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RIP RSC. So many memories! Suzy salt and Percy pepper will remain with me always. It'll go down in daytime TV history as the place where Fern Britton and Phil Vickery got it on. And who could forget it was the launchpad for James Martin's career, when he still wore a dubious bandana and did nothing but spin sugar!

I thought it had been axed when Fern Britton left. Can't believe that anyone every tried to make anything from it.
Was it really to blame for James Martin's TV career? enough said then really.

Here's to some better programming.

I'd love to see some of the recipes before the editing team turned them into palatable English. :-)

I was never keen on RSC... this may be because I only ever tended to watch it when I was home ill, recovering from colds and flu, with the tv on all day as distraction. Over the years, I came to associate the music with feeling distinctly under par. And the recipes didn't encourage me to feel above par.

I suppose what I really disliked was the frantic running about and slamming of pans around on the hob - it's not my idea of a happy kitchen experience. But what really sticks in my mind is the utter lack of interest Ainsley displayed in most of the guests. He certainly asked the questions, he never seemed even slightly interested in the answers.

Byebye RSC... odd that the initials also represent the Royal Shakespeare Company... :-D

It really was a very frantic show! All that running about made me want to switch off. But there were some strange experimental ideas - I never saw the deep fried stilton pizza being made. Has anyone ever actually cooked it? I can't imagine what it must taste like...

I'm a great fan from the Netherlands. I use to watch the program directly at ´óÏó´«Ã½ ever since i was 16 years old, together with my father. But since a while now we have it on dutch television.
I have my own family now, but my dad and i still watch the show together while talking to eachother on the phone.
i have allways hoped that i would get the chance to watch the show live, ore even join it with my own foodbag. Verry sad to here that it is going to stop. I will miss Ainsly.
Thank you!

As to peculiar tempura recipes, I'm still waiting for someone to do battered chunks of eel so that I can exclaim "O tempura! O Morays!" in despair :)

Count Arthur Strong was on the show but got his own shopping bag (chewing gum, half a bottle of vodka and a packet of odour-eaters) mixed up with the one for the show

Ready Steady Cook was certainly an institution and doubtless created a love-hate relationship with many. However the world moves on and a new format would be welcome. Most people probably watched to learn new ways to cook something and to get new ideas about familiar dishes. Also it was so refreshing to see real chefs in chefs whites in hygienic 'kitchens' showing us lesser mortals how it is done. No serious cook ever prepares food without an apron or cloth in a professional kitchen or at home; so what is so special in programme producers' mindsets about showing celebrities in their designer clothes and bouffant hairstyles, and sometimes excessive jewellery? This display of vanity certainly does not improve their cooking technique, nor the programme, and is, I fear, somehat ridiculous.
We need regular cooking shows and so miss RSC, but the Market Kitchen format is good. So please may we have demonstrations by cooks and chefs sensibly attired in hygienic clothing. Guest cooks are interesting if carefully interviewed and certainly provide interest.

If it is not too late before you close this correspondence, may I add my comment to the 4th January blog...........My wife became seriously ill some time ago and I perforce became her carer - that is, the chief bottle washer, etc. I knew little about cooking. But watching RSC on a regular basis I not only became proficient in our home cookery, but also developed an interest in experimental cookery in the sense that I was able to create tasty dishes from basic ingredients without the need to follow slavishly a recipe written by others. Tasting is all important of course and a knowledge of basic fresh ingredients is an essential facet of cookery. I have nothing but gratitude for the concept of RSC. It taught me to cook, and now, after four years, my wife has fully recovered, thank goodness. My greatest delight is when I cook something special she sighs and says "my goodness, that was a tasty dish, thank you". Finally may I heartily endorse the last blogger's comment "Also it was so refreshing to see real chefs in chefs whites in hygienic 'kitchens' showing us lesser mortals how it is done. No serious cook ever prepares food without an apron or cloth in a professional kitchen or at home; so what is so special in programme producers' mindsets about showing celebrities in their designer clothes and bouffant hairstyles, and sometimes excessive jewellery? This display of vanity certainly does not improve their cooking technique, nor the programme, and is, I fear, somehat ridiculous".
Please may we have another programme somewhat similar, but seriously aimed at home learner chefs. RSC may you RIP, despite your occasional faults. After all, none of us is perfect.