Episode 1

Dame Mary Berry takes a fond look back at her career in food while bringing viewers incredible mouth-watering recipes to try at home.

Mary can trace her passion for outdoor cooking back 80 years, when she became a Girl Guide. Her friend, comedian Tom Allen, shares her love of the countryside but perhaps not the same aptitude for cooking. Together, they take a leisurely boat ride, sharing tales and facing the odd challenge as Tom attempts to drive the boat and navigate a lock.

They stop along the way to cook Mary’s classic pan-fried cod, which she learnt to make at college, and the star pudding of Mary’s childhood, bread and butter pudding using her mother’s recipe, which she still loves eating anywhere. Mary also makes her brand new Thai chicken traybake and her reinvention of her 1970s cottage pie with a modern mash.

Spending time with Tom is a chance for Mary to share some rarely seen TV archive footage of her early attempts at outdoor cooking, showing how much things have changed. It’s a moment to reflect that there are some recipes she still makes 70 years later and others that are brand new, inspired by Mary’s endless passion for home cooking.