Noel used to say 22 sealed boxes on show 1 but now he says 22 identical sealed boxes.

I wish hed stop reminding people its there 1st box they need to choose and that they need to choose 5 boxes etc. etc... i think they know after being there for 6 shows already...

It's more a reminder for the viewers I think, they will have been expecting many people to be watching for the first time in each of the early shows.

Is it just me, or has Adrienne been replaced with someone else? It didn't look like her next to Raj.

But wouldnt they get that by counting how many they open anyway?

Yes, Elaine. We know Adrienne comes back to play, though.....

Looks like she has Elaine on her badge. As does the contestant in the "Lucy" position on the other side, neither seems to have an initial either?

I'm sure I've seen that New Elaine in a photo standing in Dilys's position...I guess she moves when Adrienne comes back, and James wasn't the first to do it after all!

Isnt there another Elaine? Then why isnt it Elaine ( ) and Elaine ( )?

Wikipedia and the screwthebanker.com spreadsheet both have Elaine 2 as joining in show 8 (2 shows after this one). Will be interesting to see if she appears in show 7 repeated tomorrow?

And if neither of them had a second initial on their badge, how did they know which one had been called up to play?

That position certainly seems to be cursed in that three of those to have stood there have fallen ill. Adrienne's illness was obviously not as serious as Joseph's or Audrey's, though.

The stats obviously don't pick up on things like this as there were not so many of us watching back then!

There was also a rumour that there was a contestant called Charles in the early days who left without playing, but there was no clear evidence of that player existing and it seemed people eventually came to the conclusion that they meant Clive who appeared in December. Will have to look out to see if that's true!

Haha, why didnt he swap? Stupid 3.

How did the audience know it was £5000 before they saw it? Do the audience all watch it on a big screen or something?

Woo, first contestant to go to the end - interesting that they were offering the swap right from the start. It was funny hearing the audience gasping when it was offered, and seeing that woman in the audience explaining it to her friend with hand signals! How bizarre.

(And I couldn't believe Oli was 31 - the tradition of DOND contestants looking much younger than they really are obviously started early on too!)

And Madie sounds French... Noel doesnt even mention that Adrienne is gone! Maybe its good editing...

He said 21 didnt he?

Lots of Bonfire Night jokes today, referencing the show's original transmission date. There's nothing sillier than a show filmed in October pretending it's November but being shown in August. Also lots of poppies like yesterday, as Rememberance Day was coming up.

I'd forgotten how fun that game was, actually. The board at round 3 was very good indeed...though had he dealt then, we'd have been denied the pleasure of our first swap offer.

Spartacus said Madie was Persian (or Iranian to use the modern name of the country. I think the use of this term gives a clue that Spartacus is perhaps one of the older generation among the contestants?)

Anyone got any pics of Oli? I'm sure you're all aware by now that I can't get More4, so couldn't see it, and he's someone I can't remember at all.

I missed the beginning where they said his age, but he didn't look 21 to me. He had some wrinkles around his eyes. I don't mean that to sound offensive, I thought he was quite charming

It was Madie who refered to his nationality as Persian. I was merely respecting his use of the former name of the country.