Food and Drink(1982)

Food and Drink is a landmark British television series that premiered on BBC Two in 1982 and ran until 2002. Created by Henry Murray, Jancis Robinson, Fay Maschler and Paul Levy, it was the first UK national programme to explore food and drink culture without relying on cookery demonstrations. The original series featured Simon Bates and Gillian Miles as hosts, with wine expert Jilly Goolden making her television debut and Russell Harty reporting from exceptional British restaurants. A novel element was the "tasters and testers"—a small studio audience of twenty people who sampled and evaluated dishes. The show proved an instant hit, attracting 1.5 million viewers weekly during its summer run, exceptional for BBC Two at the time. Later iterations starred Chris Kelly and chef Michael Barry alongside wine experts Jilly Goolden and Oz Clarke. The series was revived in 2013 with Michel Roux Jr and Kate Goodman as co-hosts.