Review: Eurotrash
Back in the late 80s early 90s, Channel 4 was the king of late night UK television. Dangerous and ground breaking, it gave us half-pissed Friday night plebs a taste of what the wider world may hold. None more than Eurotrash presented by Antoine de Caunes and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, and produced by Rapido (French) Television. It was shown in the UK from 1993 to 2004 and (according to Wikipedia) pulled in a huge 2 -3 million viewers per episode.
Gaultier left at the end of series 7 and de Caunes then co-presented with a range of guest presenters none of which I can remember.
Best described as a surrealist late night magazine programme with nudity and lots of Germans, Eurotrash was essential viewing, mainly because you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. De Caunes and Gaultier being the ‘dream team’ of presenters, sort of a French Morcambe and Wise, but with Eric wearing a skirt/kilt.
They bestowed fame on so many of their guests –who can forget Yvette Horner and her accordion, Pipi and Popo (cardboard giraffes) and the tragic Lola Ferrari. Items included how to make poo poo jewellery, painting with poo poo and… yes all things poo.
Perhaps the one thing that was not only hilarious but really made Eurotrash stand out was the voice overs of the guests, latterly provided by Kate Robbins who would dub over guests in UK regional accents. Hearing someone talk about their life as a 6ft penguin in a thick Yorkshire accent just adds to the whole … effect.
Eurotrash is a true stand-alone programme, never seen anything like it before or since, and re-watching selected highlights of this box set from Network genuinely made me wish I had the whole set to go through again.
Forget Netflix and chill –try Eurotrash and poop! (Its far more entertaining!).
Network presents Eurotrash on DVD and digital 26 September 2022.
Review by Tina from selected discs and streaming links kindly supplied by Network On Air via Alternate Current.