Eurotrash was 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. 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. It ran for 16 series 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. A one-off special aired on 17 June 2016 to coincide with the UK's referendum on European Union membership.
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. 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. 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 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-showjumping, singing dogs, 'nude cleaning services', magicians, porn stars and Europe's very worst bands and singers. The series was voiced by Maria McErlane. 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
Specials
''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, plus a title track "A Song for Eurotrash" written for the programme: ;Tracklist
Brigitte Bardot – "Saint Tropez"
Kenickie – "Save Your Kisses for Me"
Dubstar feat. Sacha Distel – "Poupée de cire, poupée de son"
