''Boiling Point'' is a 1999 British television documentary series on British chef Gordon Ramsay produced by Tim Graham and David Nath for

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

(LWT). With each segment 30 minutes in length, the five-part series was broadcast 25 February 1999 – 25 March 1999 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. Chef Ramsay is closely followed during eight of the most intense months of his life as he opens his first (and now flagship) restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, in

Royal Hospital Road Royal Hospital Road is a street in Chelsea, London, England. It runs between Chelsea Embankment on the north bank of the River Thames to the southwest and a junction with Lower Sloane Street, Pimlico Road and Chelsea Bridge Road to the northeas ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in September 1998. This establishment would ultimately earn him the highly prestigious (and rare) three Michelin Stars. It also covers his participation in the dinner made at the Palace of Versailles on 11 July 1998 to celebrate the closing of the 1998 World Cup and features young chefs

Marcus Wareing Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in Knightsbridge. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' Mast ...

and Mark Sargeant at the early stages of their careers, as well as mentor

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the ''enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White became ...

. ''Boiling Point'' was the first mass exposure of Ramsay to television audiences, revealing his highly driven, impatient and hot-tempered personality which has become his trademark. The series was followed-up in 2000 by a six-part LWT miniseries, '' Beyond Boiling Point'', again produced by

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

(this time with Paul Denchfield and Lucy Leveugle) for

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

, which follows Ramsay as he copes with his celebrity status and juggles cooking with the ever increasing demands on his time from beyond the kitchen.

List of episodes

Episode 1
In the wake of his departure from A-Z Restaurants over the sacking of a chef, Ramsay opens his first restaurant. Gordon worries his hidden camera appearance in ''Britain's Most Unbearable Bosses'' will affect bookings, but after seeing the segment he predicts the furor will blow over quickly. Ramsay makes an unforgettable impression on restaurant staff that low standards will not be tolerated, and fires a waiter for drinking water in plain view of diners. Episode 2
It is October 1998, the restaurant is a month old. Ramsay accepts £5,000 (later revealed to be £3,500) from the English Apples and Pears Association to demonstrate a Bramley apple recipe, but he secretly uses a Granny Smith apple base with a bit of Bramley puree, telling the camera the food critics won't know the difference. Ramsay tries to impress ''Guardian'' food critic

Matthew Fort Matthew Fort (born 29 January 1947) is a British food writer and critic. Matthew Fort is the son of the Conservative MP Richard Fort, who died when he was 12. His brother is the writer Tom Fort. He attended Eton College, and later Lancaster Un ...

in the dining room. Ramsay reacts to the media fallout from throwing '' Sunday Times '' critic A. A. Gill out of the restaurant in response to earlier personal attacks on Ramsay. Episode 3
Gordon fishes with

, who confides to the camera about Gordon's highly competitive nature, which creeps into even the simplest things like fishing. Ramsay's maitre d' Jean-Claude Breton spots staff from the Michelin Guide appearing for dinner, perhaps a sign of a coveted third Michelin star, and Ramsay banishes the camera crewmembers from the kitchen in order to perfect the service. Episode 4
To celebrate the 1998 FIFA World Cup, MasterCard sponsors a dinner at Versailles in Paris. Ramsay helps plan the event, in which no natural gas is allowed as a fire precaution. Ramsay has to cook with electric, which he hasn't done in years. Dinner timing is held up by delays with makeup for a dance troupe, causing a cascade of failures that result in overcooking of all the sea bass. Ramsay is disillusioned with the assembly-line nature of catering. He says he can't wait to get on the 8:30 a.m. train and return to his 14-table dining room where standards are maintained. Episode 5
It is March 1999 and Episode 2 has aired, upsetting the apple association that had given Ramsay £3,500. There is a large protest group outside the restaurant; Ramsay goes in the basement and telephones his contacts for help, though the show fails to explain the outcome. Ramsay disciplines carelessness in his establishment: waiter Silva serves a table the wrong starters and is sacked; chef Mark neglects to send out starters and is sent out for a break; waiter Tom keeps getting down on the floor to clean something and Ramsay smacks his head. In January 1999, Michelin is days away from releasing its new list, which could possibly make Ramsay the youngest three-star chef, displacing Ramsay's mentor Marco Pierre White. Ramsay and Marco engage in a friendly rivalry seeking inside information on the announcement; soon an inside contact tells Ramsay there are no new three stars.

List of episodes

References