River Cottage: Three Go Mad - TV review

Take three actors well known for TV roles with links to the 1970s and put them in a 21st century factual programme aimed to change perceptions about food, writes Deborah Hardiman. Shake it up, then sit back to see what aromas flow out.

Well last night’s River Cottage (Channel 4) came up a treat with 70s sitcom sweetheart Felicity Kendal, who shot to fame as earnest Barbara in self-sufficiency comedy The Good Life, a forerunner of today’s eco trend. She was joined by Life on Mars star Philip Glenister and the ever glamorous Keeley Hawes, his co-star from the follow-up series Ashes to Ashes, to add to the distinctly retro theme.

So what did the River Cottage main presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall make of this trio? He invited them to River Cottage Farm not only to take a break from treading the boards, but to brush up on their cooking skills using freshly grown and foraged food from the farm, and he was keen to show that food doesn’t just appear on shelves in supermarkets, saying. “The food we eat has to be raised from birth or grown from the ground”.

From day one Hugh put the actors, who to be fair to them all were well up for the task, at ease.

Keeley, whose cooking skills were practically non-existent, and Philip got stuck into their first assignment to make breakfast using eggs laid in the River Cottage hen house and bacon cured from pigs reared on the farm. She gave us the first belly laugh of the programme by managing to add rosemary to the scrambled eggs, while Philip set off the smoke alarm sorting out the bacon.

Not to be deterred, Hugh pressed on after breakfast in his quest to teach the importance of creating simple meals with seasonal and ethical produce. Their dinner was to be chicken kiev, made from River Cottage reared meat chickens.

At first Philip and Felicity were led to believe they were required to wring the birds’ necks, but as the moment drew near Hugh reveals that they would only be required to pluck a couple of already dead birds hanging in the storehouse, dipping the chickens in scalding water before gamely stripping off the feathers and removing the giblets.

On day two it was Felicity’s turn to grub for pig nuts and nettle in a field, and really feed the pigs. Keeley made a pig’s ear of gutting freshly caught cuttlefish caught in Sidmouth bay, while Philip caught a string of mackerel on his line. The trio used the fruits of their labour to create a meal for members of the Sidmouth Musical Comedy Society who were in the middle of a run of Victoria Wood’s play Acorns Antiques.

Hats off to the trio as they did appear to do a good job and although the nettle with green pig nut appetiser didn’t look all that appetising, their guests tucked into the various courses with gusto.

Even Keeley’s cuttlefish stew, cooked with Hugh’s help, went down a treat and received appreciative comments.

She says: “The main thing I have learned is not to be afraid of cooking, really, it is better to come and try something than nothing at all.”

In between the cooking capers there seemed to be a fair amount of clinking of wine glasses as the group discover new skills in the kitchen.

A satisfied Hugh tells them: “ So much of our food is anonymous. You now know the full story.”