The Supersizers Go...

Engaging, interesting, and funny! Great entertainment and needs to be streaming somewhere.

Caught two of the series 1 episodes completely by accident while we were on holiday at the British south coast last summer. I was hooked immediately and have caught one or two extra episodes after that.

I was elated to find out a second series (called "The Supersizers Eat...") is now airing on the BBC. I have now seen almost all episodes in this new series and this has only reinforced my fan status.

No expense spared (or so it seems?), lots of research (or so it seems?), very funny (definately!). Pure infotainment. Brilliant, just brilliant...

Looking around on the internet it seems the BBC seems to have no plans to get this beautiful series on the foods of Britain through the ages out on DVD. I find this simply incomprehensible. I'd buy the series in a heartbeat and cherish it as funny historical reference material.

I wish they would re-run this. Giles and Sue were such a good pairing, it was hilarious. Loved it!

And that's just the presenters. This show is available on Hulu now, which for me means I would not care whether it turns up on DVD at this point. I like the silliness of it, the comic relief between courses, so to speak.

Giles Coran seems to think he is funnier than Sue Perkins, but she is funnier than he thinks he is.

The historical insight into what people ate (and what they did not eat) is fascinating. You learn about the politics of food, too, albeit from a certain perspective. You learn how people's food habits can be self-destructive. (During the Restoration, for example, people drank to excess, ate meat but not vegetables and then wondered why they developed terrible health problems.)

The idea of forcing Ms. Perkins into wifey roles might seem sexist to some, but it reflects reality in the majority of eras and shows us what it was really like for many women. Besides, Ms. Perkins makes hilarious fun of these situations and she does sometimes cross gender lines.

This is an intriguing and enjoyable series. The attention to detail is incredible and the hosts are witty and engaging. The series that cover the earlier periods are perhaps more interesting and yet shocking for the use of offal and small animals no longer considered proper or appropriate for eating. The coverage of political, cultural and socioeconomic history is also entertaining if not always thorough, as this is entertainment after all. The one thing I find a little disturbing is how frequently Sue Perkins is put in silly subservient positions (Damsel in Distress, housewife, desperate sister looking for marriage), while Giles goes off for some amazing meal and champagne with a group of men. In the War Years for instance, Sue is left at home when there were plenty of women working--some even in Churchill's war room, I suspect. I think the producers could have been more imaginative with Sue's roles, and not leaned so heavily on sexist clichés about women of each period. It would have been a firm 9/10 for me, if this had not been the case.