BBC America Launches ‘No Kitchen Required’ (Or: ‘Top Chef’ + Adventure Travel)


With another “Top Chef” season behind us, foodies now have a new culinary competition show to look forward to: BBC America’s “No Kitchen Required.” A combination of “Top Chef” and an adventure travel show, NKR keeps the chefs static while changing location each week. And instead of the focus on a tournament style competition, the focus lies on the challenges presented by each new destination.

The three chefs involved — Michael Psilakis, Madison Cowan and Kayne Raymond — need to find and prepare their food in situ while on location, whether that’s in the jungle, the Arctic or wherever their crew lands. They’re judged by local experts and though there’s a winner each week it’s a fairly friendly competition.

The kind folks at BBC America sent over a screener of NKR to Gadling Labs this weekend and we took a look. There are some distinctive similarities to “Top Chef.” There’s a beautiful, slender host, the timed cooking and judging is identical and the frustrating production is similar to many of the unscripted series choking the market. Where “No Kitchen Required” really excels is in its cast and the narrative. The chefs are really positive and respectful, throttling down the drama to focus on the destination and the local culture. The story weaves through the location and the audience can learn not only about the food, but also about the history and the landscape of the setting. For this travel writer, those virtues make “No Kitchen Required” volumes better than “Top Chef.”

“No Kitchen Required” airs tonight on BBC America at 10/9C. Check out the exclusive clip above for a taste of the series premier.

“Come Fly With Me” crash lands tomorrow on BBC America

Back when the only thing on television was either about lawyers or crime scenes, I lamented about the lack of a show featuring the airline industry.

How things have changed.

There are now documentary, drama, comedy and reality shows that cover every aspect of the airline world.

BBC and ITV have each done ‘fly on the wall’ documentaries; Airport and Airline, there are dramas such as the upcoming Pan Am, the defunct, but wildly raunchy British show Mile High, reality shows like Discovery’s Flying Wild Alaska and Ice Pilots, not to mention the painfully mind-numbing Fly Girls.

Now the BBC is back with six episodes of a documentary comedy called Come Fly with Me that premiers in the U.S. on BBC America at 11:30 p.m. eastern tomorrow.

We had a chance to watch the first three episodes from the show, which was enough to realize that the program will be just as controversial here in the U.S. as it was in the U.K.

If you haven’t figured it out from the late night time slot, Come Fly with Me is a politically incorrect edgy comedy that isn’t afraid to use racial stereotypes to get some laughs.

But the racial jokes don’t even qualify as being funny. There were other amusing parts, since airlines are the low hanging fruit in the comedy world, but most of the jokes seemed overworked and not at all subtle.

Granted, I’ll admit that I laughed out loud when a passenger service agent lied about a maintenance delay (caused by wing failure) explaining that it was because “The pilot is still at home ’cause he’s watching Avatar on DVD and he didn’t realize how long it was.”

And I rather enjoyed the Captain and Copilot husband and wife team formed when the captain’s wife decided to become a pilot to keep an eye on her husband after she discovered he had cheated on her.

Most of the scenes are played by David Walliams and Matt Lucas, each taking turns dressing up as the pilots, flight attendants, ticket agents, the CEO and many of the airport staff. In this scene, Walliams and Lucas parody the check-in staff:

The airport and airline scenes are highly realistic, having been filmed in London’s Stansted and the cockpits of actual aircraft which was refreshing for a change.

In all, I’d say it’s a show that airline nuts probably should watch as they’ll likely appreciate a few of the jokes. But I’d leave the seat belt sign on for the onslaught of criticism Come Fly With Me will generate after the first airing.

BBC and Lonely Planet team up for a new travel site

The BBC and Lonely Planet have joined forces to create a new travel section for BBC.com. Of course, since the BBC owns Lonely Planet, it makes sense that they turned to them for their excellent content. The site has a great look, and the same easy to navigate layout you’ll find on other BBC sites.

At its launch, the site offers a huge assortment of content, including destination mini guides, an overview of the best seaside resorts and where to watch the best wildlife in Australia.

You’ll find the new BBC travel site at BBC.com/travel.

Big Earth Productions launches travel website

Big Earth Productions, responsible for gripping travel documentaries such as Long Way Around and Long Way Down, have just launched a new travel website.

It’s designed to be a one-stop experience for finding information on adventure travel all over the world, providing tips on permits, visas, shipping, and transport. But they’ve gone beyond that to create an online community where people can share advice photos, and video.

BEP has filmed epic journeys starring Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor riding around the world on motorcycles, rickshaws, boats, and everything else imaginable, but especially motorcycles, which are the perfect vehicles for just about any terrain. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of emphasis on motorcycles here, with an entire section dedicated to Two Wheel Adventure, so if you want to do your own international Easy Rider epic, you’ll be set for information. The Cargo section will tell you what permits you need to get your bike to, say, Senegal. They’ll tell you all about pet visas too.

A lot of their pages rely on public participation, so at this early stage some elements are a bit spotty. A video page encourages people to upload shots from their trip and offers advice from documentary filmmakers on how to get the most out of any video camera in adverse conditions. The TV section includes clips from Big Earth Production’s documentaries. My favorite is series of crashes from the Dakar Rally. Did that guy really think he’d save his burning bike by throwing sand on it? Feel free to upload more of those, guys.

One page that holds a lot of promise is a clickable map of the world that aspires to have travel anecdotes and information for every country. Some countries don’t have much yet, but they will fill in with time. Since membership is free, you might want to head on over there and add your own content, but be sure to come right back to Gadling because, in the words of my three-year-old son, “we’re pretty cool.”

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