Patricia's Game Report

Settling down for Wednesday's DOND, Countdown just wrapping up....Conner was unbelievable, 14 years old, he got the conundrum in under 1 second to get a winning score of 124. Watch him in the final on Friday.

And then it was Noel: that New Seekers grin, the Bee Gees beard, the chocolate-coated voice. It had now been over three weeks since Gaz got £100,000, Noel felt there was a volcano of pressure building up for a big winner, they/we were overdue for a big money payout.

Today's player was Patricia, a blonde-haired Dawn French in sky blue, she had three grown up children and three grand children. Her ambition was to widen her drive, fix her leaky roof, and for herself she wanted full body lipo-suction, laser treatment and leg extensions - so good for her. Patricia had been very quiet during her time as a contestant, dark even - but as she spoke with Noel she was growing on me, she had a great laugh, was self-deprecating and very open.... bubbly almost.

James was still off, so Suzanne would open box 19 for him.

Round one: She went for June, box 21 - 1p - the best possible start. Patricia looked as if she was about to break in to opera, her arms out-stretched, mouth open. Drew, box 22 - £750. Janey brought things back to Earth (a bit), box 9 - £5000. Rich, box 18 - £5. Colin opened box 6 - £10,000 - which meant that this was a very strong opening round. The Banker was also taken by Patricia, he had felt she was steely, but now thought she was warm and soft - the offer was £6600. 'Generous. Ask me the question....No deal'. No consideration, she had decided straight away.

Round two: Daz, the new guy, opened box 8 - £1000. There was a momentum now, '£3000 downwards', requested Noel almost nonchalantly . Fran opened box 4 - £35,000 - the brake cord had been pulled. After the break, Mark opened box 16 - £75,000. 'Oh no', said Noel in the style of Stuart Hall. The banker claimed to be thrown by the turn around in Pat's persona, the offer was £9000, which seemed very high considering that round. 'No deal', said Patricia still considering very little.

Round three: Richard, box 1 - 10p - Patricia clapped excitedly. 'Focus, focus', advised Noel. Louise was next, 'I had this box yesterday and it was red, so today it will be blue', she said as she opened box 11 - 50p - so Louise was one to listen to. Simone was next, a lady who was only eclipsed by Stevie in terms of reds, opened box 14 - £20,000. Patricia was going to continue with Colin. Noel stopped her and tried to persuade the banker that she had said 'Count' as she talked to her pencil which had dropped to the floor. 'Oh yes, she refers to the entire contents of her pencil case using aristocratic terms, we had Baron Rubber here earlier', said Noel in a nice bit of comedy. The banker responded in kind 'he will always beat you because he has a ruler' relayed Noel. The offer was £14,500. (Lofty had dealt at this point yesterday). She had a cheeky grin, she glanced at the board and then said, 'No deal...I know, I'm mad'. The audience cheered her on. This was not mad, there were four amounts higher than the offer, she was playing the game, and the more she did this the more she won her audience, both in the studio and at home.

Round four: Carlton, box 15 - £1. Contestants holding hands already. Jo opened box 13 - £100,000 - the crowd groaned. The board now contained four reds against five blues, the big one and the £50,000 were still in play. After the break, she asked Scott to open box 10 - £15,000 - 'its OK' said Noel, but the reds were thin on the ground. 'I believe' said Patricia. The banker gave a test of character - the offer was £8500 - punishing her for losing the £100,000. She turned to Noel, her face steely, 'ask me the question, Noel' - 'No deal' - the test had been passed.

Round five: Even though Noel had said Suzanne would open James' box, things had clearly changed during the show, instead we were introduced to Nessie who opened box 19 - £10. Everyone was holding hands now, not just the contestants but the audience too. The tension was building fast, and I haven't used that word for a few days. Finally for this round Patricia went for Suzanne, with box 20. Could she avoid the last two power five including the big one? The lid opened - £250. 'Yes, yes, yes, yes', said Noel, visibly more excited than Patricia, who was already focused on selecting the last box of the round. 'Buzz, do it for me', she said with a foxy, dominating style, and he did with box 12 - £100. This time Patricia was happy, she should have run to Buzz and given him a cuddle, but Noel hugged her while she stayed on the chair - getting up was too much effort until she gets the cosmetic surgery. The offer was £32,000. She asked for advice from the contestants - Carlton would take the money, Rich reminded her that she felt box 2 (her box) was lucky. She went to the audience and then realised that they were students, they would tell her to keep going. She turned to Noel - 'Deal'. As Noel hugged her she said in to his ear, 'I very nearly went all the way then'.

Round six: Becca, box 3 - £50. Peter, box 5 - £3000. 'We'll have the black widow' - £50,000. The board was left with £500 against £250,000. The offer would have been £92,000.

Noel opened her box - it was £250,000. The £750 was with Joan in box 7.

So Patricia could have won the big one, but was she bothered? No! She had won £32,000, which would allow her to realise all of her ambitions, and even buy an exercise bike. If Morris or Trevor had been sitting in the chair today, then we would have seen the first £250,000 winner, but most people (I think) would have dealt when Patricia did, if not before - so she did well enough.

Patricia won £32,000.