Ben Elton to revive Friday Night Live with Harry Enfield for a one-off special episode-Rob Wilson-Entertainment – Metro

Exciting news! (Picture: Getty Images)

Ben Elton is set to revive Friday Night Live for a one-off TV special featuring a special guest appearance from Harry Enfield.

The comedian, 63, will be bringing the show back for one night only to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Channel 4 – the comedy special’s TV home.

Originally titled Saturday Live, the series ran from 1985 to 1987 and featured famous faces like Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and, of course, Harry.

Its name was changed to Friday Night Live in 1988 for its final season, and it kept the Friday name after its revival by ITV in 1996.

It was brought back to air for Red Nose Day in 1993, and a special entitled Saturday Live Again was broadcast by ITV in 2007.

Now the stand-up sketch show is coming back to Channel 4, with Elton returning as host for the first time since the early 90s, with Harry along for the ride.

The special will (of course) be broadcast on Friday October 21 at 9pm as part of a series of anniversary celebrations Channel 4 will be airing in October.

Joining them on the TV special will be comedians Rosie Jones, Mawaan Rizwan, and Jordan Gray, as well as Ronni Ancona and Australian comic Sam Campbell.

Pop singer Self-Esteem, whose real name is Rebecca Taylor, will also be performing material from her 2021 album Prioritise Pleasure.

Ben pictured in May 2000 (Picture: Colin Davey/Getty Images)

In 1993, the show’s Red Nose Day revival was hosted by Elton, but the 1996 ITV version was fronted by They Think It’s All Over host Lee Hurst.

The 2007 version of the show was presented by Marcus Brigstocke who, at the time, was most famous for presenting the CBBC comedy show, Stupid!

The news of Elton’s return to Friday Night Live comes as his Queen-inspired musical We Will Rock You comes to the end of its most recent UK tour.

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Commenting on the 40th anniversary (called C4 at 40), a statement said: ‘Channel 4 was born different. It has pioneered diverse, experimental and challenging programming since 1982, pushing boundaries in every genre.’

The statement continued: ‘It has forever been on a mission to make mischief and noise, in the service of saying something important about Britain and the way we live.’

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