Supersizers

Supersizers

The Supersizers Go... and The Supersizers Eat..., are BBC television series about the history of food in Britain.
Both series are presented by journalist and restaurant critic Giles Coren and broadcaster and comedian Sue Perkins.

The series originated in a one off edition in April 2007 as part of a season of programmes on the Edwardian period, "Edwardian Supersize Me", a reference to the film Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock.

This programme set the format for the subsequent television series in that Coren and Perkins adopted the persona of a couple living in the Edwardian period and for a week ate the food which people from that period would have eaten.

Want something? Email me to trade or donate.
Title Comment Year Mins MyID

 

title

Giles And Sue Live
The Good Life

Starring...
Sue Perkins
Giles Coran


  Series 1 : 3 episodes - 60 minutes each.


Episodes :
   1 - Giles Coren and Sue Perkins find out how to grow your own veg in a pre-Google era

   2 - Giles and Sue try their hands at making their own wine and pickled eggs.

   3 - Giles and Sue explore ways to make or save money, including selling their homemade veg.

In celebration of The Good Life's 35th birthday, Giles Coren and Sue Perkins step back in time to 1975 to find out what it takes to make the self-sufficient dream a reality

2010 3 x 60 click to donate

 

title

The Supersizers Go...

Starring...
Sue Perkins
Giles Coran


  Series 1 : 7 episodes (incl Pilot) - 60 minutes each.


Episodes :
    Edwardian. Chef : Sophie Grigson [Pilot].
    Wartime. Chef : Allegra McEvedy.
    Restoration. Chef : Allegra McEvedy @ Ham House.
    Victorian. Chef : Sopghie Grigson.
    Seventies.
    Elizabethian. Chef : Mark Hix @ Sutton House.
    Regency. Chef : Rosemary Shrager

2007/8 7 x 60 click to donate
2 disks

 

title

The Supersizers Eats...

Starring...
Sue Perkins
Giles Coran


  Series 2 : 6 episodes - 60 minutes each.


Episodes :
    The Eighties. Guests J.Archer, K.Livingstone.
    Medieval. Chef : Martin Blunos @ Penshurst Place.
    French Revolution.
    The Twenties. Cocktails @The Ritz.
    The Fifties. Guest - Marguerite Patten.
    Ancient Rome.

2009 6 x 60 click to donate
2 disks

iso-dvd
101209

PILOT
Edwardian (June 10, 2007)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins attempt to eat for a week in the style of the Edwardian era's monied classes. Chef Sophie Grigson keeps their plates piled high. How will our 21st-century foodies cope with seven days' worth of huge breakfasts, meat-heavy dinners and rich puddings?

Experts will be on hand to explain how, among other things, the Edwardians gave the world the Full English Breakfast, allowed women into restaurants (though strictly as decoration) and entertained on a table-creakingly grand scale at home.

To top the week off, Giles is assessed by a doctor to find out what seven days of Edwardian-style excess has done to his body.

SERIES 1
Wartime. (20th May 2008)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins grab their ration books for one week and chomp their way through the food of 1940s WWII Britain with the help of chef Allegra McEvedy. During blackouts and air raids they eat spam and dried egg, have some GI's round for tea and see what Churchill was eating in his Cabinet War rooms.

Restoration. (27th May 2008)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and performer Sue Perkins try the food of Restoration Britain in the 1660s, a time of fire and plague. They both don wigs, with Giles in tight breeches and Sue in wide skirts. They snack on coxcombs, eel pie and copious amounts of small beer.

Victorian. (3rd June 2008)

As Giles dons top hat and waxed moustache, Sue dresses up in tight corset and outrageously wide skirts. During the week, they visit the Natural History Museum to try the food of Charles Darwin's Glutton Club. Cooking for them at home is best selling cookery writer Sophie Grigson.

Seventies. (10th June 2008)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and performer Sue Perkins spend a week going back to the food of their childhood in the 1970s. Cooking for them at home is top chef Mark Hix as they go down culinary memory lane. A soundtrack of 70s faves completes the picture of a time which seemed permanently sunny. The nation was slimmer and healthier in the 70s than they are today so after 7 days Sue and Giles discover whether their diet has been good for them.

Elizabethan. (17th June 2008)

Giles Coren and Sue Perkins spend a week going back to the food of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare. Cooking for them is top chef Paul Merrett. Giles puts on his codpiece and Sue makes up like Queen Bess. They discover the joys of sheep's head decorated with offal, the dish that bleeds and leaping frog pie. Giles tries some cupping and Sue learns the lute. With so many new foods to try from the New World, our intrepid Supersizers find out just how healthy the Elizabethan Diet really was.

Regency. (24th June 2008)

In this last programme in the series, Giles Coren and Sue Perkins spend a week on a diet spanning the Regency Years of 1789-1821. With Rosemary Shrager cooking for them at their country manor house, they enjoy the full trappings of the landed gentry. Dressing as a Jane Austen heroine, Sue is on a mission to find a husband, while Giles indulges in being a dandy.

During their week they try boars head and salmon poached in Champagne. They discover the origins of the sandwich while gambling away their inheritance at the gaming tables.

SERIES 2
The Eighties S01E01 (15 June 2009)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by. In this programme, they go back to the 1980s. After a Tory meal with Norman Tebbit and Jeffrey Archer at Shepherd's restaurant in Westminster, Sue samples Princess Diana's wedding breakfast while Giles tries out the most expensive champagne at the Stock Exchange. To round things off, they enjoy a dinner party with guests Ken Livingstone, Carol Decker, Lynne Franks and Toby Young.

Medieval S01E02 (22 June 2009)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by. In this programme, they go back to medieval England to live the life of a Lord and Lady. Taking on the role of 100 servants is Michelin-starred chef and Anglo-Saxon lookalike Martin Blunos. During an exhausting week, Giles becomes a chivalrous knight and goes off to experience the food of a crusader, while Sue learns to play the harp.

The Fifties S01E03 (20 July 2009)

Following the 1950s from austerity to convenience food allows Giles Coren and Sue Perkins an unusually varied diet. The hangover of rationing means that their meals start off miserably (horse meat fried in margarine) and change to reflect the advent of processed foods. Perkins discovers that the average housewife put in a 75-hour week of chores, and she gets to grips with Elizabeth David's ground-breaking cookbooks, which introduced Mediterranean sunshine and demanded the use of unfamiliar ingredients such as olive oil. The pair's special guests, including cake-maker extraordinaire Mary Berry and the fabulous Marguerite Patten.

The French Revolution S01E04 (06 July 2009)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by. Giles and Sue go for a journey back to Revolutionary France in the 1780s. Donning wigs and corsets, Giles and Sue find out what King Louis 16th ate, why Marie Antoinette was so hated, and how the Revolution was instrumental in creating the first restaurant and first restaurant critic. French chef Mickael Weiss from London's Coq d'Argent sweats it out to provide the lavish banquets.

The Twenties S01E05 (13 July 2009)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins discover the culinary delights of the bright young things in the 1920s. Chef for the week is food writer Allegra McEvedy, providing aspic-inspired cookery. During their 1920s week, they go from one social engagement to another: cocktails at The Ritz, the charleston at Cafe de Paris and motor racing at Brooklands. The week culminates in a spectacular Red and White Meal cooked by Allegra.

Ancient Rome S01E06 (27 July 2009)

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and performer and broadcaster Sue Perkins travel back to the early days of the Roman Empire. Living in a splendid villa, Senator Giles dons a toga while Vestal Virgin Sue dresses in tunics and keeps the fires of Rome burning. Italian chef and cookery writer Valentina Harris slaves away in the marbled kitchen, cooking extraordinary meals including the stinking fish sauce known as garum. Giles and Sue try the popular Roman snack lagana while attending the Colosseum.

Popular Titles

You may be interested in these rarities Spender / Crocodile Shoes, Common As Muck, Screenwipe and Coast To Coast