by Joy Peters
"Good evening everyone, and a warm welcome to our lovely audience!"
Ben Stalker's opening address brought a generous round of applause from the four hundred members of the audience - mostly men but perhaps a quarter women - who had each paid between £75 and £150 for their seats.
"It gives me great pleasure to introduce our four contestants. From our left we have Tiffany Jones from Wales - a married lady aged 28 years. Next to her is Samantha Peacock from London - she is single and aged 30 years. To her side is Pippa Smith who heralds from the East Midlands, married and 35 years of age. Finally on our right is Sue Pritchard from Durham - a married lady of 31 years. A warm welcome please for our gorgeous contestants who will be competing to win tonight's competition and progress to the Great Britain winners final and the opportunity to represent Great Britain in the Grand European final in six weeks time."
There was sustained loud applause.
Susan Pritchard had been married to her husband for six years. She was a Geordie and had graduated from Newcastle University with a 2:1 degree in Business Studies. She had met William - or 'Bill' as he was usually called, at university. It was love at first sight and they were 'an item' throughout their three years of academia. Bill managed to secure a good finance job in Newcastle but Sue had rather less success. She was extremely attractive; she stood about 5' 8" and was blessed with long natural blonde hair and a figure most women would die for. She had long legs that appeared to go on forever. It was perhaps her natural beauty that attracted her to a life of short term modelling contracts - nothing too risqué, but a fair share of modelling underwear and bathing costumes. She had rejected offers for glamour work but as there was no shortage of women prepared to undertake that type of work, even that didn't pay what it once had.
Bill always tried to encourage her to secure full time employment better suited to her academic qualifications, but such opportunities were rare and became rarer as the time from graduation lengthened. She was accepted onto a graduate training scheme by one of the national High Street shopping chains but it lasted less than twelve months when her programme was terminated for 'lack of aptitude'; she had found the work repetitious and she didn't really get on with her mentor, which didn't help. She never told Bill that this mentor had come on to her once or twice and her rejection of his advances proved the final straw. She'd declined to make any complaint about his conduct and was just glad to get out of that environment.
It was her modelling agency that contacted her about the Game Show. She had a meeting with one of the assistant producers of the show who ran her through the concept and contractual obligations on both sides. A series of shows were to be held world-wide. The show was of course profit-making, funded by audience sales, selective adult movie channels and DVD sales. The concept was that each show would be comprised of four attractive females who would have to answer the same general knowledge questions, to ensure fairness. Each contestant would be paid a fixed sum of money, initially £5,000. There would only be one winner from each game who could advance to the next round of the competition. Each contestant would be dressed in a similar manner with four items of clothing. A wrong answer would require the contestant to remove one item of clothing and four wrong answers would mean elimination, public humiliation and corporal punishment. This was explained in detail.
Sue was shocked at first, and her initial reaction was to walk away. However, she had to admit to an element of excitement and the opportunity to earn a significant sum of money as each progressive round was rewarded with increased fees. Although she had always rejected glamour work, the potential rewards for the Game Show were significantly higher. If she made the British final she would earn a further £15,000. If she progressed to the European final she would be paid £50,000. If she made it through to the world finals the fees became an eye-watering £100,000 and the world winner would receive an additional prize of £1,000,000. Sue was given twenty-four hours to decide.
She discussed it with Bill when he returned from his day at the office. Although personally opposed to his wife's participation he did say that he would support her decision if he was unable to reason with her. His main objection was that she would not be able to secure anonymity, as face masks were not allowed. Her public nudity, potential humiliation and corporal punishment to a world-wide audience would undoubtedly prove extremely embarrassing and leave her open to ridicule. Sue tried to put forward the positives and stated that she was bright and had a good general knowledge that would stand her in good stead. The rewards, or potential rewards, she conceded, were eye-wateringly good. Her close family would be unlikely to see her participation and if her friends did find out she was confident that they would support her. Bill realised that his wife was determined to participate, in which case he would support her one hundred percent. The decision was made!
The following day Sue met up with the assistant producer and signed a contract. Arrangements were made for her to attend the studio for 'costume fitting'. She was instructed to shave her pubic area and attend for makeup and dress rehearsals the following day.
The 'costume' comprised a white bra and brief panties, a white see-through blouse and short wrap around mini skirt, also white. Finally she was fitted with white high heeled shoes which were always to remain on. She discovered that her fellow contestants were similarly attired but each in a different colour: black, red and navy blue.
The dress rehearsal went well. Each contestant stood in a semi circle facing the audience and cameras. The lighting was such that they could not see the audience but were told that they would certainly hear them when it was show time. Each contestant had a head-fitted microphone and a hand-held box with four buttons, A, B, C and D. Questions had four optional answers. They were informed that when they were told to answer they had three seconds to press their preferred answer which would light up on a screen behind them. If they failed to answer within the three seconds they would be timed out and a wrong answer recorded. A number of questions were tested and the contestants had to remove items of clothing in the order of blouse, skirt, bra and finally panties. When panties were removed they were led away to be prepared for punishment.
They were taken back stage and shown the punishment horses. They in turn mounted the horse that had wide stirrups and had to lean forward whereupon a strap was fastened around their backs pinning them face down across the equipment. It was clear that their bottoms were thus thrust upwards with their thighs wide apart, clearly displaying their private parts, and ideally presenting their buttocks for the administration of corporal punishment. They learned that the first contestant to be eliminated would receive six strokes each from a switch, wooden paddle and a swishy cane; the second eliminated would receive six strokes from the paddle and the cane; and the third would receive just six strokes of the cane. The winner would remain on stage to witness the punishments.
The contestants were told to report to the studio/theatre at 6pm the following day for makeup and prep and they were advised the show would start at 8pm.
All the contestants arrived on time and were taken back stage for preparations. Makeup was professionally applied and they each dressed in the prescribed outfits: Tiffany in Red, Samantha in navy blue, Pippa in black and Sue in white.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I will ask each of the contestants to briefly introduce themselves to you, our wonderful audience. But before I do so I do ask that you show each lady the respect that they deserve for engaging in this competition. First of all - Tiffany."
"Hello everyone. I'm Tiffany Jones from Wales and I'm going to try my very best to win tonight's competition. My husband John is here to cheer me on!"
The compère moved to Samantha.
"Hi. My name's Samantha Peacock but I'm usually called Sam. I come from London. I'm single and I've just had my thirtieth birthday. I too hope to win tonight."
"Hi everyone. I'm Pippa Smith from Nottingham. I'm married and my husband Phil is in the audience this evening. I'm thirty-five years old."
"My name's Susan - or Sue - Pritchard. I'm from Durham, married and thirty-one years old. My husband Bill is also in the audience this evening and I hope he'll be cheering me on!"
Ben Stalker then walked centre stage and addressed the audience, saying, "The rules of the competition are quite simple. I will ask a question with four possible answers and each competitor will select their answer. If any of the ladies gives me a wrong answer, they will have to remove an item of clothing. To ensure fairness, they have identical kit, although as you can see they are dressed in different colours. When they give me four wrong answers they will be eliminated from the competition and will leave the stage to prepare for the second part of the show.
More on that later, but I can tell you that three of our contestants will be eliminated and will pay the price with a very sore bottom. Are you ready, ladies? I will now ask the first question: What in the longest river in Great Britain? Is it A - River Trent? B - River Severn? C - River Thames? Or D - The great Ouse? Please answer now."
From left to right the contestants answered A, B, C and C.
"The correct answer is B - The River Severn. Would Tiffany, Pippa and Sue please take off their blouses."
There was some good humoured cat calling and applause as they duly complied.
"Second question. What is the deepest inland water in the UK? Is it A - Loch Morar? B - Loch Ness? C - Loch Lomond? Or D - Loch Tay? Please answer now."
The answers came up left to right. C, B, B, B.
"I'm sorry ladies. The correct answer is A - Loch Morar. Will Tiffany, Pippa and Sue please remove their skirts and will Samantha please remove her blouse."
There was more whistling and applause.
"Third question. What is the tallest building in the UK? Is it A - The Shard? B - Emley Moor transmitting station? C - One Canada Square? Or D - City Pride? Answer now please."
The four ladies looked confused but pressed answer buttons. From left to right they answered A, A, A, B.
"The correct answer is B, Emley Moor transmitting station. Will Tiffany and Pippa please remove their bras and Samantha, your skirt. I perhaps don't need to remind Tiffany and Pippa that they will be eliminated with one further wrong answer. Samantha and Susan - you can afford one more wrong answer."
"Fourth question. What is the current minimum hourly wage for a person aged 21 years and above in the UK? Is it A - £6.70? B £6.60? C £6.90? Or D £7.05? Please answer now."
The women again looked perplexed but pressed answer buttons that registered A, B, C, C.
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