# Friday Night Dinner

Friday Night Dinner is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday night dinner experience of the Jewish middle-class Goodman family in North London. Following the conclusion of the sixth series and Ritter's death in 2021, it was announced that the show would not return. The show is filmed using a single-camera setup.
The show received two BAFTA nominations in 2012. The first series was nominated for Best Situation Comedy, while Greig was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance. In 2021, for his performance in the final series of the show, Ritter received a posthumous BAFTA nomination for Best Male Comedy Performance.

## Premise

Friday Night Dinner depicts Shabbat dinner in the middle-class secular Jewish Goodman family, reflecting series creator Popper's own secular Jewish upbringing. It is set and filmed in suburban North London, with filming taking place in Mill Hill.
The family consists of mother Jackie, father Martin, elder son Adam, and younger son Jonny. The episodes follow the family as the sons arrive at the family home and proceed to their dinner, which is often interrupted by numerous things. Although some episodes are centred around Jackie's eccentricities, she is usually the straight character who tries to run a normal household but is disrupted by the rest of the family. Dinner is usually disrupted by Adam and Jonny pranking each other (for example, putting salt in each other's drinking glasses) or Martin's strange habits, such as walking around the house shirtless or eating out-of-date food. When something goes wrong, Martin is often heard shouting his catchphrase "shit on it". They are frequently interrupted by their strange but good-hearted neighbour Jim Bell, who is attracted to Jackie and visits them due to his loneliness; he is usually accompanied by his dog, Wilson, of whom he is afraid. After Wilson's death, Jim adopts a new dog, whom he names Milson.
Jackie's neurotic best friend Valerie Lewis, known as "Auntie Val" to Adam and Jonny, is a frequent visitor; Jackie's mother Nellie "Grandma" Buller also visits. Occasional guest appearances were made by Martin's mother Cynthia Goodman, nicknamed "Horrible Grandma" by the boys due to her cruel and condescending treatment of the family. Other guest appearances featured Nellie's suitor Mr. Morris, who appeared in three episodes while Val's husband Larry briefly appears in two episodes.
There are elements of farce throughout the series.

## Cast
### Main

* Tamsin Greig as Jackie Goodman
* Paul Ritter as Martin Goodman
* Simon Bird as Adam Goodman
* Tom Rosenthal as Jonny Goodman
* Mark Heap as Jim Bell

### Recurring

* Frances Cuka as Nellie Buller ("Grandma"), Jackie's mother.
* Tracy-Ann Oberman as Valerie Lewis ("Auntie Val"), Jackie's best friend.
* Harry Landis as Lou Morris ("Mr Morris"), Grandma's boyfriend.
* Rosalind Knight as Cynthia Goodman ("Horrible Grandma"), Martin's mother.
* Steve Furst as Larry, Val's ex-husband.

## Episode list

| Series | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Average UK viewers (millions) |
| Series | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Average UK viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 6 | 6 | 25 February 2011 (2011-02-25) | 8 April 2011 (2011-04-08) | — |
| 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 October 2012 (2012-10-07) | 11 November 2012 (2012-11-11) | — |
| Special | Special | Special | 24 December 2012 (2012-12-24) | 24 December 2012 (2012-12-24) | 1.54 |
| 3 | 6 | 6 | 20 June 2014 (2014-06-20) | 25 July 2014 (2014-07-25) | 1.45 |
| 4 | 6 | 6 | 22 July 2016 (2016-07-22) | 26 August 2016 (2016-08-26) | 1.66 |
| 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 May 2018 (2018-05-04) | 8 June 2018 (2018-06-08) | 2.09 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 27 March 2020 (2020-03-27) | 1 May 2020 (2020-05-01) | 4.70 |

## Legacy

For the 10th anniversary of the show, a special 90-minute documentary episode aired on Channel 4 on 28 May 2021, entitled Friday Night Dinner: Ten Years and A Lovely Bit of Squirrel. The documentary was dedicated to Paul Ritter, who had died of a brain tumour seven weeks earlier.

## American version

In September 2011, Deadline Hollywood announced that Greg Daniels, who had adapted The Office for American television, would spearhead an American remake of the series for the broadcast network NBC. The remake was picked up for a pilot, written by Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis and starring Allison Janney, Tony Shalhoub as the parents and Gary Anthony Williams as Jim (now renamed Mark). The pilot did not go to series.
In 2014, CBS bought an adaptation of the British show for the American market, as a "put pilot".
In 2016, a third attempt at an American remake was under development by CBS, with the title Sunday Night Dinner.
In July 2022, Amazon Freevee ordered an American remake of the sitcom, with the title Dinner with The Parents. The series premiered on 18 April 2024, received poor to mixed reviews and was canceled in December 2024.