I was watching The Joy of Stats on the PVR (no longer on iPlayer, soz), and they were talking about how often the normal distribution curve appears in statistical data. It made me start thinking about whether Deal tends to have a consistent spread of age groups, or has a possible bias towards more people in the mid-range.

This occured to me after thinking that the 18-21 age group, and over 80s, are highly under-represented (the former likely because of the average 2-year waiting list of the show). I wouldn't say necessarily that the show's interviewers have an intentional bias in choosing players (haven't heard anyone mentioning this in the last 5 years).

But I am interested to know if the age distribution range is generally even; mirrors the population age range; or is different altogether, and how the mean age has changed each year since the show started. I know that it's unlikely that anyone has been collating this information (outside of the show's staff itself), but I was wondering if you know, or someone you know knows, what the ages of the players in general are? Any info is better than nothing.