# Fat Friends
**Fat Friends** is a British comedy drama created and written by Kay Mellor for ITV, broadcast from 2000 to 2005, which follows the lives and loves of members of a slimming club in Leeds.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) • [2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends) The series gave [Ruth Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruth-jones) and [James Corden](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-corden), who met as actors on it, the partnership behind *Gavin & Stacey*, and was later adapted by Mellor into a stage musical.[3](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created and written by | Kay Mellor[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) |
| Broadcast | ITV, first shown Thursday 12 October 2000 at 9pm; four series, 25 episodes, ending 2005[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) |
| Premise | The weekly meetings of a Leeds slimming club and the lives of its members[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) |
| Launch audience | Nearly 10 million overnight viewers for the first episode in 2000[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) |
| Principal cast | Ruth Jones, Janet Dibley, Alison Steadman, Gaynor Faye, James Corden, Lisa Riley, Lynda Baron, Josie Lawrence[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) |
| Awards | Two BAFTA TV Award nominations, for Best Drama and Best Actress for Alison Steadman[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) |
| Adaptation | *Fat Friends The Musical*, premiered at Leeds Grand Theatre in 2017 and toured the UK in 2017–18[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) • [5](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/new-challenges-in-old-haunts-for-kay-603567) |
## Format and premise
The series centers on the members of the Super Slimmers club in Leeds, a group of people who meet weekly to be weighed and to pursue weight loss.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) • [2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends) According to its distributor's synopsis, it follows a group of overweight people, their laughter and pain, and the absurdities of dieting.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fat-friends) The club setting acts as the connective tissue of the show: members come and go between series, but each is typically given a focus episode while appearing in minor roles in others, so that departures do not disrupt the structure.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
Running the club meetings is Carol McGary (Janet Dibley), a slender and unsympathetic host who chastises members for small gains at weigh-ins, while the franchise owner Julia Fleshman ([Josie Lawrence](https://www.edgepedia.org/josie-lawrence)) is motivated by financial gain.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
## Characters and stories
**The Simpson family.** [Alison Steadman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alison-steadman) plays Betty Simpson, whose daughter Kelly (Ruth Jones) is engaged at the start of the first series and enrolls at the club to trim two sizes before her wedding day.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends) • [3](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends) Betty and her husband Douglas (Barrie Rutter), who runs a fish and chip shop, form one of the show's quieter relationship threads.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends) In one episode, Betty's confident wearing of a loud salmon pink suit is admired and envied, and a cleaner watching the encounter explains with bafflement that in her country big women are considered beautiful.[3](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends)
**Alan, Val, and Carl.** Alan Ashburn ([Richard Ridings](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-ridings)), expecting to celebrate his twentieth wedding anniversary, finds his wife having an affair; after the marriage ends he falls for the magazine journalist Val Lorrimer (Kathryn Hunt), who instead begins a relationship with her date, the ex-rugby player Carl ([Jason Merrells](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-merrells)).[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
**Lauren Harris.** Gaynor Faye plays an actress who believes a small weight loss will shrink her posterior enough to secure her part in a soap opera, receiving mixed messages at home from a husband who mocks her size and a mother who insists she is too skinny.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
**Jamie.** James Corden, then little known, plays a school pupil who gains weight through comfort eating after his parents split, and whose bullying at school pushes him into a spiral; Television Heaven describes the attack on Jamie by bullies as particularly uncomfortable viewing.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
The series treats its subject with attention to social pressure: society's expectations, eating disorders, and support networks are all encountered, in Television Heaven's account, with realism rather than flippancy.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
## Production
Fat Friends was produced by Rollem Productions in association with Tiger Aspect and Yorkshire Television, with directors including David Wheatley, Audrey Cooke, and Lance Kneeshaw.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) Mellor, a Leeds writer whose earlier hits included *Band of Gold* (1995), cast Corden after seeing him in a soft drink advert.[7](https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2022-05-17/kay-mellor-the-council-estate-girl-who-became-a-bafta-winner) Like much of her work, the show was a portrait of Leeds; Mellor described *Playing the Field*, *Fat Friends*, *The Chase*, and *The Syndicate* as graphics of the city she wanted to show off.[5](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/new-challenges-in-old-haunts-for-kay-603567)
Each episode runs about 49 to 50 minutes.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fat-friends) The British Board of Film Classification classified the first series on home video in December 2000, with individual episodes carrying content notes for strong language and moderate sex.[8](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/fat-friends-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mti5nzm)
Most listings categorize the series as a drama with significant comic elements, drawing on performers such as Jones, Steadman, Dibley, and Lawrence; Television Heaven judges that it treads the line between comedy and drama exceptionally well.[2](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
## Reception and legacy
The first series averaged 9.3 million viewers across its six-week run in October and November 2000, and the opening episode drew nearly 10 million overnight.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/28/broadcasting) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) The series went on to receive two BAFTA TV Award nominations, for Best Drama and Best Actress for Alison Steadman.[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay)
**A launch pad.** The series' best-remembered consequence is professional: Ruth Jones and James Corden met on it, began writing *Gavin & Stacey* while still on the show, and drew on its tone, which GQ describes as kind to its characters and celebratory of their ordinariness without condescension.[3](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends) The two have described their friendship, begun on *Fat Friends*, as a lasting creative partnership.[10](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-jones-james-corden-platonic-friendship/)
The musical adaptation opened at Leeds Grand Theatre in November 2017 with songs by Mellor and [Nicholas Lloyd Webber](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-lloyd-webber), and toured the UK in 2017–18 to sell-out audiences, starring [Jodie Prenger](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-prenger), Freddie Flintoff, Sam Bailey, Kevin Kennedy, and [Natasha Hamilton](https://www.edgepedia.org/natasha-hamilton); a Manchester Evening News summary of its message reads, "to love yourself, lumps, bumps and all."[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) • [5](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/new-challenges-in-old-haunts-for-kay-603567) A 2018 review of the Leeds run was less enthusiastic about the writing for stage and song, but the tour's booking record was substantial.[11](https://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/fat-friends-leeds-grand-theatre-underwhelming-show/) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay)
In 2023 Rollem brokered a deal with Banijay Rights for global distribution of the series, and *Fat Friends* has since been available on streaming services including Netflix, ITVX, Amazon Prime Video, and Tubi TV.[4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) • [3](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fat-friends)
Series counts vary between sources: the British Comedy Guide and Rollem Productions list four series and 25 episodes, while the Yorkshire Evening Post describes the show as running for five series.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/) • [4](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay) • [5](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/new-challenges-in-old-haunts-for-kay-603567)
## References
1. [Fat Friends, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fat_friends/)
2. [Fat Friends, Television Heaven, review by Brian Slade](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/fat-friends)
3. [Missing Gavin and Stacey? Watch Fat Friends, British GQ](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/gavin-and-stacey-fat-friends)
4. [Rollem makes Fat Friends deal with Banijay Rights, Rollem Productions](https://rollemproductions.co.uk/posts/fat-friends-banijay)
5. [New challenges in old haunts for Kay, Yorkshire Evening Post](https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/new-challenges-in-old-haunts-for-kay-603567)
6. [Fat Friends, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fat-friends)
7. [From a Leeds council estate to BAFTA award-winner: Who was Kay Mellor?, ITV News Calendar](https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2022-05-17/kay-mellor-the-council-estate-girl-who-became-a-bafta-winner)
8. [Fat Friends, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/fat-friends-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mti5nzm)
9. [Mellor turns to therapy for ITV drama, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/28/broadcasting)
10. [Ruth Jones and James Corden's strong relationship is a powerful example of platonic friendship, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/ruth-jones-james-corden-platonic-friendship/)
11. [Fat Friends at Leeds Grand Theatre, The State of the Arts](https://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/fat-friends-leeds-grand-theatre-underwhelming-show/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license