TFI Friday (Thank Fu*k it's Friday) is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series was hosted by several guest presenters. The show was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. Its theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans' frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.

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Quick Facts TFI Friday, Genre ...

TFI Friday
Genre	Entertainment
Written by	Danny Baker (1996–2000) Chris Evans (2015)
Presented by	Chris Evans (1996–2000, 2015) Guest presenters (2000)
Theme music composer	Ron Grainer[1]
Opening theme	Theme from Man in a Suitcase[1]
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	7
No. of episodes	190
Production
Production locations	Riverside Studios (1996–2000) Cochrane Theatre (2015)
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companies	Ginger Productions (1996–2000) Monkey Kingdom (2015) Olga TV (2015) STV Studios (2015)
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	9 February 1996 (1996-02-09) – 22 December 2000 (2000-12-22)
Release	16 October (2015-10-16) – 31 December 2015 (2015-12-31)
Related
OFI Sunday

Close

A one-off revival episode of the show was broadcast on Channel 4 on 12 June 2015. The episode was well-received; on 23 June 2015, Channel 4 announced that it had commissioned a full revived series, which began airing on 16 October 2015.

In 2016, Channel 4 announced that there were no plans for any further series.

The show regularly featured live music, mostly of the then-popular Britpop school. A snippet of "The Riverboat Song" by Ocean Colour Scene, a band particularly championed by Evans (and the very first band to play on the show, with the same song), was used as an introduction to guests, as they walked the length of a walkway up into the "bar" to be interviewed by the host.

Viewers repeatedly asked if they could have the TFI Friday mug (or one like it) that graced Evans' table every week, so the production company created a limited run of 1,000 mugs. These were offered for sale at a prohibitive price and for a limited period, after which, the remaining stock was destroyed live on air when a washing machine was dropped on to them from the height of the television studio.

In the summer of 2000, Channel 4 announced that the sixth series of TFI Friday was to be the last^[2]. Chris Evans left the show leaving the final series to be presented by several guest presenters.^[3]

• 10 November 2000 – Spice Girls
• 17 November 2000 – Big Brother 1 contestants ("Nasty" Nick Bateman, Anna Nolan, Craig Phillips, Melanie Hill)
• 24 November 2000 – Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary
• 1 December 2000 – Sara Cox
• 8 December 2000 – Donna Air and Huey Morgan
• 15 December 2000 – Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary
• 22 December 2000 – Elton John

In September 2005, Evans announced that he would be returning the TFI Friday format to TV, with OFI Sunday airing on ITV. The first edition was broadcast on 20 November 2005 but was not as successful and quickly axed. On 30 July 2014, Evans announced during his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show that TFI Friday could be returning to Channel 4, after being asked to host a 20th anniversary special (despite the gap having been only been 19 years), as well as a new series, in 2015.^[7] During his radio breakfast show on 24 February 2015, Evans revealed that the show would return on Channel 4 on 12 June. It aired from the Cochrane Theatre in Holborn, TFI Friday's earlier home at Riverside Studios having been demolished.^[8]

On 23 June 2015, it was confirmed that Channel 4 had commissioned a new series, which started airing on 16 October 2015, with U2 opening and closing the show.^[9][10] On 7 July 2016, Channel 4 confirmed it had "no plans" to commission more episodes of TFI Friday.^[11]

Features on the show included:

• Freak or Unique – Every week, there would be five people waiting outside the studio, of whom three would be selected to show off a special if freakish talent (such as juicing an orange with their shoulders, or The Girl Who Cried Milk). A running gag throughout the run was the 'Incredibly Tall Old Lady' who would always be waiting outside the studio. She was never nominated (mainly because it was obviously an old woman standing on a box)
• Baby Left Baby Right: A small child was placed on a cushion and the guest was asked which way it might fall
• Fat lookalikes – People who looked like fat versions of celebrities which was then followed in later series by Asian lookalikes
• What Does the Fat Bloke Do? – An overweight man was invited on set and asked about his occupation, before dancing and leaving
• Comment from the Cafe – Evans would rope in Cedric (the proprietor of a local eatery) to perform various embarrassing skits. Cedric became famous for his catchphrase "Hellooooooooo!" and wooden acting
• Ugly Blokes – Unattractive gentlemen would have the opportunity to turn down the amorous advances of a 'gorgeous girl' (Catalina Guirado). A photo of footballer Peter Beardsley was shown during the 'Ugly Bloke' theme tune
• It's Your Letters – A wide assortment of viewers' letters (this was introduced by a burst of Reef's "Place Your Hands", re-recorded for the show with the words "It's Your Letters" replacing the original chorus of "Put your hands on").
• Fishbowl Challenge: A goldfish in a bowl would have two toy bridges for company. Which would it swim under first?
• Another running gag was directed at the show's producer, Will Macdonald (aka Wicked Will of MTV's Most Wanted fame), where everyone in the bar would point their fingers, begin to swivel them and chant 'Wiiillll' very creepily
• Will: Pub Genius – Will Macdonald would demonstrate a trick that could be performed using tools commonly found in a pub
• Wooden Bird with Purple Hair – Chris Evans would amuse the audience with a small nodding wooden woodpecker (with purple hair), that slid down a pole whilst an accompanying song was played.
• The Lord of Love – The veteran actor Ronald Fraser dressed in a quilted smoking jacket would recite love poems to girls in the audience.
• Wurthers – The shows cue card man. He became a frequent star of the show alongside Chris, during the last series of the show in which he was the host. At the start of every show, they would both engage in telling a joke working alongside each other, with Wurthers finishing the joke with "I'm only joking of course!", with Chris then replying "He's only joking of course!". This became a frequent running gag before eventually fading out, with this being replaced with Chris sending Wurthers out on a task. The first and most memorable of these was sending him outside to look for a mini driver, while it was raining. Near the end of the show, he found one and told her to say hello to the actor Minnie Driver, by waving at the camera who was at the same time being interviewed on the show with David Duchovny. The segment was originally a one-off, before being made a regular feature on the show.
• Show Us Your Face Then – someone in a football mascot outfit is introduced to the audience and invited to show them their real face.
• Sink or Swim – The studio audience (and viewers) were invited to speculate as to whether a chosen animal (e.g. a mouse or a snake) would sink or swim in a fish tank. To gasps of concern from the audience, the mouse turned out to be a good swimmer.