'BECKS HELPS WROSSY PULL DOWN CURTAIN IN STYLE' by chris mills

David Beckham made his long awaited couch debut on the last ever 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' and who better to conclude one of Britain's most loved chat shows that has spanned more than a decade.

I think at some stage or another we have all grown up, mug of tea or glass of wine in hand, watching the irrepressible and enigmatic host interview some of the most popular 21st century names in all forms of entertainment, most notably film, television and sport. The show, traditionally aired at 10.30pm on BBC1, has also seen the emergence of some of the world's biggest and coolest bands.

The first show was aired on November 2nd 2001 (guests being John Lydon, Neil Hannon and Tamzin Outhwaite) and since then a further eighteen series consisting of 273 episodes have been recorded. Ross, backed by his house band 'four poofs and a piano', has picked up many deserved awards for the programme over the years including three BAFTA's.

In October 2008 the show was temporarily postponed and the host handed a twelve week suspension for his part in the Ross / Brand radio 'scandal'. The decision was met with great distain by viewers and none more so by the record companies / agents who relied on the show for their bands and clients TV exposure. However, this year Ross returned with a mega twenty-five show series culminating into tonight's finale, the other guests being Jackie Chan, Mickey Rourke and Roxy Music.

Back in 2001 when Ross began the show Beckham was a mere twenty-four year old and yet to peak as both a footballer and international celebrity. However, tonight he shone as bright as the host handling himself and the questions with the upmost class and dignity you'd expect from a much older and wiser, father of three. The interview touched on many aspects of Beckham's extraordinary day to day life, including a lego building confession and his recent trip to Afghanistan to visit British troops. A subject he spoke about with a surprising amount of passion.

After the band, chosen especially by Ross, instead of the credits the host himself said a short speech and noticeably moved by the events he thanked all involved with the show and the British public for their support throughout. Watching on it genuinely felt as if an era was coming to an end, an era we have all enjoyed perhaps more than we realised or dared to admit until tonight. How the BBC replace Ross remains to be seen but perhaps it would be futile replacing him at all.