British television programme
How Clean Is Your House?
is a British entertainment/lifestyle
television programme
in which expert cleaners
Kim Woodburn
and
Aggie MacKenzie
visit dirty houses and clean them up. The thirty-minute show was produced by
Talkback Thames
, the UK production arm of
Fremantle
(itself part of the
RTL Group
), and aired on
Channel 4
from 2003 to 2009. Though a ratings success, Channel 4 announced that they had decided to cancel the series in 2009 in order to make way for new programming.
Format
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Each episode of the programme followed the same formula. Accompanied by a dramatic score of
horror movie
music, Woodburn and MacKenzie explore the house on their own, examining the extent of the mess and looking for any particularly horrible areas. They then meet the resident before the cleaning begins, assisted by several professional cleaners. During this process, which takes up the bulk of the show, tips are shared for tackling particular cleaning tasks with the residents, often utilising traditional cleaning methods in addition to typical chemical cleaning products.
During the cleaning, MacKenzie takes swab samples from the filthiest areas of the house and has them analysed in a lab, often revealing numerous kinds of
bacteria
, frequently
E. coli
and
Salmonella
. Residents of the homes often have health problems that directly stem from the
air quality
or
pathogens
present before cleaning; MacKenzie will show the residents her findings in an effort to make them understand the connection between their health and their home's condition.
The final section of the show has Woodburn and MacKenzie unveiling the freshly cleaned home to the resident. In earlier episodes, they would return to the home several weeks later to see if the cleaning was being maintained.
The show makes a point of thoroughly cleaning carpets and furniture the resident owns, and not replacing dirty or worn items just for the sake of the final reveal. In a few particular cases in which a resident lacked basic items of furniture (such as one who might have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor rather than a bed), Kim and Aggie might coordinate with neighbours or local secondhand shops to donate items.
Woodburn takes the role of a dominating woman, scolding residents for letting their homes get so bad. She is sometimes playfully flirtatious with male residents. In contrast, MacKenzie (whose previous jobs included associate editor in
Good Housekeeping
and working for
MI6
[1]
) assumes the more serious "dirt detective" role, performing such tasks as the bacterial analysis. She plays at being more squeamish than Woodburn, claiming that she will be sick or run away from a particularly horrific home. While cleaning, both wear industrial white suits and rubber gloves adorned with
marabou
feathers and fake gemstones.
Actor
Paul Copley
provides tongue-in-cheek, often
alliterative
voice-over
narration for each episode. The show is light-hearted and often
camp
, falling just as much into the entertainment category than the factual
genre
. Much of the appeal comes from the
voyeuristic
pleasure of seeing how untidy some people let their houses become (many have not been cleaned for years) and the reactions of the show's two stars, though the cleaning tips add some practical value to the show.
Final series
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The sixth and final series aired in the UK on Channel 4 from 13 August?24 September 2009, and was (for the first time) also broadcast in High Definition on Channel 4 HD. Primarily the same format as previous editions, Kim and Aggie continued to seek out "the UK's filthiest homes", however, the programme was promoted as delving far deeper into the psyche of the home owners. In addition, the two-week "check-up" was omitted from the show's formula, but Kim and Aggie undertook a roadshow style appearance in each episode where they would meet members of the public to answer questions and offer cleaning tips.
In November 2009, Channel 4 announced that they had decided to end the series after six years as part of its ongoing "creative renewal" for programming. Channel 4's head of programming, Julian Bellamy, said the series had been one of several "huge hits" for the channel, but that his focus was now on "finding the next generation of groundbreaking shows".
[2]
DVD & VHS Releases
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How Clean Is Your House?
received a release on both DVD and VHS in the UK on 8 November 2004.
[3]
[4]
How Clean Is Your House? USA Seasons 1 & 2
was released on DVD in the US on 4 March 2008.
[5]
Spin-offs and international adaptations
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The format has been adapted to many other countries. A United States version, also starring Kim and Aggie, premiered in September 2004 on the
Lifetime
network and ran for two seasons. This edition also aired in the UK on Channel 4. This version has been criticized for using product placement such as Mr Clean and Bounty instead of the homemade cleaning solutions that the UK version uses. Both the UK & US versions aired in
Canada
on the
W Network
and in Australia on cable television channel
UK.TV
.
A
Dutch
version titled
Hoe schoon is jouw huis?
(a literal translation of the original English title) has been made with two Dutch ladies performing the same role as Kim and Aggie do in the original. The show aired on the commercial
RTL-4
channel and has been rerun on RTL-5. The original British series also aired on Dutch television under the Dutch title.
A French version titled
C'est du Propre!
("Now
That's
Clean!") aired on M6 and on other channels of the M6 group (Teva, W9). The French "cleaning ladies" are Daniele Odin and Beatrice de Malembert. Two tie-in books have been published.
A spin-off book,
How Clean Is Your House?
, written by Kim and Aggie, was published in 2003. FreemantleMedia has also signed licensing and merchandising deals with many cleaning product manufacturers and other companies.
In 2004, Kim and Aggie made a spin-off series called
Too Posh to Wash
about the personal hygiene of upper-class people, including one participant who had never washed her bra. They also did a one-off special,
When Kim & Aggie Went to Hospital
which aired on 30 August 2006, about how to keep our hospitals clean. In this hour-long special, the pair traveled to
Ealing Hospital
which has often been criticised for poor hygiene conditions and regularly finishes at the bottom of the
NHS
Hospital League Tables. It was more serious in tone compared to
How Clean Is Your House?
International versions
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References
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External links
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