I'm very disappointed that there aren't any special Easter shows in terms of theme and format this year. I thought the special eggs added a real twist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXqtW44qSjs

Remember the Easter madness Alice in Wonderland theme last year?
Here's a reminder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu6DeW7jGL8

What do other people think?

I really liked the eggs, because it didn't shift the ADP to 5-box, whereas the other twist style does. I note that the Banker's Birthday Week is using that traditional twist variation, too...

I presume it's because Easter is so late this year, it's only a couple of weeks before the Banker's Birthday Week, too close a gap between special weeks.

Well, my guess was that it was because of budget constraints...

I reckon budget constrains is unlikely, as I can't see them saving much money simply by not having a few Easter specials. The behind-the-scenes videos show most of the costumes and set props are made in-house, meaning the costs of the special weeks are probably kept quite low.

Assuming they'd had four Easter specials that finished on Easter Monday (as with last year), then they'd have less than 2 weeks before starting the Banker Birthday Week specials, so the theory greeny mentions is probably the most likely one.

I made a point of watching Friday's show on catch up and was surprised they didn't make more of the royal wedding, have a few flags round the studio etc. It must have been filmed after the wedding was announced as they made the vague reference, perhaps they were concerned it wouldn't go ahead. It's not like Easter or Christmas when you can guarantee it's going to happen every year.

But those people have to paid, props, paints have to be bought etc. Do we know if there have been any redundancies as a result of budget cuts?

I get the impression the people who do the special sets are the people who prepare the boxes, so no-one's specially employed for the special shows, as far as I know.

Also I think they're quite innovative with their special props - I remember one behind-the-scenes thing which said that leaves used for the Halloween specials were simply collected from outside. I think they make most of the props themselves, and the cost of paint and extra materials is unlikely to break the bank; it'd certainly be very low compared to the high cost of producing each show (including Edmonds' salary!).

AFAIK, it was filmed several months ago - probably before the date of the wedding was confirmed...

Kanga was at the taping, he will know. They probably added references in post-production at least.

Weren't there British flags on the set for the Eurovision episode in 2006?

If I remember correctly (and it wasn't some strange dream), all the contestants dressed up as different Eurovision acts! I think it was the first time fancy-dress had been used on the show, and the last time before Halloween that year.

I was there and we were well aware of the royal wedding. There was a lot of banter in the warm up but little during the show - just that rather obsure remark about his Dog's wedding

So you were - it was a 7th December taping, and the engagement was announced in November.

They may not have made too much reference to it in case the date changed, like Charles and Camilla's wedding did.

That makes a lot of sense actually, Brick. Although this one was a lot harder to move as it was deemed worthy of an extra holiday, and there wasn't really enough notice for businesses to implement that as it was. But I digress - that is a good point. Just drop in the odd reference, and edit them out if the date of the wedding is changed.

They could have done a different introduction or something though, like...... on the day Britian Celebrates welcome to Deal or No Deal and could of said something like who's going to give the banker a right royal spanking today. All could have been changed in post-production.