Netflix subscribers are being urged to watch the beloved British comedy Friday Night Dinner before it leaves the platform on 14 January. The show, which first aired in 2011 and ran for six series, quickly became a national favourite and earned two BAFTA nominations in 2012.
The series stars Simon Bird, Tamsin Greig, and the late Paul Ritter, who died from a brain tumour in 2021. It also features Mark Heap as the eccentric neighbour Jim Bell. Created by Robert Popper, the sitcom follows the weekly Shabbat dinner rituals of the middle-class Jewish Goodman family in North London.
Fans have praised the show for its humour and cast. One IMDb reviewer called it “the funniest TV I have ever watched,” adding, “I have never laughed so much in my life.” Another described it as “one of the best UK TV masterpieces of all time.” Ritter received a posthumous BAFTA nomination for Best Male Comedy Performance for the final series.
The show attracted a steady increase in viewership, with the final series premiere drawing 4.29 million views in its debut week. A 90-minute documentary special aired in 2021 to mark the 10th anniversary and pay tribute to Ritter. An American adaptation, Dinner with the Parents, debuted in April 2024 but was cancelled later that year.
