The UK version of DOND is much more interesting than many others IMO, one of the reasons being that contestants get more attached to the game since thye have to spend time on the wings before they play, whereas in most international versions you appear for one game, play it, then leave.

One interesting aspect of wing runs is the effect it can potentially have if the run is particularly long or short. Most contestants are on the wings for 18-25 shows, but sometimes contestants are put on really early, generally due to work commitments, for just 10-15 shows, whereas other contestants are kept on for longer, perhaps as many as 30 shows or more.

Long runs on the wings sometimes seem to make players gamble more than they would have done had they had a normal run. A prominent example of this is 50-show Lucy (to this day the second longest run, done by Brian, is only 34 shows!). On the wings she gave down to earth advice, such as 'Imagine how good (insert amount here) would look in your bank account', but when her game came along, at 5-box she had £5/£500/£5k/£10k/£35k and was offered £7.5k. It was a very good offer for the board, and I imagine if Lucy had played earlier she'd have taken it, but instead she ended up going on and winning a fiver. I reckon that if someone is on the wings for a long time, they feel that they 'deserve' a big win more because they've had to devote more time to the show, and thus turn down offers that they would originally have taken. £7.5k is certainly a lot of money in its own right, but if you've had to be on for 50 shows (over three weeks' filming), it would probably seem disappointing to settle for a four-figure deal.

On the other hand, short runs on the wings could make someone either more or less risk averse. If someone's chosen really early, even if they knew that they'd have to be due to work commitments, it's often a shock to the system, especially if they were expecting a normal run of 22 shows or so in the first place. If I was on the show, I'd probably be a bit ticked off about being picked really early to be honest. This can lead to contestants not thinking straight, and making decisions they would otherwise make. A good example of this is Terri from May 2006. She was picked after 11 shows, and seemed very nervous throughout the show. Her decisions in dealing/no dealing seemed all over the place, going turning down 20k on 5 blues/15k/100k/250k, to dealing a derisory offer of 3.8k on £750/£15k. It probably takes a little while for someone to get their head around being picked so early, which can impact their game significantly. On the other hand, it may well make them more risk-averse as they haven't devoted as much time to the show and thus would regret winning a blue less...


What do you guys think?

Broadly, wing runs of any length have a relatively cautious effect - people feel they can't leave with a blue after all that time.

Long runs may exacerbate this effect, but mostly allows other influences from wing time in either direction - opinions of other contestants, Noel's turn of phrase, other results, et multiple cetera - to be increased.

There are too many other influences on what makes a contestant act in a manner that might not be 'true to themselves'.

I think both of the examples you mention are anomalous - Lucy was quite possibly talked into the 5-box gamble by the presence of two of the biggest gamblers in the show's history at that time, Terri was one of those who was a big dreamer without really being in a position to take the risks required, and the two-box Deal was probably one made in panic, horrified at the consequences of her prior failed gambles.

Good point, but I'm not sure it's true. I did 29 shows (technically 26 as I missed 3 due to illness). Therefore, I did an above-average run, and I personally didn't feel that I 'deserved' to win more than anyone else because of that. Regardless of show counts, all contestants have to put in similar amounts of effort for the 'pre-show preparation' (i.e. getting through the audition process, getting time off work, etc). It's not just quantity though - I think the quality of someone's time on the show could have an effect - e.g. some contestants do low show counts but have lots of banter with Noel and give lots of advice, and vice versa. Also I'm sure there have been examples of cautious long-runners, and not just people like 50-show Lucy who had a gambling streak.

For me, the main impact of doing a high show count was not having familiar faces on the wings. When it came to my game, I was looking forward to asking the advice of Wayne, Patricia, Mavis, Colin and the others I'd arrived with. But because I did a high show count and they did average show counts, they'd all played by the time I played. So I didn't really know most of the wings that well when it came to my show (with the exception of Dirk and Lisa, who I'd got to know VERY well ).

As for contestants doing short runs; Kath (who did 14 shows while I was there) was extremely shocked to be chosen. You could tell it affected her, to the extent that Noel called a break while she was deciding over an offer. Her daughter in the audience was talking about baking or something, and the whole thing was rather confusing and a bit odd. She hadn't prepared herself for the fact that it could be her game, even though she'd done 14 shows and people have been chosen that early in the past.

Due to my unusual start on the show (wing-walking, this forum, etc) I expected to either do a below-average show count, or an above-average one, but I had no idea which. Kestral was in the audience for my 10th, 11th and 12th shows, and I really thought they'd pick me for one of those. They knew kestral was in the audience and that he owned this website, so I thought they may play me on one of those shows so they could involve him in my game. However, that didn't happen, luckily! (No offence to kestral, but I didn't want to play so early! )


That's true, although I think there's a case for suggesting that people don't want to win a blue, having got on the show at all, which means even short-runners could be cautious.


To be honest, when it came to my game, I'd forgotten about other games and I had a clean slate in my head. When I did remember some games (when I was trying to negotiate with the banker!) the games I did remember were Doreen (Feb 09) and Penny (Oct 08) - the former got a generous offer, and the latter got a poor offer on blue vs £35k final 2.

Recalling games from both the wing run and the episodes aired shortly before recording is something probably not enough contestants do, and a lot of us 'students of the game' could probably look back a lot further (and regularly prove it on the forums!). Perhaps having that comprehensive knowledge reduces the effects of any psychological effects and allows us to play our own games more effectively - others may lack that.

I have often noticed that someone who they keep for a long run to play in a special-themed week often does take a big risk, but apart from that I'm not really sure....

That might be the reverse causality - they might save a gambler or two for the themed week especially as usually they have a twist that favours playing deep into the game!

You say that the example of Lucy was anomalous, but really, her wing run in intself was anomalous. Contestants who do half her wing run are considered as having been there for quite a long time, and the closest after that is 33-34 shows. So it's hard to come to any concrete conclusions about that. I don't think she was much influenced by John G and Fin though. Granted, a lot gets cut out of the show before we get to see it, but from what we could see they didn't influence her much. In fact, John G actually gave fairly sensible advice ('it's real money, and trust me I should know!), though Fin still went on about his 'belief' rubbish, so idk.




There's probably some sense of annoyance if a contestant plays really early as well. Although primarily about money, DOND is also about the experience you get, which in some cases is more life-changing than the money eventually won. But if you're only there for about a week in filming terms, you don't get as much as an experience as others, which seems a tad unfair in a way. If I was on the show, I'd want to be on the wings for at least 20 games before I played.

Also, regarding contestants that have short runs but a lot of banter on the wings and stuff, that doesn't really happen much. As a general rule, usually if someone's more outgoing they'll keep them on for longer. More often than not, short runners are the people who don't say much other than 'good luck' when they open their box. Of course, there have been examples of quiet long runners and outgoing short runners, but not very often...




I think that has more to do with the twist itself than the actual wing run in this case. As far as I know, in a game involving trick or treat, santa or scrooge or other similar twists, only ONE person dealt before 5-box, regardless of the generosity of the offers. Often they'll give terrible offers to force them on. Take Freddie's game: he had 3 blues, 15k, and all the power 5 except 250k, and he got an offer of... 10k. Even twice that much would have still been fairly stingy. Also, if they get the treat or santa etc., then the idea of gambling becomes much more appealing since the risk is much lower, going on only one box at a time. Like, if you had 5k on 4 blues and 50k, you'd have a 60% chance of taking out 50k and going away with little. With the special twist, you only have a 20% chance of taking it out at first, then a 25% chance, then a 33.33% chance. Broken down like that, gambling suddenly becomes much more appealing... KP's already said this stuff about a million times already, but special shows are definitely one of the more effective ways of encouraging gambling...