Eurotrash (TV series)

Eurotrash is a 30-minute magazine-format programme in English, presented by Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier and produced by Rapido Television. It was shown in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland on Channel 4 from 24 September 1993 and was a late-night comical review of unusual topics mainly from Western and Central Europe; though, despite the title, also around the world. The show averaged around a 20 percent audience share, pulling in around 2–3 million viewers each week, making it the most popular entertainment show on the channel.[2] Channel 4's slot average for Eurotrash's broadcast time is around 900,000 viewers, making the show an important hit for the channel at the time.[3]

Eurotrash
Created byPeter Stuart
Presented byAntoine de Caunes
Jean-Paul Gaultier (1993–1997)
Guest presenters
StarringVictoria Silvstedt
Eddy Wally
Graham Norton (series 9)
Carla Bruni
Melinda Messenger (1997–1998)
Voices ofDavina McCall (series 1)
Kate Robbins
Johnny Daukes
Narrated byMaria McErlane
Opening themeSaint Tropez by Bridget Bardot
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series16
No. of episodes153[1]
Production
Running time30–60 minutes
Production companyRapido Television
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Original releaseOriginal series:
24 September 1993 (1993-09-24) – 2004
EU Referendum special:
17 June 2016 (2016-06-17)
Chronology
Related showsRapido
Eurotrash: The Sexy Bits
External links
Website

It ran for 16 series (over 160 episodes) until 2007, making it one of the UK's longest running late-night entertainment shows. Channel 4 infrequently re-runs the series and repeats can be found on the Comedy Central Extra, Real Lives and on 3e and Comedy Central Extra in Ireland. Series 1 is also now available on All 4.

All intellectual property rights to the series are now controlled by the production company, Rapido Television.[4]

A one-off special aired on 17 June 2016 to coincide with the UK's referendum on European Union membership.[5][6][7]

History

The show was conceived in Paris for London-based Rapido Television by producer and director Peter Stuart, son of American film director Mel Stuart.[8] Rapido Television makes over 100 programme titles, mostly for Channel 4, and was originally launched with backing by Richard Branson. The first Eurotrash series were presented by Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier, with narrative voiceovers by British comic actress Maria McErlane. Gaultier left at the end of series 7 and de Caunes then co-presented with a range of guest presenters for the remainder of the run.

A number of features and stars survived from series one, including Pipi and Popo, two cardboard giraffes made from toilet paper tubes, and the Belgian singer Eddy Wally. Victoria Silvstedt was a semi-regular during 2003, often appearing in the studio with de Caunes to present the Naked Germans of the Week feature. Graham Norton featured as a roving reporter in series 9, Carla Bruni also appeared.[9][10][11] Melinda Messenger appeared in the last series as a "roving reporter", always wearing a Union Jack minidress and big red boots.

In 2009, digital channel Living TV began airing a series of new compilation episodes under the title Eurotrash: The Sexy Bits. These included new voiceovers from original narrator Maria McErlane.

Content

Despite being a big budget show (around £400,000 per hour to make) the programme was surreal and had a deliberate low budget feel. Bright colourful pop-art studio backgrounds used to be built full size, but in later years chromakey was used with model shots, adding to the comical 'trashy' feel. Studio material was shot in Paris. Topics covered included rabbit show jumping, singing dogs, 'nude cleaning services', magicians, porn stars (such as Lolo Ferrari) and Europe's very worst (but usually popular in their host country) bands and singers.

The series was voiced by Maria McErlane (who had also appeared in The Fast Show, a sketch show famous for its 'channel 9' segments, a spoof of European TV channels). Davina McCall provided English voice translations in series 1. In later years Kate Robbins provided voiceovers for the strange continental "stars", which she performed in Yorkshire and other British regional accents and similar quirky anglicised effects. Johnny Daukes, former singer and writer with the indie Band FIN in the 1990s, provided male voices in a similar fashion throughout the series.

One issue had an obituary of Lolo Ferrari which was produced and broadcast with a straight voiceover as a mark of respect, which stood out from the usual comic tone of the programme.

Episodes

UK series
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes[12][13]
124 September 199329 October 19936
228 April 199413 May 19946
314 October 199418 November 1994[14]6
412 May 199516 June 1995[15]6
517 November 199529 December 19957
612 April 199617 May 19966
713 September 1996[16]18 October 19966
89 May 1997[17]27 June 1997[18]8
99 January 1998[19]20 February 19988
1025 September 199818 December 19988
118 January 199919999
1224 September 1999[20]24 May 200117
137 July 2000[21]7 September 200010[22]
1429 March 2001[23]7 June 200110
158 August 2002December 20029
1612 August 2004December 200412

Specials
Title Air date
Christmas Special(s) 24 December 1994
22 December 1995
24 December 1997
December 1999
A Song for Eurotrash 12 May 1998
Euroballs '98 16 June 1998
Eurotrash - New Year Special 31 December 1998
Eurotrash's Big Bang 31 December 1999
Eurotrash - Olympic Special 22 September 2000
Euroballs 2000 2000
Unzipped 19 November 2001
Eurotrash EU Referendum Special 17 June 2016[24]

A Song for Eurotrash

A Song for Eurotrash was a spin-off of Eurotrash broadcast for the first time on 12 May 1998. It was accompanied by an album with the same title containing the following tracks mostly covers of successful songs to mark the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 being held in the UK, plus a title track "A Song for Eurotrash" written for the programme:

Tracklist[25]
  1. Brigitte Bardot – "Saint Tropez" (written by Francis Lai) (1:13)
  2. Kenickie – "Save Your Kisses for Me" (written by Martin Lee, original by Brotherhood of Man) (3:22)
  3. Dubstar feat. Sacha Distel – "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (written by Serge Gainsbourg, original by France Gall) 3:10)
  4. Edwyn Collins – "Ding-a-dong" (original by Teach-In) (2:38)
  5. Saint Etienne – "La, la, la" (written by Ramón Arcusa, original by Massiel) (3:18)
  6. Dean Martin – "Volare" (written by Franco Migliacci, Domenico Modugno, Mitchell Parish, originally by Domenico Modugno) (2:59)
  7. Terry Hall and Sinead O'Conner – "All Kinds of Everything" (written by Derry Lindsay, Jackie Ward Smith - original by Dana) (2:43)
  8. Shane MacGowan and The Popes – "What's Another Year" (written by Shay Healy, original by Johnny Logan) (4:01)
  9. Éva Henger – "Ooh Yeah" (written by Shaun Imrei / Peter Stuart) (03:22)
  10. Fox Force 5 – "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (written by Nurit Hirsh and Ehud Manor, originally by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta) (02:58)
  11. Annie Christian – "Congratulations" (written by Phil Coulter / Bill Martin, original by Cliff Richard (4:02)
  12. Bananarama – "Waterloo" (written by Stig Anderson / Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus, original by ABBA) (3:04)
  13. 808 State – Variations on "Te Deum" (Eurovision Theme) (5:00)
  14. Kate Robbins – "A Song for Eurotrash" (written by Peter Stuart) (3:37)

References
  1. "Archive / Clip Licensing". Rapido Television. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  2. Source: Rapido TV website, accessed 16 May 2014 (link)
  3. Jasper Rees (15 May 1999). "Television Review - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  4. "Welcome to Rapido Television - The Home Of Eurotrash". Rapidotelevision.com. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  5. Jones, Paul (17 June 2016). "Eurotrash Referendum special review: Antoine de Caunes and Jean Paul Gaultier have still got it - whatever the hell 'it' is". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  6. Christopher Hooton (10 May 2016). "Eurotrash returning to Channel 4 to settle EU referendum: 'For which side is anyone's guess'". The Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  7. Hannah Ellis-Petersen. "Eurotrash is back for one night only on the eve of the EU referendum". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  8. Lobrano, Alexander (21 January 1994). "France's 'Eurotrash' - Cross-Channel Humor". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  9. James Rampton (17 February 1996). "Contentious? Moi? - Life & Style". The Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  10. "Steeckler for accuracy". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  11. Serena Mackesy (3 May 1997). "Sads, mads and le lad - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  12. "Eurotrash - UK Series 1". Rapido Television. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  13. "Eurotrash: Complete Episode List". TheTVDB. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  14. "Eurotrash[18/11/94] (1994)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  15. "Eurotrash[16/06/95] (1995)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  16. "Eurotrash[13/09/96] (1996)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  17. "Sads, mads and le lad". 2 May 1997. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  18. "Eurotrash[27/06/97] (1997)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  19. "Eurotrash[09/01/98) (1998)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  20. "Eurotrash[24/09/99] (1999)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  21. "Eurotrash[07/07/2000] (2000)". BFI. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  22. The time newspaper Channel 4 Channel 5. The Times (London, England), Friday, 7 July 2000; pg.
  23. "The Observer Profile: Antoine de Caunes - Interviews - guardian.co.uk Film". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  24. "Eurotrash returns to Channel 4 - Channel 4 - Info - Press". Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  25. https://www.discogs.com/Various-A-Song-For-Eurotrash/release/946422
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