You must be on another planet!!! - why arn't you listening to your precious viewers??? approximately 23% actually like Market Kitchen and the rest of us have voted with our remote control!!! Some posters have even given advise on how the awful show can be improved but you must have your fingers in your ears because YOUR NOT LISTENING!!!!! for the sake of our channel (as the paying public) take this diabolical show of the AIR and quickly before you lose any more reputation!!, Why do you never respond to our comments, Are you truly that arrogant that we are not worth listening to? I know you can't bring back Jeni - - but don't insult our intelligents by putting such rubbish on the channel!!!

I can only say I agree with you Tickedoff.

What galls me more than anything is the production standards are so lamentable. Just simple things like locating the ingredients so far from the
cooks, or background audio covering the content of the presenters(real broadcasting ABC's if you ask me). And then we have the presenters siting down, in a cook for me kind of way, whilst many a chef is dieing on their feet, in a televisual way.

Another gripe is the chefs in whites, it really annoys me. It creates detachment from what they are doing, and also limits the audience accessability. If Martin Blunos(sp?) can appear in civvies, so can some of the others that cook on MK.

What annoys me is that Tana and Matt have made the effort to up their game, and yet the producers have not done a jot to fix the fundamental content issues within the show. I will also add that Tana annoys the sweet B'jesus out of me, but then again Nigella does too, but if her piety appeals to some then fair enough. I will also add that this week SHAUN HILL was on the show and was so barely their it was shameful, and yet MK allowed that Italian chancer chef have huge amounts of screen time, imparting negligable information(I wonder if he still runs a cookery school after, his poor showing on that BBC show).

The producers are obviously neither food fans, or watchers of television as they seem to be unable to bring either the food or the show into our homes. And surely all those waiting staff in the background, could be fired off the show and then the money saved could be spent on something constructive, like a production team that know what they are doing

I still stand by my comments from the first series that, it is the producers that are at fault and not the presenters. As the producers hire and fire to suit form, and should be looking at the mechanics of a show.

To UKTV Food I am guessing that they have locked themselves into a turkey of a contract. And I understand that GFL may have run its course, in your eyes, but you brought to the fore a great deal of talent that now is not on screen. And that is bad business, building talent and then not using them

Hear! Hear! tickedoff. I could not have sent it better. It's an appalling television show.

Boy, prodigal, you have really summed up what many are thinking about this terrible show. And, I too can only say I agree with you Tickedoff.

Watching an episode with John Burton Race, he was so nervous and shaking cooking some wonderful quail - and no one would help. Race was dying on camera and TPB and Fort just sat there in the "cafe", even giggling and smirking all along.

And *then* they did one of their silly "cook offs" where Race and TPB competed for a sorrell sauce for fish (both dreadful according to Fort). TPB had to constantly go around Race to do his dish, bumping into him. If they had only swapped positions!!?? Production values, indeed. Poorly done, poorly executed. Imagine if this production team had to do a LIVE daily programme like GFL!! Laughable.

Your right, the "chefs in whites" is truly another example of doing EVERYTHING possible to alienate - and not involve - the audience. Not only don't they ever speak to us in our living rooms, they elevate the guests to demi-god status. I have to add, no wonder the viewer tunes out. Terrible.

Where I agree and disagree prodigal is the semantics of "who's to blame". When someone comments here that it is the presenters, I think what they mean is that the "choice of presenter" is dreadful. So this leads to your point: the producers of the show are to blame. So I think everyone agrees, it's just the words that people have selected. Regardless, it's the presenters that cause much of the problem.

That the producers are obviously neither food fans or watchers of television *does* seem patently obvious, doesn't it? They truly are unable to bring either the food or the show into our homes. Phony set, phone cafe, plastic hosts...it's just all too slick.

I'm confident that the only reason this programme was brought back was for the legal reasons you mention prodigal...they are locked into a turkey of a contract.

I just so wish that we can get past this programme and return UKTVFood to the fun, passionate, enjoyable channel it used to be and get rid of this disastrously formatted, fake, teflon production.

Kitchen whites are worn in any proffesional food prep area for hygene reasons. I agree with everything else Prodigal, Taco and Insider have said.

Bee, you're right and you certainly would want anyone cooking in a public setting to be in their whites for the stated hygiene reasons. I think what they were perhaps saying is that dressing in whites on the TV programme gives an air of aloofness and separation from the viewers. And that's the last thing MK needs at the moment!

Re: Chefs whites on cooking programs

I have a great issue with chefs whites worn on cooking shows, when chefs are not within the professional kitchen.
We currently live in a age where chefs are put on a pedalstal and yet the amount people cooking at home is declining. A great deal of people watch cooking shows purely from a voyeuristic position, and feel that they cannot achieve these elevated chef dishes. The chefs whites act as a psychological barrier to many a person as they see the whites and think ONLY a professional chef could cook such a dish. Also we seem to have gone down a route of treating chefs as almost high priests to this confusing and esoteric religion that only they can translate, for us the masses. And what seems to be happening is even simple foods are now being made less accessible to those who find cooking difficult, as they are perceived to be chefy type food.
And this is why I cite Martin Blunous so much, yes he is a chef of the highest caliber, and yet on TV he has created great dishes that were about flavour and cooking that were accessible to all, that had neither pretense or artifice about the dishes. And in a time where food is becoming a spectator sport, and also a point of social devision, good cooking that is open to all is very important.

I just have to agree with you prodigal2, Chefs whites are simply alienating us mere motals, the presenters are not down to earth but quite the opposite, they give me the impression that they are of higher class and only the same class can possibly appreciate the show, (of course they could be right) cause I thought JB was Brill because she was down to earth and asked the right questions (the kind I would like to know) -- So 1 Presenters stop sitting on your backsides when guests are cooking looking like your being waited on hand and foot! 2, get rid of the whites 3, INFACT WRITE OF MK AS A BAD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prodigal, I think MK is *deliberately* designed to be aloof and alienating! Not only the chefs wearing their "formal whites", but also:

1. The choice of presenters. The Queen-in-waiting's son, arguably the top food critic in the UK, and Tana-the-Queen of Sheba. Only Mr Tebbutt seems down to earth, albeit owner of a "Gastro"? pub.

2. The method of presenting. The viewers are only spoken to during the bumpers. Otherwise we're ignored and we only eavesdrop on the "action"

3. The recipes. So many are beyond reach, using inaccessible or difficult to obtain ingredients or are simply dishes no one would cook at home.

4. The format. Why insert a distracting, phoney cafe into the programme? It must be bloody expensive and it adds zero to the show. It causes the viewers to turn off.

Who is this programme really intended for? It's not at all obvious. Only those that would watch ANYTHING food, no matter how dire.

Doug, you're so right - it HAS to be deliberate. I would therefore conclude it is not designed for me, a fifty year old cooking fanatic that loves food programmes but still wants *some* level of "entertainment" in the programme.

MK just doesn't "click" with my idea of a watchable cooking show. It's too phoney and contrived. The whites mentioned above are just another example of a pretentious programme.

Bring back some FUN!

I just posted on another thread but I think we are in agreement that MK lacks so many things (including an audiance ha ha) but I know that if your foody program is not entertaining then your brain just switches of and therefore cannot take anything in, you need to keep interested in a prog and you can't with MK , WE NEED LAUGHTER AND FUN TO KEEP US ALL
INSPIRED,!!!
On another not Daily cooks was good on Saturday I have printed of the Tarte Tatan the JC did. My type of recipe EASY

Prediction: MK won't last the season. It'll "disappear" quietly over the Christmas break.

What a disaster.

I hope your right GFLForever, like many people I am waiting for the arrival of Food Poker, the ONLY prog I watch on UKTV FOOD now is barefoot contessa, which even y'day i'd already seen half the recipes the week before, I think UKTV FOOD needs to see the error of it's ways or it going down the pan very rapidly!!!!!

Hi tickedoff - I love watching the Barefoot Contessa. Her recipes are loaded with foods that make you fat though. What a lovely lady. I hope they keep on putting her programmes on UKTV Food. I really look forward to seeing her warm smilie face.

Maggie, I too think Contessa is a great program. Some are put off by her recipes as being too fatty or too sugary - but I think this no apologies approach is terrific. I have made many of her dishes and they are very, very good. But perhaps not EVERY evening!

As for the prediction on Market Kitchen being axed, I too hope that it is cancelled sooner than later but this show has demonstrated a unique survivability, hasn't it? They haven't improved, changed or fixed it, its ratings are less than the cheap repeats they show and many, many people simply can't stand it.

What gives UKTVFood?

Sorry to disappoint everyone but I don't believe MK will be cancelled anytime soon - regardless of the ratings fiasco - as they have a one year commitment from Waitrose for funding the show.

[link]

So this would put it sometime around April 2008 before it's axed if I remember the timing properly.

Please excuse my ignorance, but how do you know the ratings are suffering or less than the repeats?

Where are they, indeed!

Tickedoff, to replace GFL - a tried, true and tested show, not to mention a much loved format - with something that does not even appear to have any intended or targeted audience, rather than make MK simply a new addition to the channel's schedule for 8PM, seems inexplicable to me. It would seem the smart thing to do to have GFL lead into MK to capture maximum audience.

But then to produce a show that has viewers protesting in their droves because it is of such a low quality and interest level seems even more bizarre! This show barely breaks into the ratings this season.

Before anything goes to air, programmes like this are normally focus group tested and a potential winning formula arrived at long before they actually are broadcast for even the first time. It seems that this show may have been rushed or they just tried to blindly copy some of the ideas from The F Word, such as the very noisy, distracting audience.

From a vague announcement in January to the first airing in April seems awfully fast. I would guess that they skipped the standard steps in creating a successful programme format.

Your right of course cookin4one, Mk was not even Piloted. (if I was in charge - and clearly I am not otherwise GFL would be into it's 6th year) i would have piloted MK and simply see what the Foody audience thoughts were, How can the fat cats possible think that MK could replace GFL is beyond me!!!! (IMHO money is a heavy factor)

There's no doubt that it's the sponsorship that's keeping this show on life-support. It makes no sense otherwise.

Bad programming can't be sustained forever, though. Every contract has an end, unless Tesco's decides to try a year of this drivel

What on God's green earth has happened to this channel and its management? All we are getting now is vapid questions from "Nora" about this and that?

No feedback at all to the points and criticisms brought up here by *very* loyal viewers.

Weird.

I haven't been on here for ages until this week, never mind Nora from UKTVFOOD what happened to UKTVFOOD who used to come on and try to police the board? No sign of her! I'm convinced it was someone else pretending to be a moderator, and as my new hero Ina Garten would say "How sad is that?" (paraphrasing of course).

Glad to see the GFL protest goes on, it's amazing I think, months after it's finished, shows how much it was loved. Mind you I think you're talking to a blank wall but I admire your passion.

The only thing I watch on UKTVFOOD now is the aforementioned Contessa, cream and butter rule YEH! How barefoot- tastic is that!

please tell me I mis-heard is MK cooking squirrel tonight??? if I am not deaf TALK ABOUT UNREACHABLE INGREDIENTS!!!!!!

For heavens sake put GFL repeats on (even in the middle of the night I'll sky plus it)!!!!!

Unbelievable! You're joking? Is this the worst cookery programme possible??

Can I substitute the squirrel with rattlesnake?

Good grief, have they lost the plot or what?

Oh No cooking4one, you can't sunstitute ANYTHING on MK even BAD PRESENTING!!!! I think Market Kitchen should change it's name to ---- wait for it---- (Ingredients that are unreachable or too expensive for the majority of the UK, so stuff you LOYAL UKTV FOOD viewers we're aiming for a higher cailiber of viewer(s) who appreciate our idea of a flagship show)

Blimey that out of the way I'm of to make a re shake of Mike Robinsons Hot pot (reachable ingredients and hearty food) -- Not a toff in sight!!!!