Fat Friends

*Fat Friends*
Fat Friends
Genre	Drama
Created by	Kay Mellor
Written by	Kay Mellor; Gaynor Mellor; Debbie Oats; Jayne Daniels;
Starring	Alison Steadman; Gaynor Faye; Ruth Jones; James Corden; Janet Dibley; Lynda Baron;
Composer	Mark Russell
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	25
Production
Running time	60 minutes (per episode)
Production companies	Rollem Productions; Tiger Aspect Productions; Yorkshire Television;
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	PAL
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	12 October 2000 –; 24 March 2005

Midgley's fish and chip shop in Moor Grange, Leeds featured as 'Big and Battered'

Fat Friends (also known as Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends) is a British drama that aired on ITV from 12 October 2000 to 24 March 2005, consisting of 25 episodes over four series. Set in Leeds, the series explores the lives of several slimming club members, with a focus on the various ways their weight has impacted upon them.

The series was created by Kay Mellor and made by Rollem Productions in association with Tiger Aspect Productions and Yorkshire Television. Four of the cast — Ruth Jones, James Corden, Sheridan Smith and Alison Steadman — went on to appear in the sitcom Gavin & Stacey.

Premise[]

Fat Friends is set around a slimming club in the Headingley district of Leeds. The club is run by the formidable Carol (Janet Dibley), who fruitlessly tries to persuade the members of the group to follow the 'Super Slimmers' diet. The characters who attend the club are from varied backgrounds and of varied weight. Whilst some plots continue throughout all four series, each episode focuses on one particular character.

Main cast and characters[]

Alison Steadman as Betty Simpson
Gaynor Faye as Lauren Harris
Ruth Jones as Kelly Chadwick (née Simpson)
Jonathan Ryland as Kevin Chadwick
James Corden as Jamie Rymer
Janet Dibley as Carol McGary
Richard Ridings as Alan Ashburn (series 1 and 2)
Kathryn Hunt as Val Lorrimer (series 1 and 2)
Lisa Riley as Rebecca Patterson (series 2-4)
Lynda Baron as Norma Patterson (series 2-4)

Episodes[]

Series overview[]

Series		Episodes	Originally aired
Series		Episodes	First aired	Last aired
	1	6	12 October 2000 (2000-10-12)	16 November 2000 (2000-11-16)
	2	7	5 September 2002 (2002-09-05)	17 October 2002 (2002-10-17)
	3	6	1 January 2004 (2004-01-01)	4 February 2004 (2004-02-04)
	4	6	17 February 2005 (2005-02-17)	24 March 2005 (2005-03-24)

Season 1 (2000)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Love Me Slender"	David Wheatley	Kay Mellor	12 October 2000 (2000-10-12)
2	2	"Fat Chónce"	David Wheatley	Kay Mellor	19 October 2000 (2000-10-19)
3	3	"Fat Free"	David Wheatley	Kay Mellor	26 October 2000 (2000-10-26)
4	4	"Growing Pains"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	2 November 2000 (2000-11-02)
5	5	"Face the Fat"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	9 November 2000 (2000-11-09)
6	6	"When the Fat Lady Sings"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	16 November 2000 (2000-11-16)

Season 2 (2002)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
7	1	"Full Belly"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	5 September 2002 (2002-09-05)
8	2	"Peaches and Dreams"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	12 September 2002 (2002-09-12)
9	3	"Forty and In-fat-urated"	Tania Díez	Jayne Daniel & Kay Mellor	19 September 2002 (2002-09-19)
10	4	"Sweet and Sour"	Dan Zeff	Kay Mellor	26 September 2002 (2002-09-26)
11	5	"Sticky Fingers"	Dan Zeff	Gaynor Faye & Kay Mellor	3 October 2002 (2002-10-03)
12	6	"In Full Bloom"	Tania Díez	Lisa Holdsworth & Kay Mellor	10 October 2002 (2002-10-10)
13	7	"Hunger Pangs"	Audrey Cooke	Kay Mellor	17 October 2002 (2002-10-17)

Season 3 (2004)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
14	1	"Eat Your Heart Out"	John Deery	Kay Mellor	1 January 2004 (2004-01-01)
15	2	"Leggs Over Easy"	John Anderson	Gaynor Faye & Kay Mellor	7 January 2004 (2004-01-07)
16	3	"Food for Thought"	John Anderson	Gaynor Faye & Kay Mellor	14 January 2004 (2004-01-14)
17	4	"Bacon, Bagels and the Bishop"	Lance Kneeshaw	Katie Baxendale & Kay Mellor	21 January 2004 (2004-01-21)
18	5	"Afters"	Lance Kneeshaw	Kay Mellor & Debbie Oates	28 January 2004 (2004-01-28)
19	6	"Food of Love"	Lance Kneeshaw	Katie Baxendale & Kay Mellor	4 February 2004 (2004-02-04)

Season 4 (2005)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
20	1	"Enough to Go Around"	John Deere	Kay Mellor	17 February 2005 (2005-02-17)
21	2	"Second Helpings"	Lance Kneeshaw	Gaynor Faye & Kay Mellor	24 February 2005 (2005-02-24)
22	3	"Angel's Delight"	Lance Kneeshaw	Ruth Jones & Kay Mellor	3 March 2005 (2005-03-03)
23	4	"Get Out of the Kitchen"	Lance Kneeshaw	Gaynor Faye & Kay Mellor	10 March 2005 (2005-03-10)
24	5	"Healthy Options"	John Anderson	Kay Mellor & Debbie Oates	17 March 2005 (2005-03-17)
25	6	"Icing on the Cake"	John Anderson	Kay Mellor & Debbie Oates	24 March 2005 (2005-03-24)

Ratings[]

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Rank
1.1	12 October 2000	10,370,000	13
1.2	19 October 2000	8,660,000	16
1.3	26 October 2000	9,190,000	16
1.4	2 November 2000	9,140,000	15
1.5	9 November 2000	8,790,000	16
1.6	16 November 2000	9,610,000	16

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Rank
2.1	5 September 2002	7,810,000	16
2.2	12 September 2002	7,260,000	14
2.3	19 September 2002	7,280,000	12
2.4	26 September 2002	6,610,000	16
2.5	3 October 2002	6,450,000	18
2.6	10 October 2002	6,990,000	15
2.7	17 October 2002	7,020,000	16

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Rank
3.1	1 January 2004	6,470,000	23
3.2	7 January 2004	7,360,000	19
3.3	14 January 2004	7,470,000	18
3.4	21 January 2004	7,540,000	17
3.5	28 January 2004	8,690,000	22
3.6	4 February 2004	7,240,000	22

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	ITV Weekly Rank
4.1	17 February 2005	6,560,000	18
4.2	24 February 2005	7,510,000	15
4.3	3 March 2005	7,030,000	19
4.4	10 March 2005	5,600,000	20
4.5	17 March 2005	6,050,000	20
4.6	24 March 2005	5,790,000	19

Awards and nominations[]

British Academy Television Award
- Best Actress for Alison Steadman – Nominated
- Best Drama Series for Kay Mellor & Greg Brenman & David Reynolds – Nominated
Royal Television Society Programme Awards
- On-Screen Network Newcomer for James Corden – Nominated
TV Quick Awards
- Best New Drama – Won
Television and Radio Industries Club Awards
- TV Drama Programme – Won

Home media[]

Region 2

A VHS of the first series was released on 24 June 2002. The first three series of Fat Friends have been released on DVD in the United Kingdom via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Fat Friends: Series One (released 21 March 2005)
Fat Friends: Series Two (released 18 April 2005)
Fat Friends: Series Three (released 18 April 2005)
Fat Friends: The Complete Series 1, 2 & 3 (released 21 March 2005)

Region 1

Fat Friends: Season One (released 13 February 2007)

Stage musical adaptation[]

Grand Theatre in Leeds decorated for Fat Friends the Musical.

A stage musical adaptation of the series directed and written by original creator, Kay Mellor, with music by Nicholas Lloyd Webber made its world premiere at the Grand Theatre in Leeds on 7 November 2017 before embarking on a UK tour, starring Jodie Prenger as Kelly Stevenson.^[1]

References[]

^ "Jodie Prenger to star in Fat Friends The Musical premiere". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.

External links[]

Fat Friends at IMDb
Fat Friends at British Comedy Guide

[1] "Jodie Prenger to star in Fat Friends The Musical premiere". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.

[1]