I decided that the presenting duo should be north and south. Somehow we ended up with Terry Christian, this hot guy from the Madchester scene, and Amanda de Cadenet, a stylish It Girl. Polar opposites but a brilliant contrast. We always wanted presenters who weren’t the usual Oxbridge-educated Soho media circuit types. So, later on, we went to people like Katie Puckrik and Huffty. The look of the series was influenced by Ready Steady Go, Hairspray and Bridget Riley. A 60s American pop vibe with a crazy studio crowd. I met some sex addicts in Los Angeles. When I got back to my hotel, the guy I had just interviewed was up in a tree looking into my room We recruited Jo Whiley as our music booking manager because she had great taste. The bands had to perform live, without lip-syncing. This meant we missed out on pop acts, but got Nirvana and Oasis. His unpredictable live nature led to amazing moments like L7 guitarist Donita Sparks dropping her pants and Kurt Cobain saying, “Courtney Love is the best band in the world.” We started in August 1990 at 6 p.m. After five weeks, Michael Grade, then managing director of Channel 4, moved it to 11pm, where we could be more outrageous. The Word became the post-pub show for the 90s generation. Change your viewing habits. We got 2m ratings in a slot where no previous program had gotten more than 300,000. It had no polish but it had real energy. The goal was to talk about the next day – often flatteringly, but it didn’t matter. Maggot please… Hopefuls slot. Photo: Channel 4 At first we were shocked by an accident. Stunts that were really designed to shock were only done in three series. The idea behind The Hopefuls slot was that anyone could get on TV if they dared, like screwing up a grandma or lying in a bathroom full of pig poop. It was a precursor to reality TV and social media: a way for ordinary people to become famous. It was pretty un-PC. We couldn’t do Oliver Reed’s drunken interview these days. It was exploitative, but he had been drunk on TV before and knew what he was doing. There were dangerous moments. A presenter, Alan Connor, was kidnapped by German pornographers. Another night, the police surrounded the studio because someone called to say their friend had sped up to the handle, had a gun and wanted to kill Terry Christian. During the commercial break, we polled the audience. No one was armed, so we continued. Grossly irresponsible, but what fun it all was. Finally there was a reaction. Not by viewers, who still loved the show, but by the channel. They kept having problems with the regulators and they canceled us after five series. I don’t think Grade particularly enjoyed being called the “chief pornographer” by the tabloids. Mark Lamarr interviews Snoop Doggy Dogg with Rod Hull and Emu
Katie Puckrik, presenter
I was a professional dancer at a loose end in 1991 after touring the world with the Pet Shop Boys. A friend said: “This TV show is looking for a new presenter. No experience required. You have to go.” So I made a roll. Thousands applied and filmed the audition process for a spin-off called Word Search. Joining me in the final 20 were Davina McCall and Jez Nelson. For the next round, I had to interview this horrible politician from Liverpool called Derek Hutton and a boy band who were like unruly puppies and beat me up. I was thrilled when they offered me the gig. I had never seen The Word until I was on it. One minute I was interviewing Zsa Zsa Gabor, the next I was encouraging a young man to eat a bowl of cereal with worms I hosted the infamous L7 show but missed out on Nirvana because I did an outside broadcast to a disgruntled viewer’s house. He had written complaining that we never had any decent bands, so I got the Bay City Rollers to play in his kitchen. That was the beauty of the Word. It was so random, but that’s the way people’s minds work. You want a taste of the trendiest things but also have fun. I loved the mix of British seaside variety and hot new. It was like a fever dream. One minute I was interviewing Zsa Zsa Gabor, the next I was encouraging a young man to eat a bowl of cereal with worms. Perhaps this is a metaphor for life. I also did hard-hitting stories: exposés on teenage plastic surgery and Scientology in Hollywood. I met some sex addicts, which was a new concept at the time. When I got back to my hotel in West Hollywood afterward, the guy I had just interviewed was up in a tree, looking into my room. My first interview was with Demi Moore and she basically interrupted her when I asked her about nudity. Hollywood PR had no idea what they were letting their clients in for. Humorless A-listers would sit on a couch in the studio asking risqué questions to a room full of teenagers. The wheels kept coming off. That’s what made it jump off the screen, but it probably took years off the lives of everyone who worked on it. The Word would not happen today. People are too bet. This was the pre-internet era, before all the floodgates of opportunity were closed. Word predicted reality TV, Jackass-style stunts, TikTok pranks. It was a melting pot of 21st century culture.
