Fully Booked

Fully Booked, later re-titled FBi, was a British children's television series produced by BBC Scotland and broadcast from 22 April 1995 to 9 September 2000.

Fully Booked
GenreChildren's
Presented byZoe Ball (1995)
Grant Stott (1995–97)
Paul Brophy (1995–97)
Sarah Vandenbergh (1996–97)
Gail Porter (1998)
Chris Jarvis (1998–99)
Tim Vincent (1998–99)
Kate Heavenor (1999–2000)
Keith Duffy (2000)
Vernon Kay (2000)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series6
No. of episodes121
Production
Running time120–180 minutes
Production companyBBC Scotland
Release
Original networkBBC1 (1995, 2000)
BBC2 (1996–99)
Picture format4:3
Original release22 April 1995 (1995-04-22) –
9 September 2000 (2000-09-09)

Format

Series 1–3

The first series was presented by Zoe Ball and Grant Stott, and set in a fictional hotel. The presenters were joined by actor Paul Brophy, who appeared as a series of comic characters (such as 'Jan Van der Vall', 'Les Vegas' and 'Wee Alistair McAlistair'), and by a large puppet, a talking Highland cow named Morag who was the hotel's receptionist.[1]

The second series had Zoë Ball being replaced by ex-Neighbours star Sarah Vandenbergh, joined by Stott, Brophy's characters and Morag, who were all returning. This series was not broadcast live but was 'recorded as-live', meaning that it was recorded in one session and broadcast as if it were a continuous live show (though without any live interactivity). This format was also used for the third series.

Due to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in the early hours of 31 August 1997, the edition of Fully Booked recorded for broadcast that morning was postponed, ultimately airing as part of the CBBC morning schedule on BBC Two on 2 September at 7:30am.

Series 4–5

The fourth series had a new logo, title sequence and set introduced, along with a remix of the theme music. The presenters and characters of the show's previous incarnation were all removed, with a new presentation team consisting of Chris Jarvis, Gail Porter and Tim Vincent. The show continued to use the magazine format, with guests, games, features, inserts and music; however, the 'hotel' gimmick was largely dropped in favour of relatively straightforward magazine presentation.

The fifth series continued in this new format, but with Gail Porter having decided to quit kids' TV, Kate Heavenor was brought in to replace her. Heavenor had previously been presenting programmes for BBC Choice, and was one of the first presenters to graduate from a digital BBC channel to a show on one of the mainstream terrestrial channels.

The show gained a reputation for allowing alternative bands to perform alongside the mainstream pop acts, and booked groups including Electrasy, Shed Seven, Catatonia, The Dandys and St. Etienne to appear during this era.

Series 6

The sixth and final series was replaced by a new live series. A new studio set, title music and graphics were introduced to tie in with the re-titled name FBi.

The show was still hosted by Kate Heavenor, but Chris Jarvis and Tim Vincent were not involved, and were replaced by Vernon Kay (previously a presenter on digital channel UK Play) and former Boyzone member Keith Duffy.

The show had a similar mixed-magazine format to its predecessors, but aimed to increase the level of live interactivity by encouraging viewers to take part in the show via the internet, email, text messaging and telephony. Viewers were given the opportunity to take part in games and features and submit questions for studio guests.

Transmissions
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
122 April 1995[2]16 September 1995[3]22
221 April 1996[4]15 September 1996[5]22
327 April 1997[6]21 September 1997[7]22
426 April 1998[8]19 September 1998[9]22
525 April 1999[10]19 September 1999[11]22
622 April 2000[12]9 September 2000[13]21

References
  1. Saturday Archived 26 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Fully Booked - BBC One London - 22 April 1995". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. "Fully Booked - BBC One London - 16 September 1995". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 21 April 1996". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 15 September 1996". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 27 April 1997". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  7. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 21 September 1997". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  8. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 26 April 1998". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  9. "Fully Booked - BBC One London - 19 September 1998". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 25 April 1999". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. "Fully Booked - BBC Two England - 19 September 1999". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  12. "FBi - BBC One London - 22 April 2000". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. "FBi - BBC One London - 9 September 2000". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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