Come Dine with Me to be shown 126 times in one month But a Channel 4 spokesman responded, "In 2012 we are launching more new programmes than any other terrestrial channel." The broadcaster is also planning to reduce the number of Come Dine with Me repeats shown in favour of new programmes. Come Dine with Me remains popular, however, often pulling in more than a million viewers per episode. There's also a vast archive of episodes to choose from as since the show began in 2005, 824 episodes have been made. Comedian Dave Lamb provides a sarcastic voice-over to the light-hearted series, which sees four or five contestants take it in turns to host a dinner party, with each giving the host a score out of 10. The host with the most points at the end of the week then wins £1,000. Celebrity versions of the show have attracted stars as varied as politician Diane Abbott, pop star Pete Burns, entertainer Michael Barrymore, model Jodie Marsh, presenter Anneka Rice and former athlete Zola Budd. Of course, repeated showings of popular programmes to maintain audience figures is not merely a method used by Channel 4. Dave, for example, shows repeats of Top Gear approximately 50 times a week.