The studio audience sat perched on the edge of their seats, barely able to contain their excitement. The cameras and sound equipment were all in place. The stage, draped in darkness, was utterly silent as the producer silently counted down on his fingers
… 3… 2… 1!
The stage lit-up as the theme tune to the popular game show burst from the speakers! The studio audience broke into frenzied applause, clapping and cheering as Larry Cheeseman, the show’s host, bound into view.
Raising his arms aloft, he shot a fantastic grin at the audience and ran down the steps to the stage below. Hopping and skipping to the centre of the stage, he pulled a microphone from its stand…
‘GIVE ME AN ANSWER!’ he called to the audience.
‘WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?’ replied the audience, completing the famous catchphrase.
Once again, raucous applause broke out as the theme music boomed from the speakers, rising to a great crashing crescendo, before rumbling to a decisive finish with a huge pounding of drums.
Emily Pilcher, aged eight, sat at her podium and tensed as the show began.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the show!’ Larry shot an ultrabright smile at the audience; his teeth were as bright as ice caps and his hair as white as snow.
‘On today’s show we have three young finalists from our under-tens category all competing for an incredible prize… £150,000 donation to a charity of their choice!’
‘Let’s go and meet them!’
Emily had been desperate to get on the show; she could hardly believe that she was one of the lucky finalists and was actually sitting there in the studio ready to begin the game.
Larry Cheeseman began to interview the first contestant, a snooty looking boy called Oliver, who appeared to be much older than ten! The boy looked about thirteen and had slick black hair, a pointy nose and a very serious look on his face - he gave Emily a sly look.
Sitting in the front row, Emily’s mother and father, Mr and Mrs Pilcher, shared an enormous packet of potato crisps and a flask of tea. ‘Ooh we’ll have to watch that one mum!’ said Mr Pilcher, munching his crisps. ‘Yes, very sneaky looking,’ added Mrs Pilcher.
The audience clapped politely as Larry moved on to the next contestant, a large boy with bright orange hair and a scrunched up face, called Ned. He looked about fifteen and had a sinister fixed grin on his face. His beady eyes moved from left to right through dark slits, fixing the snooty boy and Emily in turn.
A huge man, with a very scrunched up face and red hair, sitting in the front row next to Mr Pilcher, started shouting and punching the air as the boy was introduced, ‘come on ‘me son, you can ‘av ‘em!’
Emily squirmed, uncomfortably.
‘Now to our final contestant – what’s your name and where are you from?’
Emily felt a bit shy in front of the huge audience with all the lights and cameras on her but she was a bright young girl and knew that opportunities like this did not come along often. Taking a deep breath, she spoke up – trying to sound more confident than she was actually feeling.
‘Emily,’ she replied. ‘Emily Pilcher from Wallington.’
‘Nice to meet you Emily; now to which charity would you like to donate the prize fund if you are lucky enough to win today?’ asked Larry.
‘Err, the Wallington Zoo animal repatriation fund,’ replied Emily. ‘A fund to return rare and endangered animals back to their natural habitats,’ continued Emily, smiling.
The audience clapped politely. Just then, at the back of the studio, a commotion caused everyone’s head to turn. A figure dressed in green dungarees and heavy boots leapt up on to a chair and started whistling and cheering, ‘Come on Emily, you can do it!’