Fantasy Football League (TV series)

Fantasy Football League
GenreComedy
Presented byDavid Baddiel
Frank Skinner
Elis James
Matt Lucas
StarringAngus Loughran
Jeff Astle
Lee Trundle
Andrew Mensah
Production
ProducerAvalon Television[1]
Production locationRiverside Studios[2]
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC2
ITV (specials)
Release14 January 1994 (1994-01-14) –
10 May 1996 (1996-05-10)
NetworkSky Max
Release29 September 2022 (2022-09-29) –
22 March 2024 (2024-03-22)
Related
Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Fantasy Football League is a British television comedy programme originally hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner.[3] It was inspired by the Fantasy Football phenomenon which started in the early 1990s and followed on from a BBC Radio 5 programme hosted by Dominik Diamond, although the radio and TV versions overlapped by several months. Three series were broadcast from 14 January 1994 to 10 May 1996 (followed by episodes during Euro 96). The show then moved to ITV for live specials on alternate nights throughout the 1998 World Cup and then again through Euro 2004.[4]

After the show ended, Baddiel and Skinner went on to produce a series of podcasts for The Times, documenting their experiences while travelling across Germany at the 2006 World Cup. The success of these led to the duo being signed by Absolute Radio, where they hosted a similar show from South Africa during the 2010 World Cup.[5]

In 2022, a revival of the show was commissioned to be broadcast on Sky Max with new hosts Elis James and Matt Lucas. This ended in 2024, after 24 episodes over two series.[6]

  1. ^ McCann, Paul (4 September 1999). "Behind the scenes of British comedy, two hard men fix the funny money". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Pre-registration for FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE from SRO Audiences". www.sroaudiences.com.
  3. ^ Rampton, James (29 November 1997). "Skinner's power play". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  4. ^ "ITV gives Fantasy Football the boot". Broadcast Now. 13 October 2005. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  5. ^ Plunkett, John (4 December 2009). "Baddiel and Skinner to cover football World Cup for Absolute Radio". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Fantasy Football League cancelled". British Comedy Guide. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.