Episode 1

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Episode 1 of 4

Duration: 1 hour

The Hairy Bikers made their name cooking real food for real people. Now they are riding to the rescue of one of our great national culinary treasures - Meals on Wheels.

At its height this iconic institution delivered more than 34 million meals to the elderly and infirm, but over the last eight years the number of Meals on Wheels delivered nationwide has plummeted by over a third.

For Dave Myers and Si King saving Meals on Wheels is personal: from the age of eight Dave cooked for his poorly mum and Si rallied round to help feed his mother when she fell ill. It taught them the importance of good food in caring for people in need. Spurred on by these early experiences the Bikers' mission takes them on a journey across the country, all the way to royalty.

In the first episode, Dave and Si come face to face with the three biggest problems facing Meals on Wheels today - volunteer vacancies, the food and its out-dated, moth-eaten image. The Bikers soon discover that to have any chance of revitalising Meals on Wheels, providing fresh two-course lunches, it is going to take a shed load of passion, commitment and sheer hard graft.

After a trip back in time to Welwyn Garden City - the birthplace of Meals on Wheels where it was started in 1943 to help older victims of the Blitz - the Bikers saddle up and head off to modern day Surrey to help a beleaguered council's ailing Meals on Wheels service.

Faced with tired menus, a tight budget and a falling number of volunteers prepared to deliver the meals, Dave and Si face the fight of their lives trying to reinvent the service and drag it into the 21st century.

More episodes

See all episodes from Hairy Bikers' Meals on Wheels

  • Dave Myers and Si King

    Dave Myers and Si King

  • Hairy Bikers' on a budget - Can you come up with a delicious 2 course lunch for just £1.25?

    Hairy Bikers' on a budget - Can you come up with a delicious 2 course lunch for just £1.25?

    Filming the Hairy Bikers’ Meals On Wheels really opened my eyes to the fact that fantastic fresh food, that would have anyone coming back for seconds, doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Dave and Si are past masters at coming up with delicious hearty dishes that have real comfort factor and can be made on a strict budget – perfect for Meals On Wheels and the rest of us.

    One of the great things about this project was seeing the transformation that Si and Dave brought about to the food, the cooks and the general kitchen atmosphere of the Meals on Wheels service in Elmbridge, Surrey.

    The rest of the team and I have filmed in a lot of professional kitchens during our careers, but what we found in the Elmbridge kitchen was very different to what we were used to. The Meals On Wheels were made each morning almost exclusively from frozen and packet ingredients. And what immediately struck the team when we first filmed there was the lack of hustle and bustle about the kitchen. There was no frantic preparation with all its slicing, sieving and fast chopping. There were no mass of steaming pots bubbling away on the hobs, no one shouting at us telling us to get the camera out of the way because they were busy, and worst of all there were no fantastic smells tempting us to stop filming and tuck in.

    Things started to change once the Bikers rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in to help. It took great recipes, a huge amount of energy and bags of commitment from the wonderful Elmbridge cooks and the rest of the council team, but what a difference hard graft, fresh ingredients and passion can make. It wasn’t long before the natural order of filming was restored; with the cooks busy and hurrying around the kitchen. Myself, the cameraman, soundman and rest of the team were soon being told we were in the way, but best of all we were all now queuing up trying to snaffle some of the left-overs from the delicious cooking that was going on.

  • Recipes from Episode one

    Recipes from Episode one

    Find out how to make a quick syrup and lemon sponge pudding and other recipes from the latest episode of Hairy Bikers.

    View the latest recipes on BBC Food

Credits

Presenter
Si King
Presenter
Dave Myers

Broadcasts

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