Is the British TV chat show dying? I ask as The Claudia Winkleman Show has just finished- to varying reviews – on BBC 1, while, like buses, another one pops up on Channel 4. However, unlike Claudia, this isn’t another virgin voyage, it’s TFI Friday Unplugged . Yes, Chris Evans is back to try to revive his nineties hit.. Again.
On the strength of its first TV outing (other episodes have already appeared on YouTube) the result is a resounding “meh”. Simply put, it’s a show which is resolutely stuck in the past. The whole USP of the show was its zeitgeisty nature: it was often chaotic, sometimes hilarious, but mostly embarrassing, in a way you couldn’t look away from, like its younger predecessor, The Word. Evans captured a shouty, lairy, slightly laddish bantz era, where ever other week, Shaun Ryder would talk about drugs or swear, Jo Guest or some other airhead would provide vacuous window dressing, but at least one good musical guest would sing (Bjork, The Cure, Garbage,etc) as cohorts hooted and whooped, trying to manufacture a rowdy pub environment.
Instead, on this 2026 iteration, Evans brought back original sidekick Will (“Wiiiiiillll”) McGregor who did pub tricks; Sam, not Shaun, Ryder grinned a lot (as he does) and Jack Savoretti bellowed a cover version of the Ocean Colour Scene hit ‘Day We Caught the Train’. OCS also just happened to do ‘The Riverboat Song’, the original introduction music for guests. There was a tribute to David Bowie, in the shape of an archive 1999 interview where, wired to the moon, he ruminated on getting gastroenteritis, and the discomfort of aeroplane seats. I love Bowie, but this was a bit cringeworthy. He was like a stoned uncle at a wedding, if hilarious.
So, really, what was the point? If you’re just focusing on the past, you’ll lose viewers of all ages and backgrounds. Getting your mates in is too niche. People like podcasts because they offer insight, wit and opinions. This show had none, and the knockabout charm of yore was absent. I half expected Billie Piper to walk in. Maybe that’s next week.
As for Claudia, she has ease and a little eccentricity about her. I enjoyed her chat a couple of weeks ago with Anna Faris, Michelle De Swarte and Ralph Fiennes, because they were witty and seemingly unscripted. Fiennes was enjoying being the only male guest. It flowed more naturally, as good conversations do. That’s always more appealing than the obvious contrivance of limited TV formats.
Hit The North 