The Word, Series 3, Episode 18, 12/03/93

The Word – Series 3, Episode 18 (12 March 1993, Channel 4)

Another week, another excuse for The Word to throw celebrities, music, and surreal stunts into a blender and hit “chaos purée.” First up, America’s smooth-talking legal eagle Blair Underwood (a.k.a. the only reason anyone under 40 pretended to watch L.A. Law) arrives to discuss interracial love stories, Black cowboys, and why British audiences keep raising their eyebrows like they’re auditioning for a shampoo commercial.

Keeping things classy, horror hostess Elvira unleashes latex, cleavage, and sarcasm, just to make sure viewers’ parents had something to complain about. Meanwhile, Birmingham’s lucky Edgington family “wins” the dubious honour of having Ruby Wax invade their living room. What starts as a feelgood prize quickly devolves into Ruby insulting their furniture, their neighbours, and possibly their pets. The dog may never recover.

Musical duties are handled by a freshly platinum-selling Apache Indian, the ethereal Ariel, and Seattle’s grunge exports Stone Temple Pilots, who turn the studio into a mosh-pit with all the subtlety of a pneumatic drill.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a cultural detour into the world of Northern Soul, where middle-aged butchers with record collections worth more than their homes prove that talcum powder and floor spins never die, they just get passed down to their kids.

The result: a fever dream of pop culture where sitcom stars rub shoulders with soul obsessives, and Ruby Wax raids strangers’ bathrooms on national TV. In other words, peak Word — a show that never met a boundary it didn’t immediately trip over.