DEAL OR NO DEAL UK

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Deal or No Deal (UK game show)

Deal or No Deal is the United Kingdom version of the Endemol game show, which was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 31 October, 2005. Presented by Noel Edmonds, the show is normally broadcast from 4:15pm to 5pm on weekdays and on Sunday evenings in a varying time slot, normally lasting 45 minutes and sometimes an hour for special episodes (eg. anniversary show).

Format

Contestants can win prizes ranging between 1p and £250,000 (although very occasionally a top prize of £500,000 has been offered, usually on milestone or anniversary shows).

The game is played using twenty-two identical 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 Noel Edmonds, the contestants, The Banker or the production team before the game.

At the start of each episode, 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 (indeed, by 2007 it was being explicitly mentioned on the programme that contestant selection was non-random). In any case, 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. They then take their box and walk to the centre of the set, taking their place at the main table, in what Edmonds often refers to as the "crazy chair". Once sat down the player introduces himself, and after confirming that he selected his box at random, the game begins.

The player's box contains his (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 the host and offer support and advice to the player, though they play no active role in the game. These contestants, however, return for the following episode, along with a new contestant replacing the previous episode's player, so that all contestants eventually play the game, and the returning contestants build continuity 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 notionally 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 the presenter via telephone. The presenter tells the player the offer and asks the eponymous question. The player responds either "deal" or "no deal".

Responding "deal" means that the contestant agrees to sell the box for the amount of money offered, relinquishing the prize in their 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 (though often before the prize is revealed, The Banker offers the opportunity for the player to swap their box with the other remaining unopened box and take the prize contained in it instead).

Box values

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; the prize "PEANUTS" replaced the 1p as a joke in an episode during the Christmas 2006 period (Edmonds often refers to games where only one large prize remains as being "all or peanuts"), and £500,000 was offered as the top prize in two shows over the same period (with the £15,000 removed). The £500,000 was similarly offered as the top prize in the 500th episode (except it went out first box).

On the game board, 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 "blues" and "reds" respectively. Also, 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.

Special changes

On occasion, certain cosmetic elements of the show have been altered to tie in with certain events such as Christmas, Halloween, Wimbledon and the Eurovision Song Contest. Changes include different box colours (for example, the boxes were coloured green instead of red for an episode on St. Patrick's Day and were coloured yellow instead of red for Easter 2007, and gold for New Year's Eve and the 500th show), suitable music and sound effects, contestants and audience members dressing up festively and a change to the presenter's introduction at the beginning of the show.

Filming

Deal or No Deal is filmed in an old warehouse in Bristol. Despite appearing to be filmed day by day, the producers of the show actually film three shows per day for two weeks. This was made obvious during the show when Edmonds asked the audience whether, in the player's position, they would choose "deal" or "no deal". At one audience member's apparent misunderstanding of the show's concept, when he suggested the player choose "deal" and keep playing, Edmonds led the audience member from his seat to a fire exit and into a car park - showing that it was night-time when filmed, when at the time of broadcast (April) the episode was shown in daylight.

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 2 June 2006, Edmonds appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC One. Edmonds revealed that at that current moment in time (June), Deal or No Deal was filming for October, five months in advance of broadcast. Soon afterwards, filming of Series 2 ended and there was a four month break in recording shows until October.

During the same show Edmonds also joked that there have been two people who have won £250,000. He said that these two shows shall not be broadcast, but the players have been "paid off" nonetheless. Edmonds has said 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 that Edmonds 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 Edmonds' ailment.

During the filming of Deal or No Deal, there have been a few incidents which have affected the normal running of the programme.

On 29 April 2006, a contestant accidentally knocked box number 4 on the floor. The box subsequently opened and a glint of red was seen, resulting in all the boxes in active play being taken back and the amounts inside them being shuffled around by the independent adjudicator (the player, Massimo Dimambro, was then offered £16,000 but turned it down. He then went on to open both the £250,000 and the £100,000 boxes).

On 10 April 2007, there was a brief power cut and for security reasons, all the boxes were secured in a special locked cage until the problem was rectified.

On 13 February 2006, box number 17 (the final box) was shown to be empty. The £1 label had fallen off.

On 26 March 2008, box number 2 was also shown to be empty, except this time there was no label to be found. The studio agreed that it was a "genuine human error". Edmonds then offered the player, David Schofield, the opportunity to either abandon the game and start again, or to continue the game and the independent adjudicator would re-shuffle the amounts of money within the boxes still in the game, including the amount that was missing from the empty box. Schofield decided to go for the second option and Edmonds promptly informed him that the missing value was £250,000.

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. The sequences were first publicly exposed on the website Bother's Bar, 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 be broadcast for some time. The last show to be recorded using the Excel-generated sequence method aired on 7 March 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 Hugill's statement about the problem, it was revealed that more money was paid out over the course of these shows than the average.

Live audiences

Deal or No Deal 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 programme is filmed in the round, audiences seem to get dragged into the drama of the game as it unfolds. Afternoon audiences typically watch two shows (but are shuffled around and reseated), and evening audiences typically watch one. A lot of the audience members (to whom Edmonds refers as the "pilgrims") have also been included in various games, through Edmonds asking opinions or even on some occasions asking them to come down from the audience. Contestants have also been spotted in the audience before they play their first show.

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 prime time edition aired on 4 March 2006 at 7:10pm. This version replaced the regular Saturday edition, and lasted 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.

Two-year deal for Deal or No Deal

On 17 March 2006, 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. Deal or No Deal has consistently been the most watched programme in its slot for all UK channels for both daytime and primetime.

This deal ran from January 2006 to December 2007. Rumours suggest that the contract was worth £3 million .

Double Deal Week

In May 2006 it was announced that Deal or No Deal would be broadcast twice daily for one week in June to coincide with the World Cup, with a special episode on Sunday of that week. 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 2006, showing two shows per day, one at the normal time of 4:15pm, and the second show at 8:00pm.

Awards

Deal or No Deal 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 .

Largest won amounts

£250,000 - Laura Pearce - January 7,2007 (Contestant's box)
£120,000 - Jennifer Miller - November 18, 2005 (Banker's offer)
£110,000 - Jonathan Charles Bunney - January 31, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£107,031 - Claudine Whyte - December 17, 2006 (Banker's offer)
£101,000 - Graeme Garioch - May 4, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£100,000 - Gary "Gaz" Hall - May 2, 2006 (Contestant's box)
£100,000 - Maria Valente - September 25, 2007 (Contestant's box)
£100,000 - Betty Hardwick - May 7, 2008 (Contestant's box)
£87,000 - Lance Warrington - August 30, 2006 (Banker's offer)
£85,000 - Rodney Lyons - June 11, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£76,000 - Chris Barraclough - October 31, 2007 (Contestant's box and an additional £1,000 from Halloween Trick or Treat)
£75,000 - Germaine Williams - March 7, 2006 (Banker's offer)
£75,000 - Kirsty Hardle - April 4, 2006 (Contestant's box)
£75,000 - Lynne Hackles - November 20, 2006 (Contestant's box)
£75,000 - Julie Worsley - January 24, 2007 (Contestant's box)
£75,000 - Doug May - March 15, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£75,000 - Maria Andreou - July 8, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£75,000 - Daniel Zappkitcher - August 28, 2007 (Banker's offer)
£75,000 - Julie - October 7, 2008 (Contestant's Box)

The only winner of the £250,000 jackpot to date is Laura Pearce, a 26-year-old Bureau Administrator in the Criminal Justice Department at Gloucestershire Constabulary, who took the top prize in a show broadcast on January 7, 2007. She rejected her final offer of £45,000 with the £250,000 and £3,000 as the last two amounts remaining, and her box (number 6) was opened to reveal the £250,000 prize. She also got to keep her box number 6 with the £250,000 as she created history.

1p wins

Nick Bain - January 3, 2006
Trevor Bruce - March 1, 2006
Fadil Osman - April 14, 2006
Dave Ellis - April 25, 2006
Sally Kettle - July 14, 2006
Connell Gibson - July 17, 2006
Georgio Felicini - July 22, 2006
Sharron Coates - August 31, 2006
Tony Wynne-Jones - February 13, 2007
Paul "PJ" Johnson - May 13, 2007 (who won additional £15,000)
Adam Field - June 15, 2007
Katie Walsh - January 5, 2008
Shaun Messer - January 24, 2008
Simon Maughan - January 31, 2008
Margaret Hall - March 3, 2008
Matty Circullo - March 24, 2008
Peter Marston - October 2, 2008

The 1p winners are referred to as the members of "the 1p club". Nick Bain is credited as "the founder" of the club as he was the first contestant to win the 1p. According to Edmonds, they originally inhabited a telephone box but moved into a caravan the day after Sharron Coates became the eighth member. Since Simon Maughan became the 14th member, Edmonds has claimed that the members of the 1p club now inhabit a barge.

On July 9, 2007, contestant Igor Karpov was left in the worst possible position at the end of his game with 1p and 10p remaining on the board, making it the first time this had ever happened. Edmonds described the situation as "the perfect finish for the Banker". The Banker offered 2p, the second lowest ever offer (the lowest ever offer was £-1,001 to Jane in May 29, 2008), which Karpov accepted to avoid winning the 1p. Karpov actually had 10p in his box.

On May 16, 2008, 11 of the then current 16 members were in the audience in order to celebrate the conclusion of the Banker's Birthday Week. During the game they all received party food from the Banker, but at the end of the show they were each given a bill, charging £9.50.

Viewers' 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 comprise two amounts in the low thousands of pounds and a top prize of £10,000 or more. On occasion, a 'match play' competition had been run in which the winning entrant receives the same amount as the studio contestant instead of a prize being selected from the blue viewers' boxes. 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 series 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 opens the competition after the prize amount has been chosen. Previous to this, Channel 4 had announced that, following a spate of revelations of improper conduct regarding premium-rate phone services across British television programme (notably on the Richard & Judy which follows Deal or No Deal), it was scrapping all premium-rate phone competitions, with the single exception of Deal or No Deal. Profits from the viewer's competition will now be given to charity. As of Monday 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 now the show simply carries on without the viewers' competition for the foreseeable future. .

Viewers' competition in the main game

On 13 May 2007, the player, PJ, was not offered any money for his box in the last round (when it was known to either contain 1p or £75,000), being only offered the opportunity to swap his box for the remaining unopened one. The Banker had originally offered PJ a swap on the first offer: PJ accepted this offer and swapped his box number 19 for box number 4, because that was his lucky number (fittingly, PJ kept box number 19 until the end). PJ rejected the offer second time around, and the prize in his box number 4 was 1p. The audience were in total shock and the contestants broke down in tears. Edmonds said that he was sorry for that result. Box number 19 contained £75,000. Following this, the Banker called back and thanked PJ for the birthday present (it was revealed at the start of the show that the previous day was the Banker's birthday, and PJ had brought him a present). He followed by saying that, as a thank-you, he would give PJ the amount of money won in the viewer's competition in addition to his 1p prize. The amounts available were £1,000, £2,000 and £15,000. Edmonds asked for a volunteer from the audience to choose the box containing the viewer's prize. No-one stood up at first, as they did not want to be responsible for the outcome. Eventually, one person stood and chose box number 3, which contained £15,000. Despite his extra win at the end of the show, Edmonds still classes PJ as the tenth member of the 1p club.

Superstition

Superstition plays a large part in some games, with players variously bringing lucky charms, or selecting boxes according to a pre-arranged system. Boxes may be selected or avoided on the basis of what prizes they have previously held, or what prizes the contestant opening that box has previously revealed. The contestants and the audience may chant or hold hands when it is felt that it is a particularly important moment in the game. Chanting became a huge part of the show in early 2007, as the players and audience chanted "Blue, blue, blue" at almost every box in almost every game. Other chants to have appeared are "Penny, penny, penny", "3, 3, 3" (referring to the £3,000 which was the lowest amount remaining in the game at that point) and "Red, red, red" (after the deal when the player wants to find the large amounts). On 19 June 2007, when contestant Michelle found a blue she asked the question "Who's the mummy?", thus encouraging the audience to chant back "You're the mummy!". There is also the 'Curse of the Newbie', where the player who joined the panel on the day of the show is suspected to hold large amounts in their box. Box 22 is also considered to be cursed, resulting in its name the "Death box".

Players will sometimes ask fellow contestants how they feel about their box. For example, the contestant may feel that their box contains a low number. Some contestants (such as 'Psychic' Sarah), have claimed to have psychic abilities, with some being more successful than others in justifying such claims. Also, players often ask fellow contestants what previous numbers they have had in their box, and if they have had a sequence of several high reds then the contestant might say that they are "due a blue" (although statistically they are no more or less likely than any other contestant to be holding a box containing a low amount). This has sometimes been referred to as "Mally Logic" after contestant Mally Welburn who was one of the first to select boxes on this basis, and is an example of the gambler's fallacy.

Media image

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.. In fact, recording for the first Saturday prime time show began just a few days later, so it is not known whether Edmonds already knew about this move at the time of the interview or not.

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'.

The Banker

The Banker, whose role in the game is to offer to purchase the player's box (of unknown value) at various points in the game, is never seen, communicating solely through a telephone on the central table, which is answered by Noel Edmonds (though occasionally the Banker may speak to the player).

The Banker's identity is never revealed (he is credited merely as 'Himself'), but through his discussions with Edmonds, his 'character' is often built upon. Similarly, it is unknown exactly how his offers for the boxes are calculated, though it is clear that it is not merely the result of a dispassionate calculation, with offers sometimes much higher or lower than would be expected (very occasionally even above the arithmetic mean of the remaining prizes), and sometimes not simply a monetary figure, including joke items, or in two cases an amount of money for the previous game's contestant who had won very little.

On Christmas Day 2006, at the end of the show, a brief clip of the Banker was shown. A man in a suit and hat was seen switching off his television after watching the contestants sing Christmas carols. He then took out a mint humbug from a jar and grunted to himself. He was only seen from behind, so little could be seen of his appearance. However, he seemed to be old and well-built. On the episode which was broadcast on 23 January 2008, the Banker claimed that he was both "portly" and "bald".

The Daily Mirror and Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1 reported on 3 April 2006 that the actual offers made by the Banker were calculated by Glenn Hugill and two 'Executives' (believed to be executive producers Richard Osman and Richard Hague), but that Hugill has the final decision. This has not been officially confirmed or denied.

On 1 April 2007, during the end credits, rather than being billed as playing himself, the Banker was billed as "Titus Aduxas", or "tight as a duck's arse". A similar joke was played a year earlier on 1 April 2006, when the Banker was credited as "Richard Oldman" (Rich Hard Old Man).

After Laura Pearce's £250,000 win, on 7 January 2007, at the first offer, it was heard that the Banker's mother was on the line, while he was crying at the loss of £250,000 of his own money.

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.

Others have suggested that Channel 4 is verging on Deal or No Deal overkill with the show being broadcast at least six days a week and during 'Double Deal' week twice a day. That said, the show takes a break for five weeks in the summer, with a new 'season' beginning in late August.

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".

Merchandise

Due to the Deal or No Deal`s simple format, several games based on the show have been released in a variety of different formats. 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.

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.

Due for release on 28 November 2008 is a Wii game and a second DS game, both titled, "Deal or No Deal: The Banker is back!"

A Deal or No Deal chocolate game is also available.