Who picked this years candidates??

[slooshy]

I don't know who picked this years candidates but who ever it was deserves to be sacked.

The Restaurant provides a wonderful opportunity for talented people to own their own restaurant but I am not sure that any of this years candidates fit this bill.

I cannot believe the bungling attempts at cooking I have seen so far. Lets face it,  those cakes, a child could have done better.

I feel the BBC have let Raymond and the viewers down this year. And I for one won't be watching anymore. Its just too painful.

[Minnie]

Welcome to the forum slooshy!

I have a feeling there might not be a series at all next year and I'm wondering if this is a deliberate ploy on the part of the BBC to turn people off it so they can then point to falling ratings as justification for dropping it. 

[welshman]

If the BBC are deliberately choosing  weak candidates, the BBC not wanting to do the programme any more may explain why this is being done. The producers may be hoping that Raymond will be so fed up with incompetent candidates who make a mess of things, he will not want to do another programme.



[Mod Edit: there is no need to quote the post immediately before your own]

[Minnie]

The signs are there Look at the way they have reduced the time allotted to it each year.

First series: 1 hour Wednesday and 1 hour Thursday plus a 30 minute "You're Fried" programme on BBC3 following the Thursday BBC2 show

Second series: 1 hour Wednesday and 1 hour Thursday - "You're Fried" was dropped.

Third series: Everything condensed into 1 hour a week.

 

[welshman]

In the first two series if a couple did badly in a task they would be entered in the challenge which gave candidates the chance to redeem themselves but candidates who do badly in a task do not have this opportunity in this series. I think this is a major flaw in this series. Also in the first two series Raymond would talk to the couples individually at the end me a programme as to where their weakness where. I have read that this talk would last some time and we only saw a small part of this on television. This meant candidates were told in detail where they were going wrong. This is much better than what currently happens when Raymond speaks to all the group and only tells each couple briefly where they are going wrong. The restaurant is one of my favourite programmes and I would hate to see it end.

[Minnie]

^ That was the second hour of the show - which we now don't get.

[Dreamweaver]

yes they need their knuckles wrapped

[hecate13]

As a result of this year's competition, I now have what could be permanent carpet-burn scarring on my jaw.  Every single couple was useless; there is no way Raymond and the other two could ever seriously consider going into business with any of these hopeless people.  And yes, I do believe the BBC has rigged it so that the programme can be quietly dropped.

[welshman]

I am interested how the selection process works in view of the fact the contestants in this year's programmes have generally been hopeless.   

[Minnie]

I think what happened this year was that they had already decided on their winners and then picked eight other couples for their televisual appeal. I doubt that they were even required to demonstrate any cooking skills in the selection process because it obviously wasn't important.

[azuremartini]

I think what happened this year was that they had already decided on their winners and then picked eight other couples for their televisual appeal. I doubt that they were even required to demonstrate any cooking skills in the selection process because it obviously wasn't important.

I'm sure you're right Minnie. The question is, who are "they"?

I think the BBC were only presented with this stitch-up after it was too late to pull the plug on it.  That explains the low profile; not only the limited airtime, but even the relative lack of trailers.  It does raise issues about the Beeb's quality control of the freelance production companies, but otherwise I think they're not to blame.
I'd love to know who introduced these "Kitchen Jedwards" to Raymond and when, and how soon he realised what was really going on.
Someone, somewhere, certainly thought they were showing le fameux "business acumen" in helping JJ and James to expand out of London.  Was it Raymond himself?  I so hope not.

[no1_chris_fan]

there is no way Raymond and the other two could ever seriously consider going into business with any of these hopeless people. 

I genuinely think that's why JJ and James won though. They already have a successful business in London, which Raymond has now bought into. Thanks to the show, it'll get more recognition and so will hopegully go from strength tp strength. If he had picked anyone else to win, they would have been starting up a brand new venture - and none of them had the required skills to make a brand new venture work. Raymond (and the others) would have ended up losing money, and the business would probably have gone under pretty quickly.

[Minnie]

Did you see either of the previous two series of The Restaurant?

I genuinely think that's why JJ and James won though. They already have a successful business in London, which Raymond has now bought into.

Fine, but if that's what they wanted they should not have tried to pass it off as The Restaurant which it patently wasn't. The Restaurant had built up a large and loyal following over the past two series and those fans have been totally let down. No-one would have had a problem with it had Raymond et al stated that they were looking for a new venture to invest in and were open to various business ideas including restaurants, cocktail bars, greasy-spoons etc but they didn't do that, they tried to pass off this farce as just another series of 'The Restaurant'.

Thanks to the show, it'll get more recognition and so will hopegully go from strength tp strength.

Personally I hope it falls flatter than one of the blinis (or 'bellinis' as he called them) that JJ the chef had never even heard of.

[Arctophile]

I genuinely think that's why JJ and James won though. They already have a successful business in London, which Raymond has now bought into.

So why pass them off as contestants in a show which is supposed to have a basis in one of the participants cooking ability. If anybody won it for them it was the sous chef who did most of the work while JJ just worked on his spots. James came across to me as a slimy toad type and would be the sort of person who would put me off even going in to an establishment. Add this this to JJ's blatant lack of ability and they were patently obviously in the show under false pretences.