Britain's Favourite Food

In the last 50 years our diet has transformed. We’ve gone from home cooked meat and boiled veg to convenience foods, ready meals, snacks and drinks of every hue and cuisine. In this two part series, Simon Rimmer looks back at our favourite foods - Angel Delight, Smash, Ski yoghurt, Findus Crispy Pancakes and many others - exploring what really went in to them and why we lapped them up. With a cast of celebrities who grew up in the 1970s like Jonny Vegas and Susan Calman, plus interviews with the ad men, food scientists and technologist who created these iconic brands, Rimmer explores how we became a nation of convenience food lovers.

In the first programme, Simon tells the story of Angel Delight and why it was such a hit, revisits the golden summer of 1979 and lollies like Zoom and Fab, relates the amazing tale of Blue Nun and the wine the French allegedly adored, Le Piat d’Or, and the ready meal that transformed Marks and Spencer in to the multi-billion pound convenience food destination: the humble Chicken Kiev.

The second programme revisits Cadbury’s Smash and the advert consistently voted our favourite of all time. Simon looks at how the era of the Green Godess ushered in Findus’ Lean Cuisine and what really went in to the 300 calorie ready meals, and uncovers how the alcohol industry got women drinking with Babycham.