Channel 4's food season is biggest hit since Big Brother 2007, but Cookalong is criticised

Posted 25-01-2008

The Channel 4’s food season received more positive reaction than any show since last summer's Big Brother last summer. Gordon Ramsay’s Cookalong Live did come in for some criticism though. The Channel 4 Viewers’ Editor reports back and asks for your opinion.

It has been good to see your comments flowing into the Channel 4 mailbox again after a quiet period over Christmas! The Big Food Season has produced the biggest response so far this year, and the second biggest number of complimentary comments (266) since I have been doing this job, (some people may be surprised to hear that last summer’s Big Brother received the most compliments). Many people wrote in to thank the presenters and programme makers for opening their eyes to the conditions in which chickens are kept, and I have read several reports this week that sales of free range chickens in supermarkets have risen markedly since the season began.

A testament to the power of television, and many viewers made the point in their letters and e-mails that this was exactly the sort of programmes that they wanted and expected from Channel 4. The Channel is currently going through a process of thinking about its future, so any thoughts you have on what sort of programmes you want to see more of, or less of, are welcome on this site or the futureblog.

The main focus for criticism this week has been Gordon Ramsay’s Cookalong Live broadcast on Friday 18 January (receiving over 100 complaints) and the Dispatches: the Court of Ken transmitted on Monday 21 January (48 complaints; 9 appreciative comments).

I spoke to the Commissioning Editor for Gordon Ramsay’s Cookalong, who explained that this was the first time that something like this had been done live and the first time that Gordon had done live television. In response to small number of criticisms of the language used by Gordon and some of the other contributors, she pointed out that the programme was broadcast after the 9pm watershed, was designed for adults to watch and cook along and was introduced as such and there was a clear warning about strong language and nudity before the show started.

The exchange between Gordon and actor and musician Max Beesley offended some viewers, but this occurred after 9.30pm, by which time the nature of the show would have been clear to those watching. She was confident that Gordon’s adult language and his rude sense of humour were very well-known by viewers, and that most of the audience would be prepared for these sort of moments. She agreed that Max’s comment may have been vulgar, but felt it was clearly intended as a joke and was part of a light-hearted exchange.

The majority of the criticisms related to the fast cutting between different camera shots. The Commissioning Editor, who had also received a number of letters of congratulation from viewers, told me:

"I'm sorry that a small number of people didn’t like the pace and style of the show. And personally I am thrilled by the number of people who have told me that they loved the show and cooked along successfully (obviously they could follow it!). We’ve all learnt an enormous amount the first time round and we’ll bear the criticisms in mind if we decide to do this again."

Let me know your opinion.

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