Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos has described Jonathan Ross's return to the BBC after a three-month suspension as “spectacular”.

Ross filmed the first episode of his eponymous chat show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, yesterday (January 22nd).

The broadcaster was suspended without pay in October over a series of prank calls he and comedian Russell Brand made on a radio show.

Kapranos, who joined the rest of Franz Ferdinand on the show, said Ross hadn't “toned down” his presenting and seemed “very at ease and relaxed”.

"He's a funny guy. No matter what anybody else has been saying about it at all,” he added.

Ross apologised at the beginning of the programme – which airs tonight – and promised to be "more aware" in the future.

Ross and Brand sparked widespread public outrage last October when the pair joked on Brand's BBC Radio 2 show that Brand had slept with the granddaughter of actor Andrew Sachs.

Speaking to the BBC, Kapranos said the band were unaware of the media interest in “Sachsgate” because they were out of the country.

He said: “So we came back to the UK and it was like, 'Whoah, what's been going on?' Front page news for 11 days or something like that. It was crazy.

"Despite all that he's still a really funny guy and he gets great guests on the show. Today was Lee Evas, Stephen Fry and Tom Cruise. It's pretty spectacular."

Ross will resume his regular BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday (January 24th), while a new episode of Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross will air on Monday (January 26th).

(by Jason Gregory)