[all new phil]

Would have been a lot better as a 30 minute show, rather than a 45 minute, then hour, one.

Then it really would just be a show about opening boxes and it’s the decision making and weighing up the odds that the show is actually about. I agree that it probably worked better over 45 minutes than an hour, but at the same time a half an hour show would have taken out much of the drama, the viewers investment in the contestants and of course the fun. 

People who say “it’s just people opening boxes” don’t really understand what the show was about. It’s not University Challenge I’ll grant them that, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The production that went into that daytime show was amazing and a lot of success was down to Edmonds ability as not only a host but also basically director of the programme.

Exactly. Shows like this are less about the game and more about everything else around it. The Wheel is just a vehicle for Michael McIntyre, The 1% Club is a vehicle for Lee Mack, etc etc. DOND really hammed up the contestants’ stories, the deliberation over what to do… it was as much as drama as it was a gameshow. I can’t imagine why you’d want to watch a show that was ruthlessly efficient in its use of time and cut out any of the chatter.