2 months of the year! ).

However, as we entered March, there were early signs of things beginning to fracture, as we slowly entered the 2008 unlucky era of DoND. We'd just had a week where there were THREE squandered confetti finishes in 4 games, an "out and proud coward" on the wings crashing to a bare red win, and a "classic 2008 era" sob story game that flooded the studio with tears, and this week got off a disastrous start with THREE trainwreck games (one of which being one of the most heartbreaking endings to a game ever)......Things turned around towards the end of the week, as we'd just had "Monica Geller lookalike" Sarah scoop up £18,500 and give the banker a right spanking that was DESPERATELY needed after the 3 games that preceeded it.

At 5-box, George DEALT for £15,000......the big carrot of £75,000 was discovered in the very next box, but there was no cause for celebration just yet, as George was left with a £50/£35,000 showdown, and in only it's third appearance in the history of the show, the banker pulled out the BANKER'S GAMBLE!......Only a fool would've taken the banker's gamble, as £15,000 would've been an EXTREMELY generous offer on the finish that George was left with, and sure enough, George kept his winnings and walked away from the table......Edmondo pulled the seal on the giant block of red cardboard to reveal......£50! a second spanking in a row, and the third consecutive "OPW on the first Friday of March" - a trend that would ultimately not be broken until 2013!

I knew I'd missed something out! I guess, just like at the time (I was rewatching the game on YouTube while writing), I was so caught up in the emotion of it all.

I mean...maybe because his name is Ruairidh...

I also omitted this gem from the end of the first round:

Noel: 'Shall we stop and start again?'
Trevor: 'No, 'cause I've promised Hilary I'll take her a 1p cheque home, and you can't let your wife down, can you?'

A few days ago was the 19th anniversary of Lisa's game.

Lisa has box 1 on this Monday afternoon. She's a keen gambler. She doesn't know whether to select her favourite numbers first or leave them until later; 19 and 11, for the year 1911 presumably or someone's birthday, she doesn't bother specifying, will remain unopened until further notice.

The first round is very sedate; nobody cracks any jokes, nobody has anything interesting to say - or anything at all to say, come to think of it. £20,000 goes, £75,000, then £5,000, with a few blues. Noel asks Marcus about his hangover. Marcus replies that he was still drinking yesterday. The Banker phones. He offers £3,000.
Lisa says it's quite a good offer. She says No Deal.

Round 2. £100,000 disappears, then £10,000. Noel says a few words. Lisa says a few words. We may as well be playing billiards at this point, because the monotony level is off the chart...
Noel looks at the camera and wonders whether the next box will be an 'ooh' or an 'ahh'. Will it be an ooh, or an ahh? Apparently, we'll have to come back after the break, to see whether it'll be our favourite noise. No, I'm not following this either.
We come back from the break, and the final box is £100. Lisa goes to select Candice, but Noel reminds her of the fact that this round is three boxes, all of which she's chosen. Candice looks concerned for her welfare, and also rather puzzled. Nobody in the studio seems happy to be there. The atmosphere is flatter than the current heartrate of my great-great-great-great-grandfather.

The Banker phones, and offers £1,200. Noel asks Lisa if she wishes to deal or not. She does not.
Round 3.
10p, £35,000 and £5 leave the board. There's some discussion between Noel and the Banker, of a strange and bewildering nature. Noel puts the phone down and reveals that the Banker has offered £9,000.
I think Lisa asks a few people for advice here - Germaine, Lucy, and one or two others - but I can't be sure I've remembered that correctly. Either way, she declines the offer.

In the next round, £750, £500, and £3,000 depart, and the board now appears strong - not that you'd know it, because Paintworks might as well be a mortuary.
The Banker calls, but requests more time from Noel, ostensibly to work out whether Lisa is a genuine gambler or just bluffing. He can't read her poker face. Can't read her, can't read her, no, he can't read her poker face.
He calls back, tells Noel that it appears she is for real - and his offer is £20,000.

At this point, Lisa displays the faintest flicker of expression upon that poker face; whether this is an indication of her satisfaction with the offer, or simply of a grim, silent battle against flatulence, it is impossible to tell.
She deliberates for a while.
She asks for the question, and responds DEAL.

The next three boxes are £15,000, £50,000, and £1,000. Lisa covers her ears, but the offer would've been - in an almost identical situation to that faced by Trevor - £44,000. Of course, it wouldn't have been that high in reality. Lisa appears to grimace, but again, this may or may not have been related to the game of Deal or No Deal which is in progress.

The final three boxes reveal 1p, £250, and £250,000 - the last three amounts which were in play in Trevor's game, coincidentally, and had she played to this stage of the game, Lisa, too, would have suffered the agony of finding the jackpot in her last box.
Anyway, the offer would have been £20. Lisa asks Noel what she dealt at - '£20,000?' 'Yep.'
There's £1 in her box, and that's the end of the game.

Anyway, I think that paint is just about dry now, so I'm off to watch the grass grow...

16 years ago was the day of Irishman Dermot Bergin

At this point, the misery of 2008 was long gone, and the show was currently on a MAJOR upswing, with characters everywhere (not just one in particular )
and things were about to get even better with the milestone 1000th show just weeks away, and of course, another major milestone just a couple of days away......

Dermot seemed rather nervous as he played his game using a banal-sounding "countdown" system, picking his boxes from 22 to 1, thus being reflected in the theme of his offers.

The first half of the game went along quite nicely, but by 8-box, it'd crashed to a £250k one-box game.....Dermot survived the fifth round with the big carrot in play, and was faced with the decision of taking £15,432.10, or risking the lot on a one-box game, and after an AGONISING decision......Dermot barely managed to utter the words "No deal"!

With much anticipation in the air, Noel began hyping up one of the biggest finishes in the history of the show......Dermot's first choice was Lisa......with everyone poised, Lisa nervously lifted the lid......BANG! SEE YA LATER! £250k gone in the first box!

Lisa sobbed after the reveal and it took a team effort from Dermot and a certain forum member to console her......Could Dermot rescue £5,000 from the game, now that it was his best hope?? Nope, £5k gone next, and the whole studio sat in stunned silence as big dreams were dashed and Dermot was left with pennies......

A final twist of the knife from the banker as he laughed down the phone, before Dermot ploughed on and went away with a single solitary quid.....Even though Dermot kept assuring everyone "don't worry about it, it was my decision", I still think he regretted not dealing at 5-box, as he was likely influenced by Claire's £35k box win a day early, and the (at the time) record run of red wins we just had.....

19 years to the day since "Mad" Sarah. No idea what she won, but her style of madness looks so, so benign now that compared to the off-meds that came along later, she looks prim and proper.

Besides, two little ducks is a basic bingo call? I should know. I have worked some terrible, terrible jobs.

Playing that same week were Flash, sadly not alive anymore, but was a frequent online commenter on the show. Had a Reddit AMA about it.

Saj won £50k that week. I watched her show in full and was engrossed by it. But still wasn't *needing* to watch every day.

Gent James played on Paddy's Day, the only time they themed a show around it? His game is very funny to watch again... he wasn't a character at all, he was a very self admitting boring British man. Hahah. Noel earned his money carrying that one.