The Hairy Bikers

The Hairy Bikers

This is probably one of my favourite TV programmes. The BBC's Hairy Bikers is one in a long line of cooking duos, but for me the Bikers have something special.


Firstly there is the chemistry Between David Meyers and Simon King that turns the programmes into documentaries not about food but about their own relationship. For me, the recipes, which, incidentally work first time, somehow occupy a secondary place in the whole development of the programme. It is the action and the interaction of the Bikers which really fascinates me.

Indeed, each programme is a buddy movie and a road movie rolled into one - with the particularly British twist of attention to small, quirky details and larger-than-life  quirky individuals interviewed in their kitchens, shops or farms. It is completely absorbing.

Perhaps the Hairy Bikers is an illustration of what the BBC does best - present a somewhat idealised view of Britain to the British.

For me, an ex-pat yearning to return to GB, idealised Britain is a mixture of quirkiness, friendship, interesting individuals and neighbourliness. Please note I say idealised because obviously this picture is not 100% true. But hey, who has ever let the truth stand in the way of a good story? Caricatures are always based on an underlying truth and for me the Hairy Bikers present us with a vision of this truth.

The same can also be said, I feel, of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys. And long may such programmes grace the airwaves. We learn more about our own country. We learn more about ourselves.