"Welcome to Deal or No Deal!" cries Beth after the introduction, which was the same as yesterday's. "If you tuned in yesterday, you'll have recognised that this game might seem very easy, but it really isn't. Sorrah certainly didn't find it easy when she became our very first contestant, and the twenty-three other people behind me certainly noticed that. They will all get to play this game themselves sooner or later - and for one of them, it will be very soon indeed. As in - right here, right now!"

The names start scrolling... "I hope you know what you're in for now... MELINDA!"

Melinda carries over box 5 to the table. She is a 26-year-old primary school teacher from Icenbrook, a large rural market town of around 25,000 people in the north of the country. Melinda explains that it was so called because the stream through the town once froze over, but nowadays it doesn't and people laugh at the name on hot summer days! She says she had poetry published as a teenager and wanted to make writing a career, but was told she would never make it, so her parents encouraged her to do a teaching degree instead, and now she wants to write books for children. She has explicitly forbidden her family to come to the studio in case they put her off taking any risks; Beth says that she has "already made a big decision before you even start the game, and it could have a huge impact one way or the other"...

She then explains the game again to new viewers, and brings up the game board:

Tk1
Tk5
Tk10
Tk20
Tk50
Tk100
Tk150
Tk200
Tk300
Tk400
Tk500
Tk750
Tk1,000
Tk2,500
Tk5,000
Tk7,500
Tk10,000
Tk15,000
Tk25,000
Tk50,000
Tk75,000
Tk100,000
Tk200,000
Tk300,000

"In the first round, you will have to open five boxes, and then, as you saw yesterday, the Banker will phone and provide an offer. If you have more luck than Sorrah in picking low sums of money, the blue values on the game board, you will receive better offers right from the word go. I hope you do - I want you to win a lot of money, I want everyone here to win a lot of money!" Cheers from the audience. "Let's play Deal or No Deal!"

The studio lighting dissolves into little more than abstract LED patterns. "Please choose your first box."

"I think I'd like to start with number 17." "Harriet, that's your box... OK with it, Melinda?" "Yes, why not." "Then open box 17, Harriet."

Box 17 (Harriet) - Tk5

"Oh, you have to be OK with that!" Big cheers for the second-lowest amount in the game disappearing immediately from play. "So we now know that you don't have that in your box. And if you don't have that, it's that little bit more likely you have a lot, lot more. Next box, please." "I'll try number 10." "Sharon, please open box 10." "Good luck."

Box 10 (Sharon) - Tk400

"And again!" More cheers. "Revealing blue values right away is absolutely wonderful to see. Another one?" "Hopefully so - I'd like number 15." "Jeltsje, can we do it again with another one in 15?" "I do hope so." "Open it."

Box 15 (Jeltsje) - Tk300

"We certainly can!" Melinda is slowly gaining in excitement. "This is going well, isn't it?" "You'd better believe it!", replies Beth, with something approaching a cackle of laughter before adopting a serious tone again; "I do want to say that we still have to open two more though before we even get one offer. This is great for now, but no guarantees yet." "OK, let's try 23." "Kamira, can you make it four?" "Let's do it," he replies with real intent. "Oh, hello!" Cheers. "Don't let us down! Open the box!"

Box 23 (Kamira) - Tk200

Kamira punches the air. "Oh, you've done it alright! What a start this is turning into!" Melinda takes a deep breath. "One more, yes?" "Yes, one more... could it be an entire round without a single big sum of money revealed?" Melinda picks box 9, while Beth checks her touchscreen monitor built into the table which gives her tidbits to mention from time to time. Like this: "On average, you can expect to take out five blue values in the first round in one in every 53 games. Can this be the one? Azeezat, open box 9!"

Box 9 (Azeezat) - Tk7,500

"Not quite." "It's OK!" calls out Scott, and there's applause after that. "Oh, absolutely it's OK!", Beth replies. "That is an absolutely great start to the game, and you are now going to be looking at a much higher opening offer than you could otherwise be expecting." The phone rings. "Hello?... Yes, in the last game you were the lucky one at the start of the game, but not today!... Ooh, that is a lot more than yesterday... OK." The phone hangs up. "You have a chance, right now, to leave with more money than Sorrah did yesterday..."

Tk1
Tk10
Tk20
Tk50
Tk100
Tk150
Tk500
Tk750
Tk1,000
Tk2,500
Tk5,000
Tk10,000
Tk15,000
Tk25,000
Tk50,000
Tk75,000
Tk100,000
Tk200,000
Tk300,000

Banker's offer:

Tk7,000

"You will have to open five more boxes if you play on before you get another chance to leave." Melinda says that Sorrah was offered more later in the game, and that she would like to win more than Tk7,000. NO DEAL, then. "Melinda has started well, but has she used up her luck already? Find out after the break!"

"Welcome back to Deal or No Deal! Melinda Hampstead has ambitions to be a published author, but I don't think she expected a start this good to be in her script for this game, four blue values going in the first four boxes! There are five more to open now after she declined the opening offer of Tk7,000, and we're hoping she can keep getting this lucky. Your first box of the round, please."

Melinda opts to go to box 21. "Aaron, open box 21, and keep things going."

Box 21 (Aaron) - Tk300,000

Huge groans. "Oh no!" Melinda shrugs and says that she expected her luck to run out. "That might just be a blip on the way to winning two hundred grand," Beth says, drawing applause. "Number 4, please." "Tose, open box 4, and get us back on the right track."

Box 4 (Tose) - Tk50

"Just like that," Beth declares. "Three more boxes to go. Couple more of those would be useful." "Box 24, please." "Top of the shop, with Wynke... please open box 24." "Hope it's smaller on the inside," Wynke says, to laughter.

Box 24 (Wynke) - Tk200,000

Wynke looks more horrified than anyone else. "I don't believe it! Big number on the outside, and an even bigger number on the inside!" Melinda says all the big numbers are at that end (Wynke and Aaron were both at the far end of the West Wing), and goes "right the other side to number 11", with Zoe at the far end of the East Wing. "Well, by your logic, this is where the smallest money must be." "Something like that!"

Box 11 (Zoe) - Tk150

"Well, that's small enough," says Beth, to which Melinda nods. "You've been see-sawing between a huge number and a small number. Don't see-saw back one more time. This needs to be blue too." "Staying at that end, 22." Satossy, who is next to Zoe, says that "this is purely random, so don't worry." "Well, hopefully there's no need to worry about what's in 22, anyway! Open it."

Box 22 (Satossy) - Tk15,000

"Ooh," is the call from Beth and audience members alike. Melinda says she's just glad it wasn't the Tk100,000. The Banker rings up, and Beth reports he is "howling with laughter at this change in fortune"... "he did, however, admit it is more likely than not that you do not have a blue value on the table, and so there is only so far he can drop the offer."

Tk1
Tk10
Tk20
Tk100
Tk500
Tk750
Tk1,000
Tk2,500
Tk5,000
Tk10,000
Tk25,000
Tk50,000
Tk75,000
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk5,500

Melinda said she thought it would be a lot lower than that after a round as bad as that. Satossy says that there are still five higher than the offer and most of them are "much higher". Melinda duly decides to NO DEAL.

"Three boxes to open in this round." Melinda starts with number 20 "to get that end out of the way", as Ellie was standing at the end of the West Wing next to the two big numbers. "There won't be three big numbers next to each other." "Ellie, prove that there weren't three big numbers next to each other with a small one in 20!"

Box 20 (Ellie) - Tk500

"That's a relief!", declares Beth. "Two more of those, and we're flying." "Number 8." "Ruud, deliver us another blue value in box 8." "I do hope so."

Box 8 (Ruud) - Tk75,000

Big groans. "Uh-oh." A worried Melinda turns to box 14. "Charles, get us back on track with something small." "Tiny, I hope. Tiny." "Yes, tiny!"

Box 14 (Charles) - Tk10

"Yes! Ten tiny toaks!" A quick phone call... "Two out of three ain't bad for you, he said. Good enough to send the offer back to where we started."

Tk1
Tk20
Tk100
Tk750
Tk1,000
Tk2,500
Tk5,000
Tk10,000
Tk25,000
Tk50,000
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk7,000

Scott says that with four higher and three to open "gambling is easy". "Nothing in this game is easy!", says Beth. "Well, you might find it difficult but I don't!", declares Scott, to a loud, mixed reception from an audience who don't quite know whether that was the remark of a hero or a fool. Heath says that it's worth playing on for now, but "it's only going to get harder after this". Melinda does decide to NO DEAL.

Beth says that after the break, anything could still happen...

Beth welcomes us back once again, and says we might want to watch out for Scott when he plays at some point after he implied this game was easy!

"Three and easy does it for this round - well, maybe not easy, but three boxes nonetheless." "Oh, let's have number 3!"

Box 3 (Jennifer) - Tk1,000

Polite applause. "That flash of red is always worrying until you see the number inside," Beth suggests.

"Number 6, please." "Heath, open box 6, and keep those big reds intact."

Box 6 (Heath) - Tk5,000

"Well, that's kept the big reds safe," Beth says. "A blue here would be very useful."

"I'll go with number 13." "Iris, if we can make sure we don't have a round with no blues whatsoever, this position will actually be genuinely promising. Open box 13." "All the best."

Box 13 (Iris) - Tk1

"Perfect!" Cheers all around. "So we know that, at worst, you have Tk20 in your box. You could still have Tk100,000. What will the Banker do now after that?" We soon find out, with the Banker admitting he is "worried by the way this is going again..."

Tk20
Tk100
Tk750
Tk2,500
Tk10,000
Tk25,000
Tk50,000
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk11,500

Melinda says that would make life easier for her, and adds that she's still thinking of starting a family but is bitter after her boyfriend cheated on her last year. "I do want to have children, but I haven't found anyone I could trust as a father yet, and I don't know if it'd be right for me to adopt a child living on my own. Probably not." "That must complicate a lot of things in life, including how you plan for your financial future," Beth suggests. "Absolutely that, yes, and it's hard not to be frivolous at times when you figure that you might never have other people to look after." "Which must make these decisions all the more confusing." "I basically need to go with my instinct because the more I think about it then the worse it will be."

That instinct turns into another NO DEAL...

"Two important boxes." The first of which is number 7... "Scott, the man who calls this game easy, you now need to make this game easier for Melinda." "Here goes..."

Box 7 (Scott) - Tk25,000

"Ooh, that makes things more difficult." Scott just shrugs. "I'm actually less scared of Elfar, even though he's about twice my size, so number 2 please!" "I'm a gentle giant, honestly. And this is not a giant number in my box." "Please be right..."

Box 2 (Elfar) - Tk10,000

Groans initially, but then a few sighs of relief and even cheers as people realise it wasn't the Tk100,000. "Just the ten... we're still in this game." The Banker rings... "Hello?... That round went your way, you think?... OK, fair enough." The phone goes down. "Although he said it went his way, he thinks he needs to increase the offer, just in case..."

Tk20
Tk100
Tk750
Tk2,500
Tk50,000
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk13,000

Yvie points out "that is more than Sorrah was offered yesterday, and her game went wrong after this point." Scott says this game is a different one. Harriet says that you could take both values above the offer out in one round, but Satossy says that is only a 1 in 15 chance. Melinda says she thinks that because she doesn't really know what she's playing for given her uncertain relationship future, it is probably as well that she is more aggressive because she doesn't have anyone else in her life to answer to. "You did mention at the start of the game that you didn't want your family to hold you down, as it appears they may have done with your writing aspirations," Beth enquires. "And maybe this is that time where that starts to matter?" Melinda nods firmly. NO DEAL!

"This isn't just about the game anymore, this is about a young woman asserting her independence and doing things her way. Will she end up with a fortune, or wanting to crawl back to mummy and daddy? Find out when we come back!"

"We're back, with a very dramatic position." The previous-offer graphic pops up. "Melinda has not only turned down Tk13,000, but she has done so knowing full well that at a different time in her life, she may well not have done. She's living on her own, she's wanting kids but she's not found the man to spend her life with, and she's had her parents turn her away from her dreams before... clearly, she doesn't want to do that again, which is why they're not here with her today. The question now, though, is what will happen next... two boxes to open in this round."

"Yvie, 16." "Yvie, we really want to see a blue label pop out of the inside of box 16." "Well, I hope it stays in the box, personally!" Laughter. "Open the box!"

Box 16 (Yvie) - Tk20

Big cheers. "What a great time to do that! Only one more to go... this offer will be very different if both of those two big numbers stay to the next phone call, but at least you cannot lose both now." Melinda scans the wings. "Carsten, 18." "Carsten, if this is anything other than Tk50,000 or Tk100,000, this will be a wonderful position for Melinda to be in. Open the box." "The best of wishes."

Box 18 (Carsten) - Tk750

Melinda jumps with joy into the arms of Carsten. "And now, we are in a wonderful position, with two big, big sums of money in the game, and only one box to open if you turn this offer down..." The Banker points that out, and says that "he is now in a very difficult position indeed." Hence, this offer...

Tk100
Tk2,500
Tk50,000
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk24,000

Melinda says that whatever her future might be, she could make good use of that money, but with one to open it feels like she ought to go on. "No reason that you ought to do anything, Melinda," rebuts Yvie, and Beth follows that up: "Nobody's telling you what to do. That's the thing with this game. Only you can decide what to do, because only you have to really live with the consequences when all is said and done." Heath says that the big question is whether Melinda would be OK if she took out the Tk100,000, as she could always take the next offer and "still get something decent". Melinda replies that "it probably depends, really, because we don't know exactly what he'd offer," to which Satossy replies: "Yesterday, with two blue amounts and Tk25,000, Sorrah was offered Tk5,600. You would have twice as much money as your biggest prize, and the other two would be a bit better too, so you'd probably get about Tk12,000. In theory." "You say that, Satossy, but ultimately only the Banker can decide what the offers are. And he might not want to stick to theory if he thinks he can do better with something else, something more... personal than what his computer screen tells him to do. He does get a suggestion for the offer, but he can ignore it at will."

Melinda says that her first instinct before she even heard the offer was that she would find it hard to stop. And when the lid goes up and the button becomes available to press... she goes with that instinct! NO DEAL!

"This is an absolutely crucial box. If this is the Tk100, then you will at least be leaving with Tk2,500, and the offer will be a lot, lot more than that. But if it's a hundred thousand, then the whole game turns against you, just as it did for Sorrah."

"I will go with Marvin, number 12." "Marvin, the game rests on your shoulders. Please open box 12, and hopefully, hopefully it will not be Tk100,000 or Tk50,000." "Best wishes - I know you deserve this."

Box 12 (Marvin) - Tk50,000

Melinda barely reacts. The audience groans. "Well, at least it was that one, and not the Tk100,000," Beth notes. "The Banker still has to consider the possibility that you might have that one in your box - it is, right now, a one-in-three chance." That line draws applause, interrupted by the phone call. "Hello... yes, right... yes, or it could go the other way... indeed. OK. Thank you."

The summary of that: "you may have to take this, because it could be your last chance to leave here with significant money."

Tk100
Tk2,500
Tk100,000

Banker's offer:

Tk22,000

Melinda says it is worrying to think she could lose nearly all of that with one box. Scott says that if she keeps the Tk100,000 the offer will be massive. Tose says that it is "a very difficult gamble to take with no insurance".

"Is this one risk too far?" asks Beth. Melinda, on being offered the chance to press the button, confirmed that yes, it was. DEAL for Tk22,000! Applause from all concerned.

"Firstly, can I thank you for saving me from a terrifying second day on the job?" Laughter. "Secondly, can you pick your next box and hopefully find the Tk100,000 to confirm that you did the right thing?" "I do hope so. Number 1." "Kathy, who is our new player today - she has come in to replace Sorrah, and as one player goes out another one will keep coming in - your first duty is to open box 1, hopefully revealing that you were in position to destroy her financial aspirations!"

Box 1 (Kathy) - Tk100

Melinda says that it's just a shame she didn't choose that last time! "I cannot really argue with that," adds Beth. "So we now know that your box has either Tk2,500 or Tk100,000, and the Banker would have made an offer with that in mind..."

Banker's offer would've been:

Tk42,000

Groans from the audience. "So you could, in fact, have now taken an offer of almost twice what you actually did. But if you had declined that offer as well - if you'd decided that the Tk100,000 was something to be chased come what may, an opportunity you couldn't turn your back from even at that price - would you have got it? This is the box that you bought to the table at the very start of the game... and we want it to be Tk2,500, to show that your decision to stop and sell it for Tk22,000 was a great move..."

Beth opens Box 5 (Melinda) - Tk2,500

"Yes!" Melinda looks relieved. "The danger was lying with Paora and his box 19, if you could open that please, Paora..."

Box 19 (Paora) - Tk100,000

"So although you could have won even more than you did, you are Tk22,000 better off. How do you feel?" "Rather happy, really - it's a shame I couldn't have gone any further but at least I have this much, and I'll probably save most of it ready for the future, whatever that brings." "I know that you were always thinking ahead through this game, and when you're talking of these sums of money that's a very good lesson for everyone else here - these are life-changing sums of money up for grabs, and it's important to look well beyond the here and now. Whatever your future brings, I hope that the money makes a real difference. Melinda leaves us Tk22,000 better off!" Applause.

"This game really is fascinating," says Beth over the closing credits. "and we've only just scratched the surface, I can promise you. Tomorrow, another player will be looking to change their lives, and who knows how that one will turn out? You'll have to tune in and see for yourselves. Until then, goodbye!"