This nostalgic two-part series charts the evolution of British kitchens from the 1950s to the present day. TV chefs such as Phil Vickery and Ken Hom, along with design experts and historians, reveal the trends and societal changes that have shaped the look and design of our kitchens through the decades.
Celebrities Janet Ellis, Danny John-Jules and Jenny Eclair test today’s must-have gadgets, from Kenwood Chef to spiralisers, to find out which ones deserve a spot on your countertop and which should be tucked away in the back of your kitchen cupboard.
Plus, you’ll discover adverts selling everything from flat-pack kitchens to Breville sandwich toasters, and discover how kitchens were depicted in classic sitcoms.The first edition talks about kitchens in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Many British kitchens in the early 1950s were drab, cramped, ill-fitting and heavily reliant on one thing – heavy lifting. In a decade when housewives spent an astounding 57 hours a week on household chores, kitchens proved to be places of hard work. Janet Ellis, Danny John-Jules and Jenny Eclair try to whip egg whites with a rotating hand whisk, but find it extremely hard work.
It was a far cry from the colourful, spacious, gadget-packed kitchens we saw on American new TV programmes like I Love Lucy and Dream Home, but change was coming…
The 1960s saw a kitchen revolution, thanks to rising incomes, technological advances, and exciting new fashions. Bright colors and patterns appeared on walls, and modern appliances like Teflon-coated pans, electric toasters, and automatic kettles made life a lot easier.
Embodying this new age of labor-saving ease is the Kenwood Chef (invented by Ken Wood), which claims to do everything from stuffing sausages to peeling potatoes, and celebrities test it to see if it really does make things as easy as it claims.
By the 1970s our kitchens were brown, spice racks appeared, we were obsessed with the iconic Morecambe and Wise breakfast sketches and, as many of us now owned our own homes, we were keen to show them off to the neighbours.
Innovations like the hostess trolley make dinner parties more exciting and celebrities tackle the scary invention that is the electric carving knife. But new technology isn’t for everyone, and some people have turned their backs on their gadget-filled kitchens and instead took inspiration from Tom and Barbara from The Good Life.
By the end of the decade, more women were working outside the home, making the kitchen an increasingly useful place. Gadget makers quickly seized the opportunity, introducing the Breville Snack & Sandwich Toaster. Our panel attempted to use the toaster without burning their mouths on melted cheese, which is easier said than done.
It will begin airing on Channel 5 on Tuesday 30 July.
