Great British Menu

Great British Menu
Also known as Great British Christmas Menu
Great British Waste Menu
Great British Budget Menu
Genre Cooking game show
Presented by Jennie Bond (Series 1–2)
Judges Prue Leith
Matthew Fort
Oliver Peyton
Jay Rayner (Great British Waste Menu)
Mary Berry (Great British Budget Menu)
Voices of Jennie Bond (Series 3–5)
Mark Bazeley (Great British Waste Menu)
Wendy Lloyd (Series 6–)
Theme music composer Daniel Pemberton
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 9
No. of episodes 402 (inc. 7 specials)
Production
Running time 30mins (Heats)
60mins (Finals, Banquet & Great British Budget Menu)
90mins (Great British Waste Menu)
Production company(s) Optomen
Distributor All3Media
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two
BBC One (Great British Waste Menu & Great British Budget Menu)
Picture format 16:9
Audio format Stereo
Original run 10 April 2006 – present
Chronology
Related shows MasterChef
Come Dine with Me
The Great British Bake Off
External links
Website
Production website

Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four course banquet.

Format

Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, whereby each week, two chefs from a region of the UK create a menu. In series three and four, both narrated by Bond but with no presenter, three chefs from a region of the UK create a menu; only the two with the best scores went through to the Friday judging. In series five and six, the fifth narrated by Bond while the sixth is narrated by Wendy Lloyd, three chefs from a region of the UK create a menu, with in kitchen judging undertaken by a past contestant chef; only the two with the best scores go through to the Friday judging.

In each series, the Friday show is when chefs present all courses of their menu to a judging panel, tasted and judged by Matthew Fort, Prue Leith and Oliver Peyton from series 1-8. One chef each week goes through to the final, where the judges taste the dishes again and award them marks out of ten. The three dishes that have scored the highest for each course are then put to the public vote.

During the first series, it was decided that a chef could only win one course overall, therefore any chef who won the public vote for a particular course was then eliminated from any subsequent courses they had been shortlisted for. As the results for all four courses were announced on the same day, some chefs were eliminated under this rule after the public had voted for them. This system may have contributed to the subsequent result of chefs from each of the four countries of the UK being represented at the final banquet. During series two, this rule was dropped, as highlighted by Mark Hix winning both the main course and dessert.[1]

Series 1 (2006)

The birthday meal for the Queen was on 16 June 2006 and for 300 people, so each dish created had to be suitable for a summer banquet. All recipes have been published in a book by Dorling Kindersley.

Contestants

Final result

Great British Christmas Menu (2006)

From 11–15 December 2006, a special Christmas edition of the series was shown. This involved the four winning chefs creating a four course Christmas dinner that viewers could prepare at home.

Unlike the original series, only one chef was able to be crowned the winner and there was no special prize at stake (i.e. the meal won't be cooked for The Queen). The final result was decided by the judges and a viewers' vote; 30p from calls made in order to vote was donated to Children in Need.

Final result

Series 2 (2007)

Series 2 started broadcasting on 2 April 2007. The format was the same as before, with the winning chefs from each region from series one taking on new challengers. The final menu was cooked at the British Embassy in Paris at an Ambassadors Dinner.

Contestants

Final result

Series 3 (2008)

Series 3 began broadcasting on 17 March 2008. The chefs competed for the opportunity to cook a four-course dinner held in June 2008, at the restaurant at the top of the iconic Norman Foster-designed "Gherkin" building in London. The host was the chef Heston Blumenthal and his guests included top chefs from around the world along with gourmets and celebrities who represent a cross section of modern Britain.

The series began with seven special programmes in which Great British Menu judge, Matthew Fort, traveled around the UK, selecting the two chefs who will go through to represent their region in the competition.

Contestants

Heats

Final result

Series 4 (2009)

Series 4 began on 30 March 2009 and revolved around cooking a meal for British Service personnel (sailors/marines/soldiers/airmen and women) returning from the War in Afghanistan. A chef from a previous series came back in this series to act as a mentor, giving the two chefs from their region guidance and advice. They were in the kitchen and acted as an unofficial 4th judge.

The north region was split into north-east and north-west.

Heats

Final Week

Information needed

Final Result

Series 5 (2010)

Series 5 began on 6 April 2010 with a double episode. In this series, the participating chefs were challenged to find food producers they had not previously used, basing their search around a National Trust property in their region, with the aim to source as many of their ingredients as possible from the property itself or the surrounding area. The banquet was for producers of British food and The Prince of Wales was the guest of honour.

Heats

This year saw a change in the format of the heats. Instead of only two chefs being present for all the heats for their region, as in previous years, in this year three chefs compete in the 'courses' section of their heats, with two going forward to cook for the judges in the 'judging' episode. As in series four, a previous participant returned each week, but with the added responsibility of scoring each chef's four courses. The chef with the lowest score at the end of the 'courses' episodes is eliminated, and the remaining two cook for the judges.

Final Week

In the final week running up to the Banquet the chefs cook one course per day but instead of being ranked first to eighth place the top three chefs were all given a possible dish at the banquet thus allowing the judges to have more choice when choosing the menu at the end of the week.

Final Result

Great British Waste Menu (2010)

An one-off, 90 minute documentary-style programme which aired in December 2010, Great British Waste Menu was made to highlight food wastage in Britain. In addition to showing several examples of such wastage, the programme challenged four chefs (GBM regulars Richard Corrigan and Angela Hartnett, plus Matt Tebbutt and Simon Rimmer) to create a three-course menu plus canapes from food destined to be discarded by producers, supermarkets, restaurants and regular households. Regulars series judges Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and Prue Leith judged the results. The final menu, served as a banquet for 60 people, comprised:
Samosa canapes (Simon Rimmer)
British Beef with a Beef Consommé and Summer Vegetables (Matt Tebutt)
Fresh Kent Fish Wrapped in Courgette with a Pork Ratatouille (Richard Corrigan) - judged best overall dish (the 'Dustbin Award').
Ginger Floating Island with British Summer Fruits (Angela Hartnett)

Series 6 (2011)

Series 6 of The Great British Menu started on 4 April 2011. The theme for this series is sharing and communities,[2] with chefs being asked to cook food that encourages people to come together to enjoy food. During the series, chefs will visit and cook for a number of community groups.

Heats

Final Week

In the final week running up to the Banquet the chefs cook one course per day but instead of being ranked first to eighth place the top three chefs were all given a possible dish at the banquet thus allowing the judges to have more choice when choosing the menu at the end of the week.

Final Result

This result makes Tom Kerridge the first chef ever on the Great British Menu to cook the main course twice, as well as being the first chef to cook a Pork dish for the Main Course on the final menu.

Series 7 (2012)

Series 7 of The Great British Menu began on 9 April 2012 with Scotland being the first region to cook. The theme for this series is the Olympics to celebrate the games coming to London.[3] The chefs are tasked with creating a menu that captures the Olympic spirit and during the series they meet up with Olympians from the UK to gain inspiration and advice for their menu.

Heats

Location Won heat Runner-up Eliminated/left competition Judge
Scotland Alan Murchison Colin Buchan Mark Greenaway Jeremy Lee
Central Daniel Clifford Paul Foster Aktar Islam Glynn Purnell
North East Colin McGurran Charlie Larkin Stephanie Moon Nigel Haworth
Northern Ireland Chris Fearon Chris Bell Niall McKenna Richard Corrigan
North West Simon Rogan Aiden Byrne Johnnie Mountain Marcus Wareing
South East & London Phil Howard Marcus McGuinness Graham Garrett Jason Atherton
Wales Stephen Terry James Sommerin Richard Davies Angela Hartnett
South West Nathan Outlaw Paul Ainsworth Simon Hulstone Tom Kerridge
with assistance from Jason Atherton

Final Week

The final week saw the winning eight chefs battle for their dishes to be part of the final banquet menu. Each day, the chefs cooked one of their courses for the four judges, who each marked the dish out of a possible ten points. The three highest-scoring dishes for each course went forward for consideration for the final menu. Unlike previous finals weeks, the judges eliminated some dishes based on their performance in the previous round; unless the chefs had made significant changes in response to the feedback received at the regional final, the judges did not wish to taste and score the unsuitable course a second time. The Olympic banquet was shown in the final show, which aired on 8 June, with all four dishes being prepared and presented for 100 guests.

Final Result

Series 8 (2013)

Series 8 of The Great British Menu, titled Great British Menu Does Comic Relief, commenced on 28 January 2013, with the banquet hosted for people who are associated with the Comic Relief charity event, held at the Royal Albert Hall.

Heats

Location Won heat Runner-up Eliminated Judge Celebrity guest judge
South East & London Tom Aikens Adam Simmonds Matt Gillan Richard Corrigan Arabella Weir
Scotland Michael Smith Mark Greenaway Tony Singh Angela Hartnett Debra Stephenson
North West Aiden Byrne Mary-Ellen McTague Chris Holland Phil Howard Rowland Rivron
North East Colin McGurran Stephanie Moon Charlie Larkin Jason Atherton Tim Brooke-Taylor
South West Peter Sanchez-Iglesias Emily Watkins Chris Eden Tom Kerridge
assisted by Phil Howard 		Simon Day
Northern Ireland Raymond McArdle Chris Fearon Ian Orr Glynn Purnell Charlie Higson
Central Daniel Clifford Richard Bainbridge Will Holland Marcus Wareing Vic Reeves
Wales Richard Davies Mary Ann Gilchrist Luke Thomas Jeremy Lee Emma Kennedy

Final Week

The final week saw the winning eight chefs battle for their dishes to be part of the final banquet menu, but in the main course, the judges added a ninth "Wildcard" chef, the defeated Central area finalist, Richard Bainbridge, as they thought that his dish was worthy enough to be included for the banquet. Each day, the chefs cooked one of their courses for the four judges, who each marked the dish out of a possible ten points, but in a twist for this series, all the other chefs would be marking each other's dishes and putting their votes in a ballot box. The average score from the chefs was then added to the scores from the judges, who like in the heats, were joined by a comedy guest for each course.

The three highest-scoring dishes for each course went forward for consideration for the final menu, but in a final twist, as the judges couldn't decide which dessert dish should go to the banquet, they decided that both Richard and Daniel's dishes deserved to be put forward to the banquet, with them serving to half the guests each. The Comic Relief banquet was shown in the final show, which aired on 29 March, with all five dishes being prepared and presented for 80 guests.

Final Result

Series 9 (2014)

Series 9 of The Great British Menu, titled Great British Menu: The D-Day Banquet, commenced on 7 April 2014, with the banquet hosted for people who fought on D-Day, of which it is the 70th anniversary in 2014, with the banquet to be broadcast on 6 June, exactly 70 years to the day after D-Day commenced. The banquet is to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Heats

Location Won heat Runner-up Eliminated Judge Veteran guest judge
Northern Ireland Chris McGowan Raymond McArdle Will Brown Tom Kerridge
assisted by Marcus Wareing 		Celia Sandys
grand-daughter of Winston Churchill
North West James Durrant Mary-Ellen McTague Mark Ellis Daniel Clifford George Batts
in Royal Engineers during D-Day
South West Emily Watkins Josh Eggleton Dominic Chapman Sat Bains Ken Sturdy
signalman during World War II
Central Aktar Islam Mark Poynton Jason Hodnett Marcus Wareing Max Hastings
London and South East Tom Sellers
Adam Simmonds 		N/A Adam Byatt Richard Corrigan Joy Hunter
worked in Cabinet War Rooms on D-Day
North East Colin McGurran Paul Welburn Frances Atkins Phil Howard Molly Rose
flew in Air Transport Auxiliary
Scotland Jacqueline O'Donnell Stevie McLaughlin Neil Rankin Jeremy Lee Jim Radford
believed to be youngest participant in the Normandy Invasion (as a Merchant Navy Galley Boy)
Wales David Kelman Mary Ann Gilchrist Andy Beaumont Angela Hartnett Martin Bell

Final Week

The final week saw the winning nine chefs battle for their dishes to be part of the final banquet menu, but in the dessert, Tom Sellers was taken ill, so only the remaining eight chefs competed on that day. Each day, the chefs cooked one of their courses for the four judges, who each marked the dish out of a possible ten points, and like the last series, all the other chefs would be marking each other's dishes and putting their votes in a ballot box. The average score from the chefs was then added to the scores from the judges, who like in the heats, were joined by a D-Day veteran for each course. One other added twist was that before the final marks were given, the chefs and judges each saw what the top 3 would've been if only the chefs were marking.

The three highest-scoring dishes for each course went forward for consideration for the final menu. The D-Day banquet will be shown in the final show, which aired on 6 June, with all four dishes being prepared and presented for the veterans and special guest, David Cameron.

Final Result

Transmissions

Original series

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 10 April 2006 16 June 2006 41
2 2 April 2007 8 June 2007 41
3 17 March 2008 13 June 2008 49
4 30 March 2009 16 June 2009 46
5 6 April 2010 4 June 2010 45
6 4 April 2011 3 June 2011 45
7 9 April 2012 8 June 2012 45
8 28 January 2013 29 March 2013 45
9 7 April 2014 6 June 2014 45

Specials

Title Start date End date Episodes
Great British Christmas Menu 11 December 2006 15 December 2006 5
Great British Waste Menu 25 August 2010 1
Great British Budget Menu 11 July 2013 1

Ratings

Episode Viewing figures from BARB.[4]

Series 1

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 1.96 2.35 2.20 2.51 2.13 2.08 2.52 2.43 N/A
Tuesday 1.77 2.01 2.16 2.24 2.02 2.07 2.32 2.28 N/A
Wednesday 1.78 2.25 2.16 1.79 2.05 2.38 2.38 2.50 N/A
Thursday 2.01 2.01 1.68 2.02 1.94 2.28 N/A
Friday 2.44 2.16 2.13 2.32 2.20 2.59 2.50 2.57 2.77
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Great British Christmas Menu

Episode no. Air date Total viewers
(millions) 		BBC Two weekly ranking
1
11 December 2006
2.09
25
2
12 December 2006
Under 1.98
Outside Top 30
3
13 December 2006
Under 1.98
Outside Top 30
4
14 December 2006
1.98
30
5
15 December 2006
2.15
24

Series 2

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 2.00 2.13 2.04 2.37 2.39 2.68 2.41 2.53 N/A
Tuesday 1.88 2.10 2.13 2.39 2.28 2.40 2.36 2.48 N/A
Wednesday 1.76 1.81 2.05 2.28 2.17 2.45 2.39 2.33 N/A
Thursday 1.66 1.84 1.91 2.13 2.22 2.29 2.18 2.57 N/A
Friday 2.28 2.21 2.27 2.36 2.59 2.85 2.91 2.71 2.22
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Series 3

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11
Monday N/A 1.85 2.19 2.10 2.30 2.11 2.11 1.78 1.97 N/A
Tuesday 1.81 1.90 1.88 2.13 2.00 2.18 1.77 1.80 2.02 N/A
Wednesday 1.77 1.98 2.03 2.37 2.00 2.04 1.69 1.76 2.05 N/A
Thursday 1.72 1.84 2.16 2.05 1.71 1.58 1.88 1.98 N/A
Friday N/A 1.95 2.17 2.35 2.35 2.61 2.26 2.16 2.39 2.05 1.58
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Series 4

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
Monday 1.86 1.67 2.00 1.68 1.88 2.15 1.84 2.01 2.19 N/A
Tuesday 1.51 1.62 1.92 1.71 2.04 1.98 2.00 2.07 1.94 2.73
Wednesday 1.71 1.95 1.61 1.71 2.05 2.03 1.87 2.14 N/A
Thursday 1.51 1.35 1.83 1.68 1.79 1.74 1.77 1.64 1.92 N/A
Friday 1.65 2.08 1.92 1.92 2.13 2.29 2.38 2.22 1.93 N/A
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Series 5

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday N/A 2.01 1.94 2.08 1.55 1.92 1.96 1.84 2.36
Tuesday 1.80 (18:00)
2.02 (18:30) 		1.95 1.78 2.11 2.19 2.13 2.05 1.89 2.49
Wednesday 1.84 1.99 1.86 2.16 2.31 1.97 2.02 2.03 2.17
Thursday 1.55 1.71 1.53 1.95 1.82 1.91 2.01 1.98 2.20
Friday 1.65 2.00 2.01 2.28 2.06 2.08 1.97 1.99 2.09
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Great British Waste Menu

Air date Total viewers
(millions) 		BBC One weekly ranking
25 August 2010 5.24 9

Series 6

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 1.67 1.97 2.00 2.05 2.14 2.16 2.35 1.97 2.76
Tuesday 1.54 1.86 1.81 1.95 2.11 2.09 1.95 1.87 2.35
Wednesday 1.68 2.15 1.85 1.90 2.14 1.92 2.16 2.02 2.28
Thursday 1.69 2.01 1.79 1.93 2.02 2.01 1.96 2.09 2.16
Friday 2.13 1.92 1.85 2.02 2.17 2.11 2.14 1.96
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Series 7

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 1.67 1.78 1.73 1.52 2.20 1.77 1.56 1.70 1.56
Tuesday 1.86 1.97 1.92 1.68 2.03 2.02 1.96 1.89 2.02
Wednesday 1.99 1.96 2.14 1.64 1.93 2.14 1.89 2.07 1.98
Thursday 1.90 1.70 1.71 1.74 1.71 1.83 1.68 2.00 1.98
Friday 1.77 1.57 1.78 1.77 1.38 1.82 1.52 1.87 2.31
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Series 8

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 1.55 1.68 1.73 1.85 1.94 1.84 1.77 1.87 2.06
Tuesday 2.07 1.92 1.99 2.17 2.12 1.98 2.21 2.20 2.35
Wednesday 1.68 1.62 1.73 1.70 1.77 1.61 (19:30)
1.87 (20:00) 		1.50 2.07
Thursday 1.78 2.24 1.96 2.04 2.06 2.03 2.14 2.01 2.35
Friday 1.77 1.78 1.81 1.67 1.95 N/A 2.15 2.29
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

Great British Budget Menu

Air date Total viewers
(millions) 		BBC One weekly ranking
11 July 2013 3.92 20

Series 9

Viewers (millions)
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Monday 1.59 1.42 1.77 1.54 1.74 1.69 1.62 1.96 2.05
Tuesday 1.97 1.95 2.01 1.48 2.20 2.15 1.81 1.92 1.97
Wednesday 1.31 1.45 1.56 1.57 1.54 1.53 1.95 2.08 1.55
Thursday 1.57 1.97 1.57 1.53 1.51 1.58 1.99 1.87 1.81
Friday 1.16 1.62 1.50 1.29 1.61 1.57 1.47 1.72 1.59
Weekly average
Running average
Series average

French version

A French version is to air on TF1.

See also

References

  1. ↑ BBC - Food - TV and radio - About the show
  2. ↑ "The Great British Menu 2011". thefoodplace.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "The Great British Menu 2012". thefoodplace.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board.

External links