Big Cook, Little Cook

Big Cook, Little Cook is a television series for nursery school-aged children broadcast on BBC television channels (particularly the CBeebies digital television channel). The programme is set in the kitchen of a café, with two principal characters, Big Cook Ben and Little Cook Small. Ben is a full-sized adult, but Small is only a few inches tall (along the lines of Tom Thumb) and rides around on his magical spoon.

The format of a programme generally includes a visit to the café by a nursery rhyme character (such as Little Miss Muffet or Humpty Dumpty). Little Cook tells a story about the visitor, and then they decide to cook the visitor an appropriate meal from Big's Cook's recipe book. One vital ingredient is usually missing from the kitchen cupboards, which gives Little Cook a chance to fly out of the kitchen on his spoon to retrieve the missing ingredient (and also visit a farm or a factory where it is made or packaged). Activities within the kitchen, such as washing up and tidying up, are invariably accompanied by the same song and dance routines.

Both chefs act is a ludicrously expansive and overblown style, but the show seems intended to encourage children to take an interest in cooking. Catchphrases include, "Remember to get your grown-up helper to do this bit for you because the oven is hot, hot, hot."

The actors, Dan Wright and Stephen Marsh, perform in a stand-up comedy double act, Electric Forecast. In 2005 they also featured on commercials during the Ashes cricket series.

External links

• Big Cook, Little Cook from the BBC website