Frankie Fryer (also spelled as Franky Fryer)[1] is a character on the British Sky Sports association football television programme, Soccer AM. He is played by Adam Smith.
Design
editThe character is designed as an imitation of London born actor, Danny Dyer.[2] The character speaks with a cockney accent and uses cockney rhyming slang.[3] The character also wears a wig, brown jacket and jewellery.[4]
Fryer hosts Soccer AM's "Away Days" segment,[5] where the character visits various football locations in the United Kingdom[3] and abroad[6] and gives an overview of attractions in the city where Away Days is being filmed. The character's usage in the segment was viewed by Swansea's cabinet member for regeneration, Nick Bradley as a way to encourage visiting football fans to spend the night in the city after football matches after Away Days was filmed to cover Swansea City.[1]
The character is also used on t-shirts which were sold by Soccer AM during the 2012–13 football season for charity. The shirt's design includes the slogan, "Franky says: Keep Me Nut Daan".[7]
Reception
editThom Gibbs in the Daily Telegraph called the character "an offensively weak impression of Danny Dyer with a side order of Del Boy’s French malapropisms."[8] In October 2012, Reggae band, Wilcko released a single about the character entitled "Oy, Oy, Oy, It's Franky Fryer!" The single reached a peak of 3rd on the iTunes UK charts.[9]
The character has also been viewed as having cult following and was opined to be more recognisable to football fans than Danny Dyer.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Soccer AM's Frankie Fryer checks out Swansea". This is South Wales. 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Arwr pêl-droed Frankie (Fryer) yn dweud bod Abertawe'n lle gwych i ymweld ag ef". Abertawe.gov.uk (in Welsh). Archived from the original on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ a b Martin Kelner (2012-04-29). "Soccer AM's raspberry blowing the perfect remedy for pre-match tension". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Franky Fryer". Soccer AM. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Andre's cafe in TV sketch". This is Sussex. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Away Days - Warsaw". Sky. 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Soccer AM say 'Keep Me Nut Daan' for charity t-shirts". World Sporting News. 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ Gibbs, Thom (25 September 2011). "Soccer AM: an inexplicably popular show that somehow makes football fun". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Oy, Oy, Oy, It's Franky Fryer by Wilcko". Music Chart Archive. Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- ^ "Football hero Franky Fryer (Sky Sports Soccer AM Away Days) says Swansea is a great place to visit". Visit Swansea Bay. Retrieved 2013-01-08.