There seems to be a definite correlation between how the first show of the year goes and how
the month of January goes generally for the contestants afterwards:

* In 2006 there was no New Year's Day show (nor New Year's Eve 2005) but the first show of 2006 was
January 2nd with Irene
who won just £5 followed by Nick who became the first member of the 1p club.

The average payout per show was just £12,821.35 in January 2006.

* January 1st 2007 saw Frank achieve an OPW with £36,126 when he had just £750 in his box with
Bunney the newbie in the wings.

January 2007 proved to be one of the most successful for the players with
Laura winning £250,000, Julie winning £75,000 and Bunney winning £110,000 (average win per show: £32,721.70)

* January 1st 2008 Glen won just £100 in his box,
but the banker had told him at 2 box with £100 and
£1000 left that because he had had such an unlucky game he would double his winnings
so he took home £200.

January 2008 turned out to be one of the worst month's for the players with an average show payout of just £11,978.19

Will the first show of the year this year set the trend for January again in 2009?

(thanks to h for monthly payout data stats)

The only other thing you've not mentioned is that the last couple years, we've had disappointing opening rounds on New Year's Day; and we've had ironic opening offers because of it:

For Frank, we had an opening offer of £2,007

For Glen, we had an opening offer of £2,008

Today's show: a £2,009 opening offer? Who knows...

No £2,009 opening offer on the New Year's Day show 2009 (it was £12,000),
so hopefully the trend of the first show of the year determining what happens in January will finally be broken
despite Alex's modest win of £750 yesterday.