Friends Like These

Two groups of friends compete in a series of one v's one tasks to win points for their teams. The team with the greatest points then goes into the final round where they are tested on how well they know each other by answering questions about each other. Those that get it right can go on a group holiday while those that don't can't. The final round allows the winners to gamble on one question to get those team members who lost to get on the holiday as well.

This has been presented by several people over the series, Ant & Dec were probably the best as they had plenty of charisma and seemed to enjoy themselves quite well. However Ian Wright is probably not up to the job - he feels likes a lad from the pub, this style suits a free flowing format (like his "Wright & Bright" show on Radio 5), but here his lack of ability as a host shows through. He doesn't really have the voice or the talent to carry this show.

The games that the contestants play are interesting and varied enough to test a range of skills but ultimately they get repeated every other week. The contestants themselves are mainly young groups of clubber style people, who get excited about anything that happens and help to inject a bit of excitement into the hole that Wright creates, but often it's hard to care if they win or lose.

Overall a ok bit of Saturday night TV - loud and inoffensive while you get ready to go out. But why do we have to have lame TV on a Saturday?

Friends Like These was a BBC game show that broadcast for about four years, and has an extremely simple premise to make it up. The show was produced on a low budget, but it didn't mean that it could be lots of fun, too. Being created by David Young (Weakest Link, Eggheads, most of 12 Yard's earlier productions, etc.) you know what it's like.

Two teams of young adult-aged friends, five girls and five boys; battle it out in a test of wits in various challenges i.e. Minigames, of which four appear in an episode. Challenge range from simple balancing games, to playing arcade racing games, to playing archery... and it goes on. They can't go really in depth, this is a family show after all!

Then, one of the teams wins and they head onto the final Head to Head round, where the team must answer questions about each other and write down their answers on whiteboards. If they happen to succeed... they win a holiday of a lifetime, and that's pretty much it.

The Geordie twosome Ant and Dec presented the first two seasons, and they certainly worked well for a show like this one. After signing an exclusive contract with ITV, Ian Wright took over as presenter... and while he was good, he just didn't fit or suit the show's style.

Friends Like These was a cheap and cheerful Saturday night show that made for great family viewing. The BBC has tried to revive the format for modern times with Vernon Kay and Alison Hammond as presenters, but this reboot never got past the pilot stage. Will the BBC try again? Who knows...