The Word – Series 3, Episode 10, 15/01/93

The Word – Series 3, Episode 10 (15 Jan 1993)

We kick off with D:Ream beaming “Things Can Only Get Better,” which is brave on a show that immediately proves things can, in fact, get weirder. Cue Katie in Miami, where every pavement is a catwalk and every camera lens is legally required to find Grace Jones. Katie promises culture; Miami delivers Marky Mark, Julio Iglesias, Madonna rumours, and Grace, who could stare down a hurricane and invoice it.

Back in the studio, fashion’s puckish chaos goblin Jean Paul Gaultier turns up to flirt with the audience, reminisce about fitting Madonna into a space-age cone, and casually mention he asked her to marry him (twice; responses: “yes,” “no,” and “it’s complicated”). He’s still pushing skirts for men (“not kilts, kilt-adjacent”), and tees a collection aimed at AIDS awareness and anti-racism—sermon by runway, shoulder pads optional.

For “a little bit of culture,” the show imports Kid ’n Play–style party lessons: how to dress, how to walk, how to get into a party you weren’t invited to, and how not to get arrested for simulating sex on stage (historically a sticking point). It’s half charm school, half parole hearing.

Meanwhile the producers stage a 70s revival like a disco séance: Boney M, Heatwave, and a studio quiz hosted by Keith “Cheggers” Chegwin, testing whether the audience knows their “Boogie Nights” from their “Night Fever,” or is just nodding to keep the cameras friendly. Spoiler: both.

Music keeps crash-landing between segments:

Belly bring dreamy indie bite (Tanya Donnelly vs. studio reverb; Tanya wins).

Black Girl Rap / Black Girl Rock (the chyron can’t decide) injects attitude the PA can barely contain.

Somewhere in the ad break, “Madonna’s close encounter” gets replayed for laughs—proof that even the Queen of Pop can be used as cutaway gag glue.

Final score: one conical bra confessional, one Miami safari, one menswear mutiny, one disco necromancy, and three bands valiantly stapling the night together. Tasteless, fearless, gloriously 1993—The Word remains the only show that can swing from Grace Jones to Cheggers without pulling a muscle.