S1E6 – 'The Woman That Invented Fanny'

Phyllis Pechey – better known as Fanny Cradock ­– was an English television chef and writer.

Her popular BBC TV show, Kitchen Magic, saw her providing cookery demonstrations in company with (sometimes) husband Major Johnnie Cradock – who played the part of a dull-eyed, swaying, junior partner – whilst she snapped her fingers at her terrified assistants. 

After a successful stint as British television’s top chef, soon the bottom seemed to fall out of the market when it came to irascible, chiffon ballgown-wearing cooks with a penchant for piping bags and vegetable dyes.

Though celebrated for her abrasive style and haughty demeanour, it was later to prove her undoing ­– when she guested on an episode of the early reality show The Big Time in 1976, and openly chided a farmer’s wife from Devon for her rubbish menu, all the time mugging furiously at the cameras, rolling her eyes and pretending to retch.

Despite all this, for many, Cradock remains the ultimate Fanny!

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