Sandra won £12,900

Thursday, Noel finding yet another way to pronounce the same words - as if relating a nursery rhyme. BBW Jim definitey beat the banker, but Kirsty went away with £75,000 after being offered £125,000 and then Johnnie took £8100 when he had a box with £100,000 - the biggest banker win yet. It feels as if we are moving away, not getting closer.

Today it was Sandra who was called to the hot seat. A red head, natural or otherwise, with the look of Shirley Maclaine in Sweet Charity. Straight away she pesonalised the game - she was going to take her best friend Trish off for a holiday 'somewhere hot'. Her son and daughter have just bought houses, so money would be needed for them. Sandra was born in the year of the dog, it is again the year of the dog, so she brought a little china dog. And for further background (don't they understand that they are simply putting their heads in the lion's mouth), she had been knocked over 7 times as a pedestrian...and she thought she was lucky. Her box was number 4.

Round one: Noel reminded everyone of Johnnie's game, effectively telling her not to deal early. Fadil opened box 7 - £20,000. Pat M was going to open box 17, asked if she had ever been knocked over, Noel answered himself 'she wouldn't know if she had' - £1. Gabrielle with number 6 - £500, Gary opened £35,000 in box 7, James going beetroot about an in-joke concerning sherbet dips opened box 20 - £3000. Sandra was relatively cool about the board - good and bad. The banker laughing like a dirty old man, offered £3100, it didnt do anything for Sandra - 'No Deal'.

Round two: Sandra was getting into her stride, she looked across the wings, selected Pete with box number 2 - 1p. 'Our Cathy', box 12 - 50p, 'this is serious now'. After the break Dave finished the round with £50. Sandra wanted to open another box (18) not realising that the banker's offer was next. The banker wanted to know if the cars tried that hit her tried to avoid her first - suggesting that if she had another round like the last one he would warm the limo - £8900. Sandra asked for advice, the offer was clearly tempting for this woman, Pete said it would be good for Sandra but 'we know that Johnnie dealt too early'. She noded her head - 'no deal'.

Round three: 18 was opened by Massimo - £5. Dave W opened box 19 for 10p, JT lifted the lid on box 11 to reveal £100 - an all blue round. Sandra was excited, the amounts of money were now life changing for her - the offer was £14,200. Sandra looked straight ahead, trying to get a handle on that amount. She turned to the audience and asked for their advice. A young man called Johnny stood up to say deal - but was confused - by deal he meant she should go on. Noel showed him the red card and led him out of the studio to the car park. Noel then returned to Pat M 'no more of your family are allowed in', great off-the-cuff comedy. Sandra had made up her mind in the meantime - 'No Deal'

Round four: the audience start singing 'more money', Richard duly provided - box 14, £10. According to Noel this was 'one of the strongest games we have ever had'. Helen was chosen next, she had box 21. The gorgeous Helen opened it far too quickly, it was the £250,000. The audience groaned, suddenly the atmosphere had changed, and now, only now, was this a serious game. Liverpudlian Claire had box 15 but we would have to wait until after the break to see her unveil £5000. Sandra pointed to the board - 'it still looks really good' - two blues against six reds. If she goes on she will hurt herself referring to her accident-prone status, the banker cleverly offered £9990. No smile from Sandra, she had just lost £4210, she was in virgin territory, playing with amounts of money that could keep her and her family for months. She asked for a sweep of the contestants, they ALL said no deal, so speaking very carefully she joined them.

Round five: Linda box 1, £15,000, still ok, Sandra clapping gently. Pat next hoping for the best but she didn't deliver - £75,000. Julia to finish with box 8 - £750. Noel turned to Sandra, pointing at her box, 'just because the £100,000 was there yesterday doesn't mean its not there today' - the offer was £12,900. The vast majority of the audience thought she should go on - 'its not their money' said Noel. She was looking at a board with one blue and four reds including the £50,000 and £100,000. But the offer was too much money, she said 'Deal'.

Round six: Mike opened £1000, Hilary revealed £10,000, and finally John's box 5 gave £250 - if she was still playing it would have been a perfect round. The banker would have offered £71,000. Many of the contestants looked ill, but Sandra was only pretending to be unhappy, at the end of the day she now had more money than she could dream of. So when Noel inevitably opened the £100,000, she simply broke into a massive smile.

From the get-go this was always going to be a low scoring game - Sandra had telegraphed her need for the money, and just like any real banker, these are precisely the people they fail to help. But Sandra was happy enough, even though the week's aim of beating the banker was falling flat, and she would have been better off quitting at the end of round three.