TV Dinners

In the first of the series, Gordon Perrier prepares a sumptuous banquet to mark the arrival of his £7000 specially commissioned table, ably assisted by his co-host and brother Raymond. In a sumptuous display of studied decadence, Gordon's hired extra waiters to serve a themed menu climaxing in eight pre-sketched desserts to match the newly upholstered velvets of his guests' chairs. An Arranged Bouillabaisse precedes a Veal and Mushroom Salad, but the opulent menu reveals its true flavours when Gordon unveils the Gilded Pears with Goat's Cheese. Meanwhile, Dave Heyward's Valencian Paella party gives a rousing reception to live, rosemary fed snails fresh off the plane from Spain. Spanish blood is in the 40-year old rugby player's veins and his Spanish-born mother ensures the sangria flows freely through the eight hour cooking marathon.

Eddie Baines and Steve Donovan prepare a special wedding anniversary dinner for their apprehensive wives. The two thirty-somethings share some common obsessions - such as 1950s Americana...and, more specifically, chillis. From their baseball team to the beer they drink, they eat, sleep and wear chilli. Hugh investigates the Richter scale of chilli heat as Eddie and Steve organise a feast their loved ones aren't likely to forget in a hurry. Meanwhile, Wynne Fearfield is perfecting her all-consuming passion for cooking. Her Yorkshire Dale neighbours will surely miss the obsessive cook who has used them all as guinea pigs as she moves house to greener pastures. Her unrequited desire to win Masterchef has led her to cook over 500 chickens and long-suffering husband Mike once had to eat three puddings every night for a month. Renowned for her culinary skills in the neighbourhood, Wynne is preparing a last supper for her saddened neighbours.

When does food stop and art begin? Art critic Celia Lyttleton probably couldn't tell you. Each course at her Futurist Feast is a sensory experience, from the cubist canapes - eaten while blindfolded - to the bandaged fish which can only be admired from afar. Famous for extravagantly themed dinner parties, Celia has willing participants clamouring to get in. Hugh finds himself entangled in the preparation of Italian Breasts in Sunshine - a dish the guests thoroughly enjoy devouring. Stewart Ibbotson takes a more traditional route with his perfect Sunday Roast. In between trips to the pub, the Yorkshire fireman prepares a hearty meal featuring a traditional Yorkshire pudding starter. Stewart first came to culinary greatness during his days in the navy when the ship would be without its cook on weekends. With a crew of sailors hungering for a Sunday Roast, Stewart soon picked up the basics.

Stockbroker Fred Carr cooks a 60 pound pig on his home-made spit at his Cotswold retreat. For 25 years, Fred has been perfecting the art of spit roasting - it now resembles a scientific art. He once came across a spit in a market, took it home and thought he had better get something to go with it. These days, everything from mixing the ideal stuffing to building the fire has benefited from his dedication. The preparation of the pig is not for the faint-hearted. It is a physical affair and one in which Fred and Hugh indulge some of their more primal instincts. Artist Selina Snow devotes her life to food. She paints food, she collects bizarre foods wherever she goes and no meal would be complete without her obsessively photographing the food as her guests eat it. As a child, Selina was introduced to the delights of French food and French markets by her dad. As a birthday treat for Peter, they both go to Boulogne for the day in search of authentic ingredients.

Australian diva Felicity Keebaugh takes a rumble in the jungle when her North London council flat is transformed into a cavewoman's den. She lays down strict rules for her guests - from what they should wear to which route they choose to her lair. Her guests are an eclectic group of people who have never laid on eyes on each other before, but Felicity's zebra skin bustier and matching mini-skirt combined with a backdrop of appropriately draped vines give her guests plenty to talk about. Wendy Ingham always thought cooking wasn't for the 'serious woman'. After 20 years of eating takeaways, she embarked on a cookery course which changed her life. Now Wendy finds herself cooking her first big dinner for Elaine Lemm, or 'Lemmy' - her inspirational cookery teacher and mentor. Her background as a business woman stands her in good stead - the four course extravaganza is planned to the minute.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall continues to discover the truth about amateur cooking as he joins Gordon Irvine at his wedding anniversary dinner. Only the finest haute cuisine will do for this former docker residing on a housing estate near Glasgow. Gordon regularly does hours of overtime just so he can purchase the best ingredients and utensils he can find. He even bluffs his way into a wholesaler's food warehouse used by restaurateurs to buy the finest ingredients shipped over from the Paris markets. Surprise parties can be risky to arrange - particularly when it's for your flatmate, but when Tricia Wallace and Alison Haughton plan a dinner for their friend Amaka, they leave nothing to chance. Both second year students at Birmingham university, Tricia and Alison spend most of their time exploring the local markets in search of the best ingredients for the traditional Caribbean cooking they have become famous for amongst their friends. Amaka suspects nothing as all of Tricia and Alison's hard work pays off.