Ladette to Lady - Episode 4

17-10-2006 10:05

This week the teachers leave the five ladettes alone at Eggleston Hall to host a country house weekend. They will be provided with domestic staff including a butler and must lay on two days of well-planned hospitality for a selection of eligible bachelors. According to Debrett’s Guide to Etiquette and Modern Manners “At its best the country house weekend probably represents the pinnacle of Anglo Saxon culture; at its worst it can be torture beyond compare for all concerned”.Ladette Victoria contemplates being left unsupervised for the duration of the guests stay: “I can’t believe they’re leaving us in charge, they must be mental.”Leaving the ladettes in charge of Eggleston Hall is a huge gamble and there’s little sign they are up to the challenge. Taken to a smart bar in Harrogate by Etiquette teacher Liz Brewer, the ladettes get plastered and Essex hairdresser Frances Rowe flashes her breasts. The following morning they are confronted by cookery teacher Rosemary Shrager who questions whether any of them are really up to becoming ladies. Frances is chastised and she tearfully promises to turn over a new leaf. Over the next few days the ladettes are determined to show the staff that they can behave like responsible young adults – and the prospect of some of their favourite bachelors coming to stay provides additional motivation.On Friday morning the staff leave the school and Frances Rowe is left in charge of the key. She’s determined to prove that she can be lady of the manor but scouser Louise Porter has other ideas and starts drinking almost as soon as the teachers have gone. By the time the guests arrive Louise is out of control and after dinner she tries to get everyone to play a risqué game called ‘Bottoms’ which involves blindfolding the bachelors and making them feel their hostesses’ bottoms.Batchelor Charles Schofield says: “Louise is far too drunk, she’s not a lady at all. I’d be embarrassed to take her home.”Frances tries to restore order 'against all odds we are ladies tonight' and decorum briefly prevails. But the tension erupts in an ugly catfight in the early hours and the Frances and Louise have to be separated by their appalled guests one of whom comments: “What country house weekend have you been to where you’ve seen two girls beat the shit out of each other?”