Fat Friends was an ITV drama, following a group of overweight people, their laughter and pain and addresses the absurdities of dieting in our modern age. The drama looks at people and how they relate to one another and use body weight as an excuse for all sorts of failings in their relationships, or not living their lives to the full. Four of the cast, Ruth Jones, James Corden, Sheridan Smith and Alison Steadman, went on to appear in Gavin & Stacey.
Writer: Kay Mellor
Air date: 2002-09-05
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Carol faces her own problems when her husband leaves, leaving her alone with her son. Things take a darker turn when she decides to go on a diet.
Writer: Kay Mellor
Air date: 2002-09-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Now unemployed, Lauren is seeking Mr Right after splitting up with commitment-phobic Gareth. What's not helpful is her sister's happy marriage and pregnancy making Lauren all too aware of her single status.
Writer: Jayne Daniel
Air date: 2002-09-19
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Birthday blues are the least of Val's problems. Mistrust, jealousy, and insecurity turn her world upside down after she confronts her male escort lover about what he gets up to with his clients.
Writer: Kay Mellor
Air date: 2002-09-26
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The arrival of divorce papers send Alan's blood pressure rocketing, with the result that he fails a medical and loses his job.
Writer: Gaynor Faye
Air date: 2002-10-03
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Jamie thinks his fortunes have changed when he makes the acquaintance of secondhand car dealer Craig. He spends his birthday money on flash clothes and a mobile phone in a desperate bid to fit in with Craig's friends, but soon realises his new friend is a shady operator with a criminal past — can his policeman father help him cut his ties with the shady crowd?
Writer: Lisa Holdsworth
Air date: 2002-10-10
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Despite being overweight, Rebecca Patterson is generally content with life – particularly with her job as assistant manager at a garden centre that allows her to work alongside the man she secretly adores. But the shy and retiring twentysomething's cosy world is shattered by the return of a figure from her past, who proceeds to subject her to cruel psychological tortures.
Writer: Kay Mellor
Air date: 2002-10-17
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Betty's already stressful life takes another twist when her childhood sweetheart joins the slimming club, prompting the return of long-suppressed feelings and revelations about a dark secret from her past.
