Noel's House Party is a BBClight entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 20 March 1999 on BBC One, and for eight series was broadcast live on Saturday evenings. The show, once described by a senior corporation executive as "the most important show on the BBC", was cancelled in February 1999 due to declining ratings, although two further compilation specials were shown in March 2000.[2]
In 2010, Noel's House Party was voted the best Saturday night TV show of all time.[3] In August 2022, an episode of the show, the tenth episode of the first series (originally broadcast on 1 February 1992), was repeated on BBC Four. This marks the first time since 2000 that the show has been broadcast on the BBC.
History
Noel's House Party was the successor to The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow, carrying over some of its regular features such as the 'Gunge Tank', the 'Gotcha Oscar' and 'Wait Till I Get You Home'.
The show had many celebrity guests posing as residents of Crinkley Bottom, including Frank Thornton and Vicki Michelle. It gave birth to Mr. Blobby in the Gotcha segment. There was also a contrived rivalry between Edmonds and Tony Blackburn. One-off celebrity appearances included Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer, who came in to find the whole audience dressed as Frank after Troon comedian Stuart Henderson had performed as Frank singing The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and Ken Dodd in a highwayman's outfit—"going cheap at the Maxwell sale"—as Noel's long-lost 'twin', Berasent Edmonds (a play on Bury St Edmunds).
After several changes, the show began to decline in popularity. Its theme tune was changed in 1996, and set redesigns followed. The episode due to be broadcast on 3 January 1998 had to be cancelled after a disagreement between Edmonds and the BBC. The budget had been cut by 10%, with the money saved being used to help fund the BBC digital switchover. Edmonds reportedly walked out, claiming the show was "of a poor standard and cobbled together".[4][5][6]
The BBC cancelled the show in February 1999 after ratings plummeted from a high of 15 million to 8 million.[7] Edmonds closed the final episode of House Party on 20 March 1999 by saying:
It's an overworked expression when people say 'it's the end of an era', but for BBC Television for the entertainment department, for me, and possibly you, it really is the end of an era. I hope your memory will be very kind to us after 169 [episodes]... bye.
He was then playfully attacked with a fire extinguisher by Freddie Starr. The closing credits were followed by a brief comic skit of Edmonds' 1970s children's show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, in which a seemingly young Noel wakes from a dream in the Swap Shop studio - recounting the events to Keith Chegwin and John Craven of a typical House Party episode,suggesting that the entire run of House Party never really happened - until Mr Blobby appears in the Swap Shop studio.
In a statement, Edmonds said:
I am delighted this decision has been made. I feel as though a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. History will prove that House Party was one of the most successful entertainment shows of all time.
He partly blamed the Ronan Keating talent show Get Your Act Together for poor ratings leading into House Party.[8]
Awards
In 1993, Noel's House Party won a BAFTA for best light entertainment series.[9]
In 1994, the opening titles won a Bronze Rose of Montreux.[citation needed] The stop-motion animation title and credit sequences were made by 3 Peach Animation.
Parents watch pre-recorded clips of their children being interviewed by Edmonds, and try to guess the children's answers. In Series Five it was replaced with Wait Till We All Get Home, but was then axed for Series Six and not replaced. It did however make a one-off return in the final episode. This complete segment was pre-recorded some months before each series of the show began, and originated in The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow.
The Lyric Game
In Series One, celebrity duos competed against one another to complete the lyrics of a song after being given the first line. This feature was originally in The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow. In Series Two members of the public had to guess the name of the song from the lyrics, but this was replaced in Series Three with the panel game.
Before the game starts, a chosen player is picked from the call in contestants who got a question correct during the show or from a previous week's show to be picked, there would be three different bundles of money, usually two known countries and one bundle known as the "Crinkley Bottom Groats" which was pegged to a generally random country, all valued within £1,000, sometimes more or sometimes less. Noel would ask the caller three questions based on that week's news. Each correct answer gave the celebrity 20 seconds in the box (up to a total of 60 seconds) accompanied by music and the audience counting down from ten to one.
The format was changed slightly in Series Four, in which the caller could choose a member of the studio audience to do the "grand grabbing" (the audience member would win the same amount of money the caller won). During Season 4, Grab a Grand had a few quirks added in, including some modified moments: balloons inside the box, the walls falling down, allowing audience members to help, the door jammed, cheating, the machine broken, being flipped for Number Cruncher and inside a woman's house when NTV happened.
Then, in the first episode of Series Five, the box was blown up live during the show and the segment was revamped with the entire studio audience now playing grabbing notes that were being blown around by two large industrial fans as the celebrity would run into to collect, rather than having the three currencies, instead it featured the groats as the main currency, mixed within the groats would be "Golden Groats" worth £50 each if collected.
There was also an incident when one of the callers had the same name, but it turned out it was not the person who had called in: the real call-in contestant had their Grab a Grand game at the start of the next episode, as this one featured the grab a grand around the grand house track. Towards the end of Series Five, variations were introduced: 'Grab a Granny', 'Grab a Grand Piano', and 'Grab a Grand National' etc. The money was quickly counted on stage using a Cashmaster counting machine. The last Grab a Grand was done on the last episode of Series Five (coincidentally, the 100th episode).
Grab a Grand was then replaced with Cash for Questions in Series Six.
NTV
A camera was hidden in the home of a member of the public and Edmonds would talk to them through their television.[10] Some would be shocked, other bemused, others would simply try to run away. Whatever the reaction, they would subsequently end up doing some embarrassing performance in their living room or garden. Celebrity victims included Chris Evans, Garry Bushell and Dale Winton.
The Gunge Tank
Carried over from The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow, the gunge tank was put to various uses, usually gunging celebrities or unpopular members of the public after a phone vote was carried out during the show. Gunging usually took place in the final minutes of the show.
The 'gunge' was a food-thickening agent called Natrosol, coloured with various food dyes. The gunge tank got progressively more sophisticated. From Series One a standard tank was used, with an ornate look to it. Series Two introduced foam (often coloured) which would rise up from the bottom and cover the victim prior to the gunging. Series Three introduced the 'Car Wash', where the individual was carried along a lengthier tank getting covered in foam then going through a set of brushes designed to soak the victim, then having the gunge descend from above before being spun out of the contraption. In Series Four and Five, it was developed into the 'Trip Around The Great House', where the victim was placed on a miniature railway that took them on a journey around the set, finishing up in the giant fireplace, where gunge was finally released onto the victim. From Series Six, there were changes to the format, and gunge was used less frequently. In Series Six, there was a rubbish truck with a seat in which would release different rotten foods and then as the chair carried on, gunge was released on them. Series Seven did not include any type of gunge due to a refurbishment in the house. For Series Eight, a member of the audience would be gunged by a tank lowered from the studio rafters, or their chair would be lowered into the undercroft of the seating area, where they were gunged, and came back up again.
Edmonds himself often got gunged, usually in the last episode of a series.
The Big Pork Pie
The Big Pork Pie was a regular feature from Series Three where a member of the audience with an embarrassing secret was seated in a big pork pie, made to wear a lie detector and questioned by Noel. Noel himself was subjected to this on one episode, with Bob Monkhouse taking on the role of question master; it was revealed that Noel's middle name was Ernest.
Number Cruncher
A regular feature for Series Four and Series Five, where a phone box modified to contain a gunge tank and a TV screen was placed somewhere in Britain. The code to get into the phone box was broadcast live on air, and the first viewer to reach the phone box got to play a game. Once inside, they had 45 seconds to rearrange a code on the screen to win a prize and get out again. If they ran out of time, they were covered in gunge. If they solved the puzzle, they had an opportunity to gamble their prize. By pulling a handle, they could either double their money, have random objects dropped on them, or be covered in gunge.
Beat Your Neighbour
One of the main features on Series Five, in which two neighbours would run round to each other's house and, in one minute, grab as many belongings as they wanted. Then, following a series of alternate questions, one neighbour would win everything, including their own stuff back.
Hot House
A pair of Top athletes were pitted against each other in a fitness test throughout Series Six.
Cash for Questions
For Series Six only, similar to Grab a Grand.
The first part of the game would be a qualifying question or clue this would be supplied by the professor (Portrayed by Brian Blessed). The professor is given a probe camera and sticks it into random objects (ie a loofah). The second part features a Wheel of Fortune being spun. A person from the audience is strapped horizontally to a wheel (normally someone committing an embarrassing thing). The wheel stops spinning and points to one of eight section and phones. The person on the other end of that phone has to get a question correct. If they get it wrong, the wheel is re-spun. However, if they get it correct then they are given a further three current affairs questions. Each correct answer is worth twenty seconds for B-list celeb to go crazy in the Basement.
In the third part, The Basement is pitch black and the caller, with infra-red camera at their disposal, tries to guide the person through the basement collecting bags of money along the way. Each one was worth £100, with golden ones worth £500. At the end of the time the lights came on, so there was nothing stopping the celebrity grabbing an extra bag or two on the way out. Named after a political scandal.
My Little Friend
My Little Friend was a pre-recorded feature used from Series Six to Series Eight. This involved small school children being faced with puppets that start talking to them (one voiced by Noel and another by Barry Killerby). In Series Seven it was aliens, while in the final series, Phibber the frog and Waffle the Squirrel spoke to the children, and sometimes scared them away.
The Secret World of the Teenager
For Series Seven, a teenage version of Wait Till I Get You Home. This segment was pre-recorded.
Soap
In Series Seven, Crinkley Bottom: The Soap - a short-lived pre-recorded soap opera chronicling village life.
Panel Beaters
A celebrity panel game from the second half of Series Seven, in which celebrities had to spot the imposter from three members of the public with apparently bizarre occupations. If they failed, they got gunged. If they guessed correctly, the three members of the public were gunged instead.
Sofa Soccer
In the final series, a similar idea to Bernie the Bolt in The Golden Shot, a viewer at home would attempt to score goals by directing a machine to fire a huge football. The commands were 'left', 'right' and 'shoot'. Each goal was worth £400, a maximum of £2,000 could be won if five goals were scored. The music used for this game was based on Crazy Horses by The Osmonds.
Three to Go
A game from towards the end of Series Eight. Noel would link up with three regional news programmes, who would each bring an improbable-sounding news story from their region. The contestants would have to guess whether the stories were true or false.
In 1992, during series two of House Party, the character Mr Blobby was introduced as a way for Noel Edmonds to play practical jokes on celebrities. The success of the character resulted in a large amount of merchandise, public appearances and even theme parks based around the character. Mr Blobby was portrayed by Barry Killerby.[citation needed]
Mr Blobby was dropped from the show after series 7, but made a surprise reappearance in the final ever episode. During that episode, he ordered Edmonds to confess that dropping him from the show was a mistake, telling Edmonds to say "I wouldn't be in this mess if I hadn't sacked him."
With the House Party set in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, Edmonds opened three Crinkley Bottom attractions at pre-existing theme parks in the UK. The first, based at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset, featured many Mr Blobby attractions and was due to include a replica of the Great House from the series.[11] The park closed in 1998 following dwindling attendance figures.
↑ Originally to run for 21 episodes. The show scheduled for 6 March 1993 was cancelled due to an IRA bomb scare at BBC Television Centre, instead showing a repeat of the 1991 edition of Noel's Christmas Presents and Tom and Jerry 1944 cartoon, "The Zoot Cat".
↑ Originally to run for 22 episodes. The show scheduled for 3 January 1998 was cancelled due to a disagreement between Edmonds and the BBC, a repeat of The Best of Noel's House Party, originally broadcast on 11 October 1997, was shown instead.
The re-runs of Noel's House Party were also aired on Channel 9 in Australia and on Network 2 in New Zealand throughout the 1990s.
Related Research Articles
Noel Ernest Edmonds is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK, presenting the breakfast show for almost five years. He has presented various radio shows and light-entertainment television programmes for 50 years, originally working for the BBC, later Sky UK and Channel 4.
Dick & Dom in da Bungalow is a British children's television series presented by the duo Dick and Dom. The series was broadcast on weekend mornings for five series on the CBBC Channel, BBC One and BBC Two, running between 31 August 2002 and 11 March 2006.
Crackerjack is a British children's television series which was initially aired on the BBC Television Service between 14 September 1955 and 21 December 1984. The series was a variety show featuring comedy sketches, singers and quizzes, broadcast live with an audience.
Pleasurewood Hills is a theme park on a 59-acre (24 ha) site between Corton and Gunton, near Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Live & Kicking is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for Going Live!, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of cartoons. Once Live & Kicking had become established in series two, it reached its height in popularity during series four, when it was presented by Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston; their final edition won a BAFTA award. After this the programme's ratings dropped with the launch of SMTV Live on ITV and the show ended in 2001.
Mr Blobby is a character originally featured on the British Saturday night variety show Noel's House Party, broadcast on BBC One. Created by Charlie Adams, a writer for the show, Mr Blobby is a bulbous pink figure covered in yellow spots, with a permanent toothy grin and green jiggling eyes. Mr Blobby communicates only by saying the word "blobby" in an electronically altered voice, expressing his moods through tone of voice and repetition. He topped the UK Singles Chart with the 1993 Christmas release "Mr Blobby".
Crinkley Bottom, also popularly referred to as Blobbyland, was the operating title for a series of British theme parks operating in the 1990s. They were created by Noel Edmonds based on the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom where the Noel's House Party television programme was based. The parks operated based on the popularity of Mr Blobby. Three parks were operated under the Crinkley Bottom name in England by Edmonds' company, Unique. However, all of the parks eventually failed and were either closed or rebranded.
Going Live! is a British children's television series that aired on BBC One from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip Hodson, Emma Forbes, Nick Ball, James Hickish and Mark Chase.
Gunge as it is known in the United Kingdom, or slime as it is known in the United States and most English-speaking areas of the world, is a thick, gooey, yet runny substance with a consistency somewhere between that of paint and custard. It has been a feature on many children's programs for many years around the world and has made appearances in game shows as well as other programming. While gunge mostly appears on television, it can also be used as a fundraising tool for charities, youth and religious groups. Gunge tanks have appeared at nightclubs and Fun Days. The British charities Comic Relief and Children in Need, supported by the BBC, have used gunge for fundraising in the past. In the U.S., slime is sometimes associated with Nickelodeon, even having several game shows revolving around it, such as Slime Time Live.
Get Your Own Back is a British children's television game show created by Brian Marshall. Each episode staged a contest between teams of children – attempting to score as many points as possible – and their respective adults – attempting to make tasks as difficult as possible for their child contestants – playing a variety of games. The winning child earns a right to get revenge on the adult by ejecting them into a tank of gunge; adult contestants in the show are somewhat embarrassing, for a variety of reasons, to their child counterparts.
The Saturday Show is a British children's television series that aired on BBC One from 22 September 2001 to 3 September 2005. It was the replacement for Live & Kicking and contained a mix of audience participation, cartoons, games and gunge. The initial presenters were Dani Behr and Joe Mace, who were replaced in 2002 and by Fearne Cotton and Simon Grant. In 2004, Cotton left and Grant was joined by Angellica Bell and Jake Humphrey, who made up the final team of presenters until the programme finished in September 2005.
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was groundbreaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornings, being live, being three hours in length, and using the phone-in format extensively for the first time on TV.
Peter John Hudson and David George Halls were a television chef duo, whose cookery show, Hudson & Halls, ran on New Zealand television from 1976 to 1986. They gained a cult following when the pair moved to produce their show on the BBC in the United Kingdom in 1987. The duo were noted for bringing a camp humour, together with an element of slapstick, to the usually staid television cookery genre.
The Late, Late Breakfast Show was a British variety show broadcast live on Saturday evenings from 4 September 1982 to 8 November 1986 on BBC1. It was presented by Noel Edmonds, initially with co-host Leni Harper, and also featured Mike Smith and John Peel. The "Give It a Whirl" segments featured dangerous stunts. Multiple serious injuries resulted from these stunts, including the death of Michael Lush in 1986. The show was cancelled in the aftermath of his death.
Deal or No Deal is a British game show, originally hosted by Noel Edmonds from 31 October 2005 to 23 December 2016 on Channel 4, and by Stephen Mulhern from 20 November 2023 onwards on ITV.
Run the Risk is a British children's game show, which ran from 26 September 1992 to 28 December 1996. It was aired as part of the Saturday morning shows Going Live! and Live & Kicking. It is presented by Peter Simon for the entire run alongside Shane Richie, John Eccleston and Bobby Davro. The games the teams had to do involved gunge and were similar to those performed on It's a Knockout. Run the Risk borrowed much from its predecessor, Double Dare, which was also hosted by Simon.
The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow is a BBC television light entertainment show which was broadcast on Saturday evenings from 3 September 1988 to 15 December 1990. It was presented by Noel Edmonds, his first major TV project since the demise of The Late, Late Breakfast Show in 1986. The pre-recorded programme contained several elements which had been found in its predecessor, such as phone-in quizzes, celebrity interviews and bands performing in the studio.
Noel's HQ is a British light entertainment programme that was broadcast by Sky1. Hosted by Noel Edmonds, the series featured segments discussing philanthropic efforts and political issues. A one-off pilot episode was broadcast live on 14 September 2008, and a full 5-part series was broadcast from 17 January to 14 February 2009.
The Impressions Show is a British comedy sketch show which stars impressionists Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson. A second series began broadcasting on 14 November 2010 and ended on 23 December 2010. A third series started on 26 October 2011 at 8.30pm on BBC One. The show was nominated for a National Television Award in the category of Comedy in 2011, but failed to make the top four.
Saturday Mash-Up! is a British Saturday morning children's magazine entertainment programme on CBBC and BBC Two, first broadcast on 30 September 2017. It is currently presented by Joe Tasker, Shereen Cutkelvin and a puppet monster called Stanley performed by Dave Chapman.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
