WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast
Join "amateur" historians Andrew and Liam (thrice bronze medalists in 'The South Yorkshire Rememberers Chalice') as they travel back in time like Nicholas Lyndhurst in Goodnight Sweetheart and try to remember things from the past.
Do you remember Woolworths? Do you remember when Marathons changed their name to Snickers? Do you remember Del Boy falling through the bar? If so then come and remember with us. If not then stick around and we will probably remember it for you. You literally can't lose so why not hit the play button as hard as Paul Sykes hit that shark?
WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast
Who Remembers........The Big Breakfast?
Two million viewers at breakfast, a bed interview that rewrote the rules, and a house that felt more like a party than a studio—The Big Breakfast wasn’t just a show, it was a mood. We go deep on how Channel 4 swapped dry headlines for live, lovable chaos and turned mornings into must‑watch TV. From Chris Evans and Gabby Roslin’s spark to the sharp wit of Paula Yates, we chart the moment personality beat polish and news got fun without losing its edge.
The heart of our conversation is chemistry. We break down the Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen era—why his hyper paper riffs and her sly, surgical timing clicked—and why replacements struggled when the formula leaned on image over interplay. Jenny McCarthy’s high energy, Kelly Brook’s impossible brief at nineteen, and the glorious correction with Liza Tarbuck all reveal the same truth: the show works when two equals run the room. We also dig into the awkward tone on tragic news days, the crew‑as‑cast magic, Zig and Zag’s pop crossover, and the astonishing ad revenue that proved the model.
Then there’s the afterlife: revamps that over‑engineered the format, a late Bacon and Rogers resurgence that came too late, and the 2021 revival with Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu that nailed the vibe but met a changed audience. Along the way we ask the big question—could a radio‑on‑TV livestream version thrive today? Short news, big personality, a camera that never blinks, and a house that feels like yours. That recipe still slaps.
Got your own Big Breakfast memories or a dream host pairing for a modern reboot? Subscribe, share with a fellow 90s kid, and drop us your take—what era do you rate, and who would you cast next?
Hello and welcome to the Who Remembers podcast. In this episode, we are asking Who Remembers the Big Breakfast?
SPEAKER_01:You've put me off. It's a good thing, June, actually, innit? I've never really liked sort of thought about it as like the thing. I'm like doing like uh as I'm doing it, I'm doing you like when uh footballers used to go, oh lee, oh lee, oh with their arms either side. I'm doing that. This is uh a suggestion from Tyrone, which to be completely honest, I only saw he sent it a month ago. Uh well but might be two months ago, and uh I only saw it recently. Um but it was we're going back to the old maidly routes in a way, aren't we, by doing a TV show?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but it's good it's a good, it's a good one, isn't it? It's a good one.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'll just got a few little things to start with. Ran from 1992 to 2002 on Channel 4, launched on 28th of September, not far after our birthdays, day after yours, in fact.
SPEAKER_02:Oh who's the what did I say, the Holy Trinity with someone else was on the 28th that found out?
SPEAKER_01:Uh there's Kate Bedan, uh, who was on my my you're not thinking of her.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no, that that might be it. I was just thinking I I've got no idea who it was. I thought you were like a well we dropped the ball, didn't we? Because we should have had Kate on for the uh take that episode.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we'll get to that. We're gonna do some listeners' comments, which you might you're probably here after this actually, not like immediately after, but we're going to Chapel St. Lennon's this weekend as we're recording this. So you'll hear this after we've been, and we're gonna do all the listeners' comments and stuff. So back on to Big Breakfast, this replaced Channel 4 News Daily, which were much drier. If you remember that channel, but I do remember it a little bit, yeah, vaguely.
SPEAKER_02:I I didn't really watch it. I mean, what I would say is this sort of triggered sort of pri prime TV time for us, wasn't it? Because this was getting ready for school time, like just the secondary school as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, 92. When did when did we go to secondary school? 93, 94? Yeah, yeah, 94.
SPEAKER_02:So maybe the early years, like you're in this was end of primary school for us, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it sort of finished just as I imagine that we were both sort of starting work, or maybe yeah, 2002 we've been at work a bit, so yeah, it sort of followed us all the way through our young lives, I think, or our youth. But yeah, so it was so different, obviously, at the time to the serious shows on like BBC and RTV. TVM we had diamond, although they did have Richard Keyes on TVM. Uh but that would be funny.
SPEAKER_02:Instantly you've gone mad cap, aren't you? You've gone you've gone like left field, or probably not at the time, but now looking back, you think, wow, Richard Keys.
SPEAKER_01:Richard Keyes, yeah. I think he was just a serious presenter at the time. I don't know if he were in the remember big green jackets he used to wear Sky Sports when he first came out.
SPEAKER_02:They weren't smashing it back then, was he?
SPEAKER_01:No, he weren't smashing it back then. I think he was just like a normal low-key presenter. So Channel 4 went for the similar sort of thing with daily that channel 4 daily, but it failed to attract viewers, so they went for a more entertainment-based model where news bulletins were really short. And I think this is one of the things that this overlooked with Big Breakfast. The news bulletins are perfect for a kid, if you know what I mean. Like it were just like you don't want to know what's going on, it'd be like, and uh Tony Blair has said this today at a conference, and it's bang, straight on to the next one. It's like two-minute news.
SPEAKER_02:The only thing I'd say on that though is yeah, when it amusing is the wrong word, but when it becomes like does that work is when they're talking about like an atrocity or something. Like because it was mainly enough fun bird.
SPEAKER_01:The only the only uh sorry, the only episode that they had to put well, they didn't pull, they just didn't record that day was on 9-11. Um and there was the Dunblane massacre where they were doing a they were doing a segment called I can't remember exactly what it was called, uh I read this earlier, but um it was something like Shoot the something, and there'd been a massacre in Dunblane, and Mark Little, who were presenting it at the time who we'll get on to, went absolutely apeshit. Like, and you could hear him like off so he thought like the they'd gone to the next thing and he's swearing and who the fucking hell's put that on here. So yeah, when there's like serious atrocities and they've got that like ding ding dummm ding.
SPEAKER_02:I can imagine him doing like and obviously it won't have been this, but yeah, like for the Dunblane thing, David Blaine has a atrocity on her weight, it was Dunblane. Like, I don't know, it was all done in quite a jokey sort of show.
SPEAKER_01:Well there were puns, there were puns, weren't they, for headlines and stuff, yeah. Like, I mean, not just for the headline, I mean even in the news, it'd like they'd do puns for it. I mean, like you say, when it's like serious news, the ones I've watched, I've watched about six or seven since. Uh they're all like fairly light-hearted stories, really. Um but it were a bit like a Saturday morning kids TV show, but aimed at adults, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think obviously you've sent me a timeline of who presented when and we'll get into that, but I think just as a start point how can I word this? I I think they were so ahead of the game that they realized this was effectively a radio show brought to TV. And in a sense, that's what a lot of sort of modern media is now. So so the overlap and uh you know the the rest is football, talk sport, boxing, talk sport, and now live on YouTube all day while they're presenting. If it basically was the format of a radio show, but we're gonna show you us presenting it, and I think it was yeah so far ahead of its time, it's unbelievable actually.
SPEAKER_01:And they were yeah, really high-prem, it felt like a homemade show, if you know it. It could be could easily be like a YouTube channel now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I I don't know if you've seen obviously when we get through the timeline a little bit further, we'll we'll get to Johnny Vaughan because he's a huge part of this. But he said there were times when people would sort of try and plan and preempt, and he'd be like, Well, no, hold hold on, no, no, no, no, no. That's that's not this game.
SPEAKER_01:We we Yeah, he said it were cheating, like when they said, Oh, we'll do that. Yeah, he wanted to be cheating. Yeah, and like I say, we were we'll we'll go through it. Do you want to go through like the not obviously as quick we'll talk about each one, but the to the presenters, like obviously the first ones we know, Chris Evans and Gabby Rosalind.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but I mean Chris Evans apparently was the sort of basis it was built on. I could see that. I presume we did the blood on the what was it, blood on the DJ set or something? What was it?
SPEAKER_01:Uh Blood on the Oh, what were it called? Blood on the turntable were it were it Brilliant the Turntables? Anyway, we were about Radio One, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it was about sort of Chris Evans getting too big for his boots and leaving and I I mean not that wasn't the main story, but that's a huge part of it. Where does this sit? Is this kind of he's gone away from that? Is this it were essentially a known TFI Friday? Is this a good one?
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. This is it he'd done like sky shows and stuff like that, but it were essentially an unknown. Um Gabby Rosley and obviously wasn't done kids shows.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh wow, this is what launched him. This is what launched him. It was just like they were they were just giving this gig then?
SPEAKER_02:What was that building?
SPEAKER_01:I mean, obviously we might have been an up-and-coming sort of presenter. It'd like I say, he'd done like music shows on Sky and things like that, but it wasn't you've got to remember though, as well, that this is not I imagine they made a big thing about it on Channel 4, but I don't think they were expecting it to be as successful as it was.
SPEAKER_02:I think so, you know, whether or not you like Chris Evans, he absolutely was kind of revolutionary in that sort of really vibrant feel and interacting with the people around him and sort of making you feel like you were part of this little club, and yeah, uh possibly in a way that Steve Wright and certain DJs had done before, but yeah, this this felt the first time the viewers were brought into the the room with with the production team and it yeah, well, I was really fresh.
SPEAKER_01:It's interesting this as well, and I don't know if this happened before or something else, maybe something like Tiz Was, which is before our time, but I've seen a few clips on it. The crew were all involved, weren't they? So they were like, Oh, look at the carpet monster over. Remember the carpet monster?
SPEAKER_02:And like they were just like and they were like carpet monster and sturdy girl are the two that I sort of stand out, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And they'd like get there and all of them, oh it like it made for a really, really like good atmosphere.
SPEAKER_02:Um earlier they did use them as well as characters, wouldn't they? So if something sad had happened, they'd sort of cut to one of the crew who'd sort of be like crying, like they'd play sad music over the top, like yeah, they yeah, they you you've instead of being this kind of very professional setup where we're watching two people read off an auto cue, all of a sudden we're in the room with these people having a good time, and yeah, it was absolutely I I I didn't get it straight away if I'm honest. I I wasn't watching it.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think it took a lot, it took a lot, obviously, from this to do TFI Friday, I think. Again, we've done that on the mainly podcast, but I think it took a lot of the Big Breakfast because that's although that the I mean obviously Will's involved in TFI Friday, we'll but the the all the you know the just having a crowd there to make it more atmospheric, and you felt like you were sort of in that room, I think, with Big Breakfast. You felt like you could have been just sat watching it with them because it was so loud and it was so sort of like well and and chaotic and and yeah crazy and didn't always work and there were mistakes and yeah, I I thought it was great.
SPEAKER_02:Like I say, I think probably early doors. I um I seem to think that like when I was getting I don't know what age would we have been when it started, was it 92 when it started? 92, yeah, so we'd have been ten. So we'd have been ten. Um possibly even nine, but I seem to remember on BBC two I definitely were after your birthday, weren't it?
SPEAKER_01:Day after.
SPEAKER_02:Ah yeah, of course, yeah. Hang on ten, yeah. Um but yeah, I think there was BBC cartoons on BBC Two, or there was something else that was keeping me away from it early on. Um I've got a feeling this this is a bit left fieldish, but remember a cartoon about um Albert the Fifth Musketeer. Oh yeah, Albert the Fifth Musketeer. He's cool, he's nobody's fool, he's Albert's the Fifth Musketeer.
SPEAKER_01:I thought alright, I thought you were gonna say that show. Not that actual show then.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, I might be completely wrong there. That that might be later. Maybe I'm sort of confessing that when I was like 16, 17, that I was watching Albert Musketeer. Yeah, I don't know, but yeah, for what for whatever reason it was, I wasn't an early fan of Big Breakfast.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Gabby Roslyn, obviously the female presenter, she was the more um, like I say, more known of the two. You made a really good point about uh Gabby Rosalind. Well, I don't know, I don't I think I might have made the point where we're talking about how she it I don't know if it's because she were older then, like than us, we were obviously really young, but she reminded me of a mate's mum. Do you like you go around to your mate's mum's at the house and she's like really nice and sort of, ah yeah, you're alright. Do you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and like not one of the sort of like ones who looked on you like a piece of scum almost. Like she she liked the sort of friendly mate's mum, weren't she? Like, yeah, like do you want a drink, guys? Some coke in the fridge if you want it, like uh she wasn't.
SPEAKER_01:If you look at the ones that they have at they had after, uh the permanent ones and the successful ones, they were all quite sort of sexy, sort of, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, I think Abby Rosalie was a good one.
SPEAKER_02:And I don't think Abby Rosalie had you know attractive in her own right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but she weren't wearing like skimpy outfits, was she?
SPEAKER_02:No, she didn't feel like she was put there for this to sort of capture the teenage boys. Yeah, I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_01:And obviously Mark Lamar was the location reporter, he was the one like sort of they went into the you know streets and he'd be running around and streets being rude to people. Mark Lamar! Does he st he's still going in, eh?
SPEAKER_02:Where's he now, Mark Lamar? I think he's still a thing. I've never been his biggest fan, but yeah, I think I would imagine it. I think he looks he probably looks exactly the same as he did in the world.
SPEAKER_01:I can't imagine him not looking like it. You know, I oh every time someone's mentions Mark Lamar, I genuinely just think of Bob Mormer hitting him with a can and him being completely motionless, just like not even like laughing or anything, looking like he absolutely hated being there. By the way, on Rosalind, by the way, before I forget, uh Emma Forbes was supposed to be the uh presenter, uh, but she pulled out at the very, very last minute. Like she would, I think it was like just a couple of weeks before, so that's why Rosalind got in. Don't think Emma Forbes would have worked, really. Oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I I liked Emma Forbes at that time.
SPEAKER_01:Um, yeah, but you know what I mean? I don't know if she's I mean maybe I'm gonna maybe I'm looking at her from the other. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, she was certainly I I saw something and I watched there's a couple of good documentaries about this that are worth watching on YouTube if you're interested. But I think the addition of um, like you said, Mark Lamar, and I think Paulie Yates who did both come from the word.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Paul Yates doing the bed interviews were really revolutionary.
SPEAKER_02:That feel of going towards that sort of more racy thing that she didn't necessarily want to be involved with.
SPEAKER_01:Well, there's obviously the most famous interview is Paul Yates and Michael Hutchins, and they did end up having a starting affair live on TV, don't they? It's absolutely incredible. I've watched it back, and obviously you're thinking at the time, like it is really flirty, but it's probably just for the cameras or whatever. It's it's it's proper. I don't know, it's proper loot. She was a really good interviewer, Pauly Yates, actually, because she sort of one. Yeah, oh the Gary Glitter one's brilliant, yeah, where she's like going, How young, young were these people that you had to do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, she's so people visiting you now, and he says, 'Yeah, I've still got a couple of friends.' Are they very young?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, she says it in that sort of like sort of as if she's being nice to him. Are they very young? Yeah, very good. Did you know Bob Geldoff used to be on it? Um, he he would gonna be he was doing he did political interviews, like give us your fucking breakfast. Give us your fucking political interviews, but they dropped it after a bit. And I don't know when Michael Chins and Paul Yates started that affair, but I imagine that didn't go down well.
SPEAKER_02:Um far as I'm aware, it's universally accepted that that kind of is the start of their affair, isn't it? Like they're basically rolling around together on a bed, like yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's imagine if you've not seen it, you're making it, and this is sort of what happens. I'm not sort of saying your description wrong, but they're rolling around with each other and but like 7am, and like yeah, yeah, it is literally like I mean there's sort of chemistry in it. I think back in day, back in day before Woke, you could have had sex at 8am on a breakfast show on TV, no one would have battered an eyelid. Yeah, good, harmless fun. I don't think anyone would have battered an eyelid. As we'll get to with the Johnny and Denise stuff, there is some really sort of things now you think. I don't I'm not I hate every YouTube video you watch of something in the past is always oh yeah, before woke, all these people you know, you were better at 90s, yeah, because you were younger. But I I do there were certain things that I think I don't think television would dare do that now.
SPEAKER_02:These days, no, I I agree though, I agree. It certainly was very risky for when it was shown, and and also to say that it wasn't buried in amongst like 30 channels, that this was one of the four things you could watch, and it was quite out there, some of it. And obviously, when when we come to future presenters, it there were loads loads and loads of tongue-in-cheek and innuendo.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Webster must have absolutely loved it.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, Webding of Tufty Club, yeah. He'll be he he should have been he could he's if he were 20 20 years old, written some of the dialogue for the club. Yeah, but to say he'd be an amazing presenter for this because it is all just sort of like innuendos all the way through. Um I don't know why I'm laughing because the next thing on the note is thinking about uh Webding and Tufty. Uh sorry, um uh dead bar. Uh Zig and Zag. Obviously, they um they were absolutely massive on it as well. Um they were they had a hit single, didn't they? What was that single called? Oh, come on, what were that bloody you girls? Oh, what were it called?
SPEAKER_02:Come on, hold on, live remembering.
SPEAKER_01:Live remembering.
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah, no, I never if I'm honest, I'm gonna put it out there. Yeah, I were not a big fan. Yeah, yeah. Them girls, them girls.
SPEAKER_01:Them girls, yeah, them girls.
SPEAKER_02:That was uh back in uh the home country, didn't they? It came from an Irish.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think they were aliens, weren't they, realistically?
SPEAKER_02:Like no, but the show they came from was uh in Ireland, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_01:Like the the the leprechaun, gold emerald aisle from going live, yeah. But at its height in 1993, viewing figures reached two million per episode, and it was the highest rated UK breakfast television programme, which is incredible.
SPEAKER_02:I assume you know this as well, because I think that's probably on the same thing that I've read, but when at its peak, which I assume was we're gonna get to uh forne and Van Alton.
SPEAKER_01:No, no, no, 93, 93 were its peak. That's the best doing figure they got.
SPEAKER_02:Well, at its peak, it generated the adverts in Big Breakfast, which was a two-hour show five days a week, generated 40% of the ad revenue for the whole channel all week. I mean that yeah, that shows out like a Super Bowl, innit? It's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:This yeah, this is like uh this is channel four as well. It was showing really, really good stuff at this time. Obviously, you just come back off the word and stuff like that. But uh uh it'd be obviously known as like being a bit edgy and all this sort of stuff. So to I think to beat BBC and ITV serious news shows, they must have been thinking, what's going on here? How what's happening? They turn it over and it's Evans falling off his chair, and do you know what I mean? Two puppets going, wow, wow, wow. I suppose ITV did have Roll and Rat though. Who um I think I used to like Roll and Rat. I can't remember. Yeah, quite like I had a Rolling Rat Teddy thing that I quite liked. What were his uh catchphrase Birmingham? That weren't his catchphrase.
SPEAKER_02:No, he wrote Brummy though, weren't I?
SPEAKER_01:Uh yeah, sort of. I think that were his catchphrase, Birmingham. Uh yeah, I think his catchphrase were he had like, weren't it? Anyway, we're quite a cool man, weren't I?
SPEAKER_02:I've never heard Roland Rat mixed up with the Fonz.
SPEAKER_01:Uh didn't have a nice catchphrase.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, Richie, forget about it. Forget about it. Hold on, let me let me do some more live research. Rolling Ratchet's right. Yeah, let me know.
SPEAKER_01:I'm sure let's swear it went ew.
SPEAKER_02:I mean it's not much if it was, it's not much of a catchphrase.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it was Fonza's catchphrase, he got away with it, didn't it? Well many years.
SPEAKER_02:Some of Roland Wright's most famous catchphrases are uh Rad fans are the best fans. Um lose. Did he know that?
SPEAKER_01:Way um let us know if Roland Rat ever went eh. Let us know in the comments.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, the catchphrase that resonated with his fans. Hey, rat fans. Must be that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, it'll be that then. Rat fans. So Zig and Zag were sorted.
SPEAKER_02:New York accent.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, what happened to Roland Rat? I suppose you just lose it, don't you, if you're a puppet? Like you don't get I mean, Zig and Zag don't really get asked on TV anymore, do they? You can't go to TV for love nor money, can you? Who's the I mean, but then you back in the day you've got Sutty and all that, and they and uh what's his name, Basil Brush. I knew they said Basil the Brush. You ever seen that artist? Um back in the day, but ages ago this, and um he got he's talking about like some uh he's like he's a a drawer, like an animator or whatever. And um he's talking about because yeah, you know, I've done Goofy, I've done Donald Duck, I've done Mickey the Mouse. Mickey the Mouse, I love it. Mickey is not called Mickey the Mouse. Mickey I've done Mickey the Mouse. Anyway, when Evans went away, which were quite a lot because he was doing don't forget your toothbrush on Friday. So he ended up only doing a three-day week uh before he left. He loves to know though, don't know.
SPEAKER_02:We mentioned it on the radio thing.
SPEAKER_01:He gets seat on the table and then he doesn't want to do a whole week. He's like me, I'm like this at work sometimes. Like, can I have can I have Friday off? Well, why? Uh just you know, I've got things.
SPEAKER_02:You've seen how good I am rest of the week. I need to.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, beat people to see. Uh so Mark Little used to stand in who's better known, uh, or was and probably still is better known as Joe Mangle from uh Neighbours. And since watching this, I've gone down a bit of a neighbours rabbit hole as well, and I definitely think we should do neighbours at some point.
SPEAKER_02:Um, everyone, there's a lot to go at though, in there.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean we can't just do the whole of neighbours. I mean we could try and do the whole of neighbours in an hour. I don't remember massive storylines in neighbours. Bouncer had a dream, and that were about it, weren't it?
SPEAKER_02:I think I said this to you and you don't have any memory of it. I think I think John would be. I don't know if I'm mixing him up with someone else, but was he it was due to get married in church and then he he saw a vision of Jesus and he he decided to be a vicar or a priest or something.
SPEAKER_01:I don't remember that at all. Let us know neighbours fans if that's the same.
SPEAKER_02:I seem to remember because if it is him that I'm thinking about, his wife was absolutely stunning and and like he turned away for for the for the church, and I thought come on, Joe.
SPEAKER_01:I'll tell you what, you know the song where Kylie and Jason get married? Um what were their name? Charlene and what were his name? Jason Donovan's character. Oh, come on. Uh uh anyway, whatever he's called. Uh Charlene and Jason Donovan. That suddenly I know that's fucking Katie Tunstall. What's uh what's the song that they play?
SPEAKER_02:For ahead.
SPEAKER_01:No, no, that's what they release as a single. The oh you'll people know what I mean. When they're getting married, they played a song and it got in the chores. Yeah, but oh suddenly I see.
SPEAKER_02:Suddenly.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's Katie Tunsaw years after. Anyway, fucking hell. Mark Little used to stand in for Evans when he were away. But massive surprise, and you you got this right when I when I questioned you a couple of days ago, I said to you, who do you think took over from Chris Evans? Because we everyone expected Mark Little to. I say everyone expected Mart Little to get it. Like on Talk Sport and stuff. Who'd you think's gonna get that job, Simon? Well, I think it's more to lose. I think it's Mart Little to lose. You got it right though, the man who actually permanently replaced Evans was Mr. Paul Ross.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but even though it was a permanent replacement, I don't think it was a long-term replacement, was it?
SPEAKER_01:No, it wasn't a success. He went so he he moved to the Roving Reporter because Lamar uh left. So Mart Little took over. He's decent, Mart Little, to be honest. I've watched a couple episodes with him, he is good. I think he's like he's a I I won't I won't say he's a safe pair of hands because that's not doing him justice. He's got he is a funny guy.
SPEAKER_02:I think he worth it's he's got the sort of quick wit and he he can deal with things changing in the moment. I think he Yeah Yeah, of of the sort of between Evans and Vaughn, he's he's probably the best of the ones who made it. Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Gabby left after soon after that, and Zoe Ball came in, which I don't remember Zoe Ball at all presenting big great first.
SPEAKER_02:No, I I do remember um Joe Mangle presenting it, but not with Zoe Ball.
SPEAKER_01:Well Joe Mangle didn't get on with Zoe Ball uh and he quit, apparently. That's that I mean they've never actually come out, but that's the that were what the tabloids were saying at the time that um he didn't get on with Zoe Ball. So they replaced uh um Mart Little.
SPEAKER_02:You missed out uh Chegwin stint in there, by the way.
SPEAKER_01:This is what he'd they replaced Mart Little with Mr. Keith Chegwin, Keith Cheggers Cheguin, um which I imagine I is that sort of if he did the Roven Reporter thing as well.
SPEAKER_02:He is high energy enough, but I saw like they were quite critical of him. They said he he took himself a bit too serious. I mean they they did say that actually when you get to Life's Too Short that that the last hour of that is some of the funniest TV, and Cheguin is one of the best characters in it.
SPEAKER_01:He should have done it like that.
SPEAKER_02:Realised laughing at himself was was better value. I I don't know. I wasn't watching at the time, but I've heard he took himself a bit too serious in the wrong.
SPEAKER_01:I think he was still struggling, I'll call it this stage, Ernie, as well, in fairness to him. Yeah, possibly, yeah. Yeah, but they got rid of those two Zo ball left, and the ratings were really going down. Not like to the the what they plummet to next, but after that was Rick Adams and Sharon Davis, and they moved house for this, and the ratings for the viewing figures for this went down just an unbelievable amount. I've uh we spoke about this privately. Sharon Davis is appalling, and I I'm not just I don't want to just go in on one person. I liked her when she was swimming, yeah. But um yeah, they plummeted, he's he's a bit too wacky. Rick Adams is alright, but he's a bit too hey, what's going on? Whoa, yeah, but it it's very full.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's forced. Yeah, she's very plain as a presenter. I mean, I think she she was attractive, but I think she's very plain in the way she presents it. And he's trying far too hard to be wacky, it just doesn't work at all. Not not like it's not like ah, they were just a bit ahead of the time. That I don't see that pairing ever working, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01:Reminds me of Chris Chris Wilder and Alan Mill, actually. He's like, way, like he's just stood there. She is she looks really awkward, uh Sharon Davis. Like she's just sort of it's not her gig at all. Like you know, it's not her gig at all.
SPEAKER_02:Olympic athlete, obviously and she does some modelling work as well, but but not a presenter, not not a lot of sort of character, and that's not to say I I never met the woman. May maybe she's full of character, but as a presenter, she was quite sort of wooden. Yeah, the other guy, Rick Rick, go on remember his name. Rick Adams of all of the presenters they tried, to me, he's the one I don't get.
SPEAKER_01:I think he's he's one of those people, Rick Adams, and I imagine most people listening won't remember him at all. If you had to say create an AI 90s TV presenter, you'd probably come up with Rick Adams. It's very like, wait, look at me, I'm doing this now, and oh, and that's it. Do you know what I mean? He's like jigging around and he's not I don't know, he's he I it worked when Chris Evans did it because Chris Evans was he was funny, he was genuinely funny with a good presenter. I'm not saying Rick Adams wasn't, but it just he was too forced. And the fact they put her next to this sort of statue just going, Oh, very funny, Brick. I don't know why she's speaking like that. Um but yeah, do you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, no, I I I don't get it at all. I I think as well they sort of played up to the fact that he's sort of a slightly weasley looking chap, and like one of the cover pictures was her holding him up, like and it yeah, just it it just didn't it didn't have that vibe of like right, I'm I'm here to be funny and and and that's fine maybe if that was gonna be her role and he was gonna play it if they were doing a bit of a role reversal, yeah. But it both are or neither. Both are neither the the front man or the sort of side side partner who chips in with a few geeks, like that yeah, I I don't just doesn't work at all for me.
SPEAKER_01:But the good thing about this period that they only probably saved the show where Denise Van Alten was employed as the weather girl, um and she would like just I mean I've I've only seen a couple of clips of her and stuff, but I think you can tell straight away she's got something about her, and she became the guest presenter when Davis went away, and she was really, really good. Then Sharon left, not because of Denise Van Alton, but Denise Van Alten got the permanent role, and then you you told me this earlier. Do you want to tell the story what happened, Liam, and TV history was made?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so obviously Van Alten seemed to work, she had that sort of cheeky humour. Uh Rick Adams had a two-week holiday. Johnny Vaughan was brought in to cover, and instantly there it just clicked, it just worked. And that that's what's been. Maybe even more so than Evans and Ros Rosalind. This just worked. This is what what they've been aiming for for the whole the whole period of time to get to this.
SPEAKER_01:This got close to the Evans and Rosalind glories, didn't quite get that, but obviously, it's coming back.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm only looking back on it. Personally, it's a lot of people. This is my favourite era.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there was just so much good stuff on it. Vanessa Feltz, by the way, at this point, we're doing the bed stuff. Um, but it were all really about Vaughan and Denise Van Al, and obviously with all the flirting and all this sort of stuff, and and that, but that the best bits about that you could tell that she's really quick witted, uh, and he is as well, but he's very sort of, oh come on, Dan, what's going on? Do you know what I mean? Like, and she's just like she's she gives as good as she's got, uh as he's got, should I say.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, she's she's quite clever in a sense that she plays the sort of dumb blonde, but actually she's kind of more on the ball than anybody else in the room. She she's driving a lot of the gags, and yeah, Johnny Vaughan, naturally, really good presenter, really funny, really good at sort of owning the room and and uh sort of putting out to different people in the room, oh look at this guy, what's he doing over there? Like, and and and yeah, but but Denise Van A.
SPEAKER_01:Really, really quick. When he did sorry, when he did the paper reports and stuff like that, like you could see he's like he's he's he's one of those sort of people uh he's obviously got some sort of hyperactivity. I think you you think he were taking drugs. I don't know if that's true to be fair, but I could see why you'd think that. I never said I never said it. No, but what I think what you were saying basically is because he was so it seemed like it was on cocaine.
SPEAKER_02:I I have no idea if it was or not, but it it was mental, it was just so hyper, it was crazy.
SPEAKER_01:But in the set in the way that Rick Adams seemed like he were trying hard. I you got the feeling that Rick Adams behind closed doors and you could just have a quiet drink with him. I think Vaughan were like that, or probably still is like that.
SPEAKER_02:24-7 views where they've said like that that is Johnny Vaughan and that is Denise Van Alten, and that's why it worked so well is nobody was acting a character. And as we'll come to a bit later on, I feel a bit sorry for Kelly Brooke, but she she was kind of brought into just be the pretty face. I think Denise Van Alten exactly like you say, gave her as good as she got. She was she was she was part of the jokes, she was driving the jokes. And this was the the period when I was watching it, and this was the period when I was like guttered when I had to leave for school and I was trying to pinch an extra couple of minutes. And my mum would be saying, You gotta get going. I'd say, Yeah, I'm just doing something, and I just want to get to the next ad break before I left, basically.
SPEAKER_01:Six weeks older, you used to watch it all. I remember my mate Brendan, like we used to follow him and say, Oh, I see four. We we used to love it, and now that you've mentioned it separately, but we didn't go to the same school. What flicking his cards, so like hyperactive, like when he was like, on his thigh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Anyway, it's used to say stuff like you beauty, do you know what I mean? Like good English beer. Like, I don't know, like just uh there were some really good bits of it as well.
SPEAKER_02:I remember oh British Bulldog Bulldog spoke, and they'd all do like doing something. But it was so over the top, it was ridiculous. Like, but really well done.
SPEAKER_01:This is why I think a lot of people in the comments got a bit confused with it because they are sort of taking the piss out of that, and I think people genuinely thought Johnny Vaughn, oh come on, England till I die. Um but that's a really good multi vicar were brilliant. I used to love uh just the theme tune Fight All Statistics, the dun the d d fight all statistics. And um my favourite bit of the entire show, and I'd always try and stay like before go to school, like to watch this bit, it was the pundown. Remember the pundown?
SPEAKER_02:Ah yeah, I thought you were gonna go to something different there. Yeah, no, pund down was absolutely excellent.
SPEAKER_00:Because every every time someone won it go genius, like just sort of pointing to his head.
SPEAKER_02:Oh no, well that's kind of mixing up then. So what was the what was it? Something or genius, like oh, that's another one, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That was something else that, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um was it was it stupid or genius or idiotic or genius? But you do like a uh like a bullet of truth to the forehead and like jab himself in the head, wasn't he? Like genius, like a golden bullet of truth to the forehead.
SPEAKER_01:Have you ever heard his uh he does a brilliant uh Frank Butcher uh impression? I don't know if you've heard that when he goes honey, honey, honey, honey, pe pet. He's amazing, like bossy. He sounds amazing. They like him.
SPEAKER_00:Honey, honey, honey, pet.
SPEAKER_01:Um obviously, this is where the big breakfast song came in, which they kept till the very end. Wakey, wakey, wakey, rise and shine. The big breakfast is the only way to dine. Come remember one big breaky, get it down your neckie and stick with us from seven until nine. I've just remembered that off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_02:So that's not the Friday song news to finish on, is it? Is that something like that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's the Friday song. Yeah, that's the Friday the Friday song.
SPEAKER_02:Because if you remember we only got to see that in the school holidays because you yeah, you don't well, I can only speak for myself, but I'd have to be at school for nine, so I never got to stay till till the end, unless it was a holiday.
SPEAKER_01:But these two were absolutely huge. I think at one point Johnny Vaughan were probably the the hottest man on UK TV. I really do think he could have probably got I think he was sort of I don't know, I think he could have he did get his own chat show after on BBC and he did Fighting Talk after, by the way, which is one of the best ever radio shows, I think. He invented uh fighting talk.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, it's interesting that you you say it was that big, because I think he was, and I think uh unfortunately that's that's what caused the breakup of the pair because uh Denise Van Auwen, I don't know if you've seen her, I think it's on Loose Women the interview, but she she leaves, and and obviously we don't we don't know why, she's going on to do other things, but basically she found out that she thought they were all one big team, they'd they'd all kind of organise a a pay rise as a percentage for all of them, and and actually Johnny Vaughan and his agent were negotiating independently behind the scenes to try and get him more genius, yeah, like a golden bullet to the head to the head, yeah. But yeah, and and I think he you know he was huge at this point, and he was the selling point. But I do think it's a shame that I I mean I don't know where to draw the line because obviously the crew would be gutted if they found out that they'd gone off, but I think they were the selling that the pair was the selling point. It's a shame they didn't negotiate together, but like I get it.
SPEAKER_01:They were that big, they got a Christmas number three. Remember they didn't talk about it. Uh especially for you. He's wearing like a big wig, isn't he, Johnny Volum? She's a good singer, obviously, anyway. He's not bad. She went on to stage uh Broadway, didn't she? Uh what's interesting in this period, by the way, and you sent me something today which I'd seen before, is amount of people who used to guess for him, like when they were on holiday and stuff, went on to become massive names. Johnny Vegas were one of them, but Peter K presented Big Breakfast with Melanie Sykes, and he he's not very good as a presenter, I don't think. Peter Kay. He's not a big thing. No, and he's not terrible, he's really funny. He's obviously a funny guy and he is quick on it. But he's like reading his notes anyway, and uh, and uh I don't think it's his natural stage.
SPEAKER_02:No, but his interaction is good with hey hey, I'm not laughing now, kid. Hey, what he's laughing him, it's but it's not a funny bit.
SPEAKER_01:He starts and it it it stumbles over his words because look, I'm nervous, and it was oh no, no, not like that. I'm not saying I'm you know, I'm just saying it's but he is good on it. I really enjoyed him on it, but I can see why he never went into this pre-Phoenix nights, by the way. This this were pre-top of the tower, really early. I think he'd already done the Sunday show. Remember him on the Sunday show? No, I don't even know what that is, if I'm honest. Give me an E. Give me an N. N. Give me a tentertainment, put them together. What you got? Entertainment. You were his first thing, and he used to just show old clips and stuff and go, look at him here, Bonza. But at the time, I was like, this guy's unbelievable. When I first started finding PTK really funny, but one uh do you remember uh I Love the 1980s and all that sort of stuff? Yeah, and he were brilliant on that. Do you know the talking heads?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. But again, that was just uh I remember this this bloke used to come on, didn't you? He came on, do you remember? Come on, and he had like big flashing hats on, it was brilliant, weren't it?
SPEAKER_01:Who remembers asbestos? Um but yeah, so but they them two are obviously brilliant. Alton was initially replaced by Jenny McCarthy, which I can see why they did this because she is funny, and she obviously she was really good looking good-looking woman at the time.
SPEAKER_02:Can I just shock you?
SPEAKER_01:Go on.
SPEAKER_02:I think I mean who am I to judge? Like, obviously, she's a she's a Playboy model and and supermodel or whatever.
SPEAKER_01:I I think I can do better.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I never found her attractive in real life. Like I in FHM photo shoots, like I used to think, oh wow, she's amazing. When she was sort of moving around and being a bit zany and a bit wacky, I'm very loud. Never really saw it. I found her a bit irritating.
SPEAKER_01:When I were watching some of the episodes about with Jeremy McCarthy, at first I was like, Oh, she's way too much.
SPEAKER_00:Because she's like, Oh my god, Johnny! Like shouting in his face and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02:But like her expression over the top, and like everything about her, like her face, she's like a spitting image puppet, like never stops moving and over-exaggerating.
SPEAKER_00:Like, yeah, like I say, I you know, but I do think those two were what I think.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I weren't that impressed by Jenny McCarthy, if I'm honest. I think out of all the people they tried to get to replace her, we're gonna come on to one, but she didn't do bad, Jenny McCarthy. I don't know if it could have worked full-time because I think her and Vaughan are both too hyperactive, if you know what I mean. Like, I don't know if that's what works.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you you you can't have it's it's almost too much energy, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01:Like it doesn't work. But there were some really risky jokes when I'm watching these episodes back, like about sort of I can't remember exactly what they were. Getting a bit like Webbdings in Uendos, to be fair. Just like sort of really but it's 7am in the morning, do you know what I mean? I'm watching this, you're watching this as a kid and stuff, but then she was only there for a short while. I don't think this, I don't think she got sacked or anything. I think obviously other commitments, and she was replaced by Kelly Brooke. But like you said, it it's certainly in hindsight. I feel so sorry for Kelly Brooke.
SPEAKER_02:Apparently, by the way, there was some sort of online petition to get Lisa Tarbook. I don't know who generated that or something.
SPEAKER_01:Well, Lisa Tarbrook were another guess, weren't she?
SPEAKER_02:When they went away, she did a guess one, so yeah, apparently, but they decided to go with Kelly Brooke because obviously she looks like Kelly Brooke. Like, yeah, she was stunning. And and and that is true, by the way.
SPEAKER_01:That's not just I mean, I'm not saying she's she's obviously she'd been miles better now. She's a 19-year-old kid at the time. I think she does a decent job considering everything. She's following on from Denise Van Outer and Jenny McCarthy, two really big personalities. What a unbelievably difficult job. And everyone's saying, as we just have, uh you know, she's there because she's you know she's good looking and stuff. Really difficult job, but it just it didn't work.
SPEAKER_02:I think she's I don't know what's I mean, I must admit, yeah, I'm I was quite happy watching it, but it but it it didn't have that sort of she didn't have that spark. And and that's not to say that she she couldn't have got that, but but like you say, it's 19 year old.
SPEAKER_01:She looks like a young kid, isn't it? When I look back at it now, and obviously at the time we'd have been younger than her, I would have thought, but when I look back at her now, those episodes works in a certain way, like doesn't we we were we're younger than her now, and we would have been younger than her then, yeah. So we hadn't jumped a couple of years, but I didn't I didn't catch this at the time, I just thought, well, she's not as funny as Denise. But when you look back, I think she seems really nervous. She does a lot of things.
SPEAKER_02:She's not painfully unfunny, she's not, she's not at all. It's much more scripted and it's much more one of the documentaries I watched about this that said she looks like and I completely get this because this would have been me. That that sort of slightly nervous kid who's been told to stand up and read out loud in English class.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And it's you know, they're they're saying all the right words, but but there's no feeling behind it, it's just these are the words I have to say right now. And I I think she did as good a job as as any 19-year-old girl could have could have come in and done.
SPEAKER_01:And I think Vaughn it it hampers Vaughan because Vaughn obviously she she is so young, and Vaughan he obviously it's not just innuendos and stuff, he'd it'd like set Denise Van out of notes. Is that that I've seen that scene, I don't know if you've seen it where he gets her to read out. It's a really shit joke, but he can't believe she's fallen for it because Mr. Peanus has won this competition. I don't think you get away with doing that to Kelly Brook.
SPEAKER_02:It's felt more awkward, didn't it? The the age gap was bigger, the flirting it was no longer about the chemistry as such, it was about I've got this really pretty girl next to me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it were all the it was Johnny Vaughan show, it became the Johnny Vaughan show and she was just sort of there.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think like we've said, and I and I hope we've sort of been fair in that, in that you know, a 30-year-old Kelly Brook, I think might have been very different, more relaxed, held her own. I think it it's the age thing that doesn't sit well, I think.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know why they thought that were a good replacement. I suppose they had it for now. Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I was watching it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but she was eventually replaced six only six months in, actually, by in my opinion, the second best presenter. Well, the second best pairing, even better than Evans and Rosalind, which were Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Talbrook. Lisa Talbrook is absolutely fantastic. It's Lisa, not Lisa, but yeah, Lisa woke.
SPEAKER_02:I I think she's one of the funniest people in the world. I know um do you know Alex Swan from Taskmaster? He was asked about his I think it was his favourite guest, and he said Lisa Talbrook just brought a completely different take on things. I think she's she's fantastic on this, absolutely fantastic. She's so funny. She's got I mean, apparently they were good mates before it. I I know people would say, Oh, yeah, but she's not stunning like some of the other ones.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, I remember at school, I remember at school people saying, and this is horrible, but this is what you know, young lads at school, not me, not me personally, because I really I've always liked Lisa Tarbutt, Lisa Talbot, sorry, I don't even know her name, and um, but people saying, I'm not watching that, no, we've got rid of Kelly Brook and got her in and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02:So it obviously didn't go down well with the Yeah, but I think that I think that's such a shame because yeah, all right, they maybe sort of lost that glamour model image, but she you know, she's still she's not unattractive, and she she was so funny, and and like such a good sense of humour as well.
SPEAKER_00:Like that I said to you, like almost like a Sid James laugh, like a yeah, she too's a lot like a bit like Vaughan himself.
SPEAKER_02:But their chemistry, actually, like you know, for all the people who said, Oh yeah, she's not as fit as Kelly Brooke, but actually that the kind of sort of chemistry worked better with Johnny Vaughan and her than it did with Johnny Vaughan and Kelly Brook.
SPEAKER_01:And I got the feeling Johnny Vaughan and Lee Lisa Talbot were possibly better mates than Johnny Vaughan and Denise and Out and behind.
SPEAKER_02:I think so, yeah. I think they were they were mates before any of this, and I think yeah, this this did now feel like the chemistry was back, and and yeah, I but then she left. She left really early. I don't know why. I don't know whether that was again because of some of the people sort of well, where's Kelly Brook in the morning?
SPEAKER_01:Like they set themselves up in a weird way with Kelly, but I think they thought because Denise Van Alton were attractive, oh, we need someone else, you know, attractive. I think they they get she comes back actually in a bit, but they got Lisa Rogers in for a few episodes. Obviously, she were doing a lot of photo shoots and stuff at the time. They they lost, they didn't need that, they could have just got Lisa Tarbuck in, and that would have been the best replacement.
SPEAKER_02:Lisa Tarbook and Johnny Vaughan could could have had a really good run at this. I don't know why she left, but I think, yeah, that to me, I agree. I think Van Out and Vaughn probably the golden era, but but yeah, this wasn't far behind it. Uh I loved watching this in the morning. I thought it was genuinely laugh out loud, funny again.
SPEAKER_01:And I think they did lose the weight, they thought they needed a glam. I mean, uh Gabby Roslin wasn't like we said before at the start, she weren't wearing like sort of skimpy outfits and stuff like that. I don't think anyone tuned in to oh let's have a look at Roslyn. Oh, do you imagine him doing that, Johnny Vaughan?
SPEAKER_02:Ho ho! Well they do, uh mutton chops. Like if it were like old-fashioned English, when it was chops, it's got his mutton chops.
SPEAKER_01:Uh but no one but I think they lost weight just because like Denise Van Alton were obviously doing a lot of uh um FHM shoots and stuff like that at this point. They thought, oh, we need a sexy woman. They didn't need they didn't need that, and they even made that mistake after. So Denise Van Alton comes back for the last six months of Johnny's contract because Johnny, like I say, probably the biggest star in England, like in terms of presenting at that point, like he's certainly up there, uh certainly like the up-and-coming star. And then they replaced the entire thing again, so they leave both together after six months, and this just doesn't work at all. It's it's uh got a um what's his name? Paul Tompkinson.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I always think it's Tompkinson, but it's Tomkinson. Tomkinson?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So he's Paul Tompkinson, Amanda Byron, and Don Area. And again, I think they've got Amanda Byron and Donarera in because I'm not saying they're bad presenters or anything like that, but again, Don Rare again, we're doing you know FHM and stuff like that. This is so awkward from the moment they they come on.
SPEAKER_02:It's such a weird decision because that the the format worked and it had been proven, and they went away from that. They went to three presenters, a different location, slightly different format. I mean Paul Tomkinson blows my mind that uh that he's not like an early robot or something, because it it his head and I'm assuming this is common knowledge by the way. I know we talk about this a lot, but I think everybody must say the same. His head's sort of constantly wobbling side to side, like as if it's yeah, sort of I can't describe it. I'm just commanders, I'm doing it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's a really bizarre sort of um I'm like I say, this is not like sort of going in on him like uh his attractiveness or anything, it's just the way it is gay, it's just so weird. It's just sort of he's always wobbling around like doing like a lot of things.
SPEAKER_02:It looks like you're sort of in the firing line, don't you? And somebody said, like, you've you fat we've got you you've got your family, Paul. You need to do a good presentation today, or they've had it. Like, and he's trying so so hard.
SPEAKER_01:And I used to watch Port Hawkinson on uh MTV I found it really funny though it were like a full man and stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, pretty good, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Just doesn't work on this. Amanda Byron, I don't remember anything about other than she were Irish. And Donna Air I mean Donna was she even a presenter? I thought she was an actress, Donna Air.
SPEAKER_02:No, I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know what that fucking is.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know if I'm honest. I'd I yeah, I don't I don't know background. The only thing I know about Donna Air and I think Carl Pilkinson said it and was ridiculed for it and it turned out to be true was that she gave a newborn baby to a gorilla to look after for a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:No, isn't she?
SPEAKER_02:I think so. I think she uh she worked at a zoo or something and or or her dad owned a zoo or something something where she gave a baby to a gorilla to hold or walk away with something, and everyone said, Yeah. And she said, Well, these are my friends. I don't know how to do it.
SPEAKER_01:You could have done your Geordie accent then.
SPEAKER_02:I'm I'm giving my beard a bit a gorilla man unbelievable.
SPEAKER_01:Uh but yeah, she wasn't back around, then she uh it was in the gorilla. Yeah, then she that would she did a bit of MTV, but that would basically her first uh presenting uh she went in the mummy. The mummy returns and the mummy.
SPEAKER_02:I'm in a film uh a mummy man.
SPEAKER_01:I'm doing the mummy, but yeah, this just does not work, and by the by the end of the year, I mean they got rid of Tomkin Tompkinson, they brought in uh Richard Bacon just to do it with Amanda Byron. I think Donna Right were doing the sled bit or whatever she was doing, or maybe on the bed, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Uh by the way, the the failing is not on them, is it? No, no, no, they got this wrong, they just revamped it and got it wrong.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, they got it wrong. But you know what's really frustrating is it got cancelled, and then they got Lisa Rogers in with Richard Bacon, they were the final two presenters, and it started getting really popular again, but they'd already made the decision to cancel it.
SPEAKER_02:And well, and they'd gone absolutely back to the back to the wacky, yeah. Yeah, but but the the male and female, the Vaughan and uh Van Outen, the Evans and Roslyn, they'd got they'd gone back to that feel again, and uh yeah, it started to kind of work again.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and that is what's so frustrating because I've watched I've watched Lisa Rogers with Johnny Vaughan and I think one of her first guests present in sports, and she a bit like uh Kelly Brooks, you're a bit shy and stuff. Then I watch her like in a final episode, and she's genuinely really funny, like a bit wacky and a bit mad and all this sort of stuff, and it works again, but they've already got rid of it by this point, and I find it I could understand why they got rid of it if you think there's something better to come along, but there wasn't. I mean, interestingly, I don't know if you saw this, but at this time, and uh an episode film was filmed for a new breakfast show, a pilot episode with Chris Moyles. Um, but Chris Moyes said he weren't bothered because it was just that boring, and that became Rise. If not if you remember Rise that replaced it, which was shocking.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But what we're interested about this is That's another one, aren't it?
SPEAKER_02:Where they they never quite figured out what they wanted to do with that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, they start the first the first intro the intro to Rise, the first episode. The presenter whose name I forgot, really sort of straight-laced character said, You won't be finding whooping crowds, you won't be finding the you're basically saying it's completely opposite. You're basically saying this is gonna be really boring, uh shrap here. Although Colin Murray, Colin Murray's on it who would do really lie, but don't really blend itself to his best work neither. But the the one that we're gonna do with Chris Miles, uh, Andy Goldstein were gonna do links for it. Imagine Andy Goldstein. Well, yeah, well, come on, what about what about Man United? What Man United doing all this? Listen, Jayce, Joyce, Man United, Man United, what about Men United? Um but yeah, so that were eventually uh replaced by Rise, which were an absolute sort of failure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean that I was aware of it, I didn't watch it.
SPEAKER_01:And then that were replaced by repeats of Everyone Loves Raymond and Fraser.
SPEAKER_02:Which to be fair, it was another golden era TV, wasn't it? Morning repeats everyone loves Raymond and Fraser was gets a lot of stick, everyone loves Raymond, I think. I don't think it's no, it was it was great early morning watching.
SPEAKER_01:I think it's one of those sitcoms. I don't get enough uh credit for this, everyone loves Raymond. It's not a lot of American sitcoms, especially family ones, it's they're they're really soppy, aren't they, to some degree? Like, oh my god, it's not all he's he's an absolute wanker, innit, Raymond. Like to be fair, most of them are, aren't they?
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, she hates his mum, his mum hates her, his dad hates everyone. You don't like his brother, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's like his brother's a massive liar. I saw one a couple of days ago where he's uh uh she goes, uh uh is I don't know, he's with this woman, and it's like he's told Raymond, he's giving some like really nice advice to Raymond. This woman goes, No wonder you're a doctor. I mean, like looks like really nice. I I will fucking die on the on the hill that everyone loves Raymond as a really good sitcom.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, no, I genuinely I I'm with you. I I I think your dad still watches it most days today.
SPEAKER_01:My dad fucking loves it. I saw him a few well, I can't remember when it was, but he was looking at some uh I was like what you're watching, and he was saying, Oh, well, everyone loves Raymond cast, where are they now? Absolutely loves them. But there were loads of that sort of stuff to be fair. Uh on channel 4, they're like Will and Grace, they're all American sitcoms, Cheers, obviously, that were on quite a lot, uh, replacing it.
SPEAKER_02:But they never Frasier though was a perfect sparlier than scramble, dude. Yeah, because I think Frasier they put a lot of sort of younger people off when they said it's like the thinking man's comedy, and you never thought he'd be the one from Cheers, but I think actually when you revisit it a little bit later, yeah it's absolutely brilliant.
SPEAKER_01:I never liked it as a kid because it were too probably too well, I said too eyebrow, but I was just like, oh, it's a bit boring, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02:No, but I say I think you thought it was boring, but it's actually quite wacky, like it's it's it's really good, actually.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, but they never, yeah, they never got another uh breakfast show ever again.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I told you they tried it as a side.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no, no, that's what I mean, yeah. But from March March 2002, the last episode, and then it came back, as you said, in 2021, but only on weekends.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and from what I can gather, and I wasn't aware of this, and obviously that everything's changed, people don't necessarily watch terrestrial TV. I I wasn't aware of this. I've seen some clips and I've seen some reviews of it. It seems like actually they did a pretty good job of going back to what it was, but it just didn't have the audience. People had changed how they were watching TV by this point.
SPEAKER_01:Mo, Mo Gilligan and AJ uh adudu is there. Yeah, um, and like I had the same as you, I watched a couple of them. They had uh Russo and Tooney on one of them doing things, and it were genuinely funny. It were like one of the and I've seen Johnny Vaughan like say, he was I thought it was fucking brilliant. Because uh I I thought that because considering they only had a couple of episodes to get it right, because they they absolutely nailed it, and it would cancell.
SPEAKER_02:But they went back to the the format, didn't they?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, same house, I think. Oh really? Didn't that all? I think it was the same house, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But they went back to two funny people, she's quite cheeky. It the the chemistry worked again, and I think that's it's frustrating because I think this feels like a show that it should almost be like Last of the Summer Wine that it just runs on forever because the news changes every day. Like I get that the presenters every couple of years need rotating, but if you get that chemistry right, this this should be a staple watch. And I'd say particularly now that radio shows like TalkSport are going towards YouTube channels. It feels like this this could be a radio show that's shown on YouTube that that we should have had.
SPEAKER_01:Do you think if it came back, would you want new presenters? I didn't I think it'd be a mistake to get Johnny Vaughan back, for instance, and just try and relive the glory of the show.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, no, no, you couldn't revamp. I mean I I d I don't know whether the sort of the the attempt in 21, 22, whenever that was could you give them another shot? Maybe. I don't think you could go back to the tarbock van Out and Johnny Vaughn. No, you possibly could go back a couple of years, but but not right back to the glory days, no. I won't say I mean I think if they did it now, I I'm almost certain Rylan would do it now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, this is the thing.
SPEAKER_02:I can imagine Rylan and oh go on uh never mind I'll find another you she's probably too famous. Yeah, I can imagine Rylan and Adele that they're getting Adele for Big Breakfast. Yeah, no, I think I think that's it.
SPEAKER_00:I think she might I think she'd enjoy it though. Oh I was watching my side in papers.
SPEAKER_01:You think she'd be silent? Yeah, Shell up, wow, Jesus laughs a bit like Sid James as well done at Adele. In fact, I think that's probably what they should do. Get get those guys to be. If they manage to get Adele for the Big Breakfast, I will fucking pay you£1,000 in hard cash because that there's no way Adele's doing the big breakfast with Rylan as well. I think Rylan would be up for it though. I mean you you you have to look at how much uh this morning struggled um to to replace uh Richard Mayle and uh I need Richard Mayland and Denise Van Alton, that'd be amazing, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_02:I'd like to say, do you know what would be interesting? To do uh the Jonathan Ross brothers. So they get Jonathan Ross and Paul Ross.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, have they ever done anything together?
SPEAKER_02:First time live on your TV, the Jonathan Ross brothers. I'd watch it and Paul Ross, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Like I say, I think if they brought it back, it it might be better if it's a couple of unknowns. Like I say, these two I only watched a bit of a thingy, but the the the two did it, it was I've I've got the names now off the top of my head. Uh AJ and they seem like they did a really uh hand. Yeah, no. Um they seem to like to do a really good job uh at it, so maybe they should bring them back.
SPEAKER_02:But I don't know if they've kind of gone on to other stuff, don't I? Maybe they wouldn't want it. Maybe you'd have to grab up and comers to to have a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01:I'm like you say it's difficult nowadays in in this day and age. I don't watch TV at all. At all. Like I mean, uh Mitchell and Web got a new sketch show out, and I really like Mitchell and Webb. I've watched two I just I haven't watched it. I watched two episodes, and then I'm like, I've got to go through adverts on channel four, uh what's it, four OD. I can't be bothered, I'm just gonna go on YouTube and watch Big Breakfast from 1998.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I and actually I suppose the irony is would the best thing they could do is just to re-show the old ones on channel four in the morning.
SPEAKER_01:That'd be a great idea, though. I mean uh there must be well, I know this you've got vintage TV and stuff. I would absolutely watch a TV channel that just I mean they obviously they do do this. I don't know there's uh oh what's it called? There's obviously UK Gold and stuff, and there's another one's names escapes me at the moment. They play like old Hale and Pace and Harry Enfield and all that. I think it'd be amazing just to watch like I don't know, like just normal shows from back in the day, TVAM or um what was that other one? Uh not Penny Level. What were it called? Pebble Pebble Mill. Remember Pebble Mill?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. This morning you could rerun all this morning's, couldn't you?
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. They'd stand up now, I think. Yeah, yeah. Get it on. That's that's that's what I think you should do. Rightly um, really thank thanks to Tyrone for that because um I I love genuine.
SPEAKER_02:Spoiler alert, it might be joining us for something as well.
SPEAKER_01:Might be joining it, yeah. We've got we've got some plans in place. He might be joining us very soon. Um if you want any episodes yourself, obviously give us a drop us a line. If we haven't done yours yet, it is on the list. We're just thinking of a way out to yeah, but you probably start to remind us in case we've forgotten. Yeah, because I forgot about this one that Tyrone messaged us with. We've tried to space about it as well. We don't want to like do two or three music in a row, then two or three sports in a row and all that. So we haven't done TV since Sopranos, I don't think. So it's obviously natural follow-up, innit? Sopranos and Big Breakfast.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to think of any connection. Um both uh the the wrong side of the law.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's it. We'll leave it at it. Right, yeah. See you later, Liam. Bye. Good night. Thank you for listening to Who Remembers. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us at Whoremembers Pod at Outlook.com. If you are a right wing fascist, you can find us on Twitter at Who Remembers Pod. Or if you're a wokener, you can find us on Blue Sky at Who Remembers Pod. Once again, thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time for more remembering.