Although this story mentions real persons, corporations, TV shows and places, it is purely a work of fiction for personal enjoyment. The story does NOT describe real events and should NOT be taken to accurately portray any real entity mentioned. In keeping with its fictional nature, the events and activities described in the story may not be legal, ethical or safe. This site does NOT endorse or recommend its enactment. May contain disturbing nineties flashbacks.
You may have read that Yowiewowie has decided to discontinue his celebrity writing activities, but graciously gave his blessing for others to pick up the Holly’s House Party series. I was inspired enough by the series that I’ve decided to have a go at an episode myself. In the vein of the original, I’m going to try to keep it brief and simple, but I’m also putting in some visual mock-ups similar to the ones in my recent Grudge-2-Sludge story.
This episode starts afresh with my own ideas, but if anyone else wants to continue with Yowie’s (or Yowie changes his mind and comes back to writing), then there’s no reason why the two can’t run in parallel. This is likely to be a one-off episode rather than a whole series from me. I should say that even though I greatly enjoyed Yowie’s HHP stories, sadly I didn’t get round to reading them all, so if I’ve repeated a character or a very similar concept, it’s coincidence.
The show opens with Holly standing in front of the waltzer used for the Trip Around the Great House, wearing a revealing yet stylish black dress. She beams into the camera as the audience applauds.
Holly: Hello! Good evening!! Welcome to Holly’s House Party!! We’ve got another packed show for you tonight, with a Gotcha! for Piers Morgan, another NTV surprise for some unsuspecting stooge, and you could be in the money with Grab a Grand! And not forgetting the most popular part of the show, gunge will be flowing by the gallon!!
More cheering.
Holly: [gestures behind her] Speaking of which, I’m afraid you caught me polishing the old waltzer again. Call me obsessive, but I want it spic and span tonight – to start with at least! Because I hope to have some very talented house-guests taking the Trip later on!
Holly walks down the steps and out onto the main stage.
Holly: Tonight, you see, we’re going to settle one of mankind’s oldest and most important questions. A question even more important than whether brown sauce is better than ketchup, or whether toilet paper should wind out from the front or back. We are going to find out which is the more important human attribute – brains, or brawn!
Holly arrives in front of a pair of sofas. Behind one is an Aristotelian statue deep in thought; behind the other is the figurine of a Herculean strongman.
Holly: I’m pleased to be joined by two duos, representing the pinnacles of brains and brawn respectively. You, the general public, will get the chance to send one of those duos on a Trip Around the Great House! So first, let’s meet Team Brains. A warm welcome please for Alice Roberts and Victoria Coren Mitchell!
The audience duly claps and whistles, as the two ladies of intellect appear on the landing. They wave to the audience as they stroll down the stairs.
Holly: Ladies, welcome! Please take a seat!
Holly guides Alice and Victoria to one of the sofas, then seats herself on an armchair.
Holly: Wow, the IQ score of the room has just gone up considerably! Alice, let’s start with you – you’ve presented a wealth of programmes on biology, natural history, and archaeology, and you’re a bona fide professor at Birmingham Uni. You clearly have brains aplenty, so tell me – why are they better than brawn?
Alice: Well Holly, brute strength has been around in the animal kingdom for hundreds of millions of years, but it’s only much more recently that humans have evolved powerful brains. Being smart helps you to solve problems, work towards long-term goals, be successful, get promoted at work, impress people at dinner parties… [Smiles sweetly] not to mention that smart people are very sexy people.
Holly: Hmm, I sense that having a big brain leads to a big head! Victoria, let’s turn to you. You’re one of Britain’s most successful professional poker players, winning a lot of money over the years, and you present Only Connect, which is definitely the toughest quiz show on TV – tougher than Countdown, University Challenge and Who Want to Be a Millionaire put together! I find it thoroughly baffling from start to finish, I have to say.
Victoria smirks smugly.
Holly: But there’s something else that I find even more baffling, and that’s that you’ve agreed to come on the show and potentially end up covered in gunge from head to toe. That doesn’t strike me as very clever at all!
Victoria: Ah, no sweat! Our brains will win out, and we’ll see those brawnies off to a well-deserved gunging!
Holly: Mmm, is Victoria really that confident, or is it a poker face? Anyway, let’s bring on the ‘brawnies’, as she calls them. A fabulous welcome, please, for Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Steph Houghton!
More enthusiastic applause ensues as the sportswomen strut out onto the landing and down the stairs. Both are wearing their usual competition clothes – which means a skimpy Lycra two-piece for Katarina and an England kit with shorts and long socks for Steph.
Holly greets the pair and shows them to the other sofa.
Holly: Ladies, it’s lovely to have you on, and wow – you really are brimming with brawn, both of you! Katarina, you’re one of our finest heptathletes. Last year you took gold at the World Athletics Championships and set a new British points record, so I’m sure you can tell us why it’s brilliant to be brawny!
Katarina: Absolutely Hol. Being brawny means getting cheered on by huge crowds, getting the adrenaline rush of your life, and having a bum that looks fantastic in tight spandex! When does a chess nerd ever get any of that?
Holly: I think the chess championships might be a bit more popular if all that happened! Steph, you’re the captain of the English women’s football team. Not only did your lionesses do the nation proud last summer, you also really raised the profile of the women’s game. What can you say to convince Alice and Victoria that footwork beats bookwork?
Steph: I think if we settled this with a penalty shootout we’d convince them very quickly!
Victoria: [retorts] How about a poker game?
Holly: [puts hands up between the pairs to stop a potential argument] Both good ideas, but instead we’re going to settle this debate with a nice, civilised gunge vote. We’re going to put it to the public as to which of you deserve to take a five-star Trip Around the Great House at the end of the show. And in case you’re not sure what that entails, just take a look at this!
A video montage plays, reliving the messiest moments from the various stages of Trips gone by.
Back in the present, the audience applauds, while Holly gauges the reactions of contestants. Alice and Katarina look rather taken aback by what they have just witnessed, while Victoria and Steph seem a bit more up for it.
Holly: Ooh yes, it’s gonna be one well of a Trip! But will it be the smarties or the sporties who end this show as the slimies? It’s a question for you the public to answer, and the phone numbers you need are on the screen−
DING DONG, DING DONG!!
Holly: Oh! There’s someone at the door! Please excuse me a minute, ladies!
Holly gets up and rushes over to the front door, while the bell rings out again.
Holly: Coming! Coming!
Holly heaves open the huge door. Cheers go up when the caller is revealed to be property guru Kirstie Allsopp, wearing a typically cleavacious dress.
Holly: Kirstie, hi! What brings you to Crinkly Bottom?
Kirstie: I’ve come to do the valuation.
Holly: The what?
Kirstie: I heard that you’re selling the Great House, so I’ve come to do a valuation of the property.
Holly: [bemused] Uhh… no, the Great House definitely isn’t up for sale, so I don’t know where you got that from…. Ah, wait a minute! I think next door is the address you want. They’re selling up because they’re tired of all these house parties, apparently.
Kirstie: Oh, my mistake. Sorry to disturb−
Holly: No no, it’s alright. Actually, I would quite like a valuation done, just for interest’s sake. The last time this place changed hands it was for twelve Crinkly Bottom groats, and the price must have changed a bit since then.
Kirstie: Ok then, let’s have a look around.
Kirstie steps through the door and surveys the expansive hall. Her cheery disposition slowly fades.
Kirstie: [eventually] Oh dear.
Holly: What do you mean? Oh dear?
Kirstie: Don’t get me wrong – it’s a lovely grand old house. But the decor! It’s like something from a 1990s light entertainment show! Ghastly!
Holly: Huh, charming!
Kirstie strolls across the hall, all the time nearing a familiar device…
Kirstie: Yes, you need to rip all these relics out! Paint everything magnolia! [Stops by the gunge tank] Mmmm! Now this looks a bit more promising. Is it an original fixture?
Holly: [a naughty gleam in her eye] Oh yes, that’s the original, alright! The original, and many would say, still the best!
Kirstie: Victorian or Edwardian?
Holly: Ermmmm… I’d say more Noelian, actually.
Kirstie: [admires the ornate finishing on the gunge tank] It’s exquisite! And I love the splash of colour up there!
The compartment at the top of the tank is filled with swirls of green and yellow.
Holly: Oh! Well if it’s a ‘splash of colour’ you’re after, you really need to view from the inside…
Holly holds open the door and flashes a knowing glance to the audience, who are getting excited about what is about to happen. Kirstie, acting her part, takes the bait, primly seating herself inside the gunge tank. She wiggles her bum on the cushion, nodding with approval.
Kirstie: Oh yes! This is fabulous! Without a doubt the house’s top selling point!
Holly: [shiftly closes the door] Yes, but you have to be careful when buying a house like this.
Kirstie: Oh yes? Why’s that?
Holly: Because you might get gazumpped!!
Holly raps the side of the tank, triggering the release of the gunge, and hastily runs to safety. Kirsty screams, eyes wide, as the first wave of pea-green gunge hits her head. Her body spasms, causing her immense cleavage to wobble. She thrusts forward so that the deluge flows down her back, then jerks back again, causing a wider umbrella of gunge to fan out in all directions, as alternating bands of yellow and green wash over her. After a couple more screams, her exclamations change to cackling laughter, though no less loud.
Eventually the tank is emptied, though it takes Kirstie a little longer to quieten as she continues to reel from the shock. The gunge has turned her hair into a lank, brightly coloured shroud around her head, and has also recoloured her dress, not to mention covered her cleavage.
Holly gingerly approaches. She’d been wise to scarper, as several lashings of the gunge have splashed the floor in front of the tank.
Holly: [trying to keep a straight face] Did we put down a large enough deposit?
Kirstie: [hysterical] I think I’m in negative equity!
Holly: Ah, well it’s all about location, location, location, and yours was bang on! Ladies and gents, Kirstie All-sopping, the first of hopefully several good sports!
The audience show their appreciation as the gunge tank revolves, transporting Kirstie off-stage. Holly wanders over to the sofa area, from where the four women were watching Kirstie’s antics with amusement.
Holly: I don’t know what you’re laughing about, because two of you will be getting far worse than that! Ladies and gents, as I was saying before I got interrupted, the phone numbers are on the screen. Get voting for who you want to see take the Trip Around the House – Team Brains or Team Brawn! More gunge coming up later, but now it’s time for Wait ‘Til I Get You Home!
Alternative link
The vote will end shortly before the final segment is posted (I don’t know when that will be yet, but will confirm closer to the time). You can cast multiple votes in this poll (up to one vote every 24 hours). Remember you are voting for the pair you want to gunge.
Cheers again to Yowiewowie for the concept.