Stephanie Beacham on Noel's House Party

[Zable]

Noel’s House Party (1991-1999) was a BBC One production which was voted the Best Saturday Night TV Show of All Time in Britain in 2010. Apart from the fun pranks and games, guest celebrities, in the guise of residents of the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, would take part in skits with ‘Lord Mayor’ Noel Edmonds at his ‘home’. Here are 3 appearances by Stephanie Beacham as the village busybody.

1993:

1994:

1995:

 

[Alexis]

I. ADORE. HER.

 

[Willie Oleson]

She looked stunning in that first video.

I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm watching here. It looks like Brits doing American sitcom or something like that?
Je suis très puzzlée.

 

[Alexis]

She looked stunning in that first video.

I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm watching here. It looks like Brits doing American sitcom or something like that?
Je suis très puzzlée.

It was a big part of my childhood. It was a strange show, part chat show, part variety, with musical guests etc. They also used to do hidden camera pranks, and then there was a gunge tank and of course Mr Blobby.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

That corpsing is so endearing.

 

[Zable]

I. ADORE. HER.

She got flak from viewers for her behaviour on the Udaipur trip a few months ago (one of the India trips in the Real Marigold Hotel documentary series). I guess it’s because they didn’t know – or, perhaps, didn’t care too hoots if they did – that she was born deaf in her right ear and partially deaf in the other, and that she’d lost much more hearing in that ear over the years. Her deafness being complicated by not having had 3-dimensional hearing.

She’s said that her hearing was “all on the same plane. Background and foreground sounds flatten out, so a car coming down the road is as loud as a person’s voice right next to me ... I often didn’t know people were talking to me. I’d walk right past them and they assumed I was snooty.” So anywhere noisy, she’d be looking to get out of the din. In India that couldn’t have always been possible when out and about, and places such as The Golden Temple area would have been hellish on her hearing.

She’s talked about how deafness can be a lonely existence. Also, because of recurring skin cancer on her nose, she stays out of the sun between noon and 4pm; so it could have looked like she was anti-social and acting a diva.

When she began to cut the crusts off sandwiches she was making for her group of travel companions, some protested and one remarked: “The Queen doesn’t have crusts, do you?” She looked up and smiled and there was laughter. It was said affectionately, and her travel mates seemed to enjoy her, crankiness and all. I do.

 

[Zable]

It looks like Brits doing American sitcom

General English humour tends to be earthy, the comedy bawdy and unlike their American cousins.

That corpsing is so endearing.

Noel and Stephanie are performers who enjoy a close interaction with in-studio/theatre audiences. I love how much Party House made an effort to involve that audience. There was no fourth wall. Those audiences had more uproaring fun than those of CBB and its like.

 

[Alexis]

She got flak from viewers for her behaviour on the Udaipur trip a few months ago (one of the India trips in the Real Marigold Hotel documentary series). I guess it’s because they didn’t know – or, perhaps, didn’t care too hoots if they did – that she was born deaf in her right ear and partially deaf in the other, and that she’d lost much more hearing in that ear over the years. Her deafness being complicated by not having had 3-dimensional hearing.

She’s said that her hearing was “all on the same plane. Background and foreground sounds flatten out, so a car coming down the road is as loud as a person’s voice right next to me ... I often didn’t know people were talking to me. I’d walk right past them and they assumed I was snooty.” So anywhere noisy, she’d be looking to get out of the din. In India that couldn’t have always been possible when out and about, and places such as The Golden Temple area would have been hellish on her hearing.

She’s talked about how deafness can be a lonely existence. Also, because of recurring skin cancer on her nose, she stays out of the sun between noon and 4pm; so it could have looked like she was anti-social and acting a diva.

When she began to cut the crusts off sandwiches she was making for her group of travel companions, some protested and one remarked: “The Queen doesn’t have crusts, do you?” She looked up and smiled and there was laughter. It was said affectionately, and her travel mates seemed to enjoy her, crankiness and all. I do.

I think initially some people thought she was snooty when she was on CBB for the same reason. She actually didn't know people were talking to her when she was in a big group. It seemed that after she explained that she was deaf that she became really well liked by the housemates. She was lovely on that.

I hadn't known about the skin cancer on her nose, no doubt from all those years living in California. If she's a natural red head, and it seems that she was even in the 1960s, all that sun and being as super tanned as she was in the 1980s just is a no.
She's a lovely women, and an amazing actress. I would love to see her on stage.

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

I didn't know that skin cancer could be reduced to just one body part. I always assumed, that if you had it once anywhere, it could reappear on every other part of you body that would be exposed to the sun as well.

 

[Ked]

1993:

That magnificent cleavage...

 

[Zable]

I didn't know that skin cancer could be reduced to just one body part. I always assumed, that if you had it once anywhere, it could reappear on every other part of you body that would be exposed to the sun as well.

Hers was the non-melanoma type, on the surface or outer part of the top layer of her nose skin. It’s the more deep-seated melanomas in the lower part of the top skin layer that spread, and aggressively. Since the cancer reoccurred in the same place on the nose, was that nose cancer or skin cancer, dunno, but she’s paying attention to her skin. She loved tanning herself under the sun in her youth, slathering olive oil all over her face and neck, thinking that was beneficial, but olive oil doesn’t block UV radiation does it. Now she uses sunblock even in winter. There’s stuff about her story and laser treatment here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1379899/When-Stephanie-Beachams-skin-cancer-returned-turned-new-light-treatment.html

 

[Zable]

That magnificent cleavage...

Lol. That did catch my eye, but I went for the whole package: that magnificent silhouette.
Liked all the nods to her Sabella/’Sybil’ Colby days, too.

 

[Ked]

Lol. That did catch my eye, but I went for the whole package: that magnificent silhouette.

Oh yes, everything about her is magnificent... I just happen to think her cleavage is the biggest stand-out.

This is a little off-subject, but to this day, I still think she originated what should have been a signature "Dynasty Diva" move: before revealing a significant bit of news, she reveals her cleavage:

0:39

Imagine every Dynasty Diva pulling that move... imagine the parodies...

 

[Zable]

Oh yes, everything about her is magnificent... I just happen to think her cleavage is the biggest stand-out.

There should have been a dog called Popeye.

This is a little off-subject, but to this day, I still think she originated what should have been a signature "Dynasty Diva" move: before revealing a significant bit of news, she reveals her cleavage:

I always thought of that as Alexis’s parlour trick.

magine every Dynasty Diva pulling that move... imagine the parodies...

And folk will create them of course, for entertainment sake, because of the celebs involved. But that would detract from/diminish the uniqueness of educational parodies such as this one:

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

She loved tanning herself under the sun in her youth, slathering olive oil all over her face and neck, thinking that was beneficial, but olive oil doesn’t block UV radiation does it.

Back in days some people used oily fluids to open the pores to get brown even quicker. So maybe for that purpose it could have been "beneficial".
There even were official sun-oils with only protection factor 2 (so almost no protection at all) that served the same purpose.

 

[Zable]

Opening pores seems crazy work, since I presume most folk who want tans want it on the outside. Olive oil is not as quickly absorbed either, plus has a low smoke point so degrades sooner than other oils if overheated. Nuts to use it to help tan.

Re to block UV, I’ve used sunblock/screen a couple of times and never since, because my face, arms and hands felt like they were being fried. It seems counterintuitive putting oil in sunblock.

SB said when she hit her 50s, the skincare stuff she’d been using didn’t work anymore. So circa 2009 SB put out her own skincare line called Glow, and got Harley Street dermatologists to formulate the individual products.

More on the when, why, what here https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/stephanie-beacham-i-may-be-a-granny-but-i-still-feel-394575
Excerpt:

But while I was going through the procedure with the surgeon (cancer surgery) I was astonished when he suggested I might like a bit of top-up cosmetic surgery.

It saddened me that going under the knife could be offered so casually and I refused.

Afterwards, I began to think about how the message was all wrong. Extreme quick-fixes, not preservation of what you’ve got. I also wasn’t very satisfied with the skincare ranges available for mature skin. I decided that I had to find out the natural things my skin needed to keep it looking young. So I began examining all the different ways you can remove a dead layer of skin and encourage cells to renew, giving you that dewy look.

My resulting beauty kits, Glow, put together by Harley Street Skincare, are already achieving cult status – with 50,000 being sold in one month alone. The most excited thing for me is that people are coming back. They like the way I look, that I have opted to look after my skin and grow old gracefully. Plus once they use the product for themselves they really can see the difference.

A friend of mine had been using Glow for a week when people started coming up to her saying how great she looked. They were asking her what her secret was.

You can wear all the make-up in the world but the skin is the key thing. That’s why I wanted to create a range that will get rid of that grey layer of dead skin and make your complexion glow.

While it’s not going to be an alternative to a facelift in five minutes flat, over a period of time you actually won’t want a facelift. It isn’t about suddenly turning back time, it’s about stopping the ageing process from here. No woman should neglect her skincare routine and the younger you start thinking about it the better.

OK, so in your 20s you’re not even vaguely responsible with your skin but by your 30s you ought to have a good routine.

It’s that old thing of cleansing, exfoliating and nourishing, and then your cells will renew. And don’t forget the skin on your knees and elbows!

Then there’s eating good food, avoiding yo-yo dieting and having your five portions of fruit and veg a day. I no longer smoke or drink and I believe that has had a wonderful effect on my looks.

I wish I had given up smoking earlier, I couldn’t contemplate touching a cigarette now and I’m convinced that drinking alcohol is one of the most desperately bad things you can inflict on your skin.

Then there are the simple things like getting lots of sleep, drinking plenty of water and doing regular exercise. You could walk the dog or go to the shops on foot or instead of meeting a friend for lunch you could arrange to go for a walk.

When people say to me, “You’ve had Botox,” I can proudly say, “Do you want me to wrinkle my brow to show you?” The difference is that I’ve trained myself not to scowl at every turn.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

I think initially some people thought she was snooty when she was on CBB for the same reason

I remember that she said something like "the situation in the BB house (to live with all those different people for such a long period) made me realize what a stuck up cow I used to be".
But the way she publicly critized herself only made her even more likeable.

She was lovely on that

She was!

all that sun and being as super tanned as she was in the 1980s just is a no.

In those days we didn't know better. I always looked as brown as a coconut. Protection factor zero!

Lol. That did catch my eye, but I went for the whole package: that magnificent silhouette

She looks better with the long, darker hair - like her role in "To Be The Best".

(with Ben Carrington, who plays the role of Emma Harte's evil grandson Jonathan).

The third video (1995) is more like Sable, with the big, matriarchal hairdo.

 

[Laurie Marr]

I would love to see her on stage.

I saw Beacham about 10 years ago in a stage play concerning the twilight of the career of Maria Callas. I wasn’t expecting her to be a great theatre actor. I was wrong.

 

[Alexis]

I saw Beacham about 10 years ago in a stage play concerning the twilight of the career of Maria Callas. I wasn’t expecting her to be a great theatre actor. I was wrong.

I remember really wanting to see that play! So jealous.

 

[Zable]