[Jon]

I’m pretty sure they had to squeeze four shows a day in during later years, after the budget was cut. I also think they may have been at least a year ahead of broadcast by the end, with Edmonds complaining he had no certainty of the future of the programme and then they got On Tour series commissioned.
I’d imagine they’d want to keep costs as a low as possible, so if they can do 4 a day, they’d do that.

I do wonder if the show might return to its spiritual home of Bristol, not sure if it’s they’ve confirmed the next batch of episodes will be made in Salford again. But Tipping Point is already at The Bottle Yard and with Deal or No Deal looking to cut into the commission, it might make sense to move it. Although it might depend on where production teams are based. Not that the Bottle Yard was the original Bristol home, or that I’d expect ITV to do it for sentimental reasons. And as they were filming from June it would also work better geographically for Mulhern’s summer job as a Butlins red coat particularly for the Minehead branch.