UKTV Commissions Trio of Food Shows

LONDON: Good Food has ordered up three new series for its fall/winter lineup: Simon Rimmer’s Dinners, Rude Boy Food and Rhodes Across Italy.

Funded by Kraft Foods’ Philadelphia cheese brand, Simon Rimmer’s Dinners features the chef and author sharing home-cooking recipes. The 10×30-minute series, produced by Denham Productions, will premiere exclusively on Good Food on October 12. On November 16, the 10×30-minute Rude Boy Food watches Aaron Craze take ordinary occasions and transform them into knock-out parties. Rhodes Across Italy, also from Denham Productions, will premiere in the first quarter of 2010. The 10×1-hour series watches chef Gary Rhodes as he makes authentic regional Italian cuisine. Rhodes Across Italy is the fourth installment in the Rhodes Across… franchise.
Jane Rogerson, UKTV’s director of factual and factual entertainment commissioning, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Denham on both the Simon Rimmer AFP with Philadelphia and with Gary again on the fourth series of the hugely popular Rhodes Across… format, this time rooting out the very best dishes from forgotten corners of Italy. New chef on the block Aaron Craze has already proved a massive hit with Market Kitchen viewers, so I’m really excited about Rude Boy Food, which absolutely captures his uniquely energetic and charismatic approach to cooking and entertaining.”

Good Food’s channel head, Richard Kingsbury, added, "Good Food is the natural home for the best of established and new food talent. We’re really pleased be continuing our long and fruitful relationship with Gary, while also welcoming Simon Rimmer to the fold. His warm down to earth style and achievable food is already popular with viewers, while Aaron Craze is an exciting new talent who we believe has great potential.”