I think I read about Channel 4′s Faking It in a Derren Brown book. 

After all the premise, which involves people completely upending their lives and training to pass as a convincing something-else (a burger flipper to a restaurant chef, or sheep shearer to a hairdresser, for instance) seems very much his bag. 

Still, when I wrote about it recently, I didn’t expect anyone to remember Faking It’s early ’00s run. That was, until I came across a post shared to Reddit’s  r/BritishTV.

In the forum, a now-deleted site user asked people to share the “obscure British TV shows you remember and love but feel like no one else does.” 

Here are some of the most-upvoted replies (and yes, I was very happy with number one):

1) “Faking It.”

“A reality TV show where a member of the public had four weeks of intense training on a skill and then had to compete in a contest with people with years of experience, with a panel of judges tasked with identifying who is the faker.

I remember it being genuinely really interesting. A sort of social experiment in the way that reality TV used to be around that time.” 

2) “Aquila.”

“Two boys find a spaceship whilst on holiday.” 

3) “Spatz.”

“It was set in a Canadian-owned burger bar set in London. It was a joint production between CTV in Canada and Thames TV in its first series. I loved this show back in the early 90′s.” 

4) “Bitsa.”

“A ’90s kids’ junk modelling show that got overshadowed by SMart and Art Attack.” 

5) “Yvon of the Yukon.” 

“I think it was a husky in the intro that thawed him out when it did a wee on a pile of snow, that ends up being Yvon. I always liked the theme song for it.” 

6) “As If.”

“It was a T4 young adult drama that later I came to think of as a proto-Skins. Completely vanished from all of Channel 4′s online services, never repeated, never seen a DVD ― likely it’s issues with the music licensing. Can’t even find a decent TV rip online.” 

7) “What on Earth.”

“A ’90s CBBC comedy about a shapeshifting alien who lands on Earth and has to blend in with the humans, the catch being that, whatever form he appears in, there’s always one glaring error. Like when he’s in human form his ears are upside down, or when he’s a cat, he’s got three legs and two tails etc. Classic.” 

8) “How Do You Want Me.”

“It was a Simon Nye comedy with a pre-Black Books Dylan Moran, Charlotte Coleman and Peter Serafinowicz.

Gentle comedy with some brilliant moments. Far better than Black Books, IMHO.” 

9) “I’m Sorry I’ve Got No Head, I think it was called.”

“A children’s sketch show, probably from CBBC, that still regularly gets quoted in my house. ‘A thousand pounds?!’ and starting Mexican waves, booing those who don’t join in. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone mention this programme outside of my family.” 

10) “Chock-A-Block.”

“I’ve never met anyone else who watched it. It was a kids’ show based around a ‘smart’ computer and the two operators.” 
11) “Dead Set.” “It was a Channel 4 zombie thing written by Charlie Brooker.” 

Do you remember any of these or have anything to add? Let us know! 

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