I just had to share this with you…

Last week we went to see Friday Night with Jonathan Ross being recorded at the BBC studios at White City.  We couldn’t believe our luck when we found out that John Travolta was appearing on his show along with Ricky Gervais, Gareth Gates and Macy Gray who performed ‘Finally made me happy’

I applied for the audience tickets sometime last year but heard no more until about a month ago when I received a letter to say that as I was unsuccessful getting tickets for the last series I could have first choice of dates for this new series.  I chose the 28th March as it was our Wedding Anniversary and I thought it would make a nice evening out.

We left from Epping tube station  mid afternoon last Thursday and traveled to White City which took about an hour straight through on the Central Line.  As you walk out of the station the BBC studios are more or less in front of you.  We were hoping to have a pub meal before going to the studios and was surprised and  disappointed when we walked around a little and couldn’t find one.  We decided to get back on the tube and go back one stop to Shepherds Bush. 

As we walked out of Shepherds Bush Station we spotted the Vue shopping complex across the road and on the first floor there was a JD Weatherspoons.  As we were now short on time we decided to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised.  There was a nice flame fire and plenty of comfortable seats, a good choice of beer and the food was very reasonably priced.  The window seats offer a good view over Shepherds Bush green where you can people watch the busy street below. 

After the meal we made our way back to the BBC Studios at White City.  The BBC advise you to arrive early to queue as they don’t  guarantee you will get in with tickets.  They have to allocate more tickets than they have seats available to ensure that they get a full audience.  Quite often people order tickets and possibly, because they are free, don’t always bother to turn up or order more than they need.  It’s a shame they can’t find some other way of organising it really.  I know I would not be at all happy if I had travelled an hour then queued for another hour or two only to find that I couldn’t get in.  If this does happen they say that they would offer priority tickets for a future recording.

We had 4 tickets so we took my parents along.  I was worried about the queuing with my Dad as, although he is not in a wheelchair, he is registered disabled and I didn’t feel he would be able to stand for too long.  I rang the BBC on the morning and after being transferred to a few different people eventually spoke to someone who said that if we arrived at 5pm and gave our name in they would let us go through without queuing.

That was definitely worth doing as when we arrived it was raining and the queue at 5pm was already starting.  I didn’t like the idea of arriving so early when the show was not due to start recording until 7.30pm but it really didn’t seem so bad.  I must admit we felt like VIP’s.  We were taken through to a large reception area with coffee bar to wait before the show started.  There are Large LCD screens situated around the room playing music videos.  Just before  the audience starts to come in from outside they lock all the doors into the rest of the BBC building and imagine our surprise when Richard Hammond from Top Gear was locked in the room with us trying to find his way out!  It was nice seeing him so close up.

About 7pm a member of the TV audience crew collected us and took us through to the studio.  We couldn’t believe it when they directed us to sit in the front row right opposite Jonathans desk. 

It was so interesting to see the show live then watch it on Friday evening to see how much was cut.  We sat watching the show for 3 hours and I think that gets cut down to about an hour.  It was also great to get an insight into how a programme is made, what the sets are like and what the stars are like close up. 

I am a great fan of Jonathan Ross and think his chat show is one of the best on TV.  The interviews are always amusing and I love the banter he has with his guests.

John Travolta was just fantastic to watch and listen to.  Ricky Gervais, although a regular on Jonathan’s show (I think he has appeared on it about 7 times now) was very funny.  I thought Gareth Gates done really well considering it was his first TV interview, and with Jonathan Ross, of all people interviewing him.  He didn’t stutter once.

We all agreed to give the evening 10/10.

If you have been to see a TV show being recorded recently then please email and tell us all about it.

Click here to take a look at the list of companies that offer Free TV  audience tickets.