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Deal or No Deal (British game show)

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Deal or No Deal
File:DealUKLogo.jpg
Deal or No Deal Logo
Created byEndemol UK/International
StarringNoel Edmonds
No. of episodesContinuing
Production
ProducerEndemol West (Season 1) / Cheetah Television West (Season 2) (Series Producer Glenn Hugill)
Running time45 minutes. Occasionally 60 minutes for prime time.
Original release
NetworkFile:C4 logo cutout.png Channel 4
ReleaseOctober 31 2005 — Present –
(renewed until December 2007)
Related
Deal or No Deal
For other international versions, see the main Deal or No Deal article.

Deal or No Deal, the United Kingdom version of the game show, began airing on Channel 4 on October 31, 2005. The first run ended on 22 July 2006, and the second run began on 28 August 2006. It is presented by Noel Edmonds and normally airs from 4.15pm to 5.00pm on weekdays (although in early September 2006 it was temporarily moved back to 4:45pm to 5:30pm, in the absence of Paul O'Grady through illness and in an effort to reduce Sharon Osbourne's ratings on ITV1) and early on Sunday evenings in a varying time slot, usually lasting 45 minutes and sometimes an hour. The weekday show is repeated the next day on Channel 4's digital sister station, More4, at around 11.00am and then later at 6.05pm.

Format

The prizes range from 1p to £250,000, a record for UK daytime television, with the values written inside 22 sealed red boxes, each identical except for the number on the front. All the boxes are sealed by an independent adjudicator. Neither Noel, the contestant, the banker or the Endemol production team know which value is displayed in each box.

The boxes are opened by the 21 contestants awaiting their turn to play, these waiting contestants are also regularly spoken to by the host and offer support and advice to the player, so they are familiar to the TV audience by the time they get their turn to play. These players stay on the show until they get their turn to sit on "the most important chair in television" as host Noel Edmonds calls it (or "stool", as Noel sometimes said in earlier editions, now referring to it as the "crazy chair"), and each day's player is selected by the producers, instead of through a quiz as is done in some other versions. Each day a new contestant joins those opening boxes and waiting to play, replacing the person who played the previous day.

Bank offers are made after the fifth box is opened and every third box thereafter. Offers are made judging by the remaining box values, ie. if several larger amounts are gone, the offer is likely to be low.

January 18, 2006 - Episode 67 - marked the first edition of the second series of Deal or No Deal. The second series will contain 230 episodes - with only 25 shows left, as of October 10. The main difference is that once a person has made a deal with the banker, at subsequent (notional) banker's offers, the accepted deal is displayed on screen alongside the current "offer". This gives a clearer picture to the TV audience on whether the contestant has made a good deal. The stand on which the old-fashioned telephone sits is also raised slightly higher. Since show 101 on February 27 2006, the figures of money displayed inside the boxes have been coloured red or blue corresponding to their position in the money chart. Since the first show after Double Deal week was over, June 19 2006, the figures displayed in the boxes have also been pushed forward so they stick out more and form a shadow on the back of the box. They are still coloured in the way they were since February.

The second season started with episode 235 on August 28. A new feature seen in this show was a summary of all the offers made during the game at the side of the screen, which appeared when the final offer was made. A week later the show was moved back by half an hour, this was to act as a spoiler to the Sharon Osbourne Show on ITV1 and to cover for Paul O'Grady who was scheduled to return to the 5pm slot but is unable due to health reasons. The effect was quite strong with Sharon Osbourne losing nearly two million viewers during the week commencing 4 September, as quoted in Broadcast magazine.

Special changes

On occasion, certain cosmetic elements of the show have been altered to tie in with certain themes. Each of these events refers to when the episode aired, not when these episodes were filmed:

  • In the shows broadcast from December 10 (Elaine's game) to December 30 2005 (Max's game), holly leaf shapes appeared on contestants' name badges, the boxes were made to look like Christmas presents, and sleigh bells were added to the last part of the signature tune. On December 22, Noel Edmonds wore a suit as he was celebrating his 57th birthday. The contestants from the show gave him a birthday cake at the end of the show and also sang Happy Birthday to him. Finally, on December 23 (the last show before Christmas), each contestant wore appropriate Christmas themed headgear, such as a Santa hat, reindeer antlers, or an elf hat. At the end of the episode it began snowing in the studio, and the usual closing theme was replaced by the seasonal song Winter Wonderland.
  • During Valentine's Week (13-17 February 2006), the boxes had hearts on the seals, and the contestant who was playing that day gave a special prize to one of their fellow contestants each day (e.g. a year's supply of Belgian Chocolates, a trip for two). Noel referred to this special week as "Love Week". The show's logo which appeared on the studio monitor at the start of the show gained two Cupid's arrows, and on Valentine's Day itself, the usual "walk of wealth" music was replaced by The Miracles' recording of "Love Machine", which also reappeared briefly after the deal.
  • On March 17 2006, boxes were green instead of the normal red as it was St. Patrick's Day. The box tabs also had shamrock shapes on them, as did the logo. As with "Love Week", the selected contestant, James, was asked to give another contestant a prize, in this case, a trip for two to Dublin.
  • On March 25 2006, the last show before Mother's Day, the boxes were pink instead of the normal red, and the tabs had child-like drawings of a mother. The selected contestant, Nancy, was asked to give one contestant a luxury spa trip for two.
  • On April 1 2006, April Fool's Day, in the first shot of the show, the logo on the screen in the background read 'Noel or No Noel'. On the show credits The Banker was credited as 'Richard Oldman' instead of the usual 'Himself'. Richard Oldman can be deciphered as Rich Hard Old Man.
  • On April 15 2006, Holy Saturday, the first shot of the show showed an egg crack open to reveal a Deal Or No Deal box, the boxes were golden yellow instead of the normal red and the tabs were in the shape of eggs. This also occurred on Easter Monday, April 17 2006, but this time the selected contestant, Julia, was asked to give one contestant an Easter hamper.
  • On May 20 2006, to coincide with the staging of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, the contestants dressed up as Eurovision characters from the past, with European flags on their name badges, and opening gold boxes with a gold star stuck on the front. The viewers' game was changed so someone at home could win £5,000, £10,000 or £30,000 - the winning viewer ended up winning £5,000. Also, when Emma was selected, instead of the Walk of Wealth music, they had Bucks Fizz's winning 1981 Eurovision entry Making Your Mind Up.
  • June 18, 2006, the last day of Double Deal Week, saw the boxes decorated with smoking pipes and slippers to mark Father's Day.
  • On June 26, 2006, the first day of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, the boxes were again green and were changed to have tennis balls on them. The BBC's Wimbledon theme music ("Light and Tuneful" by Keith Mansfield) was played as Ryan took the "walk of wealth down to centre court".
  • In the lead up to first birthday show on October 29 2006, the maximum amount won in the viewers competition was increased to £15,000, £20,000 and £25,000 over successive shows.
  • On October 31, 2006, the show's actual birthday, a Halloween special was broadcast. The boxes were made orange with a picture of a pumpkin on the front, and all contestants (and some audience members) were dressed up in Halloween costumes. Several Halloween-themed sound effects were also added to the episode, such as a creaking sound when the boxes were opened, sounds of screaming or evil laughter when a high amount went, and a thunderclap when the phone rang.
  • On November 5, 2006, in celebration of bonfire night, all the contestants wore wooly hats or scarves. The boxes were a dark blue colour and had a picture of a rocket on them.

First Anniversary Special

File:Noel Edmonds and Jon Culshaw.jpg
Jon Culshaw (left) and Noel Edmonds (right)

On October 29 2006 Deal or No Deal celebrated its first birthday, two days before the actual anniversary on the 31st. Two shows were broadcast, a normal episode at 5:55pm, and an hour-long anniversary special at 8pm. The special opened with Jon Culshaw impersonating Noel, who had done so in the BBC Two programme Dead Ringers earlier in the year. Other changes saw gold instead of red boxes, each with an 'I am 1' sticker on them, balloons and ribbons around the studio, and all the contestants wearing party hats.

Before any boxes were opened, The Banker called and said that if the 1p was found in the first round then he would give £250 to each contestant and a bottle of champagne to each member of the audience, as he had offered before in the 250th show. The contestant found the 1p in the second box.

At each break Culshaw did the voiceover for the viewer's competition along with Alex Lovell. The first and third breaks heard George W. Bush and the second break was done by Ozzy Osbourne. Glitter came down from the set to end the show.

Filming

Deal or No Deal is filmed in Bristol. Despite appearing to be filmed day by day, the producers of the show actually film three shows per day for two weeks, then have a week off. This was perhaps best demonstrated when Noel asked the audience whether, in the player's position they would 'deal' or 'no deal'. At one contestant's apparent ignorance or misunderstanding of the show's concept, suggesting the player say "Deal" and keep playing (a deal at that moment would have actually been near-ideal in retrospect); Noel led the audience member from his seat to a fire exit, where he was directed out of the studio by Noel, into a car park - showing that it was night-time when filmed.

Each show will, when filming, usually last longer than 45 minutes; after filming, superfluous parts of the show are cut in order to make it fit into this time frame.

The amount of time between the recording date and the broadcast date has varied. Many of the games broadcast during January 2006 had been recorded less than two weeks previously. But on June 2 2006, Noel Edmonds appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC One. Noel revealed that at that current moment in time (June), Deal or No Deal was filming for October, five months in advance of broadcast.

During the same show he also joked that there have been 2 people who have won £250,000. He said that these two shows shall not be aired, but the players have been 'paid off' nonetheless. Noel often says the same thing at recordings of Deal or No Deal before saying to the audience, "obviously that's not true but just wait - it'll be on the internet within the hour!"

In June 2006, it was reported [1] that Noel is suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury brought about by his constant picking up and replacing the Banker's phone during recordings of the show. The handset, according to Edmonds, is heavier than it looks. Coming at a time when episodes were being recorded in advance of October screenings, filming was unaffected by Noel's ailment.

Predictable sequences

In early 2006, it was discovered that the distribution of prizes was - for a time - ordered in one of several static sequences which soon became public knowledge. Any person spotting the sequences could determine the contents of every remaining box after a small number of boxes were opened. Had players known of these sequences, they could have guided themselves to the top prize in most circumstances. In fact, there were three instances in which at least two players' games had identical box contents, in that the same figures were in the same number boxes. These were:

Show 71, Ann (23 January 2006) and Show 74, Andrew (26 January 2006)

Show 81, Jim (3 February 2006) and Show 93, Paula R. (17 February 2006)

Show 84, John M. (7 February 2006), Show 88, Daz (11 February 2006) and Show 106, Sam (4 March 2006)

The sequences were due to the random number generator used by the independent adjudicators to load the boxes. This random number generator assigned the same patterns to boxes in various games during January and February 2006. [2] The sequences were first publicly exposed on the website Bother's Bar [3], which offered the right of reply to the producers. This offer was taken up by Series Producer Glenn Hugill, who revealed that the independent adjudicators, unaware of the potential problem they were causing, had been using the pseudorandom number generation function in Microsoft Excel to distribute the values among the boxes, and that it had not been properly seeded. Following the discovery of the patterns, the random number generation system was changed to a "balls in a bag" system (the same method as is used to distribute the boxes among the contestants), though because the show is recorded well in advance, games using Excel-generated sequences continued to air for some time. The last show to be recorded using the Excel-generated sequence method aired on March 7 2006.

A similar discovery was made in 1984 by Michael Larson, a player of the US game show Press Your Luck, and used to amass a record number of winnings. However, none of the contestants on affected Deal or No Deal shows spotted the (admittedly complex) patterns, and as such were not able to profit to any significant degree. That said, in Glenn's statement about the problem, it was revealed that more money was paid out over the course of these shows than the average.

Popularity

The original commission of 66 episodes, 6 times a week, Monday to Saturday was immediately followed by a re-commission of a further 230 episodes in December 2005, based on extremely good audience ratings for the slot - at that time it was averaging 2.5 million viewers since the launch at the end of October 2005.

Ratings for the afternoon shows peaked at 4.66 million for Marcus' show in March 2006, making it the most watched daytime TV show in the UK. On most days it has been the highest rating programme on Channel 4 - remarkable given the relatively low-key afternoon timeslot. In addition, up to 300,000 have viewed the More4 repeat showing each day.

Noel Edmonds has recently been reported to be earning up to £3 million to host the show for the next 18 months, making him Britain's highest paid presenter, ahead of Paul O'Grady (£2 million) and Richard and Judy (£1 million), who all present shows that broadcast on Channel 4. Edmonds himself, however, has denied this.[4]

Live audiences

The program has increasingly included its audience of around 150 people in the fabric of the show. Because of the 'underground' feel of the set and the fact that the show is filmed in the round, audiences seem to get dragged into the drama of the game as it unfolds. Afternoon audiences watch one show and evening audiences watch two but are shuffled around and reseated. From Series 3, Noel Edmonds has referred to the audience as "Pilgrims".

Prime time

In January 2006, it was announced that due to the popularity of the show, a special Saturday night prime time series would start in the Spring. The first ever prime time edition aired on March 4 2006 at 7.10pm. This version replaced the regular Saturday edition, and lasts for one hour rather than 45 minutes, with an extra advert break inserted near the end, although for some editions, it actually lasted for 45 minutes due to the programme scheduling, and one show (Morris' game on 6 May 2006) even lasted 65 minutes, the longest episode ever. A lot of the audience members have also been included in various games, through Noel asking opinions or even on some occasions asking them to come down from the audience.

Two-year deal for Deal or No Deal

On March 17 2006 [5], Endemol UK announced that Channel 4 has agreed to keep the show running for another two years, extending the already agreed one-year contract. It follows the success of the primetime Saturday night show of up to 4.66 million viewers, and the daytime show of up to 4.22 million. It has consistently been the most watched programme in its slot for all UK channels for both daytime and primetime.

This deal will run from January 2006 to December 2007. Rumours suggest that this contract is worth £3 million [6].

Double Deal Week

In May 2006 [7] it was announced that Deal or No Deal would air twice daily for one week in June to coincide with the World Cup, with a special episode on Sunday of that week also. It was also revealed that there would be a "Hall of Fame" feature with past contestants returning to reveal how their life has changed since playing the game, and clips of their game being shown. Double Deal week began on Monday 12 June, showing two shows per day, one normal time of 4.15pm, and a second show at 8.00pm. The Hall Of Fame contestants, who returned for the 8.00pm shows, were:

  • Jennifer Miller - who won £120,000, the biggest daytime television win ever
  • Gaz Hall - who won £100,000, after taking out the £250,000 with the first box
  • Okiem Warmann - who won £17,000, after a big turnaround following low Banker offers all game (next highest was £8,100)
  • Vanessa Buck - who won £20,000, after very low Banker offers all game (highest was £6,200)
  • Nick Bain - founder of the '1p club' (the term used by Edmonds for the group of contestants who have won the show's smallest possible prize of one penny)
  • Mally Welburn - who won £54,000, but was the first male to have the £250,000 in their box
  • Morris Simpson - who won £20,000, after he never swapped the last box containing £250,000
  • Sam Simmons - who won £41,000, on the show's first primetime Saturday edition
  • Sajeela Sarfraz - who won £50,000, after a big turnaround following bad luck early on
  • Marcus Neil - who won £31,000, on the show's highest rated episode ever (4.66 million)
  • Lucy Harrington - who won £5, after appearing on 50 shows
  • Matthew Scott - who won £35,000, after taking out the £75,000, £100,000 and £250,000 in turn
  • Kirsty Hardle - who won £75,000, after no dealing at £125,000

A further past contestant, Pat M who was a favourite with viewers and contestants alike and won £1,000, provided the introduction voiceover for one of the Hall of Fame clips but did not actually reappear on the show.

Awards

Deal or No Deal was named "Daytime Programme of the Year" at the Royal Television Society Awards on March 14 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 Noel Edmonds was on holiday at the time, the award was collected by two former contestants, Russell Cook and Sajeela Sarfraz. Noel was also nominated for "Best Entertainment Presenter" at the same awards.

UK records & facts

Main article: Deal or No Deal (UK game show) records

Largest Won Amounts

Smallest Won Amounts

These people are known by Noel to be in a special group, named 'The 1p Club', which states their presence in the 'Hall of Fame'. According to him, they live in a caravan. Previously they inhabited a public telephone box, though they moved into the caravan the day after Sharron became the eighth member of the club.

Also, every blue other than the 50p has been won at least twice.

Seasons

During the second series (July 15, 2006), Noel announced that Deal or No Deal will be taking a summer break. The week commencing July 17 2006 was frequently called "The last week of the first season" by Noel. The final episode before its summer break was broadcast on July 22, 2006, with up to £50,000 up for grabs to viewers. Deal or No Deal returned from its summer break on August 28, 2006. More4 filled the gap by repeating Series 1 from the start, at the usual repeat time of 6:10pm, 7:10pm on More4+1. All shows from show 1 (Lynn, originally October 31, 2005) to show 31 (Hayley, originally December 5, 2005) were repeated during this run.

Also, they will be taking a Christmas break. It has now been confirmed that the final date would be December 22, 2006. [citation needed]

Viewers' competition

Viewers are invited to phone in (at premium rate) or via the Channel 4 website (free of charge) where an audience member will select a box from a further three boxes (box 1, box 2 and box 3) and the caller will win the money contained within that box. Until 28 August 2006, the boxes usually contained £500, £1,000 or £5,000. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, these amounts were doubled - it was originally Wednesdays and Saturdays, but Saturday was changed to Friday in December 2005 following low ratings for the Saturday shows. The doubled amounts returned when Saturday shows went primetime in March 2006. Entries were restricted to 50 per household but since the start of series 2, it has been reduced to 30.

On Valentine's Day, a special edition was broadcast; the viewer prizes were £5,000, £10,000 and £20,000. This also saw the start of one of the 22 contestants introducing the competition via a voiceover - it had previously been Alex Lovell, though she continues to read the terms and conditions at the end. Also on Easter Monday, another special edition was broadcast, and like Valentine's Day, the viewer prizes were £5,000, £10,000 and £20,000.

On May 17 2006 Noel Edmonds promised a special treat on May 18; the treat was an introduction of a "Double Money Thursday", where, like the other "Double Money" days, the viewer prizes were doubled.

The next day, May 18 2006, the viewer prizes were £1,000, £5,000 and £15,000. In this instance, Deal or No Deal paid £15,000 to a viewer at home. This was a record until October 29 2006, when £70,000 was earned via a "match play" format.

On May 20 2006, a Eurovision Special was held, where the boxes were gold with stars on them, and the contestants were dressed up as Eurovision singers. On that day, viewers were able to win £5,000, £10,000 or £30,000, a maximum for the programme. Box 1 was chosen, which only contained £5,000.

During Double Deal Week, the boxes contained £1,000, £2,000 and £10,000. If the £10,000 wasn't found in that show, it would rollover to the next show, which will have £20,000 up for grabs. The highest sum of money on offer would go on to be £30,000, £40,000 etc. until it had been found, in which case it would return to £10,000 again. The highest viewer-win via this method was £30,000.

During the show's last week before its summer break, the viewers' competition boxes contained £1,000, £2,000 and £10,000. The £10,000 was found three shows running. On the Saturday, 22 July, the last show before the break, the boxes contained £10,000, £20,000 and £50,000- a record high amount up for grabs in the viewers' competition. Unfortunately, the audience member found only the £10,000.

On August 28, 2006, the competition values were permanently set to £1,000, £2,000 and £10,000, meaning the amounts no longer double on certain days.

On September 14, 2006, on the 250th show, the competition values were £5,000, £10,000 and £25,000. The £25,000 was in box 1 and was won.

On October 29, 2006, Deal or No Deal for the first time offered a "match play"; that is, the competition winner would win the exact same amount of money as the contestant. David Jones' studio win of £70,000, therefore, is the largest at-home win as well.

On October 30, 2006, the viewers' competiton winning values grew again. On some days up to £15,000 can be won.

On November 10, 2006, Deal or no Deal celebrated it's 300th show and offered £10,000, £20,000 and £30,000. £30,000 was won in Box 3.

Superstition

In almost every game after and towards the end of the first series, contestants have brought along photos, good luck cards, letters, pictures and other things relating to who they are. Some contestants bring lucky charms. For example, on June 16th, 2006, Show 200, contestant Ron bought along a special rock that means you will always have money close to you. He gave one rock to each contestant waiting, including Sally and Sue who were due to join the next day. Other contestants have bought along lucky rocks, lucky pennies, a lucky Buddha, a lucky toy cap, a small bear ornament and other obscure objects that are supposedly said to bring luck.

Noel has also made reference to the lucky teabag which on occasion the contestant sniffs. The teabag came out in Lance's game, who went on to win £87,000. However, the teabag was said to bring bad luck to Debbie, who went home with £250. A one-off lucky charm was in Lance's game, with a bowler hat. In other games, Noel has brought out another lucky hat, which has been scruffy and somewhat scarecrow like.

Another form of superstition can be of the box's past form. For example, in one 2006 show, it was noted that Box 6 had a troubled history, creating several members of the 1p club. Other boxes such as Box 16 have had consistent high reds in them when they have been on the table, and Box 7 had never had a 'Power Five Box' until Barbara's game in October

A lot of players say they do get feelings off the boxes, and the players in the wings often state how they feel about their box, and whether the box contains a high value or a low value. This can sway the contestant's choice. Also, contestants' past record in opening boxes can be a factor - contestants in the wings who have frequently caused damage to games by revealing high amounts may be avoided by the player, or alternatively may be picked because they are "due a blue" - even though statistically they are no more or less likely than any other contestant to have a high or low amount.

Media image

The Observer interviewed Edmonds in relation to the show on January 29, 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 ambition (now fulfilled) that it would eventually hold a Saturday evening prime time slot. In fact, recording for the first Saturday prime time show began just a few days later, so it is not known whether Noel already knew about this move at the time of the interview or not.

In a review by columnist A. A. Gill the show 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.'

The Banker

Born on May 12 of an unknown year, The Banker is played by "Himself", as stated on the end credits. He has, on occasion, talked to the player via the Bakelite telephone on the contestant's desk. The character was called "The Dealer" in pre-publicity for the show; evidently, the name was changed before recording started (possibly to avoid any connotations of drugs, though the name "Banker" also appears to be used in other countries' versions so the use of "Dealer" here may have simply been a mistake by the Channel 4 Press Office). Channel 4's website referred to him as such though on their listings page until April 12 when after a number of complaints, including an organised campaign by posters to the forum of the website Cook'd and Bomb'd, the text was changed to say The Banker.

The identity of The Banker has not been revealed - one theory is that it is the series producer Glenn Hugill, although he has refused to either confirm or deny this in the past, continuing to refer to The Banker in the third person. However, it is clear that whoever is "playing" The Banker has some considerable improvisational skills, as the offers and Banker's banter frequently respond to something the contestant has done or said during gameplay. Also, when contestants are handed the phone The Banker frequently is able to make them dissolve into hysterics with his unheard chat. This would suggest that Glenn is indeed the public voice of The Banker, as he has had previous acting experience.

The Daily Mirror and Jo Whiley reported on April 3, 2006 that the actual offers made by The Banker were calculated by Glenn and two 'Executives' (believed to be executive producers Richard Osman and Richard Hague) but that Glenn has the final decision.

On March 9, 2006, contestant Paula H - a barber - enquired about The Banker's hair, to which Noel replied, "I don't think he has much". Other traits have also been suggested for The Banker, such as the fact that he is a bachelor, he refers to his mother on many occasions, and that, according to many of the contestants, he has a "nice voice, very Oxbridge", the character of The Banker does not necessarily bear any relation to the person "playing" him.

On March 10, 2006, he spoke to a member of the audience, named Shaun, who had been giving his own analysis on the game but made a rather unrealistic prediction of The Banker's next offer. He ridiculed him by making him say out loud "I, Shaun, will never be a banker. £35,000 was a silly thing to say. The Banker is always right!"

On March 23, 2006, contestant Dave Cheeseman mentioned about Chinese New Year. The Banker said that whilst Dave was born in the year of the dog, the banker himself was born in the Chinese year of the dragon. This gives a clue to his age, probably 42 or 54 years old - though the Banker's later reference to almost making the Munich Olympics (1972) as a swimmer suggests the age of the "character" may be 54. Although The Banker's speaking voice has never been heard on-screen, he has been clearly heard laughing several times to date, when Noel has held the telephone within audible distance to his microphone on his shirt. The first time was during the end of the aforementioned Nick Bain's 1p show.

On March 30, 2006, The banker gave contestant Lucy a mini 'Deal or No Deal' box with 50 on the front. This was because it was her 50th show. The mini box also contained her name where the amount usually goes and a poem saying how The Banker wished that she win a penny.

In March 2006, The Guardian described The Banker as 'a cult character in the making and no mistake' and included him in their hotlist. On April 1, 2006, the end credits stated that The Banker's name is Richard Oldman. This however, was an April Fool's Day joke; Richard Oldman can be segmented to 'Rich (H)ard Old Man'. Alternatively, this could be an in-joke reference to the two executive producers, both called Richard.

On April 13, 2006, the Banker gave an offer of £4,100 to contestant Maxine. She started saying how the Banker was actually quite 'sexy' because he had quick wit and humour, she liked older men, and he was rich ("what more could a woman want"). At that point the phone rang again, and The Banker changed his offer from £4,100 to £6,100, which was a first for Deal or No Deal. Maxine declined the offer and left with £10,000 at the end of the show - the amount in her box.

On April 15, 2006, Holy Saturday, Gabrielle won £1,000. When she revealed that the money was going to charity, the phone rang and The Banker said (three times) that just that once that he would double the winnings to £2,000. This was a Deal or No Deal first, and shows that the Banker has a 'Compassionate Streak', as Noel put it.

On May 6, 2006, The Banker produced another poem, in honour of Morris' fondness for speaking in rhyme when he opened boxes in other people's games, called "Ode to Morris".

On May 12, 2006, The Banker revealed that that day was his birthday, as well as that of the contestant's mother. It is unsure whether May 12th is The Banker's birthday, due to the fact that three shows are filmed per day, so his birthday could be several days - even weeks - before that. That said, Noel's birthday celebrations took place on the show due to be transmitted on that day. The Banker said he was 'full of cakes and fine wine' but had not received any presents.

On May 13, 2006, The Banker jokingly offered contestant Max "2 Weeks of Therapy". He also revealed that "the position of Mrs Banker is currently vacant!"

On May 15, 2006, The Banker said that he would offer double his offer if contestant Simon could guess it correctly. He guessed correctly at £2,800, the same amount that he said a previous contestant, Susie, would get, thus the offer doubled to £5,600.

At some time in the past it was revealed that The Banker enjoyed the Eurovision Song Contest, this was taken further with the Eurovision-themed show on May 20, 2006.

On May 25, 2006, At the time of the banker's offer, Noel Edmonds questioned the East Wing on what would be the offer given to contestant Rich. When the banker did make the call, he criticised the East Wing and labelled them as "fools" due to the fact that they could not guess his offer. As a result, the offer was £5,146, an offer that seemed impossible to guess.

On May 26, 2006, the banker made a "joke" offer of "£2 and a copy of the rules" to contestant June, due to her apparent confusion at how the game worked. Fortunately, she had dealt earlier at £23,000.

On June 2, 2006, the banker gave a present of a bunch of 22 red roses to contestant Stevie, thanking her for the players' games she destroyed by having high value amounts in her boxes.

On June 6, 2006, the Banker offered contestant Suzanne, instead of a monetary first offer, the opportunity to swap her box, after the first 5 boxes, with any other box she had a 'feeling' for. Suzanne accepted the swap, and swapped box 19 for box 3. The Banker did this because he believed she wouldn't walk at the first offer, and he saw her as a kindred spirit, because he used to be a great swimmer (apparently), and Suzanne was an Olympic-class swimmer before retiring to teach young children. The Banker said he was known as 'The Wet Rocket' because at school other children would throw his abacus into the school pond, and he would dive in for it so quickly. She opened Box 19, her original box, in the third round, it contained £500.

On June 12, 2006, Carlton said The Banker "sounds like the Scream man". A week earlier, James had also told The Banker he sounded like "the voice from Scream".

On June 16, 2006 (the 200th show), the banker said that he used to be a psychic, as the day's contestant, Ron was a hypnotherapist, and predicted that he was going have the worst round in the show's history. However this prediction was proven wrong as Ron took out three blues in the next three boxes. On the same show, the banker asked to talk to a member of the audience because he was angry with Noel. He spoke to Georgina, who told Ron the offer.

On June 16, 2006, the banker offered contestant Chrissie £8,853, which he claimed was equal to the height of Mount Everest in metres. Chrissie had earlier said that she had climbed 19,500 feet up the mountain.

On June 18, 2006, (Fathers Day) Noel asked the Banker whether he had any offspring off his own. The Banker replied by saying he had one estranged son, when asked why he was estranged the Banker said that his son was a charity worker.

On June 23, 2006, during Bianca's game The Banker offered a swap again instead of a monatary first offer, due to the fact that she had box 22 on the table, and it had contained £250,000 the last two times it had been there. She declined the swap. During the second offer the Banker asked to speak to Bianca's mother who was in the audience. They talked for a while and then she put the phone down and said the offer was £10,000. Noel said that she could have made the offer up, so he picked up the phone and 'dialed' the Banker. Noel said "is it true you offered her £50,000!" £10,000 was the offer, and she declined the offer. It was unclear what the Banker's phone number was, but it was presumably just for show. During this show, Noel referred to the banter between Bianca's mother and The Banker by calling her "the potential seventh Mrs Banker", perhaps implying that the Banker has been married six times already. A second wife was mentioned during Debbie's game, though this was presumably as a joke by The Banker, who, through Noel, said: "My second wife was called Mina. I was mean, and she was meaner!"

On July 21, 2006 the Banker offered Naqiyah £7,777 due to her passion of multiples of 7. She responded by saying that she was there to play the game and the money was a bonus and so it seemed she would No Deal at that point. So, before Noel could finish the question, the Banker rang again to increase the offer to £14,014. The Banker rang again before the question could be completed, causing Noel to wonder if he had "holiday fever" (referring to the break the show was about to have) or if he just wanted to torment Naqiyah. This time he just called to state that he was looking forward to hearing her response. After this call, Noel took the phone off the hook so the Banker could not ring up again and he could finally ask "Deal or No Deal?", to which Naqiyah answered "Deal". On the same show, Naqiyah was also offered a swap as the first offer, but never accepted it.

On the same day, July 21, 2006, Naqiyah also said after speaking to him that the Banker sounded just like Lance, who was another contestant in the West Wing. Lance is perhaps best known for his broad, posh accent. When Lance played (August 30, 2006), the banker called Lance "my doppelganger". Lance also suggested that the Banker was a boy he had been to school with many years earlier, whom he referred to as "Meany Minor". In response to this, the Banker claimed instead to be "Meany Major".

On July 22, 2006 the Banker said to Noel that, as it was the last show before the summer break, he had a present for every contestant on that show. It came in the form of a poem saying how he would have more fun than them on his holiday and that he'd come back meaner than ever after the break. He also gave each contestant a bookmark which said "This bookmark belongs to..." on one side and "the next member of the 1p club" on the other. Coincidentally, that day's player Giorgio Fellicini did leave with the 1p.

On November 8, 2006 the Banker adopted an honorary son in the form of contestant Neil, after Neil stated how much respect he had for the banker.

UK box values

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

On the show graphics, the values in the left-hand column are displayed against a blue background, and those in the right-hand column against an orange-red background, and are frequently referred to by host and contestants alike as "blue" and "red" amounts respectively. Also, the highest five valued boxes are referred to as the 'power five'. Generally, removal of a "blue amount" is applauded by the audience, while expression of pity is common with the removal of "red amounts".

However, the appearance of the £1000 (the lowest "red amount") is often applauded due to its relatively low value. (Edmonds will often shout "Thousand, that's fine! That's alright!") This, to a lesser extent, sometimes applies also to the two or three lowest red values, which depending on the circumstances, are often called 'honorary blues'. Usually the appearance of the £10,000, £15,000 and occasionally the £20,000 and £35,000 can generate a "That's fine, that's OK" followed by weak applause. However, it is evident that the loss of such amounts can lead to a lower bank offer.

The total of the 22 sums of money is £565,666.61.


Criticism

Deal or No Deal has been the subject of criticism from some people 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 and some have questioned if it is healthy that a show in which people simply randomly open 22 boxes to reveal numbers is so popular. Other aspects of the show have also been criticised, such as some contestants often talk about 'having a feeling' about a box 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. This has recently been satirised by the BBC's comedy Dead Ringers. - [8] [9] [10] [11]

There has also been criticism of the Banker's tactics and questions asked about the fairness of the game, with offers varying wildly from the surprisingly generous to offers that are so poor in relation to the state of the game as to virtually force a "no deal".

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; 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 it apart from other versions worldwide.

Furthermore, to remove this element from the game and use a formula to determine the amount of money would lend weight to the criticism that the player can exert little influence over the game. It would also remove some of the character from the game, as many offers are based on some detail that is known about the player (for example, the offer of £8,853 to Chrissie which was based on the height of Mount Everest, which she had climbed), on previous games (for example the offers of £5,010 and £10,005 made to Trevor based on the results of the previous games), or other factors, such as when player Gary successfully bluffed the Banker by announcing that he wanted £30,000 only to reveal later a target of £15,000 in Noel's book.

In addition, while the contents of the box are purely random, to succeed, players seem to need an intelligent approach to balancing the risk, 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.

Others have suggested that Channel 4 is verging on Deal or No Deal overkill with the show being aired at least 6 days a week and during 'Double Deal' week twice a day. That said, the show was rested for 5 weeks in the summer of 2006.

Some contestants have had consistent 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 Noel apparently being part of a strange cult because of the markings on his wrists that can be seen when he is talking to the banker, and his regular talk of fate. However, it has since been revealed that the wrist markings are part of an elaborate viewer competition. [12]

Episode history

  • Series 1, October 31, 2005 - January 17, 2006 (Episodes 1-66)
  • Series 2, January 18 - October 25, 2006 (Episodes 67-285)
  • Series 3, October 26, 2006 - Mid-2007 (Episodes 286-) (Current Series)
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