Farewell Keith Floyd

So farewell Keith Floyd.   The broadcasting legend, raconteur, bon viveur & erratic chef went out surely in a way of his own choosing – passing quietly away after a typically understated meal of oysters, partridge & champagne.

I had a lot of time for Keith Floyd.  I first came across him in the West Country when he did a slot on the local TV channel.   His was as unique talent then as it would be today, were he still alive.  He made cooking interesting and he had no pretensions at all.

 There is one thing I suppose we all have to hate him a little for though.  He is almost single-handedly responsible for the ghastly collection of TV chefs rustling up a cushy living nowadays.  But if it difficult to hold a grudge because he appeared to be so likeable

 In point of fact I remember one series where he introduced viewers to talented young chefs Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein.  As Floyd went through his not entirely sober routine, they must have seen pound signs ringing up in front of their eyes as they saw a future gurning in front of a camera.

But let’s not be churlish.  This is the man that made eating fish cool again twenty five years ago, thought nothing of rustling up a meal of bear, seal or whale.  And never lost sight of the fact that it was the country or region and the people that inhabit it that made the recipes what they were.

In point of fact Floyd was a pioneer of that cushy staple of today’s TV chef – the freebie trip abroad, to be followed by a ghost-written book.  Where would WH Smith be today without him and the dozens who followed in his trail?

In an era where complete phonies become millionaires on the back of their TV chef personas, it is perhaps a little sad that Floyd’s numerous restaurants all ended in financial disaster. 

 But I am sure he would have enjoyed the  eulogies he got from today’s TV chefs – if only because I am sure he loathed them   all as much as I do.

But the man lives on in his endearing programmes that seem destined to be repeated on satellite channels and free view for ever more.  He was to cooking what Clarkson is to cars.  And it seems somehow typical of the man that his no doubt fascinating autobiography (ghost-written of course) is due to come out a week after he died

Man predicts lottery win

As a cynic who believes the national  lottery is a voluntary tax on the working classes, I was not particularly interested to hear some illusionist called Derren Brown appeared to pull off his biggest stunt so far last night when he successfully predicted the National Lottery results.

The illusionist claimed to have printed his prediction on six white balls earlier in the day and these remained in shot, but facing away from the camera, throughout the programme. 

After watching the live lottery announcement on BBC One, Derren walked across to the six white balls and turned them around to reveal the correct numbers.

So, how did he do it?   Now call me a cynic – but I suspect maybe it was all an illusion.

Discussion boards are already rife with theories and speculation about how he managed to pull off the trick.

One popular suggestion is that there was a slight time delay in the BBC’s broadcast of the lottery draw and someone had given Derren the numbers just ahead of the broadcast.

Others believe that the programme used a split screen effect which allowed someone to arrange the correct balls once the result had been announced.

Or, perhaps the balls were sitting on a special device which printed the numbers onto them as soon as they were revealed on the BBC show?

Derren claims to have spent a year working on this latest trick – did he simply work out a system where he could predict the numbers? And how can we get our hands on this information??

All will be revealed – apparently – in a special programme at 9pm on Friday night on Channel 4.

I for one will not be watching