Boiling Point (2023 TV series)

Boiling Point
Created by	Philip Barantini James Cummings Stephen Graham
Based on	Boiling Point by Philip Barantini James Cummings
Screenplay by	Dan Cadan James Cummings Alex Tenenbaum Nathaniel Stevens
Directed by	Philip Barantini Mounia Akl
Starring	Vinette Robinson Ray Panthaki Hannah Walters Izuka Hoyle Áine Rose Daly Daniel Larkai Gary Lamont Hannah Traylen Stephen McMillan Taz Skylar Ahmed Malek Joel MacCormack Missy Haysom Shaun Fagan Stephen Odubola Cathy Tyson Stephen Graham Steven Ogg
Theme music composer	Aaron May David Ridley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producer(s)	Philip Barantini Stephen Graham Rebeccah Ferguson Hannah Walters Bart Ruspoli Hester Ruoff James Cummings
Producer(s)	Graham Drover
Cinematography	Matthew Lewis
Editor(s)	Alex Fountain Tommy Boulding
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Ascendant Fox Matriarch Productions It's All Made Up Productions
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	1 October (2023-10-01) – 22 October 2023 (2023-10-22)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Boiling Point is a four-episode British television drama miniseries created by Philip Barantini, James Cummings and Stephen Graham. Starring Graham, Vinette Robinson and Hannah Walters, the series premiered with its first episode on BBC One on 1 October 2023 and all episodes were released on BBC iPlayer on the same day. It was made for the BBC by Ascendant Fox, Matriarch Productions and It's All Made Up Productions.

Co-directed by Philip Barantini and Mounia Akl, it is a continuation and standalone sequel of the 2021 film Boiling Point, also directed by Barantini and featuring many of the same cast.

Synopsis

The series picks up six-months after the film ends with Carly (Robinson) now running her own restaurant with former boss Andy's (Graham) staff.

Cast

• Vinette Robinson as Carly, head chef at Point North
• Stephen Graham as Andy, former head chef at Jones & Sons
• Steven Ogg as Nick, sous-chef
• Hannah Walters as Emily, head pastry chef
• Ray Panthaki as Freeman, sous-chef
• Gary Lamont as Dean, Point North restaurant manager
• Áine Rose Daly as Robyn, waitress
• Taz Skylar as Billy, bartender
• Daniel Larkai as Jake, kitchen porter
• Stephen McMillan as Jamie, pastry chef
• Hannah Traylen as Holly, kitchen porter
• Izuka Hoyle as Camille, French chef
• Stephen Odubola as Johnny, a new chef
• Shaun Fagan as Bolton
• Joel MacCormack as Liam Astrid, businessman behind Point North
• Ahmed Malek as Musa, new front-of-house staff who works at the bar
• Cathy Tyson as Vivian, Carly's mother
• Sok-Ho Trinh as Sol
• Missy Haysom as Kit, new front-of-house staff
• Henry Meredith as Nathan

Episodes

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Episode 1"	Philip Barantini	James Cummings	1 October 2023 (2023-10-01)
It's been six months since Andy's heart attack and the closing of his restaurant, Jones & Sons. His former sous-chef , Carly, just opened a northern-influenced fine dining restaurant, taking most of the former kitchen and front of house staff with her. With Carly now head chef, Freeman has stepped into the role of sous-chef, but like Andy before her, the pressure of juggling her professional and personal life is taking a toll. On a night when the restaurant is full, co-owner Liam is wining and dining a group of prospective investors, but Carly abandons the kitchen staff because of a family medical emergency. New starter Johnny has bluffed his way into the position of chef de partie. His first task is to make a Hollandaise sauce, but he fails after discreetly trying to look up a recipe. The inexperienced newcomer is moved from station to station, until finally finding himself at the pass where he starts to find his feet, but when he intervenes to put out a pan fire he burns himself. When Freeman loses this temper, he is called into a meeting with Liam and Carly. On the receiving end of what he feels is an undeserved dressing down, he resigns. Pastry chef Emily visits Andy at home. Seeing the shadow of the talented chef he used to be, she attempts to mediate between him and Carly, but is rebuffed.
2	2	"Episode 2"	Philip Barantini	James Cummings	8 October 2023 (2023-10-08)
Emily is attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when Andy arrives. She reveals she started drinking to cope with a loss, but has been sober for around a decade. She agrees to become Andy's sponsor. Liam has sourced a new produce supplier in an effort to cut costs, one that has substituted frozen for fresh meat. At service that evening, a new menu is being launched and Jamie has his first dessert featuring on it. His lack of self-belief is not helped by fellow chef Bolton haranguing him throughout service and the intense pressure leads Jamie to commit an act of extreme self-harm. Thanks to his training in the army, Johnny keeps a level head during the crisis and administers first-aid until an ambulance arrives. Demoted to position of commis chef, Johnny is still struggling to refine his output to the level required for a fine dining establishment. When he backs up Bolton in the dining room as Carly and Dean are dealing with a particularly rowdy couple, a mutual respect starts to develop. Carly discovers that a group of her friends are dining on one of the tables and realises how life as a restaurateur has become all-encompassing when she has a chat with them. The emotional turmoil of the evening has Emily reaching for the bottle.
3	3	"Episode 3"	Mounia Akl	James Cummings	15 October 2023 (2023-10-15)
Jake is struggling to make ends meet, so he sometimes works night shifts in a warehouse. When Carly decides to reduce the kitchen porters to one per shift in another attempt to reduce overhead costs, Holly offers to leave so that Jake can be kept on full time. Carly, unwilling to put all her eggs in one basket for a seven-days-a-week position, declines Holly's offer. Liam asks Carly if they can do a completely different menu as Point North is stepping in to host his brother's friend's wedding reception. Despite Carly's reservations, new sous-chef Nick is enthusiastic and offers to develop a menu. Emily confesses to Carly that she has fallen off the wagon. She meets with Andy for a chat in the park, where he receives a call from former Jones & Sons maitre d' Beth asking him to drop by. Returning to his old restaurant, now trading under a new name, Andy is asked to sign a legal document transferring his shares in the business over to Beth, as her father has paid off Andy's loan from Alastair Skye. He discovers Freeman working in the kitchen and the two reconcile. Discovering the level of Jake's debt and his inability to provide for his family, Holly suggests she runs an errand for her Uncle Charlie; a simple delivery that will pay a couple of grand, cash in hand. Jake reluctantly agrees on the condition that he accompanies her and they split the money, although this means both of them will miss service. Andy drops in on Point North, has second thoughts and leaves immediately, but not before he is spotted by Carly.
4	4	"Episode 4"	Mounia Akl	James Cummings	22 October 2023 (2023-10-22)
Waitress Robyn attends an audition but nerves and discomfort get the better of her and she walks out. The day of the wedding reception has arrived and the restaurant is transformed for the one-off private booking with all hands on deck including the return of Jamie. Robyn arrives late and still in some discomfort from her audition. She struggles to concentrate in the kitchen and ruins some of the desserts. Andy visits Carly's flat, only to find that she is at work. Invited in by Carly's mother for a cup of tea, Andy learns that Carly has remortgaged the flat. Carly's mother suggests her daughter could use some help. Whilst most of the staff go out clubbing, Carly has a rather awkward date with a male lawyer which she cuts short to join her staff at the club. Andy arrives at Point North to find only Nick still there and leaves a message with him. When Liam shows up at the club, and accidentally reveals the restaurants finances are in dire straits and drops the bombshell that he has filed for insolvency, Carly finds solace in the arms of Holly and they share a passionate kiss. Robyn confides to Dean that she has Crohn's disease. Carly finally pays Andy a visit and the two have a heart to heart. When she reveals her restaurant has failed Andy offers his support when she needs it most.

Production

The series is a sequel to the 2021 film Boiling Point, a one-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen. It itself was an expansion of a 2019 short film of the same name, also directed by Barantini and starring Graham. In October 2022 it was revealed that a series following on from the film with the same creative team had been commissioned by BBC One. The series consists of four one-hour episodes with Barantini directing the first two and Mounia Akl directing the last two. Graham Drover is the series producer and Rebecca Ferguson is executive producer for the BBC. The series is written by James Cummings with writers Dan Cadan, Alex Tenenbaum and Nathaniel Stevens joining the team.

Casting

In February 2023 Steven Ogg was revealed to have joined the cast. Graham, Robinson and Walters all reprise their original roles from the film, as do Panthaki, Lamont, Daly, Skylar, Larkai, McMillan, Traylen and Hoyle.

Filming

Filming began in January 2023 in Manchester.

Broadcast

Episode one aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2023 in the 9pm time slot, with all four episodes becoming available on its iPlayer streaming service the same day.

BBC Studios is handling international distribution.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 12 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A culinary drama with palpable tension simmering beneath the surface, Boiling Point generates an absorbing amount of heat."

Nick Clark of the Evening Standard gave it a five out of five stars, commenting that it "gives us just a taste of the anxiety and the adrenaline of this world. It's an extraordinary peek behind the kitchen door, and an uncomfortable one. But as a drama, the ingredients are spot on and the execution superb." Another five star review came from Morgan Cormack of The Radio Times, describing it as "a perfect example of what stellar character-driven drama is." Of the casting, Morgan opined that "the magic of having such an ensemble isn't to be taken lightly - it truly is a work of magnificence."

Dan Einav of the Financial Times awarded the show four stars, stating that "The main cast broadly rise to the challenge but there's a ready-made quality to some of the plotting and scene-setting. The point that chefs both depend on and deplore their customers is overstretched... It can also strain credulity to make each night revolve around a disaster." Another four star review came from Nick Hilton of The Independent, again praising both the “quality of the acting” and the writing. Four stars also from Emily Baker of the i, who said that the “TV version never quite matched the heights” of the feature film and bemoaned the lack of screen time afforded to Stephen Graham.

The Times critic, Carol Midgley also awarded the show four stars, as did Rebecca Nicholson at The Guardian, who also singled out the “excellent cast.” The Observer's Joel Golby lauded "a brilliant script, a phenomenal cast and some absolutely beautiful filming" and went on to state that "this hugely stressful series is one of the best things on television this year... British TV at its very finest."

External links

• Boiling Point at BBC Programmes
• Boiling Point at IMDb