Saturday Kitchen
| Saturday Kitchen | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Cookery |
| Presented by |
Gregg Wallace (2002–03) Antony Worrall Thompson (2003–06) James Martin (2006–16) Regular presenters: Donal Skehan (2016-) Matt Tebbutt (2016-) Michel Roux, Jr (2016-) Angela Hartnett (2016-) John Torode (2016-) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 494 (as of 4 February 2017) (Cactus TV episodes only) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Prospect Pictures (2002–06) Cactus TV (2006–) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC Two (2002–06) BBC One (2006–) |
| Picture format |
576i (16:9 SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 26 January 2002 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Saturday Cooks! |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Saturday Kitchen is a 90-minute cookery programme, which is broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday mornings.
After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott in April 2001, the show was launched on 26 January 2002 and was originally broadcast as a BBC production for the Open University under an educational remit. It was hosted by Gregg Wallace, then a relatively unknown presenter. He was joined by a celebrity chef each week in a pre-recorded format and with a low budget, utilised archived content from the likes of Keith Floyd and Rick Stein to fill the show. After the first series, a second series went out live.
After the success of the first two series, the programme was relaunched with established celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson as the host, initially guest hosting from May before taking over on 13 September. The format was tweaked, moving away from the educational remit and simple meals to more aspirational food with an increase in chefs, a number of whom had Michelin stars, and celebrity guests. The BBC archive was retained for the revamped format, with Worrall Thompson and the guest chefs preparing dishes, with the clips used to allow clean-up and "resetting" of the studio kitchen.
During the summer of 2004, the programme temporarily moved to BBC One and aired as Saturday Brunch, live from Worrall Thompson's home. Subsequently, in January 2006, the show moved from BBC Two to BBC One on a three-month trial that became permanent, a decision which drew controversy after the moving of children's programming from its regular slot on the channel for the first time since the 1970s.
After Worrall Thompson left the network to present Saturday Cooks! in June 2006, James Martin took over as host from 24 June. During Martin's tenure, the audience increased from 1.2 million to around 3 million, peaking at 2.7 million on 9 January 2010.
On 8 September 2012, the first episode was broadcast from a new studio set, which saw a new design and the addition of mains gas and running water.
On 23 February 2016, Martin announced that he would be leaving the show to concentrate on other commitments, and "to have a lie in" on a Saturday. His last show was on 26 March.
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