Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown

Genre	Children's entertainment
Presented by	Holly Willoughby Stephen Mulhern
Starring	Peter Cocks Raymond Griffiths Vincent Wong Don Austen John Eccleston Karl Sedgwick Robert Duncombe Mark Dandridge Laura Tilli Jessica Tilli Sean Douglas Paul Litchfield Colin Ash
Opening theme	"Ministry of Mayhem" by The Noise Next Door
Composer(s)	Craig Sutton Scott Sutton Ed Sutton
Production
Running time	125 minutes (January 2004 - June 2006) 155 min (Jun - Jul 2006) 30 min Showdown Extra (Mar - Jun 2006)
Production company(s)	The Foundation Carlton Television (2004) Granada Television (2004–2006) ITV Productions (2006)
Release
Original network	ITV (10 January 2004-10 June 2006) CITV (11 March-1 July 2006)
Picture format	SDTV
Original release	10 January 2004 (2004-01-10) – 1 July 2006 (2006-07-01)

Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown was a fun British TV show for kids. It was first called Ministry of Mayhem (or MoM). The show aired on ITV and later CITV from January 10, 2004, to July 1, 2006. It was packed with cartoons, celebrity guests, live music, and exciting games. Plus, there was always lots of gunge!

About the Show

Ministry of Mayhem started on January 10, 2004. It was shown every Saturday morning on ITV. The show had a mix of popular cartoons, famous guests, and live music. Viewers could also call in for competitions. It was known for its silly characters, wild games, and plenty of messy gunge.

The first presenters were Stephen Mulhern, Holly Willoughby, and Michael Underwood. The show's theme song, "Ministry of Mayhem," was sung by the boyband The Noise Next Door.

The show was made at The Maidstone Studios. Different production companies worked on it over the years. These included The Foundation, Carlton Television, Granada Television, and ITV Productions.

Big Changes Over Time

First Big Update

On July 24, 2004, the show got a fresh new look. It had a new set and opening video. Some new parts were added, like funny sketch shows. These included At Home with the Mayhems and Butthaven. In Butthaven, the presenters played characters working at a made-up holiday camp.

Michael Leaves, MoM Arrives

Michael Underwood presented his last show on December 18, 2004. He got a special send-off from the Ministry team. He left to join another TV show called Entertainment Today. Michael did return for the very last show on July 1, 2006.

From January 1, 2005, the show's name changed to just M.O.M. This put less focus on the "Ministry" theme. But the show's overall style stayed mostly the same.

New Animal Friends

On February 26, 2005, a big crate appeared in the studio. Viewers had to guess what was inside. When it opened, it revealed two new puppet characters: 'The Hyenas'. Don Austen and John Eccleston operated these puppets. They were already famous for working on other kids' TV shows. The Hyenas, later named Scratch and Sniff, brought lots of laughs and chaos to the show every week.

Another new character was Mr. Lee (played by Vincent Wong). He would bring ringtones for a game called Name That Tone. Later, a cute puppy named Snowy joined the show. Viewers also helped choose his name.

New Name: Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown

After a Christmas break, the show came back on January 7, 2006. It had a brand new name: Holly and Stephen's Saturday Showdown. It also had a new look and theme song.

The new show was like a battle between boys and girls. Holly and Stephen invited viewers and celebrities to their 'flat'. Teams earned points by playing games. The team with the most points won. The losing team had to do a funny forfeit, like getting covered in gunge! Ten viewers from the winning team would also get a key to the flat. They could even join the studio games the next week.

Some characters like Ray and Scratch 'n' Sniff stayed. But The Doctor and Mr. Lee were not in the new show at first. A new rapping character named Wallace appeared briefly.

On March 11, 2006, the show was the first to be shown on the new CITV Channel. An extra part of the show, Saturday Showdown Extra, aired only on the CITV Channel. This meant some viewers could watch more of the show.

The End of the Show

It was announced on May 12, 2006, that Saturday Showdown would end. This was because ITV was closing its children's production department. The show slowly stopped airing on the main ITV channel. For its last three weeks, it was only shown on the CITV Channel.

The final show was on July 1, 2006. Michael Underwood returned as a guest host. Some old characters like 'The Doctor' and 'Mr. Lee' also came back. Holly and Stephen were both covered in gunge by the characters and crew at the very end. They then looked back at their time on the show in a special pre-recorded scene.

The Lab

The Lab was a part of the show from the very beginning. It stayed even through many changes. It was mainly used by The Doc, a funny scientist played by Peter Cocks. The Doc would usually do simple science experiments with Stephen as his helper. They showed scientific ideas in a fun way. Sometimes, the experiments were very wild and needed to be done carefully.

The Lab set changed over time. At first, it was a plain white room. Later, it became a bigger, enclosed set. For the Saturday Showdown version, The Doc and his Lab were not in the show. However, The Doc made a surprise return on March 18, 2006, and again for the final show on July 1, 2006.

Shows on MoM

MoM also showed many popular children's cartoons and TV series. Viewers could sometimes switch to the CITV channel to watch a different show.

Here are some of the shows that aired:

SpongeBob SquarePants (2004 to 2006)
Tutenstein (2004)
¡Mucha Lucha! (2004)
Teen Angel (2004)
Sabrina The Teenage Witch (2004)
The Angry Beavers (2004)
All Grown Up! (2004)
My Parents Are Aliens (2004)
Creature Comforts (2004)
Drake & Josh (2004 to 2006)
Pet Alien (2004 to 2005)
Atomic Betty (2004 to 2005)
Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (2005)
Rugrats (2005)
Camp Lazlo (2005)
King Arthur's Disasters (2005)
Planet Sketch (2005)
Hey Arnold! (2005)
The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers (2006)
Shuriken School (2006)
My Gym Partner's a Monkey (2006)
Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids (2006, CITV channel only)
Bratz (2006, CITV channel only)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2006)
Finders Keepers (2006)

Ministry Games

The show featured many exciting games. Here are some of the most popular ones:

Cakey Sk8

In this game, celebrities would launch cakes from skateboards. The goal was to get the cake as high up a wall as possible. The wall even had to be made taller because the cakes kept going higher!

Spelling Smackdown

Stephen (or sometimes Holly) dressed as a "Spellminator" bumblebee. A contestant would join them in a spelling contest. They had to spell words letter by letter. The winner got the "Spelling Smackdown belt." The game also featured fun songs with spelling themes.

Name that Tone

Mr. Lee would bring ringtones to the stage. Contestants from the audience teamed up with a presenter or celebrity guest. They had to guess the names of songs from the ringtones.

Ram Ray

This was a very popular game. Ray, a stuntman, would charge into five doors. Four were made of wood, and one was paper. A caller would pick a door. If it was paper, Ray would run through it. If it was wood, he would bounce off it in a funny way! Ray often wore different costumes to match the show's theme.

Race Ray

A contestant would race against Ray. This was usually a foot race, but sometimes they used other ways to move, like husky dogs. The contestant often got a head start to make the race fair.

Relly from Helly

In this game, an audience member's relative would do something embarrassing for fun.

Supermarket Sneak

Two teams, each with a presenter and a child, went to a supermarket. They had a trolley full of items. The goal was to secretly put all their items into other shoppers' trolleys. The first team to do this won.

Saturday Showdown Games

When the show became Saturday Showdown, it had new games and some old favorites.

Dodge Dolly's Balls

This game featured Granny Dolly, Scratch, and Sniff in her loft. They had to dodge mothballs. The one with the fewest hits won. A golden ball would clear all their hits.

Parent Trap

This was a version of Relly from Helly. In this game, the child would embarrass their parent. It was only shown once.

Pumping on your Stereo

Similar to Name that Tone, this game used distorted songs instead of ringtones. Scratch hosted it, but Mr. Lee returned for the final show.

Ram Ray (Revised)

A new version of Ram Ray was played. It used four objects instead of five doors. These included a dresser, a cupboard, a toilet door, and shelves. Two callers guessed which object was 'soft' and would break when Ray ran into it. The correct guess earned points for their team.

Other Games

Many other games were played throughout the show's run. One was called Snap. In Snap, hyenas Scratch and Sniff put their paws into mousetraps on a spinning wheel. The caller who picked the trap that didn't go off won a prize.

Special Episodes

MoM had special Christmas episodes on December 25, 2004, and December 24, 2005.

A very special episode aired on September 17, 2005. It celebrated ITV's 50th anniversary. The show looked back at the history of Saturday morning children's TV. Many past presenters from other famous kids' shows appeared. They shared memories and joined in the fun. Guests included Sally James, Neil Buchanan, Gaby Roslin, and Pat Sharp. There were also interviews with Chris Tarrant and Ant & Dec. Even 'The Phantom Flan Flinger' from the old show Tiswas made an appearance!