LIKE MOST OF US, I grew
up watching food telly: Julia
Child, Keith Floyd. My fi rst
wok was a Ken Hom and I’ll
never forget the time in my
native New Zealand when
Hudson and Halls almost
burned down their studio kitchen live on air.
There has always been something about the
act of watching people cook, socialise and eat
that has drawn us to the box.
We have just celebrated 15 years of Master-
Chef being on air in the UK after it was brought
back in 2004 by John Silver and Karen Ross at
Shine TV. In that time, it has grown from being
a small show stripped daily across the late
daytime schedule on BBC2 to become the
world’s most successful cookery format
(recognised by none other than Guinness
World Records), sold in 62 markets.
While its phenomenal international perfor-
mance owes much to an incredibly successful
‘supersized’ adaptation in Australia – where the
second series fi nale still out-rates any other
non-sporting show in history – much of the
tone and ethos of the MasterChef programmes
worldwide was set in the UK.
Central to the show is warmth, generosity
and integrity. MasterChef started and grew up
at the peak of reality television – and although
it has never shied away from competition
between contestants, it’s always offered some-
thing slightly different.wok was a Ken Hom and I’llburned down their studio kitchen live on air.26 | Broadcast | 23 August 2019 broadcastnow.co.ukUnlike shows that rely on loads of actuality,
with plenty of confl ict and judges who put
people down, MasterChef became about ordi-
nary individuals doing battle with themselves
to become the best cook they could be. They
were overseen by straight-forward and honest
expert judges who always acknowledged the
effort of taking part, actively mentoring and
encouraging contestants.Now you could say, ‘It’s only bloody cooking’,
but cooking matters. Every contestant’s food
story is unique and food is something to which
we can all relate. Recipes and food memories- good and bad – are passed down from one
generation to another. They become inextricably
linked with our identity and laden with
emotional resonance. Long after communities
lose touch with relatives and language, they
still pass down their favourite foods.
To see how much food matters, you only have
to look at the storm surrounding MasterChef over
a misquoted critique of a chicken rendang dish. It
prompted a social media frenzy that rapidly blew
up into an international incident fuelled by com-
ments from the Malaysian and Indonesian prime
ministers and covered by every major news
organisation around the world.
The other key ingredient to the programme
is, rather obviously, the food – but, ironically,
this can be the hardest area to get right; the
food must take on a character. Each cook
offers a plethora of dramatic opportunity, all of
which conveniently unfolds in a short amount
of time. Each dish has its own narrative arc,
as ingredients magically transform into some-
thing greater than their original form.
Even the humblest situation – chopping
onions or burning toast, for example – can
provide story and drama. A majestic souffl é
or a dropped chocolate fondant is the icing
on the dramatic cake.
With a rapidly changing content landscape,
nobody knows how long any TV programme
will stick around. We recently signed a new
three-year deal with the BBC and over the years
we have had phenomenal support from our
commissioning editor Carla-Maria Lawson,
who has been with us since we were on the
broadcaster’s daytime schedules.
Globally, MasterChef shows little sign of
fatigue, despite being on air in many major
markets for nearly a decade. By sticking to our
relatively simple recipe, the format has remained
remarkably robust and I believe it can continue
to deliver great television that resonates with
audiences for many years to come.
David Ambler is Shine TV’s executive editor
of MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals and
Celebrity MasterChef. The latter returns to BBC1
in early SeptemberDon’t mess with a winning recipe
Warmth and putting food front and centre is key to MasterChef’s longevity, says David Ambler
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