Ministry of Mayhem (Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown) – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 4 – 2 0 0 6 (UK)
129 x 120 minute episodes

This chaotic Saturday-morning TV show was broadcast live from the ITV studios in Maidstone, Kent, combining cartoons, slapstick comedy, celebrity guests, and vast amounts of green gunge.

The series launched in January 2004 as Ministry of Mayhem and was hosted by the trio of Holly Willoughby, Stephen Mulhern, and Michael Underwood.

Following Underwood’s departure in late 2004, the show underwent a major overhaul in January 2006. Rebranded as Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown, the show swapped the industrial factory set for a brightly coloured studio apartment shared by Holly and Stephen.

A regular roster of comedy characters included a small-statured security guard called Ray (Ray Griffiths); twin telephone operators Tina and Gina; mad scientist Dr Helmut Undgoggles (Peter Cocks); and loud-mouthed hyenas Scratch ‘n’ Sniff (puppets operated by Don Austen and John Eccleston), who went on to their own Den of Doom spin-off series.

Recurring games included ‘Spelling Smackdown’, a dramatic spelling test with Mulhern dressed as a giant bumblebee superhero called The Spellminator, and ‘Supermarket Sneak’, a hidden-camera segment where a presenter and a child tried to surreptitiously place increasingly absurd, large items (from long baguettes to televisions) into unsuspecting shoppers’ trolleys without them noticing.

Celebrity studio guests included Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bill Nighy, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, McFly, Busted, Julie Walters, Ricky Gervais, Blue, Girls Aloud, Lily Savage, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, David Hasselhoff, Simon Cowell, Peter Andre and the cast of the Harry Potter films.

Hosts
Holly Willoughby
Stephen Mulhern
Michael Underwood