Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Television Shows

Television Shows

On television, Fearnley-Whittingstall's reputation is that of an eccentric chef. His initial television exposure was on Cook on the Wild Side, an exploration of earthy cuisine. His habit of "picking up roadkill and eating the hedgerows earned him his nickname of Hugh Fearlessly-Eatsitall." He followed this with the series TV Dinners in which, during one episode, he notoriously flambéed and puréed a human placenta which was served as a pâté and "much enjoyed by the baby's family and friends."

In 1997, he moved into River Cottage, a former game-keeper's lodge on the grounds of Slape Manor in Netherbury, Dorset, which he had previously used as a weekend and holiday home. This became the setting for three Channel 4 series: Escape to River Cottage, Return to River Cottage and River Cottage Forever (directed by Garry John Hughes). He has since bought a farm in Thorncombe, Dorset, with his family. Through his experiences on these programmes, in which he had to produce everything himself in The Good Life style, he has become a keen supporter of the organic movement. In 2002, he presented the six-episode series, Treats from the Edwardian Country House. In 2004, Beyond River Cottage followed Fearnley-Whittingstall's progress as he set up a new business, River Cottage H.Q., close to Dottery (near Bridport), Dorset. In 2005, a series called The View from River Cottage was produced using extracts from the four previous series, accompanied by newly-recorded narration. This was followed by The River Cottage Road Trip, consisting of two brand new one-hour shows. 2005 also saw Fearnley-Whittingstall appear on the first series of Channel 4's The F Word, advising Gordon Ramsay on the rearing of turkeys at his London home. These were subsequently eaten in the last episode of the series. Further appearances on The F-Word in 2006 and 2007 involved Fearnley-Whittingstall advising Ramsay on the rearing of pigs and lambs respectively, again with their being eaten in the last episodes of the series.

During 2006, Fearnley-Whittingstall moved River Cottage H.Q. from the original rented and converted barn near Bridport, to its new premises, Park Farm, a 66-acre (270,000 m2) farm near Uplyme on the West Dorset/East Devon border. A new series called The River Cottage Treatment was filmed there and was broadcast on Channel 4 in November 2006.

In 2007, Fearnley-Whittingstall presented the short series River Cottage: Gone Fishing, which examined some of the lesser-known fish to be caught around the British Isles.

At the start of 2008, Fearnley-Whittingstall – along with fellow celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay – was featured in Channel 4's Big Food Fight season. His contribution to the season was Hugh's Chicken Run, shown over three consecutive nights, in which he created three chicken farms in Axminster (one intensive, one commercial free range, and a community farm project staffed by volunteers), culminating in a "Chicken Out!" campaign to encourage the eating of free-range chicken.

Fearnley-Whittingstall also presented a magazine-style food programme produced at River Cottage HQ, River Cottage Spring, which ran from 28 May to 25 June 2008 on Channel 4, and was followed later that year by River Cottage Autumn, which ran from 16 October to 6 November. He was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on 31 July 2009.

He was a permanent team captain (opposing a different guest captain each week) on a food-based panel game, The Big Food Fight (not to be confused with the earlier project of the same name) which began on Channel 4 on 8 September 2009.

On 19 October 2009, a new series of four River Cottage episodes started airing at 8pm on Channel 4, titled 'River Cottage - Winter's on the Way'.

In September 2010, a new series of River Cottage episodes titled ' River Cottage Everyday' began. The series is intended to encourage people to cook from scratch more frequently. It is accompanied by a book of the same name.

In Autumn 2011, a new series, River Cottage, Veg Every Day, began as Hugh developed awareness for how much meat is consumed daily and promoting interesting and delicious vegetarian meals.

In September 2012, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall made an appearance on The One Show.

A new series of River Cottage entitled 'Three Good Things' will air on Channel 4 sometime in October 2012.

Fearnley-Whittingstall also appeared on BBC2's satirical music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, on the episode recorded in 2008 but delayed airing until January 19, 2011, due to the scandals surrounding Russell Brand leading to his resignation from the BBC.