Deal or No Deal (British game show)

Deal or No Deal
An image from the opening sequence of the UK game show (2011-)
Created by	Endemol UK
Starring	Noel Edmonds The Banker
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	1,659 (as of 5 July 2011)
Production
Producer	Endemol West
Running time	42 mins (excl. adverts)
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	31 October 2005 (2005-10-31) – present
Related
Golden Balls, Divided and Odd One In

Deal or No Deal is the United Kingdom version of the Endemol game show format Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds. First broadcast on Channel 4 on 31 October 2005, it is aired 6 days a week excluding Saturdays for the entire year, excluding a summer break of a month during July and August.

Filmed in the round, the game is a simple game of chance and nerve, it features a single contestant trying to beat the Banker, as they open twenty-two identical sealed red boxes assigned to potential contestants in an order of their choosing. The boxes contain randomly assigned sums of money inside ranging from 1p to £250,000. The day's contestant is selected at the beginning, bringing their box to the chair. As the boxes are opened over a number of rounds, the Banker makes offers of real money to gain possession of their box. The gameplay is coordinated by Edmonds, who communicates with the unseen banker by telephone. Contestants can either 'deal' to take the money, or play to the end, settling on the amount in their box.

The objective is for the contestant to leave with more money than the Banker is prepared to deal for the box, while the element of risk is that by not dealing, or holding out for better deals, their luck can change and their take home amount can be relatively low, or even nothing.

There is a basic theme to the show, although now and again there are special episodes with a particular theme, usually based around the national holidays, introducing special features and prizes, and occasionally an opportunity to win £500,000.

Format

Gameplay

Contestants can win prizes ranging between 1p and £250,000. The game is played using twenty-two sealed red boxes, each with an identifying number from 1 to 22 displayed on the front. Inside each box is a label showing a different amount of prize money. All the boxes are sealed by an independent adjudicator; the value inside each box is not known to anyone except the adjudicator.

At the start of each game, one of the 22 contestants, each standing behind one of the red boxes, is selected to be that episode's player. The selection appears to be random, though this is never stated and in fact selection is done by the production team. The contestants themselves do not know who is to take the seat until it is revealed at the beginning of the show. Usually players will appear on around 15-25 shows before they are selected to play. The player then takes their box and walks to the center of the set, taking their place at the "pound table", in what Edmonds often refers to as the "crazy chair". Once sitting down the player introduces themselves, and after confirming that they selected their box at random, the game begins.

The player's box contains their (potential) prize. One at a time, the player chooses one of the 21 boxes remaining (other than his own) to be opened, eliminating the value inside it from the list of possible amounts in the player's box (displayed on a large screen opposite them). Clearly it is in the player's interest to uncover smaller amounts of money, hoping that their prize is a larger amount. Boxes are opened by the remaining 21 contestants; these contestants are also regularly spoken to by Edmonds and the player, and offer support and advice to the player. These contestants, however, return for the following episodes, along with a new contestant replacing the previous episode's player, so that all contestants eventually play the game, and continuity is built between shows.

There are six rounds: in the opening round the player opens five boxes, then three in each subsequent round. After the required number of boxes have been opened in a round, The Banker (an unseen character who acts as the player's antagonist and whose money is at stake in the game) offers to buy the player's box. The specific offer is made dependent on the remaining box values: if several larger amounts are gone, the offer is likely to be low, as the probability is higher that the player's box contains a small amount of money. Occasionally, the first offer (or on very rare occasions a later offer) has been replaced by an offer to the contestant to swap their box for one of the remaining unopened boxes. The Banker is never seen, relaying his offers to Edmonds via telephone. Edmonds tells the player the offer and asks the eponymous question. The player responds either "deal" or "no deal".

Responding with "deal" means the contestant agrees to sell the box for the amount of money offered, relinquishing the prize in her box. The game is now over, though play continues to show the hypothetical outcome had the player not dealt. Saying "no deal" means the player keeps their box, and proceeds to the next round, again hoping to reveal small amounts in the remaining boxes.

After six rounds, only two boxes remain. If the player rejects the final offer, they take the prize contained in their box, although The Banker usually - but not always - offers the opportunity for the player to swap his box with the other remaining unopened box and take the prize contained in it instead. The player is always offered a swap if the 1p and/or the £250,000 is still in play.

Occasionally, after the player has said 'deal' earlier in the game, after all six rounds, the banker will offer the 'Banker's Gamble', in which if the player says deal, they give back the amount they dealt at, and open their box - winning whatever their box contains, rather than what they dealt at. The banker's gamble is offered occasionally if the 2-box offer would have been similar to the one the player dealt at. The second £250,000 winner, Alice Mundy, who had dealt two rounds earlier at £17,500, was offered the Banker's Gamble. She was left with the 1p and the £250,000. She accepted the banker's gamble and won the £250,000. It is also customary that if someone wins the £250,000 prize, they get to keep the £250,000 box.

More recently, the banker has been throwing in extra twists to the game, including making offers between rounds, and offering other gambles such as "double or nothing", where after the player has dealt, they have to open extra boxes and risk winning nothing or doubling their winnings. Such twists normally happen rarely, but happen more regularly during the themed weeks.

Game board

See also: Largest and smallest won amounts (Deal or No Deal UK)

These are the prizes contained in the 22 boxes on the programme, shown in a representation of the large display used opposite the player on the show, known as "the game board" or simply "the board":

1p
10p
50p
£1
£5
£10
£50
£100
£250
£500
£750

£1,000
£3,000
£5,000
£10,000
£15,000
£20,000
£35,000
£50,000
£75,000
£100,000
£250,000

These have been the prizes offered in all but a few episodes of the show; occasionally the 1p is replaced by a joke prize at Christmas (such as a "Turkey Sandwich"). The highest five valued boxes are referred to as the "Power Five", and the five boxes of lowest value are occasionally referred to as the "Banker's Power Five". Generally, removal of blues or low reds are applauded by the audience. The total of all the 22 sums of money is £565,666.61. On rare occasions such as the 500th and 1000th shows, the top prize has been increased, up to £500,000 or two £250,000's by getting rid of the £1,000.

Participants

The game show participants comprise the host Noel Edmonds, the unseen character of The Banker, the main contestant playing that day's game, the other contestants (referred to by Edmonds as the 'East Wing' and the 'West Wing' referring to their position on set relative to the game board), and finally a studio audience arranged facing the gameboard (referred to as 'the pilgrims' by Edmonds).

The Observer interviewed Edmonds in relation to the show on 29 January 2006, quoting Edmonds as saying that his scenes with the Banker bring out his "inner actor". He revealed his passion for the show and his admiration for the individual community spirit within it, as well as his (now fulfilled) ambition that it would eventually hold a Saturday evening prime time slot.

The show has increasingly included its audience of around 120 people in the fabric of the game. Because of the "underground" feel of the set and the fact that the programme is filmed in the round, audiences seem to get dragged into the drama of the game as it unfolds. A lot of audience members have been directly included in various games, through Edmonds asking opinions or even on some occasions asking them to come down from the audience.

The contestants who appear on Deal or No Deal come from all backgrounds and age groups. At any one time, the 22 contestants have a mixture of old, young, male (with a brief exception during the 2007 "Battle of the Sexes"), female, loud, and quiet contestants. The oldest ever contestant is Joe, who joined the show on 23 March 2009. Noel Edmonds stated that Joe is the "most mature contestant ever at the age of 98". The youngest contestants to appear on the show have been 18 - this is the minimum age allowed for a contestant on the show.

There have been many different types of contestants over the years. Some of the more notable contestants include Pat Miller, who had much banter with Noel during her 32-show run; Lance whose show reduced Noel to fits of laughter; Walter, who provided much hilarity; and Daniel Judge, dubbed the "show's best stats man". One contestant named Mary accidentally said "no deal" to the 5-box offer of £20,000 when she immediately revealed meant to say "deal". The banker gave her the chance to correct her mistake, but she decided to no deal anyway, and won £75,000 as a result. Laura Pearce, Alice Mundy (both coincidentally from the same area in South Wales) and Suzanne Mulholland are the show's only quarter-millionaires. Alice's game was somewhat controversial due to the fact she had already dealt for £17,500 at 8-box, and went on to win the £250,000 by accepting a banker's gamble with 1p and £250,000 left at 2-box. Olly Murs, the runner-up on The X Factor in 2009, had previously been a contestant on the show, winning just £10.

In 2009, contestant David from Essex, was dubbed the show's "#1 fan" due to helping run the Deal or No Deal Unofficial Forum. His forum username is derived from his pet pygmy goat Henry, who featured in his show, and his username was also his first offer. The banker allowed him to take his box home as he's such a fan of the show. Only a small number of people have been allowed to do this; apart from David, the other 6 were the 3 quarter-millionaires, Adam (whose box was damaged in a flood), Marianne (who was a "Christmas Star" playing for charity) and Ant (due to winning £75,000 from his box).

More recent notable contestants include wheelchair-bound Dale, who won £100,000 with an ambition to climb Mount Everest; Beryl, who won 1p after a very bad game; and Maurice, who had survived tongue cancer to be on the show. On 8 July 2011, professional singer/songwriter Alphonso Stewart appeared on the show.

Episodes

See also: Deal or No Deal UK special episodes

The episodes of Deal or No Deal are pre-recorded. The show is then broadcast constantly throughout the year including holidays, with weekday episodes airing from 4pm to 5pm, and Sunday episodes at varying times. The only gap in this broadcast schedule of 6 episodes a week, is a summer break which lasts for part of July and August each year. While the show has a standard theme for most of the year, it has also broadcast several special episodes usually themed to particular events or national public holidays such as Christmas and Easter.

Episodes have been broadcast as follows:

Season	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	31 October 2005	22 July 2006	234
2	28 August 2006	13 July 2007	278
3	13 August 2007	25 July 2008	299
4	25 August 2008	24 July 2009	287
5	24 August 2009	25 July 2010	288
6	23 August 2010	29 July 2011	294
7	29 August 2011	TBA	TBA

Production

Deal or No Deal is made by Endemol and supported by BBC Studios and Post Production, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. The studio set for the show was converted from an old paintworks factory and its associated warehouses in Bristol.

Channel 4 initially commissioned a run of 66 episodes, with filming beginning in October 2005, and the first episode broadcast at the end of the month. Channel 4 then commissioned a 2nd filming period at the end of 2005.

By May 2006, episodes were being filmed Monday to Friday at a rate of 15 episodes a week. Three episodes are filmed in a day in two sessions, an afternoon one for one episode using one audience, and then two episodes filmed in the evening using a second audience. The studio operates from 9am to 10pm.

Having initially begun filming episodes just a few weeks in advance, each new period of filming now begins several months in advance, and at a rate of 15 episodes a week being filmed, the delay between filming and broadcast varies; it can end up being months between the filming date and broadcast date for a particular episode.

The filming periods and the timing of their subsequent broadcast output period has been as follows:

Filming start date	Filming end date	Broadcast start date	Broadcast end date
October 2005	Early December 2005	October 2005	December 2005
December 2005	June 2006	December 2005	December 2006
October 2006	June 2007	December 2006	December 2007
October 2007	June 2008	December 2007	December 2008
October 2008	June 2009	December 2008	December 2009
October 2009	May 2010	December 2009	December 2010
October 2010	April 2011	December 2010	December 2011

Reception

Reviews

In a review by columnist A. A. Gill Deal or No Deal was described as "like putting heroin in your TV remote". Guardian television reviewer Charlie Brooker called it "a gameshow based on the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics".

Awards

Deal or No Deal has consistently been the most watched programme in its slot for all UK channels for both daytime and primetime. It was named "Daytime Programme of the Year" at the Royal Television Society Awards on 14 March 2006, and "Best Daytime Programme" in the TV Quick Awards on 5 September 2006. The UK version also won the Rose d'Or award for "Best Game Show" at the 2006 Lucerne Television Festival. Noel Edmonds was also nominated in the "Best Entertainment Performance" category at the 2006 BAFTA Television Awards. The show was voted "Best Daytime Programme" at the 2006 National Television Awards. As Edmonds was on holiday at the time, the award was collected by two former contestants, Russell Cook and Sajela Sarfraz . Edmonds was also nominated for "Best Entertainment Presenter" at the same awards.

Commercial aspects

Sponsorship

As of 15 February 2011, the game show is sponsored by Jackpotjoy Bingo, who have created a special Deal or no Deal themed advert break bingo game with a £250,500 prize.

Previously the game has been sponsored by Müller, King.com and BT.

Phone-in competition

When Deal Or No Deal began, viewers were invited to phone in (at premium rate), use the Channel 4 website or enter by post (free of charge) to enter the competition, in which an audience member selects one of three boxes (coloured blue and separate from the boxes used in the main game), and a selected entrant wins the amount of money displayed in that box. The amounts on offer in the competition varied from day to day, but typically comprised two amounts in the low thousands of pounds and a top prize of £10,000 or more. On rare occasions, a 'match play' competition had been run in which the winning entrant received the same amount as the studio contestant instead of a prize being selected from the blue viewers' boxes, this once caused a viewer to win £70,000. Entry was open from the beginning of the second part of the show, when the winning box is chosen, to noon the next day, with the winner revealed at the beginning of the show seven days later.

Previously, the competition was only open for the duration of the show, with the box containing the prize being opened at the end of the show, and the winner's name announced thereafter. This was changed from the third Season in August 2007, following the premium-rate services operator ICSTIS imposing a £30,000 fine on iTouch, the company responsible for running the competition. It ruled that the competition was misleading since the impression was given that entrants stood a chance of winning any of the three amounts contained in the blue viewers' boxes, whereas in fact since the programme is pre-recorded, by the time of broadcast only one prize amount is possible. The altered format of the competition only opened the competition after the prize amount had been chosen.

Channel 4 had announced that, following a spate of revelations of improper conduct regarding premium-rate phone services across British television programmes (notably on the Richard & Judy), it was scrapping all premium-rate phone competitions, with the single exception of Deal or No Deal, with profits from the viewer's competition going to charity. As of 1 October 2007, the viewer's competition was cancelled. Noel Edmonds informed the viewers that they will be giving the viewer's competition a rest for a while like all other viewer competitions on Channel 4. He thanked the viewers for entering the competition, and it has not yet returned.

Merchandising

Books

A book called Can You Beat The Banker? (ISBN 0-09-191422-1) was released on 25 May 2006, which has descriptions of games from early episodes and the reader having to guess what the Banker's offers will be, and whether to "Deal" or "No Deal". Drumond Park have also released three games: a board game, an electronic game, and a handheld electronic game.

The Official Behind the Scenes Guide (ISBN 0-09-192006-X) was published on 26 October 2006, written by Noel and Charlotte Edmonds, Jane Phillimore, Richard Hague and Glenn Hugill. It features interviews with Edmonds, the Banker, and contestants, and has statistics for all players' games from Season 1.

Games

A DVD TV game was released on 13 November 2006. Filmed in the Deal or No Deal studio, it features Noel Edmonds, and 21 contestants from Season 1 playing themselves, who open the boxes and give the player advice. The game's three modes are Single Player (played like the show), Player Vs Player (two players play rounds in turn), and Player Vs Banker (one player is the contestant, the other is the Banker, and gives offers to the player).

A card game has also been released. The 22 sums of money are shuffled, and placed on top of the 22 box numbers. The gameplay is similar to the Player Vs Banker mode on the DVD with one player being the player and another the Banker. Players then swap roles, and the one who takes more money is declared the winner. The card game is often sold in a special box-set alongside the DVD game. Deal or No Deal video games for the PC and Nintendo DS have also been released, as has a second DVD game on 19 November 2007, subtitled "Family Challenge", and featuring series 2 contestants.

Additionally, a Wii game and a second DS game, both titled, "Deal or No Deal: The Banker is back!" were released on 28 November 2008; a Deal or No Deal chocolate game is also available; an online version of the game is available on the website WeDigTV.com; and there is also a Facebook application called Deal Or No Deal LIVE!, in which you play with other people competing to get the highest amount out the box. The player can build up through levels. There is also a chat function while playing.

Criticism

Deal or No Deal has been the subject of criticism from some as being a classic example of the apparent 'dumbing down' of modern television. The premise of the show has been criticised by some for having no intellectual content whatsoever (often described as consisting solely of "people opening boxes"). Other criticism arises from the prevalence of superstition among the players , and the sometimes seemingly-unfair offers made by the Banker, when in reality it is a game of complete chance and the only influence that any player can have on the game is through their decisions whether or not to accept the Banker's offers.

However, some say there is a great element of skill in attempting to manipulate the Banker into making higher offers, with the player's relationship with the Banker being of major importance. It has been seen that contestants who state a desire to "go all the way", or appear more certain and confident, can attract higher offers. Contestants can attempt to bluff the Banker by appearing more confident than they actually are, or by pretending that they intend to go all the way, and will often be rewarded as the Banker realises that higher offers must be made if he is to shift the player. Others feel that the Banker is in exactly the same situation as the player, as neither of them know what sums are in the boxes. Therefore neither of them can have any effect on the actual final sum won by the player. Similarly, the player cannot "beat" the Banker and the Banker cannot "beat" the player because the player's choice of which box to open is equally random to both the player and the Banker. However, that fact that the offers can be so varied on identical boards illustrates that there is a clear opportunity for the player to elicit themselves high offers with the right attitude. For many, this psychological element is what sets Deal or No Deal apart from other versions worldwide. In addition, while the contents of the box are purely random, players seem to need an intelligent approach to balancing the risk in order to succeed, as well as having good luck. But since a player can only play the game once, there is no balancing or judging of risk, as risk can only be stated as an average over a large number of games. It must be remembered that many gameshows throughout television history have relied on varying degrees of luck.

Some contestants have had consistently poor offers throughout their game and then turned out to have a low amount in their box, leading to early suggestions The Banker actually knows the contents of the boxes - however, statistical evidence lends no support to this theory. In fact, there are just as many occasions when consistently low offers are given to someone who turns out to have a high amount and, indeed, high offers to someone who turns out to have a low figure. After so many shows and with all data analysed, sources now agree that the declaration that The Banker does not know the contents of the boxes seems absolutely true.

The show has also had other criticism from religious groups, due to symbols which appeared on Edmonds' hand (so as to be visible when he picked up the telephone receiver to talk to The Banker), which were widely taken to be connected with his belief in Cosmic Ordering as was widely reported at the time. However, it transpired that there was no such connection and the symbols were simply placed there by Edmonds as a joke.

The viewers' competition had also attracted criticism, given that it involved no element of skill and the expense of premium rate phone calls (though free online entry was available) had been referred to on a number of fan sites for the show as a "legalised telephone lottery".

Further criticism has come with the selection of candidates, a majority of whom have had traumatic experiences in their lives. This has led to a perception that contestants are 'vetted' in this respect some to attract audiences and make them relate to the contestants. ==Trivia== As of today, the 22nd of July 2011, the players feature Alphonso Stewart, a professional singer, Tony James of Take Fat and punk rocker Barnaby.

External links

• Deal or No Deal Unofficial Fansite Forum Live daily show reports, full stats section.
• Deal or No Deal UK Official UK Endemol Site
• Deal or No Deal Official International Endemol Site
• Deal or No Deal Bingo Official Deal or No Deal online game
• Deal or No Deal at Channel4.com