Eurotrash (TV series)

British television series on Channel 4

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. It ran for 16 series (134 episodes, plus 11 specials) until 2004, making it one of the UK's longest running late night entertainment shows. 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. Channel 4's slot average for Eurotrash's broadcast time was around 900,000 viewers, making the show an important hit for the channel at the time.

The show was conceived in Paris for London based Rapido Television by producer and director Peter Stuart, son of American film director Mel Stuart. Rapido Television makes over 100 programme titles, mostly for Channel 4, and was 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. 2016 saw Gaultier's return as co host for the one off special. 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. 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 compilation episodes under the title Eurotrash: The Sexy Bits. These included new voiceovers from original narrator Maria McErlane. A one off special aired on 17 June 2016 to coincide with the UK's referendum on European Union membership. The entire series was released on DVD in 2022 by Network Distributing Ltd in a 20 disc box set. The set went out of print after Network went into administration in June 2023.

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