25-11-2021, 11:25 PM
What struck me watching that is all the clips where Noel waxes lyrical about how “no other broadcaster would attempt such a complex programme and do it live every week”. I can’t help but think now that this was slightly pompous - although completely of the time,. The BBC had a very high opinion of itself in the 1990s - that it was the worlds finest broadcaster and that no one else could possibly come close. It still designed it’s own kit, trained it’s own staff, had its own bespoke ways of working in many areas. It was undoubtedly a very fine institution and its technical and professional standards were extremely high. But to say that no one else made live Saturday night television was patent rubbish, But it was all part of the narrative of the time - particularly in entertainment. BBC entertainment shows were still living in the (fading?) limelight of Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies, The Generation Game and so on. As the decade wore on, Producer Choice eroded budgets, studios became a business, staff went freelance and costs went up. In many ways, the story of Noels House Party is also a story of how the BBC changed in that decade. It started with dedicated crews, all staff, highly trained, rotating through productions in any of the 8 main block studios at the TV Centre, It ended with BBC Resources buying freelance people in (many of them the same people).
I loved NHP. The early series were as exciting as they could be - the fact they were live was obvious and a marked contrast to the equally shiny but nonetheless taped stuff on ITV coming from LWT. Wait Til I Get You Home was comedy genius, the Gotchas were brilliantly produced and NTV was the moment where genuinely anything could happen. It was unusual outside Children in Need to see guest stars dropping in and breaking character, particularly ones from ‘the other side’. NHP genuinely seemed to be trendsetting in the mid 90s. How sad it was in later series where the games became more ridiculous, the set became unrecognisable as a house and the script simply wasn’t funny.
Great to relive it. Sad to recall how it faded towards the end.
I loved NHP. The early series were as exciting as they could be - the fact they were live was obvious and a marked contrast to the equally shiny but nonetheless taped stuff on ITV coming from LWT. Wait Til I Get You Home was comedy genius, the Gotchas were brilliantly produced and NTV was the moment where genuinely anything could happen. It was unusual outside Children in Need to see guest stars dropping in and breaking character, particularly ones from ‘the other side’. NHP genuinely seemed to be trendsetting in the mid 90s. How sad it was in later series where the games became more ridiculous, the set became unrecognisable as a house and the script simply wasn’t funny.
Great to relive it. Sad to recall how it faded towards the end.