''Boiling Point'' is a 1999 British television documentary series on British chef

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a to ...

produced by Tim Graham and

David Nath David Nath is a British producer and director, best known for his work on television documentaries. Career Nath directed the BBC4 documentary series ''The Year the Town Hall Shrank'' (2013), which followed the effects of the economic downturn in ...

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 ...

(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 enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. 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 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, also known as Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, is the signature restaurant owned and operated by Gordon Ramsay, located at Royal Hospital Road, in Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London. It opened in 1998 and was Ramsay ...

, in Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea in September 1998. This establishment would ultimately earn him the highly prestigious (and rare) three

Michelin Star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

s. 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 and

Mark Sargeant Mark Sargeant (born August 1973) is an English chef and restaurateur from Larkfield, Kent. Early life Born in Kent, Sargeant grew up in Larkfield, Kent and attended Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maidstone. From an early age, Sargeant's i ...

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 becam ...

. ''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 Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...

'', again produced by Graham (this time with Paul Denchfield and Lucy Leveugle) for LWT, 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 in the dining room. Ramsay reacts to the media fallout from throwing '' Sunday Times '' critic

A. A. Gill Adrian Anthony Gill (28 June 1954 – 10 December 2016) was a British journalist, critic, and author. Best known for his food and travel writing, he was also a television critic, was restaurant reviewer of ''The Sunday Times'', wrote for '' Van ...

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 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

, 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