The Rise of the Superchef (BBC Two)
A Boring Documentary revealing Nothing new about Famous Cooks
Feb 25, 2009
Cooking is the new rock ‘n’ roll, or so we are told. Celebrity chefs are now some of the most famous people on TV and their cook books are among some of the best sellers every year. This programme focused on the rise of that lot, namely Gordon Ramsey, Delia Smith, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Rick Stein, Antony Worrall Thompson - once described by Ramsey as a squashed Bee Gee - and Gary Rhodes.
A Celebrity Documentary about the Blindingly Obvious
The Rise of the Superchef promised a behind-the-scenes look at these world famous chefs and how they turned their cooking skills into vast multi-million-pound businesses and international brands. But the intended audience or anyone who has more than a passing interest in these people would have learned very little from this “documentary”.
For a start it was an hour long and felt like it was on for more than double that as it rambled on trying to cram as much information as possible to the point that all they had room for was the blindingly obvious. Yes everyone knows that Delia has been on TV for what seems like forever, everyone knows that Gordon Ramsey is bluer than Bernard Manning and everyone knows that Jamie Oliver did that school meals thing. Tell us something we don't know.
Boring Agents and an extended Advert for Antony Worrall Thompson
In the absence of the genuinely interesting people such as Gordon Ramsey and Nigella Lawson turning up as talking heads a good 15 minutes was spent chatting to agents and publicists. Not only are these people the spawn of Satan but they are also incredibly dull, especially Borra Garson. It got so bad that there must have calls across living rooms in the country of “Oh look she’s back on, press the mute button somebody”.
Spending all that time with these non-entities yakking on and bloody on about how much money they’ve made was more of a slap in the face as Rick Stein and Nigella barely got a mention in between the barrage of Jamie Oliver footage and Worrall Thompson bounding on screen to reveal that he’s got a new saucepan coming out.
Being from the Money Programme series there's at least some excuse for this shameless promotion but there was a ridiculous amount of time was taken up with Antony Worrall Thompson and his range of kitchen appliances that the last five minutes almost became an advert for all his tat. In fact the only contributor who came out of this farce with any dignity was good old Delia, whose no-nonsense approach to answers and lack of ego reminded the viewers just why she’s had such a long career.
A Young Gordon Ramsey being Polite on Screen
It wasn’t all bad though as we got to see Gary Rhode’s amazing yet daft spiked hair again but the best part was easily the first TV appearance of a young Gordon Ramsey “working ever so hard” doing an extremely polite and timid piece to camera. A far cry from his loud, sweary outbursts that pepper his career these days.
The age of the celebrity chef is a tedious period to live in, with the constant books and TV shows publicising their food. Some, like Ramsey, do churn out some good entertainment but if their existence means that we have to put up with more shows like The Rise of the Superchef then surely they are on thing we can live without.
If you have the stomach for it The Rise of the Superchef can be seen again on the BBC iPlayer.
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