Crinkley Bottom
| Noel's House Party | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Entertainment |
| Written by | Malcolm Williamson Noel Edmonds Charlie Adams Garry Chambers Richard Lewis Stuart Silver Louis Robinson |
| Directed by | Guy Freeman Duncan Cooper Michael Leggo Phil Chilvers |
| Presented by | Noel Edmonds |
| Theme music composer | Ernie Dunstall (1991–96) Stephen Green (1996–98) House of Fun by Madness (1998–99) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 166 (+ 17 specials) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael Leggo |
| Producer(s) | Mike Brosnan Jonathan Beazley |
| Editor(s) | John Sillito |
| Running time | 45–55 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1991–98) 16:9 (1998–99) |
| Original release | 23 November 1991 – 20 March 1999 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow |
Noel's House Party was a BBC light entertainment series hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it was broadcast live on Saturday evenings in the 1990s on BBC One. The show, once described by a senior corporation executive as "the most important show on the BBC", was cancelled in 1999 due to poor ratings. In 2010, Noel's House Party was voted the best Saturday night TV show of all time.
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 include Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer, who came in to find the whole audience dressed as Frank, 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. In January 1998, an episode had to be cancelled after a disagreement between Edmonds and the BBC. The budget had been cut by 10 per cent, 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."
The BBC cancelled the show in 1999 after ratings plummeted from a high of 15 million to eight million. Edmonds closed the final episode of House Party on 20 March 1999 by saying:
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