There have been some slightly negative comments on the forum recently about some of the recent DOND shows. It has to be said that's mainly as there have been very few exciting / tense games with even moderately big wins. But is it something else? Has the spark gone?!

It doesn't help that there haven't been many big wins recently - and as variety is the key to DOND, in my opinion, a swathe of wins in the £10k - £20k range might be nice for the players concerned, but for viewers, there's a lack of variety.

The current 22 people is ok - it's average - not great, not hugely awful. I'm talking about the 22 as a whole and the way are portrayed probably due to bad editing here. I'm not getting at individual people. I think it speaks volumes that Olly has been my favourite there for a couple of weeks now - and he's someone who has not had a character built for him. I liked Jonny, but he got a bit boring because the tramp stuff was overdone. Orry's going that way too - there's no end to the "camp" stuff, especially with him dressing up as a woman at Christmas and calling himself "Miss Orry".

The Christmas shows fill me with dread as I don't want to watch depressing stories at Christmas - as nasty as they may be, I don't need to hear about them at Christmas time, a time which is supposed to be fun, relaxing, etc... But when I think of months in terms of DOND - I can immediately associate them with quite a few characters - such as May 2007 and Lionel, "Arrogant" Jeff, Doughnut Kirsty etc... but October, November and December so far don't trigger many characters in my mind. Probably due to the editing, and if it is, then the question is... why?!

Some people will say "Turn off if you don't like it". I don't want to turn off, I still like the show, but there's something lacking at the moment and I'm unsure what it is. I think if we had a game with a big win or even a game with a big banker beating, and the 22 developed characters that weren't based on yawning / tramps / farmers / campness, then the show will be back on track.

Now I've said this, there'll probably be a massive win tomorrow.

Well, i think that the show has been really good recently, the best i think it has been for many months! But i dont notice these things that everybody else seems to critizise. I watch the show, enjoy it no matter what happens and dont complain about it! But what other people seem to do now is see something, critizise it and expect everybody else to agree! I love watching the show and following the comentary and coments on here as i watch it. But what i dont like is seeing all the negative coments on here and seeing "No Deal it, its a stupid offer" and i no that some people dont do this and im not blaming them.

I think it has nothing to do with the editing, or anything else. Noel has been very entertaining and so has other people i.e Orry, Clive and some others.

Im really looking forward to the Christmas specials, i think that there doing them to make a feel good factor at the end of the games!

So, i think that the shows recently have been great!

Well I'm definately suffering from DOND fatigue. Don't get me wrong as I still love the show but months and months of 6 days a week, people coming, people going, good games , bad games does get a bit wearing. One of the reasons I never know any of the characters when they play these days is because I tend to semi-watch now whilst I'm working etc, mainly listening to what's going on and looking up if anybody says anything vaguely interesting or witty. Which hasn't been too often lately

I remember feeling the same just before the summer break. In fact I was desperate for the break to come along as it was getting like a chore to watch every game. I felt like an addict - desperate to stop but just unable to. After the break the batteries were recharged and I really enjoyed the show again. But they've gradually become drained again.

I'm unsure as to whether I will watch the Christmas shows. They sound so depressing and I'm already well fed up of the current trend of trotting out sob stories to try and muster up some emotional involvement. Plus having strangers on the wings that there is no point trying to get to know sounds tedious. So I may take the opportunity to take a break from the show to try and recharge the batteries again ready for new year.

It is strange. There have been times before when I've been in to it but I haven't been in to that much since mid/end of october.

I think we need a massive win or something although I'm not hopeful.

I guess its tricky in a show where you can't control luck/people's decisions to a certain extent but the forced characters thing is contrived.

and despite 2 40K wins - even they weren't perfect.

After Artak's game we had a few decent games and well pitched offers and I thought that was the start of a new era but things have just felt flat lately despite 'decent' 15-20K wins.

DoND doesn't seem as good as it used to be. It was fantastic then and it is OK now, I still only really watch it due to routine.

Every person on the Christmas show seems to have battled with breast cancer and therefore there may be complaints if they win a low amount. Are they having 22 other people open the boxes?

DOND always has it's periods of ups and downs and this one is one of the longest downs for a while...

For me the testing time is over Christmas if the Christmas star shows arent up to what is expected.

I actually think this 22 is one of the liveliest we've had in a while. Any fatigue I'm feeling is down to the fact I've been watching it for over a year now and naturally it's going to lose it's spark. The producers' attempts to inject some freshness into the show by way of gimmicks and non-monetary offers have only served to alienate me more, actually, but I don't know if I'd still be watching the show religiously if they'd kept it early 2006ish either.

I happen to really like Orry because a character is not being built for him. It is him. Unlike Jonny, who's clearly not a tramp, and Ashleigh, whose "falling asleep" thing drove me to turning off the TV (admittedly because I had an essay to write but still), Noel isn't doing anything to make Orry seem camper than he is. He's actually probably my favourite there at the moment because he's naturally witty and a genuine character. Similarly, people like Hayley, Clive and Stuart have stood out for one reason or another and are games I'm looking forward to.

And as for Olly, H, he's only your favourite because you fancy him

Not at all - if my favourite was who I fancied, then Clive would be top of my list.

never_wrong's comment is actually correct.

Surely it is the players' decision wether or not they want to play the game, therefore if they win a blue how would endemol recieve complaints? Surely the players have considered the possibility of winning low amounts before they agreed to go on the show?

I don't like most of the new "fresh" stuff either, but if it had been kept exactly the same since 2005 / 2006, then it may have got boring. I suppose these "dream offers" and so on give us something to talk (or in my case, moan) about.



It's these sort of rhetorical questions that make me find these Christmas Star shows baffling. I just can't see how anyone can win a blue and it be a happy show what with their "sob story". It'll make for painful TV viewing.

I must admit, I'm looking forward to the shows with interest . Noel will most likely take a "you should deal" approach with the player to avoid them winning a blue. Or will he go the opposite and say "You've made it this far in life, why not go a bit further and have a stab at the big money?".

I think these shows will be talking points, and for that reason will probably be good for the show overall. But as a viewer, I'll be looking forward to when normality returns on 29th.

I'd say the spark has gone (for me anyway), I only watch the last 10 mins on ilovedond.co.uk and I cannot stand watching a full show of it now without turning it off or simply watching the last round on the TV.

What I mean wakey is if they win a low amount, and are crying lots and depressing the viewer, then the viewer might decide to comlain to Endermol saying that the game is 'unfair' and so are the bankers offers.

I started watching in 2005 and my love of it steadily grew throughout Season 1 and 2, reaching a huge peak around December 06/January 07 when the idea of even missing one single second of the show was unthinkable. The rest of Season 2 was also great, some slight dodgy patches but my interest was kept, and when July came and we got the fantastic mix of great players winning great sums, the season ended on a hugely high note and it left me eagerly awaiting for more.

Here's what I've thought of Season 3 so far...
August: Fantastic. A great month with brill wins and characters, it seemed like the Banker was powerless.
September: Great characters but half the shows were blue wins, and with Battle of the Sexes it got hard to tell the contestants apart from each other.
October: The blue wins continued to trickle in, but we had some fairly good shows, huge characters like Ed and Jean played, and Chris B's game totally totally blew my mind. Probably my favourite post-August month.
November: Some fun characters, but with just one person winning above £25,000 I felt the fun of the show started to trickle away a bit.
December: I can't get into it anymore.

As my love of the show after episode 300 reached skybound levels, after episode 600 the opposite seems to be happening. But looking at some posts it seems some love the show just as much as ever, and while there's not too much to complain about - we're at least getting red wins even though they all seem to be about £16k - right now, I'm just not feeling it, sadly. This time last week there was only one contestant on the whole 22 who I wanted to see their game and that was Ashleigh, and since she's played it's not quite got to the level where I don't care about any of the contestants - I'm warming to Hayley, for example - but the show's become formulatic. It's £10-£19k win after £10-£19k win, and while some of the contestants are turning out to be really good fun in the chair, I wish they'd have done that on the wings too. I mean it could just be the editing, but if it is, I wish they'd keep the banter in.

Let's say on Monday, the next contestant - doesn't matter who - comes to the chair, is incredibly entertaining, the wingers all get lots of funny moments, and it ends with an absolutely huge OPW over £40k, and then the rest of the week has games similar to that, I'll admit that I'm wrong and that DOND hasn't lost it after all. But sadly I don't think there's chance of that happening unless they repeat a week of shows from January 2007 by accident!

I don't think anyone would ever bother to complain to Endemol to be honest. But what you say about "crying a lot" and "depressing the viewer" is what bothers me about these shows. Still, I suppose we shall have to wait and see. Endemol aren't stupid, they're clever. I'm sure they'll make sure that the shows aren't too depressing, even if it means doing some nifty editing.

My tuppence worth:

Yes, I still like DoND overall and watch it regularly. However, I'm now not that bothered if I miss it. Also, with a few exceptions, the contestants have been rather bland and the lack of a big win hasn't helped matters.

In short, DoND has lost its spark IMHO. The golden age of the show was October 2005 to January 2007, although there were a few dull ones (most in July and November 2006). August 2007 is the only month this year to have been a close second to January.

I know I've said this loads of times in the chatroom but I think 2008 is the year to pull the plug and stop the show from becoming more stale than it has already.

Definately not! We've not ended up like the US version, all flashy and everything... yet...

That and twists in every show would put me off. Right now, it's fine.

Well, i admit that the games haven't been the greatest recently but the spark is sort of still there for me.

I'm sort of a "religious" watcher of this programme and try not to miss it. Also, when i go to uni sometime next year, i probably won't see any games from then on..so i'm sort of watching it while i can.

Some fantastic games would be good though..

come on guys cheer up!! there are some really good games coming up before the (maybe) depressing christmas week... which i don't know anything about and there are a few very big wins coming up... depending on whats edited then some should be really funny.. our christmas ones the week before christmas so not this week next week are ace!! they're the ones to watch.. oh and for the record my game won't depress you as i don't have a sob story!!

love hayley xx

I think the spark is still there just, and for me personally i'm still enjoying the show and will continue to watch not just out of rountine but because I actually love the show.

The show is still funny and entertaining and the Banker himself and some of the banter he has with the contestants is still great. However in gameplay terms I think we are suffering, it's been ages since we've seen a really great victory and something to really celebrate (Chris B on Halloween being the biggest win in ages). Yes it's nice to see people win money in the region of £20k, in fact Asma's battle and success in getting £5,000 out of her game was wonderful. I just think some people are getting fed up with early deals and then seeing them turn on the waterworks when they realise they've blown the chance of a load of money.

But what can Endemol actually do? They can't make people win the big money, and it feels unfair to judge the current 22 as boring. Surely there was a reason Endemol picked these people in the first place? Unless of course a lot of the good stuff ends up on the cutting room floor for whatever reason, in which case Endemol should make sure it doesn't.

Perhaps after over 600 shows it's natural for any TV show to lose it's magic that it once had. Or perhaps we as viewers have come to expect more.

I agree with the last sentence of the previous poster. A show like this that soon came so populer is bound to have ups and downs. I'm not quite so keen as i was, but every so often there's a cracking show comes along.