Inside the Factory

Gregg Wallace visits the Woodmansterne card factory in in Watford. It’s one of the largest greeting card companies in the UK, a family business sending out 35 million cards a year. He gets stuck into all aspects of the card creation process - from sketching a card design, to creating an aluminium plate for the printing process, to the guillotining of the sheets into cards and the final shipping process, which takes the cards as far afield as Australia and Singapore. Meanwhile, Cherry Healey creates a vegan Christmas feast, and historian Ruth Goodman unwraps the story of the year when Christmas was cancelled.

Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey get special access to the JCB factory in Rocester in Staffordshire, where as many as a hundred iconic yellow diggers are made every single day. Gregg follows the production of their best-known model, the backhoe loader, so-called because it has got a loader shovel on the front and a hoe arm for digging on the back

Malt loaf has been a popular teatime treat for more than 80 years; these days we get through a staggering 130 million of them every year. So to get to grips with how this sweet and squidgy cake-cum-bread is made, Gregg Wallace is rolling up his sleeves to get stuck in, following a production line of massive dough mixing, mind-boggling tin filling and intensely hot baking. Meanwhile, historian Ruth Goodman reveals the surprising story of a British baking company that cooked up the first business computer, as well as visiting Cambridgeshire to find out how wheat flour was ground the traditional way, until the Victorians’ demand for white bread brought about the demise of Britain’s iconic windmills.

Gregg Wallace visits the Ercol factory in Buckinghamshire, an area associated with furniture making since the 19th century. We Brits spend a staggering £300 million pounds each week on furniture, and Gregg is following the production of one of this factory’s best sellers, the Windsor chair. Starting life as ash trees from European woodlands, they're cut, drilled, steamed, curved and sanded until they're ready for delivery to shops and homes. Meanwhile, Cherry Healey investigates how sitting too much could be very bad for our health, and she helps to manage a sustainable woodland at the Rushmore Estate in Wiltshire. And historian Ruth Goodman discovers how utility furniture made during the Blitz is still influencing the designs we buy today, as well as learning how a humble British carpenter went on to make the most expensive piece of furniture ever sold.

Gregg visits a boot factory in Wollaston, Northamptonshire to follow the production of a pair of Dr. Martens, while Cherry gets to grips with the machines that make shoelaces.

Gregg visits the biggest tortilla factory in Europe, while Cherry takes on the hottest chili in the world and Ruth reveals how the Elizabethans treated their ruff collars.

Gregg visits the Denby factory in Derbyshire. Brits drink 195 million mugs of tea and coffee every day, so Gregg is following production of one of the factory’s best sellers, the Halo Heritage mug.

Gregg visits a factory that churns out fifty thousand litres of dairy ice cream every day, while Cherry Healey enlists an ice hockey team to test the best methods of stopping brain freeze.

Gregg Wallace visits a huge vacuum cleaner factory in the heart of Somerset and follows their biggest seller, the Henry vacuum cleaner in bright red.

Gregg Wallace accesses huge factories that use extraordinary engineering processes to make our most iconic vehicle.

Gregg Wallace gets exclusive access to a factory that builds red London buses, while Cherry Healey visits a bus windscreen factory and Ruth Goodman learns about London’s earliest double-deckers.

Gregg Wallace visits a factory that churns out 1.4 billion Jaffa Cakes a year, while Cherry Healey is in the city responsible for growing the fruit that gives these cakes their name.

Gregg Wallace explores the Vale of Mowbray pork pie factory, which began making pork pies in 1928. Cherry Healey reveals hacks for the perfect vegan shortcrust pastry.

Gregg Wallace visits a factory making 432 million crumpets every year. Cherry Healey learns the science of making batter for pancakes, and Ruth Goodman reveals how crumpets got their bubbles.

Gregg visits a factory that churns out up to 90,000 vegan sausages a day, while Ruth Goodman uncovers the green shoots of the vegetarian movement in Britain.

Gregg Wallace explores the Ambrosia factory in Lifton, Devon, to reveal how it makes up to 360,000 rice puddings every single day.

Gregg Wallace visits a factory with a menthol scent. Cherry Healey visits the largest sugar beet factory in Europe, and Ruth Goodman explores minty mouthwash marketing.