Somebody Feed Phil, Season 5, streaming now on Netflix
Phil Rosenthal is a man after my own heart. The exuberant Jewish gastronome (creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) has spent the past few years doing what’s probably my dream job – eating his way around the world.
Loveable, cheeky, witty Phil’s almost childlike enthusiasm for his subject makes this joyful viewing. It’s a tantalising combination of travelogue and cooking show, as he and his production and camera crew (who often get in on the eating action) nudge their way into fine dining restaurants, street stalls, beach shacks...and even peoples’ homes, all in the quest to show off the best of the best of what each city has to offer.
Fans of the show will have noticed a sad change in format over the last couple of seasons as Phil’s beloved (and hilarious) parents passed away. The early shows would end with the presenter, usually from a hotel room, digested thoughts from his most recent trip with his folks.
While eating on your lap may be frowned upon in certain circles, I think you could (and should) get away with it watching this show – because, yes, it WILL make you hungry.
Previous episodes have taken Phil to probably the biggest feast in the world, just outside Montreal. Sampling flaky chocolate croissants and meeting food hero Alice Waters in San Francisco. Learning how to pour the perfect Guinness in Dublin. Barbecuing in Cape Town. Diving into deep-fried hot dogs and deep pan pizza in Chicago. And stepping out at home in NYC for a nostalgic egg cream and steak.
So what’s in store for 2022?
On the agenda are Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland (the spiritual home of street food) and Madrid. Get your snacks ready – and prepare to get wanderlust.
Bake Off: The Professionals, Season 5, Tuesdays, Channel 4, 8pm
Bakers unite. It’s time for one of my favourite telly events of the year. Even more so, perhaps, than the original!
Bake Off: The Professionals, is back, and with a new host. Bubbly Stacey Solomon has taken over the reins from Tom Allen, and is in the driving seat alongside show veteran (and GBBO season 8 contestant) Liam Charles for presenting duties.
The amiable duo have plenty of puns at the ready as they oversee proceedings alongside expert judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin.
Cherish, a perfectionist by nature, is executive pastry chef at The Langham in London. She’ll have her beady eye out, looking for the slightest deviation in size and appearance between contestants’ bakes (will her ruler come out this year?). And heaven forbid anyone puts too much gelatine in a mousse –she'll have ‘em.
Benoit, in charge of pastry at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, is all about flavour. Get it right, and he’ll be singing ‘oh la la’ in that gentle timbre of his. Get it wrong and forks could fly.
Expect wiggly chocolate moulds (where do they get them from?), dangerous sugar work, the jeopardy of cake towers collapsing, and a whole lot of delicious tension as contestants from some of the UK’s best professional kitchens seek to take home the top prize.
Most Shocking Celebrity Moments, streaming on My5
Rightly or wrongly, most of us (me included) love a bit of celebrity gossip. It's distracting, and quite frankly sometimes unbelievable. In future editions of this show (which are bounc to come as celebs are always doing something shocking) surely there will be a place for the Wagatha Christie and Heard/Depp trials? But for now, there's plenty to be getting on with, across 10 episodes so far. Themes include the 80s, 90s, Pop, Couples, Reality TV, Career Disasters, and Crime.
These are updated versions of the same-old-same-old rubbish that usually gets wheeled out between Christmas and New Year when telly bods have run out of programming ideas.
Forget the tired but compelling footage of poor old Oliver Reed drunk dancing on the Aspel show in the late 80s. Instead, C5 have put together top 25 count downs including the following:
1. Roxanne Pallet's fall from grace after accusing Ryan Thomas of punching her on Celebrity Big Brother.
2. Roseanne Barr's sacking from her own show after a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett.
3. Lindsay Lohan's bizarre Russian trip, where she tried to kidnap a refugee's children.
4. Tragic Paula Yates' outrageous flirting on the Big Breakfast Bed with INXS frontman (and later partner) Michael Hutchence.
5. The drug dealer who trespassed the Queen's bedroom at Buckingham Palace.
6. Kylie's infamous gold hot pants
7. Kate Bush's surprise tour after decades in hiding.
8. Wayne Rooney's many, many indiscretions.
9. Emily Maitlis grilling Prince Andrew.
10. Felicity Huffman's college fraud scandal.
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