Introducing Tony Ferrino - Who? And Why? - A Quest

Introducing Tony Ferrino - Who? And Why? A Quest was a mockumentary about the life of Tony Ferrino, the parody Portuguese musical megastar played by Steve Coogan. It was written by Coogan and produced by Pozzitive Television.^[1]

Introducing Tony Ferrino - Who? And Why? - A Quest
Written by	Steve Coogan Peter Baynham
Directed by	Geoff Posner
Starring	Steve Coogan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Producers	Geoff Posner David Tyler
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	2 January 1997 (1997-01-02)
Related
The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon

The interview followed on from The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon, broadcast on New Year's Day, 1997, a spoof concert given by Tony Ferrino (Coogan) which featured pop stars Mick Hucknall, Kim Wilde and Gary Wilmot in cameo roles.^[2]

Introducing Tony Ferrino - Who? And Why? A Quest was broadcast the next day, ostensibly as a follow-up interview to maintain the illusion that Tony Ferrino was a real character, in which Peter Baynham joined Coogan as the slightly put-upon interviewer Ross Woollard.^[3]

Reception

The character of Tony Ferrino was positively received, with The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon winning a Silver Rose at the Rose D'Or awards in Montreaux.^[4] Coogan revived the character in his 1998 national tour 'The Man Who Thinks He's It', described by The Guardian as "raucously funny".^[5]