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6 Episodes 2009 - 2009
Episode 1
Giles Coren and Sue Perkins embrace all that is the Eighties as they spend a week in a warehouse conversion on the Thames immersed in a soundtrack of Duran Duran, ABC, Visage and Spandau Ballet. There's yuppie decadence in spades for the Supersizers as Giles parades around the City trading stocks and shares, and Sue power dresses her way through life as a Sloane Ranger. Throughout the week, they sample the delights of nouvelle cuisine and are introduced to the joys of sundried tomatoes, ciabatta and prawns, care of Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing. The Supersizers drown in a sea of champagne and ingest copious amounts of coffee from the newly launched Prêt A Manger. In a quest to become a Tory MP, Giles lunches with Norman Tebbit and Jeffrey Archer on the latter's iconic shepherd's pie and feasts on Margaret Thatcher's dessert of choice, banoffee pie. Meanwhile, Sue samples Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles's sumptuous wedding breakfast and tries out Jane Fonda's infamous workout video. Eighties decadence soon takes its toll and the Supersizers find themselves reliving the Black Monday crash and the Miner's Strike. As unemployment levels rise, Giles and Sue are faced with an economy breakfast of instant coffee and Pop Tarts and meals of pan haggerty and Pot Noodle, as they while away the hours with board games and ice skating. At the end of a week of excess, Giles and Sue throw a dinner party and enjoy one final foodie meal in the company of Ken Livingstone, Lynne Franks, Carol Decker and Toby Young, before Giles discovers exactly how a week of overindulgence has affected his heart.
Episode 2
Sue and Giles sample the food and lifestyle of a Lord and Lady in medieval England.
Episode 3
Living like King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Giles and Sue experience 1790's France.
Episode 4
The Supersizers look back at the food culture of the 1920's.
Episode 5
Giles and Sue take a look back at 1950's Britain. With rations ending, food culture slowly began to change.
Episode 6
Senator Giles Coren and vestal virgin Sue Perkins travel back to 44BC-80AD for a journey through the early days of Ancient Rome, as the culinary history series concludes. Accompanied by chef Valentina Harris, the Supersizers reside in a magnificent villa with views of the city and a marbled kitchen. Valentina prepares a range of exotic dishes, including the hugely popular but putrid smelling garum sauce - made from rotten fish innards. The Supersizers also discover the origins of pizza and pasta, while sampling their predecessor, popular snack lagana, on a visit to the Colosseum. After Giles attempts to become a gladiator and Sue takes on the role of Queen Cleopatra, the intrepid duo resolve to conquer the small island of Britannica. Arriving at Dover Beach, the pair sample British oysters while Sue becomes Boudicca and Giles enjoys a freezing cold bath. Pining for their slaves, the pair retreat back to Rome for the final banquet of the series. Joined by actor Kenneth Cranham, historian Adrian Goldsworthy and foodie Angela Pagano, the gallant Supersizers end their adventures smothered in a sea of rose petals.