Yes, I dealt £6.5k at 5-box and then had a blue (50p I think) vs £20k at the end. I'm pretty sure I'd have turned down the BG at that point!

As ACB says, BGs were established by that time but Alice had recently taken the 'big' BG so I suspect he wasn't inclined to offer them for a while. In fact I don't know how long it was before he offered one again.

Stephen should chain smoke packs of cigs constantly during the show, and it never be questioned, discussed nor have any due attention brought to it.

Random observation, but I've only seen one contestant wearing a watch so far (and it's a non-smart watch). Presumably the contestants were asked not to wear smart watches on set which explains the bare wrists, given how many people have swapped traditional watches for smart watches these days.

I assume there's a risk of smart watches interfering with the microphones or something?

There is a upcoming special...


Sunday 17th December - 7pm - 8pm
Deal or No Deal Christmas Special

Stephen Mulhern gets everyone in the festive spirit with a special edition of the game show as football pundit Michael Owen takes on the infamous banker while supported on the wings by his family, friends and a few famous faces. Will the former England striker open the right boxes in the right order and resist the banker's tempting cash offers until just the right moment to win a fortune for his chosen charity?

When I was on Countdown, I was told it was just in case they start flashing during recording. Normal watches are fine I believe

He was a bit of a gambler in his playing days, by all accounts, and is into racehorses as well…

Few more observations now we're in the final batch of shows of the new series:

• Fairly obvious one but the offers remain unpredictable. The high proveout offers at 2-box seem fake, but the banker's offered some in live play on blue vs low red 2-boxes. Remains to be seen if he does it with a high red in live play.
  
  
• The actual amounts of the offers seem a bit random. Someone else mentioned this and said it's like they're from a calculation rounded to the nearest £10 or £50, hence an offer like £2,580 with no reason as to why it's not just £2,600. The old banker usually kept to round-hundreds and would often double or halve the previous offer, or keep it the same ("stick"), generating a pattern. The new one often just increases/decreases slightly rather than sticking.
  
  
• The average age of the contestants is lower. On the Edmonds version there were frequently older players (i.e. 70+), many of them being big characters and providing amusing stories, quirks, anecdotes and so on.
  
  
• The main interaction with the wingers seems to be at the start of each show. Noel Edmonds used to have frequent detailed interactions with the wingers during each show, hearing stories about what they're doing behind the scenes, more about their lives, etc. This allowed characters to form prior to people playing.
  
  
• There's a lot of "box feelings" and emphasis on what wingers had the previous day.

It depends on your point of view as to whether the above things are good or bad. The viewing figures suggest the show will get renewed and will presumably be done in a bigger block than 20 (perhaps 50 or 60?), so there's greater scope for it to settle down and find its own niche.

New Banker laugh not really make an impact for me.

Overall I've loved having the show back and it's great to see this forum being lively again. I wasn't sure how much interest there'd be on here so it's nice to see many 'old' faces return. No doubt the nostalgia factor is playing a big part as well.

The viewing figures suggest it'll be back next year and I hope it is, but preferably in a block of more than 20 shows. It'd also be nice to see more older contestants, as in the Edmonds era, as so many of them were characters who clearly felt they had nothing to lose and just wanted to have a good time.

Many of the new banker's offers are a bit eye-opening but I'm not bothered if they don't settle down in a new series - after all it provides intrigue if you never really know what the banker will do (albeit that's more difficult for the players).

While Mulhern's doing a decent job, no-one could ever replace Edmonds. He was so good at swiftly changing the mood in the studio, depending on the course of the game, and portraying that mood to the viewers. That's what helped to ensure each show felt different (although sometimes he overdid the drama a bit) and contributed to him hosting nearly 3,000 shows.

Yeah, it is almost like being back in 2006 in a sense, just with a fifth of the budget (inflation adjusted) which reflects the times… hope it’s back for a long run, even if there probably won’t be 3,000 shows!

And yeah, nobody could ever be Noel (just like nobody could be Richard on Countdown etc.) but Stephen’s doing more than OK so far. I’m just waiting to hear someone accidentally say “No deal, Noel!”

Anyway, who are we still waiting to see among old regulars? I think Kestral’s dropped in hasn’t he? So just waiting for Daniel4389, Suezan, Wakey, Walsh (maybe not!), “The Banker”, No Deal, Steve, JimmyB (or was it G?), Qwerty, JKD and “I Hate This Stupid Fixed”! Oh, and a few contestants from the old days would be good to see.

A few have posted recently, JKD was here about a year ago, Wakey is 'thundercat' and visits every so often. Seen Jimmy post this year... got a sneaking suspicion Suezan left a random af comment in the 'Introduce Myself' sub-forum only yesterday.

No Deal's total disappearance remains quite odd, not for nothing were you made a Co-Admin back when this place was a strictly run ship. And I'm surprised Daniel4389 hasn't
appeared since the 2000's, usually when you become so entrenched into a show it never truly leaves you.

Dnaiel has logged on this month, but just hasn’t actually shown his face!

No Deal disappeared the first summer of the forum, think there was some sort of fall-out, though he logged in again in 2008… his erstwhile sidekick and Blobby fan Steve (founder of the Pat M fanclub… wonder if she’s still around, she’d be a fair age now I guess…) last appeared in 2015. Other names coming to mind, Nick aka #1 Box 4 fan (a name change to wind up Wakey!), Maud, Neefs…

psychokiller, were you psychonico(?) originally, or was that someone else?

I wasn't, this is my only account here. I lurked in the 'golden era' because I hadn't set up an email properly and didn't know how to/couldn't be bothered. It is probably for the best, I would have been annoying af. I posted on Bother's Bar and a couple of others that didn't require an email log in, and got booted off all of them ahaha.

Pat M was probably 80 or just under when she was on the show (her fellow winger June was the then-oldest contestant at only 82) so it's certainly possible, I can imagine a lively spirit like that receiving a telegram - though obviously I hope she bins it. Being Irish, she probably would

Just thinking of some others, Adam (was he 22identicalboxes or something like that originally?) one of the younger members who had the obsession with a female contestant I can’t remember the name of… Mental Mickey was one of the (relative) older generation I think, did he make the Top Trumps cards? Tom22, Zeddie… the names are all coming back to me now, as the late Mr Loaf once sang.

Contestants are a whole separate category really, but I remember bushy (Aaron) who became a forum mod briefly, in the end he turned to the dark side and became a Tory MP Think he was a Krypton Factor revival champion as well!

Anyway given the time of year I must dig out H’s advent calendar thread!

Ok, here it is…

https://www.dond.co.uk/forum/viewtopic. ... 95&start=0

A lot of those names appear on this thread! Adam wasn’t 22identicalboxes, by the way, as they are separate posters on there… sorry “22” if you’re reading this And it was Steph who was his favourite, she posts on the thread along with other contestants including Black Widow Aileen!

Don't know how it came to light, but Adam was apparently 10 at the time.

Tom22 is another strange one, complete disappearance. Last visit was the last day he posted and he was a daily poster up to that point.

And 'bushy' was always dodgy, he worked high up in a bookmaker's ffs.

Wow, lots of names from the forum's dark and distant past!

22identicalboxes and Adam were separate people; Adam (I think he was Adam L?) was indeed obsessed with a contestant - Steph I think.

I got to know several people on this forum in real life - Steve, kestral and Maud being a few of the ones who aren't active on here as much (or at all) these days - but they're still around and doing well. Kestral still maintains the site behind the scenes and has kept it going since the Edmonds era ended in 2016.

daniel4389 and Suezan (who I mentioned in another thread) are also doing well according to social media! Zeddie has appeared on various gameshows.

JimmyB (who later lost the "B") logs in occasionally. No idea about Walsh (later known as "Ian W"), Tom22, Mental Mickey, etc.

In terms of old contestants, £75k Lynne posted fairly recently.

I met Pat M in real life in 2010 (with Steve, as it happens) and her and her husband Bryan were doing well then. However, I lost contact with Pat a few years later. I think she was pushing 80 back then so was a bit younger when on the show.


I spent far too long on those back in the day, but I enjoyed doing them.

J.R was a nostalgic name to see too. He looked a lot like a slimmer (hardly difficult) Peter Griffin

We’ll expect the 2024 version in a year’s time if DOND is still on!

Anyway, you must give a nudge to those you’re still in contact with on social media and get them to pop their heads around the door…