Gordon Behind Bars

Gordon Behind Bars
Directed by	Helen Simpson
Starring	Gordon Ramsay
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tim Whitwell, Sue Murphy
Producer(s)	Jaemie Gallie, Vari Innes
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	One Potato Two Potato (An all3media Company)
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	26 June – 17 July 2012
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Gordon Behind Bars is a British television series in which Gordon Ramsay teaches inmates of Brixton prison, just about five minutes from Ramsay's residence, how to cook. It was broadcast in four episodes from 26 June – 17 July 2012 on Channel 4.

Premise

Ramsay, a Michelin Star Chef in the UK, enters Brixton prison over a six-month period (December 2011 to June 2012) with the goal of teaching inmates how to cook and run a sustainable business selling goods prepared inside the prison to the general public.

Bad Boys' Bakery

After some training from Ramsay, the inmate chefs of Brixton prison are formed into a business dubbed "Bad Boys' Bakery", under the slogan "Life Changing Taste", selling a Ramsay version of a lemon treacle tart (later changed to a lemon treacle slice). Eventually, Ramsay was able to negotiate an agreement for a trial order of 100 bars (per location) to be sold in 11 Caffè Nero locations across South London. As of June 2013, the bars remain available at 11 cafes near the prison.

The chefs

Of the twelve chefs originally chosen to take part, five had left the program by the end of the series. In the fourth episode, five additional inmates were recruited to replace them, and five more were recruited after Ramsay had left.

Original twelve chefs

Inmate Chef	Conviction	Sentence	Location	Notes
Lawrence Gibbons	Actual Bodily Harm	18 Months		Ramsay asked him to leave the program after a confrontation with fellow chef Rene Smith
Jerome Samuels	Burglary, Actual Bodily Harm	16 Months	A Wing	Pulled off the program after he was charged with verbally abusing a female officer, was later transferred to a max security prison in Wayland, Norfolk.
Rene Smith	Burglary	4 Years	A Wing	Ramsay asked him to leave the program after a confrontation with Ramsay's assistant Gee
Andrew Insley	Burglary	1 Year 3 Months	A Wing	Released and acquired a job at London restaurant Roast
Anthony Kelly	Commercial Burglary, Dangerous Driving	2.5 Years	G Wing	Released and works for the St Giles Trust which works with ex-offenders to help rehabilitate them, he also becomes a stage-actor-trainee
Paul Wyatt	Burglary	8 Months	A Wing	Released and given a successful tryout at Ramsay's Savoy restaurant, but was revealed to have lost the job due to a relapse into drugs
Tesfa Jones	Robbery, Attempted Burglary	3 Years	G Wing	Released and given a successful tryout at Ramsay's Savoy restaurant
Daniel Guwaza	Theft	9 Months	A Wing
Adonis McQuitta	Possession Of A Firearm , Cartridges Without A Licence	4 Years	G Wing	Currently Still In Prison
Hassan Nour	Burglary	2.5 Years	A Wing
David Jones	Burglary	3.3 Years	A Wing
Inmate Chef #12 ("B")				The face of one of the original 12 chefs was obscured throughout the run of the series and no details were given about him on screen. Ramsay referred to him as "B".

UK ratings

Episode number	Airdate	Channel	Share	Viewers
1	26 June 2012	Channel 4 & Channel 4 +1	13%	3,000,000
2	3 July 2012	Channel 4 & Channel 4 +1	10.9% (Channel 4) – 2.3% (Channel 4 +1)	2,891,000
3	10 July 2012	Channel 4 & Channel 4 +1		2,365,000
4	17 July 2012	Channel 4 & Channel 4 +1		2,158,000

Safety Issues

During filming of the programme, there were incidents where fights would break out. Ramsay has stated "I was standing close by one bloke with another opposite me, and then this guy lunged over and went to headbutt him. I had to sort it out.". Ramsay's wife was also concerned about his safety and instructed him to take self-defence classes.

US version

Ramsay personally pitched the idea of an American version to Kevin Reilly at Fox Broadcasting; however, Reilly declined, saying "We have a lot of Gordon on the air right now."

External links

• 'Gordon Behind Bars' at channel4.com