Friday People

The unstoppable rise of social media, paired with the bloated growth of British television to just shy of three million channels, has meant celebrities are now ten a penny. Once upon a time, celebrities were rare creatures, glimpsed only by the lucky few, radiating a star power that approached the divine. And it took talent to be a celebrity, not merely a willingness to humiliate yourself in public for a pittance of retweets or the crumbs of a YouTube revenue payout.

Simpler times, us elders lament, as we pour scorn on this modern obsession with celebrity. Yet the truth is, when youth was on our side, we were just as guilty. We too dreamed of this glittering prize, of fame poured down our parched throats like the first sip of a Pimm's on a blistering summer’s day. And while we may not have had social media, we were just as ravenous as today's masses when it came to devouring every last tidbit about our idols. To prove this point, let's head back in time to 1985 for a peep at Friday People.

Friday People was an entertainment magazine show helmed by Mike Smith and broadcast by BBC1 on, you won't be surprised to hear, a Friday. The 'people' at the heart of the title were, of course, the celebrites of the day. Friday People promised, as Smith told us in the first episode, to bring the celebrity-obsessed citizens of Great Britain all the gossip from the entertainment world. But what exactly did this look like in 1985?

Well, for starters, there was the Friday People set which housed Mike Smith and his occasional star guests. All electric and pastel pinks, it may not quite be Elmo's wine bar from Brush Strokes, but it certainly encaptures the garish trappings of the decades most cliche colour schemes. Smith refers mockingly to the set, at one point, as the "pink palace." Yet look closely throughout the series, and you'll notice how Smith regularly co-ordinates his outfits with the lurid set.

Fashion aside, Smith makes for an ideal host of Friday People, matching the rather triflesome event of celebrity gossip with a wry smile and a constant stream of witty remarks. It's a jovial performance, one steered by Smith's trademark steady hand to keep proceedings on course. Take note, modern day presenters, not once does Smith start screeching like an over-caffeinated baboon or conjure up adsurd levels of hysteria over the most trivial happening. This is how professionals did it back in the day.

Celebrity is a broad church, and Friday People invites viewers to worship at its eclectic altar. There's a behind-the-scenes peek at A Chorus Line, featuring interviews with Richard Attenborough and Michael Douglas. It’s 1985, so naturally, there’s a look at shiny, new soap EastEnders, with stars like Wendy Richard doing immersive "research" in launderettes. Angela Rippon, meanwhile, reflects on her time reporting for Boston's WNEV-TV, where one local helpfully observes that she has "very nice legs."

Sarah Greene is a regular roving reporter for Friday People and this finds her shadowing Joan Collins as she travels around London, dining with Michael Brandon to dissect Dempsey and Makepeace and spending a day in the company of Julie Walters. The quirkiest entry? Alvin Stardust squeezing in an interview with the ever-electric Little Richard at the Hilton. Mind you, Lorraine Chase heading over to "Arrods" to check out their New Year sale, where she tries on a £30,000 fur coat (down from £60k), is probably a close second.

There's also a healthy dollop of celebrity news and gossip. Boy George's hairdresser, Simon Forbes, recounts a tale involving the Culture Club frontman wolfing down two pizzas in front of his manager, shortly after he recommends exercise to the Karma Chameleon. Ronnie Corbett pops into the Friday People studio to discuss schedule changes at the BBC, all whilst dropping classsic Two Ronnies gags into the mix. A myriad of celebrities are also posed quick-fire questions, which leads to John Inman claiming Rula Lenska to be his ideal date.

Now, I may sound like a man wildly out of touch, but modern celebrities just lack that little bit of magic their predecessors had. Overexposure has certainly dimmed their mystique. That’s not to knock modern talent; some are as skilled as those from the past. But a 2025 reboot of Friday People would be clogged with the likes of LadBaby, Joey Essex (still a thing?) and reality-TV Mollies. I'm not punching down - those names likely earn more in a minute than I have all year - but the glamourous sparkle of yesteryear feels ever more distant.

Friday People aired a single 18-episode series in the 5:30 pm slot, hitting around 5 million viewers per episode, enough to just scrape into the weekly top 100. For comparison, Rainbow was regularly hitting 7 million viewers. A follow up series, in the Autumn, was on the cards, but Michael Grade eventually nixed this citing funding issues. More cynical insiders, suspected Friday People was cancelled to allow Wogan greater access to star guests, but the truth behind this is lost in the misty depths of 40 year old TV politics.

Friday People isn't Breaking Bad, so it's not something to binge watch. I've digested three episodes in quick succession and it's not built to be consumed in that manner. Still, I'll dip in again. They're so packed full of contemporary detail about celebrity culture, it's as if you're spending a night in Soho House in 1985. And who wouldn't want that?