''18 Stone of Idiot'' is a British

television programme A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 2005 designed as a vehicle for

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

and produced by Chris Evans. The first show was broadcast on 27 May 2005 and a further five episodes were broadcast weekly thereafter. Vegas' stated intention was to make a programme "so ridiculous that there was no way they'd recommission it." Each show had one primary guest whom Vegas interviewed, and who were further involved in various stunts and skits.

Guest list

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...

Erkan Mustafa Erkan Mustafa (born 14 May 1970) is a British actor and television presenter of Turkish Cypriot descent, most noted for the part of Roland Browning in ''Grange Hill'' (BBC 1982–1987). Other parts include "Enormous Orphan" in ''Blackadder's C ...

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influenc ...

from The

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backin ...

* Elvis Costello *

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

An appearance was made by former MP Neil Hamilton who danced in a perspex box whilst buckets of fish were poured over his head.

Regular features

*At the end of the programme Vegas would "jump" over the guest in a vehicle such as a shopping trolley or child's tricycle. *A

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

style slot based around a lock-in where celebrities drank with Johnny until heavily inebriated. Vegas states that the filming of these segments took place over an eight-hour period, though only three minutes were shown per episode. * TV Democracy in which members of the audience would ask Vegas to do whatever they ask him to do. These seemed to be planned out, as some requests were played out via a pre-recorded video. *An actor dressed as a green

budgerigar The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only spe ...

beating up Johnny.

DVD release

On 31 October 2005 a DVD of the series (entitled ''Johnny Vegas - 18 Stone of Idiot - Unseen & Uncut'') was released by Channel 4 DVD. The show was edited down to a 78-minute compilation and accompanied by 169 minutes of extras, which comprises a full-length commentary by Vegas, writer Tony Pitts and series producer Gareth Collett; a 36-minute compilation of ''Celebrity Lock-In'' footage (the segment was not included in the main programme compilation); 18 minutes of outtakes; a 5-minute compilation of footage of the Angry Baboon character (again, these interludes were not included in the main compilation); and an extended 32-minute version of the ''My Favourite Things'' segment which saw Vegas appear on Challenge's ''

Celebrity Poker Club ''Celebrity Poker Club'' is a British television series featuring celebrities playing poker. It aired on Challenge for three series from 2003 to 2005 as a spin-off from Channel 4's popular '' Late Night Poker'' series. Liam Flood was the casi ...

''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title , id=tt0466610 , title=Johnny Vegas: 18 Stone of Idiot Channel 4 comedy 2000s British comedy television series 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings