Best of Friends

For other uses, see Best of Friends (disambiguation).

Best of Friends was a British children's game show that ran from 7 March 2004 to 13 August 2008. It first aired on CBBC for series 1, then on BBC One from series 2-3 and then back on CBBC from series 4–5.

Best of Friends
Also known as	Best of Friends Africa
Genre	Children's Game show
Created by	Jonathan Wolfson Mark Robson
Presented by	Michael Absalom Rani Khanijau Ortis Deley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	5 (Original series) 1 (Africa series)
No. of episodes	90 (Original series) 5 (Africa series)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Talent TV
Original release
Network	CBBC (2004, 2008) BBC One (2005-7)
Release	7 March 2004 (2004-03-07) – 13 August 2008 (2008-08-13)

Format

Tasks and Treats

In the show, five friends with a strong friendship must complete a series of three unpleasant tasks in order to win a final treat. The tasks include mucking out pigs, cleaning bins, picking up ice with bare feet, getting your bare feet tickled without laughing or smiling and so on, for the test of friendship. While some members of the group are doing the task, their friends do treats such as visiting animals at the RSPCA, getting a manicure, shopping, going to a football game, going to a theme park etc. They must make decisions deciding on who will do the task and who will do the treat or they can use the "Unlucky Dip".

In later shows, a surprise Twist element was added. It gives the five friends a choice to make, testing their friendship further. This could include one of the friends being chosen as a leader, meaning they will decide who does the next task and treat, answering questions about each other in order to obtain more time on the task or lose time on the treat etc.

"The Unlucky Dip"

The unlucky dip contains three, two or one blue sweet(s) in a bag. The friends choose a sweet each (without looking) from the bag, and then suck it. The number of children to do the next task, and therefore the number of blue sweets in the bag, will depend on the success of the previous task. The people or person with the blue sweet(s) will have a blue tongue and will be forced to do the task, while the others will do the treat. The first task requires three people and, each time the children pass a task, the number needed to do the next task will reduce. For the final task they have three options: the unlucky dip, volunteer or the whole team can do the task as it is the hardest.

The presenters also have an option of volunteering to do the task. If they do not volunteer, the presenters also do a compulsory Unlucky Dip with each task. The presenter with a blue tongue will be forced to do the task. Occasionally, for the final task both presenters will receive blue sweets, meaning both will be forced to do the task.

Transmissions

Original series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	7 March 2004	31 March 2004	15
2	6 January 2005	21 April 2005	15
3	8 January 2007	21 February 2007	20
4	8 January 2008	10 March 2008	20
5	2 April 2008	13 August 2008	20

Africa

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	4 July 2005	8 July 2005	5

Specials

Date	Entitle
14 July 2006	Sport Relief Special

Episodes

Series 1 (2004)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Northwich	Joe, Nathan, Matthew, Richard & Miles	7 March 2004
2	London	Joseph, Charlotte, Rachel, Jack & Chanelle	8 March 2004
3	London	Angel, Leona, Seamus, Connor & Nye	9 March 2004
4	Manchester	Paul, Nieve, Catriona, Josh & Daniel	10 March 2004
5	Wrexham	Ryan, Amy, Savin, Natalie & Becky	11 March 2004
6	TBA	TBA	14 March 2004
7	Warrington	Haydn, Ashley, Charlotte, Alice & Josh	15 March 2004
8	Hackney	Reece, Joe, Kieron, Ashok & Andy	16 March 2004
9	Macclesfield	Amy, Tasha, Jenna, Katie & Shannon	17 March 2004
10	TBA	TBA	18 March 2004
11	Barnet	Jamie, Sam, Dino, Sam & Ricky	22 March 2004
12	London	Rachael, Kalil, Daniel, Jessica & Miami	23 March 2004
13	Essex	Rushabh, Liam, Shazaib, Uday & Dilip	29 March 2004
14	Bristol	Ben, Gareth, Matthew, Louis & Oscar	30 March 2004
15	Bristol	Joanna, Rebecca, Lucinda, Sophie & Rebecca	31 March 2004

Series 2 (2005)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Alnwick	Ben, Bradley, Tom, Alex & Captain Bradley	6 January 2005
2	Edinburgh	Ashley, Amy, Lisa, Jennifer B & Jennifer	13 January 2005
3	Belfast	Anna, Gemma, Maedbh, Sarah & Rebecca	20 January 2005
4	Belfast	Emma-Louise, Kyle, Eoin, Sean Paul & Aisling	27 January 2005
5	Leeds	Shaq, Vardaan, Aaron, Johnny & Courtney	3 February 2005
6	Leeds	Samson, Mark, Tyler, Andre & Dominic	10 February 2005
7	Leeds	Georgina, Kerry, Anya, Elle & Tyne	17 February 2005
8	Leeds	Alisha, Abbie, Courtney, Katie & Cheilua	24 February 2005
9	York	Will, Charlie, Rob, Steve & Ryan	3 March 2005
10	Belfast	Julia, Jade, Aisling, Tiphani & Kelly	17 March 2005
11	Birmingham	Lydia, Candice, Tamsin, Niamh & Whitney	24 March 2005
12	Edinburgh	Euan, Naomi, Caitlin, Deena & Craig	31 March 2005
13	Edinburgh	James, Steven, Ryan, Sunny & Robert	7 April 2005
14	Birmingham	Jake, Mohammed, Zakir, Haris & Arjun	14 April 2005
15	Leeds	Akua, Kirsty, Anu, Adele & IB	21 April 2005

Series 3 (2007)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Plymouth	Robbie, Laura, Ben, Gabby & Bethan	8 January 2007
2	Exeter	Alex, Greg, Tom, Adam & Matt	10 January 2007
3	Exeter	Josh, Harvey, Max, Jordi & Raph	12 January 2007
4	Acle	Harry, Danny, Ella, Olivia & Tom	15 January 2007
5	Norwich	Jared, Steph, Meghan, Callum & Georgia	17 January 2007
6	Norwich	Clieo, Maisie, Isfahan, Diphda & Talia	19 January 2007
7	Norwich	Izzie, Beth, Annie, Aimee & Polly	22 January 2007
8	Mundford	Danika, Leona, Charlotte, Hannah & Halima	24 January 2007
9	Worksop	Ellie, Jack, Victoria, Antony & Georgia	26 January 2007
10	Eaton	Amy, Hannah, Ella, Kodi & Jess	29 January 2007
11	Nottingham	Ella, Beth, Sam, Mana & Sophia	31 January 2007
12	TBA	TBA	2 February 2007
13	Clough	Joe, Emma, Megan, Kerry & Joseph	5 February 2007
14	Derby	Jeevan, Saif, Ashley, Ross & Jasneet	7 February 2007
15	Derby	Anna, Suman, Lottie, Ellena & Janah	19 February 2007
16	Heaton	Tom, Daniel, Jack, Tim & Jonny	12 February 2007
17	Olton	Shannon, Jake, Claire, Jack & Ashleigh	14 February 2007
18	Newcastle	Jamaal, Jamie, Jake, Holly & Jack	16 February 2007
19	Chandlers Ridge	Olivia, Emily, Kirsty, Amy & Jessica	9 February 2007
20	Durham	Sophie, Charlie, Katie, Ashley & Katherine	21 February 2007

Series 4 (2008)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Glasgow	Ryan, Caleb, Max, Euan & Jack	8 January 2008
2	Glasgow	Ami, Lucy, Becky, Toni & Chloe	10 January 2008
3	Bristol	Fleur, Jemima, Chloe, Freya & Lauren	15 January 2008
4	Glasgow	Marc, Declan, Nabiha, Patrick & Asahi	17 January 2008
5	Cardiff	Georgia, Chanel, Lukasz, Ameer & Sajida	22 January 2008
6	Bristol	Rebecca, Hannah, Sam, Sarah & Sophie	24 January 2008
7	Cardiff	Harry, EJ, Jeron, Nathan & Aaron	29 January 2008
8	Bristol	Hannah, Chloe, Alana, Elena & Samantha	31 January 2008
9	Glasgow	Alistair, Megan, Dale, Lucy & Chris	5 February 2008
10	Cardiff	Louis, Aneesha, Callum, Kallum & Courtney	7 February 2008
11	Aberdeen	Jacob, Becky, Perry, Charley & Matthew	12 February 2008
12	Glasgow	Dean, Taylor, Mabashar, Liam & Danyaal	14 February 2008
13	Aberdeen	Dean, Steph, Leah, Louis & Alysha	19 February 2008
14	Aberdeen	Amy, Melanie, Megan, Emily & Alix	21 February 2008
15	Bristol	Charlie, Alice, Tasa, Kian & Emily	26 February 2008
16	Swansea	Lozzie, Laura, Lauren, Rebecca & Nicole	28 February 2008
17	Swansea	Lowri, Liam, Rebecca, Patsy & Angharad	4 March 2008
18	Bristol	Alex, Jaffa, Fabian, James & Marcus	6 March 2008
19	Glasgow	Danielle, Marc, Erin Eve, David & Caoimhin	7 March 2008
20	Glasgow	Emma, Lynn, Sean, Jacqueline & Roisin	10 March 2008

Series 5 (2008)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Portsmouth	Tyler, Callum, Rhia, Harry & Sam	2 April 2008
2	Portsmouth	Claudia, Morgan, Sophia, Phoebe & Grace	9 April 2008
3	Portsmouth	Joe, Sam, Georgia, Callum & Sumeiya	16 April 2008
4	Portsmouth	Grace, Beckie, Joanna, Hannah 2 & Hannah 1	23 April 2008
5	Portsmouth	Dylan, Bradley, Samuel, Jordan & Sam	30 April 2008
6	Southampton	Dani, Annalise, Rachael, Jay & Penny	7 May 2008
7	Southampton	Sophie, Jordan, Chido, Katie & Morgan	14 May 2008
8	Ilford	Hannah, Abiola, Leah, Alicia & Noelly	21 May 2008
9	Southampton	Kane, Billy, Kieran, Matthew & Reece	28 May 2008
10	Leicester	Joe, Elliot, James, Jordan & Jack	4 June 2008
11	Southampton	Tegan, Lauren, Emma, Francesca & Emily	11 June 2008
12	Brighton	Rosie, Georgia, Deanna, Marianne & Becky	18 June 2008
13	Brighton	Lewis, Robyn, Daisy, Ryan & Zoe	25 June 2008
14	Brighton	Tom, James, Sam, Connor & George	2 July 2008
15	Leicester	Shahid, Fawzan, Jovan, Jabid & Vinay	9 July 2008
16	Leicester	Shannon, Keiron, Demi, Louise & Kenny	16 July 2008
17	Leicester	Semra, Marlon, Molly, Jordan & Chelsie	23 July 2008
18	Brighton	Edward, Ben, Joel, Max & Louis	30 July 2008
19	Brighton	Charley, Saskia, Louisa, Chloe & Laura	6 August 2008
20	Southampton	Ryan, James, Karl, Zak & Ben	13 August 2008

Africa (2005)

No.	Location	Friends	Air date
1	Johannesburg	Mpho, Ayanda, Khanyi, Pascaline & Tebogo	4 July 2005
2	TBA	Sasha-Lee, Kim, Terryon, Desiree & Roxanne	5 July 2005
3	TBA	Linray, Leila, Timothy, Zaid & Trisha Lee	6 July 2005
4	Cape Town	Andrew, Michael, Brandon, Christopher & Chris M	7 July 2005
5	Kommetjie	Jessica, Stephanie, Marijke, Dominique & Meagan	8 July 2005

External links

• Best of Friends at BBC Online
• Best of Friends at UKGameshows.com