The phenomenal success of Come Dine with me.

Channel Four seems to be able to find what’s known as a sleeper hit. This is where a show starts of as a being placed in a simple time slot that suddenly gains momentum and finds it self on primetime as a major show. To show how they know this game the channel has purchased the juggernaut of a show the Great British Bake off which began life nestle on a late evening slot on BBC2 as a bit of filler. Come dine with me is the same. It pits 4 amateur chefs or dinner party entertainers against each other to see who can throw the best dinner party. A simple concept that is made very funny by the sarcastic and wry commentary provided by Dave Lamb who proceeds to destroy the diners and their efforts. One thing that they could do with is an excellent dining room and a set of Lloyd Looms Dining Chairs like those you can find at https://lloydlooms.co.uk/product-category/lloyd-loom-dining-chairs/ These certainly can set the scene. How does the show work and what are the ways that you can win it?

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The producers of the show are no fools. They have taken a leaf out of the Big Brother book and sought out 4 very different people that are patently designed to get on each other’s nerves and generally sow discord. Well, it wouldn’t be much fun if they were all the same and got on famously would it? The show starts with them all trolling round to the first chefs house and then have a 3-course meal. The contestants that then go home in a taxi (presumably paid for by Channel four and this explains why they are local to each other to keep the production costs down). In the Taxi they score the evening by nit picking and generally trying to give a low score so that they we win. “I wasn’t that impressed with Donna’s Lobster thermidor if I was honest so it’s a 5 from me.” Says Wayne a Forklift driver from Rotherham whose never actually had Lobster before.

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The idea is to actually have a good week in each other’s company not win but as soon as the element of competition comes in its hard not to have that in the front of your mind. Fans of the show know the score though. Its better to prepare something that you can actually do rather than attempt the grand Lobster thermidor or whatever especially if you’ve never cooked it before. The show’s producers aren’t complaining though as the bigger the disaster the better. The week ends with the presentation of the winning diner in front of all the others just to really rub it in. This has caused some rather awkward shouting matches as you can see the diners all trying to figure out how the others have scored them and cost them the win. Its easily one of the most entertaining shows on tv. It just goes to show the simplest ideas are the best.