Edinburgh Napier University

  The development of cooking shows on television, and the rise in powerful, influential, bankable ‘celebrity chefs’ is often seen as a modern phenomenon involving cooks like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson in Britain. Fanny Cradock (1909–1994) is credited as Britain’s ‘first celebrity chef ’. However, details of her career are rarely documented. She is best known for her work on BBC Television, hosting regular series between 1955 and 1975, but her contribution is often ridiculed and reduced to her appearance and personality. BBC Written Archive materials show her ideas and suggestions for new formats, new audiences and new concepts in television cooking; including technical advancements, cost efficiencies, responding to market research and viewing figures and as a vehicle for product placement. Cradock’s development as a true power changed the way television cooking, cookbooks and ‘entertainment’ shows were created and perceived for ever, paving the way for others who followed.