Britain's Best Home Cook

American watcher here who loves all things BBC and ITV. HUGE difference btwn American home cook shows and this show. American shows are 50 percent scripted and so ridiculous with the cooks and their designer clothes or spike heels and conceited attitudes. Editing chooses who's evil and who's good. NO written recipes or help and there's a LOT of screaming and fake drama. Our judges are cruel, condescending and throw plates of food. Every contestant is looking to be head chef in a Michelin Star restaurant. Britain's Best Home Cook is VERY different and I thought it was really slow until I caught on. It truly is a show about HOME cooks who want to show their skills. The judges EXPECT a home cook to cook like at home, no fancy stuff, give your best. Contestants support and help each other, they share ideas and recipes. They are given cook books the night before, to study, they each have their own pantry of complimentary food items for the challenge. There's no yelling and rarely a last few seconds freak out as well as when times up you can still throw a last bit on or do a quick wipe. The judges are kind and soft spoken and generous with praise or helpful tips. Elimination is based on the least favorite dishes and those people are given the exact ingredients with a detailed recipe and you'd be surprised how different the dishes look. Each cook does a short private chat with a personal camera each day and they could scrap that, it adds nothing and not interesting. Maybe liven it up a little, there is literally NO excitement at all. It's a pleasant slow friendly pace so slow it's a little hard to stay awake and then I have to start over. I like it.

I love the judges and the camaraderie between contestants, I love British cooking competitions way better than American ones. The American ones seem way over produced and sometimes even corny, this one shows real people and the contestants are actually supportive of each other and not so cut throat which I really enjoy. I find watching it very relaxing and it always puts me in a good mood. Please renew for another season.

Absolutely loved Season 1 - the contestants, host and judges were all wonderful and very supportive. Season 2 is just okay. The addition of Angela Hartnett was a huge mistake in my opinion; cold, pretentious and just an all around drab personality. In addition, I'm not even sure why they bothered to pick "favorites" in the 1st cook of each episode because it literally doesn't mean anything - at least in Season 1, they were able to choose the ingredients in the next cook. I know Claudia Winkleman is a lot for some people, but honestly, without her, I think the show would be a bit boring and I personally love her personality.

If they would return to the Season 1 format and replace Angela, I would very much look forward to a Season 3.

It's always a pleasure to watch British TV, especially the reality shows. The contestants are not just civil to each other, they're helpful and affectionate. The trope of "I'm not here to make friends" said with a sneer and a hair toss is unknown in British TV. Such a refreshing difference from American manufactured adversarial drama and whiny sore losers. (Well, that sums things up across the board, really.) Claudia as the host is engaging. Mary Berry - gracious but fun. Dan Doherty is a bit of a prig, as if asserting his imagined big-time chef credentials by contradicting the other judges. I hope there are more seasons to come.

This is the absolute best cooking competition in my humble amateur home cook opinion. The cooks, the judges, the host all get on so well. I have watched so many cooking and baking shows over the years and never I have I felt so emotionally invested into each competitor as I have watching this series. The idea of them developing relationships and living together and cooking together and really learning who their competing against makes it all so very metaphorical in the sense that the ingredients we cook with must all go beautifully together to make something wonderful and these lovely people all come together to make something wonderful as well. What a joy of a show. I hope it continues. I have learned loads from this series and taken so many notes.